YouTube Videos

Ansel Adams (and Fred Archer) defined the zone system to represent the range of tones in a black and white image in1939, way before digital was even imagined. In this video we look at a way in which the zone system can be helpful today, to digital photographers and how it can be used to control exposure in Nik Silver Efex.

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make when editing black and white photos is not editing enough or over-editing. It’s easy to get carried away with sliders, thinking that stronger contrast, darker blacks, or brighter highlights will automatically make the image more powerful. Unfortunately, the opposite is often true—over-editing can destroy the natural balance of a photo, leaving it harsh, unrealistic, or even unrecognizable.  In black and white photography, every adjustment matters more because there’s no colour to hide behind. Beginners often push the contrast too far, resulting in pure blacks and blown-out whites that strip away subtle details. The mid tones, which carry most of the texture and emotion in monochrome images, can get crushed or flattened, leaving the photo looking either muddy or overly dramatic in an artificial way.

Black and white minimalism is more than just a design style—it’s a way of creating clarity, balance, and impact through the simplest of elements. In this video, we explore how the contrast of black and white can transform everyday visuals into powerful statements. From graphic design and architecture to fashion and photography, minimalism in black and white strips away distractions, leaving only what truly matters.

Dodging and burning are essential post-processing techniques in photography and digital art that play a crucial role in enhancing the three-dimensionality of an image. These methods involve selectively lightening (dodging) or darkening (burning) specific areas of a photo to emphasize depth, form, and structure—essentially mimicking how light interacts with real-world objects.  By brightening highlights and deepening shadows, you create contrast and tonal separation that make flat images appear more lifelike. This sculpting with light helps define contours, such as cheekbones in portraits or textures in landscapes, drawing the viewer’s eye to key elements and enhancing the overall visual impact. It's particularly effective in black and white photography, where colour can't be used to separate subjects from the background.

Viewing lighting, a free test image and a $15 light meter let you get consistent great looking B&W prints wherever you are displaying them. No more prints coming out too dark, why it happened and how I make sure my black and white photos and art prints look the way I want them to on the walls of my home. The easy way to fix dark print problems.

Learn how to quickly create dramatic black-and-white images in Adobe Lightroom with no complex masking required!

In this Lightroom tutorial, I show you how to edit Black and White images with perfect contrast and no loss in detail using a new technique with impressive results.

n this video, we create a dramatic black-and-white image, while using some of my day-to-night techniques to add more interest, also I show you how to increase the depth of an image using different lighting techniques.

How to create the perfect Black and White Images, that is a bold title ! the simple truth for me is using Nik Collections Silver Efex Pro software. You may have seen a number of my videos where I use Silver Efex Pro to create wonderful Black and White images.

Create a Dramatic Black and White processed image from a difficult Photograph

Optimise Your Prints: Exploring the Canon PRO-310 Colour Optimiser Ink [aka Chroma Optimiser]. Discover how to enhance your photo prints and achieve superior quality with the Canon PRO-310's Colour Optimiser (CO) ink in this insightful video by Keith Cooper from Northlight Images. Learn about the CO ink, its benefits, and practical applications in improving print consistency. This ink is also used with other Canon printers. These include the Canon PRO-300, PRO-310, PRO-1000, PRO-1100, PRO-2000, PRO-2100, PRO-2600. For all modern Canon pigment ink printers.

Hints and tips for preparing images to send to a lab for printing

Simple fixes and tips for photo editing and printing

Dark, muddy prints are a common problem when printing photos; especially when using matte, rag, or other types of fine art photography paper. Why is that? And what can be done to fix it? Let's find out.

Print matching. Simple, easy technique to better match print vs screen brightness. Fix problems of dark prints, without needing full monitor calibration. Viewing light for prints.

Have you ever taken your ISO to the limit?

I'm going to show you how Lightroom’s masking tools can honestly transform your photos by making your subjects stand out. You'll learn how to create a natural glow that adds depth and impact to your images with this awesome masking trick.

Here is how to create this Dark, grey Color Grading with some Lightroom Classic Photo Editing!

Very often you may travel to a location to capture great images, but the weather can be against you, here I traveled to Holland hoping for a nice sunrise, but instead, I was greeted with a rather dull overcast sky and lighting, however, this does not mean all is lost as these types of condition can still lead to an opportunity for a dramatic Black & White image. So in this video, I will take you through how this can be done using Lightroom and Silver Effects Pro.

Camera Basics

Camera Basics

Camera Basics

Camera Basics

Aperture is one of the fundamental parts of photography that every photographer ought to know about. In this video, I break down and explain what aperture is all about, which apertures are the best to use in different situations, how the sharpness of the photo depends on the aperture and what effects you can create with different apertures.

Focussing correctly is key to getting sharp images - are you focussing in the right place?

Choosing the right ISO is easy if you follow these simple steps.

In this video Nigel goes out and photographs his local woodland at nighttime and the results are surprising!

The day the Tour de France visited Otley in 2014. The video was made by our good friend Mark Currie at Catapult Films. Includes some content  from OCC members: david Ricketts and Andy Hoyle.

The day the Tour de France visited Otley in 2014. This is the show we made and presented at `otley Courthouse to the residents of Otley, We had three packed shows.