• Introduction to High Pass Sharpening in Photoshop

    Published Tuesday, December 17th, 2013

    Introduction to High Pass Sharpening in Photoshop

    High Pass sharpening is just one of many different techniques that can be used in Photoshop to sharpen your photos. Where it differs from most of the others is that it isn’t one of the specific tools designed for sharpening that are located in the Sharpen sub-menu of the Filter menu.

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  • 10 of the Best Locations in the U.S. for Wildlife Photography

    Published Monday, December 16th, 2013

    You don’t have to travel to Africa and go on a safari to capture amazing wildlife photos of your own. For those who live in the United States, there are plenty of great locations throughout the country for spotting and photographing wildlife. In this article we’ll take a look at 10 of the best spots, although there certainly are plenty of others that could be great locations as well. The 10 on this list are located in different regions of the coutry, so regardless of where you live there will be some opportunities that don’t reauire you to fly across the county.

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  • No More Boring Holiday Family Photos – Five Tips From The Pros

    Published Thursday, December 12th, 2013

    No More Boring Holiday Family Photos – Five Tips From The Pros

    I have a prediction that, in the next few weeks, Twitter, Instagram, and Flickr are going to be flooded with tens of thousands of really bad holiday family photos. There will be the police lineup, with family arranged in a line like the usual suspects in Casablanca. There will be the dreaded “hug and mug” of someone holding a cell phone camera at arm’s length while they side-hug someone. There will be sullen children who would rather be something- anything else so they make themselves look as uncomfortable as any human can look outside of a CIA torture prison or Siberian gulag.

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  • Introduction to Smart Sharpen in Photoshop

    Published Wednesday, December 11th, 2013

    Introduction to Smart Sharpen in Photoshop

    Smart Sharpen is one of the more advanced ways that photographers can apply sharpening to their photos in Photoshop. For many years, Unsharp Mask was the preferred sharpening choice for most users, but Smart Sharpen offers more fine grained control as well as the choice of superior sharpening algorithms.

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  • 27 Awesome Photography Blogs to Follow

    Published Tuesday, December 10th, 2013

    27 Awesome Photography Blogs to Follow

    Several months ago we published a list of 20 Inspirational Photography Blogs, and today I’d like to follow up on that post with links to another 27 blogs that will be of interest to photographers. Whether you are a professional or an amateur, following blogs in the industry is a great way to learn new things, improve your own skills, find inspiration, and stay up-to-date with industry news. And with that in mind, here are 27 blogs that I like to follow.

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  • Studio Lighting – Five Light Set

    Published Monday, December 9th, 2013

    Studio Lighting - 5 Light Setup for Photographers

    Last time we covered basic three point lighting and that yielded an entirely decent head and shoulders portrait. With a neutral background three point lighting works great and it’s a basic setup that’s been working in photography for decades.

    Today I want to amp up the power a little…you know how I love lighting power. If I hit the test switch and the lights dim across town from the power drain, you know that’s going to be a fun shoot! There’s also method to the madness as today I want to try lighting with a little more fashion edge to it.

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  • Winter Photos for Your Inspiration

    Published Thursday, December 5th, 2013

    While winter can present more challenges for photographers than other seasons, there are plenty of opportunities for amazing photos in the cold and snow. The same scene can look drastically different from one season to the next, and winter scenes can often produce stunning photos. In this post we’ve collected 25 examples from various photographers that show just how beautiful winter photography can be. Use it for some inspiration and get out and find opportunities for your own winter photos.

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  • Introduction to Unsharp Mask in Photoshop

    Published Wednesday, December 4th, 2013

    Introduction to the Unsharp Mask in Photoshop

    Unsharp Mask offers photographers the ability to sharpen their images with a degree of control that can be adjusted depending on the photo. While there are several one click sharpening options in Photoshop, these use automated settings that may not always be the best fit for a photo.

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  • 25 Incredible Close Up Portraits

    Published Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013

    One way to create powerful and interesting portraits is to get close to your subject, or use a zoom lens. Close up portraits can often capture emotion and the result is a portrait that grabs the viewers attention. In this post we’ll showcase 25 examples of awesome close up portraits for your own inspiration.

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  • Introduction to Layer Masks in Photoshop

    Published Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013

    Introduction to Layer Masks in Photoshop

    Photoshop’s layer masks are a very powerful feature of layers that allow you make non-destructive edits to individual layers. When you form composite images with multiple layers, you generally need to remove areas of a layer to allow layers below to show through. You could just erase areas, but this permanently removes pixels and you have no way of making these pixels visible again if you later find that you’ve erased more than you should have.

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  • How to Set Up Basic Three-Point Studio Lighting

    Published Monday, December 2nd, 2013

    Basic Three-Light Studio Setup for Photographers

    The basic setup for three-point studio lighting is fairly straightforward. All you need is a background, a key or main light, a fill light and a hair light. The lights can be strobes or continuous but for the best and most consistent results I prefer strobes.

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  • How to Convert Photos to Black and White with the Channel Mixer in Photoshop

    Published Wednesday, November 27th, 2013

    How to Convert Photos to Black & White with the Channel Mixer in Photoshop

    The Channel Mixer in Photoshop makes it possible to convert images to black and white with a degree of control that is not possible by just desaturating a photo or converting it to grayscale. Both of those techniques are one click methods that see the same conversion applied to every image.

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  • Introduction to the Channel Mixer in Photoshop

    Published Tuesday, November 26th, 2013

    Introduction to the Channel Mixer in Photoshop

    The Channel Mixer adjustment layer in Photoshop can be used to apply creative color effects to your images, convert them to black and white, and add color tints to mono images. This tool is pretty straightforward and easy to understand and in this article I’ll run through the various options that are available when using the Channel Mixer.

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  • Photos That Use Leading Lines

    Published Monday, November 25th, 2013

    Last week we looked at the topic of perspective in photography and how a change in perspective can lead to more interesting compositions. One way to use perspective to create beautiful photos is to take advantage of leading lines. Photos with leading lines will guide the eyes of viewers and can often lead to very interesting and engaging photos.

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  • Amazing Examples of Perspective in Photography

    Published Thursday, November 21st, 2013

    If you’re looking for a way to make your photographs more interesting and to stand out from the crowd, consider using perspective to your advantage. By changing the angle and perspective from which you are shooting, you can create intriguing compositions that capture the interest of viewers. A completely normal scene can look drastically different and more interesting if you’re able to change the way that the viewer sees the scene.

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