The best places for photography aren’t thousands of miles away. You don’t need to travel to the ends of the earth to take powerful photos. What matters most is often just a few steps from your front door. Powerful images don’t come from exotic countries. They come from the streets you know by heart. The places that feel like home. You just have to learn to see them with fresh eyes.  

Portraits are one of the most common genres. What photographer hasn’t taken pictures of friends, family, or themselves while traveling or at a party? But to take your photos to the next level, it’s important to understand how to find and work with the perfect lighting. In this article, I focus on working with light outdoors, look at specific real-world situations, and share my tips for getting the best possible light from the scene.  

Blowouts, also called blown highlights, are overexposed areas in a photo where detail is completely lost. They can easily ruin an otherwise great shot. Learn how to avoid blowouts both while shooting and during editing. 

It’s happened to many of us: you want to capture the cozy mood of a candlelit apartment in the evening, but your camera’s automatic mode brightens the image and ruins the atmosphere. Or maybe you’re trying to photograph children playing, but a slow shutter speed leaves you with a blurry shot. This is where manual mode comes in.  

Once you’ve mastered the rule of thirds, it’s time to try a more advanced composition technique that can elevate your photography: framing. It’s not difficult, but it’s something you need to keep in mind and use deliberately. It also helps to have a few examples in your head of what framing looks like. Let’s take a look at a few of these. 

Learn how to set your aperture, shutter speed, and ISO for a variety of shooting situations—from landscapes and portraits to sports and macro. You’ll gain confidence in handling your camera’s settings so you’re ready for just about anything. Manual mode gives photographers the most control. It’s not the easiest option, but it helps you understand the rules of photography so you can better decide when it makes sense to use manual mode and when another mode might serve you better.     

Distractions in your photos are among the most common mistakes beginners make. They draw the viewer’s attention away from the subject and ruin an otherwise good shot. In this article, we’ll show you how to spot distractions easily and eliminate them while shooting and editing. In the end, you’ll also see how cleaner compositions can improve your photos overall.  

Just getting started with photography and feel like your pictures are missing something? You’re not alone. Nearly every beginner photographer makes a few common mistakes, from crooked horizons to poor composition. In this article, we’ll show you how to avoid these beginner mistakes, improve your composition and editing, and sharpen your photography technique.  

Learn how to maintain sharpness when light painting. Flash is not the only way—lighting, color, and movement can be utilized in creative ways. Learn to light your models so they look natural. Also, learn how to create depth while working with multiple light sources. Finally, where does color theory come into play? In this installment, we’ll take a look at advanced techniques that will take your light painting portraits to the next level.  

Creating art or just kitsch? What makes something art? When does a photographer become a fine-art photographer? And what exactly is this elusive, sometimes mythical genre? Does it always include nudes? Is fine-art photography still evolving? And what is fine-art photography exactly?