Things I Never Go Cheap on as a Professional Photographer

If you’re anything like me, you like to save as much on gear as possible. As expensive as gear is, there are some things I suggest you should not go cheap on. This list consists of stuff that is long-lasting and will not go out of date quickly.

5 Tips to Help You Save Time in Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro is an impressively powerful video-editing program, but with all that power comes the need for a lot of effort and investment of time to get the results you want. As such, finding any little spot you can to increase your efficiency can add up to big gains in the long run. This excellent video tutorial will show you five tips that will help you save time when working in Premiere Pro.

A Reminder That You Don't Need the Latest and Greatest Camera to Make Great Photos

Modern cameras are remarkable pieces of technology, able to do things that we could only dream about just a few years ago, and they only continue to get better. And while they are fantastic tools, they are not inherently necessary to create compelling images. This great video serves as a useful reminder that even entry-level tools can create professional photos.

Photography Trends We Should’ve Left Behind in 2015

I love trends. But what I love more is making fun of them. Be it a trend in lighting, or a trend in aperture choice, or a trend in post-processing, here are some that we should've moved on from a long time ago.

Learn How This Eagle Photo Was Shot and Edited From Start to Finish

Bird photography is a challenging genre that requires a lot of patience and skill, but when you get things right, the results can be really rewarding. If you would like to improve your work, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you how a photographer shot and edited an eagle photo from start to finish.

Learn How These Portraits Were Shot and Edited

The beauty of artificial lighting is that you can create fantastically creative and compelling shots that simply would not be possible with only natural light. Using a snoot and gobo is one such possibility, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how one photographer lit, shot, and edited such images using them.

A Review of the Samyang 50mm f/1.4 AF Series II Lens

Samyang has long been known for making affordable and sharp manual focus lenses, but recently, they have started producing autofocus lenses as well, but they have still managed to keep prices below those of many first-party options. One such option is the 50mm f/1.4 AF Series II, and this fantastic video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

A Review of the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II Lens

Sony's FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II takes what was already an impressive lens and improves on it to make it even better, making it a desirable option for a lot of photographers and filmmakers looking for a fast and versatile telephoto zoom. This excellent video review takes a look at the new version and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.

Is This the Ultimate Landscape Photography Camera?

Fujifilm's GFX line of mirrorless cameras turned the paradigm of medium format on its head by making it far more affordable, so much so that it has become a viable alternative to full frame, particularly for people like portrait, wedding, and landscape photographers. If you are interested in the camera for your work, check out this fantastic video review that discusses one photographer's thoughts on the camera after using it for landscape work for a year.

Heads Up! Possible Meteor Storm on May 30-31

The month of May closes out with a New Moon (moonless sky), to which deep sky astrophotographers always look forward. This month brings a potential bonus of an intense burst of meteors, perfectly timed for North American astrophotographers. In fact, it’s so perfectly timed (for U.S. residents) that it falls on a Monday evening of a U.S. three-day holiday weekend.

Sony Stuffs an Actual Zoom Lens Into a Smartphone

It's no secret about how Apple and other manufacturers get around the optical zoom problem on smartphones. One only needs to look at the back of the phone to see the ever-increasing number of lenses and sensors stuffed into the back shell. Sony, however, has figured out another way.

Canon Is Planning a Remarkable Camera

Ever since the EOS R5 hit the market, Canon has pushed ahead with vigor in the mirrorless market, and it looks like they have no intention of slowing down. In fact, the company seems to be planning a camera that will challenge Sony for the crown of resolution by quite a bit.

Why Do Lenses Flip Images?

Why do all lenses, including the one in the human eye, flip an image upside-down? Or do they? It's far easier to understand than you might think.

A Review of the Impressive Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II Lens

The Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II is the second iteration of the company's fast telephoto zoom, making it an appealing tool for a lot of professional photographers and filmmakers. It brings with it a wide range of improvements over the original, and it looks like quite the impressive lens. This fantastic video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

How to Deal With Difficult Clients as a Wedding Photographer

No matter which genre you work in, you will encounter difficult clients at one time or another, but given the amount of stress and investment that go into weddings, you might find yourself in these situations a bit more often as a wedding photographer. This fantastic video tutorial features an experienced wedding photographer offering some helpful advice for tackling those situations to ensure everyone is happy and you don't find yourself exhausted by the experience.

3 Fantastic Natural Light Setups for Portrait Photos

Natural light can be more versatile than you might think, and with a good understanding of how to shape it and orient your subject within it, you can create a wide variety of compelling photos. This helpful video tutorial will show you three different natural light setups you can use for portraits along with some great tips to get the most out of each of them.

Top Wedding Photography Skills to Learn and Develop

So you’re trying to develop your wedding photography skills? Let’s talk through some of the photography skills you need to learn and develop. My advice is to pick one thing at a time to focus on, perfect that and then move on.

5 Helpful Tips for Better Landscape Photo Compositions

Landscape photography is challenging in that you get no control over the placement of elements in the frame, only your position relative to them, and as such, creating compelling compositions can be particularly tricky. If that is something you find yourself struggling with, check out this fantastic video that features five tips sure to help you improve your landscape image compositions.

How Does the Fujifilm GFX 50S Medium Format Mirrorless Camera Hold Up in 2022?

Fujifilm's GFX line of medium format mirrorless cameras turned the paradigm of large-sensor cameras on its head by making them highly competitive on price, so much so that they became viable alternatives to upper-level full frame options. The first of them was the GFX 50S, and though the line has evolved since, it remains a viable option and might just be one of the best deals in photography right now.

Pro Light Mods Are the Coolest Light Modifiers of the Year

What did you do during the pandemic? With most of the industry at a standstill, sports photographer James Quantz started a new company, Pro Light Mods, and designed a prototype of his "Maxi Brute softbox". Not only are they super awesome, but any photographer can pick one up now!

8 Common Lighting Mistakes New Photographers Make

Learning artificial lighting can be a bit daunting for a lot of photographers, but you should not let it scare you! If you are starting to dabble in artificial lighting and looking to improve, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you eight common mistakes beginners make and what you can do to fix them or avoid them entirely in the first place.

Three Years With the Impressive Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L USM Lens

The Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens was one of the first made for the company's full frame mirrorless mount, and it put the photography world on notice by showing Canon was committing to a new standard of image quality in their RF lenses, a standard that has been upheld in many of their lenses released in the last few years. This great video review talks about the lens' performance and image quality after three years and almost 70,000 photos and if it is worth the premium price.

Sports
Critique the Community

Sports

Submit Your Most Creative Sports Portraits

For the next Critique the Community LIVE, we want to see your best and most creative sports portraits.

This contest has ended.
How to Take Control of Editing Color for Stronger Photos

Color is one of the most fundamental and powerful tools at our disposal for commanding the attention of our photos' viewers, and it does not always get the sort of attention in post-processing that it deserves. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to sculpt the color in a photo much like how you would the light in order to create stronger, more compelling landscape images.

A First Look at the New Canon EOS R10 Mirrorless Camera

The Canon EOS R10 is here, and it offers a lot of performance at a very affordable price, making it a great entry into the company's mirrorless systen or a reasonable backup body for photographers already shooting in it. If you are interested in adding the camera to your arsenal, check out this fantastic first look video that will show you the performance and image quality you can expect from it.

Things I’ve Added to My Drone Editing Workflow That Make a Big Difference

I've been flying drones for about five years, treating them like another lens in my landscape kit. My current drone is a DJI Air 2S, which has a one-inch sensor to give me an excellent 20 MP image. I like the drone as a tool because it can get me views I otherwise would never see, so on most trips, I get an equal amount of images from my DSLR and my drone.

Is the Nikon Z fc a Perfectly Balanced Camera?

Nikon's first throwback retro camera, the Df, received a lot of mixed reviews upon its release, with most people noting that it placed a little too much emphasis on form and not quite enough on function. The Z fc mirrorless camera keeps the look but ups the ante, providing a nice set of balanced specs at very reasonable price. The excellent video review takes a look at the camera and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.

The Holy Trinity of Landscape Astro Lenses

Are you using the right lenses for landscape astrophotography? The traditional goto lens for landscape used to be a 16-35mm or thereabouts, as long as it had a maximum aperture of f/2.8, it could double for night duty.

5 Helpful Tips for Better Drone Landscape Photos

Drones have become a powerful and versatile tool for landscape photographers, giving them the ability to reach perspectives and create images that simply were not possible just a few years ago. If you are a landscape photographer and interested in adding one to your arsenal, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you five simple tips for better drone landscape images.

Shooting a Music Video in Extreme Conditions With the Nikon Z 9

High altitudes, snow, biting cold, and a lot of equipment. Some shoots are harder than others and this music video looked particularly grueling. Nevertheless, the Nikon Z 9 is well-equipped for such trials; see how it performs in a testing climate.

A First Look at the Brand New Canon EOS R7 Mirrorless Camera

While Canon has been pushing aggressively in the mirrorless space, one place they have yet to explore with the RF mount is APS-C — until now, that is. The EOS R7 is here, and it fills the place left by the highly popular 7D DSLR series. This great video takes a first look at the camera and the kind of image quality and performance you can expect from it.

8 Situations When Manual Exposure Is the Best Choice

Some photographers still believe that it’s important to shoot in manual mode, no matter what situation they’re in. As long as the correct exposure is achieved, it isn’t important if this is done manually or partly by the camera itself. But sometimes, manual is indeed the best choice.

A Complete Guide to Shooting a Landscape Photograph From Lens Choice Through Editing

The challenge of landscape photography is that unlike most other genres, you do not get control over the lighting or the placement of the elements in the frame. For some photographers, though, that is one of the most fascinating and enjoyable aspects of the genre. If you would like to improve your landscape work, check out this fantastic video tutorial by an experienced photographer that will guide you through the entire process from lens choice to editing.

5 Composition Tips for Better Portraits

Composition sometimes falls by the wayside in portrait photography, but if you want to elevate your images to the next level, it is something you need to take into careful consideration with every shot. If you would like to improve your portrait compositions, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features five helpful tips from an experienced photographer.

How Have Mirrorless Cameras Changed the Way You Shoot?

As someone who's been a regular Canon EOS R system user for the last few years, it's really dawned on me through teaching students how much things have changed for the better with serious mirrorless cameras.

Shooting Natural Light Video Portraits

For several years now, many of us have used Instagram as our primary outlet for sharing and viewing images. However, Instagram has made it clear that the platform is shifting its focus to video. If you haven’t been practicing capturing portraits on video, now might be a good time to start learning how to do so.

What Every Landscape Photographer Goes Through

Landscape photography is a quirky genre, often requiring long physical treks in the wee hours, all while hoping for the conditions to cooperate and allow you to take the photo you have in mind. If you have been there before, check out this hilarious video that follows a landscape photographer's thought process while deciding whether to head out to shoot or not.

Tips for Photographing the World's Largest Land Predator in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic

Have you ever thought of taking a trip to the sub-Arctic or Arctic to photograph polar bears and their habitat? Ever thought it might be your destiny to come nose-to-nose with the largest predator living on land? My latest article for Bradt Guides' Travel Club is all about taking photos of polar bears and their environment. I thought I'd share some of the tips and photos here.

Lightroom's Eight Highly Useful View Modes

Most of us use only two or three view modes while working in Lightroom, but the program actually has eight in total, and they are highly useful for both culling and organizing your photos as well as editing them. If you are unfamiliar with all eight view modes, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you where to find them and how to incorporate them into your workflow.