Category: Photography

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding
The post Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jackie Lamas.

Even though every wedding is unique, each wedding photographer knows that the timeline of photos is pretty much the same, beginning with the getting ready photos.

Learn how to successfully photograph the bride and groom getting ready, what you’ll need to prep for beforehand, and why it’s important to capture this part of the day during a wedding.

What are the getting ready photos exactly?

The getting ready portion of a wedding day is when the bride and groom begin to get dressed for their wedding celebration.

Getting ready photos are to include both the actual getting ready portion and the details of the day like shoes, florals, dress, rings, etc.

It’s usually when the bride is getting her makeup done, getting into her dress, putting on her jewelry, and all of the other final details that go into her complete look. The same goes for the groom; photos of him getting into his tux or suit, putting on his watch, tie, and shoes.

The getting ready portion of the wedding day lets you get photos of the important details of the day.

Sometimes, getting ready photos will include more people during the shoot. For example, the bride might want to get ready with all of her bridesmaids and have her maid of honor help with putting on her veil.

Other times, you might get the bride and groom getting ready together in the same space. Either way, it’s a crucial moment during the day that leads up to all the festivities. It tells more of the story of how the wedding day unfolded.

Prep for the getting ready

Inform your clients during a pre-consultation

A pre-consultation is where you meet with your clients and go over the details of the wedding day. It is important to find out if the couple will be getting ready in the same location or different locations.

If at all possible, advise your clients to get ready in the same location but in separate rooms. That way, you can bounce between both of your clients and capture the getting ready shots.

However, sometimes it isn’t possible. But don’t worry, sometimes you can re-create some of the getting ready moments before the ceremony and still get those beautiful getting ready photos to go with the narrative of the day.

Advise your clients to tell their key people (those helping with the brides or grooms outfit) to be ready, too, since they will also be photographed during the getting ready stage. This goes for the mother of the bride, father of the bride, bridesmaids, and groomsmen.

Make sure the key people are dressed and made up for the getting ready photos so everyone looks great in the final images.

Tell your clients to make sure florals are ready during this time so that you can photograph them before the wedding day begins.

Prep your gear bag

There are a few items you should have handy for the getting ready portion of your day. They aren’t required but do make the getting ready photos more streamlined and easier to photograph.

One handy tool is a Command Hook. This will help you stick the hook where you want, hang the dress or suit, and photograph it virtually anywhere at the location of the getting ready photos. It also helps hang other details that are important to the wedding day.

Bring a small poster board or some fabric to style a flat lay of the details. This could include things like the rings, shoes, garter, bouquet, or special details like vow books. It can give you a cohesive look to the detail photos. That way, you’re also not limited to the surfaces in the getting ready room, if there are any available spots.

PlayDoh or similar putty can help keep rings styled or from falling over. Roll a tiny ball and place it under the rings, ring boxes, jewelry, and other items to keep them in place. Then simply remove it after you’ve achieved your shot.

Use a video light or flashlight from your phone to light the details if you need a little boost in light. Some getting ready rooms, like bridal rooms, are tiny and don’t offer much light, so having a video light or using your flashlight from your cell phone, can help give you the light you need. It can also help you to get interesting photos of the details like rings or shoes.

While these items aren’t a must, they do help with styling the details of the getting ready portion.

What to photograph during the getting ready portion of a wedding day

The getting ready part of a wedding day isn’t just about photographing your clients getting into their dresses or suits – it’s much more than that. It’s about capturing a part of the day that begins all of the events that everyone is excited about!

When photographing the getting ready, mix different style shots like full length and close-up shots of the same scene.

When you photograph a getting ready, make sure to get photos either styled or depending on your photography style, the following:
- Rings, ring boxes, ring pillows or carrying cases
- Florals: bouquets, boutonnieres, hairpieces, and corsages for others
- Shoes
- Accessories like jewelry, watches, gifts of the bride and groom
- The something blue, something old, something borrowed if they are part of the wardrobe/attire.
- Getting ready: Makeup and hairstyling, adjusting their dress/suit, putting on the dress/suit
- Putting on shoes
- Detail photos of the dress/suit alone and on the bride/groom
- Invitation set
- Portrait of your client alone
- Portrait of the client with their bridal party or others who are in the room with them
- Anything else that is considered special or important
- Key people in the background or with your client
How to get the most out of getting ready photos

The getting ready photos are somewhat of a photojournalistic approach to the day. Besides the detail shots that you style, most everything else is photographed as it unfolds during this time.

To get the most out of the getting ready photos, try and get different focal length shots of the events like the makeup and hair. Get a wide shot of the room but also get close-up photos of the makeup as it’s applied. Capture real emotions from the people in the room with your client.

When your client is ready to get dressed, ask them to clear out the portion of the room that you’d like to use. For height, consider getting on the bed if your client is using a hotel room.

If you can, choose a location with nice lighting and a calm vibe. It will help set the tone of the getting ready portion of the photos.

Remember, during this time, clients are usually feeling a mixture of emotions. They also have to attend to tasks, questions, and anything that might come up that is related to the planning of the wedding.

So a calm setting can really set the tone for the rest of the day while you photograph your client as they get dressed.

Also, don’t worry about moving furniture if you need to, or other items to get the best photo possible. Try different areas of the getting ready room to choose the best photos of the details, dress, and your client.

Photograph a portrait of your client after they are dressed alone

As mentioned above, setting the tone for the rest of the day can make all the difference for your client. This is why, after your client has gotten dressed, that you take them to a calm location and photograph a portrait of them alone.

During this time, don’t ask anything of them. Don’t mention the wedding, planning, or anything that is related. Just help them to feel calm by using a soft tone, directing them to get the best angle, and show them a photo or two so that they get excited by how great they look!

This will also build a nice rapport with how you handle the stress of the day. It will also help your client to feel less saturated or anxious about their wedding day.

How to photograph getting ready photos after the fact

Sometimes you don’t have time to take getting ready photos of both of your clients due to logistics, being the only photographer, or otherwise. Other times, time slips away and cuts time for getting ready photos altogether. Or, your client might have opted to set the hours of coverage to cover more of the reception than the getting ready portion.

You can take portraits like this later in the day to re-create the getting ready photos.

If this is the case, don’t worry, you can recreate the getting ready photos after the fact! For example, before the ceremony, while your client waits to come out and down the aisle, you can get a few getting ready photos of them in the suite or empty hallway/walkway. Simply ask them to fluff their dress, have their key person adjust their veil, or pretend to tie their dress or suit.

You can get action shots like having your clients look into the mirror and pretend to put on their jewelry or suit jacket or shoes. While you might not have been there during the actual getting ready, you can always pretend like you were by styling and directing your clients in between other wedding day events.

Why are getting ready photos important?

Getting ready photos are important to a wedding day because, as the photographer, you’ll have time to get the important details of the day photographed. The rings, vow books, bouquets, and most importantly, the dress or suit that your clients wear.

Each of these items was thought about, and chosen with the utmost care and attention to the details. Anything that your clients poured their hearts into is worthy of photographing. It also makes for a nice retelling of the wedding day in an album or publication after the wedding day has ended.

Most importantly, photographing getting ready photos allows you to set the tone for the day and reassure your client that you are there for all of it. That you are there for the best moments of the day and to help them feel confident, beautiful, and excited about the rest of the wedding events. It’s like you’re there as their personal cheerleader on what is usually a stressful day.

Having this time with your client also helps you to get to know them a bit more. You can try different angles during the individual portraits, and also get to know who the key people are that need photographing during family formals and bridal party photos.

In conclusion

Telling the story of a couple during their wedding day is truly an honor for any photographer. The getting ready portion of the day sets the tone and begins the story of how the day unfolded. These tips will help you successfully capture your clients during the start of their most important day as a couple.

Do you have any additional tips for capturing the getting ready photos of any wedding day? We’d love you to share them with us in the comments!

The post Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jackie Lamas.

Digital Photography School
October 27, 2019
10 Awesome Photoshop CC Tricks You Wish You Knew
The post 10 Awesome Photoshop CC Tricks You Wish You Knew appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

All photographers want their photos to look fantastic and part of the path to great images is the post-processing. You can do so much with the right tools if you know how to use them well. Photoshop is such an amazing tool for photographers. The more you use it the more you find that it can do. The more you realize you have to study to be able to make the most of it. In this article, I will share with you ten cool Photoshop CC tricks I love using when I work on my photos in Adobe Photoshop.

1. Photoshop search

Photoshop articles like this or video tutorials often suggest tools to use that you may not be familiar with. It’s easy enough to remember the tool but forget its location within photoshop. This is where the Photoshop search comes in helpful.

Up in the top right of the main photoshop window, you will find a search icon. Click on it to search not only to find that tool you want but other things too. You can also search for tutorials, Lightroom and Adobe stock images.

2. Manage keyboard shortcuts

When working with any complicated software, it pays to learn at least some of the keyboard shortcuts. Knowing the shortcuts for the tools you use the most will help speed up your workflow.

In photoshop you have the capacity to customize your keyboard shortcuts. It’s easy enough to do. If you’ve been using photoshop for a while you will know which tools you use often and will want to know the shortcuts.

To find them, all you need to do is go to the top menu and select Edit->Keyboard Shortcuts. This opens up a window where you’ll see all the information you need to learn the shortcuts and change them.

Most keys and many combinations have shortcuts assigned. These can be customized to suit your working style.

One key that has no default shortcut assigned is the ‘n’ key. You can assign your favorite tool to it without disrupting any of the other shortcut keys.

3. Temporary tool select

Another helpful trick that aids smooth workflow is being able to temporarily select a tool.

Say you’re working on an image with the Burn tool and you see a small blemish you want to remove with the Clone tool. You can simply press and hold the ‘s’ key to select the Clone tool. Once you’ve removed the blemish, release the ‘s’ key and your cursor will revert back to the Burn tool.

This can be used with most keyboard shortcuts.

4. Open the same image in two windows

Opening the same image document in two windows gives you some great flexibility. You can have one instance of the file zoomed and be working on the details and the other showing the entire frame. This lets you see the changes you make in the detailed view as they happen in the full-frame window also.

To open two image documents, go to ‘Window’ in the top menu and select Arrange->New Window for [the file name of the opened file]. Click on this file, and a new instance of the file will open. Now you can select Window->Arrange and select the display option you prefer. Here I have selected to show 2-up Vertical.

This trick is very cool if you are working with two or more monitors.

5. Creating selections of Highlights and Shadows

Selecting only the highlights or dark areas of an image can give you more control when making certain adjustments.

To do this, choose the type of adjustment you want to make. For this example, I have added a Curve Adjustment Layer. This is from the menu at the bottom of the Layers panel. Once I have the new adjustment layer, I then delete the layer mask.

Here’s where the magic happens. Press Ctrl+Alt+2 (Cmd+Opt+2 on Mac) and all the bright pixels will be selected. When you click on the Curves icon in the Layers panel, you will not only be making adjustments to the brightest pixels. In the Properties panel of the mask, you can choose to invert the selection and work on the darker pixels.

6. Pen tool tips

Learning to use the Pen tool in photoshop is frustrating for many people. At first, it can be difficult to make the line go where you want it to. Here are some tweaks you can make so your learning curve is not so steep.

When you have the Pen tool selected, click the Cog icon on the top menu. Here you can alter the settings for how the line looks and responds. You can determine the weight and color of the line. This can be helpful in allowing you to see where you’re drawing more easily.

Probably the most helpful aspect of the Pen tool settings is the Rubber Band checkbox. With this setting active, you can see where your line is as you draw. This allows you to see where your line will be in real-time. Without the Rubber Band box checked, you will not see where your line will be drawn until you click on a point.

Two more helpful tips with the Pen tool are:
1. Use the spacebar as you click. Hold the spacebar to allow you to place the point precisely where you want it to be.
2. Once your line is complete, use Alt+Click to modify the handles on a point so you can alter the curve of the line.
7. Select colors from any application

Matching a color you want to use in photoshop with a color in another program or app is easy and can be very useful. Pulling the same color and applying it to text, a brush or fill means you can precisely color match what you are working on.

Shrink your photoshop window and place it over the area you want to select the color from. Simply select the tool for how you want to apply the color. In my example, I want to fill the background of my logo with a specific color from a photo on my website. Click and hold the Alt key as you drag your mouse to hover over the color you want to match.

When you release your mouse, Photoshop will use it as the selected foreground color. Now you can apply it as you wish.

8. Control Color Luminosity

By creating a new black and white Adjustment Layer and setting the Blend mode to Luminosity, you can darken or brighten each color in your image. Simple drag the slider for each color you want to adjust until you are satisfied with its luminosity.

9. Transparency using ‘Blend If’

The ‘Blend If’ mode is a powerful tool when you know how to use it. Selecting and manipulating layers using the Blend If functions allow you to alter the luminosity or color channel of a layer.

In this example, I wanted to eliminate the black background from my logo and replace it with an image. The image is on the layer underneath my logo. Bring up the Layer Style panel by double-clicking on the layer you want to work on. With the Blend If mode set to Gray, use the slider below it to remove the darker or lighter pixels. In this example, I have moved the slider on the left towards the right to take out the black background of the logo.

Making the altered layer a Smart Object will make those hidden pixels transparent for even more flexibility.

10. Non-destructive Spot Healing Brush

Adding a new layer above the image you are working on allows you to work non-destructively with the Spot Healing Brush. Often with highly textured images, the Spot Healing Brush provides an unsatisfactory result. Adding an extra blank layer gives you more flexibility.

The key to making this work is to ensure you check the Sample All Layers checkbox in the top menu bar.

Conclusion

I hope there are a few new tips and tricks on this list of Photoshop CC tricks that you can find helpful. As with all things Photoshop, everyone works differently. There are also many ways to reach the same end result.

If you know of some other cool Photoshop CC tips or tricks let us know what they are in the comments below.

The post 10 Awesome Photoshop CC Tricks You Wish You Knew appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

Digital Photography School
October 27, 2019
RAW or JPEG: A Game Of Formats! [video]
The post RAW or JPEG: A Game Of Formats! appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

In this great video by Nicolas Doretti, he explains the differences between using RAW and JPEG formats.

?

RAW or JPEG?

If you have struggled to understand the need to shoot in RAW format over JPEG, this video goes into great detail exploring and explaining why you can obtain so much detail from RAW files.

Nicholas explains the differences in BIT depth and how pixels are composed of 3 layers.

He also explains how to arrive at 16 million colors in an image.

This is how the bit depth corresponds to the number of colors it holds.
- 8-bits: 16 million colors
- 10-bits: 1 billion colors
- 12-bits: 68 billion colors
- 16-bits: 281 billion colors
Photos taken by your camera are around 12/16 bits of information. All of these values – that’s the RAW file. It’s not really an image; it’s the raw data taken by the sensor.

When you record your image in jpeg, your camera takes the raw information from the sensor and compresses it into an 8-bit format. As there are not as many spaces, it also applies a treatment to the image. It adjusts the contrast and saturation of colors.

The processing values depend on the selected image profile on your camera.

If you record in RAW, the camera does no editing to your image at all. It retains the 12/16-bits of information (68-281 billion colors). It is then up to you to process your images and get the most from all of that information.

The RAW image you see on your computer screen is simply an interpretation of the raw data that your camera records. Each change you make in your editing software reinterprets this data.

RAW is not an image format, as such. Each brand has it’s own version of RAW. CR2 for Canon, ARW for Sony, NEF for Nikon, RW2 for Panasonic, DNG, and other extensions exist.

Using RAW allows you to search for information, whereas there is no information in the jpeg.

Nicolas uses an image example in both jpeg and RAW formats to show you the possibilities of editing with both formats. You will notice how much more information can be gained in the shadow and highlight areas of the RAW file.

Nicolas also touches on the argument of professional photographers not needing to shoot RAW because they should be good enough to get a perfect exposure in-camera. He has an interesting take on this. He talks about retouching and uses examples of photos dating back to 1861 that were retouched.

Watch and see what your thoughts are here! Share any comments on this information in the comments below!

You may also find the following helpful
- The Basics of RAW files {and what to do with the darn things}
- RAW Files: Digital Manifestations of the Emperor’s New Clothes
- Quick Beginner’s Guide to Processing RAW Files in Photoshop Adobe Camera Raw
- How to do Powerful RAW Conversions with Luminar 2018
- ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate: Efficient RAW Workflow for Professionals
- Is Shooting RAW+JPEG the Best of Both Worlds?
The post RAW or JPEG: A Game Of Formats! appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

Digital Photography School
October 27, 2019
Weekly Photography Challenge – Halloween

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

This week’s photography challenge topic is HALLOWEEN!

Photo by Jon McIntire

Seeing as though it is the week of Halloween, I decided to make that the weekly photography challenge this week. If there is no Halloween celebrations where you live, then just take some spooky photos and share with us!

So go out and shoot those spooky things that pop up for Halloween! Decorations, black cats, pumpkins, witches, creepy houses, trick or treaters, or anything that is spooky and resembles Halloween. Alternatively, shoot images of people setting up for Halloween.

Have fun (or get spooky), and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

David Menidrey

James Lee

Jen Theodore

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

Tips for Shooting HALLOWEEN

26 Spooky Images for Halloween Week

Creating Ghostly Images for Halloween

How to Light Creepy Halloween Masks for Added Drama

27 Sinister Images for the Week of Halloween

5 Tips for Creating Creepy Halloween Photos

Halloween Photography Tips

Weekly Photography Challenge – HALLOWEEN

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 #DPShalloween2019 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 – Halloween appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

Digital Photography School

October 26, 2019
What You Need to Know to do Successful Restaurant Photography

The post What You Need to Know to do Successful Restaurant Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darina Kopcok.

If you want to be a food photographer, you’ll likely start your career shooting restaurant photography. This is how most food photographers get their start. Restaurants have smaller budgets, so they’re open to working with new photographers.

However, photographing for restaurants isn’t that easy. Not only do you have to be skilled at shooting food, but you also need to be able to shoot interiors and portraits of the chef and other staff.

Restaurant photography can be a lot of work, and there are a lot of ins-and-outs you should know to make sure you don’t end up getting burned by this very specific type of shoot.

Ask for a shot list

Before you can give a potential client an estimate, you need to know what you’ll be photographing in order to estimate how long the shoot will take you. For example, beverages can take longer to photograph than a plate of food, as managing reflections in glass can take time and be challenging.

You should base your estimates on the project scope. If you can’t estimate how long the shoot will take you, you can’t price your services accordingly. Get a breakdown of how many food images will be required, how many drinks etc.

Some restaurants want you to bring in your own surfaces, dishes, linens etc. for a more magazine editorial feel. In this case, note that it will take longer to shoot this type of scene than it will shooting their own dishes on the restaurant tables.

Scout for the location and light

Check out the location beforehand so you know what you’ll be up against in terms of lighting. You’ll also need to figure out where to set up your equipment and workspace. This should be done with agreement from the manager or proprietor.

It’s important that if the restaurant is open when you shoot, that you’re as unobtrusive to the patrons as possible. See if the client can close off a section of the restaurant where you can work without bothering anyone, and vice versa.

Discuss styling the food

When shooting for restaurants, you should make clear on the outset that you’re not a food stylist and therefore are not responsible for how the food looks.

Food styling is a different occupation. It requires a separate skill set from photography. Your job is the lighting and image capture, not the plating of the food.

Of course, you should always be aware of garnishes and stray crumbs, and generally, make sure the food looks its best for the camera. I’ve been known to send back a sloppy looking burger or two.

The point is that clients need to make sure their chef is up to the task. Otherwise, they should hire a food stylist to guide them. A food stylist can be pricey and not feasible for an already tight budget. In the case that a client refuses to hire one, they should know that the look of the food on the plate ultimately falls on them.

Make sure you state this in your contract. You have a contract, right?

Bring a food styling kit and some basic props

While you won’t be plating and styling the food, you should still bring along a basic food styling kit that includes items such as tweezers, cotton swabs, and small brushes to tame errant garnishes or clean unwanted crumbs and drips from the plate. You want to do the best job you can with what you’re given.

It’s a good idea to come prepared with some props as back up. Bring a stack of linens in various shapes, sizes, and colors, and maybe some cutlery. Sometimes clients want their own tables, flatware, and dishes shot as they are experienced by the patrons, but many have a branding direction in mind that requires a specific look or ambiance.

For example, when clients wanted me to create dark and moody images for them, I bring in small, dark dishes and vintage cutlery – the opposite of the large, white dishes you see in most restaurants.

Use a tripod

If you shoot only in natural light, be aware that most restaurants are too dark for food photography.

You’ll need to shoot by a window and use a tripod so you can decrease your shutter speed and make a longer exposure. This won’t work for photographing people, however, as they will be blurry with a slow shutter speed.

If the images will only appear on the web or in social media, you can crank up the ISO and fix the noise in your images later in post-production.

When I scout the location, I try to take a few test shots and see how they look in Lightroom before making my lighting decisions.

Shoot horizontally

Have a conversation with the client about how they would like the images shot. Most restaurants only need images for their website. Interactive web design often requires that images be shot in landscape orientation.

If the client will be printing some of the images on a menu, this may require a vertical format (and a higher resolution). Make sure to discuss the best picture orientation with the client. Make note that if they want both, it can take you up to twice as long to shoot the images, as not only will you have to adjust the camera, but you’ll have to recompose each image.

Shoot tethered

I always hook up my camera to a laptop so the client can view the images captured by my camera. Shooting tethered allows you to see a larger, more accurate rendition of your shot than you can get from the screen on the back of your camera. You can use Lightroom or Capture One Pro for tethering. Make sure you have a high-quality tethering cord.

Work with the client

Ultimately, you want to produce good work that makes the client happy. For this, the client needs to be involved in the process. They must be present at the shoot to provide creative direction and approve the images that are captured. That way, they can’t come back and tell you they don’t like them, or that they don’t align with the branding or aesthetic they had in mind.

I have a clause in my contract stating that I will not begin a shoot without someone representing the restaurant present. Also that the client will forfeit the deposit if I need to pack up my things and leave. Believe me, you don’t want to get into this situation.

Collaborate with the chef

Involve the chef in the process as much as possible. When you make an appointment to scout the location, ask if you could meet the chef.

Making the chef feel like an important part of the process can make a big difference in the outcome of your shoot. The shoots that end up being the most easy and fun are the ones where the chef is enthusiastic about working with you and making the food look its best for its moment in the spotlight.

In conclusion

One more thing. Before you set foot in the restaurant with your camera, make sure you have liability insurance. Many restaurants won’t always think about this, but bigger clients will often ask for proof of liability insurance. If someone trips over an extension or tethering cord and decides to sue the restaurant, you can be included in that lawsuit.

Shop around for the best insurance for you, and read the fine print carefully. You need insurance that is specific to the photography industry so you can make sure you’re covered in the types of situations you will be faced with.

You should also insure your equipment against theft, loss, and damage, including that from fire or flood.

Restaurant photography can be a great way to start building up your professional portfolio. Just make sure to do it right to avoid any headaches along the way, and to get your clients to hire you as their preferred photographer whenever they update their menu.

Do you have any other tips or experiences you’d like to share with us about Restaurant Photography? Do so in the comments!

The post What You Need to Know to do Successful Restaurant Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darina Kopcok.

Digital Photography School

October 25, 2019
Photo Books: Value and Worth in Today’s Digital World

The post Photo Books: Value and Worth in Today’s Digital World appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Adam Welch.

Imagine the internet never existed. I know – you’re reading this while on the internet – but bear with me. As a photographer, how would you show your photographs to other people? There would be no Instagram, no Flickr, no Facebook. The reality of this fictional internetless world would leave you with limited outlets for your work. In short, you would have to find a way to physically park your photos in front of the eyes of other humans. Galleries would certainly be an option; magazines and journal publications would be another. Of course, there would be another option; the construction of a photo book.

Aside from a solo exhibition, there is perhaps no better way for a photographer to express their exact creative vision than with a well-executed photo book. Even in today’s elevated climate of digital photography, photo books have managed to keep their foothold as one of the most impactful methods of distributing photographs to the masses, all the while maintaining allegiance to the original photographs as we meant for them to be viewed.

Photo books aren’t nearly as prevalent (or produced) as they once were. However, if you are truly serious about yourself and the photographs you produce, then a photo book might be a wonderful conduit for you to express your photographs – I know it was for me. As paradoxical as it might sound, producing photo books today has never been easier.

In this article, we’ll look at some of the reasons, methods, and considerations you might want to examine if you’ve ever felt the need for something more than just condensing your photographs into social media posts and online galleries.

But…why a book?

We’ve already touched on some of the other ways that you might present your work to the public, so why are photo books so special? Well, it comes down to control, fidelity to your original vision, and the importance you place on both.

Photographs are finite in their original incarnations, meaning there was a time when you didn’t always have to guess how your photos would appear on the different devices. Even photos in widely-circulated publications like magazines would essentially be faithful to whatever the final press copy of the image might have been.

Herein lies the immense benefit of photo books; they are an end in themselves.

With final archival quality of inks, papers and bindings, and even the varied perception of our own eyes aside, a photo book can be your final say on how your work should look. Much like a print, the extent of your involvement in the production process of your photo book (more on this shortly) means you can virtually maintain complete discretion on how people view your images.

This means that a person in Singapore will see the same colors and contrasts a person viewing your photo in Australia, Canada, or Wales.

Three stages of producing your photo book

I’ve condensed the steps of producing a photo book into three broad sections. That being said, a book could be written on each one of the steps themselves. So, we’ll just hit the high points.

1. The inception of the Idea

Of course, this is where any photo book should begin. With some extremely rare exceptions, your photo book should revolve around a central theme or concept. It could be something you care passionately about photographing or something you want to learn more about and show the world. The weird thing about ideas is that they are notoriously fluid, meaning that even though you have a general direction to aim your energy (and your camera), you should remain open to the organic evolution of your initial idea or concept for your book.

In the case of my photo book, “Faces of Grayson,” I initially had no intention of producing a book at all. I was just a person out in the wilderness with a camera. It was only after I examined a few of my images that I instantly knew I wanted to do more with the subject matter and eventually produce a book.

The photo that started it all.

Unless your photo book is strictly for your own personal use and enjoyment, I’d suggest that you don’t approach your idea for your photo book in retrograde. It’s likely not a good practice to simply go through all your photos and force yourself to find a common theme. If you begin with a solid idea that you care about, you’ll ultimately end up with a more cohesive finished work.

We’ll talk a bit more about the actual shooting and choosing of the book images in the next section.

2. Compiling the images

We’ve touched briefly on how it’s usually not advisable to base your photo book on photos already in your image archive. It’s just not a good idea. So, once you’ve decided on the subject of your photo book, approach the acquisition of your content with a Zen-like state of relaxation. Don’t force the work, and don’t force yourself to produce the work quickly.

With that said, pay careful attention that you don’t forget that these images are specifically intended to be part of your photo book. You should always keep the overall theme, feel, and concept in line with your original idea even if that idea evolves along the way.

Don’t rush things

For my photo book, I shot images for roughly two years. In the end, I had a multitude of photos from which I could choose the absolute best.

There is no time limit for obtaining your images. Please, please, PLEASE don’t rush yourself. A rough estimate of when you would like to see your book finally come to life is perfectly healthy. Conversely, subjecting yourself to a self-imposed “deadline” is not. So if there’s one piece of advice I could give when it comes to shooting the photos for your book, it would be not to rush. Instead, be deliberate, take your time, and get it right the first time.

Sequencing your photos

After you’ve completed the principal photography work for your book, it’s time to put it all together. Ask yourself a few questions: Is your book a narrative? Does the story you want it to tell depend on the order of the images?

Some photo books work very well with sequential arrangements based on the chronology of time and the progression of the subject matter through that time. If this is the case for your photo book, then make sure how you assign your images to the pages conveys this dynamic to the viewer.

If your book is not a narrative and instead is more of a compilation of place or subject with no need for sequential ordering, then the arrangement of the photos become less important. However, it should still remain a focus of great consideration.

Once you have completed the task of choosing and sequencing your photos, it’s time to choose layouts and fonts, image sizing and orientation. Also, chooses the amount of supplemental textual narration you wish to include (or not include) with the images.

The majority of this will be left to your discretion unless you conscript outside help from a designer. Deciding on the final flavor of the book is the most difficult and most exciting aspect of putting together any photo book.

3. Printing

All right. This is where things get truly slippery. You’ve completed work on obtaining the photos for an idea that you absolutely love. The images are outstanding, sequencing is beautiful, and you know every last detail of your final grand vision. It’s all going to be perfect!

Well, I’m sorry to break it to you…

It won’t be.

Yes, I know. That truth hints at an underlying pessimism, but it’s intended to be constructive. You see, the key to sustained success with your photography is to maintain a realistic handle on your expectations. If you enter the printing process believing nothing will go wrong, and there will be no unforeseen challenges, then you will be quite discouraged when these inevitable issues arise.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s look at some common (but not all) options you might have for getting your photo book printed.

Print-on-demand

A commonplace service in the literary world, the print-on-demand model is perhaps the easiest and most cost-effective method for getting your photo book published and printed. It also involves the least investment on your part in terms of personal control.

Print-on-demand means just what the name implies; you provide the finished content design, and a printer/publisher/distributor will print a copy of the book each time a copy gets ordered. This is a wonderfully cost-effective way to print small or large numbers of your photo book with virtually no waste. Your book gets printed only when there is an order. Often this method also includes a free ISBN and other perks.

This is also a great option to get your photo book printed and sold with as little overhead as possible. However, there are some downsides to this process. Namely, you will have little or no creative control over paper types, bindings, inks, and other nuances of the book printing process.

Amazon, Blurb and a growing number of other well-known book merchants have begun offering these types of services to photographers wishing to get their photo books distributed to the masses. For users of Lightroom, you can design and send your book to Blurb direct from the Lightroom software too.

Traditional book printers

If you want to go big with your photo book endeavor and have the financial (and marketing) resources to sit at the table, then you might be interested to know that even independently published photographers can have extremely high-quality photo books printed which offer enormous creative control over virtually every aspect of the printing process. This means that you will usually be able to select paper types and binding materials along with physically proofing prints so that your photos look exactly the way you want them to display.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always the most forgiving option for those who are creating their first photo book or have limited means for producing their published work. It involves the willingness to exercise ultimate creative judgment on all aspects of your book, which can be highly stressful. Furthermore, the majority of these types of printing firms have strict minimum printing runs for all printed books.

So, unless you need and are ready to store and distribute upwards of 1,000 copies of your book, this might not be the best route for your project. At the same time, if you do have the logistics in place and the demand is high enough for the quantity involved, the per-copy price of high-volume printers like these translates to relatively attractive profit margins when you consider the quality versus the cost of the product.

I went via this route with my first photo book. It involved organizing an overwhelmingly successful Kickstarter campaign along with a highly aggressive marketing strategy to source the funds I needed to cover the cost of printing. Would I do it again? Honestly, probably not, at least not this way, which brings me to our next option.

Limited quantity printing

If you’re looking for a careful balance between precise creative control, costs, and volume, this is likely the best choice for your photo book.

You could easily call this printing method could easily “artisan” printing. It involves a low number of meticulously crafted books, often with finely curated materials and craftsmanship, which can be purveyed more as a personal statement than a mass-produced product.

Limited quantity printing is perfect for face-to-face marketing, where the photo book itself becomes an art piece. Printing costs are relatively high, so in most cases, quantities of twenty or more copies could become slightly awkward. However, books of this nature can demand higher sale prices from collectors and impassioned patrons, and rightfully so.

Value in the effort?

It might be difficult to believe, but there is so much more to say about the in’s and out’s of making a photo book; at least one that you intend to make for the enjoyment of others.

A photo book is more than just making photos and finding a way to bind them into pages. Is it worth it? Does the reward justify the risk? It depends. Have you felt strongly about your subject and feel equally compelled to make photographs of that subject which you then work to compile into a photo book? If so, you’ve already committed a piece of yourself to the project. Anything that carries that much personal investment is, by definition, a success.

So, yes, there is still value in photo books. In a sense, books such as these carry even more value today. We live in a world saturated by the instantaneous. Producing a photo book requires time, deliberate intent, and the willingness to slow yourself down to focus on your true goal.

Will your photo book sell a million copies? Well, it’s doubtful.

However, depending on your expectations, making a photo book could very well be the most memorable, rewarding, and ultimately challenging mission you ever undertake as a photographer. There truly is no other feeling than seeing your own book sitting on your shelf. Believe me.

The post Photo Books: Value and Worth in Today’s Digital World appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Adam Welch.

Digital Photography School

October 25, 2019
The 5 Best Low Light DSLRs You Can Buy in 2019

The post The 5 Best Low Light DSLRs You Can Buy in 2019 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Do you want a camera that will capture amazing shots in low light?

As camera technology advances, DSLRs get better and better at handling the low light demands of photographers. Ten years ago, you would feel uncomfortable pushing ISOs past triple digits; now, ISO 3200 and ISO 6400 are common settings. And low-light autofocus lets you do some much more compared to 2010.

Of course, if you want these low light capabilities, there is one caveat:

You have to have the right camera. Because while some cameras perform admirably in low light conditions, others are still less than impressive.

In this article, I break it all down. I’ll share with you the five best low light DSLRs you can buy.

You’ll come away knowing which DSLR you need to grab – if you want the best low light capabilities out there.

Let’s dive right in.

1. Overall winner: the Canon 5D Mark IV

The Canon 5D Mark IV is an all-round great camera. And its low light performance is, well, amazing.

First, the Canon 5D Mark IV features strong low-light autofocus. The camera is rated down to -3 EV, and the autofocus does well when acquiring focus in the dark.

But where the Canon 5D Mark IV really shines is in its high ISO performance. The 5D Mark IV’s sensor easily outperforms the 5D Mark III, the 6D Mark II, and every Canon crop-sensor DSLR ever produced.

Images are great up through ISO 1600, and still usable at ISO 3200, 6400, and even 12800. This makes the Canon 5D Mark IV perfect for those who need to carry on shooting, even in ultra-dark conditions, such as wedding photographers and astrophotographers.

Plus, the Canon 5D Mark IV is just great across the board, packing a 30.4-megapixel sensor, dual card slots, 61 AF points with 41 cross-type points, and 7 frames-per-second continuous shooting.

Note that the Canon 1D X Mark II (Canon’s $ 5000+ flagship camera) does give better photos than the Canon 5D Mark IV, especially at ISO 6400 and 12800. But the unspeakably high price makes it a non-starter for pretty much every enthusiast and even semi-professional photographer, so I opted to leave both it and its Nikon equivalent, the D5, off the list.

2. Incredible alternative: the Nikon D850

First things first:

The Nikon D850 is one of Nikon’s top DSLRs and an amazing low light shooter in its own right.

In fact, the Nikon D850 edges out the Canon 5D Mark IV when it comes to low-light focusing. The Nikon D850 can lock focus in almost complete darkness, and it’s rated by Nikon down to an AF sensitivity of EV -4. In other words, the D850 is a strong option for event photographers, as well as anyone else looking to shoot moving subjects in low light.

Where the Nikon D850 falls short is in terms of ISO performance – though “falling short” is a bit of a misnomer in this case, because the D850 features amazing high ISO capabilities.

(It’s a credit to the Canon 5D Mark IV’s outstanding low light performance that it comes in ahead of the Nikon.)

The D850 offers beautiful photos up to ISO 1600. Images are still usable at ISO 3200. After this, color casts begin to distort the D850’s photos, though noise performance is still impressive.

If you’re comparing the D850 versus the 5D Mark IV, it’s worth noting the higher resolution of the D850 (45.7 megapixels) with the same frame-per-second rate (7 fps). Add to that 4K video capabilities, and you’ve got yourself a tremendous competitor.

3. Good budget option: the Nikon D750

The Nikon D750 is a few years old now (it was released in 2014), but that doesn’t stop it from offering up impressive low light performance, five years later.

The biggest benefit the D750 offers in terms of low-light capabilities is its autofocus; while it can’t go down to the -4 EV AF sensitivity featured on the D850, it offers autofocusing at a respectable -3 EV and does extremely well (better than the D810) at acquiring focus in low light.

The D750 packs impressive high-ISO capabilities, as well. You should be able to shoot comfortably up through ISO 1600. At ISO 3200, some noise will be present, increasing at ISO 6400, but remaining usable.

Other features include a 6.5 fps continuous shooting speed, a full-frame, 24.3-megapixel sensor, and an adjustable LCD screen. Where the D750 shows its years is in terms of its accessories: there’s no touchscreen, and no 4K video.

But it’s easy to find used D750s on sale for under 1000 dollars. So if you’re looking for a stellar low-light camera on a budget, the D750 may be the way to go.

4. Canon 6D Mark II

The Canon 6D was considered an exciting full-frame option for enthusiasts. Unfortunately, its successor, the Canon 6D Mark II, debuted to less critical acclaim.

That said, the Canon 6D Mark II does have a few features worth noting, including its low light ISO performance, which is outranked only by the 5D Mark IV among Canon’s semiprofessional and APS-C DSLRs.

On the 6D Mark II, you can push your ISO to 1600 without worrying about intense noise. Even ISO 3200 gives useable, though somewhat noisy, images.

Low light focusing is good, with the 6D Mark II acquiring focus down to an EV of -3, and featuring a strong AF center point (as part of a 45 AF point spread).

All in all, the Canon 6D Mark II is a solid low light option, especially for those not willing to shell out the money for a Canon 5D Mark IV (or its Nikon competitors).

5. Best APS-C low light option: the Nikon D7500 (and the Canon 80D)

Full-frame cameras are better low light shooters, hands down. The larger pixel size gives better noise performance, and top brands channel their best features into semi-professional and professional full-frame bodies.

That said, there are some great low-light crop-sensor options out there.

In particular, the Nikon D7500 offers some impressive low-light capabilities at a very reasonable price (and is just an all-around solid option).

First, the ISO range is outstanding: ISO 100 to ISO 51,200, with an extension to the whopping ISO 1,638,400 (not that you should ever use it).

ISO 1600 shows noise, but nothing serious. Images at ISO 3200 are surprisingly good for an APS-C camera, and even ISO 6400 is usable with some noise reduction for smaller print sizes.

On the Canon side of things, the 80D doesn’t quite match the low-light performance of the Nikon D7500 but is still worth a look. Images become noisy around ISO 1600, increasing with ISO 3200 and beyond. I’d also recommend checking out the new Canon 90D; while the noise performance will no doubt be scrutinized over the coming months, initial tests indicate that the 90D is close to equivalent with the 80D at high ISOs.

Here’s the bottom line:

For entry-level shooters looking to grab a strong low-light performer, the Nikon D7500 or the Canon 80D might be the way to go.

The 5 best low light DSLRs you can buy: conclusion

You should now have a good sense of the best low-light DSLRs out there – and the right one for your needs.

If you’re looking to do some serious shooting and you have the cash to spare, the Canon 5D Mark IV or the Nikon D850 is the way to go.

But the Canon 6D Mark II and the Nikon D750 are solid backups.

And for the entry-level photographer, the Nikon D7500 and the Canon 80D both feature good high-ISO performance, even if they are APS-C bodies.

Do you agree with these low light shooters? Are there any other low-light DSLRs you’d recommend? Share with us in the comments!

The post The 5 Best Low Light DSLRs You Can Buy in 2019 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Digital Photography School

October 24, 2019
4 Ideas for More Creative Shots when Photographing from One Position

The post 4 Ideas for More Creative Shots when Photographing from One Position appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Lily Sawyer.

This year, as has been the case in the past few years, as a family, we take a few days in the summer to go camping. I’m not going to lie; I find camping really tough. I don’t like the inconveniences camping requires but I do love the campfires and stargazing. This year has been particularly difficult as we went during a heatwave. The heat was relentless, and during the day we couldn’t even stay in our tents. We had to seek shelter in the forest for hours when not going on a long walk.

This article came to me on one of those mornings finding respite from the heat in the forest. My kids were drawing, sitting on the swings, hacking a path through some bushes, and I sat on a picnic blanket with my camera. I gave myself the maximum space of the mat to move around in, approximately 1.5m square. All I had with me was my Nikon D610 and a 60mm micro prime lens, so I gave myself a challenge. What can I photograph creatively whilst glued to this picnic mat?

4 ideas to get more creative shots when restricted in space and position

1. Direction and perspective

To get more creative shots, look at different perspectives. Here I lay down and looked upwards at the branches and leaves above me against the sky.

I tried to find more interesting compositions given the limited subject matter. Also, I tried to find layers of branches to achieve some bokeh and depth of field and focused on the nearest branches above me.

I moved around the mat while still on my back, and took shots with the tree trunks as leading lines reaching up to the sky for interest whilst still looking upwards as pictured above. Then I looked down and took some close up of twigs on the forest floor as pictured on the right below.

Look both directions: left and right.

To my left was this tree (pictured above left). I used the forest floor to create foreground interest, some greenery as the middle ground (which was focused), and the big tree in the distance as the background. To my left was a big tree trunk covered in moss and knots, both of which I found an interesting subject to take close-ups of.

This is what I love about this micro/macro lens. When you shoot close up, even at small apertures, you still get really pretty bokeh. So, I leveraged this and used the distant leaves and the sky to achieve bokeh behind the mossy trunk.

2. Distance

For more creative shots, take your gaze further and see what’s on the horizon. Below is the furthest view I could see.

To the left of this tree trunk is the tall spindly white tree that dominated my distant scenery. I thought this was a rather unusual tree and made for a good, strong subject. It stood out from the lush greenery as if constantly growing its way into the sky.

Also, don’t forget to check what’s right in front of you – especially anything that could be close-up material too. Below-right is a cut off tree shot at normal eye-view distance. I put a little leaf on top, so I had some close-up material to play with.

This trunk below was too far for me to reach or do a close-up of so this was my “midway” subject to photograph. Again, I used the foreground and background to create some interesting bokeh.

3. Create a new subject matter

Whilst it’s good to use our observational skills to find interesting things to photograph, we mustn’t solely rely on what’s already there! Get creative and think of unusual out-of-the-box ideas you can put together as your subject matter.

Here I happened to see heart-shaped leaf just outside the blanket I was sitting on, so I created a ring of seeds around it. I liked the way the colored leaf pops out of the brown earth.

Our picnic was laid out on the blanket and wondered what I could do with an empty water bottle. I photographed it looking through the hole at the top into the bottom of the bottle.

4. Experiment with effects

We had some plastic from our picnic stash and I used it to create a soft-focus effect on this landscape shot of the tree. I achieved this by wrapping the plastic around my lens, so it covered a little bit of the lens around the edges. Doing so, rendered those areas soft whilst the rest of the tree is still in focus.

I played around with how much or how little of the plastic I wanted to obscure the image. This one below had more soft-focus leaving only the strip of horizon sharp and clear.

I tried recreating a tilt-shift effect.

Tilt-shift lenses are called so because you can rotate, tilt and shift the lens optics in order to blur parts of the image whilst leaving other parts sharp if you wish. This is a neat trick when trying to photograph miniatures. I asked my daughter to create a little miniature teepee for me. These are my attempts whilst shifting the positional angles of my lens as I was still using the 60mm micro and not a tilt-shift lens.

This was a fun little challenge for me and got me out of boredom and into thinking creatively! I hope you enjoyed this and will try it sometime!

If you have any other ideas for more creative shots, share them in the comments below!

The post 4 Ideas for More Creative Shots when Photographing from One Position appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Lily Sawyer.

Digital Photography School

October 24, 2019
A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Light in Flower Photography for Awesome Photos

The post A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Light in Flower Photography for Awesome Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

Flowers are brilliant subjects for photography. They are bright, colorful, and are stay perfectly still for you as long as the wind is calm. You don’t need any special equipment or lenses to take great photos of flowers either. You can get great photos with just a mobile phone or a basic DSLR with a kit lens. If you really want to elevate your flower photography to the next level, you need to pay very close attention to one thing – the sun – because the light in flower photography is everything.

85mm, f/2.8, 1/3000 second, ISO 2200

Of course, there are other sources of light besides the sun, but this is the most obvious and easily-accessible one when considering flower photography. Unfortunately, you can’t position the sun exactly where you want it, but you can position yourself to make the best use of it. You can also take note of the lighting conditions when you go out to shoot flower pictures. Understanding how the sunlight, and your angle of view, affect the finished product is key to getting great shots.

Don’t let anyone tell you that if you want to get good pictures of flowers you have to do it in certain conditions like a cloudy day or the evening. In truth, you can get great flower photos almost any time as long as you pay attention to the sun and the shot you are trying to get. Let’s take a look at some different scenarios and see how they affect flower photography.

Time of day

The time at which you shoot, such as early morning or mid-afternoon, can have a huge impact on your flower photos. In addition to altering the amount of light available, shooting in the morning or evening changes the type of light. It also changes the angle at which it hits your flowers and the surrounding area.

I shot the picture below just as the sun was coming up. The blurry triad in the background is a street lamp that had not yet turned off. It added a nice background touch to the picture. This would have looked entirely different had I taken the picture a few hours later.

50mm, f/1.8, 1/180 second, ISO 400.

If you want your flowers gently illuminated for a soft, almost hazy appearance, then early morning or late evening is going to work great. However, if you want your flowers bright, sharp, and punchy, then harsh overhead lighting is ideal.

It all depends on the type of picture you want to take and knowing how the lighting conditions affect the final image.

50mm, f/2.8, 1/1500 second, ISO 200

A monarch butterfly joined me as I was taking the above picture in the afternoon. The bright overhead sun made the reds, yellows, and greens bright and crisp, which doesn’t happen in the early morning or late in the day.

The sun was directly overhead when I took the picture below. This caused each of the colors in this picture to shine. It turned out I wasn’t the only one interested in this particular magnolia flower.

50mm, f/1.8, 1/6400 second, ISO 200

You can get great pictures of flowers at any time of the day. Just make sure you know where the sun is and how it will impact your pictures. Armed with that knowledge, you’ll be able to make better choices about the pictures you are going for.

Types of light in flower photography

Backlighting vs. front lighting

Backlight is when the main source of light comes from behind your subject. This can lead to some creative scenarios, especially when used to shoot subjects with rim lighting. Conversely, front light is when the main source of light comes from the front of your subject, usually behind the photographer.

Either one of these types of lighting works great for flower photography. However, you need to understand how backlighting and front lighting affect your flower pictures, so you know which one to use. I photographed the flower below with front lighting. The sun was behind me as I took the picture.

85mm, f/1.8, 1/3000 second, ISO 100

Front lighting makes the purples really stand out, especially against the background. There are also some prominent shadows along the left-hand side and at the base. These are neither good nor bad, just a result of using front lighting.

A similar flower, shot in the same location a few minutes later, reveals a much different image when employing backlighting.

85mm, f/2.8, 1/500 second, ISO 560

Notice how the petals almost look like they are glowing as the sun shines through them. The shadows are more diffused, which is also due to the late hour of the day at which this was shot. Both pictures are good but in different ways. If you traditionally shoot flowers with front lighting, try doing some backlit shots and see if you like the results.

Another backlit flower, where the shining sun made the yellow flower appear bright and radiant.

Sunny vs. overcast

There’s a common perception among photographers that cloudy, overcast skies make for some of the best lighting conditions. While I certainly enjoy shooting on days like that, the truth is, you can make any lighting condition work for flower photography. You just need to know how the light will affect your images.

One of my favorite flower photos I have ever taken was in the middle of the day just after a bit of rain. It’s a few coneflowers low to the ground. The overcast sky led to even lighting across the entire frame and rich, deep colors. There are no harsh shadows, no translucent petals, and no bright spots in the background. Instead, the frame is a mix of saturated greens, purples, and reds that I really like.

50mm, f/1.8, 1/640 second, ISO 200

Another example of this is the following picture, which I took in the morning after a night of thunderstorms. The clouds overhead dispersed the sunlight into all directions, which gave me an evenly-lit scene that worked great for this particular show.

85mm, f/1.8, 1/200 second, ISO 125

However, these two pictures don’t mean you can’t take great flower pictures in bright sunlight. Far from it! Just know that flower images in bright sunlight will look much different than their cloudy-skied counterparts. The picture below is similar to the one above, but I took it on a bright sunny day.

50mm, f/1.8, 1/8000 second, ISO 360

This picture is neither better nor worse than the one above it, just different. Bright sunlight makes the red petals leap out of the frame. The rich blue sky and deep shadows of the grove of trees add a sense of space and depth that is missing in this picture’s counterpart.

Similarly, I photographed the purple magnolia flower below on a bright sunny day, but with just a bit of cloud cover. It’s kind of a cross between sunny and overcast and yields an interesting picture.

85mm, f/1.8, 1/200 second, ISO 140

The sun was off to the left, making the white inside of the flower petal shine out and compete with the purple in the foreground for the viewer’s attention.

I show all these examples as an illustration that you can get great shots of flowers in a variety of lighting conditions. The key is to use the sunlight (however it happens to be at the moment) to your advantage by knowing how it will affect your flower photos.

A comparison

If you can’t control the light in your flower photography, you can still control the angle from which you shoot your pictures. This has an amazing impact on how your flower photos turn out.

I shot the three photos below on a bright sunny day in about three minutes. The same flower is in each shot, and I used a 50mm lens with an f/2.8 aperture. The only difference is the angle from which I took each photo but that one simple thing changes each picture a great deal.

In this first picture, the flower is front-lit, meaning the sun was behind me and almost directly overhead as I took the photo. Notice the bright orange colors and stark shadows, which create a sense of depth and isolation. The background is shrouded in shadow because of the overhead light and the angle from which I took the picture. I see a lot of pictures similar to this online, especially on social media sites.

50mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 second, ISO 100

For this next photo, I stood in the exact opposite spot, looking up from below into the sun. Notice how the petals have become brilliantly translucent, and the greenery on the left is bursting with blurry bokeh.

It’s an entirely different version of the same flower and didn’t require anything on my part other than a simple perspective change.

Unlike the first picture, I don’t often see flower shots like this on social media. This is most likely because it’s just not something a lot of people think about doing.

50mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 second, ISO 100

I photographed this final image from the side, and what’s interesting here isn’t necessarily the flower but the background. From this angle, the background was entirely green, making the oranges and reds of the flower scream out by comparison. The lighting is similar to the first image, but this one is a lot more interesting to me because it’s a mix of colors instead of a flower against a mostly black background.

50mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 second, ISO 100

I really want to stress that none of the pictures in this tutorial are objectively better than any others. What I hope to have illustrated is that paying attention to the light in flower photography, as well as considering alternative viewpoints from which to shoot, can dramatically impact your flower photos.

23mm, f/5.6, 1/160 second, ISO 200. I had to hold my camera high above my head and fire off a series of shots hoping one of them would turn out. It did, and I’m so glad I didn’t just shoot a single sunflower from my normal eye level.

If you enjoy taking pictures of flowers, hopefully these images will give you some new ideas to consider. And if you haven’t spent much time out in nature capturing the beauty of blossoms like this, I hope you can find some time to go out, look at the lighting in flower photography and give it a try. You might be surprised at what you can get!

I’d love to see some of your shots – please share them with us in the comments below.

The post A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Light in Flower Photography for Awesome Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

Digital Photography School

October 23, 2019
Why These are My Favorite Free Online Photo Editing Tools

The post Why These are My Favorite Free Online Photo Editing Tools appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

Are you looking for a way to keep your photography workflow going without your computer? Fortunately, there are some free online photo editing tools that can help you out. Here are a few of my favorites and why.

Maybe you’re traveling light or your computer doesn’t have enough capacity? Perhaps it just crashed and you sent it to get fixed? Whatever the reason, sometimes you just can’t work with downloadable programs.

But there are no more excuses because here are some great browser tools to solve your needs regardless of your level of expertise.

Google Photos

With Google Photos, you can have unlimited storage in their Cloud, but your photos and videos are limited to 16 MP in their file size. If you store files that are bigger than that, it eats into your Google Drive quota. Still, you can back up or share your images from anywhere you have Internet access.

If you want to learn more about protecting your work, check the article Are Your Photo Backups Rock Solid?

Archiving

In order to keep track of all these images, you can organize them by album. But in case you haven’t gotten around to doing it, you can find them by type: video, movie, animations, collages or photos. Furthermore, you can search for them by the things or places featured in them, even if you didn’t tag them.

You can use Google Photos for free; all you need is to have a Google account. In this day and age, most of us already have one anyway.

Features

You can also create photo books to print directly from Google Photos. Other features include movies, collages, and animations.

It includes some photo editing tools, but it’s mostly filters and very basic adjustments. If you need to do further edits, I suggest to move on to my next favorite on the list.

Fotor

Fotor is a photo editing and graphic design platform that you can use online or download it to your desktop. There is a free version or a paid pro version. The tools available depend on which of these combinations you’re using. Here, I’ll talk, as the title says, of the free online one.

Photo editing

I like the Fotor editor because it offers a good balance between customizable adjustments and one-click effects. If you want to do some controlled editing, just go to the Basic tab. If you prefer presets, go to Effects and Beauty. In these last ones, you’ll find some free choices and some premium ones.

Collage

For the collage feature, it offers many more designs than Google Photos. There are four main categories, and each one has a series of templates. What I find particularly useful is Photo Stitching. With this, you can create a panorama by ‘stitching’ many images into one.

Graphic Design

However, my favorite part is the ability to do graphic design. From a thank you card to a brochure, you can easily customize the templates with your photos. You can then adjust colors, fonts, and stickers to your liking.

The templates also cover any social media needs as well as the more traditional formats. Some are free and some you have to get the paid subscription.

Storage

If you decide to create an account, you also have free storage in the cloud for your photos and any work you make in Fotor. And, of course, if you go for the paid version, the storage space increases.

Pixlr

Pixlr is a browser photo editor that offers different versions to fit your needs. Again, there are different versions available that offer certain levels of functionality and effects.

The free Pixlr Express is very basic – not much more than any other editor.

Still free, the Pixlr Editor allows you to do more controlled and personalized edits and is the one I prefer to use.

Pixlr X, which is a blend of the first two, is the paid version, and it comes with more professional features.

Pixlr Editor

The interface is similar to Photoshop or GIMP, to explore these more in-depth, you can check my previous articles: A Brief Introduction to GIMP and How to Set Up the Photoshop Interface.

You’ll find a tool panel on the left side, the canvas for your image in the middle, and the panels for history, layers and other options on the right.

Tools

You have all the adjustments you need to correct and fine-tune your image and filters and effects for you to choose from. It also includes two of my most important tools when doing photo retouching – layers and masks.

Conclusion

I hope you liked my list of favorite free online photo editing tools. Remember, there are many solutions out there that are free. I’ll leave you some related articles in case you want to explore some more tools and software.

Please, also share your favorite free online photo editing tools with us in the comments section.

Related Topics:

Your Comprehensive Guide to Photography Post-Processing Software

3 Alternative Post-Processing Applications that Challenge the Adobe Throne

Tips on Choosing a Free Photo Editor for Post-Processing

Free Versus Paid Photography Portfolio Websites – Which is Best for you?

36 of the Best Online Tools to Boost Your Photography Business

The post Why These are My Favorite Free Online Photo Editing Tools appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

Digital Photography School

October 23, 2019