tip

Tip: Smell Your Film Rolls to Figure Out Their Relative Age

Suppose you come home from a trip in which you shot many rolls of film. You want to develop your film chronologically, but found that you forgot to label them with their order. What do you do? I have a solution... a chemical solution (photography joke): smell your film.

Why ‘Great Photo’ Comments Will Ruin Your Photography

Okay, so the title was a little click-baity... but it's true. Posting to social media outlets where family members and friends can all admire your work can stifle your creativity and prevent you from getting truly constructive feedback that you can develop from.

Searching for a Trophy Buck in Street Photography

Let me begin by saying that I’m not a hunter. But I am surrounded by hunters because I live in Minnesota. I’ve heard countless stories about deer hunting from co-workers and friends, but the most interesting story was from a seasoned hunter who told me that now he only hunts for a “trophy buck” because he’s hunted everything else and he’s only interested in getting “the big one”.

He goes on to describe what the big one may look like – broad shoulders, big neck, and apparently the size of the rack doesn’t matter. When he goes hunting he may let herds of less attractive deer walk by during the course of a weekend without lifting his gun. This may sound like an elitist attitude, but it made me think about using this strategy in street photography.

Why You Shouldn’t Count Out Wide Angle Lenses for Portraits

In 35mm photography, a "portrait lens" is usually considered to be a fast lens with a focal length of around 80-135mm. This allows you to achieve a shallow depth of field and a pleasant perspective that doesn't distort your subject's facial features. But that doesn't mean you should rule out wide angle lenses completely when shooting portraits.

In the 4-minute video above, Rishi Sanyal of DPReview explains why he prefers wide-angle lenses for portraiture.

28 Tips, Tricks, and Hacks for Adobe Photoshop CC

In this video and post I’ll cover 28 great features, tricks, hacks, and more of Adobe Photoshop CC 2015. Some are simple, some are difficult, some are well known, and some are more like Easter eggs.

If you want to learn about multiple layer styles, layer mask tricks, whitening teeth, black and white photos, precision with the Brush tool, and a bunch more, this is the tutorial for you!

How to Safeguard Your Camera Gear in the Trunk of Your Car

In a recent post about "How Camera Gear was stolen in 2015," it was reported that 31% of gear theft victims had their gear stolen from their car. The good news is that a $30 dollar fix can leave you feeling a little less worried to leave your equipment in the trunk.

These Pro Product Photos Were Shot in a Bathtub

Polish photographer Rafał Krasa recently launched Eupidere, a new brand of high-end leather camera straps. He wanted some product photos with a seamless white background but didn't have the proper studio setup, so he decided to go with what he did have: his bathtub.

Use This ‘Hold Your Sub’ Trick for Slimmer Portraits

New York portrait photographer Peter Hurley is back again with yet another pro portrait trick he uses for shooting better headshots of people. This one is called "Hold Your Sub," and it lets you shave 10 pounds off your subject with a super simple move of their arms.

Lightroom Slow? Try Setting a Huge Cache Size

Here's a quick tip: if your Lightroom's Develop module is a pain to work with because it's so slow, try increasing the Camera Raw cache size in the settings to a huge limit. As long as you have disk space to spare, you could see a major increase in speed.

Dealing with Panic Attacks During Photo Shoots

This is the story of how I had to deal with a panic attack during a recent three-day photo shoot. Day three… oh day three.

With much of the shoot behind us, day three was a victory lap of sorts. The shots were more controlled and the environment allowed for great creativity. The first two days had worn us physically, but the crew, client and I had become a well-oiled machine that knew how to work a shot to be exactly what was needed. What could go wrong?…

Why You Should Always Make Time for Personal Projects

Whether you've been a photographer for 10 weeks or 10 years, we've all heard the cautionary tales about yet another creative who's packed it all up, sold off all their gear, and decided to do something else in terms of a career.

It's with that in mind that I am writing about the importance of personal projects.

How to Shoot Portraits of Strangers on the Street Like a Ninja

While teaching a street photography workshop in Chicago recently, photographer Chuck Jines saw an opportunity to teach his students how he's sometimes able to shoot portraits of strangers from extremely close distances without them noticing.

"I had the opportunity to demonstrate just how much a photographer can get away with when people are lost in thought or occupied with a task," Jines says. His unusual demonstration is seen in the 1.5-minute video above.

7 Tips to Save You From Wasting Time and Money on the WRONG Photo Workshop

Note: I don’t name names in this article, but if you’ve been in the wedding industry for while, you will know who I am referring to. If not, you really do need to read this.

A photography industry workshop can be a fantastic way to learn and help your business grow. Industry leaders can share information that they have gathered over the years, distilling it that knowledge into a valuable seminar or workshop.

Great education can save time on the learning curve, and save you from making big mistakes. Unfortunately, for every great educator out there, there are 10 people who have absolutely no business teaching.

Why I Stopped Using the DNG File Format

A couple of years ago, when I switched careers and moved into photography full time, I did a lot of research on multiple aspects of running a photography business. One of those areas, digital asset management (DAM), deals with, well, managing your digital assets, your image files.

I discovered Adobe’s open standard Digital Negative Graphics (DNG) file format. There are a number of advantages to converting your proprietary raw files (CR2, NEF, etc.) to DNG files, including file size, embedded file verification, future compatibility, and speed.

Be Careful When a Big Brand Asks for Your Photo

If you're ever asked for permission to use a photo, be sure you know the scope of what you're agreeing to before saying yes. Photographer Nikki MayDay Guardascione tells us that she got quite a surprise yesterday when a seemingly-simple photo request from Miller Lite turned out to be for much more usage than she originally thought.

Beware: Building Your Own DIY Photo Gear Could Be Patent Infringement

Going a do-it-yourself (DIY) route is popular among photographers who want the benefits of a certain product without having to shell out money in order to buy the actual thing. Here's something you might not have considered though: building a DIY version of something that's patented can actually constitute patent infringement, and sharing those designs with others can land you in even deeper trouble.