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.  

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.  

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?

Shooting in the dark or low light is a challenge for photographers. Whether it’s a city at night, an interior, or evening portraits, these photos are often plagued by digital noise, blur, and a loss of detail. I’ll show you how to properly set up your camera for low-light and night photography, what to avoid, and how to use adjustments and the right equipment to get great pictures.

Colors are all around us and we often perceive them peripherally, yet they play a crucial role in photography. This exercise will make you focus on different colors and how to capture them aesthetically.

If you enjoy taking trips with friends, they probably know you’re into photography. They expect your photos to be better than their phone snapshots, even if you’re using your phone too. After all, you’re the photographer of the group. So, what can you do differently?

The holiday season is one of the busiest, but magical times for any photographer specializing in family portraits. Photoshoots with dozens of families mean creating unforgettable memories for them. But, you also have to deal with the challenges this type of photoshoot entails.

Good portrait, fashion, or glamor photography doesn’t have to be strange or shocking to catch the eye. A nude model fixing a tractor, a half-naked woman holding an old medium format camera, or a secretary on the phone with a plunging neckline and glasses. These are some cliché combinations often found in amateur portrait photography. How can you avoid them?