Category: Techniques
White Balance Simplified
In most areas of photography, it seems that the advice is to go as manual as possible. Manual controls give you better control over your camera and afford you more options and flexibility. For example: It is best to shoot in a manual mode so that you can control the exposure settings. Otherwise the camera… Continue reading White Balance Simplified
An Easy ISO strategy
A recent convert to manual mode recently asked about a simple way to think about which ISO to use. There are a lot of things that require mental energy when you are shooting, and the last thing you want to be devoting your brain-space to is the ISO setting. So here is a way to… Continue reading An Easy ISO strategy
Free Course on Photoshop Elements
I’m writing today to let you know that I am posting a new course on editing photos using Photoshop Elements. Based on my conversations with people lately, it seems that a lot of my readers use Photoshop Elements to edit their photos. And if you are not using any photo editing software at all, Photoshop… Continue reading Free Course on Photoshop Elements
How to Maximize Attraction to Your Photos
We all have trouble evaluating our own work as others will see it. As we sit at our computers, we get to the point where we cannot see the forest for the trees. Not only that, but if we do manage to decide what will attract someone’s eye, we need to decide what to do… Continue reading How to Maximize Attraction to Your Photos
7 Steps to Eliminating Digital Noise
Digital noise has long been a plague for digital photography. It is where you get a random pattern of off-color pixels (usually darker) in your image. It generally becomes a problem at high ISOs and in long exposures. You can think of it like having your stereo speakers buzz and pop when you have it… Continue reading 7 Steps to Eliminating Digital Noise
Getting Started with Landscape Photography
For people that really enjoy the outdoors, the attraction to landscape photography is probably obvious. But I have never been a particularly “outdoorsy” person or a great lover of nature. And I certainly don’t like getting up at dawn. Yet, even for me, there is nothing better than getting out early in some remote location… Continue reading Getting Started with Landscape Photography
Understanding Focal Length
The world of photography has a measurement to tell you how “zoomed in” or “zoomed out” you are. It is called “focal lengths” and today I’m going to explain the scale and show you how it works. Why should you take the time to understand this? There are a couple of reasons: it will help you… Continue reading Understanding Focal Length
Testing the Online Photo Labs (Video)
When you want to have a print made of one of your pictures, you want to be confident you are sending it to the right place. If you are like me, that means the best quality for the best price – and usually that means a trade-off is to be made. I conducted a test… Continue reading Testing the Online Photo Labs (Video)
Understanding and Using ISO to Get Great Photos
The best way to understand ISO is with a little background . . . ISO in the Film Days Do you remember when you used to buy a roll of camera film and they would have different “speeds” of film for you to choose from? The “slow” stuff was labeled “100” and was to be… Continue reading Understanding and Using ISO to Get Great Photos
Understanding Aperture & Depth of Field
For beginners, perhaps the best way to dramatically improve your photos is to master depth of field. For example, you can isolate a subject by blurring out the background, which really makes your subject “pop.” Or you can set a wide depth of field to make the whole picture as sharp as possible. There are… Continue reading Understanding Aperture & Depth of Field
Mastering Shutter Speed
If you are going to elevate your photography above the level of snapshots, one of the three things you need to master is shutter speed. This article will show you how to do that. There are two parts to shutter speed; a boring part and a fun part. The boring part is that a lot of times, you just want… Continue reading Mastering Shutter Speed
The Easy 5 Step Program for Beginning Flash Photography
When you are just starting out with photography the whole flash thing can just seems like a complete mystery. Sometimes the flash pops up, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes is lights things up, sometimes it doesn’t. And sometimes it creates a harsh glare. When I was starting out, I always felt like I was doing something wrong, but the whole thing seemed too… Continue reading The Easy 5 Step Program for Beginning Flash Photography
Understanding Camera Modes
Here we will quickly go through the modes on the mode dial on your camera. We’ll talk about them in the order of least control to most control by the photographer. Auto Mode: This mode is known among snooty photographers as “Idiot Mode.” When you use this mode, you essentially turn your camera into a point… Continue reading Understanding Camera Modes
A Basic Lightroom Edit (Video)
If you are new to Lightroom or photo editing software in general, please check out this video. It will show you how easy it is to use.
Moving Water with a Super-Fast Shutter Speed
Here is another example for you to use in your own photography. This photo is a shot of my daughter taken in my pool. It has a really cool water effect created by a super-fast shutter speed. Try this and I guarantee you will get a lot of great comments. The Settings I Used Here are the settings… Continue reading Moving Water with a Super-Fast Shutter Speed