90% of people in the creative industries have worked for free. In the world of photography and filmmaking, it's not unusual to work for nothing in return for exposure, experience, and getting a foot in the door — to the frustration of others. Whether you're the one moaning or the one undercutting, check out these ideas for how we can make things better.
As I’m preparing to search for black bears to photograph, my personal safety has certainly come to mind a few times. When photographing wildlife, the combined safety of both ourselves and the species we are seeking out should be the top priority. In this article, I go over a few things to keep in mind when you head out into the great outdoors with your camera.
Today I'll be going over the NBP Ultrasharp plugin and how to use it for your workflow. Normally I am not too excited about new apps or plugins unless they really do provide something I couldn't previously do, or makes something I can already do faster and easier.
Bad light? No tripod? No problem. These techniques will help you get razor-sharp images without the need for perfect conditions or optimum gear.
About 1 billion people use Instagram each month, that’s 1/8th of the world population. The top four countries other than the United Sates are Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Russia. That’s a huge variety of languages, cultures and perspectives, yet the most followed people on Instagram are celebrities.
Lightroom is an intricate program full of hidden features and tricks that can both improve your images and make your workflow far more efficient if you know how to use them properly. This great video will show you five hidden features and tricks you might not have known about before.
People are constantly visiting me here in Arizona, and wanting me to point out the best places to take photos. Of course everyone wants to hit the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, and maybe Horseshoe Bend.
There is certainly quite a lot that you can accomplish with natural light, but you're at the mercy of the weather outside, and sometimes, adding a bit of flash can go a long way to augment the light at hand or to even reshape it entirely. This great video will show you some different ways to use a flash to create a variety of looks when you're shooting portraits outdoors.
Photoshop has numerous tools at its disposal that can perform a multitude of advanced functions, many of which are highly automated. But those automatic functions don't always perform perfectly, and sometimes, you'll need to fall back on a tried and true method: the Clone Stamp tool. This great video will show you exactly what you need to know about the powerful tool.
The photograph is a two-dimensional expression of a three-dimensional world. As photographers, part of our job is to ensure that the illusion of three-dimensions is given to the viewer where needed. There are myriad ways to do this, and we'll look at a few in this article today.
Posing professional models can be easy, but how do you get the best poses from someone who’s not used to being in front of the camera? Creating a rapport with your subject that puts them at ease is crucial, and having a small repertoire of posing options can be an incredibly useful part of the process.
Tan lines. They can make even the most seasoned retoucher want to scream in agony. Summer is near, but never fear; with just a few simple adjustments in Photoshop, those pesky sun-baked streaks can be swept out to sea like a mermaid at high tide.
Today, I begin a series of five articles going in depth into my experience shooting with the Fujifilm GFX 50S medium format mirrorless camera for an entire month.
One of the keys to you becoming the best photographer possible is working well in every season and using the different colors and moods to your advantage. Here's how to improve your photography during Spring.
If you're new to photography and you want to know how professional photographers get their colors looking the way they do, this video will show you how. Lightroom is a powerful photo-editing piece of software and also one of the most used across the photography industry.
Photography is a microcosm for the real world, and in many ways, it mirrors it. Here are my top five rules for life that I've transferred to photography.
I asked people in the industry what their unpopular photograph opinions are, and I got a lot of interesting answers. And some controversial ones.
Color is one of the most most versatile and expressive ways to shape your images to convey emotion, grandeur, or whatever it is you'd like your viewer to feel and see. This helpful video discusses seven ways you can both modify and improve the color in your landscape images.
When you think of astrophotography, you probably think of expensive equatorial mounts, pricey wide aperture lenses, and top-of-the-line full frame cameras with excellent high ISO performance. But if you don't own all of that and are interested in trying it out, you might find this great video tutorial quite helpful, as it'll show you what's possible with just a crop sensor camera and kit lens.
Studio backgrounds can be either expensive, boring, or both. However, with small adjustments you can make them look far more cinematic and interesting.
Michael Sasser sits down for a education filled interview with Victoria Caroline on how she successfully books twelve travel shoot in four nights. They discuss also what is important for copy writing on social media to engage with clients.
We've both heard statements like "I just need a few shots, that's it. I don't need it retouched" and it's frustrating.
V-flats are one of those studio tools that almost every photographer should have, as their price and versatility make them almost indispensable when working with artificial light. This helpful video will show you three separate beauty lighting setups using v-flats.
If you're stuck in a rut or just stuck inside on a rainy day, coming up with new ways to look at ordinary household objects is one way to expand your photographic mind.
One of the central principles we hear over and over in photography is the importance of pre-visualizing shots and planning one's work in advance. And while those are absolutely important, it's also just as beneficial to keep an open mind and to be willing to adjust to the conditions you've been given to come away with the best possible image.
As we've been discovering over the past few months, there are many options and choices when it's time to print your artwork. Today's paper is a rock star when it comes to unique yet subtle texture and really works wonders with your muted color palettes, so let's check it out.
Photography is a wonderful hobby, but for some, a hobby just isn't enough. Some of us get so infected with the craft that we instantly know we want to one day spend all our time on it. So what skills should a hobbyist photographer focus on?
Have you ever needed to shoot jewelry on location, like wedding rings during a wedding? Then you may know about the difficulties of acquiring a good image.
I've owned lots of image de-noisers over the years. I've used external apps, Photoshop/Lightroom plugins, and I've used the noise reductions controls built into Photoshop and Lightroom. They all work to some degree, but you wind up trading noise reduction for details, and I've never found a noise reduction aid that didn't have some rather large trade-offs. Increase the noise reduction and details suffer. Preserve the details and the noise reduction is not effective. Many of you know the drill.
When you talk about landscape photography, chances are, you associate it with wide angle lenses. Telephoto lenses are probably the least used in landscape photography, but they do have some fantastic qualities to them.
Sometimes, depending on your shooting environment, you might not be left with ideal lighting. This fun and educational video tutorial will show you some clever techniques to augment existing lighting to make the scene a bit more cinematic by using Photoshop.
Rules of composition seem to get a lot of flak. Really though, they are simply commonly appreciated methods of composition and certainly have a place in our repertoire. This is especially true while we learn the ropes.
Making the move to being pro is fraught with the anxieties of not having the right equipment. So what equipment do commercial photographers use? Being a commercial photographer is pretty much as vague a job description as being an administrative assistant.
Travel photography is mostly associated with exploration of wild, untouched spaces, but in my experience, most commissioned travel photography takes place in cities. This article provides five tips for getting started in urban photography.
We've all heard of saving less than perfect images by turning them black and white, but when should you really do it? Here's how I decide.
The DJI Mavic Air is known with is high pitch propellor noise, and now users have the option to replace those with low-noise props.
If you want to continue to grow as a photographer you need to have honest, real time feedback and yes, criticism. Sure, you can ask a friend maybe see if Mom wants to flip through your portfolio and you might get some feedback but more than likely you’ll get some “wow, that’s a cool shot” or “Honey! This picture is lovely!” but no really push back on your composition or lack of. So, go find a photo editor.
For many of us, marketing ourselves to potential art buyers, publications, and agencies is the stuff of nightmares. Cold calling is certainly one of the most feared.
If you're getting into business headshot photography, have you considered providing a brief list of tips that will not only improve the quality of the images but also make your job easier?
I enjoy taking headshots for people, and I shy away from the commercial, copy-paste, white background styles where the deliverable image is straight out of the camera. However, last month, I combined my preferred style of headshot with the number of subjects you'd typically see with a large corporate, straight-out-of-the-camera shoot. Here's what I learned.
When was the last time you put up the amount you charge for your photography? If the answer is never then you're not alone. Many of us struggle to ask for more money and even those who try are not always successful. The problem is that if you never increase your prices you'll be out of business before you know it. Here's how and when to start charging more.
Ever since I can remember I have been fascinated with photos, diagrams and rich visual communication. When I was at school I struggled massively with English, reading and writing and it was only in my 20s that I found out I was dyslexic. To this day I have only read three novels and that list includes Harry Potter (sorry!). But give me a photo book and I can spend hours looking at it, pondering over the photos, and trying to see why they look so good.
What happens when the sun is setting and you want to get a balanced exposure of the setting sun in the background and your subject? The reality is you can't without the use of a strobe and high speed sync. In this article, I’ll share with you how I was able to get a perfect exposure on my subject and the background using high-speed sync.
Finding new locations to shoot can sometimes be a challenge, especially when you don't live in the area. What can you do to improve your chances of finding those amazing photoshoot locations?
Landscape photography, for most, is an incredibly rewarding pursuit. Those rewards, however, don't typically come without good preparation and use of proper techniques.
Have you ever wanted to create a bright, sunny image, but it was rainy and overcast outside? In this article, see how I recreated the sun when I shot this edgy fashion editorial in my small home living room.
Learn how to use Photoshop to create a shallow depth of field or alter the existing depth of field in just about any image.
Commercial and fine art photographer Jan Gonzales was commissioned by Fujifilm Global to create a series of images using the GF 250mm f/4 telephoto lens for the Fujifilm GFX system.
Instagram has changed a lot in the past year with new algorithms, new content opportunities, stories, and live videos, just to name a few features. Although Instagram’s organic reach isn’t as great as it once was a few years ago, the platform can still be a key component of any photographer’s business. Here are seven tips to help photographers get more exposure on Instagram.
Food photography is a dark art and there seems to be an infinite number of tips and tricks to get the best results. Food photographer Skyler Burt has put together a list of six essential bits of gear that he takes on every single shoot, and some of them might surprise you.
