Videos

It’s not uncommon for photographers to adopt a “set-it-and-forget it” mentality when configuring their cameras, thereby ending up with photographs that aren’t as good as possible. Whether you call this habit lazy or uninformed, there are times when the choice of a custom setting results in more creative images.

Manny Ortiz is a professional photographer we turn to again and again for inspiration and instruction. In this video titled “All Photographers Take Bad Pictures,” he offers a little bit of both.

Conventional wisdom is that autofocus is the best mode to use for photographing birds, especially when your subjects are in flight. But every so often manual focus is a better choice, as you’ll see in the tutorial below.

The humorous (and sadly, all too true) video below by Nils Langenbacher was created using bits of live international news broadcasts and various home videos. Titled “Photographer FAIL Compilation,” this is nearly twelve solid minutes of photographic mishap fun.

Many photographers set their camera for Auto White Balance and never modify the setting regardless of the subject at hand. If that sounds like you it may explain why the colors in your photos don't accurately convey the colors in a scene.

There are numerous “rules” of photography, many of which apply to shooting landscapes. There’s the Rules of Thirds, certain “must have” filters, the importance of paying attention to hyperfocal distance, and many more.

Most experienced photographers turn up their noses at the Program exposure mode, preferring to shoot in Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Manual. But as you'll see in this quick video from the Great Big Photography World channel, there are situations under which this "beginner" mode makes total sense—even if you have advanced skills.