What is a vignette? The word vignette comes from the root word vine, which originally was taken to mean a decorative border on a page. In photography, this translates to a border around the edge of the image. This border is caused by a reduction of light from the center of the image, or a light fal

To a certain extent Henri Cartier-Bresson has a lot to answer for. Yes, he’s certainly one of the photography greats, and his work has inspired countless photographers, but his book “ The Decisive Moment ” and the meaning of its title, is frequently misunderstood by many,

Recently, I received a very interesting question from a dPS reader about exposure. The question was, “How much does it matter about getting the exposure right when the photo is taken, as opposed to fixing it later in Lightroom?” It is a really interesting question, and it became eve

Many photographic techniques, rightfully, tend to focus on polished images. They vary anywhere on the spectrum from getting sharper images to capturing accurate skin tones. These techniques are important. However, sometimes they’re not very much fun. Sometimes, that’s precisely what

Do you have an image that you would like to give the Hollywood treatment to, and really help make it pop? In this article, I’ll be showing you a method that you can use to give your images the blockbuster treatment, and take them to the next level. The best part about it is that you don&

You can use shadow and contrast to create dramatic images. The key is to forget about shadow detail. You don’t need it. Shadows are meant to be dark and mysterious. This is good – it leaves something to the viewer’s imagination. Utilize the dynamic range of your sensor. Expose for

A great photo is a combination of factors that work together to produce a great final image. The subject, lighting, composition, focus, and timing are all key to capturing a great image. However, one aspect that is often overlooked is how the image is cropped, as this can have a huge impact on the f

Happy New Year! This is a great time to start new projects – be it losing weight, getting fit by regularly exercising, committing to eating right, or improving and growing your photography knowledge and skill. We all have many different goals when it comes to our passion for photography.

Buying camera gear can be a daunting task, especially if you’re just starting out with photography basics. If you recently got your hands on a new camera, chances are you’ll need a few extra accessories before you’re ready to start shooting like a pro. So, before you start sna

When it comes to choosing your first piece of post-production software you may find yourself spinning in circles. There’s so much to choose from, and the whole idea of learning to do something new can be intimidating. This article will cover a number of the most well known software options ava

Whether you’re running a photography business, or sharing your photography on the web with friends, it’s important to know how to properly size your images for various uses. Generally speaking the smallest size you can share, while still retaining enough quality for the viewer to appreci

You might have seen some articles here on Digital Photography School about using the histogram when editing pictures in Lightroom and Photoshop, but it can also be a very handy tool when you are out shooting images as well. Most cameras have the ability to show you the histogram when you review

Place your subject to the right or left of centre. For portraits, the eyes should be above the centre line for a pleasant good composition. Composition is all about the balance of the elements in your photograph. This also includes colors tones and textures. This is what separates a snapshot from a

A question I get asked a lot is, “What software for post processing would you recommend if you were starting out in photography today?” Don’t know which photo editor to choose, here are some free options worth considering. My go-to software for editing photos is Adobe Photoshop. Th

Flowers are everywhere, and sometimes just the thought of going out to take pictures of their pretty petals can seem downright cliché, because so many people do it. However, one reason flower photography is so popular is because these kinds of pictures can capture incredible beauty,

Probably the easiest question that I’m asked is, what is my favorite lens? Despite owning a sizeable collection of lenses for my Pentax K-7, the very first lens I ever bought, a Tamron 28-200mm was, and still is, my favorite lens. I’m basically a street photographer, but I dabble in lan

“What do you mean it’s a manual lens?” That is usually the first response I receive when I tell people about one of the favorite lenses I keep in my bag: The Rokinon 14mm f/2.8. I understand their confusion. I never dreamed that I would succumb to the seeming devolution of using fu

From my experience, it’s true – photographers tend to see the world in a different way. If not from the beginning, eventually, and maybe subconsciously, your eye is trained to notice details differently. Perhaps it’s the way light falls off of, or wraps around an object, or when p

I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner, but after being bombarded by gushing hype about mirrorless cameras for years, I finally broke down and bought one. It’s hard for photographers to buy a camera these days. There are so many good options, and it can be difficult to pull the trig

Taken at ISO 800 (shutter speed of 30 seconds and aperture at f/8.0) ISO has long been called the third corner of the exposure triangle, but was it really? In the film days you couldn’t even change your ISO, except by changing your film. In the early days of digital, you could change your ISO