Recent Education Articles

The Photographer's Guide to Planning the Ultimate Fall Color Trip

My favorite season is about to hit the Northern hemisphere, autumn. With its riotous color and vibrancy, the forests of autumn transform into a landscape and nature photographers' playground. Here are my tips for planning your ultimate fall color adventure.

Learn How This Dramatic Portrait Was Shot With Just One Light and a Reflector

No doubt, when you are first learning about artificial lighting, it can feel very foreign and difficult to master, particularly when it seems like pros are using complex multi-light setups for all their shots. However, you might be surprised by how much you can accomplish with one light, a reflector, and strong knowledge of the fundamentals of lighting. This excellent video tutorial will show you how just such a shot was created and the process the photographer went through to create the final image.

What Kind of Landscape Photos Can You Shoot on a Cloudless Day?

For landscape photographers, a sunny day with no clouds in the sky is kind of boring and does not make for particularly interesting photos. On the other hand, that does not mean you should just pack up your bag and head back home if you encounter such a day. This excellent video tutorial follows a landscape photographer as he demonstrates what you can shoot on such days.

7 Helpful Ideas to Break Out of a Creative Rut

Creative ruts are something we all go through at one time or another, and they can be frustrating if you are a hobbyist and downright dangerous if you are a professional whose income relies upon your ability to come up with interesting and effective ideas and content. So, what can you do when the creative juices stop flowing? This excellent video tutorial will give you seven ideas to help you get back on track.

Essential Skills Every Photographer Needs

No doubt, it is a lot of fun to nerd out over cameras and lenses, but becoming a successful photographer takes a variety of essential skills that have nothing to do with the latest and greatest equipment. This excellent video discusses three of those important skills and how they will make you a better photographer.

What Should You Do When You Find Your Photos Have Been Stolen?

It is one of the most upsetting things that can happen to a photographer, and it is frustratingly common: you discover your images have been stolen and used without permission. What can you do in this situation? What can you do the prevent it in the future? This excellent video essay features a seasoned photographer discussing the issue and offering a lot of helpful advice.

How to Break the Photography Rules

There are a lot of "rules" in photography, meant to codify what makes a good image and how to create one yourself. But for every rule there is out there, there are 100 notable exceptions to it. So, how do you break the rules in a way that produces compelling photos? This excellent video discusses three different ways to go about it.

A Common Editing Mistake Landscape Photographers Make

The vast majority of landscape photos are only half done once the shutter has been pressed; a lot of the image is created in the edit, both from a technical standpoint and in adding your personal style. As such, it is important to be aware of where things can go wrong, and this excellent video tutorial details one of the most common mistakes and what you can do to avoid it.

One Truth of Photography That Catches Beginners Out

Some of photography is intuitive, some of it requires some understanding, and then there are quirks of the craft that can catch you out completely. This particular truth of photography is counter-intuitive and can be frustrating too.

Useful Tips for Shooting Natural Light Portraits

Shooting portraits using natural light means paying careful attention to how that light is behaving and how it falls upon your subject. This insightful video gives you a series of tips on how to make the most of a wide variety of shooting conditions.

Six Things That Successful Photographers Don’t Do

It’s not unusual to hear lists of things that successful people do, but what about some patterns that are destined to hold you back? Here’s a list of six habits that you should do your best to avoid as you progress your career as a creator.

A Common Mistake That Sinks Landscape Photographers

One of the frustrating parts about landscape photography is that unlike most other genres, you do not have any control over the light. Getting surprised by the light often leads to landscape photographers making a mistake that deprives them of worthwhile images, and this excellent video discusses why and how to avoid it.

5 Helpful Tips for Astrophotography

Astrophotography is a tremendously challenging genre that requires some specialized techniques and knowledge, but when you nail a shot, the results can be jaw-dropping. If you are looking to improve your astro images, this excellent video tutorial will show you five great tips that will help you take better photos of the night sky.

Making a Career out of Landscape Photography

Landscape photography is a popular genre, but the vast majority of those who enjoy it do it as a hobby and not a profession. So, how do those who do it professionally make a career out of it? This insightful video features a professional landscape photographer discussing his long-term approach to his career and some things to be aware of along the way.

5 Helpful Sports Photography Tips to Improve Your Images

Sports photography is a challenging genre that requires fast reactions and solid technique, but it can also be a ton of fun and can yield jaw-dropping action images. If you are looking to improve your sports images, check out this great video tutorial that offers five helpful tips to take better shots.

Learn How to Edit an Environmental Shutter Drag Portrait in Lightroom

Last week, we walked through How to Capture an Environmental Shutter Drag Portrait. A shutter drag portrait is a portrait that captures movement around a subject using slower shutter speeds. Following the steps in the video, we wound up at a final raw image. In this video and article, I'll be walking through the editing process from start to finish in both color as well as black and white to get to our final images!

How to Quickly and Easily Blend Multiple Times of Day in Photoshop

Something landscape photographers often have to deal with is extreme dynamic range and the fact that different parts of the frame look better at different times of day. A common technique is to take multiple exposures and blend them in post, and this awesome video tutorial will show you how to do it quickly and easily using the Lighten blending mode in Photoshop.

The Different Types of Studio Light Stands and Which Are Right for Your Work

We spend a lot of time talking about different kinds of lights and modifiers, but once you have spent a lot of money on your setup, you will want to make sure the stand you put it on will hold it safely and allow you to maneuver it as needed. This helpful video tutorial will show you four commonly used types of studio light stands, when they are appropriate, and how to use them.

The Importance of Photographing Shelter Pets and How to Do It

There are millions of wonderful pets in shelters at any given time, all waiting for someone to take them home and love them forever. One of the best ways to give back with your camera skills is to photograph shelter pets to increase their chances of being adopted. These great videos will show you the importance of doing so and offer you some helpful tips and tricks for doing so.

Why Is ISO Invariance So Special?

There is not a more confounding and mysterious element of digital photography than ISO. And just when we've all thought we've figured it out and it starts to make sense, another wrinkle appears and threatens our conceptions all over again.

The Challenges of Photographing Jupiter

Jupiter is one of the most stunning objects in the night sky, and while it is relatively close to us are far as objects in space go, it is still a mind-bogglingly far distance from our home planet, making it a real challenge to photograph. This neat video goes behind the scenes to show the process an astrophotographer went through to get a photo of the biggest planet.

Is Capture One or Lightroom Right for Your Photography?

When it comes to organizing and editing your images, there are two behemoths in the industry: Lightroom and Capture One. They are very distinct applications, and you may find you prefer one over the other. If you are wondering which one is right for your work, be sure to check out this great video that highlights their biggest differences and the pros and cons of each application.

Advancing Your Photography With Photographic Essays

We usually see a photograph as a solitary work, a passing moment in time captured to be examined on its own. However, creating a coherent story through a body of work can lift your photography up to a new level.

This Video Shows Why Lighting Makes the Photo

No doubt, we are constantly bombarded by temptation for newer and better cameras and lenses, and we often delude ourselves into believing that they will flip a switch that will suddenly make our photos vastly better. At the end of the day, it is all about the light, and this awesome video pits an iPhone versus a Hasselblad to show you just how true that is.

How to Get Dramatic Clouds in Overcast Lighting Conditions

When photographers hear overcast skies, we immediately think of flat light. What this usually means is an overall lack of detail and contrast, especially in the sky. It might be easy to assume that the sky during overcast days is uninteresting, but I want to show you the opposite, that overcast days are some of the best times to get deep and dramatic images. In this video and article, I'll be walking through how to shoot and edit dramatic clouds during overcast conditions in Adobe Lightroom Mobile.

Learn From a Master: Analysis of Joel Meyerowtiz's Street Photography

There are photographers that are so masterful in their creation of images that they are worth studying in the hope you can siphon off some of their brilliance. In this video, watch as some of Joel Meyerowitz's legendary street photography is broken down and analyzed.

Why, When, and How to Use Two Cameras

You have probably seen professional photographers in certain genres (weddings, for example) shooting with two camera bodies simultaneously. Why do they do this and what are the benefits of carrying that extra weight? This excellent video discusses the topic and offers some tips for working with two cameras simultaneously.

12 Helpful Tips for Better Black and White Photos

Creating a good black and white photograph takes so much more than simply converting a color image to monochrome; they are an art entirely unto themselves. If you are looking to improve your black and white shots, check out this great video tutorial that offers 12 helpful tips that will have you taking better shots in no time.

How to Improve Your Photography Website

For the majority of photographers, their website is the central hub through which potential clients will find and decide whether or not to hire them. And so, it is important to put a lot of careful thought into your website, as it can make or break the success of your business. This excellent video tutorial discusses some mistakes beginners make with their websites and how to fix or avoid them.

A Cityscape Photography Tutorial

Cityscapes are a fantastic marriage of human construction and the natural elements that challenge your technical skills and offer the opportunity for jaw-dropping photos. If you are looking to improve yours, check out this excellent video tutorial that shows you how a professional photographer approaches such an image.

An Effective Portrait Lighting Setup for a Variety of Situations

Gaining a strong grasp of lighting is essential not only to producing technically competent photographs but for developing a personal creative style as well. If you are struggling a bit to get up and running, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you a versatile and effective portrait lighting setup that is useful for a wide variety of scenarios.

The Power of Pre-Focusing for Getting More Keeper Images

One of the most fundamental skills any photographer needs to have is the ability to get their images in focus consistently, even in difficult scenarios. Modern cameras offer some highly advanced autofocus systems that have made this job a lot easier, but in certain situations, this simple technique can outperform even the best autofocus system.

5 Investments New Wedding Photographers Should Make

Wedding photography is a highly competitive genre that requires a lot of anyone looking to make a career of it. And so, when you are first starting, it is important to do everything you can to give yourself the best chances for success. This excellent video tutorial features a seasoned wedding pro discussing five things you should invest in when starting a wedding photography business.

Why One Person Left an Engineering Job to Become a Photographer

Few things are certain in the career of a photographer, and so, it can seem crazy to leave a relatively stable profession like engineering to pick up a camera instead. However, that is exactly what one photographer did, and this great video essay features him discussing his journey, why he chose to get into photography, and how he went about it.

Add Motion to Your Portraits Using Shutter Drag With These 10 Steps

We call this the "environmental shutter drag portrait." A shutter drag portrait is a portrait that uses slow shutter speeds to capture the motion around the subject. This technique is best done in a big grand scene full of action and detail. The eye-catching nature of these shutter drag portraits makes them perfect for impressing clients and serving as the highlight photo for every album and event. Today, I'll be walking through 10 easy steps on how to photograph your own shutter drag portrait.

An Easy and Straightforward Composition Technique for Landscape Photography

Few things are more important to making a successful landscape photograph than a clear and compelling composition. If that is something you struggle with, the great video tutorial will show you a helpful technique to ensure you create a good composition every time you head out with your camera.

What a Professional Photographer Wishes He Knew Before He Got Started

Being a successful professional photographer takes the confluence of a wide variety of skills, and it is easy to make some mistakes along the way. It helps to know what you might be facing before you get started. This excellent video essay discusses some things a professional wishes he knew before he got started.

5 Tips for Creating Stronger Compositions Using Natural Light

Developing your eye for how natural light can shape your composition comes with time. Contemporary landscape photographer Kyle McDougall has put together five excellent nuggets of knowledge to take with you the next time you’re out shooting.

8 Helpful Camera Hacks for Landscape Photographers

Landscape photography often takes a wide variety of accessories to produce a finished image, and it is easy to forget them or get bogged down by the cost of it all. This awesome video tutorial will show you a range of hacks and useful techniques to make it easier to take photos and explore your creativity a bit more.

10 Things Worth Knowing About Focus

There’s more to focusing than half-pressing the shutter release. Focus is one of the three most important technical variables in photography; it can make or break a photograph. Here are ten things, some basic, some more advanced, to help you shoot better photos.

Thinking of Buying Some New Gear? Watch This First

No doubt, almost all of us are tempted by new gear at one time or another; after all, cameras and lenses are exciting technology. However, they are not cheap, and if you planning to invest in new equipment, it is important to ensure that you are doing so for the right reasons. This excellent video essay discusses the topic and offers some important advice in the process.

How to Use HSL to Enhance a Photo

When it comes to landscape photography, being able to control and fine-tune the colors in your images is crucial to creating better edits and adding more of your personal creative identity. One effective and fun way to do that is through the use of the HSL panel, and this helpful video tutorial will show you how it's done.

Why Program Mode Is Great for Beginners

When it comes to camera settings, the common wisdom is that one should always use manual mode or at least a semiautomatic mode. But when you are brand new to photography, perhaps it is better to go fully automatic. This awesome video discusses why it might be best to set your camera to Program mode for just a little while to start.

Have You Ever Tried This With Your Photos?

If you're not exploring all the possibilities that modern digital editing software offers you then you're letting potential earning opportunities pass you by. This article explores how you exploit different markets with single images.

7 Mistakes in Black and White Landscape Photography

When you think of landscape photography, you probably think of bright and vibrant swathes of color, but black and white images can be dramatic, compelling, and eye-catching. That being said, working in black and white comes with its own challenges and pitfalls beyond those of working in color. This helpful video tutorial discusses seven common mistakes landscape photographers make when working in black and white and how to avoid or fix them.

5 Reasons You Should Go to School for Photography

Earning a degree in photography is not a necessity for becoming a professional, working photographer. However, there are still some good reasons to seek out more formal training in the medium.