Post-processing is, in many ways, deeper and more complex than taking the photograph itself. While that provides greater creative control and room to maneuver, it also creates more pitfalls. Here are some crucial tips for post processing your images.
Lighting is absolutely crucial to creating a successful portrait, doing more than simply illuminating your subject, but also communicating, mood, intention, and much more. This fantastic video will show you nine different portrait lighting setups you should know.
Retouching a portrait in Photoshop often takes the use of a wide variety of techniques, all of which you must have a good grasp of to create a professional image. This fantastic video will show you how to use frequency separation, dodging and burning, color grading, and more to retouch a portrait in Photoshop.
Creating a portfolio is more than simply selecting pretty images. In this video, I go over three photographers' work who are at different levels and explain how they should build their portfolio and what they need to do to move up to the next level.
While most of us are sitting at home as non-essential personnel, many have come up with ways to keep the creativity flowing. Some are learning how to photograph wildlife, some leaning on their new love for macro, and some even testing out product photography for the first time. One photographer decided to test out some DIY options for products saving herself some money while she had the time on her hands.
Professional landscape photographers do a lot more than simply pack their bag and head out into the wilderness to find great shots. There is an impressive amount of careful planning that goes into most shoots that often leverages some very helpful modern tools. This excellent video will show you how to plan your own landscape shoot to give yourself the best chances of a successful outcome.
Flat lay photography is quite popular at the moment, as it is a versatile way to cleanly show off a range of items in a professional manner that nicely fits with a variety of visual styles. This excellent video tutorial will give you lots of helpful advice for taking better flat lay images.
Are you at a stage in your photography career where you would benefit from being represented by an agency? What are the things you should be aware of before you start sending out your portfolio?
As you advance in landscape photography, you'll likely come across techniques such as exposure blending or focus stacking. But what if you want to do both?
You don’t need a big studio, and you don’t need to travel to an exotic location to create incredible photos. All you need is a space to work in, even if it’s a small one.
With the COVID-19 lockdown in place across so much of the world, we photographers are catching up on admin and trying to figure out how to scrape any sort of income. If you don’t sell prints via your website, now’s probably a good time to get started, and this short video tells you how to avoid some basic mistakes.
Many countries around the world are now experiencing social distancing and practicing self-isolation, me (in the U.K) included. So I’m pledging to run a series of photography tutorials for those of us affected by these measures.
Considering that a fairly large portion of you may find yourself, like me, staying home due to current events, I thought it might be a nice moment to discuss one of the best ways you could be spending your time.
One thing I love the most about my job is to be able to work with hugely talented people in my team. It’s always so inspirational to be around them and never fails to serve as an outstanding learning opportunity.
Landscape photographers often aim to get everything from the foreground of a scene to the most distant elements in focus. Focus stacking is one of the most effective ways to accomplish this, and this helpful video will show you how to use it for your own work.
Not all of us work with professional models that can turn on the natural-looking poses when the lens is bearing down on them. Whether it’s Auntie Jean or an aspiring model-to-be, some people just don’t feel comfortable in front of the camera, and this often makes for awkward-looking portraits. So, here are five tips you can use on your next photoshoot to put them at ease and take better portrait photographs.
If you’re just new to photography and just bought your first camera, here are some important things to know about taking care of it.
Getting skin tones just right is a subtle but very important aspect of creating professional portraits and setting your work above that of others. Photoshop has lots of tools for working on skin tones, but if you want to keep everything in one application, this helpful tutorial will show you how to get great skin tones working solely in Lightroom.
A couple of months ago I was given the opportunity to photograph Korean-American stylist, lifestyle blogger, and digital influencer, Chriselle Lim for the cover of Female Malaysia magazine. It’s always exciting to be able to shoot a cover for a magazine, especially one that is the leading fashion and beauty magazine in Malaysia, and I particularly love photographing strong, successful women. Gotta be around these role models!
We do not always have the luxury of shooting in stunning locations, which can make it difficult to take great portraits. Nonetheless, you can still take compelling portraits even in drab locations with a little bit of know-how. This excellent video will walk you through the process as a photographer shoots in such a location.
Are you a photographer that owns a business or are you a business owner who offers photography? That realization can sometimes mean the difference between having a successful business or not. Here’s why you should stop photographing people as the sole subject of your imagery.
Being a master of your craft sometimes means taking exciting and memorable portraits in not-so-interesting locations and circumstances. Here are six simple tricks to help make your portraits more creative while removing distracting elements and creating more engagement.
The Fstoppers community is brimming with creative vision and talent. Every day, we comb through your work, looking for images to feature as the Photo of the Day or simply to admire your creativity and technical prowess. In 2019, we're featuring a new photographer every month, whose portfolio represents both stellar photographic achievement and a high level of involvement within the Fstoppers community.
Photography websites are here to stay, despite social media's best efforts. Having a website is really affordable and simple in 2020, but there are several faux pas that could be stopping your viewers from booking you.
The resolution of camera sensors is still increasing. Over the last decade it has grown from 3 megapixels to 50 megapixels and more. At first the increase in resolution was a significant one, but not anymore. Do we really need more resolution than the cameras that hit the market today?
Color grading is a pivotal step in putting the finishing polishes on an image and developing your own personal style. If you are new to the technique, this great video will show you how you can quickly and effectively color grade an image using the Levels tool in Photoshop.
Recently I was thinking about the year so far and noticed that my output for the year was down compared to other years. Why was this?
The rule of thirds is completely overrated. There, I said it. Nope, I am not going to take it back.
Ever felt a little overwhelmed at the prospect of creating a great image? Ever wonder why it seems to happen so rarely? Creating a great photograph that resonates with your audience is really complicated. But in this three-part series, we’re going to try to bring a little bit of order to that chaos!
A video recently posted by COOPH, “5 Photo Hacks with Your Umbrella,” provides photographers creative inspiration for a tool that is typically seen as single purpose. Chances are, you will finish it feeling inspired.
When I first started out in photography, one of the things I personally struggled with was producing sharp results consistently. There are a lot of factors that can cause your images to appear blurry or appear to lack detail. Over time, as you develop your experience, you can minimize the number of shots you take that aren't as sharp as one would prefer.
One of the things Photoshop sells itself on is automated tools, the tools where it uses AI or an algorithm to do the work for you.
There are numerous ways to edit the colors and tones of your images in Photoshop, each with its own benefits and drawbacks. This great video will show you a lesser-known technique that can help you achieve vivid, saturated images that still look natural by using a combination of selective color adjustment layers in Photoshop.
When you are new to artificial lighting, you might not have the equipment to tackle complex multi-light setups, but that does not mean you will not be able to produce professional results. This great video will teach you how to create professional portraits using just a single light.
Lightroom's Adjustment Brush and Spot Removal Tool have improved in leaps and bounds over the past few updates, opening the door to quicker, easier portrait retouching for photographers of all editing skill levels. Here are five steps to quick and easy portrait retouching in Lightroom.
Some of these photographers are well known in the industry, and others are climbing the ladder of recognition, but all of them have something incredible to offer the genre of fantasy photography.
Being a successful photographer or videographer requires a good understanding of the fundamentals, with perhaps nothing more foundational than the behavior of light. This excellent video will show you four fundamental aspects of light that you should definitely know.
Despite Instagram being dominated by beautiful, airy, bokeh ball-laden images of people looking happy, sometimes you just want to create something a bit darker. In this short video, Mango Street give you some basic tips for shooting indoors using natural light to achieve a moodier, more somber look to your photographs.
I never thought I would learn important lessons about selling my photographs from a six-year-old, but now that I have learned them, I think you should, too.
Have you ever had the feeling that something in your hotel room wasn't quite right? Or that someone, somehow was watching you? This will help guide you through the process of finding hidden cameras if they've been planted in your room.
One of the most asked subjects people contact me about is how I color my images. Everyone expects a simple answer that solves everything, but unfortunately, it does not work like that.
Landscape Photography can be quite intimidating especially to new photographers. Aside from the fact that it entails quite a bit of leg work, it can also seem as if it requires a lot of unique pieces of gear.
I am lucky enough to have hosted or been a part of workshops around the world. One thing I teach in my workshops is that photographers should not look at other photography to be inspired.
When you shoot an image, a tight crop might make it difficult to make the photo work at different aspect ratios later on. This helpful tutorial will show you how you can stretch the background of an image to alleviate that exact problem.
Despite heavily investing in new cameras over the last couple years, it is the still excellent Nikon D850, purchased two years ago, which has suddenly become brand new to me.
There are so many misleading articles out there sharing how you can make money from photography. Hopefully these tested tips to get clients will help to point you in the right direction.
Shoots that run smoothly will always produce better pictures and keep clients happy. Use this detailed checklist to avoid any major headaches and improve the chances that your next photoshoot is a huge success.
There are many people out there who call themselves photographers. Probably most of them are able to take decent images, a few are professionals, and hardly anyone is a master of the art. Where do you put yourself?
Once I bought a Manfrotto pistol-grip-upside-down ball head, with the typical Manfrotto camera plate. After a while I wanted something more robust, and I choose for an Arca-Swiss compatible ball head from Kirk Enterprises, and a matching L-bracket. The latter was one of the best choices I made.
One of the best ways to get better as a photographer is to watch good movies. While the aspect ratio might be different, the same rules of composition and style apply. Here are some of my favorite films that will make you a better photographer to get you started.
