Learn Photography

Steve Giralt shares his tips on how to upgrade your beverage photos and videos, from lighting techniques to food styling.

Photographer Dave Krugman shares his 5 tips on how to pose models during a photoshoot for both outdoor and indoor portrait photography.

Portrait photographer Lola Melani shares her five tips you need to know before your maternity photoshoot. She covers the importance of creating a shot list, keeping your gear to a minimum, directing your clients, taking inspiration while still coming up with your own photoshoot ideas and more.

Using flash is one of the technical aspects of photography that’s difficult to understand, mainly because it’s something you cannot really see with your own eyes. Working with natural light, you can usually envision how your shot will turn out, and then when you become a bit more skilled, you can even envision how the effects of aperture and shutter speed will affect your images. Working with flash further complicates our visual relationship to what we’re photographing.

Lightning is one of Nature’s most impressive displays and capturing it with a camera is a challenge, but the results can be almost as grand as the natural spectacle. There are a lot of overlaps between lightning photography and fireworks photography, but lightning’s unscheduled appearance adds an element of luck to the adventure.

A softbox is an enclosure designed to fit around an artificial light source, such as a flash tube or halogen lamp. Its reflective interior intensifies the light output and projects it through its only means of escape—the front diffusion screen. This creates a quality of light long appreciated by photographers and videographers, which resembles the softer light one might find streaming through a window. Learn more about this important lighting tool here.

Image sharpness is an important part of the equation when purchasing a new lens. Who among us has purchased a lens without first inquiring about, among other things, how sharp the lens is? But the bottom line is “sharp” isn’t the end-all of the medium. If anything, it’s often the blurry elements that catch our eye and make us want to linger a while longer.

Evenly lit backgrounds have endless applications and are not hard to accomplish with the right tools and techniques. Here are some tips for getting consistent black, white, and color backgrounds straight out of camera.

Do you want to preserve the memory of that awesome neighborhood fireworks show? Let's discuss the best ways to try to make a memorable photograph commemorating the event.

Ever wonder what those cryptic etchings on your manual focus lens actually mean? Check out our Beginner's Guide to understanding Zone Focusing!

Time lapses are tough. There is a ton of information you need to know about photo and video to make the best possible time lapse, and if you dare tackle advanced shoots such as day to night or hyper-lapse, you need to be at your best. Here are some more tips to help improved your time-lapse photography.

An on-camera flash is an indispensable accessory for many photographers. The benefits of an external on-camera flash far outweigh those provided by a built-in camera flash, while the only drawback is keeping an additional piece of equipment.

Learn how to produce images that emulate the look, color, and feel of hand-colored black and white prints electronically using Photoshop.

Mood boards have long served as efficient platforms for communicating ideas in the advertising, fashion, and film worlds. Their popularity stems from the simple fact that it is easier to show than to describe the direction of a visual project when working with a large creative team. Freed from its commercial roots, mood boarding can be a powerful exercise for photographers working through new ideas or planning future projects.

Photo studios come in all shapes and sizes. If you are working with small subjects, there is no reason to rent a massive loft or build an addition onto your house to get the shots you need. In many of these cases, a functioning setup can take up as little space as a table. Like all things related to photography, tabletop studios can be as simple or complex as their creators require.

You don't need to leave the house to improve your photography skills! Check out these 13 fun and creative exercises you can do from the comfort of your own home.