Watermarking your photos

A question I often get is how to protect your work as a photographer. Just like with everything, there are a million opinions, and most are uninformed or just flat out wrong. Perhaps the most common misconception about protecting your work is that if you say something is copyrighted, then you are safe if someone steals your work. Likewise, many […]

Preparing for your first photo exhibition

After spending some time in the photography journey, many shooters find themselves with a number of good to great quality images in their portfolio. Around this time, the aspiring photographer will seek out opportunities to exhibit and sell their work. How long should one wait before showing their work or approaching galleries for inclusion into group exhibitions? How much should […]

What is the difference between RAW and .jpg?

We often hear about shooting in RAW versus .jpg, what is the RAW format and why is it better than .jpg? Once you have a RAW file how do you get it back into .jpg format to share it online? Why do RAW files look drab compared to the image displayed on the back of your camera? All good questions, […]

Understanding flash duration

Freezing motion when working in the studio can be a bit confusing. Generally (say when we shoot sports) we rely on our shutter speed to freeze action. Understanding how flash duration freezes motion can clear up some misconceptions about relying on shutter speed to freeze motion. Mark Wallace does a great job explaining how older flash technology can have a […]

The best camera settings for any shooting scenario explained.

Are you new to photography? Are you looking for the best camera settings to capture a concert, or family gathering? Are you terrified of manual mode but know that mastering manual mode is the only way to be seen as a professional photographer? Let’s talk about it… This topic is perhaps one of the most controversial in photography right now. […]

Focus Fail

Teaching yourself to be critical of your work can improve the quality of your work immensely. I often use a failed attempt at an image here to illustrate my workflow and mindset when choosing images for social media or an exhibition. Let’s talk about it..   I often see photographers using the “machine gun” approach when taking a photo, they […]

Helping you cull your work

Are you one of those photographers who have difficulty selecting the one iconic image from a set of good shots? Have you ever taken a portrait, and liked the look on the models face but you missed focus on the eyes and decided to show it anyway? If you have problems identifying flaws in your work, then this article can […]

When a model flakes

First, let me say this article is written from the perspective of a photographer (that’s me), but the information contained herein can certainly be applied to either side of the image creating relationship. When a model cancels on your shoot, it can be frustrating, but understanding the process, and your actions that led you to that flaked session can make […]

Vignettes and how to use them

The vignette in photographic terms is characterized as the loss of brightness around the edge of a photograph. A vignette was often considered an undesirable effect in photography, as it historically highlighted the limitations of a lens. Programs like Adobe Lightroom come preloaded with profiles for most available lenses and easily counter the darkening effect in software. Vignettes have changed […]

Photography forums survival guide

I actively participate in many online photography forums, and I have noticed after years you start to see patterns of behavior and the same kinds of people in every forum. Learning how to deal with critiques and comments – both positive and negative can help you grow as a photographer and artist. While this article is geared towards the photographer, […]

Easy Film noir style images

This week we explore how objects between and around your flash affect your images. You may have heard of terms like cookie, flag and gobo when referring to lighting, what the heck are these things and will using them benefit your images? Lets talk about it… Cookies Cookies are an object which is placed in front of your light source […]

Getting shadows under control n your portraits.

Today I continue my weekly series helping you to Troubleshoot your Photography. This series is geared towards beginning and intermediate photographers, but old grizzled photographers (yours truly included) may also find useful tidbits in these musings. Are you new to photography and finding that people on social media are not liking your images as much as you expected them to? […]

Troubleshooting your photography – Focus part 2

Welcome to part two of a new weekly series called Troubleshooting your Photography. This series is geared towards beginning and intermediate photographers, but old grizzled photographers (yours truly included) may also find useful tidbits in these musings. I’m publishing new articles each Tuesday. Are you new to photography and finding that people on social media are not liking your images […]

Getting into strobe photography on the cheap

It is #TuesdayTips time again, and this week we are going to talk about a subject I get asked a lot – what do I need to buy to get into strobe photography? I will talk about my current gear, my past gear and most importantly what I have learned buying stuff that I thought I needed but didn’t. Full […]