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8 Common Landscape Photography Mistakes (+ How to Fix Them)

23 Aug

The post 8 Common Landscape Photography Mistakes (+ How to Fix Them) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Barry J Brady.

Landscape photography is a ton of fun – but even the best landscape shooters make mistakes, which is what this article is all about.

Specifically, I’m going to share the eight mistakes I see all the time, especially in beginner photos. And I’m also going to explain how those mistakes can be fixed, so that the next time you’re out shooting, you know exactly what to do (and what to avoid).

Make sense? Let’s dive right in, starting with the most common landscape photography mistake of all:

1. A lack of stability

In landscape photography, you usually want your images to be sharp all the way through, from front to back. To achieve this effect, you must use a narrow aperture, which in turn will reduce your shutter speed and make your images very prone to blur.

Hence, many landscape photographers return home after shooting, only to find their photos plagued by consistent blurriness.

There’s a simple way to deal with this problem, however: Use a tripod! This is especially important if you’re shooting in low light, but in all honesty, I recommend you take your tripod with you everywhere.

Now, there are tripods and there are tripods. For landscape photography, you might want to invest in a more heavy-duty option; while small, lightweight tripods might do the trick for a while, if you are shooting in the wind, you risk tripod shake (plus, your tripod might get blown over). A good tripod will also last a long time and can take a beating, so buy the best tripod you can afford and keep your camera as still as possible when shooting.

Another good piece of equipment to buy is a remote release. You don’t need one of the expensive ones with a built-in intervalometer; just a simple remote shutter is fine. Once you are set up and ready to take your shot, step back from the camera and press the shutter button. There will be no vibration from you hitting the camera shutter button, and your image will be nice and sharp.

(If you don’t want to purchase a remote release, you could use the self-timer, instead.)

2. Not getting the horizon straight

Many a good landscape image has been ruined by a skewed horizon. And while this can be fixed in Photoshop or Lightroom, you might lose some details along the way – which is why I highly recommend you deal with the horizon in camera, not in post-processing.

You can use a few different tools to make sure your horizon is straight. You might try switching on the grid in your camera viewfinder, then always taking the time to line up the horizon with a horizontal gridline. Some tripod heads even have a built-in spirit level, so ensure this is level and your horizon should be fine.

Alternatively, you can purchase a level that mounts to your camera hot shoe. Just connect the level, then do a quick check before taking your photo.

beach photo with a crooked horizon — A crooked horizon is distracting.

straightened horizon of beach sunset — The image looks better now that the horizon is straight.

3. Shooting only in landscape format

Landscape photography is, well, landscape photography – so photographers assume they should shoot in landscape (horizontal) format.

And generally speaking, this is a good idea. The horizontal orientation emphasizes the sweep of a scene, and it can lend a sense of vastness to the shot.

Except, in some cases, a portrait orientation (vertical) can work well, too – sometimes better than a horizontal orientation. Think of a forest scene. The trees stretch into the sky, so a horizontal format will limit their height rather than show it off, and create a less interesting photo in the process.

Bottom line: If the subject’s shape is more vertical than horizontal, you should try it in the portrait format, as it may give the composition a dynamic presence. And if you’re not sure whether to shoot vertical or horizontal, just do both and sort out the issues later!

rocks on a beach — Shoot in portrait format, too!

4. Forgetting about the aperture

Aperture is a camera setting – but it’s also a composition tool. And many landscape photographers forget this.

You see, aperture helps determine your depth of field (i.e., the amount of the scene that appears sharp). And by carefully considering the depth of field, you can create different compositional effects.

The moment you start setting up a composition, you should be thinking about your depth of field. Ask yourself: Do I want everything from the foreground to the background to be in focus? Generally, in landscape photography, this will be the case, but if you’d prefer to keep certain areas soft, you should decide early on.

If you do want foreground-to-background sharpness, make sure your aperture is f/8, f/11, or higher. If you shoot at f/2.8 or f/4 and you focus on the foreground, the background will be out of focus, and the middle of your scene will be soft. And once you’ve taken a shallow depth of field photo, it cannot be fixed in Photoshop.

landscape sunset mountains and beach — In a landscape image, you will likely want everything in focus.

5. Shooting using the camera’s “landscape” mode

Yes, you may have a landscape setting in the scene modes of your camera. But try to use it as infrequently as possible.

Why? Well, it’s not great at producing an even exposure, plus it can’t determine the proper aperture for a given scene (only you can do that!).

So instead of using your Landscape mode, try switching over to Aperture Priority mode or even Manual mode. Both these options will let you dial in your aperture and ISO, and they’ll also let you tweak the shutter speed for the best results.

At first, this may take some getting used to. You won’t be able to rely on a familiar point-and-shoot mentality. But over time, you’ll become more and more familiar with your camera settings, and you’ll end up with better results than your camera’s automatic Landscape mode could ever achieve.

6. Standing next to other photographers

If you see a group of photographers standing on the top of a hill, here’s my advice:

Shoot from somewhere else.

I don’t mean to imply that the other photographers are taking bad shots. Rather, I’d like to emphasize the importance of originality. Do you want to go home with a shot just like everyone else’s? Or do you want a shot that’s uniquely yours?

Of course, in certain situations, the best composition or vantage point is at one particular spot, and all the photographers will congregate in that area. That’s fine; take a shot from there to start. But then look for other places to get a great shot, too.

(Pro tip: It’s a good idea to scout a scene before you shoot it. Go and take a walk around the area the day before, look at where the sun will be setting, and decide on your position. Don’t simply follow the crowd.)

Machu Picchu high vantage point — A different composition of Machu Picchu.

7. Including unnecessary negative space

Negative space is the “empty” area that surrounds your subject, and the inclusion – and exclusion – of negative space can truly make or break your image.

Careful use of negative space can lend your photos a sense of calm and tranquility. But poor use of negative space, as is common in landscape photography, will create static, boring photos.

In most landscape scenes, the sky is the negative space, especially on a clear, sunny day. And you’ll often see beginner landscape photographers include lots of sky in the composition, even though it doesn’t actually add anything interesting to the shot.

So before you include large swathes of sky in your compositions, carefully observe the horizon. Are there elements of interest, such as clouds? Or is there a simple, blank blue?

If the answer is “blank blue,” then make the sky a small portion of your image (of course, if there are some great-looking clouds, then by all means, give it more space in your scene).

This goes for other types of negative space, too. Are you photographing an ocean scene? Make sure not to include too much water, unless it adds atmosphere to the photo. Are you photographing a valley? Make sure not to include lots of empty grass. Got it?

snow with mountains in background — The sky had no clouds, so I made it a small part of the image.

8. Not including a clear subject

It sounds crazy, but it is very easy to have an unclear subject in landscape photography. For instance, if you photograph a forest but just show some random tree chaos, the viewer won’t know where to look – because there’s no clear subject. And if you’re photographing an ocean but you just point your camera at the water and shoot, you’ll end up with some boring water and sky, not a coherent, striking photo.

Instead, identify what matters to you in a scene – and then emphasize it in your shot.

Of course, you don’t need to fill the frame with your subject; it’s perfectly acceptable to show both your subject and the beauty that surrounds it. But if you’re struggling to highlight the subject, do try moving closer or using a longer lens. And check your composition afterward, asking yourself: What stands out? What will the viewer notice? And what do I want the viewer to notice?

If what the viewer will notice and what you want the viewer to notice differ, then you’ve probably made a mistake.

iceberg and ship landscape photography mistake — The iceberg in front of the ship is the clear subject.

Landscape photography mistakes: final words

Well, there you have it:

The eight landscape photography mistakes to avoid the next time you’re out shooting.

When you’re in the field with your camera, run through these mistakes. Make any corrections, then check the photo. I’m guessing you’ll end up with a much improved result!

Now over to you:

Which of these landscape photography mistakes do you make? Do you have any additional mistakes that deserve to be on this list? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post 8 Common Landscape Photography Mistakes (+ How to Fix Them) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Barry J Brady.

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Top 10 Mistakes That Cause Blurry Pictures (And How to Fix Them)

20 Apr

The post Top 10 Mistakes That Cause Blurry Pictures (And How to Fix Them) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Anne McKinnell.

“Why are my pictures blurry?”

It’s a common question, and one that doesn’t have an easy answer. The truth is that blurry pictures are caused by many factors – so if your photos are blurry, it’s often difficult to pinpoint the exact problem.

That’s why I wrote this article. I’m going to list the 10 main reasons why you’re ending up with blurry photos. I want you to carefully go through this list. See if any of the reasons stand out.

And then make the necessary changes!

Odds are, if you can address the problem, you’ll be taking tack-sharp images in no time at all.

Let’s dive right in, starting with the biggest reason why your photos are blurry:

1. Your shutter speed is too slow

A too-slow shutter speed is the number one culprit of blurry photos.

You might think you can hold perfectly still for half a second, but I assure you there are very few people in the world who can.

In fact, most folks can only handhold a camera down to the 1/160s to 1/80s range (though this can fluctuate, depending on the focal length of the lens, as well as the size, the lens technology, and the level of magnification).

When handholding your camera, remember this rule of thumb to avoid blur caused by camera shake:

Your shutter speed should be the reciprocal of your lens’s focal length.

So if you’re using a 60mm lens, your shutter speed should be 1/60s or faster. With a 200mm lens, use at least 1/200s. With a 400mm lens, use at least 1/400s.

(The longer your lens length, the more camera shake is magnified, so telephoto lenses require much faster shutter speeds.)

sharp pelican without blur — Using a 400mm lens, I selected a shutter speed of 1/400s to reduce the possibility of camera shake.

Some lenses and cameras have image stabilization technology built into them. Now, image stabilization usually allows you to slow your minimum shutter speed by around 3-5 stops, so you can handhold a 60mm lens past the 1/8s range. But you should always be cautious and take extra shots just to be sure.

What is your minimum shutter speed?

In addition to the reciprocal rule, it’s important to know your own personal minimum shutter speed.

You see, we all shake a little, but some of us shake more than others. So it’s good to know at what point camera shake becomes an issue for you.

Try this exercise:

Put your camera in Shutter Priority mode and take a photo at 1/500s. Then lower your shutter speed and take another image. Keep this going until you head all the way down to 1s or so, then pull up the images on your computer. Ask yourself: When does the blur become a problem? Personally, I rarely go below 1/125s if I’m handholding my camera.

2. Not using a tripod

If you’re experiencing camera shake and you can’t use a faster shutter speed (due to low-light conditions), or you don’t want to use a faster shutter speed (because you’re purposely trying to blur something in the frame), then you need to steady your camera another way.

And I highly recommend using a tripod. It’ll keep your camera completely steady even as you dial in exposures of one second or longer. If a tripod is too inconvenient, consider a monopod, which is a more compact, flexible option.

Also, when you use a tripod, image stabilization is not necessary and may even be counterproductive, so it’s a good idea to get in the habit of turning any IS off when you put your camera on a tripod.

3. Bad camera-holding technique

For the best stability, practice the official photographer position:

Stand with your feet slightly apart, one staggered forward, and firmly planted to stabilize your body right to left and back to front. Support the camera with your left hand by holding the lens from underneath, and use your right hand to grab the grip and gently press the shutter button. Tuck your elbows tight to your chest and use the viewfinder rather than the Live View screen (holding the camera to your face will help keep it steady).

Some photographers even go so far as to listen to their breathing and heartbeat, taking care to fire the shot between breaths and beats for maximum stability.

photographer handholding camera with technique to prevent blurry photos — Proper technique when handholding your camera.

4. Your aperture is too wide

The size of the aperture determines the depth of field, which is how much of the image is in focus. And this has a direct effect on the sharpness of your photo.

When a lens finds focus, it locks onto a specific distance known as the plane of focus. So if you focus at, say, 15 feet, everything 15 feet away from the camera will have maximum sharpness, and anything in front of or behind that plane will start to blur. The strength of this blur effect – that is, the speed at which sharpness falls off – depends on the aperture.

If you use a wide aperture such as f/2.8, the depth of field will be very shallow. This effect is magnified by longer focal-length lenses. So if you use a telephoto lens and the aperture is f/2.8, there may be only a razor-thin sliver of the image that is in sharp focus. But if you use a small aperture such as f/11 or f/18, the depth of field will be larger. More of the image will be sharp.

desert landscape — Using an aperture of f/20, everything is sharp from foreground to background.

Choosing the right aperture depends on the type of image you want to create. But if you are trying to get everything in the frame as sharp as possible, try using a small aperture (produced by a larger f-number such as f/11 or f/22).

Note that a small aperture will let in less light, so you will need to use a slower shutter speed to compensate. See the first problem on this list!

5. Not using autofocus

These days, cameras are sophisticated. So let them do what they are good at! Cameras do a fantastic job of nailing focus, both with still subjects and subjects in motion.

Is autofocus perfect? No, and later on in this article, I’ll discuss a few times when manual focus is actually helpful. But generally speaking, autofocus is the way to go.

why are my pictures blurry? sharp vulture

6. Not focusing in the correct place

Even if you’re using the perfect handholding technique or a rock-solid tripod, if you focus in the wrong place, you’ll end up with blurry pictures anyway.

Focusing carefully is especially crucial when using a wide aperture (because you’ll have a razor-thin depth of field!). A slight miscalculation in the focus can throw the subject completely out of the focal plane, or give you a subject with perfectly sharp earlobes and blurry eyes.

Photographers often leave their cameras set to an auto AF-area mode – one that tells the camera to decide automatically what part of the picture should be in focus. Most of the time, modern cameras are pretty good at this, particularly if the subject is prominent in the frame. However, with more complex compositions, the camera can get confused and try to focus on the wrong thing. To specify the focal point yourself, switch to a single-point AF-area mode.

When you look through your viewfinder, you should see an array of little dots or squares laid over the display, like this:

These are your focus points, and they show you where in the frame the camera can lock focus. In single-point AF-area modes, you can use the camera’s direction pad to select one of these dots, and the camera will always focus on that point (and that point alone).

Note that, to tell the camera to focus, you would normally depress the shutter button halfway before pressing it the rest of the way to take the shot. This works pretty well, but cameras can be overly sensitive – if you press too lightly, the button may come unpressed and try to re-focus after you’ve already found your point of focus. If you press too hard, you might capture the shot before the focus is ready. And if you take multiple pictures in succession, your camera may try to focus again before each shot. For these reasons, some photographers highly recommend back-button focusing.

7. Using the incorrect autofocus mode

There are three main autofocus modes offered by most cameras. You should be switching between these modes every time you’re faced with a new shooting situation; otherwise, you’re bound to miss shots that you normally could’ve nailed.

Single-shot autofocus, called AF-S or One-Shot AF, is meant to be used with still subjects.

Continuous autofocus, called AF-C or AI Servo AF, is designed to track movement through the frame, so it works best when your subject is in motion.

Finally, there’s an automatic mode, called AF-A or AI Focus AF. This is likely the default setting on your camera. It reads the scene and determines which of the first two modes it should use.

8. Not using manual focus

While I’m a big advocate of autofocus, there is one particular time when manual focus comes in handy:

When your camera is on a tripod, and you’re using a wide aperture to achieve a very shallow depth of field.

If you want to make sure the most important thing in your frame is sharp, switch to manual focus. Then use the LCD zoom function to magnify the display by 5x or 10x. And make tiny adjustments to the focus until you get it just right.

You can also try manual focusing when shooting close-up subjects (e.g., a flower petal) or when photographing landscapes in the darkness.

9. There’s junk on or in front of your lens

A big smear on your lens is going to affect the clarity of your image.

And if you put a cheap plastic filter in front of your lens, that’ll degrade image quality, too.

So make sure your lens is clean. And make sure that all your filters are high quality. If you always shoot with a UV filter and you keep getting blurry pictures, try taking a few shots without the filter to see if the quality of the glass is negatively affecting your images.

10. Poor lens quality

Beginners love to blame their blurry pictures on their optics, though a bad lens is rarely the problem.

That said, lens quality can make a difference, and you’ll occasionally find lenses that are genuinely soft. And some lenses may be sharp in the center but get blurry around the corners and edges of the image, or sharp at certain apertures but slightly fuzzy at others. Every lens has a unique character that may or may not be useful to the type of work you’re doing.

It’s also worth noting that each lens has a “sweet spot” – a certain aperture at which it performs best. This is usually in the middle of its aperture range, around f/8 or f/11.

Fixed focal length lenses are usually sharpest, though it’s not always convenient to carry around two or three lenses rather than a single, all-purpose zoom.

Mistakes that cause blurry pictures: final words

Well, that’s it:

The 10 most common reasons your pictures are blurry.

If you’ve been struggling with blurry photos, you hopefully now know (or can at least guess) the culprit! And you can make adjustments to get things looking sharp.

Now over to you:

Are your photos blurry? Did you figure out why? Which of these mistakes have you been making? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Top 10 Mistakes That Cause Blurry Pictures (And How to Fix Them) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Anne McKinnell.

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3 Rookie Mistakes to Avoid When Shooting on a White Background

04 Jan

The post 3 Rookie Mistakes to Avoid When Shooting on a White Background appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Lily Sawyer.

Because white background portraits are so common, many people think it’s an easy effect to achieve. Simply put your subject in front of the camera against a white background (preferably with a flash or strobe), and take the picture.

white background photography mistakes examples

Unfortunately, it’s not so simple. Using the method described above would result in a photo with either a gray, dull, or muddy-toned background. The best possible result would be an off-white background after you have done some edits. That’s not the only issue, though; you’d see unwanted shadows everywhere, too.

I have replicated the setup with my little model, Sven (Kristoff’s beloved reindeer in the movie Frozen). It is easier doing this with a small-scale subject, as the lights are huge in comparison. With people, to do this to scale, you need to have massive octaboxes and flags. But this tutorial will show you the process clearly.

So here are three rookie mistakes to avoid when trying to achieve 100% pure-white background photography:

Mistake #1: The background is not lit properly

The background must be lit with approximately two stops more light than the subject. For example, if you want to photograph your subject at f/8, set your background lights to two stops brighter, so your meter reads f/16 on the background.

Note: You need to meter foreground and background lights separately, so that when metering for the main light (on the subject) you would turn the background lights off and vice versa. When both the background and main lights are on, your meter should still give you f/8 on the subject, because you are metering the light that falls on your subject and not on the background.

The photo below (right) shows what it looks like when you don’t light the background at all. You get a tone and color other than the intended white. In the photo on the left, the background was lit, but there was no main light illuminating the subject. Therefore, the resulting image is almost a silhouette of the subject.

My camera settings for all the shots in this setup were ISO 250, 1/160s, and f/8 (though the background gave a meter reading of f/16). The speedlights were set to 1/16th power (I rarely use my speedlights at full power, because the batteries run out very quickly).

The camera was a Nikon D750, which handles noise superbly, so ISO was not an issue. Two SB-910s and one SB-900 speedlight were used for this setup.

The photo below shows the setup with only the left background light firing.

You will notice in the two images below that only the right background light fired in the left photo, and only the left background light fired in the right photo. Such lighting is acceptable, of course, if that was your intention. The main light was positioned at a 45-degree angle on camera right. I wanted to bounce my flash onto the white rogue bender to modify the light.

You may also notice that in the left photo (above), there is a very slight shadow of Sven on the background behind him – because the left background light didn’t fire. When the background light did fire on the left, this shadow was eliminated (right photo, above).

Below is the setup with all three lights firing correctly.

Now that you have your background and main lights set up, you need to make sure these lights only hit the intended subject. This leads us to the next rookie mistake: separation.

Mistake #2: Not enough subject-background separation

Because the background lights are so much brighter than the foreground light, you need to separate them from the main subject. There are two key ways of doing this:

Flagging
Distance

Flagging

You can use anything black to flag your lights: the black side of a reflector, black cardboard sheets, or black foam core.

Black does not bounce light; instead, it absorbs light. It also blocks light from seeping through to places where you do not want it. If you don’t flag (block) your background lights, your subject will end up with a halo effect and look very backlit.

Distance

Once you have flagged your lights, you need to position your subject far enough away from the background (and from the background lights) that any light spillage won’t touch your subject. This depends on your personal preference and intention, of course – you may want some spill on your subject for a certain look or effect, or you may not.

If you do want some spill, make sure to run a few tests with various lenses, as chromatic aberration may occur around the edges of your subject due to the abundance of light. Some lenses are prone to chromatic aberration regardless of aperture, while others perform very well even at wide apertures, where chromatic aberration is most commonly observed. Also, be careful with the amount of spill you allow – you don’t want to chop off parts of your subject from the spill overexposure.

The photos above show a properly-lit Sven. The two background lights fired at f/16 and the main light fired at f/8. There are no unwanted shadows on the background, as was my intention.

However, I wanted to have a reflection and shadow in the foreground. This leads nicely to the third rookie mistake to avoid: a floating subject.

Mistake #3: The subject is floating

If you do not include some floor shadows, your subject will look like it is floating on white air, or like it’s cut out and pasted on a white sheet of paper.

The best tip for avoiding floating subjects is to use a reflective surface such as translucent white plexiglass, or white tile sheet, as a base for your subject to stand on. You can adjust the opacity of the reflection in Photoshop during post-processing, but having the reflection shows that your subject is planted firmly on solid ground.

floating subject example — The left image shows Sven floating, but the addition of the reflection (right) shows Sven standing on solid ground. The latter looks more pleasing and natural, and not like a cut-and-paste job.

Bonus mistake #4: Overexposed background

Be careful not to add too much light to the background. If you go past pure white and really overexpose a shot, the white will start almost glowing around the subject, just like if you had sun flare outdoors.

This lowers contrast and makes your subject look like they have a bit of a halo. You can see this overexposed effect in the images below:

White background photography mistakes: Conclusion

I hope this little tutorial has shed some light on basic techniques for creating a white background, and that it has solved any and all mysteries regarding how to achieve such a look.

If you have other, more advanced techniques, do share them in the comments below!

The post 3 Rookie Mistakes to Avoid When Shooting on a White Background appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Lily Sawyer.

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Weekly Photography Challenge – Mistakes

22 Aug

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Mistakes appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.

A bit of a departure this week! We want to see your mistakes, we all make them, we learn from them (or we don’t, I mean… who knew my kids were that fast on scooters!)

Love them or hate them, mistakes are a part of learning. I could have used a different focus mode here, I could have been more prepared for when master 6 came towards me and I missed him with my focus point, but I wasn’t ready and I missed the shot and there was no way he was going back to do it again! Moving on.

9 Solutions for common camera mistakes beginners make
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7 Mistakes beginner photographers make the camera can’t be blamed for

Dig through your photos and find something that you remember as a mistake, here’s another of mine from a few years ago now, I was in Cuba, somewhere I likely won’t get to go back to, and I’d recently purchased a 50mm f/1.4 and was still in that “Whoa! Everything looks amazing at 1.4!” …I misfocused when I built up the courage to ask this chap if I could make an image, I got the tip of his nose nice and sharp, but missed his eyes… It made me slow down a little and make sure I had the focus point in the right place. As long as we learn from our mistakes, they can be a valuable tool!

Great! Where do I upload my photos?

Simply upload your shot into the comments field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see. Or, if you’d prefer, upload them to your favourite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. We’re interested to see how you revisit the images that you’ve taken before now in this re-edit challenge!

Weekly Photography Challenge – Looking Up

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites – tag them as #DPSMistakes to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.

Follow us on Instagram?

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Mistakes appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.

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10 mistakes most first-time film shooters make (and how to avoid them)

08 May

Introduction

You’ve bought your first camera. You’ve bought some film. You’re ready to load up and start shooting. What could possibly go wrong? Lots of things! When you make a mistake with your digital camera, you’ll know right away, but with film, it’s not until days or weeks later, when you’re home from your once-in-a-lifetime trip that you discover you’ve screwed up the picture you can never re-create. This is what makes film so awesome.

The good news is that you are not alone – with film, mistakes are part of the process. I can’t stop you from screwing up (and I wouldn’t want to, because misery loves company), but I can give you a heads-up on common mistakes to look out for – and, in some cases, how to fix them.

Photos by: Dan Bracaglia (except where noted)

1. Loading the camera wrong

Nearly every film shooter will at some point get developed negatives back from the lab with nothing but edge writing and numbers on them. There are two possibilities: 1) Your light meter is way, way, way, way, way off, or 2) you didn’t load the film properly.

For 35mm cameras, a good indicator of the latter is that you loaded a 36-exposure roll last week and you’re on your 67th shot. Take-up reels don’t always grab the film properly, so make sure you fire-and-wind at least one shot before you close up the camera in order to verify that the film is moving, and once the back is closed, rotate the rewind lever to (gently) tension the film.

If the winder continues to rotate freely, that means the film sprockets didn’t engage (and commiserations – you just accidentally rewound an unexposed roll of film). If you loaded the camera correctly, once the slack has been taken up, the rewind knob should turn on its own as you advance the film.

For medium-format cameras, a surprisingly common misstep is loading the film backwards so that the backing paper, not the film, faces the lens. You might say, “Well, the backing paper has writing on it. How stupid must I be to get that wrong?” But in the case of cameras that use detachable film magazines, things can get very confusing indeed, because the paper markings will be facing inwards on the magazine. So a better question to ask is, “How stupid must the camera be?” Take it slow, visualize how the magazine fits into the camera and you should be fine. Better yet, read the manual.

2. Trying to load a camera that’s already loaded

Not all cameras have a nifty little film window.

This is another of the classic “oh crap” moments in film photography: You pop open the back of the camera and see there’s already film there. (Alternatively, you drop the camera and the back opens. Happens to all of us.) The very first thing to do – preferably during and not after the obligatory cursing – is to close the camera back right away. (Seems obvious, but we all get paralyzed by disbelief.)

Have you just ruined all your pictures? Probably not. You’ll definitely lose the current exposure, and the two or three previous will likely be spoiled or partially fogged. But most cameras wind the film tightly enough that the rest of the photos will be okay if you get the back closed quickly enough. Film still in the cartridge will be fine; just fire off a couple of “blank” shots to get past the film that was exposed when you opened the back.

Some 35mm auto-wind cameras, like Canon Rebel SLRs, protect against this sort of thing by winding all of the film out of the cartridge when you load them and then rewinding as you shoot. That way, any pictures you’ve already taken are safe, and it’s only possible to ruin the unexposed portion of the film. (Isn’t it nice to know a camera was designed with the assumption you’d screw up?) Chances are in this situation that the rest of the roll is still usable once you’ve shot past the frames which are definitely ruined, but if you’re shooting anything important, it’s best to play it safe – rewind the film and load up a fresh roll.

3. Forgetting if there’s film in the camera

As someone with a bad case of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), I have a lot of cameras and I can’t always remember which ones I’ve loaded with film. To be fair, I often can’t remember what I had for breakfast or where I left my keys or my children, either. Auto-wind cameras usually have an icon to tell you if they’re loaded, but what about manual-wind cameras that don’t?

Easy solution: Remember earlier how we tested that the film was loaded properly by tensioning the film with the rewind knob? That trick will also tell you if there’s film loaded. Pop out the rewind knob and turn it gently. If there’s film, it should move freely at first then start resisting as you take up the slack. (Don’t turn with too much force or you may rip the sprockets on the film.)

4. Shooting a roll of film at the wrong speed

You rewind your last roll of film, pop in a new one, go to set the ASA/ISO dial, and your heart sinks – you see the dial is set at 100, but the film you just pulled out is 400. Cue the movie guy running in slo-mo and yelling “NOOOOOOOO!!!”

Panic not, my petal, for this is a common mistake with an easy fix. If you’re shooting color print film and you’re only off by a stop (½ or 2x the right ISO) or even two, you probably don’t need to worry. Consumer-level C-41 process film has a lot of latitude; in fact, disposables and other cheapie cameras with limited exposure settings count on this built-in flexibility. (Traditional-process black and white and some “pro” print films are less forgiving, and slide film even less so.) If in doubt, just tell your lab what happened. If necessary, they should be able to compensate with processing (albeit sometimes at extra cost).

5. Changing the ISO (ASA) dial on the fly

Nope, can’t do that with film! On a digital camera, turning the ISO dial changes how the camera records images, but on a film camera all it does is calibrate the meter so that you get correct readings for the film speed you’re using. If you want consistent metering (and you usually do) the whole roll has to be shot at the same ISO. The only exception to this is for exposure compensation. If you’re shooting ISO 200 film on a bright snowy day, setting the ISO to 100, or even 64, will help compensate. Similarly, if you’re shooting a moody portrait of someone wearing dark clothing, setting the ISO dial to 400 or 800 will prevent skintones from coming out too dark.

Many more advanced film cameras offer a dial with +/-2 stops of exposure compensation to make this easier to get your head around, but it’s the exact same thing (with the advantage that it’s quicker to dial in, and you’re less likely to forget to unset the compensation later).

You also have the option of pushing or pull your film. Pushing is when you intentionally under-expose your film, then compensate by over-developing, and pulling is the opposite. The pictures won’t be perfect; they may have more grain, more or less contrast, or color shifts, but they will come out. (Some film stocks respond better to pushing and pulling than others.) Why would anyone do this? Sometimes it can lead to an interesting look, and it’s also a handy way to get more (or less) sensitivity in a pinch.

For example, when shooting indoors under low light, instead of using dedicated high-speed film, I push my 400-speed Ilford HP5 Plus film two stops by setting the meter to 1600, then alter my developing as outlined on the data sheet. There’s more grain and contrast, but I happen to like the look.

6. Letting the light meter lie to you

Modern digital cameras have sophisticated multi-zone meters that can figure out tricky lighting situations. I’m amazed at how even my phone can get pictures that would be impossible for most film camera meters to sort out. Then again, I’m amazed that my phone can make phone calls and that they can fill up soda bottles without the soda fizzing all over the factory. Seriously, how do they do that?

Anyway, multi-zone metering was in its infancy when film gave way to digital, and most film camera meters are center-weighted, meaning they take an average of the scene with more emphasis on what’s in the middle (presumably what you’re pointing the camera at) and a little less on the top part (presumably the sky, which screws things up when you rotate the camera for a vertical shot). As I mentioned earlier, bright or dark backgrounds, deep shadows, snow, nuclear fireballs and other scenes with large light or dark patches can fool the meter and throw off your exposure.

What do to? Serious photographers carry a gray card, but serious photographers tote enough gear to flatten a pack mule. In a pinch, you can take a meter reading off the grass or a patch of medium-toned fabric – just make sure the camera is pointing in the same general direction as your subject. If the readings are different, the scene is probably fooling your camera’s meter and you should adjust accordingly.

If in doubt (and assuming you don’t mind burning through film a little faster) just take a handful of shots at slightly different exposure settings to make sure. At least one of them is likely to turn out.

7. Asking on a forum which film is best

Asking a bunch of photographers which film is best is like asking them which letter of the alphabet is best. As sure as loading 800 ASA film makes the sun come out and 50 ASA makes it rain, you’ll get 85 replies and no consensus. That’s because different films have different characteristics, and “best” is a matter of personal preference (which is why there are so many choices). Everything I’ve ever read on any forum about a given film being good or bad has been wrong – not because the people don’t know what they were talking about (though a couple obviously didn’t), but because the question of film quality is so subjective.

The best way to find the right film for you is to try different kinds and see what you like. I recommend starting with well-known staples like Kodak Gold or Ilford HP5+ to get some sort of a baseline for yourself. (Best not to start with slide film, as it’s really picky about proper exposure.) Then you can ask a different kind of question on the forums: “I’ve been shooting BlastMax 200 and I was thinking about trying a roll of Elbowchrome. What can I expect?” Now that your fellow shooters know your baseline, they can give you a more meaningful answer by comparing the new film to what you know. Better yet, don’t ask – just buy a roll and decide for yourself.

8. Getting obsessed with the Zone System

For those who haven’t heard of it, the Zone System is how famed landscape photographer Ansel Adams made his amazing black-and-white landscape photos. It’s an elaborate method that involves treating exposure, developing and printing as a unified system: you make adjustments in one part of the process that are compensated by adjustments in the others. Incidentally, you can use a form of the Zone System in digital photography, and it’s quite a bit easier since your “processing” is electronic.

The Zone System has understandable appeal to digital photographers who are used to mining the data to draw details out of their exposures. If you’re developing and printing your own black-and-white film, then by all means, dive into the Zone System. But, really, you don’t need to. Bracketing, where you shoot a couple of exposures over and under your metered exposure at ½- or 1-stop increments, as descried earlier, is a better way to give yourself options, and always a good idea with slide film. Better to concentrate on things like composition, because a boring photo is a boring photo no matter how perfectly it’s exposed.

Photo: Ansel Adams / US National Archives and Records Administration

9. Starting with slide film

Someone recently wrote in DPReview’s Film Photography Talk forum, “If you want to hate film photography with a passion, start with slide film.” Truer words have never been typed. This isn’t a mistake all newbies make, but it’s one to be avoided. Here’s the deal: Slide film is exceptionally sensitive to proper exposure. If you (or your camera) is off by even a little, the picture won’t look good. Back In The Day, shooting slide film gave you bragging rights, but that’s when the film and processing didn’t cost much more than print film. You could afford to burn half a roll by bracketing (shooting pictures over and under your camera’s meter reading) to get that perfect shot.

Today, slide film and its processing is more expensive, and with so many photographers using a digital workflow (scanning and printing), many negative films are now optimized for scanning. Slides are still cool, slide film is typically sharper and finer grained than equivalent print emulsions, and slides look great when projected. If you want to shoot slides, I certainly won’t try to stop you. But I suggest waiting until you have some experience with your camera.

10. Not using UV filters

Neglecting to fit a UV filter is a mistake you might not realize you’ve made until it’s too late. Though they do filter UV light (not really a concern with modern films; older film stocks could go a bit blue without one) their real job is to protect your lens in case you drop the camera or hit it against something, which I absolutely guarantee you will do at some point. And yes, this is experience talking – I’ve done it both ways. Most recently, I had a Nikon zoom fall off a shelf and land face-down. The $ 8 filter shattered and the $ 50 lens was unscathed. I could have kissed that filter, except that putting broken glass to your lips is a bad idea.

I’ve heard people argue against protective filters by saying that a shattered filter could scratch the lens surface, but this is rare. I have, however, heard many, many, many stories about photographers bashing their cameras into rocks or walls or furniture or people and having the UV filter save the lens. UV filters cost from $ 5-$ 10 up to $ 100+ (personally I use these Amazon Basics filters) and they’re worth it, protecting you from the consequences of bad spur-of-the-moment decisions.

Photo: Magnus Akselvoll

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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9 Solutions for Common Camera Mistakes Beginners Make

28 Apr

The post 9 Solutions for Common Camera Mistakes Beginners Make appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

dps-common-camera-mistakes featured image

One of the most common camera mistakes beginner photographers make is to not learn to use their new camera well. Photography is about the only art-form you don’t need to practice to get a half-decent result.

Woman with a DSLR camera illustrating common camera mistakes — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, 50mm f/1.4, 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 500, Manual Mode, Pattern Metering.

You can pop a battery in your brand new camera, turn it on and set it to one of the scene modes and take a picture. Most often, the photo will be reasonably well exposed – not too light or too dark. You might be pretty happy with the results and initially think you don’t need to learn much to be able to take photos.

Buying your first musical instrument or learning to paint will be much more challenging. Most people can’t pick up a guitar and play a tune without having some understanding of music theory. Most people certainly couldn’t play a recognizable tune without practicing. To learn to use your camera well, you must also practice with it.

1. Out of focus

One of the most common camera mistakes is poor focusing. Out-of-focus photos can’t be fixed during post-production. The only solution is to make sure you get your main subject sharp when you are taking your photos. Check that your auto-focus indicator is precisely where you want it to be before you press your shutter button.

I prefer to use single-point focus rather than multi-point focus. This allows me to choose exactly what part of my composition will be the sharpest. This is particularly important when you use very wide aperture settings, as the depth of field is so shallow.

Rooster isolated by DOF for common camera mistakes — © Kevin Landwer-Johan. Nikon D800, 85mm f/1.4, 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100, Manual Mode, Spot Metering.

2. Poor exposure

Underexposed and overexposed photographs are disappointing. Pay careful attention to your exposure as you are setting your camera up to take a photo. Make sure your main subject is being well exposed. This can be challenging in certain lighting conditions.

Backlighting your subject can often mean the camera will underexpose it. You need to adjust your exposure settings so your main subject looks the way you want it to. This may be different than how the camera’s exposure meter determines it to look.

novice monks meditating - common camera mistakes — © Kevin Landwer-Johan. Nikon D800, 35mm f/1.4, 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 1000, Manual Mode, Pattern Metering.

3. Wrong white balance

Getting the wrong white balance means your photos will have an unnatural-looking color cast to them. The most practical fix for this is to use the auto white balance setting on your camera. This is the only auto setting I use most of the time because it’s most often correct.

Using manual white balance it’s very easy to forget to alter it. Even when you do, the setting you choose may not be the best when the light changes slightly. Using auto white balance can help you overcome one of the most common camera mistakes.

Mountain sunrise for common camera mistakes — © Kevin Landwer-Johan. Nikon D800, 105mm f/2.8, 1/250 sec, f/8, ISO 400, Manual Mode, Pattern Metering.

4. Motion blur

Using a faster shutter speed is the solution to unwanted motion blur in your photos.

Learning what shutter speed to use when photographing moving subjects is important. A person walking will not require such a fast shutter speed as a person running fast will.

Be aware of the relationship between your shutter speed and the speed of movement you want to capture. This will help you alleviate this problem.

Asian woman on a city walkway with motion blur - common camera mistakes — © Kevin Landwer-Johan. Nikon D700, 50mm f/1.4, 1/6 sec, f/16, ISO 100, Manual Mode, Pattern Metering.

5. Camera shake

Some people can handhold a camera at slower shutter speeds than others. Once the shutter speed is so slow you are experiencing blurring in your images, you need to make some choices. Either adjust your exposure controls so your shutter speed is faster, or use a tripod.

Male photographer — © Kevin Landwer-Johan. Nikon D7100, 35mm f/1.4, 1/80 sec, f/5, ISO 200, Manual Mode, Pattern Metering.

6. ISO is too high

One of the other common camera mistakes I see people making is using an ISO setting that is too high. Using a very high ISO, you will see digital noise, lack of contrast, and flatter colors in your photos.

The solution is to keep your ISO as low as possible. This will mean you get the best technical quality photos with the best color, contrast, and the least noise.

7. Dead battery

Always make sure you charge your batteries before you head out with your camera. Carrying fully-charged camera batteries is always a good idea. You never know when you might come across some fabulous event or happening that you want to photograph. Save yourself the disappointment of a dead battery by having some extra ones in your camera bag.

Woman at an out door shopping mall taking a photograph. — © Kevin Landwer-Johan. Nikon D800, 35mm f/1.4, 1/400 sec, f/2, ISO 100, Manual Mode, Spot Metering.

8. Card full

Being busy taking photos and all of a sudden not being able to is very frustrating. This is what can happen when your card is full. Make sure to off-load images on your card and format it after each photo session. This will mean you always have the maximum amount of space on your card.

Having some extra cards with you is a good backup strategy too. Finding your card full half-way through the day is so disappointing when you don’t have a spare.

You can always start deleting photos from your card. This is slow and you might make a mistake and delete a good image. Doing this in-camera, the process is irreversible and your images will be lost.

Thai drama action - common camera mistakes — © Kevin Landwer-Johan. Nikon D800, 105mm f/2.8, 1/250 sec, f/4, ISO 6400, Manual Mode, Pattern Metering.

9. Always on Auto

Always having your camera on one of the auto or scene settings is another of the most common camera mistakes I come across.

Most people who take our photography workshops come with their cameras on Aperture Priority because it’s easy. This is not a good reason to use this setting, and they are not happy with their photos. They know they are not getting the most from their camera.

The solution I encourage them to use is switching to manual mode and sticking with it. There’s no point in using manual mode only occasionally. If you do, you are unlikely to ever master it. If you commit to it, you will pick it up in no time. You will also begin to think differently about your photography in regards to light, exposure, and composition.

people in an old passage — © Kevin Landwer-Johan. Nikon D700, 20mm f/2.8, 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2000, Manual Mode, Pattern Metering.

Conclusion

Not all common camera mistakes result in ruined photos, but they can. Being aware of how you are setting your camera and the choices you make will help you overcome these problems.

Slow down and be mindful of what you are doing. Plan your photo session, and make sure you are well prepared for anything that might come up. Know your camera well, like a best friend.

The post 9 Solutions for Common Camera Mistakes Beginners Make appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

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Photo Mistakes? Learning from a “Photo Autopsy”

02 Mar

The post Photo Mistakes? Learning from a “Photo Autopsy” appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

Sometimes things just don’t work out, you make photo mistakes and your resulting image is DOA – Dead on Arrival. What went wrong? To borrow terminology from the world of forensics, determining the “cause of death” might require a “photo autopsy.” A session using investigational tools and procedural techniques can reveal the fatal factors involved. You would hope to learn how to prevent such photo mistakes in the future. You might also sometimes discover that the image may not be dead after all, but only wounded with the opportunity for recovery.

What Photo mistakes killed your photo? Learn some photo forensic techniques to discover what happened.

I hope you will not find my use of these terms overly morbid. I use these analogies because they lend themselves well to the methods of discovering what may have gone wrong with your image.

In criminal investigations, it is a forensic pathologist who would perform an autopsy. Using medical knowledge, training and skills, they hope to gain insights that might assist criminal investigators and ultimately provide evidence such that a jury can render a verdict.

So let’s learn about some tools and techniques to solve the crime that is a bad photo.

Physical examination

You make a shot, chimp your image on the LCD, and doh! You see that you blew it. The photo is bad.

Other times, you don’t discover you’ve made serious photo mistakes until you see your images in an edit session. That’s why they made the Delete button, right? Just make those mistakes go away.

But wait…

Might taking some time to investigate the “cause of death” teach you something?

Failing to understand and learn from your mistakes is a sure way to repeat them. Learning how not to make photo mistakes is the key to becoming a better photographer.

Photo Mistakes? Bfore you hit the delete button...

Don’t be so quick to hit the Delete Button. Learning what happened can teach you a lot.

So, as a forensic pathologist might do, take some time to look at the “victim.” What do you see? Is there anything that doesn’t look right? What does a visual examination of your bad photo show you? Chances are, bad photos will have one, or sometimes both, of these things wrong:

The photo is poorly exposed
The photo isn’t sharp where you want it to be

Let’s explore those two things a bit more.

Bad exposure

How do we define “bad exposure?” One way is the simple visual examination.

Are the tones in the photo rendered such that we can see some detail in both the brightest and darkest parts of the image? Are the highlights “blown out” with no detail or the shadows “blocked up,” also with no detail? Does the image “feel” too dark or too light? Is it rendered how you want it to look?

The more scientific “forensic way” of determining whether an image is exposed correctly is learning to use a histogram.

I won’t spend time discussing the fine details of this tool, as there are many good articles here on DPS that do that. Briefly, a histogram is a bar graph of the 256 shades of luminance (brightness), in your photo from total black on the left (RGB 0,0,0), to total white on the right (RGB 255,255,255).

Underexposure is just one of the photo mistakes you can make.

The highlighted photo is underexposed. Visual examination tells you that and the histogram confirms it.

To borrow a football analogy, an image that is “between the goalposts,” that is, not smashed up against either side of the histogram, is a completely editable image. While that may not mean it was “properly exposed” in the camera (it still could be too light or dark and need editing), both the darks and lights have details you can recover.

The caveat here is that you shot in Raw mode. Adjusting exposure in edit, bringing up the darks, bringing down the lights, redistributing the tones works quite nicely with a Raw image. A JPG…not so much.

View the blown-out highlights and blocked-up shadows with the tools in Lightroom

The extremes of dynamic range, from deep shadows to bring sunlight, make this a tough photo to expose correctly. You can use the Shadow and Highlight Clipping indicators in Lightroom to see what’s clipped. The blue areas are totally black (0,0,0) and the red areas are totally white (255,255,255). No details can be recovered in these spots.

Internal examination – learning to use EXIF data

To really understand the factors that created an exposure, and why it might not have turned out as we hoped, we will need to go further with our “photo autopsy” and get inside.

As you likely know, three factors control exposure: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO.

In the film days, photographers had to make written notes if they wanted to recall exposure settings for an image. With digital cameras, you can find that information stored in the image file using what is called EXIF (EXchangeable Image File) data.

Viewing EXIF data

The camera writes the EXIF data. It contains a wealth of information about the image; the date and time you shot the image, the camera make and model, the lens used, whether you used a flash, all kinds of exposure data, and if the camera has GPS capabilities, the specific spot you took your photo.

Also called “metadata,” think of this information as extensive notes about the photo.

If you’re trying to understand why your image isn’t exposed as it should be, the ability to see exposure settings – specifically Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO – can be very insightful.

Use GPS data from the EXIF file to relocate the spot

If your camera records GPS coordinates to the EXIF file (one advantage to cellphones – most do), you can use Lightroom to find the specific spot on a map where the photo was taken. I want to get back to this great aspen grove in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho again… it was spectacular in autumn.

So how do you see this information?

Most good photo editors allow you to view EXIF information. The means of invoking this command and how much data is shown may vary depending on the program.

Let’s take a look at how a favorite program of mine, and one I recently wrote about, Irfanview displays EXIF information.

Looking at the photo below (IMG_3845), straight out of the camera without editing, it visually looks like the image was underexposed. It’s too dark, and a look at the histogram confirms this.

Using Irfanview to show the EXIF data, here is just some of the data recorded (I’ve extracted just the useful data for our discussion).

You can see visually this is underexposed. Now, what does the EXIF data tell you?

Filename – IMG_3845.CR2
Make – Canon
Model – Canon EOS 6D
ExposureTime – 1/500 seconds
FNumber – 4
ExposureProgram – Manual control
ISOSpeedRatings – 1600
MeteringMode – Spot
Flash – Flash not fired
Lens Model – EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Quality – RAW
Flash mode – Not fired
Focus mode – AI Servo
White Balance – Tungsten

Irfanview gives very comprehensive EXIF data results.

photo-mistakes-photo-autopsy-Lightroom EXIF data

Here is the EXIF data for the same photo as displayed by Lightroom.

The same photo with EXIF data as displayed by Photoshop.

The three exposure factors were: Aperture – f/4 | Shutter Speed 1/500 | ISO 1600. We also see the camera was set to manual mode, the metering mode to spot, and there was no flash used.

A bit of background on the photo session – I took these at a dance recital where flash was not allowed. I set the ISO to Auto so that it would adjust as the stage lights varied.

So what went wrong?

My guess is that the spot metering gave too much priority to the white outfit of the ballerina.

Although the ISO went to 1600, when I tried to freeze the action with a shutter speed of 1/500 sec, the aperture opened to f/4, the widest for this lens – a Canon 24-105mm. That still wasn’t enough to properly expose the image.

So let’s look at the EXIF data for a better-exposed shot taken at the same event with similar lighting.

This was a better exposure under the same lighting conditions. Why? The EXIF data tells the tale.

Filename – IMG_3122.CR2
Make – Canon
Model – Canon EOS 6D
ExposureTime – 1/250 seconds
FNumber – 2.80
ExposureProgram – Shutter priority
ISOSpeedRatings – 800
MeteringMode – Multi-segment
Flash – Flash not fired
ExposureMode – Auto
White Balance – Manual
ISO Value – Auto
Metering mode – Evaluative
White Balance – Tungsten
Lens Model – EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

Note the metering mode here was Evaluative. The ISO was lower at 800, but the shutter speed was slower at 1/250 second. The real difference is the f/stop.

Using a faster lens, the Canon 70-200mm with a maximum aperture of f/2.8, combined with the slower shutter speed, and the exposure is closer to correct without editing. The evaluative metering mode also did a better job.

The ability to view EXIF data later is like reviewing your notes for insights into what worked and what didn’t.

The beauty is, your camera keeps those notes. As a forensic pathologist might use the tools, lab tests, and analytical methods when performing an autopsy, you as a photographer investigating your photo, can learn much from EXIF data.

I like Irfanview for its simple means of viewing EXIF information. However, more standard programs like Lightroom and Photoshop can easily view EXIF data as well. Many other programs will show EXIF data, some displaying more information than others.

Focus

If your photo is incorrectly exposed, you may still be able to make it acceptable with editing adjustments, especially if you shot in Raw and didn’t push the highlights or shadows too far.

When an image is out of focus or blurred, however, there are no tools to resurrect it.

So let’s look at how our forensic analysis of an image can help us understand what photo mistakes we made and how to avoid them in the future.

No guessing here… this one is way out of focus. You can fix exposure mistakes, but out-of-focus photo mistakes render your image DOA.

Out-of-focus vs blurred

When what we want sharp in a photo isn’t, there are two possibilities; the image wasn’t focused properly, or the image is blurred. What’s the difference?

Being able to look at your image and detect the problem and then further using EXIF data will tell the tale.

There are two reasons why things may not be sharp in your image:

1. Out-of-Focus – The lens was not focused on the subject you wanted in focus.

There are two subcategories of this:

Nothing in the image is focused, or
Some things are focused, just not what you wanted.

The image at left is totally out of focus, while the image at right has focus, but at the bottom of the frame and not on the rider. The image in the center is what we want. Using continuous-servo autofocus was the ticket to getting sharp shots of these fast-moving riders.

Breaking those two down, if nothing in the image is focused, was auto-focus turned off? If you focused manually, did you fail to achieve sharp focus?

If some things are in focus, but not what you wanted, where did you have your focus point? Often newer photographers fail to realize, by default, most cameras use the center focus point. If what you wanted in focus wasn’t in the center of the frame, it may not be in focus.

The rail is in focus, but is that what was wanted? There’s also something on the lens. There’s little chance for fixing this one.

Depth-of-field is also something to take into consideration. If focus falls off too much in front or behind the spot where the camera focused, it’s time to check the EXIF information to determine what your aperture was.

A wide aperture (like f/2.8 or f/4), will produce an image with much less depth-of-field than a small aperture (like f/16 or 22).

What was your intent?

Understand and use your aperture settings to manage depth-of-field. When things go wrong, also understand how to examine the EXIF data to review what your settings were.

This was purposeful focusing on the shoes of the center dancer. I then used a wide aperture to limit depth-of-field. 1/200 sec. f2.8 ISO 800

Seeing just where the camera focused may take other tools. Many cameras can be set to highlight the focus point(s) used when viewing the image on playback in the camera.

After the shoot, while editing, if you are using the editing tools provided by the manufacturer (i.e Canon’s Digital Photo Professional DPP, or Nikon’s Capture NX-2), the software can show you what focus points you used when you made the image.

I use Lightroom and like the Show Focus Points Plugin (which is available for PC or Mac). It does a nice job of showing the focus point(s) used.

One thing to keep in mind, if you use the “focus-and-recompose-method,” (where you use the center focus point to focus, hold the shutter button down halfway, {or use back button focus}, to lock the focus, recompose and shoot), the display is still going to show which focus point you chose. In this case, the center one.

A good practice is to intentionally select your focus point, not simply using the center one all the time.

The free Focus Points Plugin for Lightroom is a handy tool. Note from the legend, this shot used the focus-and-recompose technique as the focused flowers are not directly under the center point hence the red and white square.

2. A blurred image

It’s possible to have good lens focus but still have a blurred subject. Out-of-focus and blur are different things. There are two kinds of image blur:

Camera movement blur
Subject motion blur

Camera movement blur

You can often detect this because the entire image will be blurred. None of it will be in sharp focus.

The common denominator in a blurred image is insufficient shutter speed. In the case of camera movement blur, this happens when the camera is handheld, and the shutter speed is insufficient to freeze the shake (often very subtle) of the camera when taking the shot.

Remember, this doesn’t have to be a particularly slow shutter speed, particularly when shooting with long telephoto lenses. The “reciprocal shutter speed rule” says that when shooting handheld, the minimum shutter speed to eliminate camera shake needs to be the inverse of the focal length. So, for example, if you’re shooting a long 400mm telephoto handheld, the minimum shutter speed needs to be 1/400 second or faster.

Image stabilization can help here, so use it when you can. Just don’t expect miracles. A tripod is always the best prevention for camera movement, and when on a tripod, switch off image stabilization.

Subject motion blur

Things that were still in the image may be sharp, but moving subjects may be blurred.

When subjects are moving, and we are taking still photos, we need a shutter speed sufficient to freeze the action if that is our intent. What shutter speed that might be is dependent on the speed of the subject, the direction the subject is moving relative to the viewing angle, and the size of the subject in the frame.

A racecar moving perpendicular to the camera angle, say left to right, at close range, will require a faster shutter speed to freeze it as compared to the same car at the same speed moving directly toward or away from the camera.

The table below may help you understand typical shutter speeds to freeze moving objects.

Aaron Sussman’s The Amateur Photographer’s Handbook (7th ed., 1965, Thomas Y. Crowell, New York) p. 210. *A=toward you, B=diagonal movement, C=right-angle movement, as the arrows show.

The subject is in focus, but the slow shutter speed wasn’t enough to freeze the action. This is motion blur. 1/25 sec. f2.8 ISO 1000

Sometimes we want some creative blur with moving objects. Understanding how to use shutter speed, intentional camera movement (like panning), long exposure techniques, and things like second-curtain sync flash, can add creative looks to our images.

Remember our friend, EXIF data, however, when you make those photo mistakes, and things don’t go as planned. Practice photo forensics to determine what killed your photo.

The was desired motion blur combining a relatively low shutter speed, panning with the action, and second-curtain sync with a flash. 1/60th sec. f/5 ISO 400

Lens hygiene

You look at your images in edit and see a big fuzzy spot on them in the same place on sequential images. Most of the image is in focus, but an area may be blurred or show lens flare. This is when you’ll likely do a facepalm. Arrghh!

You had a big smudge on your lens!

Unfortunately, there is no edit fix for this, no warning in the camera that it’s happening, and EXIF data will not diagnose it later.

Yet if you don’t detect it while shooting and clean your lens, you can ruin a lot of shots. You may even ruin an entire session, making this photo mistake. Prevention is the only answer.

Periodically check your lens, especially in harsh environmental conditions. Be sure there aren’t water drops, smudges, dirt, or other guck on the lens. Carry a lens cloth and keep that lens clean.

Yes, cleanliness is next to godliness when it comes to lens hygiene.

Keep it clean! An unnoticed lens smudge can ruin a lot of shots if you don’t detect it sooner than later.

Photographing waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge of Oregon on a rainy day is a recipe for water drops on the lens. If you don’t catch them, they can ruin your shot.

ISO and noise

We haven’t discussed the third leg of the exposure triangle – ISO.

In the film days, faster films of 400 or 800 ISO (called ASA back then), would be “grainier.” Today we have cameras that can shoot over 100,000 ISO.

The penalty is that higher ISO settings produce what we call “noise.” This is the digital equivalent of grain. So, if you look at your image and see what seems like too much noise, as a forensic photographer, turn to that same tool, EXIF data. See what ISO you used.

With experience, you will learn what is tolerable for your particular camera. If you use auto ISO, you can also set limits so the camera will not exceed the maximum you set.

It might be hard to tell from this online image, but the photo on the right, taken at ISO 1600, was a bit “noisy.” The “after” version on the left is after a pass with Topaz DeNoise AI… which did a nice job and still retained detail.

It’s important to note that there are tools (and they are constantly improving), to reduce noise in a photo without sacrificing too much sharpness. The new Topaz DeNoise AI, which uses artificial intelligence, is quite remarkable.

Note that in low light situations, where it can be a choice between higher ISO and sufficient shutter speed to freeze action/prevent blur, that while noise reduction tools can help remedy a noisy photo, there is no cure for a blurred image. Cranking up the ISO may be the lesser of the evils.

Photo CPR

Using photo forensic tools like the histogram, EXIF data, and editing programs that can adjust badly-exposed images, you may find that the image you pronounced dead can still be resuscitated.

It could be it’s time for some CPR – Critical Photo Recovery.

Viewing the histogram can tell you if you crushed the shadows or blew out the highlights. If there’s no detail left or if you might still recover them.

Using the highlight and shadow clip warning tools in Lightroom, you can check. The highlight clip warning displays completely white pixels in red, and the shadow clip warning shows totally black pixels in blue.

Even with a poorly-exposed image, if when turning on those features, you see little or no red or blue, you have not taken the image outside editable limits.

The image straight out of the camera was underexposed, but the histogram showed it was recoverable. Using some “CPR” – Critical Photo Recovery techniques, it came back quite nicely. You don’t want to have to routinely rescue images with editing, but it’s nice to know how when necessary.

Many photographers preach that “getting it right in camera” is the ultimate goal. I would concur the closer you can come to this ideal, the better.

In the real world, however, the variables of lighting situations and the limitations of camera dynamic range can make getting the “perfect exposure” an elusive goal.

Part of being a good photographer is being a good photo editor. Yes, editing should not routinely be a “rescue mission” where you’re constantly working to compensate for poor camera skills. On the other hand, even the most perfect image out-of-camera will still need some skills to put the polish on the camera’s Raw file.

A good editor can use CPR skills to bring back many photos, and when the image is good right out of the camera, take them from good to really great.

Warning signs – Photo triage

You can learn a lot by reviewing your poor images and performing “photo autopsies” on them after you’re back in an edit session. You will hopefully discover what went wrong and not make those photo mistakes in the future. However, discovering a problem while still out shooting is even better.

Making a bad image happens to even the best photographers. Not discovering the mistake quickly, however, and shooting a whole sequence of poorly exposed, out-of-focus, or blurred shots…that’s a disaster.

Fortunately, modern cameras have built-in warnings and assist features that, if you pay attention, can help you avoid photo mistakes. Here are a few to get familiar with:

Over-exposure warnings – “Blinkies” or “Zebra Stripes” are indicators of blown highlights. Understand how they work and use them.
Live Histogram – We spoke of the value of a histogram in determining if your exposure is in-bounds. One advantage of mirrorless cameras is many will allow you to view a live histogram before you make the shot. Being able to do so will tell you if you need to make adjustments for exposure. Some DSLRs will allow for a live histogram on the LCD with the mirror flipped up. On others, you’ll have to settle for a histogram on a previously shot image. Even so, checking it, especially when shooting in difficult lighting situations, is a good idea.
Focusing aids – Indicators like focus peaking, focus point indicators, and the focus lock beep can help you determine when and where focus has been achieved. Using Live View on a DSLR and digitally enlarging a portion of the image (or doing the same on a mirrorless camera) can help you get critical focus where you want it.
Spot-Metering Warning – Many cameras will warn you if you leave the camera in spot-metering mode. Spot metering can be useful in special situations, but leaving it on when you don’t need it will cause all kinds of exposure havoc.
Chimping – Some photographers will disagree, but I’m a big believer in taking advantage of image playback and review on your LCD. You may not want to do this after each and every shot, but especially when shooting in difficult lighting conditions, it can help you make corrections if needed. Check exposure, focus, for lens smudges, or any other “gotchas.” Far better to chimp, discover and be able to remedy a problem in the field, than to get back and find your photo mistakes when editing.

Some might scoff, but I’m a big believer in “chimping” my shots. Far better to discover and fix photo mistakes in the field rather than wait until you find them in an edit session.

Learn from the dead, save the wounded, and fight on!

“There are no mistakes or failures, only lessons.” – Denis Waitley

If you are a new photographer, you might think that one day after much experience, you will no longer make photo mistakes. All your shots will be keepers. They’ll be perfectly exposed, sharply focused, so good they will never need editing. They will be superb right out of the camera.

Here’s a reality check – that won’t happen.

Further, if you never make a bad shot, chances are you’ve stagnated and are not trying new things.

So, the take-away from this article should be that you will use the “photo autopsy” method I’ve described to analyze and learn from the “dead.” The unrecoverable images you will ultimately delete. You will learn to determine which images you can save with editing techniques and the tools to do that.

And finally, you will pay close attention to what you’re doing while photographing, so you have turned previous failures into lessons.

To modify the quote above, remember – “There are no photo mistakes or failures, only lessons.”

Feel free to share some of the big photo mistakes that you’ve learned from in the comments!

The post Photo Mistakes? Learning from a “Photo Autopsy” appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

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7 Mistakes Beginner Photographers Make The Camera Can’t Be Blamed For

10 Feb

The post 7 Mistakes Beginner Photographers Make The Camera Can’t Be Blamed For appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

There are many mistakes beginner photographers make. It’s healthy to make mistakes so long as you learn from them. Be willing to understand why your photos are not turning out how you wanted them to. Don’t be quick to blame circumstances or your camera gear when you mess up.

Here are some common beginner photographer mistakes you can’t blame the camera for.

1. Poor composition

Poor composition is one of the main mistakes beginner photographers make. Not getting close enough to your subject, results in having too much unnecessary space in your pictures.

Sometimes being too close can ruin a composition too. Are you cutting off your subject’s feet?

Be mindful of what’s inside your frame. Ask yourself if everything you see is relevant to the picture you are taking? If it’s not, fix the mistake. Move closer, zoom or change your position.

Leaving excessive space above a person’s head is the most common compositional mistake I see beginner photographers make. Often what’s above a person’s head is not relevant to the photograph. Get closer or tilt your camera angle down to minimize this space.

2. Rushing your photography

Take your time, and you will take better photos. Being impatient will never make you a fabulous photographer. Whatever style of photography you engage in, being patient will benefit you.

Grabbed moments don’t often capture the best photographs. Of course, there are exceptions, but typically it pays to prepare yourself and anticipate action before it happens. Doing this, you can set your camera and line up your composition.

Using manual mode will help you slow down. You will visualize that you are photographing differently. This is because you are forced to think more about every aspect of taking your pictures.

During our photography workshops, I love to teach people how to slow down by using manual mode. Most people I teach develop their skills quickly. Their photos are well exposed and composed because they are working more slowly.

3. Distracting backgrounds

Having distracting backgrounds is another mistake beginner photographers make. It’s easy to concentrate on your main subject and not see what’s behind them until you look at your photos later.

When you do see that you have a distracting background, there are several options to avoid this.

Use a longer focal length lens.
Move your subject somewhere else.
Change your camera angle or location.
Use a wide aperture to blur the background.

A longer focal length lens will reduce the amount of background you see. Move back from your subject and use a longer focal length. You will see the background differently than using a wider lens.

Moving your subject or your camera location will change what’s behind your subject. Sometimes you will not be able to move your subject. When you can’t, you’ll have to move. This sometimes means you need to compromise with the lighting or composition.

Blurring a background can sometimes be the best way to avoid distractions. You’ll need to open your aperture wide to achieve this, except when you are using a long lens or focusing very close to your subject.

Young Woman in the Park mistakes beginner photographers make

4. Not looking for alternative angles

Taking a picture from the first angle you think of, is not always going to make the best photo. This is another common mistake beginner photographers make.

Move around – even a little. Shift your camera from side to side. Tilt it higher or lower. Pay attention to the relationships of elements in your composition as you do this. At times, even a very slight alteration of your camera angle will result in a more striking photograph.

Always consider taking both a vertical and a horizontal perspective with your camera. When you can’t make everything fit the way you want, use a Dutch Tilt. Turning your camera to an off-kilter angle to accommodate your subject can work very well.

When you find something interesting enough to photograph, take more than one or two frames. Looking at a subject from different angles will help you visualize it in fresh ways. I think one of the advantages of using prime lenses is that you are more likely to move about to change your composition. You cannot stand in the same spot and zoom, so you will be more inclined to seek out different points of view.

5. Not giving people enough direction

How often do you avoid giving directions to the people and have them pose awkwardly? These are common mistakes beginner photographers often make.

Communicate well with the people you photograph. Talk to them about what you are doing and how you want them to look in the photo. Start with some easy, relaxed poses so they’ll be more confident with you.

If you leave them to come up with poses on their own, they may not be very interesting.

People will feel better when you give them direction, particularly if you do so with relaxed confidence. Be clear about what you want them to do and speak to them politely.

6. Failing to relate to your subject, whatever you are photographing

When photographing people, it’s important to develop a rapport with them. Give them instructions so you can get the photos you want. Moreover, connecting with these people.

If you spend your time looking down fiddling with your camera settings, your subject will most likely feel awkward. You might want to adjust your camera settings, so they are technically perfect. But when you fail to relate to your subject, you will not capture the most interesting photo.

This is most important when you’re photographing people, but not exclusive. Whatever your subject, you’ll make more appealing photos when you include feeling.

Think about why you are photographing something.

What attracted you to take these pictures? How can you incorporate this feeling into the photos you take?

Many beginner photographers will find this challenging. However, as long as you are aware of how you relate to your subject and seek to develop this, you will become more skilled at it.

7. Being fearful to take photos

Many beginner photographers will hesitate to go after the pictures they want because they are fearful.

If you want to photograph something dangerous, where there’s a high degree of risk, being fearful is natural and healthy. For example, it wouldn’t be wise to get close to a bear cub or a poisonous snake in the wild. These situations require fear to motivate us to keep our distance.

Not photographing people because you are fearful that you might impose is entirely different. You can’t know how someone will respond until you ask if you can take their photo. It’s taken me years to learn this, and still, at times, I hesitate.

Tame the negative, fearful thoughts in your head. When you see something you want to photograph, consider the reason why and how you can. Don’t be consumed by thoughts and excuses of why not and how not.

Being committed to the ideas you have about the photos you want to capture will help you develop your personal photography style.

Conclusion

Mistakes beginner photographers make can be very frustrating. When you take your time and review the photos you take, you’ll see how to improve and not keep making the same mistakes.

Moreover, look over the photos you take each time you load them to your computer. This is most helpful when you have not deleted the ‘duds’ off your cards before uploading.

When you see your best and worst photos side by side, this can help you grow as a photographer.

Are there any other mistakes that you have made as a beginner photographer that you’d like to help others learn from? If so, please share them with us in the comments section.

The post 7 Mistakes Beginner Photographers Make The Camera Can’t Be Blamed For appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

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How to Prevent, Detect, and Recover from Dumb Photographer Mistakes

04 Dec

The post How to Prevent, Detect, and Recover from Dumb Photographer Mistakes appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

I make ’em, you make ’em, all photographers make ’em sooner or later – dumb photographer mistakes.

Today’s cameras are now essentially computers, and the saying about computers is, “They do what you tell them to do, not what you want them to do.” Leave a switch in the wrong position, forget to restore a setting after taking a prior image, or toggle any myriad of other possible things other than they should be and it’ll happen – the “gotchas will getcha.”

I’ve yet to meet the perfect photographer, the one that never makes dumb photographer mistakes. The difference is learning to quickly discover a problem, determine what the problem may be, and knowing how to quickly recover. The intent of this article is to cover some of the more common mistakes and perhaps spare you the pain of learning them the hard way.

“Smart people do stupid things. Stupid people don’t learn from them.”
Frank Sonnenberg

Image: We all make ’em – Dumb Photographer Mistakes. When the gotchas getcha, being able to qu...

We all make ’em – Dumb Photographer Mistakes. When the gotchas getcha, being able to quickly recover is key.

The “Happy Idiot”

The worst mistakes you can make in photography are the ones you don’t detect until later, after the photo session, maybe even back home when you finally sit down to edit your shots.

Before digital, this was the kind where you might happily shoot an entire session, get home, open the back of the camera and see you’d forgotten to load any film.

This might still happen in a digital camera if you have the setting “release shutter without card” turned on and then never “chimp” your shots to see what you’re getting.

When in a store in demo mode, it might be fine to have the shoot without card mode enabled. In all other cases, it’s a very bad idea.

Some photographers will tell you that chimping your shots (checking them on the LCD after taking them), is a sign of an amateur. Okay, you “perfect photographers” might not need to do this. Me? I chimp whenever I can. The times when I’ve been burned most often were when I didn’t check.

One of the best things digital photography gives us is the ability to immediately review our images after taking them. We can do so right there in the field where we can immediately detect and remedy any problems.

I still bow to the wedding photographers who used film. They shot an entire wedding and were so confident in their abilities that they rarely had any nasty surprises when they developed the negatives.

There’s nothing worse than snapping away like a “happy idiot,” clueless that you’re just making those dumb photographer mistakes.

Something’s wrong here

In the medical world, they talk about “early detection.” Catch a problem early, and you can reverse it. You minimize the damage and perhaps even find a cure.

So let’s use that medical terminology; symptom, diagnosis, and cure as we look at some typical dumb photographer mistakes you might make.

Everyone will make dumb photographer mistakes occasionally. A smart photographer can quickly identify symptoms, diagnose the problem, and affect a cure to recover quickly.

Focus Faux Pas

Flubs, foul-ups, and a few other f-words can describe what happens when you fail to get fine focus in your photos. Worse is that while we can sometimes rescue an exposure issue in editing, to date, there is no cure for a misfocused, unsharp, image. Let’s use our terms to address some of the dumb photographer mistakes you might make.

Symptom – The entire image is fuzzy, nothing sharp in the shot

Diagnosis – If you’re using Autofocus, is the switch “on”? Are you half-pressing/holding/getting focus lock and then squeezing the button the rest of the way to trip the shutter?

I’ve seen many newbies either push the shutter button in one quick motion (both shaking the camera and not allowing it to get focus before making the shot). I’ve also seen them half-pressing, getting focus, releasing, and then pressing the button a second time.

Image: Did you forget to turn on the Autofocus switch? Or used Manual Focus and then forget to turn...

Did you forget to turn on the Autofocus switch? Or used Manual Focus and then forget to turn it back on? When you are having focusing issues, this should be the first check.

Another possibility is that the shutter speed is too low. If you’re handholding the camera, remember the “Reciprocal Rule,” which simply means your shutter speed should be at least the inverse or your focal length. So, with a 50mm lens, that would be 1/50th. Out at 400mm, that would be 1/400 second.

You might get away with a slightly longer shutter speed if your camera or lens has image stabilization. However, it’s better to err on the side of a faster shutter speed when you can.

Of course, if you want to freeze a fast-moving subject, a shorter shutter speed will be required.

If you’re manually focusing, such as when making landscape photos, you can go to live view. Use the magnifying feature to check critical focus on a particular spot, and then make your shot. But here’s the “gotcha” with this one. (Don’t ask me how I know about this.) You use that method to make your photo, then go onto making other shots, but forget you’ve turned off autofocus. The camera may still fire, even if the focus is slightly off. While you might not detect a very slight misfocus while in the field, you’ll cuss later when back in edit, you detect your mistake.

Cure – There is no editing cure for photos where the focus is soft. Yeah, I know Photoshop and other software has some tools that claim to fix blurry photos. Some are even using Artifical Intelligence (AI) to do it now. It sorta, kinda works, but there is no substitute for getting it sharp in the field. Learn proper focusing techniques. Let’s look at some other typical focus flubs.

Understand and use the autofocus points in your camera. Most cameras will default to the center point, and if your subject is not in the center, you may not get focus on the subject you want.

Symptom – Some things in the image are sharp, just not where you wanted

Diagnosis – Did you use the focus-points in your camera and put them on what you wanted in focus? Beginners often don’t know about focus points, merely using the default center point. Then, when what they wanted in focus wasn’t in the center, they wonder why the subject isn’t focused. Another possibility is too wide an aperture giving too limited a depth of field. A good example is a group photo where people in the front row are in focus, but the second-row people aren’t.

Cure – There’s no cure for the shots you already made that are blurry. However, if detected in the field, check to be sure you are using the focus points properly.

If your subject is moving, perhaps continuous (servo) focus might be appropriate. Be sure your aperture selection gives you adequate depth-of-field too.

Image: When working on a tripod, turn off the image stabilization. It won’t help, and in fact,...

When working on a tripod, turn off the image stabilization. It won’t help, and in fact, might hurt image sharpness.

Symptom – You were on a tripod, but your shots are still slightly soft

Diagnosis – Is the stabilization switch on your camera or lens on?

Cure – When working on a tripod, turn off the auto stabilization. It won’t help and could possibly hurt your images, attempting to compensate for motion that isn’t there.

Switches and buttons and menus, oh my!

There are so many settings in modern cameras that it can be overwhelming. Many of the auto modes can be lifesavers, relieving the “chores” of photography and letting the photographer instead concentrate on being creative.

They are great when they work.

Where they fail is when the camera is “fooled” by circumstances where an intelligent photographer would choose differently, or when settings are inadvertently left on or off.

Let’s look at some examples.

Spot metering has its uses, but forget to switch back to something like matrix/evaluative metering when you’re done, and you will puzzle over why your images are wildly exposed.

Symptom – The exposure seems completely out of whack, regardless of the mode you’re using

Diagnosis – Did you go to Spot Metering for a previous shot and forget you left that on?

Cure – Many cameras now warn the user they are in spot metering mode with a “!” mark in the viewfinder. Spot metering has very specific uses, and in those cases, it’s terrific. In most other cases, it will wildly mess up your exposure and leave you to wonder why.

Image: Auto Noise Reduction works by taking a second black frame and combining it with your exposure...

Auto Noise Reduction works by taking a second black frame and combining it with your exposure. You get to wait while it does that. Decide if that’s acceptable before engaging the option.

Symptom – You make a shot and it seems to take the camera a long time before it’s ready to make another.

Diagnosis – If you have the Long Exposure Noise Reduction feature turned on and are making longer exposure images, the camera will take a second “black frame” image and then use that to reduce noise. Sometimes that’s great, but realize it will take twice as long for the camera to process and store the image, sometimes making you wait.

Cure – Use the Low Exposure Noise Reduction feature only in special circumstances (perhaps when doing astrophotography where high ISO and noise might be involved). Otherwise, turn it off.

Image: You might use multi-shot bracketing to make images you’ll combine later. Be sure to tur...

You might use multi-shot bracketing to make images you’ll combine later. Be sure to turn it off when done or you’ll get a surprise when making subsequent shots.

Symptom – You click the shutter, the countdown timer activates and then fires off five shots

Diagnosis – You probably set up the camera with a 2-second timer and also for a 5-shot bracket.

Cure – This is a great feature when you want it, but after you’re done, return the settings to single-shot and turn off the countdown timer setting. Otherwise, when you only want a quick single shot, you’ll wait while the time counts down and then get several.

Image: You might have an occasion to only want .jpg images, but don’t forget to put it back to...

You might have an occasion to only want .jpg images, but don’t forget to put it back to Raw when you’re done. Your editing options are much more limited with .jpg files. You will be very sad if you intended to make Raw images and only come home with .jpgs.

Symptom – You get home from a session and all of your images are .jpg, no raw images to be found on the card

Diagnosis – You probably did an earlier shoot where you only needed .jpg images. You set the camera to do that, and then forget to put it back.

Cure – You can still work with .jpg images, but you will have greatly reduced editing options. Chimping will not tell you when this is happening as the image you see on the LCD is always a .jpg. So make it a habit to always put your camera back in Raw Mode after a shoot if you’ve changed it.

Return to a standard

I could go on about all the settings, buttons, and dials you might have in the wrong position, what will tip you off, and how to correct such problems. There are dozens of “gotchas” when this occurs.

The common cure is to always return to your personal defaults if you’ve strayed for a special situation. Make it a habit to check and return your settings to your defaults when you put the camera away. Then, when you’re driving down the road on the way home and Bigfoot (Yowie in Australia, or beasts with a few other names in other parts of the world), suddenly steps out of the forest, you can quickly turn on the camera and have a better chance of getting the shot.

Seriously, for any situation where you don’t have time to fiddle with all your settings, you want a standard that will pretty much give you quick point-and-shoot capability. I can’t tell you what that is for you, but it’s your base settings. It’s the place you most often work from and use for a good majority of your photos.

For me, this is the “P” or Program mode of my camera, Single-point Auto-focus, Auto White Balance, and Auto ISO. Sure, that’s quite automatic and perhaps not where I’ll ultimately go. Maybe I’ll be using Aperture Priority, Continuous Focus, and ISO 100 or even Manual exposure mode, but it’s a great default to work from.

My brain might (hopefully) be better, but the camera is quicker. Plus, the engineers that developed auto modes were no dummies. When seconds count, and Bigfoot appears, I can be ready.

Program in specialized settings

I love that I can also have more sophisticated set-ups stored in the Camera User (C1 and C2) modes on my Canon 6D. Many other cameras have this option too, a way to set-up and store various settings and then recall those so that with a spin of the mode dial, you can use all those settings.

For example, should I want that 5-shot bracket with a 2-second timer, Evaluative metering, ISO 200, Auto ISO, Aperture Priority with a f/11 f-stop, and perhaps a few other things thrown in, I can get there with a turn of the dial to C1 or C2, wherever I have that combination stored. When done, I put the dial back to my standard. Quick to turn on, quick to turn off, no “gotchas.”

Mistakes are lessons inside out.”
Matshona Dhliwayo

My Canon 6D has two memory storage locations; C1 and C2. They are great for entering more complex camera settings with the ability to turn them on and off with the turn of a dial.

Filter forgetfulness

I wish I didn’t know about this one first hand.

I was shooting earlier in the day with my circular polarizer on. Later that evening, as the light was getting low, I knew I’d have to perhaps raise the ISO a bit, so I did. So why was I still having to use longer shutter speeds and wider apertures than I thought I should? Oh well, I made my shots figuring I could deal with the issue later in post-production.

As I was putting the camera away, I saw my blunder – the polarizer was still on! Arghhh!!

I’d needlessly given up two-stops of light because I hadn’t taken the filter off when I was finished using it. I won’t make that mistake again. The takeaway? Turn your mistakes into lessons so you won’t repeat them.

Here’s a fun and educational game to play with your photographer friends.

Play “Stump the Chump”

Here’s an exercise I’ve used with photo students to teach them to quickly detect, diagnose, and recover from a camera problem. I take their camera, have them turn their back, and then purposely change a setting, flip a switch, or do something else that will create a problem. I might even swap in a dead battery or a full storage card.

When they turn around, I hand them the camera. They have three minutes and three shots to put things right and make a good image. The fourth shot, when the three minutes are up, must be a good one.

This exercise teaches them the controls of the camera and how to detect and cure camera problems. It’s all too easy to inadvertently bump the wrong button, select the wrong menu item, or leave a setting in the wrong position after a previous shot.

Something else to practice is learning where all your camera controls are in the dark. How many times have you fumbled in a low light or night photo session because you haven’t memorized the basic buttons and settings on your camera? When the situation is fleeting, and you must get the shot now, having to futz around with the camera is the mark of a rookie.

Take a page out of the Boy Scout Handbook when packing your camera bag for a photo session or trip and Be Prepared! It will head off many dumb photographer mistakes.

Be prepared

It’s the Boy Scout motto – Be Prepared! You will head off many dumb photographer mistakes by taking the time to check, maintain, properly pack, and re-check your gear before you go.

Here is a checklist that you might want to copy and save:

Have the camera bodies and lenses you might use? Don’t carry more than you need, but also don’t leave home something you might want. Learn how to properly pack for any given photo session or trip.
Batteries fully charged? You wouldn’t start a trip with a half-tank of gas. Don’t go out with a battery only half-charged. Don’t be “half-gassed.” Have extra, fully-charged batteries and charger.
Storage cards off-loaded, formatted, and empty before you go? Always have more storage than you expect to need. You never want to have to delete photos in the field so you can make more room. Don’t use your cards for long term storage. After a session, offload your images to your computer, make a backup elsewhere, and then format your card with the camera. Deleting images with the card in the camera increases the risk of file corruption.

Image: A smudge on your lens can ruin an entire photo session if it goes undetected. Clean your lens...

A smudge on your lens can ruin an entire photo session if it goes undetected. Clean your lenses before a shoot and then periodically look at them during a session.

Lenses cleaned? A big smudge, undetected can ruin an entire session.
Have your filters? Digital editing tools have greatly reduced the need for specialized filters, but the one for which there is no substitute is the circular polarizer. What you want will, of course, depend on what you expect to be photographing.
Tripod cleaned, screws tight? Is your tripod plate or L-Bracket on the camera or attached to the tripod? Not being able to mount your camera to the tripod, or having something break or fall off, will ruin your day and maybe your camera too.
Sensor cleaned? Yeah, you can remove sensor dust specks in editing, but save yourself the work by checking it before a shoot. Clean it when necessary or have a pro do it if you feel you don’t have the skills.
Have your camera strap? When going handheld, the camera strap is your “safety belt.” Fumbling and dropping an expensive camera has been known to make grown men cry.
Have a camera rain cover? Check the forecast, and if in doubt, have a rain cover. I just keep one in my pack at all times.
Have photographer comfort items Hat, gloves, sunscreen, and bug repellant? When you’re miserable, your photos will suffer.
Water and snacks? A happy photographer is a well-fed, well-hydrated photographer.

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

Conclusion

It’s been said that if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough. I would add that if you’re not more adventurous and explorative with your photography, always shooting the same subjects with the same camera settings, in the same way, you’re likely in a rut. You might make fewer mistakes, but you will also make fewer unique and exciting photos.

The same goes for learning what you can do with your camera. If you always work in full Auto or Program mode, always use Auto-Focus, always shoot .jpg or rely too much on your camera to do your thinking, you’ll make fewer mistakes, but just average photos. Be adventurous, go full-manual, try new things, and make some mistakes. It’s okay. When you do, think about what went wrong and try it again.

As for the just plain “dumb photographer mistakes,” the kind we covered here, they are a fact of photographic life. You’re gonna make ’em.

Learning to quickly detect, diagnose, and rapidly recover – that’s the mark of a pro. We can also learn from each other, so be a little humble and share your mistakes here with your fellow photographers in the comments section below. We can all have a chuckle and then perhaps not have to make those same mistakes ourselves.

The post How to Prevent, Detect, and Recover from Dumb Photographer Mistakes appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

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5 Photo Editing Mistakes Every Beginner Must Avoid

12 Sep

The post 5 Photo Editing Mistakes Every Beginner Must Avoid appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kunal Malhotra.

We are fortunate enough to be able to capture photos in digital format and edit them later using multiple software. You can adjust exposure, white balance and replace the background with only a few clicks. Being able to edit our photos as per our requirement is a great power – but we must not overuse it. In this article, I share 5 photo editing mistakes which I have made in my initial days as a photographer. I hope that some of you photography enthusiasts will benefit from my learning over the years.

1. Selective coloring

The image on the left looks more professional and is an ideal portrait, while the image in the right looks very unprofessional.

Sometimes we get so obsessed with a particular element in our frame that we desperately want to highlight it. One of the options that you might opt for is selective coloring, and it can easily go wrong. This is a technique where you keep a selective part of the image colored, making the remainder of the image black and white.

As a beginner, you might be super excited while working on your first few selective-colored images. And you should be.

However, if you wish to step up your photography game and make your images look more professional, avoid using selective coloring.

5-Photo-Editing-Mistakes

I would suggest you work on your perspective and composition if you wish to highlight a particular object or color in the frame. Try to frame that highlighting subject in a manner that it stands out in the frame.

If not, you can selectively boost the exposure or saturation in editing without applying the selective coloring method.

2. Overuse of HDR technique

Of the 5 photo editing mistakes I list, if there is an award for the most overused editing technique, it must go to the HDR effect. I must admit that during the first two years, I used to click multiple exposures of almost everything. Then later, I used to merge those exposures to get the HDR effect, thinking I was such a cool photographer.

You must understand the actual meaning of HDR, which is High Dynamic Range. Use it only when you feel that the camera is not able to capture the dynamic range of the scene the way you see it with your eyes. All you have to do is capture 3, 6, or 9 frames of different exposures and later merge them using apps such as Adobe Lightroom.

This is an over-processed HDR image.

There are few apps which allow you to get the HDR effect using a single photo, but that is simply a gimmick which you must use carefully.

3. Over-saturation

We all come across photos with vibrant and attractive colors, especially on photo-sharing apps such as Instagram. Trying to gain similar results, you might be boosting the saturation level way too far. Over-saturation in your photos can make a well-composed frame look average because you boosted the colors way too much.

The image on the right has way too much saturation, as can be clearly seen on the face.

While editing a photo for 3-5 minutes or more, it’s difficult to tell if the photo is well-saturated or over-saturated. Here is a quick tip that I follow that may help you as well: After your final edit is complete, take a 2-minute break from the screen. Now come back to your device and see if the saturation level works or is too much. Trust me; this practice is going to help you a lot if you edit a single photo for more than 4-5 minutes.

4. Converting to ‘Black & White’ when not required

Simply taking the saturation slider all the way to ‘-100’ does not make any image look good in monochrome. If I am converting any image black and white in editing, I check if the frame has contrast in it. If not, I try and avoid converting that image to monochrome.

Image: The colors in the image on the left are much more appealing as compared to the monochrome ima...

The colors in the image on the left are much more appealing as compared to the monochrome image on the right.

Even if a scene has good contrast, check if any prominent colors might complement the colored image. Your frame might have a beautiful and colorful sunset, but because you are used to converting any image into monochrome, you might make a wrong decision.

Be patient and analyze the image. If you feel the colors are not that appealing or the image has high contrast, go ahead and convert it to black and white.

5. Overuse of vignetting effect

The use of the vignetting effect in editing is a personal preference. I have seen many beginners use strong vignetting effects, especially in portraits. I love using a vignetting effect in photos where I want emphasis on a particular subject – but not in every image.

Try and avoid using this effect on photos such as landscapes, or try to keep it subtle so that the overall beauty of the frame does not get destroyed.

The image on the right does not look good because of the overuse of the vignetting effect.

Have you been making any of these 5 photo editing mistakes? Or if you wish to add any editing mistake to the list, feel free to comment below.

The post 5 Photo Editing Mistakes Every Beginner Must Avoid appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kunal Malhotra.

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