Photographers learn to see light but creatives also find themselves trapped in the darkness of their doubt. If you’re stuck in your fear of starting a business, I’m going to help you break through some myths and mental blocks to remind you that another word for fear is excitement. At the end of the day, would you rather be someone who faced their fears or gave into them?
Most photographers don’t have an unlimited pool of money or a vast unending studio to collect and hoard gear in. For this reason, it’s especially important to choose gear and accessories that allow them to get the most bang for their buck, like a simple large white backdrop.
The resurgence of interest in film photography is astonishing. Newcomers revel in the challenge of having only a limited number of photos per roll. They enjoy the suspense of waiting a lengthy period for the film to be processed before they see whether their photos have turned out.
Shooting dancers can be one of the most daunting photographic subjects but also one of the most rewarding in terms of the final images captured. Dance can be an unforgiving subject, and unless one delves deeper and tries to understand the movement, the choreography, the piece, and how to capture the light hitting the dancers, it will prove tough to achieve award-winning imagery.
In my complete guide to wedding photography, I addressed 10 critical moments that a wedding photographer can’t miss. In this guide, I want to dial in and take a closer look at what photos should be taken at a wedding.
You have a photograph in mind and now you want to try and make it a reality. Or, a client has contacted you to help them realize a photograph they have in mind. What now?
Acclaimed landscape and timelapse photographer Michael Shainblum has shared an informative guide that explains how he uses long exposures to capture his incredible fog photos.
Time is money. That’s nothing we don’t already know but it’s probably the reason you’re interested and wondering how to cull and edit a wedding quickly. Maybe you’re overwhelmed with work during the wedding season or your clients are bugging you for a faster turnaround.
Opening your own photo studio can be an incredibly large undertaking. There are many things to consider, the least of which is what pieces of gear you'll need. Having recently helped out a friend in setting up their first studio, I’d like to share a few ideas on what you may include.
My wife and I recently spent some time updating our estate plans, or what will happen to our “stuff” after we die. Since we don’t have children and our other family and friends all know us in different ways and for different reasons, it seemed prudent to go ahead and get a first draft of our obituaries going.
Most people today own a smartphone with a camera that they bring with them everywhere they go. These state-of-the-art mobile cameras arguably make everyone a photographer (in some sense of the word).
Let's consider a situation. You went out for a photo shoot with your trusty camera or phone. On location, all the photos looked sharp on the small screen and when you returned to base and opened the photos on your computer you found some photos had missed focus. Worse in some photos the entire image seemed shaken and out of focus.
Adobe Lightroom Classic is an incredibly powerful raw-processing tool, but it has so many layers and features it can take a long time for users, especially beginners, to discover them all.
Wedding photos provide memories of your big day for a lifetime, so choosing the right wedding photographer is an important part of wedding planning.
While the Victoria Falls are neither the widest nor the highest waterfalls in the world, they are undoubtedly the largest. At 1,708 meters wide and 108 meters high, they combine to form the largest single sheet of falling water anywhere on earth.
Photographer Taylor Jackson shares an intimate behind-the-scenes video with wedding photographer Sam Hurd where he breaks down everything from his personal morning routines to on-site best practices for nailing every shot.
I recently heard a photographer say he’d spent 17 hours going through 10,000 images, deciding which ones were worth saving. My first thought was, “I hope he’s retired.” My second thought, though, was that he badly needed a lesson on speeding up his workflow. Which led me to write this guide on how to turbocharge your photography workflow.
There can be a lot of gear-envy among photographers when they see others with tons of expensive camera gear, lighting equipment, and modifiers. It is also all too easy to say that you can’t be creative because you don’t have access to a particular light or piece of equipment.
Professional photographer and YouTuber Sean Tucker -- known for his informative and inspiring content centered around street photography -- has quietly released a completely free series of focused tutorials on portrait retouching.
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).
There are countless marketing strategies used by wedding photographers, but referrals are key in marketing your wedding photography. When starting or growing your business you’ll likely have to implement a variety of marketing techniques. As you fine-tune your process it becomes easy to see the value of referrals.
We have all heard that “real photographers get it right in camera.” Whether it is attached to some asinine argument about shooting RAW vs JPEG or a preachy lecture about the pitfalls of using anything but manual mode, there can be a lot of pressure to get perfect images right out of the camera. There can also be an apathetic tendency to just “fix it in post”. Both extremes have their downfalls and I have found that a balanced approach is essential for personal development and happiness.
Have you heard this one? “I don’t pick up a camera unless I’m getting paid.” Maybe you haven’t just heard it, maybe you’ve said it. At a certain time in my career, that’s exactly how I felt.
Street photography is one of the most popular forms of the art but is also one of the most challenging to perfect. This one-hour-long in-depth video guide was put together to help anyone become a master of the craft.
If you are a photographer and travel by air then you know that some of the views from an airplane window can be absolutely stunning. Carrying a camera with you when flying can not only work as a nice diversion to kill time but also allow you to capture some incredible images. While your fellow travelers are busy on their tablets, phones, or sleeping, you can be enjoying and capturing some amazing views!
I think we have all been there. After the culling, editing, and sweating over every detail we post our latest masterpiece only to be greeted by three likes. One is from our mother, the other two from our friends that know nothing about photography. It is demoralizing.
I recently shot a photograph of the Andromeda Galaxy that went viral, appearing everywhere from the front page of Reddit to Newsweek. The photo was taken with a four-inch telescope over the course of multiple nights from my backyard near Charlottesville, Virginia, US.
Mother’s Day is about a few things: flowers, lunch or dinner together, and of course, family photo time, a good opportunity to update the archive with images of us all together again.
With the advance in computer technology, you would think editing photos is faster than ever before. It's simply not the case - far from it. Software such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic has become far more sophisticated, and with the increasing file sizes improving your workflow speed and productivity becomes a necessity.
Fill light is one of the unsung heroes in the photographic industry, yet the fill light in basic three-point lighting can be just as important as the key. Getting it right can make your images look much better.
I recently realized I have a problem: I buy too many books, especially photography books. Not those cheap kindle ones but those beautiful printed and expensive books, which ended up decorating my wall, or coffee table, and, in my case, possibly many coffee tables.
Product photography can be one of the most overlooked, and yet, most valuable genres of the craft for a creative. While many feel product photos just mean placing an object on a table and snapping a quick photo, it is actually much more complex and requires the right equipment, space, lighting, and most importantly, the vision to produce breathtaking images that will make a view interested in purchasing the product.
Capturing a video portrait is delicate work. The scene needs to be shot smoothly, feature unique and interesting locations, have clean audio, and display the subject's personality. When done properly though, it is possible to produce great video portraits with just natural light.
Capturing the expanse of the cosmos is one of the most challenging, yet most rewarding, experiences for a photographer. When the sun goes down, the cameras come out.
Not many other adventure holidays are as alluring as an African safari that comes with the promise of seeing Africa's Big Five animals up close and in the wild. The thrill of coming into contact with wild animals is hard to beat. The following article will provide essential considerations for your next Big Five safari adventure to the African continent.
Graduation portrait photography is an opportunity to develop your portrait skills, make photos that your client will treasure, and have fun. There are important logistics to keep in mind for a smooth and well-executed graduation portrait shoot, and this guide will help prepare you.
Turning on the lights in your photos can change the whole atmosphere of your scene and let the glow …
One of the biggest challenges for a photographer learning how to light with an off-camera flash isn't necessarily the type of lights they have but rather learning how to control it.
Creating an evenly lit background can be trickier than one would think, but is a skill that every photographer should master. But with the right equipment and knowledge, it gets much easier to capture a pure white, black, or colored gradient background in-camera without the need for heavy Photoshop cleanup in post.
If the weather forecast shows clear skies and bright sunlight, it doesn't mean photographers should abandon their plans for a landscape shoot. Photographer Michael Shainblum has shared tips on how he leverages these weather conditions to come home with a successful set of photos.