Recent Education Articles

Getting Into Milky Way Astrophotography Without Spending a Fortune

I do mostly outdoor photography and anyone who does this can get bitten by the night sky bug. All those beautiful stars and the dramatic Milky Way beckon, but for many beginners it seems an impossible task. They think of needing tracking mounts, ultra-long exposures, and complicated processing. The good news is, it's not all that hard to get started with a fairly modest investment.

5 Night Photography Tricks With Slow Shutter Speed

If you enjoy taking photographs at night and want to experiment with different techniques, this is the video for you. Here are 5 slow shutter speed tricks to get some great-looking images after dark.

How to Get More From the Graduated Filter in Lightroom

The graduated filter is one of the most versatile and powerful editing tools in Lightroom, and its usefulness goes far beyond simply making adjustments to exposure. This excellent video tutorial will show you a variety of tips and tricks for getting the most out of the graduated filter.

Mastering Your New Camera: A Beginner's Guide

Embarking on the journey of photography can be both exhilarating and daunting, especially for those who have just acquired their first dedicated camera. Understanding your camera is crucial, as it's the first step towards capturing those stunning images that every photographer aspires to create. This helpful video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to get started.

Maximize Boudoir Posing: Fluid Movements Without Ever Getting off the Floor

One of the biggest challenges I hear from new boudoir photographers is how to move successfully and fluidly from one pose to the next during a session. Posing should not be stiff and rigid, or the end result will reflect the forced feeling. The last portion of all my boudoir sessions is on the floor. Quite frankly, that is where all the upsale images come from by maximizing the use of one pose into multiple selections.

6 Important Landscape Photography Skills

Landscape photography is a challenging genre that takes a variety of skills to produce successful images, and as such, it is important to be a well-rounded photographer when you undertake the genre. This helpful video tutorial features an experienced landscape photographer sharing six skills he feels are important to finding success in the process.

Things Nobody Teaches You About Photography

Becoming a successful photographer is a remarkably complex thing that takes the confluence of a range of skills, creativity, and often, a bit of luck. If you are new to photography and wondering how to bring it all together, check out this great video that features an experienced photographer discussing things no one really teaches beginners.

How to Start Using Aperture Priority and How It Will Change Your Photography

If you’ve been learning photography and have started to take your first steps outside of your camera’s program mode, aperture priority can help you get to grips with your camera and develop your knowledge. This camera mode can make shooting easier and open up more creative possibilities.

How to Automatically Remove Objects From Photos in Photoshop

Have you ever wished there was a function in Photoshop that would just erase all the unwanted objects at the touch of a button? That dream very well may now be a reality as Aaron Nace of Phlearn shows us in this tutorial.

5 Common Mistakes Beginners Make When Using Lightroom

Lightroom is an intricate program, and for many photographers, it serves as the central hub for their images, making it crucial that you develop good habits in how you use the application. This excellent video discusses five common mistakes beginners make when using Lightroom and what you can do to improve your workflow.

Never Trust Auto White Balance for Your Photography

Every camera is standard set to AWB, meaning "Auto White Balance". AWB uses 18% gray as a reference, to correct any color cast in the image. But the auto white balance is a dumb algorithm that cannot interpret a scenery. Perhaps it would be best to set the white balance yourself, instead of relying on the camera.

The Secret of Finding Compositions in Photography

On some days, we can see one composition beside another, but on other days, it is hard to find just a single one. What is the difference between those days, and how can we increase our chances to find outstanding compositions all the time?

3 Steps to Getting Better Skin Tones Using Photoshop

Skin tones are one of the most crucial parts of a portrait edit. Get them right, and they can elevate the image to another level. Get them wrong, however, and they can sink your image. If you are new to shooting and editing portraits, this helpful video tutorial will show you three steps to get better skin tones in Photoshop.

How to Add Interest to Your Cityscape Photos With Time Blending

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.

Tips to Create Better Landscape Images

When you are first starting, landscape photography can seem daunting, especially when you see all of the beautiful images others post online. Here are a few ideas taken from my experience that may help you find more success as a landscape photographer.

Creating Interesting Landscape Photos Without Leading Lines

Leading lines are one of the most powerful compositional tools at a landscape photographer's disposal, allowing you to easily capture the viewer's eye and guide it through the image. Nonetheless, they are not the only compositional tool available to you, and it is important to practice other methods as well. This great video follows an experienced landscape photographer as he explores different ways to create compelling photos besides using leading lines.

The Unmotivated Artist: 5 Techniques for Getting Refocused and Remotivated

Staying motivated and feeling creative becomes a challenge at some point or another for all us. As professional photographers, we are paid to create inspired work on a daily basis. So how do we fight back when feeling unmotivated and when we are losing that creative spark? Here are five techniques for getting refocused and remotivated.

Joel Grimes Shows How to Create Super Soft Images with One Light

For many, the 7’ parabolic umbrella seems like a one-trick pony. The textbook move of sandwiching the camera between the subject and the light for an edgy, high-key look is quickly growing old. In this video, commercial photographer Joel Grimes shows a different way of using the 7’ parabolic to create soft, high-key images best suited for beauty photography.

The Power of Dodging and Burning in Landscape Photography

Dodging and burning, a technique widely used by portrait photographers, is also highly effective in landscape work. This technique, traditionally associated with Photoshop, can significantly alter the visual impact of an image. However, many photographers may not realize that this method can also be done in Lightroom, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to do just that.

16 Simple, Affordable, and Effective Photography Prop Ideas

One thing we sometimes forget in the process of trying to improve our photos is the impact a simple prop can have, especially when you are trying to break through a creative block. If you want an affordable but effective way to invigorate your creative process and add more visual interest to your images, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you 16 simple prop ideas, all for under $50.

Choosing the Ideal Lens for Portrait Photography

Selecting the right lens for portrait photography is a pivotal decision for photographers of all levels. This comprehensive video offers valuable insights into the intricate world of portrait lenses with in-depth exploration of various lens types, from prime lenses to zooms, wide angles to telephotos, making it an invaluable resource for photographers seeking to refine their portrait photography skills.

4 of Photography’s Most Popular Pros Share Their Best Beginner Tips

Across all their social media accounts, these four pro photographers have well over a million followers and subscribers. That means people like what they do and what they say. Here, these four get together in one room and share their best beginner photography tips, favorite apps, most loved destinations and so much more.

Getting Rid of Over-Saturated Reds In Skin Tones Using Photoshop

Getting perfect skin tones can be quite time consuming and difficult. Because everyone's skin complexion is different, the corrections needed will be different every time. Even so, there are some recurring problems such as over-saturated reds in darker tones. A great makeup goes a long way in helping with redness, but sometimes it is not enough. The best example is the red seen in the ears when the model is backlit. Because of the nature of skin and the human body, the ears are going to turn red and no makeup will totally solve that. So let’s see how we can correct that very effectively and quickly using Photoshop.

5 Hidden Gems in Photoshop

Photoshop is a tremendously complex and intricate application, and as such, there are some useful features that are easy to overlook simply by virtue of the overarching complexity. This awesome video tutorial will show you five such hidden gems in the program, where to find them, and how to put them to use for better and more efficient photo edits.

Tutorial: Create Beautiful Double Exposures Quickly in Photoshop

Last year, photographer duo Dylan Howell and Sara Byrne (of Dylan and Sara Photography) posted an awesome video showing you how to create beautiful double-exposure photos in-camera, a technique popular in fine art, portrait, and wedding photography. I just stumbled across this awesome tutorial by event and wedding photographer Andrew Klokow showing you how to replicate this cool look quickly and fairly easily in Photoshop.