Photo How To

Most of us are familiar with the use of out-of-focus, seamless backgrounds by studio photographers, especially those who shoot portraits. Often, these backgrounds are a single color, such as white, black, or gray. In other cases, the backgrounds are a muslin material, adding texture to the background. The sole purpose of these backgrounds is to create a cleaner overall composition, giving the viewer no choice but to look at the man, woman, or child.

When the creative juices stop flowing, it’s time to try something different. And the five fun photo hacks in the video below will definitely give you a boost.

You’ve probably heard someone boast that, “You’re not a real photographer until you switch your camera’s mode dial from 'Auto' to Manual.” While we don’t intend to debate that claim here, there’s no doubt that shooting in the Manual mode offers far more creative control.

OK, be honest here: Let’s say you plan to arise at dawn tomorrow for a day of photography. But when the alarm clock rings and you look out the window, it’s a gloomy, foggy day. So what do you do? If your decision is to “wait for better weather,” the video below is for you.

Yesterday we featured an eye-opening tutorial that explained how to be a better street shooter by overcoming a fear of photographing strangers. And today’s follow-up offers some great insight into the work of an iconic street shooter who once said “Street photography is a stupid term. 

It’s a choice between Scylla and Charybdis. Do you shoot Raw or JPEG format images?

One of the most powerful yet frequently overlooked menu options in even the most basic digital camera enables photographers to select a white balance setting that matches the color temperature of the scene being photographed.