Photography Education

If you enjoyed reading about mind-blowing photography facts, here are 10 more that you will find fascinating.  

Good audio is just as important to creating a successful video as the images on screen, and as such, anyone working with video should have at least a basic knowledge of how to edit and improve their sound. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to use the spectral frequency display in Adobe Audition to make more precise audio edits.  

Do you have a bucket list shot — a photo that you have always wanted to take? This great video follows a photographer as he gets to take a shot on his own personal bucket list.  

The bane of many photographers' existence over the last couple of decades has been endless hours spent creating complex masks in Photoshop using the Pen tool. Unmesh Dinda of PiXimperfect shows you how much faster your workflow can be with the Select Subject tool, which was recently updated in the latest version of Photoshop. 

Photographers are obsessed with improving their work through new gear purchases, extra lighting, and better retouching, but there's one trick that's often overlooked: the power of moving 12 inches. 

The more time that passes in which I am a professional photographer, the more I distill the various components that have a hand in success in this industry, revealing which are vital and which are posturing as important. Here is a component that I would consider one of the most important, if not the most important. 

Wedding photography takes the ability to interact with and direct numerous people over the span of sometimes 12-16 hours, and it can be an exhausting experience even for the most extroverted of those among us. Many creatives tend to be introverted, however, which may leave you wondering: if you are an introvert, should you avoid becoming a wedding photographer?

I strive to capture moments in time with my photography, and one thing I like is once in a lifetime or very rare moments. The Neowise comet (aka C/2020 F3 NEOWISE) is one of those moments that won't happen again for about another 6,800 years.

We often talk quite a bit about the virtues of different portraits lenses, how various lighting techniques render your subject, and how different poses make for a flattering final image. But one thing that does not get discussed enough is how to make your subject comfortable in front of the camera.

It is advised to shoot raw, always. Although many think that is a wise thing to do, a lot of photographers still shoot JPEG only. For those group of photographers I have 10 tips for better photos, and it has nothing to do with raw.

Two 10-stop filters put through their paces side by side. Both advertise they do the same thing but are they really the same? In short, yes and no, but mostly no. You'll be interested in the reasons why. 

There are lots of reasons why you might want to change the color of someone's eyes in post-processing. Thankfully, it is not a particularly hard thing to do convincingly, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to do it using Photoshop.  

In this video tutorial, I show how to create dynamic images by using dodging and burning and painting in some light effects. 

Shooting outdoors can be easy, yet it can also be tricky at the same time. There are some variables out of your control, like an unexpected person walking in your background or simply a change in weather. Sometimes, you just need to avoid the crowds as best as possible.

Are you fresh into the film and production industry and want to learn the most amount of information in the quickest amount of time? Get on a film set. But, before doing so, be sure to familiarize yourself with the top 20 things you'll be sure to hear on set. 

One of the things that I see underutilized in both Lightroom and general computer use is the context menu, also known as the "right-click menu" to many. It's a great user interface feature that reduces the number of toolbar buttons that often clutter an application. 

Commercial photography is notoriously hard to get into. In this video, I go over my complete workflow for shooting commercially viable portfolios from inception, through the shooting process, and into post-production. 

It's easy to pick up bad habits in anything you do, and photography is no different. Here are seven that you ought to check for and make sure they haven't crept into the way you work. 

I believe that perhaps the most significant challenge for many photographers is image noise. I often struggle with this myself when shooting fast-moving wildlife. 

Have you seen people with those small digital cameras or smartphones, holding them at arm’s length, and viewing the LCD screen while taking a picture? As a serious amateur photographer, you don’t want to takes pictures this way. I have six good reasons for using live view screen when photographing from a tripod. 

Does a landscape photograph tell stories? In this course, landscape photographer Alister Benn goes through different tools in Adobe Lightroom that can help you express through your landscape images. 

I'm tired of Instagram, and I'm guessing you walk a similar path. The platform that was built on photography and promoting good imagery is exhausting for photographers. While I'm not certain what the end-game of Instagram is, it seems user experience for the creators is not at the top of the list.

It's easy to start blaming your equipment when your images aren't perfectly sharp, but nine times out of ten, it's user error. Here are seven reasons why your photos might not be blurrier than they ought to be. 

When you are shooting portraits, you are probably focusing the majority of your attention on posing, and it can be easy to fall into somewhat plain compositions. This great video will give you seven quick tips along with lots of examples that will improve your compositions and reinvigorate your portraits. 

While many drone owners focus on aerial video and photos, there’s one often overlooked item on the spec sheet that your shiny new Mavic can also do: 360 photography, from the sky. 

Do you think bracketing is necessary in today's world, where cameras are so sophisticated and post-production software so advanced? Whether you're a beginner or an experienced photographer, seeing how bracketing is used here will almost certainly spike your creative ideas. 

Portraiture can be a minefield for small but detracting mistakes that hinder an otherwise great shot. Here are eight common mistakes to avoid. 

I'm always on the hunt for new equipment that could make my life a little easier and my workflow smoother. Find out the next best purchase you can make for your studio today.

Good lighting can make or break a video. There are some mistakes a lot of newer videographers make when it comes to lighting, however, and this helpful video outlines three of the most common issues creatives encounter and what you can do to fix them and improve the look of your work. 

Landscape photographers often deal with vast, expansive scenes, and as such, they need to think about many different areas and layers of the frame. This excellent video discusses the importance of adding foreground elements to your landscape photos and how they can improve your images.  

We all know that raw files offer more versatility and range in post-processing than JPEGs, but on the other hand, JPEGs certainly are not totally useless. This great video will show you what you can do with JPEGs versus raw files in post-processing. 

One of the many things I've learned over time is the importance of learning how to learn. Some people learn better by reading, some by observing, and others by actually doing. 

Being good with a camera is just one of many skills you need to successfully earn money as a photographer. This excellent video explores the skill every financially successful photographer has and why it is such a crucial thing.  

Landscape photographers commonly prefer to get as much of the frame in focus as possible for maximum sharpness. Focus stacking is a common and useful technique for accomplishing this, and this excellent video will show you how to do it using Photoshop.  

The exposure triangle is one of the most fundamental concepts any photographer needs to master to take control of their images. If you struggle to understand how it all comes together to produce a complete exposure, this article is for you. 

Taking a great portrait is only half of what is required for a fully finished image: you need to have strong post-processing skills as well. This fantastic video will show you how to retouch skin, remove hair, and color grade a studio portrait using Photoshop. 

Lighting people is a difficult but important skill to learn, and an additional complication is introduced when your subject wears glasses. This great video will show you how to eliminate distracting reflections in your subject's glasses while still creating flattering lighting.  

Photography is full of tradeoffs where you gain one thing in exchange for losing another. Here are five tradeoffs that every photographer should know.  

The wonderful thing about photography is that no matter how long you practice it and how much experience you have, there is always something new to learn or different ideas you can try. This great video discusses seven lessons a photographer learned over the span of one day.  

Why is it that we get more reds, oranges, and yellows when the sun is at the horizon at either sunrise or sunset, and how does the sky remain blue during the day anyway? Let’s look briefly at the chief principles at play when it comes to changes of color at the golden hours. 

Even if you’ve never blurred an image in Photoshop in your life, you might be aware that usually the best way to do it is by using Gauss. But who is Mr. Gauss, why is he so good at blurring images, and why would image editing be completely different without him? 

Replacing the sky in a photograph is traditionally a fairly tedious process, particularly if you are dealing with a complex structure consisting of things like tree branches and the like. However, Luminar 4 brought with it a new AI sky replacement tool that promised to drastically reduce the amount of time and effort that goes into the process. Can it hold its own with Photoshop?

An umbrella is normally one of the first lighting modifiers photographers use, and while they are a great tool for lots of scenarios, eventually, you will likely want to explore other options. The beauty dish is a highly popular option, and this helpful video will show you the differences between the two. 

We have it repeatedly drilled into us that we should avoid blowing out our highlights, but is it always a thing that should be avoided? This great video discusses when you should actually consider blowing out the highlights for the best possible image.  

If you’re taking advantage of a few quiet months, creating — or perhaps revisiting — an online portfolio might be a good use of your time. In this video, photographer Evan Ranft has some great suggestions on how to put one together. 

Photography is full of hundreds of terms. Here are 30 of the most important to know. 

While raw still image files can offer you a ton of latitude in post, but shooting raw with video is rarely an option. This is one of the reasons it is crucial to get your exposure as close to correct as possible in camera when shooting video, and this great video will show you six tools to help you get it just right. 

Photography, like many creative careers, rarely has a path to success that is straight and without unexpected twists. If you want to find success in the field, it is crucial that you stay flexible to the possibility of the shape of your career evolving or even changing shape drastically.  

One of the best ways I have found to improve as a creative has nothing to do with getting the newest camera, educational course, or piece of gear, but it's about increasing your self-awareness and constantly improving your character traits.  

Horses make for fantastic additions to a photo, whether you are taking pictures of a beloved companion or using them for a fashion shoot. However, I often see photographers treat horses like an afterthought in a photo, when they could make them look so much better with a little knowledge and practice. Here are 10 tips to improve your work with horses.