Photography Education

Soft light is great for portraiture, offering a flattering rendering of your subject's features. This great video tutorial will show you how to create ultra-soft light for portraits. 

A lot of photographers struggle when they first start working with off-camera flash. One of the most fundamental and crucial techniques you will need to master is balancing your strobes and ambient light. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to do just that. 

Today, Adobe has released the first version of Photoshop designed to run natively on M1 Macs, and the company promises significant speed improvements in the new version. Along with this, Photoshop on iPad has gained two new cloud features, and Camera Raw has gained an interesting new feature dubbed "Super Resolution." 

Taking a successful portrait requires the confluence of good technique, creativity, and your ability to interact with and direct your subject. If you have been struggling with your portraiture work, check out this excellent video tutorial that will offer you five tips to help you produce better results.  

Every genre has common traps that lure photographers in, causing them to miss out on better images, and landscape photography is no exception. This excellent video tutorial discusses five of the most common traps and how to recognize and avoid them in your work.  

Reception lighting is where most photographers struggle the most. The chaos of the dance floor mixed with low-light shooting conditions make for a constant struggle. But these six lighting setups will help you take your reception images to the next level.  

Whereas most landscape photos involve vast, sweeping scenes, woodland photography is an interesting change of pace that challenges you to create compelling imagery in densely packed spaces full of competing elements. This excellent video discusses the challenges of woodland photography and offers some helpful tips for creating better compositions.  

Landscape photography often demands extreme levels of dynamic range and depth of field — frequently more than your camera or lens can deliver. When that happens, exposure bracketing and focus stacking are your best friend, and this helpful video tutorial will show you how they are done. 

One of the most difficult aspects of photography is knowing how to actually find a good picture so you can take it. How do you know when one is in front of you? This insightful video tutorial discusses how to see good photos before you take them.  

In this video tutorial, watch as Dean Samed talks you through the photo manipulator's guide to mood boards in Photoshop.  

Most of us who shoot portraits do not work with professional models on a regular basis, and as such, it pays to know how to work with regular people to make them as comfortable as possible in front of the lens. If that is something you struggle with, this excellent video tutorial will give you five tips for taking better shots of regular people.  

Using multiple lights can enable complex and innovative creative opportunities that simply would not be possible with just a single light or natural light. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how this dramatic nighttime portrait was lit with three lights.  

In this video tutorial, watch as I take you through a layer breakdown of my Motorbike Rockstar image and also an amazingly easy rim light hack. 

The internet is absolutely bursting with photography tips and advice; however, some helpful ideas are often overlooked for one reason or another. This fantastic video discusses five often overlooked tips that will help you become a better photographer.  

There are numerous ways to edit a landscape photo with dozens of tools at your disposal. However, Lightroom's Calibration tab is one that does not get anywhere near as much attention as more common tools, even though it can invigorate your images. This great video tutorial will show you how the Calibration tab works and how you can use it to give your images a bit more pop.  

When you think of the lenses that are used for landscape photography, you probably think of wide focal lengths around 16mm or 24mm. However, while such focal lengths certainly have their place, a telephoto lens can help you create eye-catching and unique landscape shots. This great video shows some of what you can accomplish with such a lens.  

No piece of gear can have a greater impact on the technical quality of your images and your creativity than the lens you mount on the front of your camera. So, once you are ready to buy your next lens, how do you decide what to get? This helpful video discusses some of the things you should consider when deciding what lens to purchase.  

Depending on what you film and where you film it, you might not always have control of the sound and in particular, the ability to keep background noise to a minimum. If you have a video with background noise that you need to reduce, this excellent video tutorial will show you how to do it in Premiere Pro.  

If you combine foreground and background in a landscape photo, the two must work together. There are four ways to manipulate the relationship between the foreground and background. You just have to use depth of field, distance, and focal length in the best possible way. 

In this video tutorial, watch as I show you how to color match with Curves in Photoshop. Curves is one of the most powerful tools to use in Photoshop, so make sure you try to use it in your workflow. 

Long exposures are a highly popular look, but sometimes, you might not have an ND filter with you or you might not have decided to make a long exposure in the moment. If you have an image with potential that you think would look even better as a long exposure, this quick and helpful video tutorial will show you how to convincingly fake it using Photoshop. 

Often in certain genres (such as landscape or macro photography), you need more depth of field and sharpness than is possible to capture in a single image. When that happens, you will want to turn to focus stacking. It is a relatively straightforward technique, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you a workflow for it using Lightroom and Photoshop.  

A lot of us like to keep up with the latest gear, and there is certainly nothing inherently wrong with that; after all, cameras are rather nifty gadgets. But it is important to not confuse enthusiasm for gear with gear being a shortcut to improving as a photographer. This great video essay discusses the topic and offers some good motivation for enjoying what you have.  

After multiple attempts to capture sunrise or sunset and not getting the conditions I wanted, I decided I was going to take photos no matter what the conditions were, forcing myself out of my comfort zone and pushing myself to be a better photographer. 

Times have really changed for 360 shooters. When the cameras first came out, there was no ecosystem of products to make shooting easier. In 2021, that's definitely not the case, and YouTuber and 360 shooter Ben Claremont looks at some of the gear that will make life in 360 a little bit easier. 

Whether amateur or professional, there are certain common mistakes that we all make at one point or another. This excellent video tutorial discusses seven common mistakes photographers make and how to either avoid them or fix them.  

We spend a ton of time talking about how to light subjects not only to bring out their features in a flattering way, but to also convey a certain mood or message. But just as important as where you place light is where you do not. This excellent video essay shows you the importance of shadows and how they are used to add depth and meaning to photos and videos.  

When it comes to portraits, one of the most important decisions you can make is the choice of modifier. This great video will show you three common modifiers (softbox, parabolic umbrella, and umbrella) along with a lot of helpful example photos to show you how they will render your subject.  

A lot of professional photographers will tell you over and over about the importance of taking on personal projects. Even if you are only a hobbyist, they are a fantastic way to build your skills, expand your creativity, and become a more confident photographer. This fantastic video essay discusses why you should consider picking up a photography project.  

Along with shutter speed and ISO, aperture is one of the three most fundamental parameters that every photographer needs to have an absolute mastery of. This fantastic video tutorial will show you everything you need to know about how aperture works and how to use it for your photos in just two minutes.  

Of all the accessories that come with photography, your camera strap is probably not one you think about very often (if at all). However, with several pounds hanging off your neck for often hours at a time, it is something you should give a bit of consideration, and there are more options than you might have realized.

With the rise of social media, photography trends are more prominent than ever. Should you follow them or just photograph what you want? This great video essay discusses the balance between the two.  

Converting a photo to black and white is about more than simply pulling all the color out of it; it is a chance to make an entirely new image. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to convert a photo to black and white in Photoshop and turn it into a dramatic, eye-catching piece.  

It is always better to get a narrow depth of field in camera, but sometimes, you end up with a background you would prefer to be blurrier to bring more focus onto your subject. For those cases, you can blur the background using Photoshop, and this helpful video tutorial will show you how it is done.  

If you study the work of professional portrait photographers, you will probably notice a lot of them use rather complex multi-light setups, but you will also find plenty of fantastic images created with only a single light. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to create eye-catching portraits using no more than a single light.  

Lights and modifiers for them can quickly add up in cost, but one of the most useful lighting tools a studio can have is surprisingly cheap and low-tech. This excellent video tutorial will show you why v-flats are so useful and how to incorporate them into your own work.  

It can be easy to get caught up in the stresses that come with photography or life itself and to forget that photography is actually good for you. It is important to remind yourself every once in a while that photography is supposed to be an enjoyable thing that can do a lot of good for your overall happiness. This fantastic video does just that. 

I have made a good amount of mistakes in my career as a landscape photographer. Luckily, I have learned to identify these mistakes and how to avoid them. 

When I say mistakes, I talk about them in the broadest possible way such as missed opportunities, compositional mistakes, and underestimating certain conditions.

When it comes to landscape photography, the focal length of choice is normally a wide angle or even an ultra-wide angle. However, these lenses come with their own set of pitfalls that can adversely affect the quality of your images.

Often, the process of shooting is only half of what it takes to create a good landscape photograph. The edit is where you bring the image to life and add your personal touch. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to use the adjustment brushes in Lightroom to sculpt the light in your photos and create dynamic, eye-catching images. 

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably seen or heard just about everything about the Canon EOS R5. However, even with the multitude of videos I've watched and articles I've read, I didn't realize a few things about the R5. 

When it comes to portraits, by far one of the most important decisions you will make is the choice of focal length. This fantastic video explores three different focal lengths for portraits, how they render the subject, and the pros and cons of using them.  

Photoshop is a tremendously intricate program with literally hundreds of built-in functions, and each of us use it in different ways with different priorities. As such, you might want to create your own keyboard shortcuts to help you streamline your editing process, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you how to do just that.  

It is easier than ever to consume literally thousands of photographs with just the swipe of a finger, and that is both a blessing and a curse, as that means we can be easily influenced into chasing trends and popular styles. This excellent video discusses the importance of discovering your own identity and photographing what makes you happy.  

Kit lenses often have a bit of a bad reputation as being poor performers with low image quality, but they have improved quite a bit in recent years, and if you are a beginner, you do not necessarily need an expensive lens to learn.

Landscape photography is one of the lesser understood genres, particularly when it comes to the business side of things, even though it is highly popular as a hobby. This excellent video discusses 10 lesser understood aspects of being a landscape photographer. 

Lens filters are essential for just about any landscape photographer's gear bag, giving you the ability to cut down on problematic reflections or take greater control over your shutter speed for artistic exploration. This great video tutorial will show you everything you need to know about using lens filters for landscape photography. 

When you need a photo with deep depth of field that is sharp across the entire frame, it might not be possible to do so in just one shot. Focus stacking is a technique that allows you to get sharper images with deeper depth of field.

A few months ago, I wrote an article about using Lightroom calibration to create magic in your images but found out from many readers that this feature sadly didn't exist in Lightroom mobile... or does it? 

For all its tremendous complexity and variety of features, perhaps no aspect of Photoshop is more important than layers. If you are new to the program, this excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know about layers, including what they are, why they are so useful, and how to employ them in your work.