Category: Photography

6 Reasons Why Dedicated Cameras are Better than Smartphones for Photography

The post 6 Reasons Why Dedicated Cameras are Better than Smartphones for Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

Modern smartphone cameras are amazing! They have facilitated an explosion in photography that shows no signs of stopping. Mobile phone cameras, apps, editing, and sharing have given people access to creative outlets that were unthinkable a mere 15 years ago. If the best camera is the one you have with you, then 9 times out of 10, the best camera is right in your pocket! Despite the advances in smartphone cameras, there are still few things smartphone cameras lack. So, in this article, we’ll explore why dedicated cameras are better than smartphones for photography. In other words, there are some photos you just can’t get with a smartphone.

Reasons why dedicated cameras are better than smartphones for photography

Nikon D7100, 85mm, f/2.8, 1/1000 second, ISO 100

1. Software vs. Physics

The first of the 5 reasons why dedicated cameras are better than smartphones for photography, is software vs physics.

I don’t want to sound like an old man yelling at clouds, decrying all modern technologies that might make my life better. Smartphone cameras and computational photography are incredible! They can use software and artificial intelligence to capture incredible images of night skies and portrait-style images with blurry backgrounds.

But digital trickery and software manipulations are no match for a mastery of light and physics, and this is where dedicated cameras still have an edge.

Most smartphones have lenses that approximate roughly a 28mm field of view on a full-frame camera. Some have second lenses that go a bit wider, usually about 15mm. It’s also not uncommon for higher-end phones to have a telephoto lens as well, which is roughly equivalent to a 50mm lens.

Nearly all smartphone cameras are stuck at a single aperture value as well, which gives you limited control over a key element of exposure. While there is much that can be done in software to overcome the inherent limitations of these lenses and focal lengths, sometimes you just need a separate camera to get the shot.

2. Foreground Blur

Nikon D7100, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/2000 second, ISO 100

Any smartphone can take pictures of flowers. This particular image shows a backlit flower whose petals are glowing with sunlight streaking in from above and behind, and a mobile phone could capture that just fine. However, there is one key element of this image that’s impossible on a smartphone – the foreground blur.

Smartphones have come a long way with so-called portrait-style photography. Portrait mode involves software combined with depth data that allows a smartphone to blur the background.

But not the foreground.

This is one of the things smartphone cameras lack. Try it for yourself!

Take a portrait-style photo with your smartphone but include objects in the foreground that you would like to blur. The background will get blurry, but the foreground will remain in focus.

Blurring both the foreground and background is a time-honored technique to add a sense of depth and perspective to your photos. Perhaps one day the software and AI techniques used on mobile phones will be able to replicate this. But, for now, if you’re using a smartphone, you’re stuck with just background blur.

3. Telephoto Zoom

Nikon D500, 200mm, f/8, 1/400 second, ISO 900

While smartphone cameras have had pinch-to-zoom capabilities for over a decade, it amounts to little more than just cropping your pictures. Modern smartphones do a better job of interpolating data between pixels and adjusting exposure values on the fly, but at the end of the day, you’re still just cropping.

In the process, you lose a lot of detail. And even then, you just can’t zoom in very far. It’s definitely one of the things smartphone cameras lack, despite some recent advances.

One classic example of this is a picture of the moon.

Smartphone lenses, and the laws of physics, make pictures like this impossible. You have probably noticed if you have ever tried to do a pinch-and-zoom photo of our nearest celestial neighbor.

You’ll need a dedicated camera if you want to get crisp, detailed photos of faraway objects. And this is just another reason dedicated cameras are better than smartphones.

Nikon D500, 200mm, f/2.8, 1/3000 second, ISO 100

Smartphones aren’t great for most long-distance shooting scenarios, such as this picture of a horse in the pasture.

While pinch-and-zoom can make it seem like you’re getting closer, you won’t get a tack-sharp, high-resolution image suitable for printing and framing.

Like everything tech-related, this is getting better and will improve with time. Some phones now are using stacked periscope-style lenses combined with software and AI processing to mimic 10x or even 100x zoom lenses. Right now, these make interesting tech demos, but the results don’t have the same level of clarity, color, and fidelity as you would get from a DSLR or mirrorless camera with a zoom lens attached.

4. Background compression

Nikon D7100, 200mm, f/2.8, 1/1500 second, ISO 100

Another reason dedicated cameras are better than smartphones is background compression.

Something interesting happens when you shoot photos with a telephoto zoom: the background appears to move closer to your subject.

It’s called background compression and is a time-honored compositional technique to make your subjects stand out and take your images up to another level. It’s also impossible to do on a smartphone.

In the picture above, the building is very far away from the woman walking in the foreground. Shooting with a telephoto lens compresses the background and makes it seem much closer.

Nikon D750, 200mm, f/4, 1/400 second, ISO 3200

In this family photo, you can see the trees and leaves in the background, which are very far away. However, they appear closer as a result of background compression.

While some smartphone cameras do have some limited zoom capability, their smaller lenses and image sensors simply do not allow for these types of pictures.

5. Fast action

Before I get too far in this section, I want to point out that smartphones are good at capturing some types of fast action. These conditions are fairly limited, though.

You have to be close to your subject, which isn’t possible in a lot of action situations. It also helps if you can lock focus on a specific area where you know the subject will be, or else have a smartphone with amazing autofocus capabilities. And if you can meet those challenges, then your phone could produce some good results.

For a lot of fast action, though, you need a DSLR or mirrorless camera. It helps to have a good lens attached too.

This will let you stand on the sidelines while getting up close and personal with your subjects. It helps to shoot with a wide aperture too, which will let you get a fast shutter speed and freeze the action.

Nikon D750, 185mm, f/4, 1/500 second, ISO 100

These types of action shots are impossible on smartphones because pinch-to-zoom just can’t get the job done. You’ll get pictures that are pixellated, blurry, or out of focus because smartphones are not able to match the speed and capability of a dedicated camera.

In the picture below, I was sitting in the stern of a boat zoomed in to 200mm. I had to use tracking autofocus to keep the picture sharp. My brother was also in the boat with his smartphone, and he didn’t like any of the shots he got.

Nikon D7100, 200mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 second, ISO 100

6. Portraits

The last of my reasons that dedicated cameras are better than smartphones relates to portrait photography.

This one might ruffle some feathers because phones have gotten so much better at portraits in recent years. In fact, some people can’t even tell the difference between portrait-style images shot on mobile phones and actual portraits taken with a dedicated camera. I have trouble sometimes too. In the coming years, mobile phones are going to keep getting better and better.

For now, and into the foreseeable future, dedicated cameras still have a significant advantage.

Software and AI, and computational horsepower can do a lot, but they can’t keep up with a good lens and physics.

In the picture below, the girl’s eyes are tack sharp but there is a subtle falloff as you look towards the edge of her face. Her hair goes from sharp to blurry in a smooth, even fashion.

The background isn’t just blurry – it’s obliterated. Mobile phones can’t do that.

Nikon D750, 170mm, f/2.8, 1/180 second, ISO 100

You don’t need expensive gear to take great portraits either.

In fact, you can spend far less on a used DSLR or Mirrorless camera than you would on a mobile phone with portrait mode.

The shot below was taken on a Nikon D200, which came out in 2006, and can be found today for about $ 150.

The lens is a cheap 50mm f/1.8. And the results blow away anything you can get from a mobile phone.

All the subtle details, like the way her eye is in focus but her ears are slightly blurry, to her hair slowly fading away, to the bokeh in the background, make this image a cut above what you could get from a smartphone. Just another reason that dedicated cameras are better than smartphones for photography.

Nikon D200, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/250 second, ISO 400

Conclusion

Before anyone gets out a bucket of tar and some feathers, please understand that I think smartphone cameras are amazing!

Despite the things smartphone cameras lack, they can take incredible pictures and technology will only make them better with time. I just think it’s important to understand their limitations and have a sense of some of the pictures they can’t yet achieve.

What about you?

I’m curious what your experience has been with smartphone pictures. Does your smartphone take the kinds of shots you want, or have you found that it can’t yet replace your DSLR or mirrorless camera?

I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to share your thoughts and example images in the comments below.

The post 6 Reasons Why Dedicated Cameras are Better than Smartphones for Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

Digital Photography School

March 9, 2020
How to Use the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter for Better Photo Editing
The post How to Use the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter for Better Photo Editing appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

Inside Photoshop, there are an awful lot of tools for you to use to get the very most out of your images. Some of these tools (while not simple) have very specific functions that you use for specific tasks (Unsharp Mask for example). The Photoshop Camera Raw Filter is different.

This filter opens up the use of the (almost) full functionality of Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) anywhere in your Photoshop workflow. If you’ve ever used ACR (or Lightroom) to process a raw file, you know exactly how feature-packed this tool is.

The Camera Raw Filter is a powerful tool that allows you access to the features of ACR anytime in your workflow.

In normal cases, you would use ACR to process your photos at the beginning of your workflow during raw processing, but the Camera Raw Filter opens up these tools to you anytime you may want them.

This article will outline how to use the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter, show you some instances where you might want to use it, and give you some tips to get the most out of it.

What is the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter?

Lightroom is great for processing your raw files (so is ACR), but what if you could use these tools inside Photoshop?

At its most basic, the Photoshop Camera Raw filter allows you to use the functions of the ACR interface at any time within Photoshop. This allows you to make any adjustments within ACR at any time during your workflow instead of just limiting its usage to the raw processing stage.

While it would be possible to import your working file into Lightroom to make the same sets of adjustments, doing this in Photoshop saves you from that cumbersome step. It allows you the use of these tools without any extra effort.

You can find the Camera Raw Filter under the filter menu.

To find the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter, simply choose Filter->Camera Raw Filter and the dialog box will pop up.

Before you do this, you may want to stamp all layers by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Alt+e (Cmd+Shift+Alt+e). This will combine all of your layers into a new layer from which you can work.

The top layer here is stamped from the two layers below it.

What it doesn’t allow

White Balance – Because you are not working from a raw file, you lose a lot of the functionality of the white balance setting in ACR. You will still be able to make drastic changes to the coloring of your images with this tool. It will be the same, for example, as adjusting a JPG in Lightroom.

Crop tool – You also lose the crop and rotate tools that you would have access to when working on RAW files.

There are others, but these are the most important to take note of.

In the various menus of the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter, you will find there are a few options missing that you would see in ACR.

It’s also important to realize that because you are not working with a raw file at this stage, you won’t have the same versatility that you would with a raw file in ACR.

Instead, the process will be more akin to working on a JPG file in Lightroom or ACR. This means you will have less information to work with, such as, dynamic range.

This is all fine and to be expected. However, it illustrates the importance of getting things as close to right as possible while in the raw stage of post-processing.

How can it be used?

With all of the power of ACR behind the Photoshop Camera Raw filter, there is no way to make anything resembling a complete list of what you could do with it. But here are a few potential uses that I find myself using often.
- Fine-tune adjustments after raw
- Make certain adjustments easier than in Photoshop
- Make quick, extreme adjustments for certain parts of your image
- Quick and easy vignetting
- Final tweaks before finishing your image
1. Fine-tuning adjustments after raw

Once in Photoshop, and after a bit of healing work, I decided that I wanted to make the image a touch cooler and reduce the vibrancy as well. To not lose the healing work, I used the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter to make a quick adjustment.

If you’re like me, you mostly make decisions about adjustments on the spot. This is fine when you process your raw file and move it into Photoshop immediately. However, if you leave it for a day or two before you come to it, you might find that you no longer like the decisions you made.

Of course, you could always go back into Lightroom and start again, but what happens if you have already started making adjustments to your image?

Chances are, you don’t want to lose those. A quick and easy solution is to stamp the layers to a new layer and run the Camera Raw Filter. Once there, you can make any adjustments you might want and click Okay.

This works great if you want to make quick adjustments to things like the overall exposure, contrast or vibrancy in an image. I will often come back to a file after a few days to find that I want to reduce the highlights and whites before I get started properly.

2. Make trickier adjustments

I find the Clarity tool in ACR tricky to replicate in Photoshop. Here, I darkened the background and cranked up the clarity with the Camera Raw Filter. I also used a Layer Mask to keep the changes off of the subject.

Photoshop might be all-powerful on its own, but ACR (and Lightroom by extension) do make a few things easier. For example, the Clarity slider is a tricky tool to replicate in Photoshop. Using the Photoshop camera raw filter to make these adjustments is easier and can save you a lot of time.

Another example is the use of the Highlights, Whites, Darks, and Blacks sliders to make quick, intuitive global contrast adjustments. Using these tools in this way is useful if you’re not yet fully familiar or comfortable with options like curves adjustments.

3. Local adjustments

Here, the shirt sleeve was still to bright for my taste, so I used the radial filter as a local adjustment to bring it down a bit

A common way I use the Photoshop camera raw filter is to make adjustments specific to a target area (such as a background).

After the adjustments are made, you can then use a layer mask to ensure that the adjustments are only affecting the areas that you want.

This method suits textured backdrops well because you can adjust the clarity and contrast to your heart’s content knowing that your subject won’t be affected once you make the layer mask.

4. Vignettes

ACR’s vignette tool is easy, fast and intuitive and hard to beat in Photoshop unless you need absolute control.

There are tonnes of ways to create a vignette in Photoshop, but in my opinion, the vignette tool within the ACR is by far the easiest, fastest and most intuitive to use. By doing it this way, you can create a subtle (or extreme if you prefer) vignette in just a few seconds. It is also easy to mask out (as per the previous section) any part of the vignette that might be interfering with your subject.

5. Final tweaks

With a finished image, you can always load up the Camera Raw Filter and see if there’s any small tweaks (like the ones here) to help the image.

Another useful trick for the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter is to use it to make a set of final tweaks to your finished images.

Once you’ve completed your image, you can run the filter and see if there’s any further small adjustments you’d like to make. Tiny adjustments to exposure, contrast (via all the sliders) clarity and vibrance can all help to give your finished images just a little more polish.

At this point, your images should be good to go, so do try to keep any adjustments at this stage small and subtle.

Just the beginning

With the exception of a bit of skin work (maybe five minutes) and some sharpening at the end, this image’s Photoshop workflow was completed otherwise entirely with the Camera Raw Filter. Hopefully you can see just how useful a tool it is.

With a tool like the Photoshop camera raw filter, there are so, so many options for you to use in your images.

If you can do it in ACR (with a few minor exceptions), you can do it with this filter inside Photoshop. Feel free to use it in any way that you need to that gets the results that you want.

Side-by-side comparison of the starting image and the final image.

Smart objects

Depending on your workflow and your style of post-processing, using the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter as a Smart Object might be a good choice for you.

Smart Objects allow you to come back to any adjustment you have made (with certain tools) and tweak them.

To setup a Smart Object, right click the layer that you want to use and choose Convert to Smart Object.

To work with Smart Objects, right-click the layer that you will run the Camera Raw Filter on and click Convert to Smart Object.

Now run the Camera Raw Filter and make any adjustments that you want to and press okay.

In the Layers Palette, and under the layer that you are working on, you will now see the name of the filter below the box titled Smart Filters. If you double click this, you will be taken back to the Camera Raw Filter dialog box where you can adjust any of the settings that you have tweaked.

This is a useful technique for any time you think you might second guess your decisions a bit later on.

With the layer converted to a Smart Object, you can apply your filter. To alter the adjustments, simply double click on the name of the filter in the layers palette.

Having said that, Smart Objects won’t suit every photographer’s workflow.

For example, I like to use a lot of stamped layers in my workflow and by the time I might see something I want to modify, I’ve already created and worked on a new stamped layer above it.

Any adjustments made to a Smart Object in this situation, would not be visible.

Overall

I will admit, that the way that the Camera Raw Filter was used in this example was extreme and bit over the top, but by using it in this manner, I hope you can see just how powerful an option it is for various adjustments in Photoshop.

The Photoshop camera raw filter is a very powerful tool that you can use while post processing your images for a great many different effects. Add to that the fact that anyone who shoots in raw format is already familiar with the interface, it makes using the filter quick and painless to make any number of adjustments. I have discussed only a few ways that you can use this filter in your images, but if you have any other suggestions on how you use it, please leave it in the comments below for other readers to benefit from.

The post How to Use the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter for Better Photo Editing appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

Digital Photography School
March 9, 2020
Images and Text: The Untapped Power of Photography Blogs

The post Images and Text: The Untapped Power of Photography Blogs appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Charlie Moss.

There is a lot of advice online about blogging for photographers. It’s often extremely good advice, and applicable to most photographers. But the advice is often more about the technical aspect of setting up a blog, or how to grow a blog to support a photographic business. Very rarely are they about the power of photography blogs for creative development.

There’s nothing wrong with creating a photography blog if you’re in business, of course. But what about if you want to use a blog to help you develop creatively? Or to explore different aspects of an ongoing photography project?

Blogs can be a great tool for inspiring creativity in photographers. For this reason, I think you should consider the idea of writing alongside your documentary or fine art photography practice.

Writing to develop your creativity

The most basic way to think about blogging for your photography is as an archival tool. By posting images and commentary regularly and then looking back through your archives, you will be able to see the journey that you have been on.

If you make your blog public, it also allows others to see the work that you’ve done – something a documentary photographer might find particularly useful.

I’ve been writing a “Behind the Image” series on my blog. I record my thoughts about the image-making process and sometimes ideas on what I might do in the future.

By understanding your journey, you can plan a path for the future of your photography. You’ll be able to more easily see what worked and what didn’t.

Being able to look at your entire body of work in a timeline format can be very beneficial.

Sometimes, because you see your own work all the time, it can feel like you aren’t making progress. There can be a real feeling that you aren’t creating anything new and exciting photographically.

But a blog can help with that by reminding you of pictures that you took months, or even years ago. The power of photography blogs comes from being able to compare your current pictures with this older work you will surely see an inspirational improvement.

A picture can paint a thousand words – but should it have to?

I always remember being told when I was learning photography, that if you had to explain a photograph beyond a title, it failed as an image. I suppose in a way that was good for me – it certainly made me work harder with my storytelling.

But I never understood why it should be the case that photographs should not be accompanied by words.

Is a title enough to explain a photo?

I wonder if this comes from a desire to imitate grand historical paintings that were full of signs and symbols.

Back then, the educated audience would have largely understood the visual language used. But it would also have been common for the owner of the painting to show off his knowledge by explaining it to his friends.

You’ll find that these paintings did often have long accompanying explanations – they just weren’t written down.

Of course, there will always be images that stand without words and tell a great story. But these images and series are comparatively rare – most images are at least helped out by the inclusion of a title.

A Japanese tradition

It’s often observed that the favored publishing medium for the greats of Japanese photography has been the photobook.

The book format allows photographers to write texts to accompany their images, and these texts are often quite lengthy. Certainly, they amount to more than a mere caption or title.

Publishing texts alongside their photographs in books and magazines means that their words can be every bit as influential as their images. This kind of approach is rarely seen in Western photographic traditions. I can’t help but wonder if blogs had been invented many years earlier if Japanese photographers would have harnessed the power of photography blogs alongside photobooks and magazine publishing.

Japanese photographers have traditionally explored photobooks as a way to put their images alongside the text they write.

The result of this writing that accompanies their photographs is often the feeling of a more intimate relationship with the photographer and their work. The viewed can gain more of a sense of why the photographer took the images and a deeper connection with the photographs.

It also gives the photographer a chance to link their work more closely to current affairs or politics. These themes are often reflected in the images and writing of the early pioneers of Japanese photography who lived through the Second World War.

How to write about photography

There are lots of different ways that you could write about your work on a blog and being able to mix and match styles is a power of photography blogs.

In the past, I have favored blog posts reflecting on how and why I took and photo. I like to also speculate about what I might do differently if I was to approach the same subject again.

Other photographers have taken a more reflective approach, considering their thoughts and feelings at the time they shot the image. This incredibly personal approach to writing about photographs is understandably too intimate for some. But when it works, it can help a photographer develop creatively, while bringing the audience on their journey with them.

One way to retain flexibility when blogging about your work might be to approach it like a diary. That way you can vary your approach on any given day. Let your mood and the photograph dictate how personal you want your words to be.

Alternatively, you could take an altogether more academic approach. Looking at aesthetics or even the technical aspects of photography and how it applies to your work could be another route.

This would be a different way to create a body of work made up of both images and text. Throughout history, artists have tried to formulate their own ideas of what constitutes good art. There is no reason that you shouldn’t do the same!

Beyond the blog

While a blog is a great format for text and images, there is always the possibility of transferring your work into a different medium. One option could be to publish your own book – collecting your photos alongside the words that you wrote about them.

You could choose to put everything you write and shoot into a series of books or pick pieces based on theme or location. If you think you might want to do thematic books in the future, this would be a good use of the tagging feature in your blog software!

I like to paste still life polaroids into notebooks and write about my thoughts for the day. It’s a way to slow down photography and take it away from the digital.

Alternatively, you could experiment with exhibiting your work. I worked on a project some time ago about the idea of showing work in a gallery space and using QR codes on the labels to link to digital content, such as long texts. This kind of thinking outside the box could really make a gallery show stand out!

Of course, if you don’t feel like telling the world about your photos you could simply keep a traditional paper journal with your thoughts and feelings alongside your photographs.

Printing the images and then pasting them into notebooks is a relaxing and creative process that can inspire all kinds of thoughts to write down. You can harness the power of photography blogs both in digital and analog formats.

Do you have anything else you’d like to add about the power of photography blogs? If so, please share them with us in the comments.

The post Images and Text: The Untapped Power of Photography Blogs appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Charlie Moss.

Digital Photography School

March 9, 2020
8 Important Composition Tips for Better Photos (video)
The post 8 Important Composition Tips for Better Photos (video) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

In this video from Jamie Windsor, he explores composition tips for better photos.

As Jamie states in his video, sometimes a new photographer can be overwhelmed by all the so-called “rules” of photography. Those, such as the rule of thirds, Fibonacci spiral, and the phi grid. Jamie breaks it down for you, using some classic images by renowned photographers, such as Annie Leibovitz, Sally Mann, Steve McCurry, and Bruce Gilden as examples. While this helps to visualize the points that he is making, it is also great to see many of these fantastic images.
1. Get your position right
2. Use your phone to practice composition
3. Beware the Rule of Thirds
4. Squint or blur your eyes
5. Think conceptually as well as aesthetically
6. Keep it simple
7. Keep the edges clean
8. Work in post-processing
You may also like:
- How to Use Radial Composition in Photography to Create Awesome Images!
- Four Rules of Photographic Composition
- Composition Checklist for Beginners
- 4 of the Most Common Composition Mistakes In Photography
- How to Make Brilliant Black and White Photos with Dramatic Composition
- The S-Curve: A Landscape Photography Composition Technique
- How to Break the Rules with a Central Composition
The post 8 Important Composition Tips for Better Photos (video) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

Digital Photography School
March 7, 2020
Weekly Photography Challenge – Blue

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Blue appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

This week’s photography challenge topic is the color BLUE!

Light trails at Blue Hour by Joey J

This is a fun challenge. You can capture the color blue in so many ways. You can use abstracts, blue hour, water monster photography, landscapes (so much blue there!), cityscapes, portraits and still life. The blue can be a major part of the composition or be more subtle. There are so many options!

So, check out these pics to give you some ideas, have fun, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

This is a photo of me, doing what I love – hiking the mountains, and photographing Mt Buffalo in Victoria. Photo by Jay T. Stone.

You can find plenty of blue by the seaside. Cornwall, England. Image by Jeremy Flint ©

Try using oil and water to create an image with blue, like this image by Ramakant Sharda

Try creating blue “water monsters,” like this image by Ramakant Sharda

Why not try doing some abstract smoke photography like in this image by Rick Ohnsman?

Check out some of the articles below that give you tips on this week’s challenge.

Tips for Shooting the color BLUE

Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color BLUE and its use in Photography

5 Tips for Shooting Waterfront Cityscapes at Blue Hour

How to Create Colorful Artistic Images Using Oil and Water

Creative Water Photography – A Step-by-Step Guide to Making Water Monsters

5 Quick Tips for Better Blue Hour Photography

How to Make Interesting Abstract Smoke Photos

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

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

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

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Blue appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

Digital Photography School

March 7, 2020
Canon Explorers of Light – Q&A with Photographer Bruce Dorn

The post Canon Explorers of Light – Q&A with Photographer Bruce Dorn appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

In this Canon Explorers of Light Q&A series, we interview several professional photographers who are a part of Canon’s Explorers of Light program.

The Explorers of Light Program, running since 1995, boasts some incredibly talented photographers. These photographers have spent years honing their craft, and influence and educate other photographers of all levels – something, we at dPS, can respect and relate to.

In this piece, we interview fashion, editorial and all-round photographer, Bruce Dorn.

Photographer Bruce Dorn

Bruce Dorn has been a professional photographer/cinematographer for 45 years and a member of the Directors Guild of America for 35 years.

Bruce is a Canon Explorer Light, an ARRI Ambassador, a SanDisk Extreme Pro, Western Digital Creative Master, Westcott Top Pro, Light & Motion Ambassador, Tiffen Steadicam Pro, Corel Painter Master, and a Member of the Adobe Dream Team. Bruce seems nice but Chuck Norris trembles at the mere sound of his name.

How did you get into photography?

In July of 1969, just after I turned 18, my brother-in-law loaned me a 35mm Pentax Spotmatic with a 50mm Takumar lens. I had just seen “Easy Rider” and was inspired to take my own road trip through the American Southwest.

I shot a ton of Kodachrome, had a crazy good time, and returned home to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Visual Communications with a minor in photography.

While in my last year in college, I entered and won a creativity competition staged by Conde Nast, the publishers of Vogue Magazine and several other fashion titles.

After graduation, I joined Mademoiselle Magazine as a guest editor, and I began art directing and shooting fashion spreads in NYC, Reykjavik, Paris, and Rome.

Within weeks of receiving my diploma, I signed the lease on a 4,000 sq ft penthouse loft on 5th Avenue in Manhattan and got to work. I’ve stayed busy ever since. A bit of a dream career, really.

What was your first camera setup?

The first camera setup I bought was an inexpensive 35mm Mamiya-Sekor DTL 500 with a 50mm lens. The second piece of kit I acquired was a 500W, 3200K incandescent floodlight. The camera is long lost in the mists of time, but I still have that light. It’s a novelty keepsake at this point, but it serves as a reminder that creative lighting has always defined my shooting style – and kept me gainfully employed.

What camera gear do you use now and why?

I’ve shot everything from 35mm to 8”x10” film cameras for stills and 16mm to 70mm VistaVision cinema cameras, but now I’m 100% digital.

Canon is my platform of choice for both stills and cine, and I always use the latest versions. Currently, I’m really high on the Canon EOS 1Dx MKIII and excited about the upcoming mirrorless EOS R5.

Canon cameras always deliver amazing color, and Canon Professional Services are unequaled. And the lenses? I have a very large collection, from extreme wide-angle to super-telephoto.

Yes, who wouldn’t love this to be the back of their car?

People frequently ask me how much such a huge assortment of gear costs, and I always point out that it isn’t about how much gear costs me – it’s about how much it earns for me.

Just like a championship-winning race car mechanic, full-service professional photographers must eventually possess a very large toolbox. It pays for itself.

What area of photography do you specialize in, and why did you move into that field?

I get bored very easily, so over the years, I’ve worked to become a specialist in a lot of different categories.

I shoot editorial, fashion, beauty, automotive, nature, adventure, travel, extreme sports, underwater, environmental portraiture, aerial, and advertising – in both stills and cinema.

Are you working on any exciting projects you’d like to share?

Always! Unfortunately, the bulk of my commercial work is under a non-disclosure agreement, so I can’t be specific. Follow my Instagram feed, and you’ll see lots of cool stuff posted there – once I’m out from under the NDAs and able to freely share. My Instagram handle is: @dorn.bruce

Between professional gigs, I try to do as much mentoring as I can. I’m currently working with a fourteen-year-old Hopi Indian girl who simply loves landscape photography. We get together for shooting adventures around Arizona whenever our schedules allow!

If you could share any photography tips with our readers, what would they be?

Great photography is all about where you stand, both literally and philosophically. Work on discovering and polishing your own unique point-of-view.

With so much information instantly available online, it’s super-easy to mimic the work of others but don’t – that’s ultimately a dead-end journey. Focus, instead, on shooting a lot, and eventually, your own unique path will be revealed. Own it.

Oh, and light that faint little path…learning to illuminate your world with great lighting is the smartest thing you will ever do. Invest in quality lighting instruments and learn how to use them. I suggest looking at color-correct and dimmable LED units for the greatest versatility. Shine bright!

Bruce Dorn Biography

Bruce Dorn has been a professional photographer/cinematographer for 45 years and a member of the Directors Guild of America for 35 years.

Bruce is a Canon Explorer Light, an ARRI Ambassador, a SanDisk Extreme Pro, Western Digital Creative Master, Westcott Top Pro, Light & Motion Ambassador, Tiffen Steadicam Pro, Corel Painter Master, and a Member of the Adobe Dream Team. Bruce seems nice but Chuck Norris trembles at the mere sound of his name.

See more of photographer, Bruce Dorn’s work here:

Instagram: @dorn.bruce
Facebook: bruce.dorn
Website: www.brucedorn.com

The post Canon Explorers of Light – Q&A with Photographer Bruce Dorn appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

Digital Photography School

March 6, 2020
Focusing Tips for Beginners – Ways to Achieve Spot-on Focus in Photography

The post Focusing Tips for Beginners – Ways to Achieve Spot-on Focus in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

Focus is vital. Capturing your subject in crisp, sharp focus requires skill and practice. You need to understand the various auto-focus controls on your camera. Here are some focusing tips for beginners to help you get sharp photos more consistently.

© Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 105mm f/2.8, 1/400 sec., f/3.2, ISO 500

There’s no fixing an out-of-focus photo

Many digital photographers like to use the various sharpening options available in software. Don’t be tempted. I have never known an out-of-focus photo to be well improved with post-production manipulations.

Sharpening in post can, however, help images that are a little soft. This is often due to lens quality rather than poor focusing. Either your photos are in focus or they are not. Focusing tips for beginners are important to understand. There is no fixing an out of focus photo with your computer.

© Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 35mm f/1.4, 1/400 sec., f/2, ISO 100

Focus on your subject

Pick your point and focus on it. Having the wrong part of your composition in focus will not result in a good photograph. You must decide what’s in your frame that’s most important and focus on it.

Focusing tips for beginners often contain information about operating your camera better. I will include these tips here also. But first, it’s important to know what you want to focus on. This is something I prefer not to let my camera choose for me.

As you are composing your photo, be mindful of your main subject. Consider it’s depth. Is most of your subject the same distance from your camera? Or is some of it closer to you than other parts?

Photographing a bicycle that’s side on to you, most of it is about the same distance from your camera. Taking a photo of the bike as it faces the camera will mean you need to choose whereabouts on it to focus. If you focus on the back wheel, the front wheel may be out of focus.

One rule of thumb I use most of the time is, if your subject has eyes, focus on them. If one eye is closer to your camera than the other, focus on the closest one. Subjects with eyes that are out of focus rarely look good in photos.

© Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 35mm f1.4, 1/800 sec., f/1.4, ISO 400

Multi or single point auto-focus?

Digital cameras usually have various setting options for choosing your focus point. You can set your camera to only focus on a single point. Or you can set it to choose from multiple points. More advanced cameras allow you to set the area and number of focus points.

I prefer to have my camera set to single point auto-focus. This allows me to be precise and in control of what I focus on. Having your camera set to multi-point auto-focus means your camera chooses what part of your composition to focus on.

Some camera models allow you to move the single focus point to position it where you want in the frame. In other cameras, the single point for auto-focusing is central in the frame and you cannot move it. To use the single point on these cameras, you must shift your camera to focus where you want and then re-compose. I would find this frustrating. It will not always provide correct focus when you are using a very wide aperture setting.

© Kevin Landwer-Johan

Using a camera where you can precisely control the single point the camera will auto-focus on, gives you control. You can move the point to the portion of the frame where you want to focus easily. This may take some practice to become quick at it, but it’s worthwhile when you want to be in control.

About the only time I use multi-point auto-focusing, is when I am tracking a moving subject that is constant. The camera will often be able to lock on and keep with a subject unless the subject is moving erratically. Accuracy when using this mode can also depend on how fast your subject is moving. Your subject will be easier to track when it’s slow-moving.

© Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D700, Lens 105mm f/2.8, 1/640, f/3. ISO 400

Continuous or single-servo auto-focus?

Choosing continuous or single-servo auto-focus is another important decision. When you choose continuous focus, your camera will always be refocusing while you have the focus button activated. With single-servo auto-focus, pressing the focus control, it will focus once and remain set on that point – even when your subject or camera moves.

Continuous-servo focusing is most useful when you have a moving subject, or you are moving with your camera. If I am using continuous-servo focus, I am often also using a multi-point setting. However, most of the time, I use single-servo focusing.

© Kevin Landwer-Johan

Back button focus

By default, cameras are configured to use the shutter release button to focus. You will half depress the shutter button to focus. Some cameras allow you to turn off focusing on the shutter button and assign the focus function to another button.

Many photographers like to change the focus function to be controlled by one of the buttons on the back of the camera. Hence the name, back button focus.

Doing this allows you to focus independently from taking a photo. Assigning a button other than the shutter release to control focus, gives you more flexibility. You can focus and take photos independently when different buttons control these functions.

Back button focus can take a little getting used to, but I have found it well worthwhile because it gives me more control of my focus.

There are many situations where you might want to take a photo without refocusing, and back-button focusing allows you to do this.

© Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 55mm, 1/500, f/11, ISO 400

Using manual focus

Another of the focusing tips for beginners is manual focusing. Some may think that manual focusing is too slow or difficult, but it’s not if you practice it.

You can become proficient in a short space of time if you commit to learning. Once you know how you will be surprised at how often manual focus skills come in handy.

Auto-focus is a wonderful technology, but it’s not always perfect. When you find your lens searching for a focus point and struggling to find one, it pays to switch over to manual if you know what you are doing.

Manually controlling your focus in low light can often be faster and more precise than your camera’s auto-focus. Learning to focus manually is also a lot cheaper than upgrading to a higher quality camera that has better auto-focus.

© Kevin Landwer-Johan Nikon D800, Lens 105mm f/2.8, 1/200 sec., f/6.3, ISO 400

Focus technique

I hope you have found these focusing tips for beginners useful. Remember, don’t leave it all to your camera. Getting well-focused images is not all about managing your camera’s auto-focus system. You need to work on your focus techniques and know what to do when you are photographing different subjects. This is particularly important when your subject is moving.

Sometimes you’ll want to track focus. At other times you’ll want to pre-focus and wait for your subject to enter your frame. When doing macro photography, it can be useful to set your focus and then move your camera or subject forwards or back a little to fine-tune.

Practice, as always, will make you sharper, and your images too.

Do you have any other focusing tips for beginners that you’d like to share? If so, please do so in the comments.

The post Focusing Tips for Beginners – Ways to Achieve Spot-on Focus in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

Digital Photography School

March 6, 2020
How to Use Pattern and Repetition in Photography Effectively

The post How to Use Pattern and Repetition in Photography Effectively appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Lily Sawyer.

One of the many ways we can make images more creative is to utilize pattern and repetition in photography. To beginners in photography, this may sound a little daunting, but trust me, it’s not.

All it takes is to train your eye to look for them in everyday objects and situations. They are everywhere around us if we only take the time to slow down, stop, and look a little closer.

Nikkor 105mm f/8 SS 1/250 ISO 400

But first, let’s talk about what pattern and repetition contribute to our images other than an injection of creativity. Even the slightest hint of pattern and repetition in photography adds a sense of dynamics to the image. You can see many images of detailed pattern and repetition in photography that I have written within the context of developing an eye for detail, here.

What do pattern and repetition contribute to an image?

f/8 SS 1/250 ISO 200

1. Heightened interest

f/8 SS 1/200 ISO 800

Pattern and repetition no doubt raise the level of interest in photographs with the space they occupy in the frame and the dynamic and rhythm they bring into that space. With pattern and repetition, what would have been a flat image with little going on, becomes a space of visual activity.

In the photo above, the cloud pattern is rather abstract, dense, and fills the frame. But pair this with the repetitive pattern of the sun’s rays, and your eye immediately stops and is invited to linger and look closely.

2. Hold attention

Left: f/8 SS 1/200 ISO 400 Right: f/5.6 SS 1/160 ISO 200

Pattern and repetition in photography hold the viewer’s attention by using strong repetitive elements. The patterns can keep the eye anchored or move it around an image using line.

The centered composition of the image above-left anchors the eye straight away whilst also making it look further towards the horizon.

The checkered black and white pattern brings the eye back to this foreground space to explore more.

3. Direct gaze

Left: f/11 SS 1/250 ISO 100 Right: f/8 SS 1/125 ISO 100

Once the image holds that attention, you want the attention to stay, linger for a while and live the space. This is precisely what pattern and repetition do. Effective use of both, invite the eye to move around the frame and scrutinize the parts that made the image great. Or in the very least, takes the viewer on a visual journey.

In the photo above, the angle I shot this photo from provides a leading line. It makes the eye stop at the strong vertical block on the right and look towards the left.

Where to find pattern and repetition

We live in a world saturated with them! From natural objects and phenomena to man-made structures, we are surrounded by pattern and repetition.

1. Nature

f/4 SS 1/80 ISO 2000

Pattern and repetition are around in great abundance. Take nature, for instance, it is brimming with activity at all times. When we care to stop and look, we see innumerable patterns and countless repetitions.

This could be obvious pattern and repetition, for example, the wake patterns created by waves from a sailboat, various types of cloud formations, raindrops on a washing line, mussels on the beach, birds flying in formation, sand dunes, surfing waves, or trees in a forest. It could be symmetrical and asymmetrical designs in nature like shells and fossils, florals, veins on leaves, snowflakes… the list is endless.

Left: Nikkor 105mm f/8 SS 1/250 ISO 400 Right: f/11 SS 1/800 ISO 100

To add to that list, there are subtle forms of pattern and repetition in nature too – like grass growing in a field, the night sky, close-up corals, converging gentle ripples, the effect of the wind, smoke, and haze just to name a few.

f/4 SS 1/500 ISO 100

2. Human-Made

Similar to a wake of waves from a boat, you can see contrails or vapour trails from aeroplanes. They may look like clouds but they are actually condensation trails resulting from the changes in air pressure in the sky and, therefore, can be arguably nature and human-made.

More easily recognizable patterns and repetition made by people include architectural forms and structures, sculptures and installations, floors and wall tiles, mosaics, shadows, light beams and lasers, and many other objects.

f/5.6 SS 1/60 ISO 1000

3. Create it yourself

The search for pattern and repetition in photography doesn’t have to stop there! As a matter of fact, we can create it ourselves. This shot below has been created using a very slow shutter speed while popping the flash several times as the subjects moved.

Read this article on how I achieved this double exposure in camera.

Experiment between f/8 – f/16, ISO 100 – 400, Shutter 2 seconds to bulb

I created the photo below using an iPhone lit up in the dark and shot it with a very slow shutter speed. This is also called dragging the shutter but without the use of flash and is a way of painting with light too.

Shutter set on bulb for about 10 seconds or so, f/11, ISO 400

Now that we have some ideas on where to look for pattern and repetition, let’s look at how to use them effectively to strengthen our images.

How to use pattern and repetition in photography to add strength

1. Composition

The key to any image is its composition. Perhaps it’s using the rule of thirds or a centered composition. It may be symmetrical or asymmetrical. There are many factors in composition and you can read more about mastering it here.

Left: f/2.8 SS 1/160 ISO 400 Right: f/5.6 SS 1/200 ISO 100

2. Use color and contrast

By placing the colors in specific areas of the frame, you can strengthen your image immensely. On the image below-left, by positioning the strongest color red and it’s shadowed contrast and light contrast off-center to the left (and again off center diagonally downwards), the image takes on a dynamic look.

Compare this to the image below-right, which although has 3 strong colors of the same tonal values, lacks the light and shadow contrast. The red image has a much stronger impact.

Left: f/5.6 SS 1/160 ISO 400 Right: f/5.6 SS 1/160 ISO 800

3. Use forms and shapes

To create pattern and repetition in photography, use dynamic forms and shapes like spirals, curves, triangles, cubes, and other angular shapes, are key to emphasizing the dynamics in a space and heightening its interest level.

In the image below-left, although there are many things going on in terms of repetitive lines, there are not as many acute angles of these lines and shapes compared to the image on the right. The image on the left is a three-dimensional space and the image on the right is a flat floor, yet it is much more dynamic.

Left: f/4 SS 1/200 ISO 400 Right: f/4 SS 1/125 ISO 2000

4. Use leading lines

Concentric lines, spirals, zigzags, waves, and diagonals are easy to use lines that lead the eye to various places in the frame. In the image below, which has no other subject but the lines themselves, there is still a sense of movement and interest despite the lack of additional colors and strong contrast. You can read more on leading lines here.

f/4 SS 1/125 ISO 2000

5. Use perspective

Photographing from an angle as opposed to a straight-ahead, same-level shot also accentuates pattern and repetition. The images below are high up and full of lines. The addition of the love angle adds more depth to the image. Changing your perspective makes you see things from a new angle and in a new light.

Left: f/5.6 SS 1/125 ISO 1200 Right: f/4 SS 1/100 ISO 3200

Conclusion

In this article, we have seen how using pattern and repetition in photography is an easy way to improve our images. All it takes is to look more carefully at the world around us and incorporate these elements into our images using some basic photography principles.

Nikkor 105mm f/8 SS250 ISO 400

What’s more exciting, is that you can also create your own images using pattern and repetition!

Now it’s time to get those creative juices flowing, and go and make your own!

Experiment between f/8 – f/16, ISO 100 – 400, Shutter 2 seconds to bulb

Do you have any other tips for using pattern and repetition in photography?

Also, we’d love to see your images of pattern and repetition, so please share them with us in the comments section.

The post How to Use Pattern and Repetition in Photography Effectively appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Lily Sawyer.

Digital Photography School

March 6, 2020
5 Reasons You Should Still Use a DSLR in 2020

The post 5 Reasons You Should Still Use a DSLR in 2020 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

In recent years, mirrorless cameras have come to dominate much of the photography market. So much so that, if you’re a DSLR shooter, you may feel like you’re lagging behind. You may feel like you’re using old, antiquated equipment. You may start saving up for that brand-new mirrorless kit. But should you still use a DSLR in 2020?

Here’s the thing:

While mirrorless cameras may be all the rage these days, there’s a lot to be said for DSLRs.

And while there are a lot of benefits to going mirrorless, for some photographers, mirrorless bodies and lenses would be an unnecessary step sideways.

Or, even worse, a step backward.

That’s what this article is all about. I’m going to give you five reasons why you might want to still use a DSLR in 2020.

And you’ll come away knowing whether a DSLR still makes sense for your shooting needs, even in this increasingly mirrorless age.

1. DSLRs are much easier to work with in low light

If you’ve spent some time reading about DSLRs versus mirrorless cameras, then you’ll be familiar with the optical viewfinder and electronic viewfinder comparisons.

On the one hand, optical viewfinders are much clearer than electronic viewfinders, and they feel more real.

This Nikon DSLR features an optical viewfinder, which gives you a crisp and lifelike view through the lens.

On the other hand, electronic viewfinders give you a live preview of your image before you even take it, one that allows you to assess exposure from the moment you put the camera up to your eye. You also get other cool benefits, such as focus peaking (where you can see in-focus areas through the viewfinder), as well as the ability to “see” in black and white.

But there’s another key optical viewfinder benefit:

They look way better in low light.

When you’re shooting in darker situations, looking through an optical viewfinder is very similar to looking with your naked eye.

But looking through an electronic viewfinder is like looking through an old, poor-quality display. There’s noise everywhere, and this makes it tough to tell whether you’ve nailed focus and exposure.

Of course, it’s possible to look past these flaws, and you can still shoot mirrorless in low light. But it’s frustrating to look through a viewfinder and see a poor-quality image, so if you’re a frequent low-light shooter, you might want to consider sticking with a DSLR instead.

Now, EVFs are improving all the time, and there may reach a point in the future where the quality in low light comes close to that of OVFs. But right now, OVFs are dominating EVFs in the low-light arena.

2. You can shoot all day with a DSLR on a single battery

Another reason to still use a DSLR in 2020 is that DSLRs have much longer-lasting batteries compared to mirrorless cameras.

And if you’re the type of photographer who likes to shoot all day without stopping, or someone who goes into areas without access to electricity for days on end, you’re going to struggle with a mirrorless body.

Most mirrorless bodies are rated at around 250-400 shots, though you can get a substantial amount of additional life out of them if you make an effort to conserve battery. Even so, mirrorless battery life pales in comparison to DSLRs, which frequently feature capabilities from around 800 shots to 1500 shots and beyond.

This Nikon D850 has a battery life of 1840 high-resolution shots, which is much more than that of mirrorless competitors.

When I got my first mirrorless camera, I thought I was ready to handle the limited battery life. In a sense, I was: I had three original batteries, plus two chargers.

But even if you have the batteries to last a day or two, it’s frustrating to have to remember to charge them after every shoot. It’s also frustrating to change batteries during shoots, especially when working in the freezing cold or in bad weather.

So if battery life is a big deal to you, then you may want to stick with your DSLR.

3. DSLRs feel much better in your hand

I’ve used a number of mirrorless cameras, and I’ve also used a number of DSLRs.

And the DSLRs are far, far better when it comes to ergonomics.

You see, mirrorless cameras are much more compact than DSLRs on average. But in order to achieve the smaller form-factor, manufacturers have flattened body grips.

Sure, there are some mirrorless cameras that retain a DSLR-like feel, but many of the mid-level options from Sony and Fujifilm, not to mention the entry-level, no-viewfinder cameras from most manufacturers, have very limited grips.

And this makes them very tough to use for street photographers (who often shoot one-handed), as well as casual walkaround photographers. Plus, anyone who holds a camera for hours on end wants it to feel comfortable, not just usable.

In a lot of cases, mirrorless bodies just…aren’t.

Check out this DSLR, which shows the extent to which a deep body grip defines its shape:

While a Nikon D6 has a more obvious battery grip than many DSLRs, it’s still a fair example of the DSLR mold.

So before you grab a new mirrorless body, make sure to head into your local camera shop and actually try it out. Hold it in your hand.

And ask yourself:

How would I feel after hours in the field?

If the answer is something along the lines of “Not good,” then you may want to still use your DSLR in 2020.

4. DSLRs allow you to comfortably view the scene with both eyes open

I’ve already talked about the difference between electronic viewfinders and optical viewfinders.

But there’s a practical consequence that comes with using an electronic viewfinder that I haven’t mentioned:

It’s tough to shoot with both eyes open.

Now, if you’re a landscape or portrait photographer, you may think this is silly. Why would you ever need to use both eyes while shooting?

But if you’re an action photographer, someone who shoots sports or even street photos, then you may like to shoot with both eyes open. This allows you to anticipate movement. It allows you to see what’s going to move into the frame before it happens.

And it can really take your images to the next level.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to use both eyes when shooting mirrorless. This is because there’s a feeling of disconnect between the electronic viewfinder and the optical viewfinder. Plus, even the best EVFs have some kind of lag; while this may be irrelevant if using one eye to shoot, it creates a level of disjointedness when working with both eyes.

This is one of the reasons why, by the way, plenty of sports photographers are still opting for a camera like the Nikon D5/6 or the Canon 1D X Mark II/III over mirrorless options like the Sony a9 II or the Olympus OM-D E-M1X. While the latter two cameras offer incredible specs, it’s just too difficult to use them with both eyes open.

The Canon 1D X Mark III is a sought-after sports camera by professionals.

5. DSLRs offer a better lens selection

Here’s your final reason to still use a DSLR in 2020 over mirrorless:

The lens selection.

Now, there are plenty of great lenses for mirrorless systems. But the range just isn’t as expansive as the DSLR lens lineup that’s offered by Canon or Nikon.

Fortunately, there are adapters that allow you to use DSLR lenses on mirrorless bodies. But these can cost a substantial amount of money, and for some lineups, they’re just not ideal.

Some shooters won’t care about the limited lens offerings; if you’re a portrait photographer, for instance, you’ll probably be just fine with the lens lineup offered by any of the major mirrorless manufacturers. This is because portrait-type lenses are often developed first, as part of a “standard” prime and zoom series.

But if you photograph with more specialized equipment – a set of super-telephoto lenses, for instance, or a long macro lens – you’ll struggle to get the glass you need to really capture your images.

The selection of super-telephoto lenses is limited in mirrorless lineups.

Note, also that switching from a Canon DSLR to a mirrorless system like Fujifilm, will cost a significant sum of money. You’ll need to buy a mirrorless camera, yes, but you’ll also need to replace your entire lens lineup. And while you can sell your DSLR lenses on the used market, they likely won’t get you close to the cash you need for a well-rounded Fuji system.

So make sure you keep this in mind before switching to mirrorless.

5 Reasons you should still use a DSLR in 2020: Conclusion

Now that you’ve finished this article, you know all about the five key reasons you should still use a DSLR in 2020 over a mirrorless camera.

And you should have a sense of whether a DSLR makes sense for your needs.

Now I’d like to know:

Do you shoot mirrorless or with a DSLR? And why? Share your reasons in the comments below!

The post 5 Reasons You Should Still Use a DSLR in 2020 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Digital Photography School

March 6, 2020
Why Your Photoshop Keeps Crashing and How to Fix it

Photoshop can do amazing things with images. It can also make you want to pull your hair out in frustration. Photoshop constantly crashing while you work is one such frustrating problem. Why does it crash? What can you do to fix it? Your computer may not have enough memory, or it may not have enough space to run Photoshop, causing Continue Reading

The post Why Your Photoshop Keeps Crashing and How to Fix it appeared first on Photodoto.

Photodoto

March 5, 2020