Why Your Black and White Photos Look Flat — and How to Give Them Depth Black and white photography looks simple from the outside. A lot of people think you can take any photo, remove the color, add a little contrast, and...

Mastering Light: Why Natural and Artificial Light Are Both Important in Photography Light is everything in photography. You can have a great subject, an expensive camera, and a beautiful location, but if the light is wrong, the photo...

Stop Fearing the Dark: My No-Nonsense Guide to Mastering Light By David Bathgate, Founder of The Compelling ImageI was sitting in this hole-in-the-wall cafe in Paris about twelve years ago. It was one of those pla...

The Ethics of the Street: How to Photograph Strangers Without Feeling Like a Vulture By David Bathgate, Founder of The Compelling Image I want to tell you about a mistake I made in a crowded market in Old Delhi about fifteen years ...

How to Shoot in Manual Mode: My 30-Day Roadmap to Your Creative Control By David Bathgate, Founder of The Compelling Image You bought a professional-grade camera because you wanted to take professional-grade photograph...

The 2026 Street Photography Gear Guide: What You Actually Need (and What You Don’t) By David Bathgate, Founder of The Compelling ImageIn my thirty years as a photojournalist, I’ve carried cameras through the crowded markets of K...