Browsing all posts in photography tips.

Review – Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It

A couple of weeks ago I attended a Scott Kelby Training seminar called Light It Shoot It Retouch It Live. It was almost eight hours of very interesting, well presented information and demonstration about studio photography. Whether or not you’re interested in studio photography I highly recommend you attend this seminar if you possibly can. [...]

Lighting – Where To Begin

One of the most intimidating things to venture into in photography is studio lighting. At one point or another we all feel a bit limited by using only ambient light or light from our pop-up or external flash, and we begin to entertain the thought of getting a few lights. So we start to research, [...]

Balancing Ambient Light with a Speedlite

Sometimes it is necessary to compensate for a background that is over-exposed, especially when shooting in bright light (as in outdoor photography). When using a speedlite as a fill flash, this is very easy to do. Different camera brands achieve this in different ways, so here is how to balance ambient light with light from [...]

9 Tips for Photographing Sunrises and Sunsets

By Steve Russell There are hundreds of articles available on this subject but hopefully I’ll be able to provide a little different perspective on the subject. Also, there are millions of sunrise and sunset photos. Yet, people continue to photograph them so why is that? My belief is just like no two snowflakes are alike, [...]

Back to Basics: Five Tips to Freeze Action and Motion

Freezing action or motion in a photograph results in an image in which the subject and the background are “frozen”, sharp and in-focus. This is accomplished by using a fast enough shutter speed to stop the action, while using an aperture that is both tight enough to keep the entire scene in focus, but wide [...]

5 Tips to Magnetic Engagement Sessions

Today we are fortunate to feature a guest post from an excellent and very well known portrait and wedding photographer located in San Francisco, California and New York City – Catherine Hall. Her skills, passion and experiences with photography are what many of us aspire to. Catherine is there. If you want to learn more [...]

Grow Your Network

Having a wide and diverse network is important for many disciplines, including photography. Whether you’re planning on going pro, trying to expand your business, or are just delving deeper into your hobby, a network of fellow photographers, key information, and quality learning tools is a fundamental part of your efforts. Quality over Quantity The first [...]

How To Photograph Fireworks

Well, my friends in the U.S., it’s that time of year again! Time for the nearly-obligatory post about how to photograph fireworks for your 4th of July celebration. 1. Location. It’s important to get to your location early so you can scout out a vantage point with uninterrupted views. I personally like to be up [...]

Auto Focus Microadjustments

I just spent a few hours over the weekend performing auto-focus micro-adjustments for three of my lenses. Not the MOST fun I’ve ever had with my camera, but a necessary activity for achieving correctly focused images. Auto-focus micro-adjustments are sometimes necessary to calibrate the focus points of the lens/camera combination. Some lens/camera combinations tend to [...]

Tips for Action Photography

By Steve Russell Before I get into the actual subject matter for this post there are a couple of things I want to mention. First, I’ve just returned from a two week vacation and I want to publicly thank Tiffany Joyce for holding down the fort while I was away. I’m sure it’s going to [...]