Video Tutorials

Stop Reaching for the Wide Angle: How a 50mm Lens Can Unlock Better Landscape Shots
Video Tutorials

Stop Reaching for the Wide Angle: How a 50mm Lens Can Unlock Better Landscape Shots

There’s a bias in landscape photography that’s almost impossible to escape: wider is better. If you’re not shooting at 16mm or 24mm, the assumption is you’re leaving something on the table. I bought into that for a long time. I own a decent ultrawide, and for a while it was the first lens that went into my bag on any outdoor shoot. Then I watched Karl Taylor do something that genuinely shifted how I think about focal length selection.

Canon's Retro Camera Leak, Sony's 400mm Upgrade, and Why AI Fake Influencers Should Scare You
Video Tutorials

Canon's Retro Camera Leak, Sony's 400mm Upgrade, and Why AI Fake Influencers Should Scare You

I try to stay skeptical of gear rumors. I have a spreadsheet. I check deal alerts every morning before I’ve even made coffee. And I’ve learned the hard way that “leaked” often means “someone’s wishful thinking dressed up as a press release.” But when Tony and Chelsea Northrup drop a breakdown of multiple simultaneous leaks from Canon, Sony, and OM System in the same video, that’s worth slowing down for. The sourcing is tighter than most rumor sites, and the analysis cuts through the hype in ways I actually find useful when I’m deciding what to watch for deals-wise.

Fix Distorted Architecture Photos in Lightroom: A Step-by-Step Guide Using Lens Corrections and Guided Transforms
Video Tutorials

Fix Distorted Architecture Photos in Lightroom: A Step-by-Step Guide Using Lens Corrections and Guided Transforms

Wide-angle lenses are some of the best value in photography. A fast, sharp wide-angle prime for a crop sensor camera can run you under $200, and the creative range you get is enormous. But there’s a catch: shoot a building with one and you’ll often come back with something that looks like the structure is either falling over or lunging at the viewer. I’ve run into this constantly, especially shooting street scenes and architecture for local editorial clients.

The Sigma 50mm f/2 DG DN Made Me Rethink What I Actually Want From a Lens
Video Tutorials

The Sigma 50mm f/2 DG DN Made Me Rethink What I Actually Want From a Lens

I have a spreadsheet. It has every budget lens I’ve ever tested, ranked by sharpness per dollar. For years, that spreadsheet was my entire lens buying philosophy. If the math didn’t justify the price, the lens didn’t make the cut. So when I first heard people raving about the Sigma 50mm f/2 DG DN at over $600, my instinct was to write it off before I even looked at the specs.

New Lens, Wrecked Beach, and the Aperture Setting Thomas Heaton Swears By for Medium Format Sharpness
Video Tutorials

New Lens, Wrecked Beach, and the Aperture Setting Thomas Heaton Swears By for Medium Format Sharpness

There’s a specific problem I run into every time I shoot somewhere new: too many options, not enough discipline. A fresh location pulls you in ten directions at once and you end up with a memory card full of mediocre frames because you never slowed down to think about what you were actually doing. What I’ve found is that watching photographers with real field experience work through unfamiliar locations in real time teaches you more than any studio breakdown.

The One-Lens Rule: How Pierre T. Lambert's Secret Technique Will Tell You Exactly What to Buy Next
Video Tutorials

The One-Lens Rule: How Pierre T. Lambert's Secret Technique Will Tell You Exactly What to Buy Next

Every few months I get the same message from readers: “Tyler, should I buy the 50mm or the 85mm?” And every time, I want to say the same thing — I have no idea, because I don’t know how you actually shoot. That’s the problem with most lens buying advice, including a lot of what I’ve written. It treats gear decisions like math problems with universal answers, when really the right lens is completely personal to how you work.

What Your Go-To Lens Actually Reveals About How You See the World (And How to Find Out in Lightroom)
Video Tutorials

What Your Go-To Lens Actually Reveals About How You See the World (And How to Find Out in Lightroom)

I’ll be honest: I thought I knew which lens I reached for most. I would have bet money on my nifty fifty. Turns out I was wrong, and finding out I was wrong took about 45 seconds inside Lightroom. That gap between the lens you think defines your shooting style and the one you actually use constantly is more revealing than most photographers want to admit. In this Mark Denney tutorial, Watch the full tutorial on YouTube, he walks through how to pull that data directly from Lightroom and then connects your dominant focal length to how you naturally perceive and interpret a scene.

Plan Smarter Fall Shoots This Year (Mark Denney's No-Gear-Required Framework, Broken Down)
Video Tutorials

Plan Smarter Fall Shoots This Year (Mark Denney's No-Gear-Required Framework, Broken Down)

Every September I watch photographers scramble to buy something new before the leaves peak. A new lens, a polarizer upgrade, another filter kit. I get it, I’ve been there. But the shots that actually separate good fall portfolios from great ones almost never come down to gear. They come down to showing up at the right place, on the right morning, under the right sky. That’s a planning and timing problem, not an equipment problem.

A Photographer Got Robbed at Gunpoint in His Own Driveway. Here's What Every Shooter Needs to Know.
Video Tutorials

A Photographer Got Robbed at Gunpoint in His Own Driveway. Here's What Every Shooter Needs to Know.

I’ve been that guy standing on a overlook at golden hour with a bag full of gear, completely absorbed in a shot, completely unaware of who’s around me. I’d like to think I’m situationally aware, but honestly? When there’s good light and a good scene, my brain tunnels. That’s a problem, because camera theft isn’t just a “leave your bag unattended” issue anymore. It’s escalating into something a lot more frightening.

Fake Lens Flare That Actually Looks Real: A Photoshop Technique Worth Stealing
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Fake Lens Flare That Actually Looks Real: A Photoshop Technique Worth Stealing

Most of my work lives or dies on what I do after the shoot, not during it. I shoot a lot of outdoor portraits on overcast days in Denver because the light is consistent and I don’t have to fight harsh shadows. The tradeoff is that the images can feel a little flat, a little clinical. No warmth, no magic, nothing that makes someone stop scrolling. For a long time I thought lens flare was something you either captured in camera or you didn’t.

The 70-200mm Isn't Just a Backup Lens - Susan Stripling's Approach Changed How I Think About Zoom
Video Tutorials

The 70-200mm Isn't Just a Backup Lens - Susan Stripling's Approach Changed How I Think About Zoom

I used to think the 70-200mm was a crutch. A lens you grabbed when you couldn’t get close enough, not because you actually wanted to be shooting at that focal length. That thinking cost me a lot of good shots before I started paying closer attention to how working professionals actually use their glass. In this CreativeLive tutorial, wedding photographer Susan Stripling dismantles that assumption completely - and she does it not by talking theory, but by walking through the real-world situations that forced her to rethink the lens entirely.

How to Photograph an Owl (or Any Fast Bird) With a Budget Telephoto: Lessons From Fuji X-H2 and the Tamron 150-500mm
Video Tutorials

How to Photograph an Owl (or Any Fast Bird) With a Budget Telephoto: Lessons From Fuji X-H2 and the Tamron 150-500mm

I’ll be honest: wildlife photography has always been the genre that made me feel like my budget philosophy falls apart. Fast-moving subjects, unpredictable light, and a traditional insistence on f/4 glass that costs more than my car. Every time I’d look into a serious telephoto setup, I’d end up on a spreadsheet comparing options I couldn’t justify buying. So when I saw The Slanted Lens put the Tamron 150-500mm on a Fujifilm X-H2 and walk away with genuinely stunning owl portraits, I needed to understand exactly how they pulled it off.