Three-point lighting on a budget: settings that work
A step-by-step guide to key, fill and back light placement, ratios in stops, and colour temperature, using one light, a reflector and a window if that’s all you own.
Techniques
Camera settings, exposure, autofocus and lighting, with cheat sheets you can use on location.
Mirrorless autofocus for fast action on Sony, Nikon and Canon
A step-by-step autofocus setup for fast action on the Sony a1 II, Nikon Z8 and Canon EOS R6 Mark II, with menu paths, a settings table and fixes.
YouTube export settings for Resolve, Premiere and Final Cut
A cheat sheet for exporting graded video to YouTube: bitrates by resolution, where each setting lives in Resolve, Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro, and how to avoid colour shifts.
How to control reflections on a glossy bottle with cards
A step-by-step method for shooting a glossy bottle on a tripod: read what the surface mirrors, then subtract with black cards and add with white or silver ones.
Why your f/1.8 background blur looks different from the tutorial
The f-number sets brightness, not blur. Sensor size, focal length and three distances decide how soft the background gets. Here are the steps and settings to match any tutorial look.
Shutter angle vs shutter speed: video settings that hold up
Set your shutter by angle or by the double-frame-rate rule, find the menu item on your camera, and avoid the flicker and blur mistakes that ruin otherwise clean footage.
YouTube export settings for Resolve, Premiere and Final Cut Pro
One export recipe for YouTube, applied in DaVinci Resolve 21, Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro: codec, bitrate, audio, colour tags, a settings table and the usual mistakes.
Three-point lighting on a budget: ratios, distances, and real settings
A step-by-step guide to key, fill and backlight ratios using one flash, one cheap LED and a reflector, with settings by situation.
The Two-Exposure Method for Reliable Flash Photography
Every flash photo is two exposures layered together. Here’s the fixed order of settings that gets you a correct one in any room, in about an hour of practice.
Autofocus for fast action: a settings cheat sheet for Sony, Canon, Nikon
A step-by-step guide to continuous AF, subject detection and tracking sensitivity, with menu paths and a by-situation settings table for three brands.