Tips

In photography, many aspects can make an image successful, and in my opinion, what defines the bones of a great photo is a good composition. Instead of thinking composition like a series of canonical rules, I much prefer to use principles like connection, tone, colors, shape, relationship, light gestures, and so on.

Are you wanting to get out and create photos, but don’t know where to start? Let me help with that. I'll give you an assignment that will help you by providing a framework and a structure for getting your camera off the shelf.

One of the most frequent questions I am asked is about social media likes and followers and how to ‘boost’ those numbers.

This article is aimed at people who would like to advance their basic photography skills. I assume that you already make decent photos and are familiar with f-stops, ISO, shutter speeds, etc. But I'm hoping that this read will prove worth your time and lead to even greater photographic skills and enjoyment.

The Lyrid meteor shower happens every year from April 16 through April 26, with the peak occurring typically around April 22. Taking great photos of the event does not require a high-end camera though, and you can get some great results with your smartphone by following these simple tips.

I was reading an interview with William Eggleston and he recalled a time when he met Henri Cartier-Bresson, who was his idol, at a party in Lyon. Eggleston described that he was sat with Cartier-Bresson and a few other guests and his idol leaned across to him and said ‘William, color is bulls**t’.

A common post-production question involves Opacity and Fill, and what the differences are between them when it comes to photography. In this 14-minute video, Marc Newton from The School of Photography explains what sets them apart and how properly using them can dramatically improve your images.

To many photographers, getting your work printed in a magazine is the holy grail, especially if you manage to make the front cover. Sure, posting on Instagram or Facebook is great but actually seeing your work in print... to me, there is no better feeling.

When starting out, you will inevitably stumble upon someone telling you to use a three-light setup for portraits and a beauty dish for fashion photography. I think that’s a whole bunch of nonsense. Lighting setups don’t teach you light -- they only confuse you and derail you from progressing.

We live in a time when our technology and camera gear usually work extremely well and reliably... Until it doesn’t. Randomly. And at the worst time. When that happens, you’re left feeling unprepared and stressed which is something that none of us enjoy.

Beautiful vistas and landscapes require very little in the way of adjectives when enjoyed in person, but trying to convey that majesty to someone through photos is a lot more challenging. Most of the time, a photo just doesn't really capture the awe-inspiring nature of reality.

As photographers, we all know marketing is important. We regularly hear that it can make or break a business. Good marketing can help you stand out. We’ve all wondered how and why some photographers have hundreds of thousands of followers when others are struggling to even hit triple digits.

I previously wrote an article on some of the gear that photographers can buy used and how I saved $15,000 doing so. It feels wrong for me to buy any new gear -- like I'm burning money when doing so. That said, here are a few photography things that even bargain-hunters like me buy new.

It’s time we put some updated sensibilities’ behind the statements “fix it in post” and “getting it right in the camera”.

I have always looked forward to the rush of excitement I feel when preparing to board an aircraft with the promise of a few hours gazing down at our beautiful planet. Viewing the world from another perspective has held an alluring attraction for me as long as I can remember.

There are countless elements to photography, but there are three elements that have shaped my photography the most.

A few weeks ago, I was speaking with a good friend -- who is also a heck of a photographer -- about the pros and cons of using creative profiles and presets as part of your photo editing workflow. His stance was unambiguous and straightforward: as far as he’s concerned, profiles and presets are murderers of creativity.

My name is Jordan McChesney, and I'm a photographer based in Japan. Let me start by saying that I am not a professional photographer, and I’m well aware that my movement towards success is an ongoing process that is (hopefully) in the early stages of even bigger things to come. That being said, I think it’s a good idea to reflect on my last year or so of growth.

Keeping batteries charged for your camera and accessories is the bane of the professional photographer. With the increasing popularity of battery-hungry mirrorless cameras like the Canon EOS R5 and R6, this has become all the more challenging and important, and that’s what drove me to create this simple hack to track which batteries are charged, and which ones need to go into the AC charger when I get home from a shoot.

Shooting timelapse is certainly a lot of fun, but trying to sell them and make money is an entirely separate story. So that leads to the question: how can you monetize the planning, time spent shooting, and the effort of editing hundreds or thousands of pictures into extra income or maybe a new career?

I really do enjoy taking my time to get to know my new camera. One of the most effective ways to do that is to dive deep into the camera's menu and begin customizing everything to meet my needs and requirements. Of all the settings that I end up customizing, there is one that is always first without question: setting up back-button autofocus.

One of the unavoidable truths about being an artistic creator is that you’ll undoubtedly and inevitably hit a rut. As is the case with landscape photography, that wall hit me after I realized that all of my photos started to look the same, even when the locations varied.

The COVID pandemic has stricken all the layers of our societies, from culture to economy, family life to social events. Nevertheless, this unique situation has also offered unique pictures of places usually crowded and suddenly totally empty, taken by photo reporters.

It's one thing to hear tips on how to be a better photographer, it's another to actually watch photos come together in real-time. Photographer Michael Shainblum created this 13-minute video where he takes you on a first-person narrated photo outing to show you how he makes his images.

Photographer Kevin Raposo normally produces quick, easily digestible videos that only last a few minutes, but in a bit of a shift, his latest 14-minute video shows how he shoots both photos and videos for his real estate photography clients and explains why you too should offer both.

Photographer, filmmaker, and educator Jens Heidler of the YouTube Channel Another Perspective recently filmed and photographed M&M candies dissolving in water. The result is both a mix of beautiful and slightly unsettling.

How bright should your images be? How should the luminosity levels in your image be balanced? And how do you make sure you get the right exposure to allow you to have the best chance of creating an edit that you love?

Milky Way core season is right around the corner. I wrote this quickie guide on how to photograph our galaxy for anyone interested in going out to do some astrophotography this season!

As a photographer, I work from my home base in Istanbul, completing assignments for places like The New York Times. But, just like everywhere else, COVID-19 has put a damper on normal human interactions in Turkey. So, when a photo editor at The New York Times gave me the option of shooting an assignment remotely, I was intrigued.

There is a lot of misinformation involving the different types of Canon batteries and third-party solutions, so Camnostic.com spent six months testing the options to figure out which is best for use in Canon's EOS R5 camera.

Want to get better at posing your subjects when shooting portraits? Here's a 12-minute video tutorial in which well-known wedding and portrait photographer Jerry Ghionis shares 5 corrective posing tips, explaining how to pose your clients so they always look good.

In this article and video, you’ll get five one-light studio setups, and we’re going to do it in less than 10 minutes. I’m using a Profoto A10 for this setup, but you can use any flash. I’m also going to limit our modifiers to just the basics, so we’ll mainly use an umbrella. For all of our setups, I’ll give you other options, regardless of what I’m using.

Photographing snowflakes doesn't have to be expensive. In this short 4.5 minute video from photographer Jens Heidler on his YouTube Channel Another Perspective, he teaches you how you can replicate these larger-than-life photos with even entry-level equipment.

Let me begin by saying I am in no way a professional sports photographer. I am simply a high school math teacher who loves three things: teaching, mathematics, and photography. As a serious photographer in my school, it often fell upon me to document sporting events for the benefit of the school and the students themselves.

Photographer Jens Heidler, who was recently featured for his macro video of snowflakes melting in reverse, has published a 5-minute instructional video on how to create frozen soap bubbles for dazzling macro photos.

Though there are multiple off-the-shelf solutions for over-head camera angles, DIY-er Jay Doscher decided that there was a better way. By combining a VESA mount monitor arm with a few "universal" parts along with some 3D printed pieces, he made his own.

Susan Goldberg has been editor in chief at National Geographic for seven years. In the history of Nat Geo, which started in 1888, she is the 10th editor and the first woman. The yellow-bordered magazine, one of the most widely read magazines of all time, has always been known for its dramatic photography and is published in 35 languages.

Square format simplifies shooting because you never have to rotate the camera. You can edit the image to any format you like.

Conducting an interview and taking pictures at the same time may sound overwhelming but this is a usual practice in social documentary photography. After 8 years of talking while shooting, I now feel as if something is missing when I silently click a shutter button or interview someone without a camera in my hands. However, this type of work is full of challenges and pitfalls. Here is how I navigate this territory.

Finding your photographic style takes time. It's a process. You may even think you found it only to discover that your preferences have changed. That's okay. That's good. It means that you are growing and evolving on your journey.