The question comes up again and again: what is the “go-to” setup for reception lighting? Here’s the answer: there isn’t one. I should say, there isn’t only one setup. That’s the thing about photographing an event or a reception–you can’t rely on one setup to make great photos every time. The venue, the size of …
My Yongnuo YN-560 Flash Won’t Fire–HELP!
I absolutely love the YN-560 flash and the YN-560 TX controller. They are absolutely awesome, and significantly easier to use than the Canon and Nikon brand flashes; however, there are still a lot of issues to consider when trying to trigger an off-camera flash. I can’t tell you how many times on workshops someone has …
Reviewing Some Basic Flash Gear from Impact
As a landscape and travel photographer, I had never had any interest in flash photography, but, as many of you can probably relate to, following Improve Photography and listening to the podcasts has opened my curiosity to try many new things in photography. Flash photography is one of those things. Soon after buying a YN-560 …
The MagBeam – A Review of MagMod’s Newest Modifier
MagMod has done it again. The company that has provided thousands of photographers around the world with lightweight, portable, easy to use magnetic modifiers has created yet another modifier designed to make our lives as speedlight photographers easier. The MagBeam, MagMod’s newest modifier, is designed to allow photographers to produce creative, designed light patterns in a quick, …
55 Quick Tips for Better Portrait Photos
If you are looking to improve your technical ability to take portraits, here are 55 tips, tricks, and techniques that will make you a better portrait photographer. Whether you are a beginner looking for advice from a professional or an experienced photographer looking to refresh your memory or try something new, take a look at …
Photographing Couples: 13 “go-to” tricks for authentic poses and interactions
As a follow up to my last blog post on photographing women, this week I’ll be talking about photographing couples. I’m constantly asked about photographing couples and how to best pull out natural and authentic expressions and poses during a couples session or a wedding. I’ll admit that I never felt very confident in this …
3 Skills Advanced Flash Photographers Should Learn
As a follow-up to my first “Learn Your Flash” article, this post will move beyond the basics of the buttons and bounce flash. We’ll explore how to use MULTI mode, using a remote trigger for off-camera flash, and how the exposure triangle works with flash. You don’t need tons of gear for the tips here: …
Photographing Women: 8 Tips for Posing, Lighting, and Details
Photographing women can be a difficult and daunting task. As a wedding, engagement, and boudoir photographer, one of the most challenging (and rewarding!) parts of my job is guaranteeing that the women I photograph feel beautiful, confident, and sexy. As a woman myself, I can relate to the feelings and concerns many women share with …
Creating a Good Sports Composite
The majority of photographers will not have to worry about making a composite image but anyone who gets into Team and Individual or commercial work will at some point need to create a composite image. A composite image is any image where the final outcome is a single image made from multiple images. In sports …
New YN-560 Flash? Now What? 3 Skills to Learn First
You have your first speedlight and you think two things: 1. I am so excited to make awesome photos, and 2. I have no idea how to use this thing. I was in that place about a year ago. With a year’s worth of experience, trust me when I say that learning to use a …
Wedding Photography Tips for New Photographers
As a photography educator who is also primarily a wedding photographer, one of the most common questions I’m asked is, “What wedding photography tips do you have for those of us who are just starting out with weddings?” There are some great articles floating around the internet on this very subject, including one by our …
Jim Harmer’s Lighting In A Flash Video Workshop Review
There is so much to learn about the world of photography, and there might be ten times as many photographers out there teaching about any given subject related to photography, it can be confusing at times to pick a book, a video, a workshop. I recently watched Jim Harmer’s “Lighting In A Flash” video workshop …