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5 Secrets for Creating Perfect Silhouette Portrait Photography

08 May

The post 5 Secrets for Creating Perfect Silhouette Portrait Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Alana Orth.

5 secrets for creating perfect silhouette portrait photography

Silhouette portrait photography produces some of the most gorgeous images imaginable – which is why I recommend every portrait shooter try a silhouette shot or two.

In this article, I’m going to show you exactly what you need to do for perfect silhouette portraits. I’ll share plenty of tips and tricks I’ve learned from my own time as a portrait photographer. And by the time you’re done, you’ll be a portrait silhouette expert.

So let’s get started.

portrait silhouette photography kissing couple

1. Shoot low and head to toe

Powerful silhouettes start with clear, minimalistic compositions. Here’s what I recommend:

Place the subject’s entire body, from head to toe, against the sky. To pull this off, you’ll need to be lower than the subject, so try lying on your back or stomach.

If you are unable to get low enough, you may need to have your subject get higher; ask them to stand on a rock, small hill, or sand dune. In most circumstances, this will allow you to get an angle that places the subject’s entire outline against the sky. (You can see a variety of examples throughout this article.)

Why is this so important?

If you can’t place your subject’s body against the sky, they will merge with the background, and the recognizable silhouette will be lost. You’ll end up with a lot of confusing darkness, and your viewer won’t be able to immediately tell what’s going on.

Also, pro tip:

It’s so, so, so important that your subject’s feet are outlined against the sky! Legs in a silhouette portrait that are cut off above the feet look like weird, short stumps:

perfect silhouette photography woman by a tree

Even with all this composition advice in mind, there will be times when you just can’t find a suitable spot for a full-body-framed-against-the-sky type silhouette.

And when that happens, you don’t need to give up on silhouettes entirely. Just get closer to your subject and create tighter compositions, focusing on the areas of your subject that are framed by the sky.

couple kissing perfect silhouette

2. Shoot at the right time of day

Silhouettes work best around 20-30 minutes before sunset. The ideal time does vary with the angle you are able to achieve; the greater the height difference between you and the subject, the earlier you will need to take the shot.

Because if you wait too long, the sun will hide behind whatever your subjects are standing on, and the sky might not be bright enough to make a silhouette. 

Shooting too early is also a problem, however; the sky’s colors can be a bit boring and you will have other issues, such as sun flare.

kissing couple perfect silhouette portrait photography

Pro tip: Silhouettes can be taken earlier in the day (i.e., before sunset) if the sun is partially blocked or filtered through strong clouds.

3. Choose your portrait silhouette settings carefully

Perfect silhouettes require careful settings.

Set your camera to Aperture Priority mode and dial in an aperture of f/2.8 and an ISO of 400. Select Evaluative Metering; that way, the camera will consider the whole scene when determining the exposure.

If you fill the frame with your subject’s face or body, the camera will expose for their skin even with a bright background (see the photo below, left).

But if you fill the frame mostly with a very bright sky, then the camera will expose for the sky – bringing out the natural sunset colors and making everything else dark (see the photo below, right).

So place your subject directly against the bright sky and make sure their body takes up a small portion of the frame. The subject will be heavily underexposed, and the sky will retain detail.

The result? A perfect silhouette portrait!

DPS Silhouette 5 DPS Silhouette 6

Both the photographs above were taken with the settings I mentioned above (just seconds apart).

The difference? What was filling the frame – subject or sky.

4. Use perfect silhouette portrait posing

Silhouettes are very forgiving of poor facial expressions (because you cannot see them!). But silhouettes are very harsh when it comes to posing.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when posing subjects for a silhouette:

  1. Hugging poses do not work. A hug silhouette looks like a great big blob monster. Instead, all subjects need to be clearly defined, which means they need to be at least a couple of inches apart from each other. It’s nice for subjects to still be connected – but by holding hands or kissing, not by hugging.
  2. Have your clients look away from the camera. Face profiles look beautiful and natural.
  3. Watch the clothing. Very baggy clothing won’t work well for silhouettes; the shape can become unflattering. It is best to wear form-fitting clothes, as this helps clearly define your subject against the sky.
people holding hands silhouette

5. Take portrait silhouettes whenever you can (because they sell!)

Try to capture at least one silhouette at every photo shoot, whether it is a family portrait, maternity, engagement, or wedding.

Why? Because silhouettes sell!

Here are some reasons why silhouettes are great for client shoots:

  • Silhouettes add variety to the series. Silhouettes are so different in their colors and style – and the variety they give instantly makes any shoot more interesting. Plus, because silhouettes are unique compared to standard portraits, they’re easy to sell individually as a piece of artwork.
  • Silhouettes are perfect for shy clients. Some clients hate the idea of their faces hanging up on the wall. This makes silhouettes the perfect compromise! A silhouette can be marketed to a client as the perfect piece of personalized artwork – without making them feel uncomfortable or self-conscious.
  • Silhouettes look better when printed big! Wide-angle silhouettes and scenic, environmental compositions look great, especially when printed large. So if you do capture wider silhouettes, you can sell them as a large piece of artwork. The client will love it, and it’ll be a more profitable sale for you.
portrait silhouette photography people by a tree

Perfect silhouette portrait photography: final words

Well, there you have it:

Five simple secrets to capture stunning portrait silhouette photography.

Silhouette portraits are a lot of fun – so the next time you’re doing a portrait photoshoot, try a few shots! I’m confident you’ll love the results!

The post 5 Secrets for Creating Perfect Silhouette Portrait Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Alana Orth.


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10 Tips for Creating Great Family Portraits

19 Dec

The post 10 Tips for Creating Great Family Portraits appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darlene Hildebrandt.

family portrait tips

Family portraits are a lot of fun – and they can be highly rewarding, too! However, it’s often tough to get started. After all, how do you pose an entire group of people? How do you interact with them? How do you get great photos?

Thanks to my background in classic-style studio portraiture, plus 25 years of experience photographing portraits and weddings, I have a few tips up my sleeve to share with you.

family portrait tips example

In fact, with a little planning, doing a family portrait will be fun for both you and the family you’re photographing. Here are 10 tips to help you have a successful and enjoyable photo session.

1. Use a tripod whenever possible

I already know what you’re thinking:

A tripod cramps your style. It’s too heavy and cumbersome, whereas your style is more free-flowing.

That all may be true, and in some cases (like when photographing kids running or doing more documentary-style photography), it may be better to shoot handheld. 

However, just consider another side of the coin.

Heise-0005fsm

Most people are nervous when being photographed. Yes, nervous! Some are downright scared, and some would even go so far as to say that they hate having their photo taken.

So it is part of your job to help your subjects feel more comfortable and relaxed. That can be hard to do when you’re also nervous, especially if you’re new to portraits. But there’s a big advantage of putting that camera on a tripod. Two, actually.

  1. A tripod automatically forces you to slow down. That’s a good thing! You can check your settings, review the composition, and preview the exposure to make sure you’ve got everything right. It’s easy to get carried away once you put the camera up to your eye, only to later realize you had the wrong white balance, your ISO was 6400, or you accidentally shot tiny JPEGs instead of standard RAW files. A tripod will help you slow down to avoid an “Oops!” moment.
  2. A tripod allows you to get your eye away from the camera so you can actually make eye contact with your subjects. Your subjects are very real people, and they feel even more uncomfortable staring straight into your lens than they do looking at you. You can gesture to get the kids’ attention and you can make faces. But you’ll get way better expressions by interacting with your subjects than you’ll get while looking through the viewfinder. Try it!

Hood07-034f

2. Shoot in Manual mode

Assuming that you’re setting up your family portrait photoshoot in advance, you have control over all the elements.

Meaning that, once you get set up, the exposure should not need to change.

Unfortunately, if you set your camera to Aperture or Shutter Priority mode, depending on the metering mode selected, the camera could choose a slightly different exposure for each frame. You do not want that! Consistency is very important.

Inconsistent exposures create more work in post-processing, as you have to even out all the photos. Plus, they can cause a slight color shift, increase noise (if some of the shots are underexposed), and result in other undesirable things.

To keep your exposures consistent throughout the whole shoot, use Manual mode. Just remember that each time you change the pose, location, etc., you need to check the exposure again. I just fire off a quick test shot, review the histogram, adjust if necessary, and continue.

3. Lock the focus

Just as you do not want the exposure to change from frame to frame, neither do you want the focus to be adjusted. Assuming you’re using a tripod, you will not be moving. And if you’ve posed your group in a relatively static position, they should not be moving, either. Not much, anyway. Here, we are only concerned with moving closer to the camera, or further away from the camera.

So set your camera up to do one of the following: use focus lock, use back button focus, or use manual focus. With any of those options, the focus will not change from shot to shot.

If you use the shutter button to focus and someone moves a little bit so that the focus dot hits the background, you’ll have another “Oops!” moment. If you aren’t sure how to focus using one of the methods I recommended above, consult your camera manual.

Bonus tip:

Here’s an easy way to focus manually with pinpoint accuracy:

Turn on Live View so you can see the image on your screen. Hit your Zoom button (it may have a magnifying glass or a “+” sign on it) once or twice. The image on the rear LCD will zoom in so you can see what is in focus, which allows for more precise manual focusing. Press the Zoom button again to return to normal view and turn off Live View.

Liebel-002-600px

4. Stagger the heads

What you want to avoid here is a boring straight line, straight row, or straight column of heads. Diagonal lines are more dynamic and add interest to an image, so try to do that with the people in your portrait group.

Imagine there is a line drawn from each face to the next. Try and position your subjects so that no head is directly on top of, or beside (on the same level), another. Make diagonal lines, not flagpoles.

Use props to seat some people or bring some small folding stools. Have some people sit down or stand up on something. Use objects in the environment to pose your subjects, or if you have nothing available, just arrange them so the heights are staggered.

family by a lake

5. If it bends, bend it

This is a general rule for photographing people, and it’s a good one. People tend to stand stiff and rigid when you position them, so you need to get them to bend a few body parts to look more natural. Nobody naturally stands stiff as a board.

Here are a few starter poses:

  • Get your subject to shift their weight to one foot and stick out one hip away from the camera.
  • Get your subject to put a hand in a pocket. I usually recommend they put their thumb out, otherwise they have a tendency to shove their hand to the bottom of the pocket, which looks unnatural.
  • Get your subject to hook a finger on their belt or through a belt loop.
  • If your subject is sitting, have them lean forward a bit and put weight on one hip.
  • If your subject is standing against something, have them cross one foot over the other, toe down.
  • Have sitting (males) put one knee up, foot flat on the ground (but make sure they rotate so you aren’t looking straight at their crotch).

You get the idea. The best way to get someone to do any of this is to do it yourself and have them mirror you. Face them, do the pose you want them to do, and have them mimic it exactly.

family by a building
An example of bending body parts. The girls did a much better job here than the guys, but even the arms bent at the elbow helps. Some people are stiff, and they may present a challenge. Just do your best.

6. Let kids be kids

I’ve found that often parents will tell their kids, “You need to be good and smile” before a photo session. For many kids, this puts too much pressure on them to perform. I usually prepare parents by getting them to tell their kids this instead:

We’re going to the park to take some photos. It will be a lot of fun.

That’s it! Set no expectations other than fun. Then you, as the photographer, should prepare yourself. Bring along props, and get Mom to bring one of the kids’ favorite toys or books. I usually have a hand puppet and bubbles in my camera bag along with my gear. If the kids don’t want to sit and smile, don’t force them. Let them run around and be kids for a while and shoot that. Play with them; make it fun. A few minutes later, they may cooperate and sit for a bit.

When I’m photographing kids, I make a total idiot of myself. I make funny noises, I sing songs (I’m really bad, but they don’t care), I make fish faces, and I play peek-a-boo behind the camera. I run back and forth to the camera with my hand puppet. I lie on the ground. I stick my butt out. Kids are the ones that have life the right way around; it’s us adults that ruin it. Let them be kids, and let them have fun. Then be ready to capture the fun when it happens!

Kids playing a game of peek-a-boo around the tree
This was a game of peek-a-boo around the tree. Look at those genuine smiles! You can’t force those.

7. Pose people to flatter them

Here’s the bottom line:

If Mom thinks she looks fat, then she isn’t going to like the photos, no matter how great the lighting and expressions (see the next tips). So you’ve got to get the posing right.

Be aware of people’s perceived “flaws” and work with them. Here are some quick tips:

  • If someone has a bigger bottom half, don’t pose them walking away from the camera using a wide-angle lens.
  • For double chins, take a slightly higher camera angle (above the subject’s eye level). Making them look up stretches their neck and minimizes the chin/neck area.
  • A bump on a nose will show up when they face one way and not the other (usually). So study their face to find out which way to shoot them.
  • When you have a couple with a huge height difference, get the taller partner to stand with their feet further apart. That will make them slightly shorter, closing the gap a bit.
  • For really heavy people (or those overly self-conscious of their weight), use the lying down in the grass pose and pile the kids on top (as shown in the image below). It works great every time, because it hides tummies, stretches out chins, and makes the kids closer in size (it just shows faces!).
family posing with kids
The lying in the grass, pile on top pose. It’s great for families with small children. This family didn’t need the pose to correct anything; it’s just fun having the kids jump on top and squish Mom and Dad.

8. Lighting is king; get some in their eyes

Light can make or break any photograph, and portraits are no different. The biggest thing you want to make sure you do for portraits is to get light into your subjects’ eyes. There are many ways to do that, and it’s a huge topic, but here are a few things you can do to start off with good light:

  • Choose the time of day to do the portraits very carefully. Generally, late evening – about an hour before dusk – is the best time for portraits. Why? Because the sun is lower in the sky, and you don’t get the harsh overhead light you do at midday. Light is more directional, and it’s usually a bit diffuse if there’s haze on the horizon.
  • If you can’t shoot at dusk, find some shade. Get the family out of the sun, but make sure you don’t get a lit-up background. Bright areas in the background will draw attention away from the subjects. Look for areas in the shade of large buildings or under large trees.
  • Avoid shooting on an overcast day simply because the lighting is even and less harsh than bright sunlight. While it is true the light is softer and less harsh, the direction isn’t great. Overcast days give you direct overhead lighting and dark eyes, especially for anyone with deep eye sockets.
  • Add some light using a reflector or a flash if need be. Again, this is a complex subject, but learn to tell when you need more light on your subjects’ faces. Here’s a quick tip: If you cannot see a catchlight (the light source reflected in your subject’s eyes), then there isn’t enough light on their face!

Just as important as getting some light in the eyes is having it come from a good direction. We’ve established that overhead isn’t good direction, and neither is light straight from the camera. So turning on your built-in pop-up flash isn’t going to give you good light. Neither is mounting an off-camera flash above your camera. Light direct from the camera flattens the subject, and that is not what you want.

Instead, you want the light to come slightly from the side; 30-45 degrees from camera is a good starting point. To learn more about this, read my article on the 6 Portrait Lighting Patterns Every Photographer Should Know.

family portrait just before sunset
This was done just before sunset. The sun is coming over the kids’ shoulders on the left (from behind). I used a flash bounced into an umbrella off to the left to add light to their faces. Without the flash, they’d be in shadow.

9. Expression is everything

Lighting is king, but getting the right expression is everything! You can totally screw up the lighting and the pose, but if you get your subjects laughing or making the perfect face, the photo will be a big hit!

So how do you do this?

Being a photographer means that you sometimes have to be a comedian or a clown. Knowing the right thing to say or do to make people smile is mostly experience.

Sometimes you’ll get tough adults, too. The dad in the photo above by the brick wall pretty much has the same expression all the time. I’ve known this family and photographed them for 13 years; they’re my friends. So I know I can bug the dad a little bit or get out the ducky to have some fun at his expense.

If there are small children or babies involved, make sure to get their attention. It even helps to have an assistant; tell them to bring Grandma along or a friend to help out.

What always happens is you get the kids all looking and smiling, but what are the parents doing? Looking at the kids! I always tell the parents, “No matter what, keep looking at me as I make a total fool of myself. Do not look at your child!”

family posing with a baby
The baby is laughing, while everyone else followed instructions and looked at me. Success!

10. Have a little fun with it

The last tip is to not take yourself so seriously. Create a few really whacky shots at the end of the session (or even in the middle of the session if the energy seems to be fading).

Tell your subjects to do a group squish and really get them to squish. Often, they will start laughing, and as they pull apart, you can grab the shot.

Do a pile-on down in the grass. Ask your subjects to jump in the air or make goofy faces (you make one, too!). It breaks the tension and lightens up the mood.

family with kids posing while making faces
I was making a similar face!
family jumping
My off-camera flash stopped working, so this shot used on-camera flash (not my first choice!). But we were all tired and I thought this would be fun, so we just went for it. Notice how Dad has a new expression!

Bonus tip

Get the family to think about what they are going to wear ahead of time.

Some people disagree with my point of view on this, which is totally fine. But if you want to read more about it, see my article called “Clothing for Portraits – How to Tell Your Subjects What to Wear.”

Tips for family portraits: conclusion

Capturing stunning family portraits isn’t hard – especially if you remember these ten tips.

Just don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself, and everything will turn out great.

So get out there, photograph some families, and have fun!

The post 10 Tips for Creating Great Family Portraits appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darlene Hildebrandt.


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4 Ways of Creating Effective Catchlights in Portraiture

31 Jul

The post 4 Ways of Creating Effective Catchlights in Portraiture appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

Catchlights in portraiture example
Canon 5D Mark III | Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro | 50mm | 1/80 sec | f/5.6 | ISO 100

It is arguable that the most important part of a portrait is your subject’s eyes. While there is a case or two in which this might not be true, for the most part, the eyes are the focal point of portraits. This is because, when we interact with people on a one-to-one basis, it’s the eyes that we use to interact with one another.

As a photographer, it’s vital that you are able to present your subject’s eyes as the focal point in your images. One key way to do this is through the deliberate use and manipulation of catchlights. Catchlights in portraiture are the reflection(s) of your light source(s) that appear in the eyes. 

This article will discuss why catchlights are important, how to make use of them, and how to manipulate them to your benefit. It will also discuss several ways to help you to include catchlights in your portraiture.

What are catchlights?

catchlights in portraiture types of catchlights
Catchlights are the reflection of the light source in your subject’s eyes.

As mentioned above, catchlights are the reflections of your light source as they appear in your subject’s eyes. It doesn’t matter if you are using natural light or flash; if there is light going directly into your subject’s eyes, there will be a catchlight.

In terms of photography, this is important because the presence of a catchlight in portraiture means that the detail in your subject’s eye will be revealed in the final images. If there is no detail in the eyes, it will be that much more difficult for your viewers to engage with the subject. You’ve probably heard of the term dead-eyes before. That’s what this is referring to. 

Ensuring you have a catchlight

catchlights in portraiture
Making sure that your catchlights are a prominent feature in your subject’s eyes can help you to create more evocative portraits. Canon 5D Mark III | Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro | 50mm | 1/125 sec | f/5 | ISO 100

If your goal is to create a catchlight in your portraits, the easiest way to do it is to ensure that your key light is pointed directly into your subject’s eyes. Because your key light will be the brightest light source in your frame, this will help to ensure that the catchlight is as bright as possible, making sure that it stands out. 

If you are using natural light, or studio lighting with a modeling light, you will be able to see the catchlights in your subject’s eyes before you take the picture. All you have to do to ensure a catchlight is direct your subject’s pose until you can see the catchlight. If you are using a light source without a modeling light, you will have to be more careful. Take a test shot and review it on the back of your camera to see what’s going on, then guide your subject from there. 

Placement

catchlights in portraiture
Ensuring that the main catchlight is at the top of your subject’s eye is a great starting point. This is a natural place for the catchlight to sit and leaves most of the eye unobscured. Canon 5D Mark III | Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro | 50mm | 1/60 sec | f/5.0 | ISO 100

To help ensure more natural results, it can help for you to light your subject from above. This has a few effects. The first of these is that it places the catchlight at the top of your subject’s eye, just as it would be if they were outdoors and being lit by the sun. Also, having the catchlight at the top of the eye helps to have more of the eye visible in the frame. 

If you are using more than one catchlight, the position of the other ones doesn’t matter too much, but putting the main catchlight at the top of the eye is still a good idea. 

Big vs small

catchlights in portraiture size of catchlight
The size of your catchlight is going to depend on your chosen light source and how far away that light source is from your subject.

The size of the catchlights in your subject’s eye is entirely dependent on the light sources you are using. If you are shooting in the middle of a clear day, the light source will be the naked sun, and it will appear as a small pinprick of a catchlight in your subject’s eye.

If you are shooting on an overcast day, the entire sky becomes your light source. It is not uncommon for the catchlight to appear massive, as a reflection of everything that appears above the horizon. And if you are in a studio using a large octabox close to your subject, your catchlight will be enormous and take up a large portion of the eye. 

How big you want your catchlights is entirely up to you. Personally, I prefer them to be somewhere in the middle. Too small and they barely show up in anything wider than a close-up portrait. Too big and they take up far too much of the eye, dominating one of the most important parts of your image. 

On occasion, you might hear people saying that catchlights should only ever be small. This is not a rule. Use whatever size catchlight you want.

Bright vs dim

catchlights in portraiture
Large light sources close to your subject will result in dimmer catchlights. Smaller light sources will result in brighter catchlights. It doesn’t matter which you choose, but it can help to be aware of it.

Another aspect of catchlights in portraiture that is dictated by the size of the light source is how bright the catchlights appear. Catchlights made by smaller light sources (such as the sun or small studio modifiers) will appear brighter than those made by large light sources (such as an overcast sky or large studio modifiers). 

Again, how you use this is entirely up to you. In a close-up portrait where the eyes take up a large portion of the frame, the brightness of the catchlights won’t matter as much. However, in a three-quarter length or full-length shot where the eyes are a much smaller part of the image, you may need catchlights to be brighter so that they stand out more. 

Of course, you always have the option of brightening up your catchlights with a bit of dodging and burning afterward, but making the choice at the time of capture can help to save you a lot of time behind the computer. 

Doing more with catchlights in portraiture

Beyond the basics of simply placing a catchlight in your subject’s eye, looking out for new and intriguing ways to use catchlights in portraiture can be a fun and rewarding pursuit. There are a lot of different things you can do to try and make your catchlights more exciting and visually interesting. This section will outline a few of these. 

1) Add more lights

catchlights in portraiture
Adding more lights (that show in your subject’s eyes) is one simple way of changing up the catchlights in your portraits. Canon 5D Mark III | Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM | 35mm | 1/125 sec | f/5.6 | ISO 100

Simply adding an extra light or two is possibly the easiest way to make your catchlights a little more interesting. Any secondary lighting that you use that is in your subject’s line of sight will usually appear as a second catchlight in their eye. 

catchlights in portraiture
Here the two fill lights show up as two additional catchlights.

The thing to look out for here is that you don’t go overboard. Having your subject’s entire eye consumed by multiple large catchlights will probably look more disconcerting to your viewer than clever. By all means, experiment, but don’t be afraid to dial it back a notch if you go too far.

2) Use a reflector

catchlights in portraiture
The humble white reflector is a great way to add a subtle second catchlight that lifts the brightness of your subject’s eyes. Canon 5D Mark III | Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM | 35mm | 1/125 sec | f/14 | ISO 100

Adding a simple white reflector as fill can help to lift your subject’s eyes with a catchlight of its own. This will usually result in a subtler effect, but it can lead to much brighter and more vivid eyes in your images. 

catchlights in portraiture
Here you can see just how much the reflector is doing.

3) Try different lighting patterns

catchlights in portraiture
Some lighting patterns like clamshell lighting make for really interesting catchlights. Canon 5D Mark III | Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro | 50mm | 1/100 sec | f/9 | ISO 100

Using lighting patterns that require multiple light sources can provide interesting catchlights as well. Cross lighting and clamshell lighting are two patterns in particular that can create interesting effects. Both of these patterns only require two lights as well.

catchlights in portraiture clamshell lighting catchlight example
Here you can see the effect that clamshell lighting has on the subject’s eyes.

4) Use novelty light sources

catchlights in portraiture
Ring lights and other novelty light sources produce unique catchlights that can be used for visual interest. Canon 5D Mark III | Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro | 50mm | 1/60 sec | f/8 | ISO 1000

There are fair few interesting lighting options on the market that provide unique catchlights. The most prominent of these is the ring light. Ring lights provide on-axis lighting for your subject as you put your camera through the aperture of the ring. The catchlight appears as a ring in your subject’s eyes.

These lights, and other lights like them, are fun to use and can help you achieve interesting lighting in your portraits. 

catchlights in portraiture
Here, you can see the distinct ring shape of the catchlight made by a continuous ring light.

One caveat for these novelty light sources: While a lot of people really love the effect they produce, a lot of people really hate it, and are very vocal about how much they hate it. Depending on the purpose and the audience of your images, novelty light sources may not be the right choice. 

The end

Taking control of your catchlights can be a great way to help you get the most out of your portrait photography. Hopefully, you see how easy and impactful this can be. It’s also a lot of fun.

Chasing catchlights in portraiture can lead you to a lot of interesting scenarios and lighting setups that you may not find, or come up with, by other means. 

The post 4 Ways of Creating Effective Catchlights in Portraiture appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.


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Helpful Tips for Creating Evergreen Content for your Photography Website

07 Jun

The post Helpful Tips for Creating Evergreen Content for your Photography Website appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Charlie Moss.

dps-tips-for-creating-evergreen-content

It’s always hard to know what to write on a photography blog, isn’t it? You start a blog on your photography website because you’ve been told it’s good for SEO, but then you get stuck on what content to create, and your blog gets neglected. So, I’m going to give you some ideas for creating evergreen content that you can put into practice right now to improve your website, help your readers, and start working on your SEO.

creating evergreen content
Writing blog posts is hard for many photographers because they don’t know where to start.

What is evergreen content?

In the same way that evergreen trees stay green all year round, evergreen blog posts stay relevant to readers for a long time. They should stay relevant to readers no matter the season, and, ideally, stay relevant for several years without any serious updating.

By creating evergreen content, you can create a website that pulls in visitors all year round and encourage search engines to rank you highly.

But what kind of evergreen content can photographers create? That really depends on the audience you’re looking to attract to your website! So once you’ve narrowed that down, you can start to come up with some ideas for evergreen content.

Articles to attract photographers

If you’re the kind of photographer who wants to attract other photographers to your website, then content about photography is the place to start. Just look around this site – Digital Photography Photography School is full of evergreen content that appeals to photographers all year round and for many years.

Helpful Tips for Creating Evergreen Content for your Photography Website
I write about photography techniques on my blog because I mostly want to attract photographers.

Every photographer knows something that they can teach others, even if they’re a beginner. So start by writing posts teaching other people what you know about taking photos.

You could also write reviews of all the photography equipment that you own. Most photographers love to spend hours researching what they’re buying and read lots of reviews before they spend their money.

By its very nature, evergreen content is often about the topics aimed at beginners to intermediates in the subject matter. It’s content that people will be searching for repeatedly, and that’s what makes beginner content a great place to start when you’re creating your first pieces of evergreen content.

And once you’ve created some engaging content that people are sharing, consider writing a second blog post on the same subject that your visitors might want to read next!

Articles to attract clients

Not everyone wants to attract photographers to their photography website. Some people want to attract more clients if they’re working as a photographer. By creating evergreen content, you can get potential clients to your website and looking at your portfolio.

Many photographers already blog about the shoots they do. It’s really common now for wedding photographers to blog about their client’s big day, or newborn photographers to blog about the cute baby they recently photographed. But those posts are not the ones most likely to get prospective new clients to your site.

creating evergreen content
Brainstorming a list of ideas for blog posts is always a good idea. Give yourself 15 minutes once a week and write down everything that comes to mind.

When writing a blog the best place to start is almost always with a problem that someone has. So if you are a wedding photographer, think about what your clients might be looking for. They could be asking questions like:

  • What are the best clothes to wear for an engagement session and how do you pick a color scheme?
  • What do weddings at (your local venue) look like?
  • Are veils coming back in fashion for brides, and what unique photo opportunities do they present?

You can answer all of those questions in blogs on your website while filling them with pictures you’ve taken. And the best thing about these kinds of posts is they’ll be shared by more than just your clients, meaning that your images get in front of many new people.

Moreover, you can apply this to all kinds of photography. You can even go beyond photography, which I’ve seen work particularly well in the newborn and maternity niches.

If you photograph newborns and have children yourself, you might use your blog as a way to talk about your own experiences of being a parent, with helpful advice for your readers. And if you’re creating evergreen content that’s useful, you can bet it’ll end up being shared around social media.

What advantages does this bring?

Beyond the pure sharing of posts and getting them in front of new potential clients, evergreen content can bring benefits for the SEO of your website (that’s search engine optimization).

Google, and other search engines, love to see people linking to your content and talking about it. One of the strongest ways that Google determines if you’re a useful and interesting site (and therefore how high you appear in their search listings) is how many backlinks you have to your website.

Helpful Tips for Creating Evergreen Content for your Photography Website
By creating evergreen content for your blog, your views will go up over time as more and more people link to your website.

By creating evergreen content that is interesting and useful, you’re giving people and businesses reasons to share it on their own social media, or include you in posts on their own blog.

A post about the best time to photograph a newborn baby, for example, is relevant content that lots of different people could share on their own page. It could be shared by other newborn photographers, by parenting websites, or even by small maternity clinics.

It doesn’t matter if these businesses aren’t in the same area as you either, because what’s important is the backlinks and the buzz around your content. But Google and other search engines don’t discriminate – if lots of people are sharing your site because it’s good content, then they’ll also show you higher in the search results when people look for your kind of photography locally.

Get started right now!

There’s no better time to start creating evergreen content for your blog than right now. Sit down and make a list of all the questions that people who you’d like to visit your blog might be asking. And then work out from that list the things that will stay relevant all year round, and that won’t go out of fashion.

creating evergreen content
The key is to just start somewhere! You can always edit your blog posts somewhere.

Don’t forget, after you’ve spent time creating evergreen content for your blog, you should promote it on social media now and then again in the future. If you’ve created some great and long-lasting evergreen content, you’ll be able to promote it many times over. This means that you’ll always have something to say on social media during quieter times without having to constantly be writing new blog posts or shooting new work.

Do you have any other tips for creating evergreen content you’d like to share with our community? Please do so in the comments section!

The post Helpful Tips for Creating Evergreen Content for your Photography Website appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Charlie Moss.


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10 Beginner Tips for Creating Beautiful Images Without an Expensive Camera

24 Jan

The post 10 Beginner Tips for Creating Beautiful Images Without an Expensive Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Shreyas Yadav.

Beautiful-Images-Without-an-Expensive-Camera

I can’t take beautiful pictures because I have a basic entry-level camera.

My pictures are not looking great, it’s time that I should upgrade to the higher version of the camera.

My images aren’t looking excellent, ummm! I think it is because my camera is not full frame, does not have a high dynamic range and high ISO capability.

I am not getting beautiful images with my DSLR, I should upgrade to Mirrorless camera.

Does this sound familiar to you? Are these types of thoughts stopping you from making great pictures?

Well, I have good news for you.

I am going to show you the exact photography techniques that I use to create beautiful images without an expensive camera.

And the best part is…

These proven techniques work great with any type of camera, such as entry-level DSLR, Mirrorless, and so on.

You can start using these techniques to create beautiful images right away.

Let’s get started.

Here are 10 tips for creating beautiful images without an expensive camera

  1. Rule of thirds
  2. Golden Spiral
  3. Color wheel – choosing opposite colors
  4. Including the foreground object
  5. Patterns
  6. Symmetry
  7. Leading lines
  8. Negative space
  9. Rule of odds
  10. Including the frame

1. Rule of thirds

Let’s start with one of the fundamental ‘rules’ in photography – the Rule of Thirds.

Refer to the image below.

Image: Rule of Thirds – Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher

Rule of Thirds – Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher

 

In this image, the Kingfisher is the main object; hence, I have placed the Kingfisher at the line of intersection.

Divide the frame into nine parts by using two horizontal and vertical lines. Horizontal and vertical lines intersect at four points.

When you are composing the picture, position the main object on a point where horizontal and vertical lines intersect.

If there is a secondary object in an image, try to compose the secondary object where the line intersects.

Note – In your camera, turn the Grid option on. This will enable the Grid display while you photograph your image.

Rule of Thirds will improve your composition significantly and will significantly impact the visual appeal of your image.

2. Golden spiral

The golden spiral (or Golden ratio, Fibonacci spiral or ratio) is a composition technique based on the Fibonacci series. It has been in use from ancient times in arts, sculptures, and architecture. The golden spiral technique is useful in creating beautiful and pleasing compositions in photography, as well.

Check out the below Spiral (Golden Spiral)

Image: Golden Spiral – Crab on the tree

Golden Spiral – Crab on the tree

The main object here is the crab. Hence, I have positioned the crab where the spiral converges.

Place the main object at the smallest rectangle/square. Place the secondary supporting object along with the other rectangles. Try to place the other objects on the spiral curve. The Golden Spiral composition technique will be useful for you to create eye-pleasing compositions.

3. Color wheel

Check out the basic color wheel.

Image: Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

For example – red and green or violet and yellow are opposing colors.

One of the best ways to pop up the color in your image is to look for objects with opposing colors. Also, include objects with contrasting colors.

When you include the two opposing colors in an image, the image will look beautiful. This technique you can try with common objects as well. Instead of making an image of everyday objects as it is, photograph the common objects against an opposite-colored background or surroundings.

Here is an image of Red Munia.

Image: Color Wheel – Red Munia bird against green grass

Color Wheel – Red Munia bird against green grass

I had an option to photograph the Red Munia against yellowish-white flowers, blue water of the lake, and green grass. I changed my position to photograph the Red Munia against the green grass.

Here is one more example.

Beautiful-Images-Without-an-Expensive-Camera

Color Wheel – Corynandra flower with yellow and violet color.

 

This is a close-up image of a flower.

At the center of the flower, the color is yellow, whereas the surroundings (stamens) are of violet color. Yellow and violet are the opposite colors on the color wheel. Learn more about color in our Mastering Color Series.

4. Include the foreground object

Beautiful-Images-Without-an-Expensive-Camera

Foreground object – Waterfall and the rocks.

 

Apart from the main object and background, the foreground is an essential part of the image too. Adding a foreground object will give depth to your picture – especially landscape and cityscape images.

In general, most of the images in which we click have the main object and background as a part of an image. Include the object in the foreground. It will add depth to the picture.

An image is two-dimensional. Adding an interesting foreground object will make the image feel more three-dimensional because of the depth.

In the image of a waterfall, I have included rocks in the foreground. Foreground rocks add depth to the picture. Without a foreground object, the waterfall image would have been appeared flat.

5. Patterns

Beautiful-Images-Without-an-Expensive-Camera

An image showing patterns in the rice field.

Image: Patterns of the Utricularia flowers

Patterns of the Utricularia flowers

 

In the first image, I photographed the paddy field during the rainy season. Instead of taking a general view of the rice field, I focussed on the repeating pattern of the rice field.

The second image is of the Utricularia flower, whose flowers bloom during monsoon season. I have photographed the flower from the top. There colors and shape of the flower is repeating in the pattern.

Patterns are a repetition of objects, shapes, or colors. While you are photographing outdoors, you will always find patterns.

There are two effective ways to shoot patterns

1. Photograph a uniform pattern of the objects or shapes

  • Flowers of similar shape and color
  • Historical monuments
  • Farmlands
  • Raindrops
  • People with similar uniform and position
  • Festival images
  • Wildlife moving in the herd such as Zebra, Elephant, Deers and birds

2. Photograph a uniform pattern along with the object which is breaking that pattern

  • Flowers with similar shape and colors along with the flower of different color or cactus
  • Wildlife moving in a herd with one or another different animal or animal moving in the opposite direction

Photographing a similar pattern adds uniformity to the image, whereas, an object breaking a uniform pattern makes the image dynamic.

6. Symmetry

Image: Symmetry of the Hornbills.

Symmetry of the Hornbills.

 

This image is of Malabar Pied Hornbills during the bunting season. Shown here is a male and female hornbill. I was observing the hornbills for some time before taking a photo. As soon as their beaks lined up and both of them appeared in symmetry, I pressed the shutter.

Symmetrical composition is a beautiful way to photograph an object. You can photograph symmetrical objects, reflections in the water, or symmetrical position of the object.

For symmetrical composition, you can choose the main object to be at the center. Keeping the line of symmetry at the center of the frame will make the image symmetries well-balanced.

7. Leading lines

Composition with the main object and leading lines makes for a powerful image. While photographing the main object, use a line that is directing towards it. The leading lines can be streets, compound walls, floors, stairs, trees, or any objects which form a leading line towards your main object.

Image: Leading Lines – Man walking on the road.

Leading Lines – Man walking on the road.

 

In this image, the main subject is a lonely man walking. The leading lines I have used are flowers and the road. This type of composition will have your attention as these leading lines will point your eyes towards the lonely man.

8. Negative space

Beautiful-Images-Without-an-Expensive-Camera

An example of negative Space – Sunbird

Beautiful-Images-Without-an-Expensive-Camera

Negative Space – Sitana Lizard running

 

In the first image, there is empty space in which the sunbird is looking. With the second image, there is space in the direction of the movement of the lizard.

In your images, look where the main object is moving and leave some space in that area. Alternatively, leave some space in the direction they are looking toward. This space is called negative space. Composing with negative space can make for very effective compositions.

You can apply negative space to a wide variety of images too. You can use it for portraits, wildlife, birds, automobiles, cityscapes, etc.

9. Rule of odds

Image: Rule of Odds – Three Chinkaras

Rule of Odds – Three Chinkaras

 

While you compose an image, try to include an odd number of elements in the frame. An odd number of objects can be three, five or seven, etc. With an odd number of objects, the image becomes harmonized and balanced.

On the other hand, an even quantity of objects can add a sense of comparison.

It is not a rule. Still, we perceive images with an odd number of objects as balanced as compared to that of an even number of objects.

In this image of Chinkara, instead of photographing from eye level, I shot the image from a low level. This helped to get the foreground in the picture. Three Chinkaras were moving around. I waited for some time until three of them looked in the same direction. I pressed the shutter as soon as three of them appeared.

With three Chinkaras (an odd number of objects), the image looks balanced.

10. Including the frame

Beautiful-Images-Without-an-Expensive-Camera

Frame – Spotted Deer in the forest.

 

The frame around the main subject adds depth to the image, driving the viewer’s attention towards it. The main object, along with a frame, gives perspective to the picture.

When you photograph an object, compose a frame in the foreground. Include the frame entirely or partially. Both techniques work well. Some of the frames which you can include are tree branches, forest, windows, car windows, architectural buildings, and flowers.

This deer showed up during the beautiful misty morning in the forest. With sunlight in the background, I tried to include forests in the foreground as a partial frame.

A subtle forest frame in the foreground and partially bright sunlight in the background brings this image alive!

Now it’s your turn

I hope these photography techniques will help you to create beautiful images without an expensive camera. Of course, some of these photography “rules” can be broken.

Now I would like to hear from you.

Which of the techniques are you going to try first? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

The post 10 Beginner Tips for Creating Beautiful Images Without an Expensive Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Shreyas Yadav.


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Fake it to Make it – Creating Convincing Photo Composites

14 Nov

The post Fake it to Make it – Creating Convincing Photo Composites appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

creating-convincing-photo-composites

Photo composites – it used to be said that “the camera never lies.”  We used terms like “photographic evidence,” and “photographic memory.” We believed whatever cameras captured were literal representations of fact depicting exactly what you would have observed had you been a witness to the scene.

Then, as editing techniques improved, photographers learned ways to enhance and even alter images.

Well before the days of digital photography, dodging, burning, airbrushing, layering of negatives, hand-painting, and a host of other “analog methods” were used by skilled photographers seeking to enhance and manipulate their images.  Sometimes this was in the name of art, other times to fool the viewer.

creating-convincing-photo-composites

“Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave.” Assignment – depict a Beatles song title or lyric. I used a photo of a Vermont graveyard, made a shot of myself in the backyard, and with some creative compositing depicted the lyric from “Eleanor Rigby.”

Enter the world of digital photography and desktop editing programs.

It wasn’t long before we used the term “Photoshop” not only as a noun as the tradename of an editing program but as a verb describing the manipulation of an image using that tool.  When we now say an image has been “Photoshopped,” we are saying it has been digitally altered.  The camera might not lie, but the photographer can if they choose.

creating-convincing-photo-composites

It took a while to clone out all the footprints from this shot of Bandon Beach, Oregon.

The ethics of photo alteration

So, is altering your image a bad thing? Unethical?

I’d say that depends on your intent and the context in which you’re using the image. We’ve all heard the term “fake news.” If you are a photojournalist whose job it is to depict a scene truthfully, then the rest of this article is not for you. Move along… “creative photo editing” is totally taboo for you. Enough said.

For the rest of us, is photo manipulation acceptable? How much? What kind? Under what circumstances?

Let’s come back to those questions a little later after we’ve looked at some kinds of photo “enhancements.”

Fake it to Make it - Creating Convincing Photo Composites

creating-convincing-photo-composites

A balloon over Boise, Idaho landmarks. One is composited the other a straight shot. Can you spot the fake?

Bad magic

Have you ever had the misfortunate of watching a really bad magic show, the kind where the unskilled magician clearly doesn’t know his craft and the illusions are obvious? You know, without question, there really was something up his sleeve? Bad photo manipulation is like bad magic; neither should be performed for an audience.

If your techniques aren’t convincing, if the substituted sky doesn’t look right for the scene or the person composited into the group shot looks like you cut him out and pasted him onto the photo, you might not be ready to perform your photo magic. Learn how to do the “trick.” Practice, practice some more and show the result to a single critic. When you finally pass muster, only then show your creation to the masses.

SOOC?

Most of us do at least some standard photo editing. I always smile at those photographers who say with pride their images are “Straight-Out-Of-Camera” (SOOC), unedited. That they always “get it right in the camera.” Really?

Unless you’re making only .jpg images (where the camera itself is doing some editing using the built-in .jpg algorithm), you have a Raw image that needs at least basic editing even to be presentable.

Sure, make the best exposure you can in the camera, frame your shot so no cropping will be needed. Pick a white balance appropriate for the scene – those are all good habits. But having to edit your shot to bring out its best? – That’s only logical, IMHO.

creating-convincing-photo-composites

I had nice shots of a storm over a wheatfield and a good windmill silhouette. Creative photo composite at work.

Creative photo composites

Now we get to what is clearly photo manipulation, the creation of an image from multiple pieces. This is the assembling of a final photo composite from separate shots carefully crafted to make something better than you could make with a single exposure.

Do it well, and you can make scenes that depict your creative vision. Create things of beauty that never were but should have been; landscapes with great clouds, gorgeous sunsets, or maybe portraits done in fields of flowers. Do it well, and people will marvel over your creation, unaware of your magic. Do it poorly, however, and you’ll wind up with a Frankenstein monster, a badly-stitched horror assembled from unmatched pieces and parts.

So let’s look at some things to consider when creating convincing photo composites.

Image: I think the scale looks correct here, but a pilot might say a jet wouldn’t come in like...

I think the scale looks correct here, but a pilot might say a jet wouldn’t come in like this on final approach. Both planes are composited into the sunset shot.

Light and shadow

Let’s use an example where we might add a person to a scene they were not originally in.

You have the image of the scene, and you have a separate image of the person. The first question to ask yourself is, does the light direction match? Look at where the light and shadows fall in both images. If the light in the person image is coming from the left, the light in the background scene must come from the left too. Fail to check this, and even the untrained observer will look at your photo composite image and know something isn’t right, even if they can’t put their finger on it.

Sometimes you can flip the person or the background image so the light direction matches; it depends on the scenes you’re working with. Other times you’ll have to look for a different background with a better match.

creating-convincing-photo-composites

The scale may not be correct, but creative compositing is a new fun way to play with your grandson.Pay close attention to the direction and quality of shadows. Compositing images where the light in one piece is harsh with hard shadows and the other where the light is brighter, darker, softer, or in some other way different will be a giveaway of something fishy.

Sometimes you might have to add a shadow manually. Say you’re adding an image of a car to another image of a road. Consider where the shadow of the car would fall relative to the light in the scene. Then blend in some shadows if necessary to make a more convincing photo composite.

Angle

The camera angle and focal length of the lenses used to make the separate shots should match as closely as possible if you want to make convincing photo composites.

A high or low angle background with a differing angle composite overlay isn’t going to look right. This even applies to sky substitutions.

If you want to make photo composites of a landscape and change out the sky for perhaps one that has a nice sunset or better clouds, take a look at the angle of both shots and the focal length of the lenses used.

You’ll be able to tell if something just doesn’t look right.

creating-convincing-photo-composites

A gray rainy day at the Portland Head Lighthouse in Maine. The lighthouse needed a light beam, no? Easy to add one. Convincing? You tell me.

Color

Sometimes this can be the toughest one in getting good convincing photo composites. Images at different times in different locations are almost guaranteed to have slightly different white balances. Mix a cooler piece into a warmer scene, one where the tint is slightly different, or other subtle differences exist, and once again, your viewer will detect that card up your sleeve.

See if you can set a white balance in Lightroom for your base image and then, using the Sync feature, apply that same white balance to your inserted image. Then take both into Photoshop for your compositing work.

Sometimes the best option for avoiding a fight with color differences is to avoid color altogether and go monochrome with your image. A monochrome composite is far easier to pull off than a color one. It’s a good place for beginning “photo magicians” to start.

Image: The moon was in the original shot, but tiny. I enlarged it a bit, but not so much as to be un...

The moon was in the original shot, but tiny. I enlarged it a bit, but not so much as to be unbelievable.

Scale

Pay attention to match the relative size of images in your photo composites. Unless you’re trying to make the model in your shot look like a fairy on that forest log, matching size counts.

The student who missed the group shot of his class, but you later composite him in, probably won’t appreciate it if you make him look like he has a giant head relative to the others in the shot.

Whatever multiple pieces you use to make your image, consider how their relative sizes match.

Image: Fake moon composited in? Not this time. This was a telephoto shot which made the already larg...

Fake moon composited in? Not this time. This was a telephoto shot which made the already large full moon look even bigger.

Anything funny here?

After working to create a convincing photo composite, it can be hard to be objective. You’ve worked hard to get it just right but sometimes may have misgivings about whether everything looks natural.

Or it could be the other way; you’re convinced you’ve created the perfect composite, but have overlooked what to someone else is obvious fakery. This is the time to bring in someone else, someone who has no idea what you’ve been working on, to look at your creation.

Simply ask, “How’s this look?”

Don’t immediately tip them that you did something to the image – see if they detect anything. If they don’t, drill a little deeper.

“See anything unusual?” Pay attention to their answers.

If this is someone who knows your skills, they may suspect you switched out the sky, put that cute bunny in the forest scene, or digitally shaved some pounds from the model. However, even then, they should be able to tell you if your creation is convincing.

Because you can…

The second part of that saying, “…doesn’t always mean you should.”  Or as Uncle Ben told Peter Parker, (aka Spiderman), “With great power comes great responsibility.”

With practice, you may become highly skilled at photo composites. Alter a photo, replace the sky, make it jaw-droppingly beautiful, and no one thinks twice. Even fellow photographers marvel over the sunsets you always seem to catch, the great light, the pristine beaches with no footprints, litter, or people. They chalk up your beautiful images to stellar photo skills, hard work, sacrifice, and a healthy dose of good luck. They don’t realize you made your own luck, as well as that incredible ocean sunrise, with creative photo compositing.

Until one day, the truth comes out…

You’re just an average photographer but a great Photoshop artist.

One guy who understands where to draw the line is noted landscape photographer, Nick Page. I once had a chance to interview Nick on the subject of swapping skies in landscape photography. In addition to being an exceptional landscape photographer, Nick is also a gifted editor. If anyone could fool you with a creative composite, Nick could do so easily.

He could, but he doesn’t.

Image: He could, but he doesn’t. His amazing photos are the real deal. Photo by/courtesy of Ni...

He could, but he doesn’t. His amazing photos are the real deal. Photo by/courtesy of Nick Page.

“With my Landscape photography, I have drawn the line in the sand, (in my head anyway), that I will not composite or swap skies.  For me this comes down to two things,” Nick said.

“My favorite part of landscape photography is trying to chase the light, and have that great light line up with a great location.  This takes tons of planning and effort, and I love that aspect of photography.  If I were to start dropping skies into my landscape photos, I would be robbing myself of the joy of “the Chase.”

And the second thing?  “I want people to know and believe the photos I take are real,” said Nick. “So many of the photographers I follow, I can’t always trust that amazing light they always have in their photos.  Yes, it is an art, but I really enjoy the extra effort of trying to get it for real, and I want people to know and trust that I put in that extra effort.”

Image: Creative photo compositing is a fun way to help tell the story.

Creative photo compositing is a fun way to help tell the story.

As easy as a click – the rise of the robots

We’re headed for a major change in photo editing as we enter the dawn of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) age. For some time now, computers have been able to “recognize” images. Tell Google Photos to search the entire internet for photos of even something improbable, green dogs, and it almost instantly finds many. This is not a keyword search; it “recognizes” the image of a dog and the color green and finds the photos.

Facial recognition? Lightroom can do that.

We already see better and better implementations of AI photo editing tools too. How long will it be before an AI editing program can do a better job than you? Maybe that day is almost here.

Fake it to Make it - Creating Convincing Photo Composites

Image: Sky substitution. Soon you’ll do this with one click with the Luminar 4 Sky Replacement...

Sky substitution. Soon you’ll do this with one click with the Luminar 4 Sky Replacement AI tool.

Skylum Software recently announced its new Luminar 4 editing software with “AI Sky Replacement.”  Not only can it replace the sky in a photo, but it also does it with no selections, layers, or masking.  It claims to handle even detailed images such as fine tree branches extending into the sky. And, it goes even a step further, using the colors of the replacement sky to better match the scene.

Mixed emotions

I must confess, I have mixed emotions about software editing tools that better the skills I’ve learned after hundreds of hours slaving over a hot computer [Me too – Editor]. Or that don’t require I earn that great shot by setting the alarm for 4:30, shivering in the pre-dawn cold, and hoping the clouds and color are just right only to be disappointed. One-click to a beautiful shot?

Could I, in good conscience, enter a contest with such a shot and accept an award for “my” image? The one made with artificial intelligence instead of just my intelligence and skills?

Image: The Yellowstone Bison endure harsh winter conditions. Think this one was originally a part of...

The Yellowstone Bison endure harsh winter conditions. Think this one was originally a part of this shot? You’ve been “buffaloed.” Added with compositing.

Photography and “real” art

I have to think that when photography first entered the scene, traditional artists, painters, sketch artists and those who created their art from scratch by hand had to scoff. Photographers had no artistic skills, and they weren’t “real artists.”

Later, we transitioned from purely mechanical cameras to automatic ones and from film to digital. Autofocus? Auto exposure settings? Auto white balance? Pshaw!

How about processing negatives and film in chemical baths, working with negatives and enlargers, dodging and burning with real tools and real photographic paper? Do you say you do that all now in a computer with a few clicks of a mouse? That if you make a mistake, you can simply undo it and not have to throw away your work and start all over?

You call yourself a “real photographer?”

Image: Experiencing the 8/21/17 total eclipse was amazing. I used creative photo compositing to sequ...

Experiencing the 8/21/17 total eclipse was amazing. I used creative photo compositing to sequence my shots for this image.

Image: I made a shot of the forest near Crouch, Idaho the day before the eclipse. The next day I cap...

I made a shot of the forest near Crouch, Idaho the day before the eclipse. The next day I capture the “diamond ring” image of the eclipse. It did look like this, but I’m not sure I could have captured this in one shot. Creative photo compositing.

Conclusion

You get the point.  As technology marches on our tools change, we find easier ways of doing things and more people are able to become involved, not having to spend years learning complex skills.  More people can, with some technological assistance, produce better images.

One last thing to remember however, the human touch, the “soul” of your photography, your personal vision will never be replaced by “artificial” intelligence.  Wise photographers still appreciate the special skills of artists who create beautiful images by hand.  Wise digital photographers still appreciate the skills of analog film photographers who created great photos with very basic equipment.  And, perhaps one day, you and I will appreciate the skills of a robot photographer and an AI editor.  Or maybe not.

 

 

 

The post Fake it to Make it – Creating Convincing Photo Composites appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.


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Tips for Creating Compelling Nature Photography

23 Oct

The post Tips for Creating Compelling Nature Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Karthika Gupta.

tips-for-creating-compelling-nature-photography

Nature photography is one of the most common forms of photography out there today and in this article, I’m going to give you tips for creating more compelling nature photography.

Instagram alone has more than 80 million posts under the hashtag #naturephotography. Not to mention that variations like #naturephotos and #naturephotoshoot have their own massive following. No matter what genre of photography you practice, getting out in nature and capturing images of the natural world is always fascinating.

Perhaps some of the charm and pull of nature photography has to do with the fact that it is free, easily accessible (depending on where you are), and there is never a shortage of subject matter, light or even creative framing – all elements that contribute to a stellar photo.

Tips for Creating Compelling Nature Photography

Nature photography doesn’t have to be boring or mundane. Nor is nature photography only images of dramatic landscapes in exotic faraway locations. Even your house plant or tree in your backyard can become compelling nature photography if done correctly. There are a few things you can do to take your nature photography from boring to amazing.

Focus on the subject

Look at any photography course, cheat sheet, or guide. It will talk about the importance of your subject as it relates to the overall image. The subject is everything. A subject can make or break an image, and I don’t say that to just sound dramatic.

Some photos have so much going on that we are confused about the message. On the flip side, some images use a shallow depth of field to focus on one element, yet nothing else gives context to what is going on in the image. We are often left wondering what the intention of the image is.

Don’t let that happen to you. Focus on the subject based on what story you are looking to tell. Ask yourself if the subject helps or distracts from that story.

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We were photographing wild horses in Utah when the sun set. My subject was still the horses but, for me, the element of the setting sun just added more drama to the scene.

If you want to photograph a tree in your backyard in the Fall, wait until all the leaves turn a bright red color to complement the story of fall colors. If you want to photograph a landscape at golden hour, figure out the direction of the sunset and watch the weather to see if conditions are right for a dramatic golden hour and sunset.

Understand what you are photographing and the story you want to tell. This will help you conduct the right kind of research needed for executing your shoot and the results you want.

Understand the light you are working with

If there is one thing I would shout from the rooftops as it relates to photography, it is about the importance of light in photography.

There is no such thing as bad lighting. Lighting is just different at different times of the day.

Not all lighting is the same in terms of quality of light. Light is just different at different times of the day. Sometimes the light is perfect – that warm, soft glow that translates beautifully in pictures. Other times, the lighting is harsh and strong. I wouldn’t say that type of lighting is always bad – it is just not the same every time.

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Morning Light In The Tetons

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Harsh mid-day sun in the Himalayas

Image: Setting sun along the Oregon coast

Setting sun along the Oregon coast

The sooner you train your eye to read the different types of light, and what it can do to your images, the sooner you will be able to analyze your imagery better. You’ll also get photos closer to the style you like without wasting too much time in post-processing. No amount of editing can really fix an image taken in poor lighting conditions.

As it is with nature photography, you cannot always control your light source, that is, the sun. There might be many instances that you are out in nature during the harsh midday sun. This light is strong and very warm. Learn to use that to compliment your photos.

If you can get outside during golden hour, use that light to add some drama to your nature photos. But make sure that you don’t photograph directly into the setting sun as it leads to a lot of sun flare entering your frame (unless that is the effect you are after). It can also make the shot appear muddy and blown out to the point of not being able to see the subjects clearly.

Focus on the details

Most of us focus on the bigger picture when we photo nature and landscapes: big skies, large mountains, or even vast open waters. But there is something to be said about slowing down and noticing the details around you. The feel and texture of sand, the colors of pebbles at the beach, the curling leaves under flowers or the colors of a butterfly’s wings. There are so many ways to include details in your images to create compelling nature photography.

Just because something is larger than life, doesn’t mean it is the only thing that matters. Details create depth, texture, and complement the narrative.

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Explore colors in nature

I recently came across a YouTuber who prepares natural paints from colors found in nature and uses that for her art. I found it fascinating to watch her grid stones and use their powder for colors, harness indigo from blueberries and red from wild roses. There are countless colors that are found in nature if only we know where to look.

Use colors to convey emotions and meaning. We all know that some colors are associated with certain types of feelings in the eyes of the viewer. Yellow evokes happiness and enthusiasm. Red means strength and energy. Orange shows creativity and warmth. Green signifies harmony and growth.

Use colors in your photography to give that element of wow to your images. Nature has an abundance of color all around – just look for it.

Tips for Creating Compelling Nature Photography

Simple always triumphs complex

I alluded to this earlier in the article, where I talked about the chaos in an image. Clutter can be messy and sometimes put off a person in real life. Some busy photos where there is a lot happening can be complex and chaotic. Life is crazy enough. We don’t always need to take that into our art.

Nature Photography has the power to transform us to a magical and fantastical place, someplace calm and peaceful. By simplifying our photos, we can transport the user to a place of calm so that they can emotionally connect with our images.

Image: I used a simple black foam board to highlight the white and the fellow of these flowers.

I used a simple black foam board to highlight the white and the fellow of these flowers.

I hope these simple tips help you create more compelling nature photography. Nature has the power to heal in so many ways, and by using that effectively in our imagery, we can convey that narrative to our audience.

Do you have any other tips for creating compelling nature photography? Share with us in the comments!

The post Tips for Creating Compelling Nature Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Karthika Gupta.


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Tips for Creating Awesome Double Exposures In-Camera

13 Sep

The post Tips for Creating Awesome Double Exposures In-Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

Tips for Creating Awesome Double Exposures In-Camera

Techniques for creating double exposures have been around since the beginning of film photography. While the days of being able to expose the same frame of film multiple times are mostly gone, a great many digital cameras do offer that functionality. While the technique can be unpredictable and hard to get right, that’s part of the charm of it (in my opinion) and what makes it so fun. This article provides you with a few tips to help you create double exposures in-camera.

What about Photoshop?

double-exposures-in---camera

Photoshop (and alternatives) offer an infinite number of ways to blend exposures, but doing it in-camera can lead to spontaneous and unpredictable results.

Of course, you don’t need to do it in-camera. The almighty powers of Photoshop absolutely give you a great deal of control over blending images. You didn’t need to do it in-camera in the film days either as you could sandwich negatives together in the darkroom before putting them in the enlarger. So yes, by all means, use Photoshop to your heart’s content, but if you want to inject a bit of unpredictability and spontaneity to the process, do think about trying to create a few in the camera.

Understand the functionality in your camera

This first step may seem obvious, but every camera that I’ve run across handles the settings for double exposures in different ways. Taking the time to learn and understand how to set up your camera for multiple exposures ensures that when you get out to start creating the images, you know exactly what’s going on. For example, unless I turn on the right setting, my camera will take a single sequence of images and then revert back to normal settings. This can be (and has been) frustrating when I’m lining up a second exposure of a moving subject and find that I’m back to taking a single image.

This is probably just a matter of reading your manual and then putting it into practice a few times in your backyard or somewhere where the results don’t matter.

Start simple

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While getting to grips with the technique, you can start simple with just a few moving elements to help you understand the process better.

When getting started with a technique like multiple exposures, it is easy to start snapping away without putting too much thought into it. The results can be less than inspiring and may even make you second guess the technique.

Try to keep it simple in the beginning. Instead of many exposures layered together, try to keep it to a simple double exposure until you figure out how the exposures work with one another. Of course, the results are almost always going to be unpredictable, but once you start to take a lot, you will quickly learn how to judge what two frames might look like on top of one another.

Look for bold shapes and textures

Image: Mixing silhouettes and textures is an effective way of creating bold double exposure images.

Mixing silhouettes and textures is an effective way of creating bold double exposure images.

One of the easiest ways to get results with double exposures is to overlay a texture onto a recognizable shape. Silhouettes of people work great for this. If you start your sequence with a  silhouette, you can then take a photo of something with a lot of texture and the shadows of the silhouette will reveal that texture in the final image.

Another simple one for you to try is to layer your main image on a background of clouds. The whole concept is simple and done a lot, but it is still effective. If you start with these simple processes, you will quickly start to see how you can use the technique for more complicated images.

Think in terms of design

Image: Finding things that match up together to make a cohesive image can be tricky, but when it hap...

Finding things that match up together to make a cohesive image can be tricky, but when it happens, the results speak for themselves.

Because you are layering your images, it can help if they work together with a theme or if the final image helps to convey a message. Keeping the various elements in your images (whether that be the subjects, colors, lighting, etc) in line with your intended end result can help for better images. It also helps to start with your final composition in mind. How will the various elements line up? How will they react and line up with one another? Is there a particular sort of framing that would help tie the whole thing together? Asking yourself these questions before your camera is even out of the bag can help your final images be the best they possibly can.

Go abstract

Image: The double-exposure effect can be weird and sometimes it’s best to embrace that weirdne...

The double-exposure effect can be weird and sometimes it’s best to embrace that weirdness.

Now, your images don’t have to be of anything at all. Don’t be afraid to go for the abstract (or non-objective if you prefer). You can layer a bunch of modern buildings (or the same building) together for some interesting effects where there is no real focal point.

You can do the same with multiple textures. Just roll with it and see what happens. You might find you have a bunch of images that don’t work, but you might also find that one that really, really does. Try looking for things with lines or shapes, without too much texture, that can overlap one another.

Block your lens

double-exposures-in---camera

To manage your backgrounds while creating a double exposure in the studio, cover a portion of your lens with a black card to avoid the background being exposed twice. In the top middle of the frame, you can see where that has happened.

Block your lens if you want to photograph the same subject, human or inanimate, multiple times in one frame. You can use this trick for photographing fireworks to help control your exposure. When you’re lining up your first exposure, cover your lens with a piece of black card so that you are blocking the part of the frame that will contain the subject of your second exposure. In a double exposure, this will stop the background being exposed twice. Your backgrounds will be darker, but your subject will also be clearer where it appears in the frame.

Use grids

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Turning on guides and grids in your camera can help you line up subjects between the multiple frames.

If your camera has the option for a grid overlay (rule of thirds) in the viewfinder, turning it on can help you to line up various elements throughout the multiple exposures.

It’s okay to post-process

Image: Not everything is going to go right all the time. If something doesn’t line up, like To...

Not everything is going to go right all the time. If something doesn’t line up, like Tower Bridge in this image, don’t be afraid to use Photoshop to help you get the results you were after.

Although this article is about creating double exposures in-camera, there is nothing wrong with taking your results and fine-tuning them afterward.

Did you overlay a silhouette with a texture but you don’t want the texture elsewhere in the frame? Photoshop can help. If it helps you to create what you had in your head, by all means, go for it.

That’s it

Creating double exposures in-camera is a finicky technique, but sometimes the results can be incredible. More important, it’s a technique that’s a lot of fun. I encourage you to go out and give it a try for yourself, and hopefully, some of these tips will make your results a bit more predictable.

Please share your results with us in the comments section – we’d love to see them!

 

double-exposures-in---camera

The post Tips for Creating Awesome Double Exposures In-Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.


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2 Methods for Creating Duotones in Photoshop

12 Jul

The post 2 Methods for Creating Duotones in Photoshop appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.

This article looks at two methods for creating duotones in Photoshop. But first, what is a duotone?

Think of a duotone and you’ll imagine an image composed of two distinct hues. Easy so far. But a typical printing-press duotone uses black ink and another color, the net result being a photo that is monochrome by many people’s definition. No black appears in the final image unless the initial grayscale image was clipped, which photographers generally try to avoid.

Two methods for Creating Duotones in Photoshop

This photo uses two distinct blue-cyan hues laid over the original black (using a gradient map), but it’d qualify as monochrome in most circles.

A sepia image often comes from a duotone process, yet many people think of sepia pictures as monochrome.

Indeed, they are monochrome in the end but try producing a sepia effect in Photoshop using a single brown color. You’ll notice it tends to look flat. You can try some wild curves adjustments, but you really need black or dark gray in there to give contrast.

sepia monochrome aand duotone

Using duotone mode to create two sepia photos. The top half is duotone with a mixture of dark gray (near black) and dark brown. The bottom half is what you get with dark brown only – monotone.

For our purposes

We’ll look briefly at the classic black + one color method of creating duotones, not least because that blend tends to create more tasteful results. But I’ll also show you how to produce two-color images in Photoshop CC using two methods: duotone mode and gradient maps.

Method 1: duotone mode

To access Photoshop CC’s duotone mode, you first need an 8-bit grayscale image. But before you convert to grayscale, you might want to do a normal black & white conversion. That way, you can use the color sliders to get the best starting point before shedding data.

The process of creating a classic duotone in this way is described well in another article. Either pick one of the many presets available in Photoshop or choose your own color combo. Then adjust the contrast in the two “inks” as desired using the built-in curves adjustments. Technically, this produces a duotone, even if it’s monochromatic by some definitions.

Creating duotones in Photoshop

A two-ink duotone photo that is nevertheless monochromatic in appearance. Only by clipping the original grayscale image can you get true black into the photo.

Tip: in order for your second color (or “ink”) to be the one that imbues the image, you need the first “color” to be neutral (i.e. the default black or dark gray). Otherwise, the two colors blend. To achieve two distinct colors, there’s more to do.

Two distinct colors in Duotone Mode

It is possible to produce a two-color image in Photoshop’s duotone mode. Let’s say you have two colors selected (e.g. black and orange) and you want to make shadows blue. This is what you’d do next:

  • Click on “Overprint Colors” to open a dialogue box.
  • Click inside the color square next to “1 + 2” to open the color picker.
  • Move the picker around and choose a blue, observing its effect on the image in real-time.
  • Close “Color Picker” and “Overprint Colors” boxes.
  • You’re done! Convert back to RGB for conventional web or printing use.
Two methods for Creating Duotones in Photoshop

By clicking on “overprint colors” in duotone mode you can lay a second distinct hue over your darker tones. In this instance, I’ve chosen dark green.

Method 2: gradient maps

Like duotone mode in Photoshop CC, there are many gradient map presets you can try out. Some of these use a single hue or multiple hues, so they might be monochrome, tritone or quadtone in some cases. But a classic two-color gradient map will give you a duotone result with discrete colors.

Duotones in Photoshop CC.

Using a normal blend mode with a gradient map produces a two-color image without black. There’s a distinct lack of contrast, though this varies depending on the colors chosen.

The method for creating a duotone using gradient maps is here:

  • Open a black & white adjustment layer (don’t do anything with it yet).
  • Open a gradient map adjustment layer and set a “contrast” blend mode (e.g. overlay, soft light, hard light, etc).
  • Click on the gradient to edit its colors.
  • Double-click on the lower left and right sliders to open the color picker and select your shadow and highlight colors. A single click on either slider produces a slider in the center, which you can move if you want to alter the transition point between colors.
  • Adjust color sliders on the black and white layer if you want to selectively darken or lighten parts of the image.
  • Adjust opacity on the gradient map layer to taste.
  • Flatten layers.
Creating duotones with gradient maps.

You’ll bring the contrast of the original image back in by selecting an overlay, soft light, hard light or color blend mode.

When you’re going for a subtle duotone with off-black and off-white colors, you can skip the black and white layer. Just use a gradient map layer with a normal blend mode. Note, however, that this precludes the possibility of reducing opacity (which brings color back in) or selectively adjusting different tones. The extra B&W layer adds versatility.

The normal blend mode also looks pop-arty if you choose bold colors, so it’s good for creating graphic posters or flyer pictures. In this mode, it’s worth bearing in mind when picking colors that a color from low down and one from high up on the picker graph gives more contrast. The nearer the two hues are to each other in terms of “picker height,” the less contrast you’ll have in terms of brightness. Other blend modes add contrast, so this only applies to “normal.”

Blue and orange duotone.

Another gradient-map duotone using a “normal” blend mode. Blue and orange are complementary colors (approx). Photo: Pixabay

Of course, if your shadows and highlights are so close to black and white that their hues are hard to detect, you’re effectively back to creating monochromes. The semantics don’t matter provided you’re not entering duotone photo competitions with pictures that look mono.

Compressing the tonal range

When using the color picker to select your shadow and highlight colors, any hue you pick above the base or below the top of the graph compresses the tonal range (or dynamic range) of the photo. At least, that is the case if you perform a separate edit or use an adjustment layer with a normal blend mode.

If you’re going for a graphic image with two bold colors, the tonal range is almost immaterial. You can let it fall where it may. But with mono images and subtle duotones, dynamic range is more important. We’re always taught to aim for a full tonal range in our photos so that the data goes end to end on a histogram, but actually compressed data sometimes looks good. It gives online photos more of a print feel in the absence of deep shadows and dazzling highlights. Try it!

Understanding the color picker in Photoshop.

The hard left of the color picker goes from pure black to white, bottom to top. The same principle applies to colors. They go from pure black to full saturation. In this instance, I’ve compressed the tonal range of a black and white photo by 5%, lifting shadows slightly and subduing highlights.

Just as you can compress the tonal range of an image using curves or levels, so you can using gradient maps and the color picker. You could do similar in duotone mode by adjusting the endpoints of the built-in curves so that the curve is less steep. Conversely, making curves steeper increases contrast and eventually clips shadows and highlights.

compressing the tonal range of photos

What I did in the above picture using the color picker is the same as doing this in curves. Selecting two duotone colors using a normal blend mode will also compress the tonal range unless you choose the most saturated hue and black. (The baseline of the color picker is always pure black.)

Choosing colors

If you’re looking for colors that go well together, try using the Adobe Color Themes extension in Photoshop CC. You needn’t have an image open to experiment with it. Set your background and foreground colors via the extension in the tools palette, and they’ll automatically transfer over to a gradient map when you open one. Complementary colors are perfect for duotones.

Creating duotones in Photoshop CC

With this photo, I’ve set complementary foreground and background colors in Photoshop CC using the Adobe Color Themes extension. Then I’ve opened a gradient map, which applies the two colors automatically.

There are several websites dedicated to finding colors that work well together, including Adobe Color. These typically include the hex numbers, which you can copy and paste into the Photoshop color picker to reproduce the exact same hues.

Final thought

In times past, a duotone was used as a cheaper alternative to color halftone printing. Today, you could figuratively think of it as a more expensive alternative to black and white. I wouldn’t suggest it’s better (of course it is not), but it’s another way to convey mood. Sometimes you can hint at the color that was in the original photo. Or, you can just make some far-out pop art. There are many possibilities.

 

2-methods-for-creating-duotones-in-photoshop

The post 2 Methods for Creating Duotones in Photoshop appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.


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Creating Spectacular Photo Displays with Digital Projectors

02 Jul

If you are reading this, it is likely that you take copious amounts of photographs. A few years ago, families would gather around their Kodak carousel slide projector and look at 35 mm slides of family vacations. There was something that was almost magical about seeing images on the big screen in living color. Really, back then, a homemade slideshow Continue Reading

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