Art is subjective, but the professional world of commercial photography is far less so. With this in mind, how do you work out if your work is good enough to make it as a professional photographer or one day will be?
Back before we had spectacularly capable modern sensors and advanced post-processing programs, photographers had to turn toward more involved techniques for reducing noise, and those methods are still useful today. This particular technique can both reduce noise in your images and help you create long exposures in post, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how it is done.
A frequent refrain among photographers is that the area around their home is just too boring to photograph. Here are a couple of ideas to help you find engaging and meaningful photographic projects in locations that feel completely uninspiring.
In a previous article (Easing into Astrophotography with a Telescope), I listed a few resources for stepping up to telescopic astrophotography. Beyond learning the basics of sky navigation and learning to extend your photographic equipment knowledge into long exposures, an introductory overview of astronomy is a good idea so that you are aware of the photographic possibilities available to you and the wide array of equipment that may be needed.
Starting in any new genre of photography can be daunting. Each comes with its own challenges, and landscape photography is no different. If you are a beginner landscape photographer and looking to get started with it, check out this helpful video tutorial that will give you a basic three-step process for creating images.
Dynamic range is one of the most fundamental properties of a camera sensor and one of the leading specs photographers are concerned about these days. What is it, though, and why is it so important? This great video tutorial will introduce you to the concept and show you its practical consequences on your images.
Going too far with an edit is something we have all been guilty of at some point, and it is something for which the temptation never quite disappears. Here are seven signs you have taken that edit of your landscape image from refined to gaudy and what you can do to fix or avoid the issue.
Mirrorless hasn't only won the battle, it's won the war. Last year — 2020 — was a landmark as more mirrorless cameras were shipped than DSLRs. It is the primary design choice for manufacturers and is therefore the future of the camera. However, the future of photography undoubtedly lies with the smartphone.
Once you try this mouse from Logitech, it is likely that your Wacom tablet will be pushed to the back of your desk to gather dust. With 20 fully programmable buttons, including a clickable scroll wheel that also tilts either way, the level of functionality reached with this mouse is unmatched by any mouse or peripheral device on the market. Not to mention, it's budget-friendly!
Do you have a photo that you found totally amazing until you noticed something in the background that ruined everything? If you do, you’re not the only one. When shooting a subject, always keep an eye on your background.
If like me, you have always wanted to be a commercial photographer, then having a good agent is a really important part of this. However, there are far more photographers than there are agents, so how do you get one?
Follow along with this tutorial to discover how to transform lifeless color photographs into black and white fine art photos in just nine simple steps with Photoshop CC.
The vast majority of landscape photos are only half done once the shutter has been pressed; a lot of the image is created in the edit, both from a technical standpoint and in adding your personal style. As such, it is important to be aware of where things can go wrong, and this excellent video tutorial details one of the most common mistakes and what you can do to avoid it.
When it comes to landscape photography, there is always some room for improvement, but without new approaches, you may feel as though you've plateaued. These five tips can help you approach your landscape photography in new ways.
Gaining a strong grasp of lighting is essential not only to producing technically competent photographs but for developing a personal creative style as well. If you are struggling a bit to get up and running, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you a versatile and effective portrait lighting setup that is useful for a wide variety of scenarios.
For the majority of photographers, their website is the central hub through which potential clients will find and decide whether or not to hire them. And so, it is important to put a lot of careful thought into your website, as it can make or break the success of your business. This excellent video tutorial discusses some mistakes beginners make with their websites and how to fix or avoid them.
Few things are more important to making a successful landscape photograph than a clear and compelling composition. If that is something you struggle with, the great video tutorial will show you a helpful technique to ensure you create a good composition every time you head out with your camera.
Landscape photography often takes a wide variety of accessories to produce a finished image, and it is easy to forget them or get bogged down by the cost of it all. This awesome video tutorial will show you a range of hacks and useful techniques to make it easier to take photos and explore your creativity a bit more.
Zeapon Sliders are relatively new to the market. The original Zeapon slider proved to be an interesting and popular option; however, it wasn't without its flaws. Since its release, the company has worked hard to produce something more stable and capable, and we now have the Zeapon micro 2 motorized sliders. This new slider could be the best one on the market.
When it comes to landscape photography, being able to control and fine-tune the colors in your images is crucial to creating better edits and adding more of your personal creative identity. One effective and fun way to do that is through the use of the HSL panel, and this helpful video tutorial will show you how it's done.
An image isn’t just about a subject, such as a model, or the clothes or hair or makeup. A huge aspect of image-making is the setting or set design.
If you're not exploring all the possibilities that modern digital editing software offers you then you're letting potential earning opportunities pass you by. This article explores how you exploit different markets with single images.
Manual mode is often held up as the standard measure of a professional photographer, with semiautomatic and automatic modes thought of as crutches upon which a truly competent shooter would never lean. But the truth is far from that black and white; in fact, many professionals frequently use semiautomatic modes like aperture priority and auto ISO. So, when is each appropriate, and when should you switch to manual? This great video discusses just that.
There is often talk about how great smartphone cameras are now — and I'm one of the people saying it — but with modern apps, they are so much more than their camera for photographers. Here are 10 apps that can improve and aid your videography.
If you're a photographer constantly on the go, the gear you carry with you plays a crucial role. In addition, as technology improves and the demand for quality content increases, we continue to consolidate our gear and fit everything we need into a small backpack.
Making a living in an oversaturated marketplace can be a challenge even without a global pandemic present to further shrink the marketplace. It takes a lot of tools, even some unexpected ones, to make it the distance.
Time-lapses are a right of passage for photographers, but they're an incredibly deep area. While a basic time-lapse is fairly straightforward and achievable with just a modern camera, more complex, cinematic productions require some know-how in both camera setup and post-production.
There are countless ways to spend money, especially when you're starting out. Camera companies do a very good job of selling you gear, some of it you’re not even sure you need. Here are 5 things I wish I bought when starting out in photography.
If you're a wedding or event photographer, chances are, you've encountered mixed lighting situations. Though mixed lighting can be used creatively, there are times when it just isn't ideal. Today, I'll be walking through several examples of mixed lighting conditions with solutions on how you can work around it on location or fix it in post-production.
Many photographers and artists say that your subject's eyes are the most important element in an image. But trying to enhance them or add a little eyeshadow can be very tricky. This tutorial will show you exactly how it's done and teach you great Photoshop techniques in the process.
Every photographer has been faced with the task of photographing subjects in front of beautiful sunrises or sunsets. Ideally, you'd have a light, but if you don't or the subject is too large to light, you're going to have to fix the image in post.
Self-publishing your own photobook has never been easier. This helpful video gives you some insights into how to create a platform for your product, choose a printer, take preorders, and get your book on sale.
Photographers often look for the "epic" shot — the one that will stand out, get thousands of social media likes, and get printed by our clients for wall art. While these photos are important, it's also essential to slow down and look for the other images in the scene that help tell a story and capture the vibe and emotion of the moment. In this video, we'll review a simple storytelling framework called "Wide, Medium, Tight" to help you find these opportunities.
No doubt, when you are first starting out as a photographer, it can be overwhelming trying to learn and master a huge range of things, including lighting, cameras settings, composition, creative style, post-processing, and more. As such, it can be easy to make mistakes in a lot of different places. This great video tutorial discusses 10 common mistakes newer photographers make and how to fix them or avoid them entirely.
Do you often return from a photography session or trip to upload your photos and immediately delete the bad photos from the set? While getting rid of the obvious blurry image can save you disk space, I find that deleting can sometimes do more harm than good. Had I culled my images right away I never would have created this photograph.
For me, August is a great month. The nights become longer and the Milky Way core is rising above the horizon again. But the highlight is the Perseid meteor shower. I have 10 tips for planning and photographing this annual event.
Ever find your distant objects such as mountains appearing much smaller than they should in your landscape photos? Perspective blending is a great solution that is actually quite easy to do.
I got a sneak peek at a pre-production version of the new Nikon Z fc and thought I’d share a handful of thoughts.
Unlike a lot of Europe, power lines in the United States are almost always above ground, and that can be annoying and ruin what otherwise might be a great shot. Luckily, for the most part, they are not particularly hard to edit out of an image, and this helpful video tutorial will show you how to quickly take care of them using Lightroom.
If you're like most photographers, you think there are three factors affecting depth of field. In that case, you would be incorrect - there are indeed four factors affecting depth of field. Do you know what they are?
As photographers, it is easy to get caught up on what is in the middle of the frame and ignore what may fall on the edges. But, the edges can actually have a surprising impact on how successful your compositions are, and being more purposeful about that part of the image can really improve your photographs!
You probably traditionally think of dodging and burning as something used mostly for sculpting facial features in portraits, but at its core, dodging and burning is about shaping light and is thus applicable in any genre. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to can use it to add more dimension to your landscape photos.
When it comes to portrait photography, one of the most important choices you will make is the focal length you will use, both because it determines the overall look of the frame and because separate focal lengths can render your subject in drastically different ways. This great video takes a look at three of the most common focal lengths, 85mm, 100mm, and 135mm, to help you decide which is right for you.
Landscape photography and camping seem almost meant for each other, especially if you want to capture things like a sunrise or early morning fog. So, if you are headed out for such a trip, what do you need to pack? This excellent video tutorial features a seasoned landscape photographer discussing what he packs on overnight trips.
Green can be a particularly unflattering color to have present in the skin, as it can make people look rather sickly. If you shoot portraits outdoors, it will often appear in the subject's skin. Luckily, it is not particularly hard to correct, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to fix it quickly and effectively using Photoshop.
Chromatic aberration is by far one of the most common lens issues you will have to deal with, particularly with cheaper lenses or wide-aperture primes, and it can be quite distracting if not addressed. Thankfully, most post-processing programs can handle it quite easily nowadays. This awesome video tutorial will show you how to quickly and easily remove chromatic aberrations with just a few clicks using Lightroom.
Photoshop offers a huge range of ways to make selections for extracting parts of a frame or creating layers masks, each appropriate for different situations. The Select and Mask workspace offers a very straightforward and powerful method for tackling a variety of tricky selection scenarios, and this helpful video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to get the most out of it.
In landscape photography, some locations are just tricky to shoot, even if their photographic potential is plainly obvious. And while it is tempting to just pack it up and move to the next location, before you do that, try returning to the basic principles and working the scene to get as many compositions as possible. This great video tutorial discusses getting the most out of a location.
A one-light portrait setup may seem simple, but it needn't be. There are so many different ways to manipulate artificial light that even if you limit yourself to just one, you can create a plethora of different, interesting looks. Here are twenty-one different lighting setups for you to try.
The ideal situation is to take a photo that requires no editing whatsoever. But those shots are few and far between. In most cases, it's important to edit photos in order to develop them properly, but how long is too long when it comes to image editing? I'll be taking a look using Lightroom.
