Photoshop is an extremely nuanced and complex program, which means there are often several ways to accomplish what you need to do. One of the application's most useful features, Blend If, is a bit hidden behind those multiple layers of menus, but it is one well worth knowing, as it gives you powerful and versatile capabilities for a range of editing scenarios. This excellent video tutorial will show you the ins and outs of Blend if and demonstrates how it works through a series of double exposure edits.

Hey there, Ben Sasso here! Learning new things is one of my favorite parts of what I do, and I want to be able to pass that on. If you're looking for some quick and basic natural lighting tips to play with on your next shoot, you're in the right place. Check out five easy tips! Hope you enjoy!

Would you like to hang up a boring picture on your wall? Properly not. But what can we do to turn boring weather conditions into interesting photographs?

Understanding your fundamentals is, well, fundamental to photography just like it is in anything else. In a previous article, I discussed the basics of aperture and exposure. Now, moving forward I want to address one of the key elements of aperture which is depth of field. All variables in photography have a give and take, and with your aperture as we gain light we also lose depth of field. But aperture is not the only variable the affects depth of field, and in this article we will take a look at those other variables.

Every photographer, at some point in their career, will have an internal debate to accept or decline a job because they may feel insecure about having the right skill sets or gear to complete the job. Personally, I have found myself accepting certain jobs and a few hours later, I wonder if I made a mistake in accepting the job since I may muck up a huge opportunity. A few days ago, I was offered a job that, at first, I did not think I could execute. Luckily though, I talked myself down the ledge and remembered I was in fact prepared for it.

The Clone Stamp is the bread and butter tool for a lot of photographers, and rightfully so: it's a tremendously flexible and powerful feature that's strikingly simple in its operation, particularly compared to many other tools. This helpful video shows you a couple of quick shortcuts to get even more versatility out of the Clone Stamp.

Frequency separation is one of the most powerful retouching tools you can use, but it takes careful technique and restraint to do it correctly. This excellent video tutorial will show you how you can incorporate frequency separation into your post-processing workflow.

Every photographer worries strives for the best possible photos, and high-ISO noise is one of the most common reasons for a reduction in image quality. It might be something we worry about just a little too much, though. This excellent video essay makes a case for why we should be willing to embrace high ISOs a bit more.

Hiking is a natural part of landscape photography. A few friends have spent months “thru-hiking” the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail. In preparation for this life-changing endeavor, they did frequent repacking called “pack shakedowns.”

Almost every modern camera comes with a variety of modes ranging from automatic to fully manual, with just about every possible option in between. What do they all do, and which should you be using for your work? This fantastic video tutorial introduces you to all the most common camera modes, how they work, and when you should use them.

You can spend a lot of money on lights and modifiers for portrait photography, and while there are certainly reasons why professionals invest in expensive equipment, you can absolutely create professional-level portraits with the most affordable gear — even a shoot-through umbrella and speedlight. This fantastic video tutorial will show you everything you need to know.

In a recent article, I shared a selection of easy-to-avoid photo editing mistakes. Today, it's time for five more. Some of them might sound obvious, while others are more subtle. What they all have in common: they can ruin an otherwise great edit.

Printing your photos and holding a tactile representation of your hard work is a wonderful and exciting experience, but creating a proper print is a skill and area of knowledge unto itself. If you are just starting to print your photos and want to ensure you do not waste your money, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you five common mistakes beginners make when printing photos and how to avoid them.

As a family photographer, I often find myself pushing the limits with how fast I'm moving. Sometimes I'm trying to get a shot before the 2-year-old child decides he hates what is happening, and other times I'm rushing to make sure I accomplish everything the family wanted to get. It doesn't matter what situation I'm in. Anytime I'm rushing, my images suffer. Last year at WPPI while attending one of Jerry Ghionis' classes, he said something that really stuck with me, and helped improve my photography. Ghionis said to slow down.

Colors casts can happen for a wide variety of reasons ranging from white balance issues to weird venue lighting or poor filter design. And just like the multitude of reasons for their presence, there are numerous ways to fix them. This technique allows you to quickly and precisely zero in on the corrective color you need without needing to eyeball it, making it one you'll definitely want to know.

When doing landscape photography, there are many things to keep your eye on and be aware of. Here are five mistakes to avoid.

Back in the days of film, where there were no image previews and every frame cost money to take, light meters allowed you to ensure that an image would be properly lit and the results would be what you expected. With digital, you can now check the results instantly and make adjustments right away with no penalty. So, while light meters are not necessary anymore, they can still be quite useful. This great video tutorial will show you how to use one properly.

Composition sometimes falls by the wayside in portrait photography, but if you want to elevate your images to the next level, it is something you need to take into careful consideration with every shot. If you would like to improve your portrait compositions, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features five helpful tips from an experienced photographer.

When starting out in wedding photography, one of the most common questions that gets asked is, “What lens is a must have for my first wedding?” The most popular answers to this question are all over the map. They range from 50mm to 85mm to 70-200mm and so on. What you likely never see on the list is something like a 20mm lens, but for me, I will always have one of these lenses in my bag.

We all know how a histogram has to be read, or at least we should know. It is a handy tool to check if the exposure of the image is correct, or as correct as possible. If the image is not exposed correctly we can read the luminance histogram on our camera LCD screen and know exactly how much the exposure needs to be corrected. Well, perhaps not exactly, but enough to prevent us from guessing.

2018 is old news, but that doesn’t mean we’re quite done learning from it. As you reconsider some of those New Year's resolutions, it’s important to revisit the previous year to celebrate milestones and shed some light on meaningful goals in 2019.

Want to get better at Photoshop quickly? Master Photoshop blending modes to improve your photo editing skills immediately.

London-based product photographer Sean Tucker is releasing a three-part video series on photographing large objects, such as chairs and sofas, in a studio setting. Here in part one, Tucker demonstrates how to set up your lighting and camera in order to achieve a great, clean image that will be easy to cut out in post-production for online product catalogs.

Image sharpness is, for the most part, a false economy. It is mistakenly believed to be synonymous with image quality; that isn't the case. One major difference is that image quality has a ceiling and once reached (if that's even possible), the image cannot be any better in terms of quality. However, with the sharpness of an image, you can far exceed the perfect amount (again, if there is such a thing), and it begins to cost your image dearly.

I’ve worked with more and more photographers over the years, and a commonality between many of them is that they only have their photos in one place, which will inevitably lead to tragedy. If this is you, or you struggle with catalog management, or you have a bunch of unorganized drives, then this guide is for you.

If you've ever lost your data before, you know how absolutely devastating it can be when you have no plan in place for redundancy. It amazes me how often I hear many photographers, even professionals that earn their income from shooting, do not have their...

If a photograph is two-dimensional, understanding depth of field gives you a measure of control over the third dimension. Mastering it will give you more ability to render photographs with clarity and directness.

The tone curve often gets less use than tools like the exposure sliders or color grading panel, but it offers arguably more power, precision, and versatility than either of those aforementioned options, which is why every photographer should have some level of familiarity with it. This excellent video tutorial takes a look at everything you can do with the tone curve in Lightroom and shows you how to leverage it to take greater control over your photo edits.

Mastering tone curves in Lightroom is a rite of passage for many photo editors. This great video tutorial makes the notoriously tricky technique approachable for beginners and experts alike.

Noise is the enemy of photographers everywhere, and we spend a ton of time discussing different post-processing software and techniques for reducing it as much as possible. But reducing noise starts from the moment you choose your camera settings. This fantastically comprehensive video will show you what noise is, why it appears in your photos, and numerous ways you can mitigate it in camera.

2019 has just begun, and it is time to wrap up and look back at 2018. Like last year, I have found my favorite photos, and what they have in common are strong compositions.