Four months after I'd purchased my first camera, a Canon FT QL, it was 1969 and I was taking pictures in the desert around Palm Springs, California. I only had a 50mm f/1.4 fixed focal length lens, and I ran into a guy who was shooting landscapes, too. He had a 200mm telephoto -- also a fixed focal length because zooms didn't become available and popular among photographers until the early 1970's. I asked him if I could look through his lens, and he kindly handed me his camera. I was immediately awed. I spotted a large cactus on a distant ridge and it filled the frame with a lot more visual impact than my 50mm normal lens had.
I remember thinking, wow, if I had one of these, I wouldn't want anything else! Well, tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars later, I still want more stuff. It never ends. A longer focal length telephoto, a faster lens, a wider angle lens than I have now, a more sophisticated drone with a better camera, a camera body with more frames per second and pre-capture, more plugins for postprocessing, a faster computer to process higher megapixel images more efficiently . . . and so on. I now laugh at my young naive self in thinking I'd be completely satisfied in photography with only a 200mm lens. Little did I know.
And the changes I've seen in photographic technology since I bought my first camera are staggering. The 35mm Canon FT QL had manual focus, manual film advance, manual metering, and when I'd close the lens down to a smaller lens aperture, the image in the viewfinder got darker making focus challenging. The fastest shutter speed was 1/1000, and the slowest shutter was one second. Four hundred ISO film was considered too grainy, so for subjects like nature, portraits, fashion, macro and more, photographers used 100 ISO at the most if we wanted superior prints. Nothing digital existed. We didn't even know the term.
Try shooting a bird in flight with a camera like this. Virtually impossible. What we take for granted today hadn't even been imagined back then. What a great timet to be a photographer.
Jim Zuckerman photos@jimzuckerman.com
www.jimzuckerman.com
Lessons from a DRONE PHOTO TOUR
At the end of this past August I led a tour to Iceland focused on drone photography. Everyone had a drone, and some people were beginners while others had quite a bit of experience under their belts. I had experience myself having flown in Iceland the previous winter, but every time I fly, I learn more. What follows are some of the things I took away from this trip.
Drone photography is especially dynamic and very exciting when the landscapes or cityscapes you're flying over are particularly beautiful.
In Iceland, great aerial photography is everywhere. It's a beautiful country seen from the ground, but from the air it's breathtaking.
Lesson 1: An aerial perspective changes everything. From ground level, you can look at a river, such as the one below, and not be inspired at all to take a shot. It may lack strong graphic design, and you just can't find a decent composition. From the air, though, it looks totally different. It could very well be spectacular. Therefore, don't judge a location's photographic potential until you see it from a drone's perspective.
Lesson 2: Become very familiar with the RTH (Return to Home) button. This signals the drone to return to the exact spot from which it took off. Using GPS technology, no matter where it is, the drone responds immediately and returns to within a foot or two from it's launch location. If the drone is far away, you may lose a sense of its orientation and, if trying to send the drone back to your location, you may not know which direction is correct. The RTH button is your friend.
An important setting to pay attention to is the altitude of the drone as it returns to home. For example, if you are in a forest clearing, the return altitude should be higher than the trees near you. I set my return altitude to 300 feet.
Lesson 3: Include as part of your gear a hand blower. I use this to blow dust from the camera's gimbal mechanism. Sometimes this can
get stuck. For example, if you want to shoot downward as in the shot of a glacier, below, the camera has to rotate to that angle. If there is any dust that has lodged in the gimbal mount, you may get an error message telling you the camera's rotation has been compromised.
When you launch a drone, if the ground is very dry such that the propellars will kick up a lot of dust, either find another launch site -- such as an exposed rock large enough to accommodate the drone -- or use a drone landing pad. This will go a long way to keeping the gimbal mechanism clean and fully functional.
Lesson 4: When I flew my drone during a winter tour in Iceland, I kept it relatively close to me. There was never any communication issues between my iPhone, which I used as a controller, and the drone. However, on this last trip, there were times when I sent the
drone over a mile away. There were times when I was getting connectivity warnings about losing control over the drone.
When I first bought my drone, a DJI Air 2S, I decided against using the controller for one main reason. It was one more large item to carry with me when I travel. If I only traveled with drone gear, it would have been a nice thing to have. The screen is significantly larger than my iPhone, and I could store the images on an internal hard drive within the controller. Since I carry camera gear (I typically travel with one body and 3 or 4 lenses), I was trying to save on the weight and the volume.
In retrospect, that was a mistake. The reason is that controllers have antennae that can be pointed in the direction of the distant drone. That increases the integrity of the commu-
nication, and that in turn allows you to fly the drone further with confidence.
Lesson 5: If you fly a drone at your home, it's not necessary to have several extra batteries. But if you travel to a beautiful location for drone photography, you'll want 4 to 6 batteries. I know this adds weight and volume (and expense) to what you have to carry, but battery life is a huge issue. In cold weather, batteries get depleted fast.
Compounding the problem is wind. If the drone has to fly against the wind, battery capacity plummets. Don't make the mistake of sending your drone on a photo mission far away with less than 100% battery life. You can't know the specific wind conditions at every altitude. The wind might be fairly calm at 100 feet, but at 300 feet in altitude it could be quite windy. This taxes the battery life significantly. That's how I lost my
drone on the last day of the Iceland tour. At the altitude which offered the best imagery, the wind was much stronger than it was at the ground when I took off. I sent the drone out with 70% battery life, which I thought would be plenty given that it was only flying about a half mile, but it wasn't. The drone made a valiant effort to return to home, but the wind was too strong and it just couldn't make it. It crashed into a river about 75 feet from shore.
Lesson 6: If you want to be safe and err on the side of caution, don't fly when it's windy. This is especially true if you have the mini-sized drones. Not only does the wind buffet the drone and make it unstable -- and hard to compose pictures -- but it diminishes battery life very rapidly.
Now that I've lost a drone, I am keen on buying another one with more weight. People in my photo tour group that had larger and heavier
drones, like the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Pro, were better able to negotiate flights in strong wind.
DJI will be coming out with a Mavic 4 and Mavic 4 Pro soon (according to the rumors), and that's the one I'm waiting for. It will have an improved camera with (again, according to rumors) more megapixels and Hasselblad lenses. The gimbal mechanism is also supposed to be better. It will weigh about 2 pounds, and I know that traveling photographers try to eliminate every unnecessary pound, but drone photography is so exciting that I'm willing to carry the extra weight in order to get more amazing aerial images. Photographers have never had the ability to take these amazing pictures, except from expensive helicopters that aren't usually available. I'm now a huge fan of this incredible photographic tool. §
Winter Wildlife Workshop
February 6 - 11, 2025y 13 - 22024
Photos - to - AI
Many photographers are turned off to AI because they say it's not photography, it's not creative and it's not real.
Let me address those three negatives. First, it's true that AI images are made without a camera, but as I demonstrate below, you can import one of your photographs into the AI software and transform it into something very artistic -- just like using one or more Photoshop plugins. Is
the image above actually photography? I applied two Topaz plugin filters to a photograph I took in Venice during carnival. I originally used a camera, but the artistic result has nothing to do with reality.
Second, AI's creativity has to do with the word 'prompts' you choose as well as your original photograph if you use one. What's so creative about photography, a traditional artist might ask. All photographers have to do is push a button and voila -- you have a picture. When we paint a canvas, we create the
subject matter, its form, the colors, the lighting, and the texture. Any child, they might argue, can take a picture.
Third, why does an image have to be real? It certainly can be, like a baby's first steps, a flower, or an impressive male lion, but artistic images are not confined to realism. In photography, as in AI, you can create fantasy, images that look like paintings, abstracts, and so much more.
I think most photographers entering the realm of AI want to embellish, enhance, or transform their own photographs into something unique and beautiful. So let's look at that.
Photos to AI
In the Midjourney online software, in the field where you type in the prompts, i.e., the words to describe what you want, there is a plus icon on the far left (red arrow, above). Click that and you can select a photo from your computer, in jpeg format, to upload into the software.
When the photo is chosen and it now appears in Midjourney, you must hit the Return/Enter key. If you don't do that, this procedure wont work.
Then, click on the photo. Next, click on 'Open in browser'. Now, copy the URL link with Command/Control C at the top of the page.
In the field where you type in the prompts, enter '/imagine' and hit the Return/Enter key. At this point, paste the URL you copied using Command/ Ctrl V. Now hit the space bar, and at this point you can type in the instructions for Midjourney.
For example, for the horse image on page 9, I wrote "Embellish this image artistically." That was the only instruction I gave, and Midjourney converted my image into an intriguing rendition of the horse.
When I uploaded the shot of the white horses, left, my prompts for Midjourney
were, "Embellish this image artistically and add cyborg soldiers in full battle armor."
I photographed the young girl above during a festival in Indonesia, and after uploading her image into the software and pasting in the URL, I wrote, "Embellish this image artistically in the style of Niki de Saint Phalle." Ms. de Saint Phalle was an American-French sculptor and artist and I particularly like her amazing style.
With Midjourney, you can request any kind of
This is an example of how AI interprets a photograph based on the word prompts I entered describing what I wanted.
artistic style to be applied to your images, from living artists or from those who lived long ago. That's what I did here.
AI software is not Photoshop. It is not designed to replace backgrounds, remove unwanted elements, tweak contrast, color, and exposure, etc. That's what Photoshop does. AI uses your photograph as a starting point and embellishes it based on your prompts as as well as its own algorithms. It gives you 4 variations of what you request. §
Ethiopia Photo Tour
Jan. 21 - Feb. 3, 2025
Exotic Colombia Birds
Sept. 23 to Oct. 3, 2026
Pantanal Photo Tour, Brazil
Jaguars in the wild, birds, caiman, otters and more
Nov. 9 - 17, 2025
Photography Quiz
1. You can increase depth of field by:
a. Using a wider angle lens
b. Making the lens aperture smaller
c. Moving farther away from the subject
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
2. When shooting distant mountains with no immediate foreground, depth of field becomes irrelevant, i.e., f/5.6 will produce the same image as f/11.
a. True
b. False
3. 'Blowing the highlights' means:
a. There is no texture or detail in the highlights
b. The picture is overexposed
c. The histogram is spiking on the left
d. None of the above
4. When photographing a building, parallax -- the angling inward of vertical lines -- can be corrected by making the back of the camera parallel with the facade of the building.
a. True
b. False
5. How many 'stops' difference is there between 1 full second and 1/8th second?
a. 2 stops
b. 3 stops
c. 4 stops
d. 5 stops
6. If you used a mirrorless camera in full automatic mode and you took a shot of a black cat sitting in front of a black wall, what would be the likely result of the image regarding exposure?
a. The camera and light meter would accurately determine the exposure
b. The cat and wall would be very underexposed
c. The cat and the wall would be overexposed and appear too gray
d. None of the above
7. Smart phones are able to render images in low light with respect to exposure and shadow detail better than dSLRs and mirrorless cameras?
a. True
b. False
8. To render action shots sharply with a telephoto lens, you need a much faster shutter speed as compared to using a wide angle lens because:
a. Telephotos have less depth of field
b. Wide angle lenses encompass more of the composition
c. Telephoto lenses magnify movement more
d. Wide angle lenses have more depth of field
9. In post-processing, lightening very dark shadows too much can cause excessive noise.
a. True
b. False
10. On the color wheel, the complementary color of orange is between:
a. Red and magenta
b. Green and yellow
c. Green and blue
d. Blue and cyan
Fixing Parallax
Photographers have become accustomed to slanted vertical lines in pictures. Unless shooting with the old view cameras that allow swings and tilts to correct parallax in-camera, all of us experience this problem. I call it a 'problem' because, to be honest, to me it looks pretty stupid. In the beautiful stained glass image I took in the Bath Abbey in England, below, the camera had to be angled upward to capture the window. This lack of parallelism between the back of the camera (i.e. the plane of the sensor) and the window caused the keystoning.
You have two choices here. You can accept the slanted vertical lines or you can fix them. In this instance, making the correction is tricky because when the verticals are straighted, some of the image area is lost at the far left and far right edges of the frame. Thanks to the new AI features in Photoshop, that is no longer an issue.
Generative expand
By expanding the image area and filling in the new areas with AI, you'll have the extra room
to straighten the vertical lines in the image. In the screen capture at right you can see I've used the crop tool to pull the left and right borders outward (the magenta color comes from the 'background color' box in the tools palette).
With 'generative expand' selected in the tool bar (this option shows up when the crop tool is selected -- see below),
click the return/enter key twice and Photoshop intelligently fills in the new areas with the appropriate image material. This gives you the room needed to
tweak the image to correct the keystoning.
At this point, choose Edit > transform > distort. A new box forms around the image, and you can now grab any of the handles to straighten the vertical lines. In this example, I pulled the upper right handle and pulled it to the right. Then I pulled the upper left handle to the left. In this way, I didn't lose any of the original image. §
UPCOMING PHOTO WORKSHOPS
Snowy Owl Workshop
Close up encounters with these beautiful birds of the North. Capture bird in flight shots in a snowy environment. Jim guides you in camera settings and technique to take the best pictures possible.
January 9 - 13, 2025
AI Online Course
Learn how to make amazing images -- real or fantasy -- with the online AI software. Let your imagination run wild! You can create the most stunning, dramatic, and outrageous images -- as well as works of art, still lifes, wildlife, landscapes, floral abstracts and more. Nov. 23, 30 & Dec. 7, 2024
Carnival in Venice
Photograph amazing costumes in a Medieval environment. We shoot inside a 16th century palace, in an iconic gondola, in a stunning bedroom with traditional Venetian decor, and at other great locations. The photography as well as the experience is phenomenal.
February 23 - March 1, 2025
eBooks
Click on any ebook to see inside
Abandoned in Georgia
April 21 - 27, 2025
What's Wrong with this Picture?
Even a non-photographer can look at this image and see the problem. The electrical pole to the left of the phone booth is unnesessary, unattractive, and unwanted. This is the angle I wanted, though, and the pole was a permanent fixture placed here many years ago.
There aren't many of these old phone booths still standing, and the ones remaining are usually in various states of decay. None of them have phones inside. I wanted to show how the grasses and weeds are overtaking the once iconic phone booths of the U.K., and this was the best angle.
The other problem is the overexposed sky. It's not terrible, but I find it to be distracting. Our attention always goes to the lightest part of an image first, and it returns there again and again. The subject is the phone booth, and the ideal is to create an image where our attention stays focused on the subject.
I removed the electrical pole using generative fill in Photoshop. It does a miraculous job in replacing the deleted pole with foliage that perfectly blends in with the rest of the picture.
I then replaced the sky with one of my clouds photographs. The first thing I did when Edit > Sky Replacement was introduced to Photoshop was trash the stock sky pictures that came with the software. I don't use other people's pictures in my composites. Having a few dozen sky pictures appropriate for many types of lighting conditions makes a big difference in improving your photography. Too often the sky isn't what we want; the right sky takes images to the next level. §
On Safari: Kenya
March 9 - 18, 2026
SHORT AND SWEET
1. Mirrored skyscrapers, like these buildings in the business district of London, make powerful graphic images especially when shot with a wide angle lens. Usually, the wider the better. This image was taken with a 14mm lens which exaggerates perspective and creates dynamic leading lines.
3. I took this shot of a pine martin on a winter's day in deep shade. Therefore, even though I was using daylight white balance, the image was originally quite bluish. I brought the picture back into Adobe Camera Raw and used the temperature slider to add some warmth to the image. It made a big difference.
2. A splash of color in an otherwise monochromatic or muted composition makes a bold visual statement. This tiny house in Conwy, Wales, is reputed to be the smallest domicile in the U.K. The intense red color is what draws the eye and makes the picture striking. I placed it along the left vertical third.
4. When you have subjects in a line angled away from the camera, depth of field becomes a significant issue. Since these are all subjects, you want them all to be in focus -- at least, ideally. Therefore, even if you have to raise the ISO, use a small lens aperture for as much DOF as possible. Here I used f/16. §
Vietnam Photo Tour
October 13 - 23, 2025
ASK JIM
Every month, Jim answers a question from his online students, from people who participate in his tours and workshops, or from subscribers to this magazine. If you have a question you’d like Jim to answer, please drop him a note at photos@jimzuckerman.com.
Q: Jim . . . Do you carry two camera bodies with you when you travel. I don't because I've tried to reduce the weight I carry, but I constantly feel like I'm taking a big chance. If the one body malfunctions or is damaged, I'm in trouble. How do you handle this?
Josh Austin, Albany, New York
A: I am in the same boat as you are. I don't want to carry the extra weight and volume. I used to carry an extra body 20 years ago, but when my wife took an interest in photography, I gave her my backup camera and never replaced it. I, too, feel vulnerable with only one body. But since 2006, I've only carried one Canon body and haven't had any problems . . . yet. If weight is an important issue for you, as it is for me now, all I can say is good luck with the one body you do carry. Alternatively, you could put a second body in your main luggage just in case. That way you aren't carrying it with you on a daily basis. A client of mine bumped his tripod in Vermont and his Nikon, below, fell onto some rocks. He was fortunate -- he had a spare body. So, things can and do happen. I'd carry an extra body in your main luggage. And I'm speaking to myself as well as you. §
Partial List of Photography Tours
2024 - 2026
SNOWY OWLS in CANADA
Jan 2025
Sept 2025
PANTANAL
Nov 2025
ICELAND DRONE TOUR
WINTER WILDLIFE Feb 2025
Oct 2025
SCOTLAND'S PAST May 2026
EXOTIC COLOMBIA BIRDS Sept/Oct 2026
Oct/Nov 2025
Aug/Sept 2026 BHUTAN Mar/Apr 2025
THE GREAT SPAIN ECLIPSE Aug 2026
ARMENIA & GEORGIA Oct/Nov 2026
Armenia & Georgia
October 26 - November 8, 2026
Student Showcase
Each month, Jim features one student who took beautiful and inspiring images on one or more of his photography tours or workshops. It’s really fascinating how photographers see and compose such different images even though we may go to the same places. Everyone takes great photographs on Jim’s trips.
Cheryl Roth, Yorba Linda, California Iceland drone photo tour, Winter Wildlife workshop, Patagonia photo tour, Beginning Bali tour, South Africa photo tour, Frog and Reptile workshop, and Snowy Owls workshop.
Student Showcase,
Student Showcase,
Student Showcase,
PHOTO TOUR to CHINA
January 3 - 14, 2026
Harbin Snow & Ice Festival
Online Course in AI Starts November 23, 2024
‘14
‘19 Jan. ‘20
1/3 focus law Jul. ‘15
Subject index for past Photo Insight issues
3D sphere Mar. ‘16
90 degree finder Mar. ‘13
Abstracts in soap Feb. ‘15
Abstracts, Shooting Mar ‘19
Aerial photography Jun. ‘13
Aerial photography Jan. ‘21
African safari May ‘16
AI plus Photograpjhy Oct. ‘23
AI, Photos-to-AI Oct. '24
Airplane windows Mar. ‘16
Alien landscapes Jan. ‘13
Anatomy of 8 photographs Jan. ‘16
Anatomy of an Action Shot Feb. ‘24
Angled perspectives Jan. ‘19
Aperture vs. shutter speed May ‘14
Aperture priority Sept. ‘14
Aperture priority and other modes Jul. ‘24
Aurora Borealis Apr. ‘17
Auto white balance Dec. ‘13
Autofocus, when it fails Apr. ‘15
Autofocus failure Aug. ‘15
Autofocus failure Jan. ‘17
Autofocus challenges Apr. ‘18
Auto ISO Nov ‘17
Auto White Balance Mar’ ‘21
Autumn Foliage Sep. ‘18
Autumn Color Sep. ‘20
Autumn foliage photography Oct. ‘21
AWB versus Daylight WB May ‘24
t Back button focus Oct. ‘18
Backgrounds, wild Nov. ‘12
Backgrounds, busy Apr. ‘13
Backlighting Apr. ‘16
Backlighting Oct. ‘22
Birds in flight Aug. ‘13
Birds in flight Jan. ‘14
Birefringence May ‘18
Birds in flight Mar. ‘16
Birds in flight, camera settings Jan. ‘23
Bird Photography Jun ‘19
Black backgrounds Aug. ‘23
Blacklight photography Feb. ‘21
Black velvet Mar. ‘14
Black and white conversions Mar. ‘17
Black and white infrared Apr. ‘24
Black and white solarization Sep. ‘17
Black and white with color Jan. ‘20
Black and white plus color Mar. ‘23
Blown highlights Feb. ‘18
Blue monochromes Jan. ‘22
Black Plexy Aug. ‘22
Blur, field Nov. ‘18
Blur technique Oct. ‘17
Bokeh Jun. ‘15
Botanical gardens, shooting Apr. ‘22
Butterfly photography Jul. ‘14
Buying nature Jul. ‘24
Camera buying guidelines Dec. 21
Camera settings for landscapes Feb. ‘23
Camera setting priorities Jun. ‘17
Canon R5 Mar. ‘21
Capturing lightning Jun. ‘13
Capturing lightning Jun. ‘24
Capturing what you don’t see May ‘21
Catchlights Jul. ‘16
Changing perspective May ‘21
Cheap flash stand Apr. ‘13
Children photography Jun. ‘14
Choosing a telephoto lens Dec. ‘20
Chromatic aberration May ‘13
Chrome Dec. ‘18
Cityscapes Aug. ‘14
Cityscapes May ‘16
Clone tool, fixing an issue Sep. ‘17
Clone tool technique Jul. ‘20
Color theory Nov. ‘23
Composites and Light Dec. ‘17
Composites, Secrets to perfect Jun. ‘24
Compositing images Apr. ‘19
Compositing, 7 steps Jan. 22
Composition, different approach Jan. ‘15
Content-aware, New Aug. ‘20
Content aware move tool Jan. ‘23
Contrast vs. exposure Jul. ‘15
Contrast, When it is good Sep. '24
Converting to black and white Mar. ‘22
Correcting keystoning Jun. ‘21
Creating a star field Jan. ‘14
Creating Art out of Motion May ‘22
Creating a Sketch Dec. ‘17
Creative blurs Jan. ‘14
Custom functions Jul. ‘23t
Dark backgrounds Nov. ‘19
Dawn photography Jan. ‘17
Dawn photography Feb. ‘17
Dead center Jan. ‘13
Dead center Oct. ‘23
Dealing with smog Oct. ‘16
Decay photography Sep. ‘15
Define Pattern Sep. ‘18
Define Pattern Sep. '24
Depth of field Aug. ‘16
Depth of field confusion Jan. ‘20
Depth of field and distance Dec. ‘18
Depth of field and obliqueness May ‘21
Depth of field, shallow Apr. ‘20
Depth of field vs. sharpness Nov. ‘20
Double takes Apr. ‘20
Drone photography Mar. ‘23
Drone, Lessons from a tour Oct. '24
Drop shadows Apr. ‘19
Dust, Minimizing Aug. ‘19
eBook, how to make Jan. ‘13
Elevated vantage points Aug. ‘23
Eliminating people from photos Jun. ‘22
Embedded in Ice Oct. 17
Energy saving bulbs Sep. ‘14
Equidistance and telephoto lenses Apri. ‘23
Exploring the power visuals of AI Mar. ‘23
Exposing for the sun Sep. ‘16
Exposure, the sun Jul. ‘13
Exposure technique Sep. ‘13
Exposure, snow Jan. ‘14
Exposure triangle Nov. ‘14
Exposure, to the right Apr. ‘15
Exposure compensation Sep. ‘16
Exposure compensation Mar. ‘21
Extension tubes Dec. ‘13
Extension tubes Jul. ‘23
Face sculpting Apr. ‘21
Face sculpting Feb. ‘22
Subject index for past Photo Insight issues
Festival photography
Fill flash
Filter forge
Sep. ‘20
Sep. ‘13
Feb. ‘13
Fireworks Jul. ‘13
Fireworks, Compositing
Jun ‘20
Fisheye lenses May ‘13
Fisheye lenses
Fisheye fantasies
Fixing parallax
Flash backlighting
Flash, balancing exposure
Flash, balancing off-camera
Flat art
Flexify 2
Flood fixes problems
Floral Portraits, Indoors
Feb. ‘15
Oct. 21
Oct. '24
May ‘15
Oct. ‘15
Dec. ‘18
Sep. ‘16
Mar. ‘20
Nov. ‘19
Aug. ‘21
Flowers May ‘15
Flower photography
Flowers in harsh light
Focus on the eyes
Focus points
Focus points
Focus stacking
Focus stacking
Focusing in the dark
Apr ‘21
Jul. ‘16
Dec. ‘20
Mar. ‘15
Sep. ‘20
Mar. ‘17
Aug. ‘19
Oct. ‘16
Foreign Dancers, Photographing Nov’ 17
Foreign models
Fractals, generating
Fractals
Framing
Framing
Freezing ultra action
Jun. ‘13
Sep. ‘13
Jul. ‘19
May ‘17
Jan. ‘24
May ‘17
From Terrible to Beautiful Aug. ‘19
Fun with paint
Oct. ‘16
Fundamental ingredients Apr. ‘13
Fundamentals That Make Great Photos Jan. ‘19
Fun With Christmas Lights Jan. ‘21
Fun with Food
Graphic Design
Jul. ‘20
Garish imagery Dec. ‘15
Generative fill Jun. ‘23
Getting money for used gear Jan.’ 22
Getting the blues out Dec. ‘23
Great subjects
Apr. ‘15
Great ceilings & HDR Panos Jul. ‘19
Green screen Mar. ‘13
Ground level shooting Oct. ‘22
Grunge technique Feb. ‘13
Harsh light, the problem of Apr. ‘24
Heavy Lens Debate, The Feb. ‘23
HDR, one photo Apr. ‘13
HDR at twilight May ‘13
HDR, realistic Jun. ‘15
HDR, hand held Dec. ‘16
HDR, hand held Nov ‘17
HDR, hand held Jul. ‘18
HDR panoramas Jun. ‘16
HDR, choosing the number of frames Jun. ‘22
High wind Apr. ‘17
Highlights Apr. ‘14
Highlights, overexposed Feb. ‘15
Histograms, Why I Don’t Use Jun ‘19
Histogram problems Apr. ‘20
Home nature projects Jun. ‘23
Hotels with a view Mar. ‘20
Humidity Oct. ‘13
Hummingbird photography Apr. ‘13
Hyperfocal distance Jul. ‘13
Image resizing Aug. ‘18
Implying motion Sept.‘14
Impossible DOF Feb. ‘16
Impossible DOF Jan. ‘17
Indestructible camera bag Dec. ‘14
Infrared photography Jul. ‘14
Insane ISO settings Dec. ‘22
Interiors Oct. ‘15
iPad: Loading photos Aug.‘17
iPhone photography, pros and cons Apr. ‘22
Jungle photography Dec. ‘14
Kaleidoscopic images Jan. ‘15
Kaleidoscopis images Aug. ‘20
Keystoning Nov. ‘23t
Keystoning, correcting Aug. ‘15
L Bracket Feb. ‘18
L Bracket Feb. ‘21
Landscape photography Dec. ‘12
Landscape photography Apr. ‘14
Landscape photography Nov. ‘16
Layer Masks, The Power of Feb. ‘22
Leading Lines Aug. '24
Lessons Learned from Extreme Cold Feb. ‘24
Light fall-off Feb. ‘14
Light painting Dec. ‘21
Lighting a face Oct. ‘13
Lightning photography May ‘20
Liquify Feb. ‘18
Liquify Distortions Sept/Oct. ‘19
Lenses, Essential Aug. ‘23
Long lens portraits Oct. ‘18
Long Lenses for Flowers Jul. ‘20
Low light photography May ‘15
Luminar 4 Jan. ‘20
Macro flash Nov. ‘12
Macro flash Sep. ‘14
Macro flash Aug. ‘15
Macro flash Aug. ‘22
Macro photography and DOF Feb. ‘22
Macro trick May ‘19
Managing soft focus Jul. ‘21
Mannequin heads Apr. ‘16
Metering modes Nov. ‘16
Meters, How They Work Jul. ‘18
Meters, when they fail Dec. ‘16
Metering situations, Impossible Jul. ‘19
Middle gray Nov. ‘15
Milky Way, Shooting thet
Minimizing dust on the sensor Nov. ‘21
Mirrors Jan. ‘19
Mirror images May ‘23
Model shoot Jan. ‘17
Moon glow Oct. ‘16
Mosaics Jun. ‘17
Mundane to Ideal Nov. ‘19
Museum photography Mar. ‘13
Natural Light Portraits Aug. ‘21
Negative space Jan. ‘16
Neon edges on black Aug. ‘14
Optical infinity Jun. ‘16
Subject index for past Photo Insight issues
Neutral Density filters Jun. ‘18
New depth of field preview Mar. ‘24
New shooting style Mar. ‘24
Neutral Density filters and water Mar. ‘22
Night photography Feb. ‘14
Night Safaris Jun. ‘18
Night to Twilight Dec. ‘17
Noise reduction Feb. ‘17
Off-camera flash
Jan. ‘24
Oil and water May ‘20
Organization of photos Mar. ‘18
Out of focus foregrounds Jan. ‘20
Paint abstracts
May ‘13
Paint abstracts Aug. ‘21
Painting with light Sep. ‘15
Pan-blurs Sep. '24
Panning motion Dec. ‘16
Pano-Mirrors with a twist Jan. ‘18
Parades Sep. ‘13
Parallelism Nov. ‘19
Parallelism and DOF Feb. ‘21
Perspective, Super Exaggeration of Dec. ‘21
Photo shsaring Apr. ‘23
Photo terms Nov. ‘22
Photographing Christmas Dec. ‘23
Photography to Art Dec. ‘17
Photography solutions Jan. ‘18
Photoshop, content Aware Nov. ‘12
Photoshop, sketch technique Apr. ‘13
Photoshop, replace background Apr. ‘13
Photoshop, actions palette Dec. ‘13
Photoshop, layer masks Feb. ‘13
Photoshop, the clone tool May ‘13
Photoshop, soft foliage Oct. ‘13
Photoshop, mixer brush tool Sept. ‘14
Photoshop, b & w with color Jun. ‘14
Photoshop, drop shadows Jul. ‘14
Photoshop, creating texture Feb. ‘14
Photoshop, face mirrors Feb. ‘14
Photoshop, liquify Mar. ‘14
Photoshop, face mirrors Aug. ‘14
Photoshop, digital spotlight Sep. ‘14
Photoshop, enlarge eyes Nov. ‘14
Photoshop, darken the periphery Dec. ‘14
Photoshop, mirror images Dec. ‘14
Photoshop, beam of light Apr. ‘15
Photoshop, polar coordinates Mar. ‘15
Photoshop, chrome May ‘15
Photoshop, actions palette Nov. ‘15
Photoshop, cut and paste Nov. ‘15
Photoshop, geometrics Oct. ‘15
Photoshop, plugins Oct. ‘15
Photoshop, multiple selections Apr. ‘16
Photoshop, sharpening Apr. ‘16
Photoshop, Flood plugin Apr. ‘16
Photoshop, Desaturation Aug. ‘16
Photoshop, making a composite Aug. ‘16
Photoshop new tool May ‘20
Photoshop, place one element behind Aug. ‘18
Photoshop, the pen tool Feb. ‘16
Photoshop, canvas size Jan. ‘16
Photoshop, using the earth Jun. ‘16
Photoshop, define patterns May ‘16
Photoshop, paste into Nov. ‘16
Photoshop, b & w with color Feb. ‘17
Photoshop, open a closed door Apr. ‘17
Photoshop, palettes May ‘17
Photoshop, My favorite plugins Jan. ‘20
Portrait options Jan. ‘19
Portrait techniques Nov. ‘15
Portraits Mar. ‘13
Portraits, mixed lighting Aug. ‘14
Portrait Professional Nov. ‘19
Portraits, Lens choice Sept/Oct. ‘19
Portraits, side lighting Sep. ‘17
Portraits, window light Mar. ‘15
Portraits, outdoors May ‘17
Post-processing checklist Dec. ‘13
Post-processing: Contrast Aug. ’17
Practicing graphic design, Part I Dec. ‘22
Practicing graphic design, Park II Jan. ‘23
Practicing graphic design, Part III Feb. ‘23
Pre-capturing technology May ‘23
Predictive Focus Sep. ‘18
Problem/solution Apr. ‘17
Problem Solving in Photoshop May ‘22
Problem with cruises Jan. ‘18
Protecting extremeities from the cold Dec. ‘22
Protecting highlights Dec. ‘12
Puppies Jan. ‘15
Puppy photography Feb. ’18
Reflections Feb. ‘13
Reshaping faces Oct. ‘22
Restoring old photos Jun ‘20
Ring flash, advantages Jul. ‘21
Ring flash versatility Oct. ‘21
Rule of Odds May ‘22
S-curves Aug. '24
Safari May ‘13
Safari strategies Jul. ‘15
Seeing as the lens does Nov. ‘14
Seeking Cool Snow Photos Jan. ‘21
Selective filtering Mar. ‘18
Selective focus Jun. ‘15
Self-critiques Jul. ‘13
Self-critiques Oct. ‘13
Self-critiques Nov. ‘20
Sensor cleaning Jun. ‘18
Sepia and dark contrast Jun. ‘15
Sepia, Traditional look of Shade May ‘14
Shady side Jun. ‘18
Shadows define the shot Dec. ‘23
Shadows, Paying Attention to Mar. ‘18
Sharp, 6 reasons why photos are not Apr. ‘24
Sharpness problems Mar. ‘14
Shooting in Inclement Weather Nov. ‘22
Subject index for past Photo Insight issues
Shooting thru glass May ‘24
Shooting through textured glass May ‘23
Shooting through wire mesh Sept. ‘14
Shooting into the light Jun ‘20
Side lighting Jan. ‘24
Silhouettes Jun. ‘13
Silhouettes, How to make Apr. ‘22
Silhouettes, Exposing for Sept/Oct. ‘19
Silvered landscapes Mar. ‘20
Sketch, How to Make Jun ‘19
Skies make or break a picture Aug. ‘21
Sky replacement Nov. ‘20
Sky replacement strategies Aug. ‘22
Snow exposure Nov ‘17
Snow exposure Nov. ‘19
Soap abstracts Aug. ‘23
Soft light Jan. ‘13
Smart phone photography May ‘19
Stained glass Mar. ‘17
Star photography and noise Jan. ‘18
Stock photography Sep. ‘14
Sunrise & sunset Jan. ‘19
Symmetry Aug. '24
Tamron 150-600mm Apr. ‘14
Ten reasons photos are not sharp Jan. ‘19
Texture, Adding Mar ‘19
Texture Mapping in 3D Jul. ‘21
Too much lens Jul. ‘24
Topaz AI Gigapixel Mar ‘19
Topaz glow Jan. ‘15
Topaz glow Sep. ‘17
Topaz Impression Sep. ‘15
Topaz Remask 5 Oct. ‘17
Topaz Simplify 4 Dec. ‘12
Topaz simplify 4 Jun. ‘14
Topaz Studio Apr. ‘18
Total solar eclipse, How to shoot Mar. ‘24
Translucency & backlighting Nov. ‘18
Travel photography Feb. ‘13
Travel portraits Mar. ‘14
Travel tips Apr. ‘14
Travel photographer’s guide Jun. ‘17
Tripods, not allowed Jun. ‘24
Tweaking exposure on the fly Apr. ‘23
Twilight photography in the rain Apr. ‘19
Twilight, Creating Oct. ‘23
Tripods Mar. ‘18
Two subject sharp rule May ‘14
Two subject focus rule Jan. ‘20
Two subject focus rule Jun. ‘21
Urban heights Jun. ‘21
Ultra distortion May ‘18
Unusual Panos Nov. ‘22w
Upside Down Reflections Aug. ‘21
Quiz answers
1. d 2. a 3. a 4. a 5. b 6. c 7. a 8. c 9. a 10. d
Your score 90% - 100%: You could have been a pro 80% - 89%: Your glasses probably need a new prescription 70% - 79%: Just don’t quit your day job < 70%: You should really be using an iPhone
