Make Photoshop Simple (or at least… simpler)
Here's a quick exercise that should be interesting. There are over 70 tools in the toolbox in Photoshop. But take a moment to think about how many of them you actually use? For me, it's about 10. How about you? (Find out more about The Photoshop System) Why is this...
Ruffled Feathers
I always try to talk to people about different moments to capture in their bird photography. To me, that's one of my favorite aspects of this genre - variety. We of course have perched photos and then photos of birds in flight. But there are so many more moments we...
Birdscapes
One day while photographing on the beach I wanted to do something different. I saw some birds near some tall grass and I realized it would make a nice foreground. So I walked over, sat down so that the grass was in front of me, and just waited. The point was so that I...
Better Edge Lighting for Sky Replacement
Adobe recently added a new feature in the Sky Replacement window called "Edge Lighting". It helps blend the transition from sky to foreground and for certain sky replacements can really help out. In this week's tutorial we'll take a closer look. Matt's No Sky?...
Are You Asking the Right Questions?
I’m going to share something. It's probably going to ruffle a few feathers, but I feel it's important to say. I'd invite you to leave a comment at the end, because I want to see how many other people have a similar approach (or not). Here goes... My Lightroom catalog...
Select Sky or Graduated Filter… Which one?
This week we're going to take a look at two ways to adjust the sky. One, which is something we've used for a long time... the Graduated Filter seems to have fallen out of favor and the newer "Select Sky" feature has taken over. But is Select Sky always better? We'll...
Adding Light to a Scene
In this tutorial we're going to use some creative techniques to re-light a very flat scene. I also wanted to thank Marcia Colucci for submitting this photo. It will be part of my upcoming No Light? No Problem (Volume 3) course coming out on Thursday April 7th. Enjoy!...
Stuck!
Ever take photos that you didn't even know you had until you got back to the computer? That's what happened here. I was out shooting one morning and lately I've been using a shooting technique where I hand hold the camera really down low. Basically I'm kneeling on the...
Creative Long(er) Shutter Speed Bird Photography
One morning when I was out shooting, there wasn't much happening. Not wanting to go home empty handed, I decided to take some really tight shots of a Snowy Egret. As I watched its feathers blow in the high winds I had an idea to experiment with some longer shutter...
I See You!
I've got tens of thousands of photos of the Reddish Egrets I see at Ft Desoto Park in St. Petersburg FL. But somehow, every time I go, I seem to get something a little different. I guess that's what keeps us coming back right? These egrets run around with the wings up...
7 Must Have Photoshop Layer Tips
Layers are such an important part of Photoshop that I don't think you can ever learn enough tips and tricks around working with them. This week I've put together 7 of my favorite layer-related tips. Enjoy! For more about my Photoshop System course click here....
Branching Owls… It’s All About the Lingo
A friend let me know of a spot that has 3 baby owls that have recently started "branching". So just in case any of you are like me, and didn't know what branching was, it's a common behavior where birds move from the nest to a branch, and start flapping their wings to...