Recent Education Articles

Helpful Tips and Tricks for Outdoor Macro Photography

The wonderful thing about macro photography is that unlike other landscape photography, you can do it just about anywhere and find compelling subjects. If you are ready to head out and try it out for yourself, check out this helpful video tutorial that will show you a few tips and techniques for taking good macro photos.

Essential Keyboard Shortcuts for Working in Photoshop

Many photographers will spend multiple hours a week working on their images in Photoshop, and as such, finding even little places to save some time can add up to major time savings over the long run. This excellent video tutorial will show you the most essential keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop and how to use them.

Are You Trying Too Hard With Your Photography?

With all the technical control, skills, and creative thought that go into making photos, there is a fine balance between not trying enough and forcing things. Sometimes, you end up trying just a bit too hard, and it can be a rather frustrating experience. That is when it is a good idea to step back, return to basics, and remember to enjoy yourself a bit.

7 Tips for Starting Out as a Professional Photographer

You can spend a lot of time learning how to work a camera and process images, but it takes a lot more than that to become a successful professional photographer. If you are thinking of making the leap, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you seven helpful tips to increase your chances of finding success.

Do Not Wait on Clients to Set Your Value

For photographers, setting the price can be a daunting task. How much should you charge? How much product should you give? What's too high and what's charging too little? You set the initial value, but the market determines where it'll live in the long haul.

Focus Stacking Can Unlock a New Range of Subjects and It’s Now Easier Than Ever

Whether you’re shooting macro subjects like jewelry and flowers or landscapes on the latest high-resolution bodies, controlling depth of field can be essential. Focus stacking, where you combine multiple exposures at different focus points, can completely change the game when it comes to tricky depth of field situations. When you don’t have to worry about stopping down or picking what’s in focus, you can be even more creative. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to properly focus stack. Check out this guide to the best field and post-production practices.

9 Things to Think About Before Buying Your First Video Camera

Buying your first camera is certainly an exciting time, but it is also a significant investment and one that should be considered very carefully before you pull out your credit card. If you are thinking about purchasing your first video camera and need a bit of advice on how to go about it, this excellent video tutorial will give you nine tips to help ensure you do not experience any buyer's remorse down the road.

Comparing Flash to LED Lights for Portrait Photography

When it comes to lighting for portrait photography, flash has long been the tool of choice. However, in recent years, constant lights have made some significant advancements, and with the advantages they offer, they can be a compelling alternative to traditional strobes. If you are wondering which is right for your work, check out this great video that details some of the differences between them as well as the pros and cons of each.

How to Sell Yourself as a Photographer

Of course, it is crucial to continuously work on building your skills with a camera and expanding your creative palette, but to be successful professionally as a photographer, you have to be able to sell yourself to clients and to convince them to place their trust in your vision and capabilities. That is something a lot of us struggle with. If you need a little help with it, this great video tutorial will get you started in the right direction.

5 Portrait Lighting Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Lighting for portraits is a nuanced and tricky thing to learn, and it can be easy to make some mistakes along the way. If you are new to working with artificial lighting and looking to improve, check out this great video tutorial that features an experienced photographer discussing five common lighting mistakes portrait photographers make and how to fix them or avoid them entirely.

How to Clean Up Backgrounds in Photoshop

When you are working in the studio or on a slow-paced shoot, you generally have pretty good control of the background. However, in a lot of situations, you will not have control over the background or the time to fix it. Fortunately, it is not overly difficult or time-consuming to get rid of most background distractions, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you a few ways to do so using Photoshop.

How to Choose Your First Camera

Buying your first camera is one of the most exciting and important things you will do on the road to becoming a photographer, but with so many options out there, it might be a little overwhelming to try to choose the right one for you. If you are wondering where to start, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you everything you need to know to make the right decision.

How to Freeze Motion With Flash Photography

When it comes to freezing motion, shutter speed is normally the parameter of choice. However, if you are shooting in the studio and you have full control of the light, using flash can actually be the better choice. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to freeze motion using flash.

How Two Photographers Sold $47,000 of Stock Photos

While very few photographers make a full-time living shooting stock photography, it can be a decent way to supplement your main work and provide some additional financial security by diversifying your income streams. This excellent video goes in depth to show you how two photographers sold $47,000 of their photos on stock services.

Are You Willing to Be Uncomfortable for Better Landscape Photos?

No one likes being cold and wet, but being out in the elements is part of the package when it comes to landscape photography, and sometimes, the weather is just not that great. So, should you pack it in and head home when the rain starts to fall and the wind starts to blow? Absolutely not! This excellent video discusses why being willing to stick it out can pay off with great images.

Should You Use Teleconverters Instead of Longer Lenses or Cropping?

Long telephoto lenses can be some of the most expensive out there, and when you need multiple focal lengths, the cost can quickly become prohibitive. Teleconverters offer a way to get more reach from lenses you already own, but they also come with drawbacks you should be aware of. This excellent, in-depth video discusses teleconverters, their pros and cons, and when they are appropriate to use.

How to Shoot Clean Glassware on a Black Background With Only Speedlights

Photographing glassware is especially challenging, as controlling the reflections can be particularly difficult. Even if it is not something you normally do, it is fantastic lighting practice, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to photograph clean glassware on a black background with only speedlights.

The Different Kinds of Light in Landscape Photography

Light is crucial in any form of photography, but unlike most other genres, you do not get control of it in landscape work. Thus, it is crucial to be able to read the scene you are presented with to create photos that the light is conducive to, rather than fighting against it. This fantastic video tutorial will show you the different kinds of light you will encounter and how to use them to create the best possible photos.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark in Your Landscape Photo

Many landscape photographers love the use of high dynamic range techniques in their landscape photos. The lightest parts are reduced in brightness, and dark parts are lifted to become near midtones. Perhaps this is not the best choice to edit a landscape photo.

It's Ok to Put the Camera Down Sometimes

We may not like to admit it in the day-to-day, but when major life events bring things into perspective, we see that as much as we may love photography, it is not the most important thing. And it is important to remember that sometimes, it is ok to put the camera down to practice self-care, be with family, and focus on the more important things.

7 Common Mistakes Beginner Landscape Photographers Make

Landscape photography is a popular genre, and it takes the confluence of technical skills behind the camera, creativity, and solid post-processing capabilities. As such, there are a lot of places where things can go awry. This excellent video tutorial features an experienced landscape photographer discussing seven common mistakes beginner landscape photographers make and how to either fix or avoid them.

How I Got the Shot: Lighting Studio Portrait With Photo Backdrop

We are not always fortunate to have the perfect background that matches the total vision of a shoot. The same goes for having a huge budget to build the set, which leaves a few options. Spend the time with compositions or use a printed backdrop to complete the scene. To save time, at least in my case, I opted to go with a printed backdrop for the shoot since there would be multiple images.

Mistakes That Hurt Your Photography and Your Business

Being a photographer and running a photography business are both complex things with a lot of different parts and places where things can potentially go wrong. This fantastic video tutorial discusses a wide range of mistakes photographers commonly make and how to fix them or avoid them entirely.

5 Helpful Tips for Respectful Wildlife Photography

Wildlife photography can be a tremendously rewarding genre that connects you with nature and allows you to capture stunning images of the world around us. However, it takes some special considerations to maintain safety and to treat the animals with respect. This fantastic video tutorial will give you five tips to create wildlife photography in a respectful way.

How to Use Foreground to Create Better Photos

A photograph is a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional thing, and as such, part of your job as a photographer is to render the frame in a way that brings depth back to the scene. This requires considering how you layer different parts of the frame, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to work with one of those parts, the foreground.

Photoshop Power Tips to Take Better Control of Your Images

Photoshop is a deeply powerful and complex program, and it is easy to overlook certain capabilities or inadvertently do things less efficiently than you could. This awesome video tutorial features a seasoned Photoshop educator showing a variety of power tips that are sure to expand your capabilities, make your workflow more efficient, and improve the quality of your images.

New to Photography? Here's How the Exposure Triangle Works

Perhaps no concept is more important in photography than the exposure triangle, as it will have a hand in every photo you ever take, both from a technical and creative standpoint. If you are new to photography, this awesome video tutorial will show you the ins and outs of the exposure triangle to get you up and running in no time.

3 Easy Portrait Lighting Setups for Small Spaces

When you are first starting out, you are not likely to be shooting from a dedicated studio. Most of us start out in a spare room at our home or the like, meaning we are in a tight space. That does not mean you can't take great photos in that small space, though, and this excellent video tutorial will show you three easy portrait lighting setups that work well in close quarters.

A Common But Easily Fixed Landscape Photography Mistake

The challenge of composition in landscape photography is that you can't control the location of any of the elements in the frame, only your position relative to them. This leads to some common mistakes, and this great video tutorial highlights one of them and how you can easily fix it.

5 Mistakes a Photographer and Filmmaker Has Made in His Career

Making a living as a photographer or filmmaker is hard enough even if you do it perfectly, but of course, none of us are perfect, and we all make mistakes along the way. This excellent video features a seasoned photographer and filmmaker discussing five mistakes he has made in his career and how to fix them or avoid them entirely in the first place.

How Two 'Bad' Photos Changed a Photographer's Life

When you think of the landmark photos in your career, those that changed its trajectory, they are probably some of your best work. But for one photographer, two "bad" photos significantly changed his life, and this important video essay tells the stories behind them.

5 Points for Photographers Testing the Waters of Astrophotography

This video from Cuiv, the Lazy Geek, a YouTuber with a popular following in the astrophotography community, brings up some considerations for photographers who are dipping their toes into astrophotography, including broad considerations and commentary on differences and difficulties traditional photographers may find as they explore astrophotography.

Booked Your First Wedding? Here's What You Need to Know

Few photographic events put more pressure and stress on the photographer than their first wedding, but we all have to start sometime. If you just booked your first wedding and you want to make sure the big day goes as well as possible (and with as little stress for you as possible), check out this excellent video tutorial that will guide you through what you need to know.

Understanding How the Histogram Works in Photography

There are tools that many photographers neglect and this is one of them. The histogram is criminally underused, possibly because it isn't all that intuitive to beginners, but once you understand how to read it, it can keep you from making costly mistakes.

How to Use Three Different Kinds of Hard Light for Portraits

Portrait photographers spend a lot of time working on creating flattering light, and in photography terms, that almost always equates to soft light. However, hard light can be just as effective, particularly if you want to add a bit of drama or want to accent certain elements of your image. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to use three different hard lighting setups, including a gridded reflector, Fresnel lens, and parabolic umbrella.

How to Create Window Light Using Flash

The look of light coming through a window is one of the most recognizable out there, even to non-photographers, and it is something you will often want to replicate in the studio. Luckily, with a bit of know-how and some basic equipment, it is not particularly difficult to do, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how it is done.

How to Use the Sun to Backlight Portraits

One of the most classic and timeless portrait looks involves using the sun to backlight your subject and create a dramatic background. It is also an excellent way to develop your lighting skills and to learn how to balance ambient and artificial light, and this awesome video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to create them yourself.

A Unique and Simple Tip for Improving Your Photos

We spend a lot of time working on our technique and expanding our knowledge of various methods for creating and editing photos. However, sometimes, a simple adjustment in how you approach things can make a big difference, and this excellent video tutorial will show you one such adjustment.

The Process of Photographing a Castle in the Hills

Landscape photography brings with it a lot of challenges, but the scenes and way you can render them are nearly limitless. This fantastic video tutorial goes behind the scenes of photographing a castle in the hills and shows the photographer's process and thoughts behind his creative decision.

5 Steps to Take to Improve Your Photography

We are always wanting to improve our photography, and there is always room to grow to be better. The path forward is not always clear, though. If you are wondering how to improve your work, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you five clear steps to take that will illuminate how to grow as a photographer.

How to Make Photography Easy With Aperture Priority Mode

Discovering how to use Aperture Priority is a revelation for many photographers, especially when you know a few extra tricks to make it do even more work for you. Learn how to make the most of this incredibly useful shooting mode.

Everything You Need to Know About Aperture

There is always more to learn in photography, but one of the most fundamental and crucial concepts every photographer should master as soon as possible is aperture and how to use it. If you are new to photography or just looking to brush up, this excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know about aperture, both from a creative and technical standpoint.

Neutral Density Filters and Exposure Times at Sea

A neutral density filter allow long exposure times, even when there is a lot of light. It flattens water surfaces when the exposure is long enough. But don’t use it at sea just because you have one. Use it only when necessary.

What Is This Strange Lightroom Symbol For?

If you spend a few years building a catalog in Lightroom, you may have noticed a strange lightning bolt symbol that occasionally appears on your photos. While it is just a tiny symbol that is easy to miss, it actually has an important impact on your images, and it is worth taking note of it when you see it. This helpful video tutorial will show you what it means and how to act upon it when it shows up.

Have You Lost Your Motivation as a Photographer?

No matter how much you love photography, you are likely to go through periods where you just feel unmotivated or even as if you have just fallen out of love with it. So, what do you do when that happens? This great video essay discusses what you should do when you have lost your motivation for photography.

7 Helpful Tips for Better Fall Photography

Fall is here, and the colors are vibrantly popping and begging to be photographed. If you are thinking of heading out with your camera and want to ensure you come home with the best possible images, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you seven helpful tips that will improve your autumn photos.