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10 Landscape Composition Techniques for Breathtaking Photos (2021)

27 Jun

The post 10 Landscape Composition Techniques for Breathtaking Photos (2021) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darren Rowse.

In this article, I’m going to share 10 simple landscape photography composition tips – so that you can start creating beautiful, flowing, dynamic, balanced landscape images.

10 landscape photography composition techniques

Specifically, you’ll discover:

How to draw the viewer straight into the scene (and keep them wanting more!)
How to position your horizons for maximum dynamism and balance
A simple trick for minimalistic landscape shots
A cool technique to focus the viewer exactly where you want them
Much more!

So if you’re ready to take your landscape compositions to the next level, let’s dive right in, starting with my number-one most useful technique:

1. Include a main subject to engage the viewer

To instantly level up your landscape compositions, here’s how you should start:

By including a clear, identifiable subject in each photo.

The subject can be anything: a rock. A mountain. A river. A shell on the beach. Waves crashing on the shore. Lightning in the sky.

The point is to include at least one element in your photo that the viewer can grab onto – something that sucks them into the frame and piques their interest. Otherwise, your viewer will become confused. They won’t know where to focus, so they’ll move on to a different image and never look back. (Not good!)

waterfall at sunset with flowing water — Here, the main subject is the waterfall – it’s what really captures the viewer’s attention.

Is it okay to include multiple interesting subjects? Absolutely! In fact, many landscape photographers these days specialize in packing both a foreground subject and a background subject into a single photo (more on that later). But be careful not to include so many subjects that the viewer no longer has a place to focus. When in doubt, simplicity should win out.

2. Use the rule of thirds to position your key elements

The rule of thirds is one of my favorite landscape composition tools. It’s a great way to get started with composition, and it’ll give you an easy way to arrange key elements within the frame, like your main subject, your horizon, and other supporting elements.

For those unfamiliar with the rule of thirds, here’s a quick explanation:

The rule of thirds tells you to split your composition into vertical and horizontal thirds, so you end up with a series of gridlines. Then, for the most powerful compositions, you should place compositional elements along those gridlines (and at their intersection points).

landscape photography rule of thirds composition gridlines

This often comes into play when working with horizon lines. Instead of putting the horizon smack-dab in the center of the frame, you can put it along the top rule of thirds gridline (a good idea if your foreground is especially interesting) or along the bottom rule of thirds gridline (a good idea if your sky is colorful or dramatic).

For this image, the blowing sand in the foreground is stunning – so the photographer chose to put the horizon along the upper gridline:

sand dunes with rule of thirds landscape composition

You can also use the rule of thirds to position your main subject. You might put the subject along one of the vertical gridlines, or – even better – at an intersection point.

A quick word of caution, though:

The rule of thirds is a helpful technique. But despite the name, it’s not a landscape composition rule – rather, it’s a guideline, so you don’t need to follow it all the time. Instead, use it when it works, break it when it doesn’t.

Make sense?

3. Use foreground interest to create depth

Most landscape photos, even the mediocre ones, include background interest (such as a distant mountain, a dramatic sunset, or a house on a cliff).

But if you want to really take your landscapes to the next level, I highly recommend including foreground interest, which should sit somewhere between your camera and the background. (It’s also referred to as the near-far composition technique.)

This is a powerful tool, one that’s insanely popular among today’s professional landscape photographers. And the reason it’s so popular? It helps create the illusion of depth in a scene.

For instance, a photo of a distant mountain can look nice, but it often appears rather flat.

But add some grass close to the camera, and the whole composition immediately deepens. The viewer first focuses on the foreground grass, then moves into the midground, then finally sees the stunning mountain in the background:

So the next time you find a beautiful background subject, like the mountain I mentioned above…

…take a few moments to look for foreground interest. Then include both foreground and background in a single shot.

Note that the foreground interest can be a discrete subject, like a patch of grass. Or it can simply lead the eye into the frame, as I discuss in the next tip:

4. Use leading lines to suck the viewer into the scene

Leading lines are lines that draw the viewer into the scene. They generally start in the foreground of the composition, then move back, back, back…until they reach a distant subject.

In the photo below, the road acts as a leading line, which moves the viewer toward the beautiful sunset:

The road isn’t really a discrete subject, but it does provide foreground interest, and it moves the viewer toward the background.

By the way, you can make leading lines out of pretty much anything. I highly recommend you take a look at some of your favorite landscape photography and see how it incorporates leading lines; you’ll find all sorts of creative compositions, with lines created out of roads, rivers, fallen trees, ferns, lines in the dirt, and much, much more.

river flowing away as leading lines in a mountainous landscape — The river leads the eye toward the mountains in the background.

5. Use lots of negative space to create minimalist landscape compositions

These days, minimalism is all the rage in landscape photography. Here’s how it works:

First, find a scene full of negative space. (Negative space refers to emptiness in a composition, like a long stretch of blue sky, a swathe of green grass, a smooth, barren beach, etc.)

Second, find a small, isolated, lonely-looking subject, like a tree in a field, a rock jutting out from a flat landscape, or even a person.

Third, position your isolated subject so it’s small in the frame, and it’s surrounded by plenty of negative space. Here, it often pays to break the rule of thirds; instead of putting your subject at a rule of thirds intersection point, you put it closer to the edges of the frame, which serves to emphasize the emptiness.

man walking in minimalistic landscape photography composition — The person walking alone provides a focal point and is surrounded by plenty of negative space.

You’ll end up with an attention-grabbing shot, one that feels both contemporary and timeless.

6. Don’t be afraid to go tight

Most photographers do landscape photography with wide-angle lenses. And in general, this works really well; you can capture the vastness of the scene while emphasizing foreground and background subjects.

That said…

It sometimes pays to zoom in tight using a telephoto lens (a 70-200mm or 100-400mm will do a good job).

This works especially well on relatively flat subjects with graphic lines: a distant waterfall, cracks in a canyon wall, overlapping mountains. Zooming in will compress the scene, so advice about adding depth tends to fly out the window, and that’s okay.

Instead, focus on using landscape compositional tools like the rule of thirds to create balance and flow. And as I emphasized at the beginning of this article, make sure to include a clear point of interest!

telephoto mountains overlapping — A telephoto lens compressed these mountains, so you get a beautifully layered composition.

7. Use layers to help simplify the scene

Layers are one of my absolute favorite landscape photography composition techniques, because they make scenes simpler, easily digestible, and all-around beautiful.

When you’re out with your camera, just look for a clear bottom layer, middle layer, and top layer (though more layers is fine, too!).

One of the great things about layered compositions is that they work regardless of your focal length or subject of interest. You can create layered wide-angle shots by incorporating clear foregrounds, midgrounds, and backgrounds into the composition.

layered composition grasses by the sea — Note the grasses in the foreground, the water in the midground, and the sky in the background.

And you can create layered telephoto shots by compressing distant elements (as I mentioned in the previous tip, overlapping mountains look great, but you can also layer trees, sand dunes, and more).

mountains with dramatic sky — Here, the layers are more subtle – the mountains are layered, though the final layer is the sky.

Not every composition is amenable to layering. But when you find a scene with repeating or overlapping elements, that’s a good sign you can get a layered shot – and when possible, I recommend you go for it.

8. Incorporate diagonal lines to add movement

This one’s a more advanced landscape composition tool, and the effect can be subtle – but when done right, it can level up a good photo to a great one.

You see, diagonal lines are an effective way to move the eye around the scene and add flow to a shot. They’ll carefully push the viewer toward the main subject, while also prompting them to have a fun little journey around your photo.

To get started, I’d recommend first identifying your main subject. This should be the focal point of your image, and the place you want the diagonal lines to lead.

Then walk around, looking for potential diagonals that point toward – not away! – from your subject. You’ll often need to get creative. Consider all your options: paths, lines of trees, fences, rivers, a shadow, even clouds!

Finally, compose your photo, including at least one diagonal line moving toward your subject (and feel free to use two, three, or four lines if you can find them).

mountains with beautiful clouds forming lines — The clouds provide diagonal lines that move the viewer toward the mountain.

Note that diagonal lines can be foreground leading lines, but they don’t have to be. It’s perfectly acceptable to find a diagonal line that starts far off in the distance, as long as it moves toward your main subject.

9. Use geometry, especially triangles, to add flow and stability

In landscape photography, geometry is your friend.

Specifically, you can incorporate shapes, such as triangles, squares, and circles, into your compositions. These will help create both flow and stability, plus they just look very cool (especially when done with subtlety!).

For instance, consider the triangle, one of the most powerful shapes available to the landscape photographer. It includes diagonal lines and therefore adds plenty of movement. It also tends to be very stable, thanks to its strong edges and wide base.

mountains forming a triangle — The mountain creates a clear triangle – and it makes the composition far more powerful.

Circles are great, too – partial circles create nice curves for plenty of flow. And complete circles create eye-catching points of interest.

You don’t need to find full shapes in the landscape, by the way. It’s okay to use a somewhat circular rock, a vaguely triangular mountain, and so on. The point is to include shape-like elements when you can, without stressing too much about whether you have a complete shape or an implied one. That way, you create strong compositions that still feel natural.

Make sense?

10. Find natural frames to focus the viewer

As emphasized earlier in this article, foreground interest is a great way to add depth to landscape compositions.

But sometimes, you run into foreground elements that can’t quite work as a discrete compositional element…

…yet can still sit around the edges of your photo as a frame.

This is the landscape photography framing technique: You include tangential elements around the outside of an image and use them to direct the viewer toward the interesting midground and background.

For instance, you might include an overhanging branch toward the top of the image, in order to guide the viewer toward the subject in the middle of the shot:

village scene with tree providing a landscape composition frame

Or you might find a tunnel of rocks that leads the viewer toward the sunset in the background.

In wide-open spaces, finding frames can be tough. But if you’re shooting in a more chaotic landscape, you can often find trees or rocks to create a frame. In fact, it’s often these simple frames that take a good composition to the next level; they provide much-needed focus by showing the viewer exactly where to look (and when positioned carefully, they can also block out distracting elements).

Landscape photography composition: final words

Well, there you have it:

10 techniques to enhance your landscape compositions.

Practice these techniques, and above all, have fun!

Now over to you:

Which of these composition tips is your favorite? Which are you going to try first? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

autumn trees with mountains in the background

The post 10 Landscape Composition Techniques for Breathtaking Photos (2021) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darren Rowse.

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How to Reduce Camera Shake – 6 Techniques

09 Mar

The post How to Reduce Camera Shake – 6 Techniques appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Natalie Norton.

6 simple techniques to reduce camera shake

Are you struggling with camera shake? Do your photos turn out blurry whenever you hand-hold the camera?

You’re not alone.

Camera shake is a huge problem. It’s the reason why beginners (and even experienced photographers!) end up with soft, blurry, unwanted photos.

Fortunately, there are a few simple techniques you can use…

…to ensure that your photos never suffer from camera shake again!

So here are six simple techniques for avoiding camera shake and achieving crisp, delicious images – no matter what.

Let’s dive right in, starting with the very first technique:

1. Tuck your elbows in

This technique is simple, yet it really works.

Just pull your elbows in toward your body and let them rest against your chest.

(You can press your elbows firmly into your chest for even greater stability.)

Like this:

avoiding camera shake with your elbows tucked in

It will give your arms a rock-solid foundation to work with so that your hands are utterly motionless.

And when you press the shutter button, you’ll have no camera shake to speak of.

Another quick tip:

Once you have your elbows tucked in, exhale completely before hitting the shutter.

Why?

Because even the slightest movement can cause unwanted shake, especially as you increase your shutter speed.

2. Raise your left shoulder

If you’re a right-eyed photographer, then you’ll need to shift to your left eye to use this technique. If you’re a left-eyed photographer, then you won’t need to change a thing!

Here’s what you do:

Raise your left shoulder high. Then brace your left elbow against your ribcage.

For further stability, you can pull your right elbow into your chest (as discussed in the previous technique).

raise your left shoulder to cut down on camera shake

Also, make sure you exhale completely before pressing the shutter button to avoid introducing additional camera shake.

3. Create a tripod with your knee

If you’re taking a photo low to the ground…

Or you don’t mind getting a little dirty…

Then this is the camera shake reduction technique for you!

And it’s pretty darn easy to pull off.

Simply sit down.

Bring your knee up.

Then rest your elbow on it, like this:

Again, bring in that other elbow for greater support.

You’re essentially creating your own tripod – so you have solid support wherever you go.

4. Lie down on the ground

In general, this is the most effective way to avoid camera shake without a tripod.

All you do is lie flat and let the lens sit directly on the ground.

To prevent any downward tilt of the camera, you can put a hand underneath the lens barrel or lens hood.

(If that doesn’t do the trick, you can always create a fist.)

In the first image, you’ll notice that I placed my hand flat against the cement and balanced the lens on top to give myself some height:

lying down on the ground to prevent camera shake

In the second image, I created a fist with my hand to give myself even more room to shoot.

Of course, this technique isn’t always feasible. If your subject is high off the ground, you’re probably not going to want to shoot from such a low angle.

(Imagine doing an engagement session while lying flat against the ground!)

Plus, lying on the ground can be uncomfortable, especially if you’re shooting on cement, in mud, in water, etc.

So work with this technique when you can, but don’t be afraid to use one of the other options on the list if need be.

5. The machine gun hold

This next technique is sometimes referred to as the machine gun hold, because you hold your camera like, well, a machine gun.

Personally, I don’t use this technique much. I find it awkward and difficult to maintain for more than a second or two.

But just because it doesn’t work for me doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. So give it a try and see what you think!

Here’s what you do:

Hold your camera to your eye with your right hand. Then raise your left elbow until your lens barrel can rest on it comfortably.

For added stability, place your left hand on your right bicep.

Like this:

6. Cradle your camera

Here’s your final technique for reducing camera shake:

Cradle your camera!

Like this:

As you can see, I crouched down and placed my left elbow on my knee.

Then I created a sort of cradle for the lens between my shoulder and my wrist.

It’s a pretty solid hold. Unfortunately, it’s tough to change positions once you’re cradling your lens, so the hold works best if you’re shooting an unmoving subject (e.g., a model during a portrait session).

Six techniques to reduce camera shake: conclusion

Well, there you have it!

You now know six simple techniques for reducing – or eliminating – camera shake.

And I can assure you that they work well; they’re the exact techniques that I myself use to avoid “The Shake.”

Now over to you:

Which of these techniques is your favorite? Have you tried any of them? Share your thoughts on camera shake – and camera shake reduction techniques – in the comments below!

Get more daily tips like this one by subscribing to Digital Photography School.

The post How to Reduce Camera Shake – 6 Techniques appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Natalie Norton.

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11 Easy Creative Photography Techniques You Can Try on Any Camera

29 Oct

The post 11 Easy Creative Photography Techniques You Can Try on Any Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Bond.

A lot of photography techniques can be complex and require a steep learning curve.

But in today’s article, you’ll learn 11 easy creative photography techniques you can start using today! The techniques described below all require minimal extra equipment and don’t require additional post-processing.

Read on to get the most creativity from your camera with these easy-to-use techniques.

1. Reflection

easy creative photography techniques down low reflection — It’s worth getting down to a low angle for reflections.

This is an easy creative photography technique to learn and is popular among many photographers. The main requirement is finding a reflective surface, though this is not all there is to it. Consider the following, and you’ll be capturing amazing reflection photos in no time:

Reflective surface: Look for surfaces that reflect (and there are many). Flat water works well, as does glass, marble, or even a regular mirror.
Choose a main subject: A successful photo will match up a reflective surface with an interesting main subject. Consider going out after it’s rained, as a puddle in front of a famous monument may only be there after heavy rain.
Find the angle: To get a better reflection, choose the correct angle. This often means getting right up against the reflective surface so the angle of reflection is shallow.
Create your own: No reflective surface? No problem. Just create one! Use the surface of a smartphone, a small mirror, or perhaps a bucket that you use to spread water and create a puddle.
A filter: The best way to control your reflection is by using a circular polarizing filter.

2. Silhouettes

easy creative photography techniques silhouettes — Strong silhouettes work well against a horizon line.

The next option on this list of easy creative photography techniques is silhouettes.

Silhouettes occur when you photograph against the light. The key is to find an interesting shape, and then make sure the background is brighter than the object itself.

You’ll often need to get down to a low angle and then photograph up toward the sky; that way, you can ensure the silhouetted object stands out against the bright background.

Also, when photographing silhouettes, make sure you expose for the bright background. This will turn the subject into a dark silhouette.

3. Repetition

easy creative photography techniques lines and repetition pattern — Lines and repetition can make for a strong composition.

A great design element to add to your frame is repetition.

This is something you’ll usually need to look for, but it’s sometimes possible to create your own repetition. There are possibilities for this both in nature and in the man-made world. Repetition may take the form of a line of trees, or of many bricks in a wall. The question, then, is how you’ll use this repetition.

Here are a few ways you can work with repetition to improve your photos:

Create a texture photo: In this case, the high level of repetition forms a texture.
Break the pattern: Here everything else is the same, with one variation. This works well to highlight that variation, which will then be the photo’s main subject.
Use background repetition: Backgrounds with repetition work very well for portrait photos or still life images.
Two or three: You don’t need to have repetition to infinity; two or three repeating objects, such as wine glasses, can work well.

4. Refraction

easy creative photography techniques glasses — Wine glasses filled with water will produce refraction.

This is a form of photography that can be practiced with a camera as simple as a smartphone. You’re probably thinking of lensballs, but refraction photography can take many forms, including:

A lensball: This is a large glass ball that creates a refracted image of the background inside it.
A prism: A prism splits the light and can be used to produce a rainbow. You could either photograph the projected rainbow or photograph through the prism.
Water drops: Get out after it’s rained, and you can produce refraction in things such as water drops on a spider’s web.
A wine glass: Fill a wine glass with water, and you will see the refraction effect!

5. Contrast

Contrast is a great concept to use in your photography.

The most obvious way to use contrast is by emphasizing dark and light areas of your photo through things such as silhouettes and shadows. But this is not the only way contrast can be used in your photography; anything that has an opposite can be used. You might choose to contrast something old with something new, for example.

6. Framing

easy creative photography techniques cave entrance frame — Natural frames such as cave entrances are good frames.

The world is full of frames, from pictures on the wall to window frames. These frames can be used in photography, which is another easy creative photography technique.

You can achieve a great framed photo with any kind of camera. Good options for this include doorways and windows. You can even become more creative and make your own frame using objects that contextualize the scene behind it.

7. Panning

easy creative photography techniques panning — Bikes are the easiest moving object to try panning with.

Panning is a form of intentional camera movement. The technique involves following the motion of a moving object and using a slower shutter speed to blur the background behind it.

As long as your camera allows you to use a slow shutter speed, this is a technique you can try. Those using a smartphone should download an app that allows you to use a slower shutter speed to take a photo.

8. Point of view

easy creative photography techniques buildings from below — A worm’s-eye view can look amazing. This example also shows how lines and repetition can work in a photo.

Changing your angle can give you dramatically different results, and it doesn’t matter which type of camera you use for this technique.

It’s easy to photograph from a standing position, but try some of these alternative angles:

Low angle: With this angle, you’ll get low to the ground. Things look different from down there!
Worm’s-eye view: This angle involves looking straight up. It can be even more dramatic when you get right down to the ground.
Bird’s-eye view: The easiest way these days to take a bird’s-eye view image is with a drone. However, find a high vantage point from a tall building and you can achieve a similar result.

9. Lines

easy creative photography techniques lines — This photo shows several lines converging in the left third of the frame.

Using powerful lines in your photos will almost always give you a strong composition. The trick, of course, is to utilize those lines correctly using the focal length available to you.

Here are some of the lines that can be used in your photography:

Leading lines: A leading line leads the eye to the main subject of your photo. This line might take the form of a road or a river meandering through your frame.
Horizon lines: Many photographs have horizon lines in them, which is a strong line running through the middle of your frame. Look to position it at the top or bottom third of your photo (using the rule of thirds).
Converging lines: In some photos, many lines converge at one point: the infinity point. This can be compositionally very strong. Look for lines of trees or a tunnel for this type of photo.

10. Shadows

easy creative photography techniques shadows — The shadow in this photo shows an element of repetition, as well.

Photographing shadows requires a strong light source. This can be the sun, but an external flash is another option.

The best time of the day to photograph shadows is therefore when the sun is at a low angle: an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset.

Shadows can be formed and used in different ways. You might photograph a person’s shadow, shadows formed from trees, or the way shadows emphasize the shapes of hills.

11. Minimalism

boat minimalism — This minimalist photo uses a bird’s-eye view taken from a bridge.

Keeping your composition nice and clean is the key to a good photo. This means that one of the best easy creative photography techniques is minimalism.

You can create minimalism even in the most cluttered environment as long as you frame your photo correctly. This style of photography requires that you give your subject some room to breathe. Focus on the main subject and position it in front of an uncluttered background.

Try out these easy creative photography techniques, yourself!

There are so many ways to be creative with photography. Which techniques do you like to use? Are there any simple-to-apply techniques you’ve tried that didn’t make this list? Share your thoughts in the comments!

And if you have any photos that illustrate these techniques, share them in the comments, too!

Then get photographing with these easy creative photography techniques!

The post 11 Easy Creative Photography Techniques You Can Try on Any Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Bond.

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Food Photography Techniques and Tips

24 Oct

The post Food Photography Techniques and Tips appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jonathan Pollack.

Editor’s note: This article was updated in October 2020.

I originally wrote this article in 2009 when I was beginning to take pictures for my wife’s baking blog and various local magazines. Since then, I’ve had a lot of practice, and I’ve honed my food photography techniques.

I’m thrilled to update everyone with what I’ve learned, and I hope that you find the information here helpful when taking pictures of your food.

Food styling

When you’re taking pictures of food, it’s critical that your subject looks as good as it hopefully tastes. If you don’t have the budget to hire a food stylist, it’s important to know some basic styling techniques that can make food look its best.

Make more food than you think you’ll need, and always photograph the examples that look the best. You cannot make a burnt waffle or soggy asparagus look appetizing.

Props can help you set the mood for your food photos. I have a basement full of plates, platters, chargers, cups, glassware, utensils, napkins, tablecloths, surfaces, and cutting boards at my disposal. With those, I can pull together what I need to set a table (or a portion of a table) for a picnic setting, a fine-dining scene, or something in between.

While you don’t need to have a ton of food photography props, I recommend that you at least have a few place settings and utensils, as well as a nice surface to photograph on.

Plating your dish properly can elevate it from mundane to extraordinary. If you aren’t working with a professional chef or food stylist, I recommend you read articles and watch video tutorials about plating as a starting point.

Think about ingredient placement, creating height or depth, adding color, or increasing contrast.

Here are a few plating tips to improve your food photography:

Plate an odd number of the item you’re photographing.
Add garnish where appropriate, such as with soups.
Lean longer flat items against those with some height.
Use edible flowers or fresh herbs to add some contrasting color to your plate.

Food photography composition

When taking pictures of food, you have the advantage of a subject that is stationary. This means you have complete control over the camera’s position and angle, and how close or far away the camera is from the scene.

To get the best composition, I recommend you start with a few food photography techniques:

Use the traditional rule of thirds to yield strong compositions if you don’t have a lot of experience. Mentally divide your frame into a 3×3 grid and place key elements at the gridlines or intersections. Once you’re familiar with the rule of thirds and you can see how it can lend power to your scene, treat it as a suggestion and experiment.
Draw the viewer into your composition. Show part of the plate in your photo rather than the entire dish. Use utensils or napkins to help guide the viewer’s eyes to what you want them to focus on. And remember that the same contrasting elements that help you style a plate will also work in your favor when it comes to composition.

Use negative space to make a powerful photo. Clutter in your scene causes visual confusion, so remove it. The less your viewer is drawn to, the better.
Think of how the dish would best be viewed. Head-on views, overhead shots, and views looking slightly down into the dish are always preferable to looking down at a plate from a 45-degree angle.
Keep your camera level. Early in my food photography career, I felt that angles conveyed a sense of excitement to the viewer. They did – because they made it look like the food was falling off the plate! I stopped rotating my camera, and my photos became much stronger overnight.
Zoom with your lens and your feet. There are times when macro photos of food work well, and there are times when a wider shot conveys a better sense of place and atmosphere. See if background compression helps remove distractions from your dish. Try a number of options with your food and see what works best.

Food photography lighting and exposure

While you don’t need the absolute best equipment to photograph food – I’m using camera equipment that’s a decade old! – you do need to think about how your choice of lighting, exposure, and even camera equipment affect your photo.

Placing your dish with natural light to the side and behind generally yields great results, but it’s also not consistent or reproducible; a passing cloud or thunderstorm can suddenly destroy all of your styling and composition efforts.

If you’re working on taking photos over the span of a few hours and you want them all to look similar, I highly recommend that you use artificial light of some sort. Most food photos I’ve taken indoors are photographed using flashes with diffusion from behind or off to the side of the food. I use reflectors to bounce some light back to the front of the dish, if needed.

If you’re working within a budget, consider getting inexpensive work lights and putting white linens between the lights and your food.

Learn how to use the exposure triangle whether you’re using natural or artificial lighting, and start setting everything on your camera manually. Aim to blur out your background while keeping the foreground nice and sharply focused. And, of course, make sure everything is lit just right.

Equipment for food photography

The best camera equipment in the world won’t help if you haven’t learned what to do with it. I always advise people to start by renting equipment or buying cheap, used gear.

To start off, I recommend a tripod, a camera body that supports detachable lenses, and a medium zoom lens. I encourage you to learn to shoot and edit RAW photos, as you can adjust far more in post-production with them than you can with JPEG images.

If you’re ready to move on from your basic camera setup, I recommend you buy color calibration equipment and lighting. And when you feel confident that you have a good understanding of all of the gear you have and you feel that your current gear is holding you back, finally commit to a full-frame camera system and professional lenses.

Food photography techniques: conclusion

What food photography techniques have worked for you? What techniques have been problematic? Please let me know in the comments!

The post Food Photography Techniques and Tips appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jonathan Pollack.

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Ilford Photo Darkroom Guide video series reveals printing techniques and more for beginners

20 Oct

Black and white film and paper manufacturer Ilford Photo has produced a series of videos to help beginners get to grips with essential darkroom techniques. Hosted by Rachel Brewster-Wright from Little Vintage Photography the collection of videos tackles some of the basics of common darkroom questions in a simple to follow format.

So far, subjects covered in the 16-video playlist include dodging and burning, selenium toning, using multi-grade paper and more. The series sits alongside a mass of other educational content from the film-maker that covers issues such as how an enlarger works, pinhole photography, a checklist for setting up your own darkroom and processing your first roll of film. This is mixed with inspirational interviews with black and white photographers and printers, as well as footage inside the Ilford Factory in the UK.

If you want to get started in black and white film photography, or you want a refresher on how it’s all done check out the Ilford Photo YouTube channel.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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21 Settings, Techniques and Rules All New Camera Owners Should Know

13 Oct

The post 21 Settings, Techniques and Rules All New Camera Owners Should Know appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darren Rowse.

In this article, we’re going to share 21 photography settings, techniques, and rules you should know as a beginner photographer.

Some are very basic while others go a little deeper, but all have been selected from our archives specifically for beginners and new camera owners.

Enjoy!

Introduction to useful modes and settings on your digital camera

Photography settings, techniques, and rules

1. Digital Camera Modes Explained – I spoke with a family friend recently who had just bought a new point and shoot camera. She came up to me with her camera when no one was watching and embarrassedly asked me if I could tell her what all the little icons on the dial on top of her camera meant. This article explains what each of the most common digital camera modes means and does. Knowing these photography modes can take your shots to the next level.

2. Aperture and Shutter Priority Modes – This introduction takes you through these two very useful settings that can be found on many digital cameras. Aperture and Shutter Priority mode take you off of Auto mode, giving you more control over your images without thrusting you fully into Manual mode. They are great settings to explore and master.

3. Introduction to White Balance – One of the most common problems that I see in beginner photography is shots with incorrect colors. We’ve all seen them: portraits where your subject’s teeth and eyeballs (and everything else) have a yellowish tinge. Learn what causes this and how to combat it with this tutorial on white balance.

Photography settings, techniques, and rules histogram 4. Understanding Histograms – “Histograms are scary.” This is what one reader said to me recently when they discovered that they could view these little graphs on their camera. While histograms might seem a little technical, it is amazing how simple a histogram is to interpret. Know what to look for, and with just a glance you can tell if your image is under- or over-exposed. It’s a useful tool to master.

5. Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) – This feature is another of those often-unexplored settings that many cameras have built into them. It will allow you to get well-exposed shots in even the trickiest of lighting situations.

Other basic camera techniques

Photography settings, techniques, and rules: how to hold a camera

6. How to Hold a Digital Camera – This beginner tutorial covers a topic that most camera owners skip over without realizing that it is a foundational lesson in photography. Get this wrong and it can dramatically impact the quality of your shots.

7. Shutter Release Technique – Another basic tip that many do intuitively, but which can drastically improve your photography if you don’t do it.

8. How to Use Focal Lock – Yet another beginner technique that many of us take for granted, yet is at the core of how all digital cameras focus automatically. Get this wrong and you’ll take a lot of shots of out-of-focus subjects and in-focus backgrounds!

9. How to Take Sharp Digital Images – “My shots are fuzzy.” It’s a problem we’re frequently asked about, so we wrote this tutorial to help you get the sharpest images your camera can take.

10. Shooting with an In-Camera Flash – Flash photography with a built-in flash can lead to some terribly blown-out images. This article offers a few tips on how to avoid this. And here are 7 Strategies for Avoiding Flash Blow Out.

11. How to Get Shallow Depth of Field in Your Digital Photos – A great technique to learn if you’re into many types of photography (portraits, macro, etc.) is how to control the depth of field in your shots. That way, you can make your main subject pop by making your background nicely blurred. This tutorial walks you through how to do it.

12. Understanding Exposure – This post takes new camera owners through the three main elements of exposure. Once you’ve read it, also check out our introductions to ISO, aperture, and shutter speed.

Camera care and maintenance

camera care broken camera

13. How to Avoid a Dirty DSLR Sensor – One of the fastest ways to ruin every single shot you take with your new DSLR is to end up with a dirty image sensor. This tutorial gives some basic tips on how to ensure it stays as clean as possible.

14. How to Clean a DSLR Lens – As much as you try to protect them, lenses tend to get grimy over time. This tutorial shares some basic tips on how to clean lenses so that your shots will be as clear as possible.

15. 7 Digital Camera Predators and How to Keep them at Bay – This tutorial takes you through 7 of the most common ways that digital cameras get damaged, what to look out for, and what preventative actions you can take.

Composition tips

rule of thirds composition tips

16. The Rule of Thirds – Whether you follow it or break it, the rule of thirds is a topic you should at least know about.

17. Points of Interest – An image without some visual point of interest is unlikely to hold the eye of anyone viewing it.

18. Getting Horizons Horizontal – The perfect way to ruin that lovely sunset or landscape shot is to make it lean to one side. Get your horizon horizontal!

19. Fill Your Frame – This is not applicable to every shot you take, but many photographers could drastically improve their photography by getting in close to their subject and filling the frame.

20. Getting Backgrounds Right – The background can make or break an image. This tutorial walks you through a number of things to look out for and techniques to use to get the background just right.

21. Adding Randomness to Your Photos – Learn how to set your images apart from everyone else’s by injecting creativity, variety, and a little randomness into your shots.

Of course, these 21 photography settings, techniques, and rules for beginner camera owners just scratch the surface of all there is to learn about the art of photography. Subscribe to our blog here to get more free daily tips to help you keep learning and improving.

Our guide to getting creative control over your camera

If you’re looking for a complete guide to taking control of your camera, then you might like to check out our course, Photo Nuts and Bolts, which walks you through everything you need to know to start taking beautiful photos.

Here’s the intro:

Grab this great dPS course here.

The post 21 Settings, Techniques and Rules All New Camera Owners Should Know appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darren Rowse.

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DPReview TV: Six techniques to help you nail manual focus

02 Oct

Autofocus has gotten very good. Scarily good, even. But some situations call for good old fashioned manual focus, whether you’re shooting macro, video or channeling your inner Cartier-Bresson on the street. For these occasions, Chris and Jordan have a few quick tips that will help you nail your manually focused shot every time.

Introduction
Punch in focus
Peaking
Hyperfocal distance
Focus marks
Focusing with camera movement
Snapping into focus

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

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Starting with Off-Camera Flash in Photography: Techniques

30 Jun

The post Starting with Off-Camera Flash in Photography: Techniques appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Carl Spring.

Starting with off-camera flash feature image

In my last post, I showed you what equipment you needed when starting with off-camera flash. This time, I am going to be looking at the technical side and what you actually need to learn in order to take great photos using off-camera flash.

It’s hard

This is the part where you need to really get to grips with how this all works. When starting with off-camera flash, this will be something that frustrates you. I’m not going to lie, it involves hard work and practice to get right.

In order to start, you really should have a good idea of how to shoot in manual mode, or at least a good awareness of aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

For someone new to off-camera flash, the technical aspects are the part that is the most daunting. Not only are you working with the camera in manual mode, but you are also adding things such as flash power and flash-to-subject distance. Then there is a model for an extra layer of pressure. That said, a good model is vital.

Fuji camera close up showing dials and shutter button — It’s time to move to manual mode. It’s not that scary. Promise

Working with a model

Finding people to pose for you while you learn is always hard. For this article, I managed to get an awesome model. She is incredibly patient and did exactly what I asked her to do every time. Here she is:

A mannequin is great when starting in off-camera flash. This image is shot with a soft box against a blue background. — Always hits her mark perfectly and never complains. A great investment.

Honestly, a mannequin head is a great investment when starting with off-camera flash. I only paid £4 for this hairdressers mannequin on an Amazon flash sale. Using a mannequin really allows you to build confidence and test lighting setups without worrying about annoying friends, family or models.

You can always use other inanimate objects, especially if you are not interested in portraits, but a hairdresser mannequin is one of the best investments you can make to help you master off-camera flash for portraits.

Learn the technical rather than letting the camera do it

With modern cameras, flashes and triggers, you can easily stick with letting the camera do all the hard work. Call me old school, but I think it is hugely important to learn off-camera flash manually. By doing this, it is easier to understand how everything works. It also means you are in total control of what is happening.

Just like learning to photograph in manual mode, using off-camera flash manually allows you to get the exact results you want every time. Even if you then go on to shoot in auto mode, you will have the knowledge to still get the shot when the camera plays up (which they tend to do when you need them to do it least).

As you shoot more, you will become more confident, so I would always suggest using an inanimate object whilst you practice. There is nothing worse for knocking your confidence than having your subject in front of your camera and having a total mental meltdown, because you changed the position of the flash but you can’t remember how to adjust the exposure in your camera to make it look right.

CANON EOS RP PRESS IMAGE WITH 24-105 LENS — Modern Cameras are incredibly smart. But getting started in off-camera flash requires you to do the hard work.

The five variables

Unlike shooting in ambient light, where you only have three variables that can control the image, shooting flash ramps this up to five.

However, it is simply a case of working through them methodically. With practice, it becomes easier. However, your first few times, it may be trial and error (and possibly frustration).

The five variables are:

Shutter speed
Aperture
Flash power
ISO
Flash-to-subject distance

Let’s start with the two elements that are present in every photograph: shutter speed and aperture.

1. Shutter speed

A model bride shot against a dark backdrop in a dimly lit venue. — The ambient light for this shot was awful, so I removed it. I left my shutter at 1/200th and found an aperture to kill the ambient light. I then set the flash power accordingly to create this.

The main use of shutter speed when using off-camera flash is that you can darken or lighten the ambient light. This includes your background and any other light sources, such as room lights and candles, etc. By using your shutter speed, you can alter the amount of ambient light in the shot without altering any other variable.

The reason for this is that a flash will put out all of its power in the smallest fraction of a second (as quick as to 1/20000th second on some flashes). Your shutter speed will be less than this and, therefore, will not affect the power of the flash itself.

There is also one other thing that affects the use of shutter speed, the flash sync of your camera.

The flash sync is the maximum speed that you can shoot the flash at. This is usually around 1/200th of a second. There is a technical explanation for this and ways to shoot faster, but I won’t get into it within this article as I don’t want to overload you with information. Just remember, you cannot put your shutter speed faster than your flash sync.

Shutter speed in practice

When thinking about using the shutter in off-camera flash photography, the thing you need to decide is how much of the surroundings you want to include. If shooting portraits outdoors against a beautiful sky or backdrop, you may want to balance the exposure with the flash to make the most of the location.

However, if you are doing an indoor shoot with ugly or unflattering lighting, you may want to totally remove all ambient light. Shutter speed is your key to doing this.

Let’s look at this with a series of images.

In all of the images, the only thing I will alter is the shutter speed. Everything else will remain identical. The Aperture is f/16, ISO 100. My flash power is 1/4.

For the first shot, I set the shutter speed to the maximum sync speed (1/200th). As you can see in this image, the background is underexposed for effect and the model is lit by the flash.

Starting with Off-Camera Flash in Photography: Techniques — The model is lit by flash. Areas where the flash does not hit are much darker (left side of her face)

As I slow the shutter, this time to 1/100th second, you can see the sky is lighter and the darker areas of the model that are not hit by the flash are less harsh. I have allowed one more stop of light into the camera, but only for the ambient exposure due to the speed of the light coming from the flash.

Finally, I slowed the shutter down to 1/60th to give the correct ambient exposure for the sky and using the flash as a fill for any shadows on the model.

A photo off a mannequin used to illustrate getting started in off-camera flash. The doll is shot against a cloudy sky. — With a balanced ambient and flash, the flash fills in any shadows on the model’s face.

Notice how the lighting from the flash has not changed. That is because aperture controls flash exposure.

You can also use your aperture or ISO to increase or decrease the natural light coming into the camera, but remember when you alter them, you will also need to alter your flash power too.

2. Aperture

When starting out. The easiest way to think about things is that shutter speed controls the ambient exposure and your aperture controls your flash exposure. I know it is a little more nuanced than that in reality, but when learning, you want things to be as simple as possible.

We know that your shutter speed controls how long your camera shutter is open. Your aperture, however, controls how much light enters your camera, not for how long.

As flash power is too quick to be affected by shutter speed, you control it by changing the aperture. If the image is overexposed, you need to close the aperture down, and if it is too dark, you need to open your aperture up.

Setting aperture in practice

To show this in action, look at the images below. In all images, I will keep the shutter at 1/200th of a second and my ISO at 100.

Firstly, I set the flash at f/4. As you can see, the image is overexposed. This means I need to close the aperture a little.

A photo of a doll against a blue backdrop. The image is overexposed. — f/4 is overexposed. I need to change the aperture.

Next at f/8, you can see I have closed the aperture down too far. The image is too dark, so I need to open the aperture a little more.

An underexposed image of a dolls head against a blue background. — At f/8, the image is too dark. I need to change the aperture.

Finally, here is the shot at f/5.6. As you can see, this is the correct exposure.

A dolls head against a plain background exposed correctly — Finally, at f/5.6 I have the correct exposure.

As you can see, I have not changed any other exposure variable, just the aperture. Changing the shutter speed would have no impact because the flash discharges its power so quickly. Now I have locked in my exposure, my lighting will be identical every time.

Bonus round

Here is the same image shot with the same aperture and a shutter of 1/100th of a second. A you can see, the change of shutter speed has made no difference to the exposure.

3. Flash Power

Flash power is simply how much power the flash can put out. This varies from flash to flash.

In terms of getting started, a Speedlite is more than fine. It will mean not shooting in the brightest part of the day (unless you are in shade), but it is super affordable, and the best way to start with off-camera flash.

As with shooting in manual mode, you want to learn with your flash in Manual mode. This helps with consistency.

If you set your flash to 1/2 power, every single pop of that flash will be half power. This consistency is key to mastering flash.

In terms of power, you start with full power, which is sometimes also known as 1/1. This is the largest amount of light that your flash can produce. Most modern flashes work in small 1/3 stops, but to simplify things whilst you learn, you really need to concern yourself with the following outputs:

1:1
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/16
1/32
1/64
1/128

Each of these settings equates to 1 full stop of light the flash produces. So changing the flash from full power (1/1) to half power (1/2) reduces the amount of light coming out by one full stop. Changing it from 1/1 to 1/4 reduces it by two full stops, etc.

Remember, the stops it refers to are your aperture, as this is what controls flash exposure. If you look at the table below it will explain it more clearly.

FLASH POWER	1/1	1/2	1/4	1/8	1/16	1/32	1/64
APERTURE	*f/16*	*f/11*	*f/8*	*f/5.6*	*f/4*	*f/2.8*	*f/2*

As you can see, if the flash at full power gives you a correctly-exposed image at f/16, half power will bring you down to f/11 and so on. This relationship is the key to mastering flash. Half the power = 1 stop of light.

4. Where does ISO fit into all this?

Shooting a flash at full power is less than ideal. There may be some circumstances where you cannot avoid it, but it will kill your batteries quicker, take longer to recharge between shots, and, in some cases, it may overheat the flash, causing it to not work at all. Ideally, you want to be working at 1/2 power or less.

ISO is where you can make that happen.

By doubling your ISO, you allow one more stop of light into the camera. Therefore, you can reduce the flash power and still get the look you wanted. For example, an image at ISO 100 and a flash power or 1/1 will be the same as an image at ISO 400 and 1/4 flash power.

ISO in practice

I have decided I want to shoot at f/8 and ISO 100. To do this, the flash has to be at 1/1. To get to 1/4, it means I will lose two stops of flash power.

When starting in off-camera flash, your ISO is something you need to reduce flash power. Here is an example at ISO 100 and flash power or 1/1 — Here is the image at ISO100 and flash power 1/1.

To keep the same aperture, I turn my ISO from 100 to 400, therefore, giving me two more stops of light into the camera. The image is virtually identical

It is all a juggling act, and ISO is there to help you fine-tune. However, upping your ISO comes with more noise. But, most DSLR and mirrorless cameras can easily go up to ISO 800 and still be of great quality.

ISO can also help with getting the correct ambient exposure whilst keeping a required shutter speed – especially as light drops. A simple tip is – if you need to double your ISO to get more ambient light, drop your flash power by one stop to compensate.

5. Flash-to-subject distance

I have saved this for last. This is the most technical when it comes to understanding flash (and involves the laws of physics).

The distance of your flash to your subject is governed by The Inverse Square Law. This law states:

The intensity of an effect such as illumination or gravitational force changes in inverse proportion to the square of the distance from the source.

https://www.diyphotography.net/visual-approach-inverse-square-law-affects-photographers/

Now, I am sure you are reading this thinking, what the heck does that mean? Well it means the amount of light is reduced by distance. See the diagram below courtesy of Wikimedia:

The easiest way to look at this in a photography sense is every time you double the distance between your light and the subject, the amount of light will be reduced to 1/4 of what it was.

What also happens is that every time you double that distance, you get more space to work in. This is really useful if you are doing a group shot. Again, whilst this is hard to explain with words, look at the diagram below.

A diagram of off-camera flash and how distance is affected by the inverse square law. — If you are doing a group shot, you want to get the flash further away from the subjects to avoid issues with exposure across the image

Flash-to-subject distance in practice

Now we understand the inverse square law, we can use it to our advantage. All of the images will be shot on the same blue background.

For both images, I will set the exposure at 1/200th, f/16 at ISO 100. I will keep the exposure the same by changing the flash power. The model is 1.5m from the background.

I start with the flash close to the subject (30cm). You can see the background is black. This is due to the light being close to the subject. Therefore, the difference in exposure between the subject to the background is huge due to the inverse square law.

A dummy head showing the inverse square law in action. The head is close to the flash darkening the background — With the flash 30cm away from the model, the background gets virtually no light due to the inverse square law and light fall-off.

Now, as I move the light back, the difference in the power of light between the subject and the background is much less due to the inverse square law.

The distance between the model and the light is now around 2m.

To keep the exposure the same, I have had to increase the power of my flash a whopping 6 stops. In this example, it has gone from 1/128 power to 1/2 power to keep the same exposure.

As you can see in the image below, the final model and background are both well-exposed due to moving the light further back.

Let’s recap

So hopefully, you now have a good understanding of the basics for getting started with off-camera flash. But let’s recap the basic points to remember:

Aperture controls the flash exposure
Shutter speed controls the ambient light
Doubling or halving the power of your flash moves the power of the flash by one stop of light.
When the flash is close, the light falls off incredibly quickly
As you move further away, the fall-off is much slower.
Get yourself a model that isn’t human to practice on. Try the model head or bottle of whiskey.
Practice, practice, practice.
It isn’t easy to get your head around, but I promise that one day it will just click. The only way for this to happen is if you practice. So, what are you waiting for?

There are more variables you can throw in, such as modifiers, high-speed sync, etc. but right now, that isn’t what you need to learn.

Master these basics and then push things further. The only thing I would suggest to add is an umbrella to diffuse the light and give more flattering results.

Now it’s time to practice

An article about starting with off-camera flash that tells you to shoot fully manual. You might be thinking “I can’t do this.” You can – you just need to practice.

It may sound daunting to some of you, but I promise it is easier than you think. I always compare starting with off-camera flash to learning your time tables. When you are learning them, they feel really difficult. Then it clicks, you suddenly understand it and you wondered why it took so long.

All together class, sing along. Two times two is four…

Do you have any other tips or questions you’d like to share? Please do so in the comments.

The post Starting with Off-Camera Flash in Photography: Techniques appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Carl Spring.

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8 Core Lightroom Retouching Techniques to Enhance Your Photos

31 May

The post 8 Core Lightroom Retouching Techniques to Enhance Your Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darina Kopcok.

dps-core-lightroom-retouching-techniques

Adobe Lightroom is the preferred RAW editor for many photographers. It’s user friendly, yet has many powerful features to help you get the most out of your photos. Here are the core Lightroom retouching techniques to get more out of your photographs.

1. Start with your histogram

The histogram is the first step in retouching using Lightroom. It mathematically represents the tonal range of a given photograph. The tonal range considers all the tones between the darkest part and the lightest part of your image.

The histogram maps out the brightness area in the photo in grayscale. Black is situated on the left side of the histogram, while white is on the right. You can find all the shades of grey in between. Every shade has a scale of brightness values. For a standard JPG image, there are 256 different recorded values of brightness, “0” being pure black and “255” pure white.

Learning how to read your histogram is important because it will tell you whether your photo is properly exposed or not. If you have pixels touching the very ends of your histogram, your photo is either underexposed or overexposed

Unfortunately, you can’t recover these missing details with Lightroom retouching techniques.

2. Choose the correct Color Profile

Before you start the retouching process, you should decide on a color profile, as it will make a significant difference in the color and contrast in your photo.

You can find the Color Profiles in the Basic panel. You can choose from Adobe profiles or from color profiles from your camera.

3. Get a base with the Tone Curve

Before making exposure adjustments in the Basic panel, it’s a good idea to get a base with the Tone Curve.

The Tone Curve is a graphical representation of the tones found throughout your image. By making tweaks to the curve, you can influence the look of the shadows and highlights.

I recommend starting by lifting the curve at the midpoint when in the Point Curve. This will boost the midtones and contrast, which looks attractive in most images.

Pull the curve down in the bottom quarter of the curve to deepen the shadows. These simple tweaks can make your image immediately look more dynamic.

If you’re new to the Tone Curve, you might be more comfortable starting with the sliders in the Region Curve. This won’t give you as much control as the Point Curve but will help you make significant changes to the aesthetic of your image.

Once you’ve made other edits to your image, you can come back to the Tone Curve for further tweaks.

Retouching is a process of building and assessing, so you’ll most likely have to jump around from one panel in Lightroom to another until you get a look that you’re satisfied with.

4. Tweak the Basic Panel

The next step is to correct your White Balance.

Keep in mind that White Balance can be set in-camera to be 100% accurate, or can be used creatively if you’re not striving for a correct white. For example, if your style is warmer in tone, you can push your white balance above 6000+ to give it a golden look.

I kept my image on the cooler side because I wanted to bring out the blue and emphasize the complementary color choice to make my apricots pop.

Once you’ve made the best white balance, make any necessary edits to the Highlights, Shadows, and Whites and Blacks in the Basic Panel.

If your image doesn’t look correctly exposed in these areas, you can then adjust the exposure. However, I don’t recommend starting there. It’ll boost the exposure in all those areas, which may not be what the image needs.

5. Layer Contrast and add Vibrance in the Presence Panel

When retouching in Lightroom, I recommend using the Vibrance slider instead of Saturation.

Vibrance lifts the mid-tones. Saturation boosts all the color in the image, which can make it look unnatural and clownish. If you do choose to use the Saturation slider, watch how it affects your picture as you move the slider. A maximum of +10 is usually more than enough.

Be sure to add a bit of Clarity, which will boost the contrast in the image. The best retouching is often the result of layering various effects at low numbers, rather than adding a high amount of any one tool, such as Contrast.

To create contrast, you can use a combination of Contrast, Clarity, Texture, and the Tone Curve. Even a touch of Dehaze works great for a lot of images.

6. Adjust color in the HSL Panel

Color has a huge impact on your image. Color is an aspect of composition and crucial to the aesthetic of your photography. The HSL panel in Lightroom is where you will do the most color treatment.

Unless your aesthetic is quite warm, you might want to bring the orange saturation down a bit in your photos. It tends to look too strong. Also, pay attention to the Luminance sliders and use them instead of Saturation to control brightness, as they control the brightness of individual colors.

7. Try Split Toning in the highlights and shadows

Split Toning is a Lightroom tool that you can use to great effect when it comes to Lightroom retouching techniques. Split Toning adds color toning to the highlights and shadows individually, based on luminance.

However, note that a little goes a long way.

To add split toning, hold down the Alt/Option key while you move the sliders for Highlights and Shadows. This will allow you to see the variations for each color and pre-visualize how it will look applied to the image.

Dial-in as much saturation as you feel appropriate for the image. This is usually a low number. A small amount is often all you need to make your images more dynamic.

Split-toning is sometimes overlooked or used with too heavy of a hand, but with a subtle approach, it’s a very effective Lightroom retouching technique.

8. Enhance with local adjustments

Local adjustments are applied to a localized area in an image rather than globally. They only affect the part of the image selected. This allows you to fine tune your photo and have more control over your final result. You can use them to correct problem areas or to create a certain effect.

The local adjustment tools are:

the Graduated Filter

8 Core Lightroom Retouching Techniques to Enhance Your Photos

The Graduated Filter is for filtered effects and creating evenness throughout the image.

the Radial Filter

The Radial Filter helps you easily isolate subjects for retouching.

the Adjustment Brush

The Adjustment Brush helps you create masks for localized retouching by brushing them on.

the Spot Removal tool

The Spot Removal tool gets rid of blemishes or small objects in the image. The Adjustment Brush is for creating free-form masks, while the Radial Filter is used to isolate subjects.

Range masks have been added to three of the local adjustment tools to allow you to target color and luminance.

The key to enhancing your images with local adjustments is to use a combination of the tools for subtle adjustments, as well as adjusting the opacity or feathering of the tool to create subtle transitions.

Using local adjustments is one of the most powerful Lightroom retouching techniques.

Conclusion

You’ll get the best result in Lightroom by layering the different tools. For example, don’t just use the Contrast slider to add contrast and call it a day. Layer the contrast with small adjustments to the Tone Curve, Dehaze, and Clarity for a subtle and effective look.

Every photographer develops a workflow that works effectively for them. Hopefully, these core Lightroom retouching techniques will help you fine-tune your editing process.

If you have any other Lightroom retouching techniques you’d like to share, please do so in the comments section.

The post 8 Core Lightroom Retouching Techniques to Enhance Your Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darina Kopcok.

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Landscape Editing Techniques for Fine Art Photography Using Lightroom

12 Apr

The post Landscape Editing Techniques for Fine Art Photography Using Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

In this video from the photographer, Marvin Grey, you’ll learn some fine art landscape editing techniques in Lightroom that will give you the opportunity to experiment with your landscapes to give them a whole new look and feel.

While the results may not be for everyone, the techniques he uses will teach you some valuable Lightroom editing techniques that you can use in other editing scenarios.

And what better time to tackle and play with our catalogs of landscape photos and learn some new landscape editing techniques while we are at home!

Feel free to share your results with us in the comments below.

Posts Tagged ‘TECHNIQUES’

1. Include a main subject to engage the viewer

2. Use the rule of thirds to position your key elements

3. Use foreground interest to create depth

4. Use leading lines to suck the viewer into the scene

5. Use lots of negative space to create minimalist landscape compositions

6. Don’t be afraid to go tight

7. Use layers to help simplify the scene

8. Incorporate diagonal lines to add movement

9. Use geometry, especially triangles, to add flow and stability

10. Find natural frames to focus the viewer

Landscape photography composition: final words

1. Tuck your elbows in

2. Raise your left shoulder

3. Create a tripod with your knee

4. Lie down on the ground

5. The machine gun hold

6. Cradle your camera

Six techniques to reduce camera shake: conclusion

1. Reflection

2. Silhouettes

3. Repetition

4. Refraction

5. Contrast

6. Framing

7. Panning

8. Point of view

9. Lines

10. Shadows

11. Minimalism

Try out these easy creative photography techniques, yourself!

Food styling

Food photography composition

Food photography lighting and exposure

Equipment for food photography

Food photography techniques: conclusion

Introduction to useful modes and settings on your digital camera

Other basic camera techniques

Camera care and maintenance

Composition tips

Our guide to getting creative control over your camera

It’s hard

Working with a model

Learn the technical rather than letting the camera do it

The five variables

1. Shutter speed

Shutter speed in practice

2. Aperture

Setting aperture in practice

Bonus round

3. Flash Power

4. Where does ISO fit into all this?

ISO in practice

5. Flash-to-subject distance

Flash-to-subject distance in practice

Let’s recap

Now it’s time to practice

1. Start with your histogram

2. Choose the correct Color Profile

3. Get a base with the Tone Curve

4. Tweak the Basic Panel

5. Layer Contrast and add Vibrance in the Presence Panel

6. Adjust color in the HSL Panel

7. Try Split Toning in the highlights and shadows

8. Enhance with local adjustments

Conclusion

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