Sony Camera Focus Areas

Make the most of your Sony camera's autofocus capabilities by choosing the right focus zone

William Sawalich

Having recently added a Sony mirrorless camera to my kit, it took me a minute to master what turned out to be a very user-friendly autofocus system. Sure, I understood how to choose between manual focus and continuous or single-shot autofocus modes, but I didn’t really capitalize on the powerful autofocus system until I took full advantage of changing... Read more

How To Use Photoshop’s Image Processor

Multiple edits and batch RAW processing is easily accomplished with the Image Processor

William Sawalich

Photographers often want to make changes across a group of images, and the process is much more efficient if it can be done automatically. Frequently, this includes resizing or reformatting to a different file type, but it might also include color, contrast, sharpness and almost any other adjustment under the sun. While Photoshop’s actions and batch... Read more

Adding Texture To A Photograph

Digital texture overlays add interest to all sorts of images

William Sawalich

Digital image files are bigger, better and cleaner than ever. That’s great most of the time, but what about when you want to make images with a bit less perfection and a bit more character? In the analog days, different darkroom processing and printing methods could impart texture to a photograph. But with crystal-clear digital image files, texture... Read more

Quarantine Photo Projects

Stay busy and creative by using your camera in a different way

William Sawalich

With normal life in the United States shut down due to the coronavirus, those who are fortunate not to be dealing with difficult health issues or financial distress may be looking for ways to continue their photographic pursuits without venturing from home. Here are a few ways photographers can get creative with their cameras while waiting out the pandemic. Macro... Read more

5 Tips For Working With Lightroom Catalogs

Optimize Lightroom’s Catalog to fit the way you work

William Sawalich

Lightroom is a tremendous image editing and organization tool, and it’s all based around the application’s unique catalog system. It stores image files in a normal folder hierarchy outside of the application and uses a catalog file to generate preview images and save image adjustments as metadata information. It provides agility when working with... Read more

Same Aperture, Different Lens

How focal length, depth of field and angle of view impact your photographs

William Sawalich

Let’s talk about focal length, depth of field and angle of view. How do they change based on lens selection? A wide-angle lens up close to a subject and a telephoto lens from far away may render something the same size on the sensor, but still, the images will look very different. Why? Depth of field is the area of the frame that’s in sharp... Read more

3 Ways To Add Depth To A Photograph

Create the illusion of depth in a two-dimensional photograph

William Sawalich

A photography instructor long ago told me that photographic technique is often about trying to recreate the three-dimensional world in a two-dimensional medium. As such, we’re always looking for ways to create the appearance of depth and dimension in our images. Here are three ways to add depth to a photograph. Use Backlight To Add Depth To A Photograph One... Read more

How To Optimize Your Camera For Burst Shooting

Get the most from your camera’s high-speed shooting capabilities

William Sawalich

If you’re a sports or wildlife photographer who periodically likes to put the proverbial pedal to the metal and crank out a rapid-fire series of several dozen frames in a few seconds, you may already know that this takes a bit of pre-planning—not only in choosing the right camera but setting it up for burst-shooting success. Here’s how to optimize... Read more

How To Use A Collapsible Light Reflector

Get the most out of your Flexfill collapsible reflector with a few simple tips

William Sawalich

Are you carrying around a collapsible reflector and unaware of all you can do with it? Boy, are you missing out! These simple tools are convenient, versatile and affordable—a real triple crown for photography accessories. Here are three ways to use a collapsible fabric reflector better than everybody else. Use a Collapsible Light Reflector as a Reflector First,... Read more

Removing The Green Spike

Some fluorescent and LED light sources cause a green colorcast that doesn’t look great in pictures. Here’s how to fix it.

William Sawalich

St. Patrick’s Day is here, so be sure to sport some green clothing to keep from getting pinched. Be sure to drink some green beer, and if you’re in Chicago, go downtown and watch them dye the river green. It’s the one day of the year when everything green is good. Except for one thing: the green shift produced by many inexpensive fluorescent and... Read more

LOGIN