Educational

PetaPixel's editorials are in-depth stories, thought-pieces, and opinions on the photography industry led by the minds of our editorial team.

I Tried Printing iPhone Photos Really Big

I am a landscape photographer and I love printing my photos. For me the print is the realization of all the effort I have put into capturing the image. It is something tangible that you can hold in your hands and admire.

Catchlights: The Small Detail that Can Make or Break Your Portraits

Photographer Joe Edelman has put together a helpful beginner's guide that explains one of the most important (and easy to overlook) details in portrait photography: catchlights. These specular highlights can make or break your photo, and in this video, Edelman covers all of the basic "dos" and "donts" of catchlights in portraiture.

How Images of Coronavirus Are Made

How do you go about capturing images of a coronavirus, which is too small to see with a standard light microscope? Here's a 5-minute video in which Vox explains how two electron microscopy techniques give us views of what the SARS-CoV-2 virus looks like.

Camera Basics: Understanding Shutter Speed

Do you know your camera basics? Today we dive into shutter speed and teach you all the ways you can use shutter speed to unlock your creativity and expand your photography style. Learn how to show fluid movement or capture a split second and what styles of photography these shutters speed options are best for.

How Wicker Chairs Became a Portrait Photography Staple for Decades

If you look at album covers from the 1970s, one of the things you'll repeatedly see is a particular type of wicker chair commonly referred to as a peacock chair. Here's an interesting 7.5-minute video by Vox that looks into the history of this photography trope, which was 100 years in the making.

Nikon Z vs Nikon D: A Comparison

20 months after the launch of Nikon’s first foray into the full-frame mirrorless world, it’s now time to take stock of what’s to love about the Z, or D.

8×10 Film vs 150MP Digital: Can 150 Megapixels Compete?

Over 8 years ago, we over at On Landscape performed a mammoth “Big Camera Comparison.” We compared medium format and large format film against various digital cameras including the then cutting edge Phase One IQ280, an 80MP CCD sensor which we used on a Linhof Techno, an Alpa, and a Cambo technical camera (we also tested a D800 and a 5D Mark II).

How to Manage Self-Isolation: Tips for Freelance Photographers

Given the recent guidelines on social distancing from various health organizations, the novel coronavirus and the disease it causes (COVID-19) means that most of us will be self-isolating for some time. As a freelancer, how can you manage this enforced downtime positively?

In-Depth Breakdown Shows How to Properly Weather-Seal a Camera

Dave Etchells over at Imaging Resource has released a fantastic breakdown the dives deep on exactly how camera makers—Olympus specifically—go about properly weather-sealing their cameras. In keeping with Etchells' reputation, this video is the most comprehensive overview of the topic that we've ever seen.

How to Disinfect Your Camera Gear During the Coronavirus Pandemic

As the world takes drastic measures to slow the spread of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, having good hand hygiene is regarded as one of the key ways to protect yourself and your loved ones. If you're a photographer, you should consider regularly disinfecting the equipment you use throughout a day.

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Take Your Next Travel Photo

It’s the fifth in a string of beautiful days, in a place a world away from our daily life back home. The sky is wide and blue. The air is thick with scents of food we’ve yet to try, and a language we don’t understand. But friendly smiles allow us to navigate our way through this country that is settling into our hearts.

How the Coronavirus Will Affect the Photo Workshops Business

I think it’s fair to say there’s growing anxiety that is accompanying the current coronavirus outbreak, and with seemingly more bad news on the hour, we really don’t know when this thing might bottom out. So if your business is in the photography workshop space like my company PhotoEducate is, you take notice.

Satellite Boom to ‘Wreak Havoc’ on Astrophotography, NASA Says

As more and more satellites are being launched into space, reflected light from these objects is causing increased sky pollution and issues for astronomers and astrophotographers. Now NASA is asking the public for help in monitoring this growing issue, and all you need to do is shoot smartphone photos of the light streaks in the night sky.

ISO Has Nothing to Do with Exposure: A Technical Explanation

Photographer Chris Lee of the YouTube channel pal2tech recently released one of the most straightforward technical explanations of ISO that we've seen. In this 12 minute video, he explains what ISO is and, just as importantly, takes on a couple of common misconceptions by explaining what ISO is not.

Three Ways to Use RGB Lights in Your Portrait Work

RGB LEDs are a relatively new piece of technology, and a wonderful addition that photographers should be taking advantage of. Before this technology existed, we were forced to resort to adding gels to our strobes in order to add a pop of color into our images. This worked well (and still does) but having the ability to change the hue and saturation of your lights with the flip of a switch or turn of a dial is incredibly useful.

A Complete Guide to Using Off Camera Flash for Wedding Photography

Wedding photographer Reggie Ballesteros gets a lot of questions from aspiring wedding photographers, and one of the most common is: how do you use off-camera flash? So he's created a comprehensive guide that covers his entire process—from the gear he uses, to his thought process during setup, through execution.

The Evolution of Fujifilm X Series Shutter Sounds

Want to hear how the shutter sounds of Fujifilm's X Series mirrorless cameras have changed over the years? Fuji employee nycphotog2006 made this short 5-minute video that compares the sounds of the X-T1, X-T2, X-T3, X-T4, and X-H1.

How to Spot Fake Photos of Fake People Online

My name is Mike Solomon, and I learned a thing or two about AI-generated faces when I built the web app “Judge Fake People” last year. Here's a little guide on how to spot fake photos of fake people online.

All 50+ Adobe Apps Explained in Just 10 Minutes

After launching with the PostScript printing language back in 1982, Adobe's product offerings have ballooned to comprise over 50 apps used across a wide range of industries. If you often hear Adobe app names being thrown around but don't really know what they're for, here's a helpful video by the YouTuber Humtog that explains all 50+ apps in just 10 minutes.

Reaching the Megapixel Limit (for 35mm Camera Scanning)

Since I first started camera scanning, I've always advocated using the highest resolution camera you can get ahold of. (My first camera scans were with the 1.3-megapixel Nikon E2n, so it's been a long road.) That advice is changing.

How an Anti-Aliasing Filter Impacts a Camera’s Photos

Some cameras on the market these days leave out the traditional optical low pass filter (OLPF), also known as the anti-aliasing filter, to increase sharpness at the expense of increase moiré patterns. If you're not sure what exactly this trade-off is, check out this 10-minute comparison video by New Zealand-based wedding photographer Richard Wong.

Wedding Photography vs. Videography: Pros and Cons

So you’re about to shoot someone’s wedding. That’s amazing -- it’s an incredible opportunity to be part of one of the most intimate and beautiful experiences in human love. But between photography and videography, which medium gets the job done?

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!

Does Photographing a Moment Steal the Experience From You?

Countless photographs are snapped every day by people looking to preserve their life's experiences, but is the incessant picture taking actually robbing us of them? Travel photographer and writer Erin Sullivan recently gave this interesting 8-minute TED Talk on the subject.

Explaining Color Space and How It Can Screw Up Your Photos After Export

If you're new to digital photo editing you've probably had this experience: you export a perfectly edited photo, but the JPEG looks all "wrong"—the colors are totally different! Actually, they not. As Unmesh Dinda from PiXimperfect explains, you just haven't sorted out your color space properly.

What’s Your Rangefinder’s Effective Base Length?

Looking to buy your first rangefinder? Here’s a tip: start with the lenses! Effective Base Length, or EBL, is often left with little or no consideration by SLR shooters looking for their first interchangeable lens rangefinder.

Film Scanning Shootout: Drum Scan vs Flatbed vs DSLR

Film photographer, educator and YouTuber Nick Carver doesn't shoot digital, but he does scan his film for printing. So he recently embarked on an experiment to figure out which scanning technique is best: drum scanning, fluid mount flatbed scanning, or scanning your film using a DSLR and macro lens.

How Polaroid Pioneered the Instant Photography Revolution

Photography has never been faster to made and share than in our modern "insta" era, but over half a century ago, it was American scientist Edwin Land and his company Polaroid that helped the industry take a giant step forward in speed and ease. PBS NewsHour just aired this 5-minute segment that looks at Polaroid's history and influence.

That Camera Bundle on Amazon May Be Gear That Was Returned

Here's a 16-minute report by CNBC that looks into how Amazon returns work. At the 14:39 mark, there's an interesting tidbit that you may not have known: when you see third-party camera bundles on Amazon with a body, lens, and/or accessories, many of those items may have been previously returned.

A Simple and Inexpensive Schlieren Optical System Using a Fresnel Lens

Schlieren imaging is a fairly standard optical technique for visualizing heat, sound, or pressure differences in air. Technically, a schlieren system is able to see clear disturbances in air due to slight differences in the speed of light in the air. The technique can be sensitive enough to see the heat rising off a human hand at room temperature.

Don’t Get Burned by Fake Camera Gear, This Video Warns

A couple of years ago, Canon USA and the National Crime Prevention Council launched a contest called "Stop Fakes" to raise public awareness about the dangers of using counterfeit power accessories. This 26-second video by Anthony Pegg was selected as the winner.