Recent Education Articles

The Truth About Some Photography Myths

The debate over “straight out of camera” photos often stirs strong opinions, but how much control do you really have before the shutter clicks? This video explains why the phrase might not mean what you think and digs into the reality of digital image processing.

How to Remove Distractions With Lightroom’s New Generative AI Tool

Lightroom has always been a powerful tool, but it’s had its limitations. One major challenge has been removing distractions from photos without switching to Photoshop. Adobe's recent update introduces a game-changing feature: the generative AI erase tool. This tool simplifies the process, allowing you to handle more within Lightroom itself.

Fixing Your Landscape Photography Editing Mistakes

Capturing landscape photography images is only half of the process. Mastering the art of editing will help strengthen your images by finding the balance between too much editing and not enough editing of the photograph. This video highlights some common editing mistakes landscape photographers make.

Creating a Whip Pan Transition in Adobe Premiere Pro

Since I discovered movies made by Edgar Wright and movies such as Alfred Hitchcock's "Rope," Alejandro Iñárritu's "Birdman" and "The Watchtower of Turkey" by Leonardo Dalessandri, I've always been fascinated by the way the footage just seems to flow into one another, and no usual cuts are visible. It has a way of keeping the viewer's full attention and keeps them intrigued as to what might happen next. It's a great way of keeping a good pace in your production, whether it be a full feature film or a music video.

Navigating Lens Sharpness: A Beginner's Guide

Understanding the intricacies of lens sharpness is crucial for photographers, as it significantly impacts the quality and aesthetic of their images. If you are new to photography, this helpful video tutorial will get you started on the right track.

Out With the Histograms, In With the Waveforms

One of the first things budding photographers learn is how to read a histogram. And after mastering this knowledge, it feels pretty good to feel more in control of your images. So then what are waveforms and how could they be any better than using histograms?

A Review of Philip Bloom's Cinematic Masterclass

Philip Bloom is a world-class filmmaker with an impressive body of work in broadcast TV, feature films, and independent productions. Most recently he has been the cinematographer on the acclaimed CNN show “The Wonder List.” When I found out that he was partnering with MZed to create an immersive course on filmmaking, I jumped at the chance to review it and also had the opportunity to speak to him about the project.

This Great Video Shows How Little You Need to Create Excellent Portraits

It is certainly true that a lot of professional portrait photographers use a wide variety of lighting equipment to achieve the looks they want, and while there is a good reason for having all that gear at one's disposal, it is important to remember what you can create with the bare minimum and a good understanding of how light behaves. This excellent video tutorial will show you how you can create dramatic portraits using nothing more than the light coming through the door of a garage.

Tips on Capturing Mesmerizing Images of Children

It can be difficult enough to photograph adult models, but using children as models is a new level of challenging. There are a few tips to remember to make your shooting process a bit easier.

How to Avoid Over-Editing Your Landscape Photos

Editing your landscape photos can be a tricky process, especially when you're just starting out. It's easy to get caught up in the desire to make every image look perfect, but this can lead to common mistakes that actually detract from the quality of your work.

How to Create Effective Rim Lighting for the Body

Rim lighting can be one of the most important aspects of creating a professionally lit shot, and it is something that can be easy to overlook when you are new to artificial lighting and focused on your key light. This fantastic video will show you how to create proper rim lighting for someone's body.

Five Mistakes That Ruin the Quality of Your Film Images

Film photography has enjoyed a notable resurgence in recent years, offering users a chance to take part in a different approach to the craft and enjoy a more tactile and nostalgic process. Just like digital, though, there are some common pitfalls that can derail the quality of your images. This excellent video tutorial discusses five such pitfalls and what you can do to improve the quality of your film photos.

Learn How to Light With Dani Diamond

Dani Diamond is well known for his portraiture work, particularly his natural light work. But of course, he works with artificial lighting too, and in this great video tutorial, he will walk you through a one-light setup and how he modifies it to create a professional-level portrait.

Improve Your Landscape Shots by Blocking the Sun With This Simple Trick

When shooting in harsh lighting conditions, it’s common to encounter issues like lens flares or blown-out highlights. This is particularly relevant if you're trying to capture outdoor scenes with direct sunlight in your frame. In such situations, managing the light effectively can make a huge difference in the quality of your final image.

A Beginner's Guide to Long Exposure Photography

One of the most popular techniques for beginners to try with an advanced camera is long exposures, as it allows you to explore a world of new creative ideas. If you are just learning the technique, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you the basics of how it is done.

Here Are Nine Poses in Just 90 Seconds

Posing is a subtle art full of nuance that takes a long time to develop a good eye for. This great video will give you a head start by showing you nine poses in just 90 seconds.

How to Improve Your Landscape Photos Through Cropping

Conventional wisdom says to get your composition right in camera, and while there are plenty of benefits to doing that, the ultra-high resolutions of modern cameras leave us a lot of flexibility in post. Lightroom offers some pretty robust features in the crop tool that many photographers do not take advantage of, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to use them to improve your images.

Composition Techniques for Better Visual Balance in Your Photos

Mastering the art of visual balance is a cornerstone in photography. For photographers, achieving a harmonious composition is as crucial as mastering lighting or exposure and is often the difference between good and exceptional work.

Export Videos from Premiere Pro, Upload Them to Instagram

Instagram hit the scene in 2010 as a photo-sharing app for iOS. It didn't take long for the app to explode in popularity, gaining one million registered users in just two months and ultimately being acquired by Facebook in April 2012 for $1 billion in cash and stock. Today Instagram has over 700 million registered users, and video is becoming increasingly popular on the platform.

The Key to Making Epic Video Edits

This week I finally got around to editing some footage I shot at SXSW this past year in Austin, Texas. I imported all of my clips into Premiere and began the laborious process of sorting, organizing, and cutting in and out points for all of the clips I wanted to use. Then I laid down a music track to cut against and around this time is where all the fun ended.

Can You Compose Landscape Images by Feel?

Landscape images are often composed according to some sort of established method, such as the rule of thirds, the golden spiral, or some other rule. And while those rules exist because they can help you, certainly, they are not the only way to work. In fact, sometimes, composing by intuition and feel is the way to go, and this great video tutorial discusses why that can be such a good thing.

What Is Lens Breathing and How Does It Affect Your Work?

Lens breathing is a common problem (particularly in video work), and understanding it can help you to take better control of your work. This excellent video tutorial will show you what lens breathing is and why you should be aware of it, particularly if you shoot video.

7 Tips to Improve Your Photography as a Beginner

There are many simple and effective techniques that you can utilize to improve your photography when you're just starting out. Check out these seven simple tips to help you improve your photography as a beginner.

The Basics of How to Shoot Video to Make More Money

As photographers, it is often incredibly simple to just stay in your safe lane and stick to photos. I know people that have been photographing for years and never once touched the video function on their DSLR. They are intimidated by it. But adding video to your marketable skills is far simpler than you may think, and with today’s rapidly changing landscape, it’s an incredible tool to add to your repertoire.

Transform Your Fall Photos with Simple Lightroom Adjustments

Editing autumn photos requires a mix of thoughtful adjustments and creative techniques. Sometimes, achieving those rich, warm tones can be tricky, but there’s a way to make it easier with a lesser-known profile setting that can instantly improve your images.

How Subtle Lighting Changes Can Create Entirely Different Photos

You might think the difference in setups that create high key and low key lighting is significant, but on the other hand, just a slight change in modifiers and light position can make a huge difference. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to create both high key and low key portraits using two strobes with almost identical modifiers.

Mastering Composition for Landscape Photography

Even with the best gear, a stunning location, and perfect light, your photos can still fall flat. The key lies in composition. It’s a skill that evolves over time and one you’ll always have room to improve.

Bite-Size PS Tutorials: Quickly and Easily Create Your Own Photoshop Actions

Everyone and their Auntie seem to sell Photoshop action sets these days, as if they're the answer to something. I'm primarily referring to action sets which create entire "looks" for your image, but there are uses for actions which are less comprehensive and arguably more useful. For example, I use an action for sharpening my images which creates a layer I can lower the opacity of or mask until it is satisfactory. Actions like these are easy to create and can result in accrued time saved. This guide will ensure even people whom have just picked up Photoshop for the first time can create actions.