Mastering composition is a fundamental skill, crucial whether you're shooting portraits, street scenes, or documentary photography. One recurring composition mistake can detract significantly from the impact of your images, and it's an issue many photographers overlook.
Landscape photography close to home offers far more than convenience—it transforms your familiarity with your surroundings and deepens your skills as a photographer. You might overlook hidden beauty nearby simply because it's routine, but a subtle shift in perspective can turn familiar terrain into something extraordinary.
Macro photography sharpens your attention to detail and lighting, crucial skills whether you're exploring creative images at home or pursuing commercial work. Understanding how to effectively highlight small products, control lighting, and employ techniques like focus stacking can elevate your photography significantly, no matter what you shoot.
Careful color adjustments in Lightroom Classic and Adobe Camera Raw can elevate your images dramatically. Whether subtle or bold, knowing the right tool for your vision makes the difference between average edits and exceptional photography.
Everyone likes to tell a photographer they aren’t a real photographer until they always use manual mode on their camera. Understanding the fundamentals of photography is important, but as camera technology advances, it can help you be more efficient in the field. Don’t get trapped in manual mode.
Don’t think you have enough space at home for a studio? Laura BC knows how to make the most of what’s at hand, and her latest video is a goldmine for overcoming your limitations when it comes to shooting space.
The idea of traveling with just one camera and one lens wasn’t something I decided on a whim for my most recent trip to Hong Kong. If I am being honest, it was mainly inspired by Leica’s design philosophy, Das Wesentliche, or "the essentials," when I read about it a few months back.
Bad photos happen to everyone. Exposure errors, white balance issues, and distracting backgrounds are common challenges, but knowing how to quickly rescue these mistakes can save valuable shots and improve your editing skills.
There is more to know about aperture than many realize. There is also some hogwash spouted by some. So, by getting to grips with more than the fundamentals, one can more precisely control how your photographs look.
Creating dramatic, moody images that stand out is challenging, but mastering targeted editing techniques can significantly elevate your results. Lightroom offers powerful tools to shape a simple landscape scene into a striking image with depth and atmosphere.
Fine art photography has always intrigued me. The minimalism, the dreamlike compositions, and the sense of artistic control over an image are all elements that I deeply admire. Inspired by the likes of Gary Gough and other fine art photographers, I finally took my first steps into this style of photography—though not without some apprehension.
Mastering color in Lightroom is about knowing the right tool for the job. Two key features, the Color Mixer and Color Grading tools, each handle color differently, and understanding their unique roles can significantly improve your editing.
Landscape photography editing isn't just about making pretty pictures—it's about guiding the viewer's eye exactly where you want it. Here's how to do that in Lightroom.
I enjoy environmental portraits more than anything else because it’s something you can do anywhere, indoors or outdoors, across many genres of photography. The obvious opportunities arise with travel and street photography. So what exactly is an environmental portrait compared to a normal portrait? And where do you start?
Creating presets in Lightroom can streamline your editing workflow, making it quicker to achieve consistent aesthetics across multiple images. Here's how to do it.
Color can transform your images from flat captures into vibrant, eye-catching scenes. Knowing how to use simple yet precise Lightroom adjustments to enhance color and detail can significantly elevate the impact of your photos.
Using v-flats creatively can significantly expand your lighting options during portrait shoots. Knowing how to position and manipulate these simple tools helps you shape light in ways standard modifiers often can’t.
Photoshop just got a powerful update, particularly useful if you regularly work deeply with colors. The revamped Hue/Saturation adjustment now provides a significantly smoother way to isolate and adjust colors directly within your images.
Landscape photography is often about knowing what not to do as much as knowing what works. Avoiding common pitfalls can help you produce stronger, clearer images right from the start.
Accurate color control can transform average photos into striking images. Lightroom’s color adjustment tools helps you emphasize specific elements, making your pictures more vibrant without compromising realism.
Fine art photography isn't just about capturing images; it’s equally about how you shape those images afterward. This type of editing transforms your work from ordinary captures into striking, artistic visuals that truly stand out.
Improving your photography often involves mastering composition by limiting yourself to a single or narrow range of focal lengths. Committing to a consistent focal length encourages you to engage more actively with your subject and surroundings, transforming how you see potential photographs.
Aperture isn't just about controlling how much light enters your camera; it’s a powerful creative tool that directly shapes how your images look. Getting comfortable using aperture correctly lets you decide exactly what stands out sharply and what's gently blurred.
Early mornings test your photography skills, pushing you to think fast and frame carefully when conditions shift unexpectedly.
Improving your landscape photography often involves a combination of strategy and persistence. Simply owning quality equipment isn't enough—success also depends heavily on how you approach a location and manage your gear.
Getting the right exposure isn't always straightforward, especially when your scene has extreme contrasts. Knowing how to manage these situations can significantly boost your image quality by minimizing unwanted noise.
took a look at the first version of Color Theory Pro last year and found it interesting and useful. Now, version 2 is out, and I find it more interesting and more useful.
Fewer people are engaging with photo content, and many who once pursued it seriously are struggling to maintain the same level of enthusiasm. Economic factors, shifting social media trends, and technological changes all play a role in why photography is in a slump.
In this article, I will show you one of the most critical skills a landscape photographer must have. It helped me take the title photo and many of the best images in my portfolio.
Travel photography is more than packing your camera and booking flights. How you plan your trip and what you focus on once you arrive can significantly affect the quality of your images.
I have to say that on many days, I find myself using a DxO product—most frequently, their PureRAW software, which looks at my image metadata in my RAW files and gives me a near-perfect image, correcting my sensor/lens combination, sharpening, and removing imperfections like vignettes and ringing. DxO has more than 100,000 camera/lens combinations covering almost any gear. Even both my DJI drones are covered by DxO.
Changing the mood of an image doesn’t always require elaborate setups or complex software. A few strategic adjustments in Lightroom can completely transform a photo, shifting colors, reshaping light, and creating a more dramatic effect. This kind of editing isn’t about correcting mistakes—it’s about making the image match your vision.
Great autofocus performance isn’t just about pressing a button. While modern cameras are advanced, they still need your help to lock onto a subject quickly and accurately. Small tweaks in your shooting technique can dramatically improve your results, especially when tracking fast-moving subjects.
Restoring underexposed files can seem like a challenge, but Lightroom has the tools to bring back lost detail without sacrificing quality. A properly exposed image captures more dynamic range, but when that’s not possible, knowing how to recover shadows without ruining the final result is essential.
Self-doubt is a constant in creative work. You might question whether your images are any good or if your work stands out. That uncertainty isn’t unique to you—many struggle with it, even experienced professionals. The challenge is defining what makes a good photographer when taste, style, and subjectivity play such a big role.
If you want to improve your photography, experimenting with new techniques to achieve more creative and interesting results is the way to go. I did just that recently while out doing street photography by playing with a slow shutter speed while shooting handheld.
The Decisive Moment is arguably one of the greatest photography books ever published, featuring photos from Henri Cartier-Bresson that capture the precise instant when all elements in a scene come together perfectly to create a powerful and meaningful image.
Editing your photos well makes a huge difference in how professional they look. Lightroom is one of the most popular tools for photo editing, but it can seem overwhelming at first. Knowing how to use it efficiently can save you time and improve your final images.
I’ve been practicing intentional camera movement occasionally for some years now. This technique, better known by its abbreviation, ICM, involves deliberately moving the camera during exposure. It turns out to be much more difficult than regular photography. You have to take movement into the equation.
OM System just announced their new camera and a raft of new lens versions. The new camera is an exciting addition to their stable and will be aimed at a completely different type of photographer. Street and urban wildlife photographers and photographic artists, check out the OM-3.
Photography is a marathon, not a sprint, and each person's journey is unique. Although your path may evolve, photographers' stages can be similar.
Are you fed up with Instagram’s algorithms and TikTok’s endless videos? You’re not alone. There’s a growing movement in the photography community: people are returning to Flickr, an “old-school” photo-sharing platform, in search of a better experience.
The ability to make precise selections in photo editing can transform an ordinary image into something extraordinary. While masking tools have evolved significantly, understanding how to combine them strategically is key to achieving professional-grade results.
Making money with photography isn’t as simple as social media makes it seem. The reality is, whether you’re just starting or already running a business, turning creativity into income takes strategy. Finding ways to optimize how you earn—without relying on luck—can help you stay sustainable.
Losing inspiration happens to everyone, and it can make photography feel like a chore rather than a passion. It’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of feeling uninspired, especially when shooting familiar locations. Instead of forcing creativity, sometimes the best approach is to embrace the break and ease back into it when the right moment comes.
Modifiers are essential tools for shaping light, and knowing how to use them can dramatically affect the look and feel of your images. These tools allow you to control the quality, direction, and intensity of light, which is crucial whether you’re shooting portraits, products, or events.
Photographers are increasingly concerned about AI's impact on their art. While huge arguments rage on about AI and copyright theft, artists are adopting two new tools that prevent their work from being scraped. It’s time photographers started employing them, too.
Making digital photos look like film is something many people are interested in, but achieving authentic results can be tricky. One area that often gets overlooked is the appearance of grain. Getting it right can significantly enhance your images by mimicking the subtle imperfections that define film.
Long-exposure photography isn’t just for tripods and perfect lighting conditions. With the right technique, you can create surreal, motion-filled images handheld, even on a rainy day. This can turn an otherwise uninspiring scene into something captivating.
When you think about improving your photography, you might picture buying new gear or chasing perfect light. But some of the biggest improvements come from small adjustments to technique and mindset. Addressing these common challenges can not only improve your photos but also make the process more enjoyable.
