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.
There really is nothing worse than finding that dream photograph you took isn't quite in focus. Use these underrated tips to get more keepers and sharper photos each and every time.
Finding a good and yet affordable workflow and backup system is a tough task for most of us. Being not overly technical, it took me a decade to get to a point where my images felt safe.
One of the more nuanced and difficult aspects of landscape photography is composition. This excellent video features a professional landscape photographer as he talks through how he chose the compositions for two of his images.
There is a veritable plethora of ways to retouch a portrait, and a lot of the time, it is a game of balancing the ultimate quality with the time spent retouching. If you really want to get into one of the most respected techniques out there, it's well worth taking the time to learn how to dodge and burn.
I see a lot of people asking what were the camera settings for this shot? While it differs in each situation, one common setting that seems to matter to many is shooting at ISO 100. Is that really the best setting to be shooting at?
Contrast extraction is one of the most important aspects of visual processing. It plays a tremendous role in how we view images, where our eyes are drawn to first, and where they linger. In this article we'll learn a few simple tricks to create more engaging photographs — and why they work.
In photography, we are always looking for the best lighting for our subject, but when we don’t have the ability to choose the location or need to create interesting and dramatic lighting on the go, we need to be able to use the light we bring with us. This involves starting at the fundamentals and learning how to balance your flash and the ambient outdoor lighting.
Creating fantasy composites is always fun: you get to invent your very own worlds and characters. Technically, in a composite sense, you can also get away with more unrealistic elements.
Photoshop's days are seriously numbered thanks to the likes of AI, machine learning, and neural networks. The question is, what should photographers be doing to prepare for this big change?
When I purchased my first large zoom lens it came equipped with a tripod foot. I quickly learned that a standard ball-head wasn't the best way to use one of these beasts on a tripod. This started my venture into the gimbal games and actually helped in ways that I didn't anticipate.
It is easy to overlook just how important having a really strong focal point is to making a photograph truly successful. This insightful video discusses the multitude of ways a focal point helps a photo and how you can improve your own.
If eyes are the windows to the soul, eyeglasses can be the dust on the on the screen, with their reflective surfaces obscuring arguably the most important part of a portrait — the eyes.
We are now four parts into the art of composite series, and this week we touch upon style and influence.
Louis Daguerre is one of the founding fathers of photography, but little did he know, his invention opened a secret door down a street in Victorian-era London. Needless to say, this article is NSFW.
Starting out in commercial photography is a daunting prospect, especially for those who are more creator than entrepreneur. I was one of these people, and I'd like to share some tips that are very easy to implement that could save you from a lot of headaches down the road.
We would all love to have large, sprawling studios in which we can have the freedom to experiment and tackle any sort of job with ease, but the reality is that that simply is not the case for most of us. This helpful video will show you how to set up a working, versatile studio in a small space without spending a lot of money in the process.
Welcome back to The Art of Composite Photography. In the previous parts, we have covered pre-visualization, planning, and unbreakable rules.
Confidence is one of those important attributes that are really useful for a photographer. While too much can definitely be a bad thing, not enough can dramatically reduce the opportunities you'll have to make great work.
Photoshop's Content-Aware Fill feature is a highly powerful way to quickly and convincingly fill in small or large patches of an image or to remove unwanted objects. It is not always perfect, but with this helpful tutorial, you can get a lot more mileage out of its functionality.
Everyone in the industry must know who Pratik Naik is by now. And if you don't, then you should. In ten years Pratik has become one of the most famous retouchers on the planet.
To make a living as a photographer, you have to do more than take great pictures. You have to be a photographer, a supply-chain management expert, an entrepreneur, and, perhaps most importantly, you have to be great at selling — selling both yourself and selling your product.
There’s no denying that Italy’s Dolomites are stunning. This monumental mountain range in northeastern Italy is an idyllic playground for both outdoor adventurers and those seeking a taste of the region’s cultural heritage.
Getting new clients is exciting, but often difficult. If you've got no mutual connection, no contact to introduce you, or no event you can bump in to them at, you're against the odds. So don't make it even harder.
When it comes to photography, the most time consuming part of the process is the editing. Retouching a beauty photo can take 3 hours with no breaks. Because of this, I’ve been trying to find new ways to be more efficient without cutting corners.
If you have dipped your feet into the movie poster or book cover industry, like me, you will know that one of the most underrated aspects of the poster and the cover industry is typography. The typography you use can make or break an image. Most digital artists, think of it as an afterthought but I guarantee you it is one of the most vital pieces of the puzzle to publisher or distributor.
You can have all the talent in the world when it comes to handling a camera, but if you don't know how to properly market yourself, you simply are not going to get very far in the professional photography. This great video details 10 common marketing mistakes photographers make and what you can do to fix them.
Added colored gels to your lighting can have a bigger change than you first expected. It's not quite the same as shooting with white lights, as there are a few additional factors you have to consider to get the optimal color you are looking for.
Sending a photography quote out is always a stressful moment, especially if it is for a job you really want. Here are a few memorable reactions from potential clients.
A common misconception is that boudoir is for younger women. I have heard prospective clients think it is only for brides, for newlyweds, or for 20-somethings. A boudoir photographer in New Jersey is working to bring light to all the clients 50 and older who book sessions.
There is often a lot of talk of "taking the leap" to full-time photography. It might be a cliché, but it does feel as if you have to throw yourself into the partially unknown to have any chance. But whether you're winding up to jump, or you've landed on the other side and are wondering what's next, you can benefit from the Tipping Point.
![Breaking the Myth of the Ideal Boudoir Client [NSFW]](https://cdn.fstoppers.com/styles/med-16-9/s3/lead/2019/07/3fe75a6761722166ba941b00c92805fb.jpg)
