Category: Photography

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018
In this third installment of articles on ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018, we look at some of the Cool Tools – either new features or ones that are particularly useful. Read my first two articles here:
- ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners
- How to do Creative Editing with Layers in ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018
New Features

1. ACTIONS

Newly implemented in the latest release of the software, Actions are a range of predefined edits that you can apply to your image to achieve a specific look or effect. To assist you with this, there is an Actions Browser that lets you see the effect applied in advance, which is extremely useful.

Image with the Actions Browser open.

There are 16 different categories covering color, black and white, workflow, editing, special effects, portrait and landscape options, and more. Once you decide on the desired Action, click PLAY and it is applied.

Example of a Split-tone Action.

A black and white conversion Action applied.

To apply an Action, you need to open your image in Edit mode. On the top menu bar, look for Tools > Browse Actions.

2. LIQUIFY

Liquify is often used in fashion and portrait editing to change the shape of people or parts of their bodies. It is a new feature in this release of ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018. This tool needs to be applied with a large soft brush and a delicate touch or it can look overly obvious.

I found the Liquify tool very easy to use. It worked quickly (i.e. there was no lag on processing the change) and had a gentler effect than I was expecting.

This is the before image for comparison.

Showing where the effect had been applied.

Image after Liquify applied to the arch and bowl of the spoon, and the dark side of the main blueberry.

Using the Liquify Tool

Liquify is a function in Edit mode, so you need to open your image up in there. On the top menu bar, select Filter > Geometry > Liquify.

There are four different Liquify modes:
1. Shift – This moves pixels from one area to another in the direction you move the brush.
2. Pinch – This moves the pixels towards the center of the brush (making things smaller).
3. Brush – This moves pixels away from the center of the brush (making things bigger).
4. Restore – Undo mode for any of the three options above.
Once Liquify mode is active, check that your brush is the correct size and softness (a larger and softer brush is recommended) and very gently click and nudge the area you want to adjust a tiny amount. It is much easier to do lots of little adjustments as you can undo one if you go too far.

Also be mindful that when you use Liquify it moves all the pixels within the brush, so if you have any lines or other elements, they can be affected too. This can make it obvious that you have used Liquify, so be careful about the backgrounds and surrounding elements in the area you’re using it.

3. FREQUENCY SEPARATION

This is a function used a lot in portrait and fashion photography – anywhere there is a lot of skin visible, especially faces and close-ups. Frequency separation allows you to smooth out blemishes and imperfections, to even out the skin tones, and provide a polished outcome in the image.

While it can be done manually, it is time-consuming to set up. Now with a few clicks, the software does all the layers for you, making it easy to apply the effect where necessary. I don’t photograph people or close up portraits so have never had the need to use this functionality, but for those who want to access this advanced technique, ACDSee has included it.

Using the Tool

Open your image in Edit mode and in the Layers pane, duplicate the layer. Frequency Separation is a destructive edit, so it is recommended that you work on a duplicated layer to maintain image integrity.

Select the top layer (the duplicate), then right-click and select Frequency Separation from the drop-down box. It will then create two layers – one will be grey and have (HF) in the layer description. The other one will be in color, but will be all blurry and have (LF) in the layer description.

On the LF layer, use a brush to work on any skin imperfections. On the HF layer, use the Repair tool to clone clear skin over top of the blemish areas.

4. PIXEL TARGETING

The Pixel Targeting tool allows you to select specific areas in your image based on a combination of tone and color selection. It works in conjunction with an adjustment layer.

In Edit mode, open up your image and select an adjustment layer (any of them seem to be fine). Here I am using a shot of some bright red raspberries and a Vibrance adjustment layer.

Right-click on the top layer and select Pixel Targeting and a panel will open up. The top sliders allow you to select the tones and the bottom sliders allow you to select the colors.

Adjust the tone and the color sliders to suit. It creates a mask of the subject that you want to adjust.

Save a preset for future use (use the Save option at the top of the screen) and click OK. The mask you have just created in the Pixel Targeting window is now applied to your adjustment layer, and it will only apply the adjustment to the light areas of the mask.

Here I have turned the raspberries blue simply by adjusting the Hue sliders in the Vibrance layer.

Useful Features

While learning how to use ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018, there were several things about it that I found particularly useful. These are either the small things that don’t get used a lot but work really well when you do need to use them, or something that makes it much easier to do a really common task.

These are things I appreciate, especially when something you do a lot is made easier, or offers a clever alternative.

1 – Add a File as a Layer

At the bottom of the Layers pane are a whole lot of quick access icons for different layer features. The one circled here is the “Add a File as a Layer” option.

I do a couple of specific tasks that require the addition of outside images as extra layers, such as adding texture overlays and compositing.

There are lots of other instances when this could be useful – focus stacking, blending panorama or astrophotography images, time-lapse stacking, and so on.

This is a particularly common function and the way Photoshop does it is really NOT user-friendly. I have always gotten around it by using a second monitor and dragging my image in that way.

But if you are working on a laptop or only have one layer, that isn’t an option, so this feature becomes worth knowing about.

It’s really simple. Click on the Add a File as a Layer icon and a dialog box opens up asking you to select the location of the image you want to add. Even better, you can switch your view to Thumbnail and see examples of the images so you can select the right one.

Click on the desired file and select Open. The file will then open up as a new layer. It will probably need to be resized and the program has that mode already activated for you as well. Drag the yellow handles to the right size, select Commit, and you are done!

2. Heal Tool

Sometimes you might have a mark, a blemish, or a stray hair or twig in the way on your shot, and you don’t notice until you see it on the big screen when you are editing. Technology has improved so much these days that software can often take care of those issues for you, but it can still be a less than polished outcome.

When editing my blueberry shots, I was dismayed to find that I hadn’t noticed my main berry had a scratch down the front of it. Great chance to give the Heal tool inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate a go.

I was quite impressed with how well it works. Just right-click on a good area and then paint over the blemish area. I find doing lots of small selections gives a more natural effect usually, but ACDSee did a really good job.

After the Heal tool was applied.

Before Heal tool applied – you can clearly see the big scratch on the front of the berry.

Conclusion

Before writing these articles, I had never used ACDSee software at all. My background was with PaintShop Pro, Photoshop, and Lightroom. Learning about the full range and capabilities of this ACDSee program has been interesting. There are some really exciting new features and useful tools included, particularly in Edit mode.

Overall I have been impressed at the depth and capability of ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate. For a beginner wanting a one-stop-shop program at a cost-effective price (and no subscription model), it has a lot of benefits.

For anyone looking to get started in managing their photo files, processing RAW images, and more in-depth editing, this is a good place to start. If you’re looking for a non-subscription option, it is worth considering as well.

Disclaimer: ACDSee is a dPS advertising partner.

The post Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 17, 2018
5 Tips for Doing Lifestyle Photo Sessions with Families
Even though I focus on weddings, I still do family sessions. Most of these are clients from when I started as a family photographer and I have built a relationship with over the years as well friends that they send my way. I find it a great privilege to see their children grow up and capture moments with them year after year.

But let’s face it, this doesn’t happen every month or every six months even. I am not there often enough to capture milestones or fleeting moments. Most of these are annual sessions where the family wants to document a point in their lives once a year. For this reason, I love and encourage lifestyle photo sessions so it feels like a series of snapshots of their daily lives are captured in a relaxed vibe.

What is a lifestyle photo session?

When I first mentioned this to my husband, he said he didn’t have a clue about what that even meant. A lifestyle photo session is one that is relaxed and focused on capturing moments and expressions, day-to-day activities and normal life scenarios, and nothing is too posed. Relaxed, candid shots, fun shots. Think less looking (at the camera) and more doing (action).

However, it is done with a lot of planning and intentionality for it to look as such. In this article, I will share with you five tips in my process of photographing family lifestyle photo sessions.

I am very much a planner and I like lists. I generally visualize things in my head first, go through it stage by stage, put this plan and an equipment list on paper and then I feel I’m nearly done. Then it’s just the shoot to get through but half the battle is already won.

#1 Plan in advance

Communicate your plan with the parents and instruct them on specific preparations in advance of the shoot. Agree on the most suitable time for them especially if the kids are really young. Advise them of outfits. Give them an indication of timings. For example, “We’ll spend an hour in your home and afterward go to a park or a nearby outdoor area for some fun action shots for half an hour”.

Ask them to prepare props that might be needed, snacks, and an activity. For example, if you are coming around at breakfast time, for them to get breakfast organized. This could also work for lunchtime (pizza-making, baking), bath times, play time (kite-flying in the park), etc.

#2 Have a formula

When you arrive, you should already have an idea of what to expect. Set up your equipment, line up your lenses where they are safe and have a mental (or physical) list of the following:
- Wide location shots
- Close-up detail shots of special things in the house
- Candid images
- Action shots
- Creative/artistic photos
- Portraits
#3 Get to know the family

Spend the first few minutes getting to know the entire family just as they are, not just the children. Join in whatever they’re doing upon your arrival and don’t change the setup straight away.

The children will feel comfortable and safe if they see you interacting with their parents and that they trust you. The kids will warm up to you faster that way than if you would just go straight up to them.

If you feel the kids need a break from you so that it stays all laid back and relaxed, ask to shoot the details in the house first.

You may need to move things around to style items or the parents may already have prepared these beforehand. Or if there are views outside the house, then take wide photos of them as well as a view into the house. These are part of their day-to-day story.

#4 Focus on natural moments

This is easier said than done because when there is a stranger in the house, it’s very difficult to be completely natural like nobody else is there.

My best tip is to do this using an activity. When the family is focused on what they are doing, try to be invisible and hide behind posts, kitchen cabinets, doors, etc., and capture the moment like you are not there.

You need to instruct the parents to initiate the activity, for example, reading books to the kids, playing with their favorite toys, watching their favorite program, etc. If you don’t get the shot you want the first time, you can always ask the parents to repeat the activity and have another go. Tell them not to look at the camera at all unless you ask them to!

This is also a great time to be intentionally creative with your compositions. You can put silhouettes, negative space and layering to great use and enhance your images.

#5 Don’t forget to capture portraits looking at the camera as well

This is really important not to overlook because grandparents always like shots of the kids looking at the camera! Try not to spend much time doing this, though.

Often I have to stage this, but try to do it really quickly. You can vary your angles too like asking the little kids to look up at you as shown below.

Lastly, always remember to take a photo of just the parents without the kids! They always consider it a treat and will treasure their portrait together.

Conclusion

Within that five-step plan, I can usually capture a great variety of shots from one or two planned activities. Although they are planned, they look natural and have a fleeting-moment-feel to them. This laid-back process works really well with really young children.

The older the kids get, the more amenable to instructions they become. Older kids may also have their own ideas of how they want you to capture them, and which props or toys they want to be incorporated into their images. So be open to their ideas too.

I hope you find these tips helpful. Do you have tips to add? Do share them in the comments area below.

The post 5 Tips for Doing Lifestyle Photo Sessions with Families appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 17, 2018
Tips on How to Capture Affection in Your Photographs

All you need is love – and the know-how to capture affection in your photos.

One of the big challenges in portrait photography is capturing the elusive aspects of life: feelings, smells, and experiences. It’s difficult because a photograph is limited to two dimensions and a single point in time. It only captures what we can see, but we often want it to do more than that.

To make a good photograph, we want to be able to share a sensation or an experience. Fortunately for us, it’s not completely impossible.

One of the great things about humans is that we have a pretty amazing imagination. We can feel the texture of fur just by seeing a photo of it, we can almost smell the sea when we see an evocative picture of it. The challenge is to take a photograph that’s good enough to make the viewer feel what you want them to.

In this article, I want to share some tips that can help you capture one of those elusive things – affection. I hope you enjoy the ride!

What is affection?

If done right, affection is easier to explain with a picture than in writing – a picture is worth a thousand words and all that. Let me give it a try, though.

Affection is an expression of love and trust, a kind of comfortable tenderness, a warm and confident gaze that doesn’t need to be returned. It’s strength in selflessness and is a very private experience.

Like most other feelings, but perhaps even more so, affection is really hard to fake. It’s often found in the small gestures and mannerisms that have been built over time.

And that’s why it’s so challenging to capture, especially in people you don’t know well.

Why try to capture affection?

So you may be thinking, if it’s so difficult, why bother? What’s the point of struggling to capture something that exists in so many more dimensions than a photograph and that is such an intimate feeling?

First of all, the challenge is a good way to develop as a photographer and a human. It gives you the chance to try to capture something essential, positive, that which will one day be the greatest of memories.

Knowing how to photograph affection is a great way to offer family and friends, as well as customers, amazing images that show something real and beautiful.

How to capture affection

Capturing affection may be a bit difficult, but it’s definitely not impossible. If you’re a professional photographer, one of the challenges is that your models may not know you well enough to be comfortable around you.

Nervousness and discomfort don’t go well with displaying affection. Since you won’t have the time to get to know everyone you’re hired to photograph, you need to find other ways to inspire confidence in your models.

Even knowing someone well doesn’t mean that it’s easy to capture affection. Shyness or awkwardness may sometimes make it even harder to photograph the affection among your friends and family.

One way to get what you want is to catch a special moment without being noticed. This works well at a wedding shoot, a family gathering, or even when doing street photography. The important thing to think about here is consent and whether it’s a situation where it’s okay to take such a photograph.

Proper preparation

If you’ve been asked to photograph a couple, or a parent and a child, preparation is important. With just a little bit of effort put into creating a connection and making your models feel comfortable you can go a long way.

Sometimes moving to a place with fewer distractions might help. Other times being surrounded by others is the right thing. You have to read the situation and make the best of it.

Part of preparation is building trust. You can start way before the shoot by getting in touch with your customers and making them confident that you know what you’re doing.

Show them that you can be trusted to capture beautiful memories for them and that you’re there to support them in the quite unusual situation that a photo shoot presents.

And as always, practice makes perfect. You can learn to find and capture special moments by looking in places where you wouldn’t expect to find them. Photography is so much more than just pushing a button. It’s learning to see the world in a different way, learning to understand what you see, and learning to capture it.

Conclusion

How do you make sure you capture genuine feelings in your photos? Do you have any tips on how to capture affection or a photo that you’d like to share?

I’d love to get your suggestions and see your photos in the comments below!

The post Tips on How to Capture Affection in Your Photographs appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

July 17, 2018
Review of the Westcott Eyelighter for Headshots and Portraits

The portrait and headshot industry in photography is likely the craft’s most popular niche. As such, it isn’t a stretch to say that there is a multitude of headshot and portrait photographers in every state and country. So, you need to find a way to stand out from the herd. The Westcott Eyelighter is one such way to differentiate from the masses, a unique reflector unlike any other I’ve seen before.

What is the Westcott Eyelighter?

Much like the name implies, the Westcott Eyelighter is curved to mimic the shape of the human eye and illuminate the bottom part of the iris (something that many photographers tend to add in post-production). The eyes are the windows to the soul, and often the very first thing most viewers notice about an image. This highlight creates an eye-catching image (no pun intended).

As all working photographers understand, the more time you spend in front of a computer screen is less time out there shooting. So taking advantage of a tool that creates a commonly edited effect is grand. This product certainly diminishes the time spent at the computer.

What’s in the box?

The Westcott Eyelighter kit features the reflector itself and a carrying case, with additional accessories sold separately. The physical makeup of the Eyelighter includes a durable aluminum frame and a highly-reflective silver surface. Tension rods are utilized to pull this material taut, maximizing the light cast on the subject.

I was quite impressed by the durability and quality of the Eyelighter’s build, this is not an addition that will snap or break easily.

Assembly

Assembling the Westcott Eyelighter is not much of a task on paper, but can be a bit of a handful in practice. Myself, as a 5’ 5” 98lb female, did struggle to put the Eyelighter together with no help, but it is most certainly possible.

Westcott released a very helpful YouTube instructional video (see below) on how to properly assemble this reflector for those that don’t find the instruction manual helpful. The real difficulty comes from the tension rods as I found it requires quite a bit of strength to put together.

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Had there been a second pair of hands to help, the assembly would have been more of a breeze (so photographers that have studio assistants, there won’t be much concern there). On average, after practicing the assembly process several times, it finally took me 10-15 minutes to put together.

What’s included with the Westcott Eyelighter.

Transporting the Eyelighter and portability

The Eyelighter is a rather large piece of studio equipment and really is intended as a permanent addition to your studio. As I did not want to assemble and disassemble the kit every time, I wanted to test to see if I can transport the reflector in its fully assembled state.

From personal experience, I can attest that this product can fit into a car fully-assembled (minus the tripod). I drive an SUV, and I did not need to place the seats down to fit this reflector in horizontally across the backseat. Seats may need to be put down for smaller vehicles, but the height of the kit poses no issue fitting inside of a car.

The Eyelighter does come with a carry case and can be disassembled and assembled, but the assembly does take a bit of time. At least, for me it took a significant amount of time, so I would rather transport the reflector fully-assembled.

Using the Westcott Eyelighter

Using the Eyelighter is rather simple and doesn’t require any advanced studio knowledge. Like any reflector, the Eyelighter works by bouncing light off of its reflective panel.

The Eyelighter is already tilted upon attachment to a tripod (which must be purchased separately). As such, all you need to do is take a large softbox (I personally use an octagonal one for this but a square or rectangular softbox is just as valid), place it directly above the Eyelighter, and aim downwards.

It may take a bit of maneuvering and brief trial-and-error test to find the correct placement of the reflector underneath your subject, but the general consensus is that it belongs below the chest area of your model. This piece of equipment will not affect your additional lighting setup, which allows you the freedom to light the rest of the subject in any which way.

Unique catchlights

The Eyelighter reflects light toward your subject, leaving a catchlight that follows the natural curve of the eye. If the silver reflector is too bright or causes too stark of a reflection, Westcott has a white sheet available for purchase that will cover that whole panel and soften the effect.

My favorite aspect of this is how seamless the catch light is, there are no odd or unflattering gaps. As well as this, it really does soften the light on the neck and chin. Paired with your other studio lighting kits, this is a must-have for anyone looking to add something fantastic to their collection.

That being said, it is important to keep in mind that due to the necessary position to create the effect, this reflector really is for portrait and headshot use only – you won’t be able to catch a whole body image with this.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Westcott Eyelighter is a fun, eye-catching, and simple to use reflector that can really help you stand out from the competition.

With a retail price of $ 299, this isn’t the absolute most expensive item in your photographic arsenal but can make a huge difference to your portraits and headshots.

The post Review of the Westcott Eyelighter for Headshots and Portraits appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

July 16, 2018
5 Tips to Help You Do Better Nighttime Photography

Nighttime photography offers the opportunity to observe and photograph some great astronomical subjects including the moon (as a whole or during different phases), stars, the Milky Way and even celestial events such as the Northern Lights. If you are new to night photography or want to improve your shots, here are 5 tips to help you on your way:

1. Decide on a subject

Capturing beautiful images at night is not as easy as you might think and camera techniques and settings differ greatly to photographing during the day. Turning up to a location in darkness and hoping to shoot as you would in the daytime can lead to disappointment. You won’t be able to see much by nightfall and finding a scene to shoot will be extremely challenging.

Whether your dream night shoot is to photograph the stars, the moon, meteors or the Milky Way, for example, decide on a subject first and then where you would like to shoot it.

It may seem obvious, but if you want to photograph the moon, there are different phases of the moon to consider.

You also need to be aware of the changes in light that can occur with a full moon or a new moon. Photographing under a full moon will make the sky and landscapes brighter. This means that you won’t be able to photograph as many stars as you would with a new moon but you will see a beautifully lit landscape with fewer dark shadows.

Neither of the phases is more photogenic than the other, they simply offer different opportunities and variations in lighting. Research the moon’s phase and plan where you would like it to appear in your image by using an app like PhotoPills or The Photographer’s Ephemeris.

2. Choose your shooting location during the day

Exposing yourself to a location and its surroundings during the day will help you decide what you want to shoot later at night.

Find a location before dark to avoid the frustration of seeing blind at night and a likely lack of decent images from the shoot. Give yourself time to find your spot and come up with a composition during the day to help you capture better images by nightfall.

3. Include other elements

Once you have chosen a subject and found a decent location to shoot, your next task is to find a composition you like and that will work well combined with a beautiful night sky. Look for other interesting elements to add to your shots. Other subjects you can include with the moon and stars might include architecture, trees, the landscape or an interesting water source.

4. Use a tripod

To stabilize the camera and capture sharper images, always use a tripod. You will need to operate your camera in near darkness and allow for longer shutter speeds in order to record a brighter image than the blackness you will initially see with your naked eye.

A tripod will help you to get the best image quality and a sharper shot. If you don’t have a tripod with you, you could improvise by finding a spot to put the camera down such as on a wall or ledge to keep it from moving when taking the photo.

Any image blur and camera movement can ruin nighttime photography. Even if your hands are as steady as a surgeon’s in the operating theatre, you will move the camera slightly while pressing the shutter button. So in addition to using a tripod, a remote trigger to fire the camera is another good idea.

5. Raise the ISO

You will find that if you want to shoot striking photos after dusk, you may need to use slow shutter speeds (long exposures). In order to maintain the quality of a photo that you can capture during the day when using a low rating of say ISO 100-200, this is necessary.

Sometimes a long exposure may not suit the subject you are photographing so to help you shoot faster (in other words, use a faster shutter speed) during low light, you will need to increase the ISO setting to accommodate.

The advantages of increasing the ISO to 3200 or 6400 include more detail in the image and a brighter exposure with a shorter shutter speed. However, this comes at a price as the higher the ISO you choose, the more noise will be evident in your image, impacting the overall quality.

I would recommend going for a balance between a slightly slower shutter speed from 1 to 30 seconds and a medium ISO setting of around 1000 or 3200 to get the best image possible without compromising too much on quality. Note: This will depend on your subject though as star trails or the Milky Way may require it higher.

Conclusion

Once you have experimented with these tips you will soon discover that photographing in the dark can be just as enjoyable and easy as shooting during the day. So what’s stopping you from getting out there and capturing your best ever night shots?

Do you have any nighttime photography tips you would like to share?

The post 5 Tips to Help You Do Better Nighttime Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

July 15, 2018
Pros and Cons of Chimping – What is it and how it can hurt or help you?

Whether you are an amateur taking photos with your smartphone or a pro using a DSLR, if you make digital photographs, you do chimping. It doesn’t matter if you’ve heard the term or not it could be hurting your photographic practice so keep reading to learn about the pros and cons of chimping and how to use it (or stop using it) to your advantage.

What is chimping?

There’s no doubt that digital photography has many advantages. One of them is being able to see the result of your shot immediately instead of having to wait until you got your film developed. This practice is commonly known as chimping, since Bryan Peterson coined the term and it became popular.

However, it’s not all good. If used without much thought you may not be taking full advantage of it or even worse, it could be working against you.

So, chimping is simply the act of checking your images on your camera’s LCD screen. It doesn’t necessarily imply what you do after that. You may delete some photos, you may do some adjustments to your settings for the following shots or you may even stop taking any more photos because you’re satisfied with what you’ve got. That’s where it gets tricky.

Pros and Cons of Chimping

Pro #1

If you change the conditions dramatically and need to readjust your settings it’s very helpful to find out immediately if you got the shot right. Here is an example.

It was a bright sunny day so I was photographing outside with an ISO of 100, f-stop of f/5.6 and a shutter speed of 1/250th. When I walked inside a room it was obviously much darker. But because I was looking at the beauty of the walls and the play of the elements and design I just snapped a photo without thinking about the change of lighting. Needless to say, it came out extremely dark.

Fortunately, however, I did some chimping, realized the issue and adjusted the ISO to 400.

Con #1

Things look very different on your camera’s small screen as compared to the big screen of your computer. You might think the photo you just took is perfect but that’s not always the case. For example, this image looked good when I was chimping on the camera when I shot it, but once I downloaded it back home I realized the focus was not really sharp.

When zoomed in on the computer this image is clearly out of focus, but it looked sharp on the camera.

Pro #2

If you are looking for a really concrete shot or effect you can immediately know if you are achieving it or what you need to adjust in order to get it by chimping and reviewing the image on the camera.

For example, I wanted to capture the movement of these ice skaters. This is always a tricky effect because you need to set the right shutter speed so it doesn’t freeze the subject or leave just a smudge if it’s too slow. If you are interested in learning how to do this I invite you to check out my tutorial, “How to Have Fun with Shutter Speed and Added Motion Blur”.

You also need to move the camera (panning) at the same speed of the subject so this is an exercise where you need to try many times and definitely do some chimping.

Con #2

Another con of chimping is you can miss out on the perfect moment, that once-in-a-lifetime shot because you were looking at your screen instead of paying attention to the scene.

Here, for example, I wanted to capture the elephant throwing the dirt with its trunk. But I looked at my screen (and snapped) a second too late and all I got was the dirt cloud and the trunk almost all the way down.

Fortunately, elephants do this a lot, so I just had to wait a little bit longer (without taking my eyes off them this time) and got the photo.

Tips

If you have some time to review your photos and you’re sure you’re not going to be missing a once in a lifetime opportunity, then go ahead check, but do it well. Zoom into your image especially on any risky parts, like the shadows and highlights, to see they still have detail as well as your focus point to see that it’s sharp.

Use the Histogram

When you are chimping, check your image but don’t forget to review the histogram as well. It should have a good range from black to white with many grey tones (unless you purposely went towards one end of the spectrum).

Most DSLR cameras have this feature integrated. On mine (a Canon 70D), for example, you access the histogram by playing the image, then clicking on the info button and it gives you the histogram by color channel and the general histogram.

Even after reviewing your photos and deciding you have what you need, do some extra shots. For example, I went to photograph a temple so it was mostly about architecture photos. After walking around it and shooting every angle on the outside, I went inside and did some shooting there as well.

I figured I had all I needed to head back to the city. Fortunately, I never put away the camera when I’m out for a shoot, especially in a new place. So when I was walking down the stairs I found this little girl in a traditional costume just resting from all the tourist attention she was getting. Never close the door to possibilities!

Finally

One last thing, reviewing and deleting the photos you don’t want can save you space on your memory card but having the screen on consumes a lot of battery so make sure you keep a good balance. No use in having lots of battery life if you don’t have space for more photos and equally useless to have an empty card but no battery to shoot!

So chimping is not a good or bad thing in itself, it’s more about how you use it. Let us know in the comments what are your chimping habits and share some of your tips!

The post Pros and Cons of Chimping – What is it and how it can hurt or help you? appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

July 15, 2018
How to Make Color Adjustments Using Tone Curves in Lightroom
In this article, you’ll learn how to use tone curves in Lightroom to make color adjustments to your images and bring your visions to life.

Color and RAW format

If you photograph in RAW file format, you know that the images straight out of the camera are often a bit flat compared to photographing in JPEG format. Most RAW images require some sort of editing to make them look close to how you envision the scene when you took the shot.

Adjusting color in an image is a very powerful component in editing and can really make an image go from okay to wow when done correctly. Of course, it goes without saying that too much color and the image will appear unreal.

Lightroom color adjustment options

Whether you photograph in RAW or JPEG, Lightroom is one of the many editing software you can use to bring out the color in your images. Even within Lightroom, there are multiple ways to edit your image based on the look you want to create.

To understand how to edit the color, you need to first understand color in an image and how it is affected. One of the main things that impacts color in an image is the quality of the exposure. Apart from the exposure, there are other factors that can be adjusted to affect the color.
- White Balance (read Adjusting White Balance in Lightroom)
- Color Profile
- HSL Panel (read Understanding the HSL Panel in Lightroom for Beginners)
- Color Curves
- Split-toning (read How to Rescue an Image in Lightroom With Split Toning)
This image was straight out of the camera. You can see on the histogram that the image was slightly overexposed and the color temperature is that of a warm day.

You don’t need to adjust each and every one of these editing elements, but understanding how they work will help you figure out which one to use based on the desired outcome of your editing skills.

The same image edited to my specific style and brand aesthetics – light, bright and airy – with some Tone Curve adjustments to the red and green channels applied.

I want to focus on the Color Curves Panel for the purpose of this article. I recently stumbled upon this panel and once I understood all of its capabilities, it quickly became one of my favorites in terms of experimenting with different colors to get the look and feel I wanted for my images.

Now, I am not saying that you have to use only the color panel for your images. But it is simply one of the tools you can use to edit your images.

What are Color Curves?

Color Curves are located within the Tone Curve Panel in the Develop Module in Lightroom. The Tone Curve is one of Lightroom’s more powerful panels and it represents all the tones of your image.

The bottom of the Tone Curve is the Tone axis that represents the Shadows on the left and Highlights on the right. In the middle, you have mid-tones, which are then further split into darker mid-tones, called Darks, and brighter mid-tones, called Lights. The left axis represents the brightness or darkness of the specific tonal regions. The further up the left axis you go, the brighter the tones get.

Now within the Tone Curve, you can select RGB (all the colors) or you can select the curve for each specific color individually (Red, Green, and Blue).

When you adjust the RGB curve, you will find that your image starts to have a lot of depth. I typically adjust the RGB Curve first when I use Curves in my editing workflow.

Adjusting the Curves

To adjust the Tone Curve you can move the sliders or directly drag the line of the curve itself up or down to get the desired effect by changing the shape of the curve. To do this, you must first click the box in the lower right corner of the tone curve so that the sliders go away.

One of the most commonly used techniques for adjusting images is called an S-curve where the graph actually looks like the letter S. You can do this by dragging the lower third of the line down a bit and raising the upper third just slightly. The S-curve deepens the shadows and brightens the lighter portions (adding contrast), really helping the image pop.

Using Color Curves

The Color Curves in Lightroom can be used to fine-tune the color in specific regions of your image. For example, you can adjust the blues in your shadows or the greens in your mid-tones. You don’t have to adjust all three tone curves for every image.

When deciding what direction to adjust your Color Curve remember:
- Red is the opposite of cyan.
- Green is the opposite of magenta.
- Blue is the opposite of yellow.
Reducing any one of those colors using Color Curves, increases that color’s opposite.

One of the most common reasons for using Color Curves is when correcting skin tones in images with people. Yes, you can adjust the skin tones by adjusting the White Balance. But if you want to adjust it even further if you’re not quite getting you the look you want, you can use Color Curves.

An exaggerated example of using the Red tone curve to add a warm summer glow to an image and enhance the skin tones.

Applications

With Color Curves, you can adjust the color in a limited part of the tonal range versus the global adjustment (the whole image) you get with the temperature slider. For example, if your shadows are overly red you can reduce the red in the shadows through the Color Curve without impacting red globally.

Save your Color Curves as presets

Adjusting Color Curves can take a lot of time. So when you find a Color Curve combination that really works for you, you can save it as a preset. You can then use this as a starting point for your images and fine-tune the curve as each individual image necessitates.

To do this, click on the “+” button at the top of your Presets Panel on the left side of Lightroom. When the preset box pops up, just make sure you only check “Tone Curve” so that when you use this on other images, your preset is adjusting only the Tone Curve.

Not many people use the Tone Curve as an essential part of every edit. Most people just stick to the basics panel and make global edits to the image and call it done. I use the color panel when I want to elevate my image and/or when the basic adjustments are really not giving me the look I want for my image.

Another way to get acclimated to the tone curve is to study the tone curve adjustments for presets you already own and use. This gives you more insight into how to use the tone curve for subtle and specific changes.

Conclusion

There is no right or wrong way to edit color in an image. Each photo shoot has its own unique feel, and accordingly, will have its own unique color edit as well. There are multiple ways to achieve similar editing results in Lightroom. But what is most important is that you understand all the tools available to you within Lightroom so that you can take full creative control over the direction of your edits.

How do you use Color Curves? Please share in the comments below.

The post How to Make Color Adjustments Using Tone Curves in Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 14, 2018
Weekly Photography Challenge: Super-Wide
It’s time to dig out your widest lens. If you don’t have a super wide-angle maybe you can rent or borrow one from a friend or go out shooting with a group and share one. Or buy one for your mobile phone even! Think outside the box about how you can shoot super-wide.

Canon 5D Classic, ISO 100, 15mm fisheye lens, f/22, 1/8th second.

Need some tips or ideas – here are some for you:
- Tips for Using Your Wide-Angle Lens Better
- 7 Ways to Get More Out of a Wide-angle Lens
- How to Create Compelling Wide-Angle Portraits Using One Off-Camera Flash
- How to Use a Wide-angle Lens with Wildlife for a New Perspective
- 10 Tips for Photographing Wide-Angle Landscapes
Weekly Photography Challenge – Super-Wide

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: Super-Wide appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 14, 2018
Are You Using Your Camera Wrong? 7 Errors You Need to Avoid
Are you making these 7 mistakes with your camera? Let’s find out.

7 Ways You’re Using Your Camera Wrong

Here’s a recap and links to some dPS articles to help you avoid making these mistakes with your camera.
1. Holding your camera the wrong way – Cheat Sheet: How to Hold a Camera
2. Not cleaning your lens – Step by Step How to Clean Camera Gear so it Stays in Good Shape
3. Not having enough batteries or memory cards – Packing your Bags for a Photo Shoot and How to Select the Right Camera Memory Card
4. Not adjusting your focus point – Understanding the Focus and Recompose Technique and Getting Sharper Images – an Understanding of Focus Modes
5. Shooting in full Automatic or the wrong mode – Getting off Auto – Manual, Aperture, and Shutter Priority modes explained
6. Don’t use Auto White Balance – How Auto White Balance Can Hinder Your Photography
7. Not shooting in RAW – Tips for Choosing Between RAW Versus JPEG File Format and Is Shooting RAW+JPEG the Best of Both Worlds? and finally, RAW Versus JPG – Why You Might Want to Shoot in RAW Format
Are you guilty of making any of those camera errors?

Can you think of any other common camera mistakes that beginners need to avoid? If so, please join in the discussion and post them in the comments area below.

The post Are You Using Your Camera Wrong? 7 Errors You Need to Avoid appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 13, 2018
4 Tips to Help You Overcome the Fear of Photographing People

Are you someone who shies away from photographing people?

I this article, I want to share with you some of my journey and four tips to help you become more confident photographing people. I went from being fearful of photographing people to absolutely loving it.

She’s holding the same camera and lens I used to take the next photo in this article.

The fear is real

Many photographers who join our workshops tell us they find it a real challenge to photograph people. Whether it’s people they know or complete strangers, so many people struggle to photograph others. I think this my be one reason selfies have become so popular.

When I bought my first camera I was 19 years old and very shy. I had a small group of friends and a few places I enjoyed socializing. But beyond that, I preferred not to interact with others. I loved taking photos – landscapes, flowers, still life, but not people. I could not bring myself to do it.

My sister encouraged me. She said she loved my photos, but they would be better if there were people in them. So I started photographing her.

One of my favorite photographs of my sister when we were on a camping trip in 1986. Shot with the Nikkormat camera above.

Build your courage and confidence

She was a reluctant subject, which gave me more of a challenge. We used to hang out a lot together with a few other friends, and I started photographing them as well. Slowly my confidence built.

Sometimes I would sneak candid photos of strangers. I had bought a zoom lens which made this easier. Being separated by the distance the long lens gave me, I was not as uncomfortable.

After a while I packed my camera and bag and headed off. When I traveled overseas I found it easier. Somehow being a tourist changed things. I became more confident. Even so, there were many people I connected with along the way that I did not photograph and now regret that I was not bold enough.

The story continues

I returned to New Zealand after only six months. My sister had died suddenly so I went back. Thankfully, I have a number of lovely portraits of her.

Not long after I landed a job at a daily newspaper in the Illustrations Department. No, I wasn’t doing drawings, this was where the editorial photographers worked. The task of an editorial photographer is to illustrate the story. Hence the department name.

There I learned many things very quickly. The most challenging thing I learned was that most photos published in newspaper stories include at least one person in the image. If I was going to make the most of this lucky break I needed to overcome my fear, quickly. I knew I would not keep my job long if I returned from an assignment with no photos of people and an excuse that I was too shy.

It has not been easy and it has taken a long time to really be confident photographing people, most of the time. But not all the time. Sometimes I can’t do it, as I am still essentially a shy person.

4 Tips for Overcoming the Fear of Photographing People

1. Find someone who will let you photograph them.

This might be a spouse or sibling, or maybe a good friend. If you can find someone who enjoys being photographed then you have already overcome the biggest hurdle.

Photograph them whenever you can. Build a photographer/model relationship. Be aware of times you and your model have the most fun and replicate the circumstances again in future.

If things work out well, invite some other people to join you. Sharing your photos with them and asking them to post to their social media accounts will help boost your confidence.

2. Join a club or group and volunteer to be their photographer.

Maybe you are already a member of an organization you could offer your services to. You might be the official photographer for your church picnic. Or perhaps you could start making a series of portraits of gardeners in their element for the local gardening club.

Think of other ways you can offer your services which will give you a valid reason to take people’s photographs. I found this a great confidence boost when I started at the newspaper.

3. Offer to cover events for your local newspaper or community website.

Put yourself on the spot. Commit yourself to a task. Make a reason that you have to come up with pictures. You can’t offer to cover an event and then only supply photos with no people in them.

4. Practice being bold enough without appearing to be rude or pushy.

Practice this without being self-effacing. Having your camera in your hand will help.

People will respond to you very differently if you display confidence when you ask them to take their photo. If you come across apprehensive they may doubt your ability as a photographer and respond with reluctance.

So much of creating a good portrait is in how you present yourself. If your subject is comfortable when they are being photographed you will get better pictures of them. They are also more likely to appreciate the portrait you have made.

Start Today

If you have been wanting to start photographing people and have not – today is the day to start. You never know how much you might truly bless someone by taking their photo.

Here’s a video story of how I was able to share a special portrait I had initially been reluctant to make.

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The post 4 Tips to Help You Overcome the Fear of Photographing People appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

July 13, 2018