Using Dodge and Burn to Stylize Your Images
Dodge and burn are one of my favorite go-to techniques. It can be used in so many different ways by using numerous techniques.
Dodge and burn are one of my favorite go-to techniques. It can be used in so many different ways by using numerous techniques.
Selling prints is a tricky business with seemingly infinite reasons for someone to decide they don't want to purchase your image. But one simple question can dramatically increase your odds of convincing a potential customer to pull the trigger on investing in your art.
Summer is here, and many wildflowers are in full bloom, making it a great time to grab your camera and head out to enjoy the warm weather and photo opportunities. If you want to improve your wildflower images, check out this fantastic video tutorial that offers some helpful tips and also discusses some common mistakes and how to fix or avoid them in the first place.
Retouching portraits in Photoshop is a complicated and nuanced task, and it is important to be proficient with every step in the process to produce a top-quality result. This great video shares five tips and tricks for retouching portraits in Photoshop.
Understanding how to effectively organize and manage your photos in Lightroom Classic can streamline your workflow, especially when working with large catalogs. If you've ever struggled with keeping track of your images or knowing which ones to edit, this system could be a game-changer.
Lightroom Classic’s survey view is an underused tool that can really speed up your photo selection process. By allowing you to compare multiple images side by side, survey view can help you quickly identify your best shots and streamline your workflow. Here’s how you can use it in your workflow.
Photography is an art form, and sometimes, we can forget to treat it as such and to help ourselves grow as artists. This excellent video featured a seasoned photographer detailing five mistakes he has made as an artist and how to avoid or fix them.
It might seem strange to want to mimic natural window light in studio, but the beauty of having a controlled space is that you can create that light however you want, whenever you want. If you would like to make yourself a more versatile lighting pro, check out this great video tutorial that will show you how to create the look of natural window light in a studio.
Landscape photography generally embraces extremes of focal length, but somewhere in between is a middle zone that can be tremendously challenging.
Editing large expanses of green grass can transform an otherwise flat image into something much more dynamic. It’s not just about pushing the contrast slider up and hoping for the best. To make an image pop, especially when working with grass or other natural elements, you need to approach it with more precision.
Moiré is that really annoying thing that happens when fine patterns seem to produce a rainbow (frequently purple and green) of bizarre colors that clearly don't belong to the actual object. This video will show you how to quickly and easily deal with it using Lightroom.
If you like to shoot waterfalls, you've likely noticed that they often have a distinct blueness to them, whereas you likely desire them to be white, as they normally look to the naked eye. This quick tutorial will show you exactly how to remove the blue from waterfalls and restore them to their original shade.
"Oh no, it’s the same location, yet again!" That’s a statement you’ll hear frequently from wedding photographers when they are assigned to shoot in a location they’ve visited frequently. I agree that shooting at the same location over and over can be testing. It might look like reinventing the wheel with very little space to innovate. This post is about how you can win over such a tricky situation of a repeated location on cards for your next outdoor shoot.
Your website is more important than ever. It is likely the first place potential clients look when they want to evaluate your work and if you are a good fit for them. So, to increase the chances of landing the job, make sure you do not make this mistake.
Photography can be a tremendously rewarding hobby or profession, but it is important that you have a realistic understanding of what it is like to be a photographer and what it takes to find success. This important video essay features an experienced photographer discussing six harsh truths that every person should be aware of.
Most of us use only two or three view modes while working in Lightroom, but the program actually has eight in total, and they are highly useful for both culling and organizing your photos as well as editing them. If you are unfamiliar with all eight view modes, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you where to find them and how to incorporate them into your workflow.
Artists strive not only to share their creative works but many also want to be known for their talents. Research is now finding what makes an artist known to the world and the findings may surprise you.
Blending modes are some of the most useful functions in Photoshop, and yet, they are often overlooked, which is a shame, because they offer a ton of power and versatility for dialing in the exact edits you want, whether subtle and understated or an entire overhaul of an image. One of the most useful blending modes is the darken mode, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to use it to add a bit of mood to an image.
As a photographer, you have probably been told to slow down and focus on your composition to make the best possible photo. What we also know is there are many fleeting moments and being ready for these are of utmost importance if you want to catch them.
Rain during a couple’s portrait session can be hugely annoying for a wedding photographer. A dramatic rain shot can be the silver lining, but only if you’re fully prepared, especially on the lighting front.
Using natural light effectively can make or break a shot, especially in outdoor portraiture where the light source and your subject’s position work together to create the image’s mood. Understanding how to position yourself and control lighting lets you create depth and definition without overwhelming your subject with artificial light.
When you are lighting portraits, you might sometimes notice unflattering shadows created on your subject's face. It does not take much to fix that, however; often, just adding a reflector can fix those issues, and this great video tutorial will show you how to do that.
Few accessories can have an impact on your post-processing workflow like a pen tablet can, which is why I recommend all photographers pick one up for their work. This excellent video will show you five tips and techniques to help you get the most out of your Wacom pen tablet.
If you’re a photographer selling your services or your work, either full-time or even as a side hustle, there’s an active scam going around right now that you definitely need to be aware of. The good news is that it’s easy to protect yourself against it if you know how it works.
A ton of people have dark circles under their eyes, and if you shoot pretty much any genre with humans, knowing how to reduce them during retouching is a crucial skill. This excellent video will show you an easy and quick method for reducing dark eye circles using Photoshop.
After getting into the video world, you quickly realize that being able to stabilize your footage when needed can make a significant impact on the result and quality of your video. While you can buy an expensive gimbal or rely on a not always so practical Steadicam, there is also the possibility of improving the stabilization in post-production. The tools included in most video editing apps aren’t exactly perfect as it will give you a weird effect and make you feel sick. What if I told you there is another way that works better than the warp stabilizer VFX filter and gives your footage a cool effect?
For video editors and filmmakers alike, understanding the power of the cut is important for telling the most compelling, informative, and/or emotional story. In this video excerpt from MZed, professional editor Adam Epstein (known for SNL and Killing Gunther among other things) provides some thoughtful insight on six rules for cinematic editing, as referenced from award-winning film editor Walter Murch.
There's an unscalable mountain of information in our hands, and while that has incredible power, it can also mean that finding profound nuggets of wisdom is difficult. Here are seven tips that one expert landscape photographer found the most useful.
When I read the description of most photographers' websites, I see them describing themselves as storytellers. In certain genres, like photo journalism, this makes sense. But how do you tell a story with one landscape image. In this video, Colby Brown gives his take on storytelling and goes a long way towards answering my question.
The word portrait often comes associated with studio and lights. But let us not forget the fun in shooting with natural light. This quick article is about the importance of understanding the light when you are making natural light portraits.