Photography Hacks

When traveling to exotic or remote locations, it's important to be prepared with both the necessary medications as well as the proper paperwork and insurance that an area requires.  

Have you ever wanted to add a little something extra to a portrait or product shot, but just didn't know quite what would make the difference? Why not include some crazy cool smoke art to add another level of interest?  

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. 

It's not every day you find a neat trick to save money on everyday photography purchases. So naturally, I have to share this method that works on just about everything — not just photography purchases. 

When photographing interiors, flash is your friend, but a friend who needs some management. While flash brightens rooms, reduces glare, and brings out true colors, it can also produce the frustrating issue of ugly shadows. 

Building an obsession with tiny drones over the past few months, it makes me so happy to see other people getting creative and modifying them to fly "better" cameras. Droneworks went to New York to put together another video with Casey Neistat, only this time with a much smaller drone than they had been using in the past. 

What happens when a hugely successful photographer grabs a $20 halogen light from Home Depot and uses it in a model photoshoot? You be the judge. 

If you're scared of damaging your camera's sensor by cleaning it yourself, this short video will show you exactly how to do it and remove any fears you might have. 

The most stressful part of a photography trip starts before takeoff: booking and travel logistics. Since my first international trip 4 years ago, I’ve learned several booking strategies to minimize stress and maximize bang for buck. 

Tired with your same ol' process of color grading in Photoshop? Try out different color combinations in quick succession using these handy tips from PiXimperfect. 

Client galleries have become the de facto way of distributing photos post-shoot, whether you are a seasoned pro delivering to a corporate client or helping out at a friend's wedding. Can you do this on a shoestring and is there an efficient workflow?

Capturing portraits at night or during low-light situations without strobes or speedlights can be tricky. You don't want to capture blurry or out of focus shots, so what can you do to help reduce taking bad photos? 

If you're often frustrated by how little detail can be seen in your Instagram posts, this technique and free Photoshop template are for you. 

In this six-minute video, YouTuber workphlo breaks down a simple DIY diffuser that works especially well when going for a "glossy" look in your product photos. This technique applies to close-ups of reflective products. 

You have been dreaming of shooting underwater for a while, but waterproof housing is too expensive, none seem to fit your huge rig, or you can’t find one with which you can trigger your strobes. Then check out this trick. 

You probably use Lightroom because of the efficiency in processing batches of images, which in turn frees up more of your valuable time. But why use the software without the convenience of its many shortcuts, which save you time and make your work easier? 

Creating soft light can become an expensive pursuit. A large, indirect softbox will cost around $2,000 and the cheaper ones are often badly built, are small, or generally lack good light quality. Being a tight git, I set about finding a way to create high quality, soft light for my food photography, although this set up will work for pretty much all genres. 

When it comes to both photography and video hacks, there’s no shortage of clickbait videos. To me, this one is the complete opposite of that. 

Mathieu Stern got his hands on a Scarlet-W, which shoots a whopping 5K image, to bring the best out of a vintage 135mm lens he picked up on eBay.

Want to know the secrets of turning any space, no matter how boring, bland, or dirty, into an awesome location for photo shoots? Photographer Kate Woodman is known for her mastery of color, but her work also stands out for the way she uses locations. Looking at her expansive body of work, one wouldn't guess how much of her work was actually shot in her own home in Oregon.

Creating your own photography studio doesn't have to be as expensive as you might think. For around five dollars, you could make your own studio setup to take some amazing portraits in the comfort of your home.  

Adobe’s latest update to Adobe Premiere CC has made it more accessible than ever for beginners to start editing video, but if your processing power is limited, playback lag can make the editing process frustrating.

Looking to add some vintage dust and grain look to your freshly taken digital photos? You know, that look when you come across some old polaroids or 4x6 prints that you dug up from an old photo album that's been packed away in some box… or possibly scrounged from your parents?

One of the biggest challenges all photographers and videographers face is knowing what gear to bring on any given shoot. To make it worse, we are constantly torn on when to purchase or use dedicated specialty gear versus all-around multipurpose gear.

In the magical world of Photoshop, there are lots of different ways to change an object's color from one hue to another, but achieving a change from color to a realistic white is sometimes challenging. This video from Helen Bradley will show you one way to get quick, realistic results when changing an object from color to solid white. 

Videography can be a tricky area to traverse with a constant push and pull between expensive equipment and cheap alternatives. This video gives you three tips on how you can create smooth and cinematic shots, but without using a gimbal or slider. 

"Gear isn't everything." We seasoned pros say it all the time, but often when standing under a pair Profoto B1 flash heads, so it can be hard to swallow for some. Well, if ever you needed convincing, this might just do the trick. 

The Sony a7 series has won a lot of acclaim from photographers, but like any camera system, it's not perfect. This great video will give you five tricks and tips for getting more out of your a7 series camera. 

Rumors circulated this week of a fix that significantly improves the biggest issue with Panasonic GH5 and GH5S, namely its auto-focus system when shooting video. Has YodaYeo really stumbled across a fix that GH5 owners have been longing for? 

When it comes to food photography, your goal is to capture the dish as well as possible while making sure it looks appealing. You want to entice the viewer to order or crave that dish. If you are new to this genre, here are a few tricks that may help you craft a better shot. 

Creating double or even multiple exposure shots isn't anything new. Traditionally it was used in film photography and even recently in Photoshop, but you can do it all in camera too. 

Some days, the light just doesn't cooperate to give you that beautiful blue sky in the background of an image. But your subject may be so compelling, you know you have to fix that sky to make elevate your image from mundane to impressive. You could always replace the sky in Photoshop, but there may just be an even easier way to do it using the Black and White Filter. 

I'm no painter. In fact, if we ever play Pictionary together, do your best to get on the other team. So, when I wanted to make my own custom backdrops, I knew I was way out of my depth. Like many photographers, I've drooled over Sarah Oliphant's hand painted backdrops for years. When I saw Jeremy Cowart draw his own backdrop on an iPad Pro, I thought I may have something within reach.

Photography gear can get quite expensive and put a huge dent in our wallets. While there are many things we wouldn’t want to cheap out on, there are several DIY hacks that can solve some of our wants and still fit within our budget. Some of those hacks are great for adding effects and different looks to shots. Here are eight DIY photo filters. 

Do you ever shoot with seamless paper as the backdrop? If so, how do you use it? Don’t use it just as a plain background when you can get creative with it. If you're not sure what else you can do with seamless paper, here are 10 creative uses to give you some ideas. 

Wrapping up the shooting for your latest vlog is always a satisfying feeling but, of course, the work has only just begun. Cutting, editing, adding sound, text; the list of finishing touches for your vlog goes on.

A pinhole camera is essentially a box with a piece of photo-sensitive paper on the inside and a tiny hole on the other side of the box. It's used by pointing the hole at a light source or reflected light, exposing the paper through the pinhole and then covering again. Simple. So, whats stopping us from doing it with our digital cameras?

One way to spice up your photography is to add gels to your lights so you can produce colorful and edgy looking imagery. Adding wild colors to your photos can offer a lot of creativity but gels can also be used in a much more subtle fashion to slightly alter the color of your background and sky.

Baby it’s cold outside, just look at that ice beard! Only in Northern Michigan would you find someone actually surfing in this kind of cold. But, that’s what a Marquette local, Daniel Schetter or “Surfer Dan,” does.

Whenever you ask one of your creative peers which software they use to edit, you’re probably expecting an answer along the lines of "Photoshop" or "Lightroom." Microsoft Excel is unlikely to be high up on your list – but software engineer Kevin Chen has actually managed to create an HDR photo using exactly that.

If you've ever wondered where photographers are getting this gorgeous colored powder for portraits, stock imagery, and dance photos, it turns out it's very easy and affordable to make at home. This powder can be used in endlessly creative ways to add an eye-catching unique and fine art element to your studio or outdoor photography. Clients and followers love seeing thes

I'm no cinematographer. I mean I dabble, like a lot of still shooters do, but I wouldn't put myself under the category of video expert by any means. That being said, I do know what I like and what I think looks good. What I've always really liked is the depth and feel of large format in still photography and, now finally, in video.

Light is a key factor in photography. It helps shape and create your photo. As the sun changes throughout the day, depending on where you are you may see some thin beams of light fall across the environment. Creating these thin light beams and adding them to your portraits can add some interesting looks.

What do you do when worst-case scenario hits? When even after doing your best to prepare for it, it cripples you, and you feel like you're stuck in a depressive "Groundhog's Day" of going through the motions? 

Chances are if you're like me, you didn't have a clue about what to do about it. That's exactly where I was while coming out of the summer of 2017.

Photographers and cinematographers sometimes find themselves in the middle of a shoot wishing they had some piece of equipment to get that shot just right. Whether a gimbal has broken or the light just isn't cooperating, sometimes you just need a creative solution to make the image you visualize in your head.

Like many other photographers and filmmakers today, we need batteries for many of our gear and accessories. Many devices today come with their own rechargeable battery but there are still many gadgets and accessories we use that still can take the standard AA or AAA batteries.

From the outside looking in, the creative industry can be daunting. We think we need thousands of dollars of equipment to take images on par with our peers – but that’s not strictly true. Here’s a breakdown of how I photographed one of British pop’s biggest acts using cheap lights from eBay. 

There are many things we have to remember to have with us while on set for a shoot, sometimes those things can be really questionable until you need them. Some of those things can be as simple as carrying extra screws with you, something you might not need but really helpful when you do.

So if for some reason you've still never tried a graphical tablet for your image retouching or digital illustrations, seriously stop waiting around. Worst case scenario is that you find that you really don't like it so you turn around and sell it. Best case, you revolutionize your retouching habits; pretty much a no-brainer.

The ultimate lifehack tool or an unnecessary distraction? Love them or loath them, the Apple Watch is here to stay. But does it have any real use case for a photographer? Well, here are five of them!