Category: Photography

7 Steps to Find Inspiration so You Can Create Phenomenal Photographs
Staying inspired to create stunning photographs consistently is a tough challenge. In this article, I present seven methods you can use to find inspiration. If you take them on board they will propel you to your goal of making phenomenal photographs.

Most photographs you see in your day are mediocre at best. You will scroll past them rapidly and hardly notice most of them. Other people will do this with your photos on their social media feeds too.

Seeking inspiration from social media is not effective in the long run if you desire to make truly outstanding photographs.

“Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion.” – Jack Kerouac

1. Read. Read. Read.

Read a lot. Read books about photography by photographers. Read stories of how photographers became successful. People’s stories will teach you many varied ideas you will not read in how-to books or find on Youtube tutorials.

One of my favorite photography books is called, On Being a Photographer by David Hurn and Bill Jay. These authors were longtime friends and both accomplished photographers and teachers. I am inspired by their conversations in this book every time I pick it up.

Find a few photography blogs to follow. Search for photographers whose work you admire and can relate to who are writing their own blogs. Read everything they write.

Keep reading the diversity of articles here at dPS. When you find a topic or author you appreciate, search back through their archives and read more. Find the author’s website and social media feeds and follow them.

There are not so many photography magazines published nowadays. Read them if you can find some you like. Pick up old copies if you see them in second-hand stores. They often contain well written, carefully edited articles and follow styles and themes. I still have photography magazines that are 20 years old in which I can still find inspiration.

2. Seek Out the Masters

Learn from the best. Keep watch for when photography exhibitions are held in your area. Make a point of seeing major photograph exhibitions, even if you have to travel some distance. Take a photographer friend and make a day of it. Having someone else who’s interested will mean you have lots of good conversation about the photos you see.

Buy books. Check books out from your local library. Books of photographer’s life work or long-term projects. Big picture books you can browse through and learn from. Look for what you like, images and styles you want to emulate.

Finding some photography heroes will help keep you looking upwards. Learning how the masters have succeeded will encourage you to new heights in your own photography. I have been incredibly inspired by the work of Irving Penn and many others.

3. Do Something New

Commit to learning a new technique. Research on the technique and how it’s best used. Practice it every time you use your camera it. When you have mastered it, learn another.

Do the same for your equipment. If you buy a new flash, reflector, filter or another piece of gear, don’t let yourself buy anything else until you have mastered it.

It’s easy to become uninspired doing things by half. If you have a new piece of kit or have started learning a new technique and not become familiar with it, you will not be able to use it effortlessly. By committing to becoming proficient you will enjoy it more and be more creative than frustrated.

4. Do a Photography Project or Two

Always have at least one on-going photography project you work on regularly. Set goals and make yourself challenges to keep producing better and better images for your project.

Incorporate the other six points in this article to help you stay inspired for your projects. Generating a body of work you will be able to look back over in time can be incredibly motivating. To see how your photography skills and ideas grow over a period of six months, a year, five years or more is a valuable source of inspiration.

5. Find Photographer Friends

Solo indulgence in any form of creative expression can leave you in a vacuum unless you are completely confident and never lack inspiration. I don’t think I know anyone like that. Being a photographer, whether for a living or as a hobby, is often something people do on their own.

Having someone to bounce ideas around with can breed creativity like nothing else I know. It’s not always easy to find people to do this with. If you seek them you will find them. Creatively compatible people often gravitate towards one another. Be open to relating with other photographers.

Have coffee or a beer together:
- Swap stories.
- Share ideas.
- Encourage one another.
- Ask questions.
- Help each other.
- Collaborate on projects.
6. Crave Constructive Criticism

Have the photos you are taking critiqued by someone you respect. Find someone that can give you positive input on technique, method, and style. It may take some courage at first but this will help keep you inspired.

Receiving uplifting feedback about what you are doing creatively is important to personal growth. Learning to critique your own work is a valuable exercise to provoke motivation. Taking a step back and having your photos critiqued, by someone else or by doing it yourself, will stimulate fresh photography ideas.

7. Find a Mentor

Someone you can trust and has real experience as a photographer is about the best way to help you stay inspired. A good mentor will incorporate both #5 and #6 as a friend and a critic of your photos. They will do more than that though.

A capable mentor will help guide you through all the points in this article. You will gain so much from their seasoned years of having a camera in their hands and living and breathing photography.

Finding a mentor you can connect with and who you feel comfortable with is important. You need someone who listens to you rather than just shares what they have done.

You can ask local photographers near where you live or seek out someone online who’s photos and opinions you respect and appreciate. Even if they do not offer a mentoring service, just ask. They can only say no.

You may have to pay a mentor for their service, especially if they offer some kind of structured learning program. If you are serious about photography this will likely be the best investment you can make. It will do far more for you than upgrading your camera or buying a new lens.

“Great things are not done by impulse, but a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh

The post 7 Steps to Find Inspiration so You Can Create Phenomenal Photographs appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
October 4, 2018
Review: Peak Design Travel Backpack
Back in 2015, when my wife and I were looking for a bag she could carry her laptop and other work-related items in, we stumbled across a Kickstarter project for the Everyday Messenger from Peak Design. It wasn’t the cheapest option, but it looked like it would stand up to the wear and tear of daily use. And it looked like the company had put a lot of thought into making a solid bag that would meet her needs.

After a bit of research, and comparing it with other bags, we bought one. It was our first experience with Peak Design products. But it certainly wasn’t our last.

Photo courtesy of Peak Design

My wife, who is not a photographer, still uses it every day. In fact, we were so impressed with it that I bought their follow-up product – the Everyday Backpack – for myself.

I take it on my bicycle commute to work every day. I also use it to carry my camera gear when I shoot photos for clients. Its quality, usefulness, and thoughtful design touches are impressive, and illustrate how Peak Design made these products to suit photographers as well as everyday people.

When I found out Peak Design was expanding its offerings from everyday-style bags to a line of products that focus on travel, I was intrigued. The Messenger and Backpack bags have served my wife and I well over the years, and I was eager to see whether the Travel Backpack could live up to the legacy created by their other products.

The Travel Backpack isn’t specifically focused on photographers, but Peak Design has clearly kept photographers in mind with this bag.

Testing the Traveler

To thoroughly test the Travel Backpack I used it to carry everything I needed for a five-day, 1800-mile road trip up and down the midwest United States to see friends and family. I stuffed it to the brim with:
- my camera
- shorts, socks, shirts, and pants
- my personal care items
- a Nintendo 2DS XL
- a host of chargers
- an iPad for watching Netflix in hotel rooms.
It was tossed around in my car, loaded and unloaded multiple times, and hoisted up and down so many flights of stairs that I lost count.

It performed flawlessly.

I was immediately impressed at the level of design and consideration that went into the Travel Backpack. They’ve made dozens of tweaks and flourishes to every aspect of this bag that separate it from most run-of-the-mill carrying companions. It’s the attention to detail you’d expect with a bag of this caliber and price. The fabric is thick, the fasteners and clips are sturdy, and the zippers are easily accessible. It’s got pretty much everything I wanted in a travel container, as well as some things I didn’t even realize I was looking for.

Photo courtesy of Peak Design

When I returned my wife, who’d recently attended a work conference on the East Coast, said she wished she’d had the Travel Backpack instead of her usual carry-on suitcase. And I’d say the same would hold true for just about anyone. We have a nice set of luggage that works just fine, but having used the Travel Backpack I’d rather take it over our other travel gear.

Pockets, Pockets Everywhere

The Travel Backpack is big enough to hold everything from cameras and clothes to shoes and shower items, yet small enough to fit in an airplane carry-on cargo hold. Pockets abound in the Travel Backpack, with every nook, cranny, corner and flap having a cavity or pouch tucked away for all manner of trinkets, tchotchkes, memory cards and power cables.

The well-padded shoulder straps can be tucked away beneath thick flaps that snap shut with a satisfying magnetic click. When the bag is zipped up and read to be tossed into a trunk or overhead airplane bin, additional pockets on the sides let you get to your essentials at a moment’s notice.

Photo courtesy of Peak Design

Of course, all those extra are useless if you can’t get to them easily. Thankfully the Travel Backpack gives you plenty of ways to get to your cargo. The back of the unit (the part that you actually carry on your shoulders) unzips and folds back to reveal the entire contents of the pack, leaving nothing hidden or tucked away behind recessed side panels. In a nod to the Everyday Backpack, the sides unzip so can grab something quickly without having to open up the entire bag. And the front zipper lets you access a separate portion of the bag, which can be useful for stowing laptops, tablets, notebooks and other thin items.

One of the hallmarks of the Travel Backpack is how you can tweak and change it to suit your needs. Want more space? Gussets on the front unzip so you can stow significantly more cargo. Need less space? You can squeeze the bag down to a more manageable size by collapsing the top with two convenient snaps. Don’t need the shoulder straps? Tuck them away behind the magnetic flaps to keep them out of your way.

A tall thin pocket runs from top to bottom on the inner back flap for stowing super thin items, with another pocket inside it. Or you can keep the pockets closed with the Velcro attachments and ignore them altogether.

Whatever you want to bring, there’s probably a pocket to hold it. Photo courtesy of Peak Design.

If you simply want a massive, cavernous, well-designed duffel bag, unzip the divider separating the small front portion from the spacious main portion to create a single massive chamber that can hold just about anything.

This illustrates the many ways the Travel Backpack would be great for just about anyone on the go.

Sweating the Details

Peak Design has incorporated a number of small details in this bag that make it ideal for travelers. Interlocking external zipper straps discourage unscrupulous tourists from swiping your gear. Attachment points on the inside give you convenient locations to strap down your items so they don’t move around. Handles on the top, bottom, sides and back let you carry the Travel Backpack in whatever way suits your needs. And the entire product is just the right size to fit neatly into an airplane overhead bin.

Photo courtesy of Peak Design

The all-round build quality is astounding, just as I’d expect after owning two other Peak Design bags for several years. And no, I’m not being paid to say this. I was a K-12 teacher for five years, and completely wore out several bags inthat time. Let’s just say I can tell a cheaply made bag when I see one, and the Travel Backpack is anything but.

The outer shell is made from thick Kodra fabric, which feels tough and sturdy while still having a degree of flexibility that lets the bag squish and stretch as needed. The main zipper is thick and chunky, and all zippers are hidden beneath long thin flaps that, presumably, providing a degree of weatherproofing and a sense of security. A casual observer probably wouldn’t even see them.

Even though I wasn’t exactly gentle with the Travel Backpack on my road trip, five days isn’t nearly enough time to assess long-term durability. For that I look to my Everyday Backpack and Everyday Messenger which, after years of near-daily use, barely show any signs of wear and tear. I’d expect no less from the Travel Backpack. Admittedly some of the inner pouches and flaps don’t have the same degree of thickness, but it’s nothing I’m worried about. Peak Design products have a lifetime warranty, so if anything did fail it would be taken care of by the manufacturer. It’s nice to see a company willing to stand behind their products like this.

Photo courtesy of Peak Design

While the Travel Backpack itself is highly useful, customizable and durable, it really excels when paired with accessories such as the Tech Pouch, Wash Pouch, Camera Cube and Packing Cubes. These are optional, but highly recommended if you have specific use-case scenarios in mind, such as carrying cameras and lenses with your clothes and toothbrushes. These accessories are designed to fit inside the Travel Backpack and, in the case of the Camera Cube, include mounting points and special hardware to ensure minimal movement and shuffling around.

If you want to use the Travel Backpack for carrying camera gear, you will definitely want to get the optional Camera Cube. Photo courtesy of Peak Design

The Camera Cube is specifically designed to fit the needs of people who carry cameras and lenses. It comes in three sizes – small, medium and large – with each one using Velcro dividers to create spaces to hold your gear. While other bags use similar systems, the flex-fold dividers used by Peak Design can be folded and reconfigured to a greater degree than I’m used to seeing.

Apart from the Camera Cube, my favorite packing accessory was the Tech Pouch. It help every electronic item I brought with me (other than my iPad), and neatly stowed all my cables, chargers and game cartridges too. It stands upright when open, revealing the entire contents and giving you instant access to anything inside. The Wash Pouch is fine for holding toiletries for a single person, but if you’re traveling with a companion don’t expect everything to fit in a single pouch.

The Camera Cube is secured in place by sturdy anchors you can detach. But they’re a bit tricky to operate, and constantly inserting and removing the Camera Cube can be frustrating, especially if you have larger fingers.

More of a curiosity are the Packing Cubes, which hold clean and dirty clothes. They do a good job, but I’m not sure they’re worth the price when you can do essentially the same thing with a plastic bag. But to be fair, plastic bags aren’t made of lightweight breathable fabric, nor do they have zippers to close them up tight.

Travelers, Photographers, and Photographers Who Travel

At this point you might be asking what all of this has to do with photography. After all, Peak Design has been designing straps and clips and cases and bags for photographers since the company was founded.

But the Travel Backpack is unique in their lineup. While it’s certainly useful for photographers, particularly with the Camera Cube, it’s designed to fit the needs of anyone who finds themselves on the road and need a durable, versatile, customizable solution to carry their stuff.

The 45L Travel Backpack compared to my 35L Everyday Backpack, with a DSLR and 70-200 lens for scale.

If this sounds like you, and you regularly carry cameras, lenses, filters, spare batteries, small tripods and other items, you’ll be pleased with the Travel Backpack providing you also buy the Camera Cube. But if you need a bag specifically designed to carry camera gear to gigs, or just a versatile all-in-one carrying solution, the Travel Backpack may not be for you. For those situations you might want something smaller, such as the Everyday Backpack or another bag that isn’t quite so bulky.

And therein lies the rub. While the Travel Backpack is an outstanding product, it’s hard to unequivocally recommend this bag because its usefulness depends on your expectations and how you use its many features. If you’re frequently on the move and need to transport a lot of camera gear, clothes, electronics, or even everyday items then the Peak Design Travel Backpack will definitely suit your needs. It surpasses almost every other small suitcase, backpack and carry-on luggage – and then some. I can’t think of a scenario where the Travel Backpack wouldn’t be ideal if your goal involves traveling.

Photo courtesy of Peak Design

As a daily multipurpose bag for schlepping cameras, lenses, lighting, clothes, documents, laptops or anything else of that nature, another product would more likely suit your needs. It’s sheer size precludes it from being a solid solution for students. And even though the top snaps to reduce its overall size, it’s still too big for photographers who need to transport a few cameras and lenses around town. But if you have a lot of camera gear the Travel Backpack, combined with a large-sized Camera Cube (which almost takes up the backpack’s entire available packing space), could be the solution you need.

Another issue is the price, and I’d be the first to admit the Travel Backpack isn’t the cheapest option on the market. The MSRP for the backpack alone is $ 300, and that doesn’t include any pouches, camera cubes or even a rain fly, all of which can drive up the cost significantly. If you’re used to carrying your clothes and camera items around in a $ 30 duffel bag, you might balk at the idea of spending ten times as much for something that, in some ways, isn’t much different.

Snaps at the top allow the bag to shrink in size, but it’s still pretty large and cumbersome for everyday usage.

But when you see how the Travel Backpack is so much more than a duffel bag, along with the quality of the materials, the care and attention to detail, and the way it’s designed specifically to meet the needs of busy people on the go, you might think twice. When I think about the ways my Everyday Backpack and my wife’s Everyday Messenger have come through for us over the years while showing hardly any signs of wear, and compare it to our many bags that have disintegrated, broken or fallen apart, the price of a Peak Design product starts to make more sense.

I’m a big fan of the Travel Backpack, and I hope you can see why. If you’re frequently on the road or in the air, this bag will suit your needs impeccably, especially when used in tandem with the Camera Cube, Tech Pouch, Wash Pouch and Packing Cubes. I have a closet full of duffels and suitcases to carry things on trips. But if I had to pick one bag for my travel needs, it would certainly be this one.

Durability: 5/5

Flexibility: 5/5

Cost: 4/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

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Digital Photography School
October 3, 2018
How to do Focus Stacking in Photoshop for a Seemingly Infinite Depth of Field
Whenever you do macro or close-up photography you usually have to choose very carefully what you want to keep in focus. This can also happen when you want to shoot a landscape and you want to include an element close to you but you end up with a blurry background.

So it seems that doesn’t matter if you go big or small you always have to make compromises regarding the depth of field. However, there is a post-production way around it, stay with me and I’ll show you how to do focus stacking!

First, what is depth of field?

Depth of field, commonly referred to as DoF, refers to the distance between the first and last object that appears in focus or sharp within an image. It covers the space in front of and behind the focal plane, in other words where you put your focus.

How broad this space or distance is can be determined by different factors: the aperture, the focal length of your lens and the physical distance between the camera and the subject.

Even if you have these three factors to move around in order to expand your depth of field, there are certain conditions that just won’t allow you to get as much DoF as you need. This is where Photoshop comes in, when you need to achieve an impossible or seemingly infinite depth of field.

While this is a post-production process, you need to consider and get it at the shooting stage as it’s not something you can achieve by fixing your photo later. You need to prepare several photos that you’ll stack together in order to create one fully focused image.

So basically what you need to do is shoot the image with different parts in focus. Everything else needs to remain the same, this means the same framing and settings and you ONLY adjust your focus in each shot.

A few tricks for shooting images for focus stacking
- For best results in the post-production, it’s better to have good material to work with so I recommend using a tripod so that the framing is exactly the same in each image.
- Adjust the focus manually and in order (like from closest to farthest) so that you don’t lose track and have a shot where every area of the photo wasn’t sharp at some point during the shooting. Think of it as bracketing the focus.
- The more photos you take the better so that Photoshop will have enough information to form your final image.
Getting Started

Okay once you’re back at home base, download your photos to the computer. The first thing you need to do is open them all into the same file in Photoshop. You can do this by going to Menu > File > Scripts > Load Files into Stacks.

In the pop-up window, set it to use Files and then with the Browse button choose the set of photos you took. Check off the option “Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images”, especially if you didn’t use a tripod. But even if you did it’s useful to keep it checked to compensate for the focus breathing which is the change in scale when you re-adjusted the focus for each photo.

Once you have them all, just click Open and Photoshop will load them in the same file, each on a separate layer. The filenames will become the name of each of the layers.

Note: If you forgot to check the Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images in the step before, you can always do this by selecting the layers and going to Menu > Edit > Auto-Align.

Blending the layers

Now, select all of your layers. You can do this by clicking on the first one, then holding Shift+Click and click on the last layer. That way everything in between will get selected too. Now go to Menu > Auto-Blend Layers. A pop-up window will appear, check the “Stack Images” option and leave the Seamless Tones and Colors checked as well.

From there Photoshop will do all the work so you just have to be patient.

I recommend that you zoom in and check the edges as you can find some problem areas that may require you to copy paste from the original files for fine-tuning, like this:

Once Photoshop has your image pasted together, you can go to Menu > Layer > Flatten Image to compress all the layers into one. Finally, make any adjustments you need to the exposure or contrast to get your final result.

This is the best way of doing focus stacking in Photoshop. However, if you find yourself outside the studio, without a tripod and unprepared, you can still give it a go. Just try to stay as steady as possible or you won’t achieve the required result.

For example, I took two photos, one where the small sculpture of the head in the foreground was focused and one where the background was focused. It was done without a tripod or any care about it leaving all for Photoshop to fix and as you can see it wasn’t able to align them.

However, in these examples, I also used only two pictures and no tripod but I was very careful and did my best not to move at all except for my two fingers turning the focusing ring. Of course, it’s impossible to actually do that but it was good enough for Photoshop to do an acceptable result on my images.

So it’s not ideal but it can be done, never prevent yourself from trying!

The post How to do Focus Stacking in Photoshop for a Seemingly Infinite Depth of Field appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
October 2, 2018
How to Create Fine Art Images from the Mundane

It’s easy to feel defeated before you’ve even started when it comes to creating fine art images. A quick search of any of the popular photography sites brings up beautiful and humbling images from the far corners of the world.

However, you don’t need a round-the-world ticket and a six-month career break to shoot beautiful fine art photography. You can do this at home in your living room with minimal expenses if you’re prepared to think a little outside the box!

What does fine art mean anyway?

Fine art photography is one of those terms that is tricky to pin down. There are two ways that the term “fine art” is usually used so it’s important not to get confused between the two.

The first is usually in the context of museums and galleries. Fine art in European academic traditions is most often used to describe a work that was created primarily for beauty and has no other function. It is the opposite of “applied art” which describes everyday objects (such as ceramics) which have been decorated to make them more aesthetically pleasing.

When people talk about fine art photography though, they tend to be talking about a style of photography rather than a method of production. In this context, it’s usually art that was created for art’s sake. An image that was always designed to be primarily enjoyed for its beauty rather than its subject matter.

Sometimes there are lighting and processing styles that maybe associated with the term “fine art photography” but fashions and trends come and go, even in the world of art!

For a more in-depth look at fine art photography read: The dPS Ultimate Guide to Fine Art Photography

Flat Perspectives

Flat lay images have been gaining popularity for a while now. If you scroll through Instagram or Pinterest you’ll almost certainly find them in your feed. But most of the flat lay images out there on social media are heavily focussed on creating a real commercial vibe that sells a product or an experience.

Even those photographers not selling anything have often adopted this commercial style for their personal feeds. While there’s nothing wrong with this approach at all, there is room for a different interpretation of this style of an image by creative photographers who want to shoot fine art.

Searching for Inspiration

It’s always a good idea to start with a vision of how your final shots will look. A close study of the detail and texture of an object was the idea that I had in mind for this image. There’s a real trend in interior design right now for groups of artfully curated objects placed creatively on walls and it was this trend that I wanted to explore.

These images are also heavily inspired by the work of Edward Weston over the past few years, someone who has been inspiring me in my work for years.

Weston used photography to explore natural forms. He strived to capture details of the reality around him with real precision. Between 1927-30 he would shoot a portfolio of images based around peppers, shells, and cabbages. Through these images, Weston translated reality into something much more abstracted and Modernism-inspired.

A trip to the supermarket was in the cards as a homage to Weston’s visionary images of food. I auditioned pomegranates, gnarly heirloom tomatoes, and unusually long, thin peppers. But it was finding a bag of physalis (sometimes also called ground cherries or Chinese Lanterns) on the top shelf that really stoked my imagination.

Shooting Techniques

Lighting is everything when it comes to creating close photographic studies of objects. I am lucky enough to have an east-facing bay window in my studio. Around about early afternoon, it has the most perfect light for shooting really natural looking fine art images. You could create similar images using any large window on a bright overcast day.

Place a background onto your shooting table first – I selected a faux-wooden finish – and then set your camera up on a tripod looking directly down at the table (use a spirit level here if you have one).

If you don’t have a tripod that can flip its central column and tilt it horizontally you’ll want to purchase an accessory arm in order to shoot flat lays. Getting the camera directly above the subject without the tripod’s legs getting in the way is crucial to this style.

Finding the Light

There’s a theory that humans read images in a similar way to how they read written text. For me, because English is my primary language, I read from left to right. That means when I shoot I almost always start with the light coming from the left and the shadows on the right as default.

This way your viewer would be reading the image from the light to dark in the same way that they would read a book. It should feel very natural and easy.

If the light isn’t right for the image then wait until later in the day or even another day altogether. Shooting with available light isn’t always the quickest process but it can be very rewarding. When you’re using available light always have black and white cards on hand to bounce or block the light. Just because it’s not coming from a studio light, doesn’t mean you can’t modify it.

Controlling the Camera, Creating Compositions

One of the best things about the Fuji range of cameras is the iPhone app that goes with them. Although the screen on some cameras, like my Fuji, tilt so that you can see what you’re shooting – when you’re set up for flat lay shots it can still be a little awkward. The app gets around this problem and allows you to see exactly what you’re doing in real time.

When you’re shooting overhead flat lay images, a smart thing to do is to connect the phone and camera, start the app, and then place it on the table next to the arrangement of objects (but out of the shot). That way you can watch the scene as you move objects around to get the perfect composition before you push the shutter button.

It’s an extraordinarily useful feature to have the images transmit live so that you can watch them as you work. It really allows you to perfect your styling in a much shorter time than it might otherwise take.

Look for More Images

It was too easy to be content with the first flat lay group of physalis that I shot, but I knew that there were more images to be had of such a beautifully delicate subject. A physalis is quite small so I grabbed my old DSLR and its macro lens and begun the process all over again of finding a shot.

Changing lenses, especially if you shoot with primes, can really help you find another great image if you’re stuck for ideas or you think you’ve already got “the one.”

An even better image emerged – a single lone physalis still encased in its delicate shell! I shot this image by getting myself between the window and the shooting table and placing a black card behind the fruit.

The soft, beautiful light made the semitransparent physalis appear to glow and I knew at once I had shot an image I’d be happy to print large on my wall. Changing your perspective and getting down low or up high can also stimulate new ideas when it comes to shooting the same subject.

color or Black and White?

I once interviewed a great boudoir photographer who was very candid about why people spent money with her. She said it was because she gave them images that they couldn’t easily create at home – and she did that by color grading every image.

It is relatively easy nowadays with modern cameras and phones to get an image that’s in focus with colors which are true to life. Auto settings will get you pretty close most of the time. In that respect, it’s also much harder to make an image stand out from the crowd.

If everyone can shoot images that look like what’s in front of you then you need to go beyond image selection, focus, and composition to get a truly unique image.

On the color images of the physalis the saturation was dropped, and then blues were added to the shadows and a warm tan color to the highlights using the split toning panel in Lightroom.

For the black and whites, I experimented to find settings that created a deep contrast between the subject and the background, adding some clarity and darkening the shadows. For some of the images, the background texture was removed altogether by selectively decreasing the exposure, thereby referencing Edward Weston’s images that are usually shot on dark backgrounds.

Seeing Art Everywhere

With some practice, you can start to see potential in every object to become a subject for a piece of photographic fine art images. Many artists have preoccupied themselves with close studies of the world around them.

Edward Weston, the painters of The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, even Michelangelo all produced bodies of work that reflected on reality and how best to translate that into art.

You don’t need expensive trips around the world to exotic places or whole teams of people to create fine art photography. You just need a keen eye, your camera, and your kitchen table.

The post How to Create Fine Art Images from the Mundane appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

October 2, 2018
Review of the SKOUT Handsfree Camera Carrying System by Cotton Carrier

If you want an alternative to using the regular camera strap for hiking or walking around town type of activities, then this review is just the thing for you! Read on to find out about the SKOUT Handsfree Camera Carrying System and whether it will suit your needs.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to review the SKOUT handsfree camera carrying system by Cotton Carrier during a backcountry camping family trip in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park over a period of five days.

To say I was impressed with the performance and comfort of the SKOUT would really be an understatement. I was super impressed with the way Cotton Carrier’s handsfree system worked. It actually held up really well over 30 miles of hard terrain for the duration of the entire trip.

If you have ever been hiking in the mountains, especially the backcountry, you know that total weight and back comfort are very high on the list of priorities for any hiker. I have broken down my review of the Cotton Carrier in terms of the following factors.

The first day of the hike was without the SKOUT carrier and just using the camera strap around my neck. I was uncomfortable and the strap was so annoying to hold especially after 2-3 hours of a tough incline hike.

A much happier me with the SKOUT sling on a day hike. Being handsfree was the best part.

#1 – Ease of use

The SKOUT design is a one-size fit all solution for almost any camera and lens attachment. I used it with my Canon 5D MKIII and 16-35mm L lens as well as the 24-70mm L lens. The first setup with the 16-35mm lens was definitely lighter than with the 24-70mm lens. But with both lenses, the sling held up really well.

The side-strap provided the support needed and balanced the weight effectively. Since I was already carrying a heavy camping pack on both my shoulders, the side strap ensured the camera was well balanced on my back. I was really impressed with the SKOUT’s patented “Twist & Lock” mount that attaches and detaches the camera from the anodized aluminum hub with a simple twist.

I have to admit I was a little nervous the first few minutes after attaching the camera to the SKOUT, being completely handsfree. But my body and my back quickly adjusted to the freedom and I loved not having to constantly pull up the camera strap from my shoulders while walking and hiking in the rough terrain.

Hidden inside the system is an internal stash pocket that fits a phone or a few credit cards. There’s also a rain cover/ weather guard so the gear stays safe and dry in less than ideal environments. I actually ended up using this a couple of times during my hike when we got caught is a mild downpour in the moutnains.

#2 Comfort

Attaching the SKOUT was fairly simple. After wrapping it over one shoulder, there is a single strap that wraps around the torso and snaps into place on the front, securing the entire system. The shoulder strap is really padded well, so even heavier camera systems don’t put too much stress on the body.

The bracket attaches right where you would attach your tripod insert.

The bracket then connects to the sling body with a twist and turn and it is quite secure.

The crossbody sling with the camera attached to it along with the rain cover.

The cotton fabric is very breathable. I was hiking for almost 5-6 hours every day on some pretty rough terrain. Yet the shoulder and body straps were soft and did not rub against my back. The padding on the shoulder straps is thick and really does support the camera weight across your shoulder nicely.

#3 Durability

Like I mentioned earlier, I used the SKOUT camera sling system over a span of 10 days in the mountains of Colorado. I used it on backcountry hiking days as well as day hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park.

After the first few minutes of figuring out how to attach the camera and secure the system in place, I really forgot it was even on my body. I absolutely enjoyed being handsfree and having the camera readily available to snap a photo when I saw a beautiful landscape or wildlife.

No more taking the camera out of the daypack and risking missing the moment. The straps, the clasp, and even the camera attachment held up really well to some rough use during my trip.

Here is a video of the SKOUT handsfree camera system in use during my trip.

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Conclusion

All in all, I would definitely rate this product a 9/10 and highly recommend it for anyone looking to do photography on a trail or during a backcountry hiking/camping trip.

It is easy to use, comfortable to wear for extended periods of time and seems reliable even after some rough use in the outdoors.

The post Review of the SKOUT Handsfree Camera Carrying System by Cotton Carrier appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

October 1, 2018
Best Camera Settings for Portrait Photography

In this article and video, you will discover the best camera settings for portrait photography for taking photos in natural light and for flash photography. Whether you are brand new to portrait photography or a seasoned pro, you will benefit from these helpful photo tips.

If you prefer watching videos to reading, I have also included a video that will walk you through these photo tips for taking photographs in both natural light and for using fill flash.

Taking photos in natural light is the most common so we will start with those camera settings first.

#1 Best Camera Settings for Portrait Photography

I suggest you set your camera to manual mode to give yourself more creative control of your exposure. Sure, it will take a little extra time to capture your images but you are a much better judge of how you want the final image to look than your camera.

ISO

First choose your ISO, which is usually the lowest setting in natural light, ISO 100 on most cameras. Some Nikon cameras have a lower ISO and allow you to you choose a native ISO of 64. Set your ISO as low as possible to avoid extra noise and that grainy look you will get if you use higher ISO settings.

Aperture

Step two, decide which aperture you would like to use. For an out of focus background use an aperture like f/1.4. If you would like more of the background in focus or a sharper image, in most cases using an aperture that is two to three stops higher than the minimum aperture will be the sharpest point of the lens.

For example, an f/2.8 lens will be at its sharpest point at around f/5.6 to f/8. If you are a little confused by that, feel free to post your questions in the comment box below this article.

Read more here: How To Find Your Lens’s Sweet Spot: A Beginner’s Guide to Sharper Images

Shutter Speed

Once you have set your ISO and decided on your aperture your next step is to refer to your in-camera meter and adjust your shutter speed until you get a center reading. Then take a test shot and have a look at your camera’s LCD screen and histogram.

Make sure your histogram is as far to the right as possible without blowing out the highlights in your image. Refer to the video above for some examples of how the histogram should look on your LCD screen.

A general rule is to set your shutter speed two times the focal length of your lens. For example, if you were using a 100mm prime lens then you would set a minimum shutter speed of 1/200th to avoid camera shake and image blur.

There are exceptions to this rule. If you are using a tripod or you have in-camera stabilization, like some mirrorless cameras have, or you are using a lens that has built-in image stabilization, then you can photograph at lower shutter speeds.

Step #2 Best Camera Settings for Portrait Photography Using Flash

When it comes to using flash photography there are a couple of different strobes that are in common use today. There are smaller speedlights that fit on your camera’s hotshoe mount and there are larger studio strobes.

There are also strobe units that function differently. Some strobe systems do not allow you to shoot at a shutter speed faster than 1/200th (the camera’s sync speed). Other strobe setups will allow you to use something called (high-speed sync mode) to shoot with flash up to a shutter speed of 1/8000th.

If a majority of your portrait photography is going to take place outdoors, then I would consider a strobe like the Godox AD600 Pro which is what I used to take a majority of the images in this article. The Godox AD600 Pro allows you to use high-speed sync and flash at shutter speeds of up to 1/8000th.

If your current strobe does not allow you to take photos at above 1/200th, you can use a filter like a B+W 3-stop ND filter which will allow you to shoot at a shutter speed of 1/200th but also at an aperture 3-stops larger than you could without it.

For example, with a 3-stop ND filter, you can shoot at f/2.8 instead of f/8 for the same exposure.

Another important thing to keep in mind if you are shooting outdoors is that you will achieve better results if you shoot closer to sunrise or sunset when the sun is less harsh.

The image above was taken one hour before sunset in the shade and provides a nice even light on the subject’s face. If you would like softer light, then avoid shooting in the middle of the day or move to the shade if you do not have the luxury of shooting just before sunset.

Step #3 Practice These Tips and Explore Your Creativity

One last tip I have for you is to set your camera’s LCD screen brightness level to 4 or 5 and to leave it there. Make sure your LCD screen brightness is not set to auto. That is because it will be difficult for you to gauge your exposure level if your LCD screen brightness is constantly changing.

Check your camera’s settings and set your LCD screen brightness level manually and keep it at the same setting for future photo outings.

Conclusion

If you are new to shooting in manual mode it may seem a little difficult at first. But with a little practice, you will be shooting like a pro.

If you have any questions about the best camera settings for portrait photography that were covered in this article, feel free to ask in the comment box below this article. I look forward to hearing from you.

The post Best Camera Settings for Portrait Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

October 1, 2018
How to do Portrait Photography in Bright Midday Sun

In photography, learning and knowing how to use and manipulate light will always be an advantage. Especially when it comes to portrait photography because you aren’t always going to photograph your clients in the most ideal light.

Sometimes you don’t have a choice but to put your clients in direct sunlight.

Backlight your subjects

You might think that backlighting can only apply during sunset hours, however, it can be used any time the sun has passed its peak. Once the sun angles a bit, you are able to backlight your subject.

This technique is best to keep direct sun off your client’s face and avoid those weird shadows that happen under the eyebrows, nose, and chin.

Backlighting your clients can help minimize shadows.

It also helps to keep people from squinting. Keeping your subject’s face away from direct sunlight will also help keep them comfortable during the session. Beware of backgrounds as well because sometimes, to keep the light of your client’s face, it may mean having them in front of ab undesirable background.

Backlighting can also add lens flare to your photos in an artistic way.

Try your best to position your subjects away from direct sunlight while still keeping the background that you desire.

Use reflectors

Luckily, because the sun is high in the sky, and most likely really bright, you’ll have big natural light reflectors at your disposal.

Natural reflectors are great to bounce light back onto your subject without having to spend tons on expensive photographic gear. They are found at the location and can fill in the shadows nicely.

Use a shaded area to help with bright sunlight. The sand also acts as a natural reflector and bounces light back onto people’s faces.

Natural reflectors include big parking lots, sidewalks, windows, big light-colored walls, silver or white cars, buildings with silver or reflective paneling/architectural designs, light-colored cement walls/floors, sand at the beach, and any found natural reflective surface.

Use the sand as a natural reflector. Use trees to create a frame within a frame.

Backlight your subject when the sun has passed its peak and position them in front of a large natural reflector to bounce light back onto their face.

Professional photographic reflectors are also great to use if you have one already. Position your subject with their back to the sun. Use the silver side of the reflector to bounce light back onto them.

Be careful not to aim the reflected light directly into your subject’s eyes as it can be really bright, almost as strong as direct sunlight. Angle it a bit until you find enough fill on their face.

Backlighting your clients can help with shadows.

Make sure you do not place your reflector on the floor pointing upward at your client. This will cause the light to bounce upward which will give you odd unflattering shadows on the face. Rather, have a stand or a friend hold the reflector up so that the light bounced back is around torso height.

Be careful when using the white side of the reflector during midday sun as this can cause your client’s face to wash out and look opaque.

Use a scrim to diffuse light

Some reflectors, especially the 5-in-1 kind, come with a translucent side. This translucent reflector helps to diffuse sunlight without completely blocking it out. You can also make your own using translucent fabric and a PVC/hula-hoop.

Hold the scrim over your client’s face or body to diffuse the light. Be careful of your backgrounds. If your background is brighter than your client, the background will be overexposed. If possible, try and match the light on the background to the light on your client.

Scrims are especially effective if you are going for close-up photos of your client.

Slightly underexpose

Underexposing while photographing in bright midday sun can help you get less washed out backgrounds. Underexposing your photo can also help retain details that otherwise get lost if they are too bright.

Put your clients in direct sunlight to get a different look.

After the session, you can bring up the shadows in your editing program of choice without losing detail in the rest of the image. Underexposing 1/2 – 1 stop can also help to keep the background details intact.

You can also expose for both your clients in one photo and in the next expose for the background. Later you can merge both photos so that your final photo is exposed for both the people and the scene.

This will also look a bit like HDR which gives your photo a more artistic and dynamic look. Make sure that both photos are taken using the same lens, at the same distance, with the same framing so that both images line up. Otherwise, it will be more difficult to merge the photos in an editing program.

Try to avoid photograph clients in really bright backgrounds otherwise, you’ll get this washed out background and lens flare.

Use flash

Flash is a great resource to use during the midday sun. Especially when you are in a location where natural reflectors are scarce or you need an extra pop of light. Flash is also handy during midday sessions so that you can properly expose for your clients while keeping the background from washing out.

Use flash to fill in shadows and compete with the bright sunlight behind.

Since you’ll be competing with the bright midday sun, point your flash directly at your clients to make sure the light reaches them. Using a diffuser can help to disperse the light. If you’re using your flash in manual mode, aim to use it at 1/8th power or more. This will give you enough power to light your clients.

Experiment with your flash in the high-speed sync mode where you can use shutter speeds higher than 1/200th of a second. You’ll get more fashion styled photos as the pop of light will be more directional and your background will be darker.

Pointing the flash at a big white wall can also help to bounce light back onto your clients meanwhile diffusing the light so that it isn’t so harsh creating a nice blended fill.

Two different portraits created in midday sun during the same session.

If your flash is attached to your camera, you can slightly bend the flash down to direct it towards your clients rather than having it all the way up. It can add more light to the scene and direct it where you want it to be.

Shoot in Shade White Balance

It might seem a little weird to photograph your entire session in the Shade White Balance and your eyes might take some time getting used to the sepia tones. However, photographing people in shade mode helps to keep skin tones even.

This is very important, especially while photographing during midday sun since it can be really bright and hard to keep the skin tone consistent.

Have fun photographing in the midday sun.

Shade White Balance allows you to then edit your photos so that you can get the exact skin tones that you desire.

Let creativity flow

Photographing during midday sun may not be ideal yet it can offer many different ways for your creativity to flow. Use shadows to create interesting effects. Try to face your client toward the direct sunlight and focus on the details.

Use midday sunlight to create different effects.

You can also use hats, palm leaves, water, and other interesting elements to create different styled photographs. Experiment with your flash in different positions. Use the sun as a subject within the photo.

Use the sun to create repeating patterns and shadows.

Allow your backgrounds to grow dark or wash out. Use the midday sun to highlight details that you want and put into shadow the details that you want to eliminate. There are many different ideas and letting the sun guide you can often give you the best results!

Put your clients in the shade

Just because you have to photograph during the harsh hours of midday sun, it doesn’t mean that you can’t use shaded areas to your benefit!

You don’t need a much shade, just enough for your clients to fit in. Tall buildings, large tall trees, and tall walls work to help shade your client from harsh light during the middle of the day. Position them close to a big natural reflector, keeping them in the shade while taking advantage of the light being bounced back.

Put your clients in the shade if you can.

Make sure you expose for your client’s face and not the background, this will help keep your skin tones even if the background washes out a bit.

In conclusion

While photographing in midday sunlight isn’t necessarily ideal, it can always offer some great ways to create different and interesting photographs of your clients. Practicing during these hours is also helpful in case you do have to photograph in midday sun such as a wedding day, for example.

Photograph your client in direct sunlight.

If you find yourself photographing during these peak hours of the day, just know that these tips will help you to get the best out of your session, no matter what the light is like.

The post How to do Portrait Photography in Bright Midday Sun appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

October 1, 2018
A Beginner’s Guide to Abstract Flower Photography

Abstract flower photography can stop you in your tracks. But unfortunately, when it comes to abstract flower photography, you probably don’t know where to start. What equipment do you need? What techniques do you use?

The world of abstract flower photography can seem distant and difficult.

Actually, it is no harder than any other genre of photography. It can be a lot more rewarding, though. You just need to know how to get started.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn the fundamentals of abstract flower photography. You’ll learn about the required equipment, as well as several key techniques for getting powerful abstract images. When you finish, you’ll be ready to go out and start applying these tips immediately.

Sound good? Read on.

What is abstract flower photography?

I’m going to define abstract flower photography simply as this – photographing flowers in a way that the viewer doesn’t immediately see the flower.

That is, an abstract floral focuses not so much on the flower itself, but on parts of the flower: the curve of the petals, the color of the flower center, the play of light on the stamens.

To do powerful abstract flower photography, you have to stop thinking in terms of flowers, and start thinking in terms of shape, color, and light. This isn’t complicated. It’s easy to do, once you get the hang of it. The tips I share below will help you to do just that, so keep reading.

Equipment

To get beautiful abstract flower images, you need two things: a camera and a macro lens.

The type of camera doesn’t matter. These days, essentially all cameras are capable of capturing stunning images. In abstract flower photography, it’s the lens that counts.

So what lens do you need?

Any sort of macro lens will do. I’ve taken excellent abstract flower images with cheap, sub-300 dollar lenses. I’ve also used my much more expensive Canon 100mm f/2.8L lens.

The thing is, abstract flower photography isn’t really about sharpness and perfectly rendered detail. It’s about composition, light and color.

A tip worth mentioning is that the shorter the focal length of a macro lens, the closer you need to be to your subject to get life-size images. So, for instance, 60mm macro lenses can be a problem when you’re trying to get a close-up of a rose and you keep casting your shadow on the petals by accident.

You may have also heard that for abstract flower photography you need a tripod.

I would disagree. I don’t use a tripod for abstract flower photography, myself because I find that it’s too limiting. I need to explore the flower through the lens, change my composition, take a few photographs, and change my composition again. You can’t do that with a tripod.

Have you got your camera and a macro lens? If so, you’re ready for the bulk of this tutorial on quick and easy tips for stunning abstract flower photography.

Tip 1: Shoot on cloudy days

If you’ve done natural light macro photography before, you’ll know that you can get beautiful macro photographs at a few different times of the day. First, when it’s cloudy. Second, during the golden hours: just after sunrise and just before sunset.

I photographed this tulip on a cloudy spring day.

For abstract photography, I recommend that you only shoot on cloudy days.

On cloudy days, the light is even, resulting in colorful, deeply saturated images. And in abstract photography, color is key. In fact, out of all the images featured in this article, all but one were taken on a cloudy day.

Once you become a more experienced abstract flower photographer, you can start to experiment with other types of light. But until then, stick to cloudy days. Your results will speak for themselves.

Tip 2: Get close. Really, really close!

In abstract flower photography, you cannot just take a snapshot of your subject. Your goal must be to show the viewer something new, something unexpected.

The way to do this is to get close. Really, really close.

As I said above, you must think in terms of shapes, color, and light. The way to start is to magnify your subject.

Take that macro lens and crank it up to its highest magnification setting (which should be 1:1, if you have a true macro lens). Then get close to a flower. Look through the viewfinder of your camera, and just move the lens around.

What do you see?

You probably won’t immediately notice a stunning composition. I spend a lot of time looking through my lens without taking any pictures. There’s a lot of experimentation involved, and that’s okay. Which brings us to Tip 3…

Tip 3: Use a shallow depth of field

The depth of field is the amount of an image that is actually in focus.

Images with only a small amount of the subject in focus have a shallow depth of field. Images with a large amount of the subject in focus have a deep depth of field.

Depth of field is controlled by your camera’s aperture setting, also known as an f-stop. A low f-stop (f/1.4 to f/5.6) gives you a nice, shallow depth of field.

On most cameras, you will be able to choose your f-stop. For abstract flower photography, I usually keep it in the f/2.8-3.5 range but feel free to experiment a bit depending on your creative vision. Just keep that depth of field nice and shallow.

Why do I recommend having so little of the image in focus?

In abstract photography, you must photograph flowers so that the viewer doesn’t immediately see the flower. You must work in terms of light, color, and shapes.

By using a shallow depth of field, you emphasize those elements and take the focus off the flower itself. You shift the focus to the shape of the flower, the color of it, and the light falling on the flower.

This is what I focus on in my final tip.

Tip 4: Look at the shape of the flower

As I mentioned above, it’s essential that you think about light, color, and shape.

Out of these three elements, I think that shape is most important in abstract flower photography. This is because flowers have naturally interesting shapes: sinuous curves, perfect circles, radiating lines.

The photographs are there. You just have to find them.

For instance, flowers tend to have such beautiful, soft petals. You can use these to your advantage in your photography. Think about the petals, not as parts of a flower, but as twisting lines. Try to see these shapes moving about through the flower.

Carefully set up a composition that uses these lines. Keep it simple—one or two lines is all you need.

Only once you’ve composed deliberately, keeping the shape of the flower at the forefront of your mind, should you take the image.

Conclusion

Capturing beautiful abstract photographs can be an intensely rewarding experience.

Make sure you have the right equipment. Then, if you shoot on cloudy days, get super close, use a shallow depth of field and, above all, think in terms of the flower’s shape, you’ll be well on your way to taking stunning abstract flower photographs.

Have any more tips for abstract flower photography? Share them in the comments!

The post A Beginner’s Guide to Abstract Flower Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

September 30, 2018
Batteries and Backups: How to Shoot Off the Grid

Road trips, and other “off the grid” travel adventures are a time for slowing down, for finding the unexpected, and for reconnecting with the world around you. Unfortunately, for us photographers, they can also be a time of anxiety and frustration. How can you keep your camera charged so it’s always ready when inspiration strikes? How can you handle batteries and backups of your photos so they aren’t lost in the mix before you return home?

As a consummate road-tripper and photographer, I’ve spent many years fine-tuning how to keep my camera charged, and my photos safe, for weeks of off the grid travel. Here are some tips to help you do the same.

Charging 101

Many cameras, from point and shoots to DSLRs, are powered by lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. Li-ion batteries are small, lightweight, rechargeable batteries that can tolerate hundreds of charge and discharge cycles.

They are recharged by an external charger, which comes with your camera when you purchase it. That charger plugs into a wall via a two-prong plug and feeds off your house’s Alternating Current power (also called AC power).

Here’s where charging off the grid gets tricky. Unless you’re staying nightly in a hotel room, two-prong AC plugs (and the charging capacity to power them) are hard to come by. In order to keep your camera battery charged, you will need to adapt.

Essential Charging Gear

Start out by purchasing a universal Li-ion battery charger. Universal chargers can hold almost any kind of small Li-ion battery, and come with a two-prong plug as well as a 12-volt Direct Current (DC) adapter. This adapter is cylindrical and fits into your car’s 12-volt port (traditionally called a “Cigarette Lighter” charger).

If you plan to drive for long distances each day and are only looking to recharge a camera battery, this may be all you need. If you plan to charge other devices—tablets, phones, and laptops—or won’t be driving, you’ll need a power bank.

Power Banks

Power banks are essentially big batteries. They receive a charge, either from a wall outlet or an alternative source like solar panels, and hold onto that charge until you need it. Power banks vary greatly in size, weight, and capacity.

Small USB power banks are perfect for powering cell phones and tablets. Depending on their capacity, they can recharge a phone or tablet anywhere from two to eight times.

Though they are harder to find, some small power banks also have a two- or three-prong port for plugging in a Li-ion camera battery charger. For quick trips where a little backup is needed, these power banks are just right.

If a little backup isn’t what you’re looking for, it’s time to call in the big guns. Portable power stations range in size from 150 to 1250 watts and are designed to be a full-service power solution. Power stations offer three-prong ports for AC power, multiple USB ports, and a 12-volt port.

They can charge camera batteries, laptops, tablets, and cell phones with ease (charging capacity varies by model).

Portable power stations are relatively large, as well as heavy. To illustrate, they are great at a campsite but too bulky to hike comfortably into the backcountry. These power stations are recharged by plugging them into a wall outlet, or by connecting them to solar panels and allowing them to charge for 8-12 hours.

If you’re looking for serious charging power, or plan to be off the grid for long stretches, a portable power station is a wise investment.

Note: Portable power stations cannot be brought on airplanes, though smaller USB power banks often can.

Photo Backups

Is there anything worse than returning from travel and finding your image files are corrupted or missing? A savvy photographer will avoid this scenario by doing daily backups of their images.

Backing up images online to the cloud is an option if you have fast, reliable Wi-Fi at your disposal. Set the backup to happen overnight, and you’ll wake up knowing your images are safe.

Fast Wi-Fi is hard to find. Hotel and coffee shop connections are often sluggish, so always be prepared with another backup plan. If you’re traveling with a laptop you can either back up the images directly to the computer or carry a rugged external hard drive. If the images are critical, such as a wedding gallery or a shoot for a client, back up the images to two different locations.

When traveling without a laptop, invest in a portable backup device like a Gnarbox. These small drives have an SD card slot and will copy and store all of the card’s images. Again, if the shoot is extra-important, be sure to back up the images to at least two locations.

Conclusion

Keeping your camera and other devices charged while on the road can be a challenge, but is made easier with a few pieces of essential gear designed to meet your charging needs. Together with regular backups, you can take images off the grid with ease and peace of mind.

The post Batteries and Backups: How to Shoot Off the Grid appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

September 30, 2018
How to Take Better Concert Photos
COOPH has released a 4-minute video with photographer Michael Agel, decoding the mystery behind shooting great concert photos. Concerts and gigs typically feature challenging, but also very unique, lighting situations.

This can make for incredible images, but if you don’t know exactly how to handle the drastic lighting changes and colors then it could go very wrong for you!

Better concert photos

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“Photography, for me, is painting with light,” says Agel. “You have to look where there is interesting light, and create a good image.”

Agel is also a big advocate of putting down the camera and building rapport with the musicians you are shooting. This will help you to create better shots, but also avoid potentially disastrous situations (such as standing in front of a confetti cannon that’s about to go off!

Staying invisible will help you to nail those perfect shots; knowing when and how to choose your moments is paramount. You don’t want to get in between the singer and the crowd, and it’s key things like this that will make for a much smoother shoot – and hopefully get you booked again!

Check out the full video above to hear from Agel himself and see more of his work.

More reading

For more on concert photography check out these dPS articles:
- 11 Ideas for More Unique Concert Photos
- Tips for Doing Concert Photography like a Pro
- 5 Tips for Better Concert Photography in Low Light Conditions
- Concert Photography 101: Cameras and Lenses for Beginners
- 10 Must-Have Camera Settings for Concert Photography
- Anatomy of a Concert Photography Shoot
The post How to Take Better Concert Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 29, 2018