tricks

How to Take Better Photos with Your iPhone

If you're completely new to taking pictures with an iPhone, here's a 4-minute video that'll help you hit the ground running. MacRumors put together a number of basic tips and tricks you can use to take a step beyond simply tapping the on-screen shutter button.

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!

You Can Use a Flat Screen TV as a Cheap and Simple Backdrop for Product Photos

As my startup gear brand Eupidere grows, we face more and more photographic challenges in shooting thrifty product photos. Recently, I had just minutes to come up with an image that is a) eye catching, and b) Christmas related. There are lots of Christmas decorations around right now and the little guy above, wearing striped pajamas, is one of them. We decided to put him into a winter scenery and wish everyone Merry Christmas.

4 Tips for Posing Subjects by Wedding Photographer Lexia Frank

Earlier this year, wedding photographer Lexia Frank published a series of 4 short videos that teach how to properly pose models in order to minimize possibly undesirable features. The first video focuses on removing double chins, the second on hiding the upper body, the third on cutting inches off the waist, and the last on posing your model’s feet correctly.

10 Simple Photography Hacks with Household Things

If you'd like to experiment with some do-it-yourself photography hacks and tricks, check out this new video by DigitalRev. Over the course of 10 minutes, Kai shares 10 different cheap and simple hacks you can do with ordinary things you'll find lying around your house.

13 Exercises for Photographers That Can Help Jump-Start Creativity

Like the world’s tidal waters, photographic creativity ebbs and flows for many of us. Sometimes creativity can use a jump-start, an artificial method to get the photographer to start looking at the world in a new way in order to facilitate, restart, refine, or improve your photography.

There are many ideas on how to get yourself to push through an artistic block or inspire you to further expand your boundaries. Not all of them involve the camera. Several websites and books publish a mix of assignments or exercises for the intrepid photographer. I prefer the exercises that 1) involve using your camera, 2) are less assignment-based, and 3) are fun!

How to Get Squirrels to Use Props in a Photo Shoot

Freelance photographer Max Ellis of Teddington, UK, has received quite a bit of attention as of late for his ongoing Squirrelismo project, which features portraits of squirrels posing with various props. We caught up with Ellis to find out the secrets behind his viral pictures.

Every Camera Trick Packed into One Car Commercial

How many different ways can you capture a car on camera? That's what Toyota's marketing team sat down and brainstormed last year when planning a commercial for the 2014 Toyota Corolla.

The 1-minute ad they came up with (it aired late last year) attempts to use every trick in the book.

7 Simple Tips, Tricks and Ideas for Taking More Creative Smartphone Photos

COOPH, The Cooperative of Photography, is back in the photo tip game again, this time showing us 7 smartphone photography tips you'll want to be writing down if you ever shoot with the computer in your pocket.

From unique panorama uses to a clever way to easily take partially underwater photos, these tips are quick, easy and will certainly add a little variety to your Instagram arsenal.

Video: Peter Hurley Shares Tips and Tricks for the Perfect Headshot

When it comes to headshots, Peter Hurley is one of the best in the business. It’s his meticulous attention to detail and process of directing the subject that has led him to where he is now. Sharing some of his insight, he has taken the time to speak with Frank Doorhof, for his 25th episode of his YouTube series.

7 Simple DIY Photography Tips and Tricks Using Only Household Items

The team over at COOPH today shared an insightful video that describes 7 DIY photography tips that use nothing more than items you have lying around the house. From can koozies to tights, a number of unusual household products make a cameo and help you add a unique, homemade element to your photo game.

10 Cheap & Clever Tricks for Getting More Out of Your Mobile Photography

If you’re looking to get more out of your smartphone’s camera with minimal financial investment, look no further. Kai and the DRTV team have created a short little video that goes over ten cheap, clever tricks that'll help you get the most of your mobile photography.

Kai specifically uses an iPhone throughout the video, but a number of these tricks can be used on any mobile device.

5 Toys and Tricks to Improve Your Light Painting

It's easy to plateau when you're experimenting with light painting photography, and as a result, this fun genre can often turn into a flash in the pan hobby.

And so, in order to help sustain your interest in what I think is a worthwhile endeavor and an under appreciated form of photography, I've decided to provide a few of the toys and tricks I've picked up in my experiences. These are things that have helped respire my interest in the past. Hopefully they'll motivate you to continue experimenting as well.

A Roundup of April Fools’ 2014 Jokes in the World of Photography

As we've done for the past couple of years, rather than try our hand at comedy and post something tricky on April Fools, we instead round up all the best photography April Fools' jokes we can find and post them all in one place.

Buckle up, enjoy the ride, and try to imagine a world where these ideas were actually real.

Eric Kim Hits the Pavement with SF Street Photographer Jack Simon

There's something inspirational about watching a seasoned photographer work at his craft -- whether it's a studio photog who molds light to his will or a street photographer whose demeanor and results both scream professionalism.

Jack Simon falls under the latter of those categories, and in the video above, fellow street photographer Eric Kim takes us behind the scenes with Simon as he walks the streets of San Francisco.

Peter Hurley Shares His ‘Most Incredible Tip for Looking Photogenic’: Squinching

Back in February of 2012, portraitist Peter Hurley shared an awesome tutorial that showed how to accentuate your subject's jawline in portraits and instantly make them look much more photogenic. That video went insanely viral amongst photographers, and now, Hurley has finally released a followup in which he shares what he calls "his most incredible tip for looking photogenic."

The Sanity of Craziness: How Your Wild Imagination Can Be Good for Business

I’ve spent a lot of time over the last couple of years shooting personal projects as a way to get hired by the companies with whom I really want to work. When I began this process, my images were fairly tame. I assumed that mainstream and technically-correct images were better than free-form zaniness.

But then I started attending portfolio reviews, where I had the opportunity to sit down with industry buyers to find out what it is they really wanted to see. It was surprising to discover that my loopier ideas resonated more, even if they weren’t necessarily in the style of the company to whom I was pitching.

How to Take Quality Product Shots for an Online Store

There are many niches in photography, but one we don't talk about often is taking product photos. Even though these types of shots don't fall under the professional umbrella -- we're not talking professional product photography, just product shots for an online store -- almost everyone at one time or another has had to sell something on eBay or (not for the faint of heart) Craigslist.

And so, we thought we'd share this short "how to" video that Jessica Marquez of Miniature Rhino put together for Etsy. It offers beginners a few basic tips that can help take your product shots (and hopefully sales) to the next level.

Use Gaffers Tape to Customize the Catch Lights In Your Subject’s Eyes

Photographer Nick Fancher tells us that he recently came up with an interesting way of customizing the catch light in subjects' eyes. If, in your portraiture, you place white or black foam boards to control the amount and direction of bounce light, you can also use white and black gaffers tape to control what goes on in your subjects' eyeballs!

Tips for Shooting Killer Silhouette Photos

My wife Tori and I are suckers for a good silhouette. While out photographing, we are always scanning the environment for a good silhouette opportunity. We don’t nail every attempt, but over the past few years, we’ve picked up some simple tips that increase our chances of achieving a killer silhouette shot. If you want to execute a jaw dropping silhouette, put these tips to practice and chances are, you’ll accomplish your goal!

Random Things You Can Use to Make Food Photos More Appealing

There's a reason that most of the foods you buy never look like the photos used to advertise them. Food photographers and stylists have all kinds of random tricks up their sleeve for making food items look picture perfect. Here's a list of various household products that are commonly used to make dishes look more appealing. A warning, though: you might lose your appetite.