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.

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

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

Specialist index pages

• Keith’s photo blog
• Articles and Reviews
• Camera and printer rumours
• Digital Black and White
• Colour Management
• All about using tilt and shift
• Photography book reviews
• The business side of photography
• Keith’s ‘gear list’ for his work
• 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

Editing your photos. Tools and tips

• DxO PhotoLab 4 announcedDxO have announced PhotoLab 4 the latest version of their photo editing software, which in itself succeeded DxO Optics Pro. The new software improves many aspects of RAW file decoding and noise reduction
• Video: Panoramic prints on the PRO-300Printing a 1 metre long panoramic print on the Canon PRO-300 A3+/13" printer. Using a custom paper size and Canon PPL printer software, with paper cut from a roll (10mins)
• Video: The black and white printer test imageKeith Cooper looks at the basics of using his specialist black and white printer test image to evaluate black and white printing (6mins)
• Video: Print greetings cards on the PRO-300Keith Cooper looks at printing different sizes of greeting cards using the Canon PRO-300 printer. including margin/paper sizes. (9mins) Incl. 2nd video specifically looking at 6x4 postcards (3min 30s)
• Black and White printing with the P700/P900Black and white printing on the Epson SC-P700 A3+ pigment ink printer. Different types of paper and optimising the reproduction of your monochrome photos
• Topaz Sharpen AI updatedReview update for Topaz Sharpen AI V2.1 Image sharpening and shake removal software updated to improve masking and settings autodetection
• Gigapixel AI V5 updateTopaz have updated Gigapixel AI to Version 5. New processing models allow different resizing techniques for different types of image - such as natural scenes or manmade.
• Digital black and white photographyExploring black and white photography and image editing. Methods of converting colour to B&W. How to get the monochrome image you want from a colour photo.

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

• Black ink swap on the Epson 7800 and 9800An unofficial method for swapping photo black and matte black inks on the Epson 7800/9800 printers, reducing ink waste.
• Deactivate the ink level counter on the Epson 4000Ensuring that ink cartridges always read as full on the Epson Stylus Pro 4000 17" printer. Turning off the ink counter is an alternative to using a chip reset device.
• Swap black ink on the Epson 4880 PrinterA different way of swapping black ink types on the Epson 4880 printer that reduces ink waste compared to the official technique. Use with care
• Modify Canon tilt shift lensChanging the shift axis alignment for Canon TS-E lenses, TS-E 90 modification shown. Similar for TS-E45 and TS-E 24 (mark 1 version)
• Maintenance tank in Epson large format printersLooking at the maintenance tank in some large format Epson printers. How to reset it when full so that it can continue to be used. Use this technique with care, since overflows are very messy.
• A Canon MPP view camera adapterMaking an adapter to fit a DSLR camera to the back of a 4x5 (5x4) view camera, using the existing lens and camera movements. Construction details and parts used. learning about camera movements
• Ultrachrome inks in an Epson 10000 large format printerConversion of an Epson SP10000 dye based ink printer to use Ultrachrome pigment based inks and carts from an Epson 10600. Changing ink types
• A digital pinhole camera using a Canon 1DsConstruction ideas and sample images for several different designs of pinhole adapter for a Canon full frame DSLR camera. Digital pinhole photography experiments at different focal lengths

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Ideas for developing photographic skills and aspects of photographic composition.

• Video: K&F ND2-32 variable ND filterUsing a variable (ND2-ND32) neutral density filter. Allowing for slower shutter speeds to blur movement and wider apertures to emphasise lens tilt or shallow depth of field (7m)
• K&F ND2-32 variable ND filter reviewReview of the K&F ND2-ND32 variable neutral density (ND) filter. 1 to 5 stops of additional exposure. 82mm version tested on a TS-E24mm shift lens. Examples show why you might use such a filter
• Video: Using old lenses on modern camerasHow mount adapters let you use old lenses with modern cameras both DSLR and mirrorless. Using old lenses on new cameras and why it's fun to experiment (15m)
• Video: Falcon Eyes F7 mini LED lightingKeith looks at some features of the Falcon Eyes F7 Mini LED variable RGB colour lamp for photographic lighting. A white light CCT mode allows a colour temperature setting from 2500K-9000K. An RGB colour mode allows setting of colours in RGB and HSL modes. (7m 30s)
• Video: Black and White from colourKeith looks the basics of turning a colour image into black and white. Why simple 'convert to BW' conversions are often only a starting point, and how simple adjustments can change the whole feel of the image (8m 30s)
• Book Review: Isle of Skye – Photographer’s guideBook Review: Isle of Skye and NW Scotland - Photographer's guide by David Hickey. Locations, maps and tours with detailed photographic tips and suggestions covering equipment, photography and image processing.
• Looking at the Canon R5 cameraKeith Cooper looks at the Canon EOS R5 45MP mirrorless camera, from the POV of an architectural photographer, including extensive use of tilt shift lenses
• Diagonal lens shiftDiagonal lens shift - Keith looks at using a tilt/shift or shift only lens by combining horizontal and vertical lens movements. Using an off-set viewpoint in images

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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

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

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

Keith explains tilt and shift lenses

Keith has written a book that looks at the many ways that tilt/shift lenses can benefit your photography from a technical and creative point of view.

ISBN 9781785007712

Book now available

There is also a specific index page on the site with links to all Keith's articles, reviews and videos about using tilt and shift.

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. Other sections include Colour management and Keith's camera hacks - there are over 1200 articles/reviews here...

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