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A Few Common Photography Abbreviations Explained

26 Jun

For a visual medium, photography is a bit of an alphabet soup when it comes to abbreviations. AWB, DOF, RGB… Even for the seasoned photographer, photographic abbreviations can be a confusing encounter. Here are a few of the most common photography abbreviations to help you tell your TIFF’s from your TTL’s.

A

Aperture priority commonly abbreviated to A or Av (for aperture value) is a setting on your camera that allows you to adjust the aperture value (otherwise known as the f-number or f-stop) while the camera automatically selects a shutter speed to produce an image with the correct exposure.

As you adjust the aperture for different photographic effects, the camera’s internal light meter measures the lighting conditions of the scene and adjusts the shutter speed accordingly.

Read more here: Getting off Auto – Manual, Aperture and Shutter Priority modes explained

AF

AF is an abbreviation for autofocus. The AF feature automatically adjusts the camera lens to focus on a subject, creating a sharp image.

There are several types of AF focus modes. Single focus, known as AF-S (Nikon) or One Shot AF (Canon) will cause the camera to lock focus on a subject and the camera won’t re-focus while you keep the shutter actuator depressed half way. Continuous or tracking focus – AF-C (Nikon) or AI Servo (Canon) on the other hand, continuously readjusts the focus if you keep the shutter button half-depressed. This maintains focus on moving subjects. Some cameras also have a mode called AF-A (Nikon) or AI Focus AF (Canon) that switches between the two modes automatically.

Read more here: 5 Beginner Tips for More Autofocus Success

Auto

Auto is short for automatic and is sometimes signified by a small green rectangle on the camera’s shooting mode selector wheel. In this mode, the camera calculates and adjusts all camera settings for correct exposure, taking into account shutter speed, aperture, focus, white balance, ISO and light metering automatically.

Some cameras have automatic modes programmed to specialize in taking photographs of a particular subject. For example, action or sports mode prioritizes a higher ISO value and faster shutter speeds. It is represented by a running figure on your dial if your camera offers such modes.

A Few Common Photography Abbreviations Explained - camera mode dial

Auto mode is sometimes signified by a small green rectangle on the camera’s shooting mode selector wheel.

AWB

Light is different under different conditions. AWB or Automatic White Balance works in-camera to measure the white balance (WB) of a scene and remove any color casts that may impede on a photograph. In short, it tries to automatically analyze and color correct your scene. It works fairly well in most cases but can be tricked.

Note: if you shoot in RAW format you can easily tweak the White Balance later in post-production.

Read more: Auto White Balance: Yay or Nay?

B

B stands for Bulb, a mode designed for longer exposures like those often seen in time-lapse photography. In Bulb mode, when you depress the shutter button, the shutter will remain open until the button is pressed again (or until it is released, depending on your camera).

This mode is usually used in conjunction with a tripod and a remote shutter release and is necessary to achieve exposures longer than 30 seconds (the maximum exposure time on most cameras).

Read more: How to Use Bulb Mode for Long Exposure Photography

CMYK

CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Black is referred to as K which is shorthand for the key plate – a printing tool which makes the artistic detail of a picture in black ink. CMYK is the color space used for most color reproduction printers (magazines, posters, business cards, etc.). This four-color mode utilizes each color in set amounts to create a color print. It is a subtractive process, so each additional color means more light is absorbed to create colors.

Because RGB (the color space in which your camera records an image) provides a larger range of colors available on the digital screen, a printed image will be inconsistent with the image you see when you press “print”. Converting an image to CMYK in Photoshop or Illustrator before printing will produce an image on the screen that is much closer to the printed product, allowing you to print an image accurately.

DOF

Depth of Field or DOF is the zone of focus in a photograph. Depth of field is affected by the aperture. A large aperture creates a shallow depth of field with a small amount of the image will be in focus. A small aperture creates a large depth of field with more in focus. Depth of field is also defined by lens focal length and the distance from the subject to the camera.

Read more: Seeing in Depth of Field: A Simple Understanding of Aperture

A Few Common Photography Abbreviations Explained

A small aperture creates a large depth of field with more in focus

DPI

DPI or dots per inch is often used interchangeably with PPI or pixels per inch. Technically, DPI measures the number of dots that can be printed in a line within the span of one inch. PPI also measures the number of dots in a line within the span of an inch but on a computer screen instead. Printers and screens with higher DPI or PPI values are clearer and more detailed.

You need to know the DPI of your printer or lab to correctly size your images for printing. Read more: How to Choose Your Lightroom Export Settings for Printing

DSLR

DSLR stands for Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera. A DSLR camera has a mirror that reflects the light coming in from the lens and directs it through a prism or set of mirrors to the viewfinder. This arrangement allows you to see what you are shooting by looking through the viewfinder. When the shutter button is depressed, the mirror flips up and allows the light coming through the lens to reach the camera sensor.

Canon 5D Mark IV full-frame DSLR camera – Image by dPS writer Mark Hughes.

Read more: The dPS Ultimate Guide to Photography Terms – a Glossary of Common Words and Phrases

F-stop or f-number

The f-stop or f-number is a term that indicates the size of the aperture opening on your lens. Every aperture is expressed as an f-stop or f-number, like f/8 or f/2.8.

Read more: How to Take Control of Aperture and Create Stronger Photos

IS

IS stands for Image Stabilization. This technology goes under several names; Vibration Reduction, SR, VR, and VC are a few. Image stabilization is a feature in your lens (not all lenses have it!) that enables you to photograph sharper images when shooting handheld at lower shutter speeds, in dark conditions, at longer focal lengths.

Note: Some cameras have the stabilization inside the camera body. Read your user manual to be sure.

ISO

ISO stands for International Standards Organization. In film photography, ISO (or formerly ASA) was an indication of how sensitive a roll of film was to light. In digital photography, ISO measures the relative sensitivity of the camera sensor. This value can be adjusted in-camera.

The higher the number, the more light the sensor can capture. However, the greater the sensitivity of the film or sensor, the grainier the image will be (in digital photography it’s called noise).

Editor’s Note: Before you jump up and down and add a comment below about the fact that the sensitivity of the camera sensor does not actually change, let’s agree to keep it simple for the purpose of this article and these definitions. No, it isn’t that simple, but people new to photography need to take baby steps in understanding these terms, so please accept that we’ve simplified it here.

A Few Common Photography Abbreviations Explained - digital noise and bokeh

The graininess in this image is caused by a high ISO value.

JPEG

JPEG (sometimes shortened to JPG) is an image file format. It stands for “Joint Photographic Experts Group” – the name of the group that created the format. It’s one of the most common image formats saved by digital cameras, the other being RAW.

JPEG files are lossy which means that images in this file format are compressed. Lossy formats are smaller and easier to handle, but they suffer from a loss of quality.

Read more: RAW Versus JPEG – Which one is right for you and why?

M

M or Manual Mode is a shooting mode on your camera that when activated, means that you have complete control over every setting on your camera. This includes the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, metering mode, and more.

Note: Manual Mode and Manual Focus are NOT the same thing and are not exclusive of one another. Meaning you can shoot in Manual Mode using Autofocus, or in an Automatic mode using Manual Focus.

Read more: Simplifying Manual Mode to Help You Take Control of Your Images

M4/3

M4/3 is short for Micro Four Thirds and it is also known as MFT. Developed by Olympus and Panasonic in 2008, the M4/3 is a mirrorless interchangeable lens system for digital cameras and lenses. This mirrorless system means that the camera does not have an optical viewfinder system like conventional SLR/DSLR cameras, but an electronic viewfinder (EVF) instead. This system is simpler, lighter and allows for smaller cameras than DSLRs.

Read more: The 19 Most Popular Compact System and Mirrorless Cameras with Our Readers

The Olympus OM-D EM-10 is a micro four-thirds camera which means it has a smaller sensor size but is every bit as capable as most other cameras on the market.

P

P stands for Program Mode. This shooting mode has the camera adjust aperture and shutter speed automatically, while allowing you to adjust other settings like ISO, flash, white balance and focusing functions.

Read more: Your Guide to Understanding Program Mode on Your Camera

RGB

Based on the human perception of colors, RGB stands for Red, Green, and Blue. RGB is an additive color space designed for viewing imagery on digital displays (see CMYK above).

Read more: Adobe RGB Versus sRGB – Which Color Space Should You Be Using and Why

S

Shutter Priority Mode (also known as SP or TV for Time Value) is a setting that allows you to select the shutter speed while the camera automatically adjusts the aperture for proper exposure. As you adjust the shutter speed the camera’s internal light meter measures the lighting conditions of the scene you’re shooting and adjusts the aperture accordingly.

This mode is best used for shooting fast moving objects or when you want to blur or freeze a moving subject.

Panning a moving target is a good time to use Shutter Priority Mode.

Read more: Getting Your Priorities Straight – A Guide to Selecting Your Shot Priority

SLR

SLR or “single lens reflex” refers to a non-digital camera with single-lens reflex capabilities (see DSLR).

TIFF

Short for Tagged Image File Format, TIFF is a file format for digital images that does not lose color and detail in the way that lossy compression formats such as JPEG files do. This type of file format is described as lossless.

TTL

TTL stands for Through the Lens and refers to an automatic flash metering system. The flash fires a short burst prior to the actual exposure, the camera reads the amount of light coming through the lens, and sets the power of the flash according to the selected aperture. This mode is most often used with the flash on the camera.

Read more: How to Understand the Difference Between TTL Versus Manual Flash Modes

TTL versus manual flash – image by dPS writer Kunal Malhotra.

USM

USM stands for Ultra Sonic Motor, a type of autofocus motor in lenses trademarked by Canon. Equivalent systems include Nikon’s SWM (Silent Wave Motor), Sigma’s HSM (Hyper-Sonic Motor) and Olympus’ SWD (Supersonic Wave Drive Motor). They are designed to have the lens’s autofocus work as silently as possible.

WB

WB stands for White Balance, the act of balancing the color cast found in different lighting conditions for an accurate image (see AWB). White Balance can be set in-camera and adjusted in post-processing if you have shot in RAW format.

Read more: How to Use White Balance as a Creative Tool

Conclusion

There you have it. Of course, there are plenty more photography abbreviations where they come from. But knowing these basics will get you on the right track to navigating the alphabet soup that is photographic lingo! Be sure to add any extra abbreviations you’d like to see in the comments below.

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5 Common Camera Setting Mistakes Made by Newbie Photographers

01 Jun

Photography is a process of constant learning, so it’s only natural to make mistakes along the way. But with a little bit of advice from those who have been there already, fledgling photographers can avoid a few common camera setting mistakes and focus on bigger and better things. Here are a few tips and tricks I learned early on that will help you get stuck into quality image making.

1 – Leaving image stabilization on when using a tripod

Image stabilization is a handy device that can reduce camera shake and improve image quality when it’s used properly. When activated, image stabilization counteracts slight movements of the camera to help reduce blur in your photos. It can be so effective that cameras and lenses equipped with the system allow you to use a shutter speed of between three and five stops slower than cameras without the feature.

This makes for sharper images in lower light conditions. Sounds great right? Well yes, but not all the time. In fact, when image stabilization is used with a tripod, it can sometimes be more of a hindrance than a help.

If your camera is already set up on a tripod, it should be steady enough by itself. In this case, with the image stabilization left on, the system may try to compensate for minuscule vibrations that wouldn’t otherwise have an effect on the image, increasing blur rather than reducing it.

Check your camera or lens user manual to learn how to switch the system off while shooting with a tripod and you’ll get much sharper images. Just don’t forget to turn it on again when you are going to hand-hold the camera.

5 Common Camera Setting Mistakes Made by Newbie Photographers

In this example, you can see the difference in sharpness between the photograph taken with Image Stabilization on and the photograph taken with IS off. Notice that the photograph with IS off is sharper, with greater contrast.

2 – Using the wrong autofocus mode

When I started out in photography, I remember struggling to properly focus on a subject in my frame, often leaving the camera to select a point at random and hoping for the best. At the time, I didn’t realize the importance of different autofocus modes.

Autofocus offers several different modes which you can select. These are One-Shot AF (Canon)/AF-S (Nikon), AI Servo AF (Canon)/AF-C (Nikon), and final AI Focus (Canon) and AF-A (Nikon).

Probably the most commonly used focus mode is the One-Shot/Single-Servo option. It is the best choice for stationary subjects and serves as the standard setting on your camera. For this setting, the autofocus system achieves focus and then locks that setting in until the shutter is actuated. Once locked, you are assured that your subject will be sharply focused.

AI Servo/AF-C, on the other hand, focuses the lens continuously, which makes it ideal for tracking a moving subject. In this focus mode, the camera will let you take a picture at any time, even if the subject isn’t in focus. This mode is the best choice when you have a moving subject like children, animals, shooting sports, birds, etc.

You can change your focus mode in the quick control panel (this shows the Canon options).

Many cameras also offer a third autofocus mode: AI Focus (Canon) or AF-A (Nikon). This mode attempts to automatically detect whether the subject is stationary or moving and sets the focus mode depending on the situation. However, AI Focus isn’t as reliable as the other two dedicated settings, so it’s best to deliberately select between One-Shot/AF-S or AI Servo/AF-C where possible.

AI Servo/AF-C focus mode is ideal for photographing moving subjects.

3 – Not shooting in RAW format

For much of my early photography, I shot in jpeg. It was a familiar file format, so I just went with it. Only later did I discovered what I was missing out on. JPEG files are processed by the camera. That means that while settings like color temperature and exposure are set based on your camera settings, the camera will process the image to adjust blacks, contrast, brightness, noise reduction and sharpening. The file will then be compressed into a JPEG.

But because the image has been edited, compressed and then saved as a JPEG, information in the original photograph gets discarded and cannot be recovered. This limits how much editing you can do with the image in post-production.

Advantages of RAW format

RAW files, on the other hand, are uncompressed and unprocessed. Although they come out looking flatter and darker than JPEG images, they retain all the information recorded in the original image. This allows for a lot more flexibility in post-production, allowing you to take full control over adjustments that you want to apply to a photograph.

Shooting in JPEG can be useful for happy-snaps or circumstances where output doesn’t need to be as higher quality. Otherwise, for professional-grade imagery, you want to shoot in camera RAW. And if you aren’t sure, it is possible to shoot both at the same time – just make sure you have an extra CF card or two on hand.

You can see that the unedited, uncompressed RAW image is a lot flatter than the JPEG because it retains all the information of the original shot. Only after processing will the RAW image match or surpass the look of the JPG.

4 – Always shooting in automatic mode

Automatic exposure mode means that the shutter speed, aperture and ISO are set automatically by the camera for a given situation, leaving you to depress the shutter button and move onto the next shot. But what if you want to take more control over your images?

The biggest advantage of shooting in manual mode (or shutter/aperture priority mode) over automatic is creative control. Plus, the camera doesn’t always get the algorithm for exposure right, so you can end up with underexposed or overexposed images.

Choose a semi-automatic mode instead

You don’t have to shoot fully manual to take better control of your images either. Aperture and Shutter Priority modes allow you to select and adjust either your aperture or shutter speed while the camera compensates to give you the right exposure.

Auto shooting mode.

By using Aperture Priority, you have much more control over the depth of field in your image, dictating how much of the image is in sharp focus. This is helpful for many genres from portraiture to landscape photography, changing the dynamic of your images depending on the situation and how deep you want your photographs to look.

As for using Shutter Priority, being able to take control of the motion in an image allows for a lot more creative leeway. Motion blur has long been used to make images more dynamic. Think waterfalls with smooth flowing water and time-lapse cityscapes, as well as intentional camera movement.

While Automatic exposure mode is useful and often effective, relying only on Auto is allowing your creative photographic potential go to waste. Experimenting with shooting in full Manual or Shutter or Aperture Priority Mode means that you can truly get to know your camera and exploit its artistic possibilities.

5 – Not backing up files

We have a saying in Australia; “She’ll be right”. The term asserts that whatever is wrong will right itself with time. It’s both an optimistic and an apathetic outlook, and when it comes to photography, it can be the start of a spiral into digital file oblivion. I’m talking about backing up files.

Okay, so it isn’t technically an in-camera setting mistake, but photography has an enormous output of content that needs to be maintained so that it is as fresh as the day it was created.

From day one, “she’ll be right” just doesn’t cut it. If you only have one copy of your images stored on a hard drive, and that hard drive fails, (as they often do) then you’ll completely lose all your work. Forever! The easy solution is to have a second or even third copy of your images stored somewhere else, either on an external hard drive or cloud storage service.

Make the investment now and you’ll thank yourself later.

An old favorite, this image is backed up on two separate hard drives!

Conclusion

Starting out in photography can sometimes seem like a daunting task – there’s so much to learn! But photographers, for the most part, are a friendly bunch. We’re happy to pass on the tips and tricks we’ve learned along the way.

By doing your research, there are plenty of ways to dig into photography, avoiding common mistakes, and delve into the world of photography with confidence!

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4 of the Most Common Composition Mistakes In Photography

26 Apr

Common composition mistakes in photography

I’ve seen photographers make lots of mistakes when it comes to composition. That’s not a criticism – we all get things wrong from time to time. But recognizing mistakes and putting them right is a key part of improving your composition skills. In that spirit then, here are the most common composition mistakes and errors that I’ve seen photographers make.

Mistake #1: Learning the rule of thirds – and nothing else

The rule of thirds is basic composition theory and it’s important to understand it. But the mistake some photographers make is never trying to learn anything else about composition.

For example, take a look at the photo below. The tree is located on an intersection created by dividing the frame into three, according to the rule of thirds.

Common composition mistakes in photography

But is the rule of thirds the only principle of composition used in this photo? No, it isn’t. Let’s look at the other factors.

There is negative space around the tree. It gives the subject room to breathe and creates a sense of space.
The tree is the main focal point and there is nothing to compete with it.
The hills in the background are faded due to the weather conditions (it was raining when I made the photo), adding a sense of depth.
I used a long exposure (125 seconds) to blur the water and the leaves of the tree, adding a sense of motion or time passing to the photo.
I converted the photo to black and white to create drama.

As you can see there’s much more happening in this photo, from the point of view of composition, than simply placing the tree on a third. Once you understand how these ideas work you can use them in other photos and improve your composition skills at the same time.

Mistake #2: Not including foreground interest

This is a common mistake in landscape photography and some documentary photography. That’s because photographers in these genres often use wide-angle lenses, which usually include lots of foreground detail in the composition.

The idea of foreground interest can be a hard concept to grasp at first but it makes sense when you start to think about it.

For example, I made the following photo with a 14mm lens (a wide-angle on my APS-C camera). I wanted to tell a story about the couple in the market. Using a wide-angle lens helped me include context – the piles of vegetables in the foreground that the couple was selling. The vegetables provide foreground interest and support the story.

Common composition mistakes in photography

The same idea also applies to landscapes made with wide-angle lenses. In the photo below the ruins is the main subject. The flowers in the foreground add interest in the bottom half of the frame.

Common composition mistakes in photography

Mistake #3: Not paying enough attention to the background

Sharp backgrounds are common in documentary styles of photography and can help tell a story about the main subject. For example, in the photo below the main subject is the three men in the photo – the barber, his customer, and the man looking directly at the camera.

Common composition mistakes in photography

The detail in the background supports the main subject and helps tell its story. We can see every detail, from the wall behind the men to the barber’s tools and products. These details are an interesting and important part of the photo.

Sometimes the opposite approach is required and you need to blur the background out to remove distractions. Part of the skill of being a photographer is knowing when to blur the background and when to keep it sharp. In some portraits (like the one below, made with an aperture of f/1.8) you can use a wide aperture to blur the background and remove details that might distract from the model.

Common composition mistakes in photography

The mistake I see photographers make is not thinking about these things and taking enough care to make sure the background suits the subject.

Mistake #4: Not working the subject

The final common composition mistake I see photographers make is failing to work the subject. This means that you take as many photos as you can until you’ve exhausted all the creative possibilities. Sometimes you only need to take three or four photos for this to happen. At other times you may take 20 or 30. Either way, the idea is to explore different viewpoints and compositional possibilities.

The reason this works is that the first point of view you use is not necessarily the best one. If you have the opportunity, it’s a good idea to try different points of view, different focal lengths, and maybe even different aperture and shutter speed settings.

This is where you can think through some of the concepts discussed earlier in the article. A good question to ask yourself is, “How can I make the photo more interesting?”

Perhaps you need to pay more attention to the background. Maybe you need to include some interesting foreground detail. Perhaps the photo would benefit from including some negative space or using a slower shutter speed to blur parts of it. The answers depend on the subject and how much time you have to explore it.

Example of working the scene

Here’s an example. Below you can see four photos I made of an interesting building, each one utilizing a different point of view and composition. They were part of a sequence of 25 photos I made before I felt there was nothing else I could do.

Common composition mistakes in photography

Conclusion

There are many mistakes that it’s possible to make when it comes to the composition in photography, but these are the most common that I’ve seen. What composition mistakes have you seen people make, or are you guilty of making yourself? Please let us know in the comments below.

Mastering Composition Book Two

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Tips for Light Painting and Some Common Pitfalls to Avoid

18 Apr

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

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

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

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

What is light painting?

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

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

Camera Settings

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

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

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

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

Equipment

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

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

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

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

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

Basic Light Painting Techniques

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pitfall #1: Not matching the color balance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pitfall #2: Not balancing the light in your scene

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

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

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

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

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

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

Food for Thought and Wrapping Up

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

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

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Five Common Portrait Retouching Mistakes to Avoid

01 Apr

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

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

Portrait retouching mistakes

1. Applying too much skin smoothing

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

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

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

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

Portrait retouching mistakes

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

Portrait retouching mistakes

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

Portrait retouching mistakes

2. Making the model’s eyes bigger

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

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

Portrait retouching mistakes

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

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

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

portait retouching mistakes

4. Applying too much Clarity

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

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

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

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

5. Over-sharpening

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

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

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

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

Mastering Lightroom ebooks

Want to get a head start with Lightroom? Take a look at my popular Mastering Lightroom ebooks, written to help photographers learn how to use all of Lightroom’s powerful features. Use the code DPS20 to get 20% off your first order.

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Common Portrait Mistakes You’ll Want to Avoid

23 Mar

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

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

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

5 Portrait Photography Don’ts

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

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

7 Common Studio Portrait Lighting Mistakes

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

3 More Common Portrait Mistakes

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

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

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

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Video: Four common composition mistakes and what to do instead

19 Sep

When you’re first starting out, the great big world of photography composition can seem like a long list of rules and a bunch of videos where photographers paste grids on top of iconic photos. It’s all a bit abstract. So if you’re looking for concrete advice, this video by photographer Evan Ranft is a much better place to start.

In the video, Evan discusses four common composition mistakes many photographers make, and then shows you how to fix them. Each tip is accompanied by a very useful “do this not that” before and after, and the advice is genuinely a lot more helpful than slapping a bunch of grids and golden ratio spirals on top of famous photos.

You can check out the video up top for a full rundown with before and after images, but the tips (in short) are:

Double Subject – Don’t place your main subject side-by-side with an interesting background feature, it will split your viewer’s focus. Emphasize a single subject instead.
The Look Out – If your subject is on one side of your photograph, have them look into, not out of, the frame. A subject looking out of the frame divides your photo in half, leaving a bunch of confusing negative space. If they’re looking into the frame, their gaze will balance out your composition.
Tangent Lines – Avoid having anything in your background draw lines through your subject and scene. Use the lines of your photo to lead your viewer’s eye TO your subject instead.
Being Lazy – Not the most obvious composition tip, but it counts: don’t be lazy. Once you’ve picked a subject, find an interesting composition. Don’t just take the easiest, most convenient photo in that moment

There you go: a few simple but effective tips that help create photos that emphasize your subject and lead your viewer where you want them to go. As Ranft says in the video, these are easy mistakes to correct, you just have to be aware you’re doing them.

To see more tips and how-tos from Evan, head over to his YouTube channel. And if you have your own simple composition tip (or common mistake) to share, drop it in the comments!

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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7 Common Mistakes That Every Photography Business Needs to Avoid

11 Aug

Everyone makes mistakes. When growing your photography business, you will make more mistakes over than the years than you can count – and some of them you will even look back on and cringe.

Mistakes are all part of the process. But also part of the job of being a photographer is figuring out how to minimize these mistakes, especially the ones that can set you back a long way. Learn from your peers so you can avoid their mistakes.

Photography Business Marketing

Here are some of the main pitfalls that plague photographers. Just fixing these alone can save you a lot of money, and even more importantly, a lot of time.

Mistake #1 – Not Charging Enough

When you are first building your portfolio, certainly you might have to do some jobs for free or at a reduced rate as you build your skill level. That part is fine, but once you have that portfolio and are a full fledged business, you do not want to sell yourself short.

Photography may seem to others like a passion job – that you just show up for an hour or two, take some photos, and send them over. But it is about so much more than that. It’s about building your skills, learning about light, composition, fixing mistakes on the fly, editing, and learning how to work with clients. It’s traveling to and from the location, paying your expenses, spending the time to market yourself to get the job, paying the bills to keep the lights on, and feeding your family. And it’s about having some time left over to enjoy yourself.

Photography Business Marketing

Create a spreadsheet and calculate these costs so you know what you have to make per job to survive and thrive. This will give you the confidence to ask for what you are worth. If you’re not able to cover all of these costs, then you’re not running a true full-time business, you won’t survive in the long run, and you’re lowering the value of the work itself.

Stay away from the cheap jobs and the cheap clients. They will just suck your time away and demand more and more. If the requirements for a client on a particular job suddenly change halfway through, ask for more money.

Sometimes you will want to do work for less than you are worth if it is the right type of job or the right type of client, but this should only be situational. There will be many points in your career where it will be more valuable to spend the time on your marketing and business development than on the job itself.

Mistake #2 – Not Reaching Out to People and Being Proactive with Marketing

Photography Business Marketing

Jobs are not going to come to you at first, no matter how good your work is. You will have to go out and find your clients, so create a list of your ideal client types and of the best ways to reach each of them.

Work within your personal network, canvas local businesses, attend events and offer your services to individuals. The more you put yourself out there, the more business will come to you. But at first, every job you receive will come as a direct result of you proactively contacting someone or figuring out a strategy to get your work in front of them.

Mistake #3 – Not Collaborating and Working With Other Photographers in Your Space (i.e. Your Competitors)

Photography Business Marketing

Other photographers can be one of the biggest helps to you along your journey. They’ve been there before, they have a lot in common with you, and they could become great friends. Learn from them and offer to help them.

Often you will get some of your first jobs from other photographers, whether it be assisting them or taking some of their overflow. Many established photographers still have a portion of their income come from helping out other photographers in their community.

In addition, accountability can be extremely important for your growth. Find a photographer in a similar place (level and business-wise) as you and work together. Have strategy sessions and share what is working and what is not. Having someone in your life like this can be integral to your success and for getting you through the hard times.

There will be a portion of photographers who see you as a competitor. They will not want to talk to or worth with you. That’s their problem, and the collaborations that you do with the willing photographers will help you both jump ahead of the ones who don’t.

Mistake #4 – Not Responding Quickly Enough

Why don’t photographers respond as quickly as possible to job inquiries? Either way, it makes things easier for us when the competition is slow to respond. I hear it all the time, how surprised people were by how quickly I responded to them, both at the beginning and throughout the entire job process. This shows a level of dependability, and in addition to helping people to want to work with you, it will also make them want to refer you. The more dependable you are, the more your clients will want to help you out however they can.

Even if it’s not a job inquiry, respond quickly. You never know when a casual conversation or advice that you give will turn into a job or reference. Often, it will turn into nothing, but when those one or two out of 10 turn into jobs, in the long run, those will add up.

Mistake #5 – Not Spelling Out the Terms of a Job from the Very Beginning

Photography Business Marketing

Being a skilled photographer is not just about creating beautiful pictures. A big aspect of the photography business is how you handle the job from start to finish, and often the most important part is the very beginning when you spell out the terms and requirements.

It is really tough to know exactly what a client is envisioning for the job, so it helps to ask a lot of questions. This will even help them figure out what they want, as many of them will not have any experience with hiring a professional photographer. It will also help you justify your price when you talk out the steps of a job with them.

Make sure they know that if the parameters of the job change (through their decisions), you will have to charge more for the extra work. Most clients will think it is not a big deal to add something that was not specified ahead of time, but this is just more work they are giving you that was not spelled out originally. It happens a lot of the time, so it’s very important for your photography business to learn how to handle it correctly.

Mistake #6 – Not Having a Contract

Similar to the last point, while you both need to come to an agreement on the scope of any photography project, you also need to spell out those terms in a contract. Without a contract, you can easily be screwed over, and many photographers learn this the hard way. Hire a lawyer to give you advice, and look into thelawtog.com, which provides a variety of photographer contracts. These can save you a lot of time and money.

Read this on contracts: The Biggest Legal Mistake Photographers Make

The contract is important for setting the boundaries of the project. It will be easier to ask for more money if the scope of a job changes when you have a contract that spells out the exact requirements that were drafted.

Mistake #7 – Not Having an Efficient Workflow

Photography Business Marketing

Efficiency is one of the most important aspects of running a photography business, and unfortunately, speed is something that is learned over time. Create a speedy and organized system for how you work. Import a job, cull the selects, crop, do the post-production work (light, color, contrast, etc.), export, deliver, and invoice. The more efficient you are with this, the less you will procrastinate. There is nothing that will cause a photographer to procrastinate more than staring at a mountain of unedited images.

While this tip may sound simple, jobs that might take beginning photographers three hours to edit, can take an experienced photographer an hour. It took me much longer to edit a job when I started, and this organization and efficiency can give you so much more time to spend on everything else.

Also read: Photography Workflow Tips – From Memory Card to Computer and Beyond

Always tell a client that you will get a job to them a couple days later than you think you can. This will allow you time to screw something up and still get the work to them on time. Usually, you will get it to them early which will make you look even better (this is called under promise, over deliver).

Mistake #8 – Bonus Tip: Learn When to Say No

Photography Business Marketing

It’s hard to say no as a photographer, especially if you are growing your business and are under booked, but some jobs or some clients are just not worth it. If you are not being paid enough and the job is not good for your portfolio, if the client is tough to work with and overly demanding, save that aggravation and pass.

Some of these clients will prey upon young photographers to squeeze as much out of them before the photographer wises up. Just avoiding these jobs alone will save you so much time, and allow you to put it towards marketing and business development efforts that will set you much further ahead than by taking a less than desirable job.

Your time is very, very important, so don’t waste it. Saying no can be one of the best decisions you make.

If you have a photography business and have any other tips for newbies just getting started, please share in the comments below.

For even more business help – join the Focus Summit 2017 Online Business and Marketing Conference for Photographers on Sept 26-28th 2017. We will cover marketing, business development, law, SEO, branding, blogging, and much more. Use the code “DPS” for a $ 50 discount.

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Social Media Vs. Reality video calls out the most common Instagram lies

06 Aug

Anti-bullying organization Ditch the Label—the folks behind this 2017 survey that found Instagram is terrible for teens mental health—created a funny-but-also-very-sad video to accompany their findings. The video is called “Are You Living an Insta Lie? Social Media Vs. Reality”.

The video covers “some of the funniest and most common Insta Lies posted on social media,” and they really did cover most of their bases. Some of the tropes covered include #wokeuplikethis photos, the start of a ‘healthy’ juice cleanse, not-so-blissful relationship bliss and lots more.

We’re not sure any professional photographers use Instagram like this, but chances are good we’ve all… bent the truth on Instagram a time or two. If you can think of any common photographer Insta Lies, share them in the comments.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Four Common Myths About Full-Frame Cameras Dispelled

21 Jun

One of the beautiful things about modern digital photography is the astronomical degree of choice that is available to us. No matter whether you’re a professional photographer, a weekend warrior, or a casual enthusiast who just likes to take snapshots of your kids, your food, or your feet – there are dozens, even hundreds, of camera models and options to suit your needs. There are specialty cameras for recording extreme sports, underwater cameras for photographing the deep blue sea, and a slew of lenses available for DSLR and mirrorless cameras to suit any situation in which you might find yourself.

There are also some clear differentiating factors between these various options that make some cameras better suited to certain situations. One of the most common issues I see discussed is that of full-frame versus crop-sensor cameras. To help clear the air regarding this particular question I’d like to address four common myths about full-frame, with the goal of helping you choose a camera that suits your needs.

Four Common Myths About full-frame Cameras Addressed

Taken with a 10-year-old crop-sensor Nikon D200 and 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Myth #1: full-frame is better than crop-sensor

I see this myth being perpetuated all the time, particularly in online forums but also when talking to people in person. It’s a shame because it’s just not true. full-frame is certainly better in some aspects compared to crop-sensor cameras, but to declare that they are universally better is colossally misleading.

One analogy I like to use here is that of vehicles, particularly pickup trucks. A beast like the Ford F-150 is a fantastic and phenomenally well-rounded truck that excels at hauling, towing, and all the usual heavy-duty jobs for which one would typically buy such a vehicle. By comparison, the Toyota Tacoma is a smaller truck and not quite as powerful or capable, but actually beats its larger counterpart in some regards such as better gas mileage, smaller turning radius, and greater overall agility in a more urban environment.

Taken with a full-frame Nikon D750 and 85mm f/1.8 lens. A crop-sensor camera would have worked, but would have required me to be farther back in order to get this same composition and there was simply not enough space in the room to do so.

Different not necessarily better

Neither truck is objectively better; both are well suited to the specific needs of the people who purchase them. The same is true for cameras in that full-frame cameras work very well in many regards. But to say they are better negates some of the unique advantages of smaller crop-sensor cameras.

full-frame models, as a rule, have strengths like greater high ISO capabilities, improved dynamic range, and improved build quality. If these things are important to you, then a full-frame camera might suit your needs. However, smaller and less expensive crop-sensor cameras have some unique advantages as well such as:

Autofocus points that reach farther out to the edges of the viewfinder.
Faster shutter sync speeds.
Longer reach—a 200mm lens on a crop-sensor camera is basically like shooting with a 300mm lens on a full-frame camera.
Generally less expensive.

These are all generalizations, of course, and there are always exceptions to the rule. But suffice it to say that just because full-frame cameras exist doesn’t mean you need to get one.

Taken with a crop-sensor Nikon D7100, 50mm lens, and +10 close-up filter.

Myth #2: Shooting full-frame will improve your photography

This is a myth that’s closely related to GAS, or Gear Acquisition Syndrome – a condition that plagues many photographers and often causes them to continually buy more cameras, lenses, and accessories in the hopes that these things will help improve their photography. Getting a full-frame camera will certainly allow you to take advantage of the unique benefits that they offer, but it will by no means do anything to actually improve the quality of your photographs.

No matter what camera you have, whether it’s a mobile phone, pocket camera, or crop-sensor DSLR, the best thing you can do to make yourself a better photographer is to learn more about photography, not spend money on new gear. In fact, sticking with the gear you have and learning to work within its limitations can have a profound impact on your photography and go quite a long way towards helping you improve.

Taken with a full-frame Nikon D750 and 50mm lens, but it was years of learning about composition, lighting, and other photographic principles that helped me get this shot.

To extend the vehicle metaphor just a bit, buying a Formula 1 car will not automatically make you a better driver. Certainly, it will allow you to have access to the unique capabilities of such a fine automobile. But simply parking an F1 racecar in your driveway will in no way upgrade your own ability to operate a motor vehicle. Some photographers mistakenly think that purchasing a full-frame camera will give their photography a boost. But in truth, it’s the day-in-day-out work of practicing the fundamentals of photography like composition, lighting, color, contrast, etc., that will lead to improvements.

Myth #3 Full-frame is too expensive for casual photographers

If you do decide that you want to invest in full-frame gear, you can take solace in the fact that price is no longer the barrier to entry that it once was. The first full-frame camera was the Canon 5D, which came out in August 2005 and cost about $ 3500 USD, which made it prohibitively expensive for all but the most dedicated professionals and ardent enthusiasts. Crop-sensor cameras were far cheaper, making them the default solution for many photographers around the world. To this day they remain a perfectly viable option for almost any type of photography.

However, as prices have gone down over the years it is now much more feasible to purchase full-frame gear compared to days gone by. New full-frame cameras such as the Nikon D610 or Canon 6D are about $ 1400-1500 (at the time of writing this) and can often be found on sale, which is a steal compared to just a few years ago. And while more expensive models such as the Canon 1DX Mark II or Nikon D5 can easily cost as much as a used car, you certainly don’t need those high-end models to take advantage of many of the benefits of shooting full-frame.

Taken with a full-frame Nikon D750 and 70-200 f/2.8 lens. I could have taken a similar shot with a crop-sensor camera and different lens, but I specifically wanted the wide aperture of this lens and the control over depth of field offered by the D750.

Another benefit of the passing of time is that full-frame cameras which were cutting-edge a few years ago are significantly cheaper in price now that they have been replaced by newer models. Consider the Canon 5D Mark II, a camera which is so good it was used to film the season finale of the TV show House in 2010. While it can’t match the blistering high ISO performance and other tricks of its newer counterpart, it’s still a phenomenal camera and can be found used online for much cheaper than the shiny new models.

Myth #4 All serious photographers will eventually go full-frame

Friends and family members often ask me for advice when it comes to buying cameras and camera gear, and this used to be somewhat precarious territory due to the understanding that real photographers always ended up buying full-frame cameras. Thus, advising someone to buy a crop-sensor camera was to tread on dangerous ground because in a few years that person might realize his or her gear is a second-class citizen in the world of photography and it would have been better had a full-frame model been purchased from the start. Thankfully nowadays, as Princess Leia said to Han Solo at the end of Return of the Jedi, “It’s not like that at all.”

Taken with a crop-sensor Nikon D7100 and 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Sensor technology in cameras today is so good that you can shoot professional photos whether you have full-frame, crop-sensor, medium format, micro-four-thirds, or in some cases even just a mobile phone. Camera gear is not the limiting factor it once was. So while many professionals certainly like to shoot full-frame, there is a growing number who prefer the features, size, convenience, and price of smaller models especially in the world of mirrorless cameras like the Olympus OM-D EM1 Mark II or Panasonic GH5.

If you have specific needs that are not being met by your crop-sensor camera then it may be a good idea to consider a full-frame camera. But otherwise, the gear you have is probably good enough and you’d be better off investing your money in lenses, lighting, and education rather than a new camera body.

Taken with a full-frame Nikon D750 and 50mm f/1.8 lens. Why that particular setup? Honestly, I just like how that camera feels in my hands and I enjoy using it.

Conclusion

I’d like to hear from you, the DPS community, on this one. What type of camera gear do you shoot with, and is there any way in which you find it to be limiting? Do you shoot with full-frame and if so, what do you like about it? Are you content using crop-sensor cameras?

For the record, I personally use both crop-sensor and full-frame cameras and have specific purposes for both. But it’s always interesting to hear from other photographers on subjects like this. Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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