Probably the most important factor in creating a convincing composite photograph is matching the lighting, but that's also something that has a lot of nuance and can be very difficult to do. This helpful video will show you a quick and powerful technique for better matching the lighting in composite photographs.
Medium format photography offers a wide variety of benefits in terms of image quality, but is it possible to try to achieve those results when shooting on a camera with a much smaller sensor?
If you look at the work of the best studio photographers, you'll probably notice most of them use multiple lights to achieve their final results. And while there's certainly nothing wrong with that, you might be amazed at what you can accomplish with just one light, and this great video will show you every step in the process.
I have always been obsessed with color. Skin tones are one of the most challenging things for many people if you are picky, because there are so many factors that can affect them.
There's a lot of advice out there about the techniques and gear a professional photographer should be aware of and use, and while those are certainly good things to know, there's another aspect that often gets overlooked, even by seasoned photographers.
Like most things in Photoshop, there are several ways to color tone an image using the program, but this one is very straightforward and easy to control and adjust, and this helpful video will show you everything you need to know to do it.
This is your chance to participate in the Flashlight challenge, prove you can make an amazing photograph with any light source, and have your photograph featured in an Fstoppers article all about you!
It's easy to assume that the best portrait locations are tricky to find and awkward to get to, but this short video shows you that some of the best spots might be just around the corner.
Landscape photography can be a sneakily difficult genre to master, as the leap from good to great is much more difficult to navigate than it might seem upon inspection of successful images. This great video examines seven lessons learned about landscape photography.
No one likes rejection, but it can hit particularly hard in photography, where you feel like you've invested a bit of yourself in your creative endeavors. This excellent video talks about how an early rejection almost caused a now quite successful photographer to hang up his camera permanently.
Getting a degree in photography can seem like a great way to get a college degree and still pursue what you love, yet many, many college graduates end up failing, despite having four years of intensive training in photography. This great video explores just why that is.
Hyperfocal distances are an arcane, over-technical art for some photographers and just another tool to whip out at the necessary moment for others. So, how do you put those hyperfocal blues to bed?
If you've ever looked at the list of file formats available in the save dialog box in Photoshop, your head might have started to spin trying to keep track of all the available options and to understand which you should use and when. This helpful video will talk about all the file formats you need to be concerned about and in what situations you should use them.
There are a ton of tips for improving your photography out there that apply to specific situations or require you to purchase some sort of product, but this tip applies to almost every genre and is free and easy to begin applying immediately. And I promise it will improve your photos.
Most landscape photographers will agree that post-production is essential to the art, but while the debate of how far you should go is left to individual preferences, the question is how far you can go while maintaining the image’s believability.
Lightroom has all sorts of lesser known features, and some of them can save you a ton of time in your editing workflow. This quick and helpful video will show you the range mask in Lightroom.
Providing a service to clients as a small business comes with risks. At some point during the course of photographing a wedding, every photographer will run into an unforeseen circumstance. Are you prepared to face the unexpected?
Food photography takes a lot of nuanced artistry and technical know-how to make the product look delectable and appetizing, and because of that, you might decide that taking more control with artificial light is the way to go. This great video will tell you what you need to know when purchasing lights for food photography.
Shooting portraits of people is a difficult thing, as you have to manage not only technical parameters involving the camera and lighting, but also the person's posing and expression. This excellent video essay reminds us of what's probably the most important aspect of any portrait.
If you are relatively new to flash photography, you have likely heard of high-speed sync, but might not understand it. Here is a full explanation.
For some of us, photography is a job that we love, and for some of us, it's a window into our very being that can help us discover or rediscover who we are. This touching video features one photographer who uses the craft to learn about himself and heal.
There's no universal manual for becoming a professional photographer, and it can be a bit daunting trying to figure it all out on your own. This helpful video will give you nine tips to get you on the right track.
Sunsets can provide some of the most beautiful images in a photographer’s portfolio, but the dramatic light and vibrant colors can be challenging to capture. Here are ten tips to improve your sunset photography.
It won’t be for everyone, but I think it’s something everyone should try at some point: shooting in black and white (monochrome) mode in camera.
The Orton effect is a popular effect in many other genres than landscape photography. It is used to soften the images with a slight glow, which can give a beautiful dreamy effect. However, I do see one mistake repeated again and again.
When you're first starting out in photography, you may wonder what circular polarizers are and how they can improve your photographs. This quick and helpful video will show you why photographers use them and when you should consider pulling one out of your bag.
Things like lighting ratios and f-stops can be objectively codified and repeated, but the essence of an image — what makes the viewer stop and peruse its story — can be a bit harder to articulate. This great video asks five photographers how to create that magic.
We can and often do talk endlessly about how to improve the look of your subject in a photo, but crafting a background that complements them can really complete an image. This helpful video will talk about three simple ways to improve the backgrounds of your photos.
It seems like more and more these days, people are touting the benefits of the L-bracket for their landscape photography. If you've ever used them, do you think they are all they're cracked up to be?
Did you know that Photoshop has a tool for applying different levels of blur across multiple points in a photo? Here is how to use field blur to create a shallow depth of field while keeping your subject sharp.
We all want to get better. Here are three quick steps to help you get on your way this weekend.
Why would you choose to photograph something that's mundane instead of naturally picturesque locations or scenarios? The short answer is because it's hard and it will test you.
Golden hour is the holy grail of times for photographers of almost all genres; whether you're taking a landscape in Iceland or a fitness portrait, early and late sun is the most flattering. However, it can also be the most challenging.
Nowadays, it seems that every YouTube photography celebrity has a batch of presets that they want you to buy. This begs the question: is it worth handing over your hard-earned cash when you might be better off investing your time rather than your money?
In the six years that I've been using Lightroom, I've never paid for a preset. In the past, I've downloaded a few free packs, clicked laboriously through every preset and decided that they were all useless: blunt tools creating over-edited results and deploying settings that I could easily have achieved myself had I...
One of the struggles I have as a photographer is knowing how much to edit an image. This became increasingly difficult once editing became a major part of my artistic workflow when shooting landscape photography, so how do I know when a photo is finished?
Name brand speedlights — like a lot of things in photography — are absurdly priced, and although they carry the big brand names, they also lack in a number of key areas versus the lower cost, third party alternatives. Take a look at my reasoning for steering clear of the big camera manufactures brand speedlights.
Free, fast, multi-platform, and easy to use. PhotoRec is the great data recovery software that I ran after one of my card got corrupted. Here is a short review and tutorial.
There is a ton of information and so many great resources on how to raise money for a project with crowdfunding these days. So I’m going to skip the tips and show you proven strategies to fund your projects no matter what they are.
It's difficult to watch a Spielberg film and at the same time try to dissect it from the point of view of a filmmaker or a cinematographer, because you are immersed in the story by the ingenious camera movement and actors' blocking.
When one needs to add more dynamism to a video, be it cinematic or commercial, it's time to employ some camera movement. In this video by The Slanted Lens, J.P. Morgan teaches us eight smooth camera movements to use in different situations.
When a photographer is desperate for bookings, an inexperienced business owner will turn to the only option they know of: lowering their prices. Before doing this, you should consider all of the other options you have before deciding to compete with others on price.
Do you often find yourself wondering how different colors might look on your subjects? This one-minute tutorial will show you how exactly how to instantly change solid colors to whatever color your heart desires.
Sometimes, it's easy to get a bit over the top with the creative process in that we focus so much on every last detail and nuance that we outsmart ourselves. This video takes the opposite approach, pushing for fast experimentation.
Pet photography is as popular as ever right now, as more and more people become pet owners. In fact, according to a recent survey by American Pet Products Association, nearly 80 million American households have pets.
A retouch of the eyes is on every portrait photographer's image editing to-do list. This important alteration is also one of the easiest adjustments to spot when unintentionally overdone. See how this Lightroom-specific technique will help bring out that shine in your subjects eyes, without pushing things too far.
If you come home with a lot of images from one shoot, trying to organize them all can be quite the undertaking. Luckily, Lightroom has some helpful automatic features to assist you with this, and this one is probably my personal favorite.
Printing isn't something most of us do when we're first starting out, but as our careers develop it becomes more and more important to deliver the highest quality images to clients for them to print and use for advertising in magazines, posters, and maybe even billboards. But does size really matter?
Many of us own a five-in-one reflector of some sort, as they're cheap, versatile, and effective instruments. However, they're commonly misused, and this great video will help you learn to use them effectively to get the best results.
If you are a photographer who is utilizing physical DVDs, USB drives, or even digital solutions like Dropbox to deliver client images, then take note as there is another way.
You don't have to look very far to see how popular and effective the use of colored light is in both still and moving image projects. Add these 10 lighting setups to your creative arsenal before your next video or photoshoot.
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