Shooting with a shallow depth of field has become so popular in the last few years that it’s almost become a cliché. But it remains something that’s very much in demand. Fast f/1.4 and f/1.2 lenses can be extremely expensive, though, and so very difficult for people to achieve with their f/slow-slower kit lenses, especially if working with APS-C or Micro Four Thirds sensors. In this video, Unmesh Dinda from PiXImperfect shows us a way to simulate shallow depth of field in Photoshop using the Iris Blur filter on a smart object, with a neat tip to offer a lot more control over the Iris Blur filter than you might’ve realised it offered....

All the time, I see new flash and strobe owners ask “How do I fire these things?, which isn’t an unreasonable question. For speedlights, it’s fairly straightforward. You buy the one that fits your camera’s hotshoe, slide it on, and beyond that you read the manual to figure out what all the different functions do. But what if you want to get it off your camera, or you’re using studio strobes?...

I’m always asked why I use flash outdoors and the answer is quite simple. The natural light doesn’t always give me what I want. Sometimes I want to complement or augment it and sometimes I want to override it completely. There’s nothing wrong with natural light and I use that too when it looks good, but yeah… It just doesn’t always look the way I want it to. But how can you work with flash outdoors and still have it look natural when shooting things like weddings or portraits?...

I never really done much light painting before, always liked the idea of it but somehow have just never got round to it, or found the right subject for it. Also I’m not hugely keen on wandering about in the dark, tripping over all the crap I have left lying around on the studio floor (note to self: tidy up floor!). Anyway a couple of weekends ago I was playing about with some ideas for a new portfolio shot involving a wall clock....

Photographer Dustin Dolby is known for his comprehensive tutorials all of us can try out at home. After a series of excellent wine photography tutorials, he has issued the latest one – about photographing glassware with minimal gear, but professional results. You need to pour that wine into something, right? Like his previous setups, this one also involves some pretty basic gear – a camera with a kit lens, a strip box with a speedlight adapter, a speedlight and a commander unit....