Who knew you could get beautifully lit images with nothing but a flashlight? In this week's lighting breakdown, I'm going to show you how I created this series with nothing but a flashlight and a bit of crafting know-how.
Every photographer today has a digital portfolio of some kind but only a very few have spent the time to create a printed book. In this video, we look into three very differently designed printed portfolios.
“This shot just looks flat.” Even an image shot during dramatic lighting can look dull after global adjustments. But with some inspiration from light painting, you can bring the image to life in post-production.
Los Angeles-based photographer Derrick Freske put his new iPhone XS Max to the test by doing an entire photoshoot exclusively on his new device.
Sometimes, I like to tell brief stories about my adventures in life and photography that have little to do with the technical aspects of creating an image and more to do with making sense of an often hectic profession.
Creative challenges not only serve to find new ways of shooting but also to push your limits when in a time crunch. Two videographers set out to challenge one another with one lens in 30 minutes on the streets of London and compare the end results .
Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer are all companies that make creatives shudder as they lament the race to the bottom of the pricing market. But, when some photographers find that they've bitten off more than they can chew, are sites like Fiverr a realistic option to get some help with editing?
The X-T3 brings a host of changes and improvements over previous X-series cameras. Its new sensor and processor enable much faster performance and significant feature enhancements for both stills and video.
Composition is the most important part of how you design your photo. It cannot be understated how important it is for a good viewer experience. These three tips should help you on your way.
The Internet can be a strange place, but it always felt that the mind-bending obscurity and randomness of the human consciousness was reserved for Tumblr and other meme repositories. It seems, however, that Instagram is no longer immune.
In this week's lighting breakdown, I'll show you the setup I used for this editorial beauty shoot that let me create an angelic mood and make the most of the model's fantastic skin.
One thing that we love about the YouTube community is that people always show up to help the beginners. There are countless threads from YouTube newcomers who are unsure of how to start out, but plenty of creators with more experience are willing to lend a hand.
There have never been more readily available, high-quality resources out there for anyone with a camera to learn to become a photographer, and yet, becoming truly proficient is something that can't be rushed. This great video essay talks about why it takes time to become a great photographer.
Have you considered investing in your photography through a travel sabbatical? Although it might not be a possibility now, what if you started preparing over the next one to three years?
Don't have any time for roaming streets with your camera? Well, put it aside for your personal development, because it can make you a better wedding photographer!
Adobe Lightroom has ruled the roost for raw processing suites, with Capture One in pursuit. But a new and tremendously deep alternative is looking to overhaul your work flow: ACDSee Photo Studio 2019.
Wedding photography is not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination, and it comes with its own unique set of challenges, not the least of which is guests with smartphones jockeying for position to take snapshots. One wedding photographer was having none of it when a guest stepped in front of her, shoving the offending guest aside to get the shot.
Hair photography can be a pain to shoot. Having a good hair stylist is incredibly important to make sure you don’t end up spending more time than you should behind the desk for the retouching. When it comes to hair, you’ll already have to spend more time than you’ll like.
This past weekend in Colorado I decided to give my full frame mirrorless camera a break and shoot some portraits using the much smaller Sony RX100V. I was curious to see if a small, pocket-sized camera could give me the kind of results that I would be happy with. Here are my experience and recommendations if you choose to do the same!
Photography is about capturing the moments through pictures. Yes, we all know this. But when you venture into it professionally, say wedding photography, you need to be able to do more than that.
Nikon, Canon, and Sony don’t provide all the equipment you will need to be a photographer, especially if you’re a studio photographer. Cameras and lenses aren’t the only necessary equipment a photographer should own. Daniel Norton gives his advice as to what equipment he thinks you need.
Looking for a photo-editing alternative to Adobe's Lightroom CC that won't break the bank? Today, I test-drive Alien Skin's new Exposure X4 editing suite for the first time.
Have you ever been fortunate enough to see a snow leopard out in the wild? Yeah, me neither, and it may be because they are busy taking selfies just like us.
There are many, many different trends that have gained a significant amount of traction on the immensely popular social media platform. Some of these trends die out and some of them stay, and so far, it seems that centered compositions are here to stay.
So, you’re thinking of becoming a street photographer? What are the most important things to get you started? Find out!
Fall is my favorite time of the year, simply because I can aim my camera almost anywhere and come away with a beautiful image. This great video will give you 30 helpful tips and ideas for autumn photos.
The Mavic 2 Pro can record video in 10-bit, but this mode suffers from significant barrel distortion on the edge of the frame. DJI acknowledged the issue and created presets and values to correct this problem in Premiere Pro, Final Cu, and DaVinci Resolve.
With his hand wedged firmly in a crack of the sheer granite face of El Capitan, Alex Honnold looks up and scans his route as he doggedly continues his death-defying ascent of the iconic rock formation with no safety ropes to save him in case of calamity.
The stores are already stocking holiday decor with faux trees and the leaves have barely fallen. The holiday season sneaks up on business owners quickly with an influx of calls for sessions. Is your business ready and do you know how to weed out the fake calls or emails?
When you're first starting out with studio lighting, it's easy to become focused on getting the key light just right, but if you become too fixated on that, you can overlook the importance of the rim light. This great video will show you how to use a rim light to separate your subject from the background.
If you've ever wasted a good sleep because your alarm was set before dawn, but it turned out the weather wasn't going to produce anything worth photographing, this new app may be for you. Here's my review of WeatherScout for iOS.
Besides my camera, the one item that I always travel with is my Justin clamps. They are one of the most versatile pieces of equipment that I own, but they can be pricey. So why not build your own?
As much as the wedding photographers and videographers work together to capture memories, they have their own challenges in getting along. Especially when they are shooting the same moment, minding each other's space becomes trickier. In this video, Vanessa Joy initiates a conversation with her fellow videographer, who throws light on the ways to help each other out.
As creatives, most of us know the value of a strong internet presence and what that can do to boost brand recognition and our business bottom-line, but we don’t always know how to make the best of that presence. I spoke with a successful web builder and graphic designer to get a glimpse of the most important aspects of boosting web potential for photographers.
Photography trends and the demand for types of images are ever evolving. Staying up to date on current trends and looking to the future is a great way to stay relevant.
Sometimes it takes a deeper look at a master to bring us back to basics.
Light can make or break a photograph, and that's particularly true in landscape photography, where a beautiful scene can either be rendered rather blandly or resplendently depending on the light that's falling on it and how you make use of it. This great video will give you seven tips for making better use of light in your landscape images.
Watch enough YouTube or scroll through Instagram enough, and you might begin to believe that pro photographers do nothing but bring home keeper after keeper. As this great video discusses, though, it's not all perfect skies and epic images.
Videography is a lot like photography in many ways, but there are enough differences that it can be easy to fall into making mistakes you might not have anticipated. This great video will show you five common mistakes new videographers make and what you can do to fix them.
In case you haven't heard, Apple announced some new devices about a week ago, one of which was the Apple Watch 4. One of the most striking things about the announcement was the intense new watch faces shown during the demo that varied from fire, to water, to colored clouds of dust.
A lot of photographers are quite talented when it comes to using a camera and Photoshop, but being good at making money as a photographer is an entirely different skill. This helpful video will give you some very good tips for ensuring you're making the money you deserve in photography.
Lighting schemes should always have a purpose, whether it's to flatter a client, show the details in a product, or create a mood. In this fantasy portrait, my purpose was both to flatter the model and to create a sense of place. Let's talk about how it was done.
When you're new to photography, one of the first things you'll probably want to do with your fancy, new camera is take one of those shallow depth of field portraits. This helpful video will show you three things that affect the depth of field in your photos.
Why would anyone spend $50 on a lens that's almost certain to be soft, noisy, and slow to focus? Let me tell you: because it's awesome. If you're new to photography, have a tiny budget, or have never owned a prime lens and want to see what the fuss is about, this is where to start.
Moment is a company who makes lenses for iPhones. They recently introduced their Anamorphic lens, and started a festival where some videographers got the opportunity to shoot whatever they wanted to. JR Alli made Disconnected on his iPhone, and this video shows how he did it.
Check out this video by landscape photographer Nigel Danson as he explores the Lake District in England in search of interesting compositions in challenging weather conditions.
In late 2017 I shared the photography podcasts that constituted my listening rotation. Thanks in part to our awesome community, 2018 has been even more insightful with these updated podcast additions.
When you're new to lighting, it can be a bit overwhelming trying to understand how to control multiple lights with the precision needed to create a polished photograph. This quick and great video will show you how to create a classic look using just one light.
Jimmy Chin is one of my favorite photographers, and his life and career have heavily influenced my own. Watch this video to learn a little about Chin's mindset and process regarding expedition photography.
Sometimes, on shoots, you can not only be short of time, but also of lights. Here are several quick two and three-light setups that will help you achieve a cinematic look in interviews.
