Recent Education Articles

Enhancing Your Portraits With Shadow Boards

Mastering lighting techniques is a cornerstone of creating compelling compositions, allowing for the manipulation of mood, texture, and depth in an image. The helpful video tutorial will show you how to use shadows to create more pleasing images.

How to Use AI Denoise in Lightroom

Lightroom has some impressively powerful denoising tools, and they can help you rescue images that might not work otherwise. This helpful video tutorial will show you how to use them for landscape images.

How Shapes Influence Photographic Storytelling

Understanding the influence of shapes is a crucial aspect often overlooked by many practitioners in the field. Shapes are not just basic elements of design; they're powerful tools that can evoke emotions and tell stories, making their study essential for photographers aiming to enhance their visual storytelling.

How to Shoot Portraits in Poor Natural Light

Navigating low-light conditions remains one of the most challenging scenarios for photographers, requiring a deep understanding of camera settings and creative use of available resources. This helpful video provides valuable insights and practical advice that can significantly enhance the quality of photos taken in such tricky environments.

Don’t Waste Your Time Posting on Social Media, Do This Instead

A few months ago, I wrote an article about how to get your website to the top of Google. I talked about the importance of search engine optimization, content strategies, keyword research, and search intent. If you put your SEO foundation in place following that article, you are ready to create content that will rank on Google.

Embracing Simplicity: The Key to More Impactful Photography

In an era where digital cameras are packed with an overwhelming array of features and buttons, the pursuit of simplicity in photography has become increasingly appealing to many photographers. Streamlining the photographic process and minimizing gear can lead to a more focused, productive, and enjoyable experience behind the lens.

Fixing Your Landscape Photography Editing Mistakes

Capturing landscape photography images is only half of the process. Mastering the art of editing will help strengthen your images by finding the balance between too much editing and not enough editing of the photograph. This video highlights some common editing mistakes landscape photographers make.

Becoming a Successful Commercial Photographer: Insights from Industry Professionals

For aspiring commercial photographers, understanding the key factors that contribute to a thriving career is crucial. While technical skills and artistic talent are undoubtedly important, there are other essential elements that can make or break a photographer's success in the competitive world of professional photography.

The Power of Long-Term Photography Projects: Finding Fulfillment and Growth

Committing to long-term photography projects can be a deeply rewarding experience. While the immediacy of sharing photos on social media can be exciting, investing time and effort into a project that spans weeks, months, or even years allows for a more meaningful connection with the subject matter and personal growth as an artist.

A Superior Way You Can Compare Camera Lenses

When manufacturers give specifications of lenses, there is a lot of detail that is meaningless to many consumers of their products. When we writers review them, we tend to give the same information. Here’s a method I think would be much more helpful to most photographers.

Unleashing Creativity Through Deadpan Photography: The Essential Elements

Deadpan photography is a unique and thought-provoking style that challenges conventional notions of what makes a compelling image. By stripping away emotion and focusing on simple, straightforward compositions, deadpan photography encourages viewers to see the world in a new light.

Why Limiting Your Gear Can Enhance Your Photography Skills

As photographers, it's easy to fall into the trap of believing that the latest and greatest gear will instantly improve our skills and creativity. However, this mindset can often hold us back from truly growing as artists and honing our craft.

Elevate Your iPhone Photography: Tips and Techniques from a Pro

With the incredible advancements in smartphone camera technology, it's no surprise that more and more photographers are turning to their iPhones for both personal and professional photography. Learning how to maximize the capabilities of your iPhone camera can open up a world of creative possibilities and allow you to capture stunning images wherever you go

Behind the Scenes: Preparing for a Successful Photo Shoot

Preparing for a shoot is more than just setting up lights and cameras; it involves a detailed workflow that ensures data integrity and efficiency throughout the process. Understanding and implementing a streamlined workflow is crucial for safeguarding your work and maintaining productivity, especially when handling high-volume or high-stakes shoots.

WPPI Is Bigger and Better Than Ever!

WPPI is one of the biggest photography conferences in the world. But after COVID, the show struggled to make a comeback. Thankfully, WPPI is now as good as it ever was, and getting better each year.

5 Common Beginner Landscape Photography Mistakes

The evolution of a photographer's skill set and perspective over time can drastically change the way they view their craft, especially in the realm of landscape photography. This video documents one such examination and some common mistakes that emerged.

5 Helpful Tips on How to Choose the Right Camera

Choosing the right camera can be a daunting task for photographers and videographers alike, whether they are just starting out or looking to upgrade their gear. Nonetheless, it's a pivotal decision and one that takes a lot of thought. This helpful video will make the decision easier.

Stop Wasting Your Money on Things You Don't Need

Choosing the right gear in photography extends beyond mere preference; it gets into the strategic selection of tools that profoundly affect the quality and focus of a photographer's work, as well as their bank account.

Flash Photography Essentials: 5 Quick and Easy Tips

Understanding the fundamentals of flash photography is crucial for photographers aiming to elevate their portraits. This fantastic video tutorial shares five tips sure to help you improve.

How to Improve Your Photography Without Spending Money

Photography is an art form that allows us to document life’s journey and encapsulate moments that hold profound significance. This fantastic video details one photographer's transformation from a corporate professional to a passionate artist, giving a compelling narrative about pursuing happiness and finding solace in photography.

Capturing Beauty in the Mundane: The Art of Noticing

Capturing the essence of everyday moments has become a transformative trend, particularly resonating with photographers who seek to find and showcase beauty in the mundane. This trend, which emphasizes the art of noticing the subtle yet profound beauty in our surroundings, offers a fresh perspective.

Key Light Placement: The Secret to Better Portraits

The importance of the positioning of the key light in portrait photography cannot be overstated, with its placement being crucial to defining the subject's features and the overall mood of the photograph. For portrait photographers, mastering key light placement is foundational, affecting everything from the sharpness of shadows to the subtleties of facial contours.

How to Even Out Skin Texture Using Photoshop

Achieving the right balance and evenness in skin texture is a nuanced skill that significantly enhances the depth and realism of portraits. This challenge, common for portrait photographers, requires a delicate approach to preserve skin texture while ensuring it looks natural and evenly lit. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to achieve that balance in Photoshop.

The Evolving Role of the Professional Photographer in 2024

Navigating the evolving landscape of professional photography is becoming increasingly complex, with significant shifts in industry practices, client expectations, and revenue models. Understanding these changes is crucial for photographers who wish to stay relevant and competitive in a rapidly transforming market.

Answering the Age-Old Question: What Camera Should I Buy?

As a photojournalism professor, one of the questions I get asked most by beginning photographers is, "What camera should I buy?" As if there's a single, definitive answer to that. The answer I always give is: What do you want to do? There's a camera out there for everyone, and here's a guide for what to look for when you're starting out.

5 Lesser-Known Lightroom Desktop Features

Navigating through Lightroom’s myriad of features and tools can be a daunting task for photographers. This fantastic video shows five hidden functionalities within the software that can significantly enhance one’s editing workflow and improve the overall photographic output.

Understanding the Influence of Sun Direction on Landscape Imagery

Crafting a compelling landscape photograph is not solely about adjusting camera angles or positions; it's about conveying a deep, meaningful message through visual storytelling. Recognizing the intricate relationship between light, landscape, and atmospheric conditions is essential for photographers aiming to elevate their imagery.

Enhancing Your Photos With Split Toning in Lightroom

Split toning in Lightroom offers photographers a robust tool for creative color grading, enhancing the emotional impact and aesthetic appeal of their images. Understanding its application can transform an ordinary photo into a stunning visual narrative, a reason why photographers should incorporate this technique into their workflow.

Efficient File Management: A Photographer's Guide to Organization

The organization of digital assets is a fundamental yet often overlooked aspect of photography, crucial for both new and seasoned photographers. A well-organized digital library not only streamlines the workflow but also ensures that valuable images are easily accessible and secure for future use.

How One Embracing Simplicity Transformed a Photographer's Career

In an era where technology continuously redefines the boundaries of creativity, photographers constantly seek ways to carve out their distinct style. A pivotal choice in the equipment a photographer uses can drastically influence their approach, compositional techniques, and ultimately, the uniqueness of their visual storytelling.

Capturing the Mundane: A Documentary Approach to Photography

Embracing a documentary approach to photography can significantly alter a photographer's perspective and output. This methodology, which shifts the focus from aggressively pursuing unique and creative shots to simply capturing the moment as it unfolds, offers a fresh lens through which to view the art form. It's a reminder that sometimes, the most profound images are born from the simplest moments.

Handheld Photography Techniques for Sharper Images

Mastering handheld photography is a critical skill for capturing spontaneous shots, especially in challenging environments. This helpful video provides invaluable insights and techniques, underscoring its importance for photographers who often find themselves in situations where tripods are impractical or forbidden.

The Best Possible Camera Settings for Shooting in JPEG File Format

Are you a photographer who prefers to shoot in the JPEG file format? In that case, you have to get everything right in the camera. Correcting a mistake afterward is limited. There are different in-camera tools available that allow you to get the best possible results.

How to Revive Underexposed Photos with Lightroom

Unlocking the potential of underexposed images is a crucial skill for photographers, enabling them to salvage photos that might otherwise be considered lost causes. This helpful video tutorial will show you how to do just that using Lightroom.

You Must Know These Lightroom Techniques

With all the different AI tools that get introduced into the various photo editing apps, it's easy to forget about the fundamentals. To become an efficient photo editor, you must also know the basic settings and techniques. Michael Shainbloom gives ten Lightroom tips that help you achieve that.

2024 WPPI Las Vegas Exclusive: Meet the Portrait Masters Winners

In the heart of Las Vegas at the 2024 Wedding and Portrait Photographers International, I had the opportunity to dive into the minds of talented winners from the Portrait Masters' January competition, unveiling their creative processes and inspiration.

A Landscape Photographer's Guide to Cost-Effective Travel

While many have tips for keeping travel expenses low regionally, what happens when you start flying to landscape photography destinations? Things that work with regional travel don’t scale when limited on what you can bring. I have several tips for keeping travel costs low when flying to your destination.

How To Find Direction, Subjects and Creative Ideas

I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for creative ideas for my next shoot. It's not always easy, and sometimes you just need to get to your location to find what you're looking for.

Finding Beauty in Gloom: Creative Photography on Dull Days

Embracing the challenge of dull, overcast days, this video offers a refreshing perspective on photography under conditions many might find uninspiring. Highlighting creativity over clarity, it suggests that less-than-ideal weather can be the perfect setting for exploring new photographic techniques and compositions, offering five different ways to approach such weather.

Maximizing Returns: A Professional Photographer's Guide to Smart Equipment Investment

Investing in the latest photographic equipment is a decision fraught with financial implications, one that every photographer must navigate carefully. The rapid depreciation of camera gear serves as a cautionary tale for photographers keen on maximizing their return on investment while still achieving professional results.

Choosing the Right Canon RF Lens for Portrait Photography

In portrait photography, the lens you choose is crucial to capturing the essence and emotion of your subject. This decision influences everything from the depth of field and bokeh to the sharpness and overall mood of the image, underscoring the importance of selecting the right lens to match your artistic vision and technical needs.

6 Simple Menu Things to Set on Your Camera

Modern cameras have lots of functions. It can be challenging to make the best possible settings. Often, it takes time to get the optimal settings for your personal photography. However, there are some simple things that are worth checking out.

The Art of Spontaneity in Photography: Lessons from Antarctica

The transformative power of embracing the unexpected is an exploration worth undertaking, particularly in environments as unpredictable as Antarctica. One photographer's recent journey to this icy continent serves as a compelling testament to the value of adaptability in the creative process, illustrating how a willingness to let go of meticulous planning can uncover breathtakingly spontaneous moments.