Advertisements Portability One of the first and the most obvious features of AD200 is its portability. It has a lithium Ion battery built right in, so there is no need to connect it to wall power or an external battery pack. It weighs less than 2 lbs, which means it’s a little bit heavier than the Godox AD360ii. From the solid construction, you can see that they packed everything in as tightly as they could....

No-Shave November is the best time of the year to show off your awesome beard and mustache. And this gets a totally new dimension at the National Beard and Mustache Championships. Las Vegas-based photographer Greg Anderson traveled to this year’s event, and he kindly shared with us a bunch of super-fun photos of the participants. National Beard and Mustache Championships is an annual event, and this year it took place at 350 Brewing in Tinley Park, Illinois....

2022 was the year when many of us regained our lives. COVID has become a thing we live with; for many, life regained its pre-covid routines. I thought it would be interesting to see the topics we all engaged with. Interestingly, there is a mix of gear, wildlife, and even AI. For me, one of the more interesting points when going over the data was how it was hard to predict which topics would create a discussion....

Ever find yourself needing the inspiration to create an image, but you just can muster up any from anywhere. It happens to all us all, don’t worry. Recently I had to create an image for Dark realm Collectives latest Artpack, urban nightmares. I searched and searched for inspiration, but it didn’t seem to come. This can happen because of many factors. Tiredness, working too much, feeling down. Any of these plus much more....

The next time I headed out, I had learned a few things: Check the histogram after each shot; it is wise to shoot exposures at a few seconds with maximum iso to nail the comp. When I had a composition I could live with, I changed the settings to something more ‘normal.’ During the daytime, I had found out where the lens had its optimal setting for having most of the scene in proper focus....

Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) has announced its selection of the best gear for 2020. It ranges from cameras and lenses, all the way to accessories such as smartphone lights, memory cards, and even prints. TIPA has been around for nearly three decades. Founded in 1991, it’s composed of many member publications in the photo and imaging field, both print and online. According to TIPA, its publications “cover the full range of the industry, including consumer, professional, business-to-business, and fine art photography and imaging....

You can change the color of anything in Photoshop. In this short and simple video tutorial, Jesús Ramirez of Photoshop Training Channel will teach you how to change the color of the eyes. The method is simple, it doesn’t take much time, yet you can get very realistic results. Start by creating a group that will contain all the modifications you make. Now make a selection around the iris of the eye using an Elliptical Marquee Tool....

When you’re creating HDR images, chances are you’ll get those annoying halos in them. They look very unnatural, but there’s a pretty simple way to fix them. In this video, Unmesh Dinda of PiXimperfect will show you how to get rid of those halos in just a few minutes and make your HDR photos look more natural. Start by using a Quick Selection tool, or any selection tool of your choice....

As a portrait photographer, have you ever wondered what it’s like for your models to be in front of the camera? In this super-amusing video, Manny Ortiz and his most photographed model – his wife – walked in each other’s shoes. Manny became Diana’s model for a day, and she was the photographer, and they show us what it looks like when a photographer and a model switch roles....

Sometimes it’s good to have your creative friends visit as it can really get the creative juices flowing. So whilst my friend Renee Robyn was in the UK, I thought I may as well take her photo. I know you all think the final photo is true, but I’m sorry to say its a fake, I photoshopped it…..but it wasn’t far off. Anyway here is how I used photoshop to show Renee’s “inner self”....

Here’s an interesting question: how long does it take to become good at photography? It sure is a broad term, but let’s speak about getting good enough to be hired to shoot a commercial campaign. In this video, Scott Choucino discusses this topic and challenges some common beliefs, so let’s see if you agree. There’s a so-called “10,000-hour rule,” implying that you need to do something for 10,000 hours to get good at it....

Ever since Stranger Things, glowing title text has once again become a popular theme. Much of it now, though, is created in post. It’s fairly simple to do in either Photoshop or After Effects, too. But it always has that look of artificiality. It’s too perfect, too clean. It doesn’t have that organic feel of creating it in-camera. This video from Design By Numbers shows us a great example of how backlit text can be created for real....

Not all of us are lucky to have large, spacious studios or apartments. So, you have to work with what you’ve got. In this video from Adorama, Miguel Quiles will show you how to create wonderful soft light in a tiny space, using only one light source. Miguel photographs a model against a paper backdrop. If you want to read more about using paper backdrops in small spaces, check it out here....

One of the big selling points of high resolution cameras like the Nikon D810 and Canon 5DS are the ability to “crop in post”. Typically when people say this, though, they mean their lenses aren’t long enough and they want to be able to crop into the detail. Or, they’re tracking a moving subject that would be difficult to follow if they were trying to fill the frame. But there’s more to cropping than just closing in on a small part of the image....

If you ever want to experiment with optics, making your own lenses (or adapting old ones to fit on current cameras) is definitely a good way to do it. Lenses now have gotten pretty complex, though, with elements acting in pairs or groups that are often too complicated to try to reassemble in your own custom housing (especially if it’s held together with gaffer tape). In this video, though, the folks at Fotodiox show us how we can make our own lens using nothing more than some macro bellows and a magnifying glass....

I just finished up a handful of promotional shots with actor Levi Fiehler and it went well. One of our shots was an odd editorial photo with a him sitting next to a head in a box.. because hey, why not?! I used a hand painted backdrop and a faux wood floor and I lit it dark and moody. I was happy with the way it turned out except for one factor....

One of the most often faked weather phenomena in photography and filmmaking is rain. But it’s not always as easy as one might think. Raindrops are notoriously difficult to film or photograph, making even real rain very challenging to shoot. To fake it, it’s even more difficult, and you often have to create near hurricane levels of water to have it appear convincing to the camera as actual rain. In this video, Valentina from Aputure’s A-Team shows us how to create fake rain on-set that’s easy to make and very believable....

Lightroom’s Auto Mask option is a useful tool that can save you a lot of time. But this video from Signature Edits shows you how you can make the Auto Mask feature even faster and more efficient. This way you’ll be able to mask even very complex images in a few seconds, which will save you even more post-processing time. When making selections with the Adjustment Brush, the Auto Mask option helps you make accurate selections even without being too precise....

When you have a young and inexperienced model to work with, the photo shoot might pose a challenge for both you and them. Photographer Clinton Lubbe shares some helpful advice how to overcome the awkwardness, get your model relaxed and take some amazing shots, and not to be “that guy”. His model for the photo shoot and the video was a young girl, only 15 years old. Of course, your model might be of a different age, but if she didn’t have much posing experience yet, it’s up to you to make the shooting comfortable for her....

With the rise in popularity of film over the last few years, it’s no surprise that a lot of old (really old) cameras are making their way back into the used market. Some of these cameras can be 50+ years old and they’re wonderful cameras to go out and run some film through. The problem, though, is that when they get that old (and sometimes not even that old) the seals that prevent light from leaking into your camera can disintegrate and need replacing....