Photography tutorials and how-to articles

Articles aimed at helping you improve aspects of your photography

There are a growing number of entirely free tutorials and ‘how to’ articles on this site. This page provides links to all of them.

They range from photo composition to ‘photo-hacks’ or building your own specialist lenses from discarded camera equipment.

Many of our articles and reviews are also written to help explain how and why you would use different equipment and techniques, not just a list of a product’s functionality.

If you think of something that might be useful, please let Keith know – many articles have come from questions asked by readers.

Specialist index pages

• Keith’s photo blog
• Articles and Reviews
• Camera and printer rumours
• Digital Black and White
• Colour Management
• The business side of photography
• Gallery of some of Keith’s prints
• Some of Keith’s travel blogs
• Some of Keith’s link choices

For even more detail, check the category listings and search box at the right of the page

The sections below split all the articles into three broad categories.

Editing your photos. Tools and tips

• Keith Cooper’s City Light Luminar presets Keith's 'City Light' presets for MacPhun's Luminar photo editing software. Developed for architectural images when converting from colour to B&W. Before and after examples, and how they differ from 'straight' B&W conversions. Also using them as a luminance adjustment for colour images.
• Macro photography for a trade stand Macrophotography setup for producing photographs of small electronic components for the Electronica trade show. Photographs of components along with brightly coloured gummy bears on a polished metal surface.
• Print of a photo of a sunset from my loft Photographing an interesting sunset out of the loft window at home. How a simple photo, basic processing and printing produces a 22 inch by 33 inch print. Why any problems in making great prints probably doesn't come from deficiencies in equipment and software.
• Tutorial: A large black and white print of the harbour at Staithes Looking at the whole process, from photography to printing, Keith's tutorisl shows how he produced a 22" x 43" wide angle view of the harbour at Staithes in N. Yorkshire. Includes details on image stitching, B&W conversion and using masked adjustment layers.
• Better scenic and landscape holiday photos Keith was recently asked for a few quick and -simple- tips for better scenic vacation photos by a local business group. A few basic ideas that have stood the test of time and help create better looking landscape photos.
• Kaiser tabletop photo kit review 'Easyfit' tabletop product photography kit with shooting table and two continuous lights with diffusers. Basic product photo setup and examples of use.
• Basic Photoshop Elements tutorials Basic image adjustment tutorials with Photoshop Elements. Using just the most basic tools that are essential parts of image editing
• Why I use the Fisheye-Hemi plugin Fisheye lenses are great, with their extreme wide angle and their distinctive perspective, but sometimes you want a bit more. The Fisheye hemi plugin provides some interesting variations

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Using equipment in non-standard ways. Hacks and mods.

• Lens testing for coma with a laser star Testing lenses for coma with a laser pointer star simulator in the daytime. Simple test setup also shows starburst diffraction spikes
• Techart EF lens to Fuji GFX lens adapter Techart EF lens to Fuji GFX lens adapter with AF functionality. Lens aperture can be set from the camera control dial. Firmware is updateable
• DIY Telecentric macro lenses Joining various old lenses together with filter rings and cardboard makes a range of specialist lenses that normally cost thousands of pounds. Simple experiments with telecentric macro lenses.
• Canon 5Ds is fine with old lenses Despite worries that many more megapixels might mean old lenses needed replacing, some tests with a 5Ds show that it benefits all lenses. A rising tide floats all boats
• Canon EW-73C lens hood from modifying an EW-73B Lens hood for the EF-S 10-18mm F4.5-5.6 IS Modifying a cheap third party EW-73B lens hood to match a Canon EW-73C lens hood at a fraction of the price.
• Zeiss MC S 135mm f3-5 on Canon 100D Testing an M42 screw fit Zeiss MC S 135mm f3.5 manual focus telephoto lens on a Canon 100D/SL1 crop sensor camera with an M42-EF adapter.
• Photosniper 300mm with Canon 100D Using the Russian Tair 3 phs Photosniper 300mm f4.5 lens and rifle stock with a Canon EOS 100D/SL1 DSLR. Includes modification to use external trigger
• Cleaning Canon printheads – iPF8300 – PF05 Cleaning and replacing the printheads - on a Canon iPF8300 large format printer, with the PF-05 printhead. Canon large format print heads are a user replaceable part. Whilst cleaning might help, it could be that you need a new print head.

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Ideas for developing photographic skills and aspects of photographic composition.

• Architectural photography lens choices Looking at lens choices for architectural photography. How Keith Cooper uses a nearby award nominated building to explore options when testing lenses - not on the time of clients
• K&F ND1000 filter review Review from testing the K&F Concept ND1000 10 stop neutral density filter for longer exposures. 82mm low profile glass lens filter
• Rogeti TSE frame review Review of the Rogeti TSE frame - lens mount for Canon TS-E 17mm and 24mm tilt/shift lenses. Attaches lens directly to a tripod for parallax free image stitching. Accurate image stitching for wide coverage
• Book Review: The photography exercise book Book Review: The photography exercise book by Bert Krages. Training your eye to shoot like a pro. Subjects to study and photograph that will help train your photographic vision and produce the photos you want (and know why)
• Architecture and the Sigma 12-24mm Using an ultra-wide zoom lens for architectural photographs. Testing the Sigma 12-24mm F4 DG HSM Art lens on a 50MP Canon 5Ds DSLR for architecture photography
• A shift lens at 50mm Using a shift lens at 50mm - adding rise and fall to a standard focal length. Tilt/shift lens use at longer focal lengths. A Mamiya medium format lens used with a shift adapter
• Moving back to film photography Returning to film? Rediscovering old film equipment offers a simpler more direct world of photography. Is it time for Keith to buy some camera batteries and rolls of film?
• Ultra high resolution view of Leicester city centre An ultra high resolution view of Leicester city centre from the roof of St George's tower, that you can zoom in to and explore - approximately 4700 megapixels

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Training – for companies

These are aspects of training that I provide (on location, not at our offices) as part of Northlight’s business.

We also have a training directory that is freely available for any professional photographer who offers training.

It’s arranged by location, so as long as you are a pro photographer, a free link is available

Enjoyed this article?

Other areas of our site that may be of interest...

All the latest articles and photo news items appear on Keith's Photo blog 

We've a whole section of the site devoted to  Digital Black and White photography and printing. It covers all of Keith's specialist articles and reviews.

Categories include Colour management and Keith's camera hacks - there are over 800 articles/reviews here...

Articles below by Keith (Google's picks for matching this page)

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