I’m on my way to Los Angeles California for a quick holiday and I just bought my ticket for the L.A. Zoo. I have to admit that I haven’t been to many zoos. I’m always conflicted when I go there. Seeing animals in small enclosures like slaves breaks my heart but at the same time, I can’t deny the education those zoos give us, especially children. They create an awareness of how precious, diversified and beautiful life is. That we need to take care of it or else…

It’s also a great opportunity to photograph animals that we would probably never see otherwise.  Zoo photography can be a Continue Reading »

It’s raining right now… actually it’s pouring.  Which made me think that it would be a great tutorial idea to give you my tricks for shooting in the rain.

It’s not because it’s raining that you can’t go out and shoot.  Some great photography was done in the rain. Not a lot of people do it  because they think it’s “bad” weather. Water creates wonderful photography opportunities just like getting up at 4am to shoot the sunrise. It,s a unique experience that every passionate of photography must try. You won’t see rainy days the same way ever again.

But before you go out with your precious camera Continue Reading »

I don’t know about you but not long after playing with my brand new Nikon Coolpix 4500 many years ago, I was already dreaming of owning a DSLR. Then the day came…. my very own Nikon D70! Boy, was I a happy camper! Off course, I took it with the kit lens which was a Nikkor 18-70mm. I didn’t know much about lenses back then. But I had read that this lens was a good (but not great) average lens.  And I was happy with it most of the time. But….

Owning a DSLR means you’ll eventually be getting more lenses so that you can explore and develop your creativity. But which lenses to get? There are so many out there. And Continue Reading »

It’s time for another “steps” photography tutorial. This one is a bit special though. A few weeks ago I decided you give you guys an assignment, the first ever here on Yanik’s Photo School: give me 1 tip for great family portraits. 4 of you responded and I’ve included your great tips bellow.  Not a bad response number considering that most people never post comments.

Of course, I’ve expanded on the steps just a bit. So let’s get right to it, shall we….

Step 1 – Greet everyone. Don’t forget to greet every single person that will be in the shoot, even the children. You need to create a rapport will all of them. Children are often forgotten and they do feel left out. Of course this will affect Continue Reading »

OK. The real title should have read: 10 Steps to Perfect Smooth and Silky Waterfall, Cascade and River Shots but that was just too long!

I just love taking photos of water, especially moving water. And autumn is my favorite season to shoot waterfalls, streams and cascades. The weather’s cooling down, the trees turn to fire and it’s cloudy more often. And since autumn is upon us, I thought I would share with you what you need to do to get that perfect waterfall shot.

This article is part of my “STEPS” series of tutorials. You can Continue Reading »

Summer is here and when we say summer, we think holidays, weekends at the cottage and romantic walks in the park. And what better opportunities to take sunrise and sunset photos! You’ll probably be taking quite a few sunsets (and maybe just a few less sunrises ) so why not get a head start. Lets go through some of the basics together. Feel free to post your sunset/sunrise photos to share.

I’ve listed 7 steps to make it more “userfriendly” and easier to Continue Reading »

I know you’ve been waiting for this article after reading the “5 Reasons to Upgrade to a DSLR Camera”. Since my powers of persuasion are beyond those of the best hypnotists, you’re just itching to buy one! But before you rush to the B&H store to purchase your new toy, you need to go through most if not all of these 10 steps to make sure you purchase the right camera for YOU. These steps aren’t in any specific order.

Step 1 – It’s a Question of Feeling: The first thing you need to do IS to rush down to your local photography store! Yup! You gotta take those cameras for a test drive. Ask to see the various models and hold them. Feel them in your hands. Look through the Continue Reading »

I’m an animal lover. That’s one of the reasons we moved out to the country last year. And since then, I’ve been blessed by having the best neighbors in the world: animals! Of course my camera’s been going crazy shooting anything that moves around here. I’ve often been asked, “Yanik, how do you get those lovely bird shots?” and I thought I would share with you a few tips to help you shoot birds or any other critter from a distance. Here we go.

1 - Patience. Yes, that’s right! Patience. These aren’t models in your studio that you can just direct… “move a little more to the left”, “tilt your head to the right”…. you have to wait for them. And once they’re there, you have to wait for the right pose, the right branch, the right light. I can take hundreds for chickadee shots a day but only have Continue Reading »