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Warning: Avoid This Scam Targeting Photographers

26 Jul

Over at All Things Photo, I’ve shared a video detailing a scam targeting photographers selling prints online. Also included in the video are 7 tips to avoid being scammed online. While the video is on the long side it’s worth a listen to protect yourself and learn the limitations of fraud protection with your bank and insurance companies. If you’re driving you can also listen to the podcast recording via the All Things Photo podcast.

If you haven’t already I welcome you to follow All Things Photo on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

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Why You Should Avoid Shooting at Small Apertures Like F18 to F40

26 Jul

The bigger the number, the better, right? Wrong! The aperture is a strange thing and one you may find difficult to understand in depth. The first weird thing is that large numbers means a small apertures. It is very counter-intuitive.

In this article, you will learn a couple of quirky details about aperture and why you should avoid shooting in the top range of f/18 to f/40.

ocean view and cliff - Why You Should Avoid Shooting at Small Apertures Like F18 to F40

The aperture plays a significant role in two different equations. The first one defines the exposure and the other one controls the depth of field.

Changing the aperture will change both the exposure settings as well as the depth of field. In some cases, you can take advantage of that, in particular, if you are a landscape or cityscape photographer.

The advantages of small apertures

Two common goals for a landscape or cityscape photographers are:

To get everything within the frame in focus.
Get longer exposure times to blur moving objects like water or moving cars.

It happens so, that these two goals go hand in hand with aperture. If you set your camera to a smaller aperture (that is a larger f-number), you will get a greater depth of field. At the same time, you will also get longer exposure times.

The photo below is a photo of a mountain lake in France. It serves as a classic example of what you as a landscape photographer may experience in the field.

mountain scene France - Why You Should Avoid Shooting at Small Apertures Like F18 to F40

You want the foreground to be in focus as well as the mountains in the background. On top of that, you want the water to be smooth. It requires longer exposure times to smooth small ripples on the surface.

To get a longer exposure times, you can attach a Neutral Density Filter on your lens. If your filters are not quite enough, you can also lower the aperture to f/22 or whatever is the smallest your lens can do.

The depth-of-field is maximized at f/22 or smaller if your lens allows it. So this magically goes hand in hand and everything seems great.

However, a couple of things happen, when you stop a lens down all the way to f/22 or even lower.

Problem #1: Small apertures reveal dust on your sensor

The first problem that arises is that the dust spots you have on your sensor becomes painfully visible. Almost any camera, even with a freshly cleaned sensor, will have dust spots.

Why You Should Avoid Shooting at Small Apertures Like F18 to F40

Dust spots clearly visible due to a small aperture.

Dust spots are annoying because you have to clone them out later in the post-processing and if you have many dust spots this is a real pain. For this reason alone, you may want to avoid f/22.

Problem #2: Small apertures lose sharpness

The other problem may a surprise to you. The dust spots are annoying, but not more that. At f/40 you can’t even shoot a sharp photo! But even at f/22, there are problems.

200% crop of a blurry image at f/22.

This is a 200% close-up of the unprocessed RAW photo of the French lake above, which was shot at f/22. As you can see the photo is not quite sharp. There is a softness to it and it is not a focus problem, but something entirely different.

This lens, a Nikon 16-35mm f/4, cannot produce anything sharper than this at f/22. You can work on this in the post-processing stage by applying some sharpness, and get something that seems reasonably sharp, but it is not really that good.

200% crop of the final processed image.

Some harsh post-processing has made the image seem sharper. But had the RAW photo been sharper in the first place, this would have been a much better result.

Below are some examples shot using a Sony 24-240mm lens at 240mm on a Sony a7R II body, shot from a sturdy tripod.

This lens is not the sharpest one in town, but for a superzoom, it is one of the best I have seen. At 240mm f/6.3 (wide open – it is no fast lens) through to f/40 (fully stopped down).

1/320th at f/6.3

1/160th at f/9.0

1/80th at f/13

1/40th at f/18

1/15th at f/29

1/8th at f/40

Have a look at this series as the aperture lowers. At f/9 the lens is at its sharpest and then sharpness begins to decline. Even at f/13, it is not super sharp, but still fixable. At f/18 the lens begins to lose details and at f/40 you can no longer tell the bricks from each other.

Why they even bother providing f/40 on a lens such as this, is a mystery. So what is going on? This is much worse than a few dust spots and it is NOT fixable.

Diffraction is the problem

What happens is that you run into the laws of physics and there is nothing you can do about it. When you stop down your lens, the hole the light passes through inside the lens becomes smaller and smaller. That’s why it’s called a smaller aperture.

When the hole gets small enough you run into trouble with one of the laws of physics which is called diffraction.

Shot at f/22 on a full frame camera. Sharpness is not optimal.

In layman terms, what happens is that the light spreads out a bit when it passes through a small hole. The light intended for one receptor (one pixel) on the sensor spreads a little bit to its neighbors. The result is an unsharp photo.

And the smaller the hole, the bigger the problem, which is exactly what you see at f/40 above. Diffraction begins around f/22, but even as the lens is closing in on f/22 the sharpness is declining.

What is the minimum usable aperture?

So what is the minimum f-stop or aperture you should use? Or phrased not be misunderstood, what is the largest f-number you should use?

All lenses behave differently, but the laws of physics are constant. Some lenses are sharpest at f/5.6 while others may be sharpest at f/9.0, as was the case with the Sony 24-240mm lens. This has to do with the design of the lens.

15mm at f/8 on a full frame camera.

What is common for most lenses, is that they produce the sharpest photos somewhere in the middle range, from f/7.1 to f/13 (called the sweet spot). What is certain for all lenses is that as the aperture gets smaller (bigger f-number) beyond f/13, the worse the lens performs in terms of sharpness.

Diffraction becomes a problem around f/22 and the lens will become increasingly less sharp. The Sony lens takes diffraction pretty hard while a Nikon 28-300mm I also own is less pronounced.

The title of this article suggests that you should avoid using f/18-f/40. Why do I say f/18?

It is a gradual change, but personally, I have stopped going beyond f/16, simply because I find the photos too soft. You can never make them tack sharp, and you have to process them pretty hard to get something fairly sharp and acceptable.

Why You Should Avoid Shooting at Small Apertures Like F18 to F40 - park bench and scenic view

The best way to find your personal limit on your favorite lens is to put your camera on a tripod and shoot test shots at f/11, f/13, f/16, f/18 and f/22 or even further down if your lens has those apertures.

Look at the photos at 200%. Notice the sharpness difference and decide what your limit should be. Memorize that and just be sure not to go below that aperture.

The compromises

Photography is full of compromises and now you have a couple more you have to make. As I established at the beginning of this article, there are some good reasons why you want to go for small apertures, but they come at a price of lack of sharpness and dust spots.

You may want to reduce the dust spot problem, I know I do. If you stay around f/8 the dust spots will not be very pronounced. However, the shutter speed will be much faster than at f/16 and the depth of field much less as well.

You can affect the shutter speed by attaching a 2-stop Neutral Density filter, which will produce the same shutter speed as f/16 but shooting at f/8.

Why You Should Avoid Shooting at Small Apertures Like F18 to F40 - large chain links

Another solution

You can solve the problem of getting everything in focus by shooting more than one photo. One having the foreground in focus and one having the background in focus and then blending these two photos.

This technique is called focus stacking. Whether that is easier than fixing dust spots is something you will have to decide for yourself.

Why You Should Avoid Shooting at Small Apertures Like F18 to F40 - forest and pathway

This is a focus stacked photo shot at f/11 and 134mm on a cropped sensor.

In photography, there are always compromises you have to make. How will you overcome the urge to shoot at f/22 and beyond?

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Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images

25 Jul

Post-processing is a particularly sensitive topic and there’s always a certain amount of processing versus non-processing discussions that take place after articles on the topic. It’s not hard to understand since how you choose to process your images is your artistic choice.

There’s not necessarily a right or wrong way to go about it but, that being said, there are certain “mistakes” that I notice quite regularly, especially amongst beginning photographers who aren’t quite able to achieve the looks they want.

Some of these mistakes are obvious while others, not so much. What they have in common, though, is that they are mistakes that most of us are guilty of making or have made at some point. Let’s dive in.

1. Not Considering Color

Let’s start with a mistake that the majority of us are or have been making, and one which isn’t necessarily that obvious to all of us: failing to understand color harmonies.

Color harmonies might be easier to control as portrait or studio photographers but as landscape photographers, we have to work with the conditions nature gives us. Sometimes, our job is to find order in the chaos and highlight the most interesting aspects of the landscape. Indeed, it’s not an easy task.

Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images - person in red jacket on a hill

In this image, I desaturated the blues to keep the focus on the person walking down the hill.

The discussions can quickly become controversial as we start talking about working with colors in nature. I’m not here to say what you should or shouldn’t do but I’ll give you a couple of ideas on how you can work with color in post-processing:

Use the HSL sliders in Lightroom/Camera RAW to adjust the hues of certain colors to create a better color harmony in the image.
Rhe HSL sliders can also be used to desaturate colors that are too dominant and take unnecessary attention away from the main subject.
Use techniques such as Luminosity Masks or Saturation Masks in Photoshop to selectively work on the brightness, saturation and contrast of specific areas within an image.

The goal when working with colors should be to only highlight those that are in harmony with each other. I often bring out a color wheel to check that the colors in an image are in harmony and if I need to desaturate (or saturate) any of them.

Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images - photo with alpenglow mountain scene

Notice how all the colder tones are slightly desaturated and darkened to enhance the focus on the glowing mountain.

2. Only Making Global Adjustments

This brings us to mistake number two: you only make global adjustments. In other words, each adjustment you make is applied to the entire image.

Let’s say that you want to increase the green grass in one of your summer images. The traditional way of boosting the color is by using the Saturation slider. However, that will increase the saturation of the entire image and will in most cases lead to an oversaturated image; which results in visual chaos rather than a pleasant experience when viewing it.

In mistake number one, I briefly mentioned using the HSL sliders for making adjustments. By using this panel you’re able to affect only one specific color rather than the entire image. By using the Green Saturation slider you can target only the green colors and make an adjustment to only those hues.

Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images - lighthouse and green field or hill

It’s not only when adjusting the saturation that you should work selectively though. Personally, I make selective adjustments (often through Luminosity Masks in Photoshop) when working with color, contrast, brightness and pretty much any other adjustment you can think of.

3. Clarity at 100%

You might not want to hear this but increasing Lightroom’s Clarity slider to 100% is rarely a good idea, especially when it’s added globally. While I agree that adding clarity can often give an extra pop to the image as it brings out a lot of nice textures and details, it does more harm than good when it’s applied to the whole image. It also adds a significant amount of noise and lowers the overall quality of the file.

Let’s look at an example. In the image below I have increased the clarity to 100%. (Besides that, no other adjustments were made). I do like how it brought out a lot of texture in the mountain but the foreground now contains just as much texture and it’s competing with the mountain to grab your attention. In fact, the moss in the foreground is the natural place to look as it’s both bright and crisp.

mountain scene cloudy - Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images

If instead, I only add clarity to the mountain by using a Gradient Filter you’ll see that it makes a big difference compared to the image above. There’s still nice texture in the mountain but the foreground is now less crisp and working as a natural leading line.

Note: I prefer to rather use a mask in Photoshop and add it to only the mountain, as a gradient filter adds it to more places than what I want. But you can now use the brush tools to edit your gradient filter in LR as well.

Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images - same scene different edit

Clarity only applied to the mountain.

Keep in mind that you want the most important areas of the image to be the sharpest. Naturally, the viewer’s eyes are guided to the sharpest parts of the image. Also, there’s no point in adding clarity to soft surfaces such as a blue sky or silky water. These are often better left alone.

4. Leaving Dust Spots

Unless you’ve got a brand new camera or you’re a superstar when it comes to having clean equipment, it’s likely that you’re going to have at least a few dust spots on your images. This is especially true if you regularly photograph in rough conditions including wind, snow, rain, and sand.

Removing dust spots is super easy and takes no more than a few minutes, so really there is no excuse not to do so. You have to admit, it looks quite unprofessional if a beautiful image has a bunch of dust spots in the sky. Would you hang that on your wall?

Keep in mind that if you enlarge and print your images, even the smallest dust spots become visible. Therefore, it’s a good practice to zoom in 100% on the image to look for any possible dust spots. When you find one, simply use Lightroom’s Spot Removal Tool and move on to the next.

It can be tedious work if you’ve got an extremely dirt lens but it’s something that needs to be done.

Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images

Turn on “Visualize spots” to help you find dust.

Conclusion

To end this I want to say one final thing: the most important is that you’re happy with the images you capture and process. If you like highly saturated images, go for it. If you like tilted horizons, good for you.

Stay true to your style and vision and create the art you want – don’t let anyone decide what your images should look like.

Using selective adjustments I was able to darken only the brightest part of the image

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Are You Using Your Camera Wrong? 7 Errors You Need to Avoid

13 Jul

Are you making these 7 mistakes with your camera? Let’s find out.

7 Ways You’re Using Your Camera Wrong

Here’s a recap and links to some dPS articles to help you avoid making these mistakes with your camera.

Holding your camera the wrong way – Cheat Sheet: How to Hold a Camera
Not cleaning your lens – Step by Step How to Clean Camera Gear so it Stays in Good Shape
Not having enough batteries or memory cards – Packing your Bags for a Photo Shoot and How to Select the Right Camera Memory Card
Not adjusting your focus point – Understanding the Focus and Recompose Technique and Getting Sharper Images – an Understanding of Focus Modes
Shooting in full Automatic or the wrong mode – Getting off Auto – Manual, Aperture, and Shutter Priority modes explained
Don’t use Auto White Balance – How Auto White Balance Can Hinder Your Photography
Not shooting in RAW – Tips for Choosing Between RAW Versus JPEG File Format and Is Shooting RAW+JPEG the Best of Both Worlds? and finally, RAW Versus JPG – Why You Might Want to Shoot in RAW Format

Are you guilty of making any of those camera errors?

Can you think of any other common camera mistakes that beginners need to avoid? If so, please join in the discussion and post them in the comments area below.

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5 Crucial Mistakes You Need to Avoid When Photographing Clients

12 Jul

Don’t make these 5 crucial mistakes when photographing clients!

Over the years I have read dozens of articles explaining tips, tricks, and things to keep in mind for successful photo sessions. As I was wrapping up a family shoot recently I started to think about the situation from the opposite end of the spectrum. Kind of as a way of giving some advice to my younger self or other photographers who might still be honing their craft.

So instead of five tips to try here, are five things you should never do if you want your photo sessions with clients to run smoothly.

5 Crucial Mistakes You Need to Avoid When Photographing Clients - family photo

Mistake #1 – Not showing up on time

This one is a bit of a carryover from my childhood and is based on a lesson my dad taught me at a very young age. Whether my siblings and I were going to church, to school, or even just to a friend’s house he would repeatedly stress that we ought to arrive at our destination at least 10 minutes early. If we show up on time, he reminded us over and over again, we’re already late.

That might have been a bit of an oversimplification but the lesson still sticks with me to this day. It’s also one that is especially true when it comes to photographing clients.

If you are to meet at a certain location at a certain time, do not arrive when you have agreed to. Instead, make sure to get there at least 10 minutes early, and that’s the bare minimum. The earlier you arrive the more you can prepare, especially if the session is outdoors or in another type of uncontrolled environment.

fossil watch - 5 Crucial Mistakes You Need to Avoid When Photographing Clients

As my dad would say – if you get there on time you’re already late.

Arriving early allows you to assess the situation, get your cameras and lenses in order, double-check your settings (did you remember to turn on Image Stabilization? Are you still shooting at ISO 3200 from last night’s star-trail experiment?) and mentally prepare yourself for the photo session.

It also sends a message to your clients that you’re responsible and you care about the job. If you show up on time you might end up arriving after your clients. If they’re like my father and got there early they may be wondering where their photographer is. It doesn’t take much effort to arrive well in advance but it can pay huge dividends and set a positive tone for the rest of the photo session.

Mistake #2 – Don’t dress casually

portrait of a couple in a garden - 5 Crucial Mistakes You Need to Avoid When Photographing Clients

Your clients go out of their way to dress for the session. You should too.

This one is a big deal for me because I’m perpetually wearing the same clothes I wore in college: jeans and a t-shirt. It’s my go-to outfit for just about any situation and there were a few times early in my photography work with clients that I treated sessions as just another day out when I could dress casually. However, doing that sends an unfortunate message to your clients that you can easily avoid with very little effort.

Jeans and a t-shirt might seem fine to you but your clients might take this as a sign that you are a bit of a slacker or that you don’t care enough about your work (or them) to look the part. Clients are more likely to see your work as high-quality if you take the time to dress up a bit.

Wear nice clothes as a way of projecting a professional image. It will help clients have a more positive view of you, your work, and the session as a whole.

family sitting on the grass - 5 Crucial Mistakes You Need to Avoid When Photographing Clients

Some clients prefer a more casual style for themselves, and that’s fine. But it never hurts for you to wear nicer clothes as a way of projecting an image of professionalism.

Mistake #3 – Don’t make fun of your clients to get a laugh

Tell me if this sounds familiar. You’re doing a photo session and it’s going reasonably well but your clients aren’t responding quite how you would like. You’re trying to get them to loosen up, relax, and smile but they still seem a bit reserved and hesitant. As a result, your pictures just aren’t quite as good as you know they could be.

So you decide to crack a joke at the expense of one of your clients who is balding, wearing mismatched socks, doesn’t realize his shirt is un-tucked, or maybe just not quite paying attention.

Oh no, the glare from Bob’s head is messing up my camera! Hang on a second, I’m being blinded over here!

Does that scenario ring a bell? I have almost done this on a couple of occasions but stopped each time, and I’m so glad I did. You might think your comments are benign and all in good fun, but the person might be sensitive about the very thing you are pointing out. You could easily cause some hurt feelings or even downright anger.

Your clients might respond to these quips with laughter but on the inside, they may feel something entirely different that could cost you referrals, repeat business, or in-person sales.

family walking on a pathway - 5 Crucial Mistakes You Need to Avoid When Photographing Clients

This family was an absolute joy to work with. I would never want to sacrifice meaningful professional relationships with them or anyone else just for a quick laugh.

The damage that is done by what seems like benign comments could linger for a long time and have consequences well beyond the session itself. Instead of aiming for a cheap laugh, strive to maintain a level of professionalism when interacting with and photographing clients on a shoot.

If you get to know them a bit (another benefit to showing up early!) they will be more likely to loosen up, cooperate, and give you the type of pictures you are really striving for.

Mistake #4 – Don’t use your phone during the session

I know how tempting it can be to reach for your phone during a photo session, and there might even be a thousand good reasons to do so. What if it’s a text from your landlord? Maybe your cousin sent you a Snapchat message about his new job? What if your spouse is going to be home late and needs you to pick up the kids? Certainly, your clients would understand if you peeked at your phone for just a bit…right?

They might understand, but they might also wonder why you are getting distracted while they are paying you to do a job. One little peek at your phone often turns into two, then three, and pretty soon you find yourself missing shots or watching your clients roll their eyes in exasperation because you’re looking at your phone more than your camera.

portrait of teenagers - 5 Crucial Mistakes You Need to Avoid When Photographing Clients

My advice is simple, just ignore your phone. Better yet, leave it in your car or put it on silent and stick it in your gear bag. If you think you might need to check it during a session, tell your clients in advance (yet another reason to arrive early) and ask their permission to take a minute at a certain pre-planned time to do so.

This might seem overly restrictive, but it’s so easy to get caught up in the alerts and messages on your phone that you might not even realize how much you are actually using it. Your clients will probably not notice if you are NOT using your phone, but they will certainly notice if you ARE using your phone and they might not want to hire you back as a result.

Mistake #5 – Don’t over-extend the session

Many photographers charge clients a certain amount based on the length of time that they offer for sessions. One-hour portraits, two-hour engagements, 15-minute minis, or 3 hours of wedding plus 2 hours of reception coverage, for example.

This usually works well and gives both the photographer and the clients a set of shared expectations, but it can backfire in some unexpected ways depending on the type of clients you are working with.

little girl in a blue dress - 5 Crucial Mistakes You Need to Avoid When Photographing Clients

15 minutes in and this precious little girl was ready to be done. Extending the session would have made her fussy and stressed out her parents too.

Know when to fold

There’s a line in an old Kenny Rogers song that’s quite à propos for photographers, “You got to know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em”. As a photographer, you need to learn how to read the situation, watch your client’s body language, and get their input on how to proceed when you feel like the session needs to draw to a close.

Your clients might be paying you for a one-hour session but if the kids are fussy, the grandparents are tired, and the shirts are getting sweat marks after only 40 minutes then you really need to find a way to shut it down tactfully and gracefully.

The best way I have found to do this is to keep an open dialog with clients throughout the session. Talk with them as you take their pictures and let them know that you are willing to adjust as needed especially if kids are involved. Your clients expect you to be in charge and they often won’t speak up for fear of being rude or confrontational.

So read the situation closely and take the initiative if you think it’s time to put the camera away. Your clients will probably be glad you did.

Talk to your clients and make the call

I have had parents thank me profusely for ending sessions early because their children were wilting after only 30 minutes. I once did an entire one-hour family session in 20 minutes on a single spot in a grove of trees because three generations were involved and the elders were exhausted and tired.

In both situations, I got input from the clients constantly and let them know that I was aware that people were ready to be done even though there was still time left on the clock.

The time might not be up, but if the session needs to be over then you have to bring it to a close. Extending it needlessly just to fill the time allotted could cause more headaches than it’s worth. Alternately, don’t go over your time unless you get permission from your clients. If they are expecting one hour and that time is up, don’t keep shooting unless you’re sure it’s fine with them. Doing otherwise could come across as rude or insensitive, no matter how good the pictures turn out.

Conclusion

I hope this gives you a few ideas to try or, more accurately, to avoid the next time you are photographing clients. If you have any tips on what to avoid I’d be glad to have your input in the comments below, and I’m sure other dPS readers would as well!

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Event Photography Etiquette: Avoid Embarrassment With These 10 Dos and Don’ts

06 May

Maybe you’re already a seasoned event photographer interested in improving your business, or perhaps you’re reading this because you’re about to photograph your first event and want some pointers. As a photographer, you want to be keenly aware of your image as well as behavior when working on-site with clients. A superior professional image shows the world that you’re both competent and worth the cost of your services for event photography.

This article provides my recommendations on how to appropriately conduct yourself before and during an event photography shoot. Positioning yourself to land assignments and inspire confidence in your clients starts with your demeanor and presence.

1. DO Wear Appropriate Clothing

Your apparel says a lot about you. On one event photoshoot, I was approached by a guest who appeared interested in hiring me for a freelance job. But he hesitated, saying “Honestly, you look expensive. I’m not sure I can afford you.” While that assumption may have been right, his reaction was far better than “You look cheap, maybe I can lowball you.”

man in tuxedo toasting - Event Photography Etiquette: Avoid Embarrassment With These 10 Dos and Don'ts

Always ask your client about the dress code ahead of the event. Did you forget to ask? Play it safe and dress your best. It’s better to be the sharpest dressed person in the crowd than the jeans-and-t-shirt person in a sea of tuxedos.

group in tuxedos -Event Photography Etiquette: Avoid Embarrassment With These 10 Dos and Don'ts

2. DO Respect Privacy

As a photographer, you’re probably familiar with the fact that not everyone likes being photographed, much less by a stranger. In order to make guests feel at ease, introduce yourself, “Hi, my name is John/Jane Doe and I’m here Photographing for XYZ Media.”

Guests might ask for further info, such as where the photos will be displayed. It’s wise to gather this info with your client ahead of time. Sometimes an introduction isn’t necessary. Once guests see you making the rounds with your camera, they might just grab you for a quick shot, no questions asked.

beef sliders - Event Photography Etiquette: Avoid Embarrassment With These 10 Dos and Don'ts

To avoid liability/privacy concerns, you can specify in your contract that it’s the client’s duty to inform guests of a photographer’s presence for the event. In my experience, clients have no issue with this.

3. DO Show up Early

Most of my event clients want to know that I’m willing and able to arrive early, which I do as a courtesy at no extra charge.

menu on a plate - Event Photography Etiquette: Avoid Embarrassment With These 10 Dos and Don'ts

Showing up early not only allows you to familiarize yourself with the venue and points of contact, but also shows your professionalism. Take precautions: Leave extra time in case of traffic, car troubles, or those dreaded wardrobe or equipment malfunctions. Plus, when you arrive early you can grab some preliminary test images of the venue/rooms as well as important detail shots.

4. DO Learn People’s Names

If you sometimes have trouble remembering names, as most of us do, take care to write down all client names (especially new clients) in BIG letters on your notes sheet for the event.

Everyone likes hearing their name, and a prospective client will subconsciously be more impressed if you can end the conversation with a friendly, “Well Kathy, I’m glad we talked and I’m looking forward to working with you.” Re-read that sentence in your head but without the name this time. It sounds a bit cold and dry, right?

5. DO Interrupt as Politely as Possible

As you make your rounds during a networking or cocktail hour, many people will be engaged in conversation. When it’s unavoidable interrupting a conversation, I recommend approaching while making eye contact.

Mexico Consulate Award - Event Photography Etiquette: Avoid Embarrassment With These 10 Dos and Don'ts

Typically someone in the group will notice you and your camera and know what you want. If nobody notices you, don’t be too shy or just stand there awkwardly. A gentle tap on the shoulder might be in order. Of the hundreds of times I’ve approached people for photos, I seldom get a “no”. People understand that photography is my job, and most are happy to pose for a photo.

6. DON’T Photograph People Eating

For most events over two hours in length, there will be a portion where guests are treated to a meal or hors-d’oeuvres. Photos of people eating should be avoided, so this is your chance for a work break.

Pay attention, however, because you can get some great candid photos of tables at the tail end of a meal when the satisfied diners are typically in a good mood. I’ve captured many great photos of guests post-meal laughing and chatting this way. I recommend standing back and using your zoom lens to capture these images.

people talking - Event Photography Etiquette: Avoid Embarrassment With These 10 Dos and Don'ts

7. DON’T Be Pushy With Public Figures or Celebrities

You might be excited to learn that someone notable, a political figure or even your favorite musician will be attending an event. Thanks to the bad behavior of so many paparazzi over the years, many public figures dislike or distrust photographers. Can you blame them?

Radio Show awards photo - Event Photography Etiquette: Avoid Embarrassment With These 10 Dos and Don'ts

Keep this in mind as well: most celebrities dislike being told what to do. If you’re photographing a meet-and-greet situation and it’s not an intimate portrait session, be careful about asking a celebrity to strike a pose or shift position, regardless of whether or not it would help the photo. Try to gauge the individual’s temperament and mood. If he or she ignores your question or reacts badly, don’t persist! Shooting around such non-cooperation will be necessary.

8. DON’T Show Alcohol or People Drinking

Not everyone cares if they’re photographed holding a beverage; in fact, some people like that image. Regardless, as a courtesy to guests, it’s best not to show them drinking alcohol. When photographing a group of guests standing around a table, it’s a good precaution to ask whether any of them would prefer to set their drinks down first.

Wiley Awards Ceremony lady with wine - Event Photography Etiquette: Avoid Embarrassment With These 10 Dos and Don'ts

Wiley Awards Ceremony image cropped - Event Photography Etiquette: Avoid Embarrassment With These 10 Dos and Don'ts

Cropped to remove the drink.

9. DON’T Drink Alcohol While Working

Quite often you’ll find alcohol flowing freely at events and parties, including even the high-level corporate get-togethers. You may be tempted to join in on the fun. If you are, I recommend waiting until your job is done and your camera gear is safely stashed away before indulging.

You wouldn’t want your client to give you the okay, only to have the CEO of the company or the bride’s father spotting you with a tall glass of whiskey in one hand and a camera in the other. You’re a professional, and that’s not a good look for you.

Editor’s note: I personally would recommend NEVER drinking at an event you are hired to attend, even if you are done shooting for the night. Other people can’t know that you’re off the clock. They just know that you’re the official photographer and that they saw you drinking. So use your own judgment.

wine bottles - Event Photography Etiquette: Avoid Embarrassment With These 10 Dos and Don'ts

10. DON’T Make Sales Pitches to Attendees

I recall reading a one-star review of a wedding photographer who acted completely inappropriately on a job and it stuck with me. Not only did that photographer allegedly flirt with the bridesmaids but he tried handing a business card to the groom during the cake-cutting ceremony instead of photographing his client’s special moment.

Take note: Bad timing and poor social awareness could land you poor reviews and do harm to your business and reputation.

That’s not to say that your conversations with attendees couldn’t turn out to be productive, just remember that your paid job at the event is to photograph. Assuming that you’re maxing out your assignment, it’s fine to chat with guests here and there. But let the subject of your services arise from their questions, not from your self-promotion.

Summary

In summary, there are many precautions to consider in order to come off as a professional at an event. Whether it’s a wedding, party or corporate engagement, self-awareness is key, and a little preparation can go a long way in demonstrating your competency and professionalism.

If you follow these tips and do your best work, your clients will undoubtedly be impressed and more importantly – happy.

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Tips for Light Painting and Some Common Pitfalls to Avoid

18 Apr

In this article, I will focus on light painting objects in night scenes during a single long exposure (rather than multiple exposures combined in Photoshop) and some of the pitfalls I have experienced. I hope you will gain an understanding of how different light sources, intensity, and warmth can illuminate your foreground elements in a balanced way to provide a creative twist to your shot.

A beautiful night sky filled with stars is often laced with compelling foreground elements that can provide context and intrigue to your shots. You have likely seen many examples of these things in other people’s work such as a saguaro cactus under The Milky Way in the middle of the desert, a homestead cabin in the middle of an old pasture, or a boat floating on a still lake.

This single exposure captures The Milky Way over a field of yellow wildflowers in central Minnesota. I used light painting to emphasize the flowers which were an important part of the scene.

I am positive you can think of foreground elements in your personal environment. Although silhouettes of those foreground elements can provide you with stunning imagery, you may consider using light painting techniques to emphasize the foreground elements of your shot.

What is light painting?

Light painting is a night photography technique where you use a light source to illuminate an object (in other words you “paint it”). The digital camera era has made light painting much more common as it is easier to check and compensate for your exposure of the shot. Because light painting provides so many creative options there are many forms it can take.

In order to do light painting, you will need to carry a little bit of extra equipment and have some basic knowledge about your camera’s manual settings. A grasp of these basic camera settings will increase the enjoyment of your night out by helping you make beautiful imagery.

Camera Settings

Manual Mode will be necessary to shoot your long exposures. You should be aware of how to switch to Manual Mode and then adjust your aperture and shutter speed. For night photography, you will want to use a large aperture (e.g., f/2.8) and slow shutter speeds of often 5 seconds or more.

ISO changes will be necessary in order for your camera to pick up the most amount of light possible. I recommend beginning at ISO 800 and then adjusting accordingly as you learn about your particular scene and shooting conditions. It is important to remember that a really high ISO will require you to post-process out digital “noise” and each camera model has a range of ISO values it can shoot at before it will become very grainy.

White Balance adjustment is critical to shooting at night and for light painting. Look in your camera’s manual or play with your camera settings to ensure you can access manual White Balance and you can create lower or higher White Balance values. White Balance is measured in Kelvin and most cameras will represent it with “K” after the White Balance value (e.g. 4500K).

I bounced the light off the snow to light this shot because direct light caused the totem to become too bright and out of balance.

Equipment

An appropriate light source is necessary to do light painting. You should consider bringing multiple light sources that have both wide and narrow beams as well as multiple color temperatures. You may consider things such as a headlamp, cell phone, flashlight, or professional lighting as these have different beam widths and intensities.

To determine the warmth of your light source, check the box as it may tell you the temperature rating. For instance, many lightbulbs from the store will say 4500K on the side of them. Some professional lighting sources will allow you to adjust both the temperature and intensity of the light, so you may consider those as you progress and become more proficient at light painting.

Beyond the camera and a light source, a tripod is the next most important thing you can bring when shooting long exposures. Ensure your tripod can remain stable for long (up to several minutes occasionally) exposures.

A friend is a great addition to a night of light painting! Your friend can help sidelight objects while you take the photos, provide for creative solutions to problems, and keep you safe as you move around in the dark.

I use this LED light panel which allows me to control the light intensity and color.

Basic Light Painting Techniques

Each night has unique conditions that need to be accounted for, but I like to begin each night with a familiar set of steps. Set your camera up on a tripod and take a few test shots. I usually start at f/2.0, ISO 800, 10-15 seconds, and 4500K.

From those base settings, you can experiment with ISO, shutter speed, and set a White Balance that looks good to you. Once you have the settings for the scene right, set up a composition you like and which ties together the necessary foreground elements. Begin your exposure then use a light source to paint the foreground in front of you.

This image of the Aurora Borealis captures the beauty of the boreal forest and the subtle aurora behind it. I used standard settings (ISO 2000, f/2.2, 20 seconds) and a light panel to make this image.

Selecting a light source is important. Its qualities will determine how it can be used. There are three considerations you should think about:

What is the intensity of the light?
How wide is the beam?
What is the color temperature of the light?

Keeping these things in mind will help you immensely when you go out to shoot. A wide beam can help you light close objects while a more focused beam can light a more distant one. I often use a professional light panel because it gives me control over the beam intensity, width, and warmth.

A good light source will help you get over the pitfalls identified below.

Pitfall #1: Not matching the color balance

When I first began doing light painting, I had a really hard time matching the color of my light and the context of my scene. Your camera will key in on bright objects in the shot such as the moon, a street lamp, or the Aurora Borealis which will become the dominant temperature in the shot.

Keep this in mind as you take your test shots because you will need to adjust your White Balance according to those light sources. If the White Balance of your light source is adjustable set it to the same as the camera. If you cannot control the temperature of your light source (e.g., a cell phone) then consider adjusting the White Balance of your camera to match the light source. You will know the light source and camera are calibrated together properly when the color of your foreground elements look natural (neutral) to your eye.

I’ve provided some examples of images below which came out well and some that did not (according to my eye) due to incorrect White Balance calibration. You should be able to spot images demonstrating the matching warmth pitfall that we just reviewed. I’ve left some thoughts in the captions of the images to reflect on each further.

It is not too hard to diagnose what’s wrong with this image – I did not properly calibrate the temperature of my camera and light source. The light source is too cold compared to my camera’s settings.

The calibration of camera and light source were close on this one, but the temperature was a bit too cold on the light source as evidenced by the bluish tinge to the tree on the left.

A good match! I was able to use the white of the American Flag to calibrate the light source and camera to get good colors from both the flag and the aurora.

This is a good match on the color balance. There were a moon and aurora on this night, so I only used a headlamp to softly light this sled dog that appears to be watching the aurora.

Pitfall #2: Not balancing the light in your scene

Choosing the right beam width and intensity will help you balance the lighting of the foreground elements to the rest of the scene. A digital camera set at ISO 800 or above is incredibly sensitive to light and it is very easy to “blow out” a shot by overexposing the foreground elements. Here are a few tips to help balance the light in your scene.

A broad beam will help evenly light an entire scene and a narrow beam can light specific aspects of the scene. I have provided thoughts and examples below about when my light source width was appropriate and when it was incorrect.
If you have close foreground elements consider bouncing your light source. I often use reflective surfaces like snow to indirectly light the foreground through bouncing. If you cannot bounce the light, try side lighting or lighting the object from behind.
You can decrease the exposure by closing down the aperture. I have found increasing the aperture (say from f/2.0 to f/4.0) and increasing the exposure time make it dramatically easier to create a balance of light in the scene.
It stands to reason that if you paint an object for a long time with the light it will show up brighter. You will find that duration is critical when light painting and often less is more. Try light painting the object in a short burst of one half, to one second of light and see if it adequately lights the object.

Blowout! I was light painting these autumn aspens to capture the fall colors with the Aurora Borealis. However, my beam was too narrow for the work I wanted to do.

A small beam allowed me to light up this “old man’s beard” hanging from spruce trees in Southeast Alaska. A wide beam would not have worked here as it would have lit the entire scene.

Here I wanted to capture the glacier face and the aurora together so I placed my light panel behind a block of ice. This masked it from direct view and allowed me to bounce the light off the snow.

A passing car provided the lighting for this shot, and I liked the warmth of the light a lot! The broad beam was most appropriate here.

Food for Thought and Wrapping Up

I hope this article can help you get over a couple of the steep learning curves of light painting. Remember, any light source at your disposal can be used to light your scene and each may have its own unique benefits. Experiment with headlamps, cell phones, car headlights, and professional lighting sources to see what each can provide to the shot.

I hope you enjoy your night out! As I always like to say, “Pixels are cheap”, so make lots of them as you learn light painting.

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Avoid Blurry Long Exposure Images with Proper Tripod Setup

05 Apr

A tripod is an important piece of gear for all photographers, but even more so for those who are hooked on shooting long exposure photography at the blue hour like myself (I primarily shoot waterfront cityscapes). Those photos require exposures lasting for minutes with a use of neutral density (ND) filter. Therefore, a sturdy tripod is absolutely essential to keep photos sharp.

Avoid Long Exposure Photographers’ Worst Nightmare by Setting Your Tripod Low

A sturdy tripod is a must for long exposure photography, as there is no chance at all of shooting sharp photos by hand-holding a camera for minutes.

Get a Best Tripod Within Your Budget

This article is not your ultimate tripod buying guide (dPS already has an excellent article on that here), but let me mention a few brief pointers first.

First of all, unlike your camera body, a tripod isn’t something you will upgrade very often. In fact, a good one could last a lifetime, so it’s advisable to get the best possible tripod within your budget. Here are a few other things to look out for when choosing your tripod.

Load Capacity:

The maximum load capacity of your tripod should be at least twice or preferably three times the maximum weight of your camera body and biggest lens combined. For example, my trusty Manfrotto MT190CXPRO3 Carbon Fiber Tripod supports up to 7kg, which is more than sufficient for my Nikon D610 (850g) and Nikon 18-35mm (f/3.5-4.5) (385g) combined (1.25kg).

Tripod Head:

Your tripod head also has a maximum load capacity, and it should at least match that of your tripod. If your tripod supports up to 7kg, but the head only supports up to 5kg, then the load capacity of the entire tripod system is to be 5kg, as the maximum load comes from the weaker component. For your information, I own the SIRUI K-20X Ballhead, which supports a whopping 25kg.

Tripod Weight:

Decent tripods are commonly made of aluminum or carbon fiber. Both are equally good, but carbon fiber tripods are lighter yet more resistant to vibration (hence they are also pricier, too). My Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Tripod weighs 1.6kg (3.5 lbs.) while its aluminum counterpart the Manfrotto MT190XPRO3 weighs 2kg (4.5 lbs.), with all the other specs being pretty much identical).

Tripod Leg Sections:

While 3-section legs provide a more stable platform, tripods with 4-section legs have a shorter closed (folded up for transportation) length and make it easier to pack into a suitcase when traveling. For example, closed length for my 3-section leg Manfrotto MT190CXPRO3 Carbon Fiber Tripod is 61 cm (24 inches), but its 4-section counterpart the Manfrotto MT190CXPRO4 is only 52 cm (20.5 inches).

If you ask me, I recommend choosing nothing but 3-section tripod legs. I personally won’t compromise stability for convenience. That said, my tripod still fits into my check-in luggage (after taking out the center column). Before purchasing, I even tested it by bringing my luggage to the camera shop!

Tall Isn’t Always Cool

Having a good tripod is one thing, but using it correct way is another. I see way too many photographers fully extending tripod legs even when it’s not necessary. The rule of thumb is that the higher the tripod legs are extended, the less stable it gets, leaving more prone to high winds and undermining your chance of taking sharp photos. The photo below (at Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, with an altitude of 552m) is a good example.

Victoria peak - Avoid Long Exposure Photographers’ Worst Nightmare by Setting Your Tripod Low

To take blur-free shots here, I kept the tripod low and put the lens through the bars, rather than fully extending the tripod legs and center column to shoot from above the railing.

Instead of fully extending the tripod legs (and even the center column, which is a big NO-NO) to position the camera above the railing, I put the lens through the bars and kept the tripod as low as needed to minimize the risk of vibration.

Actually, I learned this from a previous mistake. I shot at this exact location the previous year but screwed up the opportunity by setting up the tripod too tall (over the railing by extending the center column) in high winds, and none of the photos came out sharp.

Extending the center column in high winds or when shooting long exposure photography is a recipe for a disaster. It’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to capture sharp photos this way.

Long Exposure Photographers’ Worst Nightmare

Let’s say you’re shooting waterfront cityscapes at blue hour with a few minutes of long exposure at a tourist-centric area (places like Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, The Bund in Shanghai, etc.) on your holiday. It may be your once-in-a-lifetime trip, and the weather is clear and perfect.

Such places are always crowded especially at sunset and dusk times with herds of tourists flocking to take snaps, selfies, and groupies. Extending all the tripod legs inevitably takes more space on the ground, which has a huge risk of someone accidentally kicking it during long exposure and ruining your potentially epic shot. This is long exposure photographers’ worst nightmare (and happened to me once).

Crowded spot - Avoid Long Exposure Photographers’ Worst Nightmare by Setting Your Tripod Low

At a crowded photography location like this (Merlion Park in Singapore), keep your tripod setup as low as possible so that it takes less space on the ground and reduces the risk of someone accidentally kicking your tripod legs.

Tripod Alternatives

To avoid such a nightmare, I’m also using a sort of a tripod alternative that helps stabilize my camera setup. A clamp tripod like the Manfrotto 035 Super Clamp without Stud comes in handy at places with high winds or at crowded city shooting locations where you feel worried about someone accidentally kicking your tripod legs.

It’s not that you can use a clamp tripod anywhere you want, as it needs a railing or something that it can be clamped onto. But where possible, this setup can be rock solid (with a load capacity of 15kg) and the resulting long exposure photos are appreciably sharper than those shot using a regular tripod.

Super clamp in use - Avoid Long Exposure Photographers’ Worst Nightmare by Setting Your Tripod Low

A Super Clamp is like a game changer, it’s small and strong.

Set up clamp - Avoid Long Exposure Photographers’ Worst Nightmare by Setting Your Tripod Low

To mount a DSLR on a Super Clamp, first, plug a separately-sold Manfrotto 208HEX 3/8-Inch Camera Mounting Platform Adapter (or a cheaper alternative Manfrotto 037 Reversible Short Stud) into a Super Clamp socket and secure it with the double lock system. Then mount a tripod head with DSLR on the mounting platform adapter, just like you do with your regular tripod.

Conclusion

I hope these tips help you avoid making the same mistakes I did. Don’t blindly follow the mantra that says, “Extend your tripod and place the viewfinder at your eye level” (you’ve probably heard about that before!).

There’s nothing wrong with setting up your tripod low and bending down. This increases your chance of capturing sharp long exposure photos in high winds and also prevents your tripod legs from getting accidentally kicked.

If you have any other tips or experiences to share, please do so in the comments below.

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Five Common Portrait Retouching Mistakes to Avoid

01 Apr

When it comes to retouching portraits there are a number of mistakes that I see photographers make over and over. Part of the problem is that there are too many poorly made skin smoothing plugins. Another is that Photoshop gives you too many options for portrait retouching. There is a simple solution for this which I’ll mention at the end of the article.

In the meantime, let’s look at the most common portrait retouching mistakes photographers make so you can avoid them. Don’t feel too bad if you are making any of these errors. Consider it part of the learning process. You’ll learn to avoid these mistakes as your retouching skills improve.

Portrait retouching mistakes

1. Applying too much skin smoothing

This is a problem you see in commercial photography as well as in the work of hobbyist photographers. If you look closely at a typical cinema photo or a perfume advertisement you’ll see that the models and actors are often retouched to the point they are nearly unrecognizable. They certainly don’t look real or authentic. When this happens in the commercial world it’s little wonder that other photographers imitate what they see and make the same mistakes.

My advice is to consider whether skin smoothing is required in the first place and if it is to apply it with the lightest possible touch. Most photos of men don’t require skin smoothing. It’s conventional to apply some skin smoothing with most portraits of women, but it’s also important to retain skin texture to avoid the plastic skin look.

Two versions of the same portrait. The one on the left has had too much skin smoothing applied. The one on the right has less skin smoothing. You can still see skin texture and the result looks more natural.

The best way to apply skin smoothing that I know of is to use the Adjustment Brush in Lightroom with the Soften Skin preset (this preset comes with Lightroom and affects the Clarity and Sharpness sliders).

Portrait retouching mistakes

When you first apply the preset you’ll see that it’s very strong and as a result the effect is overdone. But you can get around that easily by clicking the black triangle above the Adjustment Brush sliders (below).

Portrait retouching mistakes

When you do so the sliders disappear and are replaced by a single Amount slider. You can set it anywhere from 100 (full effect) to zero (no effect). This lets you apply the skin smoothing effect with a light touch that retains skin texture.

Portrait retouching mistakes

2. Making the model’s eyes bigger

Amongst some photographers, it has become trendy to use Photoshop’s Liquify tool to make the model’s eyes bigger. The idea behind it is simple – large eyes are considered appealing, and enlarging a model’s eyes makes her more attractive.

Where this theory falls down is that most people are smart enough to recognize when this has been done, especially if they know the model personally. It results in an unnatural looking portrait that has lost any authenticity.

Portrait retouching mistakes

3. Making the model’s eyes too bright or too sharp

One of biggest advantages that software like Lightroom and Photoshop has given photographers is the ability to make highly accurate local adjustments. But it’s so easy to make the model’s eyes whiter, brighter or sharper that many photographers do so without thinking about whether or not it looks natural.

A better approach is to apply the effect subtly and zoom into 100% to check that it looks realistic. Go too far and you end up with a portrait where the model’s eyes attract attention for the wrong reason – they are over-processed rather than being the windows into the person’s soul.

portait retouching mistakes

4. Applying too much Clarity

Even professional photographers make this mistake. Recently I saw a friend’s wedding photos and my first thought was that the photographer had applied way too much Clarity, making her look older than she really is. Of course, I didn’t say anything as I didn’t want to spoil her enjoyment of her big day or the wedding photos. But if the photographer had photographed my wedding I would have been very disappointed with the results.

Adding Clarity emphasizes skin texture, blemishes, and wrinkles. For this reason, it’s usually a bad idea to apply it to portraits of women. Normally you do the opposite and apply skin smoothing (which is a negative Clarity adjustment in Lightroom).

With men it’s different. You may want to apply Clarity in order to emphasize skin texture and make the model’s face appear more rugged. You have to judge it on a case by case basis as every portrait is different.

The key, once again, is to apply it subtly rather than with a heavy hand. Your processing technique shouldn’t draw attention to itself.

5. Over-sharpening

This is another big mistake that I see photographers make. Over sharpening can come from several sources. For example, if you use the JPEG format rather than Raw then remember that your camera sharpens the photo for you. Any sharpening you apply in post-processing is applied on top of an already sharpened photo.

If you use Raw there is very little need to set Sharpening to anything other than the default settings in your Raw converter. It’s rare that any additional sharpening is required on top of that. Remember that the effect of Sharpening is heightened if used in conjunction with applying Clarity.

The best approach to Sharpening is to use your software’s default settings and to never apply any additional Sharpening on top of that. If you do apply extra Sharpening, you need to zoom into your portrait to check the effect on the eyes and eyelashes, as this is where artifacts caused by over-sharpening are most likely to appear.

Note: Remember to use the mask feature of the sharpening tools in LR and ACR. That will help keep the sharpening to only edges and not smooth areas like skin or sky.

Conclusion

Another aspect we haven’t discussed yet is to think about exactly what you want to achieve with your portrait processing. For example, you have probably guessed by now that I favor a natural, authentic approach to portraiture. That means using natural light, prime lenses, wide apertures and minimal processing. These techniques help me achieve the look I’m after.

Other photographers may be more commercially minded. If this is you, then a slightly more heavy-handed approach may be required. Even so, it’s wise to apply skin smoothing and other portrait retouching techniques subtly, rather than over-process your portraits.

At the beginning of the article, I mentioned a simple solution to the problem of over-processing portraits. The solution is this – use Lightroom. Don’t use Photoshop and don’t use a portrait retouching plugin.

There is no Liquify tool in Lightroom so you won’t be tempted to change the shape of a model’s eyes or face. There’s only one skin smoothing preset, so you should be able to avoid the temptation to over smooth the model’s skin. There is no high pass filter or other fancy sharpening techniques, so this should prevent you from over sharpening your portraits (be careful with the Clarity slider though!).

What are the most common portrait retouching mistakes you’ve seen or made yourself? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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Common Portrait Mistakes You’ll Want to Avoid

23 Mar

Portrait photography is hard. There’s a lot to think about including:

Getting the lighting right
What lens to use
Composition
Posing
Working with a model or subject
Post-processing (how much is enough or too much)
And so on . . .

So here are three videos with some tips to help you avoid some of the most commonly made mistakes in portrait photography.

5 Portrait Photography Don’ts

In this video, photographer Manny Ortiz shows you five things NOT to do when shooting portraits.

Don’t go to your favorite or best location first during a shoot.
Don’t be afraid to experiment and take bad photos.
Don’t hide behind your camera.
Don’t over pose your subject, give them directions.
Don’t shoot too conservatively.

7 Common Studio Portrait Lighting Mistakes

Watch as photographer Antti Karppinen walks you through seven of the most common studio portrait lighting mistakes beginners make so you can avoid them. Where you position your main and fill lights, as well as how strong they are can make or break your portrait.

3 More Common Portrait Mistakes

Finally, in this video tip from Adorama TV, Miguel Quiles gives us three more common portrait mistakes.

Not communicating with your model or subject.
Not having the eyes in sharp focus.
Not making sure the subject’s eyes are facing in the right direction.

Over to you. Have you got any other portrait photography mistakes you’d add to the ones mentioned here? Please add your comments below.

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