The sea has so many different styles of photography that can be conducted with it that if you live near an ocean, it can be a brilliant source of both imagery and practice. In this video, one photographer sets out to capture huge waves crashing into a lighthouse.
When you photograph a place for the first time, it's thrilling. You might have been planning it for months or years in advance, so when it finally comes to fruition, you can often get overexcited and forget some very important things once you start shooting. Here's one very common error that you should avoid.
Software updates happen so often these days that you can sometimes miss great new features when they're added. If you do any kind of masking with people and hair, then you really must see this technique.
We can learn a lot from experienced filmmakers and cinematographers, and one of their strongest skills is their ability to tell stories. Whether you shoot video or photos, this excellent video tutorial will give you a 10-step process for finding the best, most compelling angle for every shot.
We spend a ton of time talking about how to take a photo, including lighting, techniques, composition, and a lot more. And of course, all those things are quite important to producing a compelling photo, but that is not enough. But it takes more than that to create a good image, and this insightful video discusses how you should be approaching taking photos beyond just the how-to of it all.
I can think of so many times throughout my career where I have drooled over that latest camera release or that most recent lens that my brain convinces me that I simply have to have. Realistically, though, what photographer out there hasn't done that at least once in their career?
With its cliffs, spectacular mountains, and moody forests, Madeira is a dream destination for landscape photographers. It's a relatively small volcanic island, and you can drive from one end to the other in about an hour. So, wherever you stay on the island, you'll have various photo spots within reach. In this article, I show you five of the best.
Taking successful photographs take a combination of a wide range of techniques, creative vision, timing, and often, a little bit of luck, and as such, it can take a long time to become consistently successful. If you are feeling a bit discouraged by the slow process, this great video has a message you need to hear.
The lens is obviously one of the most fundamental pieces of photography gear along with the camera, but strictly speaking, you do not actually need one to create an image. This interesting video will take you behind the scenes of a neat photography process that lets you take photos without even using a lens and show you the workflow and results.
Creating dramatic headshots using multiple lights doesn't have to be difficult. One of the best ways to become proficient at using a three-light setup is by building it one light at a time. In this article and the accompanying video, I will demonstrate how you can easily create dramatic headshots and portraits using a key light, kicker light, and fill light.
When it comes to sensor size, the majority of the time, we talk about if it is worth moving from a smaller sensor to a bigger sensor, such as going from full frame to medium format. However, in the last few years, we have seen significant advances in the capabilities of APS-C cameras, both in terms of performance and sensor quality. So, is it worth trading in your gear for a smaller, lighter, and likely more affordable kit? This interesting video features a longtime photographer discussing his thoughts six years after switching.
You may have noticed over the last few years that it is increasingly common for a film or show to have what looks to be unexposed shots. The question is: why?
There are many ways to light a subject, both complex and simplistic, and while you might be always tempted to go for the most complicated setups, knowing the classics is important too. Classic lighting is classic for a reason and you may find yourself using it more often than you expect.
How can you manipulate the color of the sky with simple lighting techniques? In this video, learn how to capture a rich blue sky with just one light.
As we near the end of another difficult year, we look forward to new beginnings. What will you be doing to ensure that you grow and improve as a photographer in 2022? Here are five ways you can guarantee you are moving in the right direction.
Photoshop has a huge range of blending modes — almost 30, in fact — but the majority of photographers go their entire careers using only about six of them most of the time. One of the rarer blending modes is color dodge, and though you will not use it every day, this helpful video tutorial will show you a specific and nifty application for it that can give your images a bit more pop.
When Unmesh Dinda of PiXimperfect says that this is hands down the best automated skin retouching software ever created, you might want to pay attention.
They hold you down in landscape photography, they bring you to make wrong decisions out in the field, they make you blind for finding compositions, and they even kill your creativity. Knowing about them and avoiding them makes you a better photographer.
Capture One 22 is here, and it brings with a bevy of new features and improvements to the program's already powerful platform. If you want to make sure you get the most out of the new version of the application, check out this great video that will show you what you need to know about the latest features in the program.
Astrophotography has become more popular than ever, in no small part due to the global pandemic, but also due to the availability of inexpensive portable tracking mounts.
Adobe released version 11 of Lightroom a little over a month ago and with it came a lot of new features. In this part of the guide, we'll go over the new sky selection tool, how to apply color or luminance masks, and how to use intersections.
It takes a lot of hard work to become proficient enough with a camera, lighting, and post-processing that you can consistently produce compelling, high-quality images, but translating that to a thriving business is another skill entirely. If you are ready to start bringing in money for your photography skills but are unsure where to start, check out this great video tutorial that will give you some steps in the right direction.
Price-cutting and cheap photographers tend to really get under the skin of many of us, but I am pretty sure that you have been approaching it all wrong. Hopefully, this helps.
Winter is upon us, and if you are anything like me, you will try to avoid going out in the cold whenever possible. The beauty of macro photography is that there are fantastic subjects all around you, meaning you do not necessarily have to trek miles away to get great shots! This excellent video tutorial will show you five fun winter macro photography ideas and offer some tips to help you get the best shots.
Like any specialist occupation, photography is an expensive one. There are big savings that can make it affordable for the professional, some of which can help the amateur too.
Have you ever taken a shot that you were completely stoked to post, and when you released it to the world, you didn’t quite get the engagement you were hoping for? It can be discouraging to be excited about a photo and not get the enthusiastic engagement you expected. These days, stopping the scroll seems harder than ever, but animating a portion of your photo is an easy upgrade that can create a major boost of interest to your image.
Photographing a single image each day for a 365 Project sounds easy, but in practice, it requires a tremendous amount of dedication. If you put some thought into this undertaking, however, you can succeed in completing a 365 Project next year.
What is the best way to power all your devices on the go? Here’s a quick look at just a handful of the devices that keep my gear energized when I’m on the road.
Being a photographer in the digital age is a double-edged sword. On one hand, we have an endless resource of articles, videos, and experts right at our fingertips. It’s truly a golden age for education, and a motivated person can go from an absolute novice to an expert almost completely on their own. But at the same time, we are more exposed than ever before, and as photographers, posting our work online means opening ourselves up to a sea of criticism — both good and bad.
If you are thinking about booking a workshop in the coming year, how do you choose what one to book, and what do you hope to get out of the workshop?
In the history of visual art, few figures loom as large as Rembrandt. His influence on photography is so great that “Rembrandt lighting” has become a staple method for portraiture. But Rembrandt Lighting is often a poor choice for photographing women, especially when working with corporate clients.
Working with a new model can be a brilliant way to practice and help someone else with their aspirations, but it's undoubtedly tricky. In this behind-the-scenes video, a veteran photographer works with a model on her first shoot and walks you through some of the difficulties and offers some tips.
If no one takes notice or takes time to engage more deeply with an image, what does it matter?? Getting control over the viewer’s eyes can be a big game-changer for your fine art photography.
In some genres, flat, even light can be a real boon for the photographer, but in landscape photography, it can rob a scene of the drama created by the interplay between light and shadow and the natural contrasts across the frame. That does not mean you can't create great images in flat light, though. This excellent video tutorial will show you what you need to know.
The holy grail of time-lapse videos is smooth day-night transitions. Could it be as simple as a few settings on the right camera?
Much of commercial photography is about marketing. Agency Access is a service that is aimed at helping commercial photographers market their work efficiently. But how good is it? Here is my review of Agency Access.
Infrared photography can be a wonderful new avenue to explore and can really get the creative juices flowing. It can also produce some otherworldly and beautiful images. Unfortunately, the cost and commitment of converting an existing camera to be capable of infrared is a barrier for many to trying it out. But, as this video demonstrates, you really don't need any specialized equipment to create great infrared images.
Breathing life into your photographs can make the difference between an average shot and a masterpiece. But how can we bring life into a flat piece of paper? Depth is all you need.
It was a one-on-one with a paying client. I got to know her a bit better over the phone. This was important so I could plan the session and give her what I thought she'd find value from. We met up in Paris in a neighborhood neither of us knew very well.
A lot of people think of Lightroom as the place for organizing photos and performing basic edits and Photoshop as the place for more involved and serious edits, and while that is true to a degree, you might be surprised by just how much you can do in Lightroom. This fantastically comprehensive tutorial will show you everything you need to know to edit photos in Lightroom.
Adobe Photoshop is one of the most complex pieces of software in the industry. While it is relatively easy to do the basics as a beginner, it has layers of depth that go far past where even many experts go. In this video, learn over 100 different tricks and tips.
Perhaps no piece of equipment has a bigger impact on your photos than your lens. There are some common misconceptions about lenses, however, and as expensive as they are, it is important to make sure you know everything you can about them. This helpful video tutorial discusses some common mistakes photographers make when thinking about lenses.
As a professional nature photographer, Topaz DeNoise is an essential part of my workflow. I had heard about it for years, but since I owned Lightroom and Photoshop, I didn’t add Topaz into my software library until last spring. I was late to the party, but at least I can save you the trouble. Just DeNoise alone is worth every penny. Come see why.
As photographers, we spend a lot of time trying to get the perfect exposure and discussing and learning a variety of techniques to do so. But what is a "correct" exposure anyway? Maybe it does not exist at all.
Finding success in a single area of the photography industry is no small task. And yet, R. J. Kern has managed to find success not only as a wedding photographer but now as a fine art photographer as well. I sat down with him one afternoon to pick his brain on his top five tips for emerging fine art photographers.
Can you emulate studio gel lighting with Lightroom's new masking tools? In short, yes, but is it as good as the real thing?
After a decade of selling my work at art festivals, I've discovered that beyond the money that I've earned, I've also gotten some valuable lessons both for my career and for my life.
Creating a successful landscape photo often takes skills both behind the camera and at the computer, and of course, what you do in the field influences how you handle things once you are ready to process your images. This great video tutorial takes a look at a camera setting many of us never touch and how it can improve your landscape images quickly and easily.
Photoshop has some pretty advanced automated tools for removing distracting objects from your photos, and while they can get the job done a lot of the time, sometimes, you are dealing with such a complex and difficult background that you need to take control of things. If that is the case, check out this helpful video tutorial that will show you how to efficiently and convincingly remove such objects.
Skin tones are one of the most crucial parts of a portrait edit. Get them right, and they can elevate the image to another level. Get them wrong, however, and they can sink your image. If you are new to shooting and editing portraits, this helpful video tutorial will show you three steps to get better skin tones in Photoshop.
