Articles from Derrick Ruf

Explore in this lighting tutorial three ways of stepping up your headshot photography game.

Experiencing bouts of anxiety when working fast paced events like a wedding is quite commonplace, clearly there is a lot riding on you the photographer. Truthfully a lot of that stress, we tend to create for ourselves. Let me explain how with thoughtful preparation ahead of time, I minimize to an extent those periods of uneasiness.

See examples of how Apple’s latest computational photography technique, Smart HDR, allows the iPhone to compete with the dynamic range in several of the top full frame cameras on the market today.

Dan and Sally of Learning Cameras have published their review of Canon’s first full frame mirrorless camera. Check out their thoughts as well see how this camera stacks up against the competition.

Improve your landscape photography this fall with one of my favorite techniques for composing within the photo: the use of leading lines.

One of the more common areas to apply a bit of photo composite work is of course in the sky. Often, Mother Nature will opt to ignore our photographic needs. The good news is you can overcome this with a little help from Photoshop.

Godox is back at it again, this time offering Photokina a sneak preview of a soon-to-be released portable round head speedlight, offering a direct competitor to the Profoto A1.

In late 2017 I shared the photography podcasts that constituted my listening rotation. Thanks in part to our awesome community, 2018 has been even more insightful with these updated podcast additions.

Small-scale software updates at a high frequency are the new normal. With that being said, naturally, it’s easy to overlook some of the changes that come with each rapid-fire update. Take a few minutes to familiarize with what’s been updated in Lightroom Classic CC version 7.5.

Name brand speedlights — like a lot of things in photography — are absurdly priced, and although they carry the big brand names, they also lack in a number of key areas versus the lower cost, third party alternatives. Take a look at my reasoning for steering clear of the big camera manufactures brand speedlights.

A retouch of the eyes is on every portrait photographer's image editing to-do list. This important alteration is also one of the easiest adjustments to spot when unintentionally overdone. See how this Lightroom-specific technique will help bring out that shine in your subjects eyes, without pushing things too far.

If you are a photographer who is utilizing physical DVDs, USB drives, or even digital solutions like Dropbox to deliver client images, then take note as there is another way.

Are you in the market for a faster Lightroom? If so then today must be your lucky day. Here are some under the hood suggestions to achieve just that.

On the lookout for some portrait tips and techniques? Well look no further, sit back and check out this well paced, information packed presentation on just that.

For many of us, gaining a stronger understanding of Lightroom's basic editing tools is always welcome. Learn how to develop your photos with the power of Lightroom’s built-in sliders.

The photography industry and it’s consumers would both benefit from introducing the predominant mobile phone sales model.

Take a look back at some recent client work of yours, and simply ask the following question: Did I bring to the table a deep and thoughtful understanding of my clients' photography wants, and needs? Or did I instead find myself photographing based only on my own personal needs as a photographer?

When Lightroom mobile was initially released a few years back, I, like many Adobe users at that time, was curious, and found myself finger tapping all the way to my phone's respective App Store to download it. After that addition to my phone was made, the once fresh home screen icon for a long time sat irrelevant, and relegated to the end of the bench, placed inside of a seldom seen, far lateral, home screen folder.

Sony photographers everywhere are rejoicing over the long-coming rollout of Sigma’s Art series lenses on FE mount. But will Sigma’s new Sony-focused lineup be the answer versus the smaller native lens options?

Wedding industry veteran Robert Hall, is taking a break from the tech side of photography to bring you six prudent tips for wedding photographers, all focused specifically on the importance of the client experience.

The repeated process of exporting images from Lightroom is something you most likely have done many times over. With that being said, if you have not already, save yourself some steps, and set up quick and easy presets.

Are you looking to take your portrait work to the next level? If so, check out these five effective tips to help ensure you walk away with the perfect angle on your next photo shoot.

Take a look at this Lightroom CC fueled, wedding day sneak peak for iPad-equipped photographers.

The thought of a full day of wedding photography, with its many layers, can surely be overwhelming. And with that said check out this behind the scenes, wedding day tour to place your mind at ease.

Could an upgrade in card speed to UHS-II make a noticeable difference in performance with the latest generation of the popular Sony a7 series?

Surprisingly often, simple courtesy is overlooked by photographers when hired to perform work as a peer. These principles sure seem like common sense, so what could be the problem? Take a look at these basic standards of professionalism. 

Many photographers own or are mapping out a path to own the largest aperture lenses available in their system's catalog, skipping past the more utilitarian, lower priced options.  Perhaps defaulting to the f/1.4 versus the f/1.8 option deserves this moment's pause.

As Spring gathers steam and hits its stride, wedding photographers all over gear up for sleepless nights in front of a monitor, intoxicated Macarena dance moves, and most importantly, activity in their bank accounts once more. Feeling left out of all that fun? Here are some pointers for joining in on the fun.

Capturing consistently great group photos during the hectic atmosphere of a wedding day is no small feat. Take a behind the scenes tour of how a veteran photographer of over 27 years and 1,000 worldwide weddings gets it done. 

Consider for a moment, just what would your ten-year-old self do, if given the keys to an entire photo shoot.

If you want to preserve your photos, it is a great idea to make certain you have a backup system in place. As obvious as that sounds, there are still more than a few out there who live life on the edge, and have yet to be bothered with backing up their work. For those of you I offer this inexpensive, and mostly automated, Apple specific backup option you can put in place today. 

Just when you thought zeroing in on, and staying put with the copious amount of camera and lens options was enough to alone cause sleepless nights, you then discover this wild world of high power flash photography. Good news is help is indeed on the way, depending on your needs as a photographer one of these three advanced flash options will get the job done. 

Have you ever been curious about what it is like to work with professional models and the process of matching your talents behind a camera with an agency’s catalog of models, but never really knew where to start? Here's a great how-to about getting started with working with a professional modeling agency.

You are about to embark on a magnificent afternoon of fishing, under a sun-soaked sky. Do you simply drive around town till you see running water, hastily place the car in park, and cast out, or instead carefully plan out a spot on the water that nets you the greatest chance of success. 

On the surface, it would appear to most that photography is a straightforward endeavor. Point the dedicated camera or smartphone at your desired subject, press or tap the shutter, and hey presto the magic happens. Funny thing is, simple as one can make it sound, still there is so much room for even professional photographers to botch things up.