Educational

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

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.

How I Use My GoPro Cameras for Landscape and Travel Photography

As a landscape and travel photographer with more than a decade of experience, I always found myself carrying a ton of gear. With huge wide-angle and telephoto lenses, multiple DSLR camera bodies, heavy-duty tripods, and occasionally drones in my backpack, my mobility while trekking to locations was often limited. However, things changed dramatically in 2016 when I started working at GoPro and discovered its amazing cameras.

5 Primary Light Patterns and Their Purposes

In this 8.5-minute video, we’ll explain the 5 primary key light patterns and the ‘why’ or purpose behind each of them. It's all about “key” or main light positions and namely, understanding the why or purpose behind each one of these 5 primary lighting patterns.

Low Contrast Lens Filters: What They are and Why You Should Use Them

As the name of the filter alludes to, these lens filters do indeed lower the overall contrast of a shot. To clarify what that means in relation to photography: these filters will reduce the darkness of the shadows by allowing light to bleed into them from surrounding highlights.

3 Things Most Photographers Get Wrong About Flash

In this video, we’ll talk you through 3 common misconceptions when it comes to flash. These are easy mistakes any photographer can make so pay attention and see how to correct them with these easy tips!

A Crash Course in 100 Years of Nikon Lens History

Well-known (and controversial) photographer and gear reviewer Ken Rockwell recently put together a fascinating video that is probably best described as a crash course in Nikon lens history. The video covers 100 years worth of Nikon's optical heritage, from the company's original rangefinder glass all the way to the latest lenses for the brand new Z-mount.

Emotional Intelligence for Photographers

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the capability of individuals to recognize their own, and other people's, emotions, to discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, and to manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt environments or achieve one's goal(s).

You Need a Telephoto Lens in Your Landscape Kit, Here’s Why

Telephoto lenses and landscape photography may seem an odd pairing. Telephotos are more at home in the hands of wildlife, sports, and portrait photographers. They’re used to get close to the subject, help to compress perspective (cue the comments on "lens compression is a myth") and isolate distracting elements.

How to Shoot Great Nighttime Street Photography

Ah, the night, what a wonderful time to go out and do some street photography! As a photographer who got his start in the streets of Tokyo, it was inevitable that I would end up photographing mostly at night.

How to Age Film for a Distressed Look, or: How NOT to Store Your Film

A few years ago, I saw an article on water-damaged film that claimed the damage was due to bacteria and fungus eating the film. Having a bit of experience with fungus and bacteria from various scientific projects over the years, I thought I would explore this topic. Could I speed up the process? I also wanted to know which film aged the fastest, and was bacteria or fungus really responsible for the damage?

This Video Explains Why TV Cameras are Still So Huge and Expensive

In recent years, small form-factor cameras—both DSLR and mirrorless—have gotten very good at capturing extremely high-quality video. So how come the broadcast equipment in use today is still so massive and expensive? YouTuber Zebra Zone recently answered this question in an interesting breakdown video.

RAID/NAS/DAS 101: Running Out of Storage Space

What do you do when your NAS/RAID/DAS is almost filled up and you need more storage? The answer probably isn’t what you think… Some DAS and NAS, like those from Synology and Drobo, let you replace smaller drives with larger drives to “add capacity.” But doing that doesn’t necessarily give you access to a meaningful amount of additional storage.

Nikon D850M vs D850: A Comparison of Monochrome and Color DSLRs

Nikon introduced the Nikon D850 in 2017 with a 45.7-megapixel backside-illuminated (BSI) Nikon-specified/Sony-designed/TowerJazz manufactured sensor. The Nikon D850 is regarded as one of Nikon's best cameras and continues to range at the top of consumer DSLRs.

RAID/NAS/DAS for Photographers on a Budget

Not everyone needs the massive terabytes of storage that are possible with a RAID/NAS/DAS storage device. But you don’t need to fill up all the drive slots in one of these devices to get the advantages offered. This article is going to look at how to set up a storage device similar to offerings from Synology and Drobo with a small amount of storage (4-8TB) that gives you the benefits of the RAID redundant storage now with room to grow with your storage needs.

A Look Into the Life and Work of Diane Arbus

I'm Martin Kaninsky from All About Street Photography, and in this video and article I am going to talk about a photographer who is one of America’s best-known and also most controversial photographers, sometimes referred to as a “photographer of freaks.” It's a look at the life and work of Diane Arbus.

Testing the Animal Detect Autofocus on the Panasonic G9

Panasonic recently released a major firmware update that adds Animal Detect autofocus to the Lumix G9. As a bird and wildlife photographer, the new feature had me really excited, but how well does it actually work? I took it out into the field to find out.

6 Shots Every Event Photographer Needs to Get

Photographer Mik Milman recently put together a helpful "shot list" video that any event photographer (especially beginners) will find valuable. In the video, he lists six shot "types" that you need to keep in mind, no matter what kind of event you're hired to shoot.

Storage 101: Do I Really Need a Drobo as a Photographer?

The Drobo is a wish list item for many photographers, but do you really need one? A few years ago, the compelling reason to buy one was to have more storage than a single drive could provide at the time. But with 10TB external drives available for ~$179, having a lot of storage in a single drive is a lot easier and a lot less expensive.

Life-Saving Safety Tips and Equipment for Wildlife and Nature Photographers

Most outdoor photography tutorials are focused on getting the shot: what equipment to use, how to set up your camera, and how to edit your shots. But in his latest video, Danish photographer and former special forces soldier Morten Hilmer takes some time to address an even more important topic: how to stay alive.