What if you were told you there is a much better way to focus, and pros use it all the time for faster, more precise subject acquisition? If we just grabbed your attention, read on to see how it’s done.

The video below involves a technique known as back-button focus, and it works wonders for just about all types of images you shoot; everything from landscapes, wildlife, and sport/action photos, to portraits and more. In barely 11 minutes you’ll learn how to set up your camera and use this technique for optimum results.

Instructor Mike Smith is an accomplished British landscape photographer who regularly posts behind-the-scenes tutorials that demonstrate the secrets to his success. Back-button focus is one of these, and configuring the camera properly is super simple if you follow his advice.

You may have to dig around in the menu a bit, because the necessary settings are located in different places from one brand of camera to another. Smith says that once you’re ready to go, your camera will “become a focusing machine and blurry photos will be a thing of the past.”

The process involves reassigning the focusing task from the shutter button to a button on the back of the camera. You’ll find that by doing this and holding the camera in a comfortable and intuitive way, your index finger will snap the shutter while your thumb controls focusing on the subject. Doing this enables you to more easily capture fleeting moments because you won’t have to wait for a half-press of the shutter button.

Smith organizes the lesson into different categories, each devoted to a different type of subject matter. He first describes the benefits of back-button for shooting landscapes, moves on to portraiture, and then concentrates on sports and other forms of action photography.

You’ll see why Smith typically uses a “focus and reframe technique,” and how he determines exactly where to focus within the frame. He also describes how focus areas interact with back-button focus, and how the focus mode you choose factors into the equation.

Smith explains a few advanced techniques too, like setting the camera properly for real-time AF tracking. You’ll also see how to configure one of the camera’s Custom buttons to toggle between AF and Manual focus.

After watching the video head over to Smith’s instruction YouTube channel where there’s much more to learn, especially if landscape photography is your thing.

On a related note, don’t miss the tutorial we post last month from another pro, with nine unconventional tips for sharper landscape and wildlife photos.

If you’re new to timesaving Photoshop Actions this quick tutorial is just what you need to get up to speed. In less than four minutes you’ll learn what Actions do, how they work, and an easy way to use them for a faster, more efficient photo-editing workflow.

Adobe provides this definition: “Photoshop actions are a series of recorded tasks or commands that you can play back and record on single or multiple files.” In other words, they’re similar to macros or shortcuts in that they enable you to automate frequently used edits.

Today’s instructor Nino Batista is an eclectic pro, specializing in standard portraiture, boudoir, glamour, and commercial photography. He’s also a very adept instructor who regularly posts helpful tutorials for photographers of all skill levels. By the conclusion of the episode below, Photoshop Actions will be a regularly used component of your Photoshop bag of tricks.

Batista covers all the “super basics” so you can start using Actions today. You’ll begin by clicking on the Window tab atop the Photoshop screen and choosing the Actions option from the dropdown menu. The first time you option the Actions panel you’ll find yourself in the Normal mode. Here you can choose one of the built-in Actions and use the buttons underneath to proceed. There are Play and Stops buttons and others that enable to make your own Actions as well.

The lesson begins with the built-in options, and Batista chooses the Gradient Map as an example. He demonstrates how to activate Button Mode, in which all of your actions become single-click buttons that you can use without delay. Batista explains that “most of the time, when you’re not making an Action or using a complicated one, Button Mode is where you want to be.”

After this quick overview Batista demonstrates two common ways to install Actions. He explains the method he prefers and why it works more consistently that the other. You’ll see where to find Actions you’ve saved to the computer, and how to easily recognize them by the “.atn” suffix.

These can be Actions you’ve purchased, created yourself, or others you downloaded for free. They typically appear at the bottom of the Actions list, below the built-in options, but you’ll see how to rearrange everything to suite your needs.  Now you’re ready to go.

There are a wide variety of imaging-editing lessons on Batista’s instructional YouTube channel, so be sure to take a look.

And check out the tutorial we posted recently, explaining why another image-editing expert says, “Photoshop’s new Gradient tool changes everything.”

It’s so exciting to get a new camera that many photographers can’t resist pulling it out of the box, setting the manual aside, leaving the default settings as they are, and heading out for a day of shooting. If that sounds familiar pay close attention to the video below, in which an accomplished explains what to do first so the new camera performs as intended.

Florida-based pro Booray Perry makes his living shooting portraits, weddings and a variety of events, and his tutorials are popular with Shutterbug readers for their straightforward style targeted mostly at beginners. Today’s episode is for novices and pros alike, as he demonstrates “the 10 things I do whenever I get a new camera.”

Much of what you’ll learn involves configuring the camera to suit your specific needs. That way you’ll avoid the common set-it-and-for-get-it mentality and neglect to customize the default settings later. You’ll also be able to download Perry’s popular eBook on this topic so that you can refer back to it in written form whenever you want.

Perry doesn’t spend much time with simple stuff like setting the time and date, rather focusing on other important options that affect the type of photography you do most. His advice applies to whatever camera you own, but you may have to dig through the menus a bit to find what you’re looking for because every brand is set up a bit differently.

Perry walks you through the various image-quality options available. These are important depending upon how you intend to edit, display, share, or print your work. Perry says “the two big options” are Raw vs. Jpeg, and you’ll learn the strengths and weaknesses of both. You can also set the camera to capture images in both file formats at once. Another consideration is choosing the right file size; in other works, how big you want the images to be.

Perry continues with a discussion of the various metering modes from which to choose, and again, the choice you make has to with the subject matter at hand as well as the conditions you confront. This area is a good example how some brands use different nomenclature to describe the same thing. Fujifilm for example, refers to metering modes as “Photometry.”

Among the other key variables are the variety of focusing modes offered by modern cameras, and when one works better than the others. In this regard Perry also explains how and why to move focus points for optimum results in different situations. You’ll also see why Perry insists that you turn off the setting that enables the camera to shoot when there’s no memory card installed—calling this tip “huge.”

Be sure to download’s Perry’s free eBook after watching the video. And pay a visit to his popular YouTube channel when you have time.

We also encourage you to watch the tutorial we posted from another accomplished pro, explaining how to break three common “rules of photography” when you run out of fresh ideas and need a jolt of inspiration.