Too often portrait photographers obsess with key and fill lighting, and forget about the light that illuminates the background or rear of a subject. In this piece I discover the power of using the back light as my main light source.
It is a fairly commonly perpetuated myth that professional photographers only ever shoot in manual mode, but you might be surprised by just how often even top shooters use semi-automatic modes. This great video discusses the myth of always using manual mode and why it can work against you.
The LensPen has been around a long time, and you've seen it under a variety of brand names that act as OEMs for the original product. I had never used one, but often read about it. I was sent the original model (the NLP-1) for testing.
Playing with gels is always a fun time, join me as I break down how I got this photo of Toronto model and photographer Sam Yang.
If you enjoyed reading about mind-blowing photography facts, here are 10 more that you will find fascinating.
Sony and the Associated Press just announced a new exclusive partnership, giving Sony a firm lead in the race to be considered the industry standard for photography and videography. Sony will begin distributing equipment including the full frame mirrorless Alpha series, 4K XDCAM, and a wide variety of lenses and accessories to journalists around the world.
At some point, we all mess up a photoshoot. It is part of being a photographer. However, when money comes into play, it can really complicate things. This is how I feel we should deal with the cost of reshoots in various situations.
Editing landscapes can revolutionize an image that didn't quite pan out how you had intended, or bring out all the best features that did. Here are five tips that can dramatically improve your landscapes.
Having photography as your full-time job is desirable for many. But what's it really like to start one from scratch?
When it comes to getting started in photography, one of the most complicated things for people to wrap their heads around is "stops of light." This phrase only leads to more confusion when paired with the aperture numbers, shutter speed, ISO, and how they form the mysterious exposure triangle. But this is the easiest way I have seen to understand it all.
Street photography is a particularly tough genre to achieve success in: it takes a combination of a quick eye, good instincts, and a dose of bravery, and even then, a little luck certainly helps. Personally, I think that even with that taken into account, a lot of street photography is simply bad photography and exploitative of the subjects.
It can be intimidating when you see some behind-the-scenes photos of studio setups, and there are multiple lights everywhere, and you only have one light. While sometimes, it does come in handy to have multiples, there is a lot you can do with only one light. Could you do a high-key portrait with only one light?
For photographers, inspiration comes in many forms: some from abstract thoughts, some from life experiences. When inspiration isn't as forthcoming, it's helpful to look at those photographers who forged their own creative paths.
You may or may not be able to shoot as much as you'd like right now, so why not polish your compositing skills in Photoshop. This tutorial shows you how to create a fantasy image from start to finish.
If you have not realized it yet, Comet NEOWISE is on the night sky. This is a big event for astrophotographers and photography enthusiasts alike.
There are lots of reasons why you might want to change the color of someone's eyes in post-processing. Thankfully, it is not a particularly hard thing to do convincingly, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to do it using Photoshop.
Two 10-stop filters put through their paces side by side. Both advertise they do the same thing but are they really the same? In short, yes and no, but mostly no. You'll be interested in the reasons why.
The buzz around Canon's announcements has been electric and, frankly, invigorating. But before you dive into that riptide of gear acquisition syndrome, you need to ask some hard questions.
Most of us gravitate toward a few key features in cameras: things like ISO range, continuous burst rate, etc. Here are five camera features I think do not get enough credit.
This entire summer, I have been trying to include elements of water in many of my photoshoots. In today's behind the scenes video, I team back up with Krystal Xamairy and attempt to photograph her in a pool using a fish tank and a few strobes. The results are pretty interesting, to say the least.
If you've got one light sitting around, I challenge you to find three creative ways to use it. If you need help coming with ideas, that's where this helpful video comes in to play.
With medium format bodies more affordable than ever, but still much lighter on lenses than full frame, could one solution be to use lenses originally created for film bodies?
I’ve always loved the look and feel of the images created by photographer Julia Trotti and in this short video she runs you through her simple methods for creating a light and airy edit to give a very summer vibe using Lightroom.
In this video I look at if you need a studio to be a professional studio. From a traditional shooting studio through to a place for meetings and post production. I discuss different photographers requirements for a working space.
In striving to become a better photographer and business owner, I’m always trying to learn more about how others have found their way to success. I recently had the chance to speak with Natasha Gerschon about her journey. Gerschon was more than happy to share.
Going head-to-head with one of Sony’s best value lenses is a tough proposition, but Viltrox is taking it on with the 85mm f/1.8 FE STM II. This updated version is starting to appear on shelves and at just $400, it’s a very appealing prospect for those on a budget, especially when you consider that it might one day magically morph into an f/1.6 lens.
Whether you’ve worked with Photoshop for years, or are new to the program and want an updated approach to cloning, healing, and editing out distractions and issues, there’s been a number of updates that have challenged the old paradigm of editing in these situations. Want to know the new approach you should be using?
It's easy to pick up bad habits in anything you do, and photography is no different. Here are seven that you ought to check for and make sure they haven't crept into the way you work.
Portraiture can be a minefield for small but detracting mistakes that hinder an otherwise great shot. Here are eight common mistakes to avoid.
Do you find yourself stuck at home by yourself during quarantine, but still wanting to shoot high-quality content for your YouTube channel or clients? In this step-by-step video, learn how to do a two-camera interview style shoot without the help of any assistants or other people.
When it comes to camera tech, I find that a lot of the features incorporated into cameras are nice to have. But at the end of the day, they could disappear in the next model, and I'd be just fine. However, these five features have changed the way I shoot, and I could never live without them.
As working from home becomes the new normal, we have to think creatively about how to make it work. See how fashion photographer Emily Teague converted her living room into a fully functioning studio.
When you think of landscape photography, you often associate it with wide angle lenses. However, when you think of minimal and simple landscape photography, you often associate it with telephoto lenses. Can a wide angle lens be used to create minimalist landscape photos?
With the abundance of choices in lenses, why would you choose the humble walkaround lens?
Does a landscape photograph tell stories? In this course, landscape photographer Alister Benn goes through different tools in Adobe Lightroom that can help you express through your landscape images.
Photography is full of tradeoffs where you gain one thing in exchange for losing another. Here are five tradeoffs that every photographer should know.
Lighting people is a difficult but important skill to learn, and an additional complication is introduced when your subject wears glasses. This great video will show you how to eliminate distracting reflections in your subject's glasses while still creating flattering lighting.
One sign of a good photographer is their ability to make something out of nothing, and finding locations that work well for shooting fashion and portraits can be hard work — until you know how. Photographer Julia Trotti runs you through some great advice on how to find and create the perfect spot.
If you’re taking advantage of a few quiet months, creating — or perhaps revisiting — an online portfolio might be a good use of your time. In this video, photographer Evan Ranft has some great suggestions on how to put one together.
Sharpening images is a crucial step of every photographer's post-production, but with so many different ways to do it, which is the best?
I love looking at landscape photography, and I enjoy taking them too, though I am by no means a landscape photographer. That disconnect needed to be overcome, so I started experimenting.
Horses make for fantastic additions to a photo, whether you are taking pictures of a beloved companion or using them for a fashion shoot. However, I often see photographers treat horses like an afterthought in a photo, when they could make them look so much better with a little knowledge and practice. Here are 10 tips to improve your work with horses.
Should you get the 70-200mm or the 100-400mm telephoto zoom lens for landscape photography? That is a great question.
Last year I got to shoot my first national campaign for Absolut Vodka, it was an incredible, life-changing, experience.
The June update for Lightroom saw several quality of life changes. But one new features is excellent for controlling and altering colors in specific areas of your images. Here is how you use it.
Lightroom received a group of new features as part of Adobe’s latest Creative Cloud batch of updates, but one in particular stands out as a huge shift to how you work with the software. Want to know how to make it work for you?
Why do you feel it's OK to work without pay? Other occupations charge, and they charge handsomely for their expertise, but photographers are seemingly shy when it comes to money. Knowing this crowd, I'll need an obligatory qualifier: Not all photographers are shy, but a lot of them are.
New features added to Photoshop and Lightroom today might change how you edit your photos, but it entirely depends on what kind of images you make and what your current workflow is like. This is my review of the new features and whether you'll want to dive in or avoid them.
There are loads of tutorials out there for editing portrait photography, so I thought I would put together a reasonably comprehensive yet short guide to editing food photographs.
As you get more comfortable with editing, you’ll probably come across color spaces. Just picking a random color space to edit or export with can cause major issues with your photos, however. Want to know which color space to use and when?
