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How To Plan Astrophotography With The Photopills App

14 Nov

One of the most important lessons that astrophotography has taught me is the importance of planning. I’m a huge advocate of planning your photos in advance, no matter what your subject may be. With most genres of photography, you can wing it and still come home with some great photos. With astrophotography, you’re a lot less likely to get lucky if you don’t plan ahead.

how to plan astrophotography with photopills app

There are many factors that come into play when photographing the night sky. You can’t just pick a location and hope for the best. A successful image will depend on sunrise/set, moonrise/set, the phase of the moon, milky way position, galactic center visibility, time of year, and light levels.

If all that feels a bit overwhelming, don’t stress. There are many tools available to help you research and plan your night sky photos. I’ve used a number of them over the years, but there’s really only one that I rely on these days.

The PhotoPills App

You may have heard of PhotoPills already. It’s a popular app among landscape photographers. I’ve used it for a while now, and I can’t imagine planning my travel and landscape photos without it.

PhotoPills is a great tool for figuring out the best time to photograph the outdoors. It gives you a bunch of useful information about the sun and moon at a specific time and location, which is great for planning sunrise and sunset photos.

how to plan astrophotography with photopills app

It does so much more than that, though. It’s actually an incredibly feature-rich app that provides far more tools than I could cover here. If you’re new to PhotoPills, I recommend learning the basics of the app first. I’m just going to show you how to use PhotoPills to plan astrophotography.

Ambient Light

The single most important factor in successful night sky photography is darkness. There are three main factors that will affect the amount of ambient light in the scene and potentially ruin your photos.

The first, and most obvious, is daylight. Photographing the night sky while the sun is still shining is difficult. While you may think that you just need to wait until after sunset, it’s not quite that simple. The light from the sun illuminates the sky for a lot longer than you may realize.

As the ambient light from the sun fades in or out at the end of the day, it goes through four phases. You’ve likely heard of golden hour and blue hour. There’s also nautical twilight and astronomical twilight. You don’t need to understand what these terms mean, just that there will still be light from the sun that your camera will see.

For the darkest sky possible, you want to shoot after astronomical twilight ends and before it begins again. In the PhotoPills app, open the Sun pill, select the calendar view, and tap on the date you’re planning to shoot. You’ll be able to see the exact times from golden hour and sunset, through the twilight phases, and into night time. The sky will be darkest between that time and the beginning of astronomical twilight the next day.

how to plan astrophotography with photopills app

Light Pollution

The second factor is light pollution caused by man-made light. This is most noticeable in or near built-up areas, so getting away from these is crucial.

The simplest way to find locations that have minimal light pollution is to look at a light pollution map such as Blue Marble Navigator. You can easily find locations far enough away from light pollution to photograph the night sky.

how to plan astrophotography with photopills app

The Moon

The third factor that can affect the amount of ambient light in your night sky photos is the moon. The moon can reflect a surprising amount of the sun’s light and wash out your night sky photos. It can also illuminate the foreground, which may be something you want to take advantage of. Unfortunately, you can’t have the moonlight on the foreground without it illuminating the sky also.

If you want to eliminate moonlight from your night sky photos, there are two ways to do it. The first, and easiest, is to shoot during a new moon. A new moon is the opposite to a full moon, meaning it’s completely dark. No matter where it is in the sky, it won’t reflect any light or affect your photos at all.

The second way is to plan your photos so that you’re shooting while the moon is below the horizon. That means before moonrise and after moonset. This isn’t as effective as timing your photography with a new moon, but you can come home with some great images using this technique.

PhotoPills makes it easy to plan using both these options. To plan for a new moon, open the Moon pill and go to the calendar view. You’ll be able to look ahead and see the date of the new moon each month. The new moon is completely black with the little circle next to the date. A day either side is also usually safe.

how to plan astrophotography with photopills app

To figure out what time the moon will rise and set on a specific date, tap on that date while still in the calendar view. You’ll be shown a list of events for that date, including moonrise and moonset.

how to plan astrophotography with photopills app

The Milky Way

If you want to include the Milky Way in your night sky photos, you’ll need to consider a couple of things. Firstly, although the Milky Way is visible all year round, the galactic center is only visible for part of the year. This is between March and October, or slightly longer in the Southern Hemisphere.

The second thing you need to remember is that the Milky Way moves through the sky as the earth rotates, just like the sun and moon. What this means is that when planning your astrophotography, you’ll need to consider the time that the galactic center is visible.

PhotoPills makes this super easy. Going back to the Sun pill, you’ll see that galactic canter visibility appears in the event list for your selected date. Note that this may not be the time that the galactic center rises and sets, it may be the time that the sky is dark enough to see it.

how to plan astrophotography with photopills app

One of the coolest and most useful features of the PhotoPills app is augmented reality (AR). In the Planner pill, go to the date and location you’re planning to photograph, then tap Night AR in the option bar at the bottom. This will show you an AR view that superimposes the Milky Way over your screen.

how to plan astrophotography with photopills app

This is useful for seeing where the milky way and galactic center will be at your selected date and location. You’ll be able to see the angle and relative position of the Milky Way, as well as watch how it will move across the sky by sliding your finger across the screen.

PhotoPills Widgets

PhotoPills makes it super easy to see all this info in one place. Instead of having to go into each pill to find the relevant information you want, you can take a quick look at the PhotoPills widget and see times for the next sun, moon, and galactic center events.

how to plan astrophotography with photopills app

This won’t work for planning future photos, but if you want to see if tonight is a good night for astrophotography, you can find out at a glance. I’m sure you’ll find it useful once you have a good understanding of the right conditions for night sky photography.

Dig Deeper Into PhotoPills

As I mentioned, the PhotoPills app is incredibly powerful and feature-rich. It includes many more useful tools, such as Star Trails, Spot Stars, and Time Lapse. If you want to dig deeper and find out what PhotoPills can really do, I encourage you to buy the app and spend some time working through the User Guide on their website. There’s a wealth of tutorials and how-to videos that will help you make the most of the app.

I would love to see the night sky photos that you create with PhotoPills. Feel free to share them below.

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4 of the Best Lenses for Creative Dog Photography

14 Nov

It’s now estimated that of the 12 million households in the UK, 44% have pets. This equates to approximately 51 million pets owned. Of those, 9 million are dogs and 8 million are cats. With dogs and cats recognized as legitimate members of our families, just like our children, it’s no wonder we want to share them with the world. Pictorially speaking.

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Cavachon, Dorset © Andrew Sproule

Adult dog owners post a picture or talk about their dog on social media on average six times per week. They also watch dog videos or check out dog pictures about three times a week — and, one in ten has a social media account exclusively for their beloved woofer. It’s a similar picture (pardon the pun) in many countries around the world.

The perpetual advancements in smartphone camera technology allow us to be able to snap and share good quality pics of our very special soul mates, anytime and virtually anywhere.

Despite the ever-ready benefit of having a camera at hand (or should that be ‘in hand’), the demand for superior quality, longer lasting, tangible keepsakes such as albums or wall art has never been higher.

As a working dog photographer, I am inundated with questions pertaining to all aspects of pet photography as you can imagine. And I love to help where I can. The questions that I’m asked most often relate to lenses:

‘What is the Best Lens for Pet Photography?’

Now, this is a somewhat loaded question. However, the answer really depends on you. What you’re trying to achieve, your style, your budget, whether you’re a hobbyist or professional, a generalist or targeting one type of pet etc. If your chosen system is Nikon, Sony or another, that’s absolutely fine. Rather than focus on the brand, this article outlines how particular lenses can be used to create different effects in certain situations.

90% of my work is focused on dogs, predominantly in outdoor on-location situations. I use two Canon full-frame camera bodies, which has inevitably influenced my choice of lenses.

I would love to be able to provide you with a catchall solution to this question. Nevertheless, it’s only right that I concentrate on providing you with details about what works for me. I trust that you’re able to take away information that you find helpful and constructive, and that you can use in your own unique situations.

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Springer Spaniel Sussex © Andrew Sproule

So, here’s an overview of what I tend to use on most of my dog photography sessions. As a heads-up, I’ve avoided the technicalities of each lens and instead focused on how these lenses can be used creatively.

Clients hire me based on my style and my approach to dog photography. That works for me because I’ve always liked to get up close and personal. I often get at or below the dog’s level to afford me a dog’s eye view of the world.

Now, I have a certain style, but when it comes to a commissioned shoot, my focus and my duty are to offer my clients a gallery of images jam-packed with diversity. One sure-fire way to achieve this is through the use of several different lenses. In this post, I’m going to concentrate on the four that I tend to use the most.

Zoom Lens: 70-200mm f2.8

I like to ease myself into most photo sessions to ensure the client’s dog is relaxed right from the offset. I tend to stand back a bit (or lay down in most cases!) and start with the 70-200mm f2.8. This zoom lens (although quite heavy for its size – over 3lbs) is a real workhorse. It has a very handy focal range, outstanding autofocus, and excellent image quality. Because I always work hand-held (often in varying light conditions), its 3-stop image stabilization (IS) is a godsend.

However, if I need a bit more focal length I will pair the 70-200mm with a 1.4x extender. There is the inevitable small drop in image quality, which can be more noticeable in older versions of the extender. However, if it’s this versus no shot at all, then it’s a no-brainer.

The 70-200mm f2.8 is an extremely versatile lens that allows you to capture a variety of shots from playtime, scenic, group, portrait and so much more. It’s a lens that is always with me on my photo shoots.

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Labradoodle, Kent © Andrew Sproule

Prime Lens: 85mm f1.2

For situations that call for stunning background blur, I reach for my 85mm f1.2 (non-IS). I absolutely love this prime lens for its light gathering properties and superb image quality. Again, for its size, it’s heavy. That is to be expected though as there’s an awful lot of glass in there. In fact, there’s so much heavy glass that it affects the autofocus speed.

Therefore, I use this lens primarily when I know I’m going to have subjects that can remain fairly still, even if it’s just for a few seconds. I hardly ever shoot at f1.2 either. The plane of focus is so narrow that you can often see a difference in sharpness between a dog’s eyes. A dog that is facing me! It’s that narrow. I find f2-f4 is the sweet range.

Zoom Lens: 24-70mm f2.8

If I were only allowed to use one lens on a dog photography session it would be the 24-70mm f2.8. This lens, which offers my most-used range of focal lengths, is often described as ‘the best performing Canon full-frame compatible general purpose zoom lens available.’ And breathe!

And, I have to agree.

The 24-70mm is super sharp, super fast and super accurate, so I can forgive Canon for this lens’s lack of image stabilization. They (Canon) sacrificed IS to ensure this lens would retain ultimate image quality and I can live with that.

The amount of flexibility and control the 24-70mm lens affords me means that, on average, over 65% of the images I present at my clients’ viewing appointments have been taken with this lens.

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Pug, London © Andrew Sproule

Wide-Angle Zoom Lens: 16-35mm f4

Finally, the lens I most like using is the 16-35mm f4. It’s an extremely sharp ultra-wide angle zoom that’s full-frame compatible. It is incredibly fast and quiet, extremely accurate and the image quality is excellent. This is the lens that allows me to truly have some fun with my subjects. If I’m working with a dog that’s unfazed by having a lens unusually close to them, then I can truly come away with some magical and whimsical portraits.

As you’ve read, it’s horses-for-courses. In my case, it has taken quite a few years to get to this point. The crucial take-out is that you need to discover for yourself what works for you. The best advice I was given was to get out there and shoot. The more dogs I photographed the more I was able to hone in on what lenses worked for me.

So, don’t be afraid to invest in pro-quality lenses, especially if you’re a working professional. You owe it to your clients to be using pro-level gear. And, these lenses really hold their value. They can be resold or part-exchanged if they don’t quite work out for you. If it’s a toss-up between several lenses, consider hiring first. It’s an effective way to help you narrow down the many choices available.

Good luck out there!

What lenses do you use for dog photography? Share with us your experiences in the comments below.

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Introducing New dPS Managing Editor – Caz Nowaczyk

14 Nov

Caz Nowaczyk dPS Managing Editor

Some of our regular readers may have noticed a new byline on our Weekly Challenge posts recently, and the absence of Darlene Hildebrand. We announced a while back that after 5 years Darlene was moving on from dPS to focus on her own business – an exciting move for her.

From Darlene:

I’m honored to have been the Managing Editor at dPS for the last 5 years but now it’s time for me to move on to new ventures. It’s been a pleasure curating and publishing all the articles on dPS for you to enjoy and I hope you’ve learned a lot. You’ll be in good hands with the new editor and team of talented writers and photography educators.

Continue on your own photography journey, keep learning and shooting and you may even see my from time to time with a guest article right here on dPS.

Cheers, Darlene

Quietly and confidently slipping into her new role over the past few weeks is Caz (Carolyn) Nowaczyk (much to our General Manager Laney’s relief who got a crash course in editing whilst bridging the gap!).

About Caz Nowaczyk

Caz is a creative sponge and an excellent new asset to our team. As a practicing photographer, filmmaker, designer, songwriter, she follows the philosophy of practicing and sharing creativity to add to a balanced life.

Caz’s love of creativity led her to co-own and operate a community art gallery and performance space for 4 years. It included a photography club, many different creative workshops and hundreds of artists exhibitions. As an exhibiting artist herself (photography, painting, video and sound installation), supporting other artists is a right fit.

She currently has her own photography and digital media business, Exposure Arts and Media, working on projects for Government and commercial clients. One of her favorite things to do is photograph the community she is a part of; theatre, cabaret, circus and other areas of performance. She also loves nothing more than to get out into nature with her camera.

On the side, Caz writes and produces music under the pseudonym Dreamgirl and the Motorist, and plays with Sydney band Feick’s Device. She generally keeps this on the down-low though.

Caz is incredibly excited about being the new Managing Editor with Digital Photography School. She loves photography and the dPS business philosophy to help others learn, grow and make an income from doing something they love, is precisely what she believes in. It seems the stars aligned to bring the two of them together, and Caz can’t wait to share with and learn from the dPS community.

Moving Forward

As a fellow Aussie, we’re looking forward to being able to catch up with Caz in person again later this month, and planning exciting changes for dPS.

We hope you join us in welcoming Caz to the team.

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How to Duotone a Photograph in Photoshop

13 Nov

There is an incredible array of color in our world, so it’s no wonder that it plays such a significant role in photography. However, have you ever considered narrowing your pallet down to just two colors? A duotone image is just that – an image made up of two individual tones. A duotone scheme can highlight subtle detail or boast a vivacious color combination that can make an image pop! Here’s how to make use of Photoshop’s Duotone tool to create a beautiful duotone look.

Select an image with a good tonal range so that the duotone can take full effect.

How to Duotone a Photograph

Step 1 – Preparing an Image

First, select an image with a good tonal range and open it in Photoshop. I chose this image of a flower because it has a range of dark shadows through to bright highlights.

In order to apply a duotone effect to your photograph, you convert it to a greyscale image first. Select ‘Image’ in the top Photoshop menu bar, followed by ‘Mode -> Grayscale.’

2 - How to Duotone a Photograph in Photoshop

A prompt will appear, asking if you want to discard color information. Click ‘Discard’ and your image will be converted to Grayscale.

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Click the ‘Discard’ button and your image will be converted to grayscale.

After you have converted your image to grayscale, you may notice that your image looks a bit flat. Open a ‘Curves’ adjustment layer by clicking on the ‘Curves’ icon in the Adjustments tab.

4 - How to Duotone a Photograph in Photoshop

Adjust your contrast with the ‘Curves’ adjustment layer until you are happy with the level of contrast in your image.

5 - How to Duotone a Photograph in Photoshop

Adjust your contrast with the ‘Curves’ adjustment layer until you are happy with the result.

Step 2- Converting to Duotone

The next step is to convert your image to duotone. Make sure you have your original image layer selected and click on ‘Image’ in the top Photoshop menu bar. Select ‘Mode ->Duotone.’

6 - How to Duotone a Photograph in Photoshop

Once you’ve selected ‘Duotone’ from the menu a Duotone Options window will open.

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If it isn’t already set, click on the ‘Type’drop-down menu and select ‘Duotone.’ Selecting ‘Tritone’ and ‘Quadtone’ will allow you to add three and four colors respectively, but we’ll just stick with the two colors for now.

8 - How to Duotone a Photograph in Photoshop

Click on the ‘Type’ drop-down menu and select ‘Duotone.’

Step 3 – Making Adjustments

Once you’ve selected ‘Duotone’ from the ‘Type’ drop-down menu, you’ll see two channels are available: one for ‘Ink 1’ and one for ‘Ink 2’. Traditionally ‘Ink 1’ is set to black, as it defines the shadows in your image, so start with that. Ink 2 is for filling in the mid tones and highlights with your selected color.

9 - How to Duotone a Photograph in Photoshop

The ‘Ink 1’ and ‘Ink 2’ channels.

There are two ways to go about applying a Duotone effect to your image. The first method is to click on the ‘Preset’ drop-down menu and select a color scheme from the available options. To preview your adjustments as you go, make sure the ‘Preview’ box is checked.

11 - How to Duotone a Photograph in Photoshop

Click on the ‘Preset’ drop-down menu and select a color scheme from the options available.

However, if you aren’t keen on the preset options, you can always select your own custom colors. Click on the colored box for ‘Ink 2’ and you will bring up the ‘Color Libraries’ window.

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Click on the color box for ‘Ink 2’ to bring up the ‘Color Libraries’ window.

The ‘Color Libraries’ window groups colors into certain printing prerequisites, so have a browse and find a color you like. You can also click the ‘Picker’ button to bring up the standard ‘Color Picker’ window. Once you have found a color you like, click OK.

You can adjust the contrast of each channel individually. Click on the curve window to the left of the color boxes and fine-tune your contrast as you would adjust a Curves adjustment layer.

14 - How to Duotone a Photograph in Photoshop

Click on the curves windows to adjust the contrast in each channel.

15 - How to Duotone a Photograph in Photoshop

Fine-tune your contrast as you would adjust a ‘Curves’ adjustment layer.

Once you are happy with the result, give a name to each channel (I usually just name them Ink 1 and 2) and click OK!

Step 4- Experiment!

Now you have the basics down, its time to experiment! Here are a few of my own examples below.

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Here is a more traditional application of the duotone tool. I added this sepia tone by selecting a deep brown from the Color Library.

17 - How to Duotone a Photograph in Photoshop

This evocative color scheme was made up of a deep red color for the shadows and a blue tint for the midtones and highlights.

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Traditionally, a duotone image is toned with black for the shadows. But that doesn’t mean you can’t experiment! I got this rich, pop-arty effect by combining red with magenta.

Please share your creations below!

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Maternity Session Tips For Better Client Experience

13 Nov

There are many different types of portraiture. Maternity is probably one type that is truly one-of-a-kind. Each maternity session is different, however, these tips will help you have the same approach to your sessions so they run smoothly from beginning to end.

Keep Posing Simple

When women get a maternity session photographed, they are usually between 7-9 months pregnant. As a photographer, you should know that a growing belly is tiring. Therefore, keep posing simple and move your client to a minimum to help her stay comfortable while you are photographing this beautiful moment in her life.

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In order to keep the focus on the belly, use your client’s hands to frame the belly. One hand on top and one below, both below, both on top, or rubbing the belly. All are great ways for your clients to connect with their belly. They will also appear more natural in photos as the bump is the main focus.

Maternity Session Tips For Better Client Experience 3

Popping one knee out can help give your client a little more shape. This is especially helpful if she is wearing a long maxi dress or wardrobe that hides her natural shape. Make sure that your client pops out the knee that is closest to the camera. She can do this by putting one foot on tip-toe or just bending the knee.

Maternity Session Tips For Better Client Experience 4

In order to make the belly stand out while still giving your client a bit of shape to her body, angle her at 45 degrees from the camera. This makes the maternity silhouette more prominent in the photographs.

Maternity Session Tips For Better Client Experience 5

Pose your client with a knee pop and at 45 degrees toward the camera to put the focus on the belly silhouette.

Posing with Partner or Siblings

When posing with siblings, make sure to pose your client first and then have her children surround her. Or if she is willing to carry one sibling. Try different poses and allow for natural posing to happen. Children might be excited to rub or kiss the belly, and you can capture many natural expressions.

Maternity Session Tips For Better Client Experience 6

When posing with partners, make sure that they are interacting or connecting with the belly as well. A hand on the belly, or kneeling, rubbing or speaking to the belly can really bring out a connection. Don’t be afraid of just focusing on the partner and the belly bump. Take photos close-up and from afar to include both clients.

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Photographing the whole family can be tricky during a maternity session. Keeping the energy light and happy can really help bring out the best expressions. Working quickly is a good idea to keep the siblings interested and engaged. Move through poses swiftly and try to tell jokes or be playful to help.

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Whether you’re photographing your client indoors or outdoors, try to maximize the number of poses in one spot. Being pregnant can cause swollen feet if she is on her feet for too long. When posing siblings and partners, move them first or move them closer to your client so that she doesn’t have to move around too much.

Know Your Pregnancy Facts

If you are a female photographer and have been pregnant before, then you can skip this tip. However, if you have never been pregnant or are a male photographer, it is really important to take the following into consideration. You will ensure your client has the best maternity session experience.

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Maternity clients may not be able to walk around a lot without getting tired or swollen. Take breaks between setups and offer her a seat whenever possible.
Bathroom breaks: Be close to bathrooms because a pregnant woman will need to go often.
Offer water and snacks. Pregnant women need more calories so it’s really important for them to have healthy snacks and lots of water. It’s a nice gesture if you these to the session to offer her. Take it a step further by asking what her favorite snack is right now.
Ask if they will want retouching done to their belly. Some women prefer to keep it natural as it is in real life. Some will want a little extra editing. Asking up front can keep you from doing double the work or having to re-edit photos later.
Ask if your client will want to show her bump or not. This will help you prepare her to bring the right wardrobe.
Do not point out the obvious: that they are pregnant, or big, or look like they are having twins or anything of that nature. All you should ever say to a pregnant woman is that she looks beautiful and congratulations. Anything outside of that can seem like unsolicited advice or opinions. It may be interpreted as rude.

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These are just a few of the things you should be aware of in order to give your client the best maternity session experience. She will see that you have put a great deal of effort into her comfort and will be instantly appreciative.

Props and Accessories

Ask your client to bring props or accessories that she has already purchased for her little one. Shoes, bows, onesies, signs with the name or another special item that can really personalize the session for them.

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The more they bring, the more you will have to play with resulting in more options and variations for your clients. It can be exciting to incorporate the items into the session.

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Photograph the items alone as well as with the bump. A nice detail photo of the item can look really nice in an album. You can also offer ideas for them to bring props or particular accessories to create more of a story.

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If you are photographing inside your client’s home, you can photograph the nursery. As well adding to the overall experience of her pregnancy, it will show the experience of waiting for the baby to arrive.

Show Your Client Photos During the Session

Pregnant women are very self-conscious about the way they look. To make sure that they feel confident, show her a really great portrait of herself during the session. This can give her a boost knowing that you have captured her best.

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Letting her see for herself that she is radiant and beautiful can make the session go much smoother. She will trust that you are getting the best photos of her during this very unique and important moment in her life.

Offer a Newborn Session

When you are wrapping up the maternity session, offer your clients a newborn session for when the baby is born. Newborn sessions are typically done within two weeks of the baby being born so they don’t lose their newborn features.

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Chances are that your client hasn’t thought that far in advanced yet and it will be nice for them to come back to you since you have already built trust.

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Let them know about the session options you offer and how you can create a beautiful album of both sessions so that they can always look back on these joyous moments in their lives.

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If they walk away with a great experience during their maternity session, they will certainly want to come back for the newborn session. And all subsequent portraits thereafter. Don’t miss your chance to keep your clients coming back!

In conclusion

A maternity session is special in that you get to photograph this very unique, one-of-a-kind moment in your client’s life. Make sure to stay positive and energetic. Take breaks and snacks, and be aware of what you say.

Guide your clients through the process so that they can enjoy and trust you to make the best photographs possible of such an important time in their lives.

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Photographing Still Life Can Teach You These 3 Things

12 Nov

Composition
Lighting
The importance of taking your time

Photographing Still Life Can Teach You These 3 Things © Kevin Landwer-Johan

Photographing still life, more than most genres, gives you more control. You can control your subject, location, lighting, composition etc. when you make still life pictures.

Photographing just about anything else gives you have far less control, or it’s much more difficult to control the photo session. Landscape photographers must rely on external factors like the weather and vantage point. Sports photographers are restricted by how close they can get to their subjects. Wildlife photographers are often hampered by their subject’s movements. Portrait photographers have to deal with all manner of moods and emotions from their clients.

Photographing inanimate objects can happen just about anywhere. A studio space is not necessary. You can use your kitchen and set up on the table. Backyards and public parks can be great locations for outdoor still life photography.

Subject matter options are wide open. What do you like looking at? Find something you like – it will be more engaging. Small (but not too small) objects are easier to manage. Still life with large items like refrigerators or park benches will be more challenging to work with. You are not restricted to fruit and bunches of flowers.

Whatever and where ever you chose, you can improve upon three essential skills by photographing still life.

Composition

You have unlimited freedom to place and move your subject material about. This can help you gain a better understanding of composition.

Moving your objects around you will see how they relate differently to each other. You can overlap them or choose to position each one so it’s independent.

Camera position can view your set up from any angle you imagine. Experiment with high and low angles. Watch how this can dramatically affect your composition. Doing this in a situation where you have control and freedom to move about will help you learn to do so other times you are taking photos.

Backgrounds can be varied. You can use just the natural surroundings or add in your own backdrop. If the room ambiance is conducive to the images you want to make, use it well. However, if there are distracting elements behind your set up, insert a backdrop of your own. This can be a piece of card or cloth or something else to help enhance your composition.

Hopefully, photographing still life will stimulate your imagination. Having the freedom to manipulate your compositions will enhance your photography in general.

Lighting

Working with inanimate objects is a great opportunity to learn more about lighting. With people, animals and other things that move about, being consistent with lighting can be challenging. Landscapes and architectural photography can have more complex lighting demands.

Starting with a simple light set up is good if you are new to photography. The kitchen window if your objects are on the kitchen table. Start making your series of photos and then open the kitchen door to let light in from another direction. Compare your photos and see the changes adding more light makes.

Switching on an artificial light source allows you more control. Use a lamp or flashlight. These allow you to see the effect of the light, unlike using a camera flash. Vary the position of the lights. Lift them higher or drop them down lower. Moving them further away will lessen the amount of light on your objects.

Reflectors can be made good use of in still life photography. Even a sheet of white A4 printer paper can be an effective reflector. Try different reflective surfaces of varying sizes and study the difference they have on your scene.

Look at the direction of light and shadows. How do they interact when you have more than one light source?

By trying different light sources and setups you will develop a better eye to discern light in other situations where you are taking photos. It can help you to know when to add another light source or reflector.

Taking Your Time

Setting up for a still life photo session somewhere you can leave it a few days or weeks has its benefits. So often people are in too much of a rush to get a photo and move on. Take your time, and work slowly as a painter does. There’s no rush.

Being able to go away and come back to your arrangement of inanimate objects allows you to see it with fresh eyes the next day or next week.

Maybe you will see the relationship between elements differently. The lighting will have changed from morning till afternoon if you are using natural light. You might think of another object you want to add to the scene that will really make the photo. Ideas will come that you had not thought of initially.

Changing lens focal lengths is also good to experiment with. Compare how the objects interact with each other and the background as you view them with different lenses.

Setting up outdoors, you can photograph at different times of day and night to see the effects of different light. Does moonlight provide the most interesting lighting for your composition? Or is it best first thing in the morning?

Conclusion

Find yourself some space. Gather together a few of your most aesthetic things. Take your time to move them around and change the lighting. Think about how the objects relate to each other. Think about the different results you achieve when you change the lighting. If you don’t like what you photographed one day, come back another and make some more photos.

Please share with us any still life photos you may have taken in the comments below.

The post Photographing Still Life Can Teach You These 3 Things appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Wedding Photography Gear You Need When Starting Out

12 Nov

What’s in your bag?

dps-equipment-wedding-photography

Weddings are vibrant and full of emotions, making it all too easy to have a purely romantic view of the day. For the couple and guests, that is very true. However, if you are a supplier on the day, it can be a very different experience. All the more if you are the wedding photographer! The pressure is on, and you have a huge responsibility to capture the day.

When you first begin photographing weddings, it is important to have a love for weddings and a connection to the occasion. If you hate weddings – which some people do – I suggest you steer clear of wedding photography. It is also beneficial to have a creative eye. If you lack both, it will be apparent on the images you capture.

When starting as a wedding photographer, it is quite understandable that you may not have the full arsenal of cameras, lenses, flashes, etc. Often we start with only the basic equipment in our bag and plenty of creativity (and for some, a healthy dose of confidence).

If you are considering being a wedding photographer and exploring what you can achieve with a basic kit, then this article is for you. These are also just my suggestions. I do not assume that you could not become a competent wedding photographer otherwise.

dps-equipment-wedding-photography

1. Camera

A full-frame professional camera is ideal, but if you only have a crop-sensor camera, there’s no reason you can’t shoot a wedding. The main impact of this would be the lenses. Unless it is a dedicated crop-sensor lens, a crop-sensor only uses a section of the lens, causing some loss in light and sensor use.

Newer cameras are equipped with better technology to handle noise, especially in low-light conditions. This technology is crucial because regardless of season, weddings will always involve low-light. Often very little natural light. The pixel size of images from newer cameras is also generally larger allowing more room for adjustments like cropping. It also allows better enlargements of your photographs in print. 24MP is now average for a newer camera whereas it was around 12MP 10-years ago.

2. Lenses

I feel lenses are a must. If you want to shoot weddings, at least have the 50mm or 35mm prime lens. They open to larger apertures than the kit lenses (the ones that come with the camera body). A maximum aperture of f/1.8 will do, but even better is f/1.4 and f/1.2. However, these lenses can be pricey though. If you tend not to use a flash unit, the advantage of these lenses is made clear.

A zoom lens is a massive help when capturing unfolding events during a wedding day. You don’t have to zoom with your feet as you do with a prime lens. In my opinion, you can get away with using a zoom kit lens for candid captures and don’t have to shell out for a pricey f/2.8 zoom when starting out. I must also add that these f/2.8 zooms are amazing pieces of glass and are worth the investment if you can afford it.

Top tip: Use a hood or a UV filter on your lens to protect it from knocks and breakage. Some people say filters affect the sharpness. That may be so, but I’d rather have an intact lens and a 99% sharp photo than a broken lens and a 100% sharp photo. The difference is pixel-peeping minuscule.

3. Flash Gun

Many people call themselves a natural light photographer. There is nothing wrong with that. However, if you want to shoot weddings, I encourage you to be open-minded and explore the possibility of learning to use flash. Weddings, especially evening receptions can be notoriously dark and having a flash gun will serve you well.

Top tip: Use a diffuser or bounce card.

dps-equipment-wedding-photography

4. Memory Cards, Spare Batteries, Remote Triggers or Transceivers (If You Use Off-Camera Flash)

These are self-explanatory. Have spares and spares of spares!

5. Backup Equipment

If you have to borrow extra equipment for back-up, do so. You never know when something will unexpectedly pack-up! When I shot my first wedding, I owned one camera body (a crop-sensor), and I borrowed my sister-in-law’s camera, just in case. I didn’t use it but having it with me gave me peace of mind.

dps-equipment-wedding-photography

6. Other Helpful Equipment But Non-Essentials

The following can come in handy but in my opinion, you can do without them:

Grey card – You shoot at a fast pace in various lighting scenarios during a wedding – indoors, outdoors, tungsten, LED, natural lights, etc. It would be crazy to use a grey card every time you moved! You can shoot in Kelvin or use Auto White Balance. The important thing is that you shoot in Raw so you can adjust the white balance in post.

Reflector – I used to carry a reflector when I first started, but now I take my flash guns instead. And I never go without at least two of them! But a reflector is handy. Because I don’t carry one with me most of the time now, when I shoot small details, I use a small piece of white card or anything white that may be handy.

Tripod – I never carry a tripod as I find it too cumbersome and heavy! But you’d never see me cover a wedding without a monopod. They are easier to lug around!

7. Non-Essentials That Add Value to Your Service

Brides are often grateful when you magically produce things that they did not expect you to have. For instance, bobby pins, hair grips, scissors, or tissues. Likewise, if you help in other ways when you can, for example, putting the buttonholes on, helping with jewelry, etc. As they say, it’s in the little things.

dps-equipment-wedding-photography

Lastly, invest in a good, well-padded camera bag. Your equipment will love being in it!

You can read more about lenses for wedding photography in an more exhaustive article I have written here.

I hope you found this article helpful and I wish you the best in your journey as a wedding photographer! Do share your thoughts or any equipment you may want to add in the comments below!

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4 Tips for Capturing Autumn Colors

12 Nov

For those of us who live in North America, autumn is in full swing. The leaves are changing from their bright green colors and are taking on incredible hues of yellow, orange, and red. It’s a time of flux for Mother Nature.

For us photographers, it’s prime time to get out and take advantage of all those beautiful fiery colors that lead into the winter months.

4 Tips for Capturing Autumn Colors

Capturing the brilliant colors of Fall isn’t something that requires a lot of planning other than finding a suitable location. That said, there are things we can do during and after our shoot to ensure we get more from our time outdoors at this time of year. In this article, I’ll share with you four easy ways of capturing autumn colors to achieve the best images of Fall.

Use a Polarizer

If you’re familiar with photography, you’ve likely used or at least heard of a polarizer. Polarizers are filters (circular or square) and attach to the front of your lens. They essentially allow only straightened light rays to pass into your camera. Polarizers help to darken skies, reduce reflections and most importantly, deepen color tones.

4 Tips for Capturing Autumn Colors

When you’re shooting for the maximum color effect it’s a good idea to pack a quality polarizer in your gear bag. Most CPL’s (circular polarizers) allow you to dial in the polarization effect based on your needs. You can add or reduce the impact.

The following images were shot with and without a polarizer. You can see the notable differences in colorization between the images:

On the left we have a 1:1 zoom of a photo taken without a polarizer. On the right, the same scene is shot WITH a polarizer. Note the subtle increase of color saturation as well as the accompanying decrease in light transmission.

Keep in mind; polarizers physically reduce the amount of light entering your lens. A small adjustment in exposure may be needed to make use of this type of filter.

Search for Complementing Colors

A great way to make your images of the autumnal colors pop is to make use of something called ‘Complementary Colors.’ Complementary colors are hues that lie opposite to one another on the standard color wheel.

Color wheel - 4 Tips for Capturing Autumn Colors

Aesthetically, complementary colors work together to make a more pleasing image. Oranges, reds, and yellows are the flagship colors of Fall. It’s a good idea to look for their complementary colors (blues and purples) and incorporate them into your compositions.

Leaf in water - 4 Tips for Capturing Autumn Colors

Don’t limit complementing colors just to shooting scenes of Autumn. Try making use of colors falling opposite one another on the color wheel in all aspects of your photography.

Learn to Use Water

Water is one of the most dynamic elements of nature on our Planet. For photography, it’s one of the great muses. When it comes to bringing out the organic essence of autumn, there are a few things that can help you more than water. Whether it’s reflections, dew or just the earthy feel after a rainstorm, try incorporating water into your images of Fall. It is an excellent way to inject a new level of creativity into your images of Fall colors.

Incorporating water - 4 Tips for Capturing Autumn Colors

Look for reflections, water droplets or anything else in the scene that has been transformed by the presence of water. If I can offer a rare bit of solid direction, remember that brightly colored leaves floating on water generally make for bulletproof compositions.

Floating leaves - 4 Tips for Capturing Autumn Colors

Make Use of the HSL Panel

Last but certainly not least, our last tip for photographing the brilliant colors of Fall happens after you capture your image. The HSL Panel in Lightroom (or other software) offers an indispensable way to adjust the hue (H), saturation (S) and luminance (L) of individual colors within our photographs.

HSL Panel - 4 Tips for Capturing Autumn Colors

This tool is handy for bringing out the colors we want emphasizing without making global changes to our entire photo. I cannot overstate the power of the HSL panel. Not only does it offer the possibility of adjusting the brightness and saturation of individual colors, but also their hues; which can change the entire feel of a photograph.

HSL Control - 4 Tips for Capturing Autumn Colors

Using the HSL to control the hues of your color tones is a great way to completely change a photo with just a few clicks.

HSL Control Purple - 4 Tips for Capturing Autumn Colors

Some Final Thoughts on Photographing Fall Colors

We are served up such a diverse and accessible photo color palette in the Autumn months. Colors blaze and overall tonality of light and mood offer excellent photographic opportunities virtually any time of day.

Make use of the tips in this article to breathe new life into your images of Fall.

If you have any tips for capturing autumn colors or have images of Fall you would like to share with us, then please do so in the comments below.

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How To Mimic a Cross-Processing Effect in Photoshop

11 Nov

How To Mimic a Cross-Processing Effect in Photoshop

Cross-processing is a technique that comes from the darkroom days. You would purposely develop film in the wrong chemicals to achieve special color effects. When no film or chemicals are involved in digital processing, it is possible to mimic a cross-processing effect in Photoshop. I’ll show you how in a few easy steps.

The technique is called cross-processing because it referred to the processing of negative film with a chemical developer designed for reversal film. Or vice versa. You will also find it under the name ‘x-pro’ or ‘Xpro.’

Of course, replicating this effect directly in camera isn’t possible, but you can reproduce the results with Photoshop. You can make your image look like it’s the result of cross-processing.

In Photoshop there’s often a preset that solves your problems. Cross-processing is no exception. I will show you a step-by-step way to do it so that you can have more control over the end result. There is no right or wrong. One is no better than the other. It’s about giving you a choice so you can decide what works best for you.

So, let’s get started.

The Cross-Processing Preset

To find the ‘Cross-processing’ preset add an ‘Adjustment’ layer. Click the button at the bottom of the layers panel and choose ‘Curves’ from the pop-up menu.

Curves - How To Mimic a Cross-Processing Effect in Photoshop

From the ‘Properties’ panel open the ‘Preset’ menu. Change it from ‘Default’ to ‘Cross-Process (RGB).’

Cross Process RGB - How To Mimic a Cross-Processing Effect in Photoshop

Notice the colors of the image are very saturated and have a definite green color cast. The graph now has three colored lines: Red, Green and Blue. Each line has a different shape.

Graph - How To Mimic a Cross-Processing Effect in Photoshop

Those three colored lines represent the three channels (Red, Blue and Green) adjusted by the Preset to create the effect. Therefore, you may create this effect manually without using the preset. You can achieve this manually by tampering with each color channel separately.

Using Curve Properties to Achieve the Cross-Processing Effect

For this, instead of changing the preset menu, open the ‘RGB menu.’ Go into each color and move the curve in the graph.

Curves - How To Mimic a Cross-Processing Effect in Photoshop

However, many people don’t find the ‘Curves’ tool very comfortable. So I’ll show you a tool to work with sliders to achieve similar results.

Discard the ‘Curves’ layer or hide it by clicking the ‘Eye’ symbol to the left of the layer. That way you can work with the original image. Now add an ‘Adjustment’ Layer with a ‘Channel Mixer.’

Channel Mixer - How To Mimic a Cross-Processing Effect in Photoshop

In the Properties panel, find the ‘Output Channel.’ Here, open the drop-down menu to change from one color channel to another.

Output Channels - How To Mimic a Cross-Processing Effect in Photoshop

In each color output channel, you can see the corresponding color slider will be at 100%, while the other two are set to ‘0.’ So, in the ‘Red’ channel, the Red slider is set at ‘100’ while Green and Blue are at ‘0.’ In the ‘Green’ channel, the green is set at ‘100’ and the Red and Blue are at ‘0.’ In the ‘Blue’ channel, the blue is set at ‘100’ with Red and Green at ‘0.’

Move the sliders to create your own cross-processed image. Move all three channels sliders around until you’re satisfied.

Red color cast - How To Mimic a Cross-Processing Effect in Photoshop

Remember, you don’t need to duplicate the result that the Preset proposed. But if that is your objective, you don’t need to go into moving any setting individually.

To reiterate, to achieve an image that suggests cross-processing, more than one formula exists.

Green Color Cast - How To Mimic a Cross-Processing Effect in Photoshop

A few things to keep in mind:

Cross-processing was initially a ‘mistake’ (even if done on purpose) causing unpredictable results. Thus, feel free to experiment and be creative because there is no wrong answer.
Cross-processed images look oversaturated with a distinct color cast.
Using the wrong chemical would often distress the image, to mimic this you can introduce some noise.

Adding Noise to Your Image

To add noise to your image, select your image layer and go to Menu -> Filters -> Noise -> Add Noise. A pop-up window will open giving you a preview of the filter you are applying and the sliders to adjust it. Make adjustments to your preference.

Adding Noise - How To Mimic a Cross-Processing Effect in Photoshop

Keep experimenting and have fun!

If you have you experimented with cross-processing effects in Photoshop, please share with us in the comments below.

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X-Peditions 2019 Workshops Have Filled

11 Nov

Strobist’s 2019 X-Peditions workshops (Havana in January and Hanoi in the fall) have both filled.

Hanoi actually filled before any public announcement. So if you think you might be interested in a future workshop, please make sure to sign up for advance notice on the X-Peditions info page.

If you would like to be placed on a wait list for either trip, you may do so at the individual workshop pages linked above.
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