Drones have quickly evolved into powerful and sophisticated tools for aerial photography and filmmaking, making them desirable tools for a wide range of creatives and applications. In all that sophistication are a lot of nifty and useful features that are easy to overlook. This great video tutorial will show you nine great features you should check out on your drone.
For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s now coming into the cozier and colder time of year. Fall is great with all its colors, but the dead of winter can leave photographers feeling drab and uninspired. Check out my four spots to photograph when the weather turns inclement to keep you photographing all through the seasons.
As a photographer who works primarily within an art context, I often find myself seeking opportunities to share my work. In saying that, I would imagine being able to convincingly write and communicate about your work is a skill all photographers might find useful.
The Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN Contemporary lens is a small, light, and fast zoom lens suitable for a wide range of subjects. I spent a week testing the 18-50mm, and I was very impressed with this tiny powerhouse of a lens, which is now available for Fujifilm X Mount cameras.
Autumn is just about over, and though the leaves are no longer on the trees, that does not mean we do not have any use for them anymore. If you gather a pile of leaves and bring them into your studio, you have a wonderful prop for a wide variety of portrait looks with all the control of studio lighting. This great video tutorial will show you how to take fallen leaves and turn them into an eye-catching and versatile props for studio portraits.
If you've ever found yourself posting a photo in which you've masterfully designed your shadows, created asymmetrical balance, and selected a brilliant color palette just to see it wildly out-performed by a reel of a 20-year-old aimlessly walking down a sidewalk and spiraled into complete despair, then this is for you. In this article, I will walk you through how to shoot skillfully crafted images and easily stitch them into a stop-motion. The artist strikes a treaty with the Insta.
Earlier this year, the scientific community was abuzz when an image of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the galactic center of the Milky Way, was released. How did scientists actually create the image, though? It took petabytes of data from a virtual telescope that size of the entire planet. This interesting video will take you behind the scenes to see how it all came together.
DJI has just released the Mavic 3 Classic. Very similar to the standard Mavic 3, the new DJI Mavic 3 Classic has one major difference that brings the price down significantly. Does that change compromise its performance or make it less attractive? Take a look at this pilot's first impressions.
If you are a Lightroom user I'm sure by now you have experimented with most of the newly updated features. One feature, in particular, I was very interested in is the AI-powered Person Mask Option and how it actually performed.
The Canon EOS R3 is currently Canon's most powerful mirrorless camera, and it offers some impressive features and capabilities that have impressed most of its users. Nonetheless, the title of "flagship" will eventually belong to the EOS R1. It looks like we might have to wait a while for that, though.
Landscape photography takes the confluence of a variety of factors: technical skill, creative vision, time management, ability to predict conditions, and often, just a little bit of luck. If you would like to get your landscape photography on the right track, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you an eight-step process to creating a compelling image.
Infinite Color for Infinite Tools is a color grading plugin for Photoshop. We put it through its paces.
While senior portrait season is still a few months away, the time to gear up for it is upon us, with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and holiday deals just on the horizon. If you're starting out and looking to get into this style of photography, here are a few options from photographer and YouTuber Michelle Nichols.
Instead of bouncing light underneath your subject, this method could make life easier.
Photographing headshots can be a great entry point into a career as a professional photographer. Or if you have a few years under your belt, they can be an excellent source of additional income alongside your main field in photography.
Across all their social media accounts, these four pro photographers have well over a million followers and subscribers. That means people like what they do and what they say. Here, these four get together in one room and share their best beginner photography tips, favorite apps, most loved destinations and so much more.
Thanks to the popularity of mini touchscreen monitors, these little screens are more available and affordable than ever. For this reason, now might be a good time for photographers to add one to their existing setup.
Today, I’ll talk about one of the best values in my constant lighting kit.
There is a quiet rise of small, pocketable cameras when it comes to popularity. In this video, James Popsys gives his thoughts on the little Ricoh after spending some time shooting with it. So, if you're in the market for one, take a look.
If you're a photographer who earns a living photographing people, you need to be prepared for this.
Perhaps one of the trickiest parts of landscape photography is that you get no control over the light or the conditions, and while paying attention to weather forecasts and planning ahead can increase your chances of getting the shots you want, things will not always work out like you had hoped or expected. That does not mean you should pack up and go home, though. This great video tutorial will show you how to tackle the wrong weather and still come home with worthwhile images.
When it comes to landscape photography (or really, any genre), there is a time when you grow more comfortable with the technique and creative process, but somehow, your output stagnates. This excellent video tutorial will show you why that often happens and what you can do to fix it.
As you can see, recently, I have been doing an evaluation of all the gear I have in the studio. This time, I looked at a dozen or so light modifiers that I own and selected my top five favorites. Rather surprisingly, they are far from what “conventional” light-shaping tools are.
Most photographers drool over 85mm f/1.4 lenses for portrait work, and while those are certainly a lot of fun, they might not actually be the best choice for you. This awesome video will show you why you should consider a 100mm macro lens for your work.
Have you ever wanted to produce a night shot but during the day? Well, it's possible, and it's not even that difficult if you know how to control light properly. In this video, go behind the scenes on an outdoor shoot during the day that yields images that look as if they're in the middle of the night.
Let me rewind the clock by a decade: it’s the tail end of 2012, and the NYPD was in the process of clearing out Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan. Over the last year, Occupy Wall Street had been picking up steam, with an encampment filling the better part of the park and protests regularly spilling out into the streets.
85mm lenses with wide apertures are about as popular as can be, but they are often quite expensive as well. Thankfully, in the last few years, we have seen an influx of affordable yet impressive third-party options, with two of the most notable being the Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4 FE II lens and Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art. Which one is right for you? This excellent video comparison takes a look at the performance and image quality of both to help you decide.
Capture One 23 is here, and it brings with it a wide range of new features and upgrades sure to please a variety of photographers. As always, there is a strong focus on portrait photography. This great video will take you through some of those new features and show you how to use them to improve your portrait edits and make them more efficient.
As a professional photographer, I use quite a lot of different gear to make my photographs, from cameras to lenses, to tethering stations and solid state drives, and lights. In this series of articles, I will tell you exactly what gear I use and why, starting off with cameras and lenses.
The Fujifilm X-T5 mirrorless camera is here, and it brings with it a huge variety of upgrades and new features. This great video review takes a look at the new camera and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.
Do you ever feel challenged by the creative energy of your subjects? The pressure to create something unique when you're walking amongst giants? I had a chance to talk with renowned music photographer, Denis O'Regan about shooting some of the biggest names in modern music history.
With shorter daylight hours and longer dark, cold, and wet nights, it's time to think about what to shoot indoors: something new perhaps? For myself, it's going to be trying something new, and that's macro with the Astrhori 85mm f/2.8 Macro Tilt lens.
Most dedicated macro lenses have a 1:1 maximum reproduction ratio, which means they can project an image of the subject on your camera's sensor up to the same size it is in real life. However, the Venus Optics Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro can project an image of your subject up to five times bigger than it is in real life, opening up an entirely new world of extreme macro photography. This great video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.
Many times, when landscape photographers head out the door, they do so with a specific time of day and weather conditions in mind. However, if you are headed out for an entire day for a hike with your camera, wouldn't you like to ensure you can get great photos at any time and in any weather? This great video tutorial features an experienced landscape photographer showing you how to do just that.
Nikon puts a stylish twist on a couple products in its Z family of mirrorless cameras.
For the most part, I have total control over my client's experience with me. I know and understand every aspect because that's my livelihood and passion. I research my equipment, control my backups, work from calibrated monitors and meticulously set up how I deliver images to my clients. However, I've always been in the dark about one aspect of the process, wedding albums.
In recent versions of the program, Lightroom's masking features have made major steps forward, and you can now perform far more advanced and precise operations with relative ease, enabling new and more powerful edits. This helpful video tutorial will show you one such technique that leverages Lightroom's masking features to add a bit of drama to a sky.
I have long lamented the discontinuation of the absolutely tiny Panasonic Lumix GM series of cameras, and imagine my surprise in 2022 to find out that I'm not alone. The camera has proven to be a cult favorite, and YouTuber and photographer Robin Wong breaks down why.
If you value accurate colors and a high-quality computer display, Eizo is one of the better choices. The company released two professional 27-inch screens towards the end of 2022. One of them has 4K resolution and the other WQHD resolution. Let’s take a close look at the latter.
You can make a lot of extra revenue from photography if you think outside of the traditional box.
The folks at Skylum who make Luminar Neo have promised more extensions by the end of the year, and there are three more new ones coming soon.
Samyang has been long known for creating sharp, highly affordable lenses, and in recent years, they have added autofocus capabilities to many, increasing their appeal. One such lens is the AF 85mm f/1.4 FE II, which offers the popular combination of a classic portrait focal length and a wide maximum aperture. And at $799, it is far more affordable than many comparable lenses. Can it keep up with those other options? This great video review takes a look at the performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.
There isn’t a camera brand that doesn’t make a nifty fifty. There also almost isn’t a camera blog or advice resource that hasn’t recommended the nifty fifty. Thousands of photographers are led to believe that they absolutely must have this lens. I was one of them. Here is why I think that the nifty fifty is vastly overrated and why you probably don’t need one.
I often get together with some of my photographer friends to experiment with lighting techniques and try out new gear. Recently, my friend, John, stopped by the studio, and we decided to have a go at recreating a Dan Winters portrait. In this video, I detail my process, including the lighting I used as well as my editing process.
Landscape photography generally requires an above-average amount of post-processing, and for advanced editing work, most photographers turn to Photoshop. However, that might not always be the best choice. This great video tutorial featured an experienced landscape photographer discussing five reasons why Lightroom is often the better choice for editing landscape photos.
Fujifilm recently announced the X-T5 camera, which is the latest camera in the X Mount series. Despite the fact that the X-T5 is not the most feature-filled camera Fujifilm has ever produced, it does send a big message to its audience and customer base. Fujifilm has finally figured out its camera lineup for the X Mount.
The Microsoft Surface line offers a lot of versatility for creatives in the Windows ecosystem, and the new Surface Laptop 5 is here, pairing a high-quality touchscreen with the convenience of a portable laptop with all-day battery life. If you are looking for a new device for working on the go, check out this great video review that takes a look at the Surface Laptop 5 and the sort of performance and experience you can expect from it in usage.
Being a professional photographer takes many skills beyond simply what you can do with a camera and a computer. Chief among them is the ability to manage time well and cut out any inefficiencies. This great video tutorial features an experienced professional discussing a simple way to cut down on a lot of wasted time and the frustration that comes with it.
It will probably come as no surprise to you that there are certain "must-have" items that photographers don't really need in their lives. Before making your next purchase or business decision, check out this list.
