As is the case with most photographers, I have my usual go-to light modifiers that I know are a safe choice and can guarantee usable shots. However, sometimes, you need to step out side the box.
I don’t get to shoot landscapes as often as I’d like, but when I do, I try to maximize the time I have in a place to the fullest extent. Many times, that’s just waking up for sunrise while my relatives snooze their alarms on a family trip, but eventually, when I started planning my own adventures, I had a hard time figuring out where to start until I discovered an incredible tool.
Zoë Noble's work has been featured in Vogue Arabia, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia and ELLE Japan, and she has shot commercial campaigns for L'Oréal Paris, Vichy, and Etsy. Check out her awesome technique for color grading in this video.
The best creatives take inspiration from areas other than the discipline they are working in, and photographers should be no different. Have you ever thought about borrowing from the practices used by painters? There's a lot we could learn from these great masters.
Over the past few years and into the future, our Photo of the Day feature continues to be a cornerstone of Fstoppers. Featured on the front page as well as being published out over our Twitter and Instagram accounts, Photo of the Day’s goal is to give enthusiastic attention to the creative talent found throughout the Fstoppers Community. Fstoppers has the greatest readers and we love showing off the incredible work you create. If you are interested in having your photo featured as PotD, here are some guidelines to keep in mind for how they are selected.
When I began photography I didn’t understand the importance of lighting and the difference makeup has on an image. Looking back, if I would have first understood and attempted to master the techniques behind makeup, I would have understood the proper way to light my subjects when photographing them.
As photographers we face challenges day in and day out, but one of the toughest facets of the job is posing our subject. Regardless of experience, when a model steps in front of your lens for the first time he or she will expect some direction. It’s up to you to give that proper guidance, otherwise your images will just come up short.
Our histogram shows 256 shades of gray. Besides pure black and pure white Ansel Adams used only nine shades to manipulate the contrast in his famous landscape photos. His zone-system can still be used for our modern digital photography.
For a lot of us who are chasing a career in photography, we soon come to a bit of a pinch point. We have thrown all our money into cameras, computers, lenses, and lights, so our house is a mess of kit clutter. Here's how to build your own dedicated studio.
There are many ways to change the color of an object in Photoshop, but in certain instances, these methods fall short of accomplishing your goal. This video provides an in-depth tutorial on the best ways to change a color in any situation.
"How did you retouch that?" This is the common question I see most when I post my images online. Unfortunately, answering that question directly won't get photographers any closer to being able to replicate that style on their own. In order to broaden the dialog here are five things you must understand if you want to get skin looking beautiful in your portraits.
Some photographers like that soft, ethereal feel as they specifically seek out types of plastic to stick in front of the lens, or even go so far as to buy defocus control lenses and LensBabies that will allow them to distort an otherwise true image. That has its value. But this isn’t for that. This is the new go-to guide for absolutely everything to know about how to get your images to be tack sharp. Get ready to dive in: this is a no-questions-left-behind study on sharpness.
Whether you’re using Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, or any other raw-processing software, odds are, the default settings aren’t right for you. By taking just a few minutes to consider what you typically shoot, you can save yourself hours in processing and create better-looking images.
Nude photography is a very complex subject, one that can be viewed from thousands and thousands of points of view. The final product can range from what most would consider straight-up porn to what many would think to be fine art. But why do people on both sides of the camera do it?
In Part One of this series, we began writing our business plan by focusing on the nuts and bolts of our business. In this section, we will start to expand on those roots and add to the "what" by knowing our "why".
Getting your prints to look exactly how they should is a constant battle for many photographers. Minimize the amount of time and money wasted on reprinting by downloading these free templates and using a traditional technique borrowed from the darkroom.
If you’re trying to build your photography business, having a brand is essential to your success. Here’s why you need to focus on building your photography brand.
Creating selections and masks in Photoshop is a crucial part of any advanced editing workflow. Learn all there is to know about it with this video by Stefan Kohler.
Gaining followers on social media can be an entire business in itself with numerous guidelines to optimize your chances of being noticed. One of those rules is to post steadily with constant content. So what happens when you post consistently for a month? I tried it and here are the results.
Working with professional models, those who know exactly what moves to make and how to position their bodies, can be a rewarding experience. However, it's one that most of us don’t have the pleasure of on a regular basis. In this video, you’ll learn some great tips for making your everyday client look and feel like a pro.
In this video, Sorelle Amore gives tips on posing for photos by posing herself. She shows on camera what the various ways are to create angles, lines, and curves that are more appealing and flattering than just standing there.
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.
Workflow can be a make or break situation in how your business is run. Spending all your time with file naming, culling, or unproductive backup techniques can create not only time constraints but also a negative relationship with your images after your shoot. Following some quick and easy workflow tips will get you back on track and more importantly back to shooting.
One of my recent articles was on how developing a niche can help you make more money from photography. I received a lot of emails and questions over the next week and a strand that run through almost all of the contact was about making the transition to full-time professional. I was pleased with the interest in this question, but I wasn't overly surprised as I tackled the very same issue for several years. There's no exact formula, but there are some important tips I can give. Sadly, most of these I learned along the way, but hopefully some readers can use this to make that leap to professional feel more like a hop.
As you can imagine I spend a lot of time in Photoshop. And when you spend as much time in Photoshop as I do, you want to work as fast and efficiently as you can. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot of keyboard shortcuts. Knowing keyboard shortcuts is crucial in creating a faster more efficient post-production workflow.
When retouching, it is not rare to come across color problems on a model’s skin. Whether it is from a sun tan, dodge & burn, spots or skin discoloration issues, it can be really painful to treat it in post. Despite being all about having it right in camera and doing as little as possible in post, there is an easy way to correct this in Photoshop -- a method that is going to make your makeup artist want to stop correcting redness, yellowness or under-eye bags. It is so easy to use you are going to wonder why you did not think of it earlier!
Artificial lighting can be overwhelming, there are thousands of options to modify one single light source and there are dozens of companies that claim they have the best product and best bang for your buck. Regardless, photography equipment is expensive and I know I'd rather not waste money on a gimmick product when the same result could be achieved with just the right strobe placement or accessory.
When it comes to your images, how often do you think about the colors? Do you know what effects they could create or how to balance them together? Understanding color science can play a bigger role in your images than you thought.
Using the latest version of Photoshop CC, there's a new method you can use to cut out a portrait and place in a new background. And the great thing is, it only takes a matter of seconds.
Scottsdale, Arizona-based headshot photographer Tony Taafe went from selling $60,000 in his first year of business to $250,000 in his third, and he wants to help other photographers do the same thing.
I always say, once you have the core foundations of Photoshop down you are pretty much set. There are plenty of neat tricks to learn, but most of the time the tricks are one-offs.
The tone curve in Lightroom is one of the less understood tools; nonetheless, it's one of the more powerful ones. It can be a bit tricky to figure out on your own, but this tutorial is a perfect way to get acquainted or further acquainted with the tool.
A lot of photographers look for ways to give their portraits a three-dimensional "pop," whether that's through the lens used or some sort of post-processing technique. This great video will show you a quick and effective method for getting that look using Photoshop.
Do your photographs on Instagram not look as good as they do on your computer screen? Are you looking for something to improve the look of your photos on Instagram? Well, watch this video to improve their appearance on Instagram.
Instagram continues to be one of the top platforms to showcase your work in front of as many eyes as possible and network with potential collaborators and clients. As such, it's important to make sure you're using the best practices for uploading your work to the platform, and this quick and helpful video will show you just what those are.
Computer programs are only as good as the information they have to work with and the commands they are given. Avoid these mistakes in Lightroom so you can minimize any major headaches further down the line.
Photographers and people love bokeh. There are several discussions on how to achieve creamy bokeh backgrounds in your shot and even recommended lenses to achieve this look. Many will tell you to get an 85mm lens or lenses with a longer focal length, but what do you do when you want to incorporate more environment into the shot?
Using a high ISO setting to capture starry skies is a pretty common practice when shooting astrophotography, though such an ISO setting can result in a fair amount of noise in your image. This tutorial takes you through several processes in Photoshop to reduce the amount of noise in your final image.
Time and time again photographers ask what is the best lens for a certain type of photography. Truth is that there is never one best, as each session may call for something a bit different.
Consistent photo editing can be a huge factor in ensuring that your brand is cohesive. Knowing how to achieve consistency on a regular basis is a handy tool every photographer should have in their skill set.
Want to know the secrets of turning any space, no matter how boring, bland, or dirty, into an awesome location for photo shoots?
If you're a wedding or portrait photographer, knowing a variety of lighting setups is crucial to overcoming environmental limitations and getting the shots you want. This amazingly comprehensive video will teach you 17 lighting setups and even give you a memorization story to remember them.
Lightroom’s tone curve is one of those tools that is often looked over, especially with beginners. This video will explain everything you need to know to get started using this powerful tool.
The lust for better photo gear is something every photographer struggles with. In our photography industry, many people swear by the quality of light of this brand verses that brand, but in the end isn't light just light? In this video I create a classic beauty lighting setup with $10,000 worth of lighting equipment and then replicate that same setup with only $425 worth of lighting equipment. Will they look the same? This is the Rich Photographer vs Poor Photographer lighting test.
For some reason, Photoshop has decided to bury one of its most powerful tools in a place few photographers would ever look. Here's how to find and use this highly useful feature to take virtually any image to the next level.
I can assure you that this isn't another boring tutorial on how not to overdo eyes with Photoshop. Searching for the perfect method has come to an end. Before diving into the simple method, it’s crucial to understand everything about the human eye and how it reacts to light.
One of the most noticeable differences between portraits taken outside using natural light as opposed to artificial light is the background. Images using artificial light tend to have darker backgrounds. This is crucial in catching the eye of the viewer and allows him or her to focus on the subject. This article is a guide in achieving this look using natural light only.
Okay, I get it, that’s a pretty bold statement, but hear me out. I’ve been working on this for nearly two decades.
Do you feel like you need to sharpen your post-production skills? Then this article is for you. In this quick, easy to follow Photoshop tutorial, learn how in just a few steps, you can make your photos pop off the screen with this simple sharpening process.
Frequency separation is one of the most powerful retouching tools you can use, but it takes careful technique and restraint to do it correctly. This excellent video tutorial will show you how you can incorporate frequency separation into your post-processing workflow.
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