Camera Basics

RAW vs. JPEG, Crop vs. Full-Frame, Mirrorless vs. DSLR: What Actually Matters for Your Shooting
Video Tutorials

RAW vs. JPEG, Crop vs. Full-Frame, Mirrorless vs. DSLR: What Actually Matters for Your Shooting

Every Sunday I do a photo walk around Seattle before the city wakes up. Over the years, the questions I get asked most often have nothing to do with composition or light. They’re always about the gear decisions that feel overwhelming before you even lift the camera: Should I shoot RAW or JPEG? Does my crop sensor camera put me at a disadvantage? Should I switch to mirrorless? These questions stall people before they even start shooting, and honestly, I spent way too long feeling uncertain about some of them myself.

Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO: How to Finally Use All Three Together
Video Tutorials

Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO: How to Finally Use All Three Together

The question I get most often from beginners is some version of this: “I read about aperture and I think I get it, but then I touch the shutter speed and everything falls apart.” That sentence used to describe me too, back when I was fumbling through my first DSLR on a trip to Iceland, watching perfectly good golden-hour light tick by while I poked through menus. What I needed back then was someone to explain not just what each setting does, but why they only make sense as a group.

Getting Started with the Fujifilm GFX100 II: What Every Photographer Needs to Know First
Video Tutorials

Getting Started with the Fujifilm GFX100 II: What Every Photographer Needs to Know First

There’s a moment every photographer knows. You’ve just invested in a serious piece of gear, the box is open, and you’re staring at a camera that costs more than some used cars. You want to skip straight to shooting. But if you skip the fundamentals, you’ll spend weeks shooting on default settings that don’t reflect what the camera can actually do. I’ve been there, and it’s frustrating in a way that’s completely avoidable.

Canon R1 Basics You Actually Need to Know Before You Shoot a Single Frame
Video Tutorials

Canon R1 Basics You Actually Need to Know Before You Shoot a Single Frame

Every time I get a new camera, I make the same mistake. I skip the fundamentals because I assume I already know them, and then two weeks later I’m standing somewhere beautiful with the wrong settings baked into a thousand raw files. That habit has cost me more good shots than I’d like to admit. When I sat down with John Greengo’s Canon R1 tutorial series, I was genuinely surprised by how much useful groundwork he lays in just the second section.