Lightroom Classic has long had an "Auto" feature in the Develop module that will automatically set basic sliders for you based on the image at hand. But did you know that you can now "Auto" set individual sliders?
I’d love to have access to a massive studio space with all of the latest amenities. Who wouldn’t? But in many cases, a living room is all you need to get the dynamic shot you’re looking for. Nearly all of my favorite studio shots were done with my Oliphant backdrops in a 10x15-foot room.
Sometimes we can use software for years without taking the time to dive deeper and unlock its full potential. Here's a great 12-minute tutorial by photographer Jamie Windsor with 10 hidden Lightroom features that can help your editing and speed up your workflow.
Professional portrait backdrops can cost over $1,000 apiece. If you'd like to get creative without getting broke, photographer Jessica Kobeissi has a thrifty DIY idea for you in this 4.5-minute video. She shows how you can create a custom backdrop using less than $5 in materials purchased from your local dollar store.
Here's a 12-minute tutorial from photographer Blake Rudis of f64 Academy that looks at how you can use Photoshop's dodge and burn blend modes for your photos. The technique allows you to simultaneously dodge and burn your image while color grading at the same time.
Need some posing inspiration for an upcoming wedding or engagement portrait shoot? Photographers Sara Byrne and Phil Chester made this 2-minute video that shows some of the trendiest poses being used these days.
Wildlife photographer Chad Barry has captured many gorgeous, award-winning photos of various animals over the course of his career, but there's one thing viewers probably never realize when looking at his work: a lot of the wildlife images were captured from inside a car. Barry made this 23-minute video sharing how you can do the same.
My name is Albert Dros, and I'm a professional landscape photographer from the Netherlands. This article is both for beginners and advanced landscape photographers. I figured I’d list some tips to hopefully give you some inspiration and give you some new options to try out in your landscape photography.
If you're not sure how to photograph a landscape, one primary factor you should consider is the current position of the sun in the sky. Here's a fantastic 3.5-minute video by CreativeLive in which National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting shares tips on harnessing different kinds of sunlight.
Want to learn how to shoot tack-sharp landscape photos? Photographer Dave Morrow made this solid 27-minute guide that teaches his personal focusing strategy. He believes it's the "most in-depth guide to back button focus and hyperfocal distance currently on YouTube."
You've probably learned about the exposure triangle countless times by now. If you want a deeper understanding of the science of exposure, though, check out this 30-minute video by Filmmaker IQ.
Lighting equipment can be expensive, but sometimes you can get great results using makeshift products that won't put a dent in your wallet. Here's a 15-minute video from Dustin Dolby of workphlo that looks at how you can shoot high-quality product photos using something as basic as an IKEA MELODI lampshade.
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.
If you've been itching to try your hand at daytime long exposure photography but aren't sure how to jump in, here's a great simple and straightforward 12-minute tutorial on the subject by photographer Adam Karnacz of First Man Photography.
Figuring out how much to charge clients is a struggle shared by many photographers, particularly if you're trying live off the fruits of your craft. In this 30-minute episode of their Picture This Podcast, photographers Tony and Chelsea Northrup spend half an hour discussing this topic and sharing advice.
Japan goes into a frenzy each spring as millions of locals and tourists gather to catch a glimpse of the elusive cherry blossom. Simply known as sakura, the petals come and go like the wind, representing the ethereal beauty of life.
Photographer Nick Fancher is known for combining thriftiness and creativity into eye-catching portrait lighting, and he has even written two books on the subject, titled Studio Anywhere and Studio Anywhere 2. If you like workshops more than reading, Fancher just shared this free 2-hour video of his Studio Anywhere workshop.
Film Washi V is probably the most unusual film announced in 2017, and I had the privilege of being present when Lomig, the founder of Washi Film, introduced it at the Salon de la Photo in Paris last year. Since then I have always wanted to try it and see what it's like to shoot with this very special film.
Photographer Steve Perry's most popular video ever was his "7 Useful Camera Tricks for Nikon Shooters." Now he's back again with 7 more camera tricks that can help improve your shooting style and workflow.
Ilford recently released a popular 8-minute video on how to process black-and-white film yourself, and now the film company is back again with another helpful crash course on how to make a black-and-white print in a darkroom. If you've never worked in a darkroom before, this intro is a great way to see what it's all about.
Landscape photographer Nigel Danson made this helpful 20-minute video in which he shares 7 simple composition tips that you can use to instantly improve your landscape photos.
Here's a 6-minute video from Andrew Mikhaylov that looks at how you can easily shoot beer can photos using 4 light sources for that signatory reflection on the can.
Do you often struggle when posing newlyweds, not knowing what to do next? Shooting under pressure, you then ask the couple to kiss while neglecting their body positioning, posture, hand movement and facial expression.
Whether you're aware of the correct terminology or not, you have likely experienced color contamination happening in your photographs already. Put simply, color contamination is when one color is affected by the presence of another color in close proximity.
If you've never tried your hand at black-and-white film photography before but would like to learn the basics of developing your own film at home, here's a great 8-minute primer that'll get you up to speed.
Here's a straightforward guide on how to get something more out of your waterfall shots. The idea to this guide came to me when I recently visited Iceland again and kept seeing everyone taking the same shots at the famous waterfalls. Even the ‘professional’ photographers with very expensive gear were just planting their tripod in the ground, putting on a wide angle with an ND filter and were all taking the same shots.
Photographer and Profoto Legend of Light Miguel Quiles made this 7-minute video in which he shares 5 different ways he likes to use a beauty dish for portrait lighting.
Want to get started with lighting your portraits with an off-camera flash but don't want to break the bank in the process? Photographer Francisco Hernandez made this 10-minute video that shows what you can do with a basic cheap lighting setup.
Here's a 17-minute video from Adorama that takes you behind-the-scenes on a "character" portrait shoot with photographers Joe McNally and Daniel Norton. The goal is light the subject in a way that emphasizes what the photographer sees in the person.
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.
Ah, you've just received your first camera over the holiday season and you're itching to use it. Or, perhaps you're just looking for something new to photograph for this year. Well, might I suggest the following: You should photograph a hot air balloon festival!
Standard schlieren imaging techniques use a large mirror to be able to visualize heat or pressure differences in air. The problem with these techniques is that they require large precision telescope mirrors that are very expensive. My lab is fortunate to have a 13-inch diameter telescope mirror; but what happens when I need to photograph a larger subject?
Intimidated by nighttime photography? Here's an inspiring 11-minute video from photographer Peter McKinnon on how you can take better photos of cities at night.
My name is Jimmy Chan, and I'm the wedding photographer of Pixelicious in Montreal, Canada. I decided to challenge myself and write a comprehensive, in-depth guide to wedding photography in any lighting situation. As the title suggests, it will cover from preparation to reception and beyond, dissecting the characteristics of light while offering many step-by-step actionable tips to delight your next client.
If you're looking to add a creative touch to your photos, you can consider making a DIY lens filter for custom effects. Here's a 3-minute video from COOPH that suggests 8 photo filters that you can make at home to spice up your photos in seconds.
If you're starting to spend a lot of time inside Lightroom, keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys can help speed up your workflow and save you precious seconds that add up over time. Toronto-based photographer Lucy Martin put together this helpful 3-minute video to share the handy Lightroom shortcuts that she finds herself using all the time.
This is my account of how I’ve fallen in love with snowflake photography… I’ve spent the better part of my life photographing nature’s smallest details. My early years of shooting botanicals eventually evolved into my current obsession with macro insect and spider photography. I’ve spent that same time running from the cold.
Photographing the sea and the waves can be both challenging and fun. People often ask me what "the right settings" are to shoot moving water so I decided to write a little guide on it. There are many options depending on what look you’re going for. By using some examples of my own, I’ll explain how I shoot my seascapes.
Here's a 5-minute tutorial from Evan Ranft that shows you why and how you can easily split tone your photos for better colors using Adobe Lightroom.
High-end product photography can be done with fewer resources than many might think if you add creativity and careful execution. Here's a 7-minute video from Dustin Dolby of workphlo that shows you how you can take professional perfume bottle photos in a studio with a single speedlight.
The Droste effect is when a photo recursively appears within itself -- the photo within the photo within the photo, "tunneling" forever. Here's a 12-minute video by photographer and retoucher Antti Karppinen that shows you can create a Droste effect photo for yourself.
Here's a 14-minute tutorial from photographer and retoucher Zoë Noble that shows you how you can use dodging and burning to retouch skin in Adobe Photoshop.
Photographer and retouching expert Matt Kloskowski made this 14-minute video that introduces on technique for adding life back into a portrait subject's eyes using Photoshop.
Need to improve your photo management in Lightroom? Here's a 19-minute video from Nigel Danson that looks at how you can improve your Lightroom workflow by properly organizing photos and adopting a whole host of useful tips.
If you're into shooting high-quality portraits with minimal studio equipment, here's a 6-minute video from photographer Manny Ortiz that explains how you can take great, dramatic portraits with just a single studio light.
Have a camera body cap lying around collecting dust? Did you know that you can easily turn it into a do-it-yourself pinhole lens? Matt from Blue Mantle Films created this 1.5-minute video tutorial that shows how.
In my opinion, there’s an extra layer of believability -- a tangibility, if you will -- to using practical effects as opposed to relying heavily on post-production. Post work is limited by the breadth (or lack thereof) of imagination, which is why I try to get as much as I can in-camera.
Instagram is rolling out a new Activity Status feature that you may or may not be comfortable with, depending on how much privacy you like to have on social networks. It allows people you follow or have previously chatted with to see how long ago you were last on Instagram.
Want to get a good grasp of Photoshop's Blend modes? Here's an 8-minute crash course on the subject by the Photoshop Training Channel. They may be one of the least understood features, but blending modes can be extremely useful when creating composites and retouching.
