Category: Photography

Weekly Photography Challenge – Fall Colors
Fall is upon us in the northern parts of the world. So it’s time to take advantage of it and get out there to capture some of that color for the weekly photography challenge.

Even if you live in the southern hemisphere, challenge yourself to find some similar colors (yellow, orange and red) to create some fall-like images.

Need some help? Try these dPS articles:
- 3 Tips to Help You Take Better Autumn Photos
- 7 Ways to Take Advantage of Autumn in Your Portrait Photography
- Tips for Using Color in Your Photography
- Add Motion to Your Fall Photography to Help it Stand Out
Weekly Photography Challenge – Fall Colors

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. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

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.

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Fall Colors appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 29, 2018
How to Find Your Photos in the Lightroom Catalog Using Filters
You’ve likely had this problem if you’ve been using Lightroom for any length of time. Can you relate? You go to your Lightroom catalog to find that amazing picture you took of the sunset in Maui last summer and scroll through thousands of previews in the filmstrip, but you can’t find your photos.

But was it before the weekend you went camping with your family? Or was it around the time you photographed your sister’s baby shower? You have thousands of images and can’t find what you’re looking for, and everything is a mess.

Sound familiar?

Luckily, with a little bit of organization and know-how, it’s really easy to find your images in Lightroom.

One of Lightroom’s biggest strengths is the ability it gives you to organize and archive your photos.

You can find your photos by:
- Using the Library Filter Bar
- Using Collections
- Using keyword tags
You can also customize the Library Filter bar and use Library Filter presets.

So without further ado, let’s look at some of the ways we can sort and find photos in Lightroom.

Lightroom Grid View

Sort Order

The most basic way of locating your photos is to scroll through Grid view. If you know the filename or approximate capture date, you can sort the photos into a specific order.

The Sort options are on the Toolbar in Grid view under View Menu > Sort.

By default, I have mine set to Capture Time, which sorts my photos from the oldest to the newest.
- Added Order sorts the photos according to the time of import, with the most recent imports first. The Previous/Current Import collection is set to Added Order by default.
- Edit Time sorts your pictures according to how recently they were edited, including both Develop and metadata edits.
- Edit Count sort photos according to how frequently you’ve edited that photo.
- Rating groups photos by their star rating, from highest to lowest.
- Pick sorts photos by their flags; flagged photos are first, followed by the unflagged photos, and then the rejected photos.
- Label Text groups the photos alphabetically according to their label text.
- Label Color sorts the photos by their label color, regardless of label text.
- File Name sorts the photos by just that.
- File Extension sorts the photos by their file extension, such as JPG, TIFF, PSD, etc.
- File Type groups the photos by their file type, such as PSD, Video, or JPEG.
Scrolling through photos is impractical unless you have a small number of photos, which is usually not the case. Filtering hides the photos that don’t meet the criteria that you choose.

For example, you may only want to view the photos that you have applied 5 stars to, as I do to all of the images I have finalized editing and exported to a folder.

The Library Filter Bar

The Library Filter bar at the top of the Grid View in the Library Module offers three main ways to find your photos by using the Text filter, the Attribute Filter, or the Metadata filter.

The bar appears in the middle of the grid of your images in the Library Module (circled below). You cannot see it unless you are in Grid View.

If you don’t see it, go up to View and choose Show Filter Bar or hit backslash ( \ ) on your keyboard.

Also, choose where you want to search. If you are searching all of your photographs in the Catalog, be sure to click on All Photographs under Catalog in the left-hand panel under Navigator.

All Photographs

Text Filter

The Text Filter allows you to search through the catalog or a selection of photos using a certain text search field.

There are several search options, such as keywords, metadata, as well as IPTC or EXIF information. EXIF information includes the camera make, model, serial number and software.

Any searchable plug-in field includes searchable metadata fields created by third-party plug-ins.

For example, I can use Any Searchable Field to search for files that have a certain number in them. Or I can search for all my images that have a certain keyword.

If I search for “culinary”, it will search for all of the keywords, captions, file paths, folders, virtual copies etc., for that word. I include the word culinary in all of my food photography. So by using filters, I can find all my food images quickly in Lightroom.

Attribute

Lightroom gives you the option to filter your photos by flag status, edit staus, star rating, color label, or copy.

In the screenshot below, you can see that I searched for all of my photographs that I have rated as 5 stars. I give 5 stars to images upon export, when I have finished editing them. I assign them a color label as well. For example, red means that I have submitted the images to my stock portfolios.

You can also search your virtual copies and videos using Attribute, within the icons on the far right of the panel.

The middle icon is for Virtual Copy, while the far right icon is for Video.

Click again on Attribute if you no longer want to see the Attribute Bar.

Metadata

Inputting metadata after each shoot can be a lot of work, but doing so makes it easy to locate your photos at a later date.

Your camera automatically embeds some metadata or any you’ve added manually say when you’ve set up Lightroom for tethered capture.

When you’re editing in Lightroom, it’s a good idea to put some keywords in the Keyword panel in the Library Module. This is something you need to do if you’re licensing your work for stock photography, but I recommend doing it regardless so that you can more easily search your photos.

For example, if you have input the word “strawberries” in your keyword metadata, you can find all the images that contain strawberries.

When you click on Metadata in the Library Filter bar, you can search using a wide range of criteria, including file type, and camera and exposure information. You can even find images you have not assigned your copyright status.

Lightroom also gives you the option to add more than one type of search criteria at a time.

For example, when I searched for images of strawberries, I also searched for shots taken with my Canon 5D Mark III, using my 24-70mm lens, as well as any shot with my 100mm macro. I also searched for flagged images, as I only wanted to see my top picks, not every single image of strawberries.

Note that if you want to search two types of photos, such as portraits and landscapes, be sure to choose them both in the first panel on the left. If you put it in the next panel, Lightroom will look for images that are both landscapes and portraits, rather than images that are landscapes or portraits.

Click on the first keyword then hold down the Ctrl (PC) or Command (Mac) key to select the second keyword. You can select multiple choices from the same column this way.

If you would like to do a different search or cancel that search, simply click on None in the Library Filter bar. When you do another search, Lightroom will remember the criteria you input for your last search.

To reset this, click on All, which is the first choice in the Filter panel.

Conclusion

As you can see, you can find your photos in Lightroom in various ways by using a plethora of criteria.

This is exciting news if you have been scrolling endlessly through your images to locate what you’re looking for, or you need a more organized approach to your workflow.

The post How to Find Your Photos in the Lightroom Catalog Using Filters appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 28, 2018
5 Tips for Photographing Handheld Without a Tripod
Are you frustrated by the inconvenience of a tripod and you prefer shooting handheld? Do you want to take sharp images, but without having to lug around such a large piece of equipment?

Fortunately, it is possible to get stunning images, even images in low light, without using a tripod. In fact, tripods often limit your flexibility.

I rarely use a tripod, myself. While I do appreciate the added stability a tripod provides, I find myself struggling to compose images. I prefer the ability to quickly flow from composition to composition. I also like to shoot from angles that tripods struggle to cover. Hence, I have a lot of experience in photographing handheld.

In this article, I discuss various ways you can shoot without a tripod while still getting sharp images. I will show you how, with very little work, you can take your handheld photography to the next level.

1. Stabilize Your Body Against an Object

I’ll start with the least technical tip for shooting handheld, that is to become a human tripod!

By this, I mean that you should seek to stabilize your body and arms against an object. I find that the ground is an excellent choice (after all, it’s reliably present).

So, when shooting handheld, I often get down on the ground. I’ll lie on my stomach and press my elbows firmly against the soil. Then I can feel fairly confident when taking my image that things will remain sharp.

I stabilized my elbows against the ground in order to photograph this aster.

If you don’t want to get down on your stomach, that’s okay. You can also try out several other positions.

For instance, you can crouch down and put your elbows on your knees. Or you can tuck your elbows into your body.

You can also find some other object to stabilize yourself against. I sometimes use large rocks or fallen trees when shooting flowers. It pays to be creative.

2. Use Your Camera or Lens’s Built-In Image Stabilization

Does your camera or lens possess image stabilization technology? If so, switch it on!

You see, image stabilization technology is built in by clever camera manufacturers. It reduces (or eliminates) camera shake using image stabilization.

Image stabilization technology generally works in one of two ways. If it’s built into the camera, the sensor physically moves to counteract any camera shake that the camera has experienced. If it’s built into the lens, an optical element inside the lens is what moves.

Regardless, here’s the key takeaway: Image stabilization technology help to minimize or eliminate camera shake.

Without image stabilization, getting this urban abstract would have been very difficult.

The downside of image stabilization technology is that it’s expensive. Only some cameras and some lenses possess it, and they tend to be on the pricier side of things.

For those of us who dislike shooting with a tripod, however, image stabilization is a worthwhile investment.

3. Shoot with Shorter Lenses

An oft-cited rule in photography circles is this: you can handhold your lens at a shutter speed that is the reciprocal of the focal length (that is, 1/focal length).

This may sound complex, but it’s really not. To find an acceptably fast shutter speed, take the focal length and make it into a fraction with a one on top.

For instance, if you’re shooting with a 100mm lens, you can handhold at a shutter speed of 1/100th of a second or faster. When you’re shooting with a 400mm lens, you can handhold at a shutter speed of 1/400th of a second or faster. Finally, if you’re shooting with a 25mm lens, you can handhold at a shutter speed of 1/25th of a second.

Do you see the pattern? The longer the lens, the faster your shutter speed must be. Conversely, you can use a longer shutter speed when using a short lens.

I used a wide angle lens to capture this golden retriever in low light.

This is for a couple of reasons. First, long lenses tend to be bigger and heavier, causing more camera shake. Second, longer lenses magnify camera shake, resulting in blurrier pictures.

Therefore, if you don’t have a tripod to cut down on camera shake, you should use a lens that is more forgiving of the rule (based on the 1/focal length rule).

So if you’re shooting handheld, use shorter focal lengths for more success.

4. Shoot in Burst Mode

Another tip for photographing without a tripod is to shoot in burst mode (high-speed drive mode).

To activate burst mode, you simply have to set the camera to high-speed drive mode and hold down the shutter button. If you have a camera with this capability, you’ll hear the rapid-fire sound of images being taken.

Burst mode was essential for getting this early-morning shot of a White-Morph Reddish Egret.

This mode helps with handheld photography for two reasons.

First, when you jab the shutter button with your finger, it generates camera shake. When you use burst mode, however, you only press the shutter button at the beginning of your image sequence. This means that later photographs are taken with very little camera shake because the shutter button is not actually pressed just before the image is captured.

Second, when you shoot in burst mode, the mirror doesn’t cause extra vibrations. You see, many cameras (DSLRs) have mirrors in front of the sensor. When the shutter button is pressed, the mirror flips up, briefly exposing the sensor to light (to capture the image).

When the mirror flips up, this causes small vibrations throughout the camera, another form of camera shake. Yet when you activate burst mode, the mirror only flips up only at the beginning of the burst. The later shots aren’t affected by the vibrations caused by the mirror and as a consequence, they are sharper.

NOTE: This last point doesn’t apply to mirrorless cameras as they do not have a mirror, hence the name!

5. Use the self-timer

My final tip for photographing without a tripod is to use your camera’s self-timer.

The self-timer allows you to press the shutter button, and then it waits a specified number of seconds before the image is taken.

I love using the self-timer when photographing flowers.

This useful for the same reason cited above in favor of burst mode. It prevents the camera shake generated when you press the shutter button.

So, next time you’re out in the field and you’re struggling to get sharp images without a tripod, try using the self-timer to reduce your camera shake.

Conclusion

Many photographers think that tripods are a necessity, but this isn’t necessarily the case. There are methods that you can use to shoot without a tripod while still capturing stellar images.
- First, steady yourself by placing your elbows against the ground.
- Second, switch on your camera or lens’s image stabilization software.
- Third, shoot with shorter (e.g., wide-angle) lenses.
- Fourth, photograph using burst mode.
- Fifth, use your camera’s self-timer.
If you follow these tips, your tripod will become far less important, and you’ll take fantastic handheld images.

Have any more tips for photographing without a tripod? Please share them in the comments below.

The post 5 Tips for Photographing Handheld Without a Tripod appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 27, 2018
The Apple TV 4K Device is a Deeply Flawed and Frustrating Product… for Me

About 12 years ago, in 2006, I had what at the time felt like the biggest technological change in my life. I switched from a PC to my first MacBook Pro. Switching computer operating systems at the time seemed like a massive chasm to overcome, but I did it and I’m glad I did. My main motivation was that I was tired of all of the errors that I was getting from PCs and all my friends with Macs just kept saying pretty much the exact same thing, “it just works.” After hearing that enough I broke down and made a decision that it was time for a change.

Over the last decade, that first decision has brought dozens of new Apple products into my life. Every three years or so I’d upgrade MacBook Pros. I bought a Mac Mini for the kitchen which I upgraded to a nicer iMac latter. I bought a high end iMac to edit my photos on for my home office. I bought a Cinema Display as a second monitor. I spent the night in line overnight to buy the very first iPhone. I bought the iPhone 3g, the iPhone 4, 5, 6s and most recently the 10. I’ve bought iPads, MacBook Pros and iPhones for my wife and kids. I always buy Apple Care. Apple iCloud storage, movies, tv shows, airpods, the list goes on and on.

I haven’t added it all up yet, but I’d say over the past decade I’ve easily spent tens of thousands of dollars on Apple products.

I feel like at some point I’ve just about purchased every product as a good Apple consumer is supposed to… except maybe the watch. The watch feels stupid to me. If I want to know what time it is I can just look at my phone. I haven’t worn a watch in 20 years. I don’t need an uncomfortable thing strapped to my hand and my health is good enough that I don’t need to constantly run ECGs or have someone notified if I fall down and can’t get back up (which hasn’t happened once yet in the 50+ years I’ve been on the planet).

Unfortunately for me though, it’s the Apple TV which I’ve always been the most excited about and which has also unfortunately frustrated me more than any Apple other gadget I’ve ever owned. I’ve bought every version of the Apple TV as they’ve been released dutifully. Giving Apple my hard earned money for the promise of something great, the ability to watch my photos in my living room — and it’s been a completely frustrating experience along the way.

I’m not sure exactly why I’m writing this blog post about Apple TV. I haven’t blogged in a while. In part it’s probably cathartic for me. In part I feel like I’m giving up on photos tonight and hope that maybe someday someone will Google one of my error codes and have a better answer. Maybe someone will read it and have some suggestion that I haven’t considered. Maybe someone will suggest a better way to watch photos on a TV.

My most recent problem revolves around the new Apple 4k TV. Of the six Apple TVs in my house I have two connected to Vizio 4k TVs. Of course I upgraded to the 4k Apple TV because what’s the point of having a 4k TV without a 4k device.

For the most part over the life of the AppleTV product photos have been frustrating. I have a large library of images that I want to play on my Apple TVs. I use home sharing and point my iTunes to a folder of images and ask for my Apple TVs to stream those images. (File >> Home Sharing >> Choose Photos to Share with Apple TV…) Frequently my AppleTVs lose their connections to my iTunes library and the only way to get the photos to play again is to quit iTunes and relaunch it. I frequently would have to restart the Apple TVs. The Apple TV in the living would be working but then the one in the attic couldn’t connect. The one in the attic would work but then the one in the bedroom wouldn’t connect. It was a constant exercise of frustration. I set all of the Apple TVs to update automatically and I’d constantly check for updates to apply them manually.

About a year ago I spent several weeks working with Apple Engineers. They sent these trace packet things to me by email and I’d do different things, run the logging software and send them log files. After several weeks and many log files I did get an answer back about a year ago that Apple engineers had found a problem related to my Apple TVs constantly disconnecting from home sharing that that a fix would be coming. They couldn’t tell me when but said that it was an issue on their end and to keep checking for updates. So at least I wasn’t totally crazy and at least there was hope… kind of?

Although this was a frustrating way to use my AppleTV, the payoff of being able to relax on the couch and watch my life’s work, my photos that I love so much, while enjoying a glass of wine was such a high payoff that I put up with it… until, unfortunately now, with the latest dreaded TVOS12 update.

Last week I updated all of my Apple TVs to TVOS12. On my non-4k Apple TVs, it’s the same sad, frustrating experience of having to restart Apple TVs, restart, my iMac, restart iTunes, constantly to get them to work. But when they do work it will play my photos for hours. Unfortunately on the two 4k Apple TVs photos crash 100% of the time. Usually within 10 seconds, but sometimes I can get them to play for 20 seconds or 45 seconds or maybe even 2 minutes before it crashes. But they crash 100% of the time. I’ve spent at least 20 hours trying to fix my photos over the past week (including a good 3 hour phone call last night with an Apple Care tech) but nothing seems to work.

If I try to stream photos on my iMac to my 4K Apple TVs the photos crash. If I try to stream photos on my MacBook Pro to my 4k Apple TVs the photos crash. If I try to stream photos on my home network to the 4k AppleTVs the photos crash. If I create a hotspot with my iPhone with just my MacBook Pro and one 4k Apple TV photos crash.

If instead of pointing home sharing to a folder, I import all the photos into Apple’s Photos app on my iMac (I hate the Apple Photos App on my iMac) and share from there instead still photos crash.

Every time after the photos crash there is a brief error message on the screen for about 1 second that reads “No iTunes libraries available. Home Sharing lets you stream content from your computer’s iTunes library to your Apple TV. To access your iTunes library, turn on Home Sharing on your computer and use the Apple ID. Retry.”

That message disappears and brings me right back to the main home sharing page on the Apple TV.

I’ve made sure that the photos that I want to share are all on the internal hard drives of the devices I’m trying to stream. I even upgraded yesterday to the new Apple OS Mojave, in the hopes that this might fix things. I’ve turned my Comcast router on and off.

The bottom line is there is simply nothing that I can do to make photos work on my 4k Apple TVs since updating to TVOS 12. And, of course, Apple will not allow you to roll your OS on your Apple TV back to a previous version so there is no getting out of TVOS 12 hell. I did a reset of the entire device back to factory settings, but instead of resetting it back to the factory setting from when I bought it. It reset it back to the factory settings for TVOS 12.

The Apple Tech I spent hours on the phone with yesterday suggested that I take my Macbook Pro and my 4k AppleTV into the Apple store and set an appointment to show them there. I had an appointment this afternoon at 2pm to do just that, but after only getting three hours of sleep last night trying to troubleshoot my Apple TV I just couldn’t go through with it today. It’s just too much, too soon.

In the meantime it looks as though I wasted $ 200 each on some useless Apple hockey pucks, but maybe at some point I’ll regain the strength to try again, or maybe someday, somewhere I’ll find an answer on how to make these devices stream photos for me again.

Or maybe like I ditched Windows back in 2006, it’s now time to ditch Apple again and maybe go find something that you know, “just works.”

Needless to say, your 4k AppleTV may work flawlessly and perfectly for you. This is my personal experience though and it’s my blog and this is what the experience has been like for me.

I made a video of this problem here. If anyone does have any constructive advice I’d love to hear it. Thanks.

Thomas Hawk Digital Connection

September 27, 2018
Tips for Getting Started in Street Photography

This article will help you with those all important decisions for getting started in street photography. Including the best gear to use, settings to apply, and what to do about the tricky topic of photographing people in public.

Any image of a street that can be used to tell a story about the location it shot could be defined as a street photograph. It could be a large city or a small village.

Gear

As a street photographer, you want to be able to blend into your surroundings. By blending in, you stand a better chance of going unnoticed and capturing candid moments. This means you will want to keep your gear small and light.

Camera

The big question these days is around the DSLR or mirrorless choice. My advice for street photography is the latter.

There is nothing wrong with using a DSLR if that is what you prefer or have already. However, mirrorless cameras will simply save you space and weight. Your street photography adventures will be much more enjoyable if you’re not arriving home to find one arm longer than the other after carrying around a DSLR all day.

Another benefit to mirrorless is that the electronic viewfinder (EVF) will provide you with an accurate representation of the exposure for your image before you even press the shutter.

If you find yourself without your camera and get the urge for street photography, there’s nothing wrong with using the camera on your phone.

Shot and edited on an iPhone.

Lenses

If you’re getting started in street photography, you will want to use a zoom lens, rather than a prime. An 18-55mm kit lens (or similar) will be fine to start. I recommend planning to move to a prime lens once you have more experience.

The reason for this is that they are (usually) sharper than zoom lenses and shooting consistently at one focal length will help you to develop your own style.

When you’re ready to invest in a prime lens, you can look back at the metadata of all the street photos taken with your zoom lens and observe what focal length you used most often. This will help inform your decision making for which focal length to choose when buying a prime lens.

Settings

When shooting street photography, your camera should be ready to take the next shot at a moment’s notice. This means you’ll need to have your settings dialed in as much as possible.

I recommend starting in full Auto. This will allow you to concentrate on your surroundings and nail the composition. When you are more confident, you could move on to aperture priority.

Here’s some advice for when you start looking at those manual settings.

Aperture

The best street photos make use of the entire frame. This means you’ll want a good depth of field, which means that the image is in focus from the nearest point in the photograph to the furthest point. I recommend shooting between f/5.6-11.

Shutter speed

For any kind of handheld photography, a good rule of thumb is to use a minimum shutter speed that is equal to or greater than one over your focal length. This is to avoid blurry photos caused by camera shake. For example, if you are shooting at 50mm, your shutter speed should be at least 1/50th of a second.

If you are including people in your photos, you have two options.

First, use a fast enough shutter speed to freeze their motion. Anything faster than 1/100th should do it, for walking pace. A faster shutter speed will be needed for joggers and cyclists and will vary depending on how fast they’re moving.

Secondly, if you want to get creative and blur their motion slightly to project a sense of movement in your image, you can use a slightly slower shutter speed. But make sure you still use one that’s fast enough to avoid camera shake.

ISO

Keep ISO as low as possible while still achieving the points mentioned above for aperture and shutter speed. This will reduce the amount of noise (grain) in your photos.

Focus

If your lens has a focus ring that stops at infinity, use it and switch your camera to manual focus. If not, you’ll need an autofocus setting that allows you to track your subject, as it’s likely to be moving if it’s a person.

Metering

When you’re first getting started with street photography, you’ll want to use a metering mode that measures the whole frame. This will help you to prevent under or overexposure. Different camera manufacturers have different names for this metering mode. For example, Nikon refers to it as “Matrix Metering” and Canon refer to it as “Evaluative Metering”.

Composition

The rules of composition are an article in themselves. You can read more about it in this article.

Good composition is one of the most important elements of any photograph, but try not to get too hung up on it. As mentioned a few times in this article, you don’t have long to see and capture an image when practicing street photography.

While I agree that you should always try to get things right in-camera, sometimes this just isn’t practical. It’s better to get the shot and crop it later if you need to, rather than not get the shot at all.

When looking around you, don’t forget to look up or down. You never know what opportunities you might be missing.

Blending In

At the beginning of this article, I talked about how important it is to blend into your surroundings. There are a couple of ways you can do this.

Environment

If you go to tourist hot spots for your street photography, you’ll just look like another tourist. This means that when you hold your camera up to look through the viewfinder, you’ll just be another person with a camera. It’ll be white noise to everyone around you so it’s a great place to start off with and build your confidence.

Camera Position

By holding your camera down by your side, or in front of your torso, you can make it look like you’re not even taking a photograph. It can be particularly helpful in this scenario if your camera has a tilting screen.

For this technique (called shooting from the hip), you’ll want to use a wide-angle lens to maximize your chances of capturing the shot. I took the shot below while continuing to walk and holding my camera by my side.

Clothing

Wearing bright clothes will instantly make you more noticeable so be sure to wear dark or neutral colored clothes.

Confrontation

One of the hot topics of street photography is how to avoid confrontation when photographing people in public. Or what to do if someone takes offense when you have just taken their photograph without permission.

This section is not intended to put you off, but prepare you in the event that you are confronted. It’s only ever happened to me once. A security guard asked me to move on, so I did.

Here’s a quick summary of the different kinds of confrontational situations you may find yourself in and what to do if they arise.

Authorities

A common experience for street photographers is being approached by security guards or the police, in particular when taking photographs of buildings in big cities. The bottom line in this situation is that you are in a public space and therefore are allowed to be there.

However, you’re not likely the first street photographer that security guard or police officer has encountered, and you’re even less likely to be the last. Don’t give street photographers a bad reputation by being difficult. No photograph is ever worth the aggravation. Just move on.

Members of the public

With the ubiquity of social media and people growing ever more aware of their privacy, you can understand if someone doesn’t like it when their photo is taken without permission. Particularly if they have no idea where that photo might end up.

I liked this pop of red in the shirt against the subdued tones of the building. Unidentifiable subject.

The same rules apply here as in the previous section. If you and your subject are in a public place, you are within your rights to take their photograph. If a person confronts you and wants you to delete the photo you took of them, there’s a couple of ways you can approach it.

If they’re not a major part of the photograph, politely remind them of your rights. Inform them that they’re barely noticeable and you intend to keep the photograph. However, if you sense that they might turn aggressive, it’s always best to do as they ask. Again, it’s not worth the aggravation.

If the person that has approached you is a major part of the frame, it is best to respect their wishes and delete the photo.

Clearly identifiable subject.

Summary

Street photography is meant to be fun. Try not to get too hung up on gear and settings in the beginning and just enjoy yourself. Keep practicing and the ability to spot a photo opportunity developing in front of you will become instinctive.

Over to you. Let me know in the comments if you think there’s anything I missed or would like to know more about.

The post Tips for Getting Started in Street Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

September 27, 2018
How to Photograph Your Everyday Family Life
Raising kids is beautiful chaos

From breakfast to bedtime, raising kids is chaos. But there are hundreds of beautiful moments along the way if you train your heart and eyes to see them. Right in the heart of the chaos, you can beautifully capture mundane everyday moments of family life in photographs.

In order to capture your everyday family life in photos, there are four areas you will want to cover:
- Gear to use.
- What to photograph.
- Creative skills.
- Discovering lifelong projects.
1. Gear

“Photographers, like few other kinds of artists I can imagine, have an insanely personal relationship with their gear.” – David DuChemin

I will begin with gear because you will dramatically increase your chances of great photos throughout the day when you are well prepared.

Minimal Gear

I’m a fan of using minimal gear for anything that I’m photographing, including my own family life. You might find that constantly worrying about upgrading your camera or using too many different lenses will actually distract you from the little moments that are happening all around you.

Settle on a camera and then forget about all the new options that come along. Pretty soon you’ll discover which lens is your favorite. Use that lens often, but try a different one every now and then to expand your creative abilities.

iPhone

“The best camera is the one that’s with you.” – Chase Jarvis

Many families invest in a DSLR camera such as the Canon Rebel, but then it’s too difficult for them to use. So they often find themselves using their phone instead.

Don’t feel bad about using your smartphone to take pictures. Though the technology may differ, any camera is better than no camera. The principles of creative photography are the same no matter what camera you’re using.

Because it’s so easy to carry, your phone is normally the camera that you are ready to take a picture with any given moment.

I began capturing family moments with my iPhone 4s as a challenge to take interesting photos no matter what camera I had with me.

Keep your camera close

Whatever camera you’re using, make sure that it’s normally within arms reach. When you see a great moment happening you can reach for your camera and turn it on as you’re lifting it to your eye. I also leave my lens cap off at all times. I’ve never damaged a lens and don’t want to fumble over lens caps while a great moment passes me by.

Keep your battery charged

How many times have you seen a family member miss a great photo because their camera battery died? I see this happen during every single special occasion just as the best moments are happening!

You should always have a spare battery and have it charged and ready. I don’t wait for my first battery to be drained before I charge it. As soon as it begins to drain I switch them.

Don’t leave your camera in manual mode

How many times have you quickly picked up your camera to take a few pictures only to discover that the settings were totally wrong? Perhaps you used your camera in manual mode outdoors in the bright light and then forgot to set it before capturing a quick moment indoors.

The indoor photo will be underexposed or completely dark. To avoid this I always leave my camera set on aperture priority. I do this because I don’t want to forget to adjust the settings if it was left in manual mode.

A clean 50mm lens

I recommend that everyone own a 50mm lens. They are wonderful for achieving bokeh and perform well in low light.

This photo was taken with a 50mm lens at f/2.5. The background is blurred, but you can still tell the context.

But no matter what lens you are using, make sure to keep it clean! The easiest way to improve photo quality is to keep the lens clean from fingerprints and dust.

Messy toddler hands force me to clean my lens several times a day!

2. What to photograph

With minimal gear, charged batteries and a clean lens the question then becomes, “What should I photograph?” The answer is literally, anything.

Capture the obvious moments that are important to you. Maybe first steps, first foods, siblings playing, day trips to the beach. But begin to consider the less obvious moments as well.

“I look around the edges for those little askew moments — kind of like what makes up our lives – those slightly awkward, lovely moments.” – Keith Carter

Breakfast

“If the home is a body, the table is the heart, the beating center, the sustainer of life and health.” – Shauna Niquist

Remember going to restaurants with your parents and the server would bring you a coloring book? Those are the little things to photograph.

Chores

I love it when the kids help with the chores, especially when it adds to my series of window photos.

Playing outside

Especially when photographing outdoor adventures, consider taking enough photos to tell a story.

One year the bay flooded and came right up into our yard. The kids got the idea to drag their swimming pool along and use it as a boat! I wasn’t about to miss out on that photo op!

After launching their boat they discovered that some huge fish had come to live in our flooded yard!

Wanting a different perspective, I decided to wade into the water myself.

To come up with an interesting series of photos, try to capture events from beginning to end. Use a variety of angles and perspectives, and go for the close-up!

Snacks

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” -J.R.R. Tolkien

Grown-ups eat without thinking, but snacks really make kids cheer up! She is lit by a window off to the side and warm colored light just above her head.

Playing inside

Is there a child alive who can resist playing the piano? One thing I was careful to do with this photo was to frame it in such a way as to cut out the background clutter. It forced me to get nice and close.

For a totally different perspective try looking through toys to take the picture.

My kids love glow sticks and I love the challenge of low light photography! This is when a 50mm lens with a large aperture of f/1.8 comes in handy! I bumped up the ISO to 5000 and slowed the shutter speed to 1/15th of a second to get this shot.

The texture in this photo is brought out by a window back-lighting the scene.

Day trips

Sometimes play for me is photographing a challenging scene like this.

Museums are a way to work exciting new things into your photos.

My son loved playing with his toy roundhouse and crane. This photo allowed me to capture the real-life versions of the toys my son loved playing with.

Dinner

“The shared meal is no small thing. It is a foundation of family life, the place where our children learn the art of conversation and acquire the habits of civilization: sharing, listening, taking turns, navigating differences, arguing without offending.” – Michael Pollan

Backlight or sidelight helps to capture steam in a photo.

Golden Hour

I love to time our family walks so that I can take some golden hour photos.

I love golden hour so much that I’ll even photograph it indoors.

Sick days

Even when my daughter is sick, she lets her funny personality shine. We kept a bowl by her bed just in case, but it made a good helmet too!

Sunsets

Photographing a sunset outdoors is the obvious choice. But when your living room window offers a good view, don’t miss the chance for a different perspective.

Kids sleeping

This is a perfect example of using an iPhone to take photos of your family life. My DSLR would have made a lot of noise. So I grabbed my iPhone 4s and turned the sound off to take this photo.

A higher ISO and slower shutter speed were used to capture this low light photo.

3. Creative Skills

“The real tools of our craft are not the camera and lens: they are mood and composition and the visual language of the photograph. Spend more time learning those and no matter what camera you use, you’ll make compelling photographs.” – David DuChemin

In order to capture all these moments, you need to master some essential skills. We’ll discuss creativity, basic camera settings, patience, and editing.

Angles

Choosing different camera angles will instantly make your photos more exciting and add variety to the hundreds of moments you’ll be capturing.

Try angles such as bird’s eye view, face to face and low angle.

I used a bird’s eye view to photograph this scene of my kids drawing.

I used a high angle to capture the scene as it began to turn chaotic!

Finally, I came in for a slightly low angle “face-to-face” shot before things spun completely out of control. By using a variety of angles and getting in close, everyday family life can be just as fun for the photographer as the kids!

Background

Backgrounds are good for two things; telling a story or getting in the way.

If the background does not help add anything to your photo then try to make it disappear. In all the photos in this article, I tried to eliminate the background as much as possible, or use it to create a context in the photo. Look back and decide which one you think I chose.

If your background is beautiful or adds to the story of your photo then be careful to make the background a strong part of your photo. Allow me to illustrate with Lego!

This shady Lego character was photographed with a clutter-free neutral background.

This is the same Lego character, but this time there is a Lego train in the background adding some context to the photo.

ISO

When you are in low light situations and you’re using a new camera you should raise your ISO as high as possible (3200 or 6400). A higher ISO will help your camera to absorb more of the dim light and help your photo to be brighter.

True, a higher ISO may introduce some grain or digital noise into your photo, but isn’t a grainy photo better than a blurry photo or no photo at all?

This naptime photo was captured with an ISO of 3200.

Sharp photos

If you’re in low light and using a lens with a large aperture (f/1.8) and a high ISO (3200 or 6400) then the last thing to consider is your shutter speed. If your shutter speed is too slow your photos might become blurry for two reasons. Perhaps your subject moved. This happens all the time with kids! Or perhaps you moved the camera, even slightly, as you took the photo.

You need to steady yourself as much as possible while you take the photo and wait for the moment (however brief it may be) when your subject is still.

You could also embrace the creative side of a slow shutter speed!

This was taken with the iPhone 4s on a cloudy evening. I knew the shutter speed would be slow. I walked backward while my daughter walked toward me. This kept my daughter sharper than the moving background. Motion blur is fun to experiment with, try it!

Inspiration

Look for inspiration among street, food and portrait photographers. Anything you can learn from different photographers will help you to photograph your everyday family life better.

Patience

I cannot over-stress the absolute importance of patience as you photograph your everyday family life (especially with toddlers). So many possible moments and photos will be ruined if you refuse to be patient.

Perhaps you have a photo in mind but the kids aren’t cooperating. Losing your patience will only lead to anger on your part and frustration from the kids. Your kids will learn that picture time is no fun and cringe every time you bring out your camera.

Edit and Print

Finally, you need to prepare your photos for print. Consider adding your favorite photos to a photo book or making larger prints for your home. Do not skip the printing stage, this is what gives your photos a real life of their own rather than just existing on a hard drive.

4. Discovering Lifelong Projects

As you sift through your photos over the years, you may notice that patterns begin to emerge.

Many people start photography projects from scratch, but you can also create photography projects based on photos you have already taken.

I had taken a number of photos of my kids playing near our living room window. When I put them together, I realized I had been working on a series without even realizing it! After that I began to think of that window as a canvas, waiting to see what would happen on it.

This is a small number of my living room window photos. When the collection is complete I’ll figure out how I want to present it. Perhaps a photo book, or a series of large prints in a recreation room. Maybe I could use them to illustrate a collection of essays.

Conclusion

Your life and family are unique. Whatever gets you excited to grab your camera, do it. Whatever will keep you up late at night sorting and editing. What will get you printing your images? Those are the things worth photographing.

Whatever chaos your family produces around you is an opportunity to create beauty with your camera.

I would like to know which tip has been most helpful to you and I’d love to see some of your prized family life photos in the comments below.

The post How to Photograph Your Everyday Family Life appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 26, 2018
Pros and Cons of Upgrading from a Phone to a Real Camera
You may have guessed from my use of the phrase real camera in the title that this article may contain some bias. Everything I write does to some degree, that’s normal. Hopefully, though my experience is helpful to you when you come to think about upgrading.

I want to present some of the pros and cons of upgrading to a real camera from a photographer’s perspective. This article is for you if enjoy using your phone to take photos but feel limited by it. It is also for you if you have a real camera to help answer questions from phone photographers who ask why you use a camera.

My intention here is to share information from my perspective. I am a long-time professional photographer and photography teacher. But I have also recently started taking phone photography more seriously.

Size Matters

Almost all cameras are bigger than a mobile phone. Phones have the advantage of portability, but this is about the only advantage size has. Let me explain.

Lenses

A good camera lens is essential to being able to make good clear photos. If the lens is small and low-quality, you are not going to get the best results.

Lenses on phones are tiny and most often made of plastic or sapphire crystal. Lenses for real cameras are larger and most often made of multiple glass elements.

Light is essential for creating a photograph. Light must first pass through lens, which bends it and focuses it so an image can be captured by the sensor. If there is any distortion in the lens the image quality will be compromised. Good quality larger lenses are more capable of producing sharper, more accurate images.

The range of lenses for cameras is enormous. Even small compact cameras have the capacity to zoom from wide-angle to telephoto optically. When the lens does the work of manipulating the light and sending it to the sensor, the quality is far better. On a phone when you zoom in, the image is just enlarged digitally and the quality suffers dramatically.

Image Sensors

Sensor size is the other main factor in the image quality difference between phones and cameras. By sensor size, I do not mean the megapixel count. Often phones can now have more megapixels than cameras. The actual physical dimensions of the sensor are what make the biggest difference.

A phone sensor is tiny and measures approximately 4.8 x 3.6 mm. There’s no room in a camera to put a larger sensor further away from the lens. Sensor size in cameras varies a lot, but suffice to say they are a lot larger than the ones in phones. Compact cameras have the smallest sensors in cameras which measure approximately 6.2 x 4.6 mm. Currently, the largest sensors in mirrorless and DSLR cameras are 36 x 24 mm (full frame).

Some phones boast huge megapixel counts, similar or larger than some cameras. I would prefer fewer megapixels on a sensor with a larger physical dimension. Squeezing more pixels into a tiny sensor may seem impressive, but it’s not in reality.

If you have the same number of megapixels on a sensor which is physically larger you will have technically higher quality images. To learn more about sensor size and why it’s important, please read this article.

Creative Control

Cameras are generally easier to have creative control over the outcome of the photograph. Phones are designed to be easy to use to get a quick snapshot. This is how most people use them. There are many good apps available to enable more manual control of the camera settings on your phone. Some are easier to use than others.

Entry-level cameras are not often any easier to control manually than phone cameras. Higher-end cameras of any type are more user-friendly for photographers who want a higher degree of control.

On cheaper cameras, it’s often necessary to dig into the camera’s menu system to adjust things like exposure and white balance. Higher-end cameras have more external controls so they are easier and quicker to set manually.

Creative Intention

One of the most significant differences between a phone camera and a real one has nothing to do with the technology. When most people pull out their phone to take a photo it’s for a quick snapshot. The picture may be posted to social media and quickly forgotten about.

Using a real camera requires more focused and creative intention. You are more likely to take time and think creatively when you are taking photos with a camera. This increases the likelihood of producing better photos. For me, taking the time to concentrate on photography is more important than the hardware I use to make the image.

Image Processing and Sharing

Processing and sharing photos from your phone is much easier than from a real camera. Phones are built for connectivity. The internal image manipulation, either native or in any number of apps, is impressive.

The biggest drawback when post-processing images on your phone, is that they are prone to lose quality. Often this is difficult to detect until the image is viewed on a monitor or you want to have it printed. It is very easy to over sharpen or saturate a photo using an app. It might look good on the screen on your phone, but not printed or on a larger monitor.

With a real camera there’s a certain amount you can tweak an image and share it, but it is not nearly as extensive as it is on a phone. Some cameras have built-in wifi and there are also memory cards with wifi available.

The Best Camera is the One You Have With You

This is true. You cannot take a photo if your camera is in a bag in the cupboard at home. But you don’t often forget your phone. This makes it a very good camera, because it is right there with you.

Learning to use your phone to do more than taking snapshots will improve the quality of all your photos. Spending money on a real camera that you don’t learn to use properly and leave at home is not going to make you a better photographer.

The biggest downside to phone cameras is the lower quality images they produce. Most of the time this is not relevant as most photos are shared and viewed on mobile devises these days.

I processed this image with the Snapseed app on my phone. It looked okay on my phone.

At 100% on my computer monitor, the deterioration of the image quality caused by processing is obvious.

The things that will keep you from relying too much on your phone for taking pictures are:
- Lower quality images.
- Less control over exposure settings.
- Little ability to effectively zoom.
- The possibility of getting a stunning image that cannot be enlarged and hang on the wall.
These things do not stop me taking photos with my phone. Currently, I am using it more than ever, but I need to understand my phone camera better so I can teach people to take better photos with theirs. I am particularly interested in experimenting with the panorama mode.

I believe there are still many years left when real cameras will hold their own against phone cameras. How quickly the technology evolves will determine just how long.

If you are a phone photographer I hope this article will tempt you to pick up a real camera. When you learn to use it you will discover the real joy of photography. If you already use a real camera I hope this information will help you better answer questions when people ask why you don’t just use your phone.

The post Pros and Cons of Upgrading from a Phone to a Real Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 26, 2018
How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop
Hailing from Russia, I give you…the Helios and its swirly bokeh.

Image by Markus Spiske

I know, it’s kind of an ugly duckling right? At the very least, Helios lenses are certainly not the shining example of classical grace and beauty that the company’s bestowed name might conjure forth. Instead, the true charm and appeal of these vintage lenses comes from what’s on the inside.

Due to their optical nature, Helios lenses can produce wonderfully swirly bokeh and backgrounds when shot at wide apertures.

Image by Mike Newton made with a Helios lens.

If you don’t happen to have a Helios lying around (they’re actually quite cheap) then I hope you will consider learning how easy you can simulate that swirly bokeh of this nifty little lens. You can do it right inside of Photoshop – here’s how.

What Kind of Images Work Best?

The charm of the Helios lens comes from separating the subject from the background with style. This means that just like any other time you want to blur out a background, the further you can place your subject from the objects behind it the more blurred the background will become.

The same is true for images you choose to simulate the “Helios effect” in Photoshop. Look for images with isolated subjects that can be easily separated from the background. This is the example we’ll be using for the demonstration.

Not only do swirly backgrounds complement images like these more so than others, but having easily identifiable borders between your subject and the background will make things much easier on you during the processing.

How to Create the Helios Effect

The key player in this edit will be a hidden little tool, or rather a filter, buried inside of the Blur Gallery portion of the Filter menu bar at the top of the window. You will use the Spin Blur Filter to give you that dreamy understated swirly bokeh background for which Helios lenses are so favored.

After you’ve got your image opened in Photoshop it’s time to begin the effect.

Duplicate the Layer

Make a duplicate copy of the background layer by using the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl+J. Feel free to rename the duplicate layer as I’ve done here to help you keep track in case you’re working with more layers.

Next, go up to menu bar you looked at earlier and go to Filter > Blur Gallery > Spin Blur… This will open up the blur gallery and it is here where you’ll do the actual blurring.

You’ll notice quite a few options here in the spin blur gallery; the most important of which is the Blur Angle slider.

This is how you will control the amount of simulated blur in your image. Think of the blur angle as the control for the degree of swirl in the background. Before you decide on how much blur you want to introduce to your image you first need to decide where you want the blur effect to be applied. Do this by adjusting the size and shape of the blur filter itself.

Adjust the Size and Feather Amount of the Filter

You can click and drag the outside of the filter to control its size and shape. How close the blur comes to the edges of the filter is controlled by the four larger dots shown here:

Think of these dots as the way you dictate the feathering of the spin blur effect as it approaches the edges of the filter. Drag the filter out to just past each corner of the frame and then adjust the feathering accordingly.

Feel free to experiment with placing the center point of the filter at different locations within your image.

Select the Blur Amount

As I’ve said, the largest variable you can control when applying your swirly bokeh background is the angle of the blur, which essentially dictates the amount of perceived spin blur. In most cases, a very small amount of blur angle works best, say maybe 2-4%.

Keep in mind that the true swirly bokeh from the Helios lens is generally subtle so keep the background blur in your simulated images somewhat subdued. Here’s our image with 4% blur angle applied.

Keep in mind that the final determination of the amount of blur will be decided just a little later in the process by using the layer opacity. So it’s a better idea to add in a little too much blur than not enough at this point in your processing.

Also, keep in mind that you can also increase or decrease the amount of blur angle using the control wheel located at the very center of the filter. Once your blur is applied, click “OK” at the top of the screen.

NOTE: If you convert the layer into a Smart Object before applying the Spin Blur filter, the settings can be adjusted at any time as it will be a non-destructive edit.

Final Blur Adjustments Using Layer Masks and Opacity

Now that you’re back to the main editing window in Photoshop you can finish up your Helios-style blur effect by using layer masks and opacity to customize the blur.

Adjust the opacity of the spin blur layer by using the layer opacity slider until the effect reaches the desired amount you like for your particular image. In this case, I’ve set the opacity to a modest 70%.

Next, we’ll want to make sure the subject of the photo is free from the blur effect. To do this, add a layer mask to the spin blur layer.

Then use the Brush tool to remove the blurring effect from the areas where it’s not needed. And viola! Your freshly minted Helios swirly bokeh simulation is complete!

Final Thoughts on Simulating Helios Bokeh

Acquiring an actual Helios lens is a surprisingly easy and budget-friendly method for adding a little uniqueness to your photography. Still, if you choose not to get a lens of your own, you can simulate the look of that classic Helios swirl by using the methods shown in this article.

Here are a few points to remember if you want to give the Photoshop Helios method a try:
- Choose a photo with a subject that is relatively isolated on its focal plane.
- Images with busy backgrounds work best.
- A blur angle of 2-4% is adequate for most photos.
- Center the blur around the main subject but don’t be afraid to move it elsewhere!
- Control the final blur amount using the layer opacity slider and layer masks.
Simulating the swirly blurred backgrounds of the Helios is easy and quick in Photoshop using the spin blur filter.

Here are a few more examples of images which have been given the Helios effect using the techniques shown here.

The post How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 25, 2018
How to Make Your Location Portraits Even Better
In photography, portraits are an art form to themselves. There are many ways to make portraits, but one of the main divisions is between portraits made in a studio and on location portraits. The end results look very different, so it’s good to choose between them depending on what you’re going for.

Do you have a preference between them, either as a photographer and/or as a viewer?

Studio photography is a lot of fun, but when I’m working on a portrait job I usually prefer to photograph on location. Why? Portraits taken in a favorite location – outdoors or at home – are a great opportunity to really bring out the subject’s personality and to enjoy the beauty of natural light.

That’s why I thought I’d share what I’ve learned about location portraits with you. I hope you enjoy the ride!

The advantages of stepping out of the studio

There are both pros and cons to on-location portrait photography. The main differences between this kind of photography and studio photography are the light and the environment.

Light

In a studio setting, you’re in complete control of the light. On location, you very likely won’t be, but the advantage is that you’ll have a much richer palette of light and color. So it’s a challenge but also an opportunity.

Instead of creating the lighting setup, you can focus on creating a very unique, natural portrait. Another difference is that natural light feels less artificial, just like a natural setting. Depending on what kind of atmosphere you’re going for, this can be very important.

Environment

Depending on the surroundings, a natural setting might not create a portrait with that timeless feel that a studio portrait often has. Again, this is neither good nor bad – it all depends on what kind of feeling you’re going for.

Including the environment in your portraits can add a lot of character and help bring out the subject’s personality.

The environment can also be a distraction, both in the final photograph and during the session. This can be a boon or a burden when you’re taking photos.

Too much going on might lead to a chaotic photo or the subjects looking (or being!) distracted, but it can also help the subjects relax and be themselves. All you have in a studio setting is the subject, the slightly intimidating lights, and the photographer; outdoors or at home, the setting might feel less oppressive.

Using the Surroundings to Your Advantage

So you’ve decided that you’re going to do a portrait session on location. What are the most important things to remember, and how can you make the session memorable?

Prepare!

You can’t ever be in complete control of a situation, but preparing is always worth the effort. It will help both you and your subject get the most out of the session and the final product. It will also let your creativity flow more freely since you won’t have to worry about all the details you will have dealt with beforehand.

Several choices need to be made before you can start making a portrait, and this can be done days and even weeks beforehand. These are: where, when, what, and what if.

First, you’ll have to find and agree on a location that’s convenient for you and works for the kind of portrait you and the client want. Unless it’s your backyard, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the place before the session.

The time for the shoot is at least as important as the location. Both season and time of day have a huge impact on the quality of light you’ll have to work with, so keep that in mind as you plan your photo session.

In general, the hour before sunset until just after sunset is when you’ll find the really beautiful light. Overcast days are also surprisingly good for portraits. Of course, you also have to find a time that’s convenient for your subject so the timing of the photo session is often a compromise between practical considerations and optimal lighting conditions.

Other preparations you can make are planning the types of photos you and your subject want and the clothing they’ll be wearing. Sometimes these are given – for instance, if you’re making wedding or graduation portraits.

Looking up inspiration for poses and compositions online is a good way to get ready, as is using yourself as a practice subject.

By “what if”, I mean you should have a backup plan. When planning a portrait session with a customer, I always make sure to have a reserve day in case the weather doesn’t cooperate, someone gets sick, or any of a million other unexpected things happen.

It can also mean having a reserve place to make the portraits, one that will still work if the original one doesn’t for some reason.

Do Your Best and Enjoy the Moment

The time has arrived and so has your subject. You’re in the right place at the right time, and now all you have to do is make some great portraits. There are a lot of great articles that cover the main things that will help you make the best of it, so I’ll only mention them:
- Always be aware of the background: what kind of patterns are there, what colors, what is the light like?
- Don’t be afraid to pose your subjects.
- Make your subjects feel comfortable and calm – this way you can both enjoy both the session and the final portraits.
A Practical Example

Lastly, I want to share a strategy that I sometimes use for location portraits with customers. It’s not always possible or sensible to do this, but when it is, it’s an easy way to have a comfortable and fun photo session.

This is what I do…

After I know when and where the portraits will be made, I visit the place and familiarize myself with it. Then I explore the area, find a nice route to walk along, and choose several places where the portraits can be made along that route. When it’s time for the photo session, I take the subjects on a short walk along the route that I found. I also tell them about the plan, so they know what’s going to happen.

I took this lovely family on a walk with some beautiful backdrops.

This approach offers many advantages. If you don’t know your subjects, taking a little walk is a nice way to relax and chat a bit before you start making the photos. It often also makes the subjects feel less awkward and on the spot, since they get to take in the surroundings a bit rather than immediately being put in front of a lens.

For you, as a photographer, it’s a good way to structure the session, to have a beginning and an end but leave plenty of room for spontaneity. It also lets you use several different settings within the same area so you can offer your subject a range of different portraits afterward.

Conclusion

Knowing how to make location portraits is a very useful skill in many situations: weddings, birthdays, graduations, for families, bands, teams, pets, etc. The list goes on and on.

What is your favorite part about making portraits on location? Are there some specific challenges you’ve encountered? I’d love to see your photos and your thoughts in the comments section!

Goodbye!

Sadly, this is my last article here at Digital Photography School. I’ve learned a lot and really enjoyed it, both writing the articles and taking part in all the discussions we’ve had. Thank you! You can find all my articles here.

Keep learning about and enjoying photography – I sure will!

The post How to Make Your Location Portraits Even Better appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 25, 2018
Five Ways to Take Stunningly Sharp Images
You can take sharp images. You can take them consistently, quickly, efficiently. However, you just may not realize it yet.

The Problem

The thing is, getting acceptably sharp images is a common problem among photographers. It’s something that I myself often struggled with getting consistently. I can’t tell you the number of times I used to come home, only to find my memory cards full of blurry or out of focus images.

I used to think the problem was my camera optics. In order to take pin-sharp images, I thought I needed a top of the line camera and lens. But it turns out that, when it comes to sharpness, the problem is generally the photographer (or the choices that the photographer makes).

And fortunately, that problem is very easy to fix.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn five ways that you can get sharp images. And then, next time you go out shooting, you’ll consistently take pin-sharp images. Sound good? Read on to find out how.

1. Use a fast enough shutter speed

When you press the shutter button on your camera, the internal sensor is briefly exposed to the light. This is how the camera actually captures an image.

The length of time that the sensor is exposed to the light is called the shutter speed.

Depending on your camera settings, the sensor might be exposed to the light for a long period of time (a slow shutter speed) or a short period of time (a fast shutter speed).

One of the main reasons your images are coming back blurry is that you’re not using a fast enough shutter speed. If you use a slow shutter speed, then your camera sensor remains open to the light for too long. It captures too much. That is, it captures motion.

But if you want to freeze the motion and capture only a sliver of a second so that everything is crystal clear, frozen. To do this, you need a fast shutter speed.

Fortunately, it’s not difficult to do this. In your camera’s settings, you can generally increase the shutter speed. Or you can use the Action (Sports) setting, which many cameras have.

Even if your subject isn’t moving, your hands might not be rock-steady. This causes camera shake which in turn causes image blur.

A faster shutter speed will help fix this.

2. Tuck in your elbows

A shutter speed increase solves many issues with blurry photographs. But what if you can’t use a fast shutter speed?

When the light is low, for instance, when you’re indoors or when you’re outside at night – a fast shutter speed lets in too little light, causing the image to be dark (we call this underexposure). Your camera will compensate for the low light by keeping the shutter open for longer, exposing the sensor to more light.

This is when it becomes important to eliminate camera shake completely. If the camera shakes, your image will come out blurred. So how do you stop your camera from shaking?

The first way that I’m going to talk about is simple: You tuck in your elbows. Don’t shoot with your arms out. Instead, firmly grip your camera while pulling your elbows in. This will serve to stabilize the camera and reduce camera shake.

I tucked in my elbows in order to get a sharp shot of my model in low light.

3. Stabilize your body against a wall (or the ground!)

Sometimes, tucking in your elbows isn’t enough. If the light is really low, you may need to take more drastic measures to reduce camera shake.

One big tip is to stabilize your body against a feature of the landscape, something solid.

When photographing birds, I often stabilize my elbows against the ground, ensuring a sharper image. If you’re a street photographer, for instance, you can search for walls to lean against. If you’re a landscape photographer, you can hold onto a rock or tree.

It also helps to get down on the ground. You can kneel and stabilize your arms on your knee. Or you can get down on your stomach and use the grass, concrete or dirt as a stabilizer for your camera.

Trust me, it works!

4. Use a tripod

I’ve been talking a lot about stabilizing your camera, and the ways I’ve suggested will generally work well, especially if you’re in a pinch. But there is a more dedicated solution – use a tripod.

With a good tripod, you can completely eliminate camera shake. This will do wonders for keeping your images sharp.

I used a tripod to capture this image of a musician at night.

There are a few downsides to using a tripod, however. The first is that you lose flexibility. It takes time to set up a new composition when you’re using a tripod, time that you might not want to spend. This is especially true if you’re photographing in a fast-paced atmosphere (e.g., portraiture or events).

The second downside is that good, solid tripods are expensive, especially if you want one that’s lightweight. Cheaper tripods may seem like a bargain, but they often don’t do the job well, or at all and replacing them costs more than buying one good one in the first place.

So be careful before choosing to invest in a good solid tripod.

5. Use a Shorter Lens

I have one more recommendation for eliminating blurry photographs, that is to use a shorter lens.

This is for a few reasons, but I’ll focus on the simplest one. A longer lens is harder to keep steady. It destabilizes the camera (and the image is magnified), and will, therefore, cause camera shake.

I used a wide-angle lens to photograph this golden retriever as the sun dipped below the horizon.

Hence, this tip is short and sweet. Especially when shooting in low light, put away your longer lenses and your telephoto zooms. Bring out your wide-angle and portrait lenses, ones that you can easily hold steady.

That’s how you’ll take sharp images.

Conclusion

Capturing consistently sharp images may have seemed daunting, but I hope that you now realize the truth. Getting sharp images is easy!

I urge you to get out and try these tips now.
1. Use a fast shutter speed.
2. Tuck in your elbows.
3. Stabilize your body.
4. If you want, invest in a tripod.
5. Use a wider lens.
And admire those crystal clear images!

Do you have any other tips for taking sharper images? Please share them in the comments below.

The post Five Ways to Take Stunningly Sharp Images appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 25, 2018