In the summer it’s time to head out to the water, no matter whether that means the sea, a pond, or a wading pool. But water’s also good for something else—playing with composition. So let’s go over some tips for taking advantage of reflections on water surfaces.

A tripod is among a photographer’s most typical tools. You might think that with a tripod, you only need to plop your camera onto it to get attractive photos. But things don’t always work out, and sometimes you get unnecessarily blurred pictures.

When you’re outdoors with your friends or a model and you want to take a few portraits, nature is quite the ideal backdrop. It’s right there, with hardly any “do not enter” signs, and there’s so much of it around you that you can take even quite wide shots without including passersby.

There’s a wide range of retouching techniques out there, but you may be surprised to learn that one of the most effective and universal portrait techniques is to just lighten and darken certain spots. Read on to learn how to shine with this technique.

Full-length shots give dramatically different impressions depending on your height. When you’re photographing someone from up high, they can end up distorted in your picture—for example with shortened legs. Let’s take an illustrated look together at the effects that height and distance can have on portraits.

There’s lots of tools out there for landscape photography, but not everyone wants to carry them all on a hike—or even buy them. If you’re not sure what equipment you’ll need for your nature photography, read on and learn what makes sense to take.

We’ve probably all tried to photograph a small animal at some point, perhaps a cat, a dog, or a tame squirrel in the park. But many photographers make basic mistakes here that leave their pictures with no spark. So let’s take an illustrated journey through the usual defects.

Having at least some part be sharp in every photo is a goal for most photographers. But it doesn’t always work out. After all, there’s a number of things that can prevent sharp photos.

You’ve probably run into the title question in practice. The answer is: there’s not just one best length. Unlike in portrait photography, nearly every lens works for landscapes. It’s just that each one lets you present the landscape a bit differently. So let’s explore the differences among them via an example landscape.

Practically every photo is vignetted at least a little. Sometimes you want this, other times you don’t. But either way it’s not a curse, because there are tools for suppressing vignetting—or even adding it. Do you know how and when to use them?