Education

A lot of people associated HDR with over-processed, surreal images. This is not always the case. Shooting HDR can be very useful in different circumstances. It is often seen in real estate and landscape photography and can be very useful to balance a wide range of light levels. There are many programs out there for merging images together to create an HDR photo, but one of the simplest ways to create these dramatic photographs is using Photoshop's built-in HDR Pro.

In my recent article "Why I Love My 20mm Lens to Shoot Weddings," I explained why I love the 20mm focal length and also explained some of the distortion effects to be wary of. What I didn’t explain is that some of these distortion effects could be fixed by using a tilt-shift lens. In the following video, Vincent Laforet explains the basics of how to use these lenses to fix distortion, as well as how to add interesting focus effects to your images.

If you're a wedding photographer, chances are couples are also asking if you do engagement photos. The answer to this should be “absolutely!” So you’d better get good at them quick, because well-executed engagement sessions will lead to more work. But before you think about weddings, spend some time and find your style shooting couples. Here are five simple ways to improve your engagement photography.

In Part 1 of our Dramatic Beauty Portrait Tutorial, we looked at the lighting setup, gear breakdown, and shooting of our dramatic beauty shoot. In Part 2 of the tutorial we will now look at two different ways of exporting and preparing your image for retouching. The first method involves creating versions in Lightroom and exporting directly to Photoshop. The other method utilizes Adobe Camera Raw and the ability to make variations within Photoshop. I will also discuss the overall goal of our pre-edit stage.

Pull up almost any lens review these days and one of the primary attributes people are judging is the oh-so-important bokeh. Purchases are made and lenses are brought back all because of the how a lens does or doesn't measure up in the bokeh department. Well I’m here to tell you, at least for portraiture, it’s just plain overrated.

Photographer Anand Varma was always curious about the natural world and when he was a teenager he discovered that picking up a camera could help him explore it. By combining his two passions (biology and photography) Anand gets up close and personal, exposing some of the wonders nature has to offer. Anand latest work is facinating. By keeping bees in his backyard he was able to capture the first 21 days of a bee's life.

Not long ago, learning and critiquing photography was done almost exclusively in person. With the rise of the Internet, we saw a fundamental shift in how photographers interact with one another. Yet, even with the opportunities afforded by the web, there is so much more to gain by spending time with fellow photographers in the flesh.

The Sound Advice Workshop by MZed is one of those workshops that, until you go and attend it, you don’t realize just how important it is. The Sound Advice Tour does something I don’t know that anyone else is doing – offers up a wonderful, engaging in depth way to take from beginner to advanced audio practitioner and set you up to manage all your audio needs in a way that is informative, fun and rewarding

When starting out in wedding photography, one of the most common questions that gets asked is, “What lens is a must have for my first wedding?” The most popular answers to this question are all over the map. They range from 50mm to 85mm to 70-200mm and so on. What you likely never see on the list is something like a 20mm lens, but for me, I will always have one of these lenses in my bag.

This is Part 1 in what will be an 8 part series for a dramatic beauty portrait. In the series of tutorials, we will go through everything from the gear used, to the lighting setups, and all the way through the complete retouching process. In Part 1, I will breakdown my gear list used for the shoot and I will thoroughly go through my lighting setup. In this video tutorial not only will you see the gear and setup, but also a behind the scenes look as me and my team go through hair, makeup, and shooting. The complete series of videos will be available here on Fstoppers and on my YouTube Channel.

We all get lost in the Internet from time to time, and some of us way too much. We see a great photo online, or perhaps read an interview with a successful photographer, and then Google them and spend time pouring through their portfolio and blog. “How did they do it?" "I wonder what type of lighting that is?" "Where did they take that?" Half an hour and a cup of coffee later we close our laptop relatively depressed and completely diverted from our own path as unique and creative individuals. We start to scroll through our Lightroom catalogs in search of an amazing image we may have forgotten about that competes with what we just saw, or look at our measly social media following and wonder what we did (or are doing) wrong.

I am a bartender. After 15 years of slinging drinks it’s still hard to come out and admit that shooting isn't what I do full time. The path I've taken has been a twisted, gnarled, winding thing fraught with frustration and surprise. I've been shooting for 11 years and I never expected to still be behind a bar. But, such is life! I’m here to talk about dealing with that gut-wrenching feeling that comes along with any artist who hasn’t quite made it: shame.

Modern lenses are small miracles. They don’t defy the laws of physics, but they sure come close. Are you getting all you can out of your lens, though?

When I was young, I first fell in love with photography as a kid in summer camp. I then went home and started pouring over the Time Life Photography books from the local library. All through grade school and high school I stayed up countless nights studying, reading, and learning everything I could about great photographers and their amazing photographs.

Retouching skin is about detail and patience. It can be a real time consuming and can require a high level of precision to keep the natural aspect of an image. Each of us has a different style of editing and our tastes differ. However when giving retouching lessons many photographers ask me about skin texture and how to keep it looking as natural as possible.

This is not a simple answer as it is mostly a combination of elements. In this article I have combined the five things I see most photographers do wrong or too much when looking for a believable skin texture and look.

As professionals, we are expected to deliver a quality product to our clients. No matter what you are photographing or filming, it’s no secret that tight deadlines, difficult clients, and a wide variety of other issues can cause major stress in our lives. It can be taxing both physically and mentally and affect us in our day-to-day lives, relationships, and work. To be successful, these stresses need to be overcome and dealt with properly so that they do not bring us down. Here are a few tips to help to deal with the issues that may affect us.

Ryan Brenizer is famous for his shallow depth of field panoramas known as the Brenizer method. In addition to this, he has photographed presidents, singers, athletes, and has more than 350 weddings under his belt. He was named one of the "10 most sought-after wedding photographers in the world” by Rangefinder Magazine, so when he talks, you should listen. In this video, Brenizer goes through five lighting tips that can help you throughout the day of shooting a wedding.

More often than not, when the photography bug bites, people jump all-in without direction, guidance or a mission in mind. You get the urge to learn everything and shoot everything without knowing where you want to go or, ultimately, what you want to do. This can lead to no bookings, dried up emails and ultimately, frustration. When you get ready to enter the exciting and rewarding field of photography, there are a few questions to ask yourself.

In Part 1 of the "Start to Finish Fashion Editorial Retouching" tutorial, we looked at how to clean up a white background, how to liquefy clothing to achieve a better fit, and how to clone and heal out distracting elements in our editorial image. In Part 2 we will look at how to go about the more common and essential retouching steps including: skin retouching using dodge and burn, color toning, sharpening, and value adjustments. In this video, I take you through each step and give you insight into the "why" as well as the "how" of editorial retouching.

Documentary photographers, fashion photographers, businessmen, housewives, househusbands, you, the world – everyone should know the name and works of Sebastião Salgado. His work has moved millions of social workers, doctors, politicians, economists, and photographers alike. His work moves humans because it is human. This might mark the second or third film review on Fstoppers, but it’s rare and extremely fortunate that we should have the ability to engulf the pleasures of what can easily be called the most soul-entrancing art documentary in the world that is “Salt of the Earth.”

Tony Northrup and Chelsea Northrup continue to offer up informative videos to help photographers understand and Learn the Art and Science of Photography. This latest video has Tony breaking down: the pros and cons of using teleconverters, how using one effects your focal range, image quality, aperture, and autofocus capabilities. So if you've been thinking about buying a teleconverter, this video may help you make a more informed decision before picking one up.

Working on a film set is a great way to set yourself apart from other still photographers because everyone is shooting video nowadays. Before you try your hand at shooting a short or some video content, it might be a good idea to get some experience on a large-scale production and learn how the process works from professionals. I’ve been working on production sets for years and your first day on the job can be intimidating.

It's an exciting time of the year for wedding photographers and a time of plenty of chaos. Having a great second shooter is paramount among the necessities of any wedding photographer. If you're new to the genre, second shooting can be a fantastic way to get your feet wet and learn the ropes from a seasoned professional. I've put together a list, pulled from my own experiences and with talking to other wedding photographers, of the qualities we like to see in a second shooter. The better you are as a second shooter, the happier the clients and the lead photographer are, and ultimately, that leads to you being hired again and being recommended to others.

Being creative can be cathartic, uplifting, and eye-opening, but it can also be a major pain in the neck. When the creativity isn’t flowing, we can spend countless hours searching for inspiration. What are some of the best ways to break through that wall?

When building a successful photography business, there is no aspect more crucial than a client meeting. This is your chance to represent the very best of your brand, while putting a face to the person behind the camera. For many photographers, the decisive face-to-face meeting can be an intimidating challenge. For others, it is their opportunity to shine and demonstrate how personable they are. Whether your are a wedding photographer or a commercial photographer, there are many techniques that can make your meeting a success.

The Russian photographer and mother, Elena Shumilova, is making a big splash again by sharing some great photo advice. In early 2014, her whimsical photos of her children went viral and inspired parents and photographers all around the world. For the first time since she her images exploded on the scene, she allowed cameras into her home and gives some great tips for others to capture images of their children.

As a viewer, you rarely look at a photo and say “wow, that shutter speed and ISO really moved me,” right? The most memorable and moving photos may not be technically perfect at all. Adrian McDonald is the quintessential photographer, with photos that resonate with the viewers because of the way it makes them feel. That’s how you remember a photo.

Being a working photographer, and even as a weekend warrior, I'm sure we all suffer from low back pain after finishing a long day of shooting. This pain can last for days and sometimes weeks, and as photographers, if we can’t move, then we can’t work. So lucky for us, there is a simple solution.

We photographers are notorious for having terrible websites. Hiring a professional web designer isn’t always in the budget so sometimes you have to figure out how to do it by yourself. Here are a few tips that most people completely overlook when building their own website.

Many photographers use the word “make” to describe their process of photography. “I made these images,” you might hear a professional say describing his work. The layman phrase, “take pictures” or “capture photographs” evokes a feeling that the photographer did not put any work into the image, that they simply pointed the camera and the photo just came to be. Any creative medium takes skill and I’m not here to argue the artistic validity of a photograph over a painting or sculpture. But a somewhat fatal flaw of the digital age is the ease of which photography can be transferred, saved, downloaded, and reproduced in comparison to that of physical artistry.

I was originally going to call this article "five things I learned from coffee with John Schell" but in typical Schell fashion, our meet up involved Pho which doesn't mix too well with coffee. The former Fstoppers writer and current Los Angeles-based photographer has had one of the quickest rises to popularity that I've seen in photography in quite some time. His identifiable style and consistent stream of quality work have made him an extremely identifiable brand that has grown a 20,000 plus Instagram following in a fairly short amount of time. Here are five things I learned about Schell, his work, and his journey to photography.

This month I'll be traveling to 5 European cities with Vincent Laforet to shoot and edit video for him as part of Project AIR, his new night aerial stills project. We have been working hard to offer something pretty unique – a totally free, direct first hand social event open to anyone who is interested in photography, video or the creative process, where we can share skills, technique and project support for your own projects as a result of what we’ve learnt with AIR. If you live in London, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris or Venice, we are throwing the doors open to you all.

As a fairly established photographer, many beginners ask me what camera to buy to get started. What’s more important: body or lenses? Or is it the brand? My standard advice has always been to buy a cheap, used body and save your money for quality lenses. A beginner just doesn't need a high-end camera. That’s easy to say, of course, when you shoot on a Nikon D800 with some pretty nice glass. Perhaps it was time to do a little experimenting of my own to see what, if any, difference there was between a top end camera and something cheap.

CrossFit is taking the world by storm. With 11,000 affiliates and growing, it has become a great way to get into shape and is an untapped resource for photographers to sharpen their skills. I started shooting CrossFit as a member in 2010 and learned many things along the way. This is what I learned and how you can improve your skill set.

Before I learned about makeup I used to strengthen or create contouring in post the same way on every single picture. However, because everyone’s face is different, contouring should differ from person to person. Contouring not only can help create dimension it can also help alter shapes. Let see how we can make our model’s and client’s face look their best without going crazy with the liquify tool. Shadows and highlights are photographers and makeup artists best friends!

Behind The Glass recently spoke with Andy Baker, SVP/Group Creative Director at the National Geographic Channels, and he dispensed some incredibly valuable information on how to make sure clients see the work you are putting out. Andy is in charge of hiring many freelancers for National Geographics creative projects so this is the best inside scoop you can get.

The creation of a successful fashion image is often a team effort. Aside from the model and the photographer, the contributions of a talented creative team can elevate your fashion photography from good to great. In this article, we will review the key members of a creative team, and how you can cultivate a reliable crew.

As professional photographers and videographers, we are constantly striving to stay ahead of the game doing the best we can and give our clients the best possible product. We are constantly looking at new gear and techniques, improving our post-production skills, and putting in long hours studying and editing. While hard work, solid equipment, and good business skills are a must, here are a few simple tips that can help open doors, bring in new clients, and help give you the confidence to make important decisions.

Photographers and filmmakers alike need to understand the basics of controlling the exposure of an image. It’s one of the foundations of their crafts. Cinematographer Eve Hazelton does a wonderful job of explaining the five ways to expose an image in this short video where she also details the unique creative side effects that come along with each method. Newbies and seasoned professionals will both enjoy this simple and straightforward, yet inspired visual tutorial.

Shooting in harsh sunlight is always a challenge. Recently I shot a test while out on a trip in Los Angeles. Due to scheduling we had to start shooting around 4 p.m., so we were dealing with hard sunlight. In this post we will look at five different setups you can use to shoot in and manipulate these less than ideal lighting conditions. In a previous post, I showed how to quickly scrim hard lighting. In this quick tutorial we will look five different ways to light while in the same environment and conditions in order to alter the look of our image.

Dust spots are inevitable, and removing them can sometimes be a burden. While there are many ways to go about removing dust spots, retoucher Chris Lambeth shows us a really quick and easy way to get rid of them. This method for removing them is completely new to me, but I'll be sure to incorporate it into my workflow.

If you’re like most photographers, sharpness is probably near the top of your list of desirable attributes in a lens. A lens that is sharp from corner to corner is often worth its weight in gold (or so the manufacturers tell us). How do we measure sharpness, though?

You have probably heard it a few times: photographers raving about how Capture One is awesome for developing portraits from raw files. However, just like when I first installed it, you might not see any advantage over the current raw processor you are using. Then I found a few functionalities that made my workflow that much quicker and my images look a tad better before even retouching them in Photoshop.

In this tutorial, Photoshop guru Aaron Nace of Phlearn.com shows you an easy yet effective way to take branding your images to another level. By placing logos or other branding elements into a scene's already existing spaces (such as billboards, truck trailers, or even clothing) you can really drive home the message you are trying to deliver. Follow Nace's simple step-by-step instructions to recreate this effect in your images.

Post-Production and Retouching is just as much an integral part of creating a great image or series of images as pre-production and the actual shoot, especially when you are shooting for a client and not just for yourself. Each genre of imagery, advertising, beauty, fashion, etc. has a slightly different set of rules and parameters when it comes to retouching. In this tutorial we will look at the complete start to finish of a fashion editorial image. Last week I posted the complete gear list for this exact shoot. This week we will look at the first part of retouching, including cleaning up our white seamless and correcting distractions in our image.

Dana Pennington is a Los Angeles-based Fashion photographer. He recently moved to become a permanent resident in Los Angeles, from his home town Denver, Colorado. I had the chance to sit down with Pennington during my first trip to L.A., over the past weekend, and talk to him about his journey into the fashion photography industry.

As mentioned in my previous article reviewing “Street Photography: The Art of Capturing the Candid Moment” by Gordon Lewis, the digital photography book publisher Rocky Nook has recently released some new titles that I was eager to check out. In this article, I take a look at “The Art, Science, and Craft of Great Landscape Photography” by Glenn Randall which offers an interesting take on the classic genre. In addition to the review, we are giving away two copies of this book to two lucky Fstoppers readers.

There is that spark in all of us. For some it's the first press of the shutter. For others it's that first dollar we make for creating art while doing something we love. It's that spark in our mind, in our very souls, that sprinkles us with those day dreaming thoughts about persuing photography full time. Everyone who has ever picked up a camera has had the "I could make a living doing this" moment.

In the digital age you as a photographer are expected to be familiar and knowledgeable with Photoshop. It can be argued back and forth if this is right or wrong and whether Photoshop is ruining photography. But I see Photoshop as a tool, just as the darkroom was a tool to manipulate images. I have put together this list of 10 techniques that helps me get the most out of my images.

Photography book publisher Rocky Nook recently released several new titles which join their now expansive library of topics. I checked out two of these new books, and in this article I review “Street Photography: The Art of Capturing the Candid Moment” by Gordon Lewis. In addition to the review, we are giving away two free copies of “Street Photography” to two lucky readers.