If you are a photographer and using flash (either for studio pictures or for outdoor shooting), you are probably aware of the problems that a hot-shoe flash introduces: the shadows of an object are crisp-sharp, creating an artificial look to ...

This lesson shows a very effective method for shooting a full-length fashion shot in the studio using strobe lights and large soft boxes. This shot was lit with a 5-foot OctoDome3 and strobe as the main light, a large LiteDome and strob ...

The most popular studio lighting accessory? Hands down, the square softbox. Whether mini 12x12-inchers or 50x50-inch monsters, these boxy lighting tools are often the first thing to greet you when entering any portrait studio. But does the ...

"This is a DIY project I have had in mind for a while now. When I purchased my studio flash heads, they came with a couple of small softboxes. Although I prefer to use translucent umbrellas whenever I can (small, light, easy to transport), th ...

"Photographing and processing smoke can be a frustrating experience. The guide covers everything from properly setting up a mini studio to processing your images in Photoshop. Both web and PDF versions of the guide are available. "For ...

Shooting in full manual mode will always be the best way to get the most creative shot since you are in control of everything. But there are instances when you just do not have the time to fiddle around with the proper combination of ISO, ape ...

Outdoor portraits can offer a sense a drama or romance that can be hard to achieve in a studio setting. The early morning or evening sky can serve as a stunning backdrop for a portrait. The trick is in lighting your subject properly. T ...

In the world of fashion and high-end portrait photography, lighting is the key to professional-looking images. Having the ability to control the light that falls on your subject allows you many different ways of expressing an idea photographi ...

So, we already know that direct flash from your built-in flash gives unflattering results, to say the least. Using your speedlight in the same way won’t change much. I did mention that you can redirect the light by rotating the head of your f ...

A lot of news photographers don't think that they are allowed enough time to light pictures, so they rely on their hot shoe mounted flash or on moving their subject into the daylight. If your kit is lightweight and well planned, if it's reliabl ...

" To put it simply, the EV button allows your to quickly underexpose (darken) or overexpose (brighten) your image. How it works is pretty simple. When you’re taking a photo, the camera’s job is to adjust itself by changing the shutter speed a ...

The first thing you have to ask yourself before choosing the flash setting for your umbrella is, how big do you want your light source to be? But before we get to that, let's make sure we all know what we mean by "zoom setting." Re ...

ISO should be one of the easiest aspects of digital photography to master, but many beginners in photography still have a hard time understanding this fundamental camera setting. I suspect this is because of the way it is being taught. You ...

By now, most of you have read many times as I have walked through the process of balancing my flashes and ambient. I want to get past that. Today, I want to accomplish two things: 1. To set you up with a way of quickly understanding and ...

"Understanding image histograms is probably the single most important concept to become familiar with when working with pictures from a digital camera. A histogram ca ...