When you're first starting out in photography, you may wonder what circular polarizers are and how they can improve your photographs. This quick and helpful video will show you why photographers use them and when you should consider pulling one out of your bag.
For a hobbyist or someone just starting out, the cost of renting your own studio space can simply be too much or something not yet justified by the amount of time you spend on photography. This great video shows how one photographer made a studio space out of a small room in his New York apartment.
We can learn quite a bit about storytelling, blocking, and camera movement from the masters of film. This great video takes a look at one of the less often considered masterpieces of the medium.
We can and often do talk endlessly about how to improve the look of your subject in a photo, but crafting a background that complements them can really complete an image. This helpful video will talk about three simple ways to improve the backgrounds of your photos.
Children are notoriously hard to shoot and most photographers generally avoid doing shoots involving them. There are ways to make it easier though! It's true, they get grumpy, they don’t listen, they misbehave, cry on set, and this all ends up delaying everything by hours. It can be quite the handful to say the least. Let's just say that I have no idea how parents do it!
Some artists think better standing on their head. Personally, I produce better edits when I turn photographs upside down.
Things like lighting ratios and f-stops can be objectively codified and repeated, but the essence of an image — what makes the viewer stop and peruse its story — can be a bit harder to articulate. This great video asks five photographers how to create that magic.
Raising your prices will not only keep your bank manager happy, but it will also help to accelerate your career. Time to add a few more zeros to your next photography invoice.
Did you know there are some tools in Lightroom that can help replicate a flash color gel modifier? I love the drama and interest you can create in what would otherwise be a throwaway image.
When photographing commercial interior images, a common issue is an unsightly glare on reflective surfaces. Removing these reflections by compositing image layers significantly improves your images, separating you from the pack of "run-and-gun" real estate and interior photographers.
We all want to get better. Here are three quick steps to help you get on your way this weekend.
Depending on the environment you're photographing or the camera you're using, you might not be able to get all of the dynamic range of the scene into a single exposure. That's when you'll want to take multiple exposures and refer to this helpful video on how to blend them in Photoshop.
High-speed sync is a super useful technological advancement in flash technology that makes life a lot easier for photographers using strobes, but that doesn't mean you should always use it. This helpful video will show you some situations where high-speed sync has an advantage and others where standard flash should be your choice.
When you're working on composites, there are many variables that you need to attend to to make the final result convincing, matching colors being one of the most important. It turns out that Photoshop has a built-in tool to help you do this automatically.
Do you want powerful black and white images that really create the mood you're looking for, but haven't quite found the best way to get them yet? In this tutorial I'll show you three ways you might not have seen before and the best thing is, they're simple, fast, and effective.
Raise shadows and decrease highlights. This is how many photographers start their post processing workflow. Sadly, this often leads to an unintentional mistake.
It’s state fair season, and that means it’s time for corn dogs, funnel cakes and video opportunities. If you’re the type that goes every year, though, you might be struggling for new ideas, and so here are three ways to mix up your state fair video shooting.
Color grading is a step in the editing process where you can really add your personal style to your footage. This helpful video will give you seven tips for better and more professional-looking color grades.
The natural, backlit look is a highly popular style among wedding and portrait photographers that many clients are quite fond of. This great tutorial will give you some helpful tips for taking better backlit portraits.
No matter what your level of photography, it can be easy to get hung up on the idea of being a "pro" photographer and all the meaning and weight that term carries with it. Here's why you really shouldn't worry about it.
What does it mean for a photograph to tell a story? We usually think of street photography or portraiture as the best mediums for communicating emotions, but landscapes can tell a story too.
Making selections in Photoshop can be an incredibly tedious and time-consuming task, so it helps to know every possible method for a variety of situations. This helpful video will show you two lesser known but quite powerful procedures.
The day-to-day life of the creative is not full of the mystery and glamour whatever image society has of us seems to think it is. This great video reminds us that at the end of the day, when we're chasing our dreams, all we have is ourselves.
Family photos in a wedding can at times be boring for a photographer, as all the action happens around the bride and the groom. But let us not forget the significance of family photos and why it is important to have them captured right. In this video, Vanessa Joy shares her advice on shooting families in weddings.
Staying afloat as a photographer means having several revenue streams. Here are seven ways I had not expected to be paid as a photographer.
Beauty can be a lot of fun to shoot and it’s fun to find different ways to light a face in a flattering way. We might not be perfect in real life, but on camera? On camera we can be as perfect as the lighting setup and editing allows us to be! Magic? No. We still need gorgeous models but a great setup certainly helps.
We've all been there, in a situation where you're working with either a client or a model who does not have any posing experience whatsoever, and it's up to you to make sure the shoot runs successfully.
It's going to happen: people sweat, and sometimes, they do it enough that it leaves a stain on their clothing. When that happens, you'll be glad you learned this technique for removing sweat stains using Photoshop.
It doesn't matter what kind of photography you do, there will be times when an unwanted element in one of your pictures needs to be taken out in Photoshop. Here are six different techniques to use to remove practically anything from your images.
When one needs to add more dynamism to a video, be it cinematic or commercial, it's time to employ some camera movement. In this video by The Slanted Lens, J.P. Morgan teaches us eight smooth camera movements to use in different situations.
One of the most important aspects of virtually any image is contrast. However, contrast is not just a single, global property of an image; it has many different forms and usages. This helpful video will show you how to master each of them to create compelling images.
A lot of photographers love to proclaim that gear doesn't matter, but of course, the best way to test that is to give a good photographer a terrible camera. That's just what happens in this great video, and it's an excellent lesson on subject interaction.
If you're working with video, you sure know how much time can go into getting each edit just right — time that adds up very quickly. This helpful video will show you five in-camera tricks to get the transition or effect right while filming, cutting down on your post-processing work.
Seeing your work published in print form is an especially fulfilling feeling. This helpful video will give you seven tips to increase your chances of getting your wedding work published in magazines or on blogs.
When you're shooting a wedding, the sheer number of shots you absolutely must get can be a bit overwhelming. This helpful video will show you five preparation shots you should always be sure to get.
Do you often find yourself wondering how different colors might look on your subjects? This one-minute tutorial will show you how exactly how to instantly change solid colors to whatever color your heart desires.
When you have an expensive camera or you put a lot of time into a project, it can easily skew your ability to be objective about the results. It's important to not allow that to happen.
Look at any great movie, and almost always, there will be a great score accompanying it. This interesting video takes a look at 10 of the best film scores of all time.
Composites are one of the best ways to give your image a whole new look and feel. It can take something from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Understanding how to create these images to stack in a realistic way is all about understanding how to blend your subject seamlessly.
It is no secret that “bad” weather provides great opportunities for moody, dramatic and atmospheric landscape photos. In this article, I will share a few important tips for photographing in such weather.
When you're first starting out in photography, you might hear about "crop" and "full-frame" cameras and wonder what the differences and advantages and disadvantages of each are. This quick and helpful video will tell you what you need to know in just two minutes.
If you spend most of your time on Internet forums or following the latest technological trends, you might think that everything is about 60 or 120 fps these days, but that's not the case. Here's why when it comes to movies, 24 fps is here to stay.
Gimbals can elevate even the most basic videos to a cinematic level. But, while using them is easy, setting them up can be another story altogether.
Colors are very important in a composition and should be considered at the moment of capture. When shooting in still life, for example, gels can bring a good shot to the next level as Dustin Dolby from Workphlo shows us in this video.
The sessions of a bride getting ready are a treat to shoot, especially when you have a few basics tips instilled in your mind already. In this video, Vanessa Joy for Adorama shares her two cents on how to shoot bridal getting ready sessions effectively.
When you wrap up a landscape photography trip, what happens to all the photos that didn’t make the cut? If you're like me, you almost never see them again.
After an initial pass and flagging the photos I like, I turn on filtering in Lightroom so I can focus on promising photos.
We all know that we should photograph portraits using an 85mm or 105mm lens. A 70-200mm will also work. But Tony and Chelsea Northrup are telling us to shake it up and go wide. However, how wide should you go?
There never seems to be anything new or exciting to shoot around our hometowns. For me, it seems like I’ve photographed everything at least once if not twice by now. So what should we do? Perhaps taking some advice from a self-proclaimed advance selfie artist might help.
Most photographers are familiar with using a neutral density filter to create dreamy, long exposure photographs, but should you use a neutral density filter when shooting time-lapses too? In today's video, I explore why using a 10-stop ND filter might be perfect for more than just still photography.
Let’s talk some more about photographing motocross, and this time, let’s get down to the technical aspect of photographing this great sport. Don’t worry, you don’t need lots of expensive gear to get decent photographs, especially if you are shooting at your local track.