Recent Education Articles

The Essential Zoom Lenses for Landscape Photography

When it comes to landscape photography, you can certainly use prime lenses, but most professionals prefer the versatility and convenience of a zoom lens. So, what are the essential zoom lenses for a landscape photographer? This excellent video tutorial features an experienced landscape shooter discussing the three essential zoom lenses for the genre.

Here Are 25 Terms Every Photographer Should Know

If you're new to photography, you were probably recently excited to start learning how to create gorgeous images when you were suddenly blindsided by a veritable bevy of technical terms. This great video will introduce you to 25 terms you should know and give helpful explanations for each of them.

Five Hacks for Video With a Smartphone

The video quality a smartphone is able to produce these days is so good that you can use it for a lot more than just vacation memories. If you want to take it to the next level, here are five tricks to make your iPhone videos stand out without spending more than a couple of bucks.

What Your Mom Never Taught You About Natural Light

When taking portraits with natural light, often times, there is one key aspect that is overlooked. This facet of naturally lit photos is far more important than things like shooting at a specific time of day. Before diving into what makes a naturally lit photo a spectacular one, it is important to know and understand the difference between artificial lighting and using natural light.

Why Pros Use 85mm Lenses for Portrait Photos

The 85mm lens is a favorite among portrait photographers for a good reason. It's versatile, provides excellent subject isolation, and offers natural-looking results even at close distances. In this video, you’ll learn why the 85mm should be part of your gear, regardless of whether you're a professional or an enthusiast.

Do This for Every Lens You Buy

Imagine heading to a photo shoot and noticing afterward that most images you took are partially out of focus. You are sure you set the focus right, and the depth of field in the photos is also sufficient. The problem might be a decentered lens.

Half of the lenses I bought in the past 15 years were decentered. At first, I didn't know of that problem. The first wide angle lens I got from Canon required focus-stacking all the time. Since I mostly shot landscapes, it wasn't clear to me that this was due to a problem with the lens and not because of the topography of the...

How I Have My Camera Set Up to Shoot Weddings

The Nikon D750 is one of the most talked about cameras in a long time. It’s a small lightweight body that packs a major feature set and has even lured Nikon D4 shooters to "upgrade." The camera is packed full of customizations, some of which can be pretty hard to understand and even difficult to find. I’m here to explain what I feel to be the best overall setup and why. This article is geared towards the Nikon D750, however the majority of the settings, if not all, are applicable to most cameras.

17 Simple Tips To Help You Better Control And Master Natural Light

Most of us love natural light and feel comfortable shooting with it – but how well do you really know how to utilize it effectively and to control it with precision? I just spent the day with Erik Valind, a New York City-based lifestyle photographer in his 'Controling Natural Light' workshop. Here are 17 simple ways to help get great results from better understanding and utliizing natural light.

Awesome Lightroom Technique to Add Atmosphere

In this article, I show you an awesome Lightroom editing technique you can use to add atmosphere to your photos. If you take this method to the extreme, you can even turn a normal day into a foggy scene. It works well for woodland photos.

Don't Be Afraid of High ISOs in Your Photography

Every photographer would love to shoot at the lowest ISO their camera allows all the time to maintain the highest possible levels of detail and dynamic range. But sometimes, that just isn't possible; in fact, sometimes, you have to pump up the ISO quite high to get the shot. Do not be afraid to do that.

The Proper Way to Use a Wide Angle Lens for Landscape Photography

When it comes to landscape photography, the lens of choice is almost always some sort of wide angle, whether a 16-35mm, 24mm, or something similar. And while such lenses are absolutely effective in the genre, there is a common mistake landscape photographers make with them, and this helpful video details both what it is and how to correct it.

How to Get Razor-Sharp Landscape Photos

If you struggle with getting sharp photos, this is for you, and even if you are experienced, there might be a tip or two to pick up.

You Might Want to Check Your Lightroom Settings More Often

The Lens Corrections panels in the Lightroom Develop Module and Adobe Camera Raw provides the ability to correct lens problems such as distortion, chromatic aberration, and vignetting. These settings are often turned on and never given a second thought.

13 Tips for an Improved Lightroom Experience

Lightroom is probably the most used photo database program available, with an integrated raw file editor, and many options for post processing. These thirteen tips can improve your Lightroom experience.

Not Everyone Looks at Photos Like a Photographer

When you look at a photo, what are you looking at? Composition? Lighting? Color grading? With your knowledge and expertise, you look at certain things with more intent than others, but are you seeing the whole picture?

Top Photographers Reveal Their Most Valuable Mistakes

As a British person, I have an innate talent for moaning, queuing, and observing humour about our ever-changing weather. One spring morning last month, while wiping the snow off my sunglasses and mopping the sweat off my brow with my thermal gloves, I began to ponder the first of this talent trifecta. One rich vein of moan material is mistakes, and being conscious of my miserable inner monologue, I attempted to shift the focus to something more useful.

So You Got a New Camera for the Holidays, Now What?

Every year, without fail, I’ll get a handful of emails and Facebook messages from friends and family asking me how to use the new camera they got for Christmas. While I’m always happy to help, I have to assume there are other people out there that may not have a photographer friend to reach out to. So with that, here is a quick list of things you should do with that new camera.

The Most Important Thing to Do Before Sharpening Your Images

The Internet is full of articles and videos telling you what technique will revolutionize the way you add sharpness to your images, but almost none of them tell you the most crucial step to take before sharpening, no matter the technique. In this article, I’ll show you this simple yet essential action to make your sharpening genuinely efficient.

Common Mistakes Landscape Photographers Make With Telephoto Lenses

Most landscape photographers turn to wide angle lenses for the majority of their work, but there is an entirely separate world of great images waiting to be made with telephoto lenses. That being said, telephoto lenses come with their own challenges and pitfalls, and this great video will show you some of the most common mistakes landscape photographers make with them and how to correct those errors.

How To Shoot In A Big City And Not Get Hassled By The Man

One of the most trying experiences I've had since becoming a photographer has been coming to terms with the fact that there are places in our county where, quite simply, we are not allowed to take photos. Now, I’m not talking about setting up hundred-person movie sets complete with production vans and craft services tables, nor do I mean shooting on private property, sacred land, and/or Area 51-type secret military bases...

How to Create Very Soft and Flattering Light for Portrait Photos

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.

How to Create a Pure White Background in Camera

Many photographers struggle with creating a pure white background in camera, but it is an essential skill that all of us must master. The good news is that it’s relatively easy to do with the right setup. In this article and the accompanying video, I detail my method for creating a pleasing white background on camera.

Three Lightroom Features That You Probably Don't Know About

If you haven't noticed from my previous articles, I love Lightroom Classic. Lightroom has many powerful features that are easy to access, and I love its digital asset management capabilities. However, some powerful features are hiding in Lightroom that you might not know are there.