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8 Tips to Help Find the Subject for Your Composition

29 Aug

Do you find it difficult to take photos which hold people’s attention? In our digital societies where image sharing is prolific, it is challenging to have people really take time to look at your prized photos. Image composition is key here.

So I want to give you eight tips on how to create pictures that will grab hold your viewer’s attention. People will want to stop and look rather than keep scrolling past your images.

Mask at a Chiang Mai Market - 8 Tips to Help Find the Subject for Your Composition

A good composition should have a clear main subject. It might be as plain as a landscape or a person’s face, or it might be something very small in the frame. If the composition is good the main subject will stand out like a sore thumb.

We all have a unique view of the world. Each of us takes in the world around us in different ways. If you have ever been on a group photo walk and taken part in a shared image review afterward, you will know this. Each photographer will have walked the same street, and the number of photographers that participated, there will be that same variety of pictures.

girl with Kayan Neck Rings - 8 Tips to Help Find the Subject for Your Composition

1. Choose a subject you can relate to

What catches your eye? Why does it appeal to you? You should be asking yourself these things when you are taking pictures. If you choose subjects that you feel a connection with you will create more interesting photos. This is simply because you are interested in the subject yourself.

So your initial choice of subject should be something that you can connect with. My subject of the portrait below is a woman my wife and I chat with at the local market. We connect with her. I wrote about her and her late husband in a recent article.

Because I have this lovely friendship with her it is easier for me to make lovely pictures of her. I know she will happily pose for me. I also know I will get a more interesting photo of her when she is that bit more relaxed and not looking directly at me. In this photo, she was chatting with my wife who was standing beside me.

Sticky Rice Vendor - 8 Tips to Help Find the Subject for Your Composition

2. Isolate the subject

About the most obvious way to have your main subject stand out in your photos is to isolate it.

My favorite two ways to isolate my subject is to use a narrow depth of field or a dark background. By using either of these techniques your main subject will be unmistakable.

Choosing a wide enough aperture and having your subject far enough from the background will allow you to have your background blurred and your subject sharp. If you are using a camera with a small sensor or a smartphone with only one lens, this may not be possible.

When you have a dark background your subject will stand out, especially when there is more light on the subject than the background. To achieve this look find a spot where the background is in the shade and your subject has more light on it/them.

Kayaw portrait - composition

3. Choose your lens carefully

Your choice of lens can affect how you compose the image and how your main subject will be seen. Sometimes a wide-angle lens is better than a telephoto. Other times you will need a longer lens.

Getting close to your subject with a wide lens has a different effect than if you use a long lens and position yourself further away. If you are not sure about how this works the best way to learn is to experiment.

Try taking a series of photos of the same subject with various lenses or zoom settings and see in which photos your main subject looks the best.

Chaing Mai Fresh Market Vendor - composition

4. Frame your subject

Set up your subject how you want to see them. Move around your subject and study them from different angles. Watch closely how the background changes in relation to what’s behind them. Find an angle where your subject looks best.

Limit what you include in your frame. Fill your frame only with what is relevant to the photo you are making. If you can see anything in the frame which does not balance with or enhance your subject keep making changes until you can no longer see those things.

5. Exploit the foreground

Make use of something in the foreground of your composition to draw the viewer’s eye to your subject. This technique will add depth to your composition.

Use an object which is in front of your main subject, either in focus or out of focus. This can help bring the viewer’s eye to concentrate more on your subject.

Kayaw Ethnic Minority Girl by Kevin Landwer-Johan

6. Use leading lines and diagonals

Composing your photo so there are strong lines leading to your main subject will enhance it. The viewer’s eye will be lead along the lines to rest on your chosen subject. This is a very simple, very effective technique.

Diagonal lines used well in a composition can also be used to draw the viewer’s eye to the main subject.

7. Time it well

Choosing the right time to take your photo can help to bring attention to your main subject. When you are photographing in a busy location good timing is imperative. Having someone walk in front or behind your main subject just as you take your photo would detract from your main subject.

Watch carefully. When I am in a busy place I usually have both eyes open, rather than closing one. This way I can see more of what is happening around me and my subject and it helps me time my photos better.

Bust Chiang Mai Market by Kevin Landwer-Johan

8. Crop imaginatively

Don’t always stick to the rules of composition. Stepping outside the box can help highlight your main subject in unusual ways.

In this photo of the gold elephant statue against the gold wall of the chedi, everything tended to blend together. The harsh light was not helpful. Cropping tight to the elephant and only including half of it draws your attention there. The negative space balances the composition.

Temple Gold Elephant by Kevin Landwer-Johan

Conclusion

Try these tips sometimes. Be mindful of your main subject and whatever else is in your frame. If there are distractions, use one or more of these techniques to draw attention to your main subject and have it tell the story you want.

Having your primary subject stand out will make your photo easy for people to look at and relate to. But more than just having your subject stand out, you need to frame it so that it lets viewers see the subject and scene how you see it.

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Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens

29 Aug

Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens

About six months ago, I made a heart-wrenching, painful, and difficult decision: I switched from Canon to Olympus.

Now, I’m not some crazy, brand-loyal photographer. I think the Canon versus Nikon argument is ridiculous. But I had invested thousands of dollars, tens of thousands really, in my Canon gear.

However, my photographic priorities have been changing. I’ve established something of a niche in Alaska wilderness photography and the size and weight of my Canon kit was becoming a hindrance.

bird in a tree - Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens

I’ve been extremely impressed by the sharpness and clean bokeh of this lens. Swainson’s Thrush, Alaska. Lumix G9 with Olympus 300mm F4 PRO.

Size and weight were a factor

Access to many of the places I work on assignment or lead photo workshops and tours is via small plane or on foot. In other words, the weight of my gear is a major consideration.

More and more often, I was forced to pass over my beloved Canon 500mm f4L, because it was just too darn heavy and bulky. Rather, I’d pack something more compact, even if it wasn’t as good. Leaving that big lens behind was painful, but necessary, and I constantly wished for something comparable that wasn’t so darn big.

As a result of leaving the big glass behind, my wildlife work suffered. So I started experimenting with a variety of alternative lenses for the Canon system: Tamron’s and Sigma’s 150-600mm lenses, and Canon’s 100-400mm and the 70-200mm f/2.8 with a 2x teleconverter.

All were decent, but none matched the quality and dreamy bokeh of the 500mm f4.

Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens - spruce grouse

Spruce Grouse, Denali National Park, Alaska. Lumix GX85 and Olympus 300mm F4 PRO.

Some smaller options

Unrelated to this search, I purchased a little Lumix GX85 as a backup camera for wilderness trips. Surprised by the quality of the micro 4/3rds system, I rented a couple of long lenses for it. First the Lumix/Leica 100-400, (which I’ve previously reviewed here on DPS), and then the Olympus 300mm f4 PRO.

While the Lumix/Leica 100-400mm combo gave me a staggering reach (200-800mm equivalent on the 4/3rds system), the sharpness at the long end was imperfect, and the bokeh was lacking. It’s a great lens, but just doesn’t quite compare to the 500mm f/4.

The Olympus 300mm F4 on the other hand… that one took me completely by surprise.

A tough, all-metal housing and full weather sealing mean the durability of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO easily compares to the best lenses by Canon and Nikon.

Six months after first renting the Olympus, I sold all of my Canon gear and purchased a Lumix G9 body, a variety of Lumix/Leica lenses and the Olympus 300mm f4 PRO lens.

Here is what I think of it.

Price – Olympus 300mm F4 PRO

Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens - moose in a field

Bull moose. Denali National Park, Alaska. Made with the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO on a Lumix GX85 body.

A new Canon 600mm F4L currently sells for $ 11,500. The Olympus 300mm F4 PRO is about $ 2,500.

Yeah, no contest there. You could buy the Olympus and still have enough left over for a trip to Alaska to photograph brown bears AND a trip to Africa to see lions and elephants (travel is always money well spent).

Size and Weight

At 9 inches long (with the hood retracted) and 3.25lbs, the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO is a third the weight and half the length of the Canon 600mm F4L.

Thanks to the smaller sensor of the 4/3rds system, you can fit equivalent or greater magnification into a lens while retaining the same maximum aperture in a MUCH smaller package. Canon’s 600mm F4 lens weighs in at a whopping 8.6lbs (3.9kg) while the Olympus with the same equivalent magnification and maximum aperture is a comparably dainty 3.25 (1.47kg).

Physically, it is also much more compact. At about 9 inches (22.9 cm) long it is roughly half the length of the Canon lens. When it comes to size, the Olympus is a clear winner for a wilderness photographer like myself.

But how is the quality?

Sharpness

Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens - bird in the grass

I made this image of a Smith’s Longspur in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with a Canon 5D Mark III and 500mm F4L. It’s sharp and crisp, as you would expect.

When I first considered replacing my Canon gear with Olympus I took both systems out in the field for a week-long photo workshop I was leading. On the trip, I was able to shoot both under similar conditions. Later, when I examined the images at 100%, I felt the sharpness was more or less equivalent even when they were shot wide open at F4.

Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens - fox in the grass

Just as sharp as the Canon 500mm. Fox. Umnak Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Lumix G9 and Olympus 300mm F4 PRO.

With a sigh of relief, I moved on to . . .

Bokeh

Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens - brown wren

Few lenses can compare to the dreamy bokeh of the Canon 500mm F4 L. (Canyon Wren, Joshua Tree National Park, CA.)

The bokeh of a lens is one of the most important aspects of image quality. In wildlife photography, the ability to separate your subject from the background is a huge asset, meaning you need a shallow depth of field. The big Canon can achieve this with aplomb. Its bokeh is smooth and creamy and creates a perfect background for your subject. This, I knew, would be the greatest challenge for the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO.

And it is the one place the Olympus fell short… but only just (and I mean by the narrowest of margins). Since a 4/3rds sensor crops rather than physically magnifies an image, the depth of field is the same as you would achieve with 300mm f4 on the full-frame Canon camera if you cropped the image by 50%.

Which is to say, it still has a great, shallow depth of field, but the bokeh retains more form than it does with the 500mm or 600mm.

Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens - black raven close up

Though not quite the amazing bokeh of the Canon 500mm, the Olympus 300mm f4 PRO attains something VERY close and just look at that sharpness! (Common Raven. Juneau, Alaska. Lumix G9 and Olympus 300mm F4 PRO.)

When it comes to bokeh, the Canon had the edge, but not by much.

Performance

Autofocus

The Canon 500mm F4 has lightning-fast autofocus. That is not up for debate and is one of the reasons that so many pro wildlife and sports photographers select that lens.

So how does the Olympus compare?

Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens - crane in flight

This image made with the Canon 500mm F4L was easy to grab with the lightning fast autofocus system.

This was a harder comparison to make because autofocus ability is a combination of camera body and lens and how the two communicate. When I use the Olympus, my choice of a camera body is the Lumix G9. At first, I expected that this mixing of manufacturers would hinder the performance, but I’ve been relieved to find that is not the case. Lumix bodies are fully compatible with all features of Olympus lenses with no apparent loss in performance.

I’ve found the autofocus of the Lumix/Olympus combination to be precise and extremely fast, attaining focus as quickly as the Canon.

Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens - birds in flight and snowy mountain

Birds in flight, particularly against a background like this are hard for any autofocus system to handle. But the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO was able to make it happen and fast.

Another nifty feature of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO is you can switch between auto and manual focus simply by giving a little tug on the focus ring. It snaps down, and suddenly you are in manual focus, click it back, and autofocus returns. There is no fumbling around for switches.

Stabilization and Handhold-ability

Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens - waterfall in Alaska

Waterfall, Umnak Island, Alaska. Made at 1/15th of second handheld (!!!) with the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO on a Lumix G9 body.

Canon’s image stabilization is extremely good, but they’ve stubbornly refused to integrate stabilization into their camera bodies. Lumix, however, has stabilization built into the body which communicates with simultaneous stabilization in the lens!

Here, the Lumix/Olympus combo is a clear winner. I’ve found I can hand hold the Olympus 300mm f4 PRO on the Lumix G9 as low as 1/15th of a second and still get acceptably sharp images. The small, easily handled size certainly helps with this, but I would NEVER be able to hand hold the Canon 500mm at 1/15th.

The overall performance winner? The Olympus 300mm f4 PRO.

Conclusion

Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens - bald eagle

Bald Eagle, Unalaska Island, Alaska. Lumix G9 body with the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO.

I’ll be honest here, from time to time I miss the big Canon 500mm f4L. But not for reasons of image quality or field performance. Rather, I miss the snob appeal of that big glass. It’s the stupidest of stupid reasons, but it’s a real one.

As a pro photographer, the big lens was a badge of honor. Fortunately, I’ve (mostly) outgrown the need to be seen as a pro when I’m in the field shooting. Now, I try to concentrate on making images good enough that they speak for themselves, and leave the lens size contests to others.

Review of the Olympus 300mm F4 PRO Lens - caribou

Caribou in Alaska’s Northwest Arctic. Lumix G9, Olympus 300mm F4 PRO.

When I put aside the size and snob appeal, I’m not at all sorry to have moved away from Canon. Now, my big lens is small enough that I carry it everywhere (even on my evening dog-walks). It’s light and unobtrusive and I can even carry it backpacking. The quality is so close to that of the bigger glass, that the differences are almost unimportant.

So yeah, I like the Olympus 300mm f4 PRO. A lot.

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How to Make Image-Filled Shapes in Photoshop

28 Aug

Photoshop may not be primarily a graphics program but it still comes with very useful tools for that kind of work. For example, making image-filled shapes.

It doesn’t matter if you’re doing some professional job like web design for your business or something personal like a birthday card, you’ll often need to constrain your photo to fit within a specific shape. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to do that with just a few clicks.

image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Intro1

Create a Shape

First, you need your shape. You can easily create one with the Shape tool from the toolbox. You can click and hold to display the menu with your choices. In this first menu, you’ll have some basic shapes like rectangle, ellipse, line, polygon and a customize shape tool.

image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Shape Tool

If you choose the custom shape you’ll have a second menu with all your possibilities for that. You can access it in the options bar at the top. If you don’t see many choices, just click on the bracket on the right and click All from the menu that will open; this will load all the preset shapes. If you download any new shapes from the Internet you’ll also found them in this menu.

Image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Custom Shape

To draw the shape you chose on a blank canvas, just click and drag until it reaches the size you want, then let go. Whenever you draw a shape on your canvas you can choose to use Fill and Stroke from the options bar. In this case, the filling will be your photo, so set the Fill as black so that your image will be constrained to the shape that you chose.

Here’s how you can do it:

image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Draw Shape

Add Your Image

Now that you have your shape you need to bring in the image to fill it. Go to Menu > File > Place. This will open a browser window so you can choose the file from your computer. Choose the one you want and click OK. This photo will be imported into your project as a new layer.

image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Place Image

Clipping Mask

Now you just have to go to Menu > Layer > Create Clipping Mask. This can also be achieved by clicking Alt + Ctrl (PC) or Cmd (Mac) + G at the same time.

image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Clipping Mask

Note: If you were following my steps exactly then the image was placed as a layer at the top. However, if you are working with a complex project with many layers or if you followed the instructions in a different order this might not be the case.

If that happens, then you do need to take an extra step. Just drag and position the image layer on top of the shape layer in the Layers panel for the Clipping Mask to work as you want.

As a result, you’ll only see the photo through the shape and the best part is that the process is non-destructive. In other words, you did not cut out your photo, the rest of it is just hidden underneath which gives you two advantages.

First, you can reposition your photo to best fit the shape. If you click on the Move tool from the Toolbox you can just click and drag the image so that it gets placed in the best possible way. You can also use any of the transformation tools to resize or rotate it until you are happy with the result.

Second, you can work on the shape as well without worrying about damaging your photo or showing any empty canvas because the photo is complete and untouched underneath.

image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Free Transform

Extra tip

You can do as many image-filled shapes as you want in the same canvas, as they will just be stacked as additional layers. For example, you can add text to your project.

To do that, instead of using the Shape Tool go to the Type tool and select a font type broad enough to make the effect noticeable. Then repeat the process of placing an image (it can be a different photo than the one you used for the shape) and creating a clipping mask.

image-filled text Photoshop tutorial

And again, since the image is intact underneath, you can come back and edit the text anytime you want. Have fun!

image-filled text Photoshop tutorial edit type

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Tips for Doing Drone Photography and How it Improve All Your Images

28 Aug

In this article, I’ll share with you some of my experiences doing drone photography in my first month with my new flying camera. You’ll see how learning to use and fly a drone can help you improve all your photography as well.

Lessons Learned from Drone-4.jpg

Getting into drone photography

A filmmaker friend of mine brought his DJI Mavic Pro (a small drone with a built-in 12-megapixel camera) to our house several months ago. I told him that I’d been thinking about all the photos I could take if I had a drone. He insisted that I try his out, so I did.

Bad move. I probably raved about it far more than was wise. My family took my enthusiasm seriously. Thus, for a combined Father’s Day/Birthday/Christmas present (since these flying cameras don’t come cheap), they got me a DJI Mavic Pro. I then owned a drone. And had no idea what to do with it.

You may be in the same situation if you’ve recently purchased a drone or are considering doing so. If you’re still determining which one to get, check out this helpful overview. Or take a look at these tips and reasons why you might want a drone.

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 2

What we’ll focus on here are the issues no one tells you about when you do finally get a drone. Learn how to speed up the learning curve and some surprising discoveries about how using a drone can make you an overall better photographer.

Take time to learn the basics

How long it will take you to learn to fly your drone depends in part on the drone you get. With the DJI Mavic Pro, I spent time reading the manual (somewhat helpful), watching the DJI videos (more helpful) and then watching other people’s YouTube videos (super helpful).

Even if you’re a “forget the instructions, let’s get going” type of person, spend time watching some of these videos. It will be worth the effort since not everything about your drone, especially from a photography perspective, will be intuitive. Besides, you can do it while your batteries are charging.

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 3

On most drones, the controller connects to your smartphone. Your phone’s screen becomes your remote viewfinder. Let’s state what may seem obvious but isn’t if you’ve never owned a drone.

You need a smartphone to fly most drones for photography purposes.

It took me three days of trying to get the detested DJI app (just read the app reviews and you’ll see what I mean) to work only to find that it was incompatible with my older phone. I switched to my wife’s phone and voila, everything suddenly worked.

If your drone doesn’t connect immediately once you download the app, it’s likely the app/phone combo. My advice is to focus on solving the phone/app connection first.

Starting to fly

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 17

The first time I actually flew the drone, I freaked out seeing it go up so high. The second time, not so much. The third time, I stopped looking at the aircraft (which, DJI reminds you repeatedly, is the proper name for the device, not a drone. Drones shoot missiles and spy on terrorists. Aircraft are, well, aircraft, I guess, even if this one can fold up and fit in a purse).

Instead, I just watched the screen. That is much easier. In short, while you want to have your drone in visual range at all times so you’re aware of hazards (that’s actually the law in most areas), concentrate mostly on your screen and you’ll gain confidence in flying it faster.

Learning how to make photos

I posted my first drone shots on Instagram and found some nice folks out there who liked them and have inspired me with their own drone photos. After looking at their photos (I’m only concentrating on photos initially, videos will come later), it gave me additional ideas on how to use my aircraft as a photography tool.

Here are some of the lessons learned in my first month of flying:

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 6

Learn to fly before you learn to shoot

This means finding a really open space and learning the controls well so don’t have to consciously think about every lever and button and what it does. You’ll have plenty of time for making photos later. Get the feel of the aircraft now.

Visualize before you take off

On the Mavic Pro, you get about 26 minutes of flying time on each battery (so definitely consider buying extras). Because of that, try to visualize your shots before you take off so you’re not spending that precious 26 minutes of battery life just flying around aimlessly.

You must realize, however, that when you first start working with a drone, everything will look different from above. Don’t worry. As you get more experienced, you’ll learn how to “read” a scene better and you’ll spend less time searching and more time setting up the shots you want.

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 13

Shoot RAW

Consider photographing in RAW (the camera’s native format for images as opposed to JPEGs) if you know how to process them in a program light Lightroom. For me, it is too hard to see all the lighting nuances on my phone screen. RAW gives me more latitude than JPEGs for fixing later.

Consider bracketing your shots as well (if your drone has that feature) to allow for even greater flexibility with exposure.

Don’t let the initial images fool you

DJI’s RAW files look pretty bad right out of the camera. But pump up the Blacks (for contrast) and increase the Vibrancy and the images can be stunning. Overall, the camera and the Mavic Pro aircraft are surprisingly good.

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 11

Learn the focus and metering buttons

Switching between the focus and metering buttons is easy once you locate them on the controller. Both are very useful since you get strong contrasts from the air.

At first, I blew out a lot of highlights. Once I learned to meter on the right areas of the scene, my photos improved dramatically. Start by sticking with the auto functions of the camera but quickly learn and use the other focus and metering functions available.

Consider getting a polarizer

Lessons Learned from Drone photography

A polarizing filter reduces glare but you can’t just twist it like a circular polarizer on your DSLR (it’s a bit out of reach when the drone is 300 feet above you). You can only adjust it by changing the angle of the aircraft which isn’t always helpful when composing a particular shot.

But the polarizer does protect the lens and makes the sky pop in your images. My next purchase will be some ND (Neutral Density) filters to knock down even more of the light and glare. Because you’re shooting from above, you’ll experience new angles of light that you don’t usually get with traditional photography.

Pay attention to the weather

Wind and moisture are big limiters in some areas. I recently returned from a trip to England (yes, most airlines allow drones on board as long as your batteries are in your carry-on) and was only able to fly the aircraft three times in 10 days.

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 8

Mostly, it was either rainy (moisture will ruin your battery) or too windy. But I did learn that I can fly in more wind than I initially thought, up to about eight mph of wind. I have gotten the high wind warning on the controller (which warns you about wind, if you’re in a restricted area or are too close to an object), but otherwise, no problems. But use your own discretion as one bad gust could ruin your day and your aircraft.

Don’t fly too high

Overhead shots can become more intriguing when you limit your altitude. As the photo above of the couple reveals (shot at a height of about 12 feet/three meters), you can get great images with a drone that no one but you will even know were shot with a drone.

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 10

Play with the color

Because sunlight is hitting the subject from a different angle than you’re used to, that will affect the color of your photos in surprising ways. Some familiar objects such as trees will be more vibrant when shot from above than from the side.

Just be prepared to experiment a good deal in your editing software with color.

Compensate for parallax

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 5

There’s a parallax phenomenon that takes time to understand. Compare the photos of two bridges above and below. In the first, I wasn’t directly over the bridge and the photo isn’t as good as the second one where I took the time to turn the drone sideways while rotating it at the same time to get the shot lined up perfectly.

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 7

It seems simple until you try it. But with practice, you’ll learn little tricks on how to maneuver your drone to get the shot you want. And the image stabilization, at least in my Mavic Pro, worked better than expected. Thus, if you can line up the shot, you’ll likely get a good image.

Start with photographs

As noted, I’ve held off on shooting more than quick snippets of video. Why? Because with still photography, the aircraft is essentially a floating platform that I can nudge into position. If my turns are awkward, it doesn’t matter.

But when you’re shooting video, flying is everything (or a whole lot). You want your aircraft’s movements to flow smoothly. In my first month of periodic flying, I just wasn’t experienced enough for video. But I did ask my friend Randy (who’s had a drone about as long as I have) about his experience with video.

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 18

He noted that a) videos are smoother when you lower the frame per second rate, and b) it’s far better to keep the focus on a single element rather than panning around to capture everything at once.

Learn how to avoid obstacles

In the early stages, you’ll likely be a bit freaked out by trees or other objects that seem to reach out toward your drone. Personally, I haven’t yet gotten close enough for the aircraft to employ its obstacle avoidance procedures.

Randy tested the sensors out by flying his aircraft directly at him. He figured that unlike flying into a tree, he could move out of the way if the sensors failed. As it turns out, they worked great. The aircraft stopped a few feet before him.

You still want to fly carefully, but it is nice to know you have the sensors working for you.

Recognize the limitations of where you can fly

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 12

There are restrictions where you can fly your drone (no national parks, no crowded areas, no flying near airports, etc.) but there are still vast regions you can explore by air that you can’t when tied to the ground. Also, scenes that look boring from the ground (a wheat field, for example), take on new possibilities when viewed from above. You just have to rethink what makes for a great image.

Try direct overhead photos

Shots taken directly overhead will likely be more intriguing to you when you first start. Remember when Instagram was first getting going? Everyone took photos of their feet because they were more enamored with the filters on Instagram than in taking great photos.

You’ll likely soon grow to improve and get better shots at angles, but as a beginner, the direct overhead shot is fun because it is a completely new way of seeing things. And don’t rule them out even as you get better. You’ll still find scenes where the direct overhead shot tells the best story.

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 15

Compare, for example, the two shots of the wrecked fishing boat above and below. Which is better? It’s all a matter of taste, but now you have options.

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 16

Learn to shoot at angles

Angled images are tougher to shoot at just the right height, distance and direction than direct overhead ones. But they don’t scream “DRONE SHOT” the way some higher-altitude-direct-overhead photos do.

Also, a benefit of angled shots is that you can isolate your subject from distracting foreground or background items. For example, in the shot of the ruined church above, using a drone allowed me to avoid several unwanted foreground elements.

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 9

Photograph like a designer

Back to direct overhead shots, another benefit is that they can help you think differently about photography. You may, in fact, start perceiving the world more from a design perspective, being more aware of line, texture, patterns, and colors.

You’ll see shapes, arrangements and interesting connections you wouldn’t otherwise just because you’re viewing scenes from different heights and angles. Check out these 11 drone tips for inspiring examples of using design principles in your photography.

Lessons Learned from Drone photography 14

The added benefits of photographing with a drone

For most photographers, a good quality drone is a luxury, not a necessity. But its greatest value isn’t just in allowing you to take photos you cannot without it. It’s helping you to make better photos even when you’re not using it simply because it will cause you to rethink how you see a scene and thus make a photo.

When I was in college, I played on the school’s tennis team. Part of the training included a class on how to teach others to play the game. For the month that the class lasted, each participant had to play using his or her non-dominant hand. Not easy.

Shooting with the drone/aircraft is similar. Because it is initially so unfamiliar, it will rewire how your brain thinks about the subject you’re photographing and how to compose the image the best way. Without a drone, your photography will likely be two-dimensional and you’ll probably continue shooting in the same way as you always have.

With a drone, you have to factor in height and different angle possibilities. That, in turn, will affect your more terrestrial shots as well since you’ll see more possibilities than you did before.

It may take time to master drone photography. But along the way, you’ll likely capture some surprising and astounding images. And best of all, you may become a better overall photographer as a result.

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The Illusion of Photography and the Miracle of Sight

27 Aug

The photographic process is a grand illusion from top to bottom. Think about it. Everything about the process is visual trickery. Photography provides a reasonable facsimile of real-life perception, and luckily, your brain’s visual cortex is very forgiving and willing to play along with this ruse.

Here’s what I mean.

Illusion of Photography CameraLensEye

Your brain is pretty smart; way smarter, adaptable and intelligent than we sometimes give it credit for. Human perception takes place on a completely different level than photography (or even videography). But photographic science and advanced camera functions do hold certain advantages over nature’s system. Here’s a look at a comparison of the two systems.

Motion / Still Life

Your camera is able to capture slices of time and literally freeze motion in its tracks. Camera shutter speeds slice and dice life into instances of time lasting just thousandths of a second each. Only when we fail to set the shutter speed and (ISO) sensitivity properly are objects in motion recorded as a blur.

Illusion of Photography Motion Blur

Your eyes, on the other hand, have rarely seen anything absolutely still, unless it is a rock formation or building. Even then, our view is constantly changing simply because our body moves continually.

While your eyes capture thousands of frames each second, they process the images quite differently than your camera. They stream high-speed snapshots to your brain’s visual cortex – two at a time (right and left views) providing dimension and shape. And they do this all day, every day. No batteries or memory cards are required.

Your eyes shift and refresh their view thousands of times every second to paint complete three-dimensional moving scenes in your mind. This is perpetual “streaming” at the speed of light.

Video

The illusion of moving pictures (or movies) comes close to replicating what human eyes perceive as motion. The action portrayed in motion pictures is accomplished when single-frame images are flashed onto a screen sequentially at the same speed that they were recorded. The process works effectively to simulate what the human eye processes at much higher rates.

The major difference is the processing speed. Specific video codecs (computer word for the compression and decompression process) involve industry-standard capture/playback speeds (frames-per-second) designed to match the processing power of various playback systems. Videos are recorded and played back at speeds up to 60/fps to trick the eye into perceiving motion instead of seeing individual frames flickering by.

Autofocus and Blurred Backgrounds

The camera focuses on a single plane or depth of field and blurs the rest of the picture. You have the option to automatically focus on all subjects in the scene or select specific pinpoint areas.

If you set the camera to autofocus, you must remember that the camera always seeks and focuses on the objects with the highest contrast ratio in the scene. To control this you may select between face detection, autofocus tracking, multiple focus points (zone focus) or overall scene settings to tell the camera your preference.

Camera focus is all about managing the blur; making the eye concentrate on a particular part of the scene.

Illusion of Photography Autofocus Blur

Your eyes don’t really see blurs at all. They automatically focus on the single subject of your attention and gradually defocus and separate the view of the non-subject areas. This is quite different than camera “bokeh.” Close one eye and view a scene in the room, then switch eyes and notice how the background shifts.

The human eye displaces subjects in the background while the camera attempts to blur them. We’ve been conditioned to accept photo blurs as if they are a part of real life, even though they aren’t!

Two Versus Three-Dimensionality

Single lens cameras capture only two-dimensional images; with height and width. Items in focus are limited to a single defined “plane,” or distance from the camera. The dimension of depth is simulated by blurring objects which are not in perfect focus.

Your eyes never observe scenes in only two dimensions; they see every scene in three dimensions, through two converged horizontal viewpoints, your left, and right eyes. Your eyes adjust and shift focal length almost instantaneously. Only recently has Hollywood caught onto the 3-D trick.

Dimension, like depth, is perceived visually by slightly defocusing and horizontally shifting the two scenes behind the object in focus. This differs significantly from the camera’s method of simply blurring and softening the background. While depth can be simulated, dimension cannot be. Dimension requires a process called parallax, a word derived from the French “parallaxe” meaning “fact of seeing wrongly.”

Depth of Field

The camera uses its single lens to capture subjects from a direct frontal view. With the camera, you can also determine how much of the scene you want in focus by a managing the depth of field (DOF); blurring both the foreground and background for emphasis.

You can’t do this with your eyes. If you concentrate on an object close to you, pretty much everything behind the subject will automatically be defocussed.

Illusion of Photography DOF

Each of your two eyes sees that same subject from a slightly horizontally-offset angle, which is a very good thing! This overlapping, crisscross view allows you to see enough of the sides of each subject to sense dimension, judge distances, and safely navigate your way around obstacles. When the eye’s two views are combined, they provide a unique depth and dimension to your perception.

Try walking around when viewing the scene ONLY through your camera’s viewfinder and you’ll notice the difference.

Sphere of Focus

Camera lenses all have one thing in common. When they focus on an object a measured distance from the lens, everything else in the scene (the same distance from the lens) is also in focus. The optical nature of the spherical shape of the lens makes this happen. When you employ a wide angle lens, you can see everything in the scene in near-perfect focus.

Illusion of Photography Sphere of Focus

The human eye is quite different. Our focus on a subject is actually limited to a very small radius of view, between 7-10° wide. Everything outside that window appears defocused; not blurred, but just out of sharp focus.

While our peripheral vision spans nearly 180°, only a very tight circle of view appears totally focused. The way we perceive entire scenes by our eyes is constantly shifting and sending patches of focus to the cerebral cortex, which paints a momentary scene in our mind.

Try staring at one word on this screen. You’ll notice that unless your attention shifts slightly, the words on either side of that word aren’t really “in focus.” The real magic is that both of your eyes have this agility and they both work in perfect unison, viewing the same exact spot and shifting together at precisely the same moment.

Monochrome

All digital cameras are able to record images using only the luminosity channel producing “black-and-white” images. Monochrome photographic images remove all chrominance (color) information and rely only on single color contrast (luminance) to portray the scene.

Photography’s earliest roots are in black and white photography as the development of film emulsions were able to capture only luminance (monochrome) values with the light-sensitive silver halide particles. Even color films used this same monochromatic process but added color filters to capture individual RGB light waves.

Illusion of Photography Monochrome

Your eyes have never experienced this phenomenon except in photographic reproduction. The eye’s rods and cones that make up the image receptors interpret every scene in full color. Red, green, and blue receptors in your eyes perform this same service for your vision.

This characteristic of photography is perhaps the most bazar example of visual forgiveness, though the eye’s rods (more receptive to the green frequency of light) are most able to perceive forms and shapes under very low lighting conditions. This is why identifying colors in low light is so difficult. Not coincidentally, the green channel of color digital photography captures the most realistic monochromatic information.

Zoom, Wide Angle, and Telephoto

You probably own either a zoom lens, a fixed-focus telephoto, or a wide-angle lens for your camera. These variable distance lenses allow you to capture scenes either closer or farther away than your eyes typically see. Your human eyes are “fixed” on a 1:1 or “real-time” vantage point.

If you want to see a subject at a different distance, you have to adjust your personal distance to the subject or view the world through magnifying lenses like binoculars.

Resolution

Illusion of Photography Resolution

Here’s another area where photographic systems hold an advantage over human vision. When ultra-sharp lenses are coupled with high megapixel image sensors, the number of pixels available to publish a photo far exceeds the size and magnification capabilities of human vision. When pixels are displayed small enough to escape detection (roughly 100 per inch), image projection and reproduction sizes are nearly limitless.

Autofocus

Your camera can capture a scene in which everything is in near-perfect focus. From an object just feet away to a mountain five miles away, everything is sharp and clear. It is impossible for your eyes to view entire scenes in perfect focus, though photographic prints depend on the brain’s forgiving acceptance of this abnormal interpretation.

Y0ur eyes very rarely maintain the same focus for any period of time. Your brain stays hungry for visual information and your eyes know how to satisfy that appetite. Your eyes shift their attention rapidly to maintain their focus on moving objects.

Try staring at this page for more than 15 seconds and you’ll probably notice your eyes shifting briefly before returning to the word you were reading. Your eyes and brain have an insatiable visual appetite and a boundless curiosity.

Pixels, Dots, and Spots

And then there’s the whole pixel/halftone illusion itself. Your eyes register nature’s colors as continuous tones, colors that have no stages or gradations. A feat we graphic illusionists have never been able to reproduce. Every image we reproduce has to be broken down into minuscule particles of color so small that human vision cannot readily identify them individually (I’ve exaggerated the pixels and halftone dot sizes for those who don’t know the trick).

Something to think about

For all the similarities between the camera and the human eye, there are just as many (if not more) differences.

But in spite of those differences, we would be much the poorer without the precision of the human eye and the features of the digital camera. Appreciate both systems for what they add to your perception of life.

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How to Use Selective Color for More Dynamic Images

27 Aug

Semi black and white or selective color photos are quite effective. It’s an old trick by some photographers considered a cheap trick, nevertheless, it is a quite effective one. And just because it’s an old idea it should not hold you back from experimenting with it.

Learn How to Use the Strength of Selective Color - old ship in Denmark

A selective color photograph of the Viking ship “The Sea Stallion” in Roskilde, Denmark.

In this article, you will learn a couple of different ways to make selective color photos and you how to spot or photograph the candidates. It’s not a technique that is applicable to all photographs, but for some, it can make a big difference.

You most likely already know some famous selective color photos. A classic image is of a 7-year old boy kissing a 7-year old girl while holding a red rose, where the flower is the only thing in color. Or a photo of a red bicycle, and everything else but the bicycle is black and white.

These examples are probably part of the reason the technique is considered a cheap trick.

street in europe at night with orange lights - Learn How to Use the Strength of Selective Color

Background information

Before diving into the technique, you might want to know the theory. The pioneer landscape photographer Ansel Adams used a technique in his darkroom to change the exposure locally on various parts of a photo. This way he could make some areas brighter and others darker.

The human eye naturally seeks the brighter parts of a photo and by using this knowledge, Ansel Adams could emphasize what he wanted and guide the viewer around in his photos. This technique is called dodging and burning.

selective color landscape scene - Learn How to Use the Strength of Selective Color

You can use a similar technique with colors. Just as the human eye is attracted to bright areas in an image, it is also attracted to more saturated areas. In this way, it is very similar to dodging and burning. You can use this as a tool to guide the viewer’s eye around a photo.

Just to be clear: It is the difference in saturation that the eye can spot not just high saturation. If you have even saturation all over your photo, you can’t control the eye through color. Increasing or decreasing the overall saturation will not change that situation and if everything gets too saturated it often becomes painful to look at.

If you only turn up the saturation on certain objects of interest in your photo, the eye will seek those out. This way you will be able to guide the viewer to the important objects in your photo.

Chicago the Bean - Learn How to Use the Strength of Selective Color

You can achieve the same effect by decreasing the saturation from everything else but the subject. If you go to the extreme end and completely remove all color, except a few elements, you will have a semi-black and white or selective color photo.

By using this technique you will create stronger photos.

The classic technique to create selective color photos

You can create the classic “boy kisses girl” or “red bike” photographs, but you can also go searching for something else. This example is from the famous Nyhavn in Copenhagen. These old houses are very colorful, which can look great, but also can be quite an eyeful of colors.

row of houses in Copenhagen - Learn How to Use the Strength of Selective Color

By removing colors from all houses except the two yellow ones, the attention is strong on those two houses. Any house or two houses picked to be saturated, would attract attention, but the two picked are good candidates, because:

They are both the same color, which creates balance.
They are approximately the same size, which also adds to creating balance.
Most importantly, they have symmetrical placement in the photo.

Composition

Notice that the houses are placed the same distance from the edge of the frame. That emphasizes the composition and makes it a stronger photo than most other available choices.

Notice also that the windows between the two yellow houses have some color. That is a spice that allows the viewer to discover more subtle details, making the image more interesting to look at.

Learn How to Use the Strength of Selective Color

You can use the selective color approach to create a different kind of composition within your photo. You can plan this when you are photographing. Or, as I did in this case, you can discover it when you post-process the photos. It is the final result that counts, not the path you chose to get there.

The next photo is a similar example from a metro station. Again you can see the clearly separated colored stairs. Just like before, you can also find a little spice in the blue color added to the stairs. You can do that kind of trick to make the image more intriguing.

red and blue stairs - Learn How to Use the Strength of Selective Color

If you want to create photographs like these, search for something that you can make stand out. Then frame it, like it was more or less the only object within the frame. You have to think of it as a very simple composition, even if it is a busy scene.

When you desaturate the rest of the image, the balance will change. The colored elements will be the primary focus points, regardless of everything else in the photo.

How to make a classic selective color photo

There are several ways to do this, in this example, you will learn an easy-to-learn approach in Adobe Lightroom. First, you have to find the photo that you want to work on and then follow these steps.

Step 1 – Go to the Development Module

Lightroom Develop - How to Use Selective Color for More Dynamic Images

Step 2 – Pick the Adjustment Brush tool

Step 3 – Set brush settings

At first, make sure you have edge detection (Auto Mask) disabled and the brush is at 100% flow and 100% density. Then reset all settings (double-click on the word Effect) except Saturation, which you will then set to -100.

Step 4 – Paint everything black and white

How to Use Selective Color for More Dynamic Images

Step 5 – Switch to the Erase brush

Step 6 – Paint in the objects you want to have color

Set the size of the brush to something that is fitting for your subject and paint roughly over it. The Erase Brush will remove the black and white, and you will get a colored object.

Step 7 – Zoom in and make sure you have the edges right

Next Zoom in (press Z) and switch between the Brush and the Erase Brush to make a perfect edge.

Depending on your photo, you may have to use either Feather at 0 or you may be able to use Auto Mask, which is the automatic edge detection. In this case, the Auto Mask cannot figure out the edge and I had to use a brush at 0 Feather (hard edge brush).

How to Use Selective Color for More Dynamic Images

Remove some colors

You can also use a different approach. Instead of limiting the colors to a specific object, you can remove certain colors. This approach works well on photos that have unwanted colors or a color cast.

In the example below of the Vikingship, the photograph was shot during the blue hour. Because the blue light reflects in the snow it becomes too much and it is not flattering. By removing the Blues and the Cyan/Aquas the photo changes and becomes a piece of fine art. Use the HSL panel to do this.

How to Use Selective Color for More Dynamic Images - before and after images

Just by removing blue and cyan/aqua a photo can become a piece of fine art.

This technique gives photos that have a much more complex separation between the black and white and the colored elements and the viewer can go searching for details. In the photo above, you can find a second Viking ship with Christmas lights on in the background.

Here’s another example from The Scoop in London. There was a light drizzle, which was enough for the blue light to shine and appear to glow into the air. By removing all other colors than blue and purple the photo is changed dramatically.

This third photograph below is from a train station in Geneva.

If you study the photos you can see the colored selections are much more complex and not something you can do by hand.

The photograph from London is about the shape of The Scoop. The original photograph had an orange sky, which did not work well with the blue light of The Scoop. By using the selective color black and white technique, the focus is on The Scoop.

How to remove individual colors

You can very easily remove specific colors in Adobe Lightroom. Find the photo you want to work with.

Step 1 – Go to the Develop Module

How to Use Selective Color for More Dynamic Images

Step 2 – Go to the HSL module

HSL panel
Play with pulling some of the sliders to zero and leaving some at 100. You may have to dial several of the sliders to zero to achieve the desired effect.

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Mirrorless Cameras and Wedding Photography – A Match Made in Heaven?

26 Aug

Can you use mirrorless cameras for wedding photography? My answer is yes you can, absolutely. Why not?

That doesn’t mean mirrorless is for every photographer. I will preface this discussion by saying that your camera is a tool, and it’s all personal taste. No camera is perfect, neither is any photographer. It’s about using what fits.

mirrorless cameras and weddings - two kids at a wedding

I can promise you that many professional wedding photographers will shun the idea of trusting a mirrorless camera for the job of photographing weddings. Some of the best in the world will say that. In turn, some of the best wedding photographers in the world use mirrorless cameras. Some of the naysayers’ concerns are valid, some are ignorant.

Switching over to mirrorless

I will share my experiences and you can use that to help you make an informed decision. I’ve used Fuji mirrorless cameras as my exclusive platform since July of 2014. It started with me needing to upgrade my 7 and 9-year-old Canon 1D series SLRs and being rather unexcited with my upgrade options.

mirrorless cameras - black and white wedding candid photo

My friend at my local camera shop had recently switched from Nikon to Fuji mirrorless and let me play with his camera. It was a rangefinder design and had a lot of resemblance to retro film cameras. It was fun to use and due to its smaller size, it wasn’t a daunting task to take it everywhere. So I picked up a Fuji XT-1 of my own.

This was 2014 when mirrorless technology was still in its infancy and didn’t have the capabilities it does today. It was a rocky 3-4 month learning curve, and some of it was frustrating, especially as I tried to incorporate the Fuji into my professional work.

mirrorless cameras wedding candid photo

Something was different about my work so I stuck with it. When getting used to a different platform, logic should prevail that you have to learn that system, not expect it to work as you think it should. That principle is a hard one to swallow for many. It requires you to think differently, it requires you to change. Sometimes that can do wonders for your inspiration and overall work.

What is different?

When I was getting used to the Fuji system, it seemed that few photographers really understood the system, and we would just learn it together. The image goes straight from the lens to the sensor, there is no mirror inside the camera body. It also uses a contrast phase detection autofocus.

Mirrorless Cameras and Wedding Photography - bride in black and white

In the early days before improved sensors, firmware updates, and faster lenses, the camera hunting for focus was a huge issue. Particularly in low light and in points of lower contrast.

Today, the technology is greatly improved, but there are still advantages an SLR has over mirrorless, particularly for sports and rapid-fire shooters. But anyone who loves the mirrorless system can use it for any kind of professional work. If you learn the system.

What really changed?

Mirrorless Cameras and Wedding Photography - couple getting married

For me, getting used to the mirrorless system changed how I worked and shifted many things about my whole approach. The biggest was using all prime lenses, where before I was using all zoom lenses.

The primes are faster to focus and have better depth of field control from the available Fuji lens lineup. That made me move my feet and become more strategic with my composition. It’s been easier to rely on fewer focal lengths and pick my most versatile lenses.

Mirrorless Cameras and Wedding Photography - couple toasting

I’ve worked closely with the subjects and have become more deliberate with my work. More negative space in my composition and more watching and waiting for the shot, less rapid fire. The tack sharp glass and amazing Fuji color, the electronic viewfinder, and compact size made the system a joy to use.

The things that at first seem to be shortcomings can actually help us become stronger artists through patience and adaptability. My whole point of discussing these past issues is it emphasizes the transition that was required then, and many didn’t make it through. Which is neither right or wrong. The point is that anyone who wants to learn the system has better tools to do so in the present day.

Why or why not to use mirrorless cameras for wedding photography

Mirrorless Cameras and Wedding Photography - first dance b/w

No one can address the future of photography as far as SLR, mirrorless, etc. Nor should that matter. Here are some key facts that may help offer an inside perspective.

Battery life isn’t as long as SLR cameras so spares are needed. You can disable the live electronic viewfinder and switch to optical which helps.

Most mirrorless wedding photographers use two active bodies. You can use a harness or wear one around your neck with your most used lens, and have another camera at your hip with a side holster – just as an example. There’s something more deliberate about primes, and less of a clinical look.

Mirrorless Cameras and Wedding Photography - dance and kiss

There are limitations with TTL flash and mirrorless cameras. The options are to work with that and use manual, which I always have anyway, or not use flash. Which is not always an option.

Pixel peeping and stressing over crop sensor (APS-C)

NOTE: Sony does make full-frame mirrorless bodies if it bothers you that much, or you can stick with your DSLR.

Those people stressing over the smaller sensor make no sense to me. Only other photographers notice noise or will pick an image apart for technical imperfections.