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Tips for Dodging and Burning with Lightroom

21 Sep

In this video from Johny Spencer, learn how to use the local adjustment tools inside Lightroom to do dodging and burning. The idea behind this technique is about highlighting certain areas of your image and really make them pop.

You don’t have to be a Lightroom or processing master to d so this. Just follow along and watch the video below:

Did you learn some good tips? Did the video make you want to go to the beach? I did for me! Well now is the time to put your new skills to use and try it out on some of your images.

Need more Lightroom help? Try these dPS articles:

10 Lightroom Tricks That Will Make Your Life Easier
Lightroom Local Adjustments – Radial Filter Versus the Adjustment Brush
Unlocking the Power of the Basic Panel in Lightroom
The dPS Ultimate Guide to Getting Started in Lightroom for Beginners
5 Lightroom Tips and Tricks for Beginners
How to Make Custom Camera Raw Profiles for Lightroom & Photoshop

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Tips for Preparing for a Portrait Session

21 Sep

A portrait session can be a nerve-racking event. There’s so much to remember and prepare before the actual press of the shutter button. It takes a lot of prep work. People don’t always realize what goes into being ready.

Even if you’re an amateur taking pics of your family and friends, there are some important steps to take if you want to capture some really beautiful images. Here are some tips to help you out.

Tips for Preparing for a Portrait Session - girl jumping into the water

In some cases, planning for a shoot is really simple. In this case, we took the kids to the beach at sunset to shoot some pics we could share on social media.

Logistics and Planning

This is the part where you discuss the portrait session with your friends or clients. You need to pick a date, location, and a time. You should also discuss backup dates in case the original plan doesn’t work.

If you’re shooting professionally, you need to get the contract signed, collect a deposit and ensure that clients know under which circumstances their deposit (retainer) is refundable.

Image Sharing

If you are taking family pics at a reunion and you intend to share these photos with everyone, consider setting up an online photo album you can send to everyone. It’s much easier to share the pics this way.

Make sure you have everyone’s email so that they can all download the images afterward. It’s a huge pain to email people separately. You’re taking the pictures to stay in control and don’t overwork yourself sending them to everyone. They can take some of the responsibility.

If there are older family members, consider printing out a set of instructions they can use for accessing and downloading the images. I’ve run into that issue before and found myself driving an hour to click download on someone’s computer.

kids running in the water - Tips for Preparing for a Portrait Session

Another from the sunset shoot of informal family pics.

The Style and Portrait Session Design

It’s also a good idea to discuss the type of look and feel you want to create in the portrait session. If you’re working professionally, this is really important. Make sure you and the clients are on the same page.

Do they want relaxed, candid images or do they prefer something more formal? Clothing can affect the look of a photo shoot so be sure to discuss attire. If you’re snapping pics at a family event, you probably won’t have much control over the look of the images unless you plan and get everyone on board.

I’ve seen families choose themes like “Old West” for a fun afternoon of photos. At some reunions, I’ve seen groups create a t-shirt they all wear to commemorate the pics.

A friend of mine set up a photo booth at a Christmas party. Everyone was asked to bring one piece of “bling” for their photo. When paired with the props and the background she created, it was a ton of fun.

portrait of a boy by a tree - Tips for Preparing for a Portrait Session

In this case, I was working with a family. Prior to the shoot, I visited the home and we discussed possible locations.

Location Matters

The chosen location can also affect the look and feel of a shoot. Consider a big comfy couch in a brightly lit room versus wooden dining room chairs on a studio backdrop. The background can considerably change the feel of an image so plan carefully.

Props

Collect some props for the portrait session. If you’re working with really young people like toddlers, it is really helpful to have things to distract the kids. Teenagers love goofy items they can hold and use for posing.

If you’re working with your own kids, it can be a huge battle to get them to cooperate. I find other people’s kids far more flexible, but if I want to photograph my kids, it’s a huge ordeal.

So think about styling the shoot in such a way that your little ones will cooperate. This might mean including their favorite toy is in the image. That’s okay! Go with it because it’s far better to get a positive, happy image than a forced angry looking smile.

Tips for Preparing for a Portrait Session - 3 ladies smiling and laughing

This was another paid session. The family had gathered for a 50th-anniversary celebration. They were dressed semi-formal for the occasion.

Be Informed and Plan Ahead

Make sure you do your research. Know the area in which you are going to be shooting. It’s helpful to visit the site before the shoot so you can be familiar with all the little nooks and crannies.

Plan your route to the photo shoot if you can’t visit before the big day. Download offline instructions to your phone in case you lose your connection. It’s happened to me once that I lost the signal and drove around for ages before I could find the location.

Get Permits if Needed

Double check to be sure you don’t need a permit for shooting at a specific location. Some places require you to buy a permit. So don’t get caught without one.

I know of a family that planned to do photos in the Distillery District here in Toronto only to learn they could not photograph each other when they were halfway through the shoot. I’ve also seen a family get in a lot of trouble for trespassing on private land. All they wanted to do was take a family pic for their Facebook profiles.

So double check that you can visit and use the site you want for the session. If you’re shooting professionally, permits and property releases are a must so be sure to take care of the entire nitty gritty well before the day of the shoot.

Backup Plans are Essential

Have a Plan B. Always! Have an alternative plan at the ready. You never know what may go wrong. Have a family member bring an extra camera (or rent or borrow one) in case yours breaks. Choose an alternate site if the first won’t work.

Just be prepared. The reality is that when things go wrong, they usually go horribly wrong. So try to plan for every possible road bump in advance.

girls in the snow doing a selfie - Tips for Preparing for a Portraits Session

This shoot was planned for months. Friends were happy to join me for a day of photographs in the winter.

Day of the Portrait Session

Always make a checklist of items that you can use to help you pack up and be ready for the photoshoot. It’s really frustrating to leave equipment at home.

Arrive early! This should go without saying. You don’t want to make people wait.

Check the weather forecast and make sure you can contact people in case of emergencies. Get contact numbers from folks.

Be prepared to have fun! Just before everyone arrives or your clients show up at the studio make sure you’ve relaxed a little. I know some photographers who take 5 minutes to have a coffee before shooting. Others will sit and meditate for a few minutes beforehand.

Whatever works for you, just make sure you are confident and enthusiastic before you begin shooting. Your nerves will affect the quality of your work so don’t let them control you.

Conclusion

Photography is so much more than picking up a camera. To take memorable images, you need to put in some effort and plan out the event. So think carefully about the shoot and make sure you have everything ready.

If you are prepared and relaxed you will enjoy the event more, and so will those you are photographing!

girl blowing snow off her hand - Tips for Preparing for a Portraits Session

We wanted to create some of those images where you make snow dust. Of course, there was just too much white space around our chosen location. So sometimes your plans won’t work.

Tips for Preparing for a Portraits Session

We tried a lot of different locations.

Eventually, we chose to shoot portraits that were much different from our initial plans.

Finally, make sure you share with us some of the ways you prepare for a photography session. Let’s get a good base of tips together we can use to our benefit.

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A Guide to Using Natural Light for Macro Photography

21 Sep

Working with natural light can seem daunting. Yet as a macro photographer, I love natural light. I’ve spent years studying it, playing with it, observing it, and watching it fall.

I use it in all of my photographs. In fact, the last time I picked up a flash was over five years ago.

natural light macro rose abstract

But how do you take advantage of natural light? Are there some simple principles that can be learned and quickly applied, so that you can take stunning macro photographs in no time?

Actually, yes!

In this short tutorial, you’ll learn all about natural light for macro photography. I’ll explain the types of natural light that I like, the types that I avoid, and how you can best use natural light in your own photographs.

When you’re finished reading, you’ll have the know how to use natural light like a pro!

natural light macro birch leaf in clover

Five Types of Natural Light in Macro Photography

There are five types of natural light that all macro photographers should know:

Sunny light
Cloudy light
Evening frontlight
Evening backlight
And evening shade

Let’s discuss each in turn.

natural light macro poppy

Sunny Light

By sunny light, I am referring to the light that you find at noon on a clear day.

It’s very bright, very strong, and really contrasty. So, let me just get this out of the way and state it simply.

Do NOT use sunny light for macro photography!

I couldn’t bring myself to take a photograph in direct sunlight. I just dislike it too much! So I photographed this clematis in the evening.

I know that it’s very tempting. After all, bright sunlight is very powerful, and everyone loves to get out on sunny days.

The problem, however, is that direct sunlight is extremely tough for cameras to deal with, resulting in blown out (that is, totally white) highlights and underexposed (very dark) lowlights. It also creates shadows that are unpleasant to look at.

Now, there are some genres of photography that make use of a sunny type of light. Street photography, for instance, relies heavily on the gritty, contrast-heavy look that sunny light provides.

natural light macro aster

Macro photography, however, requires softer light such as the next type of light.

Cloudy Light

Cloudy light is pretty self-explanatory. This is the kind of light when there are clouds, at any time of the day.

natural light macro fall leaves

What does this mean for your photography?

Clouds diffuse the light, causing it to become pleasant and soft. This is an ideal type of light for bringing out colors in your subject. I work a lot with flowers, and I go crazy over cloudy light.

There’s nothing better than a nice cloudy day for flower photography.

I photographed this flower under cloudy skies.

Therefore, if you enjoy doing flower-focused macro photography, cloudy light is for you. Shooting in cloudy light will ensure evenly illuminated subjects, lovely colors, and really pleasing images.

Yet sometimes you might want to create images which are slightly less soft. You might want to work with more striking light, which brings us to . . .

Evening Frontlight

Evening frontlight is found during the golden hours of photography. The golden hours are the first two hours after sunrise, and the final two hours before sunset.

During this time, the sun casts a beautiful golden glow over the world. If you venture outside, and you make sure that the sun is behind you (point your shadow at your subjects), you’ll find that you’re looking at a beautiful landscape.

natural light macro red flower

Is this type of light good for macro photography?

In a word, yes. Such natural light tends to look lovely and soft when rendered by a camera.

I must admit, however, that I am not the biggest fan of evening frontlight. I find that it’s a bit too bright. I also prefer more dramatic lighting. Which brings me to my favorite type of light.

Evening Backlight

Evening backlight is extremely similar to evening frontlight. Except, rather than having the sun behind you, you have it directly in front of you.

I love evening backlight for macro photography. I’m drawn to its dramatic presence and warmth. I suggest that you try it, yourself.

I photographed this aster in evening backlight.

To use evening backlight, you simply point your camera into the light. I recommend placing the subject between yourself and the setting sun so that the sun is obscured by the subject. Or put the actual sun slightly outside the image, so that it can be felt rather than seen.

Of course, these images aren’t for everyone. But I personally find them to be stunning!

natural light macro backlight

Yet if you’re looking for something a little less punchy, I do have one final recommendation.

Evening Shade

Evening shade is pretty self-explanatory, as well. Your subject is shaded by some object (a tree, a building, the photographer) in the evening.

What makes evening shade natural light so special? I like the evening shade for one specific reason.

If you can shade your subject while using an unshaded background, your images will really pop. The background will be rendered as liquid gold, while your subject is lit fairly evenly.

I photographed this daisy in some evening shade. The background was lit by the setting sun.

Don’t believe me? Try it!

Conclusion

Natural light may seem difficult to work with, but I hope that after reading these tips, you are feeling far more confident in your abilities.

natural light macro dahlia

Simply remember to avoid sunny light, and you’re halfway there. Use cloudy light if you want soft, evenly illuminated subjects and beautiful colors. Use evening light if you want a bit more drama.

Which type of natural light do you prefer? Share your opinions and images in the comments below.

natural light macro leaves

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Back to School Canvas Photo Print Giveaway (16? x 20? Canvas Print)

20 Sep

Dear readers, Welcome to this months Giveaway. For this one, we have partnered with Canvasonthecheap.com. We have personally used them in the past and liked the quality of their product. And now for the Giveaway details: One lucky winner will receive a 16″ by 20″ canvas print of their chosen photograph. Here is all you need to do: Like Photodoto on Continue Reading

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7 Tips to Make Travel Photography Interesting Again

20 Sep

It’s difficult to define travel photography these days. I see the same photos on Instagram all the time. Overly processed landscapes and sunset shots, the same pictures of a famous landmark over and over again and thousands of posed selfies on a beach swing. Most of these photos are considered to be travel photography but for me that’s not what it’s about.

How to Make Travel Photography Interesting Again - camel safari

A camel safari in Jaisalmer, India.

Travel photography is about showing a country and its culture, people, and natural wonders. For me, travel photography is National Geographic and Steve McCurry and not the photos intended to lure people to a destination. These photos are often fake and don’t represent the real thing.

Good travel photography, I believe, needs a hint of photojournalism to be honest and real. Here’s my advice and tips to make your travel photography more interesting and stand out from all the rest.

1. Include tourists

Traveling has never been easier and cheaper so it’s hard to avoid bus loads of tourists, especially around landmarks and famous attractions. So why not include them in your shots?

I know an empty Taj Mahal or beach looks amazing, but let’s face it, it’s just not reality anymore and including tourists is a creative way can make your photos more interesting. You can try to create a sense of place or size by adding a person in a photo of a landmark. It will change how your audience looks at the picture dramatically because suddenly they can, for example, feel the real size of a structure compared to that person in the photo.

Include tourists - How to Make Travel Photography Interesting Again

Mount Ijen in Indonesia. The tourists that look like ants on the ridge give the viewer a sense of how majestic this place is in person.

people in a pond by waterfall - How to Make Travel Photography Interesting Again

Kuang Si Waterfalls. The tourists make the place feel real and touchable.

You can also look for interesting or funny scenes. Tourists can act strange or do remarkable things so adding them in the frame together with the subject you want to show creates an extra storyline in your travel photography. Tourists also make interesting subjects by themselves. I always love to observe groups visiting famous landmarks.

Tourists taking a photo at Batu Caves Malaysia.

tourists on a boat in India - 7 Tips to Make Travel Photography Interesting Again

2. Do portraits of real people and get their story

There are lots of portraits around of locals working in tourist destinations dressed in traditional clothing but we’ve all seen those before. Why not try to take a portrait of a real local. Someone who’s working or that you meet on the street.

Do you go to a bar every night and talk to the same guy who serves you a beer? Why not take his portrait and ask about his life. Most people love it if you’re interested in their life and including a story to a photo adds a lot of value.

Portrait of a guy - 7 Tips to Make Travel Photography Interesting Again

I met Lek on a beach in Koh Lanta. He owns a beach bar where I went every night for a drink. He told me about his life and his plans for the future.

Always try to approach people and ask to create their portrait. You can only make a good portrait when there’s some kind of interaction with your subject. Don’t shoot a portrait from far away with a big zoom lens. It shows.

Portrait Indian man - 7 Tips to Make Travel Photography Interesting Again

A guide we hired in Jaisalmer, India.

3. Point your camera in the opposite direction

Famous landmarks and natural wonders make great travel photography but what’s on the other side? People often take the same obvious pictures or try to find a new angle at best. But it’s also really interesting to see what’s on the other side of where everyone’s pointing their camera.

Is there a similar view close by or is there a nice contrast you can shoot? Shooting with a different point of view is great when you want to try and make a photo story or series about a place. Don’t just get different angles of the same location or building. Get a sense of the surroundings too.

volcano at sunset - 7 Tips to Make Travel Photography Interesting Again

The obvious view.

town opposite the volcano - 7 Tips to Make Travel Photography Interesting Again An equally interesting view of the town where I stayed on the other side.

4. Make an effort, don’t fix it in post-processing

This is a real issue with photography, in general, these days when it’s so easy to digitally enhance your pictures. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do some post-processing but out there are tons of pictures where people have replaced skies, taken out objects or added sunlight.

This has nothing to do with travel photography because then you’re just showing something that’s not real. Remember the “hint of photojournalism”? Why would you show something that wasn’t there?

Berastagi in Sumatra - 7 Tips to Make Travel Photography Interesting Again

I wanted to show the beautiful colors of the town of Berastagi in Sumatra. I went to the same spot three evenings in a row to capture the perfect light.

Always try to make an effort to get the best shot possible. If you weren’t able to get the shot you had in mind, try again the next day or even a few hours later. Weather and light change fast sometimes and that can work to your advantage.

It’s so much more rewarding when you finally get a great photo of what you actually saw.

5. Go to lesser-known areas or destinations

Especially when you want to shoot portraits, it’s a good idea to get far away from popular tourist areas. The locals will be much nicer to interact with and you’ll more likely be able to ask for a portrait without being asked for money.

Another advantage is that you can discover new and interesting locations that may have never been photographed before. A small temple in a back alley where the locals go to pray or the favorite fishing spot of a local community. Those are the pictures that will stand out and make an interesting story afterward.

many with bags of cotton candy - 7 Tips to Make Travel Photography Interesting Again

I accidentally came across Marina Beach in Chennai, India. There were no other tourists anywhere and it was the perfect place to approach locals and shoot portraits.

6. Street photography is travel photography and vice versa

I don’t like keeping these two genres of photography in different categories because when you’re traveling, you will most likely walk the streets – a lot! The street is where you can find the essence and soul of a country. The real locals with their real jobs and daily life going on around every corner.

I love to explore the streets of cities and towns to find interesting scenes and good stories. A lot of times when I visit a destination I don’t go to the popular locations at all and I try to stay in the quieter neighborhoods where I can see how the locals live.

The best travel photography is shot right on the streets, far away from any tourist destinations. You just have to look for it. Travel photography needs street photography and vice versa.

woman grilling fish on the street - https://digital-photography-school.com/top-street-travel-photography-tips-2017/

Grilling fish on the streets of Hat Yai, Thailand.

family on a motorcycle

7. Don’t be afraid of the dark

I’m not talking about shooting a building using a tripod. Cameras are so good these days that you can easily kick up the ISO to 3200 or even 6400 and shoot handheld. Yes, there will be more noise but I think people are too scared of it.

Good photos will still be good with a reasonable amount of noise. When you go out at night, just leave your tripod behind for once and try to shoot handheld. You’ll get a different and often surprising result. I’ve shot some of my best photos at night, handheld.

Don’t worry if the resulting frame is not tack sharp. This doesn’t make a good photo look bad all of a sudden.

Dark evening scene - 7 Tips to Make Travel Photography Interesting Again

A night scene I encountered while walking around in the streets of Hat Yai, Thailand.

Dark scene - 7 Tips to Make Travel Photography Interesting Again

Conclusion

I hope you found these tips helpful. If you apply them and practice, you can make your travel photography more interesting than the average images. Please share your comments, questions, and images in the section below.

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7 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

20 Sep

Creating attention-grabbing wildlife photography that makes a lasting impression is a difficult and demanding challenge. Typically you’re battling a number of uncontrollable and unpredictable elements, not least your subject’s behaviour, the weather, the environment and lighting.

7 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

But, when it all comes together it’s truly magical! To ensure you maximize every opportunity and extract the most out of your wildlife encounters, there are a number of approaches that you can adopt to help you get ahead.

Here are seven tips to help you take your wildlife photography to the next level.

1 – Know Your Camera

Wildlife’s special moments are often fleeting. Subsequently your camera needs to become an extension of you. Learning to adjust the focus point, shutter speed, aperture and other settings while continuing to look through the viewfinder, for instance, should become second nature. Leaving you to concentrate on being creative with what’s happening in front of you.

Tips for Improving your Wildlife Photography

If you’re not familiar with the ins and outs of your camera, then you may not be exploiting its full potential and therefore limiting yourself. Take some time out to learn as much as you can about your camera’s features and practice, practice, practice.

If reading the user manual is too much like hard work or you’re a visual learner, search for related video resources online.

2 – Shoot at Eye Level

One of the best ways to ensure your audience is able to feel connected with wildlife through your images is to shoot at eye level with your subject. That often means getting low.

Looking down on your subject can feel unnatural and controlling. Shooting at eye level allows you to create images that are much more intimate, and because the viewer is seeing what they expect to see, there is a real sense of familiarity.

7 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

From a technical perspective, there are also a number of advantages to adopting this approach.

For instance, by positioning yourself, and more importantly your camera, on a parallel focal plane to your subjects’ eyes you will increase the likelihood of your camera’s sensor picking up, and locking focus on, the sharpest part of the image. This is partly dependent on the depth of field of course.

7 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

Another benefit of interacting with wildlife at their level is the ability to separate your subject from what’s behind the animal to achieve wonderful, unobtrusive backdrops.

So, be prepared to get down, get wet, and get dirty in order to get the best shots!

3 – Keep Backgrounds Simple

Imagine the scene. Your subject is sitting pretty; you’re at eye level and just about to capture the moment. What you haven’t noticed is a tree protruding out of your subject’s head!

The adrenaline rush is part and parcel of wildlife photography and we’ve all been there. We’ve all been caught up in the moment, but it’s important to remember to take a deep breath and look at the bigger picture. Literally!

7 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

It only takes a moment to run your eye around the edge of the frame to spot unwanted distractions in the scene and then take the appropriate action. Shifting your position by moving to the left, right, up or down, often only as little as a couple of inches may be all that’s required to craft a more pleasant scene.

7 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

4 – Know Your Subject

Research as much as you can about the animals that you’re going to photograph. It really does pay to be able to envisage what your subject is likely to do in given situations.

7 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

Animals are habitual and most lead relatively straightforward lives with uncomplicated daily routines. Once you’ve tapped into the characteristics of a particular subject such as its preferred habitat, how and when it feeds, mating displays and so on, the more likely you will be able to predict what’s going to happen next and be ready to capture it.

7 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

By becoming intimately acquainted with your subject species will result in distinctive, evocative images.

7 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

5 – Be Prepared

Some of the most iconic wildlife photography images have been captured by photographers who were able to make the most of spur-of-the-moment opportunities. By ensuring they had already dialled-in some baseline camera settings before heading out into the field, they were ready when the action occurred.

7 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

Nature’s flashes of magic are short-lived and second chances are rare. So checking the available light and firing off a couple of test shots before setting out, will ensure that you’ll be ready at a moment’s notice. As well, this will safeguard you against mistakenly using previously loaded settings from the day before.

7 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

Even the slowest animals can react suddenly. So try and set your shutter speed as high as possible given the available light and your ISO setting.

6 – Break the Rules

Understanding the fundamental rules of wildlife photography with regards to lighting, camera settings, and composition is essential. Regardless of camera brand, manual or aperture priority, back button focusing versus front, you have to do what works for you.

It’s okay to play it safe. But then again your camera is a tool, and like an artist’s brush, it’s what you do with it that will set you apart from your peers. Try experimenting with side lighting, backlighting (or rim lighting), test different viewpoints, close-up versus wide angle, look for patterns, trial alternative lenses, and settings.

Stretch yourself and you’ll grow as a wildlife photographer.

7 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

7 – Take Care

Finally, never forget that for us [photographers] it’s just about obtaining an image. But for wild animals, every day is a fight just to survive. No photograph is ever worth more than your subject’s welfare.

Share your wildlife tips and images in the comment area below. If you have any questions, please ask.

7 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

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Five Reasons Why I Finally Bit the Bullet Switched to Adobe Creative Cloud

19 Sep

When Adobe announced that they were transitioning their apps to a subscription model of the Adobe Creative Cloud in 2013, I almost fell out of my chair while clutching the cardboard box for my copy of Lightroom 4. It seemed absolutely crazy to me that Adobe would ask photographers and other creative professionals to spend money every month subscribing for software that they could simply buy once and use forever.

In the years that followed I resisted moving to Creative Cloud and continued to buy new versions of Lightroom one by one until a few months ago when I finally bit the bullet and subscribed. I was one of Adobe’s harshest critics in those intervening years and staunchly refused to buy into Creative Cloud for several reasons until I realized five important things that finally got me to switch over.

Much of my hesitation to switch was due to the fact that I didn’t really understand the service Adobe was offering with their Creative Cloud Photography plan. That’s the one that lets you have Lightroom and Photoshop for $ 10/month.

What I failed to recognize was that Lightroom and Photoshop are just the tips of the iceberg, and there’s a whole slew of additional Adobe services that users have access to with a CC subscription. None of these by themselves are worth the price but when you examine all the ancillary benefits you get alongside great software it makes the idea of renting the software I used to own a lot more palatable.

Syncing between Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC

When you subscribe to the Photography plan you get two versions of Lightroom, each with unique features and benefits designed to cater to specific types of photography workflows.

Lightroom Classic CC is the name of the traditional desktop app that has been around since 2007, now available only through a Creative Cloud subscription. This is for desktop-centric workflows where all your photos reside on a single computer.

Lightroom CC is a new different version of Lightroom designed for a cloud-centric workflow where all your photos reside in the cloud and can be edited anywhere – in a browser, on a tablet, on a phone, or even using Lightroom CC on a desktop computer.

What you might not realize is that you can use both of these programs together, with the key difference being the location where your original pictures actually reside. If you are accustomed to a traditional desktop-centric workflow you can use Lightroom Classic CC to sync specific albums in the Cloud.

This basically uploads low-resolution preview files of your photos to your Creative Cloud account. These previews, then, can be edited anywhere using Lightroom CC and the next time you load Lightroom Classic CC on your desktop all your edits are automatically synced to your original photos and catalog file.

photo editing in Lightroom CC - Five Reasons Why I Switched to Adobe Creative Cloud

I started editing this photo on my computer in Lightroom Classic CC. Then I pulled it up in my browser and made additional changes which were synced back to my desktop.

The key difference between both types of workflows is that when using albums published to the cloud from Lightroom Classic CC, your originals remain on your desktop which means you can’t export high-resolution images from Lightroom CC. However, for photographers who want to edit their pictures on the go and then return to their desktop for any final tweaking and exporting, this is an outstanding solution and one that could make the difference to those on the fence about subscribing.

One final note about this: The $ 9.99 Photography Plan includes 20GB of cloud storage, but the albums that you publish to the cloud from Lightroom Classic do not count against that 20GB. This is because they use low-resolution previews instead of your actual images which is fine for flagging, cropping, keywording, color correcting, and most of the other adjustments you would want to make on a mobile device.

family photo in Lightroom - Five Reasons Why I Switched to Adobe Creative Cloud

Having access to my photos on mobile has sped up my culling process enormously. It’s much faster for me to flag, reject, and rate photos on my iPad and the results are synced right back to my iMac in Lightroom Classic CC.

Photoshop is Included

I’ll be the first to admit that even though I call myself a photographer I rarely use Adobe Photoshop and instead do most of my post-processing in Lightroom. I do, however, have an old copy of Photoshop CS5 that I bought about eight years ago which I use when I really need to do some heavy processing.

But it’s slow, lacks a lot of modern features, and has an interface and layout that is confusing, to say the least. It also crashes on me a lot which doesn’t exactly help matters whenever I do need to use it.

Despite these issues, the fact that Photoshop is included did not do much to initially sway my barometer when it came to shelling out $ 9.99 each month for the Creative Cloud Photography plan. I forced myself to get by with what I had even though it was not really suiting my needs anymore.

But the more I thought about subscribing to Creative Cloud the more I realized how nice it would be to have the full version of Photoshop ready when I needed it.

No need to think about buying, upgrading, or figuring out whether the version I had would really be current with the latest online tutorials. It just started to make sense for a small-time photographer like me to pay what really is a modest monthly fee to have the latest and greatest tools at my disposal for when I needed them.

Since I don’t use Photoshop all that often it would not be worth the price of a Creative Cloud plan by itself, but combined with everything else it sure did make a lot of sense.

Share albums publicly

I take a lot of photos of family, friends, and events just for personal use and like most people, I enjoy sharing these images with others. Until subscribing to Adobe Creative Cloud my workflow for this type of sharing was somewhat convoluted and involved exporting small-sized images from Lightroom, saving them to a Dropbox shared folder, generating a public link, and sending that out to others.

I couldn’t do much in the way of limiting access privileges either, and meanwhile, the images were taking up space in my Dropbox account that is perpetually near its limit anyway.

Now my process is much simpler, a lot more efficient, and results in a greater degree of control over what I can actually let other people do with my images. After publishing an album to the cloud from Lightroom Classic CC you can log in to Lightroom on the web, on mobile, or just load up Lightroom CC and generate a public link for any synced album.

Moreover, you can get an embed code, choose to allow downloads and show metadata, and even let people filter the photos according to Flag status.

While the images that are publicly viewable using this method are the low-resolution previews and not full-size images for printing, they are more than enough for most people.

The tradeoff in terms of overall simplicity and ease of use is more than worth it for me, and I’m not taking up valuable space in my Dropbox account or other file-sharing services.

Adobe portfolio

This might not be useful for some photographers but I have found Adobe Portfolio to be an incredible asset as a Creative Cloud subscriber and it really was one of the primary reasons I eventually chose to upgrade. Previously I was paying a service nearly $ 100/year for my photography website. But when I realized that Adobe Portfolio could do everything I need and was included with a Creative Cloud subscription I canceled my other hosting service and moved everything over to Adobe.

Adobe Portfolio won’t give you the fanciest website in the world, but it could very well get the job done for you at not much more than what you are paying for a website now.

All Creative Cloud subscribers have access to Adobe Portfolio which, though not as full-featured as some of the other hosting providers, is more than enough for my needs and possibly yours as well. As an added bonus it syncs with Lightroom so I can create albums on my computer and have them synced automatically with my website. Something that was not possible at all with my previous hosting company.

If you are at all interested in Creative Cloud but unsure about the $ 9.99 monthly fee, I recommend looking at your current website hosting solution and comparing it to Adobe Portfolio. It is quite likely that the latter could suit your needs just fine and end up only costing you a bit more than what you are already paying for a website.

Adobe Portfolio doesn’t have the breadth of features offered by other website platforms, but it does have a decent selection of themes and some solid options for photographers who want a simple, effective way to showcase their work online.

The price was right

As I looked at all the features offered by Adobe Creative Cloud I kept on coming back to the monthly fee, and for years I just couldn’t reconcile the idea of being locked into a perpetual contract just to use software that I could go out and buy once but use forever. However, I kept coming back to other software I had purchased like Aperture, Final Cut Express, and even other Adobe apps like Fireworks that simply wouldn’t run on my computer anymore.

Sure I had bought these apps but as time went on the only way to use them was to purchase new versions anyway. In the meantime by not upgrading I was losing out on the bug fixes, added features, and overall speed improvements offered by their newer counterparts. In some cases, like Final Cut Express, apps were simply deprecated by their developers leaving me with no choice but to upgrade anyway.

software - Five Reasons Why I Switched to Adobe Creative Cloud

I’ve paid hundreds of dollars over the years for software that I can’t use anymore, or won’t be able to use in the near future because it has been deprecated by its developers.

I still don’t like the idea of being locked into a monthly fee for software but when I considered all the benefits that came with what really was a modest price (only about $ 30 more than I was paying just for my website) the choice became clear. I’m not saying that Creative Cloud is right for everybody but it was definitely the right choice for me and, depending on your needs, it could be right for you too.

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Tips for Using Neutral Density Filters for Cityscape Photography at Blue Hour

19 Sep

Neutral density filters (ND filters) are essential tools when it comes to shooting cityscapes at blue hour. Even without an ND filter, you could shoot for a few seconds of exposure (using a small aperture like f/13) when the light falls towards the end of dusk.

But those opaque filters let you take even longer exposure photos (minutes, not just seconds), and create beautiful effects such as light trails, silky smooth water, rushing clouds, etc., by slowing down the shutter speed by a certain number of f-stops.

Singapore - Using Neutral Density Filters for Cityscape Photography at Blue Hour

This Marina Bay (Singapore) photo was shot with a 2-second exposure (at f/13) without using any ND filter. The sky looks good, but the water isn’t smoothed out at all, as that exposure is way too short to create silky smooth water effect that is seen in the photos to follow.

How ND Filters Make Your Exposure Longer

ND filters come in different strengths, some popular ones are 3-stop, 6-stop and 10-stop. The bigger the number, the darker the filter (i.e. the less light that is let through) and the longer the exposure will be.

For example, a base shutter speed of one second (i.e. when no filter is attached) can be extended to as long as 1024 seconds (over 17 minutes) with 10-stop ND filter attached, as each “stop” doubles the exposure time:

1 second > 2 seconds [1 stop] > 4 seconds [2 stops] > 8 seconds [3 stops] > 15 seconds [4 stops] > 30 seconds [5 stops] > 64 seconds [6 stops] > 128 seconds [7 stops] > 256 seconds [8 stops] > 512 seconds [9 stops] > 1024 seconds [10 stops]

It’s easy to calculate when a base shutter speed is a simple number like one second, but what about starting with, say, 1/15th of a second? This is where the Long Exposure Calculator app (for iOS) comes in handy and makes your life easier, as it automatically calculates a required shutter speed for you (look for an Android equivalent here).

ND filter and app - Using Neutral Density Filters for Cityscape Photography at Blue Hour

Neutral density (ND) filter (left) and Long Exposure Calculator app (right).

Using Different Strengths of ND Filters for Your Desired Effect

In this article, we’ll take a little deeper look at when to use which ND filter for your desired effect at blue hour.

3-Stop ND Filter

I don’t use 3-stop ND filter when taking cityscapes at a waterfront, as the strength is too mild to create a silky smooth water effect. Hence, my use of 3-stop ND filter is limited for scenes that have no water to be smoothed out, such as the photo below with light trails of moving cars, which doesn’t require a very long shutter speed.

Shanghai skyline - Using Neutral Density Filters for Cityscape Photography at Blue Hour

Shanghai skyline (China) shot with a 25-second exposure (f/8) using a B+W 3-Stop ND Filter (77mm). The base shutter speed was 3 seconds, ISO 100.

Singapore skyline shot with a 10-second exposure (f/13) using the same 3 -stop ND filter. The base shutter speed was 1.3 seconds, ISO 100.

This mild strength 3-stop ND filter (i.e. not so long exposure) isn’t all bad, though. It allows you to take a number of photos during blue hour, unlike more dense filters like a 6-stop ND filter where you can take no more than a few photos due to a longer exposure time required per photo.

6-Stop ND Filter

I almost exclusively use a 6-stop ND filter when shooting cityscapes at a waterfront. To create silky smooth water effects, slowing down 3 stops isn’t quite enough, but a 10-stop one is way too strong. For example, a base shutter speed of 2 seconds (i.e. with no filter attached) gets extended to 15 seconds (with 3-stop ND filter), 128 seconds (with a 6-stop ND filter) and whopping 34 minutes and 8 seconds (with a 10-stop ND filter) respectively.

Shanghai - Using Neutral Density Filters for Cityscape Photography at Blue Hour

Shanghai skyline (China) shot with a 164-second exposure (f/11) using a B+W 6-Stop ND Filter (77mm) in order to achieve my desired effect of silky smooth water. Had I used a 3-stop ND filter, the water wouldn’t have been smoothed out this much (base shutter speed: 2.5 seconds, ISO 100).

Marina Bay (Singapore) shot with a 163-second exposure (f/13) using the same 6-stop ND filter (base shutter speed: 2.5 seconds, ISO 100).

I typically aim to shoot with a base shutter speed of 2-3 seconds when using a 6-stop ND filter, which extends the exposure to 128 -192 seconds respectively. In order to create a silky smooth water effect, 2-3 minutes of exposure seems just right.

By the way, if you’re planning to buy only one filter for cityscape photography at blue hour, I’d recommend nothing but a 6-stop ND filter. I’ve probably photographed 90% of my cityscapes at blue hour using a 6-stop ND filter. It’s really a game changer if you are interested in doing this kind of photography.

10-Stop ND Filter

A 10-stop ND filter is a kind of special filter that lets you expose extremely long (longer than necessary in most cases!). Personally, I don’t really find 10-stop ND filter useful for shooting cityscapes at blue hour, as the exposure goes too long (even starting at a base shutter speed of 1/2 second gets extended to 8 and a half minutes), and digital noise caused by long exposure becomes too unbearable (even with in-camera long exposure noise reduction turned on).

So, this extreme filter’s use is rather limited to pre-dusk or even earlier in the day, not towards the end of dusk. In fact, one big advantage of a 10-stop ND filter is letting you take long exposure photos while the sky is still bright, which is something 3 and 6-stop ND filters aren’t up to the task of doing.

With a 10-stop ND filter, I usually aim to shoot with a base shutter speed of 1/4 or 1/3 second which is extended to 256 and 341 seconds respectively. I tend to avoid an exposure that exceeds 6-7 minutes, as long exposure noise starts to creep in.

Such a base shutter speed (1/4 or 1/3 second) can normally be achieved around sunset time or before, therefore you don’t really see deep bluish hue that’s typically seen at the prime time of the blue hour. Instead, your photo will have a surreal look that is very unique and distinctive to 10-stop ND filter.

Singapore skyline shot with a 258-second exposure (f/8) using B+W 10 Stop ND Filter (77mm) with a base shutter speed of 1/4 second, ISO 100.

Singapore skyline shot with a 259-second exposure (f/7.1) using the same 10-stop ND filter (base shutter speed: 1/4 second, ISO 100).

Conclusion

I hope this post helps you get started with shooting cityscape photos at blue hour using neutral density filters. I’m sure that you’ll be hooked in no time and can no longer shoot cityscapes at blue hour without one!

If you have any questions or tips to share, feel free to do so in the comments below.

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3 Quotes for the Creative Photographer

18 Sep

Most of us photographers struggle with our creativity. As time goes on you’ll likely experience fewer moments of passionate inspiration and longer periods of hard work and creative dryness.

It was during a period of creative dryness in my photography business that I discovered a whole breed of photographers who had been able to express their creativity in surprising ways.

They brought every part of their life to their photography, found beauty in unlooked-for places, and got in over their heads. Their ideas were just what I needed to breathe new life into my own photography.

Let me share with you three quotes that will help you understand yourself as a creative photographer.

3 Quotes for the Creative Photographer - boat on a lake

It’s liberating as a creative photographer to forget about making money or comparing yourself to other photographers and just go play with your camera. For me, it’s climbing sand dunes or wading through water at sunset. It brings me to life.

1. You Bring Your Whole Self

“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” – Ansel Adams

When you first became a photographer you likely focused on finding the perfect camera and lenses. For a while, it was all about chasing gear. But in the end, the gear doesn’t satisfy. Unless it helps you expand your creative horizons it becomes a worthless dust collector sitting on a shelf somewhere.

Fuji Cameras - 3 Quotes for the Creative Photographer

These are my favorite cameras to use. The Fuji x100s is perfect for everyday life. I’m nostalgic about the photo quality of the iPhone 4s. It was the first phone camera I ever used. The Fuji XT1 along with a portrait lens and silent shutter mode is perfect for portraits.

You probably tried your hand at copying what you saw on Pinterest or other photo sharing groups. I bet that once you were successful you got bored and moved on quickly.

Gear and gimmicks don’t satisfy you. In fact, you’re more likely inspired by the books you read, even though they are non-visual because they fire up your imagination.

3 Quotes for the Creative Photographer - kid in a dingy on a lake

Two winters before this photo was taken, my imagination had been fired up after reading “The Wind in the Willows.” But I had no idea how to capture that in photos. That is until one spring when the bay that we live on overflowed its banks and took over our yard! I bought a dingy for my son, put on my chest waders and spent the evening in and on the water. Ratty would be proud of us.

The creative photographer brings to their work their whole life, their whole selves. That usually includes a whole host of other creative endeavors like music, painting, writing, or acting, even if you pursued them at different moments in life.

Photograph of Alice Cooper - 3 Quotes for the Creative Photographer

Though I loved photography as a kid, I was a musician before I became a photographer. Knowing what it’s like to perform and connect with the audience, I always look for those engaging moments when I photograph bands. Is there anything more engaging than Alice Cooper in a straight-jacket staring down the barrel of your lens?

Alice Cooper with a booze bottle. 3 Quotes for the Creative Photographer

An Alice Cooper performance goes beyond the music and incorporates drama as well. The story that is played out for the audience is part fiction and part biographical. Alice brings everything to the stage, including his past battles with alcohol, showing the audience and fellow musicians what can be accomplished in life and art.

2. Making Beauty Out of Chaos

“I don’t just look at the thing itself or at the reality itself; I look around the edges for those little askew moments – kind of like what makes up our lives – those slightly awkward, lovely moments.” – Keith Carter

As a creative photographer, you’re often going to feel like you don’t fit in. You’ll likely find it hard to commit to one type of photography for the rest of your life (or as a business).

Here’s one idea that might characterize everything you photograph; beauty out of chaos.

Creative photographers are often at the fringes, on the edge of chaos and order, in unpredictable situations, trying to make something beautiful in difficult situations.

Kieth Carter quote - 3 Quotes for the Creative Photographer

Many of us deeply resonate with Carter’s words as we “look around the edges for those little askew moments.” While it’s natural to photograph the happy, predictable moments of life, I’m most at home looking around the edges. When a little guy “acts up” he’s taken out of the game to the edges for a time-out. But aren’t these the defining moments of life? I was drawn by the boy’s face and his inability to look his father in the eye.

boy and his father - 3 Quotes for the Creative Photographer

The situation was irresistible to me as a photographer. It was a “theological” moment and I was fascinated by the boy’s unwillingness to look his father in the eye. He expressed himself through his hands and fingers instead.

kid wiping his eyes - 3 Quotes for the Creative Photographer

I love that even the dirt on his arm speaks to his guilt. You can’t plan these moments, you just appreciate them as they come.

You’re likely drawn to “the real,” not being satisfied with mere poses but what happens between the poses, at the edges of a photo session – those “slightly awkward, lovely moments.”

Window silhouette of 2 kids - 3 Quotes for the Creative Photographer

No parent in their right mind would allow their kids to play in the curtains. Those curtains will end up a complete mess. But, even for just a moment, I saw beauty in that mess.

Golden hour silhouette - 3 Quotes for the Creative Photographer

Sometimes those moments in the window are more serene. I couldn’t help but notice afterward that the curtain ties were “slightly askew.”

3. You’ve Got to Get in Over Your Head

“I realize more and more what it takes to be a really good photographer. You go in over your head, not just up to your neck.” – Dorothea Lange

With the pursuit of the perfect camera behind you (happy to use whatever camera you’ve got on hand), and Pinterest a distant memory, you bring everything you’ve got to your photography. But even when you find yourself up to your neck, you’re still holding back.

There’s nothing to force your creativity quite like walking into a situation that puts you in way over your head. You’ll be forced to figure out what to do at the moment.

Rock band photography - 3 Quotes for the Creative Photographer

I still remember the first time I took the stage as a musician. It was a high school talent show on a makeshift stage in the cafeteria. All I could think was, “How did I get myself into this?” I knew I wasn’t qualified in any way to be on that stage (even though it was just a bunch of tables pushed together). But the moment took over and I knew I was made for the music.
To this day, I look for raw emotion when photographing musicians.

I daresay that, for most of us, going in over our heads means overcoming ourselves. Overcoming our social anxiety, fear, and laziness. While a little social anxiety, introversion, or laziness can kill your creativity – it can also fuel it.

Successful creative photographers talk about how they challenged themselves through their fears and assumptions and constantly embraced constraints that forced them to grow as people and as photographers.

What do you look like as a creative photographer?

I love hearing from you. Which ideas do you resonate with and what do you look like as a creative photographer? Let’s chat in the comments below.

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5 Ways to Photograph Birds

18 Sep

Birds are beautiful animals to look at and are graceful in flight. However, it can be challenging to photograph birds due to their fast-moving nature.

Here are 5 methods to help you capture better bird photos.

5 Ways to Photograph Birds

1) Go Wild

Have you ever wondered where to find birds and which are the best places to photograph them? My first tip is to seek out locations where you can photograph birds in the wild.

The great thing about birds is that you may come across them anywhere you go when on holiday or at home. Birds live everywhere in the wild, wherever there are nature and a place they can build a nest.

5 Ways to Photograph Birds

Next time you are out walking in your local neighborhood, park or woods look up and listen out for birds in the local environment. Capturing birds in the wild offers you the opportunity to photograph them in their own natural habitat and therefore you can photograph them in their surroundings such as on a branch, in a nest, or in a bush.

5 Ways to Photograph Birds

It is not easy to photograph birds of prey in the wild.

If you are really keen to capture great images of birds you may want to consider investing in a commercial hide to give you a better opportunity to capture rarer species that are likely to visit. Hides can provide camouflage and cover for you and will assist in preventing birds from getting scared and flying away which they may do when they become aware of your presence.

2) Get Close

5 Ways to Photograph Birds

Zoos and bird of prey centers allow you to get really close to birds in their enclosures. They are brilliant places to practice your bird photography skills. Enclosures provide fairly limited space meaning the birds are more visible and cannot fly as far as if they are out in nature.

At centers, the advantage is that birds are trained to fly near to visitors. This gives you the chance to capture images of birds of prey in flight and their natural behavior.

Most birds have amazing details such as their eyes, beaks and colorful feathers which are great subjects on which you can focus your camera.

5 Ways to Photograph Birds

3) In your garden

It can be easy to ignore a photographic possibility right on your doorstep, but rewarding bird photography can be enjoyed from the comfort of your own home. Where woodland birds can be trickier to approach, birds visiting gardens can be enticed by providing food in your garden.

Leaving food out in your garden is a great way to attract birds living in nearby trees and bushes. Birds often have families to feed and will return regularly to your garden if they know it is a reliable food source. If you are lucky, you may witness birds feeding their fledgling young from the ground.

You can lay food on the ground or place it on an elevated bird table or feeder to capture more eye-catching pictures from higher up. A wide food choice will attract a greater diversity of birds. Blackbirds and song thrushes like sultanas while others like peanuts, seeds, or fat.

5 Ways to Photograph Birds - bird on a tree branch

Mornings are good for bird activity, while late autumn to early spring is the best season when there is a great opportunity to photograph rarer species.

4) Birds in Flight

The next recommendation for photographing birds is to capture them in flight. Birds are creatures of habit and will generally take the same flight paths to and from their nests. If you can, try and photograph them when they are moving whether at take-off, during landing, or mid-flight.

5 Ways to Photograph Birds - birds in flight

If you want to capture a good shot of a flying bird, you will need a fast shutter speed and will need to focus accurately.

In terms of equipment, you will generally need a lens with a longer reach to capture birds in flight.

5) Flocks

5 Ways to Photograph Birds - flock of birds

Birds tend to migrate in winter months and this allows the chance to photograph them all together. Groups of birds flying overhead can make interesting photos rather than when photographed individually as they form different shapes and patterns.

5 Ways to Photograph Birds

Sometimes, birds such as starlings flock together to protect themselves from predators. By joining together they make it difficult for falcons and sparrowhawks to target one bird and make great formations worth photographing. Flocks of birds can be photographed as a group either in motion or static.

Conclusion

Next time you go out with your camera to photograph birds, put these tips to the test and share what you capture. Add your photos and tips in the comments below.

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