One of the most effective ways to create the illusion of depth in your photographs is to use shapes and visual elements that “lead” the viewer’s eye into the composition. Leading elements can be just about anything, including lines, curves, or a progression of visual elements that encourage the eye to travel deeper into the scene. In this article and accompanying video, I'll focus on the most simple of these, showing you how to use leading lines to create compelling photo com

To master composition, one must learn to recognize, and establish relationships between, shapes (also known as forms). Shapes fill the space within the image frame and are the building blocks of image design. Our world contains a seemingly never-ending array of shapes (such as lines, curves, triangles, squares, spirals, rectangles, and circles). Learning how to recognize, identify, and work with all of these shapes—and, more critically, to find a way to make shapes work toget

All digital camera sensors produce digital noise. That noise is at its minimum when you use your camera’s base ISO. As you increase ISO, digital noise increases as well. With ISO invariant sensors, you end up with the same amount of noise whether you: Increase ISO to brighten your exposure. Keep ISO the same, underexpose the image, and then brighten it later in post. If that sounds confusing, don’t worry! To really understand ISO invariance, we need to start with some core pr

The New Year is right around the corner, which means many people around the world are setting fresh goals. It's as good a time as any to plan a creative reboot and nurture our artistry by starting new projects, learning from other photographers, and exploring new ways of seeing the world. I've found that the most effective resolutions are often the simplest ones. Instead of aiming for dramatic change, I prefer setting goals that consistently and steadily improve my photograph

Five weeks into my Mandarin studies, my teacher said, “Taya, don’t be afraid. Just speak without thinking.” I already knew the fundamentals by then, but my fear of not pronouncing every word correctly kept getting in the way. Her comment awakened something inside of me, a kind of bravery that I hadn’t felt in a long time. Reading a single word is a simple task, but overthinking and perfectionism blow it out of proportion.  That experience made me think about photography. How