Five Tips For Improved Video Storytelling

How to discern if a potential subject has the right ingredients for a good visual story

William Sawalich

With so many photographers picking up on video thanks to its inclusion in so many cameras, there’s a lot of room for still shooters to learn the ins and outs of video. In a recent conversation with renowned travel shooter Bob Krist, the still photographer turned videographer explained that one of the biggest challenges for photographers learning video... Read more

Winter Evening Photography

Make the most of early sunsets with techniques for shooting magic hour light as well as after dark

William Sawalich

Sunset is very early this time of year, which makes this the perfect time to head out for dusk and after-dark shots in the late afternoon and evening. What sorts of things can you shoot without bright sunlight? Well, the same things you might shoot at midday—just with different techniques. Here are a few interesting ways to take advantage of winter’s... Read more

How To Ensure Bad Lighting

Follow this terrible advice, and you’ll always ensure your lighting will be subpar

William Sawalich

If you follow the bad lighting advice provided here, you’ll never get a shot like this, which was made using a north-facing window as a beautiful, soft key light that’s ideal for portraits. If poor quality lighting is your goal, from portraits to landscapes, here’s our advice for ensuring your lighting is never very good. Learn a lighting rule... Read more

Weigh Down Your Tripod To Make It More Stable

Many tripods have a simple, yet immensely useful feature hiding in plain sight

William Sawalich

Why is there a hook on the bottom of my tripod? Do you know that your tripod likely has a little retractable hook at the bottom of its center column? Do you know why? If you answered “yes” to both questions, do you know the particulars about how to put this hook to use? Many professional-caliber tripods include a small hook beneath the center column... Read more

On-Axis Lighting

Three instances where placing a light source as close to the lens as possible makes for a great lighting look

William Sawalich

Plop a flash on top of your camera and start firing away, and you’re not likely to be accused of masterful lighting. I’ve always thought of an on-camera flash as dumping a bucket of light on a subject—not exactly the most nuanced lighting approach. But not all frontal illumination is quite so bad. In fact, sometimes full-frontal, on-axis lighting... Read more

How To Find A Stolen Camera

Track down your missing camera equipment thanks to EXIF metadata and a helpful website that puts it to use

William Sawalich

Much like a private detective, there’s a high-tech service out there that can help you find your camera should it go missing. No, not if it’s missing under the couch, but if it has walked off somewhere at the hands of some unscrupulous thief. The service is called Stolen Camera Finder, and it’s free to try with just a small fee if you decide to... Read more

Shooting Portraits In Bright Sunlight

How to compose good portraits when faced with this awful lighting scenario

William Sawalich

Have you found yourself in a situation where it’s the middle of the day, not a cloud in the sky, and somebody needs his or her portrait made outdoors in that bright sunlight? There are lots of opportunities where, for any number of reasons, postponing until the magic hour simply isn’t a reasonable proposition. Instead, it’s imperative that you... Read more

Upgrade Your Lighting Kit With A Boom Arm

This telescoping length of steel may not seem like a big deal, but it provides tremendous control and easy adjustments for even the most cumbersome light sources

William Sawalich

Cameras and lenses get all the front-page attention, and for good reason: They’re the sexiest, most innovative technologies we photographers typically use. But when it comes to studio equipment, sometimes it’s the less glamorous stuff that’s the most exciting. Well, if not exactly exciting, it’s at least the kind of stuff that makes a surprisingly... Read more

Generate Smiles With Photoshop’s Face-Aware Liquify Tool

A powerful solution for portrait photographers who want to make their subjects happy while helping them to look their best

William Sawalich

About a year ago Adobe updated Photoshop CC to add some tremendous portrait retouching capabilities to the Liquify tool, namely, what Adobe’s designers call Face-Aware Liquify. Liquify, you may know, has always been useful for pushing and pulling and expanding and contracting and generally reshaping image elements. It’s such a powerful way to modify... Read more

Use Fill Light Right

On the correct way to use a reflector to illuminate portraits

By William Sawalich

When shooting portraits outside, one of the simplest and most popular lighting techniques is to use a reflector—either a white card, for instance, or a silver, white or gold collapsible reflector—to bounce sunlight onto the subject. This works whether the subject is in direct sunlight or shade, and whether the reflected light is used as a key light... Read more

Creative Blur Techniques

Blur isn’t always wrong. Sometimes it’s so very right!

William Sawalich

We can all agree that sharp pictures are always the best pictures, right? Not necessarily. Sometimes blurry pictures may be preferable. For instance, if you want to convey a feeling of motion in a picture of a fast-moving subject, you might find that a bit of motion blur does the job. Or maybe you just want to add interest to an otherwise ho-hum portrait;... Read more

Using Vimeo For Video Backup

More than a great place to share high-quality videos, Vimeo also can store original video files in the cloud

William Sawalich

Looking for a great way to display your videos online? Vimeo is a high-quality option. Almost every video shooter understands that if you want something to look its best online, Vimeo is a tremendous option for maximum quality. Better still, Vimeo offers an unlimited amount of storage space, whether you’re subscribing to the free Basic plan or whether... Read more

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