The challenge of portrait photography is that beyond needing to master an array of technical things like lighting setups and often fairly intricate editing techniques, you also need to be able to make your subject comfortable in front of the camera, all while managing the photography side of things. If you are wondering how you can improve your own portraiture, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you five tips to help you take better images. [ Read More ]Original link(Originally posted by Alex Cooke)

Today’s Photo Of The Day is “Bull Moose” by Gene Putney. Location: Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. “On this September morning I was hiking in the backcountry, initially looking for bull elk to photograph, instead I came across this bull moose in a pond eating,” explains Putney. “He was very accommodating for photo opportunities as he indulged and was certainly an unexpected extra bonus.” Want to get your images in the running for a Photo of the Day feature? Photo of the Day is chosen from various galleries, including Assignments, Galleries and Contests. Assignments have weekly winners that are featured on the website homepage, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To get your photos in the running, all you have to do is submit them. The post...

If you want a successful career as a photographer, you have to dismiss one toxic term that damaged our industry: "starving artist." It has caused more damage and more self-doubt to artists across the globe than probably anything else. [ Read More ]Original link(Originally posted by Walid Azami)

The post Sigma Announces the Powerful 20mm f/2 for E-Mount and L-Mount appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey. Sigma has unveiled its latest I Series lens, the 20mm f/2 DG DN | Contemporary, designed to provide a high-quality, well-designed option for E-Mount and L-Mount shooters. According to Sigma, the 20mm f/2, like all I Series lenses, offers a “combination of superb optical performance with a level of compactness that is perfectly suited to smaller and lighter modern mirrorless cameras.” In other words, the lens is both small and sharp, making it highly useful for travel photographers, street photographers, walkaround photographers, and even on-the-go landscape shooters.  Sigma didn’t skimp on build quality, either. The 20mm f/2...

This is a question that came up numerous times during this week’s Lightroom Conference because you’ll get way better performance (LR Classic will run a lot faster) by having your catalog right on your computer or laptop, rather than over on an external hard drive (by the way – thank you to everyone here who attended the Conference. We had a STELLAR turnout, and we had such a great group of photographers with us all three days – there was a great vibe throughout; lots of new stuff to learn, and it went incredibly smoothly – a tip of the hat for all the hard work of our production team behind the scenes – they are the best). Anyway, I wanted to address this issue...

Years ago, Sigma reinvented themselves with the Art series, which quickly grew into a full line of highly respected lenses, known in particular for their image quality and affordable prices. The company has continued to expand its offerings, which now include the Contemporary line, meant to "achieve a balance between convenience and performance." The 20mm f/2 DG DN is the latest entry in that line, and this excellent video review takes a look at the performance and image quality you can expect from it. [ Read More ]Original link(Originally posted by Alex Cooke)

If you’re into astrophotography, a drone typically isn’t your camera of choice. That’s why I was surprised to see Haida’s release of a light-pollution reducing filter for the new Mavic 3, which they’re calling the NanoPro Clear-Night Filter. Does this filter change the experience of shooting with a drone at night? [ Read More ]Original link(Originally posted by Alex Coleman)

If you look at the sort of landscape photos that tend to dominate the popular pages of Instagram and the like, they are often lit with warm, golden rays, augmented by dramatic skies, rich colors, and dramatic contrasts. And of course, those can be incredible images, but the conditions required to create them are often not present, and they are not the only compelling type of landscape photo. This excellent video shows you that you can create good landscape images no matter what the conditions you encounter. [ Read More ]Original link(Originally posted by Alex Cooke)

Congratulations to Beth Baker for winning the recent First Snowfalls Assignment with the image, “Majestic Oak in Snowstorm.” See more of Baker’s photography at www.bethbakerphotos.com. View the winning image and a selection of submissions in the gallery below. And be sure to check out our current photography assignment here and enter your best shots! [See image gallery at www.outdoorphotographer.com] The post First Snowfalls Assignment Winner Beth Baker appeared first on Outdoor Photographer. Original linkOriginal author: Staff

There are a ton of beautiful tourist spots out there begging to be photographed, but the problem is that unless you are extremely lucky, you will likely have to deal with people in the shot. You could take a bunch of photographs as people move around and then painstakingly mask in different parts of the image, or you could try this neat method that lets Photoshop take care of it automatically in just a few seconds, as this helpful video tutorial shows. [ Read More ]Original link(Originally posted by Alex Cooke)

I've been editing exclusively with Adobe Premiere for over 12 years now, but today, I decided to give Final Cut Pro a try on a real project. Final Cut impressed me. [ Read More ]Original link(Originally posted by Lee Morris)

Today’s Photo Of The Day is “Foggy Morning” by Laura Schoenbauer. Location: Bloomington, Minnesota. “This photo was taken at one of my favorite parks that’s about a 10-minute drive from my home,” explains Schoenbauer. “It’s one of my favorite places to go in the morning.” Want to get your images in the running for a Photo of the Day feature? Photo of the Day is chosen from various galleries, including Assignments, Galleries and Contests. Assignments have weekly winners that are featured on the website homepage, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To get your photos in the running, all you have to do is submit them. The post Photo Of The Day By Laura Schoenbauer appeared first on Outdoor Photographer. Original linkOriginal author: Staff

Voigtlander is known for making lenses with rugged build quality and great image quality, and the MACRO APO-LANTHAR 65mm f/2 Aspherical lens is no different. This fantastic image review takes a look at this interesting lens and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice. [ Read More ]Original link(Originally posted by Alex Cooke)

There are lots of lighting techniques to learn, some simple, some complex, and they all offer something a bit different. One of my personal favorites is clamshell lighting and in this video, learn how to do it and when it will work particularly well. [ Read More ]Original link(Originally posted by Robert K Baggs)

The post 9 Tips for Beautiful Flat Lay Food Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles. Flat lay food photography is a popular sub-genre of still life – in fact, you’ve probably seen plenty of flat lay shots while scrolling through Instagram or even browsing recipes on a cooking website. But how can you create a professional-looking flat lay shot, the kind that is beautiful and elegant and mouthwatering all at the same time? In this article, I share nine flat lay tips that are guaranteed to enhance your photos, including simple settings tips for beginners, as well as high-level composition tips for more serious shooters. By the time you’re done, you’ll be ready to...

Of course, you should never outright copy or steal the work of other photographers; that is never in question. However, there is something to be said for turning work you know and love into something of your own, and this great video tutorial discusses the merits of doing so. [ Read More ]Original link(Originally posted by Alex Cooke)

In the desktop (Mac/Windows) version of the Lightroom (Lr) app it is possible to create connections to several online resources for making prints and books. It’s even available via the lightroom.adobe.com site. When it comes to printing I always turn to Lightroom Classic (LrC) and the Print module, but I’ve been testing out the connections in Lr to sample some print media that I can’t print at home, like canvas, floats, and wood. I’ve been pleased with the results and it couldn’t be easier to set up and use. Obviously, you’d need to be running the cloud-based version of Lightroom and have that installed on your computer. From there, click the + sign next to Connections to open the connections manager...

The Sigma 20mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary for L-Mount and Sony E-mount cameras is the seventh lens in the company’s I series of compact primes. The new lens is the widest currently offered in the series, and one of four with a fast ƒ/2 maximum aperture, along with the 24mm F2 DG DN | C, 35mm F2 DG DN | C and 65mm F2 DG DN | C. Sigma 20mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary Sigma I Series lenses feature all-metal bodies and hoods, with manual aperture rings on the barrels. The Sigma 20mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary also has an “arc-type” AF/manual focus switch and a magnetic lens cap. The lens can focus as close as 8.7 inches....

Getting your first tripod is a balance between affordability and quality. This tripod from K&F Concept might be a good start. [ Read More ]Original link(Originally posted by Nicco Valenzuela)

It seems hard light is trending these days. From elaborate food spreads in Bon Appetit to fashion shoots for Burberry, hard light is in. If you've ever wondered how to create this look, this quick and simple tutorial will lay it out for you. I'll share a few concepts, and you can watch the video for a demonstration. [ Read More ]Original link(Originally posted by Michelle VanTine)