Articles from Scott Mason

If you photograph portraits, chances are you have a preferred public (perhaps private) space that captures your imagination. But what if your favorite spot didn't want you there anymore?

Running a business always entails risk, and photography businesses are no exception. Let's explore the various financial challenges we face and ways we can protect ourselves and our livelihood.

We all know the dangerous jobs out there: law enforcement, firefighting, the list goes on. But have you ever stopped to think about the risks that come with our profession?

From sketch renderings to video surveillance, law enforcement uses many techniques to piece together clues for crime-solving. Details and memory often fail us, but there's one medium that never forgets - photography.

Creating microscopic or macroscopic photography requires considerable skill and proper equipment. But you don’t need to be a professional photographer to appreciate the fascinating world that this mind-blowing imaging opens up.

Attempts to network with fellow photographers often fall short. Many of us act as professional “gatekeepers," defensively sharing little or no information.

Photographers can be greedy when it comes to knowledge, hoarding techniques, shoot locations, and general valuable information on our craft. While we photographers need to be competitive, we also need to share our knowledge.

A rare sight was captured at the Jersey Shore this week. When photographer Jon Entwhistle saw a peculiar sight, he aimed his camera to the heavens and virality ensued.

Dear Thumbtack, you’ve been a major national player in service-sector networking, including the field I love, professional photography. I appreciate the jobs I accessed through you in the past. But the door on that past, I’m sorry to have to say, is closed.

For most people who know the name Edvard Munch, there’s an immediate association with his iconic painting, "The Scream.” This artist, fabled for his emotionally impactful painting, is not known for his photographs, but his lens-based work will soon be available for fans of art and photography.

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.

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.

Weather and conditions permitting, the Perseid meteor shower puts on an annual show that blows stargazers away. Use these five photography tips to capture this dazzling spectacle.

Compositing frames in your interior photographs can be extremely time-consuming. With this simple technique developed by Mike Kelley, you can quickly and easily lighten doorways in post-processing while freeing up your editing time.

Photographer Juergen Teller is under fire for his recent images of pop singer Rihanna created for Vogue magazine. Teller has been accused of appropriating the work of Mickalene Thomas, a staple in black female art.

Innovative camera manufacturer Leica is investing heavily in Light, a startup company developing a proprietary camera system for self-driving cars. The big question: will Light’s new camera system fix the bugs that plagued their notorious L16 camera which tanked because of image processing issues?

If you have a strong online presence or pay to market your photography business, bogus leads can bombard your inbox. Atlanta photographer Katie Coon received one recently.

Photography is not commonplace in America's jails. However, an article recently published in the Greenfield Recorder reports on photography courses given to inmates in Massachusetts and the reactions of the students.

It's every nature photographer's worst nightmare. You're snapping away at a majestic creature, capturing all its beauty and magnificence, when suddenly you find yourself face-to-face with danger. This is what happened to photographer Maxim Deminov, and his reaction was gutsy to say the least.

Go to any live music event and if the crowd is big enough, there will be photographers snapping away for the first three songs. Concert photography is a blast, but does that blast produce bucks?

Whether you're a portrait, wedding, or event photographer, you undoubtedly encounter this issue: nobody has perfect teeth. But there is a perfect way to streamline the fix: create a Photoshop action.

Last week’s article introduced my take on the reasons photographers and videographers lose prospective clients. I focused on two common pricing errors plus the importance of a human connection, and this week, I’m examining three other important reasons.

Photographers and videographers both tread water in a crowded pool of competition, and often we feel in danger of drowning in that pool. In this week’s and next week’s articles, I will present the most common reasons we lose out on work we otherwise might have won.

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.

TIME Magazine's weekly cover is famous as a visual representation of current culture. What better place to display today’s “upper” technology: the drone (958 of them, to be exact)?

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?

When the general public picture photographers, they tend to envision a creative individual who goes out and snaps away at anything and everything that inspires them; architecture, nature, sports, or whatever assignment they've been put on. It's likely that they never think of the hours we spend marketing, writing proposals, editing, doing book-keeping, etc.