Photography Education

Whether you just picked up your first camera or you've been shooting for years and hit a plateau, there's always more to learn. This section is where Fstoppers publishes educational content aimed at genuinely improving your photography — not just gear tips, but the foundational understanding of light, composition, and visual thinking that makes the difference between a competent photographer and a compelling one.

How Subtle Lighting Changes Can Create Entirely Different Photos

You might think the difference in setups that create high key and low key lighting is significant, but on the other hand, just a slight change in modifiers and light position can make a huge difference. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to create both high key and low key portraits using two strobes with almost identical modifiers.  

Do You Always Need a Tripod for Landscape Photography?

When you think of landscape photography, you probably automatically assume the usage of a tripod, but it is not always a necessary tool, and in fact, it can even be a detriment. In fact, a tripod can actually end up being a hindrance, and this fantastic video discusses why you might want to keep your camera in your hands more often.  

Get Out of Your Photography Comfort Zone

We all have our personal style and photographic habits, and that is not a bad thing; after all, they are what define us as creatives. On the other hand, we can end up stuck in a bit of a rut if we never stray outside our comfort zone, and this excellent video reminds us why it is important to push ourselves every once in a while.  

5 Signs Your Landscape Photos Are Too Busy

Landscape photography is unique in that you can't move the elements of your frame to adjust the composition, and as such, it can be easy to fall into the trap of making your photos too busy without even realizing it. This excellent video tutorial will show you five signs that your landscape photos may be too busy. 

Landscape Photography Doesn't Always Have to Be Epic

We tend to be inundated by images of grand, epic scenes when it come to landscape photography, and it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking those are the only photographs worth taking. This excellent video discusses why even seemingly normal scenes can be turned into worthwhile images. 

A Beginner's Guide to Shooting in Manual Mode

Knowing how to shoot in manual mode is one of the most fundamental and useful skills you can have and something every photographer should master as soon as possible. If you are new to photography, this excellent video tutorial will show you how to use manual mode to take complete control of your photos.  

The Power of the Tone Curve for Editing Photos in Lightroom

Most of us edit in Lightroom using the numerous sliders, and while those are perfectly fine the vast majority of the time, a tool that contains the power of many sliders all in one is hiding in plain sight: the tone curve.

5 Photography Myths Beginners Should Ignore

When you are new to photography, it is not uncommon to be bombarded with a wide variety of (often conflicting) advice on what gear to buy, how to shoot, how to run a business, and more. Some of that advice is genuinely helpful, and some is incorrect or even downright harmful.

Learn How This Dramatic Beach Portrait Was Lit and Shot

Dramatic portraits that mix the natural light of the sun behind the subject with a strobe to emphasize the model are a popular look and a fantastic way to practice lighting skills and to build your portfolio. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to shoot one such portrait to produce professional results.  

How To Turn Skin Pale and Hair Gray in Photoshop

In this video tutorial watch as I show you how to turn skin pale and hair gray in Photoshop. I have used these two techniques on many images now, and this way is far more adaptable than simply using a desaturate filter. 

Helpful Advice for Young Photographers

If you are young and new to photography, you might be wondering how to set yourself on the right track to become successful as you get older. This excellent video gives a lot of helpful advice for younger photographers and is well worth a watch.  

How To Create Supernatural Eyes in Photoshop

In this video tutorial watch as Abbey Esparza shows you how to create supernatural eyes in Photoshop. This is a great tutorial for anyone who wants to create creepy conceptual images. 

What Is the Most Common Photography Mistake?

Whether you've just bought your first camera, or you're decades deep into the craft, you make mistakes — we all do. But what is the most common photography mistake? 

Check Out These Creative Lighting Tricks

Half the fun of artificial lighting is the number of different ways you can experiment with strange effects to embrace your creativity. This great video will show you how you can use common objects to create entrancing lighting effects and eye-catching portraits.  

13 Street Photography Mistakes

One of the things that I like about street photography is that you never really know what you're going to see. You set out with some form of a plan, but that is often interrupted by things you see or things that happen. 

5 Great Tips for Better Seascape Photography

Seascapes are a highly popular subject, and they offer a huge range of different looks and moods depending on your location, the light, the weather, and how you choose to photograph them. This fantastic video tutorial will give you five helpful tips for improving your seascape photos.  

How to Edit Sunsets Using Lightroom

Sunsets can be deceptively difficult to edit, as most of the time, you will want rich, vibrant colors, but it can be tricky to avoid overdoing it and ending up with a gaudy result, plus, these images frequently have extreme dynamic range that can be tough to work with.

Five Simple Steps to Improve Your Portraits

When first starting out in photography, it is easy to fall into bad habits or get fixated on a single part of the overall process. Practicing simple and easy steps over and over is a sure way to build the necessary muscle memory needed to make the mechanics of photography second nature so you can spend more effort on interacting with your subject. 

Something Every Photographer Needs to Hear

It is easy to be paralyzed by the fear of imperfection or of rejection in a pursuit that draws on your creativity, even more so in an age where approval or criticism is nearly instantaneous and often sharp. But you cannot allow yourself to be handcuffed by these things, and this fantastic video discusses how to get through those times.  

15 Different Ways and Places to Market Your Photo Business

Becoming a successful photographer takes more than just solid technique and creativity; you also need to have a good grasp of business and marketing. This informative video will show you 15 different ways and places to market your business and get the word out there. 

5 Affordable Pro Lighting Setups

Lighting equipment can be quite costly, but you do not necessarily have to spend a ton of money to get effective setups that can create professional-level portraits. This fantastic video tutorial will show you five different budget lighting setups you can use to create professional portraits.  

Editing Tips for Better Winter Landscape Photos

Winter can be an absolutely wonderful time of year for landscape photography, but with the different season comes various changes in the look of your images and the way you should approach editing them. This fantastic video tutorial will give you a variety of tips for better winter landscape photo edits.  

How To Create a Doll Effect in Photoshop

In this video tutorial, watch as Abbey Esparza shows you how to create a doll eye effect in Photoshop and why you need to use them. This is a great tutorial for anyone who works within the fantasy genre. 

How To Create This Cyberpunk Noir Image in Photoshop

In this video walkthrough, watch as I show you all the steps it took to create this black and white cyber noir composite in Photoshop. This is a full walkthrough showing my process from beginning to end. 

How YouTube Saved a Photographer in 2020

2020 was horrible for a lot of photographers, leading many of us to work on finding alternate income streams to shore up our businesses. For one photographer, this meant leaning more heavily on his YouTube channel, and this fantastic video breakdown shows you how he generated income through his channel and offers some tips for how to do so with your own work. 

Why You Should Limit Your Focus at New Landscape Photography Locations

It can be very exciting when you find a new landscape photography location, and that excitement can lead to you running all over the place to get shots. But it might be a better idea to just stay put and focus on a single spot, then come back another time to explore more, and this excellent video discusses why that is the case.  

Last Chance to Save 60% Off Fstoppers Tutorials

For the last few weeks, every single Fstoppers photography and video tutorial has been on sale. That comes to an end on January 7th.  2021 is a fresh start for all of us which is why we're extending our Holiday sale a few more days. Get up to 60% off and learn from some of the most respected photographers in the industry.

How This Artist Created an Evil Santa Image in Photoshop

In this video walkthrough, watch as Dean Samed shows you all the steps it took to create this evil Santa composite portrait in Photoshop. This is a full walkthrough showing Samed's process from beginning to end. 

A Complete Guide to Editing a Portrait in Photoshop

Lighting and taking a great portrait is certainly a challenge, but it is only half of what it takes to create a compelling image, as you will need to have top editing skills in addition. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to edit a portrait in Photoshop from start to finish. 

Compositional Advice for Landscape Photography

Composition is one of the trickier parts of landscape photography, and it helps to have a variety of tips and ideas ready to go when you are out in the field. This helpful video tutorial will give you a wide variety of compositional ideas to improve your landscape photography. 

A Beginner's Guide to Photoshop on iPad

Photoshop on iPad has continued to grow and now offers a lot of the functionality of the desktop version while on the go. There are some differences in its usage, however, and if you are new to the app, this fantastic video tutorial will show you everything you need to know.  

How Does the Sony a7S III Compare to the Canon EOS R5 for Video Work?

The Sony a7S III and Canon EOS R5 are two powerhouses of the video world, and they both have advantages and disadvantages over each other. If you are wondering which is right for your own work, check out this great video comparison review that features lots of test footage for you to examine.  

How Consumer Photographers Have Tapped Into the TikTok Market

With every social media boom comes a new wave of photographers navigating its landscape. The TikTok world is completely different from the platforms of the past. On Facebook and Instagram, things are easy enough for photographers: post stills, write captions, engage, engage, engage.

How One YouTuber Gained 135,000 Followers Last Year

For many creatives, making a living from YouTube or at least establishing a notable presence is a dream, but with a fiercely competitive and highly crowded space, doing so is anything but easy. This excellent video features one YouTuber discussing how he gained 135,000 followers in 2020. 

Photography Project Ideas for 2021

2020 was quite the year, starting relatively normal and then spiraling quickly out of control as few have seen before. Plans were shredded, and normal daily life was abruptly changed like a cold bucket of water to the face.

How to Improve Your Engagement Portrait Session

Working with couples, you want to be able to capture the connection they have, especially when it's their engagement or wedding portrait session. Here are a few things you can do to help make their session memorable and deliver amazing photos. 

A Comprehensive Guide to Capturing Better Portraits

Capturing technically sound and compelling portraits take the confluence of a variety of skills. If you would like to improve your portraits, check out this fantastic video tutorial that is brimming with a wide variety of helpful tips and techniques.  

How to Make Someone Look Younger Using Photoshop

Photoshop is a powerful tool for retouching a person's appearance, and one of the most impressive things it can do is convincingly make someone look younger. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to adjust all of a person's features to take away years from their appearance. 

Helpful Tips for Saving Time When Retouching

With the requisite attention to detail and myriad of tasks you often have to perform, retouching can be a very time-consuming process, and as such, it is worth finding any little areas you can to make your workflow more efficient. This excellent video tutorial will give you a variety of tips for saving time while retouching without sacrificing any image quality.  

How I Created This Neon Synthwave Design in Photoshop

In this video walkthrough, I will show you all the steps it took to create this neon homage to Synthwave in Photoshop. Synthwave is a genre of music that has striking conceptual imagery to accompany the albums. 

Top Three Hacks for Cutting Out Hair in Photoshop

In this video tutorial, watch as Dean Samed shows you how the top three hacks for cutting out hair in Photoshop. Each one is a great way to get those tricky hair cutouts mastered. 

How to Dodge and Burn Dark Skin Tones

Dodging and burning is both a fantastic way to shape the light in an image and to retouch blemishes; in fact, it is the technique preferred by a lot of high-end retouchers over other more common methods.