There are many bargains available online when buying used camera gear, but always do your research before you part with your hard earned cash so you don’t end up with someone else’s junk.   1. Safety Beware of shonky dealers. Check their online rating and feedback and where possible try and meet them in person. Trust your gut. Ask questions like: What was the camera used for? Where and how was it stored? Are you the first owner? Why are you selling? Any mould, scratches, chips on the lens or sensor?   2. Check under the hood. Ask about how many actuations the camera has (this is a fancy way of saying shutter clicks). The shutter clicks (actuations) on a camera tell you how many times it has been used, much like the kms or miles a car has driven. Camera shutters have a lifespan depending on the model and...

I once knew a photographer, Richard Barrett (not his real name) whose work was absolutely perfect. Every single image was perfectly composed and sharp as a tack. Every pixel was exposed precisely and the post production was flawless. Technically, I could not fault his work. He was also a nice guy and yet his photography struggled to get noticed. Why? I believe it had to do with the way he ordered his wine… An Artist and a Scientist walk into a bar. The Scientist carefully studies the wine list and chooses a wine based on all the data he is given, including the region the grapes are grown in, the history of the wineries and the reviews of each bottle. The Artist orders the same bottle the people on a nearby table are drinking because that’s exactly what he feels like. I believe the way a photographer orders wine, or...

“Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave others feeling after having an experience with you becomes your trademark.” ― Jay Danzie

Do you find you get easily distracted by shiny things? I’m always looking for productivity hacks to keep me focused especially when I’m retouching images or writing. When I first saw this app, I was skeptical. I just didn’t get how a few nature sounds could possibly keep me focused and alert. I was so wrong! This app is brilliant. I use it when I’m retouching images and I’ve also used it to help me relax after a big day of shooting and it’s even great for power naps. Check it out here Give it a go and let me know what you think.

In an ideal world, I could photograph a man wearing a blue suit and a yellow cap, sitting in a red Fiat 500 (the coolest car ever made). I could use any camera, process it using any RAW file software, retouch on any computer and print it on any printer. The reds, blues, yellows and skin tones would be identical through the entire process. Sadly, we don’t live in that world. Cameras, monitors, software and printers speak different languages and see different versions of colours. This makes what should be the relatively simple exercise of photographing, post-processing and printing one of the most frustrating exercises possible. The good news there is a workaround. It’s a bit like a language interpreting service for colours. Introducing: colour management. Colour management, like the UN, gives all your devices consistent colour profiles (the way they see colour). The gorgeous red Fiat 500 I photographed...

The creative process: This is going to be awesome This is hard This sucks I suck This might be okay This is awesome

Here are my top time-saving Lightroom shortcuts to speed up your workflow. In this tutorial I’ll show you: how to quickly select images using auto advance mode. the best way to use Lightroom if you are working on a laptop. the quickest way to undo mistakes. how to view before and after images. how to switch between modules and access my favorite tools.

I have a confession to make. I have a substance abuse problem – I’m addicted to light modifiers. I know, I know, it’s not very sexy right? I mean, most women are addicted to shoes and handbags, but shoes and handbags don’t do it for me like a good softbox does. If you ask any woman why she needs 300 pairs of shoes she will be able to justify each purchase. Ditto for my light modifier collection. My addiction started out as something fairly harmless. It started with a small purchase that I made with friends one night. No harm done, but then I started to buy gear alone. My name is Gina Milicia and I’m a gear-aholic. It had been a long week. I’d just come off a series of grueling back-to-back shoots. I was exhausted but couldn’t sleep. My mind was running at a million miles an hour...

I’ve got a confession to make. I’m a very convincing liar. I wasn’t born with this skill, it was developed in my childhood and perfected in my teen years. I learnt this skill out of necessity. I was raised by a very strict Sicilian born mother, who decided that it was in my very best interest to not date boys or go to parties until I was at least 18 years old. I became a master “liar, liar pants on fire”. The trick to becoming a convincing liar is believing your own spin. I would come up with a story to tell my mother and visualised myself in the situation as I told it. I didn’t know this at the time, but learning the fine art of lying to a Sicilian mother puts you in roughly the same rank as a secret agent. The slightest change in vocal tonality, tilt...

Quote “Every single day, in every walk of life, ordinary people do extraordinary things.” – Jim Valvano