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8 Tips for Beautiful Fall Landscape Photography

29 Sep

The post 8 Tips for Beautiful Fall Landscape Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Dusty Doddridge.

8 tips for fall landscape photography

Capturing stunning autumn landscape photos might seem difficult, but it’s actually pretty easy – once you know a few simple tricks.

As an experienced fall landscape photographer, I’ve spent plenty of time in search of those elusive fall photos. I’ve made lots of mistakes, but I’ve also had a lot of success, and in this article, I aim to show you how it’s done.

Specifically, I’m going to share eight practical tips for creating beautiful fall landscape photography. I’ll cover:

  • The perfect lens choice to emphasize patterns in foliage
  • The best fall landscape settings for gorgeous results
  • My favorite type of autumn landscape light
  • Much more!

So if you’re ready to head out into the field and start taking some jaw-dropping shots of your own, give this article a read; I guarantee it’ll be worth your while.

1. Use a lens with a long focal length

orange and yellow trees in the snow

Autumn leaves, trees, and forests look so beautiful that it’s often tempting to whip out that wide-angle lens and capture the entire scene.

But while a wide-angle lens can work for fall photography, it’s often better to go in the opposite direction and shoot with a longer focal length. A 70-200mm f/4 lens is ideal, though you can also shoot with a 100-400mm lens, or even one of those monster 150-600mm options.

You see, a longer lens can really help simplify the scene and make the shot about more than just the colors. A long focal length lets you emphasize patterns in the leaves, plus it compresses the scene to create a beautiful wall of trees.

You can also use the longer focal length to highlight intimate details of a forest interior. Look for patterns, but then hunt for the part of the scene where the pattern breaks and include it in your composition. Consider including negative space to help isolate your subject.

2. Use a wide aperture to isolate the subject

Often, photographers shoot autumn landscape photography at narrow apertures, such as f/8 and beyond. And when you’re capturing images full of sweeping foregrounds and intricate patterns, a narrow aperture makes sense (for instance, the image featured in the next tip, with the river in the foreground and leaves in the background, was shot at a narrow aperture).

However, you can also create unique fall shots with a wide aperture. Set your lens to f/2.8 or f/5.6, then get in close and isolate your subject from its surroundings. You can get a shot like this:

shallow depth of field fall landscape photography

Here, the foreground tree trunk is sharp, while the background becomes a pleasing, slightly colorful blur.

Ultimately, a wide aperture creates visual contrast between the sharp subject and the soft, abstract background. This also adds tension between the real and the unreal, providing you with an image that’s more dynamic and expressive.

While you can always shoot lone trees against colorful leaves, try experimenting with different subjects and backgrounds. Get creative with your choices. Pay close attention to your subject, and make sure you have enough depth of field to keep its key features sharp; it often pays to check the LCD preview after you’ve taken a shot just to be sure.

3. Make fall color the secondary subject

Fall colors are great, so it can be tempting to make them the primary subject of your photo. In other words, you’ll probably want to make the image all about the fall colors: their beautiful hues, the texture of the leaves, the pattern of the trees.

But to make your photos more unique, look for other primary subjects, such as streams and waterfalls, that are accented by the fall colors. This will also give your fall landscape photography more depth and complexity, plus it can really draw in the viewer, as the eye sweeps from the beautiful foreground to the stunning fall backdrop:

long exposure river in fall

So before you take a shot, ask yourself: What could I highlight other than the fall colors? How could I combine the fall colors with a foreground subject to get a great result?

By the way, this is one time when a wide-angle lens is the better choice in fall landscape shooting. The wider field of view lets you capture an interesting foreground and a beautiful backdrop (but make sure you’re using a narrow depth of field, otherwise you’ll lose the colorful detail in the trees!).

4. Look for patterns and textures

Fall color photos tend to start with, well, color. It’s what generally draws you to the scene in the first place, after all.

However, the best fall landscape shots merely use color as a jumping off point.

In other words, they include color, but the color doesn’t carry the image. Instead, the composition relies on color plus patterns and textures to hold the viewer’s interest.

Many fall scenes do have plenty of interesting patterns and textures to work with, so moving beyond color isn’t especially difficult. Simply find some reds, yellows, and oranges that you like – then think about other compositional elements you can incorporate into the shot.

For the photo below, I used a combination of yellow color, forest floor texture, and tree repetition to create an eye-catching result:

aspen tree patterns fall landscape

5. Be patient

A decent camera and a telephoto lens is great for fall photography, but patience is the best tool in your camera bag.

Specifically, the autumn landscape photographer must learn to wait for two things:

  1. Great color
  2. Great light

Now, I don’t mean to suggest that you stay inside until autumn colors hit their peak. You can capture beautiful shots at the beginning of the color change by focusing on lone reds among a sea of green, and you can capture dramatic shots at the end of the color change by emphasizing the moody browns and the last of the colorful leaves.

But make sure you pay careful attention to the changing leaves. Try checking a local foliage predictor. And then, when the fall color peak really comes, make sure you spend plenty of time outdoors capturing the autumn beauty.

And as for the light…

While fall colors are wonderful, they can be even more stunning when combined with the right light. For instance, a small patch of sunlight on a mountain peak, or dappled light hitting a sea of yellow trees, is often the difference between a good image and a great image. Unfortunately, the light rarely does what you want exactly when you want, so if you find a beautiful composition, be ready to hunker down and wait for the perfect light.

Pro tip: The best light is often short lived, so think through your settings and composition in advance. When the light hits, be ready.

mountain surrounded by yellow trees

By the way, while beautiful sunlight plus dramatic clouds often works great for fall photos, if you’re focusing more on the colors and less on the wider landscape, I recommend heading out on gray, overcast days. The sky will act as a huge softbox, and you’ll get beautifully saturated colors (plus a wonderfully moody, gloomy feeling!).

6. Experiment with intentional camera movement

Intentional camera movement (ICM) involves deliberately moving your camera during a long exposure to create abstract effects like this:

intentional camera movement fall landscape

And thanks to the beautiful colors, fall is a great time to try it out.

First, find some nice colors and trees. If possible, ensure there’s contrast between the tree trunks and the autumn leaves (note the white trees and orange leaves in the photo above).

Then switch your camera over to Manual or Shutter Priority mode. Make sure your shutter speed is around 1/30s or longer.

Finally, focus on the leaves, then move your camera as you release the shutter!

Note that intentional camera movement is very hit and miss, so don’t be discouraged if your first shots don’t turn out as great as you hoped. Definitely experiment with moving your camera in different directions (I recommend vertical movement, but you can try horizontal or even diagonal). Also, experiment with different shutter speeds and the pace of moving your camera until you find the right amount of blur.

7. Look for elements that contrast with the fall color

Fall colors are usually bright and have textures and patterns. To really take your photos to the next level, find nice colors – but be sure to contrast them with darker elements. That way, you can create dramatic tension.

Look at the image displayed below. I found some nice, bright, well-lit trees, but I shot them against a dark, shadowy rock face:

trees against a dark rock face

And it’s that contrast, that drama, that elevates the shot.

Of course, dark rocks aren’t the only contrasting element you can use in your photos. You can include sun/shade contrast (where your subject is lit by the sun but the background is in shade), you can contrast fall colors with dark water, or you can contrast bright fall colors with darker, browning fall colors (the opportunities are endless!).

8. Don’t forget to look up

The interior of a forest can be an amazing place to shoot the fall colors, but it’s often difficult to find a pleasing composition. Sometimes, you just can’t isolate individual elements and you can’t find interesting patterns. You might be ready to throw in the towel, but I’d recommend you try something else:

Look up and explore the canopy.

This works best on sunny days; images that contrast the fall colors with the deep blue sky can be really pleasing.

wide-angle forest shot looking up at the sky

You generally want to keep the trees sharp from foreground to background, so don’t forget to use smaller apertures like f/22. Also, a narrow aperture will create a starburst effect if you shoot through the forest toward the sun.

Fall landscape photography tips: final words

Hopefully, these tips will help you make the most of your time photographing the amazing colors of the fall season.

In fact, if you found these autumn landscape photography tips helpful, print out the article and take it with you into the field; that way, you can slow down, think through your compositions, and return home with some compelling photographs.

Now over to you:

Do you have any fall landscape photography tips to share? Which of these tips was your favorite? Share your thoughts – and photos! – in the comments below.

Table of contents

Landscape Photography

  • GENERAL
    • The dPS Ultimate Guide to Landscape Photography
    • 10 Most Common Mistakes in Landscape Photography – and How to Overcome Them
    • Responsibilities of Landscape Photographers
  • PREPARATION
    • How to Find and Photograph Wild Landscapes for Epic Images
    • The Three Dangers of Landscape Photography
    • How to Plan the Perfect Landscape Photo
    • How to Find the Best Locations for Landscape Photography
    • The Importance of Scouting for Landscape Photographers
    • Why Goal Planning Is the Key to Growing as a Landscape Photographer
    • What is Your Favorite Landscape Location?
    • 8 Tips to Avoid Crowds at Popular Landscape Locations
  • SETTINGS
    • 5 Tips for Setting the Focus in Your Landscape Photography
    • Understanding Aperture and Landscape Photography – Why F16 Isn’t the Only Choice
    • Guide to Creative White Balance for Landscape Photography
    • How a Short Versus Long Exposure Will Affect Your Landscape Images
    • How to Get Super Sharp Landscape Photography Images
    • Getting Landscapes Sharp: Hyperfocal Distances and Aperture Selection
    • The Best ISO for Landscape Photography (in Every Situation)
    • 5 Reasons To Should Shoot Your Landscape Images in RAW
    • How to Work with Different Shutter Speeds for Landscape Photography
  • LIGHTING
    • Tips for Using Flash to Enhance Outdoor Nature and Landscape Photography
    • Landscape Photography: It’s All About the Light
    • How to Improve Your Landscape Photography By Understanding Portrait Lighting
    • Painting with Light in the Landscape
  • COMPOSITION
    • Aspect Ratios in Landscape Photography
    • 6 Tips for Capturing Dramatic Skies in your Landscape Photography
    • How to Use Leading Lines Effectively in Landscape Photography
    • 10 Landscape Composition Techniques for Breathtaking Photos (2021)
    • 3 Reasons to Shoot Vertical Aspect Landscapes and 6 Tips on How to Shoot Them
    • How to Use Juxtaposition for More Compelling Landscape Photography
    • Using Layers and Foreground Interest for Better Landscape Photography
    • Include The Foreground For Dramatic Landscapes
    • How to Photograph a Minimalist Landscape
    • 5 Framing Tricks to Help You Capture Better Landscape Photos
    • How to Use Balance in Your Landscape Photography Composition
    • 5 Good Reasons to Add People into Your Landscape Photography
    • Include Clouds In Your Landscapes
    • Landscape Photography and the Human Element
    • How to Add a Sense of Scale to Your Landscape Photos
    • How to Solve 5 Composition Conundrums Faced by Landscape Photographers
    • The S-Curve: A Landscape Photography Composition Technique
    • Using Water to Lighten Landscape Photos
  • GEAR
    • 5 Quick Reasons to Use the Nifty Fifty for Landscape Photography
    • Using Graduated Neutral Density Filters for Landscape Photography
    • How to Use Neutral Density Filters to Make Better Landscape Photos
    • How to Use Wide-angle Lenses for Landscape Photography
    • Tips for Shooting Landscapes With a Telephoto Lens
    • Six Tips For Using Filters to Improve Your Landscape Photos
    • 5 Tips for Using a Tripod in Landscape Photography
    • Six Situations Where Tripods are Essential for Landscape Photographers
    • Wide Angle Versus Telephoto Lenses for Beautiful Landscape Photography
    • 10 Essential Pieces of Landscape Photography Gear
    • Why you Need a Telephoto Zoom Lens for Landscape Photography
    • Circular Polarizers Versus Graduated Neutral Density Filters for Landscape Photography
    • Comparison – HDR Versus Graduated Neutral Density Filters for Landscape Photography
    • Polarizing and Neutral Density Filters: Essentials for Landscape Photography
    • Why I Always Use an L-Plate Bracket for Landscape Photography
    • Why I Switched From LEE Filters to Formatt-Hitech for Landscape Photography
    • Review of the Venus Laowa 15mm F/4 Wide Angle Lens for Landscape Photographers
    • Which Landscape Photography Camera Should You Buy?
    • Essential Accessories for Landscape Photography
    • How to Choose the Right Tripod for Landscape Photography
  • ADVANCED GUIDES
    • 10 Tips for Photographing Wide-Angle Landscapes
    • 8 Tips for Fall Landscape Photography

    • 5 Tips for Better Winter Landscape Photography
    • 5 Ways to Create Dramatic Landscape Photos at Midday
    • How to Shoot Landscapes at Sunset
    • Tips for Shooting Landscape Photography Towards the Sun
    • 8 Steps to Great Long Exposure Landscape Photography
    • 15 Tips for Low Light Landscape Photography
    • The Night Sky In Landscape Photography
    • How to Make Storytelling Landscape Photos – 4 Steps
    • A Day At The Beach: Photographing Seaside Landscapes
    • Tips for Winter Landscape Photography on the Prairie
    • Landscape Photography – Shooting the Same Location Through the Seasons
    • 3 Tips to Take Better Landscape Photos Regardless of the Weather
    • Time for Landscape – Weather and Landscape Photography
    • Tips for Landscape Photography in Exotic Places
    • Putting You Into Your Landscape Photography
    • 5 Ways to Capture More Diverse Landscape Photos
    • 5 Tips to Discover Intimate vs. Grand Landscape & Nature Photography
    • Photographing Starry Skies for Nocturnal Landscape Without Breaking the Bank
  • CREATIVE TECHNIQUES
    • How to Take Creative Landscape Shots Using Intentional Camera Movement
    • How to Convert a Camera to Infrared for Black and White Landscape Photography
    • Tips for Making Dramatic Black and White Landscape Photos
    • 6 Ideas for More Creative Landscape Photography
    • How to Create Glass Ball Landscapes – 6 Techniques
    • How to Get Landscapes Sharp with Focus Stacking
    • How to do Landscape Panoramic Photography
  • POST-PROCESSING
    • 5 Easy Steps to Exposure Blending for High Contrast Landscapes
    • A Super Simple Way to Make Landscape Photos POP Using Lightroom
    • Making the Best Use of HDR in Landscape Photography
    • Landscape Editing Techniques for Fine Art Photography Using Lightroom
    • How to Use Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop to Make Your Landscape Images Pop
    • Editing Gently: 3 Tips for Processing Realistic Landscape Photos
    • The Power of Post-processing for Landscape Photography
    • How to Use Neutral Tones to Craft Realistic Edits for Landscape Photos
    • Top 5 Nik Collection Filters to Improve Your Landscape Photos
    • How to Edit Landscape and Nature Photos with the Lightroom Gradient Tool and Range Mask Features
    • Lightroom Quick Post-Processing Tips for Landscape Photography
    • Tips for Processing Winter Landscapes in Lightroom
    • How to Use the Lightroom HSL Panel for Landscape Photo Editing
    • How to Process a Black and White Landscape Photo Using Lightroom
    • How to Give Your Landscape Photos Extra Punch in One Easy Step
    • Tips For Editing the Colors in Landscape Photos Using Lightroom (video)
    • Tips for Processing Landscape Photos – from Basic Edits to Artistic Interpretation
    • 5 Tips For Mastering Contrast In Your Landscape Photos (video)
    • Using the Lightroom Adjustment Brush to add Dimension to a Landscape Photo
    • OPINION: Why Photoshop is Ruining Landscape Photography
  • INSPIRATION
    • An Interview With Landscape Photography Legend Art Wolfe – Part 1
    • 27 Black and White Landscape Images
    • A Collection of Stunning Landscape Photographs
    • 9 Striking Landscapes That Break the ‘Rules’
    • These Inspiring Landscape Photographers will Make You Want to Take Better Photos

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The post 8 Tips for Beautiful Fall Landscape Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Dusty Doddridge.


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10 Stage Photography Tips (for Beautiful Images)

09 Sep

The post 10 Stage Photography Tips (for Beautiful Images) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

10 stage photography tips for beautiful photos

Perhaps it’s time to enter a new stage in your photographic journey: stage photography, where you capture performers on the stage at concerts, plays, dance recitals, and more.

This genre combines some of the skills of studio photography, portraiture, and even sports photography. When light is often dim and the action fast, you will be challenged to make sharp shots and need to understand your camera controls well. Stage photography will test your skills, but when you nail a great shot, the results can be very rewarding.

Let’s cover ten tips to help you achieve that command performance.

1. Get permission

Here’s a key thing to remember when you are shooting a stage performance: The show is on the stage. You are not the show. If your presence disrupts the performers, distracts the audience, or otherwise draws attention to you, you are not only being a nuisance, you run the risk of being thrown out. And even if that doesn’t happen, it is unlikely you will be invited back and other photographers may then be prohibited from future shows.

Don’t be that guy.

dancers on the stage
If I had to shoot the whole performance from the vantage point of the first shot (above, top), my photos wouldn’t have turned out well. Even cropping in on the second version, I still didn’t have the full backdrop behind the dancers. Fortunately, I always attend the dress rehearsal (which I strongly advocate!) and can position myself pretty much wherever I like with no fear of being a distraction to the performers or the audience.

It is a bad idea to just show up at a performance with a professional-looking camera and long lenses without prior permission. You may not be permitted inside, and if you are, you could be asked to leave your expensive equipment behind. If you do somehow slip inside and get caught later, there will be an ugly scene. And if you somehow do shoot the whole show and later want to post your shots, you risk getting sued because you didn’t have rights to make photos…which is…well…let’s not go there.

Again, don’t be that guy – period.

2. Be a “photo ninja”

When you do stage photography, “minimal disruption” should be your motto. Here are a few things you can do to get your shots while staying invisible to the performers and audience.

Grease play
These shots date back to 2003, when I was shooting with my first digital camera, a Nikon Coolpix 950. It was a simple 1.92 MP point-and-shoot camera. I got there early, sat in the first row, and used the swivel-body LCD while holding the camera in my lap. There was minimal audience disruption and I captured some decent shots.
  • Dress in dark clothing. Because the house lights will generally be off during a stage performance, wearing dark clothing will help you hide in the shadows and be less noticeable.
  • Be stealthy and silent. Turn off all camera distractions, including beeping, lights, and perhaps even your rear LCD screen. If your camera has a silent shutter mode, then use it. If you must chimp your shots, do it between acts and in a way that your screen isn’t visible to the audience or performers. Do not stand between the audience and the performance, even if that gets you the best angle.
  • Never use flash unless you have obtained prior permission from the stage manager beforehand.
  • Shoot the dress rehearsal when possible. Assuming you can do it, this is the best option. Without an audience, you will have much more freedom to roam, find good angles, perhaps use flash if you check first, and sometimes get multiple “takes” of the same scene, dance, or musical number. Concerts might be the exception to this rule, as the dynamics of the performers and audience reaction to a live performance will be lacking at a dress rehearsal and that typically shows up in the shots. For the most part, however, shooting a dress rehearsal will greatly expand what you can do.

3. Know the show

As with any kind of action photography, knowing what is going to happen in advance will help you anticipate and get the best shots. Read the program, talk to the stage manager, know the plot of the play, and do whatever else you can to better know and plan your shots.

actors playing Cinderella
Know the show. If you’re familiar with the story and plot, you’ll know the key points to photograph. (I suspect you’ll know immediately what the story is here without me telling you.)

4. Do a “site survey”

If possible, go beforehand to the theater or venue when the event will take place. Take your camera and find the best vantage points.

Can you shoot from those spots and still be non-disruptive? Are there multiple places you can shoot from, and can you move from one to another without attracting attention? How long or wide a lens will you need to get good shots from those spots? Might there be someone there to show you the lighting before the show so you can gain an idea of what you’ll encounter?

If you can’t be at the location in advance, at least get there as early as you can on the day of the performance. Winging it while the show is already underway will almost always adversely impact the quality of your shots.

5. Take the right equipment

the magic lantern
A long lens can get you tight shots like this one (taken at 200mm). There have been many times when a 100-400mm lens would not have been overkill.

The two biggest challenges in stage photography typically are:

  1. Getting close enough
  2. Having enough light to work with

And taking the right gear can help. A camera featuring a strong low-light performance with minimal noise will be your best bet. A fast f/2.8 lens makes a difference, too.

I shoot Canon, and the two lenses I typically take when doing stage photography are the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS zoom. There have been many cases where I’ve wished for a 100-400mm zoom.

Your focal length needs will be dictated by your distance from the stage. Closer is almost always better, and if you can be stageside (and not violate the “minimal disruption” rule), that is almost always best.

dancer reaching out
Talk to the stage manager beforehand, and you might get permission to shoot backstage from the wings. You can sometimes get some unique angles the audience doesn’t see.

I should also address the readers who might be parents going to their child’s play, dance recital, or other stage performances. It’s likely you’ll be taking a point-and-shoot camera with no interchangeable lenses and shooting from wherever your seat might be in the theater. There’s nothing wrong with that. Hopefully, your camera has good optical zoom and not too much shutter lag. Get there early and sit in the front row if you can. If you don’t need to sit in your theater seat, maybe you can find a better spot to shoot from and be less noticeable.

kids on the stage
When little Johnny or Emma makes their stage appearance in their cute little costume, a parent will find it hard to not stand up and do what’s necessary to get the shot. Please don’t be that parent. Try to be as unobtrusive as possible while you make your photos.

Glean what you can from this article, and most importantly, be as unobtrusive as possible while capturing your photos. I know you’ll want to stand up when little Johnny takes the stage in his cute little character costume, and you may forget to turn off the flash and blind everyone with a burst of light in the darkened theater. My simple advice: Don’t be that parent. With luck, a pro will be shooting from the sidelines. Look for that person and give them your e-mail. If you’re nice to them, there’s a good chance they will send you a stellar shot of Johnny.

creative stage photography examples
Play with camera settings like a wide aperture and selective focus and look for reflections on the stage to make your shots more interesting. Don’t make the shot everyone would make. Work at it!

6. Use the right settings and technique

I already mentioned that one of the most challenging things in stage photography is working with low light (especially when action is involved). You’re also likely to be shooting handheld. Maintaining a fast enough shutter speed in low light will require you to either open up your aperture (while being mindful of depth of field), raise your ISO (while being mindful of noise levels), or both.

dancers running under a rug
Dark backgrounds and spotlighted subjects: sometimes the lighting will be dramatic with a wide dynamic range. Understand your metering modes and when you might want to use center-weighted or even spot metering.

The following camera settings work well for me in most cases, though you’ll need to make adjustments depending primarily on how much light you have to work with. It is not unusual to have the lights go from very bright to very dim as a scene changes, the actor walks to a different part of the stage, or (at a rock concert) the lights flash on and off while changing colors. So consider these stage photography settings as a starting point.

  • Aperture Priority mode – (Av on Canon, A on Nikon, varies on other cameras.) You will usually want your aperture as wide open as possible while still getting adequate depth of field.
  • Auto ISO – Let the ISO “float” to deal with various lighting changes. If you find your ISO pretty much stays the same through the performance, you could set it at that spot, but always trying to keep it as low as possible. Learn when your camera produces unacceptable noise and set the Auto ISO top limits just under that value. If you don’t do this, you could later find that the ISO went much higher (and that all your shots are very noisy!).
  • In Aperture Priority, your shutter speed will also float. The amount of action on stage, the focal length of the lens you’re using, and the speed needed to freeze action will dictate what is acceptable. In a play where the actors are standing still and speaking you might get away with 1/30s if you have an image-stabilized lens or in-body image stabilization in the camera. If you’re shooting ballet dancers spinning and leaping and want to freeze them, you might need 1/500s or more to get the job done. See if your camera lets you set a minimal shutter speed when using Aperture Priority.
  • Focus mode – This will again depend on the amount of action you’re dealing with. If the action is slow, single-shot focus is fine. (Remember to turn off the focus lock beep!). If you must track faster movement, continuous focusing can help a lot. Newer cameras may have eye-tracking focus, which can work really well – except when multiple people are performing and in close proximity. Then the autofocus may become confused about which person to lock in on. Learn your camera’s focusing modes so you can choose what is best for the given situation.
  • Metering – This will depend on the lighting you encounter. Usually, I stick to full Evaluative metering, and the camera does a pretty good job. Sometimes, however, when the performer might be brightly lit by a spotlight and the background is very dark, the camera can be fooled and the performer will be overexposed. In those cases, center-weighted metering or even spot metering can be a better choice.
  • Commit it to Memory – I often store different camera settings in each of my camera’s memory modes (C1, C2, C3), so I can quickly change complex settings with the turn of a dial when the situation changes.

7. Composition is always key

As with all photography, composition is king. Use good compositional practices; remember the rule of thirds, leading lines, the rule of odds, and so on. And remember to check your borders for distracting elements.

Shoot wide establishing shots that show the entire stage, then go in for mid and close shots that highlight one actor or performer. Get in tight on facial expressions to capture the emotions of the performer. Don’t overlook really tight shots of details like the shoes of a ballet dancer “on pointe,” or a rock guitarist’s hands really “shredding his ax.”

girls doing ballet
Sometimes you’ll need to go wide.
actors and dancers
Medium shots are great when two people are interacting.
actors with emotion
Tighter shots let you catch the drama and emotion on actors’ faces.
close-up shots of actors on stage
ballerina feet pointing
Detail shots can tell the story. Being “on pointe” is a hallmark of ballet, and these images of dancers on their toes make for iconic photos.

8. Work with the light

Stage lighting can be tricky, especially when you’re trying to photograph with good color accuracy. Various lighting types will have different Kelvin temperatures. Mood is often created with color gels and other lighting color control.

Sometimes you will want to try and correct for these color changes, sometimes you might want to capture the scene as close to the original color as possible (i.e., a deep blue cast designed to simulate a night scene). And other times, you might want to enhance the color or take it in a different direction.

Now, there is one key item that will give the creative control you need:

Shoot in RAW format! There are a lot of reasons you should be shooting in RAW, but stage photography might be right at the top of the list. During the shoot, you do not want to be adjusting white balance or trying to guess what might be best. Shooting in RAW means that the white balance adjustments can be saved for later in editing. I typically just leave the White Balance setting on Auto and disregard it while photographing. Later, when editing, I can adjust it however I like. If a series of shots were all made under the same lighting conditions, I can adjust the first shot, select all the subsequent shots, and sync the white balance to that first adjusted shot. Bazinga!

image with corrected white balance
White balance can be tricky given the different lighting types and colored gels used in the theater. Always shoot in RAW format and you can fine-tune the while balance when you edit.
Dancers in different styles
Left to right: Original white balance; Lightroom-corrected RAW image; black and white version. Which is correct? When shooting in RAW, you get to decide when editing!

There is one thing to keep in mind here: Don’t rely on the LCD screen to judge white balance. It will always show a JPEG image with the camera’s white balance pick, and since you’ll be shooting in RAW, you can make dramatic changes afterward.

For example, in one theater the stage lighting was very warm. I put the camera on Tungsten white balance so the playback on the LCD looked better, but I still shot in RAW. Later, when editing, the Tungsten setting did give better skin tones, so I used that as a starting point. Had it not worked out, however, I could’ve edited my white balance for a completely different result.

Artistic color gel
Sometimes the scene might start or end with creative lighting. Always be ready to take advantage of creative looks the lighting designer might serve up!

Once, a friend filled in for me at a graduation ceremony on a theater stage. Then they sent me the images for editing, and I saw they’d shot the whole ceremony in JPEG. Arghh! The theater had mixed lighting, some tungsten, some fluorescent. The JPEG images had very little potential for adjustment and the skin tones were awful. I even thought about converting the entire set to black and white.

9. Tell the story

I don’t know if every picture tells a story, but when photographing a play, a dance recital, a performance, or a concert, there is definitely a story on stage. It’s your job as the photographer to tell that story with your photos. Here are some tips that will help:

  • Know the story – If you’re attending a play, know the plot beforehand. The same is true of a dance. Almost all ballet is built around a story. Modern dance numbers usually are designed to evoke a meaning and a mood. A rock guitarist will evoke a mood with their music and the song lyrics may tell a story. How can you bring out those stories in your photos? By capturing expressions, movement, peak action?
  • To freeze or to blur? – Not all motion needs to be frozen. Letting moving people blur can add to the feeling of action in a scene.
  • The mood of the light – Good photographers learn to “see the light” and know how its color, direction, softness, harshness, and other properties affect the mood and story. Good theatrical lighting designers know this, too, and work hard to light scenes to evoke the right mood and enhance the story. Unlike a studio photo session where you as the photographer might set the lights, when photographing a stage performance you will work with someone else’s lighting choices. Pay close attention to what they’ve done and try to capture it in your images.
actors happily on stage
Capture the shots that tell the story. I’m guessing you can identify the story here with a glance!
frog leaping through the air
I wanted to freeze this leap. Even with an ISO of 2000, I had to shoot at 1/160s, though I could have opened the lens up to the full f/2.8 setting for a shorter shutter speed.
creative stage photography images with motion blur
Here, I wanted some motion blur; the hand motion in an image from Grease, the attack of the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz, and Don Quixote tilting at the windmills. For the bottom right photo, I wasn’t necessarily going for motion blur and was happy to make a fairly sharp shot at a slow 1/13s. Score one for the Canon R6 with both IBIS and lens stabilization.

10. Enhance with good editing

In the film days, after a shoot, all you had were the unprocessed negatives. There were many steps before you could look at your image as a finished print and many opportunities for creative adjustments along the way. Today, with digital cameras, we simply click the shutter and can immediately view the result on an LCD screen.

black and white glow images
So you don’t like to edit, huh? That’s the only way to get this kind of looks. The dancers in their flowing gowns and graceful movement made me think of angels, so when editing, I went for that feeling. How’d I do?

My opinion is that too many photographers are content with the straight-out-of-camera (SOOC) image; after that initial click, they believe their work is done. Many skilled photo instructors will preach the importance of “getting it right in camera” and express a distinct distaste for having to spend time behind a computer screen.

As you may have guessed, I scoff at these folks. Ansel Adams didn’t shoot digital, but I think his quote is worthy of consideration:

The negative is the score, and the print is the performance.”

Ansel Adams

My personal belief is that you’re not done with an image until you’re done, and that includes editing. This might be especially true when taking photos of stage performances. You will not have control of the scene that plays out before you, you will have limited options for changing your vantage point or perspective, you will work with someone else’s often fast-changing lighting, the scene may be dimly lit and you will struggle to juggle shutter speed, depth of field, and camera noise. There are also no do-overs. If the shot isn’t everything it might be, editing can be the fix. Even if it is a very good SOOC shot, might some editing make it even better?

(You did shoot RAW, right? So don’t tell me you don’t edit; you have to do at least some editing with a Raw image.)

Okay, I will turn off the rant. Suffice it to say, I personally believe editing your stage photography images is almost mandatory if you want them to shine.

ballet posters
You’ll also need editing and design skills if you want to do these kinds of things with your images. I’ve been shooting this Boise, Idaho troupe for years. I make posters for them, they keep inviting me back. It’s a good relationship.

Stage photography tips: final words

cast sitting together

How could I write an article on stage photography and not include a famous quote by this guy? You might have heard of him:

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.

William Shakespeare

In this play we call life, you’ve been cast in the role of the photographer. Now go expand your talents and abilities. Hold a mirror up to the other players with the medium of stage photography!

warm up routine
Honing your skills as a stage photographer will keep you on your toes.

Stage photography FAQs

If I only remember one thing about stage photography, what should it be?

The show is on stage. You are not the show. If you are a distraction to the performers or the audience, you are not welcome, may be thrown out, certainly won’t be invited back, and will probably prevent other photographers from being asked to photograph performances. Get good shots, but be unobtrusive.

What are the biggest challenges in doing stage photography?

Getting close enough. Working with dim and frequently changing light. A long lens or a good vantage point can help with the former. A fast lens (i.e., f/2.8 or faster) and a camera with a good low-light performance can help with the latter.

How can I make more compelling stage photos?

Know the story. Tell the story. Know what the play, dance, performance, song, or whatever you’re photographing is about. Work to capture that story in your images.

What should my camera settings be for stage photography?

This will vary depending on the lighting, type of show, amount of action on the stage, and other factors, but for starters: Aperture Priority (Av, A), Auto ISO (with an upper limit), Continuous/Servo Focus, Evaluative metering (though center-weighted or even spot works for certain situations).

How can I best deal with white balance issues when photographing under different lights and colored gels/lights?

Always shoot in RAW format and be prepared to edit your shots. A RAW file will allow you to adjust the white balance after the shoot, open your creative possibilities, allow some rescue of overexposed and underexposed images, and help you better deal with image noise.

The post 10 Stage Photography Tips (for Beautiful Images) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.


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10 Tips for Beautiful Smartphone Landscape Photography

05 Aug

The post 10 Tips for Beautiful Smartphone Landscape Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

10 tips for beautiful smartphone landscape photos

You’ve likely heard this before: The best camera is the one you have with you. Trite, but absolutely true. The high-end DSLR or mirrorless camera you might own is totally worthless if it’s sitting in your car, your hotel room, or your home when a great photo opportunity presents itself.

On the other hand, we almost always have a smartphone on hand, and their photo capabilities continue to improve by leaps and bounds. So if you want to capture stunning landscapes, why not learn to take better photos with the camera you always have with you? Why not learn to do smartphone landscape photography?

smartphone landscape photography of a beach
My current Android smartphone (an LG V30 H931) may not have the best camera, but it’s often the best camera I have with me, and that’s what counts. All the photos in this article are smartphone images, often made on my V30.

More than a few times, I’ve chatted with talented photographers who scoff at the idea of serious photography with a smartphone. Knowing I shoot both phone and dedicated camera images, they sometimes admire an image I’ve made, but then ask, “Did you take that with your real camera?”

My “real camera?” Why do some think a smartphone camera isn’t real, or that a person that shoots with one isn’t a real photographer?

I would argue that if you make a nice image, it doesn’t matter what you use to make it. Has anyone ever looked at a da Vinci painting and asked whether he painted it with a real brush?

mountains with storm clouds
This truly is “drive-by shooting,” as I snapped it out the car window while racing down the road. My DSLR was still stashed in my backpack.

The fact is that most modern smartphone cameras have far better specs than DSLRs from a decade ago. Sure, certain factors favor DSLRs, such as the greater control, the ability to use interchangeable lenses, and the larger sensor size. But the idea that you can’t make great images with a smartphone camera? Hogwash, I say!

So let’s give you 10 tips on how you can get better images when doing smartphone landscape photography.

trees and windmill at sunset
I’ve photographed this windmill before, so upon witnessing the sunset while driving home, I raced for the spot with the only camera I had with me: my smartphone.

1. Make photographs, don’t take snapshots

To be a better photographer, you must move beyond the idea that you “take” a photo. Ansel Adams said it succinctly:

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”

What’s the difference? The idea is that you think about what you’re trying to communicate with your photo, then do everything you can to include that, and only that, in your shot. Another way to put it: Snapshots are taken by people who just point and click. Photographs are made by artists who give thought to the image they are creating.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what instrument you use, smartphone or high-end digital camera. What counts is the thought you put into your work. You generally won’t need to make a landscape photograph in a hurry, so slow down and think about what you’re doing.

If you only take one tip from this article, make sure it’s this one. Your smartphone landscape photography will be far ahead of the rest of the happy snappers who just point and shoot.

waterfall with flowers smartphone landscape photography
I’d driven past this location many times and had already visualized the image in my head. So one day, I just had to stop, pull out my smartphone, and record the photo.

2. Compose, then expose

wheat field at sunset
Getting down in the wheat field with the stalks just inches from the smartphone lens gave an immersive feel to this image. Smartphone optics are good for this kind of thing!

Composition is king in photography, no matter your camera.

So study compositional techniques such as the rule of thirds. Use the thirds grid on your smartphone to assist you. Do “border patrol” of your shot, looking for distracting elements around the edges of the frame.

Consider whether you should use portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) mode for the shot. Just because you typically hold your phone vertically doesn’t mean you should always take photos that way. In fact, most landscape images benefit from a landscape mode composition. (Guess that’s why they call it that, huh?)

barn on a hillside
Composition is still king in smartphone landscape photography. Note how the horizon is on the top third line and the barn sits at the power-point intersection of the right third line: the rule of thirds at work.

Of course, sometimes portrait mode is better suited for a shot. Thanks to their small sensors and wide lenses, smartphones feature excellent depth of field, which can make for beautiful near/far images (with everything sharp from foreground to horizon).

beach in the afternoon
To emphasize the height of the cliffs and the stretch of the coastline, I decided that portrait mode was the proper orientation for this shot.

Note that creating such an expansive depth of field would require an ultra-narrow aperture – or even a focus stack – on a DSLR. But on a smartphone camera, it requires nothing extra.

rock textures
With a 1.78mm lens, even an f-stop of f/1.9 gives a huge depth of field, spanning from inches away from the lens to infinity.

3. Seek the light

Since we have our smartphones with us most of the time, we can make photos whenever we like. But images in midday sun usually won’t look great no matter what camera you use. Nice light is always going to make for a better photo.

So if you can do your smartphone landscape photography in the early morning or late evening – the “magic hours” – you’ll almost always end up with more dramatic images.

sunset at a park
This location at a local park is nothing special during the day. With a night sunset, however, it makes for great silhouettes. Seek the light!

Modern smartphone cameras have also become much better at low-light shooting, so don’t overlook the possibility of night photos.

4. Take control of your settings

Beginning photographers, even with higher-end cameras, often stick to the simplicity of automatic modes and let the camera determine the focus, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance.

Yet while early smartphone cameras offered no option for manual control, many modern smartphone cameras now offer full manual control over settings. You can also find apps that expand your camera control, such as A Better Camera for Android-based phones or Camera+ 2 for iPhones.

By taking control of your camera settings, you can create better landscape photos – so make sure to explore these options, even if you currently feel more comfortable with your smartphone’s Auto mode.

5. Use all available lenses

huge trees in a forest
My smartphone has two cameras, one with a wider angle of view than the other. Some newer smartphones now have four cameras on the back, a response to the lack of interchangeable lenses.

It used to be that a distinct advantage of standard cameras over smartphone cameras was lens interchangeability. A smartphone had one lens with a fixed focal length, no optical zoom, and a set aperture.

But look at the back of a modern smartphone, and you’ll see multiple cameras. An iPhone 12 Pro Max features three cameras, while a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra sports four. There’s also the selfie-cam on the front, but that’s not one you’re likely to use for landscape photography.

trees on a sunny day
Go wide and go vertical, a great way to emphasize these towering redwoods.

If you have additional lenses, take advantage of them! On the other hand, don’t use digital zoom. Sure, it might seem easy to “zoom” into a composition with a simple touch of the screen, but you’re actually just cropping the image and losing resolution in the process.

I’d also discourage clip-on lenses for smartphones. These are always fiddly to work with and almost never produce quality images. Save your money. If you need a more versatile lens than your smartphone but still want something pocketable, check out some of the great point-and-shoot cameras that have superzooms and good specs.

6. Three legs are better than none

As a mostly landscape photographer, I shoot from a tripod about 85% of the time. However, I often see other landscape photographers happily working away with no tripod in sight.

Yes, lens and IBIS (in-body image stabilization) has brought us a long way, and if the light permits, a fast shutter speed might negate the advantage of a tripod. Still, I firmly believe that using a tripod will improve your landscape photography.

waterfall long exposure
You need three legs to make this shot. A four-second exposure requires the steadiness of a tripod and manual control of your smartphone camera.

But being a tripod-evangelist isn’t an easy assignment. People don’t want to be bothered. Now try convincing smartphone photographers they should use a tripod!

Yet I’ve got to say it: A tripod does have a place in smartphone landscape photography. When the light is low and your shutter speed gets longer, being able to keep the camera still is the difference between a fuzzy shot and a tack-sharp shot. Add the ability to take really long exposures (yes, many smartphone cameras can now do this), and a tripod can sometimes make a lot of sense.

There is one good thing, however: you don’t need a big tripod for your tiny cellphone. Pocketable tripods can do the trick; couple one with a Bluetooth remote trigger, and you can do multi-second exposures with your smartphone. Joby, the company that invented the GorillaPod, is a good place to look.

By the way, if you’re going to be using your standard tripod with your smartphone, a smartphone adapter is a good addition to your bag.

7. You’re not done until you’ve edited

Some photographers believe you should get your image right in-camera so you don’t have to edit. They don’t like to edit their images, ever.

I disagree.

Whether taken with a regular camera or a smartphone, almost any shot can be made better with some editing. You will often want to crop, adjust exposure, and perhaps go even further. Fortunately, there are excellent editing apps for smartphones, and they’re often free.

My absolute favorite is Snapseed. It’s available for both Android and iPhone and is completely free. It’s very easy to learn, has a nice array of tools, and it is rare that any smartphone image I consider a keeper does not get the Snapseed treatment.

There are many other great smartphone editing apps, though. Adobe Lightroom has a mobile version that is very good. Some may argue that the whole idea of smartphone photography is “quick and easy photography” and therefore balk at editing. I get it, but I still think that almost any image can be improved with some fine-tuning.

before and after editing
You’re not done until you edit! The top shot is straight out of the smartphone camera. The bottom version is edited with Snapseed. You can almost always improve a photo with a little editing.

8. Got a backup? Make one!

With standard cameras, we typically have image files stored on a card in the camera. Remove that card, copy the files to the computer, and make a backup – that’s the standard workflow.

Shooting with a smartphone, however, the images are stored in internal memory and sometimes on a micro SD card in the phone. You can connect your phone to your computer or plug in the micro SD card, but who does that? Most people just let the images stay on their phone. Which is fine, until your phone crashes, the storage is corrupted, or you break or lose your phone.

Now, what if your images were backed up to the cloud – as soon as you shot them? Not only would you have a backup, you’d have the images in a place where they could be easily shared to social media, emailed, whatever you prefer. There are many apps that will do this, but as an Android user, I look no further than Google Photos. iPhone users can also use Google Photos, but might instead opt for iCloud.

motorcycle on the road
I don’t like carrying my regular camera on a dirt bike ride, but my smartphone camera? Yup, it’s the one that’s always with me. As long as I’m in range of a cell tower, my photos are immediately backed up as soon as I shoot them.

Whatever option you choose, the idea is to have an app that immediately and automatically syncs your smartphone images to the cloud for safe backup.

9. Use GPS data to track your photo locations

Almost all smartphones will embed the GPS coordinates of a photo in the EXIF data. Bring up a photo, and in many apps, you will be able to see exactly when and where that photo was made. Some apps will also present pins on a map showing where a collection of photos was shot. If you decide you want to go back to that spot, it’s easy to find it again.

Oregon Secret Beach
They call this beautiful spot on the Oregon coast “Secret Beach,” but even though it’s not signed, enough people have posted GPS-tagged images of it online that it’s not much of a secret anymore.

There is a downside to photos being tagged with GPS data. If you post a GPS-tagged image on social media, viewers can determine exactly where the photo was taken. This has caused an ethical dilemma for landscape photographers. Places that used to be known only to a few are now known widely. Photographers seeing a great photo online often think, “I want to go to that spot, too!” The problem is that beautiful places are being overrun, trampled down, littered, and even vandalized by unscrupulous people. Some places are now closed off because they were “loved to death” by the crowds who discovered them online.

So as an ethical landscape photographer, you may wish to consider stripping off the GPS data from your images before posting. It may not be necessary for the most well-known spots, as people already know where those are. But if you find a really great waterfall way up a mountain trail, consider keeping it a secret. Not only will you have an exclusive shot, but you’ll prevent hordes of people from descending upon it.

GPS data for a lighthouse image
Take a look at a GPS-tagged photo with Google Maps or Lightroom, and you can see right where the photo was taken. The Portland Head lighthouse isn’t much of a secret, but think twice before posting GPS-tagged photos.

10. Previsualize with your smartphone camera

When out on a landscape photo outing, I almost always have my smartphone in my pocket and my main camera and equipment in a backpack. Often, I will use the smartphone as a tool to previsualize and help compose a shot. I’ll make some photos, consider my vantage point, and then determine if I even want to set up my tripod and bring out my other gear. This has several advantages.

bristlecone pines in California smartphone landscape photography
These bristlecone pines in the White Mountains of California are the oldest living things on earth (over 5,000 years old!). I wasn’t going to forget my DSLR when I went to shoot them, but I first did these previsualization shots with my smartphone.

If the shot doesn’t have merit, I will move on, not even going to the trouble of bringing out my DSLR. On the other hand, if it is a good shot, I will have captured GPS data, plus I’ll have a smartphone image that will be uploaded to the cloud.

And here’s the kicker: Occasionally, my smartphone shot will be better than what I later shoot with my DSLR. There have been times when, with changing light, the first capture is best. Sometimes the smartphone camera will process the image as a JPEG and achieve better results than I get when editing the RAW file from my main camera. There have also been times when I didn’t bother to shoot a DSLR photo – the smartphone shot was all I took – and was later happy I did because it turned out great.

black and white rock formations
We left the cameras in the car and hiked down to the shore of Mono Lake to check out the tufa formations. Good thing I had my smartphone camera, as this rain squall passed over the island in the distance. By the time I got back with my DSLR, the shot was gone.
smartphone landscape panorama
Here’s a shot using the sweep panorama feature within my smartphone that automatically stitches the images together.
panorama of the ocean
Want a really big pano with your smartphone? Shoot a series of vertical shots (maybe 20 or so) and let a smartphone app like Bimostitch assemble them. The finished image of this 180-degree panorama is 6227×2753 pixels.

11. Try shooting in RAW

The article title promised 10 tips, but I’m going to throw in this 11th item, just for free! Really, it’s not so much a tip as something for you to explore.

Many newer smartphone cameras can now shoot in RAW format. My current LG V30 does this, and I have successfully brought its DNGs into Lightroom for editing.

That said, I often find that the additional work this requires (plus the huge file sizes and the drawback of not having an easily uploadable JPEG) makes RAW smartphone shooting too much of a hassle. AIso, I’m usually hard-pressed to edit a RAW file into a better image than a JPEG.

flowers with water droplets
Many smartphones excel at macro shots. I could have shot this in a RAW format, but I doubt I could’ve processed it any better than this JPEG. If the smartphone can do a better job, why go to the extra work of shooting RAW? (Note: I did edit the JPEG with Snapseed.)

If your smartphone can shoot in RAW, give it a test and see what you think. I typically advocate shooting in RAW, but if the end result isn’t any better, why do it?

Smartphone landscape photography tips: conclusion

I’d never tell you to sell your dedicated camera and shoot only with a smartphone. As a dedicated photography tool, your DSLR or mirrorless camera should generally be capable of making superior images, especially if you’ll be printing large. But smartphone cameras get better with every generation, and it’s become impossible to dismiss them as not “real cameras.” As has been the case since the early days of film, it is the photographer, not the camera, that makes a great photograph.

Of course, practice makes perfect. If using the camera you have with you causes you to take more photos and get the shot you otherwise would have missed, then by all means, start doing more smartphone landscape photography!

Smartphone landscape photography FAQs

Is my smartphone camera adequate for doing quality landscape photography?

Most likely. Some believe a smartphone is not a “real camera,” but modern smartphone cameras are now more sophisticated than the DSLRs of just a few years ago. Unless your intent is to make large prints, your smartphone images will be more than adequate for most purposes.

What is the most important thing to remember in smartphone landscape photography?

The answer is the same for any kind of photography, regardless of what kind of camera you use: composition is king. Take the time to frame up your image using the standard rules of good composition, and your shots will automatically be better than those of the “happy snappers” who just point and shoot.

What should I do to take my smartphone landscape photography up a notch?

Learn to use the manual controls of your smartphone camera. These may be built in, or you may need an app, but just as serious photographers using standard cameras learn to work in manual modes, you should learn to do the same with your smartphone camera.

What else can I do to make better smartphone landscape photos?

Edit your images. Many smartphone photographers think they’re done when they click the shutter, but almost any photograph can be improved with some editing. For smartphone photography, Snapseed is a great place to start.

The post 10 Tips for Beautiful Smartphone Landscape Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.


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The Best Lightroom Presets in 2021 (13 Beautiful Options)

17 Jun

The post The Best Lightroom Presets in 2021 (13 Beautiful Options) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

the best Lightroom presets in 2021

If you’re looking for the best Lightroom presets, you’ve come to the right place. Given the number of available options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed – or even worse, buy a pack of presets that you’ll never use.

To help you navigate the wide market of Lightroom presets, we’ve put together a selection of the best quality packs (to fit many different needs).

So read on to discover the 13 best preset packs in 2021!

1. Landscape and Travel Photography Presets

Best Lightroom presets landscape and travel photography presets

Fine art photographer Jan Erik Waider offers a bundle of eight Lightroom presets packs, designed for different landscapes. Some target physical locations, such as polar or forest landscapes. Others offer a specific aesthetic, such as cinematic or dark and dramatic.

These professional presets allow customization so you can “develop a repeatable personal style.” In addition to the eight preset packs, the bundle includes a surprise pack and will give you access to all future preset releases.

Of course, if you’re not interested in the entire bundle, you can also also purchase the packs individually.

2. Night Leaks

Night Leaks Lightroom presets

This free pack of presets from Presetlove.com will add vibrancy to your urban night photography. It’s part of the Night bundle, which includes more than 300 free presets.

Night Leaks work best on night scenes where there’s artificial lighting, such as street lights. They’re designed to give you a colorful and vibrant effect with clear tonal contrast.

3. Golden Hour Presets

golden hour presets

These Golden Hour Lightroom presets are perfect for portrait photographers who organize outdoor sessions. We all know that golden hour offers beautiful light for your photos. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to schedule your clients around that time.

KatherineDream offers 15 Lightroom presets for mobile and desktop that will give your photos those beautiful, warm, golden hour tones. And on her Etsy shop, KatherineDream offers multiple other packs (and often puts her presets on sale!).

4. All in One Lightroom Preset Bundle

all in one lightroom preset bundle

The All In One Lightroom Preset Bundle is perfect for beginner photographers. If you don’t have a field of specialization and you’re still figuring out your style, you’ll find 90 helpful presets to choose from.

The Bundle includes presets for everything: beach shooting, indoor photography, food photos, portrait photos, black and white photos, and moody photos. In other words, the All In One Bundle offers everything a beginner could need – and it even comes with a handy how-to guide!

5. Boho Wedding

Boho wedding presets

If you’re a wedding photographer, then you know how important it is to have an automated workflow that delivers consistent results.

This Boho Wedding preset bundle offers ten one-click presets; they’re easy to adjust, plus they come with an installation guide PDF and video. And they create a creamy warm tone that improves the overall ambiance of your pictures.

6. Winter Wonderland Preset Collection

winter wonderland presets collection

Most winter presets only add a cool tone to your images – but the Winter Wonderland Collection offers a uniquely well-rounded solution for a winter look.

This bundle offers 32 presets and 5 brushes to create snowy and winter images, no matter the weather forecast. All the presets are customizable, and an instruction guide and video tutorial are included in the download.

7. The Crush Pack

Best lightroom presets the crush pack

Unlike other presets that are based on subject matter or mood, the Crush Pack is designed for light. Each preset is tailored to a specific lighting scenario so that you always know which to apply.

Whether it is soft or hard light, backlight or flash, there’s a preset to improve your picture, delivering a “bold and vivid style that maintains the skin tone.” You can buy the Crush Pack on its own, or bundled with the Retouching Toolkit for a special discounted price.

8. 20 Free Lightroom Presets Collection

20 free lightroom presets collection

This is a starter pack from BeArt-Presets, and includes 20 presets that can be applied to all types of photographs, from food to portraits.

The download includes two sets of presets: one set for mobile and one set for desktop. And once you determine which preset styles you’re after, there’s a shop with more specialized presets for sale.

9. Free Lightroom Presets for Street Photography

Free street photography Lightroom presets

These presets are designed for a grungy look that creates contrasty, detailed images and is especially suited for urban photography.

You’ll be able to choose between color, black and white, and three different tones to “make your images jump off the screen.”

10. Color Pop

Color pop presets

If you’re looking for a pack of Lightroom presets to make your images stand out, the Color Pop presets are exactly what you need. You get 20 different presets designed to boost the color of any photograph and make your images look vibrant and fresh.

The files come in three different formats for maximum compatibility. And if you’re impressed and you want more, PhotographyPla.net also offers a bundle with all 1000 of their presets.

11. Free HDR Lightroom Presets

free hdr lightroom presets

This free preset pack offers ten Lightroom presets designed to adjust the light balance and color tones while boosting saturation, luminosity, and contrast. You can find the preset that matches your style and subject and apply it with just one click.

And if you like what you see, Fix the Photo has a store with a wide variety of LR presets, PS actions, LUTs, overlays, and more.

12. Nathan Elson’s 2020 Lightroom Presets

Nathan Elson's Lightroom presets

Nathan Elson is a professional photographer who specializes in portrait, fashion, commercial, and architecture photography; his very defined style inspired this preset collection.

The download includes six color profiles and ten custom-built presets that “create cinematic images to push your photography to the next level.”

13. Prolost Graduated Presets

Prolost graduated presets

Designed for complete beginners, the Prolost preset pack includes over 600 presets for you to choose from.

Each effect comes in different intensities; that way, you only need to hover over each preset to preview different results. If you like an effect, you click to apply. And because the pack already comes with plenty of variations, no customization is required.

How do you pick the right presets?

There isn’t one perfect preset that will fit every photograph. There are, however, presets that will be more fitting for your workflow. So given the many choices available on the market, how do you choose?

First of all, look at the quality of the work from the creator and what they’re offering. Any adjustment can technically be turned into a preset, so you’ll run into a lot of useless downloads. Some websites or blogs offer a freebie to get you on their mailing list or make you subscribe, but all you receive is a single preset that moves a slider slightly to one side.

So make sure you get your presets from a professional and check that they offer something more complex than what would be achievable by a beginner.

Another thing that you should consider is the type of photography you do. Make sure it matches the “before” image from the preset preview. This will ensure you get results similar to what you’re expecting. Otherwise, the effect might look great on the sample picture but won’t work on your own shots.

Finally, try to find presets that are customizable. This will allow you to create your own style instead of just replicating someone else’s. It will also make your presets more versatile, so you can use them on a wider variety of pictures.

Are presets worth it?

In my opinion, yes. Because they automate a part of your work, presets will save you a lot of time. Also, presets are a good way to keep your style consistent. This is very important for gaining followers, and it lets your clients know what they can expect from you far in advance.

Also, remember: If you want the benefits of presets but feel like none of the presets I’ve suggested fit your vision, you don’t have to use third-party presets. You can always make presets of your own!

The best Lightroom presets: conclusion

Now you know some of the best Lightroom presets available in 2021! Make sure you get the presets that will fit your type of photography and style – and have fun!

Now over to you:

Have you tried presets in the past? Do you have a favorite preset or preset pack? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Best Lightroom presets FAQs

Is it worth buying presets for Lightroom?

Yes. Many professionals offer high-quality presets that are a great investment; they’ll help you achieve the look that you want in your photos.

Do professional photographers use presets?

Yes. Some professionals create their own presets to save time when editing. Others use presets from professional retouchers. Photography and photo-editing are two separate skills and can be performed by two different professionals.

Can you use Lightroom presets for free?

Some of them are free, yes. Others cost money. Before downloading a preset, I recommend checking the preset terms and conditions.

Can I create my own presets?

Yes. A preset automates a set of image adjustments. Any Lightroom post-processing that you do can be saved as a preset and used in other photographs.

Can I use Lightroom presets on the mobile version?

Any preset that you have in Lightroom can be synced across devices. That way, you can download the best Lightroom presets and use them on your computer and your phone.

The post The Best Lightroom Presets in 2021 (13 Beautiful Options) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.


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11 Sunset Photography Tips for Beautiful Results

23 May

The post 11 Sunset Photography Tips for Beautiful Results appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darren Rowse.

sunset photography tips for beautiful results

If you’re looking to do gorgeous sunset photography, then you’ve come to the right place.

Because in this article, I’m going to share 11 simple tips that will instantly improve your sunset photos.

Specifically, I’m going to explain:

  • How to capture beautiful sunset tones consistently
  • How to create balanced, pro-level sunset compositions
  • The best type of weather for sunset photos
  • Much more!In fact, sunsets (and sunrises) aren’t even difficult to photograph!

Ready to become a sunset photography master?

Let’s dive right in.

1. For the best shots, plan ahead

While you can sometimes capture beautiful sunset shots without any forethought…

…the best shots usually come from real planning.

So scope out places that might be good for sunsets the day or two before your shoot. Look for interesting locations – locations where you can photograph the sun all the way down to the horizon, and where there will be opportunities for shots that include foreground elements and silhouettes.

Sunsets only take a few minutes, which is why you want to think about these elements before the sunset begins. Otherwise, you might miss the best shots.

Find out when the sun will set, then arrive at least half an hour beforehand. It’s often in the lead up to a sunset that the real magic happens.

And keep an eye on the weather. There are a variety of different types of sunsets that produce a range of different types of lights and patterns in the sky. Don’t just head out on clear days, because while these can produce some wonderful colors, it’s usually the days with (partial) clouds when the real action happens.

(Also, dust and smoke in the air can produce amazing results, too.)

Consider the equipment you might need. Take a tripod, lenses with a range of focal lengths, and extra batteries.

That way, when the sky turns beautiful, you’ll be ready!

sunset photography tips dock with boat

2. Shoot at a variety of focal lengths

Most sunsets are photographed with wide-angle lenses, and these focal lengths can make for beautiful images. A lens in the 10-30mm range will give you sweeping shots of your sunset scene.

However, if you want the sun itself to be a main feature of the shot, you’ll need to zoom right in. The sun is just half a degree across, so when you shoot with a wide-angle lens, the sun will be tiny in the frame. If you want to highlight the sun, you’ll need to zoom in with a 200mm lens or longer.

(This, in turn, will increase your need for a tripod!)

Also, be hyper-aware of eye-safety concerns: looking at the sun is always dangerous. And it’s even more dangerous when you look at it through a telephoto lens. So if you do include the sun in your composition, never look through your camera’s optical viewfinder. Instead, use Live View to check your composition and exposure on the rear LCD.

(If you use a mirrorless camera, this won’t be an issue. You can safely look at the sun through the electronic viewfinder.)

sunset over a misty valley

3. Use the rule of thirds to improve your sunset photography compositions

The rule of thirds states that you should position key elements of your scene a third of the way into the frame.

So instead of putting the horizon in the center of the composition, put it toward the top or the bottom, like this:

tree at sunset

Do you see how the horizon is a third of the way up from the bottom? That’s what the rule of thirds suggests.

And it’s not just about horizons. You can also use the rule of thirds to position the sun, foreground elements, background elements, you name it.

Of course, the rule of thirds isn’t a requirement. And you can break the rule of thirds for stunning results in certain situations.

But in general, the rule of thirds is a great starting point – so unless you have a good reason to do otherwise, I highly recommend you follow it!

4. Experiment with different exposures (to achieve a magical result)

First things first:

When doing sunset photography, you should always shoot with a semi-automatic or Manual mode. Don’t let your camera dictate your settings for you (in other words: get off Auto mode immediately!).

So before starting a sunset shoot, switch your camera over to Aperture Priority mode, Shutter Priority mode, or Manual mode.

And don’t just take one shot at one exposure. Instead, take a variety of shots at different exposures.

So while you can try a “standard” exposure based on your camera’s recommendation…

…don’t be afraid to underexpose by raising your shutter speed or narrowing your aperture. And don’t be afraid to overexpose by doing the opposite.

silhouetted skyline

The great thing about sunsets is that there is no one “right” exposure. You can get stunning results with underexposure and overexposure; the key is to experiment.

(Personally, I tend to start with a relatively quick shutter speed, then slowly work down to slower shutter speeds for brighter, more luminous shots.)

5. Bracket often

In the previous tip, I talked about experimenting with different exposures.

But did you know that there’s a technique, called bracketing, that guides you in your exposure experimentation?

Here’s how it works:

First, take a photo using your camera’s suggested settings.

Then adjust the settings (either manually or via exposure compensation) to slightly underexpose the photo and then to slightly overexpose the photo.

So if your camera says to shoot at f/8, you would take your first shot at f/8, as recommended. But your second shot would be at f/5.6, and your third shot would be at f/11.

That way, you’d end up with a “standard” shot, a darker shot, and a brighter shot, all of which will give you different colors and effects.

It’s a good way to guide your experimentation, and it’s also a good way to create “insurance” photos – so that, if you overexpose the standard shot on accident, you still have a darker file on your memory card.

Make sense?

sunset photography tips sunbeams

6. Auto Exposure Lock is your friend

Bracketing can be a lot of fun, but it also takes time – and it’s not the most precise way to create a well-exposed image.

That’s where Auto Exposure Lock (AEL) comes in handy.

Using AEL is simple. First, you point your camera at the area of the scene you want perfectly exposed, such as a beautiful foreground feature.

Then lock the exposure.

Finally, reframe the picture (while maintaining the exposure lock).

Basically, it lets you determine the exposure without interference from the ultra-bright sunset, which can wreak havoc on a camera’s meter.

Also note that you can use Auto Exposure Lock to create beautiful silhouettes; just point your camera at the brightest part of the sky, lock the exposure, and then reframe with a foreground subject. The result will look like this:

horse silhouette

Cool, right?

7. For the best colors, get off Auto White Balance

Your white balance setting adjusts the temperature of the colors in your scene.

So depending on the white balance, you’ll end up with a cooler (bluer) photo or a warmer (redder) photo.

When the white balance is set to Auto, your camera will automatically deal with the color temperature. And while this can sometimes work, it often gives subpar results – where you lose the warm golden tones of your sunset.

So instead of using Auto White Balance, switch your camera to the Cloudy or Shade presets, which will warm things up a little.

Alternatively, if you’re shooting a sunset and you do want a cooler, moody shot, you can experiment with other white balance settings, such as Incandescent.

One more thing:

If you shoot in RAW, it’s true that you can always tweak the white balance during post-processing. However, this is often pretty inconvenient; after all, how much time do you want to spend adjusting the white balance in front of your computer?

Which is why it’s worth getting the white balance right in-camera.

8. Always bring a tripod for the sharpest results

If you’re shooting at longer shutter speeds, such as 1/60s and beyond, then a tripod makes a huge difference.

It’ll keep your camera stable – so that your files remain tack sharp.

When you’re out doing sunset photography, you don’t need to start the shoot with a tripod, because the minutes leading up to a sunset bring plenty of light.

But as the sun sinks on the horizon, a tripod will become more and more necessary. (And by the time the sun is gone, a tripod will be absolutely essential.)

Note that you might want to use a tripod for your whole photoshoot, especially if you plan to capture long exposures that feature moving water, like this one:

long exposure sunset photography

What if you don’t have a tripod? Or you forget to bring one?

In such cases, I recommend you stabilize your camera against an object. You can put it on the hood of a car, or you can just set it on the ground; whatever allows you to minimize movement as much as possible.

9. Don’t be afraid to focus manually

We all love autofocus – but sometimes, when shooting in extreme lighting conditions, autofocus just won’t get the job done. Your lens will hunt all around, and the shot will end up out of focus.

That’s where manual focus comes in handy.

Now, not all lenses support manual focus. Some only allow for autofocusing, in which case you’re out of luck.

But many lenses do let you focus manually (and you can generally activate manual focus by pushing the AF/MF switch on the lens barrel to MF).

So when your lens starts to hunt, don’t fret; just swap over to manual focus and keep shooting!

10. Shoot more than just the sunset

Here’s one of the many wonderful things about sunsets:

They don’t just create wonderful colors in the sky; they also cast a beautiful golden light that is great for other types of photography!

So as the sunset progresses, keep an eye on other photographic opportunities around you. For instance, you can capture portrait, landscape, or macro shots. In the light of the setting sun, it’ll all turn out amazing!

portrait silhouette with sunstar

11. Keep shooting (even after the sun is gone)

A sunset constantly changes over time – which means that every additional minute is an opportunity for a different shot.

So don’t take a few shots and call it an evening. Instead, stick around and photograph the sun as it goes down. You can continue to capture the same composition, or you can test out different compositions; the key is to keep your camera out and your finger on the shutter button.

Also make sure to capture different exposures (bracket!) and consider working with different focal lengths, as I’ve discussed above.

And finally:

Don’t pack up once the sun is gone. The period after the sun has disappeared – called the blue hour – can be great for photography, too, thanks to its beautiful colors and ethereal light. So if you still have the energy, keep finding compositions until the colors have vanished completely from the horizon.

sunset photography tips

Sunset photography tips: conclusion

Now that you know these tips, you’re well on your way to capturing some stunning sunset photography of your own.

So the next time the sun starts to get low in the sky…

…grab your camera and head outside!

Amazing images await.

Now over to you:

Which of these sunset photography tips is your favorite? Are you going to use any of them the next time you photograph a sunset? Share your thoughts (and sunset photos) in the comments below!

The post 11 Sunset Photography Tips for Beautiful Results appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darren Rowse.


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11 Photo Manipulation Ideas (for Beautiful Results)

28 Apr

The post 11 Photo Manipulation Ideas (for Beautiful Results) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

11 photo manipulation ideas for beautiful results

If you’re looking for some fun photo manipulation ideas to create stunning art, you’ve come to the right place.

Today, manipulating digital photography is a quick and easy process. Want to generate a double-exposure look? Create a tilt-shift effect? Simulate a fisheye lens? All these options and more are accessible thanks to image manipulation programs like Photoshop.

So here are 11 photo manipulation ideas to get your creative juices flowing!

1. Make a tilt-shift effect

tilt-shift effect
Canon 5D Mark II | Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM | f/8 | 1/320s | ISO 100

When viewing a landscape from a distance, the scene looks uniformly focused to our eyes. However, when we look at a fake or model landscape, our physical proximity to the miniature scene creates some interesting optical effects.

But you don’t need a fake landscape to create this “tilt-shift” effect. With the right lenses, you can achieve it in-camera – or you can replicate the phenomenon in post-processing!

Here is a great tutorial on simulating a tilt-shift effect in Photoshop.

2. Generate an anaglyph 3D effect

anaglyph 3D effect photo manipulation ideas
Canon 5D Mark II | Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM | f/4 | 1/100s | ISO 160

Anaglyph 3D renderings are made up of two differently filtered and slightly offset colored images. When viewed through special glasses, the two different colors are seen by different eyes, creating a 3D effect.

Creating an anaglyph 3D image in Photoshop is easy. First, open a photo and duplicate the Background layer twice. Select one of the duplicated layers and click on the FX icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Select Blending Options – this will open the Layer Style window. Uncheck the G and B checkboxes next to Channels in the central panel. Then click OK.

layer styles window

Next, select the other duplicated layer. Click on the FX icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and select Blending Options again. This time, when the Layer Style window opens, uncheck the R checkbox. Click OK.

Finally, select one of the duplicated layers and nudge it slightly to the left or right using the mouse or the directional keys on the keyboard. The colors in the layers will separate, generating an anaglyph effect.

3. Imitate a circular fisheye lens

circular fisheye effect photo manipulation ideas
Canon 5D Mark IV | Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM | f/5 | 1/160s | ISO 320

Photo manipulation ideas inspired by camera equipment can achieve engaging results. A fisheye lens is an ultra-wide-angle that produces a large amount of distortion, creating distinctive panoramic or hemispherical images.

To create a circular fisheye effect, open an image and select the Elliptical Marquee tool. Set the Style dropdown on the top menu to Fixed Ratio and drag the Marquee tool over the center of the image. Click Filter > Distort > Spherize. Adjust the amount of distortion you’d like in the pop-up panel (I usually leave the slider at 100%). Click OK.

To isolate the Spherized section from the rest of the image, keep the Spherized layer selected. Right-click inside the perimeter of the Spherized layer, then hit Select Inverse.

Next, right-click on the outside of the circle and select Fill. In the Fill pop-up box, make sure the Contents dropdown menu is set to Black, the Mode is set to Normal, and the Opacity is set to 100%. Click OK.

The area outside the Spherized subject will fill with black, isolating the fisheye effect.

4. Combine two images for a double exposure effect

double exposure effect
Water photo: Canon 5D Mark II | Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM | f/10 | 1/500s | ISO 100
Fern photo: Canon 5D Mark II | Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II with extension tubes | f/2.8 | 1/80s | ISO 100

From the days of early photography, shooters have gone to considerable lengths to avoid ghosting and double exposures. However, some photographers generate multiple exposures deliberately for creative purposes.

Double exposures can be made in-camera (both digitally and on film), but they can also be imitated in Photoshop.

This article demonstrates a simple way to make a double exposure effect in post-production.

5. Simulate an infrared effect

infrared forest scene photo manipulation ideas

Infrared photography captures wavelengths of light that operate outside the visible spectrum.

While there are several in-camera ways to create infrared imagery, the effect can be simulated in Photoshop, too. Take a look at our article on creating beautiful infrared effects.

6. Create a lens flare

adding a flare effect to an image

When bright light reaches your camera, it can reflect off different parts of the lens to create an interesting flare effect.

While lens flare is sometimes unwanted, it can have interesting creative applications. In this article, we show you how to add a lens flare to an image with Photoshop.

7. Create a sepia look with Photoshop

beautiful sepia leaves
Canon 5D Mark IV | Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM | f/8 | 1/200 | ISO 400

Sepia is a warm brown tone named after the pigment derived from the ink sac of the cuttlefish genus Sepia. In photography, the term sepia refers to a form of print toning. The use of sepia in photography began in the 1880s, and today the beautiful warmth of sepia toning is associated with age and history.

To apply a sepia tone to a photograph in Photoshop, first open an image. Create a Curves adjustment layer and adjust the curve to introduce a faded aesthetic:

S-curve in Photoshop

The next step is to set the Photoshop foreground color to around the #35322e mark and the background color to around #cebbab. Click on the Create New Fill Or Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and select the Gradient Map option. This will apply a gradient sourced from the foreground and background color selections.

Select the Gradient Map layer in the Layers panel and open the Properties panel. In the Properties tab, click on the strip of graduated color to open the Gradient Editor.

Once in the Gradient Editor, make sure the Gradient Type is set to Solid and the Smoothness to 100%. Here’s what the window should look like:

Gradient Editor window in Photoshop

Finally, feel free to make adjustments to the Gradient Map (this will change the sepia effect). Once you have finished preparing the Gradient Editor, click OK. And you’re done!

8. Apply an Instagram-like filter in Photoshop

Instagram filter effect
Canon 5D Mark IV | Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM | f/4 | 1/250s | ISO 100

Instagram gives users the option to easily customize images or videos before uploading them to the social media platform. And with varied and eye-catching results, many users have looked to emulate Instagram filters in Photoshop!

If you are interested in applying Instagram-inspired effects to your photography work outside of the social media platform, this tutorial might come in handy.

9. Create a Lomography-inspired effect

Lomography effect photo manipulation ideas
Canon 5D Mark IV | Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM | f/8 | 1/320s | ISO 200

Named after the optics manufacturer Lomo, Lomography makes use of the unpredictable and unique optical traits of plastic cameras and alternative processing techniques. And with the rise of digital photography, the Lomo aesthetic has spread to digital manipulation techniques.

While there is no single Lomography look, different Photoshop techniques have been developed to recreate Lomography-type effects.

To produce a Lomo-inspired digital photograph, first open an image in Photoshop. For a more traditional look, you can crop the photo into a square using the Crop tool.

Next, create a Curves adjustment layer. In the Curves histogram, click on the RGB dropdown menu and select Red. Make a shallow S curve within the histogram.

Next, select Green from the RGB dropdown menu and make a slightly more pronounced S curve. Lastly, select the Blue channel from the RGB dropdown menu and make an S curve similar to the green S curve.

Keep in mind that the curves don’t have to mirror each other exactly – what we are aiming for is a well-saturated image with considerable contrast and a distinctive hue. For the best results, I recommend experimenting! You can also add some grain via Filter > Noise > Add Noise.

Lomographic images also tend to have pronounced vignettes. To emulate this effect, duplicate the original image layer. Then, with the Lasso tool selected, draw a loose oval or circle around the center of the image area. Click Select > Modify > Feather. Set the Feather Radius to 250 pixels (the maximum) and click OK.

Next, click on Select > Inverse. With the inverse selection active, create a Levels adjustment layer. In the Levels panel, adjust the sliders to introduce a dark vignette around the edges of the image (the effect will vary from photo to photo, so some experimentation may be required!).

10. Apply a Sabattier effect in Photoshop

Sabattier effect examples

The Sabattier effect is one of many photo manipulation ideas that originated in the darkroom. The process involves rendering a negative or print either partially or completely tonally reversed. In other words, dark areas in the image become light and light areas become dark – for an effect known as solarization.

In the darkroom, this Sabattier effect can occur when a semi-developed print or negative is re-exposed to light for a brief moment; the result is a surreal, eye-catching version of the photo.

Of course, you can also recreate the Sabattier effect in Photoshop with two simple methods:

Sabattier method 1

The first technique applies a solarizing filter directly to your photo.

First, open an image and duplicate it. With the duplicate layer selected, click Filter > Stylize > Solarize. That’s it! The image will instantly take on a solarized aesthetic.

For a more classic solarization effect, convert the image to black and white with a Black and White adjustment layer. Different black and white settings will alter the appearance of the solarization, so try a few different presets or make your own custom adjustments.

Sabattier method 2

While the Solarize filter method works well, it doesn’t offer a lot of creative control – it’s just a straight conversion. To make a less destructive and more customizable solarization effect, open your image in Photoshop and add a Black and White adjustment layer (if desired). Create a Curves adjustment layer.

In the adjustment layer, create this curve:

Sabattier curves adjustment

From there, you can adjust the curve for a dramatic look. Depending on the image, you can also reverse the Curves adjustment layer for a more pronounced or subtle effect. Since you’re working non-destructively with an adjustment layer, this process can easily be undone at any point.

11. Simulate a glitch effect

glitch effect Photoshop photo manipulation ideas
Canon 5D Mark II | Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM | f/4 | 1/250s | ISO 100

Last (but not least!) on our list of photo manipulation ideas is a glitch effect simulation.

Glitches are flaws in a digital medium. Inherent in our modern technological landscape, true glitch art is made by capturing organic glitches, manually corrupting digital media, or by physically manipulating electronic devices to cultivate glitched imagery. The process can be quite tricky, however – so simulating a glitch effect can be an easier way to convey the fragility of digital media.

To discover how to create a glitch effect in Photoshop, check out our step-by-step tutorial.

Photo manipulation ideas: conclusion

From Lomography-inspired effects to simulated glitch art, the creative possibilities of photography are just about limitless. So if you find yourself in a creative rut, give one of the photo manipulation ideas from this list a try – you never know what new perspectives your manipulations might inspire!

Now over to you:

What are your favorite types of photo manipulation? Share your thoughts (and examples!) in the comments below.

The post 11 Photo Manipulation Ideas (for Beautiful Results) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.


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10 Tips for Beautiful Black and White Headshots

01 Apr

The post 10 Tips for Beautiful Black and White Headshots appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

10 tips for beautiful black and white headshots

Black and white has long been a popular way to capture headshots with impact and visual interest. The lack of color helps to emphasize the subject while discarding information that isn’t relevant. 

And in this article, I’m going to share 10 black and white headshot tips to help you get the best results.

Let’s get started.

Headshots vs. portraits

black and white headshots
A headshot is always a portrait, but a portrait (including a closely cropped portrait) is not always a headshot. Remember, headshots (no matter the type) come with a specific goal.

If you’re new to portrait photography, it might help to clear up what a headshot actually is before you try to create one.

Portraits: In general terms, a portrait photograph is a representation of a person. Portrait photography is a broad genre that encompasses nearly every subgenre that involves photographing people. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking studio portraits, street candids, or fashion photography. If it has a person in the frame, it’s probably a portrait.

Headshots: Headshots are a subgenre of portrait photography. The difference is that headshots serve a very specific purpose. Whether it’s actors’ headshots or corporate headshots, the purpose is to sell something. That something could be an actor’s ability to fit a role’s physical requirements, or it could be your business professionalism.

Headshots are limited to close-up images of the subject’s head. They can also include head and shoulders as well as half-length shots. Before capturing a headshot, it’s important you understand where and how the photo will be used so you can get the right shot for the right purpose.

Tips for black and white headshots

black and white headshot of a man
Canon 5D Mark III | Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro | 50mm | 1/80s | f/5.6 | ISO 100

There are no hard and fast rules for creating headshots. However, following these tips will hopefully help!

And as always with photography, remember: There is no one way to do anything.

In other words, nothing listed here is a rule of any sort. If a tip fails to help you get the results you want or need, then discard or revamp it.  

1. Remember that a headshot is different from a portrait

portrait vs headshot

Yes, we’ve already discussed this – but when you’re in the middle of a session, it’s easy to get caught up and start changing your approach. This may not be a problem in a normal portrait session, but with headshots, you need to make sure you’re focused on the specific end result. If you change tack and the results aren’t showing your subject in the desired manner, you’ll have wasted time and effort on images that are unsuitable for the subject’s uses.

One way to help keep you on track is to ask your subject to share the purpose of their headshot. Allow them to be as specific and detailed as possible. Once you have an answer to that question, you should find it much easier to stay on track. 

If you are photographing an actor with representation, ask them for their agency’s headshot guidelines (or ask the agency yourself). This will give you a strict set of limitations and help to ensure you get the required result. 

2. Getting it right in-camera is just as important as ever

black and white vs color portrait comparison
By shooting with black and white in mind and getting it right in-camera, you can help make the conversion process much easier.
Canon 5D Mark III | Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro | 50mm | 1/125s | f/5.6 | ISO 100

Depending on where your headshots are going to wind up, you might find that you can’t do any edits beyond basic retouching. You should be allowed a black and white conversion and some basic blemish removal, but much more than that might not be acceptable. 

Therefore, do whatever you can to get your images right in the camera. Light your images well with good exposure and good contrast. Learn your lighting patterns and use a meter if you have to. 

Get this step right, and you might find that you have little more editing to do beyond the actual black and white conversion.

3. Start in color

It might be tempting to set your camera to a black and white mode at the point of shooting. You can do this – but if you shoot JPEGs, I would advise against it.

By choosing this route, you will be discarding a huge amount of color information at the very beginning. For the best conversions, you’ll want to later manipulate your color information to get the very best black and white results.

(However, note that RAW shooters can use a black and white mode while still retaining color information.) 

4. Avoid shooting to crop

cropped portrait
By cropping down to a head-and-shoulders composition, you discard most of the information in the frame. Instead, try to get your compositions right at the shooting stage.

This might be controversial, but I’ll stand by it. When you are creating black and white headshots, try to get your composition as close as possible to how you want it to end up.

Doing this will ensure that your images are as big as possible and have as much detail as possible when you pass them on to your client. If you shoot before cropping out significant parts of your image, you will lose out on a large chunk of resolution.

5. Control contrast with light, not post-production

woman in the studio
Using a medium-sized octabox up close allows for extremely soft light, thus controlling the contrast. Also, at camera right, you see a background light that reduces the overall contrast in the image.

This point goes back to getting it right in-camera, but specifically for lighting.

One of the quickest ways to ruin a portrait is to add a lot of unnatural contrast in the post-production phase.

Avoid this by setting up your lights to get the contrast you want from the very start. 

You can do this through modifier selection and lighting ratios. 

6. Use fill to control your contrast

headshot with and without fill light
Left: Without fill. Right: With fill. Here you can see how a fill light might help you lift the shadows and control the contrast in your images.

If you want to decrease contrast, make sure to do it in-camera.

You can do this with fill light. Whether you work with a dedicated second light source or a reflector, introducing fill into your images is a great way to control exactly how your black and white headshots turn out.

7. Think in values rather than color

black and white headshot of a woman
In this image, you can see four distinct areas of value: The highlights of the skin, the midtones of the sweater, and two shadow areas for the hair and the background. Being able to see these at the time of shooting will help you design your black and white headshots better.
Canon 5D Mark III | Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro | 50mm | 1/160 sec | f/4 | ISO 100

Because you are starting in color, it can help to think of things in terms of values.

At its most basic, value simply describes where colors fall on a spectrum between pure white and pure black.

Now, once converted to black and white, almost everything in your images will appear as a shade of gray. If you can visualize how the colors you see with your eyes will be represented in a black and white conversion, you will be better able to design your lighting before your subject even arrives. 

How do you learn to do this?

Practice. A lot of it.

Get out there and photograph anything and everything you can, then convert to black and white so you can build this skill.

Remember, different conversion techniques affect color and value in different ways, so be sure to practice with as many conversion methods as possible. 

8. Minimize details in the frame

Because we are talking about headshots, you’ll need to remember that the entire point of the photograph is the person. Any extra details will only serve to detract from your subject.

So do what you can to minimize the impact of the background, the subject’s clothing, and other elements in the photo.

For backgrounds, you can focus your efforts on finding the cleanest, most non-distracting backdrop. For clothing, ask your subjects to dress without distracting elements that would take the focus off of them. Patterns can be fine, but it might be best if you avoided particularly bold choices like leopard-print and zebra-stripe tops.

9. Focus on form

black and white headshot of a woman
When you are lighting your subject, take the time to ensure that you’re using the light to shape their features in the best way possible.
Canon 5D Mark III | Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro | 50mm | 1/100s | f/9 | ISO 100

This goes back to basic lighting skills.

You need to shape your subject’s face in a flattering way that also helps it stand out in the frame.

You are trying to minimize other details, so it is the subject’s features you must focus on. Make as much use of them as you can. 

10. Eyes and expressions are more important than ever

black and white headshot examples
With headshots, expressions and eye contact are more important than ever. Do what you can to develop a rapport with your subjects.

As the goal of a headshot is to make your subject look as good as possible, and as you have already reduced the impact of distracting elements, your subject’s eyes and expression become more important than ever. 

Lighting for the eyes will keep them bright and prominent in the frame. Doing this also means you won’t have to spend time processing the eyes, which might work well for your client’s requirements. 

Also, to get the best expressions, ensure that your subject is comfortable and that you have a good rapport with them.

Black and white headshots: (not) the end

On their own, headshot photography and black and white photography are broad topics that are truly impossible to distill into a short list of tips. However, I do hope that these ten tips for black and white headshots will help you get started on your journey.

As always, none of these tips are rules, just guidance. If you feel that something I said doesn’t suit you or your photography, that’s perfectly fine.

Now over to you:

Which of these black and white headshot tips did you like the most? Do you have any tips for black and white headshot photography? Share your thoughts (and photos) in the comments below!

Tips for better black and white headshots.
Should I shoot headshots in black and white mode?

If you’re shooting in JPEG, no. But if you’re shooting in RAW, you can decide whether to shoot in black and white or color (you won’t lose any image information in either mode).

Is black and white a good option for headshots?

Yes. Black and white allows you to strip down the information in the photo to its key elements (in this case, the person whose headshot it is).

What kind of light should I use for headshots?

Any soft light that flatters your subject is a good choice.

How should I do black and white conversions for my headshot photography?

Use whatever method suits you and your workflow best. Photoshop and Lightroom both offer great options for black and white conversions.

The post 10 Tips for Beautiful Black and White Headshots appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.


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How to Make Beautiful Portraits Using Flash and High-Speed Sync

14 Mar

The post How to Make Beautiful Portraits Using Flash and High-Speed Sync appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sean McCormack.

how to use flash and high-speed sync for stunning portraits

The scene: Outdoors with full sunlight.

The gear: Your camera, lens, and flash.

The problem: You find that your flash only works at 1/200s or below, so you need to be at f/16 or f/22 to get a well-exposed shot. And at f/16-f/22, everything is in focus, including all the cars and other distractions in the background. (Those dust spots you keep meaning to clean are also perfectly visible.)

Why can’t you shoot with a higher shutter speed so you can have a wider aperture?

Well, it’s all down to the issue of sync speed.

More specifically, it’s about using flash and high-speed sync.

Generally speaking, to overpower the sun and stay below your camera’s sync speed, you’re forced to use a narrow aperture. Here I’m at f/20 just to stop the backlight overpowering the hair and the sky from blowing out:

Woman shot with off-camera flash

The resulting aperture means that everything is pretty much in focus, leaving the background looking cluttered.

(This shot is for example only; you should generally make a point of choosing clutter-free backgrounds.)

What is sync speed?

Sync speed is the fastest shutter speed for which the camera can expose the whole frame at once.

It’s a bit technical, but when you fire any shot below the sync speed, the first shutter curtain opens fully, revealing the entire sensor to light. At the end of the exposure time, the second shutter curtain moves across the frame to finish the capture.

(Generally, the sync speed varies between 1/125s and 1/250s; it depends on your camera.)

When you go above the sync speed, the second curtain starts to move before the first one has completed its journey. As your shutter speed gets shorter and shorter, the gap between the curtains narrows to a tiny slit. Despite this, all parts of the sensor receive light and a full exposure is made. On a bright day with a prime lens, you can easily shoot at 1/8000s at f/1.4 and have a perfect exposure. All parts of the frame still receive light, because ambient (non-flash) lighting is continuous throughout the exposure.

So why does the sync speed actually matter?

The sync speed problem

It’s when you introduce flash that you start to have problems.

You see, when a flash is fired (which usually happens when the first curtain is opened), all the light from it comes out in a very short space of time (in the order of milliseconds).

When you go above the sync speed, the position of the curtains doesn’t reveal the entire frame at the time the flash fires. So the shutter curtain blocks part of the flash and prevents it from reaching the sensor.

Any ambient light will expose normally, but the flash gets hidden in part of the frame. As your shutter speed gets faster and faster, more and more of the flash is blocked until it’s no longer visible in the shot (i.e., your exposure is what you’d get if you never fired the flash at all).

Below is a set of images taken at 1/3-stop increments with a flash. The first photo is at 1/250s, the native sync speed of my Fujifilm X-T2 camera. The other shutter speeds are, in order from left to right (and top to bottom): 1/320s, 1/400s, 1/500s, 1/630s, 1/800s, 1/1000s, and 1/1250s. Note that 1/320s is potentially usable if the subject is away from the edge of the frame.

portraits with flash and no high-speed sync

Everything in focus

Normally, when you use flash outside in daylight, you end up having everything in focus.

Remember the Sunny 16 Rule? If your subject is in direct sunlight during the day, you can set your aperture to f/16 and your shutter speed will be one over your ISO value.

So if your ISO is set to 100, your shutter speed would be 1/100s (at f/16). If your ISO is 200, then the shutter speed would be 1/200s.

Now, to get a darker, richer sky while using flash, you’d really need to be at f/22. Because you can’t get faster than 1/250s (remember, it’s the sync speed!), you have to increase the aperture to expose the shot correctly.

portraits with flash and no high-speed sync
I shot at f/20 and 1/160s to get a richer sky for this band promo shot. It’s quite an old photo, so there were limited options for widening the aperture at the time. Even the hills in the background are in clear focus. The beach isn’t exactly pretty, either.
portraits with flash setup
A behind-the-scenes shot showing my two flashes set to full power.

As you can see from the photos above, this is a huge problem. Shooting at an f/22 aperture just doesn’t give you the creamy bokeh that portrait photographers love, and it can leave you with unpleasant, distracting backgrounds.

So what do you do?

The solution: high-speed sync

There is a solution: high-speed sync, also known as focal-plane sync.

No, it’s not perfect, but it does work. You see, instead of firing the flash at the start of the shot, high-speed sync pulses the flash throughout the whole exposure, trying to simulate the effects of a continuous light.

flash set to high-speed sync
My flash set to high-speed sync. Usually, there’s a single-button hold or a double-button combination to turn HSS on.

It looks good, but it comes at the expense of power and heat, because HSS works the flash really hard. After a few shots, the flash may even shut down for cooling.

Now, for high-speed sync to work, you need the camera to transmit a signal to the flash and for the flash to have high-speed sync built in. Cactus Image makes a trigger called the V6 II, which allows you to use any HSS flash with any camera.

a flash trigger
The Cactus Image V6 II offers power and zoom control over a wide range of speedlights, and it also offers high-speed sync capabilities.

The look of high-speed sync

You can use high-speed sync to go over the sync-speed barrier, so settings like 1/4000s at f/1.4 are achievable with flash. You get complete control over the light, but while using the wide apertures you usually associate with natural-light photographs. Yes, please!

By shooting wide-angle photos with a shallow depth of field, you can even create images that look like stills from a movie.

Settings for high-speed sync

Let’s look at a typical setup and settings for a photo using high-speed sync. This particular shoot was done in the evening when the light was relatively low, but I really wanted a shallow depth of field – and therefore required high-speed sync.

I set my camera to f/1.4 for a super-shallow depth of field. To get the clouds properly exposed, I had to boost the shutter speed to 1/4000s. To get the flash to work, I had to set it to high-speed sync. Using a Cactus V6 II trigger, I could easily get my Fujifilm X-T10 to shoot with high-speed sync.

portraits with flash and high-speed sync
An evening HSS photo shot at 1/4000s, ISO 200, and f/1.4. Notice the shallow depth of field.
portraits with flash and high-speed sync behind the scenes
The behind-the-scenes shot, showing an octabox in front of a model (photo by my assistant, Ola).
close-up portrait
Using high-speed sync, I captured this shot at about 3:00 in the afternoon with the sun high in the sky. I worked with an 85mm lens at 1/2000s, f/2.5, and ISO 100 on a Canon 5D III. The sun acted as a second light in the shot. Again, the background is nicely out of focus.

Another high-speed sync portrait example:

portrait with high-speed sync
An issue with shooting outdoors on overcast days is that your shutter speeds can be low enough to cause camera shake. By bumping up the ISO, you can get a faster shutter speed, keeping you safe from blur. Using high-speed sync then lets the flash do the work. Here, I’ve shot to keep the flash looking as natural as possible.
1/1000s | f/4 | ISO 800

The alternative

Note that high-speed sync isn’t the only way to shoot with a wide aperture and flash.

For one, you can always head out at the beginning or the end of the day when the light is pretty low; then the ambient lighting won’t add much to the shot, and you’ll be able to get a nice exposure at 1/200s. Plus, you can get great sky color and you won’t be fighting against strong sunlight.

portrait with high-speed sync flash
A shot of the band Drown for Thin Air magazine. The evening light made the shot. I needed a higher aperture to get the whole band in focus, so I opted not to use high-speed sync here.

Of course, if you’re doing any photoshoots with clients, you often have to work with the subject’s schedule rather than your own. So you may have to shoot at midday to suit them.

And that leads to the next option.

Using a neutral density filter

If you shoot landscape photography, you will be familiar with neutral density (ND) filters. This filter type allows you to slow the shutter speed down to get nice, silky water.

Neutral means that it adds no color, while density refers to blocking light. You can get ND filters in a range of values from 1 stop to 16 stops.

For portraits, neutral density filters allow you to widen the aperture instead of dropping the shutter speed. So a 4-stop ND filter would take you from f/16 to f/4.

The drawback is that, as you block light, focusing can become harder.

Another potential issue is that not all ND filters are actually neutral. Some tend to have a color cast. (I have a Firecrest 10-stop ND for landscapes, which is neutral, but the older 4-stop filter I own – also from Firecrest – is slightly pink.)

portrait without a neutral density filter
Without the ND filter applied, I was forced to use a narrow aperture; note how the entire scene is in focus.
1/250s | f/16 | ISO 200
portrait with flash and high-speed sync
With the 4-stop ND filter applied, the background can be rendered out of focus. The flash is still at the same power as the unfiltered shot above. The filter does have a color cast, which is hard to remove completely.
1/250s | f/4 | ISO 200

Flash and high-speed sync: conclusion

As you now know, you can make outdoor portraits even when the sun is bright – simply by using flash and high-speed sync.

So make sure you get a flash that has HSS capabilities.

And start practicing!

Now over to you:

Have you ever used high-speed sync? Have you ever struggled to get nice bokeh in bright sunlight? Share your thoughts (and high-speed sync images!) in the comments below.

The post How to Make Beautiful Portraits Using Flash and High-Speed Sync appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sean McCormack.


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12 Tips for Beautiful Long Exposure Night Photography

25 Feb

The post 12 Tips for Beautiful Long Exposure Night Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Matt Murray.

long exposure night photography tips

Long exposure night photography can seem tough.

But it doesn’t have to be.

Because there are a few simple tricks you can use…

…that’ll ensure you get great long exposures, consistently.

And that’s what this article is all about. I’m going to give you 12 easy tips for long exposure night photos. Specifically, I’ll tell you:

  • Every piece of gear you need for pro-level night photography
  • The simple secrets for keeping your long exposure shots sharp
  • The best time of day to capture long exposure night photos (hint: It’s not at all what you’d expect!)

Plus a whole lot more.

Are you’re ready to become a master of long exposure night photography?

Let’s get started.

Long exposure night photography city from above

1. Scout your location ahead of time

Most photographers think that scouting is overkill.

But here’s the thing:

Knowing where the best locations are for night photography ahead of time can pay huge dividends.

It means you won’t have to work out where to set up when you arrive.

(And setting up is very stressful if you can’t find a spot and the sun is sinking rapidly!)

If you can, scout your location at the same time of day you plan on shooting. This will give you a good idea of what lighting to expect.

Have a good look around the area. And ask yourself:

Will there be any trees or obstacles blocking my view? Are there any lights in the vicinity – such as streetlights or floodlights – that will affect my images?

When choosing your location, also look for sources of movement, including:

  • Crowds of people
  • Cars that create dramatic light trails
  • Boats skimming across the water

Why?

Because movement is great for long exposure photos!

Long exposure night photography fair at night
In this photo of the Royal Queensland Show, both lights and people are creating a sense of movement.

If you’re not able to scout a location beforehand, consider your options.

For instance, you can turn up an hour or two before sunset to find the best location.

Or you can research the location by looking through social media. This will give you ideas for potential locations – including what they look like at night.

To learn more about the virtual scouting process, check out this article: Top Tips for Photographing the Best a City has to Offer in 48 Hours.

2. Consider taking multiple shots

Once you’ve determined your shooting location, here’s what to think about next:

Whether you will move your camera and tripod around on the shoot (changing locations, capturing different compositions, and/or using different focal lengths), or whether you will take a series of images that are exactly the same (perhaps for blending in Photoshop).

If you’ve decided on the latter, it can be worth taking a second camera and tripod with you; that way, you can take additional shots and make the most of your trip.

3. Use a checklist to pack your gear

Night photography requires a lot of equipment.

So before you go out to shoot, I highly recommend you create a checklist for packing your kit.

This is a great memory aid and will ensure that you don’t forget anything. Here are some of the things I have on my gear checklist:

  • Cameras and lenses
  • Fully-charged camera battery. If you’re capturing multiple images of the same scene to blend in Photoshop, you will have a very hard time lining them all up later on if you have to move your camera to change batteries.
  • Spare batteries
  • One or two tripods
  • Tripod base plates (these small rectangular bits of kit can be the difference between a successful shoot and a disaster!)
  • SD cards. Make sure you have a formatted card in your camera ready to go, as well as spares.
  • Water and snacks
  • Wireless headphones. Often, I’ll be in the same location taking images for several hours. If there’s not a fellow photographer to chat with, I listen to podcasts or music.

4. Set up early and be mindful of others

Try to arrive early so you can set up and be prepared at your preferred location.

When you set up your camera and tripod, be mindful of pedestrians, cyclists, and traffic in the area. Don’t place your gear where it will obstruct paths or where people could trip over it.

street corner with light trails
Always make sure your gear is not in the way of others during a night shoot in a busy area.

5. Shoot during blue hour for the best skies

If you want to create the most striking long exposure night photography, then I highly recommend you shoot during blue hour.

Specifically, start capturing images as the sun is setting, and keep photographing until all the color has drained from the sky.

That’s how you’ll get images with drama, like the one below:

blue hour photo of cityscape
The best time to take night photos is when there is still color in the sky!

6. Use a tripod

You must use a tripod for sharp long exposure night photography.

Otherwise, your photos will be full of blur.

I bought a Manfrotto tripod in 2005, and it’s still going strong! I also have a smaller, lighter MeFoto tripod for travel.

Owning several tripod quick release plates is also a good idea. That way, you can detach your camera from the tripod whenever you need (and stick it back on quickly, as well!).

tripod head
A good-quality tripod is a solid investment for long exposure night photographers.

7. Turn on your camera’s electronic level

Most cameras have a built-in guide or electronic level.

If your camera has one, then turn it on.

Why is an electronic level useful?

It’ll let you know if your camera is crooked, just like an old-fashioned spirit level. And you can adjust your camera so that every single image comes back straight.

(On my Fujifilm X cameras, this is a horizontal line across the screen that turns green when the camera is level.)

Of course, you can always straighten the horizon in a program such as Lightroom or Photoshop.

But this can get annoying, especially if it’s a frequent problem.

So find the electronic level, and make sure it’s active before you start shooting.

8. Use a remote release

When taking long exposures, you must minimize any movement of the camera during an exposure.

Which means that you cannot press the shutter button.

Why?

No matter how careful you are, when you tap the shutter, you may create camera shake. And end up with blurry images.

One way to avoid camera shake is to use a remote release. These are small accessories that plug into a socket on the side of your camera, allowing you to trigger the shutter without pressing the shutter button.

Many camera companies also have a smartphone app you can use to activate the shutter of your camera.

Long exposure night photography with a remote
You can trigger many cameras via an app.

9. Use the self-timer feature

Here’s a second way for you to minimize camera movement during an exposure:

Use your camera’s self-timer feature. I actually prefer this method of hitting the shutter button for two reasons:

  1. I usually take two cameras on shoots, so using a smartphone app is not an option since it can only connect to one camera at a time.
  2. The two cameras I take use different types of remote releases, and I’d rather not have to remember to bring both of those accessories.

Instead, I recommend you set up a two-second self-timer delay in advance. That way, you can hit the shutter button, wait for any vibrations to fade, then get a tack-sharp shot.

(Just remember to deactivate the self-timer feature after the shoot is over!)

Long exposure night photography with water
The self-timer feature is a great way to minimize camera shake.

10. Try interval shooting for great results

Do you want to capture the beauty of a scene over a long period of time?

Try interval shooting.

With interval shooting, you can fire off photos with a set time interval (so you capture one photo every two minutes, for example).

I set my camera to take a photo every two minutes during the early part of my shoots, then – when the light starts to get interesting and the city lights come on – I set my camera to take a photo ever 20 or 30 seconds.

You can also set this feature to stop after a certain number of exposures.

Handy, right?

Interval shooting essentially sets your camera on autopilot, leaving you free to take images with a second camera.

Just be careful not to bump or move your main camera when adjusting settings during your shoot.

11. Turn off image stabilization

If you want sharp long exposure photos, you must turn off camera and lens image stabilization.

Now, you’re probably thinking:

What? Image stabilization makes photos sharper, not blurry!

And you’re right…

…mostly.

But remember:

You should always use a tripod for long exposure night photography.

And when image stabilization meets a tripod, it causes problems. You see, your tripod should be completely still, yet your image stabilization technology will often move your camera and/or lens slightly – resulting in unwanted blur.

Some newer lenses can sense when a camera is mounted on a tripod and turn off image stabilization automatically.

But I recommend you check, just to be sure.

12. Always stay safe!

This is of paramount importance when taking photos at night.

Always be aware of your surroundings and pay attention to who is nearby. I usually have my bag zipped up and next to me at all times.

Often, I put one of my bag straps around my leg so no one can try to run off with my kit.

And while I take wireless headphones, I would only ever use them in busy locations where I feel safe.

lighthouse at night
Always be aware of your surroundings when shooting in remote places or late at night.

Long exposure night photography: Final words

I hope you’ve enjoyed this guide to long exposure night photography.

While shooting at night may seem difficult, with some extra thought and planning, you’ll capture some stunning images!

Of course, the best way to improve your photography is to get out there and practice as much as you can.

Now over to you:

Which of these long exposure night photography tips is your favorite? Which one do you plan to use the next time you’re out shooting? Let me know in the comments below!

The post 12 Tips for Beautiful Long Exposure Night Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Matt Murray.


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Backlighting in Photography: The Ultimate Guide to Beautiful Backlit Images

21 Jan

The post Backlighting in Photography: The Ultimate Guide to Beautiful Backlit Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

backlighting in photography the ultimate guide

When used creatively and intentionally, backlighting can be an incredible tool to take your photography to the next level.

However, the concept of backlighting seems somewhat counterintuitive.

After all, when your subject is backlit, the main source of light is coming from behind, not from the front – and conventional photography wisdom generally says that your subject should be well-lit from the front.

So how can you create backlighting that looks good? How can you capture backlit images that really stun the viewer?

That’s what this article is all about.

Let’s dive right in.

Backlighting spider
Nikon D750 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/250s | f/4 | ISO 1100

What is backlighting?

In order to understand how to use backlighting, you should know what the term means.

So what actually is backlighting?

The following diagram depicts a standard photography scenario with the main source of light behind the camera.

frontlighting diagram

Using this type of setup, the subject is well-lit, and there is a shadow cast on the wall directly behind the subject. The result is a detailed, evenly-exposed image that conforms to the basic principles of photography.

In contrast, backlighting reverses the subject and the light source.

The light goes behind the subject (and points toward the camera), which causes the shadow behind the subject to vanish. Backlighting results in a photograph where the subject is usually much darker than normal.

Backlighting diagram backlight

Also, placing the light behind the subject often results in a silhouette or glow effect. This makes the final image look different from a normal photograph and can be jarring, at least at first.

But with a little practice, you can use this technique to create images that are unique and stand out from the crowd.

Backlighting in portraits

Backlighting is a tried-and-true portrait photography technique – one that can get you some stunning photos.

How does this work?

It helps to see some actual portrait photos that illustrate the concept of backlighting versus frontlighting. This first image is a fairly standard portrait shot:

maternity frontlit
Nikon D750 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 122mm | 1/350s | f/4 | ISO 800

The subjects are lit from the front, and the image is evenly exposed without any harsh shadows. It’s a great photograph, and it meets all the normal criteria for a maternity shot someone would want to put in a frame or a photo book.

Now, let’s look at another photo of this couple, this time shot using backlighting:

Backlighting maternity couple
Nikon D750 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 180mm | 1/3000s | f/2.8 | ISO 400

The parents-to-be are shrouded in shadow (which I was able to boost in Lightroom, thanks to the RAW file format), and the woman’s hair is glowing with a brilliant golden halo. The man has a glowing outline around his head, and the entire scene has a slightly mystical quality to it.

This is all due to the creative use of backlighting.

When you light your subjects from behind, you can get images like this, which pack glowing hair, brilliant outlines, and a beautiful background. This type of photo does take practice, but with a little trial and error, you can use backlighting to get similar results.

Here’s a head and shoulders portrait of a young man:

Backlighting senior portrait frontlit
Nikon D750 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 200mm | 1/250s | f/2.8 | ISO 100

The sunlight is coming from the front, his face is evenly lit, and the background is colorful and easy to see.

Now compare that image to its backlit counterpart:

Backlighting senior portrait
Nikon D750 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 200mm | 1/180s | f/2.8 | ISO 320

His hair suddenly looks like it’s on fire, and his ears have a bit of a glow. The right side of the background is lush and green, whereas the left side, where the sun is positioned, is almost entirely blown out. Even the man’s shoulders are outlined in gold, and the photo has an energy to it that the frontlit photo just can’t match.

As you can see, knowing how to use backlighting to your advantage can result in portraits that stand out from the pack. It may be a little tricky at first, especially if you’re using natural light instead of studio light.

But with a little practice, you’ll get the hang of backlighting – and you’ll get the type of pleasing reactions from your clients you never knew you were missing.

Backlighting isn’t just for portraits, though! It can be used in a variety of situations for creative, inspiring images, including nature photography:

Backlighting in nature

To illustrate the power of backlighting for nature photography, check out this backlit landscape image:

Backlighting sunrise pine trees
Nikon D7100 | Nikon 35mm f/1.8G | 35mm | 1/3000s | f/4 | ISO 200

Once you start looking for the light, you’ll notice shots like this everywhere. In fact, one of the best ways to learn backlighting is to go out in nature and simply experiment by putting your subjects between the camera and the sun.

Sunrise and sunset are great times to try out backlighting. Look for situations where your subjects are at a bit of a distance; it also helps to have a general idea of where the sun will be at dawn and dusk. Metering with backlight is tricky, so I like to use Aperture Priority to control the depth of field and then dial in exposure compensation to get my shots as light or as dark as I want.

A rule of thumb I like to use in these situations:

Expose for the highlights, then bring up the shadows in Lightroom. Basically, try not to make your photo too bright, because you may end up with clipped highlights (i.e., white, informationless areas that cannot be darkened).

Backlighting sunset wind turbines
Nikon D750 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 200mm | 1/4000s | f/22 | ISO 100

You can also look for more mundane subjects on which you can practice, like interesting leaves:

backlit leaves
Nikon D7100 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/1500s | f/2.8 | ISO 100

Remember:

When shooting in nature, the main source of light is the sun, but you don’t have to use direct sunlight. In the image above, the mid-afternoon sun made these leaves glow. The sun isn’t in the frame, but it still lit the leaves from the back and gave me a fun photo opportunity.

I used a similar technique for the image below. You can see how my use of backlighting made this large blade of grass appear almost translucent. The shot was not an accident, and I was only able to capture it by looking for new ways to shoot familiar subjects. In this case, I was only photographing a simple piece of grass!

Backlit grass
Nikon D7100 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/500s | f/4.8 | ISO 100

Most people would pass by this scene without a second thought, but it just goes to show how backlighting can give new life to even mundane subjects.

Silhouette backlighting

One interesting way to use backlighting is to obscure your subject altogether. This technique is known as silhouette backlighting, and it can be a fun and creative way to showcase people, animals, and other objects.

How does this work?

You create silhouette images by shooting directly into the light source – which completely darkens your subject. The result is a photo that shows a shape or outline instead of a well-exposed subject.

To get the image below, I pointed the camera at my main source of light, then waited for someone to walk by. The fountain itself doesn’t emit light, but instead reflects what comes from the sun – and it was so bright that it completely darkened my subject. The image tells a story, even without seeing any details of the person.

silhouette person fountain
Nikon D7100 | Nikon 85mm f/1.8G | 85mm | 1/1000s| f/4 | ISO 200

I used a similar backlighting technique to get this shot of a young woman in the early morning:

silhouette person sunrise
Nikon D200 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/6000s | f/4 | ISO 200

I knew where the sun was positioned, so I waited patiently until a person walked into the frame. By putting my subject directly between the camera and the main source of light, I was able to capture a silhouette. The end result is much more interesting than a normal, properly-exposed image taken in broad daylight.

Silhouettes aren’t just for people. You can use silhouette backlighting for a variety of subjects; all it takes is a little creativity and a willingness to try something different.

Some type of Manual mode (either full Manual or Aperture Priority with exposure compensation) is best for these shots. It’ll give you better control over the final image, and you won’t need your camera to make exposure decisions in tricky lighting conditions.

goose fountain
Nikon D750 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 200mm | 1/4000s| f/2.8 | ISO 100

One of my favorite ways to use silhouette backlighting is to create sun stars, like this:

Backlighting sun flare
Nikon D200 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/400s | f/16 | ISO 200

I start by putting a large building between my camera and the sun.

Then I move around until the sun is poking out from behind a corner of the building. I shoot with a small aperture, usually f/8 to f/11, and I shift the camera position until I get the shot just right.

This technique takes practice, but you can easily get the hang of it in under 15 minutes.

Use Aperture Priority and exposure compensation, and look for ways to use the light that might not have occurred to you before.

Backlighting in photography: Conclusion

If you’ve never experimented with backlighting, then I encourage you to give it a try and see what happens.

You might think shots like the ones in this article are beyond your skills, but all it takes is a bit of practice, a dash of patience, and a willingness to try something different.

Backlighting is a fun, creative technique, and you might just find yourself using it far more than you expected!

Have you ever tried backlighting? What did you think of it? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Backlighting in Photography: The Ultimate Guide to Beautiful Backlit Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.


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