Photographing people is a deceptively simple process these days. It seems with the wide availability of high-quality photo equipment and digital editing software that every Tom, Dick, and Harry is now a professional photographer. The reality is that true pros know technical knowledge is not the only thing that sets them apart from the amateurs. Connecting with your subject when Continue Reading
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Surrounding yourself with inspiration is one of the best ways to jump-start your creativity. By viewing the works of others, we connect with our own photographic practice. One of my favorite things to do in a creative lull is to trawl YouTube. I could spend hours looking for interesting photography documentaries to watch and study.
I always feel myself rearing to get photographing by the time the credits roll. So here are a few of the favorites that I like to revisit from time to time. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
William Klein is known for his gritty street photography as well as his fashion work with Vogue. As a creator of some of the most iconic imagery of the 20th century, the American-born French photographer originally trained as a painter. Despite having no formal training as a photographer, Klein won the Prix Nadar in 1957 for New York, a book of photographs he compiled in 1954. Since then, Klein’s work has been praised as uncompromising and revolutionary in both his approach and execution.
The Many Lives of William Klein takes a peek into Klein’s world as he prepares his retrospective exhibition. Smart and sarcastic, Klein recounts memoirs of his photographic past and shares insights into his process and passion for photography.
Note: there is a warning of strong language in this video so if you find that offensive you might want to go to the next one.
Produced by BBC for its “Imagine” TV series, The Colourful Mr. Eggleston provides a rare look into the life and work of one of photography’s most influential proponents. William Eggleston was born in 1939 in Memphis, Tennessee to a family of plantation owners. He grew up in Sumner, Mississippi and spent six years studying at various art schools, never receiving a degree. When he received his first camera in 1957, a Canon rangefinder, he was hooked. As one of the first art photographers to use color film, he began visually recording the world around him, capturing everyday moments in life in compressed color and light.
Eggleston’s idols, Robert Frank, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Walker Evans roamed the world for photographic subject matter. But Eggleston remained rooted in Memphis. His wife, Rosa, tells the story that one day Eggleston told a friend that there was nothing to photograph because everything in the city was ugly. The friend told him to “photograph the ugly stuff” which set him on a path photographing a contemporary landscape made up of vending machines, light bulbs, power poles, wires, signs, urban decay and occasionally human subjects.
The Colorful Mr. Eggleston follows his photographic process in and around Memphis as he isolates the facets of everyday life that make up the dense, atmospheric imagery of his work.
The Genius of Photography is a series originally featured on BBC Four that investigates the rich history of photography. Over the six-part series, the documentary explores an aspect of the photographic medium. It covers the earliest incarnations of photography through to modern digital practice.
From art to commercial photography, the series includes interviews and encounters with some of the world’s best including William Klein, Sally Mann, Jeff Wall and many more.
Click here to go to the video.
The Lomo Camera: Shoot from the Hip is a colorful insight into the history and momentum of the Lomography movement. The philosophy behind Lomography is “Don’t Think, Just Shoot”, encouraging spur-of-the-moment photography not dissimilar to Cartier-Bresson’s decisive moment. The movement is also accompanied by 10 golden rules encouraging spontaneous, active photography with less concern for formal photographic technique.
While Lomography itself can be a bit hit-and-miss, the documentary conveys a world of unfocused color and spontaneity. But the Lomo ethos isn’t reserved only for photographers with plastic cameras; much of the Lomographic practice can still appeal to those with more hi-tech photographic equipment. With rules like “Take your camera everywhere you go” and “Lomography is not an interference in your life, but part of it.”
The Lomo Camera: Shoot from the Hip inspires a fun and creative approach that can be applied across the board photographically.
Click to go to the video page.
Working for National Geographic is a job that many photographers dream of, but few attain. With some assignments lasting for months, National Geographic’s camera staff aren’t just journalists, they’re artists, braving a myriad of hardships. As one Nat Geo photographer featured on the Photographers, Michael (Nick) Nichols explains, “The toughest part of [the] job often times is not taking photographs but surviving an environment”.
Seeking out “memorable images, unusual subjects, and unexpected moments” in some of the most unique and sometimes inhospitable of locations. The Photographers follows several Nat Geo photographers as they capture iconic shots the magazine has become known for, delivering beautiful and unique imagery and delving into what it is that makes up our world.
Photography documentaries are great because they give us a behind-the-scenes look at someone else’s photographic world. Every photographer works differently. So when we view another photographer’s practice, it’s as if they are passing their own inspiration on to us.
These are only a few of the wide selection of photographic documentaries to find on YouTube. So go ahead, start your own list of favorites and get inspired! Share your list in the comments below as well.
Editor’s list: here are a few others I recommend if you can find them:
The post My Top 5 Photography Documentaries on YouTube appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Everyone is a photographer. We all love to use our phones, tablets, or cameras to take photos. What’s more, we all share them and publish them for the world to see. This phenomenon has changed photography and photographers.
Not so long ago you needed to have a camera to be able to take a photo, there was no other way. Before the explosion of social media sites hit the internet is was decidedly more difficult to get your pictures published.
With the rise of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and the proliferation of other media sharing websites, we are seeing and sharing more and more photographs every day. Standing out in such an enormous global crowd is not easy.
So how do you create a unique photography style which does not look the same as most of what’s already out there? Because, let’s face it, so much of it is so similar (and dull.) There are tons of pictures of pets, sunsets, selfies, kids and food, food, food.
Most successful photographers concentrate on one style. This can take years to develop. Dedication and experimentation are keys to attaining a photographic look and feel that is uniquely yours and will be recognized as such. Mastering any form of creative expression does not happen easily or without a lot of practice.
You need to be willing to step outside your comfort zone. Don’t just keep photographing the same things, in the same way, that you are comfortable with already. Push yourself to do things with your camera that you’ve not experimented with before. Step out and photograph subjects you’ve wanted to but not have been bold enough to do so. You never know what you will discover by trying something different.
Don’t give up easily either. Giving up will not get you anywhere if you haven’t first shown some commitment to producing some photographs you are content with.
As a young man, I was painfully shy. I loved photography, but could never bring myself to photograph people. My sister encouraged me. She told me my photos were excellent, but really lacked the inclusion of people.
She was not so happy when she became my subject. I also started photographing friends as we hung out together and became somewhat comfortable photographing people that I knew.
Shortly after I landed a job in the photography department of a daily newspaper, I quickly realized that if I wanted to keep my job I would have to overcome my fear (yes, it was a real fear) of photographing strangers. Everything in me wanted to keep the job at the paper and to succeed as a photographer, so I pressed on and challenged myself to break through.
Now my main love in photography is taking pictures of people. Often they are people I do not know.
Most people will not face the same test to develop their photography abilities as I was confronted with. But I hope my story can inspire you to press on trying new things with your photography and to persevere in going beyond your comfort zone.
As you experiment, keep in mind that your worldview is unique. No one else sees or experiences the world quite the same way you do.
Think about how you can express this through your photography. What do you see that someone else might not? Why do you feel a certain way about the subjects you are photographing? No one else will feel just the same.
Connect with your subject, whether it’s a person, a pet, a landscape or your lunch, and photograph it with feeling. More often than not you will create a strong, more unique image than if you just take a quick snapshot.
As you seek to develop your own unique personal photography style try not to concentrate too much on your equipment. Pouring all your attention into what you’re doing with your camera will not help you connect with your subject and you will produce less dynamic photographs. No matter how technically correct your images are, they will often be rather dull if you are not connecting with your subject.
However, the more comfortable you are with your camera, and the more proficient in knowing what it’s capable of and the best settings to use will help you immensely.
Loving your camera and knowing it well, so you can use it as an integral part of your creative process, will assist you in developing your photography style. The more focused you are on trying to figure out which lens to attach and what shutter speed will be needed, the more likely you are to disconnect with your subject. The more familiar and comfortable you are with your camera the better.
Anyone who’s read my articles watched my videos or taken my workshops or online courses will know I always encourage the use of a camera in Manual Mode. Being in precise control of the equipment you are using will definitely facilitate your unique creative growth.
Using settings which give your camera control of the exposure (auto modes) will give you results like everyone else who relies on these settings. In Manual Mode you have the choice to expose your photos as you like, not always as your camera dictates.
Experiment! Take time and work with a purpose and a goal in mind. Be inspired to step beyond creating just another snapshot for your social media posts and make a point of producing strong photographs expressing your unique perspective of the world you live in.
It’s not easy to do. But press on and don’t give up. Make a start with your first ideas and keep at it. Be flexible and adapt as you develop.
At first, you might love the topic or photography style you’re working on and later find you are drawn to a something a bit different. Go with the flow, so long as you are continuing to produce photographs you are happy with and you can see a progression in what you are doing.
To learn the story behind some of these photographs please check out this video:
I’d love to know how you are developing your photography style, whether you are inspired by this article and just starting out, or if you’ve been working on your own particular style for some time. Please share your thoughts and photos in the comments section below.
The post Why You Should Find Your Own Photography Style and Not Conform to Social Media Trends appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Lightroom’s suite of editing tools is not as comprehensive as its big brother Photoshop But the program does offer a host of options for fixing photos that cover most of the corrections you are likely to need on a daily basis. You can, of course, use Lightroom for basic operations like adjusting white balance, changing exposure, and converting images to black and white. But there are much more advanced features as well, such as the Spot Removal Tool.
This tool is a quick and easy way to remove blemishes and imperfections. It doesn’t have the same level of depth and customization as similar options in Photoshop, but with a little practice, it should suffice for most situations in which you are likely to need it.
To access the Spot Removal tool, first, click on the Develop module and then press the Q button (the keyboard shortcut). Or you can click on the circle icon with a small arrow pointing to the right just below the histogram at the top of the panel on the right-hand side.
Once you are in the Spot Removal panel it might be tempting to start clicking away at every spot and blemish on your images. But understanding some of the options available to you will help you use the tool more effectively and result in better edits.
The Spot Removal tool has two main options, Clone and Heal. Each of these has three sliders that you can change: Size, Feather, and Opacity. Before getting into the differences between cloning and healing, let’s take a look at the three options they have in common.
This changes, as you might have guessed, how big the edit is going to be. Larger sizes are suited for bigger edits, while pinpoint accuracy can be obtained by making the tool as small as you need it to be.
You might be tempted to slide left and right to change these values, and that certainly works just fine. But you can also type precise numbers between 0-100 or just scroll up and down using the mouse wheel to see the brush automatically grow and shrink until you get it to where you want. You can also use the square brackets [ and ] on the keyboard to adjust the brush size.
This slider lets you control how gradually the Clone or Heal edits are implemented. Sliding all the way to 100 means your edits will gradually fade out near the edge of the tool. A value of zero indicates that there will be no feathering whatsoever.
This will result in a harsh edge around your edits that will be easy to spot so I don’t usually recommend it. Instead, try for a value of around 50 and adjust it to your taste. Similar to the Size parameter you can adjust this with the mouse by holding [shift] and scrolling up and down, which I find much easier to use than the slider.
The opacity is a way for you to specify how transparent your edits will be. A setting of 100 is totally opaque and nothing will show through, whereas lower values will lessen the overall impact of the tool.
There might be instances in which you don’t want to completely remove a spot or blemish but mask over or fade it just a little, and in that case, set an opacity of 25 or 50 (this works well for portrait retouching, lightening circles under eyes and wrinkles without completely removing them).
Hearkening back to the earlier days of Photoshop, the Clone tool is one of the most often-utilized features for beginning or even more advanced photographers who want to tidy up their pictures. The basic function is pretty straightforward since all it does at a fundamental level is copy, or clone, one part of a picture and put it on top of another part. This is great for situations with textures, patterns, or colors that are highly similar or where duplicating one portion would not be easy to detect.
This picture of a squirrel (below) has a stick on the right-hand side that I would like to remove. The Clone tool is a good way to do it. To fix something like this you can either shrink the tool so it’s small and brush it over the imperfection or increase the size to be much larger and click just once.
Each situation is going to call for a different type of edit but in general, I like to use a larger brush and click once because it usually results in edits that aren’t as visible in the final result.
This image is fine, but it would be great if that stick protruding up on the right side could be removed.
Lightroom tries its best to get your initial clone edit just right by taking what it thinks is a sample of a similar portion of your image. But as you can see below it doesn’t always work.
Lightroom’s initial attempt with the Clone tool was less than ideal. You can clearly see a circle of in-focus grass where the stick used to be.
You don’t have to be content with the initial results though, as Lightroom lets you refine and tweak the cloning options until you’re satisfied.
There is an Overlay setting for the Clone tool. It is a white circle indicating the location from which the Clone Tool is selecting to copy. As well there is another circle showing you where it is being pasted. In the lower-left portion of the Develop module is a tiny little option picker that says “Tool Overlay” with four choices: Auto, Always, Selected, and Never. My personal preference is to go with “Never” and use the “H” key to show and hide the Tool Overlay as I need it.
As you use the Spot Healing tool you will see little gray circles pop up all over your image, which shows you the places where you have edited your image. If you don’t see these tiny pins press “H” to show them, and then click on one to show the white circles showing you where the edits are being taken from and applied. You can see an example of this in the image below.
Press the H key to show and hide the Tool Overlay. Then grab the source that is being copied and drag it to another part of your image that blends in better with the surroundings of the blemish to be cloned out.
Once you see where Lightroom is grabbing the part of your image that it’s using to fix a blemish, it’s easy to fine-tune it to get the results you are looking for. Use your cursor to drag the bright circle around the image until you find a spot that would be better-suited for filling in the blemish. You can also adjust the sliders while you have your editing point selected to see in real-time what happens when you change things like size, feather, and opacity.
I wouldn’t say it’s impossible to tell that this photo has been edited, but most casual viewers would likely never know.
One issue that you might encounter when using the Spot Removal Tool is that it’s not always easy to see where the spots in your picture are actually located. Fortunately, Lightroom has an option that can help you in this regard.
If you click the “Visualize Spots” button in the lower-left corner of the Develop module (make sure the Spot Removal tool is selected), you will see a black-and-white version of your image with areas of high contrast highlighted. If you do not see this option, activate your toolbar by pressing T on the keyboard.
You can also simply press the A key to activate the Visualize Spots view. Use the slider to fine-tune the amount of contrast visible, and doing so will show you where some of the imperfections are located that you might have missed.
Some of the spots on the above image are easy to see, but others are visible only upon closer inspection. Snuffing out all the blemishes, which are really dust on the front of my camera lens, would be a time-consuming process without the Visualize Spots option enabled. Doing so makes it easy to see every mote and speck that I need to fix with the Spot Healing tool.
Visualize spots activated
The finished image, after some clicking and editing, is much improved. I even decided to leave in the streak of lens flare on the left side because I liked the effect, you could remove it if you wanted to by using the same tools.
While similar to the Clone tool, the Healing brush operates in a slightly different way. It takes textures and tones from a source portion of your image and blends it with the area you want to fix. It’s not a direct 1:1 copy of the source, like the Clone tool, and as such it creates results that are often a little more refined and effective in terms of removing problems and blemishes.
The Heal tool has the same options as the Clone tool (Size, Feather, and Opacity) but because the nature of the tool is somewhat different. The Opacity doesn’t function in exactly the way you might expect. It still adjusts how much of the source spot is stamped onto the blemish you want to remove but because it’s blending textures, colors, and patterns even a 100 value of Opacity means that you won’t see quite the same results as the Clone tool.
To fix a picture using the Heal tool, click on any spot you want to remove (or click and drag if it’s more than just a single spot) and Lightroom takes care of the rest. If the spot is not fixed to your liking, press H to show the Tool Overlays and edit as you see fit by dragging the source that is being copied and adjusting the Size, Feather, and Opacity.
Note: One other thing you can do with the Lightroom Spot Removal tool is to draw a line or shape. Your cloning area is not just limited to a circle anymore as it once was in LR.
The picture below shows the result of using the Heal tool to remove about a dozen blemishes and imperfections on a photo of some mushrooms. All this was done in under five minutes using only the Heal tool, and it illustrates how simple and effective this type of editing can be.
I often use the Lightroom Spot Removal Tool to fix little things in my images, but for real in-depth editing, you might want to turn to Photoshop. There you can really dig in with layers and the advanced editing tools that program offers.
For most photographers, whether professional or casual, the options in Lightroom will usually suffice. That’s what I find myself using almost every time I need to tweak a picture. Give it a try and you might be surprised at what it can do for you too.
The post Fixing Your Photos with the Lightroom Spot Removal Tool appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Two of the hottest mirrorless cameras you can get your hands on right now are the Sony a7R III and the Fujifilm X-H1. My husband owns one and I have the other. In the past few months, we’ve been experimenting with our new cameras and have noticed quite a few similarities and differences. This is by no means a comprehensive camera comparison, but some of the main differences will be highlighted below.
The Fuji X-H1 left, and the Sony a7R III on the right.
My husband and I are both photographers who have always been in opposite brand camps. We were Nikon versus Canon during the height of the DSLR. Now in the mirrorless world, we are Fujifilm versus Sony. I’m a full-time photographer specializing mainly in food and architecture photography, while my husband is a part-time assistant photographer.
Our differing photo needs and styles have partially dictated our camera brand loyalty. I prefer Sony for its higher megapixel count for architecture photos and also its more flexible lens selection. Meanwhile, my husband loves Fujifilm for their rangefinder design and film simulations.
One thing we can agree on is that we both have an interest in making more videos. That is why we specifically choose the Sony a7R III and Fujifilm X-H1 as our new cameras. Note that at the time, the Sony a7R III was the newest camera on the market–there wasn’t yet a Sony A7III or a Sony a7S III, both of which are arguably better cameras for video.
Fuji versus Sony
Before we talk about differences, the Sony a7R III and Fujifilm X-H1 do have many features in common. First, both cameras have enhanced, on-par video recording capabilities. They shoot in 4K and 120 fps slow motion video, and both cameras offer in-camera image stabilization (IBIS). Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are available on both cameras to facilitate quick transfers to cell phones or tablets.
Physically, both cameras have dual SD card slots for more storage flexibility. There’s also focus peaking to help highlight areas that are in focus, which is especially helpful when using manual-focus lenses. Finally, there are tiltable touchscreens on both cameras. However, touchscreen capabilities are quite limited and you can’t perform full camera operation with them.
Here is the same scene, shot with both cameras for comparison.
Fujifilm X-H1
Sony A7rIII
In terms of things that neither camera offer, the list isn’t terribly long. But ideally, both cameras would offer a more flexible tilt and swivel screen. Built-in GPS for geotagging photos is also missing.
Finally, both cameras come with hot-shoe mounts for attaching an external flash. However, neither camera comes with a built-in flash.
Sony a7R III
The biggest difference exists in the cameras’ sensors. There’s a full-frame, 42.4-megapixel sensor on the Sony, while the Fujifilm has an APS-C 24.3-megapixel sensor. Currently, Fujifilm does not make any full-frame mirrorless cameras, although that will change when the X-T3 comes out in late 2018.
Depending on your photography style, more megapixels is a generally a good thing. Although, it does require using SD cards and hard drives with significantly more storage space for those large file sizes.
Speaking of resolution, there’s a new feature on the Sony a7R III called Pixel Shift. In short, this increases image resolution by 4 times. You still have to shoot individual images and stitch them together in post-production using the included software. The result is a super high-res image that’s great for shooting landscapes or buildings.
A photo that was taken with Pixel Shift.
Mirrorless cameras have long been criticized for having poor battery life. Luckily, Sony responded positively by putting a new Z-battery in the a7R III. This battery isn’t cheap, but it offers a much longer battery life than the X-H1 at 650 shots versus 310 shots.
One thing many Sony shooters miss from the a7R II is the PlayMemories App that added built-in features such as time-lapse shooting. However, time-lapse can still be taken on the a7R III if you use the S&Q setting.
This allows for shooting slow motion or fast (hyper-lapse). If you do the latter, this is essentially a hyper-lapse that is taken in camera. Just be sure to adjust the settings in the camera, as S&Q can be set to shoot slow motion or hyper-lapse videos.
Since recording accurate sound is a big part of video-making, it’s essential to have a headphone jack. This is present on the Sony a7R III but is oddly missing from the Fuji X-H1.
Fuji left, Sony right.
The X-H1 is a faster camera when it comes to shutter speed and frames per second (more on that below). But the Sony has a leg up when it comes to JPG buffering, or how many more JPGs you can shoot before waiting in burst mode. It’s 82 shots on the Sony a7R III compared to 40 shots on the Fuji X-H1.
Sony – The Sony a7R III has a native ISO sensitivity range of 100 to 51,200. When extended, the Sony can reach ISO 50 to 204,800 for stills, or 102,400 for video.
Fuji – Meanwhile, the X-H1 has a slightly smaller range of ISO 200 to 12,800 or an extended ISO range of 100 to 51,200 for stills or 25,600 for video.
When it comes to lenses, Sony has a wider array of choices compared to Fujifilm. If you need traditional focal lengths such as the 16-35mm, 24-70mm, or 70-200mm, you’ll want to go with Sony.
The X-H1 takes on the look of a DSLR camera, departing a bit from Fujifilm’s more classic rangefinder design. Part of the DSLR look includes a top LCD display where you can easily see your camera settings. In practice, that may or may not be helpful since the pop-out LCD can also show your camera settings.
Interestingly, the Fujifilm X-H1 is quite a bit faster than the Sony a7R III. The X-H1’s shutter is faster at 1/32,000th versus 1/8000th when shooting wide open in bright light. Also, the X-H1 has faster RAW and JPG shooting in burst mode (14 FPS for the Fuji as compared to 9 FPS on the Sony).
Despite being a crop sensor camera, the X-H1 is set up better for taking night photos. It has a long exposure of up to 900 seconds (15 minutes), compared to 30 seconds on the Sony a7R III.
Fujifilm has been mastering color profiles long before digital cameras even existed. Many color profiles from film days have been added into digital cameras in the form of built-in film simulations. Six have existed until the X-H1 which saw the addition of the brand new Eterna film simulation. If you’re a fan of Fujifilm colors, this could be a big selling point.
Finally, the Fuji X-H1 is significantly less expensive coming in at $ 1,899 compared to $ 3,198 for the Sony a7R III.
Here is a video comparison going over some of these things as well:
Both the Fujifilm X-H1 and Sony a7R III are fantastic digital photography tools that offer lots of features for those looking to up their photo or video game. Which is best for you depends largely on your photography style. What do you like to shoot, and what are the basic tools of the trade that you need to make that happen?
As a commercial architecture, food, and event photographer, I need the extra megapixels, ISO range, and lens choices offered by Sony. However, these features aren’t as critical to my husband, an editorial photographer who values the physical aesthetic and experience of shooting with a Fujifilm camera as much as the image quality.
Here are some more images of the same scene for comparison:
Fujifilm X-H1
Sony A7rIII
The post Camera Comparison – The Fujifilm X-H1 Versus the Sony a7R III appeared first on Digital Photography School.
You’ve heard of the fabled Project 365, right? A photo a day for a year. We’ve even posted theme ideas here on dPS for those interested in a long-term project. But what about if you know that you aren’t going to make it all year, especially when the weather turns ugly and you love shooting outdoors? Enter, the Summer Project92.
The idea is the same as the Project 365 but with a larger emphasis on getting outside and exploring your world with a camera. Keeping this project short and simple will hopefully encourage you to pick up that dusty camera and head outside. Smartphone, drone, underwater…it doesn’t matter the type of camera you are using, the point is to use it!
If you sometimes get stuck when looking for subjects, I have a list of weekly themes that should help give you some motivation. There are 13 weeks and one day to summer with the first day being June 21. So I’m going to follow the sun on this one and make all weeks start on a Thursday, just to mix it up.
If you don’t want to follow the schedule above, that’s just fine. There are no hard and fast rules about what to shoot and when. Although might I suggest that if you post your photos on social media, that you use the hashtag #SummerProject92? That way those of us who want to feel inspired (me!) will be able to find and comment on your work more easily.
A blog, Tumblr, Instagram…the format doesn’t matter. What matters is to get out there and start shooting and sharing. And enjoy your summer! Psst, might I suggest posting some results in the dPS Facebook Group?
Forgive me for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere as I realize you are about to head into winter. You can start a #WinterProject92 and we’ll catch up with you in about six months.
The post Tips for Doing a Summer Project 92 to Get You Out Shooting appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Water droplet photography is a dream for almost every creative photographer. When a water drop collides with another drop, it creates beautiful crowns and other shapes that look fabulous. Capturing those moments is a very satisfying experience for a photographer.
Taken by Andrea Laybauer using MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit
Until now it was not easy to create such shots, but thanks to the advancement of technology, now we have some gadgets that could make this process almost effortless for us. One such gadget is the MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit which is the world’s first water drop photography gear that can be controlled by your smartphone.
It not only controls the size and timing of drops with great precision, but it also controls your camera or flashes so that you can focus on other creative tasks like lighting, background, and different settings to create unique pieces of art.
So, let’s find out how you can create extraordinary splash photographs using this amazing device.
Photo credits: In this article, we are featuring examples done by myself, as well as three photographers and MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit customers; Andrea Laybauer (a specialist who shoots drops and splashes), Jos Daanen (a primarily wildlife photographer), and Paul Lindqvist (a specialist in food, stop-motion products, and portraits).
Taken by Ramakant Sharda using MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit
First, you’ll need a room that can be darkened where you can create a lot of mess in that room. It’s better to choose a spare room as you may need to keep your equipment setup for a few days.
You can use any DSLR camera for water droplet photography, or any other camera that has manual controls. Lens choice is important as you need one with a longer focal length and shorter minimum focusing distance so your camera is safe from water splashes but you can still fill the frame with splashes. I found that a 100mm macro lens is the best option for this project.
Next, you need flashes with manual control over power. You are going to use the flashes at the lowest power setting so you need a minimum of two flashes. If you have more, that is even better.
Taken by Andrea Laybauer using MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit
A steady tripod is a must for the camera so you can focus on other aspects of the shoot. You also need an extra tripod for attaching the MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit device.
You may use a glass bowl, wine glass, or a designer cup. But if you don’t want to show the container in the picture you need around an 8×12″ glass tray with two-inch depth. You can get it from your local aquarium shop (or a similar baking dish).
Taken by Jos Daanen using MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit
You also need some colorful background images. Go to Google and search for “blur abstract background” and you’ll get an idea about what type of images you require. You can buy similar images from stock sites or there are some sites that provide images at no cost. You now have two options, you can print these images on paper or transparencies.
Finally, you need a MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit to control the water drops and your camera. It comes with a holder kit so you can easily fix it on a tripod.
Other than these items, you need a few more things like a milky white acrylic sheet (Plexiglass) to attach backgrounds. Something to hold the acrylic sheet, a dry cloth, some clamps or clips and a shutter release cable.
Now you have everything ready, so let’s start. First, place the acrylic sheet as the background, making sure to leave at least two feet at the back for placing the flashes. Now place a tripod at the front of this and attach the MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit on it. The distance between the background and the point where your drop will fall should be around 12-15 inches.
Now put your water container below it and ensure that the drop falls in the center of this container. Also, align your background with it.
Next place your flashes. If you are using transparencies for the background, place the flashes behind the glass, at a distance of around 12 inches. If you are using a paper background, place the flashes at a 45-degree angle on both sides. Make sure to cover your flashes with a plastic bag.
Setup using a transparent background with the flashes behind it.
Setup using a paper background with the flashes in front of it. Notice the flashes are being protected from any water drops that might splash and land on them, potentially damaging your delicate electronic equipment.
One flash will be the master and it’ll attach with MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit and the other flashes will be in slave mode so they fire automatically when the master flash fires.
Lastly, fix your camera on a tripod and attach a shutter release cable. It’s better to create this setup on a table because you need to work for a long time and if this setup is on the ground, you’ll get tired quickly.
At this point, you may want to take a break and have coffee but if you are like me, you probably dying to see your first image. So, let’s talk about all the settings.
First, set your flashes at 1/32 power. If you are using four flashes, you may need to lower the power to 1/64 or 1/128. The lowest power setting will give you shortest flash duration and your photos won’t have any motion blur.
Next set your camera to Bulb Mode, set ISO to 100, choose an aperture between f/11-f/16 and attach the shutter release cable. Now put a pencil or something else where your drop will fall and focus manually on that spot, and leave the camera.
Taken by Andrea Laybuarer using MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit
You can also control your camera using the MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit, but it’s always better to set your camera to Bulb Mode and fire flashes instead. It will give you accurate results as there will be no shutter lag.
Lastly, you need to do the MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit settings. You are going to set the size of the first drop, the delay between two drops, size of the second drop and finally the flash firing time. Open the MIOPS Mobile app on your phone and you’ll find some settings. Set the first drop size to 25 milliseconds, the second drop size to 50 milliseconds and delay to 100 milliseconds. Finally set Trigger to 350 milliseconds and set mode to flash.
These settings are just a starting point and you need to do some fine-tuning. If your nozzle is too high or low, you need to change delay time according to that. For the above settings, the distance between nozzle and water container is around two feet.
Now you need to open the shutter using the shutter release cable and tap on the Start button in the app and close the shutter when flashes are fired. Since your room is dark and you are using a narrow aperture, the ambient light won’t affect the shot.
Taken by Andrea Laybauer using MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit
Taken by Jos Daanen using MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit
So, take a shot and check if the lighting is good or not. If your picture is too dark, increase the ISO or move the flashes a little bit closer. Keep in mind that you should not increase the power of your flashes above 1/32 or you’ll start getting motion blur. If your picture is too bright, lower the flash power to 1/64 or 1/128 or move them back.
Once the light is okay, take another shot and see if it’s properly focused. If not, focus again.
When everything is set and you get your first shot, it’s time to do some experiments to create different masterpieces. Change the size of drops to see what difference it makes. Remember that first drop size won’t make any major difference, it’s the size of the second drop what will create different shapes. Now change the delay time, every time you change it, you’ll get different shapes.
Now experiment with both drop size and delay between drops. Each change will give you different results. Just keep in mind that you should make small changes like 5-10 milliseconds.
Taken by Andrea Laybauer using MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit
Once you understand the process and take enough shots, experiment with different backgrounds and light positions. You can place the flashes at the back and front or you can use gels on them to get different results.
Taken by Paul Lindqvist using MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit
At last, I am going to tell you a little secret to get outstanding photos. If you add a few drops of liquid soap in the water, you’ll start getting some totally unique shapes.
So, let’s get started, please share your masterpieces in the comment area below.
Andrea Laybauer started to photograph in 2001. However, since 2009, she has dedicated herself to shooting drops and splashes. View her website here and Instagram to see more of her work.
Jos Daanen is primarily a wildlife photographer. He did his utmost best to get some collisions of droplets… For these featured photos, he ordered the MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit unit which was released at the beginning of 2018.
Paul Lindqvist is a commercial photographer who specializes in food, stop-motion, product photography, and portraits. He loves using technology to create his images, and always find new ways to use it to his advantage. View his website and Instagram
Disclaimer: MIOPS is a paid partner of dPS.
The post How to Take Amazing Photos Using the MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit appeared first on Digital Photography School.
One of the questions that a lot of photographers ask, is how much I should charge for my images? It is very hard to do, and hence a lot of artists struggle with it. There is so much more involved, and many don’t quite understand. So, how do you go about pricing your photography?
Flinders Street Station, this image took me about 3 years to get and I spent hours processing it. Hence it would have a high price on it.
There is a great story about Pablo Picasso, the famous artist. It goes like this.
Picasso was sitting in a Paris Café when an admirer approached and asked if he would do a quick sketch on a paper napkin. Picasso politely agreed, swiftly executed the work, and handed back the napkin – but not before asking a rather significant amount of money. The admirer was shocked and asked, “How can you ask for so much? It only took you a minute to draw this.” Picasso replied, “No, it took me 40 years.”
Whether this story is true or not is hard to know for sure, but it has a very good point. Most people do not consider the experience of the artist. Along with that are many other factors, like your education, the cost of equipment, and not to mention the time you spend creating the photo.
How much to charge, as you are going to see, is a complicated question and does depend on many of those factors. They are often things that people don’t really think about. Many photographers just pluck a price out of thin air and go with it. If I’m telling the truth, I have to say I was the same. I would constantly give different prices for my images.
Now I have a system in place and it is all based on the following.
I do macro for fun, so this was shot in my garden one morning and processed quickly. The price wouldn’t be high for this image.
You have to take into consideration any education you have done to learn or improve your photography. It doesn’t have to be formal education, like a university degree, but if you have paid money for it, then you need to consider the cost.
Something like a Bachelor of Fine Arts will cost you thousands of dollars. You will never recover your money if you are only charging people $ 20 an image, for instance. How many will you have to sell to pay off the degree at that price?
What about other short courses you may have done? Ones that are just a few weeks long, or those that are done online. You need to think about how much they cost and the time you spend doing the classes and learning to do all those new skills. There are so many online courses, from learning how to use your camera, to how to edit your photos.
While I enjoy this kind of photography, it isn’t part of my main body of work. Therefore, it would never be editioned as it isn’t worth as much.
If you are anything like me, you have spent a great deal of money on your photography gear. Though you also need to think about what you have bought in the past and what you have now. For instance, how many cameras have you had? How many lenses have you had over time?
Consider all your accessories as well. Think about your camera bags, tripods, filters, memory cards, camera straps, etc. These are often forgotten, but they all add up and should be considered when pricing your photography work.
This was taken with a good macro lens and an expensive camera so those factors should be taken into consideration when pricing the image.
Every time you go out to take photos, how much time do you spend in the field? Don’t think just about the length of time it takes to take a photo. You need to think about how far you traveled to get there and back. Did you have to drive around quite a bit?
When I go out shooting I can be gone all day. I might leave early in the morning and not get back until late that night. During that time, I may have traveled over 250 miles or 400 km, and used a tank of fuel. Not to mention having to buy two to three meals. It all adds up and if you are selling your images you need to consider these things as well.
Then what happens when you get home? The images are put onto your computer and then processed. It is going to be different for everyone, but you will likely spend anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours on each image. All this time should be considered when you are pricing your photography.
You should be giving yourself an hourly rate so you can add that up at the end to add to the price. While you may have gotten several images to sell in that one trip, you can divide it up and spread it out over the series.
This image is a combination of two and I spent many, many hours on it. I would ask for a high price for this one.
If you plan on selling your work as limited editions, then it will be worth more as you can only sell so many. When you do a limited run of an image they must all be identical and numbered, according to where in the edition they are, for example, 1/10, or 4/10, etc.
An edition is where you decide how many of that image you will sell. The number is up to you, 10, 20 or 100, maybe more if you think the image will be in high demand. However, the more there are in the edition the lower the value will be.
You have to be very organized to edition work and keep very good records. Once the edition is sold, you cannot sell anymore. There is some debate as to whether you can rework the image so that it looks different, but that is perhaps for another article.
This image would be part of my body of work and would definitely be put into an edition, perhaps with a limited run of 10.
Most know that you have to include the cost of printing. If you are selling the image you need to make sure the print is a good quality. Printing it yourself with a cheap printer and ink is never a good idea. Most of those will fade with time and you will be selling someone a print that won’t last a lifetime or more.
Make sure that wherever you get the work printed that it is archival. There is nothing worse than buying a piece of art from someone and then in 10 years it is gone because it was printed badly.
When you are preparing your work for sale, make sure you get the cost of a professional printing job and include that in the price.
An image that was done for fun. It would still be printed well, but the price would be lower than others.
This may seem like a good idea, it gets your foot in the door, but the reality is that it rarely works. Once people know they can get images from you for free then they will continue to expect that. When you stop, they will just go to the next person. You should always charge for your images and your work.
You should also not sell your images for next to nothing. Think about how you are harming the industry by doing so. If it were any other industry and people were selling their services or products for much less than others it would be considered wrong, or cheap would mean not good. You need to consider every aspect when pricing your photography
This is a bit of a throwaway image, taken during a time-lapse with a few hundred others. Still, it would never be given away for free.
So when someone asks you how much is your image worth, think about all the things that have been mentioned here. Of course, you are not going to charge thousands, but you want to get some of what you have spent back. Each time you sell one photo you have to work out how you can start to recoup the costs you have outlaid for your photography.
Please share your thoughts, if you have anything to add, on pricing your photography tips in the comments section below.
The post How Much is an Image Worth? Tips for Pricing Your Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School.
If you have been considering getting a new camera or have been considering upgrading a camera, you have probably heard all about crop sensor cameras but what does it mean? How does crop factor affect lens selections? When you are considering systems, often it is not just the camera bodies you must consider, but the selection of lenses for that system as well.
Crop Sensor Optics
Most new photographers often start out with crop sensor cameras because they are usually less expensive. But as you become more advanced does it make sense to upgrade to a full frame system? If you are thinking about upgrading is there a reasonable upgrade path?
For example, should you buy full frame lenses to use with your crop sensor body? It seems so confusing and to be fair, it is a little complicated and the simple rules of thumb don’t tell the whole story. Rather than look at the differences in camera sensors themselves (they are all pretty good), let’s try to make sense of the lenses themselves.
Similar focal length lenses – the Olympus micro 4/3rds 40-150mm f/2.8 (80-300mm equivalent) and Canon’s 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 (for full frame).
If you are looking at lenses you will see many different focal lengths and apertures. Even from the same manufacturer for the same camera body, there are often different aperture and focal length combinations. Since an important part of photography is optics, how can you begin to compare lenses for different size sensors? How do the lenses relate to the camera body you are looking at?
Nifty 50mm (full frame on the left) and micro 4/3rds 25mm (50mm equivalent) on right.
Going further, how do different size crop sensors affect lens optics? Is an f/2.8 lens on a crop sensor camera actually f/2.8 lens or is it something else? What about bigger format cameras? Why do the smaller apertures (f-stops) seem so big but the images so gorgeous with great background separation and bokeh?
This all relates to lens optics and crop sensor equivalences, one of the great mysteries of photography that most photographers don’t really understand.
To understand lens optics you need to understand what a lens does to the light coming into it. The light coming through a lens actually inverts, flipping the image upside down. The light then projects onto the digital sensor after passing through the lens.
Focal length and image flip onto the sensor.
Most lenses are defined by the focal length and maximum aperture. The higher the focal length, the closer distant objects seem. So, for example, sports and bird watchers typically want much larger focal lengths to get in close.
Lower numbers widen the field of view to make more things fit within the image (wide angle lenses) and are often the tools of the trade for landscape photographers. In 35mm equivalents, a 200mm lens is a long lens and a 20mm lens is a very wide lens.
Relative aperture size illustration.
The aperture f-stop number represents the size of the iris or hole in the lens. A lens will be rated based upon the largest aperture the iris can open. The more light you let in, the slower the shutter speed you will need. Because of this property, larger maximum aperture lenses are called faster lenses. For example, an f/2.8 lens is considered pretty fast and an f/5.6 lens (think kit lens) would be considered pretty slow.
Let’s keep the geeky math minimal, but it really helps understand lens optics.
Focal length is not a measurement of the actual length of a lens, but a calculation of an optical distance from the point where light converges to form a sharp image on the digital sensor at the focal plane in the camera. Aperture, on the other hand, is the size of the hole created by the iris in the lens. Aperture is geometrically related to the focal length of the lens. For example, an f/2.8 lens on a 100 mm focal length lens is 100 divided by 2.8 = 35.7 mm. As the lens focal length dictates the size of the aperture, it is independent of the size of the sensor but dependent on the focal length.
Utility lenses covering a similar range – the Canon 24-105mm f/4, and the Olympus 12-40mm Making Sense of Lens Optics for Crop Sensor Cameras f/2.8 (24-80mm equivalent).
Zoom lenses may have more than one aperture because the iris doesn’t get bigger as the lens gets longer. Since it is a math relationship, the longer focal length with the same iris opening makes the aperture smaller. More expensive zoom lenses have the same aperture for the entire range but that is a bit of an engineering feat as the iris must get larger as the lens zooms to a longer focal length.
In the golden age of film photography, there were multiple formats dictated by film stock. One of the more common sizes was 35mm film dictated by sprocket film stock that was 34.98 ±0.03mm (1.377 ±0.001 inches) wide. Back in the film days, there were multiple formats too, with larger and smaller film stock available that also affected lens sizes and performance.
When digital sensors were originally developed for still cameras, larger sensors were prohibitively expensive, so smaller sensors were used. There is a wide range of sensor sizes and this variety of sensor sizes affects the mechanics of how lenses on cameras operate.
When a sensor is close to the size of 35mm film stock, it is called full frame. Anything smaller is called a crop sensor. Anything bigger is generally called medium format although there is a lot of variability in sizes larger than full frame. Sensors not only vary in size but also geometry.
Crop sensor relative sizes
Generally speaking, a full frame sensor is in the shape of a rectangle that is roughly 36mm x 24mm which is a length to width ratio of 3:2 covering an area of 862mm sq. Conversely, a micro 4/3rds crop sensor is 17.3mm x 13mm (ratio of 4:3) covering an area of 224.9mm sq. A Nikon/Pentax APS-C crop sensor is 23.6mm x 15.7mm (ratio of 3:2) covering an area of 370mm sq, whereas a Canon APS-C sensor is 22.2mm x 14.8mm (ratio of 3:2) but only 328.5mm sq. Larger formats (bigger than full frame) tend to be square.
Many times the crop factors are calculated by the size of the diagonal distance from corner to corner of the sensor. For example, a full frame sensor is twice the diagonal as a micro 4/3rds sensor, therefore the crop ratio is 2x. For a Nikon APS-C crop sensor the ratio is 1.5x and for a Canon APS-C crop sensor, it is 1.6x.
Comparison of the sensor footprints
Lenses are round whereas sensors are rectangular or square. So, all cameras cut off part of the image because the round lenses project a circular image on the sensor which is a rectangle. This means that the edges of the image circle are cut off.
Camera manufacturers design their lens/camera combinations so that the entire sensor gets great coverage from the image circle (this is called covering power). This can create problems when you have a mismatch between the sensor size and the size of the sensor for which the lens was made.
Image circle with full frame and micro 4/3 frame overlaid
There are lots of factors that affect your images. The sensor size does affect images, but so does focal length and aperture size but those are physical properties of the lens and are not affected by the crop factor. At least not directly.
To illustrate the effect of crop sensors on light gathering and focal length, a series of test images were set up (these are not overly scientific but more illustrative). Using an Olympus EM1 Mark II (Micro 4/3rds sensor – 2 times crop factor) and a Canon 5D Mark IV (full frame).
Olympus EM1 Mark II, micro 4/3rds camera
Canon 5D Mark IV full frame camera.
To illustrate the focal difference conversion and the light gathering conversion, the cameras were set up side by side using only the focal length conversion. The geometry of the sensors is not exactly the same so they have been cropped to match each other (8×10 ratio).
Camera size comparison (full frame on the left, micro 4/3 on the right)
Both cameras were targeted at the same vista.
Test setup side by side cameras.
Focal lengths are commonly converted into equivalents for full frame sensors to give the same the field of view by multiplying the focal length by the sensor’s diagonal ratio. For example, a 25mm lens on a micro 4/3rd sensor is the equivalent of a 50mm lens on a full frame camera (crop factor is 2:1).
A Canon EFS (crop sensor) lens to match a 50mm lens is 31mm. This works in reverse too. If you put a full frame lens on a crop sensor camera body, the focal length is multiplied (the same 50mm lens becomes like a 75mm lens on a crop sensor). This rule of thumb works.
Editor’s note: The optics are not the same, but this is a generally accepted method of understanding crop sensors.
At 24mm equivalents – same shutter speed and ISO, full frame on left and Micro 4/3 on the right (both at f/4, ISO200, 1/160th).
Another rule of thumb that doesn’t work so great is to add a stop or two for the aperture (depending upon the crop). Why doesn’t it work? Well, there is more at play here.
The aperture affects the light gathering ability of a lens but with a crop sensor camera, the smaller sensor causes the depth of field (area in focus) to be larger. What that means is that an f/2.8 lens at 200 ISO sensitivity should have very close to the same shutter speed on any camera body (there are variations in light meters from one camera body to another). So an f/2.8 lens is always an f/2.8 for light gathering.
At 70mm equivalents – same shutter speed and ISO, full frame on the left and Micro 4/3 on the right (both at f/4, ISO200, 1/80th).
To make things more complex is the look of an image. The bokeh on a crop sensor will never be quite as good as a full-frame sensor because the extra area of a full frame sensor changes the depth of field (the amount of the image in focus) relative to a crop sensor. This is not a function of the lens as much as the sensor size. This can be pretty subtle but it is a factor, particularly for portraits.
At 200mm equivalents – same shutter speed and ISO, full frame on the left and Micro 4/3 on right (f/4, ISO 200, 1/30th).
At 200mm equivalents – same shutter speed and ISO, full frame on the left and Micro 4/3 on right (f/4, ISO 200, 1/40th).
Lenses tend to last much longer than cameras with good lenses lasting as long as two or three camera body iterations. So many people go by the adage of investing in glass. So if you are using a crop sensor body that will accept full frame lenses, why not buy full frame lenses until you are ready to buy the full frame body? The answer is not necessarily because it may not be as sharp as your crop lenses even if the lens seems nominally the same size.
Full frame lenses are more expensive than crop lenses but you are often paying for other features including weather sealing and better more durable construction. Because of large differences in sensor sizes, getting full frame lenses on a crop sensor means you are only using the very center portion of the lens but the detail is more concentrated on that area. This can challenge the optical quality of the full frame lenses.
They are often better quality but not enough better to account for the size differences between the sensors. So unless you know you are upgrading your camera imminently, you may not want to use the full frame lenses on crop bodies.
Another consideration is that you have to use the crop factor in reverse. On a Canon crop body (1.6 crop factor) a 24mm lens becomes a 38.4mm lens. This means that you can’t get as wide of an angle of view on a crop body with wide lenses.
A full frame lens on a crop body will increase the focal length by the crop factor
There are lots of misconceptions regarding lenses when comparing them across sensor sizes. Understanding the basic function, light gathering capabilities, and geometric relationships can help you compare lenses within camera systems and across sensor sizes.
There are great lenses available for all camera systems that can produce fantastic results. Lenses are as important at the camera body. So when choosing a system, make sure you have the lens selection you need for your particular style of photography.
The post Making Sense of Lens Optics for Crop Sensor Cameras appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Starting a photography blog was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I never would’ve guessed when I pulled the trigger on my first blog post how much good would come from it.
I talked briefly about starting a blog in this article, 10 Photography Lessons I’ve Learned Over 10 Years, and I decided it would be worth going deeper. The benefits of sharing your photos on your own blog are many, and I’m going to talk about 12 of them here.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but hopefully, it will inspire you to start a photography blog of your own.
It’s easy to get stale in your photography sometimes. You tend to shoot the same things the same way and post-process using the same presets.
A blog can help inspire you to get out of that stale rut and grow as a photographer because you will naturally want to share something new and exciting. Knowing that people are viewing your photography blog is a great motivator to post a better photo today than you did last week.
Your blog is yours to do what you want with, and that means you’re building something that is 100% your own. If you only ever post your photos to social media then you’re dependent on those services, and your photography is not their priority.
Building a photography blog that is all about you and your photos will be there as long as you want it to, and it can become a platform that grows over time.
All blogging services will come with some form of customization, which means you can show off your photography however you want. You can use anything from simple, free themes that look great right out of the box to paid premium themes that give you more features and options.
If you really want full control over how it looks and feels, get a self-hosted blog on your own domain. They’re cheap and easy to set up, and you will own your blog forever. You can even have it double as your photography portfolio website.
Your photography blog can be a great place to share your images that might not be your best work. There are a number of reasons you might want to do this.
You might want to share a collection of photos of a location or subject. You could share your before-and-after photos to illustrate a new post-processing technique. There are many reasons why you might want to share some photos that aren’t good enough for your main photography portfolio, and a blog is a great place to do that.
Learning to tell stories with your photos is one of the best ways to improve your photography. A good storyteller will capture people’s interest and emotions. Blogging will help you to become a better storyteller because the images you share come with a story.
The great part about a photography blog is that you can write as much as you want, and it adds to the story of the photo. The process of telling the story about the photo will develop your creative muscles and you will naturally get better at storytelling with your photography.
I like to think of my own blog as not only somewhere to teach travel photography, but where people can get to know me as a real human. I love to write travel stories on my blog, sharing not just my photos, but the stories and experiences that go along with them.
People who find and read your photography blog will see more of who you are than they will on Instagram or Facebook. It can be a place to let people get to know the person behind the camera.
There’s nothing quite as confronting as looking back through old photos and reading old posts on your blog. It can make you cringe sometimes, but that’s a good thing.
Your blog can be a place where you document your photography journey. You will be able to see your growth over time, which can be incredibly encouraging, especially on those days when you feel like your photography sucks (we all have those days).
As you grow as a photographer you get better at looking at your photos more critically and curating them. A photography blog can help a lot with this as well. The process of writing a post about a photo will help you to analyze it better because you spend more time thinking about the whys, hows, whats, and ifs of the photo.
Why did I take that photo? How could I have improved it? What story does it tell? If I used a different lens, how would it have changed it? You’ll be surprised how many more questions you’ll find yourself asking as you write.
Sharing your photos is really putting yourself out there, which can be scary. One of the advantages of that is that it makes it easier for people to find you. Google loves blogs, so you’re far more likely to show up if somebody searches for something you’ve shared on your blog than if you’d just shared it on social media.
Over time, the more you share on your photography blog, the more likely you are to show up in searches. More visibility means greater potential to be discovered by photo buyers or other sites.
You may not think of it this way, but writing can be an incredibly creative outlet. Your previous classroom experiences may be contrary to this, but it’s true.
Creative writing exercises similar parts of the brain as photography, so it makes sense that they strengthen each other. You may not think that sitting down and tapping away at a computer can help your photography, but it can. A blog is a great place to exercise your creative muscles regularly.
I’ve lost count of how many emails or comments I’ve had from people who have read my blog and felt encouraged or inspired. This relates to my previous point about people getting to know you better.
When people read your blog and begin to get to know you it shows them that you’re just another human with a camera who’s on a journey too. A photo blog makes you more relatable, and people are more likely to be inspired by you if they feel they can relate to you.
If you’re anything like me, you probably don’t need another hobby, but hear me out. Blogging just may not be for you. That’s fine.
On the other hand, you might absolutely love it and it may grow from an outlet for sharing your photography, into something that you do for pleasure. You won’t know unless you try.
These are only 12 of dozens of reasons to start a photography blog. I strongly encourage you to give it a go. If you’re one of the many photographers who has a blog but has let it slip, why don’t you to pick it up again? Maybe you’ve been on the fence about it and this article will give you a push.
There are countless blogging platforms to choose from, but I strongly recommend WordPress. I also recommend the free Start a Blog course over at Problogger (another site by dPS creator Darren Rowse).
Do you have a photography blog already? What benefits have come from it? Still on the fence? I would love to hear your experiences or questions in the comments area below.
The post 12 Good Reasons Why You Should Start a Photography Blog appeared first on Digital Photography School.