Datacolor’s new Spyder Checkr Photo is a sized-down version of the original Spyder Checkr professional color reference tool while also being a vast improvement over the previous smaller version, the Spyder Checkr 24.
News recently broke that Viltrox, a brand known for their affordable lenses, has stopped manufacturing for the Canon RF mount after rumors that Canon had asked them to pull their products. Canon recently confirmed that news, and it certainly raises questions about the future of third-party lenses for their mirrorless cameras.
Feeling lost on your photographic journey is common. So are being in a creative rut or having periods of low motivation. At times, we can all struggle to feel inspired to pick up the camera and get out there. A lack of direction, purpose, and reason can be the culprit for these aforementioned photography ailments. So, let’s dig into these questions and uncover the possible “whys” behind your keen need to capture.
Have you ever held back on sharing your photos, pitching an idea, or showcasing your art? How many times have you let Impostor Syndrome hold you back?
Every year, I've had to hear about how a new technology was going to kill the photography industry. I ignored it all, until now.
Composition is a particularly tricky aspect of landscape photography, especially since you have no control over the placement of the elements in the scene. If composition is something you struggle with, check out this awesome video tutorial that features an experienced landscape photographer offering some great advice sure to help you improve your photos.
If you are new to the world of artificial lighting, it can sometimes feel like trying to learn a foreign language. It is really worth taking the time to learn it, though, as it will open up creative opportunities that simply are not possible otherwise and make you a far more versatile photographer. This excellent video tutorial will show you essential off-camera flash gear and some helpful basic tips to get you off and running.
Practicing street photography is one of the quickest ways to become a better photographer. Here's why each and every one of you should be hitting the streets with your camera.
Knowing how to light, pose, and compose a portrait is only half the battle. To create a successful final image, you also need to have strong editing technique. If you would like to learn how to properly edit a portrait, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will guide you through the entire process, including frequency separation, dodging and burning, and color grading.
Aside from the price, often in the vicinity of thousands and thousands of dollars, can you actually tell the difference between an f/2.8 lens and an f/4 lens?
Are you struggling to find your style as a photographer? In teaching photography, I am often asked how you even know what your style should be. This is both the easiest and hardest question. Let me explain why.
Flowers are some of the best subjects for macro photography, offering an almost endless range of looks and opportunities to expand your portfolio. If you are interested in your improving your flower macro imagery, check out this excellent video tutorial that will show you seven useful tips sure to put you on the track to better photos.
There are some essential things about being a photographer, most of which photography books don't usually mention. Here are the seven most important lessons I learned as a photographer, including one exercise I use to hone my skills.
There are many different techniques you can use to retouch a portrait, and one of the more advanced and powerful out there is frequency separation. This helpful video tutorial will show you what frequency separation is and how to use it to edit a photo.
Along with shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, white balance is one of the most fundamental settings on your camera and something you will want to consider before you take a photo. So, what is white balance and why does it matter? This excellent video tutorial will introduce you to white balance, what it is, and how to control it for better images.
One of the most important habits every photographer or filmmaker should develop is a strong backup strategy that guarantees the safety of your files in the event of a hard drive failure or natural disaster. If you have not created yours yet, check out this helpful video tutorial that will show you how to properly ensure the safety of all your files.
Taking your cityscape photos during blue hour is always a safe bet if you don't get spectacular light at sunrise or sunset. A deep blue sky provides the perfect color contrast to the incandescent lights in the city and will help you create a pleasing result. But what if you are lucky with light and weather? Do you take a photo while the colors pop in the sky or with the city lights during blue hour? Luckily, you can get both by applying a technique called time blending. In this article, I show you how.
As much as lighting, posing, composition, and settings matter for creating a good portrait image, they are only half of what it takes to create a successful final result. You also need a strong post-processing workflow. If you are new to portrait work, check out this great video tutorial that will show you a basic editing workflow for creating polished final images.
Thinking outside of the box can often result in interesting creations being made. Here's what happens when you repurpose an old iPhone for a glitchy photoshoot.
Photography can be an expensive pursuit, with cameras, lenses, and lights setting you back thousands and thousands of dollars. While that is true, the operative part is "can be". There are lots of ways to create amazing images on a modest budget.
I love shooting landscape photos at the beach. It’s an ever-changing landscape dominated by the sea and its waves. You might think shooting photos at such a location is easy, but you have to know a few things before you go there. It's all about safety.
Like it or not, hard light happens a lot outside, and if you are a portrait or wedding photographer, you can't just reschedule the ceremony or session every time you don't have clouds to give you soft light. So, what can you do to still create flattering images? This excellent video tutorial will show you how adding a bit of flash to the scene can be just the solution you are looking for.
Photographers have three choices when selling photographs. They can be commissioned to shoot for a client, aim for the mass market, or choose to sell fewer, high-quality, collectible images with narrower interest. There are good reasons why you should consider the last option.
A photograph is a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional scene, and as such, part of the challenge posed to the photographer is recreating a sense of depth in the image. This is particularly important to holding your viewer's attention in landscape photography, and one of the most effective ways to accomplish this is through the use of layers. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to leverage them to create more effective photos.
Landscape photography is a popular yet difficult genre, and while you can learn to create a technically apt photo, finding your creative voice is another issue entirely. Why is it so difficult to be creative in landscape photography? This fantastic video essay looks at the question and offers some useful insights you can apply to your own work.
Looking back at my early portraits often makes me cringe. I’m not even afraid to admit it now. It was always a goal of mine to be a competent portrait photographer, but I was incredibly shy and didn’t know how to engage with the people in front of my lens. I was always somehow dissatisfied with my results, as I could never seem to connect with my subjects on a level deep enough for them to let their guard down.
There is honestly no task I hate more than culling large image sets, but if you are a sports, events, wildlife, or wedding photographer, you are probably used to coming home with sets of thousands of images. So, how can you make this tedious task as efficient and painless as possible? This excellent video tutorial will show you a fast and effective workflow.
You can spend years working on perfecting your technique and developing your creative voice, and while those are crucial to finding success as a professional, they are not all you need. Understanding the ins and outs of running a business is a requirement of being a professional photographer, and this great video tutorial will run you through some of the things you need to know.
Waterfalls are some of the most popular subjects in landscape photography, able to take an otherwise static scene and add dynamic movement that captures the viewer's attention. It is about more than simply plopping your tripod in front of one, though. This great video tutorial will show you some helpful tips sure to improve your waterfall images.
Knowing how to light, compose, and pose a portrait is only half of what it takes to create a finished image. The other half is retouching, and it takes a variety of techniques and a delicate touch to create a compelling result. This excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to edit a portrait using both Lightroom and Photoshop.
It used to be that continuous lighting was either way too hot or simply not powerful enough for lighting portraits, but LEDs have come quite a long way in recent years, and they are now a viable alternative to strobes in certain situations. This great video examines the two options while showing off a unique light that can do both.
We see patterns everywhere. Related to rhythm and texture, they are powerful tools in photography for a host of reasons.
Do you ever find yourself repeating yourself over and over again to prospective clients in your workflow? If so, here are the templates I’ve created that both anticipate my clients’ questions and save me valuable time in my product photography business.
In the final part of my four-part series, I want to focus on the one person who can make or break your photography business: you.
When does landscape photography become digital art? In this article, I address the longstanding debate in the community about purism versus artistic expression while showing you my own image from start to finish.
Telephoto lenses are very useful in landscape photography, but the fact that they are commonly heavier and/or bulkier can sometimes be concerning. How do you know which one is worth carrying around?
Both long exposures and panoramas are fantastic ways to create eye-catching photos that encourage viewers to stop and really examine every detail in the frame. Combining them takes a bit of careful technique, but the results can be well worth the effort. This great video will show you how to about shooting them and the sort of results you can expect from the process.
Although I've never been a high-end retoucher or digital artist, today, I'm going to play one. I've got my hands on a Wacom Cintiq touchscreen tablet/monitor and the Loupedeck CT, a customizable input device.
Believe it or not, headshot cropping and orientation is a controversial topic in the photography community. In this article and the accompanying video, I give you five reasons to crop horizontally and take just a bit off the top of the head.
When it comes to portraits, perhaps no feature is more important than the eyes, and as such, giving them a little extra attention in the post-processing stage can help you take your images to the next level. This great video tutorial will show you how to edit eyes using only Lightroom.
Whether you are a portrait, wedding, or family photographer, one of the most useful skills you can learn is how to balance ambient light and flash. If you would like to improve your portraiture work, check out this helpful video that will show you a method for balancing flash and ambient light to create more balanced and complete portraits.
When it comes to portrait photography, soft light is often the method of choice, as it provides flattering renderings suitable for a wide range of styles and subjects. If you are new to working with artificial lighting and interested in learning more, check out this helpful video tutorial that will show you how to create elegant soft light for portrait work.
Corporate events are perhaps my favorite thing to photograph these days. There are so many different shots I can create at a conference that I am never bored. Networking opportunities are in abundance at any given corporate affair, and most of the people in the room are working for a company that has the budget to hire me to shoot for them.
Modern cameras and lenses offer remarkably good image quality — levels that were only dreamed of even just a decade ago. And with those increased capabilities have come increased standards and expectations. But at this point, how much image quality do we really need? This interesting video poses the question and examines a scenario where getting the shot might take precedence.
A good composition is a tricky and often elusive thing, particularly since it is not as easily objectively codified as something like the right camera settings for a given scene or situation. As such, any heuristic tricks to go about finding a compelling composition are worth knowing. This excellent video tutorial details one such trick and why it can be really useful.
When it comes to portrait photography, learning to work with artificial lighting will make you far more versatile and enable creative opportunities that simply would not be possible otherwise. If that is something you would like to start diving into, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you the fundamentals and have you ready to tackle your first shoot.
Pretty much every genre of photography seeks sharp images, but in landscape work, sharpness is often of a particular importance. If you would like to take nice, crisp photos, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you seven useful tips to help you take sharper landscape photos.
It is the dream of many to become a full-time YouTuber or content creator, particularly in photography. It is, however, an arduous pursuit with a low success rate. This full-time YouTuber goes through his top 10 mistakes and how you can avoid them.
Once upon a time, we would learn a skill, practice it, hone it, and that would be our main area of expertise and way of making a living. In 2022, however, it would seem that mastering your camera, actually taking photos, editing them, and then applying that skill might not be everything you need to be a successful photographer in today's climate.
Almost every landscape photo requires some degree of editing to create a finished product. Lightroom is far more powerful than it used to be and offers some impressively capable and efficient tools for editing your images. This excellent video tutorial will show you five tips that will make your Lightroom landscape image editing both easier and better.
