I'm pretty new to strobes, picked up a set of Godox strobes last spring and I've been trying to learn about studio lighting about portraits. I'm working my way through Andreas Bübl's Studio book, and I'm confused at how he uses f-stops in his lighting diagrams. In the example here, he has one strobe marked at f5.6 and the other at f10. My strobes can be set in decimals or in fractions, but not f-stops as far as I know. What does it mean to set a strobe to f5.6 or f10? Do you meter them individually to the camera's fstops and then do a meter for the overall composition?

I’ve been practicing photography for a while, and I’m usually happy with my photos when I look back at them.

But sometimes when I share them, the reaction is much lower than I expected. It makes me wonder if I’m missing something important.

How do you learn to judge whether a photo is actually strong?

Should I focus more on composition, storytelling, or improving my photo editing skills?

I have a canon EOS rebel T7 and I recently bought a new SD card because I thought my last one was broken, but I'm having the same problems with this new one. It is a Sandisk extreme pro 256 GB. I entered the card and I formatted it and when I put the SD card into my computer, I can't delete the photos from my computer. Also with the Canon connect app to let you download the photos to your phone when I tried to download the videos it says the video format is not supported and I've already formatted the card in the camera and I don't know what to do.

I’m pretty new to photography and recently started shooting RAW photos on my Nikon D3400. Right now, I use Darktable for most of my editing, but I also recently got access to Affinity with Canva Pro.

I’m trying to figure out the best workflow between the two programs without unnecessarily editing every photo twice.

Would it make the most sense to do the full RAW edit in Darktable first, export as a 16-bit TIFF, and only use Affinity for advanced masking, retouching, object removal, or artificial lighting effects?

Or is there a better workflow using only one of the programs?

this may be dumb to ask but im learning this type of stuff by myself so can someone explain me whats the difference between those two and if im using a nikon d3300 to take pics which one is it better for me to use

thx!

I'm still learning portrait editing and I'm never sure where to stop. I want people to look their best, but I also don't want the photo to look fake. How do you usually approach skin retouching?

When I first started, I thought good editing meant changing everything.
Now I usually make much smaller adjustments.
What's one lesson about editing that would've saved you a lot of time as a beginner?

Looking for ideas as I develop a syllabus for a student photography class.

I'm planning a short introduction to photography class for middle school students. It's about 15 one-hour sessions. It will probably be a small class. I currently have three DSLRs and school iPads (plus school computer lab iMacs for viewing/editing).

That's the gear, but what about lessons/content? Sure, there's parts of a camera, the exposure triangle, types of cameras, types of lenses, but I'd like to get them shooting as much as possible.

What are some fun studies/projects that you would suggest?

What are some essential images to view?

What are some must-have topics (rule of thirds, for example)?

The students will not be able to go off school grounds, so we need to keep that in mind.

hi- I am no professional photographer, but this day in age, all of the Facebook posts and Instagram posts are edited to look supreme, I am genuinely curious on which Lightroom settings (open to presets) to make my photos look a little more professional or just not like I whipped my phone out willy nilly. i use Lightroom on my iPhone.

my photos are primarily of my kids doing everyday things, yes some outside and some inside too so both recommendations are appreciated!!

I am open to presets to download but I haven’t had good luck with those (somehow managed to lose all of them), and am not interested in spending any more money on those.

A few of mine are @dawsonyep, @mmeyers76, @txmrqe.

I’d love to hear what yours are, and which ones inspired you and why?

This is probably going to sound random, but studying paintings genuinely improved my photography more than most YouTube photography channels did.

A few months ago I got stuck creatively. Every photo I took felt flat. Same angles, same framing, same cinematic editing everyone else was doing. Out of frustration, I started looking at old wildlife artwork online because I wanted inspiration that didn’t look algorithm-generated. What surprised me was how intentionally good animal paintings are with movement and focus. Painters exaggerate posture in ways photographers sometimes forget to do. A wolf standing still in real life can look awkward or unimpressive in a photo.but in paintings artists subtly shift weight distribution, ear direction, tail positioning, and lighting to guide your eye exactly where they want it to go. I ended up spending hours comparing pieces people were selling on Etsy, Amazon and independent artist stores I originally found through Alibaba supplier directories. One thing I noticed was that beginner artists often over-detail fur. Experienced painters simplify aggressively. They’ll leave entire sections loose and blurry so the focal point stands out harder. Once I applied that mindset to photography, my shots immediately felt cleaner. Another thing people underestimate is color temperature. Animal paintings rarely use “accurate” color. They use emotional color. Cold shadows against warm highlights make even a sleepy farm dog look dramatic. I think a lot of creative fields get too separated from each other now. Painters study photographers. Photographers study filmmakers. Designers study architecture. There’s value in crossing disciplines.

Anyway, if your own creative work feels stale, studying traditional art for a while can genuinely reset your brain in a useful way.

I want to become a wedding photographer or work in food photography, but I don’t have much experience yet. I’ve never used a professional camera before, and I’d like to start with something simple to build my skills and begin my career. Could you please share your advice? Thank you!

So I went to an "event" just to learn how try event photos. I was completely eaten alive by the challenge. Can I ask how to do better?

My main challenge was, I'm not really sure how to take photos on a venue that have really high ceilings, far walls to bounce flash on, lots of windows, really soft lighting all around, but lighting is not vivid enough, while still using a flash.

The thing is, when I try to take photos without flash, the faces of the people look dull and darker despite the good lighting. When I tried my softbox, it made everything darker besides the subject (not the look I'm looking for); I tried bare flash pointed up with bounce card, it's kind of ok, but still lacks the punch.

What settings should I make/change?

For context: I'm used to shooting on studio or venues with lower ceilings/nearer walls. I like the lively skin tone and vivid colors I get from flash.

i been wanting to try photography and was wondering what the best way to go about it would be. i am completely new to the space and don't know anything about it.

hello! could anyone tell me if anything’s wrong with my camera? i’ve been pressing the up button and the function button but p-mode won’t show up. google keeps saying that this model has a p-mode but I can’t seem to even access it and it’s frustrating me. I tried what I could and even followed the manual but yeahh nothing’s working… Could someone help? thanks

Bonjour à tous,

Je viens d’acquérir un Fujifilm X-T30 III (je photographiais auparavant avec un Canon EOS M5), et j’ai encore un peu de mal à m’adapter aux réglages. 🥲

Je souhaite faire des photos de ciel étoilé mais je rencontre un souci avec les poses longues.

Quand je règle la vitesse d’obturation, par exemple à 15 secondes, l’appareil prend la photo immédiatement, comme s’il n’y avait pas de pose longue. Donc forcément ça ne fonctionne pas.

J’ai donc essayé le mode BULB, mais dans ce cas l’appareil semble faire une exposition de 30 secondes (x2) que je ne peux pas modifier.

Je pense que je passe à côté d’un réglage, mais je ne comprends pas lequel ?

Est-ce que quelqu’un pourrait m’expliquer comment bien régler l’appareil pour faire des poses longues, notamment pour photographier les étoiles sur ce modèle ?

Merci d’avance pour votre aide ! 🙏🏻

I recently ordered a old 2009 canon powershot sx 20 is and was wondering what settings/methods to use id mostly be shooting nature or animals and architecture

I shoot birds with the cannon 100-500 on the r6ii. I’ve never used a crop sensor but research leads me to believe getting an r7 with a 1.6 crop factor would make the lens 800mm at the long end. Will the R7 really give me 32 megapixels at 800 mm with this lens? If anyone can also explain effective aperture. Is this just depth of field or will it effect exposure as well? I guess to sum up the question what is going to be the difference taking the same shot with the 100-500 on the r6ii vs the r7 at 500 mm f7.1

I have a carbon fibre Befree Advanced Tripod and the quick plate is STUCK only the black lever moves not the grey switch. I’m here asking out if anyone had that issue and how did you all resolve it?

Hi everyone! I’ve recently started shooting mostly left-handed due to a hand injury, and I’ve adapted my Sony a7III with some grips and triggers.

I’m curious if anyone else has adapted their cameras for left-handed shooting. Are there tricks or gear you’d recommend?

I’ve made a little visual guide of my setup if anyone wants to see it

https://leftiephotography.carrd.co/

Hi everyone! I’ve recently started shooting mostly left-handed due to a hand injury, and I’ve adapted my Sony a7III with some grips and triggers.

I’m curious if anyone else has adapted their cameras for left-handed shooting. Are there tricks or gear you’d recommend?

I’ve made a little visual guide of my setup if anyone wants to see it

https://leftiephotography.carrd.co/

Good Morning Photographers!

I’m new to photography and attempting to expand my lens collection. I’ve purchased a Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 to use with a Canon R100 connecting via a Canon EF - EOS R adaptor. When turned on, the aperture is listed as F.00 and I can’t adjust it. I’ve read that this is usually an incompatibility issue when the camera and lens aren’t speaking to one another. Is anyone able to shed some light on why this might be given I’m using an adaptor?

Thanks in advance!

Just grabbed a Nikon Z5ii with the 26mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.4!

I’m traveling in the next few months (Mexico City & Japan) and want to focus on environmental city shots, architecture, night shots, food, etc... plus some natural portraits of my girlfriend while we’re out exploring.

I plan to shoot RAW and start learning Lightroom. I’m trying to shoot manual to actually understand exposure & all that stuff instead of relying on auto.

Trip is in a week — if you were me, what would you focus on practicing first? Any beginner settings or exercises you’d prioritize to avoid coming back with mediocre shots? Where do I begin for knowledge?

Appreciate any guidance!