Recent Education Articles

5 Helpful Tips for Better Wildlife Photos

Wildlife photography is a challenging but rewarding genre that requires a lot of solid technique and specialized knowledge in order to create compelling images. If you are new to the genre and looking to improve, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you five helpful tips sure to put you on the right track to better wildlife shots.

3 Important Lessons for Landscape Photographers

Landscape photography challenges you to work with conditions you can't control while still employing a range of techniques and bringing your creative vision to fruition. If you would like to improve your images, check out this fantastic video tutorial that discusses three lessons an experienced landscape photographer thinks everyone should learn.

A Beginner's Guide to the Tone Curve in Lightroom

There are often multiple ways to go about achieving the same result when editing photos, and that is particularly true when it comes to editing the tones of an image. One of the most powerful and efficient tools for doing this in Lightroom is the tone curve. If you are new to the tool and wondering how to use it, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you an introduction to the tone curve and how to use it to create better edits.

man flexing on beach

Effectively converting a color image to black and white involves much more than a simple “convert to grayscale” type of operation. In this video, Aaron Nace of Phlearn demonstrates how to produce a stunning black and white version of any color image in Lightroom.

Some of the Most Common Landscape Photography Editing Mistakes

Rarely is a landscape photo finished when you take the shot; most such images require some level of editing to create the finished product. If you are new to landscape photography and interested in improving your work, check out this fantastic video tutorial that discusses some of the most common landscape photography editing mistakes and what you can do to avoid or fix them.

10 Lessons Learned From the Masters of Portrait Photography

Finding your voice in photography can be a difficult task when you're not exactly sure where to look. Learn these 10 lessons from some of the greatest portrait photographers and take your work to the next level.

A Beginner's Guide to Photoshop

Photoshop is a very complex and intricate program, and it can feel a bit overwhelming when you are new to photography and just starting to learn how to use it. If you are new to the program and wondering how to get started, check out this excellent video tutorial that will get you on the right track in no time.

Advanced Editing Techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop

Transforming an ordinary photo into an extraordinary one using post-processing tools is a skill that defines a capable photographer. This helpful video tutorial will show you some useful techniques to create a compelling edit.

Understanding RAID - When and How to Use It

PRO EDU recently released a five-part video series on their YouTube Channel dedicated to RAID. RAID, for those of you new to the term, refers to a system of file storage that can write a copy of everything you save to a separate hard drive so that you have two copies of everything you save. The benefit here is that if your hard drive fails, you don't lose all of your data and you have an identical copy ready to roll. In this video series, Gary Martin of PRO EDU explains everything you need to know about RAID systems to get started on your first RAID setup.

How to Get Clean Photos When Shooting at High ISOs

Depending on what you shoot, you might have to take photos at high ISO levels. While modern cameras have made remarkable advancements in their ability to handle high ISOs, you will still have to deal with noise. This helpful video tutorial will show you how to work to reduce that noise and to get clean images.

85mm, 100mm, or 135mm: Which Is Best for Your Portrait Photography?

When it comes to portrait photography, one of the most important choices you will make is the focal length you will use, both because it determines the overall look of the frame and because separate focal lengths can render your subject in drastically different ways. This great video takes a look at three of the most common focal lengths, 85mm, 100mm, and 135mm, to help you decide which is right for you.

Ten Photoshop Tricks to Improve Any Photo

The beauty of being a photographer and using a tool like Photoshop is that you can learn new ways of editing that can speed up your workflow or make it easier to do. I can even take it as far as saying I don't think the creators of Photoshop know every single way of editing a photo, as it depends on the style of you, the photographer, and what you want to portray in your image. Nathaniel Dodson from Tutvid recently released a video showcasing 10 tricks that I didn't know, and I think will be very useful to add to my workflow and skill set when it comes to producing work for a client.

10 Hard Truths Every Photographer Needs to Hear

Anyone who has dedicated themselves to photography long enough has felt the harsh undercurrents that run beneath the romantic facade: the self-doubt, the exhaustion, the unrelenting demands of an audience always hungry for more. We’re told to love what we do, but the unspoken caveat is that genuine commitment to photography—as with any passion—demands sacrifice, endurance, and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths.

How to Master Back-button Focus

There aren't many camera techniques that, once learned, will totally change how you shoot. But, back-button focus might change your life. Extreme? Maybe, but I urge you to watch this video from Sam Docker if you're new to the technique.
Mistakes Beginner Landscape Photographers Make With Camera Settings

In landscape photography, a single scene can yield vastly different images simply by how you choose your camera settings. As such, this is a place where a lot of things can go awry. If you are new to landscape work, this helpful video tutorial will show you some common mistakes beginner landscape photographers make with their camera settings and how to fix them to create more effective images.

Ryan Brenizer Talks Lighting Tips For Wedding Photographers

Ryan Brenizer is famous for his shallow depth of field panoramas known as the Brenizer method. In addition to this, he has photographed presidents, singers, athletes, and has more than 350 weddings under his belt. He was named one of the "10 most sought-after wedding photographers in the world” by Rangefinder Magazine, so when he talks, you should listen. In this video, Brenizer goes through five lighting tips that can help you throughout the day of shooting a wedding.

How to Get Your Landscape Photos in Focus

Landscape photography is just like any other genre in that you can do everything right, but if you miss focus, the resulting image will be a throwaway. So, what can you do to ensure that your photos are perfectly in focus every time you press the shutter? This helpful video tutorial will show you one professional landscape photographer's secret.

13 Common Photography Mistakes and Tips to Avoid Making Them

Photography is a combination of technical and artistic technique and decisions, and it can be easy to make a misstep somewhere that derails an entire image. This great video details 13 common mistakes photographers make and provides some helpful tips for avoiding or fixing them.

Five Mistakes Photographers Make and How to Fix Them

No photographer is perfect, and we all makes mistakes from time to time that detract from the quality and power of our images. This helpful video details five such mistakes and what you can do to fix them to create more powerful and emotive photos.

How Photoshop May Be Damaging Your Business

Postproduction is often so integral to a photographer's style that many photographers wouldn't dream of allowing their raw files to be seen by clients because they feel that their editing process is what makes the photo look like "their work." While I find postproduction just as important as any photographer, the unfortunate truth is that spending too much time in Lightroom or Photoshop might actually be damaging your business.

The Difference Between Vibrance and Saturation

The difference between the saturation and vibrance sliders might seem small or even imperceptible at times, but the two have distinct purposes and functions that make them useful for separate applications. This fantastic video tutorial will show you the differences between vibrance and saturation as well as how to use them to improve your photos.

How to Become a Professional Commercial Photographer

There are many paths in professional photography. I have gone down the route of commercial photography, and whilst I am nowhere near where I want to be in professionally, I thought I’d share a few points that can go a long way to making it as a professional commercial photographer.

5 Great Ways To Take Your Photo Editing To the Next Level

Improving your editing doesn’t necessarily mean getting your head around the Tone Curve or finding new ways to use the Color Grading panel. Check out these five practical tips to help you be more thoughtful in your editing and discover how to create your own style.

The Usefulness of the Painter Tool in Lightroom

The Painter tool is extremely easy to overlook in Lightroom, and yet, it is a highly efficient way to add data to your photos and keep them better organized. This great video will show you the tool, how it works, and why it is so useful.

Shame and Art: How to Stay Sane in Your Second Job While Trying to Make It as a Photographer

I am a bartender. After 15 years of slinging drinks it’s still hard to come out and admit that shooting isn't what I do full time. The path I've taken has been a twisted, gnarled, winding thing fraught with frustration and surprise. I've been shooting for 11 years and I never expected to still be behind a bar. But, such is life! I’m here to talk about dealing with that gut-wrenching feeling that comes along with any artist who hasn’t quite made it: shame.