Yesterday, we talked about five common mistakes beginner photographers make. Now, let's talk about five common mistakes professional photographers make.
We are all unique people, but there are some mistakes that almost every new photographer makes at some point. Here are five common mistakes to watch out for in your own work.
An email I received this week stopped me in my tracks. For two things so important to me — mental health and photography — I don't do enough to discuss it. So, I'm going to change that.
We spend a lot of time discussing camera gear and the like, but given the amount of time we spend at our computers for our work, it is also worth talking about ways to make our lives easier in our office, whether that is at home or in a dedicated studio. Here are six things that make my office life easier and more enjoyable.
I worked hard when I first started in photography to become competent both behind the camera and when interfacing with clients, but a subtle error I was making worked against me for a long time until I realized how to fix it. Here is why learning how to think more like a client can improve your work.
The Detail panel in Lightroom often does not get as much attention as it should, with many photographers opting to leave it at its default settings. However, it can make an appreciable difference in your final images, and this great video tutorial will show you everything you need to know for using to sharpen your photos.
In this video, I talk about my rejection rate for jobs and my ethos on pricing and price matching. I also go over a real-life quote that I sent off and got rejected for and give a breakdown as to why this happened.
The bane of many photographers' existence over the last couple of decades has been endless hours spent creating complex masks in Photoshop using the Pen tool. Unmesh Dinda of PiXimperfect shows you how much faster your workflow can be with the Select Subject tool, which was recently updated in the latest version of Photoshop.
Just about every photographer experiences those moments where they decide their photograph would be better suited monochromatic. How and when to convert it can make a critical difference.
There are loads of articles and videos about how to grow your Instagram following, but that doesn't directly correlate to getting more work. In this video, I go over how I use Instagram to get booked for ad campaigns.
Commercial photography is notoriously hard to get into. In this video, I go over my complete workflow for shooting commercially viable portfolios from inception, through the shooting process, and into post-production.
Creating imagery that’s “brandable” is part of many working photographer's bag of skills but still takes some know how with lighting, posing, and while creating a human connection to excel at a high level with consistent results. Let’s dive into how we can make our commercial and branding imagery simply while also growing our network and earning new clients in the process.
Hard drives fail, computer programs get corrupted, and companies have data losses from time to time. If you rely on Adobe to keep all your files and settings safe, then you may be in for a shock if things go majorly wrong. Make sure you have the following four items manually backed up while you still can.
No matter whether you’re using an older crop sensor DSLR, a newer full frame mirrorless, or a vintage film camera, you can most likely get a ton of resolution out of your photographs with this one trick.
There definitely is not a single road to success but coming from the 40-year experience of this veteran advertising photographer, there are definitely things you should keep in mind for a successful career.
When you are shooting portraits, you are probably focusing the majority of your attention on posing, and it can be easy to fall into somewhat plain compositions. This great video will give you seven quick tips along with lots of examples that will improve your compositions and reinvigorate your portraits.
I'm tired of Instagram, and I'm guessing you walk a similar path. The platform that was built on photography and promoting good imagery is exhausting for photographers. While I'm not certain what the end-game of Instagram is, it seems user experience for the creators is not at the top of the list. That's why I created a method that heightens my own user experience, and I'm sharing it with you.
Being good with a camera is just one of many skills you need to successfully earn money as a photographer. This excellent video explores the skill every financially successful photographer has and why it is such a crucial thing.
I'm always on the hunt for new equipment that could make my life a little easier and my workflow smoother. Find out the next best purchase you can make for your studio today.
Landscape photographers commonly prefer to get as much of the frame in focus as possible for maximum sharpness. Focus stacking is a common and useful technique for accomplishing this, and this excellent video will show you how to do it using Photoshop.
The big problem with trying to constantly come up with content for social media is that it can consume a lot of time and energy. Here's a better way to do it.
Photography is full of hundreds of terms. Here are 30 of the most important to know.
Wireless devices have become a part of our daily life and work. As someone who uses them professionally, I decided to measure their electromagnetic radiation to see if they are a threat to my health. The results may be interesting to you.
With Lightroom's new update being the main recent talking point among Adobe photography users, it still might be worth checking out some of the fundamentals of the powerful application. Here's a video detailing the four main view modes besides the Grid view in the Library module — with a bonus explanation of metadata filters at the end.
When it comes to post-production, many photographers often get a wee bit trigger-happy on the saturation and vibrance sliders. But how does an extremely popular photographer approach saturation in Lightroom?
In this video tutorial watch, as I show you how to change a bright saturated color to black in minutes.
Composition is one of the first lessons most photographers take seriously and its power over the quality of your images is undeniable. However, the "one composition to rule them all" mindset that is prevalent in photography is both limiting and boring.
Photographers spend a ton of time working on their technical and creative skills both with their cameras and in their post-processing. But the most important skill you can have as a professional has nothing to do with either of those.
With the wide theatrical release of "The Picture Of His Life" just a few days away, I thought it might be interesting to create a list of some of the best documentaries about photography and photographers ever made. What are your favorites?
Storing seamless paper rolls in your home or studio is always a bit of a task, especially once the collection has grown over the years. Although there are off-the-shelf options, I found that this simple $20 build does a great job.
You'll often hear people talking about your photography style, but what does that mean? Does it matter in how you book jobs or how much you can charge? How does one even find their photography style, and why is it important?
Olga Tenyanin is a boudoir photographer based out of Vancouver, Washington, but she’s also been a social media manager for years, and she’s got a few tips to help photographers tame the social media monster.
We have all done it. It doesn't matter how long you have been a photographer; at some point, you will take the perfect shot, but the flash will not fire, you will have slipped and moved the shutter speed, or any manner of blunders. Here is how I fix them.
When it comes to portrait and fashion photography, posing a someone who isn't a model can be one of the hardest things to learn. How do you succinctly tell someone to move how you want them to in order to get the shot?
If you're a landscape or architectural photographer, you're probably quite used to using filters to control the look of your images. A good polarizing filter, for instance, can have a dramatic impact on your image. Portrait photographers, for the most part, tend not to use a lot of filters, and this could an area where they could experiment more.
I guess we all know the feeling of not being in the mood to create stunning images. But what can we do when this temporary state becomes permanent?
If you have never had the chance to shoot portraits with color gels, then this quick tutorial will let you achieve similar results in Photoshop.
Working as a commercial photographer during the COVID-19 pandemic requires a healthy dose of creativity, and commercial photographer Kate Woodman, known for her conceptual images and mastery of color, is using that creativity to navigate how she can still be a viable resource to the industry while keeping an eye toward the future.
In this video, I go over how I price local and small commercial photography jobs. The video covers day rates, license fees, and how they differ from bigger jobs.
Photography has changed as a profession. In this video, I go over how I make my money as a photographer, including a full breakdown of my income streams and what percentage of my income they comprise.
If you struggle with the different concepts of composition, this in-field tutorial might be something for you.
The HSL panel is by far one of the most powerful ways to edit your photos in Lightroom and to develop a signature style. If you are a bit unsure of how to use the HSL panel in Lightroom, this fantastic video tutorial will get you up and running in no time.
Light painting a car can be tricky to get right and difficult to know exactly what steps to take in camera. This video shows you the complete process, from garage space through to finished (and frankly brilliant) image.
A lot of beginner photographers hear the advice that professionals only shoot in manual mode and that it is a necessary method for becoming truly adept with a camera. And while there is certainly some truth to the benefits of using manual mode, you might be surprised just how often professionals use various semi-automatic modes, and this great video discusses why and how they can benefit your own work.
While it's important to get things right at the source, if you've made that age-old mistake of not changing your camera settings before taking the shot, is it possible to recover the photo? Or is it destined for the recycling bin?
In this video I show you around my commercial food photography studio. This is very much a place to create and steps away somewhat from the pristine white, minimalist set up to complete and utter (organized) chaos.
This may be something that is obvious for some, but I noticed how many starting photographers struggle when it comes to understanding the relationship between resolution, detail and shutter speed, and how these things effect each other. This article is for those photographers.
Portrait photographers are told time and time again that their goal is to somehow bring a subject's soul, as Godard would phrase it, to life. Is this just myth? Is it even possible? Can you manipulate what aspects of a person's personality are highlighted in a portrait?
The tone curve is by far one of the most versatile, efficient, and powerful adjustment tools in Lightroom, and mastering it can take you a long way to better image edits and more creative control. If you are unfamiliar with the tool, this fantastic video will show you not only you can use it to adjust things like shadows and highlights, but how it can also be used to color grade an image.
Are you starting to book in clients for when the lockdown restrictions are lifted? Why not give your posing technique a quick refresh before photographing people again?
