Category: Photography

How to Create Abstract Photos with Colored Paper
Developed in China, paper as we know it has been around for at least 2000 years. Originally made by pressing the wet fibers of plant-derived cellulose together and dried in sheets, paper’s ability to be mass produced resulted in the advancement of the written word as a means to pass information down through time. This accelerated exchange of information triggered a revolution in cultural and technological advancements that have shaped the way we live today.

Artists paint and photographers print on specialized paper. Books, magazines, and newspapers distribute information across the world. Important documents are filed away on paper, ready to be pulled out at a moment’s notice. Even with today’s abundance of computer screens, paper has endured as an indispensable material.

Creating abstract photos is another wonderful use of paper. With a few bulldog clips, some colored paper, and a bit of creativity, you can create beautiful abstract images to enjoy and use as desktop wallpapers or backgrounds.

What you will need
- Your camera
- A macro lens or set of extension tubes
- A selection of different colored paper (I used a packet of variously sized one-color per piece origami paper I found at a dollar shop).
- Several medium or large bulldog clips.
Selecting a space

First, you’ll need to choose a space to set up in. This is important because your paper needs to be exposed to plenty of natural light. Otherwise, your shadows will be too dark, and your photographs will look flat or awkward.

Set up outside, or near a large window with a decent amount of light flooding into your space. I work on a desk outside, with plenty of room to move and shoot from different perspectives.

Setting up

Setting up for this project is can be a little tricky. Once you’ve settled on a space to work in, you’ll need to arrange your colored paper. First, select a piece of colored paper that will serve as the background for the image. You’ll want this background to cover the frame, so choose a size that has adequate coverage. The background color is up to you, so choose whatever catches your eye.

Next, add a second layer of paper to sit on top of the background. This will be your foreground subject. Again, the color is up to you. To make an interesting image, you need to separate the foreground layer from the background. You’ll do this by physically adjusting the orientation of the foreground paper.

Generally, sheets of paper want to stay flat and straight, so shaping your foreground paper can take a little bit of coordination. An easy way to control the orientation of the paper is to add weight to its edges. Attach a bulldog clip to each side of the piece of colored paper and lay it down so that there is a gap between the foreground and background paper.

Photographing your creations

Once you’ve attached your bulldog clips and arranged your paper, it’s time to get busy photographing. There are no hard-and-fast rules here, just photograph what you think looks best.

Try sitting your foreground paper vertically or horizontally in relation to the background paper for different depth effects. You can also try focusing your lens on different areas of the paper, or for a smooth, featureless gradient, unfocus your lens altogether. Focus on a small section of your paper or zoom out to include the whole arrangement.

You can modify the shape of your foreground paper by manipulating the location of the bulldog clips on the paper. Moving them closer together creates a nice S or U bend in the middle of the paper for soft organic lines. For harder lines, move the bulldog clips further away from each other to tighten the paper.

Paper has a thousand uses, the great thing about this project is that there is no right or wrong way to do things. Just take some time to relax and experiment. If you have kids or grandchildren, get them to help you – they’ll have fun helping to arrange the paper.

Enjoy!

The post How to Create Abstract Photos with Colored Paper appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 4, 2018
The Best Camera Gear for Food and Still Life Photography
I get a lot of questions about the gear I use in my food and still life photography, particularly from those just starting out in these genres. Buying the wrong equipment can be an expensive mistake. This is a list of the best camera gear I have found to work for me and a lot of the still life photographers that I know.

That being said, take the time to research what works for you and your budget. Also, think about your end goal. If you’re a blogger, your needs will be different than those of a photographer shooting product advertising.

Cameras

First, you need to decide if you will use a camera with a cropped sensor or a full-frame camera. This will likely be determined by your budget.

A cropped sensor is cheaper for a camera manufacturer to make, which makes decent digital cameras available to a wide variety of consumers. Keep in mind that the focal length of your lenses will be different on a cropped sensor camera. For example, on a full-frame camera, a 50mm will behave like a 50mm. Put that same lens on a camera with a cropped sensor, it will behave more like an 80mm. Your shots will be nowhere near as wide.

Also, make sure that the camera you choose can shoot RAW images–not just JPEGs. If you intend to shoot professionally, file size matters. If your work is going to be printed, you need at least a 12-megapixel camera.

I shoot with a full frame Canon 5D Mark II.

As a food or still life photographer, you’ll find that you won’t need most of the bells and whistles that the modern digital cameras on the market offer. Look for the detail the camera will provide, especially if you’re shooting professionally. The camera should have several focus points and handle noise relatively well. It should also have a tethering feature. If you can afford a full-frame camera, I would invest in one right off the bat.

Lenses

Every camera manufacturer has a series of lenses for the amateur and another for the pro photographer. However, if you are a pro shooter, this doesn’t mean that you should only stick to a pro series, such as the Canon L-Series, for example. There are some good options without the hefty price tag that a pro series brings. That being said, lenses are where you should spend the majority of your budget and you should look at them as a long-term investment in your craft.

Your most pressing concerns when shopping for a lens is the sharpness, so your focus should be on prime lenses. Prime lenses are sharper than zoom lenses.

An excellent lens to have in your kit is a 100mm macro lens. This lens is not just for macro or close up shots, although obviously, it’s great at this. By pulling further away from your set, you can get very nice portrait-style shots as well. The focal length will give you that lovely blurred background that is so coveted in food photography.

I have the consumer grade 100mm f/2.8 from Canon and it’s razor sharp. If you can only get one lens, this is the one I’d recommend.

I also recommend a zoom lens, such as a 24-70mm f/2.8 or 24-105mm f/4. I have both in Canon’s L-Series and find the 24-70mm much sharper than the 24-105mm. The 24-105mm is the kit lens when you buy a Canon 5D.
Although the 24-70mm is a zoom lens, I find it very sharp.

Lenses I use.

The 50mm can also be a useful lens, especially if you don’t have a zoom. This lens is good for overhead shots and tablescapes. For food and still life photography, 50mm is considered a wide angle lens. If you’re shooting only an item or two straight-on or at 45 degrees, you will likely have too much of the background and surface in your frame.

You will need to have large backgrounds if you use the lens this way. If you get a 24-70mm, then you can shoot your overhead shots by setting it at 50mm.

If you’re not sure which lenses you should get, try renting a couple. Check the sharpness and focal length before spending a large sum of money. Photographers have their own style and thus tend to shoot within a preferred range of focal lengths. For example, I am usually between 60-80mm on my full frame camera.

This food image was shot at 50mm (left) and another shot at 60mm (right). You can see the 50mm leaves too much negative space and the background is not big enough. These were shot with the camera in the exact same position, close to the scene, etc.

Studio Lighting and Modifiers

If you want to shoot food or still life professionally, you’ll need to master studio lighting. You can rent studio lights or buy your own. Even if don’t have your own studio, you will benefit from having your own lights if you can afford them. Many studio rental places don’t open early enough to allow you to transport and set up your camera gear before the arrival time of your client.

If you’re a blogger venturing into the world of artificial lighting, you may want to start with a continuous light, like an LED. I recommend that you do not get a set of those Lowel EGO lights that so many bloggers are crazy about. They are too bright and at the same time, don’t have enough spread.

You need to be able to work with strobes if you want to shoot professionally for clients. These are expensive lights, so try to make a good choice initially with these. Make sure they have at least 400 to 500Ws (stands for Watt-seconds, is a measurement of flash output) power and that you are able to modify the light with grids and softboxes.

An example lighting setup using a large softbox as the light modifier.

Great lights at a medium price are the Hensel Integra Pro plus 500, or my personal favorite, the Elinchrom ELC HD Pro 500w set. The Elinchrom monolights have clean and consistent light from shot to shot, and they fire fast enough to freeze motion or liquid splashes, a feature found in the high-end and pricey lighting systems.

For a cheaper system that is great to start with, check out the Bowens Gemini 500. The big benefit of using Bowens is that its S-mount is a common modifier mount, which allows you to use a variety of inexpensive modifiers with your strobes. In terms of modifiers, get at least one softbox in the largest size you can find and afford. The larger the softbox, the softer the light.

When shooting food and still life, you will also need a large diffuser to soften the light as it hits your subjects. I use a 59×79-inch diffusor placed right up against my set. This creates a large, soft light source and prevents any unwanted light from spilling onto the set.

Get a good reflector as well to bounce more light into shadowy areas when needed.

You can also use plain white boards as reflectors in tight spots. Get some clamps to hold them in place as I have done here.

Shot with a large soft light source.

Tripod

A tripod is necessary when shooting food, product, or still life images because the objective is very sharp photos. This often means shooting at lower shutter speeds, which can introduce camera shake into your images if you are hand-holding and working in natural light.

Shooting in these genres is about creating a scene, which is a process of building and assessing. You’ll find yourself constantly adjusting your set-ups, adding items or taking them away, or otherwise moving them around to get the perfect shot. This type of photography is not about catching a decisive moment, but about deliberately creating a visual story through the placement of objects. You need to compose to the camera.

Working with a tripod is also important if you are doing a series of shots and need consistency in your set-ups, or if you’re focus stacking or using scripts in Photoshop.

A tripod is essential for framing your shots.

Software

You will need a professional grade image editing software program to get the most out of your food or still life pictures. Adobe’s Lightroom can give you most of the tools you need to create awesome images at a relatively low price. It’s a powerful program that is intuitive and user-friendly. Not only does it have great editing capabilities, it also acts as an archive for all the image files you have on your hard disk.

Lightroom functions best as a global editor. It helps you make adjustments globally to the whole image. In contrast, Photoshop is a pixel editor. It helps you work with the actual pixels in a given image. There is a lot you can do in Photoshop that you can’t do in Lightroom, such as compositing (combining multiple images into one).

As a professional photographer, I do most of my editing in Lightroom. Then I take my images over to Photoshop to do what Lightroom cannot, or doesn’t do as well. Photoshop has the powerful tools that I need to give me the refined look I’m seeking.

Read my other article: How to Edit Food Photography Images Using Lightroom

The difference between the before and after images is subtle but processing your food images is important.

If you’re just starting out, Lightroom will deliver everything you need to make great pictures.

If you’re working on professional packaging design, Capture One Pro is mandatory. With this program, you can upload an overlay of the packaging artwork to determine where the elements in the image should sit on the packaging. It will make the shooting process go a lot faster and a creative director will likely expect you to work this way.

Shot and processed to be dark and moody.

Tethering

If you’re serious about food photography, you’ll need to shoot tethered.

Tethering is when you connect your camera to a computer via a USB cable so you’re able to view a larger rendition of your image in software such as Lightroom or Capture One Pro. Being able to see your images on the computer as you shoot them is hugely advantageous.

Photographing food and still lifes is a detail-oriented process. A misplaced sprig of basil can ruin your image or create hours of work for you in Photoshop. Such errors can easily be avoided when you can see your work brought to life on a much larger screen than your camera LCD can provide.

If you’re working with clients, they’ll expect you to be shooting tethered. Shooting food, in particular, is a collaborative process that often involves a creative director and a food stylist, who both play a role in the final composition of an image.

To tether to your computer, I recommend a gold-tipped USB cable called a High-Speed USB cable Type A to Mini B. The gold tips prevent them from corroding. Make sure that the cable is no more than 10-15 feet long. The longer ones tend to have problems transferring data. Always have at least a couple of them in your kit so you don’t get stuck, as things don’t always last as long as you’d hope.

Shooting tethered setup. You get to see the image on the computer screen shortly after you shoot it and it appears automatically when tethering is on.

Other Miscellaneous Items

Besides extra memory cards and batteries, there are a few other items you will need to invest in if you’re serious about food and still life photography. Here are the basics:
- Shutter Release – This is a device that you connect to your camera to depress the shutter. Even if you’re working on a tripod, pressing the shutter can cause a small vibration that can introduce camera shake that will make your images less than sharp.
- Backup Drives – Always back up your work to an external drive. Preferably more than one. Hard drives fail all the time, so you need at least two if not three copies of your files, kept in separate places. You should also be backing up while you work.
- Backgrounds – Food and still life photography require backgrounds and surfaces to enhance the subject. These can be purchased expensively online, or you can make your own. One of my favorite style of backgrounds that I use repeatedly in my work is painted canvas. You can buy a large canvas painters drop cloth at a hardware store and cut it into pieces, which you can then paint to suit your needs. You can buy paint samples at the hardware store too. These painted pieces of canvas make inexpensive backgrounds that can be rolled up and put away without taking up a lot of space.
- A Level – Another purchase from the hardware store is a small level, the kind you use in construction or when hanging pictures. A level placed on your camera once it’s set up will show you if your camera is straight. This is very important when taking overhead shots (like the one below).
In Conclusion

It’s easy to go crazy with equipment. Don’t fall into the trap that you need tons of the best camera gear to shoot properly. At the same time, don’t buy the cheapest version of what you need.

Quality is important and will take you a long way in getting the best shots you can. Start out with the bare necessities and invest as your budget allows.

The post The Best Camera Gear for Food and Still Life Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 4, 2018
Lightroom Tricks: How to Process Video in Lightroom Classic CC
Video? Wait…what? Isn’t this Digital Photography School? Yes, it most certainly is and yes you indeed read the title of this article correctly. I’m about to show you how easy it is to actually process video right inside of Adobe Lightroom Classic CC.

Now, this isn’t exactly a true hack (no Matrix stuff here) but it is a way for you to “work around” some of the limitations of Lightroom when it comes to processing your video files.

By Australian War Memorial collection from Canberra, Australia (A possum and a movie camera 1943) [No restrictions], via Wikimedia Commons

Lightroom has always been able to support limited video editing in the Quick Develop module but not in the processing powerhouse that is the Develop Module. Many photographers today tend to work with some type of video format in addition to their photography ventures. I happen to run my own YouTube channel which means I shoot quite a bit of video as well as working in straight photography.

Lots of wedding and event photographers split their time between making images and recording video. Furthermore, aerial photography and video have exploded lately with the increased commercial availability of drones. This means there are a lot of photographers out there with video files that need to be processed quickly. If you’re in a pinch, being able to use Lightroom to easily process a quick video is invaluable.

Alright, enough of building it up. Let’s get down to business and learn how to use Lightroom process video files.

Import the Video

The process of importing a video file into Lightroom is exactly the same as any other image file. Once the video file is imported you have the ability to view and play the video in its entirety right inside of the Library Module.

This is where the problem with video processing in Lightroom begins. Once you try and switch to the Develop Module you’re confronted with this…

Conventionally, this is as far as you can go with your video file. If you stop here you’re limited to the Quick Develop buttons at the top right.

You do have the ability to apply presets here but these are an end unto themselves. Meaning, you can’t adjust the video appearance using the adjustment sliders in the Develop Module. Or can you? Yes, you can, as a matter of fact. And this is where the gentle hacking begins.

Capture a Frame

To begin your Lightroom trickery, and therefore the editing of your video, you first have to capture a frame of the video. This essentially becomes an image file and you’ll use this image to apply your edits that will eventually be transferred to the video. To obtain the frame capture, simply click the small frame icon below the video and select Capture Frame.

Now you have what is really just a screenshot from the video. The new frame capture appears immediately after the video in the film strip (see red arrow below).

Process the Frame Capture

To process your frame capture you first need to switch over to the Develop Module from the Library Module. It’s easy to think that you somehow need to augment your workflow since you’re processing a frame capture. This is not the case.

Process this image captured from the video just as you would any other normal photo. Keep in mind though that you are only able to save the following edits for transfer to your video.

Only the adjustments not greyed out below are available to copy over to video files.

Here’s the breakdown:
- Treatment and Profile
- White balance
- Exposure
- Contrast
- White clipping
- Black clipping
- Vibrance
- Saturation
- HSL
- Split Toning
Yes, unfortunately, there will be no Clarity, Sharpening or Vignetting applied to your video in Lightroom. But look at that list! Of special interest is the tone curve which will give you amazing control over the look of your video. For this example, I’ve made some fairly extreme edits for the sake of demonstration.

You may be thinking “Okay, but how do I get those edits onto the video?” You’re in luck. I’m about to show you how, and it’s incredibly easy.

Sync the Edits

The magic happens when you synchronize the edits you’ve just made to your frame capture with the video file you’ve imported. In truth, you can sync the edits from any image you have in the Lightroom catalog but the most predictable method is by using a still from the actual video you’re processing.

To sync the processed frame capture and the video, first, you need to switch back to the Develop Module. Then use Ctrl/Cmd+click to select both the video file and the frame capture from the film strip.

Next, it’s just a matter of clicking the “Sync Settings” button at the bottom right.

That’s it! All of your edits are instantly transferred from the frame capture to the video.

Export the Video

Once all the editing is over, the method to export the video file is just as simple as importing. Simply choose the destination, file naming and quality settings for the video. You can even add your own watermark.

Final Thoughts….

Is processing your videos in Lightroom the ideal method? I don’t think so. Is it an easy and effective way to apply some creative edits to your video file? Absolutely.

I actually process most of my videos in this manner and then export them to another program to finish the cutting and final processing. Lightroom gives us the ability to apply most of the same processing power to our videos, with a few limitations.

If you’re like me and constantly on the go, being able to stay in a familiar photo processing program like Lightroom is a welcomed alternative to more involved video processing software. Try it for yourself if you need an easy way to process your video clips!

The post Lightroom Tricks: How to Process Video in Lightroom Classic CC appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 3, 2018
How to Search Potential Cityscape Photography Spots Online Before Traveling

As an avid cityscape photography enthusiast (primarily shooting at the blue hour), I always spend quite a number of hours studying potential cityscape shooting spots before traveling to a new destination. Knowing everything from what to shoot, where to shoot from and how to get to those locations before departure will save you a ton of time and hassle, especially if your stay is rather short.

Thanks to my pre-departure study online, I was able to locate this vantage point along Lugard Road at Victoria Peak (Hong Kong) without any hassle.

Hong Kong skyline shot from Convention and Exhibition Centre. Another location that I successfully scouted online before traveling.

You can always start this location study with the obvious (Google!), but there are also other resources that help you find photography spots. Those are Flickr, 500px, stock photography websites, and photography forums to name but a few.

Personally, Flickr is my go-to resource, as there are more than 10 billion photos (according to their 2015 stats) and numerous groups dedicated to many big and small cities around the world. You can ask questions and possibly get answered by local photographers.

Finding what to shoot is a piece of cake. 10 minutes browsing Flickr gives you a number of potential locations. You may argue that those places are over-photographed or that you’re just copying what others have already photographed. But as a first-time visitor, I’m happy to start with the most popular locations because they are over-photographed for a reason.

With more than 10 billion photos available, Flickr is my go-to resource when searching potential cityscape photography spots.

Finding Out Where a Photo Was Shot

The next up is finding where to shoot from (i.e. The exact spot where the photo was shot) but this can be much harder. Sometimes the photo has a clue in itself, such as a name of the building (e.g. hotel name). Then, just get onto Google Maps and do a virtual walk around the area using Street View.

Let’s use Hong Kong, the city that never stops fascinating me with its amazing cityscapes, as a case study for this article. For the photo below, I shot from a footbridge on Connaught Road Central, finding the name of the building on the left (International Finance Centre) eventually led me to locate the exact shooting spot (see on Google Maps) after virtual-walking around a lot on Google Street View.

Shot from a footbridge on Connaught Road Central (Hong Kong).

Try Your Luck Asking Photographers Directly

On other occasions, this crucial piece of info (the shooting location where the photo was taken) can be found in the title or description of the photo. If not, check through the comments to see whether anyone has already asked this particular question.

What I’ve found interesting is that there are photographers who normally reply to comments but somehow don’t respond to this type of question asking where it was shot. It might be because they are not really happy to share that information with a complete stranger trying to shortcut their way to an epic shooting spot they discovered by themselves (possibly by walking around for hours).

That said, there is no harm in asking. The worst thing that could happen is that you receive no response.

Author’s note: If you ask me about cityscape shooting spots in Singapore (where I live), I won’t hold anything back. I’m happy to provide all the info you need!

Asking in Flickr Groups

In case you’re hesitant about asking the photographer directly, you can also try asking in a Flickr group. Once I found a nice Hong Kong street photo with a street name included in the description. So I got onto Google Street View and moved up and down the street, but couldn’t locate exactly where the photo was shot.

As I saw this particular photographer not responding to any comments at all, I went into a Hong Kong group within Flickr and asked whether anyone knows the exact location by including the street photo in my question. Then, a fellow photographer kindly responded with the answer, which led me to shoot the photo below (shot from a footbridge over Paterson Street Tram Station, see on Google Maps).

Hong Kong street view from Yee Wo Street.

Use Google Maps to Find Directions from Your Hotel

Lastly, let’s talk about how to get to those newly found amazing locations. Accessing directions have never been easier these days, thanks to Google Maps.

Prior to the trip, get onto Google Maps and find the directions starting from your hotel. To record the route, take a screenshot or copy the link from your browser’s address bar so that you will be able to revisit the page using hotel’s WiFi later.

This may not be commonly known, but Google Maps also lets you save a short URL of the directional map. Just go to “Menu”, then click “Share or embed map” and check “Short URL”. You can also save maps for offline use as well if you don’t want to incur roaming charges and can’t access any WiFi.

Saving a directional map using “Short URL” feature on Google Maps.

List Photography Spots in Order of Priority

Let’s say I’m traveling for a 5-day, 4-night stay. Then, I’ll make a list of four cityscape photography spots to shoot at dusk. Plus I’ll add one or two backup spots just in case any of the original choices are unexpectedly unavailable due to a special event taking place or something. I select only one spot per day, as I’m only interested in shooting cityscapes during evening blue hour and try to gather as much information as possible before traveling.

It’s also important to list them in order of priority so that you know which place to drop if you can’t shoot on the first evening due to heavy rain, for example. In fact, such a situation often happens, so you should establish a clear order of priority for your shot list in advance.

Consider Revisiting: You Learn Something New Every Time You Go Back

Up until this point, I’ve talked about the importance of pre-departure preparations such as knowing where to shoot from. However, it’s also true that a single visit may not be enough to let you go home with best possible photos unless you’re staying for weeks. If you’re only staying for 4-5 days like I typically do, you may get unlucky with the weather and not be able to capture any photos that you’re happy with.

If that’s the case, consider revisiting the destination! The great thing about revisiting the same place is that you learn something new every time you go back, such as discovering lesser-known photography spots, finding a faster way to move around, etc. Besides, you can try new restaurants and coffee shops alike, and after a few visits, you’ll be able to walk around the city like a local!

On my second visit to Hong Kong, I found this lookout point on Stubbs Road through a bus window on the way to Victoria Peak. So the next day I dedicated one evening to shoot at this spot. This is a good example of learning something new every time you go back.

I planned to go back to Lugard Road lookout point at Victoria Peak to shoot Hong Kong skyline again, then accidentally diverted from the road to find this spot behind Peak Tower, so changed my plan to shoot here, instead.

Conclusion

I hope this helps you with your pre-departure search on what to shoot, where to shoot from, and how to get to those locations. These tips are quite basic, but it’s almost a prerequisite in order not to waste your precious (but limited) time at the destination, especially for those of us traveling only for a few days.

If you have any other cityscape photography tips to share, please do so in the comments below.

The post How to Search Potential Cityscape Photography Spots Online Before Traveling appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

July 3, 2018
How to Make and Photograph Rainbow Water Droplets on a CD
Do you enjoy doing a nice experiment, that gives you colorful photographs? In this article, you’ll discover how you can create a photo of rainbow water droplets using simple household objects and your imagination. The technique uses the principles of refraction and applies it in an easy to use way.

A nice experiment to do while it’s raining outside, create your own water drops and photograph them in an experimental way. So it’s time to setup your home laboratory, and photograph droplets on a CD!

You can make some captivating rainbow colors by using this technique.

What you need to photograph water droplets on a CD

As mentioned, you’ll need just some simple household items to carry out this photo of rainbow water droplets. You’ll also need some camera equipment as well!
- CD – This is what’s needed to create the rainbow effect, make sure the shiny surface is clean.
- Water dropper – Any simple dropper will do, you could use an eye dropper perhaps.
- A glass of water – You’ll need a supply of water handy.
- A flashlight – Any flashlight or headlamp will work for this technique.
- A camera – Your camera must be capable of doing long exposures.
- A macro lens – This works best with a macro lens or a camera with a built-in lens capable of close-up photography.
- A tripod – This is a long exposure technique, so you will need a tripod.
- External shutter release – In a pinch, you could use the camera’s self-timer, but an external shutter release will be better.
These are the items you’ll need for this technique.

The method

The following describes the simple method you’ll need to follow when creating this style of photo. The most important thing is you’ll need a dark room.
1. Place your CD on a flat surface, this can either be a tabletop or the floor.
2. Add water droplets to the surface of the CD using the dropper. Make sure they make a nice pattern.
3. Now put your camera on the tripod.
4. Position the camera and tripod so that the camera is looking straight down onto the CD.
5. Focus the camera using manual focus and live view. Keep the camera in manual focus so that you retain the focus position. If your camera is on autofocus, when you turn the light off and hit the shutter, you will lose the focus.
6. Your camera should be set to expose for around 20-30 seconds, the aperture will need to be around f/10-14. This aperture allows for both the long exposure and keeps the depth of field for the water droplets wide enough to ensure they’re all focused.
7. Now switch the light off. Ensure the room is as dark as possible, so avoid one where there might be light seeping in from outside.
8. Hit the shutter or trigger to begin the exposure.
9. Turn your flashlight on. Make sure the light does not shine up directly into the lens element, use a lens hood if you have one.
10. Keep the angle of the light roughly vertical and slightly down towards the surface.
11. Now circle the light source around the CD, and let the magic happen! Adjust the length of time you do this for depending on how bright you wish the photograph to be.
12. Repeat and adjust as necessary. You may wish to try different angles for the torch (flashlight), the higher the torch the more light you’ll see on the reflective surface of the water drop. Using different camera angles may also work well too.
The basic setup for this photo looks like this. It will of course be dark when you expose the image.

Other water droplet experiments

This is not the only way to photograph droplets, there are in fact a host of different methods out there. Here is a brief list you could also try out.
- Water droplet – Taken using water dripping into a tub, and captured using a strobe. This is a great technique to try out.
- Water droplets on glass – Use refraction to make amazing photos with water drops, and repeating patterns.
- Water droplets after the rain – This one you’ll need to go outside for. Photographing droplets on flowers or spiderwebs always looks nice.
There are lots of other ways you can photograph droplets. This is taken with droplets on glass.

Start creating your water droplet photos!

Photographing droplets is a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoy trying out this idea. Have you ever tried photographing droplets before? Did you use a CD to do it, or one of the other methods mentioned in this article.

As always I’d love to see your images in the comments section, together with any comments you may have.

Using closer framing, or different angles can change the look of the photo.

Changing the angle of the flashlight to a higher angle means you’ll catch the light reflection on the CD’s. Play with it until you get the look you like.

The post How to Make and Photograph Rainbow Water Droplets on a CD appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 2, 2018
Review: Peak Design Anchor Links System for Camera Straps

I’ve had all sorts of camera straps and carrying implements over the years. From traditional neck straps that come with most cameras to sling-style attachments to simple wrist straps and even, on occasion, daring to go out into the world with no camera strap at all.

My main issue with most camera straps is that while a lot of them are designed for specific situations such as portraits, sports, travel, or hanging out with friends I haven’t yet found one that works for every occasion. That’s where the Peak Design Anchor Links system comes into the picture and solves this problem once and for all.

Mostly.

The issue with camera straps

Choosing a camera strap feels more like a marriage than a dating relationship. Most aren’t easy to attach and remove without twisting some screws, threading some nylon through impossibly small holes, or making your fingernails bleed while wrestling with a key ring-style securement device.

As a result, when I buy a camera strap it usually stays on my camera permanently but often gets in the way when I want to take pictures in a scenario that the strap just wasn’t meant for.

Peak Design Anchor Links System – the solution?

The Peak Design Anchor Links system helps remedy this issue but in a bit of an odd way. Anchor Links don’t really do much on their own, and they’re not even camera straps at all.

What they are is a way for you to add a huge degree of flexibility to whatever you are currently using to help carry your cameras. They give you a great deal of choice and freedom when it comes to picking a strap that’s right for any given occasion.

Sometimes I like to use wrist straps, and sometimes I prefer larger over-the-shoulder straps.

How it works

Using Peak’s Anchor Links is pretty simple and involves two basic parts: the strap loop and the connector. The strap loops are small red and black circular tabs with about an inch of cord sticking out. These are what you attach to things you want to carry. The most obvious items are cameras but you can use them on virtually anything that needs to be carted around from pouches to lens cases to accessory bags and more.

The anchors are small connectors that attach to your camera strap, wrist strap, shoulder handle, or anything that you use to actually carry around your gear. There is no special magic to these anchors. You just thread your existing camera strap through the slot on one end of an Anchor just like you would thread a strap through the attachment point on your camera.

It takes just about a minute to get up and running with the Anchor Link system and if you’re like me, you’ll soon wonder what you did without them.

It took less than 9 seconds for me to switch from a wrist strap to a neck strap thanks to the Peak Design Anchor Link system.

So what’s the big deal?

When I first got the Anchor Link system I didn’t really see what the big deal was. How could a set of anchors and connectors really help me with my photography?

What I realized over months of using this system, is that simply having the ability to attach and detach camera straps at a moment’s notice has freed me to focus on other things that really matter. These won’t help you get better photos, and won’t teach you about composition and lighting. But you might find yourself bringing your camera more places than usual simply because you have so much more flexibility with how you carry it.

When I’m out with my family I can clip a traditional neck strap on in about three seconds flat. If I need to go handheld I can attach a wrist strap in no time. Then when I want to move a strap from one camera to another, it’s done in mere moments.

On a recent maternity session, I was able to pack my cameras and lenses securely and put all my various straps in a separate bag. Way better than trying to wrestle everything into a single container while dealing with unwieldy lengths of padded nylon.

Anchor Links can be attached to other items such as bags and pouches, or even key rings.

In the field

In terms of durability, I have had no issues whatsoever with the Anchor Link system and have trusted some very heavy camera/lens combinations to these tiny little cords without any problems. Peak Design claims each anchor link can support over 200lbs and while I don’t know if I would go that far personally, it is nice to know they’re rated for far more than my camera gear actually weighs.

It seems weird to trust a $ 20 attachment to hold a $ 4000 camera/lens combination, but it’s fair to say that the weakest link in the system would probably be whatever strap you are using and not these anchors.

Drawbacks

There are a few drawbacks to the system, namely that the more you use them the more you end up with button-sized anchor disks hanging from your camera gear. Also for some wrist straps, the attachment that secures to the anchor disk can seem a bit large. But I use the system daily with a wrist strap on my Fuji X100F and it has never been a major issue.

These are minor quibbles though, are almost not worth mentioning for something that is so immensely practical.

The strap loops are small and don’t really get in the way, and Peak Design claims they are made out of a durable plastic that won’t scratch your cameras when hanging loose.

Conclusion

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that Peak Design has recently re-designed the system to be thinner and easier to use. I currently use the older system and they have never felt clunky or unwieldy, so I would imagine the revised version is just as good and probably even better.

Overall it’s hard not to recommend the Anchor Links to just about any photographer whether casual, professional or anywhere in between. A basic set with four anchor links and two attachments costs about $ 25 and can give you a huge amount of flexibility and freedom no matter what type of photography you do.

The post Review: Peak Design Anchor Links System for Camera Straps appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

July 2, 2018
How All JPEG Images are Cobbled at Birth
Everybody knows that JPEG images are prone to compression artifacts. Meaning every time an image is opened (whether altered or not) and re-saved, the tonal structure of the photo is recompressed using the same destructive process. File recompression always causes additional detail to be lost. Every time a JPEG image is adjusted in any way, those original 256 levels of color are redistributed and detail is lost.

JPEG files offer various levels of file compression and repeated editing and saving causes further degradation.

But, that’s the least of the JPEG limitations.

First of all, JPEG is an old format originally designed for a long-past era. A group of photographic experts (Joint Photographic Experts Group) was assembled in 1986 for the single purpose of whittling down very large image file sizes:
1. To display on old CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) computer monitors – basically old TV sets without the channel tuners
2. To travel efficiently over the fledgling (slow) Internet, which was designed to accommodate the best broadcast television standards
3. In order to compress them for size and portability. The first JPEG specification was released in 1992 and ratified again in 1994.
Now over 25 years later, the same format is still in use!

The Price of the Program

Many elements of a digital image get altered with JPEG file compression. True, massive amounts of disk real estate get saved in the process but significant other parts of the image get thrown away.

First, the full RGB signal is converted to an abbreviated color space used for analog TV, called YCbCr. CRT displays are driven by red, green, and blue voltage signals, but storing RGB signals involves redundant data. While most of the luminance (brightness) information (Y channel) is retained, the two color channels (red and blue) are significantly reduced in scope.

Highlights clipped in the JPEG process are still present in the RAW file.

An original RGB camera image (TIFF, PSD) contains massive levels of color; many of which the human eye cannot distinguish. Since the end goal of JPEG is zero-body-fat, once a base interpretation of the image is defined, and the 256 colors identified, almost all the “extra” colors are removed, leaving a mere skeleton of the color range.

Colors are characterized as bit depth; the number of tiny measured steps between full color and no color. Humans can only perceive 200 levels of each color under ideal lighting.

The Problem

The decision on what colors get eliminated is pre-designated by a cookie cutter JPEG template, rather than by the human evaluation of each image’s tonal structure. JPEG restricts the color for all images indiscriminately. One template fits all. Excess information is discarded.

Basically, JPEG compression is like weight loss by body part elimination rather than fat reduction; more of an amputation than a diet. As I’ll explain later, the production of a JPEG file is the ideal final format, but not the most ideal for image editing.

JPEG makes use of a basic human sight limitation. We can see tonality more than we identify individual colors. This is why we see only shapes in low lighting conditions. Basic luminosity is retained with JPEGs but much of the color is down-sampled.

The next multistage high-math transformations in this process get mind-boggling very quickly, so let’s just say that some very intricate 8×8 pixel matrix calculations take place based on the limitations of visual perception. True optical illusionary voodoo is at work to further reduce the “weight” of each image. The vulnerability in this mass weight loss program is that JPEG colors are weakest in the highlights and can display nasty artifacts when the images are re-saved. All those compression calculations take place again when JPEG images are re-saved.

The basis of JPEG compression involves a complicated formulation involving blocks of 8 pixels. The values of each block are quantized and distilled into similar colors to eliminate color variations that the human eye has trouble distinguishing.

JPEG files typically reduce the size 90% from the original PSD or TIFF file with little perceptible loss in image quality, as long as the file remains unchanged in size and content. Images that contain significant areas of similar tones (skies, building surfaces, etc.) benefit most from this file compression format.

Quantization

This JPEG standard is not an image resolution issue as must as it is a color depth issue. The number of pixels is not reduced, but the number of colors is. The “pixelated” appearance is not caused by a reduced number of pixels, but a reduction of the color quality of those pixels. The visible loss comes from changes to the initial 8×8 pixel matrix when the edited file is re-saved.

In 1992 it was unthinkable to produce images at a higher quality than TVs could broadcast, including the 256-tone limitation and the sRGB color gamut. In 1992, this was state-of-the-art stuff and it served the industry well for many years.

14-bit sensors can capture 16,000 levels of color in each RGB channel.

But then Silicon Valley developed camera image sensors and processors that could handle more than 8-bit images. That meant that digital manufacturers began building cameras whose images contained twice the level of color (10-bits, or 1000 levels of color).

Next, “deep-bit” images were accommodated by Adobe within Photoshop which changed everything. Much larger color spaces were developed to support this newly expanded color depth. (Keep in mind that bit depth is simply a way of dividing an image’s range into much smaller steps between zero color and full color of a pixel).

Deep (Color) Space

My friend Bruce Fraser (the father of color management) worked with Adobe to formulate what we know as Adobe RGB. Later a larger color space was developed called ColorMatch RGB. Even later, an even larger color space was developed and was labeled ProPhoto RGB. All three of these color spaces exceed the 256-level limitation of JPEG.

But even if an image is edited in one of these larger color spaces, when it is saved as a JPEG, it is automatically reduced to 8-bits (256-levels) per channel.

Bit depth is the measure of tones between full color and no color. JPEG images affect the image bit depth, not the image resolution, as commonly believed. Each time a JPEG file is re-saved, the color loss increases and the image clarity decreases.

Camera JPEGs

Camera-saved JPEG files are “shaped” by the camera settings in place when the image is captured. The algorithm applied to the image data harvested by the image sensor reflects the color model (sRGB, Adobe RGB, and ProPhoto RGB), sharpening preferences, etc.

A word about compression. Compression is probably not as accurate a term to describe JPEG limitations as it could be. Compression sounds like what your Aunt Martha does when she uses a girdle to compress herself into a smaller “container,” but that’s a totally different thing. When she is decompressed, all of Aunt Martha is still there.

JPEG uses “lossy” compression, which really means that some parts were discarded (or lopped off) for good. Aunt Martha only wishes her girdle would help her permanently “lose” something.

Think of image compression more like an abbreviation. When a JPEG file is saved to disk, the data captured by the camera’s image sensor gets compressed into a general mold, dictated by the color settings in the camera when the picture is taken.

Photo Finished

This JPEG process effectively plays the premature role of photofinisher, stamping out its own interpretation of the scene. What started out as a 4000-16,000 level per color image gets reduced to a 256-level picture with just a skeleton of color, leaving precious little room for tone (or color) adjustments.

Both dark and light tones were clipped by the JPEG template but recovered from the RAW file.

JPEG limitations of 256 levels often clip brighter tones to white and darker tones to black prematurely (top grayscale above). RAW images allow the user to recover details that appear lost (bottom grayscale).

If the camera settings were not perfectly set to capture the brightness (bit depth) and contrast (tonal range) of the existing scene, the JPEG-rendered the photo leaves little room for recovery.

In the end, every image will be reduced to a 256-level file before it is either shared publicly or produced as a print. That’s just the nature of photography. There are very few printing devices that can reproduce more than 256 levels of color, and even if they could, the human eye couldn’t see those extra colors anyhow.

While digital cameras can capture up to trillions of colors, human eyesight recognizes less than 200 individual red, green, and blue colors.

JPEG Sufficiency?

So if we can’t see more than 200 different levels of each color (and JPEG provides 256, why do we need the billions captured as RAW files? Simple answer… those excess levels provide ample elbow room to push color levels and saturation into the most visually ideal 256 tones for printers to print and humans to observe. It’s all about optimizing detail.

The dynamic range of the beach scene exceeded the JPEG “template” and highlight detail appeared to be lost (left) but was retained in the RAW file (right).

Conclusion

So what can we take away from this?

First, JPEG is the most basic of photo file formats and is only ideal (as a camera file) when ALL the pre-capture lighting factors match the current camera settings. Second, it’s always best to set your camera to record both hi-level JPEG and RAW files as an insurance policy. And third, the unabridged image data saved as a RAW file enables the final JPEG to be shaped (as close as possible) to what your mind perceived when you clicked the shutter button.

JPEG is the digital file format you want to end up with but it is not always the one you want to start with. There is a waste factor involved in every manufacturing process, and digital imaging is no exception. It’s better to have too much than too little. Always start with more than you need.

Intend to lose the weight, but do it on your schedule.

The post How All JPEG Images are Cobbled at Birth appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 2, 2018
How to Choose the Right Color Profile For Sharing Images Online
Many people have problems with the color of their photos when they publish them online. There are several reasons why this might be so, but the most common culprits are the color space of the image and whether or not the profile is embedded. Both color settings can radically affect web browser color and how your photos look.

Let’s look at some of the potential pitfalls more closely.

The Importance of Embedding the Color Profile

Whenever you edit your photos in an editing program like Photoshop, you are doing so using a specific RGB working color space. To be sure of preserving the color you see when you’re editing, you need to embed the profile before saving the image.

In simple terms, the ICC profile is a translator. It enables different apps and devices to interpret the color as you intended. If you get into the habit of embedding profiles into your images as you save them, you’ll reduce the chances of color looking wrong on the web or in print.

The rich color in this ProPhoto RGB image will look okay in many browsers despite not being sRGB as normally advised. If it looks muted and drained of saturation to you, it’ll be because you are viewing it in a non-color-managed browser. By embedding the profile, I’ve given it the best chance of looking as intended to the majority of people. On a wide-gamut monitor, the colors will pop a bit more.

Embedding the profile into an image adds about 3-4 kB to the file size, so the only time it makes sense to exclude it is when you’re uploading vast quantities of photos to the Internet.

If you must leave the profile out, making sure that the image is in the sRGB color space will limit any resulting damage. Two or three of the more popular browsers will still display the color faithfully because they automatically guess the profile correctly (i.e. sRGB).

Although most browsers have improved in their handling of color recently, it’s still good practice to embed the profile. Don’t leave it out without good reason.

Because the profile has been left out of this same ProPhoto RGB image, the brightness and color will look terrible in most browsers and on most monitors. By contrast, a missing profile for an sRGB file would be undetectable to a large number of people.

How to Embed the Profile

Embedding the profile into images is usually just a case of checking a box when you export the photo. If such an option doesn’t exist, the default will either be the predefined working space of the program, or it’ll be sRGB for web-specific output.

If you want to check the color of your web images before publishing, open them directly in a browser (preferably a reliable one like Chrome) and see how they compare to the original in your photo-editing program. Be a little wary of uploading images to platforms that strip out the profile, though these will not typically be photo gallery sites.

Embedding or stripping out profiles usually only requires you to check or uncheck a box when saving. This is the “save as” pane in Photoshop.

Converting to Profile

You can use “convert to profile” in Photoshop to create an sRGB image, which is the safest color space choice for the web. Be sure not to overwrite the original file and save it this way, because larger color spaces are a better choice for outputs such as inkjet printing.

Do not use “assign profile” for profile conversion, as it causes a color shift and is not meant for this purpose.

Using “assign profile” in Photoshop to convert between profiles will cause a color shift. Color in the right-hand image above has gone flat as a result of assigning an sRGB profile to an Adobe RGB image. You must use “convert to profile” if you want to create an sRGB version of your photo for the web.

Why Monitor Gamut Matters

Color management needs at least two profiles to work (image profile and monitor profile in this case). If you publish images without profiles embedded, you’re relying on the viewer’s browser to guess the color space correctly.

When color management is absent from the browser or app for whatever reason, the following statements are true:
- An Adobe RGB image looks roughly correct on a wide-gamut display.
- An Adobe RGB image looks muted in color on a standard-gamut display.
- sRGB images look roughly correct on a standard-gamut display.
- An sRGB image looks oversaturated in color on a wide-gamut display.
Note that an Adobe RGB image without a profile embedded looks muted in most situations and must be avoided. Browsers will guess the color space to be sRGB if they guess at all.

The graph above shows the difference between a standard-gamut Dell monitor (colored outline) and the sRGB profile (dotted outline). Even on a regular desktop monitor, some colors are quite likely to exceed the sRGB color space and look too saturated when viewed in Microsoft browsers.

In the monitor above, it’s reds that are most exaggerated in that situation. If you haven’t profiled your monitor or if the gamut of the screen is contained by sRGB, you won’t encounter this.

Browser Behavior 2018

To understand color profiles, it helps to know how different browsers behave with color. I tested five browsers for this article to give you an idea of what to expect. Feel free to query this if you think any of these observations are wrong:

Google Chrome

Chrome is a fully color-managed browser that assigns sRGB to any “untagged” images (i.e. those without profiles embedded). It reads all embedded profiles.

Opera

Opera is a color-managed browser that automatically assumes photos to be sRGB if the profile is missing. Like Chrome, it reads all profiles, including Adobe RGB or ProPhoto RGB.

Firefox Quantum

You can configure Firefox to assign sRGB to any untagged photo. It reads all embedded color profiles.

If you happen to run two monitors, Firefox does not maintain full color management across both of them. For optimum color, you must dial in one monitor profile then stick with that monitor. This only applies if your monitors have custom profiles.

Microsoft Edge/Internet Explorer

Microsoft Edge has a half-baked solution to color management. It reads different color profiles and converts everything to sRGB for display. The main problem is that it doesn’t use the monitor profile. Thus, it works best if your monitor does not exceed sRGB in gamut. Otherwise, you’ll see wayward colors.

Safari (for Windows)

Safari can read profiles in images and uses the monitor profile (unlike MS Edge or MS IE), but it does not assign a profile to an image if one is missing. In that situation, it displays color wrongly as Microsoft Edge does.

In Photoshop, you can use “Monitor RGB” proof colors to show you what the photo will look like in Internet Explorer on your own monitor. You’ll need to convert the image to sRGB first. If colors look brighter than they do without proofing, it means your monitor’s native gamut exceeds the sRGB profile.

A second experiment is to view the proof colors of an Adobe RGB or ProPhoto RGB image using “Internet Standard RGB”. This will show you how photos in bigger color spaces look on the internet if you omit the profile.

Choosing sRGB for the Web

The reason why sRGB is a safer choice of color space for the web is that most displays or monitors are not wide-gamut. Thus, if the profile goes astray or is stripped out, or if a device or app doesn’t support color management, the color will still look okay. This is what Microsoft’s browsers rely on to work.

If you want the color of your photos to look “okay” to the widest possible audience you need only do two things:
1. Make sure the image is in an sRGB color space either by using it as your working space or by converting to sRGB before uploading to the web.
2. Embed the sRGB profile into the image before saving.
Photoshop’s “Save for Web” lets you convert to sRGB at the very last moment by checking a box. If you leave the box unchecked, the photo is saved in whatever color space you edited it in. You can’t strip the profile out with this checkbox: it’s purely for conversion.

Other Choices: Adobe RGB and ProPhoto RGB

Since most popular browsers are now color savvy, the possibility of using other color spaces on the web exists. You could, for instance, publish photos with an Adobe RGB or ProPhoto RGB profile embedded, and they’d still look good to most people. To a minority, they’d look better.

The color of wide-gamut monitors typically exceeds Adobe RGB in places. Hence, there is theoretically a reason for publishing photos in ProPhoto RGB. However, this is offset by the dire color that results when the profiles are missing or ignored. It’s high risk.

Adobe RGB is an interesting prospect for the web because it still benefits users of wide-gamut monitors. Importantly, it doesn’t look as bad as ProPhoto RGB when things go wrong. However, if you publish in Adobe RGB, you’ll still be doing so for a relatively small audience.

If you do use these wider-gamut color spaces for the web, you absolutely must embed the profile. As soon as that goes astray, the color in your photos will look a bit flat to many people. In the case of ProPhoto RGB, it’s likely to look awful.

This 3D diagram (above) shows the sRGB profile encompassed by the profile of a wide-gamut monitor. In particular, you’ll note the extended range of cyans and greens in the latter.

The idea of using larger color spaces on the web is appealing, especially if you’re a landscape photographer for whom these colors are often truncated. It means you’d be making more use of your camera’s capabilities. However, it’s inherently riskier and you’ll be playing to a relatively small audience. The safe choice is still sRGB.

In Summary

Although modern browsers are more flexible, sRGB is still the safest choice of color space for the web. Again, this is because it roughly matches the gamut of most electronic displays. Using bigger color spaces risks draining your photos of color, especially on tablets or smartphones that may not be color-managed.

I hope this has been of some use. Feel free to ask questions if you need any clarification.

The post How to Choose the Right Color Profile For Sharing Images Online appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 1, 2018
Five Common Macro Photography Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Macro photography requires a unique set of skills, but along with these skills comes a new set of mistakes to overcome. Fortunately, many of these macro photography mistakes are easily fixed.

In this article, I discuss five common mistakes made in macro photography. Then I give you the tools to correct them in the field, which will result in instantly better macro images.

1. Shooting in direct midday sunlight

The first mistake often made in macro photography is heading out when the sun is high in the sky (midday). While the light during this time is bright, it’s also very harsh and contrasty. Images taken at this time are difficult to expose well, and colors are far less saturated.

The angle of the sun causes additional problems. It beats directly down on your subject, causing the underside to become shadowy.

I try to avoid going out to shoot on sunny afternoons. This tulip image was taken on a cloudy spring day.

How can this problem be fixed?

You have a few options. First, try waiting until the evening, when the light is warm and soft. This will reduce contrast and light your subject more evenly. You could also cast a shadow on the subject yourself, or find a subject in the shade. This will reduce the extent to which your subject encounters the harsh and contrasty light.

These tulips were photographed in the evening, when the light was far less harsh.

Cloudy days are the third option. Then, the sky acts like a huge softbox, and the light is diffused across the subject.

Another photograph on a cloudy day: notice the soft, delicate feeling and more saturated colors.

If you do decide to go out in midday, you might consider bringing a flash or a reflector to add some punch to your images and reduce midday shadows. While this won’t negate the problems described above, it will reduce them.

2. Shooting dying or dirty subjects

A second common mistake made in macro photography is shooting subjects that are either dying or dirty.

This isn’t really a problem with insect photography, but when photographing flowers, the condition of your subject is something to watch out for. If the edges of a flower are turning brown, I generally wouldn’t photograph it. Same thing if the center has some fraying stamens.

I searched through a number of dahlias until I found one in peak condition.

Flowers can also become dirty, especially if they are low to the ground. A few small pieces of dirt isn’t much to be worried about—it’s nothing that cloning can’t take care of—but too much dirt, and it becomes difficult to get a strong image.

How can this problem be fixed?

The first method just involves inspecting your subject carefully before shooting. If the flower is dying or dirty, find a different flower. You might also consider wiping away small pieces of dirt with your finger or shirtsleeve.

Checking the center of flowers is important; it’s easy to miss anthers that are on their way out. Fortunately, this rose allowed for a few images.

The second method is more difficult and involves hiding the dying parts of the flower through creative compositions. For instance, you can ensure that the wrinkled parts of petals are out of focus, or obscured by another part of the flower.

The outside of this flower was a bit worn, so I chose to emphasize the stamens instead.

3. Centering the subject

This is a common mistake in all types of photography – placing your subject in the dead center of the frame.

While this might make sense from a visual perspective, it generally results in an uncomfortable, less-than-desirable image. The composition feels imbalanced or boring.

How can this problem be fixed?

Placing this flower off center allowed for a slightly stronger composition.

Instead of placing the subject in the center of the image, place it off to one side. Try using the rule of thirds. Additionally, you might add some dynamism to the composition by tilting your camera and placing the flower along a diagonal line. This will ensure a much more dynamic image that holds the viewer’s eye.

4. Using busy backgrounds and foregrounds

A fourth macro photography mistake often made is using foregrounds and (especially) backgrounds that are messy.

For example, messy backgrounds might have splotches of colors, might be crammed with slightly out-of-focus elements, or have sudden transitions from light to dark or dark to light. Messy foregrounds, on the other hand, consist of branches, twigs, or other flowers that distract the viewer and get in the way of the main subject.

While this bleeding heart photograph may seem chaotic, it’s not particularly messy—there is a clear point of focus (the flower) that is not dominated by the background.

How can this problem be fixed?

I write about this a lot, but that’s because it’s such a common (and easily rectified) problem. It involves a bit of measured consideration before shooting. Simply make sure there are no distracting foreground or background elements. As discussed above, these include branches, twigs, or sticks. It also might simply be contrasting colors or dark spots.

Notice the smooth, uniform background in this flower image.

5. Capturing a subject as the subject

This final macro photography mistake is a bit less straightforward: capturing a subject as that subject.

What do I mean by this? In truth, it’s not all that complicated. Basically, macro photographers often see an interesting subject and attempt to photograph that subject efficiently. The problem is that the subject then lacks interest. It feels like it’s part of a snapshot when you want it to feel like a deliberate photograph.

How can this problem be fixed?

If you photograph a flower, don’t try to just capture it as a flower. Look for interesting aspects of the subject. What is it that made you want to photograph it in the first place?

Try to go beyond that basic “it’s a flower” essence, and communicate something about the flower. Does it have a photogenic center? Colorful petals? A beautiful shape? Emphasize this through your photography.

I chose to get extremely close to this dahlia in order to emphasize the pattern of its petals.

Conclusion

I have discussed five common macro photography mistakes, as well as a number of simple ways to fix them. By following these guidelines, you should be able to enhance your macro photography and ensure consistently better images.

Know any mistakes that I missed? Let me know in the comments!

The post Five Common Macro Photography Mistakes and How to Fix Them appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

July 1, 2018
Weekly Photography Challenge – Bridges
I hope you haven’t burned any bridges lately, literally or figuratively. Because it’s time for this week’s photography challenge which is – you guessed it – bridges.

Here are some articles to give you some ideas and tips:
- Tips for Shooting Blue Hour
- Tips for Location Scouting to Get the Perfect Sunset Photograph
- Find the Perfect Photography Location Using Google Maps
- 26 Sublime Images of Bridges and Connection
Weekly Photography Challenge – Bridges

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 – Bridges appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
June 30, 2018