I gave AI one portrait of myself to try the new image generation features.

What did I prompt?

🎨 25 Style Prompts to Find Your Visual Voice

Want a head start? Here are 25 prompts based on the styles I tested—plus a few curveballs worth exploring.

Try these directly in ChatGPT:

Clear answers to your top photography questions: best lenses for portraits and weddings, smart camera-buying tips, mastering white balance, handling harsh sunlight, and proven strategies to gain clients fast. Ideal for beginners and aspiring pros—get unstuck and grow your photography skills today!

Ever found yourself spiraling because a client used an awful filter on your photos—and you assumed they did it to undermine your artistry? Or you took a critique as a personal attack and responded with a defensive explanation instead of empathy and grace? If this sounds familiar, you’re not just damaging your reputation—you’re actively hurting your business.

By helping empower people to step in front of your camera, you yourself become higher value as a photographer.

Photography is a gift, and photographers who show effort are the ones who tend give the gift of photography to more clients.

So you want more expressive couples? More visually interesting stories to tell about the people you photograph?

Well here's how I go about it. Quite frankly, sometimes it feels like we're having too much fun at our sessions.

Over worked, under paid, burnt out, under appreciated, and eye strain from editing. And you get the text: "Sorry, we ended up booking another photographer." If there even is a text.

It hurts.

We always hear "in order to increase your prices, you have to add more value"...

Great...

How?

Remember, your dream client is already voting with their dollar. Listing prices with photoshoots is a sure sign you're actively branding your photography business like a commodity. Try converting a photo session into an offer so good, your dream client would feel crazy saying no.

I’ve read a lot of books centered on a few topics. Business development, personal development, spirituality, health, autobiographies, and memoirs. The following list is my growing list of books I think every creative business owner should read at least once.

Every book listed has made me a better businessperson, partner, and human.

What this breakdown will actually teach you:

1. The exact settings we used in Lightroom—so you’re not left guessing or “eyeballing it.”

2. A step-by-step breakdown of how we shaped the image—exposure, tone curves, grain, and everything in between.

3. specific refinements that turned a one-click preset into an artwork with emotion and depth.

What this tutorial gives you:

• 🛠 The exact settings we used in Lightroom.

• ⚙️ A full breakdown—from exposure to tone curves to grain.

• 🎯 Plus the 5 refinements we made to turn the one-click preset into a finished masterpiece.

You can follow along step-by-step—

or skip the trial-and-error and grab the Lightroom Preset Playground, which includes Sunset Blvd and a bunch of other ready-to-click styles.

You want to achieve that cinematic, dark and moody look in your portraits? Today, we're diving into an easy-to-follow, step-by-step editing breakdown!

Dark and moody edits can transform a simple portrait into something cinematic and powerful—but if your edit is looking flat, lifeless, or just solid brown, you’re not alone. Many photographers struggle with achieving the right balance of contrast, color, and depth to make their moody edits pop.

Lets dive in!

In this tutorial, I’m breaking down exactly how I edited this neon-lit arcade portrait to achieve a deep, cinematic contrast with rich, moody blacks and a refined color grade.

The Tone Curve is one of the most powerful tools in Lightroom, but for many beginners, it can feel like a mysterious and intimidating graph. If you’ve ever clicked on it, moved a few points, and suddenly wrecked your entire edit. Same...

This guide breaks it all down in a way that makes sense. By the end, you’ll know how to read the tone curve, use it for contrast and color grading, and even create that cinematic matte look that makes photos feel like a scene from a movie.

I know you've seen the histogram, maybe even read a tip or two about how you should be using it. But how many of us actually understand what it’s telling us? If you’ve been ignoring this powerful tool, you might be missing out on crucial information that help with your creative process.

If you’re a histogram expert already, rock on! But if you’re like the many photographers who have messaged me this week asking about it, this guide is for you. Let’s break it down step by step.

I'm going to walk you through the step-by-step process I used to edit this romantic wedding photo. This photo was taken at sunset with pretty harsh sunlight. Let’s work on it together!

First, I experimented with some of my custom Lightroom presets. I knew I wanted a moody, low-contrast look to match the harsh sunset lighting, so I went with my "Moody 02 Low Contrast" preset as a starting point. From there, I started fine-tuning the color and contrast.