Every day I get emails from photographers asking which camera to buy so they might become better photographers. STOP!  Use what you have, get out there and shoot! As Darren Rowse wrote in a recent article about camera lust ”Sometimes I think our lust for cameras and gear could be getting in the way of actually becoming better photographers.” I have to agree with that statement.

I love using a good camera and an L lens as much as the next photographer. That new camera and expensive lens does not create a good picture. You do! And processing software? Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture will not turn a bad picture into a good one, but they will certainly help make a good image even better.

A new camera will not make you a better photographer. Period. It will only make you a new …

Photographing couples is quite literally one of the most enjoyable parts of my career. I love that with two people in love, you have such great capacity for shots that are unique, engaging, and artistic. Additionally, there is something wonderful to be said about the freedom and control we have with only 2 people to pose and direct.

I want to share a simple lighting technique that I have found to make an enormous difference between an “average” couples portrait, and a “dynamic” couples portrait.

This set up requires two flash units: One on camera, and one off camera. You will also need an assistant and a reflector.

1. Set your flashes to ETTL (Canon). ETTL will have the camera measure the available light in your scene and set the flashes accordingly.

2. Place your camera on Shutter Priority at 1/200s. This …

The Vanguard designers thought of everything when they designed the Heralder Series. My first impression, when I took mine out of the box, was that it was probably the most padded bag I had ever used. Even the anti-slip shoulder strap is so padded and comfortable, you could almost use it as a head rest!

But that’s not all! The Heralder 28 (the smallest in the series) comes with a built-in tripod sling on the front and a rain cover that zips in its own back pocket when not in use. I don’t know about you, but I think those are two really useful features, especially the rain cover. My tripod is heavy duty and, although it technically fits on the Heralder 28 sling system, I would not attach it …

To celebrate the launch of our brand new Natural Light eBook this week your photographic challenge is to take and share a portrait – lit only with natural light.

Image by Sebastiano Pitruzzello

Feel free to take any approach to this challenge that you want. You might like to shoot a portrait of a friend, a child, an older person or even a Self Portrait. You could shoot with your DSLR or a camera phone. You can shoot something in Black and White or Color. It might be a silhouette or backlit, a shot at a window or something out in midday sun.

It is completely up to you – as long as it is only lit with natural light you’re welcome to submit it.

Check out these

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The following tutorial was submitted in our forum by Chris Gin.

I used my B+W 10-stop the other day to do some long exposures at sunset and thought I’d write up the steps I took to get the shot.

Firstly for those of you who aren’t familiar with this type of filter, it’s basically a very strong neutral density (ND) filter which reduces the amount of light hitting the camera’s sensor by about 1000 times. ND filters are very common but they are typically only 3-stops in strength (reducing the amount of light by 8 times) so a 10-stop one is quite extreme.

The first thing I did was find a suitable composition as I would for any shot. I wanted to achieve the misty water look so I found some rocks with water washing over them and composed my shot. …