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Easily Merge Your Photos for Focus Stacking

Even when shooting at f/16, not every part of the photo will be in focus. Depending on where you focus is at, there will still be some fall off. What if you wanted to get your entire photo in focus? You can merge multiple exposures where the focus point has been changed to get one photo showing everything in focus. Landscape Photographer Mark Denney shows us how easy it is to merge multiple exposures into one image using Lightroom and Photoshop together. If you do not use Lightroom, you can still achieve the same results only using Photoshop, so don't worry.

Critical Properties of a Pro Photographer's Website

So, you want to chase a career in professional photography and have managed to build yourself a respectable portfolio that you can begin to use to market your talent. The next step in building your credibility as a professional in the space comes in the form of crafting a web presence that reflects the brand of a seasoned pro. You need customers to see you as someone that really knows what they are doing and is serious about every aspect of your brand. A big part of this aspect of your brand is your own personal website. Social media is fantastic for expanding your influence but it lacks the intimacy to fully represent you. You need a website and that website had better make you look good!

Bad Clients and How to Spot Them

I remember the excitement of wanting to start and have a thriving wedding photography business. I remember how my heart would skip a beat whenever I’d get a new photography inquiry regarding my services, and I remember how desperate I was for any type of wedding photography gig. I also remember not knowing how to price myself, being scared that if I charged too much, clients wouldn’t want to book me. Or if I told a client no to a request, they’d find another photographer. I look back on the first few years of my business very fondly, but I also remember a few times that being a wedding photographer made me want to crawl into a hole and hide from the world forever.

How to Fix Harsh Shadows Using Photoshop

One of the most distracting things you can have on a subject is unintentional harsh shadows. Once they're there, they can be very tricky to deal with convincingly in post. This helpful tutorial will help you tackle and reduce them to manageable levels.

A Beginner's Guide to Mastering the Pen Tool in Photoshop

One of the most fundamentals features in Photoshop is the Pen Tool. It's a bit less intuitive than some other features, however, and it often presents some difficulty for first-time users. This video will get you up and running with it in 30 quick minutes.

Why You Should Move Beyond Snapshots and Make Art With Everyday Life

When I chose to move beyond candid snapshots of my friends and family and actually asked them to sit down for formal portraits, my approach to everyday photography changed. Candid moments are wonderful, but practicing your craft with the people around you both helps hone your skills as a photographer and leads to precious moments with the people you love.

Five Ways to Improve Your Photography

Almost all of us want to improve our photography. Regardless of whether you are a hobbyist, aspiring professional, or if you have been a pro for several decades, there's always more to learn. Creating better images should always be at the forefront of our mind. It doesn't matter where you are in your photographic journey or what genre interests you, here are five things that I think can help to improve your photography.

How to Turn Your Hand Signature Into a Watermark in Photoshop

This week, Colin Smith of PhotoshopCAFE explains how to make a watermark out of your signature in Photoshop using a real signature on paper. The signature can be captured via your cell phone camera without the help of a scanner. This solution is a good alternative from classic logo watermark. The process is really easy and takes less five minutes.

You Need to Take More Self-Portraits

As photographers, we may not always think about taking pictures of ourselves, but having a current headshot is extremely important. Think of it as your own personal little billboard that allows people to see your ability as a photographer. After all, if you don't have a good picture of yourself on your website, what would make anybody believe that you can take quality pictures of anyone else?

Swimwear Photoshoot: No Beach Access? No Problem

I'll be honest, when it came to shooting swimwear, I went straight to Pinterest looking for whatever ideas and inspiration I could find. Swimwear is different enough from the other types of shoots that I was typically shooting that I really had no idea where to begin. Granted, my clients weren't clothing line companies, so I wasn't aiming for the more routine, catalog-style shots. Since the people wanting the shots were the models themselves, I wanted to make sure that the end results looked as good as possible and hopefully a bit more stylish.

Why You Shouldn't Submit Your Photographs to Magazines

Vanity magazines are a popular place for photographers to submit images to when they are looking to take their photography to the next level. Eager photographers who want to shoot fashion or beauty will scour the Internet for fashion magazines that accept submissions in the hope that these publications will be a rung on their ladder to success. Unfortunately for many photographers, rather than climbing the ladder, they’re merely wasting time and money.

Using Low Key For Large Wall Art Sales

In the boudoir industry it is a main priority to help the client feel confident and empowered. Some clients prefer the high-key fashion look associated with strobe work and solid backdrops. For those clients who prefer the anonymous images, Chris Nelson guides you through how low key images highlighting just the curves while shadowing the mood can help your clients make the decision for that large fine art wall piece.

Exploring Trickier Landscape Photograph Compositions

Part of the fun and challenge of landscape photography is that while you can choose your compositions, you don't get the privilege of modifying your subject. Sometimes, you come across a scene that begs to be photographed, but doesn't readily lend itself to a composition. This video examines such situations and how to shoot them.

Some Quick Tips for Taking Drone Photos

You just bought your first drone! Woot! Now what? Flying a drone is a vastly different way of thinking and shooting, and it takes a bit of getting used to. This helpful video will get you up and running so you can shoot those epic aerial shots.

silhouette of girl standing beside bike

Silhouette portraits are always fun to experiment with, and it’s easy to assume that we are limited to sunrise and sunset for capturing this type of image. With knowledge of camera exposure settings and a single off-camera flash, this style of portrait can be produced at any time of day or night.

How Hair Can Save the World

If you touch my hair I will hurt you. In life, we take many chances. Like, riding our bike with no hands, getting minimum coverage on our car insurance and petting stingrays. However, for the chosen few who have the superpower of catching our eye with their beautiful hair, there is no chance to be taken. The following is meant only for a lighthearted fable for this Friday.

Five Reasons Your Photography Business Is Failing

You’ve got a solid website, your photography skills are on point, you’ve been around for awhile, but you still aren’t getting any clients. Peers’ businesses are booming, you know there are plenty of clients to go around, and yet, you’re still struggling to get by with your photography business. There are a ton of factors that go into why a business fails, but here are a few reasons why your photography business may be failing.

Stop Waiting and Get Your Photography on Stock Image Sites to Earn More Passive Income

For freelance creatives, earning passive income is a great way to increase your annual profits, but getting a large library of images uploaded can be a daunting task. Plus, which agency should you use? When will you find time? The simple answer is the time is now, and the sooner you jump on, the sooner it will pay out.

Nine Things You Should Be Taking to Every Business Meeting

It doesn't matter if it's a scheduled business meeting, job interview, or you're cold calling potential clients, the items you bring along with you can dramatically affect how things play out. Here's what you should be taking to each and every meeting to maximize your chances of success.

Ten Quick Ways to Stay Sane and Productive as a Freelance Photographer

Life as a freelancer is different. People with "normal" jobs don't usually understand what we do, how we do it, when we do it, or why we do it. But, we do what we do, and it's not always easy. It's not consistent, it's not stable, but it's a great way to live your life if you do it right. Here are some small ways you can make it easier. They've helped me, and maybe they'll help you as well.

How a National Park Changed the Way I Shoot: Lessons From Yellowstone (Part 1)

It's been several years since I first had the chance to visit Yellowstone National Park, but I can honestly say that it was an incredible experience throughout and I can't wait to go back. The trip to the national park was honestly a game-changing experience for me and how I approach my own landscape photography. I learned so much on that trip, not necessarily about my gear, but about what to shoot and how to capture it in a way that would help me really remember what it was like to see things in person.

What Happens When Joey L, Dani Diamond, Brandon Woelfel, and Jessica Kobeissi Photograph the Same Model

It’s already the fourth time Jessica Kobeissi got together with three other photographers to challenge themselves on a shoot. Each artist is given the opportunity to choose the outfit and location for one set, and then everyone has to come up with something in their own style. For this episode, the photographers were Joey L, Brandon Woelfel, Dani Diamond, and Jessica Kobeissi. Each having a very different photographic style, the video is quite entertaining.

A Quick Introduction to the Healing Brush in Photoshop

If you're new to Photoshop, one of the tools you'll want to become familiar with as soon as possible is the Healing Brush. This quick and helpful tutorial will show you just why it's so useful and how you can take advantage of it in a wide range of situations, from retouching portraits to removing items in landscape shots.

Nikon Announces the D850: Yes, It's an Amazing Camera

We'll have to wait to get our hands on one to see if this camera really can be the Swiss army knife of DSLRs that it seems to be, but we now have details from Nikon's official D850 announcement, including the U.S. price.

Singapore Airlines Mixes a Travel Video With Its Safety Video, and It's Beautiful

Singapore Airlines' latest safety video mixes the regular safety video you'll see just before take-off with the dream of exploring Singapore. It's beautifully executed and shows how they'll push barriers to give you the travel experience you desire. Why is this important? Because it shows that the travel industry is really getting creative with their approach, and they are pushing the boundaries of just what's needed to evoke that curiosity and excitement of travel.

15 Little Things You Should Carry in Your Camera Bag

You probably don't need someone to tell you to pack your camera, lenses, and a few spare batteries (if you do, we need to talk). But there are some little accessories and non-photography items that can make your shooting life vastly easier and often save you a lot of time. Here are 15 such items to keep in your bag.

Faster Than Ever Video Editing Workflow With Pancake Timelines

When working with a ton of footage, culling them down and selecting just the part of them that you need can take quite a while. There a few methods to make it faster and easier, and one of them is called Pancake timelines. In this video, Justin Odisho explains to us how it works. If you are video editor with working tight deadlines or one looking for a way to speed things up, this tutorial is definitely made for you.

Seven Ways to Unlock Your Creativity

Let's be honest, regardless how creative you may be we all have our highs and lows. In the field of photography, creativity should be an essential part of why we started. Our passion needs to be unleashed. Here are some ways to help you unlock your creativity.

The Bokeh Factory - Character Uniqueness and More Bokeh

Everyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with style and character of bokeh. I've had countless hours of discussion with friends in the industry regarding minute differences in the "look" of a certain lens. Today I want to share the most unique and comprehensive array of totally unique looks I've found.

Packing Light for a Long Photography Trip

Packing for a shoot in your town can be a pain, but packing for an extended shoot in another country brings a whole new set of complications into consideration. Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of extended trips for my personal project “Tattoos of Asia.” Over the few trips that I’ve done, I’ve managed to pare down my kit to what I absolutely need. It has been a long process, but I’ve learned quite a bit, and I’d like to share that with you as I prepare my kit for my upcoming India trip.

How to Photograph the Total Solar Eclipse and Get Better Images With the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini

On August 21, hundreds of thousands of people in North America and millions watching live at home will be experiencing a once, maybe twice, in a lifetime celestial opportunity. A total eclipse of the sun. Thousands of photographers will be traveling to locations along the path of totality to get the best possible photographs during the event. Photographing an event like this requires some special equipment so I will go over what you’ll need and some extra tools like the Sky-Watcher Star Tracker Mini (SAM) that can help you take your images to the next level.

Effective Techniques for Video Recording Interviews

Interviewing interesting people can be an awesome experience that when done right, will provide impactful insight to your next video project. When done wrong however, you may find yourself asking the client for a do-over or spending hours in the editing room cleaning up mistakes.

It's All in Your Head: Photographic Vision Over Photographic Skills

Photographers will spend tons of money and lots of time perfecting their use of the tools of their trade. We buy books and classes, watch tutorials, and spend time practicing, gather in professional groups, and shadow other photographers. While we learn how to use our gear, there is one thing we shouldn’t overlook, because it’s the thing that ultimately matters the most: vision.

How to Do Frequency Separation With the Mixer Brush in Photoshop

Frequency separation is a powerful way to edit portraits, but it's often misunderstood or misused. Nevertheless, when done correctly, it's a quick and effective method. This helpful video will show you exactly what frequency separation is and how to use it on your images.

How to Match the Color Grading and Exposure of Different Cameras in Your Video Work

As drones and action cameras continue to permeate, well, everything, an interesting problem has become more prominent: these cameras are fundamentally different from the DSLRs and mirrorless cameras filmmakers have been using, and creating a consistent look across all that footage takes some tweaking. This helpful video will show you just how to ensure that consistency.

The Secret to Making Eyes More Attractive, Backed by Science

Our biological instincts are so hard-wired when it comes to the perception of attractiveness that we're actually quite predictable in our choices, even if we can't explain the reasons behind them. Thankfully, science has delved into these unconscious tendencies, and its findings can really help give our portraits extra sex appeal.

My Entire Portfolio Was Built Using Only One Lens, Can You Guess Which One?

It is possible. I'm not here writing this to beat you in the head with an “it's not the gear” rant; we can all agree that take is a bit redundant after awhile. But with that said, it still holds very true. What I'm here writing to share is why I decided to use one lens, which one I used, how I use it, and most importantly, how you can too. I built my entire portfolio using one lens and one lens only. Before you read on, can you guess which lens by looking at the photos below?

Why Professional Photographers Should Work For Free

Free? Working for free? When I started out, being asked to work for free made my blood boil; Didn’t people know I had bills to pay, rent to make, black T-shirts to buy, rounds of beer to shout, girls to woo? These things cost money, and it still makes my blood boil when I’m asked to work for free. And yet I often work for free. Confused? Here’s how working for free is a good thing and how to ensure your blood doesn’t boil in the process.

How to Quickly Replace the Sky In Any Photo

As a photographer, you should come to expect Mother Nature isn’t always on your side. Maybe you found the perfect location for a shoot, and when it’s finally set up, the sky isn’t exactly how you want it. Maybe you are just traveling around and taking photos of the beautiful landscape, but the sky leaves more to be desired. What about real estate photography, need to shoot the property at a specific date and time but they want a rich and blue sky with some clouds but there are no clouds in sight.

Landscape Photography is Not So Bad: You Will Not Fail

The largest single landscape print I have made to date is a ten-foot-wide panorama of the Painted Rock at Fort Irwin. Titled A Thousand Words Fall Short, I donated it to a Veterans' clinic on the 4th of July. Printed on Fuji-crystal archival paper, front-mounted to 1/4" museum acrylic with an anti-glare coating, and backed by a solid sheet of aluminum, it really caught and exalted the light in the humble hallway where I was honored to see it hanging a couple days ago.

Quick and Effective Way to Remove All Reflections in Glasses for Portrait Photography

Glasses can be a real pain when shooting portraits. Perhaps the subject's glasses don't have the anti-glare coating or even if they do, sometimes your light source can still wreak havoc with reflections. Today I want to share a quick tip on dealing with this issue. Sometimes the reflections can be so bad, they cover a huge part of the actual eye. If it's a tiny spot in the corner of the glasses, we can easily clone it out but if it's covering half the eye that won't work so easily.

What A Life Change Taught Me About My Photography Career

Our lives and our art are interconnected. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you can improve one without the other. Sort of like thinking you can spot reduce belly fat in the gym. Most people would love to get rid of a little here or there, but the actual fact is that reducing body fat is a global adjustment. Crunches won’t accomplish anything until you look at your overall diet and fitness from head to toe. A similar realization allowed me to take control not only of my fitness, but my life, and, as a result, my career.

How to Achieve Pure White Background Without Using Pen Tool

Shooting products against a pure white (255,255,255) background, can be achieved using the pen tool in Photoshop, but what if you want to find an alternative way to create the same stunning images, but without the hassle of spending so much time in post-production? Dustin Dolby from Workphlo, has created an insightful online tutorial which shows just how simple it can be to create this effect, with minimal gear and maximum time saved. With the help of a couple of speed lights, strategically placed white and black card and a kit lens, Dustin is able to demonstrate just how easy is can be to control and shape lighting, to achieve the desired effect.