How to Bring Back Photoshop’s Old Free Transform Controls
Adobe recently changed how Free Transform works by default. It’s thrown a lot of users for a loop, but you can get the old Free Transform behavior back. Here’s how.
How to Take Square Photos on an iPhone
The updated iPhone camera app in iOS 14 has shuffled some settings and controls around. If you like to shoot square photos, don’t worry; the option is still there. Here’s how to do it.
What Is Lens Flare, and Why Does It Make Photos Look Weird?
Lens flare is an optical effect in which light is scattered inside the body of a camera lens and appears in a photo as an artifact or contrast-reducing haze. It’s usually undesirable, but sometimes, you might want to use it f…
How to Make the Most of Complications on Your Apple Watch
The Apple Watch can do a lot more than just tell time, track your activity, or show you notifications from your phone. With complications, it can display almost any information you want, or provide quick access to your favori…
What Is an F-Stop in Photography?
As smartphone cameras become more capable, technical photography jargon is slipping into mainstream conversations. An “f-stop” (or “f-number”) is a word you’re going to see more as smartphone manufacturers try to one-up eac…
Why Smartphones Can’t Take Blurry Background Photos
It’s impossible to take a photo with a sharp subject and a blurred background (like the one above) with your smartphone—at least without faking it. This is because of the ways in which smartphone cameras differ from large…
How to Take Photos in Burst Mode on Your iPhone
Burst mode is a great way to guarantee you get any action shot—but, as of iOS 14, it’s slightly hidden on the iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and newer devices. Here’s how to use it on a modern iPhone.
How to Take Good Photos in the Rain (and Other Wet Situations)
You don’t have to wait for clear, sunny days and good weather to take photos. In fact, going out in a rainstorm is a great way to get really interesting shots—as long as you look after your camera. Here’s how to do it s…
How to Change Instagram Fonts for Your Profile and Captions
While Instagram lets you use nine different fonts in your stories, you’re stuck with a single boring sans serif for your profile details, regular post captions, and comments. Here’s how you can side-step the limitations a…
Are Your Smartphone Photos Weird Colors? Here’s Why
Have you ever taken a photo with your smartphone and thought the colors looked nothing like those in front of you? Maybe it was way too orange or a bit too blue. Here’s why they look off, and what you can do about it….
What Is Bokeh in Photography, and How Do You Create It?
Bokeh is a term photographers throw around a lot. It refers to the shape and quality of the out-of-focus area in a photo. It’s most noticeable in how specular highlights and point lights are rendered, but it’s present eve…
What Does a Lens Hood Do, and When Should You Use One?
Almost every lens you can buy comes with a stiff plastic collar that fits on the front called a lens hood. Here’s what they do, why they’re important, and when you should use one.
Are Your Smartphone Photos Too Dark or Too Bright? Here’s Why
Ever take a photo of something with your smartphone that comes out much too dark or bright? Or, perhaps some parts of the image look good, but others have no details. Here’s what’s going on, and how you can fix it….
Why Aren’t Mirrorless Cameras Smaller?
The mirrorless camera was originally heralded as the smaller, lighter, more convenient alternative to the DSLR. However, if you look at the latest mirrorless cameras from Canon, Nikon, and (to a lesser extent) Sony, that hasn…
Should You Use a Lens Adapter with a Mirrorless Camera?
Mirrorless cameras aren’t the future, they’re the present. If you’re switching from an older DSLR, though, the obvious thing to do is just buy an adapter so you can keep using your old gear.
Are Your Smartphone Photos Blurry? Here’s Why
Sometimes, you might take what you think is a great photo with your smartphone, only to see afterward it’s all blurry. If that’s happening to you a lot, let’s take a look at what might be causing it….
How to Delete an Apple Watch Workout
Ever accidentally recorded a workout on your Apple Watch or end up with a duplicate you want to delete? Well, strangely, you can’t delete a workout from your Watch; you need to use your iPhone to do it. Here’s how….
What Is In-Body Image Stabilization (IBIS) on a Camera?
In-body image stabilization (IBIS) is one of the headline features of mirrorless cameras, like the Canon EOS R5, Canon EOS R6, Nikon Z7, and Sony A7 III. But what is it, how is it different from other kinds of image stabiliza…
What’s the Difference Between Digital and Optical Zoom?
Zoom, like a lot of camera specs, is a bit more complicated than advertising campaigns would have you believe. Smartphone manufacturers like Samsung are now boasting 10x, 50x, or even 100x zoom. But is this even possible? Le…
How to Improve GPS-Tracking Accuracy in Your Workout Apps
Tracking your runs, bike rides, and other workouts is fun because you can see how much you’re improving (or, in my case, dismally failing to improve). For it to be effective, though, you have to get the most accurate GPS resu…
How to Block Someone on Strava
Strava, like all social media apps, can reveal a huge amount of information about you. Even if you stop random strangers from stumbling across your home address, you might sometimes need to actively stop a specific person fro…
What Is a Periscope Lens for Smartphone Cameras?
The smartphone camera competition has always been a numbers game. Which company can boast the most megapixels, cameras, or (increasingly) zoom? When it comes to the laws of physics, though, optical zoom and thin phones just d…
Who Can See My Runs and Rides on Strava?
Strava is the biggest name in running and bike-ride tracking. However, it occasionally gets in trouble for revealing secret U.S. military bases or enabling doxing. If you use it, you might be wondering who exactly can see you…
How to Make a Run or Ride Private on Strava
Strava doesn’t have the best privacy reputation and, by default, all your activities are public and visible to everyone. However, you can change the privacy settings on any activity.
Why You Need a Graphics Tablet for Photoshop
A graphics tablet is a computer peripheral that enables you to use a pen or stylus to interact with your computer. They closely mimic pen and paper, making them useful for digital and comic book artists, photographers, design…
