A few months ago, I showed you how we build out our new 10Gbps network using a Synology NAS device as our central server. This setup is protecting us from a hard drive failure, but our data still isn't 100 percent safe. In this video, I'll show you one simple step to protect your files from all types of data loss.
Being constantly creative is hard – really hard. And yet, it's our job to consistently pull innovative ideas out of our hats and wow clients with our imaginations and skill. This helpful video talks about how to keep being creative.
Have you ever felt like your photos were missing something? In just two minutes, learn to make your portraits come to life by adding a realistic burst of light in Photoshop.
Every few years we go through trends in wedding photography. The latest trend seems to be stylized photo shoots. Though stylized photo shoots are gorgeous and ripe with portfolio-worthy images, could they be hurting the industry?
Sure, the photo-focused social media app is saturated. That doesn’t mean you can’t use it to drum up more business. If you’re a photographer wanting more clients, Instagram has the potential to be a powerful marketing tool.
You need different tripods for different situations, but you don’t need to spend big on them. I’ll show you three tripods I use that can cover you in almost any setting and won’t break the bank.
Lightning can be a great way to add some incredible drama to a landscape shot. This helpful video will show you how to do just that.
In Photoshop, both the levels and curves adjustment layers allow you to control the tone of your image. So which should you use? I'm a curves man myself, but watching this excellent tutorial helped me better understand the use of levels.
When you're first starting out with flash photography, one of the most fundamental skills you'll need is the ability to balance ambient and flash exposure. This great video will show you how to do just that so you can achieve the exact results you envision.
Before you say your camera has a built-in exposure meter, light meters have more advanced features and there are still many reasons to have one. You might need to consider a light meter to achieve accurate results for both photography and video.
Sharpening an image with a high-pass filter in Photoshop is a simple way to make the image pop. But what happens if you've sharpened your image and you decide you want to make a change? You'll likely have to delete your high-pass layer and start over. Unless, of course, you follow this tip from PiXimperfect's Unmesh Dinda.
People will either inspire or drain you and your creativity. Why not be around those who motivate you?
Urban lifestyle photography has seen a surge in popularity in the last 10 years, particularly with the rise of Instagram. Here, COOPH give eight tips for improving your urban lifestyle shots.
Actions and presets are incredibly useful ways of speeding up your workflow when processing photos. Instead of individually re-creating your settings for each photo in Photoshop or Lightroom, you can essentially copy and paste all your preferred adjustments. Let’s check out the differences between the two.
This past February I had the great privilege of meeting Allan Henry, general manager and the main driving force behind the up-and-coming camera bag company Atlas Packs. After our first interaction, I knew that this product and company were doing something special.
We often tend to think of the best light for landscape photography as being during the golden hours, but depending on what you're trying to emphasize, different types of light and times of day can be better for your final image. This great video talks about the various types of light and how to orient yourself to take the best possible image.
So you want to start photographing models and want some tips on how to do it? Here are some guidelines on how to make your model give their best one the shoot day.
Have you ever photographed a scene with a monitor, smartphone, or television in it and needed to swap in a better looking display image? Commercial photographers run into this all the time. Here’s how to make your composites look realistic.
Most of us know about the exposure triangle, which dictates how shutter speed, aperture, and ISO balance each other to create the total exposure. But rarely if ever do we dive deep into what exposure really is at the fundamental level. This great video will give you a fun, scientific breakdown of exposure and metering.
In the magical world of Photoshop, there are lots of different ways to change an object's color from one hue to another, but achieving a change from color to a realistic white is sometimes challenging. This video from Helen Bradley will show you one way to get quick, realistic results when changing an object from color to solid white.
Oftentimes the weather gods aren't kind to landscape photographers. It's part of the thrilling aspect of the genre. This handy video shows you how to use split toning in Lightroom to rescue your landscape images.
Every season offers different photographic opportunities, and with springtime upon us, there's a bevy of ideas and techniques to try out. This great video will show you 13 tips and ideas to get your springtime photography off to a great start.
Though the free version has some limitations, it’s one of the few free nonlinear video editors out there. Let’s take a look at DaVinci Resolve.
Composition in landscape photography is tricky business, as you don't have something like a person as an obvious subject, and you need to find harmony between numerous competing elements at vastly different distances. These two great videos will give you ten tips to improve your landscape compositions.
There are quite a lot of complaints like: "Canon won't release a 4K video camera." At the end of the day, most photographers and filmmakers publish visuals online, and most viewers watch them on sub-2K mobile devices. Here's how much resolution you truly need.
"Gear isn't everything." We seasoned pros say it all the time, but often when standing under a pair Profoto B1 flash heads, so it can be hard to swallow for some. Well, if ever you needed convincing, this might just do the trick.
Photoshop tricks and tips are like puppies and potato chips: you can never have enough of them. This helpful video will show you nine Photoshop tips and tricks in just 90 seconds.
With a basic clear tank or transparent plastic sheet, there are several creative ways to photograph water just waiting to be explored. These techniques can be as basic or intricate as you want them to be.
As a photographer or videographer, you probably have a few (dozen) cables laying around. Believe it or not, there is a proper technique to wrapping them, and it not only makes them easier to store and quickly unwrap, it helps them last longer as well, saving you money.
When it comes to shooting portraits, photographers almost always reach for an 85mm lens or even the 70 - 200 mm lens. As great as these two lenses are for portraits, they often fall short when trying to capture an environmental style photograph. In this video, I'm going to show you the most widely used lens in my camera bag and how shooting wide angle can sometimes create a better photograph than shooting telephoto.
It is the story in the picture that speaks to us. And it is very important to sharpen our storytelling skills every now and then. In this video from Chase Jarvis, Joe Mcnally steers the discussion with three quick tips that will enhance you to improve storytelling in your pictures.
In between my music and photography work, I have a lot of hard drives. But even so, I've never had one fail, until just two days ago. It went without warning: no crunching sounds, no notifications, just a red light.
The last five years has seen huge advances in the consumer videography market, and it’s all getting smaller. It's so much so that one can now carry a versatile, fully equipped, professional videography setup inside baggage small enough to carry onto a flight. Here’s how.
Photography agents are nothing new. They've been around for a long time, but since the advent of social media they seem like something we are all a lot more aware of; anyone who's anyone has an agent, right? However, there are a few misconceptions out there as to what an agent offers.
When it comes to taking a great photo, many photographers argue that it starts and ends with great composition. I’m not sure I’m so black and white in my outlook, but good composition is hugely important without a doubt. And one of the most overlooked parts of great composition is adding foreground interest. Today I will discuss how foreground interest in your photos can really improve your end results, and what you can do to nail the foreground every time.
Despite a photographer’s best efforts, there will come a time when a client is unhappy with some part of their experience, whether it’s customer service or the finished images. Since it’s bound to happen, how should a photographer handle unhappy customers? The answer is: catch them before they can be disappointed.
Every focal length has its own challenges, and when it comes to wide angle lenses, creating effective compositions can be particularly difficult. This helpful video will give you five tips for creating more compelling wide angle shots.
When you're first starting out in photography, the temptation to buy that top-of-the-line, five-dimensional autofocus, spacetime-warping camera is strong (that temptation never actually goes away), but there's a better way to go about things. This great video examines how to think about buying your first real camera.
Have you ever been curious about what it is like to work with professional models and the process of matching your talents behind a camera with an agency’s catalog of models, but never really knew where to start? Here's a great how-to about getting started with working with a professional modeling agency.
There’s a slew of backdrop options out on the market today for you to choose from. Sometimes, those options don't always fit your vision, whether because of budget or creativity. So, what do you do then? Why not make your own canvas?
Understanding how to use reflected light and negative fill are two of the most valuable lessons to learn as a photographer. Make sure you have these concepts in your photography arsenal.
What does photography mean to you? In this article, I share my story about how photography changed my life and my journey as an artist. See my ups, my downs, and see what it took me to get where I am today.
There’s infinite possibilities when it comes to photo lighting. Worry not, here’s a show-and-tell guide for many of the most popular flash modifiers.
When I spoke with photographer Anthony Manieri, he was sitting at home in the middle of editing images from a routine event before preparing to fly to Los Angeles to do another shoot for a personal project that has been more successful than he ever anticipated. He didn’t expect a one-off shoot to turn into a personal project taking him around the world creating portraits of diverse, mostly gay men to promote positive body imagery.
You're trekking across Scotland and you come up to a waterfall that's screaming to be photographed. In your mind, you already know you want that beautiful, streaky, long-exposure water. As luck would have it, you're hungry, shaky, and your tripod is enjoying a day off in your Airbnb. What's next?
If you are anything like me, the latest and constant changing Instagram and Facebook algorithm is on your last nerve. Do you recall the last time you said, "Oh cool, a new Instagram algorithm!" or anticipated positive changes coming from the social media giant?
I had originally been using a simple program called NameChanger to rename all my files before importing them to Lightroom, but ever since I realized that Lightroom had all the controls that I needed for setting up custom naming sequences for my files, this is all I use anymore. Here's how you find and use it. It's pretty simple.
These days there are a million things that you need to juggle simultaneously as a working photographer. You need to be managing your website, social media, and constantly be replying to emails. We tend to forget the actual craft of photography and most importantly telling your story with light.
There are several different methods for tethering during a photo session and there are multiple methods for organizing one’s archives. But my gradual progression to a Capture One driven universe has immensely streamlined my photography process and boosted my business.
Being connected to your devices may not always be practical for editing, especially when traveling. Smart previews can help you edit on the go but also free up your storage as well. With the WPPI conference fast approaching this is the best time to create your previews and let your external hard drives stay put at the house.
