Improve Photography

I received a phone call a few months ago from a photographer who had moved out of town and wanted to pass a reference to me.  FANTASTIC!  The client was a business who wanted a photographer to shoot their black tie event.  The photographer who called me had shot the event for many years.  I [...]

With the historic last launch of the space shuttle Endeavor, I got to wondering how the photographers remotely trigger their cameras to photograph the launch.  Since the public has to be 3 miles away from the launch site, it would be WAY too far for a Pocketwizard. Fortunately, BorrowLenses.com posted a link on their facebook [...]

Landscape photographers are snobs about shooting times.  We only shoot in the morning or evening and we turn up our noses to anyone who shoots during the day.  While it is certainly true that morning and evening are the most favorable times for shooting landscapes, I think most landscape photographers don’t shoot during the day [...]

What is true for one person is probably not true for another person.  This raises problems in learning photography, because most beginners learn from the “famous” photographers.  The problem is that the solutions used by professionals to fix professional problems often aren’t the solutions that 95% of their listening audience should use.  This post is [...]

Am I a hypocrite? Yes. My photography portfolio is completely out-of-date; however, I think I have some good tips to share on creating a photography portfolio website because I worked for two years running a website design firm.  I have built quite a few photography portfolio sites in my day, and I’ve learned what works. [...]

Today’s post is the result of a question from Eric Thant via the “Ask a Question” page.  Eric asked, “How do I shoot the bulb mode?  I am using Nikon 10-24 lens with D90.” What is bulb mode on a camera? That’s simple.  Bulb mode simply allows the photographer to take a picture for as [...]

This post is by photographer and photography workshop instructor Grant Dougall.  If you’re interested in taking a photography cruise, check out his website! Dusk and dawn is when I prefer to look for images to capture. This is the best light for many landscape photos when the light has a rich, warm tone to it [...]

You have all undoubtedly heard of the 365 project.  The project encourages photographers to get out and take one picture every single day, and then to post that photo online.  It is a fantastic way to improve your shooting skills; HOWEVER, I have seen so many 365 projects lately that I am beginning to wonder [...]

Aaron Mizzi recently sent in a question asking how long the shutter on his DSLR will last before it bites the dust. It’s actually a very good question and the answer will also teach you an easy way to find out how many total times you’ve pressed the shutter button on your DSLR, which is [...]

Gear isn’t everything.  We all need to recognize that a truly great photographer could do 95% of his work with a point-and-shoot.  However, shooting a wedding is mission critical work.  If a photographer has any respect for her client, she will show the courtesy of using the proper gear for the job.  I wrote this [...]