Sky replacement used to be a fairly tedious thing and one that took a lot of careful editing and know-how to get just right, but in recent years, we have seen the rise of automated tools that cut out a lot of the time and difficulty involved in the process.
Summer is here, and with the weather warming up, it is a great time to get out with your camera, enjoy the elements, and make some great landscape images. With so many opportunities, you might be wondering how to get started. This excellent video tutorial will show you a range of great tips to help you get the most out of your summer landscape photography.
One of the simplest ways to make your images more effective is by paying attention to this one fundamental component of photography and applying it in ways that you may not have thought of.
If you look at the work of professional portrait photographers, you will probably notice that they frequently use more complex two- or three-light setups. Such setups certainly have their place, as they enable a lot of creative flexibility, but that does not mean you cannot take professional portraits with just a single light.
As you progress in landscape photography, you might find yourself wondering how others get everything in focus within their images. In this article series and video, I'll go over how to focus stack while in the field and what to do once you sit down to process your images.
Focus stacking is a common technique used by landscape photographers for images in which ultra-deep depth of field and high levels of sharpness are desired. You can use it for nighttime landscapes that incorporate things like the Milky Way as well, though it takes some additional considerations.
Manual mode is often held up as the mark of a professional photographer, and while it is definitely something every photographer should master, that does not mean it is the best choice for every situation. So, how do you know which mode to use? This quick and helpful video discusses what you need to know.
One of the most popular long-exposure subjects out there is light trails, in which the headlights and taillights of moving vehicles create eye-catching pathways throughout the frame. They can be a great creative tool, and they are also a ton of fun to shoot. This excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to create great light trail shots.
Whether you just bought a new lens from a reputable vendor or snagged a deal off an auction site, you’ve got to test it. Fortunately, you don’t need a crazy, dedicated setup just to check out your gear. In this guide, I’ll run through how I’d test a newly acquired lens in about 10 minutes, all without any fancy gear.
Waterfalls are some of the most popular landscape photography subjects out there, and there are as many ways to photograph them as there are waterfalls in the world. If you are new to photographing them, this awesome video tutorial will give you some great tips from an experienced landscape photographer that will improve your work.
Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are now in the throes of summer, which means harsh sunshine for a larger part of the day. While midday sun is generally not ideal for photographs, it isn't always avoidable. Luckily, there are some simple ways to work around and even with that blazing star and still end up with strong images.
If you have ever struggled to get perfect exposure with accurate colors in your videos, then you are not alone. But with the help of the X-Rite ColorChecker Video and DaVinci Resolve 17, you will be able to create perfect-looking videos in a fraction of the time.
Unlike digital photography, where pretty much all the style is added in the editing process, in film photography, you are making a significant creative decision the moment you choose which film to put in your camera. So, how do you know which to choose?
If you look at the work of a lot of successful landscape photographers, you will probably notice that the majority of them are very good at controlling the layers of an image to create a sense of depth that draws the viewer in and encourages them to linger and explore the photo.
A lot of the time, we have to work out of our dedicated offices, and that can be a bit of a pain given a lot of the specialized tools creatives tend to use for their work. If you find yourself on the go a lot, this helpful video will give you five tips to improve your portable workspace to make it more efficient, effective, and enjoyable to use.
One of the most common and useful functions of Photoshop is the ability to change the color of different objects for creative effect. If you are shooting outdoor portraits, landscape photography, or anything else with plants or foliage, this excellent video tutorial will show you how to easily and convincingly change their color using Photoshop.
Of all the functions and panels in Lightroom, the one that gets used the least is probably the Calibration panel. In fact, many photographers have been working in Lightroom for years and have never touched it.
Every lens has a sweet spot, the aperture where the image sharpness is at its best. If the aperture becomes larger, lens errors will become visible. When the aperture is closed, lens diffraction will become visible. In this article, I am going to take a closer look at lens diffraction.
Composition is a challenging thing that is difficult for a lot of landscape photographers, particularly because it is a bit more nebulous and difficult to codify than something like the settings to choose for an image.
Backdrops are a fantastic tool for a wide variety of work, but the majority of the time, they are made of fabric, and fabric has a nasty habit of accumulating creases and wrinkles that can be distracting. If you are dealing with that issue, this great video tutorial will show you how to get rid of them using Photoshop.
There are few people on the planet who know as much about headshots as Peter Hurley. In this helpful video tutorial, he discusses the sort of camera gear and settings you should consider for your headshot work.
If you’d like to improve your knowledge and skills in product photography, then check out this video tutorial from Karl Taylor. There’s a great breakdown of the lighting and the reasons for the decisions he made during the shoot. This product shot from Karl Taylor really caught my eye as an interesting image.
A lot of the work by professional portrait photographers uses more complex two- or three-light setups. And such setups absolutely have their place and give a wide amount of technical and creative control, but you can also accomplish quite a bit with only a single light. This excellent video tutorial will show you five great one-light setups for portrait photography.
Wedding photography is a challenging, high-pressure genre, and anything you can do to be as prepared as possible will help you to ensure that when the big day comes, you can deliver the shots your clients want. One way to improve your abilities that you might not have considered is street photography, and this excellent video will show you why you should practice it.
Landscape photography is a popular genre that challenges a lot of aspects of your technique and creativity, and as such, there are plenty of places where things can go awry if you are not being careful or are not totally solid in your abilities. This excellent video tutorial discusses five common mistakes landscape photographers make and how to either fix or avoid them altogether.
Top tips videos dominate the YouTube photography world. The breakdown of a complex topic into an easily digestible list satisfies our appetite for a quick creative boost. But are top tips videos really bolstering our creativity or stifling it? This video suggests that those videos may just be limiting our ability to create unique work.
Editing portraits can be a time-consuming task, especially when you have done something like a corporate session and have multiple subjects to work through. However, newer software offers the ability to automate many parts of the process and vastly increase your efficiency. This helpful video tutorial will show you how to edit portraits using Luminar AI.
Studio photography allows you complete creative and technical control over your imagery, which also means all your skills and imagination are put to the test. This helpful video tutorial will give you a few quick tips to improve your studio portrait images and expand your creativity.
The neat thing about landscape photography is that any single subject can be rendered in many different ways simply by your choice of settings and more. So, how do you know which settings to choose for a specific shot? This excellent video tutorial discusses what to think about when you are deciding which camera settings to use.
So much of portraiture is of women that you would be surprised at just how much posing knowledge you might have without trying. However, for many reasons, with men, it's trickier. This video goes into some tips, tricks, and mistakes when posing men for portraits.
Composition is one of the most challenging aspects of landscape photography, and a good composition can be what takes an interesting subject and creates a compelling photo of it. If you have been struggling with creating good compositions, this great video tutorial will show you an effective method for finding worthwhile subjects and using them to make better photos.
Landscape photographers often blend images shot at different focal distances for maximum sharpness and occasionally those shot at separate focal lengths for creative effect. However, you can also blend images shot at different shutter speeds for both creative effect and high levels of sharpness, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to do it using Photoshop.
Models and photographers who shoot nude or implied images have every right to do so, but this industry is full of some bad people with bad intentions. Here are some tips on how to stay safe.
Wedding photography is a high-pressure genre in which being prepared in every aspect is crucial to ensuring success when the big day arrives. This excellent video tutorial features a seasoned wedding photographer discussing five things you should do before every wedding you shoot.
Astrophotography is a very challenging genre, requiring specialized equipment, technical knowledge, top-notch technique, and a lot of patience, but it can be tremendously rewarding when it all comes together and you get a stunning image of something that is an unfathomably large distance from our home.
Photography culture is a weird thing, and there can be a lot of unnecessary gatekeeping regarding gear, skills, creativity, access to opportunities, and more, and it can all be rather discouraging, especially for newcomers. This excellent video essay offers some important words of encouragement for facing those gatekeepers.
Talent is a wonderful thing, but talent alone isn't enough to bring you success in the photography world. And let's face it, there are lots and lots of talented people out there. Here are some other things that you will probably need far more than talent to succeed in photography.
Filters can be used in a variety of situations, particularly in landscape photography, but do you need them when you do night photography, and will they improve your images?
One of the most fundamental and important features of any camera is autofocus, and modern bodies have impressively capable and comprehensive systems that are designed to competently tackle just about any scenario you can throw at them.
Being a creative comes with a healthy dose of assaults on our confidence, both internal and external. When it comes to those internal assaults, one of the worst is impostor syndrome. Impostor syndrome can undermine your confidence and make it difficult to perform at your best behind the camera.
The Milky Way is the first major landmark after capturing stars in astrophotography, depending on where you are in the world. However, capturing it can be tricky, require some know-how, and the right equipment. So, here are five tips to help you get it right.
Landscape photography is traditionally done with a wide angle lens in order to capture the majority of the scene in the frame, and while there is nothing wrong with that approach, you can make images that are just as visually interesting with longer focal lengths.
A lot of us spend a ton of time working in Lightroom, and anywhere we can increase our efficiency, even by just a little amount, can add up to big savings in the long run. This helpful video tutorial will show you a variety of ways to work more quickly in Lightroom and save a lot of time.
Lights and specialty modifiers can be quite expensive, and filling out your collection can be a major hit to your wallet. However, one of the most versatile modifiers and a favorite of many studio photographers is also one of the cheapest. The humble v-flat is tremendously useful, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to use them to create eye-catching light.
Whereas things like camera settings and lighting can be quantified and thus committed to memory in a straightforward manner, posing and directing a subject is a bit more nebulous and often gives photographers a fair amount of trouble.
It used to be that for serious color grading work, you needed to work in Photoshop, but Lightroom now offers some powerful controls for color grading that let you take precise control to dial in the exact look you want. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to leverage those controls to color grade your photos.
Shooting a panorama is quite simple in concept, but there are a few tips to follow that should give more consistent results. Whether you have never shot a panorama before or you're well versed, there may be something in here for you.
Making photography a career is the dream for a ton of people, but very few find lasting professional success. Why is that? There are many things that make it difficult, but one of the most common and damaging is something we often do to ourselves.
Learning how to balance artificial light with ambient light is one of the most important and versatile skills for a portrait photographer to learn. If you are still working on that, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you a series of outdoor portraits shot using a combination of strobes and ambient light and how they were lit.
Self-portraits tend to get a somewhat bad rap, in part because of the selfie craze. But, self-portraits can be an incredibly beneficial process for photographers that can lead to great growth and skill development.