Many of us photographers rely on solid-state drives to store our important images. Did you know these types of drives only have a limited life span? Here's how to check how long your current drives have left on them before they urgently need replacing.
When I started out in photography, I didn't even know that ad agencies were a thing. To be honest, I didn't know a lot at all. However, over the years I have picked up a few tricks that will hopefully help you.
For some time now, I've been hearing that straight photography is dead. Well, dying anyway.
Taking the leap into photography as a career can be a terrifying prospect, but on the other hand, some of us are simply not happy stuck in the tedium and repetition of a more traditional 9 to 5. This inspiring video essay discusses one man's journey from a 9-to-5 job in IT to professional astrophotography.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has leapt into photography, and as usual, Olympus cameras lead the way with these new technologies. Great for enticing new photographers into our art, it simplifies capturing images. However, as AI takes its first big steps into photography, will it boost overall sales?
Are you feeling a bit stuck lately and wondering how you can improve your images? Check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you 10 helpful tips for improving your work.
What comes to mind when you think about fashion photography? If you are aware of the stereotypes surrounding fashion, then it’s certainly something along the lines of young, sexy models in revealing clothes. In this article, I will try to explain why fashion is so much more than that.
RuPaul’s Drag Race is the Emmy-winning global phenomenon taking reality TV by storm. The show is in its 13th season but boasts several spin-offs including All Stars, as well as localized seasons in Canada, UK, Thailand, Holland, Spain, and Australia. Drag race, as it is called by fans, is a reality competition that challenges contestants to find the drag performer who possesses the perfect blend of charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent.
If like me, you were told to work out your overheads, how many days a year you plan to work, and calculate your fees from this, you have also been pricing your photography work incorrectly.
The Really Right Stuff PG-01 Compact Pano-Gimbal Head allows you to shoot multi-row panoramas without parallax. I bought one a couple of years ago and it's time to share my findings of this compact solution for panoramas.
Creative blocks and lack of motivation for picking up the camera happen to the best of us. While there are times it is best to just embrace the downtime and wait for inspiration to strike, more frequently, it is better to take active steps to push past the doldrums. It's important to find methods that work best for you, but there are a handful of tricks that I have found to be successful over the years.
When it comes to landscape and macro photography, sometimes, you need more depth of field than you can get in a single exposure. When that is the case, focus stacking can give you more depth of field and sharper images, and it is not a particularly difficult technique either! This helpful video tutorial discusses when and why you should consider using it and two different ways to do it in Photoshop.
A problem that many photographers face is being unhappy with their photos. This ends up running shoots and makes matters even worse. Some never fully experience the joy of creating that photography can bring.
Since Advanced Color Grading was introduced last year, color grading in Lightroom has been possible but has limitations. This great video tutorial will show you a simple Lightroom hack to allow much more precise control over your color grading inside Lightroom.
Photography is a language that can be used quite powerfully. Learning how to use elements of this language to create meaning will certainly improve your images. Check out this great video to delve into the five most common elements of this beautiful tongue – photography.
Sigma has just announced the new Sigma fp L mirrorless camera, and we've been testing it over the last week. On the surface, there aren't any differences between the new model and the original Sigma fp. However, take a closer look, and you may be surprised at what Sigma has managed to produce here with its latest model.
There is something special about seeing your work in print, and a particularly large print can be especially entrancing to behold. This great video tutorial will show you the process of creating a large print from shooting it to hanging it with plenty of helpful tips along the way.
If you've been trying to get some portraits of your furry friend but your images aren't quite cutting the mustard, then these seven simple techniques might be just the thing you need.
Recently, I was lucky enough to have a portfolio review with a photography agent. It was only my second review ever and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect — so when four agents from the one agency popped up in the Zoom meeting, I was a little intimidated. They were lovely and warm and welcoming though. I just wanted to knit them a hat.
So, you’re starting to think that you really want to grow and try something new with your photography, but don’t have the funds for a new camera? Well, there’s a good chance that you can make significant upgrades to your productivity without breaking the bank.
In this article, we’ll highlight a shortcoming of the exposure triangle, one that’s more a relic of film days than a modern requirement, and we’ll see how an exposure “V,” with just two legs, might actually afford us more flexibility and control over our images.
We all fall into creative ruts at one time or another; it is a natural part of photography. And it is not always an option to simply wait it out. So, what can you do? This great video tutorial discusses four different tips for breaking out of a creative rut and finding inspiration again.
Given the global pandemic of COVID-19 (and the year that shall not be named), I very quickly found out that I am indeed, contrary to previously held opinions, an extrovert (and not an introvert). But given the situation, I wasn’t photographing people. What could I make that would work well with the images I already create? I do quite a bit of fashion and beauty work, so why not products that go with those?
Photographers generally avoid on-camera flash whenever they can, but there are situations in which you will not have another option. For those situations, there are certain things you can do to make the light look more natural, and this helpful video tutorial will show you what they are.
There are a bunch of different ways to make your photos stand out: great light, gorgeous model, amazing locations, idealized retouching, but one that is often overlooked in favor of these less subtle approaches is color. We photographers tend to schedule a shoot, show up, capture what's there, and pat ourselves on the back for our genius, but what goes into the shoot before we schedule it can be just as important to the end result as what we do with our lights or our camera. Let's look at an example from my work for Lifetime. No lights. No reflectors. Just color.
Portraiture is about much more than simply capturing someone in a pleasing pose with good lighting; it takes a certain amount of creativity to make images that distinguish your work from the crowd. This excellent video tutorial discusses how to make your portraits more creative.
Sky replacement is one of the biggest trends right now, with many programs offering replacement capabilities at varying degrees of automation. Photoshop recently added a powerful sky replacement feature, and though it does not handle water reflections automatically, it is not that difficult to add them manually, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you how it is done.
Photography is a complicated pursuit, requiring the confluence of a myriad of different skills and your creative vision to find success. This fantastic video gives 15 tips on a range of topics that will help you become a better photographer.
Lighting modifiers are a necessary tool for working with artificial light, but they can be quite expensive, and building a library can quickly drain your wallet. However, the humble umbrella is highly affordable, and you might be surprised by the shots you can create with them. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to create professional profits using an umbrella.
While I agree that a great photographer can create incredible images using basic tools, it is no secret that great tools can help a good photographer achieve greatness. Over the last year or two, new strobes, new lenses, and a plethora of modifiers have helped elevate my studio photography to new levels, but one tool has brought it to a new level more than anything else: painted backdrops. And so, I wanted to share some resources on how to get painted backdrops without putting a second mortgage on your house.
One of the most rewarding yet mysterious elements of landscape photography is seeing the results of a long exposure. A few weeks ago, I had the chance to check out a new set of filters that mount using magnets, and the resulting photo is pretty interesting.
Your portfolio is your calling card for potential clients and the thing by which they will decide if they want to hire you. This excellent video tutorial will give you five tips for improving your portfolio.
When you think of landscape photography and the lenses used, you likely think of wide angle options meant to capture all of the scene in one frame. And while those absolutely have their place, longer focal lengths can enable creative possibilities that weren't possible before. This great video examines what you can accomplish with a longer lens.
Roberto Valenzuela is a Canon Explorer of Light and is constantly pushing himself and others to learn the possibilities of light. In a recent project, he set out to take images of a single model with three different types of light (natural, flash, and strobe), and I asked him to talk us through the results.
The background is an element of a scene that's easy to overlook, but it has huge power over the final image. Here are two of the best backgrounds for accentuating skin tones in your portraits.
Having a stressful week? Just want to gawk at gear? These videos will push your ASMR buttons and might actually be interesting.
If you don’t have a ton of fancy lighting gear at home, this doesn’t mean that you can’t produce gorgeous studio-style images. This in-depth video tutorial shows you how to get great results using minimal equipment from the comfort of your own garage and dives deep into how they're edited in Lightroom.
No doubt, it is fun to learn about cameras, lenses, and editing techniques, and learning how to properly use a C-stand or clamp might not be as immediately alluring, but it is just as important when it comes to working in a studio and accomplishing what you need to. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to use a variety of common studio equipment effectively.
When it comes to photography, or any business really, sometimes you need to pivot in order to succeed.
Strobe lighting can seem quite daunting for the uninitiated, but once you get past any fear you might have and just dive into it, it really isn't that complicated. This straight-to-the-point introduction to strobe lighting is a great place to start.
The high-key look is quite popular in a variety of applications, as it produces a bright, punchy image that instantly draws the viewer's eye to the subject. You do not always need powerful strobes to achieve it, however. In fact, you can do it with nothing more than natural light from a window and a constant LED source, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how it is done.
Adverse weather conditions can make shooting more difficult, but can also yield more interesting and attractive images. Here are some tips for photographing wildlife in the rain.
Let's face it, most of us dislike spending time on culling. Luckily, a new culling plugin has been released and the best thing is that it's currently available for free!
Seascapes can be a great alternative to standard landscape images and a way to use the motion and energy of the water to offset stationary objects and create more dynamic visuals for your viewers. This excellent video tutorial will show you a landscape photographer's experience from his point of view as he shoots seascapes.
Twenty years ago, tripods were necessary for any sort of long exposure. Today, though, lenses and cameras can offer insane levels of stabilization of sometimes up to eight stops. With those capabilities, do you even need a tripod anymore? This interesting video poses that question and covers the times where you may or may not need one.
Photography is expensive, and often, you get what you pay for. However, there are some great modifiers for your lights to be had for under $100.
Virtually everyone who has started a photography business has asked themselves this question. The short answer is "it depends," but this video gives you five solid questions you can ask yourself if you need to make the all-important decision.
Though many shots are properly exposed from corner to corner, there are times where you want a darker scene, particularly if you're simulating nighttime. Here are five techniques for doing just that.
Automotive photography is attractive to us petrol-heads, but it's not the easiest genre to get into. Here are ten tips for taking better pictures of cars and motorbikes.
After multiple attempts to capture sunrise or sunset and not getting the conditions I wanted, I decided I was going to take photos no matter what the conditions were, forcing myself out of my comfort zone and pushing myself to be a better photographer.
