Category: Photography

How to do Visual Storytelling with Photos
The old adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words”, essentially means that what you can see in one image would take many words to describe the contents, the action, the emotion, what it’s about, and so on. It’s visual storytelling. One powerful picture can evoke an instant response and connection. It allows people to shape what they see, tell its story to them in their words.

Think of some of the most iconic images in history – the sailor kissing the girl in a crowded street by Alfred Eisenstaedt, the Migrant Mother holding her children during the depression by Dorothea Lange, Clearing Winter Storm by Ansel Adams. They are all powerful images that tell a story with impact.

Sometimes we want to tell more of a story of a place or an event, where we can take many images and tell much more of the story. This allows us to include extra detail elements, wider scene-setting shots, and have the action covered from different angles or points of view.

Doing this provides new challenges. The overall story needs to make sense, have a beginning/middle/end sequence, as well as have some action or conflict and possibly resolution. So the challenge is not just to take enough images to cover what is happening, but to then blend them into a coherent story which makes sense to the viewer.

What does it take to do visual storytelling with photos?

Here are some tips to help you increase the visual storytelling elements of your images.

Example images below

A 90-minute drive from where I live is a small village called Akaroa. It was settled in the 1840s by French settlers and later other Europeans, who shared it with the local Maori tribes. The history of the area is very important and celebrated every year with a weekend festival, starting with a parade featuring descendants of original settlers. I went along with my camera a couple of years ago and spent the weekend wandering around.

This is a context statement (see #4 below) and comments have been added to some images to provide further context.

1. Answer the five key questions
1. What is happening?
2. Who is there?
3. Why is it happening?
4. Where is it happening?
5. When is it happening?
In relation to the festival. first I needed some scenery shots – this is the where.

Looking back up Akaroa Harbour to the Village, with Banks Peninsula hills in the background.

Akaroa main wharf.

Include any well-known landmarks in the area – things that will easily visually identify it to anyone who has been there or seen them before. This helps give a sense of place and tells more of the where story.

2. Framing a sequence of events

Instead of trying to cram everything into one big image, where it can be confusing, shoot a series of more specific shots that relate to each other and tell the story that way.

Sequencing – is there a group of images you can put together that tell their own story?

3. Story structure

Your visual storytelling needs certain elements included to help it make sense, tell the story you want it to, and engage the viewer. This is called narrative. Essential elements of story structure include:
- Introduction – Sets the scene, introduces important characters, sets the tone and theme.
- Plot – What is happening, who is it happening to, what are the outcomes?
What about the event? where is all the color and excitement? This is the What and the Who and the Why – which are all part of the plot.

I liked the contrast of the Maori woman and child in their native dress, against the bold red of the brass band.

Children in native Maori dress followed up by the descendants of French and German settlers in period style clothing.

Everyone enjoying the beautiful day out.
- Themes – Your images should be linked in obvious, but subtle ways, to each other and this can be done in different ways:
  - Visual – Repeating elements (e.g. street signs), color (have a limited color palette or always show an element of a single color in each image).
  - Style – Have a consistent style in the way the images are shot or are processed, using a specific focal length or lens.
  - Consistency – Shooting the same subject but in different places or situations (e.g. interesting doorways, statues, manhole covers, all in different cities or countries) or shooting the same subject over time (a pregnancy story, or engagement to wedding day story).
  - Relationships – Between people or elements in an environment.
And as is traditional in Akaroa, dinner at the end of the day is fish and chips from the local shop by the beach, and ever-present seagulls fighting over a chip.

Note this isn’t the story as I would necessarily tell it visually, but examples of different shots of a place and an event to give you an idea of the things to look out for.

One of the things I did do is provide some consistency with the way they are edited, so tonally they are all the same, other than the variations in color temperature of the sun at different times of the day.

4. Context

The relationship of all the images to each other provide the overall context for the story to be structured within and therefore viewed. So when you are building your visual story you need to have an idea of the context to frame it all within. Otherwise, it could appear to be a group of random images that may or may not be visually related in some way.

It may be that a short textual description or explanation sets the scene and provides the viewer with enough context to assimilate the images within. However, that option may not always be available so plan your story so that it can stand alone on its own visual merits.

Final examples

Are there any local characters you should include? This is part of the Who.

Is there any interesting architecture that helps tell the story – like in this instance, some historical buildings?

This older building has been modernised but the date gives testament to its origins. The decorative street lamps add extra flavor.

Akaroa embraces its French history with red/white/blue featuring strongly, and many places and streets are French names.

Detail shots are also nice to include, they can add flavor to the series, and interest with different points of view. Use them to tell parts of the story.

This guy was clearly important but I didn’t catch his name.

A confession

I have a confession to make. The reality is that these images are actually sourced from about three different trips. They were not all shot in one weekend for the purpose of illustrating my point, and to a certain extent, that shows in the coherence of them.

While a story could be cobbled together from these images (or other ones in my archive) they were not all shot with the idea of craft and doing visual storytelling. That shows the importance of thinking about this beforehand and shooting with intent. It means your final outcome should be the better for it.

Summary

Event or travel photography has its own challenges, and it may not always be possible for you to think about doing visual storytelling when you are in the midst of things. Maybe you don’t have to cover the whole event or trip – maybe, just a special portion of it catches your interest. Visual stories can be small and intimate too, they don’t have to be grand scale every time. A family birthday, the local school fair or market, a day out the beach, a walk in the park on a nice evening – three images, five more shots, and a few pairs of sequences.

Hopefully, this will give you enough of an idea to start thinking about telling a story with your images, it is not something I do enough myself, and if you have any tips, feel free to comment below.

The post How to do Visual Storytelling with Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
May 29, 2018
Tips for Choosing Between RAW Versus JPEG File Format
Perhaps one of the most commonly asked questions in digital photography is around which file type to use when shooting – JPEG or RAW file format. Don’t worry if you don’t know much about these two formats or whether your camera supports them. My goal, by the end of this article, is to help you understand what these two types are and help you pick the one that is right for you.

RAW Versus JPEG File Format

At the very basic level, both JPEG and RAW are types of files that the camera produces as its output. Most of the newer cameras today have both these options along with a few others like M-RAW, S-RAW, Large format JPEG, Small format JPEG, etc. – all of which determines the size of the final output file.

The easiest way to see which file formats are supported by your camera is to review your camera user manual – look for a section on file formats. Or you can go through the menu options of your camera and select Quality (for Nikon) or Image Quality (Canon) to select the file format.

Each file format has its advantages and disadvantages so choose the right option that works best for you. JPEGs are, in reality, RAW files that are processed in camera and compressed into that format. Some of the decisions the camera makes in processing the image may be difficult to change later, but the JPEG file sizes tend to be much smaller.

Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of both these file formats in greater detail.

Advantages of shooting RAW files
- It is easier to correct exposure mistakes with RAW files than with JPEGs and overexposed highlights can sometimes be rescued. For people like me who tend to always photograph at least 1/2 stop to 1 stop overexposed (based on my style of photography), this is really beneficial in saving many great images in post-production.
- The higher dynamic range means better ability to preserve both highlights and shadow details in a high contrast scene when the image is being recorded.
- White Balance corrections are easier to make.
- Decisions about sharpening, contrast, and saturation can be deferred until the image is processed on the computer.
- All the original image data is preserved. In fact, when RAW files are opened in post-production software like Lightroom, a virtual copy is made and used. Edits are made in a non-destructive format so the original RAW file is always available for changes at a later stage. This is very useful when you want to edit images in different ways at different times in your photographic career.
Left is the RAW file straight out of the camera. On the right is the finished edited image from the same file.

The image on the left (above) was completely blown out because I was in the car and did not have any of my settings correct. But because I photographed in RAW I was able to salvage so much detail in the image. This would not have been possible with a JPG file.

An image that was not properly exposed but photographed in RAW.

The edited image that was corrected in post-processing for exposure issues.

Disadvantages of RAW files
- RAW files tend to be much larger in size compared to JPEGs thereby requiring more storage, not just in camera but also on external storage devices or your computer hard drives.
- RAW images take longer to write to your memory card which means shorter bursts of continuous shooting. For example, my Canon 5D MIII can write about 12 RAW files continuously and about 30+ JPEG files in the continuous (burst) shooting mode. Check your camera manual for specifics around your own camera’s burst mode (a.k.a continuous photography mode).
- Not all programs can read RAW files. This used to be an issue, but now there are lots of great programs that can work directly with Raw files such as Adobe Lightroom, Canon’s Camera RAW, Luminar, On1 Raw, ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate, and other such programs.
Advantages of shooting JPEGs
- JPEG files are much smaller in size compared to RAW files and hence need less storage space – both in camera memory and on your computer hard drives.
- JPEG images write to disk more quickly which means longer bursts of continuous shooting opportunities especially during wildlife photography, fast action sports, or even dealing with little kids that are always on the move.
- These JPEG files can be instantly viewed with many programs including common web browsers, powerpoint, and other such common applications.
Disadvantages of JPEG files
- It is harder to fix exposure mistakes in post-production with JPEG files.
- JPEG files tend to have a smaller dynamic range of information that is stored and this often means less ability to preserve both highlights and shadow details in the image.
- White Balance corrections are more difficult with JPEG files.
- Decisions about sharpness, contrast, and saturation are set in the camera itself and in most cases, these are difficult to change later in post-production without destroying the image quality.
- Since a JPEG image is essentially a RAW image compressed in-camera, the camera’s computer makes decisions on what data to retain and which to toss out when compressing the file.
The same image when edited as a JPEG for exposure issues becomes a lot grainier than an underexposed RAW image. You cannot pull them as far as a RAW file.

Another old-school way to think about these two file types is as slides and negatives. JPEGs are like slides or transparencies and RAW files are like negatives. With JPEGs, most of the decisions about how the image will look are made before the shutter is pressed and there are fewer options for changes later. But RAW files almost always require further processing and adjustments – just like negatives.

Which format to choose?

Now that you understand the difference between RAW and JPEG images, deciding which one to use is dependent on a few different factors.
- Do you want to spend time in post-processing your images to your taste and photography style?
- Are there any issues with limited space on your camera’s memory card and/or computer hard drives?
- Do you have software and/or editing programs that will read RAW files easily?
- Do you intend to print your images or even share images online in a professional capacity?
Some photographers are intimidated by RAW images. I was as well when I had just gotten started in photography because I did not know the true power of a RAW image. However, once I started photographing in RAW there was no going back.

Even everyday snapshots are shot in RAW now because of the great flexibility I have in correcting any mistakes that I make. One of the most common mistakes that many photographers make is around image exposure and that is relatively easy to fix with RAW files.

I accidentally overexposed the setting sun and lost some of that golden warmth hitting the tree.

One of my favorite San Francisco cityscapes at sunset. I accidentally overexposed and lost the sun flare but was able to edit it and bring back that sunset warmth in post-production because it is a RAW file.

It’s getting easier to use RAW files

Traditionally the two main issues with RAW files seem to be fading every day:
1. The cost of memory to store or backup these RAW files is getting cheaper and cheaper by the day.
2. Software that can read RAW files is more readily available. In fact, there is even inexpensive and free software that can read these RAW files now.
There is still the issue of write speed for your camera. If you focus on fast-moving subjects like wildlife or sports photography then perhaps write speed is a key factor in deciding whether to photograph in RAW versus JPEG. So for fast moving objects and/or wildlife and birding photos, JPEG may be a better choice.

Another thing to note is that most of the newer cameras have the ability to capture both JPEG and RAW images at the same time. But this takes up even more storage space and might not be the best use of memory. You are better off just picking one option and sticking with that.

Waterfall images using a slow shutter speed tend to blow out the background but editing a RAW image in Lightroom helps bring back some of the highlights.

Conclusion

I hope this was helpful in not only understanding the differences between RAW versus JPEG file formats but also in helping you decide which one to choose and why. So tell me, do you belong to the RAW or the JPEG camp?!

The post Tips for Choosing Between RAW Versus JPEG File Format appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
May 28, 2018
Review of the Tiffen Variable Neutral Density Filter

In this review, I’d like to show you the Tiffen Variable Neutral Density Filter and give you my thoughts on it.

The markings on the edge indicate the strength being applied. Here it is set to MIN (minimum) or the lowest setting.

What is an ND or neutral density filter?

A neutral density filter is a piece of glass that goes in front of your lens in order to reduce the amount of light that enters the camera. One of its biggest purposes is to allow you to shoot at your desired aperture and shutter speed combination without worrying about it being too bright outside and your photos being overexposed.

This also grants you the capability to create beautiful motion blurs (using a long exposure) without worrying too heavily about lighting conditions. All of this being said, the main drawback of neutral density filters is needing to carry so many different ones of varying shades and densities.

Notice how the light from outside the window is overexposed, except for the part coming through the filter. The ND filter is blocking light and here you can clearly see the difference with the filter and without.

The Tiffen Variable Neutral Density Filter

The Tiffen Variable ND Filter aims to change that fact. By simply rotating the outer part of the filter, you can adjust it from an approximate range of two (ND 0.6) to eight (ND 2.4) stops. The profile of the ring is 9mm, so it’s rather thin and easy to maneuver.

The Tiffen Variable ND filter operates on the same principle as a circular polarizer, granting full manual capabilities to adjust your frame however you see fit. As such, the stops marked on the filter itself are intended to be used as reference points and do not actually signify official stops.

Like other Tiffen filters, the variable ND filter is made in the USA and sports high-quality optical glass using Tiffen’s ColorCore® technology. The kit includes a padded case and built-in lens-cloth to aid in the portability of this filter.

ISO: 100, shutter speed: 1/1600th, f/1.2 – the use of the filter here allowed me to shoot wide open even in bright sunlight.

How I use this filter with my photography

I will preface to say that although I should be using ND filters more in my work, I seldom do. I acquired this filter blind, having not used NDs often in my work. As someone who is consistently at the mercy of my client’s schedules, the Tiffen variable ND filter provided an apt solution to sessions booked around the infamous noon hour.

Motion blurs are not a common part of my photography – but I have now begun using the variable ND filter every single day to preserve my love of shallow-depths-of-field and wide apertures in unfavorable lighting conditions.

ISO: 100, shutter speed: 1/8000th, f/1.2 – this exposure combination would result in overexposure in the bright sun without the use of the Tiffen Variable ND filter.

In real-life use of this filter, it was great to be able to visually see how the adjustments affected the image and maintain the integrity of the shot I wanted to take. Many of my clients enjoy my stylistic aesthetic of consistently using very low aperture numbers and a shallow depth of field in my work. This filter allows me to maintain this effect even on the brightest of days.

ISO: 100, Shutter Speed: 1/8000, f/1.2

Using the filter

The test images here all featured my lively white dog, who previously was nearly impossible to properly expose with a wide aperture in the clear, bright noon sun. Each photograph features the same settings, with the ND ring being rotated to showcase how dark it can truly get.

These images were shot at high noon, in bright sun, with a 50mm f/1.2 lens wide open at 1.2. The ISO was set to 100, and the shutter speed to 1/1600th. The variable ND filter allowed me to darken the frame enough to ensure that the depth of field was kept intact.

It was very easy for me to figure out precisely what ND stop I needed due to being able to see the changes in real-time by rotating the cuff. The filter does have a slight blue cast and a severe blue tint when turned beyond the “maximum” markers on the filter.

ISO: 100, Shutter speed: 1/1600th, f/1.2

First impressions

Right off the bat, what I was really fond of about this filter is the ease at which I could adjust the stops; the rotation is very smooth and fluid. The filter itself is lightweight and features pristine Tiffen glass. The actual filter rim is intended to expand past the parameter of the lens glass to avoid an unintentional vignette, a welcome addition.

My only complaint would be there is a bit of a learning curve on actually attaching the filter to my lens, it took longer time than I would have initially liked due to the chunky rotating mount being in the way. It initially felt a bit loose on the lens, only to find that it was strictly my misuse/improper attachment causing the minor mishap.

Once this was remedied with a bit of practice, all was well. Unfortunately, the filter scale is hidden under the lens, so it also took some finagling to realign the filter stops. These are all minor inconveniences in the grand scheme of things, however.

ISO: 100, Shutter Speed: 1/8000, f/1.2

Bonus tip: I went and purchased a step-down and step-up ring to be able to attach the filter to several of my other lenses, and I found that the addition of the ring actually helped screw the variable ND filter to my lenses because there was an additional amount of space to grip while I spun.

Purchasing a filter: Buy the filter to fit your largest lens and add some step-down rings to attach it to smaller ones. Then you only need one filter, not one for each lens you own.

Notes on negative reviews

Many of the negative commentaries I have heard from this filter are due largely to misuse. Though it is possible to twist beyond the scopes or the maximum and minimum stop markers on the rotator mount, it isn’t useful nor practical from a photographic standpoint due to the distortion you can experience.

You should only range within the marked stops in order to use this filter effectively. I did experience chromatic aberration while using this filter but much of that is affected by the lens itself. This can easily be remedied in post-processing.

Tiffen Variable ND Filter and moving water

As I mentioned before, I don’t shoot a lot of moving things or added motion in my images. So our dPS editor, Darlene, has kindly provided some of her images of a waterfall shot with a variable ND filter to demonstrate its effects on that type of subject.

ISO 100, f/22, 1/10th with ND filter set to minimum.

ISO 100, f/22, o.3 seconds with ND filter.

ISO 100, f/22, 1.3 seconds with ND filter.

ISO 100, f/22, 4 seconds with ND filter.

ISO 100, f/22, 30 seconds with ND filter.

Notice how as the filter strength was increased, she was able to slow the shutter speed to change the effect of the flowing water. Attempting this in bright sun without a variable ND filter would result in extremely overexposed images.

For reference, her exposure without the filter was ISO 100, f/22, 1/20th, so the last shot above would have been 9 stops too bright. So having such a filter in your toolkit gives you a lot more options than shooting without it.

Summary

Retailing between $ 78.00 to $ 113.00 depending on the filter size, the price is very reasonable for the amount of use you can get out of this nifty piece of glass. The Tiffen Variable Neutral Density Filter is available in 52mm, 58mm, 62mm, 67mm, 72mm, 77mm, 82mm – plenty of diameters for all of your lenses. This filter is well-worth adding to any photographic collection.

The post Review of the Tiffen Variable Neutral Density Filter appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

May 28, 2018
8 Ways to Create More Dramatic Flower Photos

Do you think flower photography is boring? Or even too easy and obvious? I mean, of course, when you point your camera at a pretty flower you’re going to get a pretty photograph. Right?

But a subject that you feel is boring and easy is actually the perfect one to challenge yourself with. Can you make a flower image that is creative and dramatic somehow?

Here are a few ideas to get you started making more dramatic flower photos.

1. Dramatic light

Often flower photos are made under soft lighting conditions, either in the shade or on an overcast day. This is because of the soft and delicate nature of a flower which lends itself to that type of light.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. For a more dramatic image, try to find a flower that has direct light on it and shade behind it. High contrast scenes feel more dramatic and your flower will stand out against a darker background.

2. Change your perspective

Most flower photos are made from a perspective looking right into the open flower. Try other perspectives for more interesting compositions. You can look at the flower from above, from the side, or from underneath.

To make the image below, my camera was on the ground looking directly up at the flower. Because the sky was so much brighter than the flower, it created a more high-key type of image with light shining through the petals making them appear to glow.

When I made the next image, I was interested in the lines created by the petals of a dahlia the size of a dinner plate. Most photos would include the whole flower, but I only included a small portion of the huge flower taken from a side angle.

3. Focus through

In one of my favorite techniques for flower photography, I use a telephoto lens and focus on a flower that is around five feet away. Then I position the lens so that another flower is right in front of it. Because the close flower is extremely out of focus, it creates a soft area of color in front of the main subject.

This is especially effective if you can find two flowers that are complementary colors (opposite) on the color wheel.

4. Let the wind blow

One of the most frustrating things you encounter when photographing flowers is wind. A little bit of wind you can handle with a faster shutter speed, but sometimes the wind is just too much and your flower is blowing all over the place.

When this happens, just go with the flow! Instead of trying to get a sharp image, go with a slow shutter speed and capture the motion of the flower moving in front of your lens.

5. Environmental portrait

Most flower photos contain only the flower with no context. But you can also make an environmental portrait that shows the flower and its surrounding environment, like the one below.

6. Echo

Another of my favorite techniques I refer to as an echo. For your main subject, find a flower that has another virtually identical flower behind it. Use a shallow depth of field and focus on your main subject letting the flower behind fall out of focus. This creates a sort of echo of the main subject.

7. Less than perfect flowers

When photographing flowers, most photographers search for perfect specimens to be the main subject. But perhaps more interesting subjects are the less than perfect flowers. They can be dead flowers, ones with flaws, or even flowers that have fallen over.

In the image below, I was attracted to the raindrops that were on the side of this fallen tulip. Flowers with raindrops are not uncommon, but the tulip on its side is a bit more unusual.

8. Emphasize edges in post-processing

You can also introduce effects in post-processing to make unique and dramatic flower photos. Try experimenting with textures or edge effects.

For the image below, I added an edge effect in post-processing to draw the viewer’s attention to the shape of the petals.

What else can you think of? Flower photography doesn’t have to be boring or predictable. In fact, any subject that you find boring and predictable is a challenge waiting for you to unleash your own unique perspective. How do you make more dramatic flower photos?

The post 8 Ways to Create More Dramatic Flower Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

May 27, 2018
7 Great Reasons to do Early Morning Photography

An age-old question is whether you’re an early bird or a night owl. Well even if you fall into the latter category there are compelling reasons why you should get up earlier than the crack of dawn! Those reasons are of course photographic! Early morning photography can result in stunning images. Is there any other reason for getting up at 5 am?

Whether you’re in your local area or somewhere on a trip, there is always a morning photography opportunity that will benefit from you waking up early. Those can be sunrises, or perhaps the chance to see local life at the market. So let’s see why you should be up at the crack of dawn.

This is an iconic photo of the temples in Bagan in Myanmar. It is only possible to see the mist like this at dawn.

1 – The morning atmosphere

Why wake up early in the morning when you can get just the same light in the evening? There will still be a blue hour, a golden hour, and you can sleep in!

While it’s true there will be similar light at dusk, the atmosphere in the morning is very different. Waking up in the morning gives you the chance to photograph the morning mist, this can add a lot to your photo. This morning mist can really transform a scene, moving it on from good to great.

2 – Golden light

The golden light shines on these buildings in Venice, this is only possible to see and photograph in the morning.

There are of course two golden hours per day, if you’re an early bird you’ll have enjoyed the morning one before. Of course, a lot of people will want to photograph the sunrise sky directly. Turn around though and you’ll get all those warm colors flooding over the landscape in front of you.

This opens up a new variety of photos that you could take. Perhaps instead of photographing a landscape at sunset, you could get all those golden colors on it from sunrise.

3 – You’ll have the place to yourself

Getting up early in the morning means you get the place more or less to yourself. These tai chi practitioners add an element of storytelling to the scene.

As discussed in a previous article, there are benefits to photographing alone. When you wake up early in the morning this is much more likely to be the case. Now photographing a popular landmark without having to deal with hordes of other people in front of you will be easier.

The early bird catches the worm as they say, and the early morning photographer has the uncrowded streets to themselves.

4 – Morning photography is more unique

Waking early in the morning for this scene was absolutely worth it.

The most dedicated of photographers will, of course, wake up for their morning photography. That means there will be photographs showcasing the best of the early conditions.

The chance that your photograph hasn’t been taken a million times before will be much higher, it will only have been taken thousands of times before. Okay, so to get a truly unique photo may require the use of some more creative photography techniques, but you increase your odds by getting up early.

5 – The angle for specific photos only works at sunrise

The dove jetty on Penang island in Malaysia is a great example of a photo that works better at sunrise.

Whether you’re photographing at sunrise or for the golden light, certain photos need the angle of sun which is only found early in the morning. You can figure out what angle the sun will have at various times of the year by using suncalc or an app like PhotoPills.

As with all photography, plan ahead of time. Often planning months ahead of time is what it takes to get great photos. Getting the right light for your morning photography takes effort, but it’s almost always worth it.

6 – In hot countries the morning temperature is nice

This photo was taken during the Thaipusam festival, which started well before sunrise.

You may not live in a hot country, but if you do you’ll know that the best time of the day is morning. It’s hard work walking around much past ten o’clock. Carrying around a camera bag, and putting in the legwork you need for your photos is far easier when the temperature is kinder.

Add in some humidity as well, and you may quickly give up on doing any photography in favor of that air-conditioned coffee shop. This heat will also affect your clarity of thought, especially when you get dehydrated, and you need to think clearly to get the best photos.

7 – You’ll catch more local life first thing

The parks in China are alive with people first thing in the morning. If you arrive much after 9am you’ll have missed everything.

You may not see crowded streets first thing, but you will see more local life. That may take the form of a local market, or fishermen getting ready for work. There is a lot of activity that goes on at the crack of dawn, all waiting for you to capture with your camera.

It’s an amazing time to be a street photographer, but there will also be opportunities for landscape photographers. What can really bring a scene to life better than a farmer tending his field first thing in the morning?

Time to wake up early for your morning photography!

The morning mist on Inle Lake, Myanmar, allowed for this photo with a minimal feel.

So whether this article is preaching to the converted, or you’re already a born-again early bird – there are good reasons to get up at dawn.

Have you photographed early in the morning before, what was your experience? Did you enjoy it, and get some great photos? We’d love to see your photography from early morning expeditions in the comments section. So go to bed early, wake up fresh as a daisy, and get some amazing morning photographs!

You get to see more of the local life in Venice if you get up before everyone else!

The post 7 Great Reasons to do Early Morning Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

May 27, 2018
6 Essential Steps in any Post-Processing Workflow

We live in a digital age, a time when a post-processing workflow is an increasingly essential aspect of our photography. Cameras produce images with the expectation that they will be altered later, will be corrected, sharpened, tinted, etc.

What this means is that post-processing isn’t something that can be easily bypassed, especially if you shoot in RAW, which I recommend.

That isn’t to say that every photographer today has to love post-processing. Some photographers, I consider myself to be among them, greatly prefer working in the field to working on the computer. But while it’s possible to shorten one’s post-processing workflow, a minimum amount of editing is necessary to keep up with today’s artistic and technological standards.

In this article, I will discuss that minimum and explain the six essential steps in any post-processing workflow. My examples are done in Lightroom, but this applies to all photographers, no matter what software you use.

Once you’ve gone through these steps, you may declare your images complete, and that’s okay. Or you may choose to work on them further, which is okay, too. The point here is only to suggest the six core elements that all post-processing workflows should include—after that, the choice is yours.

1. Crop (and straighten)

The first thing that I do as soon as I have opened my images in Lightroom is to crop and straighten them.

While it’s best to compose properly in camera, sometimes you see a slightly better composition when your image comes up on the screen. However, it isn’t good to rely on this too heavily. Cropping heavily reduces image resolution while also magnifying image imperfections.

Furthermore, when hand-holding your camera, it’s easy to take a slightly crooked image. This isn’t a problem, as long as you remember to straighten it out later.

Notice the slight change from original (right) to cropped and straightened (left) – look at the stem.

This image required a slight amount of cropping and straightening in order to balance out the frame. This is especially important when images have clear lines, as this one does (i.e., the daisy stem).

A word of warning: especially if you are a wildlife or bird photographer, you will be tempted to use cropping to compensate for a distant subject. Resist this temptation and focus on your stalking skills instead. If you find yourself consistently cropping a significant amount, recognize that you should probably make some changes while you’re in the field (get closer or use a longer lens).

2. Check the White Balance

I shoot in RAW. Thus, when I’m in the field, I leave my camera’s White Balance on Auto. Because the RAW file format allows for you to change the image temperature without any image degradation, this is perfectly acceptable (though it does mean slightly more time behind the computer).

The left (final) image is after some adjustment; the right is adjusted in the other (warmer) direction.

A cooler (bluer) color temperature was necessary to recreate a snowy, cold feeling for this image.

Use the Temp and Tint sliders to adjust the White Balance.

Sometimes the goal is to reproduce the color temperature that you saw in the field. Other times, you might be trying to achieve an artistic look. Higher temperatures (high degrees K) make for a warmer image and counteract colder light, whereas lower temperatures (low K) make for a cooler image and balance out a warmer color cast.

The left image is what I ultimately decided on; the one on right is an exaggeratedly cool version of the same image.

Taken at sunset, this image required a higher color temperature to match what I saw at the moment of capture.

3. Check the exposure

After adjusting the White Balance, I generally turn to the exposure. This is an aspect of a post-processing workflow that is often forgotten. Yet you should scrutinize your image carefully before moving on. Is it too bright? Too dark? Just right?

This is where the histogram is your friend. It’s to your benefit to learn to read it. Look for blown out highlights or crushed blacks as peaks pressing up against either end of the graph, as well as gaps that indicate a lack of darker or lighter tones in your image.

The histogram can tell you a lot about your image. This one says the image it represents is slightly overexposed. There are no blacks (it’s not touching the left-side of the graph). An Exposure adjustment and the Black slider will solve this issue.

This situation was unique: While the right image isn’t underexposed, I was interested in a slightly brighter one with more contrast. So I altered the exposure in Lightroom and ultimately chose the left image.

A darker image can be corrected in post-processing (this is easier to do with RAW files).

While it is ideal to expose perfectly while in the field, post-processing allows for a bit of leeway here. For instance, you can use the general Exposure slider in Lightroom to correct small exposure mistakes. And if you want to take this further, you can also work with the more narrowly focused Highlights, Shadows, Whites and Blacks sliders.

4. Check the Vibrance and Saturation

Saturation allows you to increase the intensity of all colors in the image, and Vibrance allows you to increase the intensity of the less saturated colors only. In most photo-editing programs, these are easy to change.

Notice the slightly more intense yellows in the left (more saturated) image.

A bit of saturation gave this image more punch.

Saturation and Vibrance can provide a slight punch to your images when done subtly. These are also quite easy to overdo, so be careful. You don’t want to slam the viewer with so much saturation that they are forced to look away!

5. Check for noise

Next, be sure to check the noise levels in your image. This is especially important if you’re working with a long exposure or an image that was shot at a high ISO. Increasing the exposure in post-processing may also introduce unintended noise.

This image required a slight amount of noise reduction.

While the difference is subtle, a crop of the final image (with noise reduction applied in Lightroom) is on the left.

If you find unpleasant levels of noise, you can generally use noise reduction software to remove it. Removing noise does decrease the overall image sharpness (if removing luminance noise) and saturation (if removing color noise). So, once again, this is a correction that should be used minimally.

6. Check the sharpness

Finally, I like to end my basic post-processing workflow by considering the complement of noise – sharpness. If working with a program such as Lightroom, this often needs little adjustment. With a good lens and good camera technique, your images will be rendered sharp simply by the photo-conversion presets.

For example, I rarely alter Lightroom’s Amount: 25 Sharpening preset. If your image is slightly soft, you may want to work with overall sharpness. You might also consider a second round of carefully applied sharpening in order to enhance specific features like the faces of birds, the center of flowers, etc.

It is imperative that an image like this have a pin sharp subject.

A crop of the final image (left) with sharpening applied in Lightroom.

However, even once you’ve sharpened for your original image, the sharpening work isn’t over. Before you export for printing or web viewing, you will likely need to sharpen again. Otherwise, you’ll find that your new image is slightly soft.

Lightroom has a neat little way of completing this post-processing step. Upon exporting files, you have the option to choose a level of sharpening. I generally choose Low or Standard.

Conclusion

These tips should give you an idea of what a very minimalist post-processing workflow looks like. If you follow this guide closely—even if you do nothing else to your images—you’ll find that your images reach a higher standard.

What is your post-processing workflow like? Please feel free to share in the comments area below.

The post 6 Essential Steps in any Post-Processing Workflow appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

May 26, 2018
Tips for Using On-Camera Flash for Beginners
Flash is a challenging subject and can be confusing if you’ve never used it. These two videos will give you an overview of some flash basics you need to know, and how to take the next step when using flash – bouncing it for better lighting.

On-Camera Flash Basics

In this video, Chris from The Camera Store gives you a crash course in some on-camera flash basics. He covers what you need to know to get your flash photos looking better and more natural so you don’t have subjects with deer in the headlights looks or black cavernous backgrounds with no light.

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Flash for new users

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Next, this video from Mark Goodin of RealWorld will walk you through understanding some of the settings on your flash and how to use it to make better light on your subject. He even gives a couple tips for diffusing your on-camera flash (the built-in one that pops up) so it isn’t so harsh.

Want more?

If you want more flash photography tips, try these dPS articles:
- A Quick Guide to Using Bounce Flash for More Natural-Looking Photos
- How to use Off-Camera Flash to Create Dramatic Images with Cross Lighting
- What is a Flash Bracket and Why Do You Need One?
- How to Understand the Difference Between TTL Versus Manual Flash Modes
- Flash Shopping Guide – 5 Things to Consider When Buying a Speedlight
- Tips for Using Speedlights to Create the Right Lighting for Outdoor Portraits
The post Tips for Using On-Camera Flash for Beginners appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
May 26, 2018
SLC-0L-02: Shiny Object, Using an iPhone and the Sun

Whether photographing people or objects, how you approach your lighting is far more important than what camera and lighting gear you use.

To illustrate, today we are going to photograph a complex, mirrored surface—an alto saxophone—using just an iPhone for our camera and the sun as our light source. Read more »
Strobist

May 26, 2018
Weekly Photography Challenge: Sunsets – With Prizes from ViewBug
Who doesn’t love a good sunset? It’s colorful and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, right?

Think you can take a great sunset photo? It’s not as easy as just pointing your camera at the sun. In this week’s photography challenge it’s time to get out and shoot some sunsets and share your images with us.

Need some tips? Try these dPS articles:
- 5 Reasons Why Your Sunrise or Sunset Photos Don’t Look So Stunning
- How to Take Better Sunset Photos
- How to Plan and Take Killer Sunset Photos on Your Next Vacation
- How to Shoot Stunning Photos at Sunrise and Sunset
- Tips for Location Scouting to Get the Perfect Sunset Photograph
- Tips for Doing More Spectacular Sunset Photography
Weekly Photography Challenge – Sunsets

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.

Win Prizes from ViewBug

We’re excited to introduce a sponsor and prizes for this week’s challenge. ViewBug is the World’s biggest photo contest community with over 70 contests always open for submissions. Win prizes, exposure, and the bragging rights. It’s FREE to join! This week, ViewBug will be awarding three winners prizes!

One Challenge winner will receive 1 year of ViewBug PRO ($ 139 value) plus a free photography logo bundle ($ 59 value). Two Runners Up will receive a 1 year of ViewBug Premium ($ 59 value) plus a free photography logo bundle ($ 59 value).

To Enter

Participate in the challenge as you normally would (as described above) by posting your photo. To be considered for a prize you just need to complete the entry form below (or via this link) and submit your photo.

The Contest is open continuously from 05:00 am Australian Eastern Standard Time (“AEST”) on May 26, 2018 (03:00 pm United States Eastern Daylight Time (“EDT”) on May 25, 2018), through June 2nd 2018, 04:59am AEST (June 1st, 2018, 02:59pm EDT) (the “Contest Promotion Period”).

Full Terms and Conditions Digital Photography School Weekly Challenge Sunset – ViewBug T&C

Winners are announced on the Weekly Challenge Winners page on 9th of June.

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The post Weekly Photography Challenge: Sunsets – With Prizes from ViewBug appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
May 26, 2018
How To Get Bitcoins Without Mining

Why am I talking about Bitcoin here? Because everyone is? Not exactly. For one, you can now exchange bitcoin into dollars and that can buy some nice photo gear. If only there was a way to get bitcoin without spending thousands of dollars building a rig that sounds like an airport runway in your basement and destroys your electric bill. Continue Reading

The post How To Get Bitcoins Without Mining appeared first on Photodoto.

Photodoto

May 25, 2018