Do you remember when you were a kid and totally afraid to jump in the water and swim? We’ve all been there. In life, some things just freak us out, and it’s no different in photography. I know it sounds strange, but we all need to be pushed sometimes. We need someone to force us [...]

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Backgrounds are an important part of any image. They set the context, and can make a dull image interesting. Most of us are constantly in search of a background with character, feeling it will add something extra to shot. And it does, but sometimes it does so at the expense of what’s truly important. Here [...]

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If you own a digital SLR camera, or are thinking of purchasing one, you may have heard of prime lenses. Unlike zoom lenses, prime lenses don’t allow you to zoom in or out while taking pictures. This has led many to wonder what they’re good for. If they do less, why purchase one? I’d like [...]

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Have you ever wanted to know what you look like with different colored eyes? Thanks to photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop Elements, you can. You just need to know a few things about some of the selection tools available, and the world becomes your playground. Here’s how to get started.

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I’m not one to avoid asking sometimes inappropriate questions. When I was getting my hair cut one day, I thought, why not? I asked the stylist what makes her give someone a bad haircut. I figured people aren’t perfect. Stylists probably mess up on occasion just like everyone else, and I’ve been the recipient of [...]

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Where your subject looks in a photo says a lot. If your subject is staring directly at the camera, most people take the picture a lot less seriously. Whoever you’re photographing clearly knows they’re being photographed, so it’s like running into an acquaintance on your walk to work. You both say hi to each other, [...]

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Cameras these days offer a bevy of different modes, so many that it can easily become a confusing ordeal for someone who is just getting into it. You’ve got aperture priority mode, shutter priority mode, programmed automatic mode, and of course, manual mode. How do you know when to use which one? Does one particular [...]

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Good photography, just like any art, should tug at our heartstrings. Images should make us feel one way or another, and if they don’t, we tend to ignore them. What you photograph is important. We’ve shown how subject selection can seriously impact the mood of your photos. But there’s something else that goes beyond this. [...]

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This question comes from reader Rick Bergesio. He’s tried the red eye flash setting on his camera, and it hasn’t done much to reduce red eye in his night shots. If the system isn’t working as advertised, then what’s going on? Why do his photos still have problems with red eye?

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Your digital camera comes equipped with an arsenal of automatic and semi-automatic modes designed to make your life as a photographer easier. Aside from the fully automatic mode, aperture priority mode, and shutter priority mode, your camera gives you a variety of scene-specific modes. Each mode has a specific purpose. You can easily switch between [...]

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I get this question a lot. And you know what, it makes a lot of sense. I think people are pressured into purchasing a higher priced digital SLR (that most of them don’t need) because they’re under the impression that you need to have a really expensive zoom lens to take a nice looking portrait [...]

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Digital cameras come with a variety of different automatic modes, each with their own distinct purpose. By learning some of these modes, you can ease the transition from automatic photography to manual photography. That’s certainly the case with shutter priority and aperture priority modes. I’ve recently discussed both those modes in my newsletters, but which [...]

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Your dog is an important part of your family. She’s the first to greet you when you get home, and she’s always excited to see your face. Why wouldn’t you give your dog the royal treatment with a professional photo shoot? It’s not that difficult. You just need to know a few things about lighting [...]

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This question comes from reader Heart Cruz (awesome name by the way). Heart owns an 18-55mm digital SLR kit lens, and although she’s gotten a lot of use out of it, she’d like to know which lens she should purchase next. This is an easy one. You should get a 55-200mm lens. Here’s why.

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There’s no doubt that the invention of autofocus has pushed photography forward. Most modern autofocusing systems are extremely sophisticated and accurate. They can focus on the area of interest much faster than you can with the naked eye, and in most cases, they do a better job. Having said that, they are nowhere near perfect [...]

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