howto

7 Tips for Taking the Perfect Beach Silhouette Photo

Silhouette images can really pack a punch -- they can be very striking and have the ‘wow’ factor. But how do you take them? Follow the tips below to take your own perfect beach silhouette images!

How to Shoot Creative Macro Photos of Skeleton Leaves

Today we are going to use skeleton leaves and glycerin for a creative macro project. Skeleton leaves are fascinating and intricate structures that make great subjects for macro photography and creative projects.

7 Tips for Better Black and White Street Photography

COOPH recently got together with London-based street photographer and co-founder of Street Photography Internationa Alan Schaller to talk about one of the most deceptively difficult forms of photography out there: black and white street photography.

Why Umbrellas are the Most Under-Appreciated Lighting Modifier

In this short tutorial, well-known portrait and fashion photographer Lindsay Adler will show you how to use "the most inexpensive and under-appreciated" lighting modifier to capture beautiful studio portraits. She's talking, of course, about the lowly umbrella.

9 Simple Tips for Taking Better Photos of Waterfalls

Landscape photographer and YouTuber Mads Peter Iversen has released a helpful on-location tutorial for anybody who wants to photograph waterfalls. The beginner-focused tutorial runs you through 9 simple tips that will help you take better, more deliberate photos of this common landscape photography subject.

11 Secrets to Up Your Night Street Photography Game

I’m going to share with you 11 secrets that will help you up your night street photography game. These tips are based on what I teach paying customers on my London Soho Night Street Photography workshops, but don’t worry if you’re coming to one, I have many more secrets!

5 Shots You Need to Get When You Are the On-Set Photographer

The first time I was hired to photograph on set at a music video was decades ago. The client was a record label and they didn’t give me any detailed instructions. I was just starting out and it didn’t even occur to me to ask just what I was supposed to take pictures of.

You Can Restore an Old Pelican Case with a Heat Gun

I was recently offered a free Pelican case, and she seemed too young to die. She was structurally sound, so I felt some plastic surgery would make her look 10 years younger... and it did.

10 Portrait Photography ‘Hacks’ You’ll Wish You Knew Sooner

Portrait photographer Miguel Quiles recently released a two-part series on "portrait hacks" that might be his most popular series of tips ever. In the videos, he covers 10 tips from his years of experience shooting and teaching workshops—tips that he says "everyone wishes they knew sooner."

10 Tips for Photographing ‘Abstract Landscapes’

As a landscape photographer I’m a big fan of grand vistas and photographing with wide angle lenses. But sometimes the smaller things can be just as impressive. In this little article I'll be sharing some tips that will hopefully give you some inspiration when photographing abstracts. And when you start to see them, you can’t stop photographing them. It’s very addicting!

7 Simple Camera Hacks in 90 Seconds

This is one of those cases where the headline does most of the work. In the video above, commercial and lifestyle photographer Pav SZ has squeezed seven simple camera hacks that you should definitely try into just 90 seconds of demonstration.

Is Back-Button Focus Becoming an Outdated Photography Technique?

As camera technology continues to progress, the way in which we operate them is changing as well. Photographers should always use the most familiar and effective technique to get the shot, and to that end I want to be clear about the purpose of this article: I’m not trying to convince anyone to blindly stop using back-button focus.

Shooting a Portrait with Light, Shadow, and Highlight

Light, shadow, and highlight -- this is always a great combination for creating portraits from a lighting point of view. This is the interesting part: changing the intensity of the highlight or the tone in the shadows while maintaining the exposure can produce a different feel to an image, from being dramatic to soft and subtle, and that is what is so intriguing about photography.

Three Posing Tips that Will Improve Your Portrait Photography

Posing is one of the most difficult "arts within an art" to master when it comes to photography, but this short video from Eli Infante might help. Eli shares three tips that you can use to liven up your posing and improve your portrait photography in the process.

5 Worst Editing Mistakes in Landscape Photography

Photographer Mark Denney has put together a helpful video for beginners, in which he points out five of the most common photo editing mistakes he's seen and made when it comes to shooting landscapes.

Low Contrast Lens Filters: What They are and Why You Should Use Them

As the name of the filter alludes to, these lens filters do indeed lower the overall contrast of a shot. To clarify what that means in relation to photography: these filters will reduce the darkness of the shadows by allowing light to bleed into them from surrounding highlights.

Advice for Beginner Photographers in 2020

Seeing that it's a new year and a lot of folks have recently gotten cameras, I thought it might be helpful to put down my thoughts and advice for beginners.

Simple Lightroom Trick Helps You Find Sensor Spots (or Anything Else) in Your Photos

Using Lightroom to remove spots caused by sensor dust is a pretty straight forward process: just click "Visualize Spots" and use the Spot Removal tool, right? Well, photographer Anthony Morganti thinks that he's discovered a better way, and in the video above he shows you a "hidden" Lightroom trick that makes it easy to systematically search your images for sensor spots... or anything else for that matter.

Shooting Creative Holiday Portraits at Night with a Single Flash

Photographer and YouTuber Irene Rudnik was recently scrolling through Instagram when she stumbled across some beautiful blue-hour snow portraits by photographer @kateblc. Like any good artist, she decided to run with that inspiration, and in the video above, she takes us along behind the scenes to see how she captured a beautiful holiday-themed nighttime portrait using only a single flash.

Dear Introverted Photographer: Top Tips from Two Successful Introverts

Can an introvert "make it" as a professional photographer? According to self-proclaimed introverts and successful shooters Manny Ortiz and Taylor Jackson, the answer is a resounding "yes," and in this video they explain how they each overcame the challenges of being an introvert in a highly interactive industry.

How to Make a Ground Glass Focusing Screen at Home

Did you know that you can make your own ground glass focusing screen? In his latest video, wet plate photographer Markus Hofstätter shows you exactly how by making a ground glass screen for one of his large format cameras.

Four Modern and Creative Christmas Portrait Ideas in Two Minutes

Tajreen Hedayet of Tajreen&Co is back with a great holiday portrait tutorial that won't waste your time. In just two minutes (actually less) Hedayet covers four creative Christmas portrait ideas for anyone who wants to create some photos with a "commercial and catalog feel" this holiday season.

Personal Branding Photography: What It is and How to Get Into It

If you haven’t heard of personal branding photography, you’re not the only one. It’s a small but growing sub-genre of commercial photography that has been gaining popularity among female entrepreneurs and small-business owners.

5 Ways You Can Use a Softbox to Shoot Stunning Portraits

Portrait photographer Miguel Quiles is back with the third part of his series on various lighting modifiers. Part one covered the beauty dish, part two covered the umbrella, and part three is all about the different ways you can use a softbox to capture distinctive portraits.

A Simple One-Light Portrait Setup Every Photographer Should Master

Portrait photographer Miguel Quiles' most recent video breaks down his favorite one-light setup for portraits. The tutorial is perfect for beginners who are just getting started with flash photography—not only is it easy to replicate, but having a one-light setup in your back pocket is a must as a portrait photographer.

Photoshop 101: How to Create a Stop Motion Animation

The latest episode of Adobe's YouTube series "3 2 1 Photoshop" is for anybody who wants to get into stop motion photography, but has no idea how to actually create a simple animation from a series of still photos.

How to Get Better at Street Photography

It goes without saying that if you want to get better at something you have to practice. Simple, right? The thing is, that unlike more structured pursuits such as sports or music, the idea of practicing street photography seems a bit hard to wrap one’s head around.

5 Creative Photo ‘Hacks’ to Try with a Umbrella

Our friends over at COOPH have put together a fun video that might just inspire you to break out the umbrella for a fun photo shoot this weekend. The rapid-fire video goes through 5 creative photo "hacks" that you can do with a spare umbrella and a few other odds and ends like fairy lights, aluminum foil, and duct tape.