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6 Ways of Using Reflector to Take Better Portraits

07 Nov

The post 6 Ways of Using Reflector to Take Better Portraits appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Dennis Drenner.

I’ve been making my living as a photographer for over 20 years, and I have accumulated thousands of dollars of gear in the process. I have the latest Canon DSLRs, a full complement of lenses, strobes, light stands, gels, filters, softboxes, tripods, and even some video and audio gear.

But the one thing that often makes the biggest difference in the quality of my portraits is a simple $ 20 reflector. I never leave home without one, and neither should you.

When shooting outdoor portraits, the first thing many photographers think about is the background – but first and foremost, the pros consider the quality of the light. They know, for example, that a portrait with nasty overhead lighting is not going to work, no matter how cool the background.

A reflector can help you salvage bad light, and turn okay light into something magical. You can use your reflector from below to fill in shadows, or from above to block distracting light. You can bounce the sun from a silver reflector to create a main light, or you can use a reflector with a black side to create deeper shadows. You can even sit on your reflector to keep your pants clean when shooting outside, or pop it open dramatically to dazzle young children.

Most of the photos in this article were shot with a 5-in-1 reflector you can buy for less than $ 20 USD. 5-in-1 refers to the fact that the reflector and cover can combine to give you five different options: white, silver, gold, and black sides, as well as a diffuser.

Here are six tips to help you use a reflector to transform your photos.

1. Use a reflector for fill light

The most traditional use of a reflector is to simply reflect light into the shadows. I took my wife, Karen, out into our local park to demonstrate this.

In the photo on the left (above), Karen is photographed in nice soft light, but there are still pretty deep shadows under her eyes and chin. In the photo on the right, however, she is holding a reflector at her waist. The shadows on her face are noticeably lighter and there is a subtle catchlight (a reflection of the reflector) in her eyes. If she were an older person with more textured skin, the contrast would be even more dramatic.

Of course, you may not always want to fill in the shadows in this way, but if you are trying to flatter someone it almost always helps.

You don’t even need an official photo reflector. Anything that reflects light will work. In a pinch, I’ve used everything from old newspapers to a nearby person wearing a white shirt.

2. Use a reflector as the main light source

This is one of my go-to reflector moves, and it’s an easy way to wow your friends and family.

You position your subject with the light hitting them from behind, then use a reflector to bounce the light back into their face. You will get nice soft light on your subject’s face, with a dramatic rim light on the back of their head. The only trick is positioning yourself so the light doesn’t go straight into your lens and create lens flare (unless you like that look, of course).

In the photo above, the sun is hitting the left side of my subject’s face and arm. The light from a reflector is bouncing some of the sun back to light up her face.

You may also notice the shallow depth of field in the photo above. If you are lighting with a reflector, you can jack up your shutter speed as much as you like to allow for a wide aperture (this photo was shot at 1/1250s at f/2.0 with a 50mm lens). If you were using flash to create this same effect, you would have to lower your shutter speed (to 1/250s or whatever matches your camera’s sync speed) to sync with the flash, requiring a narrow aperture and a greater depth of field (which will kill the whole look).

Yes, yes, some of you are no doubt thinking, “What about high-speed sync?” Well, yes, that could give you the same effect if you had the right equipment (and know how to pull it off). Or, you know, you could just use an old newspaper as a reflector.

For the example above, I positioned Karen against a tree and had her cousin, Claudia, reflect a spot of sunlight on her from about 10 feet away. At this distance, the light from the reflector looks more like it is coming from a grid spot or snoot (hard light) – in other words, it’s a focused and dramatic beam (notice the fall-off of light on her legs). It’s a cool look that you can recreate with a reflector, a few feet of aluminum foil, or your bathroom mirror. Your friends will be wowed and ask what fancy gear you used for the shot (and your family will ask what happened to the bathroom mirror).

For a slight variation on this technique, we moved the reflector slightly behind the subject (relative to the camera) to create a dramatic rim light on the face in a profile shot (see below).

3. Use a reflector to block light

Sometimes you’ll find yourself in beautiful, shady light under a tree, except for that pesky sunbeam that finds its way through the leaves to light up your subject’s left ear. When this happens, turn your reflector into a light blocker (sometimes called a flag or gobo).

A few years ago, I was doing a maternity portrait in a local park when a newspaper photographer snapped my picture while I was using my reflector as a gobo (shown in the image below). If you look at the reflector, you can see the bright spots of sunlight that it’s blocking (imagine how those spots would have ruined the final image if we didn’t block them!).

4. Use a black reflector to create more dramatic shadows

Sometimes, you actually want to deepen the shadows. I use this technique all the time in my headshot studio. Below is a photo of me with a white background. In the first shot, I have a silver reflector opposite the main light, sending light back towards my left cheek. In the second shot, the reflector has a black cover on it, gobbling up reflected light to leave a dark shadow on the cheek.

Except for the small change of literally flipping the reflector from one side to the other, the lighting setup is identical, but the effect is pretty dramatic. (For you studio lighting enthusiasts out there, my key light here is a large softbox, and there are two bare heads pointing at the background to make sure it is a nice, bright white).

This is the same technique used in the famous Steve Jobs portrait where he has his hand on his chin. In addition to creating a little drama, you can also use this technique to give someone a photographic face-lift by trimming pounds from the dark side of their face and under their chin.

5. Who holds the reflector?

You may be saying to yourself, “But I don’t have an assistant! Who’s going to hold the reflector for me?” I usually don’t have an assistant, either, but there is often someone nearby who is more than happy to help, be it a family member, passerby, intern, wedding guest, etc. Sometimes, you can even have the subject of the photo hold the reflector themselves. Of course, if you’re in the studio, or outside on a day without too much wind, you can just pop your reflector onto a light stand (like in the studio shots of me above).

In the photo below, I was shooting wedding portraits on a beach in the Florida Keys. My reflector assistant that day was one of the bridesmaids, who truly enjoyed helping her friends out with their portraits.

6. Reflectors in the environment

Once you get the hang of reflectors, you’ll probably start noticing reflected light everywhere. Ever see a white building getting blasted by the sun? Well, that’s nothing but a giant reflector! Depending on what’s around it, you may have found yourself a giant studio with no rental fee.

Mind you, anything that reflects enough light can work as a reflector. A brick building, a large truck, or a flock of seagulls flying by at just the right moment – it all works!

Using a reflector: final notes

Although they may not be as sexy as strobe kits, reflectors can often yield similar or superior results for your portraits and are cheaper and easier to use. I will leave you with a few more example photos, shot using nothing more than a reflector.

In the child portraits below, note that there is light behind the kids in both cases, but there is still beautiful light on their faces. Same goes for the athlete portraits.

As a final image, I leave you with a group of wedding guests who were so enamored of my reflector that they wanted a picture with it. Hopefully, you will soon have similar feelings toward your own reflector!

Do you have any additional reflector tips to add? Please share them in the comments below!

The post 6 Ways of Using Reflector to Take Better Portraits appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Dennis Drenner.

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Take Control of Color Adjustments in Lightroom

16 Sep

The post Take Control of Color Adjustments in Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

With all the sliders, options, and numerical values to tweak in Lightroom, there is no end to the editing possibilities at your disposal. Sometimes, you just want an easy way to make your images stand out and shine without all the hassle of adjusting dozens of individual options.

Fortunately, you don’t need to go overboard with editing to do some really incredible color adjustments in Lightroom. Three basic parameters can work wonders for your images: the Hue filter adjustment, as well as the Saturation and Vibrance sliders.

Color Adjustments in Lightroom Purple Flower — Nikon D7100 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/750 sec | f/1.8 | ISO 100

Adjusting Hue with filters and brushes

Along with White Balance, Hue is one of the most basic color adjustments you can make to a photo. Strictly speaking, Hue refers to the actual color of an image or a part of the image. It’s one of the building blocks of a photo that, along with Saturation and Luminance, affects your pictures on a foundational level.

The HSL panel in the Develop module lets you adjust the Hue of various colors. Essentially, you can make the reds shift from purple-ish to orange-ish. Or change your greens to be more yellow or teal.

Hue allows you to precisely control the overall appearance of your image, but the HSL panel works on an all-or-nothing basis. Moving the sliders affects the hue of every red, orange, yellow, and so on across the entire photograph.

Color Adjustments in Lightroom Red Cardinal — Nikon D500 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 200mm | 1/500 sec | f/4 | ISO 3600

Hue works well in a picture like the red cardinal above because the colors are clearly distinct and separate. Adjusting the Hue slider for the color red will affect the bird but nothing else because there are no other reds in the picture.

A recent update to Lightroom turbocharges the Hue editing tool by also allowing it to be used with filter adjustments. You can make precise Hue adjustments using the Radial and Graduated filters as well as the Adjustment Brush. These are incredibly powerful tools that help you get the precise color adjustments in Lightroom that you were never able to get before.

Color Adjustments in Lightroom Hue — Hue can now be edited using the Adjustment Brush, Radial Filter, and the Graduated Filter.

The usefulness of this new approach to Hue adjustment is amazing, and using it could hardly be simpler. Just create a new filter or Adjustment Brush, then click and drag the Hue slider to change the colors of the portion of your image affected by the filter or the brush.

The top of the color rainbow stays locked in place while the bottom shows you the degree to which your colors are being changed. For precise control, check the Use Fine Adjustment box or hold down the Alt key (or the Option key on a Mac), which reduces the effect of your left-to-right dragging to give you finely-tuned adjustments.

To illustrate how this works, here is a picture of two yellow flowers. Adjusting the Hue using the HSL panel would allow me to change the yellow of both flowers. Using a Hue Adjustment Brush lets me change the color of one single flower. This is a maneuver that used to require jumping over to Photoshop and using multiple layers and tools, but can now be accomplished in mere seconds in Lightroom.

Color Adjustments in Lightroom Yellow Flowers — Nikon D500 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/1000 sec | f/2.8 | ISO 100

To change the color of the flower in the foreground from yellow to red, all I have to do is click the Adjustment Brush and paint in a new adjustment over the yellow flower. Then click and drag the Hue slider to the left, and you have an instant red flower.

The Auto Mask option helps ensure that my edits stay within the yellow flower. I can also hold the Alt key (or the Option key on a Mac) to erase parts of the adjustment that I don’t want.

Color Adjustments in Lightroom Yellow and Red Flower — Transforming the flower from yellow to red took me less than 15 seconds in Lightroom. All I did was use an Adjustment Brush and change the Hue.

Using the Hue adjustment with a Radial Filter or Graduated Filter follows much of the same process as the Adjustment Brush. Apply a filter and adjust the Hue accordingly to change the colors of a portion of your image. These additions to Hue options in Lightroom are a bit like selective color editing, where most of a picture is black and white with one portion displayed with color.

Hue adjustments for the filters and Adjustment Brush go one step further by giving you total control over individual colors in specific parts of your pictures. If you haven’t yet tried it, I recommend checking it out and seeing how easy it really is! And if you want even more control over your color adjustments in Lightroom, there are the Saturation and Vibrance sliders to look at.

Saturation and Vibrance

These two sliders can go a long way towards giving your photos an extra degree of refinement. However, they are often misunderstood and misused. They both complete the same basic function, in that they make the colors of a photo punchier or more exaggerated. Where they differ is in the method used to adjust the images and the way the colors are adjusted.

Saturation is kind of a blunt instrument, like editing your image with a hammer. It allows you to adjust the intensity of all the colors in a photo equally, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if it gets you the result you are aiming for. It’s easy to overdo it with saturation, though, so adjust carefully.

Vibrance takes a more intelligent and subtle approach. This slider analyzes the colors of an image that are already saturated and, therefore, don’t need much adjustment. When you move the slider to the right those colors are generally left alone, as are common skin tones. The result is an image that feels punchier without being overwhelmed with color.

Adjustments with portraits

The image series below shows the difference between these two sliders. The first is an unedited RAW straight out of camera.

Color Adjustments in Lightroom Family Forest — Nikon D750 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 180mm | 1/500 sec | f/2.8 | ISO 1600.
Original unedited RAW photo, no color adjustments.

Adjusting Vibrance up to a value of +60 makes the background colors more noticeable and also punches up the blue clothing. Faces and hands are relatively untouched, as are some of the clothing colors like orange and green that don’t need much adjustment.

Color Adjustments in Lightroom — Same photo, but with Vibrance +60. The image feels more lively and dramatic without being overbearing.

In contrast, the Saturation color adjustment in Lightroom ramps up every color indiscriminately. The final image looks like it was run through a series of poorly-implemented social media filters and is a little jarring and unpleasant to look at.

This example is a bit of an exaggeration, though! Saturation is a perfectly acceptable adjustment, as long as you use it carefully. Generally speaking, ramping up Saturation to such extreme values will not yield the best results. I like to keep it around the +5 to +15 range, which gives a more subtle effect and makes all the colors pop just enough to stand out while not being overbearing.

Another way to take control of color adjustments in Lightroom without getting too complicated is to lower Saturation and Vibrance.

Color Adjustments in Lightroom Siblings — Nikon D750 | 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 200mm | 1/250 sec | f/2.8 | ISO 220.
Original unedited RAW, no color adjustments.

Lowering the value of Saturation and/or Vibrance can give your images a subdued look, almost like a sepia filter. I like this effect on portraits, and if you shoot for clients you might find this to be a useful adjustment to keep in your back pocket when editing. Many people like a desaturated look, because it can feel comforting and a bit nostalgic.

When working with portraits, I find that little Vibrance and Saturation adjustments in Lightroom go quite a long way. Generally, I do just a little bit of one or both and don’t exceed a value of +10. It might not seem like much, but those small edits can give your images that little extra push to really stand out.

Working with nature images

Vibrance and Saturation color adjustments in Lightroom really come in handy when working with landscapes, flowers, animals, or anything else in nature. Here’s where I like to put my foot on the throttle and really push the sliders a lot more than I would with portraits. Rather than jarring and unpleasant, the results are often dramatic and even captivating.

I shot the photo below in Minnesota just south of the Canadian border, just as the sun was coming up. The image looks fine, but it’s a little bland and doesn’t quite convey the emotion I want the viewer to experience. Thankfully, a little Saturation and Vibrance can fix it.

Color Adjustments in Lightroom Forest — Fuji X100F | 23mm | 1/125 sec | f/8 | ISO 5000.
Original unedited RAW, no color adjustments.

Bumping Saturation up to +55 yields a much-improved image, albeit with a few tweaks that still need to be implemented. Colors are richer, contrast is greater, and the scene is much more similar to how it was when I was standing among the trees listening to the birds chirp overhead.

Even though the picture is better with increased overall Saturation, adding some Vibrance gives it just the final touch it needs. I would never add this much Vibrance and Saturation to a portrait or street photograph. When working with shots of nature, these adjustments can make a huge difference without feeling ostentatious or overbearing.

The best of both worlds

If you really want to get creative with Vibrance and Saturation, you can use a combination of both adjustments, but not in the way you might thing. Color adjustments in Lightroom are all a matter of personal preference, but one trick I like to use, especially with people in everyday life and not necessarily formal portraits, is to raise the vibrance while lowering the saturation.

Color Adjustments in Lightroom Woman Riding a Horse — Nikon D750 | **Sigma 40mm f/1.4 Art** | 40mm | 1/180 sec | f/1.4 | ISO 360.
Original RAW with no color adjustments.

Some of the best editing can be almost invisible. I lowered Saturation while raising Vibrance, which shifted everything just enough to give the picture a low-key-but-slightly-enhanced look. It’s a small but noticeable edit when compared to the original, and shows how using both adjustments together can yield impressive results.

This technique combines Saturation and Vibrance for a result that is more than the sum of its parts. The entire image feels a little more subdued and welcoming, while important colors are emphasized just a little more. The end result is, like a lot of good adjustments, subtle but effective.

Image editing doesn’t have to be complicated. While there are many tools and options for color adjustments in Lightroom, often just these simple basic features will get the job done just fine. I particularly like the new Hue tools and the unparalleled freedom they offer photographers.

If you have not yet tried this, or if it has been a while since you played around with simple Saturation and Vibrance, you might be surprised at how much these can do to make your images go from just okay to absolutely astonishing.

The post Take Control of Color Adjustments in Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

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How To Take More Creative Environmental Travel Portraits

06 Aug

The post How To Take More Creative Environmental Travel Portraits appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

Including people in your travel photos creates a stronger sense of connection for anyone who views your photos. Environmental travel portraits add depth of interest to any album, presentation or book of travel images.

Adding a person to a landscape, cultural location, or market scene will almost always add appeal to the photo. Capturing locals engrossed in what they are doing can make for a more interesting picture. Stopping to chat with them and asking if you can take their portrait means a scene takes on a whole new dynamic.

Environmental travel portraits are photos of people involved in the setting they are in. They are usually connected in some way with the location. A regular portrait will typically be cropped tighter and contain little contextual information.

Karen woman cooking for environmental travel portraits — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 35mm f1.4, 1/160 sec., f/2.8, ISO 1600

This is an environmental portrait of a Karen woman cooking in her home. The composition contains visual information about her lifestyle and where she lives.

Here is a portrait of a Karen woman. We were in her village when I took this photo, but there’s no visual information to tell you this.

How To Take More Creative Environmental Travel Portraits — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 105mm, 1/125 sec., f/8, ISO 400

Connect with your subject for better environmental travel portraits

Don’t be a shy photographer. Connecting with people will often result in more interesting environmental travel portraits. Even if you don’t have a common language, you can still relate to people. Showing an interest in someone and what they are doing, you can build a connection. Choosing the right people to photograph provides you with a better opportunity.

I saw this guy on the streets in Bangkok selling his genuine crocodile skin wallets. He demonstrated to an interested tourist that they were real. To do this, he poured some lighter fluid on the wallet and put a flame to it. I set my camera and approached him, requesting he repeat the process. He was most obliging and played up to my camera.

When candid is a better option

When encountering people who are totally engrossed in what they are doing it’s best to not to interrupt them. This is when it’s best to remain separate and capture candid, or semi-candid photos. I rarely hide my camera, instead, I prefer to have it out in the open so people can be aware that I’m taking photos. Most people will pay no attention, especially when you’re in a touristic area.

For this photo, I wanted to capture the young boy advertising their goods at the top of his voice. He and the older man (I presumed it was his grandfather he was helping) were aware of my presence and that I was taking photos. I was able to do so without disrupting the action.

Framing your subject

Environmental travel portraits need to show something of your subject’s surroundings. Where you position your subject in the frame will influence how they look in their environment. As always, aim to fill your frame only with what is relevant to the photo you’re making. Compose so your subject looks connected to their surroundings.

Photographing this Akha woman picking coffee in northern Thailand, I chose to place her near the edge of the frame. I wanted to fill most of the frame with the coffee bush she was picking from. I also placed her further back from the camera and positioned myself, so there were coffee cherries closer to my lens. This helps draw your eye to the cherries and makes them more obvious.

Choosing the best lens for environmental travel portraits

The lens you use for environmental travel portraits will depend a lot on the location you are photographing in. Often a wider lens if more effective than a longer one because you’ll capture more of the location without being too far from your subject. Remember what Robert Capa said, “If your photos aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.”

I used my 35mm lens to make this photo of a young French horn player. He was performing in a band during the Chiang Mai Flower Festival parade. Getting fairly close to him, I was also able to show other band members in my composition without including too many other distracting details in the area.

Manage your depth of field well

A very shallow depth of field will not often show enough detail in the environment. Too much information can be excluded. Your aim is to include enough of the environment so it adds meaning to the portrait.

Too much in focus in an environmental travel portrait can mean your subject gets lost in the background. You must be aware of how sharp or how blurred your background is. Managing your depth of field well enables you to keep the person you’re photographing as the main subject. Done well, this will encompass enough background detail without it being distracting.

I made this portrait of a samlor (tricycle taxi) rider sitting in his cab. In the background is another samlor passing by. It’s blurred enough so it’s not distracting, but you can still make out what it is, so it adds to the photo.

Wait for the right moment

Careful timing can really make a difference. Watch and observe the person you are photographing and how they are interacting with their environment. Look for patterns of movement and repetition. This can often help you pick the right moment to make your portraits.

For this photo of my friend on National Elephant Day in Thailand, I waited for the elephant’s handler to give the command for the elephant to kiss her. The other elephants and tables with food for them set the scene.

Always be aware of lighting

Light will add feeling to your environmental travel portraits when you use it well. Look at the type of lighting in the location where you’re making your portraits. Is it conducive to the style of the portrait you wish to make? Do you need to come back at another time of the day or night? Will adding some flash improve the portrait?

Often when you’re traveling, you can’t wait for the right light, so you must make the best use of available light. When the light at the location is not great, you need to get creative and add some using a flash or reflector.

For this night portrait of a Samlor rider, I was able to position him to make the most of the light in the street market behind him. I also used my flash to illuminate him and help catch a glimpse of the motorcycle passing behind him.

Make use of props when you can

Be sure to look around for items that may enhance your portraits. Including appropriate props will help make more interesting environmental travel portraits.

I’d asked this man if I could photograph him sitting outside his home in a small village in northern Thailand. As he went to sit down, he put his crutches inside, thinking I did not want to include them in the photo. I asked him if it was okay to have them in the picture too.

Conclusion

Be mindful of your surroundings and think about how you can make interesting pictures that tell a story. Who is this person, and how can I make a portrait that captures relevant information about their surroundings?

Please share other tips you have for creating environmental travel portraits, or some of your pictures in the comments below.

The post How To Take More Creative Environmental Travel Portraits appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

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Sony confirms a7S III launch event will take place on July 28

16 Jul

Sony has announced, via a teaser on its website, it will be holding an ‘Imagination in Motion’ launch event for its forthcoming a7S III camera on July 28 at 10am EDT (-4 UTC).

Confirmation of the a7S III’s existence was confirmed just over two weeks ago in an exclusive interview with DPReview wherein Kenji Tanaka, VP and Senior General Manager of Sony’s Digital Imaging Group, shared the news that an a7S II successor would be announced ‘later this summer.’

Sony doesn’t divulge any new details of the a7S III in the teaser, but we know from our interview the camera will be ‘a complete redesign of the whole system,’ complete with a new sensor.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How To Take Good Pictures of Flowers- An Easy Step by Step Guide

03 Jun

Do you want to learn how to use light in photography? Photograph a flower. A flower in and of itself is an interesting subject. Flowers have different textures, bright colors, and won’t get bored of sitting still while you adjust your settings. But a quick snap of a flower, while beautiful, can be boring. If you really want to bring Continue Reading

The post How To Take Good Pictures of Flowers- An Easy Step by Step Guide appeared first on Photodoto.

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DPReview TV: Take better indoor portraits with natural light

30 Apr

Want to shoot some portraits with great lighting while stuck at home? We show you how – and you probably won’t need any new gear to do it! If Chris and Jordan can light a scene with a Rubbermaid container lid, so can you.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.

Introduction
Window light
Reflecting fill light
Negative fill
Overexposing windows
Controlling background light
Three easy poses
For more info…

Sample gallery from this episode

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_4339752453″,”galleryId”:”4339752453″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) });
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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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.

Practice composition skills around your home featured image

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.

Take Time to Practice These Three Composition Skills Around Your Home — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 105mm, 1/400 sec., f/10, ISO 400

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.

Yellow mango against blur glass for practice composition skills — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 105mm, 1/320 sec., f/7.1, ISO 800

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?

Rose one a plain background for practice composition skills — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 105mm, 1/400 sec., f/10, ISO 400

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.

Coffee pot in contrast for practice composition skills. — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 105mm, 1/320 sec., f/7.1, ISO 800

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?

Padlock on a grill — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 105mm, 1/200 sec., f/4.5, ISO 800

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.

coffee set up for practicing composition skills — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 105mm, 1/80 sec., f/5, ISO 800

coffee set up — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 105mm, 1/80 sec., f/5, ISO 800

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.

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Is Being Shy a Good Reason to Only Take Candid Photos?

16 Mar

The post Is Being Shy a Good Reason to Only Take Candid Photos? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

Standing back with a long lens on your camera and snapping candid photos is an easy option for many people. The alternative is to use a shorter lens and get in close and connect with your subjects. This is challenging for most photographers.

Flaming Wallet illustration Is Being Shy a Good Reason to Take Candid Photos — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D700, lens 20mm, f/4, 1/125, ISO400

A candid photo is one where your presence and your camera are not affecting the outcome of the photos you take. There is no pose. There is no distraction from you or your camera at all.

When you are shy, using a long lens for candid pictures might be less taxing on your emotions. But it does not often result in the most engaging photographs. If you are capturing candid photos only because you are shy, this is a cop-out. Only using this technique will limit your potential as a photographer.

French Horn - Is Being Shy a Good Reason to Take Candid Photos — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 35mm, f/1.4, 1/5000, ISO 400

When a candid approach to photography is better

At times, a candid approach to photography will result in more interesting photos.

You will not always be in a position to engage with your subject. Sometimes doing so will disrupt a natural flow of events.

Finding yourself in situations where you think you or your camera will alter the scene, it’s good to remain candid.

If your subject sees your camera, it may distract them. Sometimes when people are aware there’s a photographer present, they will alter their behavior.

This will not always be to your benefit.

Fruit vendor at a market in Chiang Mai, Thailand — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 35mm, f/4.5, 1/250, ISO 400

Other times, you might be wanting to photograph a whole group of people. There’s no way you’ll be capable of approaching them all for even a short conversation.

Alms Giving in Chiang Mai - Is Being Shy a Good Reason to Take Candid Photos — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D700, Lens 180mm, f4, 1/200, ISO 400

Is your subject highly focused on what they’re doing?

If your subject is absorbed in what they’re doing, you might not want to interrupt them. They might be:

Having an animated conversation
Playing sport
Creating art
Working
Or even sleeping

These are all times when asking permission or otherwise engaging a person will break their concentration (or slumber). This will affect the potential photo opportunity.

In ideal situations, you’ll be able to catch a person’s eye. They will see your camera and might give you an approving nod without breaking the flow of what they are doing. Then you can take photos in a relaxed manner because you know your subject is comfortable with you doing so.

Street Drummer - Is Being Shy a Good Reason to Take Candid Photos — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 105mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 400

You can’t always engage with your subject

Many times it’s not practical to engage with your subject. Candid photos are the only practical option when you are photographing:

Crowds
Street scenes
Where your subject is inaccessible

At times like this the only other option to taking candid photos is to not take photos.

When you can’t engage, it pays to be patient and observant. Wait for the decisive moment when the action is at its peak. When as many of the elements of a good photograph align, this is when you can capture the best candid photographs.

Poi Sang Long Festival - Is Being Shy a Good Reason to Take Candid Photos — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 35mm, f/5, 1/20, ISO 100

You don’t need to be an extrovert to photograph people

Being shy is a strength. Shy photographers can make the best portraits. This is because they show empathy toward the people they photograph. Learn to overcome the fear of imposing and you will take portraits with more depth.

To simply take candid photos because you are shy is not a good reason. Yes, as I have pointed out, candid photography is valid at times. But to avoid connecting with people because you don’t want to impose will often not result in the best photos.

When you want to photograph someone you see at the market, or a friend or your barista, talk to them first. Engage with them and build a rapport.

If you’re photographing a wedding or portrait, work on building a comfortable relationship with them. In many circumstances, the degree with which you connect with your subject will directly influence how good your photos are.

Portrait of a couple — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800

Approach with care, not fear

Don’t worry. If you are fearful of someone’s response, this will show. They will know and respond accordingly. Approaching someone with confidence, you are more likely to receive a positive response.

You don’t need to get in their face with a false boldness, just be yourself. Know what you want and communicate this to your subject. Take your time as it will pay off with better photos.

Spending time with anyone you want to photograph will usually result in a more interesting portrait. Learn to connect, even if you don’t have much time.

If you’re in a street market or a coffee shop, take a few moments to show people why you are interested in taking their photo.

With a friend, share with them what’s on your mind. Talk with them about why you want to take their picture.

When you’re photographing a model, compliment them.

There are many ways to communicate positively that will enhance your photographic opportunities. Staying quiet will often inhibit your creative potential.

Portrait of a Kayaw woman — © Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 85mm, f/1.4, 1/400, ISO 1250

Overcome your shyness

As a young man, I was painfully shy. I loved photography, but could not bring myself to photograph people. Now, the main subjects in my photographs are people. I learned to use my camera as a bridge to connect with the people I want to photograph.

In my book, Photographing People – A Guide For Shy Photographers, I share my experience and teach you how to overcome your shyness.

My journey to becoming a people photographer has been challenging. Camera skills are only a part of what you need to create great portraits, no matter what gear you use.

Learn when it’s best to connect. Learn how to connect. You will create more interesting, more engaging photos of people when you do.

Please Click Here to purchase my book on Amazon.

The post Is Being Shy a Good Reason to Only Take Candid Photos? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

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How to Take Vibrant, Razor-Sharp Macro Photos of Flowers

29 Feb

The post How to Take Vibrant, Razor-Sharp Macro Photos of Flowers appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ramakant Sharda.

Macro photography is a very interesting subject for photographers. People love to shoot small objects like insects, flowers, waterdrops, etc. With macro photography, a photographer can show the tiniest details about the subject – details that are not possible to see with the naked eye. Today, let’s find out how to amaze viewers by taking colorful and razor-sharp macro photos of flowers.

razor-sharp-macro-photos-of-flowers

What you’ll need to capture razor-sharp macro photos of flowers

Camera body

You’ll be taking photographs, which means you will obviously need a camera body. But which camera body is good for macro photography – a full-frame or a crop-sensor camera?

Different photographers have different answers to this question. Each body has advantages over the other. With a crop-sensor camera, you can get a larger focal length with the same lens so that you don’t have to get very close to the subject. A crop sensor also gives you a deeper depth of field as compared to a full-frame body, which means you can keep more of the subject in focus.

On the other hand, a full-frame body reveals more details because of the larger sensor size. It also performs better in low-light conditions. So, ultimately, all bodies are good for macro photography, whether you have a crop-sensor camera or a full-frame camera, or whether it’s a DSLR or mirrorless.

razor-sharp-macro-photos-of-flowers

Lens

Lens choice is important in macro photography.

A true macro lens gives you 1:1 magnification, which means the size of your subject can be the same as your sensor size. In other words, if you have a full-frame body that has a 36mm x 24mm sensor size, you can fill the entire frame with a subject that is 36mm x 24mm in size. This gives you the opportunity to get really close to the subject and capture all the details.

However, don’t worry if you don’t have a dedicated macro lens. You can use extension tubes or a reverse ring with two lenses. Alternatively, you can use a cheaper option called macro close-up filters.

Flash and diffuser

A flash is a very important piece of equipment in macro photography. It helps you take razor-sharp pictures and capture bright colors. It also helps you avoid blurry images resulting from the shake of the camera.

A flash diffuser is equally as important as the flash. It softens the light and brings out the details and colors. You can use a mini softbox or domes or MagSphere, or you can simply put a diffuser cloth in front of the flash or bounce it with a white card.

You can use the flash on the camera hot-shoe or, if you have wireless flash triggers, you can use the off-camera flash. This will give you better results, but you will need someone to hold it.

How to Take Vibrant, Razor-Sharp Macro Photos of Flowers

Things to remember:

1. Depth of field

The first thing to remember when it comes to getting razor-sharp macro photos of flowers is depth of field (DOF). DOF is very important in macro photography. If you are shooting with a true macro lens with 1:1 magnification and your aperture is f/4, you’ll get only 1-2mm of total DOF. So, chances are, you won’t get everything you want in focus.

The solution is a smaller aperture. With an f/16 aperture, you can easily get 5-6mm total DOF and have everything you want in focus.

However, with such a small aperture, you’ll need lots of light. That’s why a flash is necessary for macro photography.

How to Take Vibrant, Razor-Sharp Macro Photos of Flowers

2. Focusing

Many photographers suggest that manual focus is better for macro photography, but I disagree with them.

I always use autofocus when taking macro pictures.

Why?

Because it’s easy, it’s fast, and you have fewer chances of taking out-of-focus pictures because both hands are free to hold the camera.

Just make sure that your hands and camera don’t move between focus lock and taking the picture.

3. Background

To achieve razor-sharp macro photos of flowers, you should always consider the background. In most cases, the background will be blurred, but, still, it should be clean and have contrasting colors.

4. Look from different angles

When we take photos of flowers, we usually take them from the top or the side. However, sometimes a flower can be very beautiful from the back, too.

When you are searching for a subject to shoot, always look it from different angles so that you can see and click something extraordinary – something that others can’t.

razor-sharp-macro-photos-of-flowers

5. Dead flowers can be great subjects, too

We always try to take photos of fresh flowers, but sometimes dead flowers can be great subjects, as in the following image. When a flower is dead, and all the petals have fallen, it starts preparing seeds.

Sometimes those seeds look very beautiful and can be good subjects to shoot macro.

razor-sharp-macro-photos-of-flowers

6. Shoot in RAW

To achieve razor-sharp macro photos of flowers, always shoot in RAW format because RAW files contain more details. Therefore, when you sharpen the image and enhance the colors in post-processing, you’ll get better results.

When you open a RAW image in post-processing software, it’ll look dull and lack sharpness, colors, and contrast. Don’t lose heart after seeing this. After a little bit of post-processing, it can often be better than a JPG image from the camera.

How to Take Vibrant, Razor-Sharp Macro Photos of Flowers

7. Keep your hands steady

A tripod is not a useful tool in macro photography because you’ll need to click at unusual angles.

If you have a moving subject, like insects, chances are, they’ll go away before you set up your tripod. So, it’s better to take photos with a handheld camera. Keep your elbows inside, which will give you support and lower your chances of camera shake.

8. Practice and be patient

If, after doing everything you have read in this article, you take photos that aren’t coming out sharp, don’t be disheartened. Have patience, and keep practicing. Eventually, you’ll get razor-sharp macro photos of flowers.

razor-sharp-macro-photos-of-flowers

Keep clicking and share your pictures here. If you need help, just ask me. I am always here to assist.

Filmic’s Double Take iOS app records with two cameras at the same time

29 Jan

Under iOS 13 more recent Apple iPhones are capable of simultaneously recording video with several cameras. This feature was first demonstrated by the people behind the popular Filmic Pro video app at the iPhone 11 launch event.

Now Filmic Pro has made multi-camera recording available in an app, but it’s not Filmic Pro. Instead, the company has created a new stand-alone app called Double Take.

Double Take is a simpler app than Filmic Pro, aimed at users who don’t want to fight their way through a jungle of options. Filmic calls it a tool for everything from ‘professional broadcast-style news interviews to YouTubers capturing multiple angles during live events.’ Still, it comes with a variety of shooting modes that allow you to shoot either with front and rear cam at the same time or shoot with two different focal lengths on the rear cam (iPhone 11 Pro Max, 11 Pro and 11 only).

In Shot/Reverse Shot mode you can record two full size 1080p clips with the front and rear cameras. This will create A/B tracks that you can switch between in editing. This mode is useful for capturing the interaction between two actors or an interviewer and their subject, for example.

In Varied Rear Lenses mode you can record with any two available rear cameras at the same time and create a Picture-in-Picture (PiP) view. The PiP can be moved around inside the main video and its size is adjustable.

Splitscreen Composite Mode lets you record side-by-side footage using any two cameras. The final output footage shows a 50/50 split-screen effect and is saved as a single composite video. More information is available on the Filmic website. You can download Double Take from the App Store for free.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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