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Playing with shadows is not a new concept however in the boudoir community is has become a beautiful new trend. A recent group competition brought many boudoir photographers into the sight of this staff writer. One photographer in particular stopped the show with some moody light that won us over.

Over the past few years and into the future, our Photo of the Day feature continues to be a cornerstone of Fstoppers. Featured on the front page as well as being published out over our Twitter and Instagram accounts, Photo of the Day’s goal is to give enthusiastic attention to the creative talent found throughout the Fstoppers Community.

In the digital age you as a photographer are expected to be familiar and knowledgeable with Photoshop. It can be argued back and forth if this is right or wrong and whether Photoshop is ruining photography.

When I began photography I didn’t understand the importance of lighting and the difference makeup has on an image. Looking back, if I would have first understood and attempted to master the techniques behind makeup, I would have understood the proper way to light my subjects when photographing them. 

As photographers we face challenges day in and day out, but one of the toughest facets of the job is posing our subject. Regardless of experience, when a model steps in front of your lens for the first time he or she will expect some direction. It’s up to you to give that proper guidance, otherwise your images will just come up short.

In Part One of this series, we began writing our business plan by focusing on the nuts and bolts of our business. In this section, we will start to expand on those roots and add to the "what" by knowing our "why". 

Getting your prints to look exactly how they should is a constant battle for many photographers. Minimize the amount of time and money wasted on reprinting by downloading these free templates and using a traditional technique borrowed from the darkroom. 

Gaining followers on social media can be an entire business in itself with numerous guidelines to optimize your chances of being noticed. One of those rules is to post steadily with constant content. So what happens when you post consistently for a month? I tried it and here are the results.  

For a lot of us who are chasing a career in photography, we soon come to a bit of a pinch point. We have thrown all our money into cameras, computers, lenses, and lights, so our house is a mess of kit clutter. Here's how to build your own dedicated studio. 

There are many ways to change the color of an object in Photoshop, but in certain instances, these methods fall short of accomplishing your goal. This video provides an in-depth tutorial on the best ways to change a color in any situation. 

One of my recent articles was on how developing a niche can help you make more money from photography. I received a lot of emails and questions over the next week and a strand that run through almost all of the contact was about making the transition to full-time professional.

This is the third part of The Ultimate Guide to the Dodge & Burn Technique. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 where we talked about the fundamentals and tools. Today we finally get to one of the actual setup variations for the Dodge & Burn technique in Photoshop. But before we begin, I'd like to share a few words of caution with you.

Whether you’re using Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, or any other raw-processing software, odds are, the default settings aren’t right for you. By taking just a few minutes to consider what you typically shoot, you can save yourself hours in processing and create better-looking images. 

Nude photography is a very complex subject, one that can be viewed from thousands and thousands of points of view. The final product can range from what most would consider straight-up porn to what many would think to be fine art. But why do people on both sides of the camera do it? 

Creating selections and masks in Photoshop is a crucial part of any advanced editing workflow. Learn all there is to know about it with this video by Stefan Kohler. 

Consistent photo editing can be a huge factor in ensuring that your brand is cohesive. Knowing how to achieve consistency on a regular basis is a handy tool every photographer should have in their skill set. 

Working with professional models, those who know exactly what moves to make and how to position their bodies, can be a rewarding experience. However, it's one that most of us don’t have the pleasure of on a regular basis. In this video, you’ll learn some great tips for making your everyday client look and feel like a pro. 

In this video, Sorelle Amore gives tips on posing for photos by posing herself. She shows on camera what the various ways are to create angles, lines, and curves that are more appealing and flattering than just standing there.  

Some days, the light just doesn't cooperate to give you that beautiful blue sky in the background of an image. But your subject may be so compelling, you know you have to fix that sky to make elevate your image from mundane to impressive. You could always replace the sky in Photoshop, but there may just be an even easier way to do it using the Black and White Filter. 

Workflow can be a make or break situation in how your business is run. Spending all your time with file naming, culling, or unproductive backup techniques can create not only time constraints but also a negative relationship with your images after your shoot. Following some quick and easy workflow tips will get you back on track and more importantly back to shooting. 

"How did you retouch that?" This is the common question I see most when I post my images online. Unfortunately, answering that question directly won't get photographers any closer to being able to replicate that style on their own. In order to broaden the dialog here are five things you must understand if you want to get skin looking beautiful in your portraits. 

As you can imagine I spend a lot of time in Photoshop. And when you spend as much time in Photoshop as I do, you want to work as fast and efficiently as you can. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot of keyboard shortcuts. Knowing keyboard shortcuts is crucial in creating a faster more efficient post-production workflow. 

Some photographers like that soft, ethereal feel as they specifically seek out types of plastic to stick in front of the lens, or even go so far as to buy defocus control lenses and LensBabies that will allow them to distort an otherwise true image. That has its value. But this isn’t for that.

When retouching, it is not rare to come across color problems on a model’s skin. Whether it is from a sun tan, dodge & burn, spots or skin discoloration issues, it can be really painful to treat it in post.

Artificial lighting can be overwhelming, there are thousands of options to modify one single light source and there are dozens of companies that claim they have the best product and best bang for your buck.