10 ways to improve your outdoor smartphone portrait shots

Getty Images With proms, college graduations, and even just plain old family barbecues coming up over the next few months, we thought we’d put together some of the best ways to improve the outdoor portraits you shoot with your smartphone. With bright midday sunlight, bustling crowds, and many other challenges, these can be tricky shots… Continue reading 10 ways to improve your outdoor smartphone portrait shots

Cannonball! Dive in and show us your best water shots

The pond at Monet’s garden in France. Marissa Wu Pools, water parks, beaches, rivers, lakes: Summer is the season to live by the water. It’s the stuff of childhood memories—family vacations, seafood feasts, and bright pool noodles floating under the hot estival sun. This week’s theme invites you to dive in and share your favorite… Continue reading Cannonball! Dive in and show us your best water shots

How to Use Exposure Compensation on a Digital Camera

With few a simple changes to the basics settings you can make your DSLR or mirrorless camera much easier to use, with the added control of exposure compensation. In this tutorial we’ll look at how, and why you might want to. Exposure Compensation is a way to override or compensate for the automatic exposure settings… Continue reading How to Use Exposure Compensation on a Digital Camera

5 Top Special Effects LUTs and Lightroom Presets

Create amazing photographs with a variety of special effects using LUTs and Lightroom presets. Check out our favourites, available from Envato Elements and Envato Market. 5 Top Special Effects LUTs and Lightroom Presets Cyberpunk Style Effect — Featured Lightroom Preset From Envato Elements Go big and bold with this cyberpunk set of presets for Lightroom. Cyberpunk… Continue reading 5 Top Special Effects LUTs and Lightroom Presets

The best camera equipment for travel photography

Tomas Havel’s go-to workhorse camera is the Sony a7R II. Oscar Nilsson regularly relies on the versatility of a 24-70mm f2.8 lens. Elia Locardi uses Really Right Stuff tripods, and Marco Grassi prefers NiSi filters. Peter Stewart uses Peak Design bags, and Chris Burkard uses a Peak Design strap. The contents of a travel photographer’s… Continue reading The best camera equipment for travel photography

Polaroid Go review: instant fun & convenience at a small cost

Polaroid recently released the world’s tiniest instant camera in two new colors, red and black. Marissa Wu Instant photos sure pack a nostalgic punch. Maybe it’s the tangible aspect of a real photo in your hands instead of one floating in the cloud. Maybe it’s the way the images come out just a little imperfect… Continue reading Polaroid Go review: instant fun & convenience at a small cost

Meet Apple’s powerful new M2 MacBook Air

Photoshop running on the new MacBook Air. Apple Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) kicked off this week with the announcement of a new MacBook Air and first looks at macOS 13 Ventura, iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and watchOS 9. It’s a giant stew of features and technologies meant to excite developers and prepare them for… Continue reading Meet Apple’s powerful new M2 MacBook Air

Cig Harvey explores grief and death through the quiet beauty of floral life

Cleaver and Petals. © Cig Harvey Cig Harvey lives in a farmhouse in rural Maine, where she photographs the people and places around her. Harvey’s photos often feature bright, saturated colors, and a touch of surrealism, as she tries to find the magic in the mundane. Her latest book is Blue Violet, an exploration of… Continue reading Cig Harvey explores grief and death through the quiet beauty of floral life

How to ensure your photos are sharp

From Edward Weston’s nudes to Ansel Adams’s landscapes, the beauty is often found in the details. Nearly a century ago, both photographers made a name for themselves through the use of crisp, clean lines. They replaced the soft-focus lenses of the day with sharper ones, and they used narrow apertures to capture every last curve… Continue reading How to ensure your photos are sharp

Dive into a world of super-saturated color film photography with Jennifer Lawrence

Watercolor, Florida. Jennifer Lawerence Jennifer Lawrence is all about colorful chaos. With some signature Kodak Ektar film loaded and ready to go, this Chicago-based lifestyle photographer lives, breathes, and sleeps color, all while embracing experimentation along the way.  As the weather warms and summer comes swinging in, we chatted with Lawrence about her sources of… Continue reading Dive into a world of super-saturated color film photography with Jennifer Lawrence