fundamentals

The Basics of Color Gels in Photography

The use of strong and complementary colors is an ever-growing trend in photography. Many modern advertising campaigns feature bold and contrasting colors in order to draw your focus to the product or message they are trying to sell. One way to create such vibrant color in your own images is by using colored gels (also known as color filters, filter gels, lighting gels, or simply gels).

The Fundamental Building Blocks of Interesting Photos

My particular interest in photography aims for hitting certain notes in the image, regardless of content. So whether I’m shooting landscapes or my garden, friends at a party, or my kids on vacation, I’d say the approach is consistent.

How to Get Started in Photography

Photography is full of baffling jargon and complex numbers to the uninitiated, and it can be daunting for beginning photographers. If you are just starting out, here is an introductory guide for fundamental things you need to have and know before you jump into the wonderful world of photography.

3 Often-Overlooked Tips for Perfect In-Camera Exposures

There is a lot to dive into when it comes to perfecting and understanding exposure. In this video and article (part one of a two-part series), we’ll be covering important in-camera functionalities such as using the Highlight Alert, your Histogram, how to set up Display Brightness, as well as the importance of shooting a flat Picture Style to get the right information.

Wide Angle Lens Fundamentals: The Good and The Bad

Wide angle lenses aren’t as easy to use as a lot of photographers think. They shrink the background and give the foreground strange proportions. They include all sorts of distractions from the scene in front of you, plus a lot of negative space. And yet… used right, wide angle lenses are incredible tools. This 7.5-minute video and article explain the ins and outs of using your wide angle for maximum effect.

4 Common Photo Composition Errors and How to Fix Them

When it comes to composition “rules”, it’s important to understand the concepts so that you have them in the back of your mind while shooting. You’re not going to jail if you break them, but you will likely end up with a better image if you follow them! This 6-minute video from photographer Evan Ranft runs through 4 common composition mistakes that photographers make, and how to avoid them.

The Top 10 Things I Wish I Had Known as a Beginner Photographer

Oh the road to becoming the best photographer you can be, you come across loads of useful information... and some not-so-useful information. Sometimes, it's hard to separate what you need to retain and what you don't. This 22-minute video is a list of things that I should have paid more attention to when I was first starting.

Ten Basic Tips To Help You Grow as a Photographer

In this short conclusion to his instructional DVD, Norwegian photographer Erik Almas gives 10 basic "steps" to becoming a photographer that caught our eye. It's not that they're groundbreaking; in fact, you've probably heard most of these at least once before.

But put all together, and following on the heels of the humorous Onion article on pursuing your dreams, they make for a great set of inspirational steps to follow if you're trying to go from hobbyist to professional.