The eyes are the core of a portrait, and they’re an important means of expression in photography. So let’s take a look at how to make them stand out. We’ll retouch them using a brighten-and-darken technique. And we’ll do the same to let the lips and teeth stand out. The goal: to make our subject really, really shine.

Lots of interesting news in the photo space over the last few weeks so it’s time once again for our photopourri blog approach to bring you up to speed on a few items we think you may have missed.

A documentary photo should document something—it should have a message or a story. Today we’ll be looking at how to shoot a story-packed documentary photo set.

Spring is here—and it’s waking up nature. But every other season is fantastic too. Especially for photographers. So keep returning to the same photogenic places year-round. That will give you a unique collection of photos that, even though they all show the same subject, never quite show the same picture.

St. Valentine’s Day isn’t just great for business. It’s great for photographers too. So grab the opportunity and take an original Valentine’s photo that’s sure to please lovers everywhere.

Work with a model depends on more than just posing. You also need to talk right and act right. Act natural, and you’ll get good results without actually having to instruct your model at all. Read on for some tips before you try out model photography for yourself.

Street photography has seen a real boom in popularity lately. If you live in the big city, then you have an ideal opportunity to strengthen your street-photography chops every day. And you don’t always have to pick up a DSLR to do it. You carry a phone with you, so why not take pictures with it? You may think a phone camera has nothing but disadvantages, but that’s not true—read on to discover all the ways it can come in handy for street photography.

Photographing people and nature is a classic, but cities are very photogenic too. No matter whether you’re in your hometown or passing through a metropolis while on vacation, if you have a camera handy, you can refine your skill at capturing hidden and public beauty. Here are a few tips for your next urban photo safari.

This isn’t the first time we’ve written here about photographing fireworks. But it can’t hurt to review the basics and get inspired (with some fiery photos from Zonerama) before New Year’s Eve arrives—by that time you’ll be busy with preparations all day, and you won’t have time to study guides like this one.

There’s a first time for everything. If you’ve only been shooting nature photos until now, and you’d like to start working with models, you may be a little nervous at first. In today’s article we’ll offer a few tips that can help you with these tough beginnings.