This week Chris and Jordan are joined by renowned macro photographer Don Komarechka, who demonstrates a few simple techniques that can improve your macro photos in a big way.
Want to learn more? Check out some of our other articles about macro photography:
DPReview articles about macro photography
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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Who doesn’t love a good road trip? You pick a destination, plan your route, pack up your stuff in the car, and hit the road. For many, the open road signifies freedom, opportunity, exploration, and adventure. As much time as you spend planning out a road trip, you never know what surprises may be out there waiting.
It’s exciting! It’s truly an iconic American experience. There will be moments and memories you plan to capture and a whole host of others you won’t want to forget.
On every traveler’s packing list is a camera. Whether that’s your phone, a simple point and shoot, or a DSLR, you want to make sure you’ve brought something to capture your experience. So, how do you make sure you’re getting the best possible photos?
What are some tips and pointers for capturing all of those memories? Here are a few quick tips that you can use to make sure you can do the best road trip photography possible.
Thanks to the internet and social media, you can search for any destination online and see photographs others have taken. This is a great way to see what attractions, large or small, await you. A quick search of the highway or road you’re going to take, the cities you’re going to pass through, may bring up unexpected and worthwhile stops.
Another really helpful tip is to research your destination on social media. A quick search on Instagram or Facebook will reveal all of the top spots that other photographers have found. This will be helpful to make sure you don’t miss a monument, historical landmark, or site along the way.
But, it’s also really helpful to find all of those hidden gems that only the locals or seasoned travelers might know about.
If you’re a photographer hitting the open road, packing your camera gear is almost as important, if not more so, to you than remembering your toothbrush. Depending on the trip, you may have enough room to bring all your gear or you might have to limit yourself.
Take note of important things like the locations you’re going to be driving through, the time of year you’ll be driving, what kind of photographs you’ll want to take, and the weather. All of these components will affect what kind of gear you will need to bring with you.
It can be easy to get carried away or get overwhelmed and not pack the right things. So, take a minute and think through what your most useful and crucial gear might be given where you are traveling. What is going to help you capture those can’t miss moments the best?
It is always better to have a few extra pieces of gear to ensure you have what you need rather than miss a moment.
A quick list of things to consider as you plan and prep:
Any time you’re on a road trip it is vital to have a setup close-by and ready to go. This means a versatile lens, your camera, a fully charged battery, and your settings already set up.
You can pack up the bulk of your gear elsewhere in the car but keep your camera bag or an additional bag with all of these necessary items next to you. It will help you in a pinch. You never know when you might see a great scene out the window as a passenger or when you’ll want pull over to capture an unexpected sight or beautiful landscape.
It is helpful to keep a short list of must-have gear for your go-bag so you can quickly pack one at any time. Some of these items may include:
You can plan, and you can prepare. You can have a list of all of your top spots ready and marked on your route. As important as all of these tips are, being ready for the unexpected is just as important.
If you see something cool or unique, stop and take a photograph. If you pull off into a little town, take some time to walk around and keep your eyes peeled so you don’t miss an interesting photo opportunity. Don’t let the excitement of heading to the next destination keep you from missing out on a great photograph.
Remember to carve out time to slow down and see the sights both with and without your camera.
Finally, never forget to have fun doing it.
Do you have any other road trip photography tips? Have you done any good road trips lately? Please share your tips and images in the comments below.
The post 5 Road Trip Photography Tips – Come Home with Great Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School.
I wouldn’t be able to count the number of potentially great photos I’ve missed because I visited a location with only one image in mind. It’s easy to fall for the temptation to set up, get your shot, then pack up and leave. I’ve done it countless times, and I’m sure you have too.
Every location on earth has the potential for thousands of different images. Even a simple beach scene can be photographed in a huge variety of ways to create many beautiful images. You don’t need to have stunning scenery to come home with a collection of great images.
It only takes a little planning combined with the ability to improvise and adapt to the environment. Here are some tips to help you work a location to come home with more and better photos.
I’m a huge advocate of planning your photos. In landscape photography, you’re at the mercy of mother nature, so the more prepared you are, the better your chances are of getting the shot.
How do the top landscape photographers in the world manage to consistently produce gorgeous images? They’re in the right place at the right time. Of course, there’s a bit of luck involved, but it’s largely down to a lot of careful planning.
Once I’ve chosen a photography location I’ll almost always do some planning for the shots I want. This usually involves looking at satellite and topographical maps on Google Maps. This will give you an idea of the landscape and features of the location.
Once you have an idea of the photos you want to take, it’s worth considering the best time of day. Golden hour at either end of the day provide great light, but you also may need to consider other factors like the tide and travel time.
There are many tools available to help you research and plan your photos. My favorite by far is PhotoPills. It’s a paid app, but worth every cent. It includes too many features to list here, and I can’t recommend it enough.
Photo sharing sites like Flickr and Instagram are great for finding inspiration. Experiment with a variety of tools and find what works for you. Whatever you decide on, be sure to use them. Planning your landscape photos will dramatically increase your rate of keepers.
Once you’ve planned your photos, the obvious next step is to go and create the beautiful images you’ve imagined.
Make sure you’re well prepared. Nothing will ruin well-planned photography like flat batteries or full memory cards. Watch the weather forecast and get to your location with plenty of time to spare. Wear comfortable shoes because you’ll likely be doing some walking.
Get the shot, but don’t stop there. There are still many opportunities to get more great photos. Exploring on foot is the best way to find different and interesting photos that you may not have considered when originally researching the location.
Walk in the direction you just photographed and look back the way you came. Hike up to a high place. Walk up a river or climb some rocks. Move your legs. Very few incredible photos are taken from parking lots.
Other than finding different perspectives and subjects to photograph, there are a few other ways to get more out of a location. Try using different gear. A different focal length can open up a bunch of new possibilities for shooting the same scene.
If you’re used to photographing landscapes with a wide-angle lens, put a longer lens on your camera. It will not only allow you to create many more compositions from the same place, but it will also stretch you creatively.
Rent or borrow a macro lens and try taking a look at the smaller details of the location. You have almost limitless possibilities once you start looking at the grass, rocks, sand, or trees around you.
Another option is to wait for the light to change. Within the space of a couple of hours, you can photograph everything from daylight, through the golden hour, and into twilight. The same scene can look very different as the intensity, color, and direction of the light changes. Watch the way the shadows shape a landscape as the sun drops.
I learned to love photographing blue hour when I went out for sunset and noticed that I loved the light about 30 to 60 minutes after sunset. Try sticking around into the evening and playing with the low light. You could even stay until well after sunset and try including some stars or the Milky Way in the scene.
Finally, using various photographic techniques or effects can add a different look to the same location. If there’s movement in the scene, try photographing it with different shutter speeds. Fast shutter speeds that freeze movement look very different from long exposures that blur movement.
The way you expose the light can also change the look of the image a lot. Try exposing for a blown-out back-lit image or an underexposed the foreground for dark silhouettes. Photograph landscapes with both a large and small depth-of-field for a different look.
As you can see, with a bit of creativity, forethought, and patience, your options are many. You don’t need to come home from a location with only one good image.
Since I’ve learned to work a location, I often come home with many more decent images than I expected. Even with plenty of research and planning. Next time you go out to photograph a location, do some planning, get the shot, then walk, wait, and get creative to find a bunch more photos you’ll be happy with.
The post How to Work a Location to Get More Great Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Pet photography is both challenging and extremely rewarding. You may really enjoy taking pictures of your own pets but if you apply some of the general rules that apply to all pet photography with studio lighting, you can really help you up your game.
The key to all pet photography is to get what appears to be an emotional connection with the animal being photographed. If you don’t do that, all the photographs will look more like snapshots and less like portraits.
Upping your game.
You do not need to be huge space but you do need some room to work. Ideally, a studio setup includes:
You will need enough space to get in front of the dog or cat such that the backdrop fills the background. You also need to consider that animals move and will not stay still in a very small confined area. Ideally, you need at least about 10 feet wide by about 25 feet depth. You will also need some space between your subject and the backdrop.
This arrangement will accommodate most pets except larger dogs. Large dogs need a lot more space. The larger they are, the more space you need. You also need to think about what they will be stepping on and if their paws are clean. Seamless paper is a great backdrop but is it not a great material for animals to step on as they leave footprints.
Setups for pet photography can be just this simple.
With any pet photography, you have to anticipate accidents. Appropriate cleaning supplies are a must. Be prepared for both #1 (urine) and #2 (feces) accidents. Dogs are much worse than cats. Older dogs tend to have fewer accidents than younger dogs, while puppies frequently have accidents.
If you are dealing with multiple animals (at different times), you need to also consider cross-contamination control measures. Good antiseptic cleaners with some bleach will work well. You will need cleaners with enzymes to break down pet urine for the occasional territory markers. Harder surfaces are easier to clean than soft surfaces.
Backdrops are useful and you can get creative with what you use. Seamless paper is a great option but you will go through it relatively fast and animals that walk on seamless paper will often scare themselves with the noise from the paper moving.
You also need to consider what the animals will stand or sit on. Melamine surfaces are great for flooring options but some animals don’t like being on melamine and the seams may need to be edited out in post-production if they are too visible.
Toys and treats for cats and dogs.
Equip your space with lots of animal-specific toys and treats available and ready to reach. Cats and dogs are not interested in the same types of toys or treats. Always ask if an animal has allergies before giving them any treats or better yet, ask the owner to bring some treats that their pet likes.
Most modern digital camera equipment will work for pet photography but you need to think about a few things.
Ideally, your camera needs to focus fast, preferably with a reliable continuous autofocus ability. If you are using strobes, you will be focusing under lower lighting conditions than the eventual shot. Slow focusing or inability to shoot quickly will mean you miss the shot or have lots of images out of focus.
You have limited time, so you need to be cognizant of your animal. In general, you will need a wider lens (you should probably start with a fast zoom lens), particularly if you are using a smaller space but wider lenses can mean your image is wider than your backdrop. Long lenses will compress features but unless you have an assistant to help wrangle the animal, you will likely need to be close enough to reach the animal to do it yourself.
Basic camera gear for pet photography – camera, flash, and triggers.
Lighting is key and unless you are looking at using continuous (LED) lighting, you will also need a reliable way to trigger your lights. In your space, you should be able to control your lighting to get the desired effect. If you are using strobes or speedlights, you need a way to trigger the flashes.
Radio controls (most expensive option) are significantly easier to use than either optical slaves (speedlights) or cables (tripping hazard). Make sure you are familiar with your equipment before the animal to be photographed shows up.
There are a few basic rules for pet photography that apply to all types not just in the studio, but become more important when you have pets in your space. You generally have more control over your environment in the studio. Because you are in your own space, you can plan to address each item for the animal before they arrive and adapt your environment for the particular requirements of each animal.
Calm person = calm dog.
Relax, pets feel your energy. If you are nervous or talk too much, they will feel it and become nervous as well. If you are calm, they will be calmer (NOTE: I did not say they would be calm).
Never assume a dog or cat will be calm, but you don’t want to make it more difficult for you for the pet. They can often be scared or anxious about new surroundings or that machine you keep putting up to your face between you and the animal.
Whatever you do, don’t yell or strike at the animals. They don’t speak languages you easily understand. Make sure you understand the warning signs from animals when they are nervous. With dogs, yawning is often a sign of anxiety and can be a warning just as it is with low growling. With cats, ears back is usually a sign of a cat feeling quite threatened.
Older animals tend to be calmer.
It is really important for all pets, no matter what size and shape, that you get down to their level. You can take a few different approaches to this but in the end, you need to find a way to be at the eye level (not below) of the pet you are photographing.
Many beginning photographers take pictures of their pets from a standing position and after looking at their results, they can’t figure out why they are unsatisfied with their images. Getting to eye level is a relatively universal requirement for all animal photographs, not just for pets.
Get down to their level.
Getting to their level can either mean you go down to their eye height or they get up higher, closer to your height. The best thing to do is to get down and dirty at their level, particularly with larger animals.
But with smaller animals, you can also bring them up to a higher level with ottomans, tables, and chairs. With higher surfaces, you then need to worry about wrangling the animal so they don’t fall or jump off the table or chair. Puppies and kittens will often fall off tables.
In order to connect with an animal, you need to be able to see their eyes and in particular the catchlights in their eyes. No eye contact means no connection, but you don’t only need the animal staring at you.
Animal eyes are shaped differently than human eyes so the catchlights will have a slightly different appearance than those in people’s eyes. There are two schools of thought regarding pet eye catchlights (i.e. one versus two catchlights). In human portraiture, typically it is taboo to have two catchlights in the eyes, but some pet photography works well with two catchlights because of the different eyeball shape.
Having two catchlights in some pets eyes, like this little kitty, is okay.
Some pets may watch you when you photograph them but most don’t. Eye contact can be aggressive to them. In addition, as soon as you put the machine (camera) up to your face, you will no longer be visible to them. As soon as your face disappears, usually so does the animal’s attention. Getting an animal’s attention is usually a function of the type of animal.
For cats, laser pointers, toys, and strings can help focus their attention, treats less so. Some cats also will be focused on treats but this usually shouldn’t be your first choice. For dogs, squeakers, toys, and treats are always a good approach, so is making strange noises. But don’t give them the toy unless you want it in every shot. Again use treats as the last resort but they work well with many, but not all, dogs.
Different animals are motivated by different attention-getting devices. Treats will get them to move and often makes for interesting action shots, although I find treats work better for dogs than for cats. Remember to check for allergies before giving treats. Always use very small sized treats otherwise the animal will fill up on your treats and you will lose their attention.
Editor’s note: An even better idea is to get the owner to bring some treats that their pet likes, and which they approve of giving to their animal.
All pets have a limited attention span, typically 15 minutes is the maximum time you’ll get from start to finish. It is best to move quickly and try to get your best photographs early in the shoot because as time passes, the attention-getting-object, toy, or treat will wear thin and they will become disinterested.
Planning is the best way to set up and get the shot the way you want. So plan your shoots and think about how to best highlight the animal. Props sometimes work, like baskets for cats (above) or feather boas for dogs (below).
You need to set your shutter speed to something relatively quick. If you are using strobes or speedlights, you will need to use the best speed that works with your equipment.
With speedlights, you won’t be able to shoot in bursts because of the recharge or recycle time. Even with strobes, you need to ensure your strobes can take multiple shots in quick succession. Typically for studio work and strobes, a shutter speed of 1/160th or slightly faster is the limit of your camera (flash sync speeds vary, check your camera user manual).
Even if you are using continuous lighting you will need to get your shutter speed up just to freeze the image because animals can move quickly.
A fast shutter speed will freeze movement of the animal.
Pets move quickly, so focusing is tough, really tough. Single shot focusing regardless of how quick your camera focuses will likely mean that most of your shots will miss. Often after getting a focus lock, pets will move away from your focused location by the time you take the image.
Many modern cameras are now capable of tracking objects and focusing on moving targets. Continuous tracking allows for adjustments as the pets move. If your camera has continuous tracking focus you need to use it. Otherwise, most of your images will be out of focus.
Spray and pray is generally a terrible way to take photographs. It usually implies a photographer didn’t take the time to set up a shot, but in the case of pet photography, it is usually the opposite.
As you are watching for the decisive moment, you take a short burst of images (provided your lighting can keep up) because you will likely have several images in a sequence that are good. However, with pet photography, judicious use of rapid-fire bursts can lead to stunning images. The secret is to anticipate the moment and get a good focus lock. I personally use back button focus specifically to hold the continuous focus independent from the image taking.
With pets, if you are taking an image of the entire body, you need to include the tips and tails of that animal. You want the entire animal within the frame. You can intentionally crop for a close up of their face, but you lose something if you are missing the tips of their ears or the end of their tail.
Missing body parts make for incomplete looking images. The best way to approach the images is to remember the catchphrase, “Tips and Tails”. Always try to get the tips of their ears and the end of their tail within the frame. In addition, the same basic rules for human portraiture also apply to pets, specifically for tighter shots where you should never crop an image on the subject’s joints.
Tips and Tails – I just got the end of this puppy’s tail in the shot. Cropping off part of it gives the tail an amputated look you want to avoid.
Also, unlike humans, most pets have longer noses, so it is generally better if you get their entire face in focus. Wider apertures will end up with the nose out of focus which is much more noticeable with pet photography as opposed to human portraits.
Get the whole face sharp. This image doesn’t work because of the cropped of paw and out of focus nose.
Lighting in a studio means controlled lighting. Before you start using strobes, you will need to find out if the animal is sensitive to flashes. While strobes are the brightest lights available, that brightness can be a problem if the animals are sensitive and hate them or get easily startled.
The easiest way to see if they react negatively to the strobes is to manually fire the strobe while setting up before the animal is in place. It will be really obvious if the animal reacts to it. You’ll need a backup plan if they are scared of the flash.
Strobes are best.
Shooting in the studio allows you to control the light but you need to assess the best kind of lighting for your needs. There are generally three options, speedlights (the portable ones that go on the hot shoe on your camera), strobes (dedicate studio flashes that usually plug into an outlet), or continuous lights.
Strobes provide the most powerful lighting for the lowest cost but some animals are really sensitive to the flashes from strobes or speedlights. Continuous lighting has been really advancing lately but in order to be able to use them for pets, you need a fair bit of light to keep the shutter speed up. Continuous lights that are really bright are very expensive.
Lighting a pet in the studio is different than lighting people. Often you can light a person and get a decent image with only one light. You can create drama with shadows using long and short lighting techniques.
With pets, you are better off lighting them with a key and fill light in reasonably even proportions to one another with a much smaller difference in the intensity of the two lights (light ratio). Pet photography benefits from the super sharpness of being able to see all the details in a pet’s fur. Deep shadows tend to hide those details. Portraiture techniques such as butterfly lighting and Rembrandt lighting just don’t really work for pets.
Basic pet lighting setup.
A great lighting setup uses three medium softboxes: a key light and main light at 45-degrees on either side of the pet, and a hair light coming from above and behind the animal (see lighting diagram above).
Why? This set up works well because you can light the animal relatively evenly. Remember you are lighting an animal that is much shorter than you. Using this setup gives you room to get between the key and the fill light that are quite low to the ground. Generally the key and fill lights are centered about 4-5 feet off the ground.
The hair light provides some separation from the background and is generally not set at a high power. Separation is important, particularly if the animal has a dark coat and you have a dark background. I often use the key light at about 25% more light than the fill light, but the setup works even if the lights are close to the same power.
While there are TTL strobes available, they are quite pricey. Manually triggered strobes are readily available and can often be purchased used for very reasonable costs. In general, for pet photography, you can shoot entirely in manual mode with manually triggered strobes and get great results.
Because pet photography tends to use a simpler lighting setup, by using manually triggered strobes, once your lighting is set up you can simply focus on wrangling the animal and getting the best shots. The rule of flash or strobe photography is that shutter speed controls the background exposure and aperture controls the flash. In manual mode, you can set the power of the strobes and shoot.
When you are shooting with strobes, depending upon how expensive your strobes are, there can be a fair bit of range for color temperature from your lights. You want to ensure the only source of light is your strobes because other lights, including tungsten and fluorescent lights, will create a color cast and your image that is difficult to remove.
It is best to set up and do a gray card test before you start shooting to get your white balance right. You can either use a customized white balance for your camera or if you are shooting in RAW, you can manually adjust the images later in your RAW processing software.
Often letting your camera choose by using Automatic White Balance, with strobes means that the color will vary from image to image. Setting it ahead of time with a custom white balance or a gray card calibration means that you can focus on the image rather than changing white balance in your images. It means less processing work to do later as well.
Be aware of color casts.
When you take pictures of animals it is always good to consider the dominant color of the animal’s coat relative to the background. It is best not to have the same color for both, although it can work out.
What this means is don’t use seamless white paper as a background for a white dog or a black background for a black cat. You need to be able to adapt on the fly and sometimes you can’t avoid it with animals that are mixed in the color of their coat (e.g. a black and white cat).
It is also good to ensure the color of the material that the animal is sitting on during the session works with the color of their coat and that of the background.
Make sure you have contrast between the color of the animal and that of the background.
The last tip is a simple one but one that isn’t too obvious. When animals are stressed out they tend to shed. Animals get stressed when you photograph them. This means that there will be fur coming off them, sometimes in large amounts.
If you are using furniture to elevate an animal, just expect that their fur will get everywhere. Try to keep the furniture clean before you start and you may even want to touch it up as you go because removing the contrasting hairs from the furniture can be a tedious process in post-processing.
Studio shots of pet look awesome. With a bit of preparation, you can get high-quality images that show great drama and connection with the animal. The approach is the same as with any other animal photography but in the studio, you can control the light and the background much more allowing for better results.
If you have any questions for comments, feel free to drop me a comment below. Happy shooting!
The post Tips for Great Lighting for Pet Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School.
There’s an old axiom in filmmaking which states that an audience will forgive a poor quality picture, but not poor quality sound. This week, Chris and Jordan bring in an audio pro to discuss different types of microphones, how to position them, and to demonstrate how a cheap microphone positioned correctly will outperform an expensive model placed incorrectly.
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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Let’s face it, one of the true joys of a professional photographer is to see the fruits of their labor displayed in a physical format, preferably as a large-scale photo print. It just feels like the proper way these photos should be exhibited, the form in which they reach their true potential. With this in mind, I’m here to talk Continue Reading
The post Why It’s a Great Idea to Get Your Photo Printed on Large-Scale Canvas appeared first on Photodoto.
Have you ever heard the phrase “light is everything” or perhaps “composition is everything”? I know I have many times. But they can’t both be everything, that’s not possible. So what is really going on? Obviously, there is at least a grain of truth to both expressions. But are there other factors that make great photos?
As it turns out, there are and things are not quite as simple.
A photo with very poor composition will fall apart and it will never be a great photo. But a decent composition capturing the most fantastic light can be a good photo, if not a great one. On the other hand, a great composition in poor light can make a dull photo.
Creating a photo almost always includes some sort of compromise. Either the light is not great, the timing is not perfect, or it is not possible to get to the ideal location, because you can’t walk in thin air or on water. Or maybe the prime elements in the scene are not arranged perfectly.
There are so many factors that have to come together at the exact same time, that it seems impossible to make a perfect photo. And that is part of your life, as a photographer, but knowing what counts, can make your success rate of making great photos higher.
It is a number of things that make a great photo and composition and light are obviously on that list, but what is the rest?
I find that there a five important factors that combine to make great photos. If you can maximize all five you will have a perfect photo. However, creating such a photo is really rare even for the very best photographers.
Let us have a look at them and then discuss in more detail.
You don’t have to maximize all five to make a great photo. A decent composition with fantastic light and timing, with fantastic post-processing, can make a great photo. The same goes for an outstanding composition. You will be able to make up for the lack of light to some extent. So you just have to balance the five factors without dropping any completely.
If one of the factors is somewhat lower, it can be compensated by one or more of the others if they score high. You could see it as the sum of the five pillars, that gives an indication of how great a photo is, as long as you don’t have any hitting the bottom.
A completely failed composition, bad light, completely missed timing, non-existent story and poor image processing will tear a photo into pieces.
The factors are very often interconnected. For instance, the composition is often connected to the timing of capturing a moving object. And the light is connected to the timing, in the case of the natural light. The composition can also be connected to the light, a shadow or some light beam or another light source.
They are all dependent on each other, which increases the complexity. No wonder it is hard to create great photos! And no wonder some types of photographers, like those who do commercial studio and model photography, try to control some of the factors – namely the light – to be able to get a larger success rate on their photos.
The composition is something that comes naturally to some people while others have to learn it. It is a fundamental skill to master as a photographer. If it doesn’t come naturally to you, try to copy other compositions you like, in your own way at different locations. That will quickly improve your skills.
The light can be many different things. There’s hard light, soft light, defused light, warm light, cold light, studio flash, the natural light just to mention some of the most commonly known types. Light is a big topic and it requires some research to get the full understanding. But that is not required to create great photos.
If you are into landscape photography, you will increase the quality of your photos by avoiding a blue sky in the middle of the day. Instead, go for sunrise and sunset times. The time after sunrise and before sunset is called the Golden Hour. Blue Hour also provides excellent light for landscape photography.
If you are into flash photography you would do well by experimenting with an off-camera flash, rather than on-camera. As well try high-speed sync flash which opens doors for creative flash photography.
My advice is to learn about the type of light that is relevant to the kind of photography you enjoy doing.
The timing, depending on the type of photography you do, can be a matter of capturing that instant of a second that makes a difference. You have to capture a moment – the magic moment.
The moment of a fleeting kiss, the instant a football player kicks the ball, the moment the wave crash onto a rocky shore with a huge splash. Or as in this case, the instant four people put the same foot on the ground while walking at the same distance.
Other moments are more slow, like a sunrise. Nevertheless, it is still about timing.
You have to get up early, very early sometimes, to get to the location. That is timing. Or as in this case, getting a photo without any people, at the central station at blue hour is about timing too.
Empty Central Station in Copenhagen.
The story of a photo can be anything ranging from “what delicious crumbles sitting on top of that cupcake”, to “what a fantastic round boulder on that beach” to a “touching relation between people”. A story can be somewhat abstract, yet there has to be a purpose of why you choose to include what you do in the photo.
Sometimes a story is complex and deep, while at other times it is simple “that is a nice boulder sitting in a beautiful landscape“.
You may not be equally good at telling all kind of stories, through your photos. This is perfectly alright and it is fine to stick to what you do best.
I find that story and timing can be very tightly connected as in this case of the image below. Capturing a gondola on a super busy Canal Grande in Venice, and making it seem like a peaceful romantic moment is not as easy as it may sound.
If you can get a spot, you can literally stand on the Rialto bridge for hours, while you enjoy the view. The view is full of activity and happy people.
The last and fifth factor could raise some discussion. One that I do not want to get into here. And if you are a strong believer in Straight Out Of Camera (SOOC) photos, this point will not be relevant to you.
If you believe in photo editing, you may also know that it is often the thing that transforms a photo from flat to an image that pops. In some cases, that is what makes or breaks a photo.
Image editing or post-processing is by no means easy and there are a lot of opinions out there. But even simple things like, adjusting white balance, exposure and contrast can be the difference that makes a photo pop.
If you are into documentary photography, there are certain things you are not allowed to do. You do not meddle with reality. But if you don’t do that kind of photography, it is in the post-processing phase that you can make your artistic interpretation.
Before and After. A creative interpretation.
Image editing is a race car without a seatbelt. There are a number of things that can totally ruin your image and if you are not careful. Some of the classic problems from over-processing include halos, too contrasty and over-saturation, but there are many others.
This wedding photo of Alexander and Mia was shot in the worst possible light of midday with a blue sky. In post-processing, I have created a softer and warmer feeling to compensate.
A reason to build up your skills in image processing is that you can compensate to some degree for the other factors. You can enhance the good bits, and hide the less desired parts. Remove unwanted objects to present your photo is the best possible way, from what you captured in your camera.
A great side effect of upping your editing skills and paying some real attention to your photos is that you will get a better understanding of what make great photos. You will find things that degrade your photo (why did I include that dustbin?) and learn to avoid them next time you are on location shooting.
You learn by making mistakes and trying to fix them. The more times you fail, the better photographer you will end up being.
In photography, there are no absolutes. Not two people have the same opinion. We do not all like the same, things so what some people would deem a perfect photo, others may not deem perfect. Yet, there are some tendencies and you could do worse, than paying attention to what people like and don’t like if you want to create successful photos.
Any critique is an opportunity to learn something new.
The post What Makes Great Photos? 5 Factors That Can Take Your Images From Good to Great appeared first on Digital Photography School.
An age-old question is whether you’re an early bird or a night owl. Well even if you fall into the latter category there are compelling reasons why you should get up earlier than the crack of dawn! Those reasons are of course photographic! Early morning photography can result in stunning images. Is there any other reason for getting up at 5 am?
Whether you’re in your local area or somewhere on a trip, there is always a morning photography opportunity that will benefit from you waking up early. Those can be sunrises, or perhaps the chance to see local life at the market. So let’s see why you should be up at the crack of dawn.
This is an iconic photo of the temples in Bagan in Myanmar. It is only possible to see the mist like this at dawn.
Why wake up early in the morning when you can get just the same light in the evening? There will still be a blue hour, a golden hour, and you can sleep in!
While it’s true there will be similar light at dusk, the atmosphere in the morning is very different. Waking up in the morning gives you the chance to photograph the morning mist, this can add a lot to your photo. This morning mist can really transform a scene, moving it on from good to great.
The golden light shines on these buildings in Venice, this is only possible to see and photograph in the morning.
There are of course two golden hours per day, if you’re an early bird you’ll have enjoyed the morning one before. Of course, a lot of people will want to photograph the sunrise sky directly. Turn around though and you’ll get all those warm colors flooding over the landscape in front of you.
This opens up a new variety of photos that you could take. Perhaps instead of photographing a landscape at sunset, you could get all those golden colors on it from sunrise.
Getting up early in the morning means you get the place more or less to yourself. These tai chi practitioners add an element of storytelling to the scene.
As discussed in a previous article, there are benefits to photographing alone. When you wake up early in the morning this is much more likely to be the case. Now photographing a popular landmark without having to deal with hordes of other people in front of you will be easier.
The early bird catches the worm as they say, and the early morning photographer has the uncrowded streets to themselves.
Waking early in the morning for this scene was absolutely worth it.
The most dedicated of photographers will, of course, wake up for their morning photography. That means there will be photographs showcasing the best of the early conditions.
The chance that your photograph hasn’t been taken a million times before will be much higher, it will only have been taken thousands of times before. Okay, so to get a truly unique photo may require the use of some more creative photography techniques, but you increase your odds by getting up early.
The dove jetty on Penang island in Malaysia is a great example of a photo that works better at sunrise.
Whether you’re photographing at sunrise or for the golden light, certain photos need the angle of sun which is only found early in the morning. You can figure out what angle the sun will have at various times of the year by using suncalc or an app like PhotoPills.
As with all photography, plan ahead of time. Often planning months ahead of time is what it takes to get great photos. Getting the right light for your morning photography takes effort, but it’s almost always worth it.
This photo was taken during the Thaipusam festival, which started well before sunrise.
You may not live in a hot country, but if you do you’ll know that the best time of the day is morning. It’s hard work walking around much past ten o’clock. Carrying around a camera bag, and putting in the legwork you need for your photos is far easier when the temperature is kinder.
Add in some humidity as well, and you may quickly give up on doing any photography in favor of that air-conditioned coffee shop. This heat will also affect your clarity of thought, especially when you get dehydrated, and you need to think clearly to get the best photos.
The parks in China are alive with people first thing in the morning. If you arrive much after 9am you’ll have missed everything.
You may not see crowded streets first thing, but you will see more local life. That may take the form of a local market, or fishermen getting ready for work. There is a lot of activity that goes on at the crack of dawn, all waiting for you to capture with your camera.
It’s an amazing time to be a street photographer, but there will also be opportunities for landscape photographers. What can really bring a scene to life better than a farmer tending his field first thing in the morning?
The morning mist on Inle Lake, Myanmar, allowed for this photo with a minimal feel.
So whether this article is preaching to the converted, or you’re already a born-again early bird – there are good reasons to get up at dawn.
Have you photographed early in the morning before, what was your experience? Did you enjoy it, and get some great photos? We’d love to see your photography from early morning expeditions in the comments section. So go to bed early, wake up fresh as a daisy, and get some amazing morning photographs!
You get to see more of the local life in Venice if you get up before everyone else!
The post 7 Great Reasons to do Early Morning Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School.
In this article, you’ll get five tips to help you find great locations for travel photography.
The use of cell phones has truly changed the face of photography. All realms have been affected. Travel photography like all other genres has changed. Nowadays the world is so easily accessible through the internet, so many famous sites have been shot over and over again. Google the Eiffel Tower and millions of images will pop up.
We stopped to visit the small town in Wales that my parents lived in when they were young, and discovered a beautiful moody beach.
So when traveling how do you find things to shoot? Yes of course still shoot the famous landmarks and sites. You have to shoot them! How could anyone go to London without checking out Big Ben or London Bridge? (Unless of course the clock was covered in scaffolding for maintenance like it was when I visited.)
As always, I’m going to suggest you push yourself past these common sites and look deeper into a location. The question is how do you find great locations for travel photography and how can you plan your trip, so you make the most of these sites?
It’s time to look into a few methods for finding fantastic photographic opportunities when traveling at home or abroad.
A shot from my Instagram feed. I’m always researching my next location, even when sitting in a car waiting for my kids.
Tried and trusted travel books can help you begin your search for interesting places to photograph. While not focused solely on photography, they provide you with the background information and history of different sites.
All of this is, of course, relevant for travel photography. You need to know the ins and outs of visiting a country and all its sites. There’s nothing worse than showing up expecting to be able to shoot a variety of historic buildings only to discover they’re closed on Sundays.
Having a solid knowledge of a country is so important when going to photograph a location. What are the rules for photography? How will people react when you take their photo? Travel guide books can help you in the primary stages of your research.
Snowdonia is the main tourist location but when we stopped to check out the view we stumbled upon the training grounds for the airforce planes zipped through this valley. It was impressive.
One of my favorite series of digging into a place is the 500 Hidden Secrets Books. I love them for the info and the pointers. They usually contain some small less popular sites and the books are nicely organized. Another favorite that has never steered me wrong is the Lonely Planet Guides. Whatever you prefer, there are tons of books out there that can assist you in your primary travel research.
I often find inspiration for travel by reading articles on the internet. Of course, check out the famous websites like the travel lists from Forbes and National Geographic but I also like to dig into some rather interesting blogs. There are lots of people visiting the world, discovering places, and providing inspiration. I like to take a look at what the folks at Drink Tea and Travel have discovered as well as Dan Flying Solo.
A small out of the way beach we found through a hiking website.
A site like Trover can be very inspiring and informative when trying to research a destination. I’m heading to New York and Portugal shortly so this site will feature fairly heavily in my research. It’s very much a social sharing site that allows you to get some first-hand information about specific locations.
But it’s important to plan when going traveling with photography as your focus and being able to get first-hand information is important. Let’s face it; if the author is not a photographer, they have no idea how important it is to visit a site at the right time of day. So, by all means, check out a ton of photo sharing sites before you head to any location.
A shot of the impressive Unesco Heritage Site, Harlech Castle. You will find this site on the main tourist trail in Wales. It’s still worth a visit, though.
One of the best places I found to shoot was based on information I got from a local. You have to be careful when you ask. Always take the proper safety precautions but they know their home well, and they know the hidden away amazing places.
Case in point, people come to Canada and they often skip Toronto and head straight to Niagara Falls. Their response is often the same. The falls are nice but the rest of the town, it’s kitschy. As a local, I know all about the tourist trap areas around the falls. I often direct people to see the falls but to also visit Toronto too. They are often surprised at what they find in this frequently overlooked city.
So go for it chat up the locals to find out what they know about their home. Just be aware and always use safety precautions when meeting people in person or giving our your personal information or travel plans.
A shot taken on my phone. We found this amazing restaurant by chatting with a bouncer in Cardiff.
Some of the best photographs I’ve ever captured have occurred because I let fate guide my steps. I chose to leave the beaten path and explore. I revelled in the mystery of getting lost.
You will find that these detours almost always pay off. You find out of the way places that provide you with some insight into the wonder of a location. Plus there’s always the excitement of adventure and the road less traveled.
Most of my favourite memories come from these moments when I have no idea where I’m going or what might occur.
A more artistic shot of Harlech Castle.
There are endless places to discover. Travel photography is both exciting and challenging. Don’t hesitate to discover some amazing things.
Share your favorite methods of finding great photography locations. The more ways we share, the more we discover about this incredible world in which we live. So go ahead post your favorite travel articles, share your stories with locals and let’s make a huge list of resources we can all use for finding those amazing locations we love to capture so much.
Best day ever! On a side trip, we found this waterfall and had a blast wandering around behind it.
The post 5 Ways to Find Great Locations for Travel Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Photography can be a lonely business, but there is no reason why that has to be the case. Of course, there are many that enjoy the solitude. If you’re a photographer who enjoys more of a community there are some great ways to get together for group photography.
The reasons to join a group are varied, and even if you’re a lone ranger there are likely some ideas here for you. Linking up with others could just be about an online community, or meeting up in person. However you like to do group photography, here are seven ideas for you.
Who’s going to take your photo if you always photograph alone?
One of the easiest and most informal types of group photography event is the photo walk. These are often organized by photography clubs, and there is a popular one run annually by Scott Kelby. The nice thing about a photo walk is each participant can go at their own pace. The general idea is to have a start point, a finish point, and a time limit. You may choose to walk together as a group, or split off individually.
There may be some members who pass on tips to other photographers, making this type of event an informal workshop. At the end of the walk take some time to get to know your fellow photographers by having a meal, or stopping for a drink somewhere. Finally, share the photos you’ve taken that day on an agreed social media platform of some description.
Some people like to take all their gear to the photo walk! Or is the check-in for that flight this way?
Joining a photography club is one of the best conduits for group photography. Through a club, there is the possibility to organize many of the other ideas mentioned in this article. Photography clubs typically meet at regular intervals of perhaps once a week or once a month, though lots of activity can occur online between meetings.
The best place to find these clubs is through searching social media, your local community center, or perhaps there is a school club near you. These clubs are a great place to learn new photography skills, with evening post-processing workshops being fairly typical. Are you having trouble finding the right club for you? You could always start up your own group!
Meeting up with other photographers at a photo club is social, and is also a great way to learn.
These are projects that a number of photographers partake in together. The idea at the end is to have a body of work under a common theme taken by every member of the group. A project like this could well lead to a group exhibition or a collaborative photography book.
In most cases, you’ll work on the photography individually, though the leader of the project may seek to curate your work in a certain direction. The following are a few ideas that you could try:
This photo was taken as part of a subway project in Seoul. It was a big challenge to photograph all the stations.
There are times when forming a photography team will give you the edge as a photographer. The more you move into the commercial world of photography the more this becomes a need, as you can’t be everywhere all the time. Think of events like weddings, sports, or festivals. The need to cover all your angles means teaming up with other photographers so they can be where you’re not.
Teaming up with other photographers can be a great way to pool resources.
Related to creating a photography team is making an association. In this case, you’re creating more of a guild, and indeed a photo team could be formed from members of that guild. A grouping of photographers like this will look to use each other’s strengths, to form a stronger unit when a client comes along.
Such an association might look to create a stock library of their images, albeit on a much smaller scale to larger firms such as Getty Images. Other models for such a grouping of photographers would be the Magnum organization, though of course on a smaller scale.
The more the merrier as long as you don’t step on each other’s toes!
Weekly challenges are a good way to do group photography on an individual basis, and you can decide to opt out of weeks that are not your style. There is a great weekly challenge run by Digital Photography School, and you’ll find other photography communities that run a similar program as well.
It’s of course, possible to organize these on a more local level, where perhaps you meet up in a coffee shop together once a week to make your own challenge.
Seasonal photo challenges are a yearly staple for many photography groups. Spring is often a popular theme.
A final way you can interact with your fellow photographers is through a photo competition. The weekly challenge is, of course, a competition, but there are many different types of competition. Among the biggest contests are those organized by National Geographic or Sony to name but two. These are annual competitions and often have themes for contestants to try and fulfill.
There are also photography contests that require you to tell a story through a sequence of perhaps 10 photos. Once again these contests can be adapted to you and your community. If you have a photography club, why not take a leaf out of the bigger company’s book, and make a competition. A little competitive edge within your group can often be a great way of pushing you out of your comfort zone to help you produce even more amazing results.
There are many good ways to collaborate with others and do more group photography activities. Have you tried any of the ideas in this article before?
Perhaps you have a new more novel way to make a photography community that can be shared here. As always I’d love to get feedback from you, so leave your comments and I shall endeavor to respond.
The post 7 Great Ideas for Group Photography Events and Projects appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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