What photographer hasn’t dreamed of traveling the world, visiting exotic destinations, and capturing inspiring images? Imagine the sights you would see, the stories you would have to tell. But how practical is a career path as a travel photographer? Is there really a need? Can you actually make a living? What do you have to do to break into the Continue Reading
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Posts Tagged ‘Skills’
How to Become a Travel Photographer: Types, Pay, and Skills
05
May
Black and White Photography Exercises to Help You Improve Your Skills
23
May
The post Black and White Photography Exercises to Help You Improve Your Skills appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
Black and white photography exercises can help you gain an understanding of how it differs from color photography. Concentrating on black and white images helps develop your photography in many ways.
“Color is descriptive. Black and white is interpretive.” ~ Eliott Erwitt
Thinking in black and white
Loading a black and white film into your camera forced you to think in black and white. This is different with digital photography because it’s easy to convert a color image to monotones.
There are plenty of tools to help you do this. The Nik Software Silver Effects Pro is a superb Photoshop plug-in for converting color images to black and white.
Purposefully photographing in black and white is different than converting during post production. A photographer must think differently when their intention is to create photos without color. You see in color, so you must learn to disregard the color and think in black and white. Good black and white photography is not about taking the colors out of a photo.
Black and white photography relies on contrast and tone range and how these relate within your compositions. You must learn to look at the tones, not the colors, as you compose your photos.
Light has a huge influence on the tones in a photograph. The camera records reflected light to make photos. The amount and quality of the light used defines how a subject will appear when you take a photo of it. Hard light or soft light will produce very different results. This is the same with color, but it’s more pronounced in black and white photography.
One of the best ways you can learn to do this is by practicing black and white photography exercises.
Choose one subject for these black and white photography exercises
Find one or two interesting subjects to photograph for these exercises. You may even choose to set up a small still life scene with various objects you have around the house. This will allow you to make comparisons and see differences.
You need to find things you can move around and place in different locations.
Look for things that are not all black or all white. A mixture of tones will produce the most helpful results. If you photograph something(s) with white, black and mid-tones you’re going to be able to see the effects more clearly in your photos.
The main aim of these black and white photography exercises is to help you develop a better understanding of tone. Don’t try to make masterpiece photos that you’ll hang on your living room wall. If you do, that will be a bonus.
Lighting for black and white photography exercises
The reason you need to photograph something you can move is so you can photograph it in different locations and lighting conditions.
The type of light you photograph your subjects in, directly affects how they will look. Using hard light will produce very different-looking black and white photos than when you use soft light.
Strong light creates high contrast, no matter what tone your subject is. Soft light makes an even exposure much easier. Think about the quality of light and how it affects the look and feel of your photographs as you work.
Hard light
Place your subject in a location with hard light. Outside on a sunny day is ideal because you’ll be able to see where the shadows fall.
If you can’t manage that, using an on-camera flash with no diffuser will produce a hard light. You’ll need to take test images and study them to see where the shadows fall.
Take a series of photos from the first angle you think of. Expose some normally. Use averaged metering and set your exposure so the meter reads zero, or let your camera choose the setting if you use an auto mode.
Next, expose for the highlights.
Take a light meter reading from the brightest part of your composition.
To do this, set your camera’s meter to spot and point the spot at the bright area to take your reading. If you use live view, your camera may display the way your photo will look when you use manual mode. This way, you can adjust the exposure for the highlights based on what you see on your monitor. On many mirrorless cameras, the viewfinder will display the exposure the same as this when you are set to manual mode.
After taking a few photos with these settings, use the same technique to set your exposure so the shadow areas will be exposed well. Take another series of photos.
If you’re finding this exercise valuable and you have time, repeat this process.
Move around your subject and make compositions from different angles. Remember, the first angle you think to take a photo from is the most obvious, but not always the most interesting. Look at the way the light is falling on your subject and how the shadows look. Repeat the process and take photos at the three different exposure settings.
Soft light
If you’re photographing outdoors in the sun, move your subject into a shady area. Find somewhere outside where there’s still plenty of daylight.
If you’re inside and have been using your flash, take this next series of photos without using your flash. You may need a tripod if there’s not much light.
Repeat the same series of exposures as you did when you were photographing in hard light. Think about the tones in your composition when you are making your exposure readings and looking at the results.
If you’ve been photographing outdoors, move your subject inside and away from any windows or other strong light and repeat the whole process. This lower contrast situation will produce different results again. The variation will be subtle, but it’s interesting to see.
During this process, make notes about what you are doing and your thought process. You don’t need to record your camera settings as these are included in the EXIF data. Instead, write down what you are observing with the tones, light and shadows. Why did you take photos from these angles? How has the light and tone affected the way you’ve chosen to compose your photos?
Make the most of shadows
Especially in hard light, shadows have a major impact on black and white photography exercises.
Think about where the light is coming from in relation to where you are with your camera. How does this change the way the composition looks when you move around your subject? How does it change when you move your subject?
This is easier to see when you are working with the sun as your light source. Using flash, you’ll need to refer back to your monitor often to see the variations. Look at the differences in the shadow areas in the different sets of photos. How different do they look when you exposed for the shadows and when you exposed for the highlights?
Think creatively
Once you’ve uploaded the photos to your computer. Select one image from each setup and each exposure setting. Simply desaturate all of these photos. This is not an ideal means for converting your photos to black and white, but it will suffice for this exercise.
Now look at these and compare them. Think about the way they look and the differences between the exposure settings. Consider how the various light has had an effect on the tone of your subjects.
Under hard light and soft light, you’ll notice the tone of your subjects looks different. Each set of photos taken at the various exposure settings will produce very different results. This is particularly noticeable with those taken under hard light.
Choose one photo from each set to make some further post-processing adjustments. Work with the sliders for:
- contrast,
- shadows,
- blacks,
- highlights
- and whites.
Experiment with these various settings. Play with them. Discover how much impact post-processing has on these black and white photography exercises. What you can do with post-processing monotone images is beyond the scope of this article, so just have some fun with it.
I’d love to see some of your best results and know what you learned by doing this exercise. You can share your photos and thoughts in the comments section below.
The post Black and White Photography Exercises to Help You Improve Your Skills appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
Color Photography Exercises to Help You Improve Your Skills
08
May
The post Color Photography Exercises to Help You Improve Your Skills appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
Learning to use color in your photographs well will help you, in many ways, to take better pictures. Many photographers tend not to practice with the aim of improving their skills. We all like to take good photos. Doing some color photography exercises will help you build awareness. You can learn how to incorporate color into your photographs with more meaning.
“The ability to see the quality of color and it’s different relationships is an art, as well as a skill that must be honed through continual exercise.” ~ Nevada Wier, travel photographer and author.
In this article, I want to encourage you to practice looking a the colors in your compositions. Understanding how colors in a picture interact will help you add more feeling to your photography.
Mix color theory with practical photography exercises
Understanding of color and how to use it well is a good skill to acquire. Like any skill, it takes study and practice. Getting a little theory in your head is rarely enough – you need to put it into practice to begin to comprehend it in practical ways.
These color photography exercises are designed to help you be more aware and considerate of how you use color in your photographs.
The color wheel
The color wheel has been in use by artists and scientists since Sir Isaac Newton first developed the design in 1666. There are now many variations. But the basic color wheel can provide you with enough relevant information. It will help you understand the relationships between different colors. This basic wheel is displays three types of colors:
- Primary Colors
- Secondary Colors
- Tertiary Colors
Three primary colors make up the simplest color wheel. Red, yellow and blue are primary colors. These cannot be made by mixing other colors. All other colors are combinations of primary colors.
Secondary colors are green, orange and purple. They are created by mixing two primary colors together.
Tertiary colors are created by mixing a primary and a secondary color. These are:
- Yellow-orange
- Red-orange
- Red-purple
- Blue-purple
- Blue-green
- Yellow-green
Complementary color photography exercises
Complementary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel. Used together they produce high contrast and high impact.
They are:
- Red-Green
- Yellow-Purple
- Blue-Orange
Find or create photos using complementary colors boldly in your compositions. You might find a red flower and frame it so you can only see grass or foliage behind it. You could slice an orange or papaya and photograph it against a blue background.
You could find two objects that have complementary colors. Photograph them against a plain, non-colored background.
Have a look around your home or garden and I am sure you’ll find things of strong primary colors that you can photograph together.
Analogous color photography exercises
Analogous colors are sets of three colors that lie next to each other on the color wheel.
Using combinations of these colors creates a harmonious feeling in photographs. These colors often occur in nature and are pleasing to the eye. Choosing one color to dominate and the others to support will help you create more relaxing images.
This exercise may be a little more challenging because you need to find things with three colors that are close to each other on the color wheel. Don’t fret if you cannot find colors that match the color wheel perfectly – close enough is good.
You might find something of a primary blue and place it in a composition with a blue-green and green. This will create a photo with a cool, harmonious feeling. Choosing warmer colors, such as orange-red combinations, produce photos with a positive feeling.
Look around. You may find these combinations happening naturally in your garden, or you may have to create some still-life setups.
Triadic color photography exercises
A triadic color scheme is a combination of three colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel. Red, blue, and yellow together are triadic. As are orange, green, and violet and the set of three tertiary colors.
Look to use these sets of colors with one dominant and the others to accent it. You might have a red and a blue pen on a yellow background. Or a green apple and an orange on a violet background.
Try various ways to compose your photo so that one or other of the colors is more dominant in your photos. Look for different angles or, if you can, move your subjects around and arrange them alternatively.
Monochromatic color photography exercises
Shades or tints of a single color used together can produce very interesting color photographs. Shades are colors with varying degrees of black added to the color. Tints are colors where white has been added.
Find items around your home or in your garden that you can create monochromatic compositions with. The color will all be essentially the same. The interest will be determined by the degrees of shade and tint you can include.
Green against green is the most common monochrome we see in nature. Or, depending on where you live and the season, it may be brown on brown.
Think creatively
Think imaginatively as you look for different things to photograph. Try and create interesting photographs with color use as the main subject. The purpose is to learn and practice how colors relate to each other in a photograph.
When you practice anything enough, it becomes second nature. Doing these exercises may seem a little odd because you may not be taking great photos. Color photography exercises like this help you develop your color awareness more. Once you are well-practiced, you will ‘see’ color and color combinations more naturally.
So, try these color photography exercises and share your results with us in the comments section.
The post Color Photography Exercises to Help You Improve Your Skills appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
Stuck at Home? – Ways Still Life Photography Can Keep Your Skills Sharp
08
Apr
The post Stuck at Home? – Ways Still Life Photography Can Keep Your Skills Sharp appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.
As I write this, many of us are holed up at home. So what can we do to continue to practice our craft as photographers, have a bit of diversion and enjoyment, and maybe learn some new techniques? I suggest you give still life photography at home a try.
If you’re a landscape, sports, fashion, portrait, or type of photographer who does work requiring you to get out and about, working at home doing still life photos on the kitchen table could be a new thing. Still life? Really? Why? Well, stay with me here and we’ll explore all the things you can learn.
1. Composition
In much of photography, you deal with the scene as you find it. Maybe one of the best things about still life photography is you are in complete control. You pick the subjects, the arrangement, and the background.
Making a shot in a hurry before the moment passes isn’t an issue. You can take your time, practice compositional concepts like the Rule of Thirds, the Rule of Odds, leading lines, negative space, simplification, background choice, depth-of-field, and many other artistic concepts of composition.
You set the scene and are in complete control. Few other genres of photography offer such an advantage.
2. Lighting
Let there be light.
You decide what type, how many sources, whether to use hard or soft lighting. Might some colored lighting using gels give the look you want?
How will you use light to draw the viewer’s eye where you want it?
Have you explored the use of reflectors, fill light, or “flags” to block light from certain portions of the scene? Do you know what a gobo or a cucoloris is? A shoot, grid, or gridded-snoot?
Still life photography at home lets you be the set and lighting director.
3. Explore camera angles
A distinction between a snapshooter and a photographer is the former sees a scene, raises the camera to their eye, and snaps a shot. Little thought is given to composition and most photos are taken from the eye-level of the photographer. Yawn.
In a world where we are inundated with images, making yours different is the only way to stand out. Finding perspectives others haven’t thought of is one way to do that.
Rather than always shooting from eye or tripod level, mix it up. Get up and look down for a birds-eye vantage point. Get down and try a worms-eye view. Have you heard of a “Dutch-tilt”? Maybe try looking through objects, using them as frames for your subject.
Much of my photography is landscape work, so I’m a dedicated tripod shooter. The advantages of that are, of course, stability and repeatability. I can leave the camera in a fixed spot and move other things; the lights and subjects, use long and different exposures and have variations of the same shot.
There’s something to be said, however, for getting off the tripod.
Going handheld will help you move more easily and explore different angles. Whatever you do, let me repeat something I said earlier…work to make your image different.
4. Lens selection
Doing still life photography at home is a great time to explore how different lenses can give you different looks.
You won’t have to worry so much about dust getting on your sensor as you change lenses and you’ll have a place to put lenses down while you do change them (rather than fearing a fumble onto the ground).
Try some things. Note how a wide-angle lens emphasizes the size of objects nearest the lens, how a telephoto compresses space between objects, or how a wide aperture reduces your depth-of-field. Learn what the “sweet-spot” is of each of your lenses, that aperture where the lens is at its sharpest.
Table-top photography is also a great opportunity to play with prime lenses, moving the camera or subject rather than zooming. I’ve grown to love my little Canon “nifty-fifty” for use in doing still life photography at home. This economical little lens might be one of my sharpest.
5. Get close with macro
If you’ve not tried macro photography, being sequestered at home is a perfect opportunity to give it a try. It requires practice, patience, and a controlled environment where you are in charge of the composition and lighting (and there’s no wind). Being able to slow down and pay careful attention is a real plus, as being meticulous is a key to making good macro shots.
So you don’t have a macro lens? Try some alternatives.
The reversed-lens macro technique is a great way to dip your toe in macro waters on a budget. You will also find that common household objects become fascinating subjects when photographed at a macro level. Just be careful – macro-photography is contagious.
6. Tell a story
When choosing your subjects for a session of still life photography at home, give thought to telling a story. Rather than just choose random objects, think like a movie set director using the scene to tell the story.
Use your objects, background, lighting, camera angle, and whatever other photographic tricks you can summon. Your objective is to make the viewer see the story in your photo. A picture can be worth a thousand words, if you choose those “words” carefully.
7. Simple is better
A photo friend once said something that has stuck with me about a good photo – “Anything that doesn’t add, detracts.”
It’s important that, with a glance, the viewer immediately “gets it.” Without even thinking, they know what your intended subject is and what you are trying to communicate.
Landscape photographers must find ways to simplify the scenes they photograph, but as a still life table-top photographer, you have complete control.
Carefully consider what to put in and what to take out, where to concentrate the light, what to leave in shadow, and what is in and out-of-focus. The strongest photos will be those with a single, powerful message.
8. Reflect on this
Reflections can elevate an otherwise ho-hum subject to a new and exciting level. When doing still life photography at home, a good method of creating a reflection is to use a piece of black plexiglass under your set-up.
Unlike a mirror, which will create two reflections due to the surface and the mirrored back of the glass, the acrylic sheet creates just one. Of course, the inventive photographer will find other ways to create reflections as well.
9. Bokeh and how to use it
“Bokeh” (however you pronounce it), is defined as the “blurred quality or effect seen in the out-of-focus portion of a photograph taken with a narrow depth of field.”
Still life photography is a great opportunity to explore how you can use it to simplify the background, keep viewer attention where you want it, and enhance the story you’re trying to tell. You can also try some special effects bokeh using patterns cut in pieces of paper and put on your lens. If you’re a shut-in frustrated photographer, why not brighten your day making some fun “bokehlicious” pics?
10. Food photography
Food photography is by its very nature, still life photography.
Top food photographers make good money by making food images look especially delicious. Study great food photos for clues as to composition, lighting, backgrounds, props, camera angles, and other tricks. Then see if you can emulate those tricks.
Maybe grab some cookies and a glass of milk, or a beer and some pretzels, and see what you can do to replicate great photo photography looks. Not only will you hone your photo skills, but when you’re done, you can have a snack.
11. For my next trick
Two different years I did what some call a “Project 52,” a photo assignment a week for an entire year. I made it a point to try some special tricks I’d never tried before – photographing smoke, water splashes, flames and sparks, and oil and water abstracts.
Using both long exposures, as well as the extremely short duration of a flash and a camera trigger, were things I learned.
If you need ideas, search dPS, or Google “creative photography” and see what catches your eye, then figure out how to do it yourself. Part of the fun of still life photography at home is using your creativity to make shots you’ve never before attempted.
12. Advertising and product photography
Making the ordinary extraordinary is why skilled advertising photographers get paid the big bucks. Pick up a magazine and study the way common objects are staged, lit, and photographed. Then find some objects at home and see if you can emulate those looks.
What might look like a simple shot is often much more complex if you were to take a look behind the scenes. Don’t have a studio with a bunch of fancy lights and modifiers? No worry, see what you can do “on the cheap” with simpler lighting equipment. You might be surprised at how using brains rather than bucks can still result in a stunning photo.
Something else to consider is making photos for items you’d like to sell on places like eBay, Craigslist, or other online sites.
Your item with a nicely lit and composed shot will attract much more attention (and perhaps even fetch a higher price) than a “quicky” snapshot someone else made with their cellphone.
If you plan to do a lot of this kind of work, you might also look into buying a simple light tent or perhaps making your own. For smaller objects, a collapsible light tent can be had for under $ 20.00 U.S. and will give you pretty good results.
13. No travel required
Even in times when we feel more comfortable traveling, not all of us can get to the exotic hot spots where we see other photographers going. I’m not expecting to get to Iceland anytime soon.
When doing still life photography at home, that’s not an issue. No one is going to guess that the location where you took that really cool still life photo was your kitchen table.
I formerly wrote for another now discontinued online photo site, Improve Photography, and did an article called “Tips for the Non-Traveling Photographer.” I’d encourage you to have a look, as almost all of the images in that piece were done at home or within 20-miles of my house. Imagination can often take you much further as a photographer than a passport.
14. Exercise for photo fitness
Want to be more photographically-fit? The key is the same as increasing your physical fitness – work out more.
The key to being a better photographer is routinely making more photos, learning new techniques, and practicing. Waiting to pick up the camera until you go on a special trip, attend an event or make family photos isn’t going to cut it if you want to be good. Unless you’re taking photos at least a few times a week, you’re probably not getting enough “photographic exercise” to be a strong photographer.
These are unusual times. You may find you’re not able to get out as much, perhaps not even going to your regular job. So why not use that free time to keep yourself engaged, entertained, and further your photo education?
Try some still life photography at home. Shoot, review, repeat.
As you get better, do as you would with exercise, and make the next session more challenging. Then post your images online and here in the comments section of this site so we can admire your work.
Be engaged, be productive, be learning and growing as a photographer and above all… Until next time, be well my friends.
The post Stuck at Home? – Ways Still Life Photography Can Keep Your Skills Sharp appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.
Take Time to Practice These Three Composition Skills Around Your Home
02
Apr
The post Take Time to Practice These Three Composition Skills Around Your Home appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
Now is a good time to practice composition skills. With many people having to self-isolate, it means you may not be able to enjoy regular life. This will include being able to get out and photograph the subjects you typically take pictures of.
Make good use of the time to practice. This is not something photographers do as much as other artists. You can imagine that to play a song on a guitar or the piano, you must first practice it. It’s easy for a photographer to pick up a camera and get a pretty well-exposed photo without the need to practice. This can make you lazy, and not make time to work on aspects of your photography that need improving.
In this article, I want to encourage you to think outside the subject. Consider taking photos only to work on improving one aspect of your craft – composition.
Find subject material in your environment. Things you would not normally consider taking pictures of. Aim to make interesting and varied compositions by exploring and experimenting.
Practice composition skills
When you practice anything at all, you will get better at it. When was the last time you engaged in improving your composition skills through practice? Have you ever picked up your camera with the sole aim of getting better at using the rule of thirds or any other aspect of composition?
Focus on using negative space for a day, or a week, and you’ll find you incorporate more of it into your photographs.
By repeating what you are doing, you can learn a skill so well that you don’t have to consciously think about it. It will take time and practice to reach this level, but it is quite natural. Whatever you set yourself to practice, in time, you will be able to use that skill without having to think much about it. This is one great way to build your intuition.
Pick two or three composition rules to work on. I’m writing about the rule of thirds, negative space and filling the frame. But you can work on any you like. The key is to not be so concerned about your subject or creating masterpiece photos, it is to practice and learn.
Consider yourself doing this to be like a musician practicing scales. Their aim is not to go out on stage and play scales, but they know that practicing them will help them play better when they do perform.
Practice the Rule of Thirds
Let’s start with the most well-known rule of composition in photography, the rule of thirds. This is one many people know and use. To put into practice composition skills, you need to concentrate on the rule, not the subject so much.
Don’t worry if you are not producing great photos. This exercise is designed to help you better understand when to use the rule of thirds.
You might like to use a single subject or various things around you to practice composition skills. For this exercise, I walked around my garden and in my house to create compositions using the rule of thirds.
Experiment with each subject you photograph. Compose it in different ways, but make sure to have it somewhere on one of the ‘thirds’. Don’t only take the first composition you think of. If you place your subject on the left for your first picture, place it on the right hand third for the second one. Then rotate your camera 90 degrees and place your subject on a lower third intersection.
Push yourself to try out compositions you normally wouldn’t. Don’t think about your results as right or wrong. Or even good or bad. The point of practice is to improve, so if you’re taking photos you don’t particularly like, think about them. Why don’t you like them? What can you do to improve?
Practice using the rule of thirds until you feel you’ve made some good progress with it. Do you have a better understanding of how to use it well?
Using negative space to practice composition skills
Negative space is not a bad thing – at least not when it’s included in compositions intentionally. Negative space is the area of a photograph that is not the main center of attention.
Often there will be nothing at all in these areas – no shapes, lines, or texture.
At other times there will be some detail, but it will not draw attention away from the main subject at all.
During our photography workshops, one of the most common mistakes I see people make is to leave too much empty space above a person’s head. This is not usually well-composed negative space. It’s there because the photographer was not paying enough attention to what surrounded their subject.
Practice composition skills by creating photos with strong negative space. Use blank areas to help your main subject stand out. Use a blank wall, a shallow depth of field, or a light subject with a dark background.
There are many ways you can include negative space positively in your pictures.
Again, don’t aim to make masterpieces. Making ‘mistakes’ is healthy when you are practicing.
Experiment and try out various compositions, both horizontal and vertical. Leave space on the left, right, below and above the same subject. Study them together on your computer. Which one do you like the most?
Aim to fill the frame
Filling the frame is something I aim to do every time I take a photo. Sometimes this can mean much of my frame is filled with negative space. So long as it’s intentional and adds to the photo, that’s fine.
To fill the frame well it’s as much about what you leave out as to what you include. Most important is to be aware of what’s within the four edges of your composition and make sure that it’s relevant to the photo you’re taking.
Sometimes filling the frame can mean coming in ultra-close to your subject so you don’t include all of it. Other times you may choose to move back or zoom out to include some of the surroundings because they are relevant.
Always look around the edges of your frame. What’s in the corners? Are the background elements supporting your main subject? If not, move it, move yourself, or use another technique to eliminate the unwanted element.
Moving even a little can alter the perspective of how elements within your frame relate to each other. As an example of this, I photographed the same objects on my table. The plastic bottle behind my main setting is distracting.
To eliminate it from my composition, I moved lower and to the right a little. In this situation, I could have also moved the bottle.
Conclusion
Taking time to practice composition skills may sound a bit boring – just as someone learning the piano might get bored practicing scales.
Try it and see. You may find you enjoy it after a while. Like anything, it takes time for the practice to pay off, so don’t give up easily.
Do you have any other tips you’d like to add? Please share them with us in the comments.
The post Take Time to Practice These Three Composition Skills Around Your Home appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
2 Important Skills All Photographers Need
11
Mar
The post 2 Important Skills All Photographers Need appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.
Do you know what are two of the most important skills all photographers need? Since photographers don’t usually apply for jobs with a traditional CV, we’re not really used to thinking about things like soft skills. Yet, we really should.
As a photographer, you are very conscious of technical skills and you ‘sell’ them to the client. But what about soft skills? Usually, everything falls into the creative category, but learning to recognize individual soft skills can help you to improve as a photographer and grow your list of clients.
What are soft skills?
Soft skills are a list of personal competencies or attributes that impact the way you do your job. Because they come from a personal level, they are not necessarily job-specific. However, some are more important than others for each professional profile. Two important skills all photographers need are resourcefulness and flexibility.
A streak of bad luck during the shoot, or a slip of memory that made you forget some equipment, can happen to anyone. This is where soft skills kick in – how do you solve the problem? I’ll give you two examples where simple things can go wrong, and why these are important skills all photographers need.
Example 1: a broken tripod
You have a photoshoot where the composition was laid out considering a high point of view looking down on the subject. Unfortunately, the quick-release plate of the tripod brakes, what would you do? Problem-solving may lead you to change the settings to do the photo handheld, but sometimes you can’t.
Let’s explore some other ways to deal with it.
Resourcefulness
It means that you’re able to face a difficult and unexpected situation by using any resource you have at hand. In this case, you’ll need to find a steady support for your camera. Look around and find any stable thing that you can use considering the height you need to reach. You can use your equipment cases, or some boxes for example.
Next, think about the angle you need to give your camera and find something malleable to put on top of the boxes. Most photographers have a sandbag to put weight on the tripod, you can use that. Otherwise, you can find a cushion, a bag of sugar, or anything you can find. This would potentially solve your problem with resourcefulness.
Flexibility
If there weren’t any resources available to solve the problem, or not in an acceptable way, then you need flexibility. This means that you have the ability and willingness to adapt to changing circumstances. For example, being open to change the aesthetics of the image by rearranging the composition and reframing it.
If you’re working with still life, products or food, you can even place the camera on the same surface as the subject. If it’s a portrait or a landscape, try placing your camera on the tripod without having to angle it.
Example 2: no flash trigger
A wireless flash trigger is a device that allows your camera to communicate with your flash so you can fire it in sync. Usually, it’s two pieces of equipment – the transmitter and the receiver. If you forget one of the pieces, run out of batteries, or it breaks, what can you do to trigger the flash?
Resourcefulness
Even if your set-up involves several flashes, you can use most speed lights and strobes in slave mode. This means that you only need to fire one flash and the others will react to it. So, which flash can fore without extra devices or cables? The one from your camera (if your camera has an onboard flash).
Normally, you don’t want to use that flash to illuminate your scene, as it tends to be quite unflattering, but you can use it to trigger your other lights. Using a piece of cardboard, or a small box, block the front (and at least one of the sides) of the flash so that it won’t spill any light into your scene.
Leave open one side so that the light triggers the slave flashes.
Flexibility
Another possible solution is to fire the flash manually. In order to do this, you’ll need a longer shutter speed so you can react and fire it on time.
The last time I faced something like this, I started processing whatever I had shot before the trigger broke, this way the client didn’t feel we were just waiting around doing nothing and I used the time productively. If not, you’ll need to be open to reschedule or run to buy a new trigger (or batteries, depending on what happened). In any case, flexibility is key.
Conclusion
As you can see, soft skills are small things that you probably already have but never considered an extra asset. The important thing about identifying your soft skills is that you can improve on them.
Also, now that you know them, don’t be shy about letting your clients know about it. In the end, they want a photographer that gets the job done, no matter what. This is why resourcefulness and flexibility are important skills all photographers need.
Have you faced any scenarios where you had to think quick on your feet to get the job done? Share with us in the comments!
The post 2 Important Skills All Photographers Need appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.
Why Shooting Film Will Increase Your Digital Photography Skills
03
Sep
In our current digital age the need for a quick turnaround in every discipline can be cut-throat and demanding. When it comes to the world of digital photography it’s not uncommon to sift through thousands of images after a session to narrow your edit down to a mere selection of 10-20 images. The peace of mind knowing you have an Continue Reading
The post Why Shooting Film Will Increase Your Digital Photography Skills appeared first on Photodoto.
3 Critical People Skills Portrait Photographers Need
29
Nov
Photo by: Greg Gelsinger
How do you ensure failure as a portrait photographer? That’s easy; treat your subjects or clients poorly. From start to finish, make the entire experience unforgettably miserable for them!
So, what does it take for an amateur or professional photographer to create a wonderful experience for their subject? Three things: generosity, empathy, and assertiveness.
Let me show you how these three qualities, combined with your photography skills, create a wonderful experience for your subjects and clients.
Treat your subjects and clients as you would your friends.
1. Begin With Generosity
When you bring a generous spirit to your work, your clients are delighted with the experience. You may be one of the few people who has treated them well. You can show your generosity with:
- your time
- gifts
- yourself
When I photographed college and university students for their graduation portraits, I often gave up my lunch breaks to spend extra time with them. Maybe they were self-conscious, and I had to work extra hard to capture portraits they would love. Perhaps I wanted to take extra time to work out some creative ideas.
Don’t treat time as if it’s your you own, treat your time as if it’s theirs.
I wouldn’t normally travel so far, but this couple told me they had a really unique place for their photo session. From the highway to back roads to small trail roads, it took an hour and a half to get there. But the scenery was much different than I could have found close to home.
What does generosity look like for street photographers? Think about carrying a small printer with you so that you can print a portrait when you photograph somebody. Perhaps offer to send them one digitally.
Wedding photographers can show up a little bit early or stay a little later to capture candid photos. When I photograph weddings, couples are always so thankful that I didn’t rush to leave – especially when they are behind schedule.
You’ll take many photos as a travel photographer and discover unique places in small towns and villages. Share the love by promoting those places through Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Personality, friendship and time are among the most valuable things you can share with a person.
Over the years, some of my closest friendships began as photography clients.
Will people take advantage of your generosity? Absolutely! However, you tend to fear the worst case scenario. There aren’t very many people who take advantage of your generosity. When they do, you won’t care – because you’re generous!
For photographers in business, being generous doesn’t mean that you give everything away for free. It just means that you build generosity into your business model.
2. Empathy
Empathy is a superpower.
It is a superpower because it allows you to understand your subject or client. Empathy allows you to care for them deeply, see it their way, and serve them as a unique person instead of a fast food process.
Empathy provokes understanding and opens people up. They’ll discover something new about themselves, and you’ll discover something new about yourself.
Also, empathy means not treating people on streets as if they are mannequins on display. Ask permission to photograph people and understand when they say “no.” If you aren’t willing to spend a few minutes with them as a person, why photograph them at all?
Their ultrasound appointment revealed that they would be having a baby boy. But the doctor kept it a secret, allowing their friend to create a paint war between the couple! Once they started squirting the paint, they found out they were having a boy.
Having empathy helps you understand the exhausted parents of newborns. It helps you to understand the toddler who is tired of posing for your photos. Empathy helps you to understand the middle-aged headshot client who is self-conscious about wrinkles and their double chin. You may even have compassion toward bridezillas!
Moreover, empathy leads you to ask, “how would I want to be treated if I was getting photographed?”
When generosity is the foundation of your workflow, it is easy to be empathetic.
3. Be Assertive, But Not Bossy
Assertiveness is a critical skill for portrait photographers. Most people have no idea what to do in front of the camera (photographers included). You have to tell them!
They haven’t just come to you for a photo, they’ve come to you to get guided through the process.
You’ve tuned into your subject with empathy, so you already know they feel awkward in front of the camera. Assertiveness allows you to give your subjects direction so that they can relax and lose their self-consciousness. The first thing people used to say to me was, “tell me what to do.” They don’t ask me that anymore because I guide them from the start.
Of course, it’s possible to be overly assertive. You’ve gone too far when you’re impolite and bossy. Nobody enjoys getting photographed by a photographer who is rude.
If you’re a kind and assertive photographer, you’ll enjoy directing your subjects through your creative vision. Moreover, your subject could love you for it too.
Strength and Weakness
There is a pretty good chance that you’re stronger in one of these three and weaker in another.
Maybe you’re very empathetic but not very assertive. Alternatively, quite assertive and not very generous.
Determine where your strong points and play on those strengths. However, also observe where you are weak and work toward improving it. I can tell you from experience that even timid people can become assertive with practice.
You know how to handle a camera and work the light. When you’re equally good with people, your photography life is rewarding and fulfilling.
“If the photographer is interested in the people in front of his lens, and if he is compassionate, it’s already a lot. The instrument is not the camera but the photographer.” — Eve Arnold
If you have any other tips or experiences, please share with us in the comments below.
The post 3 Critical People Skills Portrait Photographers Need appeared first on Digital Photography School.
How to Boost Your Post-Processing Skills With a Graphics Tablet
22
Sep
During the course of your love affair with photography, you’ll use many different pieces of equipment. Some you’ll purchase, some you’ll beg, borrow, or steal. They will all serve one purpose or another. Some you may love so much that you keep forever. Most you won’t.
You don’t hear me talk about gear often. Over time I’ve worked hard to simplify my gear, and as a travel photographer, I’ve had to be ruthless in shedding excess size and weight. Every now and then, however, you come across a tool that is so valuable to your workflow that you can’t imagine working without it. One of those tools for me is a graphics tablet.
Photo by Kate Trysh on Unsplash
I’ve been using a tablet for quite a few years now, and it’s totally worth the extra weight in my bag. When I sold everything I owned and bought a one-way ticket to travel the world with my camera, I found space for my tablet. It has revolutionized my post-processing, and it can revolutionize yours too.
What is a Graphics Tablet?
A graphics tablet is a device that allows you to use a stylus instead of a mouse to control the cursor on your computer screen. They come in many sizes and offer a variety of features. They work by pointing at or drawing on the surface of the tablet with the stylus, which transfers your movements onto your screen. Most come with buttons on the stylus and on the tablet, which you can configure to act as mouse buttons or keystrokes.
They range from small tablets with no buttons all the way up to huge displays where you can draw directly onto the screen, much like an iPad. They often include features like pressure-sensitivity, allowing extremely precise controls that come in very handy when drawing.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Why Use a Tablet?
You might be asking yourself what’s so special about a tablet. What’s wrong with a good old mouse? I used to feel the same way until I tried using one. The humble mouse works fine for everyday computer usage, but it’s severely limited when it comes to photo editing.
Have you ever found yourself getting frustrated while trying to edit some fine details in a photo and having to go back over and over again? When you use a mouse, you’re relying on the movements of the large muscles and bones in your arm and hand to move it around your screen. It’s incredibly cumbersome. Your arm works great with big movements, but not so much with small, precise ones.
Now think about the precision and fine motor skills required to draw with a pen. Every tiny muscle in your hand is used to control the movements. I like to think of it this way: a toddler can use a mouse, but there’s no way they could use a tablet. They can’t even write their own name. A tablet will allow you to use those fine motor skills that you developed all those years ago.
Photo by Josefa nDiaz on Unsplash
How Do You Use a Tablet?
You may have seen tablets being used in Photoshop tutorials and wondered how they’re used. You don’t need to be a professional retoucher or illustrator to benefit from using a tablet. Even if you do all your post-processing in Lightroom, you will likely still find that a tablet will make the process much more precise and enjoyable.
ExpressKey menu in the Wacom setting panel.
The main benefits of editing with a tablet are speed and precision. As I mentioned earlier, most tablets will have some extra controls on the stylus and on the tablet itself. These controls can be customized to do pretty much anything.
This means that you can replace your most commonly used keystrokes with a single button. The touch ring can be set to adjust things like brush size and hardness, or scroll and zoom. These controls can speed up your post-processing dramatically.
Touch Ring options in the Wacom settings panel.
Where a graphics tablet really shines is when you want to apply local adjustments to your photos. Whether you’re making selections, drawing, painting, erasing, or dodging and burning, you’ll find that it’s far easier with a stylus than a mouse. It feels more natural and you’ll make a lot fewer mistakes.
If you don’t currently make a lot of local adjustments to your photos, I highly recommend taking some time to learn how. Learning basic dodging and burning is one of the best things you can do to take your post-processing skills to the next level. Do it with a tablet and you’ll be amazed what a difference it makes to your workflow.
There are many great resources available online for free that will teach you the basics of dodging and burning in both Lightroom and Photoshop. Likewise with setting up and using a tablet. There is a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll never want to edit with a mouse again.
Choosing a Tablet
As I’ve mentioned, tablets range massively in price, size, and features. What you need will depend on a few factors like your budget, how much space you have on your desk, and how you like to work.
You can spend anywhere from $ 25 to $ 2000, so there is something that will suit your needs. You should be able to find a decent tablet under $ 100 that does the job.
Wacom’s high-end Cintiq tablet.Photo by Norbert Levajsics on Unsplash
Choosing the right size can be tricky. On one hand, the larger your tablet, the easier it is to use. You won’t find yourself having to move around the screen as much with a larger tablet. On the other hand, it will take up more space on your desk or in your bag. I personally like using a tablet that’s smaller than my laptop, that way they both fit nicely in my bag when I’m on the road.
In terms of features, you don’t need a lot of the more advanced features. My older Wacom Intuos doesn’t feature pressure sensitivity, and I don’t miss it. I would recommend using a tablet with at least a few control buttons, as they can speed up your workflow quite a bit.
Don’t stress about getting an expensive, high-end tablet, though. You’ll likely find that a basic model or a cheaper brand will suit your needs just fine. If you have an iPad lying around, there are apps available that allow you to connect it to your computer and use it as a tablet.
Huion Graphics Drawing Pen Tablet – Photo by Drew Thomas on Unsplash
Beg, Borrow or Steal
Well, maybe not steal, but ask around and see if someone you know has a tablet you could borrow or rent to try for a week. If you can find one to test out, give it a chance. As I’ve said, it takes a while to get used to it, so don’t give up too soon.
I’m sure that once you get your head around it you’ll be wanting one of your very own, and you’ll never look back.
The post How to Boost Your Post-Processing Skills With a Graphics Tablet appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Don’t Show Me Your Tricks, Show Me Your Photography Skills
07
Aug
Did you know that the automated features and tricks built into cameras and computer software can actually stunt your photographic growth and photography skills? It’s true. Unless you are seeking to learn how to achieve specific results from the canned effects used by others, you might be shortchanging yourself.
Think back to what made you take up photography in the first place. Remember seeing the amazing shots in magazines, online, or taken by a friend and then dreaming that you too might produce amazing pictures?
Well, you can and you should. Learn the camera’s basic controls and how to shape your pictures with software tools, and don’t just rely on packaged effects.
Photography skills override tricks
If you enjoy fishing but purchase fresh fish from the market on your way home, are you really fishing? You might bring home a tasty meal but can you really take credit for the catch? You dove into photography to capture great shots and produce gorgeous pictures. don’t shortchange yourself with tricks and shortcuts.
An occasional foray into visual effects can be interesting, but a steady diet gets boring and appears cliché.
Are you relying on auto settings, presets, and effects to make your shots look special? Do you run your photos through software that pushes your shots through prefab cookie-cutter interpretations?
Perhaps it’s time to put your time into understanding the basics of the photographic process. There’s an artist inside you yearning to learn. Put that artist to work in reality. Let your pride be in your work, not someone else’s.
Stop being predictable.
Those pre-digested interpretations offered by many post-processing software packages are way too easy to spot. The effects should be used sparingly and only when the scene really lends itself to the effect. Presets look good once in a while (I use them myself occasionally). But I want people to see my photography skills, not someone else’s tricks.
Be the individual, not the trend.
Stop doing what everybody else does and start expressing yourself. I grew up in the hippie era and to some degree, I bought into the trend. I wanted to be taken seriously as an individual; a non-conformist who didn’t just follow the masses and do what everybody else did.
But eventually, I realized that all my non-conformists friends dressed alike, talked alike, acted alike, and (frankly) smelled alike. All while proclaiming their individuality.
They conformed to the accepted non-conformity trends. That herd-mentality behavior didn’t make sense back then and it doesn’t make sense now. If you want to express yourself, do just that – express yourself. Just take the time to learn the basics of shaping images. It’s a whole lot easier than you think and it’s amazingly rewarding.
Nobody I know actually lives in a fantasyland with color as over-amped as this. Indiscriminately using a colorful effect on the wrong image can reduce the image to a clown show.
You are a logical person with a good head on your shoulders. You know you can do serious work if you take the time to learn the process. There is more to photography than learning the camera controls. You must understand the why issues of photography, not just the how of the camera buttons.
Your images deserve special attention… yours!
Use your imagination.
Determine today to see life through your own lens and interpret what you see with your eyes and your imagination. Shape your images with a clear understanding of how to command the medium of photography. Don’t see life through the lens of popular automation and trick treatments, learn to control the light and color that your camera captures.
This is a pricey waterfront condo in Nassau. When you take the time to match the scene with an appropriate treatment, the results make sense to the viewer.
Capture images and shape them into what your mind sees. Don’t try to force your shots into someone else’s prefab, over-used interpretations. If this really is an age of personal expression, take control of your creative life by learning how to control the light in your photographs, both during the capture process and in post-production.
Eventually, you will come to a point where you want to test the waters of photo-creativity, learn the basics of image shaping, and let your images show your talent and photography skills instead of displaying someone else’s. It all starts with taking the time to learn the basics and believing in yourself.
Just the right amount.
One of the most beneficial parts of understanding how to shape your own pictures is knowing how much adjustment is enough and how much is too much. Like a four-year-old little girl playing with her mother’s makeup, your first attempts won’t be works of art, but that’s the way EVERY great photographer starts; over-producing their pictures.
The single most important ingredient in success is practice. Practice makes better, none of us ever get to perfect.
Here’s the first rule of editing. When alterations start looking surrealistic, you’ve probably taken the processing too far. We enjoy special effects in the movies but we live in the real world. Small adjustments to colors and tones sometimes produce big differences. Make your initial moves and then back away from the picture for a few minutes and then take another look at the project again.
Imaging Basics
Nudging the mid-tones lighter and increasing the overall contrast can improve the appearance of almost every photo. It’s a good place to start.
Because of the linear manner in which digital cameras capture images, the simple process of capturing a scene with pixels produces images that are darker in the three-quarter tones than they need to be. These images usually benefit from shifting the mid-tones lighter simply by making some minor adjustments in the Basic panel in Camera Raw or Lightroom.
Learn to fine-tune your images to bring out the true colors and detail. The process is simple but the results can be profound. Target specific regions of light to reveal to the viewer what your mind saw when your camera captured the image. Our brains compensate for unbalanced lighting in a scene while the camera simply records existing light levels.
Small adjustments can make a major difference in the appearance of digital image captures.
Your camera doesn’t know where important detail is located in an image, although your brain located the detail and mentally enhanced the scene. You must learn how to deal with the scene’s lighting and reveal that detail manually. Most of those ho-hum images just need a little TLC to come to life.
Two panels in Camera Raw provided all the controls and tools I needed to target and enhance specific areas of this image.
The white surfaces of the house above needed a boost to brighten them up without losing the surface detail. The detail in the deep shadow tones of the trees and stair steps needed to be lightened without losing the defining deep shadows.
The Basic panel provided the tools and the Tone Curve panel provided the narrow target for both the highlight and shadow adjustment without affecting the mid-tones.
Conclusion
Be the artist who understands their medium and is in command of their art. Let others see your style and maybe they’ll try to emulate you. Stop playing follow the leader and become the leader. There are only a handful of basic skills you need to develop to break the mold and really control your pictures.
Enough of the grunge, the excessive saturation, the surrealism, and the pre-packaged garbage. Start showing the world your skills and leave the tricks to the those who need them.
The post Don’t Show Me Your Tricks, Show Me Your Photography Skills appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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