Twice a week, on Monday and Thursday, the Corner Blog features a new photography or post-processing instructional video (the “Photoshop Monday” and “Photography Thursday” Video Corner videos). We’ve been posting up a new video twice a week for about half-a-year so far, and based on the number of views and reactions, they are consistantly among the most popular blog posts each week. For those that are new to the site or haven’t been following along, we’ve got the first bunch of “Photography Thursday” vidoes listed below for you to catch up on. Everything from how to use lighting properly, to equipment, to tips and techniques for photographing specific animals, insects and birds. Enjoy!

Twice a week, on Monday and Thursday, the Corner Blog features a new photography or post-processing instructional video (the “Photoshop Monday” and “Photography Thursday” Video Corner videos). We’ve been posting up a new video twice a week for about half-a-year so far, and based on the number of views and reactions, they are consistantly among the most popular blog posts each week. For those that are new to the site or haven’t been following along, we’ve got the first bunch of “Photoshop Monday” vidoes listed below for you to catch up on. On Thursday, we’ll do a recap of the first bunch of “Photography Thursday” videos, and we’ll start back in with new videos next week. So open up Photoshop and Lightroom (or other equivalent post-processing programs), and start learning some of the great techniques listed below!

Over the past several weeks we’ve had the chance to have some fantastic videos in a new series here on the Corner Blog we simply call “Video Corner.” After some discussion with the community, we’ve decided to make this a regular series on the Corner Blog. Twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, we’ll post up a new video. Mondays will feature post-processing related videos (Photoshop tips, tricks & techniques, etc) and Thursdays will feature photography-related videos (cameras, lighting, equipment, etc). You’re encouraged, of course, to try out the techniques introduced in the videos throughout the week, and even share your thoughts and sample photos in the comments section of each video (requires you to have a free account at PhotographyCorner - register here).

Many of the post-processing tutorials will be done using Adobe products like Photoshop and Lightroom, however most techniques can be repeated with other post-prcessing software such as Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate (on sale for $49.99 at Amazon.com here), GIMP (which can be downloaded for free here), and even Adobe Photoshop Elements. The photography-related videos will have a wide range of topics which will include specific pieces of equipment (lighting, cameras, etc), but will also cover a variety of techniques which can be broadly applied to every photographer.

A week ago, we held a Corner Community Chat with the open-ended topic of “Questions & Answers.” All-in-all, 40-50 people showed up over the 2-hour chat, and we had a great discussion. Sure, some of the chit chat was purely socializing, but is that what it’s really all about? We get a chance a couple times of month to just chat with other photographers. We did touch on some great questions, though, which are outlined below (but if you want the full scoop on what goes on in each chat, you’ll have to show up - I can’t give away everything in the recap, right?).

For those that missed it, on Wednesday, September 24th we had a Corner Community Chat. The topic? Photography Business Basics. We had 40+ people show up throughout the 2-hour-long chat which featured a lot of random chat and banter, but we also worked through some great questions and answers about the business of photography. There were well over 1,500 messages over the course of the chat (that's about a new post every 5 seconds!), and a fair portion of the chat was not necessarily on topic (though I must say, it's a lot of fun just chating with a bunch of other people who love photography about photography), so I'm not going to post the entire chat. Instead, I've printed out the transcript (29 pages, 12pt font, single-spaced), and gone through and created a summary for you. Now you won't feel so left out if you missed the chat. Oh, and don't forget to continue the discussion in the comments - especially if you have further "questions" or "answers" you'd like to add.

A couple of days after each Corner Community Chat, I’m going to post a recap here on the blog for those of you that were unable to attend. Our chat on September 10th, 2008 was more of just a meet and greet chat, though, so there’s not really much to recap (unless you count such important topics like: alcoholic drink recipes, baseball, the SmugMug Scavenger Hunt #1, where we live, Ramadan, Halloween, vacations, pets, coffee, and a bunch of other random stuff). We did hit on a couple of “photography-related” topics, however; but nothing you couldn’t already find in the forums.

I know this post is a little late, considering the chat was over 2 weeks ago, but better late than never, right? For those of you that were in the 2 chats we held a couple of weeks ago, this will be a bit of a review, but for those of you that couldn’t make it (we held one at 2pm and one at 7pm EST), here’s what we talked about:

Over the past 7-8 months we’ve featured 28 great SmugMug photographers in our weekly feature “SmugMug Corner.” This week, instead of an interview (and don’t worry, there are lots more coming), we take a quick look back at the past interviews.

Over the past 3 months we’ve featured 14 great SmugMug photographers in our weekly feature SmugMug Corner. This week, instead of an interview (and don’t worry, there are lots more coming), we take a quick look back at the past interviews.