Producing compelling photos can be a somewhat nebulous thing, but composition goes a long way in helping you capture the attention of your viewer. While composition is something one can spend a lifetime studying, one of the simplest but most powerful principles is to simplify the frame to draw more attention to your subject.
Pricing is something many photographers struggle with. While things like camera settings can be quantified and are, thus, easier to learn in a way, pricing can be a nebulous and tricky thing to nail down. So, when it comes to selling prints, how do you set your prices?
It takes a lot of skill and experience to light a portrait of a single person, but lighting groups can be an entirely different challenge. Nonetheless, depending what you shoot, you may be called upon to photograph groups. When that happens, you will want to be ready to transition quickly.
In an era where technological advancements have revolutionized the way we capture and manipulate images, the question of the histogram's relevance in today's photography is a pertinent one.
Portrait photography is a popular but challenging genre, as it requires good technical skills with your camera and lighting, the ability to pose people and make them feel comfortable, and solid capabilities when it comes time to edit the image.
Photography is a strange thing. Almost everyone listens to music, but very few people actually make it. Almost everyone enjoys a painting in a museum, but how many people do you know who own a set of paintbrushes? And yet, almost everyone takes pictures, usually on a daily basis. So, in a world where images flow at a dizzying rate, what actually makes a photographer?
Photoshop remains the gold standard for advanced landscape photo edits, and in recent iterations, we have seen some remarkable steps forward, with some features giving photographers the ability to make drastic edits with just the click of a button.
Now is the time to head out and capture beautiful fall colors, and in this article, I give you five tips on how to do so.
You can also follow along in the feature video as I apply these and more tips during a photo tour through the German Rhön.
Learning to use off-camera flash can feel quite daunting, especially when you combine it with natural light in an outdoor environment. Once you understand and grow comfortable with a few fundamental principles and techniques, though, you will find the entire process much more intuitive and easier to tackle.
Between the rule of thirds, camera settings, guidelines on focal length, depth of field calculations, and more, landscape photography can be a rather prescriptive genre. And while it can be good to have rules that increase your chances of coming home with a keeper, they can also be overly restrictive.
Embarking on my journey as a landscape photographer has been a thrilling ride filled with exploration, challenges, and countless awe-inspiring moments. Over time, this pursuit has not only honed my technical skills but also imparted invaluable life lessons.
We are constantly taught the value of originality as creatives and why it is important to explore, expand, and refine our creative voices. And so, it can sound a little strange to recommend you copy other photographers, but the exercise can actually be tremendous beneficial. This fantastic video tutorial discusses some of the reasons why you should try it.
Perhaps one of the most frustrating parts of landscape photography is that you do not have any control over the conditions, and if nature does not feel like cooperating that day, you can end up with a real struggle on your hands. That does not mean you should just give up and pack it in, though.
Learning flash can feel daunting, but once you get the basics down, you will find that you can tackle a much wider range of creative needs. One of those fundamental skills is balancing flash and natural light, and this excellent video tutorial will show you the ins and out of doing that to create a compelling portrait.
Hot spots can be quite frustrating, as they can be a significant distraction on an otherwise compelling photo and are not particularly easy to remove. It is not impossible to get rid of them, though. This awesome video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to even out those hot spots using Photoshop.
Pricing is one of the trickiest aspects of being a professional photographer, and there are no hard and fast rules on how to go about setting yours to ensure you bring in the most income from your work. Nonetheless, there are some important principles every photographer should understand.
Getting to grips with the fundamentals of photography, such as camera and exposure control, composition, and relating a story, is essential. Sadly, there are other factors that get in that cause you to fail. Here’s why it is important to break free of those and become a successful photographer.
Have you fallen behind on keeping up with the tsunami of Photoshop updates and new capabilities? Or have you wanted to master this powerful tool, but you haven't been sure where to start? Well, put on your sweatpants, order in your favorite food, and thank your lucky stars, because next week, you can join Aaron Nace, Kristina Sherk, Ben Willmore and more live from your living room all week.
In the past few years, Lightroom has undergone some major revisions and has emerged with some powerful new tools that make it a far more capable image-editing application than in past years.
The green screen effect (sometimes known as "chroma keying") is a useful tool for making easy composites. However, getting a clean effect takes very careful and precise lighting.
When autumn arrives, it's time to photograph mushrooms. Creating something unique can be challenging, but you don't need to use the most expensive or elaborate equipment, nor do you need a macro lens. I have some nice ideas for you when you go out photographing mushrooms.
It is important to start learning artificial light with a single source, as this will allow you to better understand the properties and fundamental behavior of light. Once you have mastered that, though, adding a second light will open up a lot of creative possibilities that simply would not be achievable otherwise.
Photography can be a tremendously rewarding hobby or profession, but it is important that you have a realistic understanding of what it is like to be a photographer and what it takes to find success. This important video essay features an experienced photographer discussing six harsh truths that every person should be aware of.
Whether you are a professional or a hobbyist, photography is a complicated craft that takes a wide range of skills in order to find success. While we spend a lot of time studying things like exposure settings and editing techniques, there are some other topics that do not get the attention they deserve.
Lighting a wedding reception can be a real challenge, as you are often working in less-than-ideal environments and have to keep responding to dynamically evolving conditions, which can make it a bit intimidating for many photographers.
Whether you are a professional or a hobbyist, going through a period where you are not feeling creatively inspired can be incredibly frustrating. So, what can you do to break out of that and get back to making photos that make you and your clients happy? Sometimes, the best solution is to become your own customer.
While learning artificial lighting can feel a bit daunting, it makes you a far more versatile photographer and frees you up to explore many creative avenues that would not be possible otherwise. You do not need to start with expensive equipment, though; a speedlight and small modifier are a portable and affordable way to learn.
Photography has always been a medium to preserve moments and memories, but for some artists, it serves as a source of inspiration and a window into the past. One such artist is the renowned filmmaker Wes Anderson, known for his distinct and visually captivating cinematic style, which draws upon the work of French photographer Jacques Henri-Lartigue to infuse his films. While the
Landscape photography is a challenging genre that requires a wide range of technical and creative skills, a lot of perseverance, and often, just a bit of luck. If you would like to improve your landscape work, check out this helpful video tutorial that features an experienced photographers sharing seven useful tips sure to put you on the track to better photos.
Flash can feel a bit daunting to photographers who have not used it before, particularly when you take it outside and have to learn to balance it with the sun. You will find it a lot easier if you master a few fundamental concepts first, and it will make you a far more versatile portrait photographer.
Composition is one of the trickiest parts of photography no matter what genre you shoot, but it can be especially challenging in genres in which you have no control over the placement of the elements in the environment, such as landscape photography.
In this video, Christian Möhrle shows six creative ways to elevate your photos in Lightroom, such as creating a fog or light bleed effect.
I've been using Photoshop long before Lightroom even existed. It has been the software of choice for nearly all my editing until roughly two years ago. I used Lightroom to organize my images and do basic raw adjustments — that was it.
Being a creative is often anything but easy, and doubt in your abilities can creep in due to all sorts of factors. That can have serious consequences on your ability to produce images, and that can lead to a spiral of reinforcement that hinders your progress.
Lines play an important role in the art of composition. They serve as guides directing the viewer's attention, emphasizing the subject within the frame. While we often find lines with the prominent features of a landscape, it's crucial not to overlook the lines in the sky.
Landscape photographers often employ filters for a variety of reasons in order to shape and improve their images. With so many options out there, it can be difficult for a beginner to know which filters are truly useful and which you can probably live without.
Picture the scene, you are at a location, camera in hand, ready to capture some epic shots of a landscape that looks the same as it has thousands of years ago! You, however, are not alone, you are in the company of other photographers who feel that a challenge is in order and not any old challenge, an only 400mm challenge.
In landscape photography, just like any other, light can make or break a photo, and as such, one of the most important things a new photographer should do is learn how to read light. This awesome video tutorial features an experienced professional discussing how to read light and how urban environments can help you become a better landscape photographer.
When most photographers think of dodging and burning, they think of it being used to sculpt a subject's face and as a high-end retouching technique. But dodging and burning is nothing more than the skillful shaping of light in a frame, and as such, it is an appropriate and useful technique for just about any genre of photography.
Photographers generally like to focus on objective things: camera settings, lighting ratios, finances, etc. It is only natural to want to put your attention toward easily quantifiable things. However, that is not all it takes to find success as a professional.
In the beginning, the iPad was mostly an entertainment device meant for content consumption, but it quickly evolved into an incredibly powerful device for content creators, and when combined with Adobe's apps, it is an intriguing option for photographers on the go.
It used to be that if you were good at it and could invest the time, you could make a decent living from stock photography, but in recent years, the industry has evolved in what has very much been a race to the bottom in many ways, and it is a far less reliable income source than it used to be. Is it still worth the time and effort in 2023?
Sure, it is wise for beginners to learn from experienced photographers, but there are certain qualities that most new photographers have that many experienced photographers spend years trying to recover.
No matter what genre you shoot, there are some fundamental pieces of advice that will make you a better photographer. This fantastic video tutorial features an experienced photographer sharing some important bits of advice that will improve your images and help you focus on what really matters so you can find more enjoyment from your craft.
What are the things you should look for when shopping for your next camera purchase? Here are a handful of things I consider before placing my order.
If you look at a lot of the most popular landscape photography on something like Instagram, you will probably notice that many of the images that come up tend to be from a few popular locations. Does that mean you can only create worthwhile photos only at those well-known images?
Astrophotography can be one of the neatest and most interesting genres, but it is also one of the most challenging, requiring a lot of very specific knowledge and techniques, as well as some very specialized gear. If you would like to get started with astrophotography, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you the ins and outs of the genre.
When it comes to learning portrait photography, it is, of course, crucial to learn how to work with your camera, light your subject, pose them, etc. However, your work is not over once you press the shutter button. Almost every portrait will take some degree of editing to be finished, and as such, you need to be equally comfortable with working on your images in editing software.
As a photographer, you are probably a participant in a number of online groups or forums that discuss photography. But have you considered joining your local photography club? Let’s look at the value of joining one!
Photoshop is a tremendously complex and multilayered program, and as such, there are some useful features that even seasoned users might not be aware of. If you would like to expand your photo-editing toolkit, check out this fantastic video tutorial that discusses 10 lesser-known Photoshop features and shows you how to use them to your advantage.