Long exposures are a highly popular look, but sometimes, you might not have an ND filter with you or you might not have decided to make a long exposure in the moment. If you have an image with potential that you think would look even better as a long exposure, this quick and helpful video tutorial will show you how to convincingly fake it using Photoshop.
I have made a good amount of mistakes in my career as a landscape photographer. Luckily, I have learned to identify these mistakes and how to avoid them.
For the most part, landscape photographers generally use wide angle lenses, as most scenes require a wide focal length to capture them all in one frame. That does not mean telephoto lenses can't be used, however, and this excellent video shows you the unique photos you can create with one.
Lightroom is a more powerful and versatile program than a lot of photographers realize, and you can accomplish quite a bit in it without ever having to switch to Photoshop. This excellent video tutorial will show you five helpful tips for getting more out of Lightroom.
When it comes to portraiture, we most often choose light that is soft and flattering on the subject's features. However, that does not mean that direct sunlight is totally unusable for portraiture, and in fact, you can create great portraits with it if you know how to work with it. This excellent video tutorial will give you a wide variety of great tips to improve your portraits in directly sunlight.
When it comes to landscape photography, deep depth of field and high levels of sharpness are often the name of the game. This excellent video tutorial discusses how to choose the right f-stop settings for maximizing the sharpness in your photographs.
If you combine foreground and background in a landscape photo, the two must work together. There are four ways to manipulate the relationship between the foreground and background. You just have to use depth of field, distance, and focal length in the best possible way.
Portraiture is a challenging genre, as it requires the confluence of creative ideas, solid technique, and the ability to work with and direct people. If you are new to photographing portraits, this great video will give you five tips to improve your work.
If you use Photoshop, then I'm sure you use brushes in some way on your images. If you only ever utilize Adobe's default brushes, you are seriously missing out.
Great composition in landscape photographs can be tricky and there are so many tips, tricks, and rules, some of the more basic principles can fall by the wayside. Here are seven tips based around one area of composition that is too often forgotten.
A lot of the time, you will see professionals use two- or three-light setups for portraiture, but you might be surprised by the professional results you can get from just a single light. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to master both the technical and creative aspects of a single-light setup for portraiture.
Forests might fill us with peace and tranquility, but the chaos of twigs and branches can make them a nightmare to photograph, especially if there’s no single strong feature to focus on. Right now, many of us are photographing close to home so here are 12 tips to help you make the most of your nearest woodland.
Foreground interest is fundamental to landscape photography, even if not always required for a great image. But how do you effectively identify a viable foreground for your images?
No doubt, a lot of creatives tend to be quite introverted, and that can make it difficult when you are a photographer and need to be able to work with and direct people. If that is something you struggle with, check out this fantastic video essay that discusses being a photographer as an introvert.
Extending backgrounds is sometimes needed when you have a great shot, but the composition was a little off or the backdrop was just slightly too small. In this tutorial I'll show you two ways you can extend the backdrop in Photoshop CC with clean results.
Where once editing was a sly activity most people wanted to hide, creating the illusion that the images came straight from the camera, now it's a generally accepted part of the process (even if it always has been part of the process!) A great way to engage with your followers and show just what can be done with a photo is to show before and after images, so you may as well do it properly.
Standing out on social media is no small task anymore. If you're looking to get ahead on Instagram, this could help set you apart and attract eyes during the relentless scrolling.
Advice on how to improve at photography is always welcome, but even more so at the moment as we suffer through a pandemic that is affecting all of our creativity and motivation. Here are three simple ways to improve your photography.
Nebulous cities, misty forests, and magic sunrays make a perfect subject for photography in the cold winter. Here, I share some tips and ideas for shooting mist and fog.
Sometimes photos are called high key or low key. I never thought much about it and just made the photos I liked, regardless of what it could be called. But when is it correct to name a photo high key or low key? Let’s find out.
Of all the cosmetic imperfections you might be asked to retouch, one of the most common by far is dark circles under the eyes. This great video tutorial will show you how to easily and convincingly remove them using Photoshop, and it will only take a minute to learn how.
Whether you're wistful for the good old days, or want to recreate an analogue feel in your digital photos, this Lightroom technique will help you adorn your photos with that vintage feel.
When a storm hits it is time to grab your camera and get out shooting because the light and dynamics of the weather are phenomenal!
Learn how to remove chromatic aberration (color fringing) manually in Lightroom Classic for the most accurate results.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but being a professional photographer is not always as amazing as you may think. Here's why choosing something else as a profession may actually be a better option.
Levels is a popular tool in Adobe Photoshop and one many use or at the very least are aware of. But what if it's not the right choice after all.
Have you ever found yourself wondering where the passionate photographer in you has gone?
Golden hour, that time around sunrise and sunset that gives a warming orange glow, is often purported as the best time of the day for photography. But most of those people don't know the magic of the blue moment.
You might think that Photoshop is the place for serious color grading work, but Lightroom can accomplish quite a bit, particularly with its new, upgraded color tools. This great video tutorial will show you a variety of tips and techniques for color grading images using Lightroom.
Does your autofocus hunt in low light? Can you not get focus on the stars during astrophotography? Well, here's a technique that will give you sharp shots every time no matter how dark it is.
ISO is one of the three fundamental exposure parameters and something you need to have mastered to take successful photos. If you are new to photography and still working on learning the basics, this great video tutorial will show you everything you need to know about ISO.
It's what a tilt-shift lens was born to do. Learn how to straighten up your leaning buildings with this simple technique and never have a parallax problem again.
Flash can be an excellent tool to freeze motion, especially when you are working in the studio or do not have extreme amounts of available light for using ultra-fast shutter speeds. But you can get even more creative results by mixing the freezing power of a flash with a long exposure that captures motion, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you how it is done.
Landscape photography is unique in that you can't move the elements of your frame to adjust the composition, and as such, it can be easy to fall into the trap of making your photos too busy without even realizing it. This excellent video tutorial will show you five signs that your landscape photos may be too busy.
Most of us edit in Lightroom using the numerous sliders, and while those are perfectly fine the vast majority of the time, a tool that contains the power of many sliders all in one is hiding in plain sight: the tone curve. If you have not used it before, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you how to use it for everything from adding contrast to color grading.
Use your next five minutes effectively and learn how to create faded, filmic photo edits with nothing more than a few tweaks in Lightroom.
Even if you are not a landscape photographer, it can be a fantastic genre to engage in casually simply for the joy of it. If you have been feeling stressed lately, check out why you might want to grab your camera and go for a hike.
In this video tutorial, watch as Dean Samed shows you how to create shadows in Photoshop by showing you three tips and mistakes to avoid.
In this video tutorial watch as I show you how to turn skin pale and hair gray in Photoshop. I have used these two techniques on many images now, and this way is far more adaptable than simply using a desaturate filter.
Unfortunately, photography is very a much a case of who you know. You could be the best photographer in the world, but if no one knows you, it won't get you very far.
Composition is one of the trickier parts of landscape photography, and it helps to have a variety of tips and ideas ready to go when you are out in the field. This helpful video tutorial will give you a wide variety of compositional ideas to improve your landscape photography.
Portraiture doesn't require complicated, multi-light setups to pull off beautiful and striking images. Here are four one-light setups you can learn in ten minutes.
For the past several years, I have done this one thing at the end of the year, and it has been responsible for my improvement more than anything else.
2020 was quite the year, starting relatively normal and then spiraling quickly out of control as few have seen before. Plans were shredded, and normal daily life was abruptly changed like a cold bucket of water to the face.
At first glance, the vibrance and saturation sliders might seem like they do the same thing, and while they do operate in similar manners, they are fundamentally different in their functions. This excellent video tutorial will show you the difference between the two so you can take better control of the color in your images.
In this video tutorial, watch as Abbey Esparza shows you all about Smart Objects in Photoshop and why you need to use them. This is definitely a good tutorial for those who still work destructively.
In this video tutorial, watch as Dean Samed shows you how the top three hacks for cutting out hair in Photoshop. Each one is a great way to get those tricky hair cutouts mastered.
Photo edits can often become very complicated, time-intensive things, but they don't always have to be. This great video discusses the common trap of being overly complicated in your image editing.
Lighting equipment can quickly add up in cost, but you do not always need top-level equipment and multi-light setups with esoteric modifiers to get great results. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to get professional portraits using nothing more than a simple speedlight and an umbrella.
So much of photography is about capturing a moment, a place, a person, a glance, a tiny slice of history that is impossible to recreate. When we've only got one shot, we want to make sure we get it right. In this series, we’re examining 11 things that can lead to a loss of image sharpness, what causes them, how to recognize them, and what to do about them!
