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There's a myth perpetuated that photographers either do it for a hobby or they're professionals making money. The truth is, the majority seem to float in the gray area between the two. 

You have all probably heard of SEO or search engine optimization and know how important it is for any website. Did you realize that using the right hashtags on Instagram is the exact same concept?

When working with models or people without posing experience, a bad pose can ruin your shot regardless of how everything else comes together. You can have the best location, best lighting, and the best gear but it all comes down to your subject's talent and ability to pose. Here's a number of tips that you can use to help your subject achieve better results in front of the camera. 

Color toning is one of those final steps that can really make your photos both pop and add a very personal stylistic touch. This awesome video will show you an advanced color toning technique using Photoshop. 

The tone curve in Lightroom is one of the less understood tools; nonetheless, it's one of the more powerful ones. It can be a bit tricky to figure out on your own, but this tutorial is a perfect way to get acquainted or further acquainted with the tool.  

A lot of photographers look for ways to give their portraits a three-dimensional "pop," whether that's through the lens used or some sort of post-processing technique. This great video will show you a quick and effective method for getting that look using Photoshop. 

Photoshop’s adjustment layers are some of the most powerful tools available for post-processing photographs. With the ever-increasing number of sliders available in Lightroom and Camera Raw, the adjustment layers in Photoshop seem to get less visibility, which is a mistake. 

Do your photographs on Instagram not look as good as they do on your computer screen? Are you looking for something to improve the look of your photos on Instagram? Well, watch this video to improve their appearance on Instagram. 

Being able to properly shoot in manual mode seems to be a rite of passage for many photographers, representing professional-level abilities. This helpful and comprehensive video will show you everything you need to know to consistently nail your exposure in manual mode.  

It doesn't matter what kind of photography you do, there will be times when an unwanted element in one of your pictures needs to be taken out in Photoshop. Here are six different techniques to use to remove practically anything from your images. 

Let's just be honest here, standard HDR photo processing techniques are about as relevant as dial-up Internet these days. There are many other ways to achieve better dynamic range in the final edit of an image and one of the best ways is that of using luminosity masks. 

In a saturated industry, talent can get lost in the crowds. However, talent in combination with proficient business running expertise can lead to you rising above those crowds. Some business expertise is experience, but some is received wisdom. Here are more of the most important things I've learned through both. 

Do you ever wonder how many photos you should deliver from a session? Here is why I believe that you are giving too many. 

I doubt any photographers became professional because they were excited to run the business, but run it they will. Unfortunately, the importance of savvy business practices is much closer to photographic talent that most like to admit, so take a break from honing your portraiture, and hone your abilities as a small business owner. 

Using a high ISO setting to capture starry skies is a pretty common practice when shooting astrophotography, though such an ISO setting can result in a fair amount of noise in your image. This tutorial takes you through several processes in Photoshop to reduce the amount of noise in your final image. 

Want to know the secrets of turning any space, no matter how boring, bland, or dirty, into an awesome location for photo shoots? Photographer Kate Woodman is known for her mastery of color, but her work also stands out for the way she uses locations. Looking at her expansive body of work, one wouldn't guess how much of her work was actually shot in her own home in Oregon.

If you are a portrait photographer, beginner or professional, the documentary "Darkness and Light" about Richard Avedon should be on the top of your watch list.   In this one and a half hour masterpiece, produced as part of the 1996 "American Masters Series." we are immersed in the world of legendary portrait photographer, Richard Avedon.

Lightroom’s tone curve is one of those tools that is often looked over, especially with beginners. This video will explain everything you need to know to get started using this powerful tool. 

There are simply no shortcuts to building a career as a freelance photographer. Making money out of something you love is really hard, but it absolutely can be done.  But before we get into how let’s just acknowledge that we photographers have had it a little rough in recent years. Newspapers and other publications have been laying off entire teams of staff photographers.

When it comes to food photography, your goal is to capture the dish as well as possible while making sure it looks appealing. You want to entice the viewer to order or crave that dish. If you are new to this genre, here are a few tricks that may help you craft a better shot. 

So much of photography is built on social relationships. Models, makeup artists, hair stylists, designers, and assistants all play a crucial role in contributing to the creation of an image. At the center of the photographer's work is the model, yet photographers may find it difficult to reach out to modeling agencies for collaboration.

Matching the tones is the most challenging part of creating composite images. You may find numerous tutorials on the Internet about matching tones and smooth blending of the composite elements, however this technique by Antti Karppinen is the best I’ve seen so far as it even helps with blending images that are shot under different lights. 

This is not your typical list of must have photography apps — no Snapchat, Instagram, or Photoshop here. Although you might not have heard of many of the names I'm about to recommend to you, each one has earned its place on my phone because it plays a part in making my life as a photographer much easier. 

I recently teamed up with the crew at Fstoppers to create a video tutorial that focuses on the foundations of creating a standalone product hero shot for advertising. What’s a standalone product hero shot you ask? It’s a standalone image of a product that’s generally well lit, super crisp, super clean, and essentially aids in selling a company's product.  

In a recent article, I showed you how to create mist and atmosphere in Lightroom using a clever combination of masks, contrast, and dehaze. It worked great for woodland photos yet involved some manual masking. Today, I show you an even simpler technique for adding atmosphere in Photoshop.