This “photography edition” (photography videos every Thursday, post-processing/photoshop videos every Monday - see this post for more details) of the “Video Corner” discusses how your lens choices impact your portraits. Short (wide) lenses can cause distortion and an unrealistic perspective, while longer (zoom) lenses have a narrower angle of view, which helps you avoid capturing too much of the background. In addition, longer lenses allow you to compose multiple shots from the same location.

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.

The third of three videos in the series “Understanding Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO” (you can watch part 1 on shutter speed here, and part 2 on the aperture here) discusses ISO - what it is, how it works, and what happens when you change your camera settings from a low ISO setting (50-100) to a mid-range ISO setting (400-800) to a high ISO setting (800 and beyond).

The 2nd video in the three-part series “Understanding Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO” (you can view part 1 here) focuses on the aperture. The 6-minute video below discusses what the aperture is, how it works, and what it means to have a large verses small aperture.

The video below is part 1 of 3 videos we’ll get to see over the next couple of weeks on shutter speed, aperture and ISO. The first video specifically looks at understanding shutter speed - what the shutter does, how it works, and how changing the shutter speed changes what your photographs look like. The video also looks at the different effects and outcomes you can create in your photographs by adjusting the shutter speed.

The first Contest Corner Challenge since the completion of the 2008 Photograph of the Year contest, CCC#61: Lights, Camera, Action! is now complete. 17 photographs were entered, but only 1 remains: Video Circa 1960 by cup4tml. Congratulations, Doug - this is a fantastic photograph that really does depict the theme of “video.”

Thanks to one of the biggest tutorial / article / product reviews contributors to the Corner Resource Center, Erik Bernskiold, we have 5 new video tutorials for you to enjoy. Take a look at the 5 video tutorials all about Adobe Lightroom 2 below, and make sure to drop by the discussion thread (link at the bottom of each tutorial) to discuss/comment and thank Erik for putting these together.

The entries are in, and now it’s time to vote. In our first Contest Corner Challenge since 2008, photographers were challenged to “capture video in a photograph.” Seventeen photographers stepped up to the plate.

A couple of days ago we announced some of the changes to the Contest Corner Challenges for this year. Yesterday, we announced the first Contest Corner Challenge of 2009 with CCC#61: Lights, Camera, Action!

As I mentioned about a week ago, with the release of Adobe Photoshop Express, Erik Bernskiold (a moderator here at the Corner), has put together a video review/tutorial series for us that covers every aspect of the new, online tool from Adobe.

Unlike it’s older brother Photoshop, Photoshop Express is more aimed towards the casual photographer, not at the professional photographer. That being said, it’s still a great tool to use on the go. If you just want to quickly clean up an image, or maybe you’re not at your “post-processing computer,” or your at someone else’s house and you left your laptop behind - it’s a quick and easy way to do some basic photo editing. To check out Photoshop Express for yourself, visit www.photoshopexpress.com. Below, I have embedded the first video in the series, as well as links to the other 12 (yes there are 13 videos in the series - wow!). Thanks for all the hard work, Erik!

Adobe Photoshop Express, the long-awaited, free online image editor was released as a public beta on Thursday. Unlike it’s older brother Photoshop, Photoshop Express is more aimed towards the casual photographer, not at the professional photographer. That being said, it’s still a great tool to use on the go. If you just want to quickly clean up an image, or maybe you’re not at your “post-processing computer,” or your at someone else’s house and you left your laptop behind - it’s a quick and easy way to do some basic photo editing. Our very own Erik Bernskiold has decided to do a complete review/tutorial video series for us which we will be posting over the next couple of days.

Amy Renfrey, our regular Articles By Amy author, takes a break from writing and gives us a quick (7ish minutes) video tutorial on indoor photograph when lighting is usually not perfect. For more video’s by Amy, check out her Digital Photography Success e-book and video package.

Instead of an article this week, Amy has put together a video on “White Balance Basics.” Check it out an let Amy and I know what you think in the comments.

If you haven’t seen this video released by Kodak on YouTube yet, you’re really missing out… I’d describe the video to you and comment on it, but it’s probably just as easy for me to show it to you (gotta love new technology, eh?), and honestly, it really speaks for itself (if you find it starts out boring, just wait to the 45-50 second mark… trust me).