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How to Use Exposure Blending to Bring out More Detail in Your Photos

Depending on the environment you're photographing or the camera you're using, you might not be able to get all of the dynamic range of the scene into a single exposure. That's when you'll want to take multiple exposures and refer to this helpful video on how to blend them in Photoshop.

Turn a Good Shot Into a Great One: Essentials of Luminosity Masks

Let's just be honest here, standard HDR photo processing techniques are about as relevant as dial-up Internet these days. There are many other ways to achieve better dynamic range in the final edit of an image and one of the best ways is that of using luminosity masks.

Creating Amazing Photographs in Small Spaces

While the idea of having the best available studio and equipment remains, well, an idea or dream for many of us, creating great images in the comfort of your own home does not have to be.

Watch a Photographer's Photoshop and Lightroom Portrait Editing Workflow

Post production has been a significant part of photography ever since the beginning of the medium. Back before digital, it was all about how you handled the development of the film and then the enlargement of your print, now it's about how you handle your digital files.

How to Create a Dark Cinematic Look for Your Images Using Photoshop

The dark and moody cinematic look is a popular one that can help make your images pop and catch the viewer's attention. If you're a fan of that style, this fun tutorial will walk you through the entire process of creating the look from normal photos using Photoshop.

Give Your Images the Cinematic Look in Just Two Minutes

I find cinematic images to be particularly memorable. I'm sure there's some color theory and psychology behind that but ain't nobody got time for that. Here's PHLEARN's way of creating a cinematic look to your images in just two minutes.

How to Enlarge Photos Without Losing Detail in Photoshop CC 2018

With the new Adobe Photoshop CC 2018, a new image enlargement algorithm, “Preserve Details 2.0,” came as an improvement over the previous upsampling algorithm that had been in place since 2013. The 2.0 version provides better details when it comes to preparing the images for large-scaled prints and potentially reduces the need for an ultra-high-megapixel medium-format camera for large prints.

Getting a Start in Headshot Photography

Practically everyone needs a great headshot these days. If you have a desire to get started in headshot photography, this video from Canon Technical Advisor Eric Stoner is full of great information you can use to begin.

An Advanced Guide to Removing Objects Using Photoshop

One of the most fundamental Photoshop skills you can have is the ability to remove and replace objects in an image. And while Photoshop has some fairly advanced automated tools to help you do this, there are times when you'll want to take full manual control. This helpful video will show you three methods to remove objects.

Easily Capture Everyday Items to Sell as Stock Photography

Have you ever considered the potential of the objects that sit in front of you every day? With the high demand for photos in social media and online marketing, your images of even the most simple items have value. Here’s how to capitalize on this and produce an easy portfolio of stock images to sell.

How I Shot This With Hard Lighting

Lighting can be a major pain in the ass and that is especially the case if you're not a technical person, like me. After picking up the camera 7 years ago I am still constantly learning about the many different aspects of lighting.

Three Tips for Getting Models to Work With You

One of the best ways to step up your photographic game as a portrait photographer is to improve the quality of your subjects. There are a variety of ways to do this ranging from improving your ability to coach strong expression, working with better makeup artists, or improving the quality of styling. The easiest method, however, is by working with experienced models who are practiced in interacting with the camera and already know the fundamentals of posing and expression. Finding a strong model to work with means the shoot becomes more of a collaboration that provides you the opportunity to elevate the quality of your work.

A Myriad of Resources to Help You Better Color Grade Your Photography

Color grading is a critical tool involved in the production of a truly impressive image. Through the use of grading a photographer can completely shift the impression a given photograph leaves on its audience. Learning color grading, however, is quite difficult as it is one of the most ethereal aspects of a post-processing workflow that can vary radically from photographer to photographer. The best method, in my opinion, for learning to master grading is by learning as much theory and as many techniques as possible so that you can leverage that knowledge to create the workflow that works for you.

Laced Up: A Boudoir Photographer's Guide to Lingerie Shopping for Your Sessions

Take a look at any boudoir image and a trained eye will see the lighting, posing, and of course the wardrobe. Attention to detail in how each look flatters your client will go a long way. This guide will list where to shop whether on a budget or having the ability to stock your studio with high-end lingerie.

Blend Your Mask in Photoshop Better Than Ever With the Feather Slider

Masking plays a crucial role in the quality of your retouching. There are so many tools available to create and refine masks, that’s often times we forget the most basics and useful ones. One of them is a bit hidden and it seems like many don’t even know it exists! However, it’s probably amongst the most useful options to refine a mask and make your adjustment shine through in a more natural and convincing way. It’s the feather option and I’m going to show you how you can use it with a real-world example.

Tips for Shooting Boudoir All Shapes and Sizes

Boudoir clients range not only in background but also shapes and sizes. She may be a model or the stay at home mom that wants to feel like a model. Knowing your client and how to pose for flattering looks as well as creating a lasting experience is what one boudoir photographer is about to explain.

The Why and How of Test Shoots With Models

My high school enemy is my new best friend. I'm talking about a glorious thing called "tests." In the photo world, a test is a shoot set up for the sake of portfolio-building, experimentation, fun, or all of the above. It's not a paid shoot, but these suckers pay off big time. A test shoot is when you book a model (we'll talk about how) to shoot a concept that you put together. As I'm writing this, I actually have my journal open on my desk in mid-plan for a test that I'll be shooting later this month. Let's talk about a few reasons why testing is so important, how to find models, reach out to agencies, and what you need to do once your model is booked. Dig in!

How to Edit Milky Way Photos With Lightroom 2021

Editing astrophotographs can be tricky as there's a lot to go wrong, especially when working with the Milky Way. Thankfully, Lightroom has some powerful features that can help transform drab snaps to galactic masterpieces.

Drastically Reduce Noise in Milky Way and Nightscape Foregrounds Using Photoshop

In recent years, technological advances in camera sensors have made it possible to capture incredible landscape images at night, but they still struggle to capture detail when the light is very low or nonexistent without introducing high amounts of noise to the image. This technique, known as "median stacking," will help reduce or even eliminate noise in your nightscape foregrounds, resulting in clean, detailed images that are ready for print or online scrutiny.

How to Use Focus Stacking for Sharper Photos

When you need a photo with deep depth of field that is sharp across the entire frame, it might not be possible to do so in just one shot. Focus stacking is a technique that allows you to get sharper images with deeper depth of field. It is a relatively easy and straightforward technique, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to use it for your own work.

Five Creative Editing Tips in Lightroom

Feeling stagnant in your editing recently and looking for some fresh ideas? While you might not use all of these tips, they should help reinvigorate your editing flow and get you thinking outside of the box for tools you might be familiar with or completely new to.

A Beginner's Guide To Removing Backgrounds in Photoshop

There are few tasks in Adobe Photoshop that are more irritating to do, and as a beginner, that irritation is increased tenfold when you need to cut a subject out from an image. Well, if you're a beginner who wants to add this skill to their repertoire, start here.

10 Tips for Turning Pro in 2020

If your goal for 2020 is to become a full time professional, make sure that you start doing these things now.

22 Photoshop Tricks That You Probably Didn’t Know About

Getting familiar with Photoshop is a long process, and who better to reveal some little-known features than someone with more than 20 years of experience? This excellent video from Jamie Windsor will speed up your workflow and uncover some powerful features that you might not have known exist.

The Power of Luminosity Masks in Photoshop

Photoshop is a massive and nuanced program, for which there are many ways to accomplish any one task. However, one of the most useful techniques to know is luminosity masks, which are powerful and versatile additions to your editing arsenal. This helpful video will get you started with them.

Why Auto ISO and Minimum Shutter Speed Will Change the Way You Shoot

In the last 10 years, manufacturers have introduced a new level of control to cameras: auto ISO plus the option to set a minimum shutter speed. If you’ve never tried using your camera with this setup, you may want to give it a go, as it could completely change how you shoot.

A No Nonsense Studio Lighting Tutorial and Giveaway

Nathan Elson, a commercial photographer from Calgary, Canada, just posted a great no-nonsense tutorial outlining his basic lighting set-up. Oh, FYI, there's also a great contest that Elson has put together with Strobepro. Go take a look.

How to Start Pitching to Brands

Pitching can seem like a really scary thing to start doing. But I fully believe that anyone can pitch effectively, they just need to know how to! So today, I’m going to break down how to get started.

The Hidden Sharpening Slider in Photoshop Is Revealed

Sharpening an image using a high-pass filter can really make it pop, however sharpening the entire frame doesn't always provide the best result, and adding tons of layers can become cumbersome. Fortunately, PiXimperfect's Unmesh Dinda has come up with a great new way to sharpen selected areas without adding a lot of unnecessary layers.

Make Your Cutouts Pixel Perfect With Ease

There are many ways easily to cut out an object from an image using Photoshop, but inevitably, the very edge of your object is imperfect. In this video, Colin Smith at PhotoshopCafe shows us how clean up those edges not just quickly, but perfectly.

How To Build A Business Plan As A Photographer - Part Three

In our first two segments of building a business plan, we’ve talked about defining your product and forming a long term vision. In this final section we will talk about some of the practical steps you need to take to take those hypothetical concepts and put them into action.

Faking a High End Portrait Backdrop With Texture Overlays

Do you crave the look of a high-end, hand-painted portrait backdrop for your studio, but don't want to shell out the bucks for such a luxury? Why not grab your favorite roll of seamless paper and fake it ‘til you make it?

How to Color Correct Skin Using Photoshop

You can do all sorts of creative things to portraits, but if you don't get the skin tones right, chances are your viewer will notice something off. This great video will show you a quick and effective method for color correcting skin in Photoshop.

Tips to Get You Started Color Toning Your Images

It's no secret that color toning in photography is a incredibly deep subject that helps bring life to the vision you have in your head. This video is a great entry point on the subject to help get you going in the world of color toning.

Learning Lighting From a Master

Photographer Michael Muller has been shooting the biggest names — often for the biggest movies — for more than 30 years. In this video, self-confessed lighting newbie Sawyer Hartman heads to Muller's studio to learn a few tricks of the trade.

Everything You Need To Know About Smart Objects in Photoshop

The Smart Object has to be one of the more powerful tools in the Photoshop arsenal. If it still confuses you a little — and I know it does — check out this in-depth video on the myriad ways in which it can be utilized.

Using a Wacom Tablet for Editing

When someone asks me what my favorite photography-related purchase has been, my Wacom tablet is always one of my first responses. Here is how purchasing one could help you and how to get the most out of it if you do.

Two Lesser Known but Powerful Selection Techniques in Photoshop

Making selections in Photoshop can be an incredibly tedious and time-consuming task, so it helps to know every possible method for a variety of situations. This helpful video will show you two lesser known but quite powerful procedures.

How to Shoot and Edit Interior Photos

Taking professional-level interior photos is a surprisingly difficult skill to master. Here are five tips for improving your interior photography.

Five Ways to Check If Your Photography Skills Are Progressing

It can be hard to measure long-term progress in photography, as we grow in slow, small steps. But it's important to know how far you've come and where you still need work, and this helpful video will give you five ways to check just how much progress you've made.

Take Control of Skin Tones Using Curves in Photoshop

We all know what it is like to shoot in difficult lighting situations and to end up with shots where the skin tones of your subjects just look off. If you don't want to spend hours playing with a bunch of controls or spend a bunch of money on fancy actions and presets, then check out out this quick tutorial, which walks us through color grading for skin tones simply by using Curves in Photoshop.