Here's a strange photography hack that may sound stupid and unbelievable... but it can actually work: if you have a filter that's hopelessly stuck to the front of your camera lens, try lightly tapping it with your finger. The Koldunov Brothers show how it's done in the 1-minute video above.
Photographer Jonathan Usher of Wellington, New Zealand, recently created this photo of the Milky Way rising from the horizon near his city. But get this: he wasn't using a tripod or any other stabilization -- not even a rock. It's a "60-second exposure" shot handheld.
Smooth Trans Focus (STF) was invented by Minolta in the 1980s and became available in the Minolta 135mm f/2.8 STF in 1999. The special design of the lens with an Apodization (APD) filter allows for the smoothing of out-of-focus areas, or bokeh. The APD filter reduces the light transmitted through a lens, but the strength is gradually decreased toward the center of the filter.
Want to improve your selection game in Photoshop? Here's an 8-minute video from PiXimperfect that points out some "secret" sliders in Adobe Photoshop that will help you to make fast and smooth selections.
DxO recently announced that it has acquired the Nik Collection suite of popular photo tools after Google abandoned development in May. The Collection is still available as a free download and can be run as standalone programs independent of Photoshop and Lightroom. Here’s how.
Have a rechargeable battery that won't recharge properly? Before throwing it out, there's something you should try. Here's a 2-minute video by Lensvid that will teach you one technique for reviving "dead" rechargeable AA and AAA batteries.
When you’re out taking nighttime landscape photos, one of the most difficult tasks is composing your photos exactly how you want. The reason? It’s simply too dark to see anything.
Want to learn portrait lighting but don't have a model you can spend hours and hours with? Here's a 4-minute video in which photographer Ed Verosky offers a simple suggestion: Buy a cheap mannequin head to practice your skills.
Here's a quick Photoshop trick in a 6-minute video by PiXimperfect that's great for making composites. It allows you to save different layers, alongside any adjustment layers, into separate files.
Need to take portraits and don’t have access to a lighting kit? No worries – this 4-minute video from Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens will show you how you can turn a bathroom – or any room for that matter – into a softbox to create beautiful soft light.
Here's a helpful 4-minute video in which photographer Phillip McCordall shares a few tips and tricks for dealing with reflections in still life photography.
Want to try out product photography but can't afford a softbox? They can be expensive pieces of kit, but invisible ones cost a lot less. In this 6-minute video by Leo Rosas, learn how to use a cheap tube light as a makeshift softbox.
This 2-minute video from Adorama highlights one super-simple tip that could make your life behind the camera a little easier.
"Lens creep" is that really annoying thing in which your lens slips and zooms itself out of position. It happens on all sorts of zoom lenses that have an externally moving part rather than an internal one. In this quick 2-minute tip by Dr Jake, an ordinary rubber band is the answer to all of your lens creep woes.
If you often shoot with your camera tethered, there are commercial solutions out there for taking the stress off your camera and cable and protecting the cord from getting yanked out. But if you'd rather not spend your hard-earned money on such a product, an ordinary rubber band can do the same thing.
Off the top of your head, do you know how much more light f/2.8 lets in compared to f/5.6? Do you know the f-stop number that comes after 11? This 1.5-minute video reveals the simple pattern used by the scale.
Talented photographer and retoucher Karen Alsop recently decided to have some Photoshop fun with her friends and family. When her mom unearthed an old family photo from the 1900s, she added her kids into the shot and pretended it was an authentic photo of long lost relatives... and it worked!
Stop-motion animator Kevin Parry has shared a clever little video illusion titled "Walk in the Woods" that has a lot of people scratching their heads. It's a loop that shows Parry repeatedly walking into a mirror in a forest and emerging out "the other side."
Ed Greggory of Photos in Color has put together a 3 minute guide that will show you how to shoot the so-called "perfect wedding photo" in just 10 steps. We're not sure about that "perfect" bit, but it's a fun idea that's worth checking out.
They say the devil (or is it God?) is in the details, and this quick Photoshop tip from portrait photographer Bill Larkin is all about making sure you nail those details. Specifically: he shows you how to quickly and easily 'open' a Lazy Eye in Photoshop.
Heads up: you can now upload photos to Instagram from a desktop browser... using a special, unofficial trick. In this step-by-step tutorial, I'll show you how it's done.
Eye Stocker published this simple 5-minute Photoshop video tutorial that shows how you can color grade any photo using only solid color adjustment layers and the Blend If feature.
If you have a film or digital camera that can shoot double exposures, there's a free do-it-yourself accessory you can use to get creative with the technique: it's the half lens cap.
Need a little creative boost this week? Here's a short video that shares 4 fun smartphone hacks that might just inspire you to create something different using the little computer in your pocket as either the camera or a prop.
These days, more and more of what you think are real photos are actually CGI renderings. But have you seen "CGI renderings" that are actually real photos?
Have you ever asked yourself what the best focal length for your first (or your next) prime lens should be? If you use mostly zoom lenses, Adobe Lightroom may be able to help.
Headshot photographer Peter Hurley has previously shared popular portrait tips for achieving slimmer figures, sharper jawlines, and photogenic eyes. His latest quick tip is all about adjusting height in portraits.
DIY photography tricks... need we say more? Whether you're stuck in a creative rut or just want to break out of your photography comfort zone a bit, this video is the perfect way to start the week.
The Film Look made this 2-minute video showing how they created customized lens caps to help better identify and keep track of them.
Popping a gel in front of your rim light is a quick, easy way to change the feel of your portraits.
If anybody knows how to mount a weird lens, it's got to be the creator of "Weird Lens Reviews" Mathieu Stern. And now, he's sharing one of the super simple tricks he uses to find the working distance of any lens so he can create or buy the right adapter for it.
Forget buying a professional rain cover or carting a shower cap with you, if you want to protect your camera from rain and snow on the cheap, this creative quick-and-easy DIY solution will cost you less than $1.
What do you do if you're out shooting on-location, without strobes, and you want to darken a bright background without affecting the light on your model? Joel Grimes shows you a neat trick that'll work just as well as a strobe.
My name is Adam van Alderwerelt, and I'm an amateur photographer living in Maui, Hawaii. Out here, there's only one location on the whole island that gets a permit from the local government to use aerial fireworks. Otherwise, it's completely illegal.
Want to shoot long exposure photos in bright daylight without having to shell out big bucks on a neutral density (ND) filter? Try using a piece of welder's glass -- the kind that protects your eyes while welding. The 13-minute video above by photographer Mathieu Stern provides a nice overview of this photo hack.
Netherlands-based photographer and videographer Chung Dha made this quick 2-minute video showing how he fakes the look of drone shots using a light stand and action camera.
I finally have a chance to write a few thoughts down on the new Nikon D500. Were you (like me) one of the thousands of Nikon photographers who waited seven years for the successor to the D300s?
My name is Jesse Rockwell, and I'm a California-based photographer with an insatiable appetite for travel. I wanted to share a solution I have found for international travel and the hassle of charging large numbers of batteries on strange foreign outlets.
This is really neat. Here's a quick, useful DIY tip that'll show you 5 creative ways to add a 1/4" tripod mount to just about any object both destructively and non-destructively.
If you ever need to soften your flash in a pinch, you can go the MacGyver route and fashion a diffuser for yourself using an ordinary piece of paper. They usually cost about $0.01 per sheet, so this is one of the cheapest diffusers you can make.