Gift ideas for photographers

Shooting sunrise at Bamburgh Beach with the Sony FE 20mm f/1.8

Find the perfect gift for your photographer friend or relative with this list of incredibly useful photography accessories. Whatever your budget, and whether you’re buying a gift for a birthday, Christmas or any another special occasion, find the ideal gifts for photographers here…

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How to process HDR images in Lightroom

How to process HDR images in Lightroom Classic

Learn how to process HDR images in Lightroom Classic for natural results. HDR photography is a contentious subject because many photographers process images poorly resulting in mushy mid-tones and halos along high contrast subject edges. But this approach is so natural-looking it’s almost impossible to tell that the technique has been used.

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Fujifilm Film Simulation Modes for Raw files in Lightroom

Fujifilm Film Simulation Modes for Raw files

One of the great things about Fujifilm cameras is the ability to apply Film Simulation Modes to your JPEGs in-camera. These are a selection of settings that simulate the look and feel of some of Fujifilm’s best loved films including Provia, Velvia, Astia and many more.

Raw files obviously don’t carry the film simulation data, so what happens when you shoot Raw? The simple answer, if you process your shots using Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom, is that you can apply them as a profile during processing. Here’s are two tutorials to show you how o apply Fujifilm Film Simulation Modes

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How to shoot studio silhouette portraits

How to shoot studio silhouette portraits

Learn how to shoot graphic silhouette portraits in a photographic studio or at home using this incredibly easy technique. Silhouettes generally focus purely on shape, whereas this approach aims to capture a small amount of detail in the model’s face for a much more interesting result.

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Colour correct photos in seconds

How to colour correct any image in Photoshop in less than 30 seconds

Colour correction in Photoshop can be notoriously tricky and time-consuming. But whether you’re a seasoned pro or absolute beginner, this incredibly simple yet powerful technique will allow you to colour correct photos in less than 30 seconds. This ultimately means less time fiddling with sliders and more time shooting and editing your shots to perfection.

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The Digital Darkroom: The Definitive Guide to Photo Editing

The Digital Darkroom: The Definitive Guide to Photo Editing by James Abbott

My first book, The Digital Darkroom: The Definitive Guide to Photo Editing, is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Through tutorials, you can become an editing expert and make your images stand out from the crowd while gaining a greater understanding of Adobe Photoshop and Affinity Photo; what it has to offer and how to harness its power.

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Online Lightroom & Photoshop workshops

Online Lightroom and Photoshop workshops via Zoom

In light of the events over the last year I have begun to offer online Lightroom & Photoshop workshops via Zoom. Learn how to get more from your photo editing software with a bespoke one-to-one Photoshop, Elements and Lightroom training. Online editing workshops are just as effective as in person using the share screen functionality of Zoom.

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Amateur Photographer cover 2 Jan 2021

Amateur Photographer magazine 2 January 2021

One of my images of the iconic Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye in Scotland was used on the cover of the 2nd January 2021 issue of Amateur Photographer magazine. The cover image accompanies an winter landscape photography article I produced, which included tips for shooting in winter and inclement weather where filters can’t be used. See below for the original image and the winter landscapes feature.

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Enhance detail and atmosphere with the Orton effect

Cwm Idwal waterfall, in Snowdonia North Wales, at sunset in winter edited with the Orton effect

Discover an advanced method of applying the Orton effect that keeps file sizes small and image quality at its best. I developed this refined technique myself in response to upgrading to a higher resolution camera, which meant the original technique created huge file sizes when saving layered images as TIFFs. And also, to deal with the problem of crushed shadows. This version solves both of these issues for the best results possible, and the tutorial works for Both Photoshop and Affinity Photo.

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Peak District dawn to dusk landscape photography workshop 24th Jan 2020

James Abbot Photography shooting at Stanage Edge in the Peak District. One-to-one workshops and small group landscape photography workshops.

Improve your landscape photography skills with a small group workshop in the Peak District with professional landscape photographer James Abbott on Friday 24th January 2020. The workshop will be limited to just five people so everyone can take advantage of lots of one-to-one and group tuition throughout the day. The workshop costs just £150 per person.

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