Many of you have likely used the radial filter tool in Lightroom before, but have you ever used it to paint light on your images? In this video, I go over how to create light in your image to add local contrast and completely change an image from dull to portfolio worthy.
Lightroom isn’t as powerful as Photoshop when it comes to retouching portraits, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it to get good results. This guide will get you started using Lightroom and also give an idea as to why it can be faster and more effective than diving into Photoshop.
Sharing your work on social media, you may come across a few people who ask "what are your camera settings for this shot" or something similar. There are even a few groups on Facebook that have this as a requirement to post your work. There are a few different ways you can do this, but here's an app that makes it easy.
One of the most important things a photographer needs to learn to understand is lighting. Without it, it's essentially not possible to do any kind of conventional photography. Learning how to use different kinds of light sources is also important. Although natural light can be great, being able to use flash effectively is extremely useful.
There are many tips that have improved my portraiture, but if I had to pick one, it would be this.
It's easy to start blaming your equipment when your images aren't perfectly sharp, but nine times out of ten, it's user error. Here are seven reasons why your photos might not be blurrier than they ought to be.
If you’ve ever wondered what publishers are looking for from photographers, here are some really helpful nuggets of wisdom from the publisher of one of Australia’s most iconic magazines.
How essential is sharpening to your editing workflow? Do you actually know how the sharpening sliders work?
If you struggle with getting sharp photos, this is for you, and even if you are experienced, there might be a tip or two to pick up.
There is a bit of trend toward heavy post-processing in landscape photography these days, with advanced techniques like luminosity masks and focus stacking prevailing in lots of images. And while there is certainly nothing inherently wrong with those techniques, sometimes, it is satisfying to use simple, straightforward techniques to finish a photo. This great video will show you a range of simple methods in Lightroom for creating compelling landscape images.
This is a bit of a taboo subject among photographers, but in this video, I look back at my work and how much I charged and what validated that rate at any given point in my career through to today.
Posing, lighting, and shooting a portrait is only half the process of creating a successful image. To create a truly polished photo, you have to have the retouching skills to match. This excellent video tutorial will show you the full process of editing a portrait using Photoshop.
The final step of any Lightroom session is the export process, and while it might seem like a simple thing, the application actually provides you with a wide range of options that allow you to customize the output to your needs. This excellent video will show you everything you need to know about exporting photos from Lightroom.
If you are new to flash photography, it can be pretty tough trying to understand the combination of light behavior, technical parameters, and creative choices, but taking the time to power through and learn how it is done will open up many new avenues for your work. This great video will give you a comprehensive introduction to flash photography to get you on your way.
There are lots of rules when it comes to lighting, from the inverse square law, to lighting ratios, and everything in-between. But in this video, Lindsay Adler talks to us about the most important rule in lighting.
For the last month, we've teamed up with Wix for a series called "How to Build a Website." In this series, Lee and I talk about some of the advantages and mistakes photographers make when creating their own website. Today, we are releasing the last video in the series, and it might be the most important information in making sure your photography business becomes a success financially.
Mastering any craft takes a lot of time, intentional practice, and dedication. However, getting out of the blocks quickly can put you further along that path, sooner.
When color grading your work, don't overlook the importance of targeting the skin tones in your workflow. Perfecting the skin color can drastically help your images, but how would you color grade skin?
Typically, regardless of where your prices are set, you are bound to run into someone that says your prices are too high, other photographers are cheaper, and will ask if you can lower yours. What's the best way to respond to these types of inquiries?
In the share economy, more and more people are finding their side hustle in the form of renting out extra rooms or vacation homes through services like VRBO and Airbnb. Earlier this month, I did a quick and easy property shoot for one such hopeful side hustler. Using a minimal photo kit and about an hour of editing, I created a nice set of images, sure to help them get bookings. Here’s how I did it.
Have you ever captured an image you thought could have been spectacular if not for a stray shadow that rendered it unusable? Don't erase that file just yet. You may be able to recover the detail out of those shadows using this helpful Photoshop technique.
Lightroom isn’t a perfect tool. However, for some users, it is a perfect fit. If you are just getting into editing tools, left Lightroom during the change to Adobe Cloud, or practice photography professionally, there’s a number of reasons Lightroom might be a perfect fit for you.
Nemanja Sekulic has amassed a huge following on YouTube with his fantastic photo-manipulations and tutorials.
Booking clients is easy once you understand how you can be their solution. If a potential client made it from a search engine to your "About Me" page, they've somehow pre-qualified themselves as a client.
What's up? Glad you could make it for part 2 of my Art of Composite Photography series.
Not all of us chose to live in New York, Paris, or London, but that doesn't meant that we can't be professional photographers.
Last October, I finally made the jump from part-time freelance into the world of being a full-time creative. It has been a rollercoaster ride of epic proportions, but here are the things I have learned so far.
When used correctly, frequency separation can be a very powerful and efficient tool for editing your portraits. This great video tutorial will show you a straightforward method to use frequency separation in your portrait retouching.
I have no idea where some of the trends are born from when it comes to hashtags, but with Instagram search and related hashtags feature, you can follow the breadcrumbs and grab a number of fresh tags you would never think of on your own.
Being a professional photographer in the UK pretty much means having a studio. We are not blessed with good weather, so I decided to set up a studio early on in my career.
My recent article focused on what skills you should focus on if you want to turn professional as a photographer. In this follow-up, I will discuss what I believe to be the next and crucial step before you make the leap: preparation.
Canon's pro body cameras have a number of ways to fine tune the autofocus system, however much of it is behind a few button presses, switches, or menus. This is how to set up direct button access to multiple autofocus modes.
It’s amazing what mid or entry-level hardware can deliver when you pair it with great software. The best software will be able to make up for some of the weaknesses and exploit every ounce of its strengths – ideally with relative ease. That's what we'll see here with Capture One's Luma Range tool.
Sharpness: it's what we all want from our photos and it's something many of us obsess over. If your shot out of camera isn't quite as razor edge as you'd like, there are quite a few ways to get more sharpness in post-production. This method is by far my favorite.
For a lot of us, being a professional photographer is a dream job that isn't realized. Even for those of us who do make a living from it, it probably isn’t exactly as we had planned.
Building a shooting space in your home can be difficult to say the least. For most photographers, a home studio is never large enough and every inch of space becomes a commodity. In this video we show you perhaps the easiest and cleanest way to hang seamless paper in your studio space.
I recently spent time working alongside Alice Prenat, the portrait photographer behind the elegant Parisian studio, Portrait Madame. After her talent was discovered by Sue Bryce, Prenat launched an upscale brand and studio in Paris, where she celebrates the "everyday" woman.
On location lighting can be tricky. Here's one easy three-light flash setup that you can use just about anywhere.
I do mostly outdoor photography and anyone who does this can get bitten by the night sky bug. All those beautiful stars and the dramatic Milky Way beckon, but for many beginners it seems an impossible task. They think of needing tracking mounts, ultra-long exposures, and complicated processing. The good news is, it's not all that hard to get started with a fairly modest investment.
Smartphones offer countless useful resources for planning and shooting photos. With tens of thousands of apps, it can be difficult to know which are the best. Here are my top five.
Even if it's not your genre of choice, travel photography can be a great opportunity to stretch your photographic muscles and come away with some unique imagery. This great video will give you seven lesser known travel photography tips.
If you’ve ever had lens flare ruin a seemingly perfect shot, this extremely simple technique will save you a ton of headache in post-processing.
Even after years of using Adobe Lightroom for editing, there are still several options the software offers that few photographers know about. Here are five helpful tips that you likely didn’t know before.
if you are looking for a step-by-step tutorial that shows you how to use the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport with Capture One software, then you will have to check this out.
2019 has just begun, and it is time to wrap up and look back at 2018. Like last year, I have found my favorite photos, and what they have in common are strong compositions.
If you're relatively new to the world of stock photography and trying to figure out the best way to make money, then I might just have the answer for you. With creativity, you can produce work that fills a need and earns income. In this article, I aim to provide some methods that will help give you an edge.
Got a new camera for Christmas but you're not Lindsey Adler yet? Here are some great tips to send you on your way to mastering your new gear.
One of the most popular pieces of gear most photographer assume a studio should have is a reflector of some sort, and a v-flat is greatly preferred. Some photographers who look for a DIY option but can't seem to find a source for the large foam boards usually give up and proceed without them. Here's another method you can use to create your own v-flats.
It's a safe bet to say a majority of photographers would love to get paid for their photos. Well, what photos would people want to buy?
