Photography Planning 101: How to Find the Perfect Location
Great photographs don’t happen without planning. This is a lesson that I repeat to my students all the time. You can’t just point a camera outside of a car window and expect that image to land in a gallery. And no professional photographer books a ticket to another part of the world without having planned […]
Contrast Part 2: Composing it right in camera
Contrast is everything in photography composition. Right now we’re going through a moment in history that is defined by playing with light. The memorable images are the ones that use contrasting elements to draw the user in, and keep them there. Because photography has become so accessible through applications like Instagram and Google Images, there […]
Tips for reducing noise without ruining your photos
Reducing noise without degrading image quality can be tough. But over the years, I’ve learned a number of techniques for reducing noise without paying for expensive Photoshop plugins. There have been many times where I was traveling without a tripod to save some weight and ended up needing to boost my ISO. The best photo […]
FIREBASE – A checklist that’ll save your photos
I’m a landscape photographer. I’ve taken tens of thousands of landscape photographs, and I’ve screwed up so many of them that I made myself an acronym checklist so that I will remember exactly what my camera’s settings should be. Technology in every other aspect of our lives has become so automatic that users don’t even […]
Tips for brightening shadows in Lightroom
Digital imagery makes it so easy to brighten shadows to reveal hidden details. Back in the film days, because of the way silver captures negative images, there wasn’t much detail to be found in the dark parts of images. That meant having a light in front of your subject was essential when shooting indoors. But […]
Rotate, Flip, and Straighten photos in Lightroom
I get it, you typed ‘How do I rotate, flip, or straighten my photos in Lightroom’ into Google and want a super quick, easy guide on how to do these things. I got you. I’ll make this one efficient, and give some extra cool composition tips to spice things up. So for those looking for […]
Lightroom Classic: The unabridged, beginner’s guide
Adobe Lightroom is one of the most powerful tools out there for photographers. It’s the photographer’s equivalent to Microsoft’s Excel, which nerds and bean counters have loved for generations because of its flexibility to do literally anything you throw at it. Lightroom is almost that powerful. It’s almost a one-stop-shop for a photographer’s entire editing […]
Contrast Part 1: Edit Photos to Stand Out
One question I get asked all the time by new photographers, is why aren’t my pictures turning out? What problems are causing these images to look flat, or uninspiring? And the truth is, it can be hard to know what makes a really good photograph. In the beginning of my photography days, I would take […]
How to make your own presets to create a consistent look on Instagram
Presets are a professional tool that every photographer needs in their belt. Not only do they help speed up the editing process, but they’re a game-changer for making images look good side by side in a single click. That said, rarely will anyone just turn on a preset and consider an image complete. While that […]
Staying Bear Aware: Backcountry photography tips
There is one little thing that can absolutely destroy your perfect, well-planned backcountry landscape photography trip, and it is called a bear. Do you give much thought to bear safety when you are on a landscape photography trip in the mountains? If not, I’ll show you the steps that I take in order to avoid […]
Replacing the Sky in Photoshop
The Artificial Intelligence-powered Sky replacement tool is one of the greatest new features in the latest version of Photoshop. If you haven’t updated yet, you should. The simple tool can flawlessly replace a drab sky with a dramatic one in under 2 minutes. [twenty20 img1=”1877″ img2=”1891″ offset=”0.5″ before=”Before Sky Replacement” after=”After Sky Replacement”] Is […]
The secret behind stunning fireworks photography
New Years’ Eve is coming up, and that can only mean one thing for landscape photographers — it’s fireworks season. I’m going to show you in this video how you can take stunning photos of fireworks. So, number one, here’s the quick equipment list. You’re going to need a tripod in order to keep that […]
