Many of us have a “go-to” thing to photograph. Often, this subject or style is the reason we got into photography in the first place. For me, it is portraiture. I love the dynamic feeling of capturing a moment in time of a person’s life—whether it’s at a key event like their wedding, or creating a unique moment in the studio with creative portraiture. I also love how complex people are as subjects, and how you can convey nearly any mood or emotion in a person’s face.
Are multiple exposures a happy accident or a stroke of creative genius? Well, that depends if you created the image with intention or if it was a fortunate mistake. The tutorial from the Adorama TV YouTube channel explains everything you need to know for giving images a unique look by creating impressive double exposures in the camera.
Instructor David Bergman is a NY-based pro specializing in performance photography, sports imagery, and celebrity portraits. He’s also a popular instructor, and this episode was prompted by a question submitted to his Ask David Bergman website where you can pose questions yourself and possibly view his reply here in the future.
The multiple-exposure feature is a hidden gem offered by many modern cameras that some photographers don’t understand how to use. It enables you to create an impressive image in the camera without resorting to complex image-blending techniques during post processing, and it’s well within the reach for amateur photographers.
One of Bergman’s fans asked about how to get the job done with his Canon camera, with specific regard to various concepts like additive, average, bright, and dark controls. It turns out that Bergman’s method works equally well with other camera brands too. The nomenclature may differ slightly and you may have to dig around in the menu, but it’s all there.
Back in the days of film double exposures were often lucky accidents but with today’s digital models there a few simple tricks for purposefully combining two or more shots into one final images with a unique look. This dedicated feature means no more bracketing, time-consuming experimentation, or complex masking calisthenics in Lightroom or Photoshop.
Bergman illustrates why multiple exposures are so compelling, the type of subjects that work best, and the most effective in-camera exposure settings for different situations. He also provides interesting examples of what you can expect when using different modes.
Bottom line: This approach is a great way to capture unique imagery while expanding your repertoire. Once you’re done watching think about posing a question of your own on the Ask David Bergman website. You odds of having your query featured are greater if you stick to common topics that will appeal to other photographers.
And be sure to watch the tutorial we featured with another adept instructor who demonstrates how to shoot winter macro photographs with camera settings, gear advice, composition tips, and more.
Inexperienced Lightroom and Photoshop users often concentrate on sharpening and exposure adjustments while ignoring the task of enhancing colors because they fail to understand how color grading works. If this describes the workflow you use, today’s beginners guide is exactly what you need.
Instructor Mark Dumbleton summarizes today’s post-processing tutorial like this: “You’re missing out on a powerful editing tool, and in this video I’m going to give you a detailed walkthrough of the Color Grading panel in Lightroom and explain how to implement it to achieve photos with really good results.”
Dumbleton is a South African pro who regularly posts in-camera and photo-editing tutorials that are appropriate for novices and advanced photographers alike. We promise that after watching this 10-minute episode the color balance of your images will reach a new level of perfection.
Color grading may sound complicated, but it’s actually a simple pocess where you apply colors, refine colors, or change colors in a shot to create images with a specific look. For example, you may want to give shadows a moody bluish tone, warm up highlights, or accentuate reds, oranges and yellow when photographing a sunset.
As you’ll see, the process can be a lot of fun as you experiment with the various options that Dumbleton describes. And there’s more to color grading than just making prettier photos because it’s a great way to create a style of your own that stands out from the crowd. Stick around until the end when Dumbleton demonstrates a “bonus editing trick” he frequently employs in combination with color grading for maximum impact.
Dumbleton opens Lightroom’s Color Grading panel and begins with an overview of what the various sliders are designed to accomplish so that you’ll better understand the practical examples that come later. There are clear illustrations as he adds a gradient with blues in the shadows, pinks in the midtones, and greens in the highlights.
Keep in mind that this is merely an example, and your challenge is to apply the various enhancements that follow in a way that’s appropriate for the specific image at hand, and the ultimate effect you have in mind. This is a simple method for unleashing your creative vision that’s been under lock and key for too long.
And don’t miss recent the tutorial we featured with another accomplished pro who reveals five “huge” mistakes made by self-taught shooters that may compromise the quality of every outdoor photograph they capture.
Today’s quick video is a must-see for everyone who’s not up to speed on Apple’s latest iPhone app and everything it offers. The tutorial comes from Your Technology Coach, a popular YouTube channel devoted to digital technology tips and techniques.
Instructor Steve says, “My goal is to help you save time and learn new skills, and he does that in barely six minutes with a quick look at the iOS 18 app—concentrating on “seven lesser-known hidden features that will empower you to capture stunning photographs with ease.” And he does so in barely six minutes.
The lesson begins with some enlightening stuff for those of you who make videos as well as shoot stills. Steve explains that you can now pause and continue a recording in the same file and he walks you through the simple steps. He then checks out the new Video Scrubbing and Looping capabilities than can be super helpful—even for simple projects.
The next easy-to-miss technique involves streamlining your workflow by taking advantage of the app’s powerful new Folders support features—a tool that Steve says, “is no longer useless.” The big takeaway here is that Folders can now contain existing albums—making the task of organizing and locating files easier than ever before.
Steve proceeds with several new camera-centric tricks that make big difference, like the new five-second timer that iOS 18 has added to the familiar three- and 10-second timers. This may seem superficial but you’ll see why it’s not. There are also improved flash controls for situations that call for supplemental illumination.
As the episode proceeds you’ll learn how to sort images by Recently Added Photos, not by Captured Date in the metadata, and how to hide screen shots in the Photo App. Another big change is the new Utility Albums, where “previously there were sections in the utilities for Imports, Duplicates, Hidden, and Recently Added.”
Steve also demonstrates a filter that hides both screenshots and screen recordings from your photo grid. We suggest having you iPhone handy while watching the lesson so that you can experiment with Steve’s recommendations as they’re explained.
And don’t miss last week’s eye-opening tutorial with from a National Geographic pro who demonstrates several simple techniques for shooting spectacular backlit photographs.
