Category: Photography

Announcing the Three Tamron Contest Winners
The Winners of the Tamron 100-400mm Di VC USD Ultra-Telephoto Zoom, Tamron SP 35mm F/1.8 Di VC USD, and Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD lenses are…

A HUGE thank you to everyone who entered the recent contest from our friends at Tamron. Again, this was not actually a photography competition, but so many of you shared your beautiful photographs, we encourage you all to go back and scroll the comments section for some wonderful photos, and links to reader pages and sites.

Yet again, the response was absolutely AMAZING with over 480 entries! But now…onto the winners! Drumroll please, and the winners are:

Grand Prize Tamron 100-400mm

Tamron 100-400mm Di VC USD

The grand prize winner is: Lorrie L.

100-400mm Di VC USD Ultra-Telephoto Zoom – Value $ 799. Winner’s choice of Canon, Nikon or Sony-A mount. No Substitutions. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Second Prize Tamron SP 35mm F/1.8

Tamron SP 35mm F/1.8 Di VC USD

The second prize winner is: Esther V.

Tamron SP 35mm F/1.8 Di VC USD – Value $ 599. Winner’s choice of Canon, Nikon or Sony-A mount. No substitutions. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Third Prize Tamron SP 70-300mm

Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD

The third prize Wwinner is: Debra S.

Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD – Value $ 449. Winner’s choice of Canon, Nikon or Sony-A mount. No substitutions. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Thanks for entering

We were all thrilled with the entries, you tugged at our heartstrings, made us laugh, made us smile, but most importantly, you made us keep wanting to do more of what we are doing; providing you quality information and guidance to become a better photographer. We were so pleased to see that you came from every part of the world, young adults to grandparents, and everyone in between. Thank you all for your entries!

The winning entries

Here is a snippet of each of the entries from the winners of the Tamron 100-400mm Di VC USD, Tamron SP 35mm F/1.8 Di VC USD and Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD, respectively. If you want to read the full entries head to the contest page here.

Lorrie – Grand Prize Winner

As with all bird photographers, I am really wanting a longer lens to “Get That Shot”. I am a regular reader of Digital Photography School. Today I was on your page looking for an article on aperture. I was hoping to understand aperture the best I can to make certain I am getting it correct for absolute sharpness. I was also wanting to understand how I should adjust aperture for the distance of subjects. I strive for sharp images with great focus. Suddenly I ran across this contest and I was like “Oh my Gosh!!” I have to enter!!

I love Tamron lenses. I am familiar with the Tamron web page. I visited today for the most up to date information on the Tamron 100-400mm Di VC USD. I am certain it will improve my photography in so many ways. I know it is far more than just a birding lens. I know Tamron lenses produces high-quality, sharp images with excellent color. I have extreme confidence in the lenses knowing I can take them out and use them in less than perfect weather conditions and they will not be frail. I have also watched several videos on YouTube by different reviewers stating the Tamron 100-400mm Di VC USD is a value and is far superior to any other lens in this category! The lens is certainly on my wishlist! Thank you!! Best Always!!

Esther – Second Prize Winner

The more I researched the three lenses, the harder it became to decide which one would be my top pick!

Thank you for doing this contest, it has helped me learn more about these lenses, and even if I don’t win any of the lenses I have been helped by this. I think that my top pick would be the Tamron SP 35mm f1.8. It is a very versatile lens that would be helpful for me in shooting portraits and getting clear shots of everyday life. I love that it is f/1.8, it will create stunning pictures with subjects that have that “pop.” It is also wide-angle which would be very nice to have! I am an 18-year-old amateur photographer and I look forward to using every piece of gear for capturing neat images of people and other wonderful things that God created.

Debra – Third Prize Winner

I live on 40 acres in southern California. On December 4th, everything burned in the Thomas Fire. I was able to get out with my camera bag but not my lens bag. I am living in a trailer on my property waiting to rebuild my house. At first, there was no life, not even a fly. The first life I saw was a stray hornet. Then the birds came back. Green is starting to sprout from the burned flora that I thought was dead and gone. I would have loved to record the return of wildlife but all I had in my camera bag was my Canon 5D Mark III, a nifty 50 and a kit lens. I feel like I am on a photo challenge.

I would love the Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD to give me more range to document the changing details of my new landscape. The 70- 300mm range would be perfect for capturing returning insects, rabbits looking for fresh greens and the coyotes that hunt them. I am drawn to the ultrasonic silent drive to prevent startling my subjects and capture sharp images faster. Most of the wildlife ventures out at dusk so the vibration compensation would help with longer shutter speeds.

Honorable mentions

We had so many wonderful entries, we have chosen 10 people to receive an “Honorable Mention” prize of the Living Landscapes eBook, by dPS. The 10 winners are listed below:
1. Christian
2. Eddie
3. Debra Lee
4. BJ
5. Ronaldo
6. Abhiman
7. Anthony
8. Martin
9. Luis
10. Gajendra
Special offer for dPS readers

Now, for those of you that didn’t win, Tamron has invited ALL dPS readers to download their eBooks. You can find them here.

The winners will be emailed with the details of how to collect their prizes. Please make sure to look for our email. Thank you again for all the wonderful submissions and to Tamron for sponsoring this competition.

Tamron Rebates

For all of you residing in the USA, when you do purchase your next Tamron Lens, make sure to take advantage of the rebates* up to $ 200 off through March 3, 2018. Find additional information HERE!

*Current rebate offers end March 3, 2018. US RESIDENTS ONLY.

About Tamron

Disclaimer: Tamron is a paid partner of dPS.

The post Announcing the Three Tamron Contest Winners by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
February 28, 2018
How to Make a Dramatic Portrait with Light Painting Using Items Found in Your Home

In this article, I’ll show you how to do a fun project you can do with friends and a little light painting. You can do this, using things you likely already have in the house.

It’s always fun to experiment with different and creative ways of using light in photographs. It’s also a lot of fun to take some risks and experiment with a technique that may or may not produce good results. The reality is you can learn from every photographic experience. It doesn’t matter if the results are perfect or not. Each time you pull out a camera you create something that adds to your knowledge base and helps you to grow as a photographer.

Learning lessons

In the case of a project I did recently with light painting and live models, several lessons were learned. The first was the importance of finding enthusiastic people to assist with my projects. The second was the importance of a reflector in adding light to a photograph.

Lastly, the third lesson involved pushing the limits of human abilities. I asked my friends to hold very still for these images, sometimes in some slightly awkward poses. How much was too much for my models?

This was our final image of the evening. It took a lot of trial and error to reach this point.

The light painting project

The whole concept for the photo project was inspired by the light painting of Eric Pare. He creates dramatic images in stunning locations with the help of dancer Kim Henry. Eric uses an easily created light tube and a strong flashlight. It’s winter here in Canada, and at -30c it’s not reasonable to ask a friend to pose outside in a landscape while wearing skimpy clothing.

So using his idea of long shutter speeds, it was time to craft a different project. The goal was to create dramatic images that you could easily reproduce within your home at a fairly low cost.

The following images were created in my kitchen using a large piece of black velvet (a black sheet will also work) draped across my portable backdrop stand, a reflector, an extension cord, and a string of Christmas lights. Of course, three friends were also recruited to assist with the project. They were more than willing to participate in the fun. In the end, there were a lot of laughs, and everyone was quite dedicated to the effort to get the images correct.

A terrible grainy image but my friend was having so much fun she needed to take a quick selfie.

The Setup

Setting up was very easy. A backdrop was attached to the narrow walls of my kitchen. Black velvet is a lovely fabric for absorbing light and creating true black in photographs. I love black velvet and I’ve used it to create some very dramatic still life images and portraits in the past.

Wait until the fabric is on sale or pick remnants. The only trick to black velvet is to use a lint brush to remove white fuzzy bits. These show up quite easily in images, and it’s a pain to clone out all those little white spots.

Here we set the lights and the background. The kitchen is pretty narrow so it was a challenge to set up the backdrop. In the end, part of the backdrop was taped to the wall.

A shot from above. My friend stood on the countertop to spin the lights. As you can see they were loosely draped over the fan.

The reflector was placed just below the model’s belly button and the light was directed up towards the face.

After setting up the backdrop using tape and the cross piece from my backdrop kit, we then hung the Christmas lights from the ceiling fan.

In the original plan, we intended to turn on the fan and let it spin. It’s a good thing we realized that the lights would tangle around the fan and cause an issue. So it then became the job of one person to spin the fan 340 degrees during the exposure manually.

The Camera Gear

We used a Canon 5D Mark III mounted on a tripod and the 2-second self-timer. That allowed the person manning the fan to begin spinning the lights.

This image is getting better. It’s still soft. My exposure time wasn’t quite correct yet here.

The Procedure

It was time to establish the proper exposure for the whole project. The trick here was to balance the exposure so that there was a long enough shutter speed (exposure time) to blur the lights but we also needed to keep the models in focus.

It’s awfully hard to stay still for even just a few seconds. In fact, it’s almost impossible. After several experiments and through trial and error the final exposure used was 0.8 of a second at f/3.2 with an ISO of 100. We also used a large reflector to bounce the light back up towards the models face.

This one is a little better. I ran it through a sharpening editor to help. It’s not perfect but I love the way the lights curved around their hair.

The whole experiment required us to use two people to create the photo and one or two people as models in each shot. The photographer triggered the camera timer as well as held the reflector, while the fan operator stood on the countertop and spun the fan at the proper moment.

This image didn’t turn out as planned. You can see how important timing and communication are to this kind of project.

The Keys to Success

The keys to a successful photograph were quite simply communication and timing. The lights had to be spun at exactly the right moment, and the photographer needed to communicate timing to everyone else.

It took a lot of tries to get the whole thing correct, but in the end, we were able to produce the desired images.

The creative person in me is able to ignore the slight ghosting from motion because I love how the lights spin above and below her eyes.

The goal was to create dramatic images with a neat light painting effect. I wanted to encircle the model with light, almost as if she were standing within a light tube. There were many failed attempts.

Sometimes our timing was off, and the lights did not spin around the model or got caught in her hair. Other times the lights moved too slowly and didn’t make it all the way through the image. Other times the issue was the lights themselves. Sometimes the lights spun right across the model’s eyes. I like a few of these images, but at the same time, some ran across the face in a way that was not attractive.

Have fun with it

The whole experiment was a lot of fun. It made for a great night out and some fun pics to post on social media. My friends were happy to post the pics to show their friends. As an artist and a professional photographer I also wanted to see if I could use the technique for other purposes.

Is it possible to use this technique to create some interesting fine art images or perhaps for some interesting portraits? The answer is yes! There’s a lot that can be done with this technique. It’s well worth experimenting with and seeing what kind of results can be created.

In this one, we achieved exactly what I was hoping to do. She is standing in a circle of lights.

The post How to Make a Dramatic Portrait with Light Painting Using Items Found in Your Home by Erin Fitzgibbon appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 28, 2018
7 Tips for Creating Natural-Looking HDR Landscapes Using Aurora HDR

Aurora HDR is one of the best and easiest photo editing programs available for quickly creating HDR images. With that said, it has a wide range of tools and filters to help you achieve your HDR goals. To help you sort through them all, this article will highlight seven tips for creating natural-looking HDR landscapes in Aurora HDR 2018.

1. Keep HDR editing of sunsets and sunrises to a minimum

Everyone knows that sunrise and sunset provide optimal landscape photography opportunities. Golden hour bathes everything in a beautiful, often colorful natural light. As a result, it’s best to take a more subdued editing approach to keep the scene as natural looking as possible, especially when dealing with HDR. Otherwise, you risk over-processing your image.

Original starting image (the middle exposure of a 5-image bracketed set). Image courtesy dPS Managing Editor, Darlene Hildebrandt.

NOTE: On that note, many of the tips below will include editing tools and sliders that have been pushed to their extremes. This is meant as a demonstration to show what you could do by using these tools at their maximum, but it’s not suggesting you should do this.

2. Intelligently bump contrast and color with HDR Enhance

One of the first tools you should utilize is called HDR Enhance. Found in the HDR Basic panel, it’s a newer feature available in Aurora HDR 2018 and it serves as a replacement for the clarity slider. When activated, HDR Enhance brings out the details and textures in your image while minimizing any residual artifacts such as image noise that might be introduced in the process.

In the example below, the HDR Enhance slider has been pulled to the extreme for demonstration purposes. Notice how the contrast in the foreground and the distant rocks have increased significantly, and the color in the sky really pops.

HDR Enhance at 100.

But adding too much HDR Enhance is like adding too much clarity. The rocks and sand in the foreground have so much contrast and clarity that they look unreal, and the rocks and hills in the background now have a halo effect (generally considered undesirable).

To reduce these effects and thus make your landscape appear more realistic, tone down HDR Enhance significantly (or use the masking brush to apply or erase the effect wherever you choose). By having the slider at 36 as opposed to 100, there’s still a nice pop of details and color.

HDR Enhance scaled back to 36.

3. Bump up the contrast

To make your image appear less flat, bump up the contrast. Going to extremes results in lots of shadows, reducing details in any dark areas. It also saturates color in the sky and in the reflection on the water.

Contrast at 100.

By lessening contrast to about 20, shadows are still enhanced, but the details are better preserved. Note that the trees on the hill are still visible.

Contrast scaled back to 20.

4. Use Smart Tone to brighten up an image

Since increasing the contrast introduced more shadows to the image, brighten it up again by using the Smart Tone filter. Dragging the slider to the right brings more light to areas of the image that are dark, without dramatically affecting parts of your image that are already bright.

Below, you can see an extreme version of the Smart Tone slider in action. Notice how the shadowed areas are brightened, revealing lots of detail, particularly in the hill on the right. This is what you can do with Smart Tone, but it’s not necessarily what you should do since the image now appears very flat without any shadows or contrast, and the dreaded halo has appeared again.

Smart Tone at 100.

To appear more realistic, pull back Smart Tone to about 22. This gives a hint of detail to the trees in the right, similar to what a reflection on the water might cause. It also brightens that patch of sand to the right.

Smart Tone dialed back to 22.

5. Enhance Saturation, Vibrance, and Color Contrast

At this point, let’s turn our attention to the colors. Play with the Temperature slider in the HDR Basics panel to add some warmth to images like this sunset. Then scroll down to the Color panel and tweak the Saturation and the Vibrance sliders.

Depending on your image, you may need to bump these either up or down. Just avoid taking them to their extremes; generally, somewhere between 5-20 will be a good range. You can also bump up the Color Contrast slider, which controls the contrast between primary and secondary colors.

Saturation, Vibrance and Color Contrast boosted.

6. Use Image Radiance for an ethereal effect

Now we’re looking at a few finishing touches that you can add to your HDR landscape shots, and one option is Image Radiance. This adds a soft, dreamy glow to your photo, and it is best used on sunset or sunrise images. In this particular scenario, Image Radiance seems particularly important since it can contribute a soft, hazy effect typical of ocean shots.

Increase the Image Radiance slider to about 37. Doing this will introduce some shadows to your image, but that can easily be fixed with the Brightness and Shadows slider in the same panel. You can also adjust Vividness and Warmth here too if you see fit.

7. Add a subtle Vignette

The final edit that you might do to an HDR landscape image is to add a vignette. In the case of a sunrise or sunset, a vignette can be particularly helpful to add a subtle frame around the subject, drawing more attention to the focal part of the scene, the setting sun.

Within Aurora HDR, the Vignette panel is at the very bottom. You can control not only the size, amount, roundness, and feathering of the vignette, but also the inner brightness. As well you can adjust the placement of the vignette, meaning you can easily create a vignette that is not centered on the image – very handy if your subject is following the rule of thirds and is off-center.

When adding a vignette, note that the amount is a negative number for a dark (black) vignette and a positive number for a bright (white) one.

Final image with the vignette added.

Bonus tips

In addition, Aurora HDR also has tools for correcting Chromatic Aberration and Lens Distortion. It also comes loaded with several “Realistic HDR” presets that you can use to get started, and then just tweak the settings to your liking.

Over to you

There you have it, seven tips for processing landscape HDR photos in Skylum’s Aurora HDR. If you were inspired to create your own HDR landscapes, please share them in the comments below along with your post-processing tips and tricks.

Disclaimer: Skylum (formerly Macphun) is a dPS advertising partner.

The post 7 Tips for Creating Natural-Looking HDR Landscapes Using Aurora HDR by Suzi Pratt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 27, 2018
How to Make Brilliant Black and White Photos with Dramatic Composition

It’s hard to beat the power and drama of good black and white photography. There’s a reason that monochrome has survived and prospered as an artistic medium despite the arrival of color photos. But how do you harness the power of black and white for yourself? The key is in your composition.

The problem with composition is that it’s such a vast topic it’s easy to lose track of the various principles and the ways you can put them into the practice. So let’s keep it simple – I’m going to give you three things you can concentrate on. Put these into practice and you’ll see a dramatic improvement in the composition of your black and white photos!

#1 – Simplicity

Simplified composition helps give your black and white photos more power by focusing attention on the main subject.

The above landscape photo is a great example. The composition is about as simple as you can get. It works because I used a neutral density filter and a long shutter speed of 90 seconds to blur the water and clouds. The result is a black and white landscape photo with a minimalist style composition.

This principle also applies to portraiture. Keep the composition simple to focus attention on your model. An easy way to do this is to use a short telephoto lens with an aperture of around f/2.8. Get in close and make sure there are no distractions in the background to pull attention away from the person you’re photographing.

#2 – Texture

One of the interesting things about black and white is that it brings out the interesting textures in your subject. You can use this characteristic to make your black and white photos more interesting.

This photo of some old wooden boxes is a good example.

There are two interesting things about the composition of this image. First is the pattern created by the repeating shapes of the boxes. Second is the texture of the wood.

The absence of color in black and white helps emphasize texture. You can take it further in post-processing by applying Clarity or other tools designed to bring out texture (such as the Structure sliders in Silver Efex Pro 2).

Texture and contrast

You can take this idea further by using the contrast between smooth and rough surfaces. Some objects are more tactile than others and have lots of texture. Others have very little.

You’ll see this technique used a lot in long exposure photography, where you can take advantage of the juxtaposition between a subject with lots of texture, such as a concrete jetty, and one that has very little, like water blurred by using a neutral density filter and a long exposure. The earlier photo of two rocks is a good example.

Here’s another. I used a shutter speed of 3-minutes to blur the clouds and the water. As a result, there’s a strong contrast between the concrete in the foreground, the jetty in the distance, and the surrounding water and clouds.

#3 – Tonal Contrast

Tonal contrast is where you have light tones and dark tones next to each other. Now we’re getting to the heart of black and white photography! This technique is not nearly as effective in color because of the way that colors that are similar in tone, such as red and green, still create a powerful contrast. Tonal contrast is the main factor that separates black and white photography from color.

The easiest way to explain how tonal contrast works is with some examples.

In the first (below) there’s a strong tonal contrast between the white and black stones. Your eyes go to the white stones because they are in the center of the frame and because they provide a strong contrast against the black stones underneath them.

Another subject where tonal contrast is used to good effect is portraiture. In the portrait below the model’s light-toned skin contrasts with the dark background. The key to making this technique work is to make sure the background is in shade and that it contains no distracting highlights.

So far both examples have shown a light toned subject against a dark background. But you can turn it around by placing a dark subject against a white background.

That’s the technique I used in the following portrait. I photographed the man during carnival in Spain. He was dressed for the occasion and had even painted his face. I placed him against a bright, sunlit building to take advantage of the tonal contrast between his dark skin and the white wall.

Conclusion

There are many factors that make up a good black and white photo, but the composition is one of the most important. If you want to make a strong black and white photo, then focusing on these three key factors – simplicity, texture, and tonal contrast – is a great place to start.

Mastering Composition Book Two

Want to learn more about composition? Then check out my wildly popular ebook Mastering Composition Book Two. It contains 20 lessons that will help you get better at composition, no matter what your skill level!

The post How to Make Brilliant Black and White Photos with Dramatic Composition by Andrew S. Gibson appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 27, 2018
4 Tips for Nature Photography Beginners

Nature photography encompasses a range of outdoor photography genres. This includes, but is not limited to, landscapes, weather phenomena, astrophotography, birds, and wildlife. Each of these categories has their respective specialized skills and can be expanded further.

If you are just starting your quest as a nature photographer, here are a few things to consider:

1) What do you want to capture?

Since nature photography is so vast, you can spend a lot of time in each sub-genre. So an important question to ask yourself is what do you want to capture? Do you want to photograph close-ups of plants and insects? Is your love that of the micro natural world or are you more enthralled by magnificent mountain ranges and lakes?

Maybe birds and larger animals are more interesting to you than sunsets and sunrises. Knowing what you like and what you want to capture is a great first step.

2) What equipment do you need?

When you know what you want to capture, this feeds into the decision of what gear you require. If you are shooting landscapes, you will go for wider lenses as opposed to wildlife and birds, which need more “zoom” or telephoto lenses.

A tripod is great for landscapes and astrophotography, but if you are trying to get a bird in flight or an animal in motion, knowing how to use your camera is your best asset.

3) Location and planning

What you want to capture drives your choice of location and time of day and season of the year. Scout your landscapes beforehand to see the direction of the sun, any potential safety issues, or terrain considerations. Then return to shoot during a more flattering time of day.

If you are shooting flowers, note the time of year they bloom. With birds, you need to understand a bit about their habitat and the times of day that they are active. If you want to shoot more dangerous wildlife, it is best to go with someone experienced.

A National Park is a great location for both landscapes and wildlife. Make note that you may need to apply for special permits for some parks and that they also have seasonal or time restrictions in some areas. This will impact your planning if those restrictions include your anticipated shooting times.

4) Reading the light

As in the previous tip, the direction of the light can be determined by scouting your location prior. You can also do online research on the area or decipher it from other photos taken there.

If you are shooting landscapes, arrive about an hour prior to your sunrise/sunset and position yourself. This way you can focus on your composition and maybe even do some test shots. Play around with your white balance, exposures, and different camera angles.

If you are waiting for wildlife to show up, use the time to work out what settings you need. When the animal shows up, you will find yourself photographing almost continuously trying to nail that perfect moment.

Closer shots and flowers give you more time to experiment, but you don’t want your light to be flat. Walk with a reflector or try to find angles that give you shadow, shape, and form.

Conclusion

Nature photography is not only vast but filled with interesting sub-genres and subjects to shoot. As a beginner, most times research precedes shooting. As you learn more about your intended subject and how to capture it, you will become better with time.

With wildlife, patience is a great asset as you spend more time waiting for a sighting. If you love the outdoors, it’s a great way to explore and preserve those fleeting moments. Determine what you want to capture. Take the gear you need when you scout. Research, plan and try to find the best light. Most of all have fun!

The post 4 Tips for Nature Photography Beginners by Nisha Ramroop appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 27, 2018
How to Refresh Your Creativity by Shooting Digital with a Film Mindset

There exists a strange and long standing line drawn in the weird sands of the photo world. On one side of that line you have those who shoot only digital images and on the other, you have those who still swear by analog film. Then there’s a hazy gray area (probably 18% gray) where people like myself reside.

Do you shoot film or digital? Seeing as this is Digital Photography School, I assume the answer to that question likely leans towards the latter. I started out on my photographic journey with a 35mm SLR, then moved to a DSLR and mirrorless, until I now strike a weighted balance between digital and large format film photography.

Why am I telling you all of this? The reason is simple; we all want to make better images and we all want to grow as photographers.

Stay with me here….Consider for a moment that instead of choosing sides on that imaginary line between film and digital photography, while pointing out the perceived benefits of digital over film, that there are many lessons to be learned from the film shooter’s mindset.

In this article, we’re going to look at some ways shooting film, or at least with the mentality of film, can help you with your digital photography skills. And no I won’t try to persuade you to jump from one side of the line to the other.

Shoot like it isn’t free

If there’s one thing that has both illuminated the field of digital photography while at the same time stamping out the classical mental focus involved in the craft it is this…

This little piece of plastic and silicon cost me about $ 13 and holds well over a 1000 images when used in my 36.4-megapixel camera. That’s a lot of photographs. What’s more is that it doesn’t end there. I can hypothetically erase and reuse this contraption an unlimited number of times.

My camera will wear out (knock on wood) before this memory card does. Now, compare that memory card to this:

This is a box of one of the 4×5 sheet films that I use with my large format camera. It cost me around $ 40 after it was all said and done. That’s 25 sheets of film that I will have to load into holders under complete darkness, put into my view camera, expose for about $ 1.60 each, and then bring back home to develop in my darkroom. And that’s just the first phase.

If I want to print images from those negatives I have to either scan them into the computer or print them myself in the darkroom using light-sensitive paper and even more chemicals and equipment.

Which causes more pause before shooting?

So, here we have two entirely different mediums to record what is essentially the same thing. Which one do you think I am more careful with when shooting? The $ 40 box of film or the $ 13 memory card?

If I make a mistake in exposure, composition, or anything else when I’m shooting digital there is virtually instant feedback and the error usually costs nothing. With film, the result is hidden and any “Uh-ohs!” are only evident after the fact.

I urge you to shoot as deliberately as possible when using your digital camera. Sure, even a well thought out photo can go bad regardless of planning but the more you think about what you’re doing the fewer variables there are in the equation.

Pay attention to what you’re shooting and why. Photograph as if every frame costs you money and I promise that you will begin seeing better results with your digital photos.

Choose an ISO and stick to it

Something that we take for granted with digital photography is the quick application of ISO changes. Usually, a prompt turn of a dial can take you from ISO 100 to ISO 6400 and back again in a few seconds.

This is not a bad thing. Changing ISO on a digital camera opens up astounding creative possibilities and lets you get shots you would have otherwise missed when the light changes suddenly.

That being said, it can also spoil us to the point where we crank up the ISO at times when we might possibly find more creative alternatives. Try this to practice – choose an ISO for the day and shoot at only that ISO setting.

Granted, I wouldn’t try this on a wedding shoot…but go out with your camera set to say, ISO 400, and force yourself to think through difficult lighting conditions. You might find you gain a better understanding of the relationships between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO that will help you immensely in the future.

Make a set number of exposures

Before I moved into digital photography I used 35mm film. Most rolls were of the twenty-four exposure variety with some being extended to thirty-six. That seems like a million frames when compared to the two sheets carried in each large format film holder or the eight with my Polaroid SX70.

As much as I love my film cameras, I still use digital for over 80% of my “professional” work. Each time I switch back and forth between film and digital I notice a strange change in the way I shoot particular scenes. It goes back to our first point about how film actually costs money with each click of the shutter.

I tend to essentially overshoot a scene with digital. I may take 10 or 12 images of a frame whereas with film I might only make one or two. Why is that? When you think about it, making consistently solid photographs isn’t a matter of firing off a bunch of frames and hoping for the best, though that does work sometimes. Usually, the best images come from the careful execution of each snap and with film you only have a certain number of those snaps in the bank before you have to change things out.

In an effort to strive for quality over quantity with your digital work, begin thinking in terms of keeping your shot count for a scene in the single digits. No, of course I’m not saying to sell your digital camera short and only shoot 20 or 30 photos at a time all the time.

What I’m suggesting is that you limit yourself to a focused group of purposed photographs instead of firing off a hoard of shots and hoping for the best. Try to shoot no more than 10 images of the same scene and then move on to something else. Make 10 images of that, and then move on again. The key outcome of this exercise is to train (or retrain) yourself to produce a smaller number of total images but a larger amount of usable ones or keepers.

Some final thoughts…

The real conclusion and the true lesson to be gained from all this is for you to learn how to become more deliberate with your photography. Use your camera with purpose, and most importantly remember to slow yourself down from time to time. Slowing down is key.

Being both a film and digital photographer I find the complete flop of my creative mindset changes drastically between the two mediums. Obviously, digital cameras have extraordinary capabilities and offer many benefits over their analog cousins. At the same time, the true nature of photography can be lost when we suddenly find ourselves with limitless shooting capabilities that are often only capped by a camera’s battery life and our own enthusiasm.

Try putting some of these lessons from the world of film to use the next time you find yourself deleting more and more images and finding fewer quality pictures. It just might be that you begin shooting better and get more enjoyment from your digital photography.

The post How to Refresh Your Creativity by Shooting Digital with a Film Mindset by Adam Welch appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 26, 2018
Which Street Photography Lens is Right for You?
The correct lens for the correct photo is a debate often heard among many photographers. In this article, you’ll see the various merits of three different street photography lenses. The 50mm lens is often thought of as the perfect lens for street photography, perhaps even the only one.

Using different focal lengths can dramatically change the type of photos you take, though. So let’s take a look at which street photography lens might be right for you!

This photo was taken at 135mm. There is still plenty of context in this scene, even at the longer focal length.

Wide-angle to get in close

This class of lens is usually thought of as a landscape, or architecture photography lens. That may be true, though using it for street photography is equally valid. So why might you use a wide-angle lens in your street photography work?
- Get close – That famous Robert Capa quote that I’m sure you’ve seen, “If your pictures are not good enough, you’re not close enough.” Well, when you use a wide-angle lens for street photography you’ll have to get close. This will get you closer to the action and will lead to the following.
- Tell more story – Capturing a wider scene will allow more context to come into your photo. If you can avoid the photograph becoming too cluttered, and you retain a clear focus on the main subject you will likely have a great photo.
- Interaction – Getting close to your subject means interacting with your subject, most likely a person. They’ll now know you’re taking their photo. How you use this to your advantage depends on you. Building a positive relationship with your subject will enhance your photo, even if that relationship is short.
This photo required a wide-angle lens to capture the whole scene. It was photographed at 17mm, and I was close to the people I captured in the image.

The nifty fifty, the classic street photography lens

The icon of street photography, it really is one of the best lenses out there. There are several different options for this lens along with the more expensive variety having a larger aperture. What makes the 50mm lens such a good choice for street photography then?
- Normal field of view – This lens gives you a field of view that’s close to what your eyes see, a trait desirable for street photos. So you’re not dealing with a distorted view when using this type of lens. This assumes you’re using a full frame camera, crop sensors will give you a longer focal length of around 75mm on a 50mm lens.
- The Depth of Field – As a prime lens with a fixed focal length these lenses have a large aperture of at least f/1.8. This allows you to create a shallow depth of field, and to blur out the background. This control can really help you take better street photos when it is applied well.
- Comfortable distance – With this lens you’ll be close to your subject, but not in their face. A 50mm will also include enough of the surrounding scene to allow context in your photo.
- Fast lens – This lens can be used in low light conditions. The combination of a wide aperture and mid-range focal length make this a fast lens and a good option to use at night.
There’s no getting away from it, the 50mm lens is GREAT for street photography.

Long focal length for the unobtrusive photographer

At the longer focal lengths, you’ll be positioned farther from your subject, far enough that they may not spot you taking their photo. This type of lens is the choice of the paparazzi, although it’s unlikely you’ll be using a lens with the same kind of focal lengths (really long!).

So what are the advantages of standing a bit further back?
- Capture the moment – When the person you’re photographing is oblivious to your presence, the chance of the moment being natural is a lot higher.
- Compress the scene – This allows you to focus much more on the subject, but the risk is that you don’t include the area around them so you lose some of the story. It’s still possible to provide context at longer focal lengths, you will just have to stand even farther back.
- Avoid confrontation – Not everyone wants their photo taken, and photos taken without permission can cause a confrontation if you’re caught. While it’s better to build a relationship with the person you want to photograph, sometimes what they don’t know won’t hurt them. In this case, using a longer telephoto lens allows you to get the photo, without causing a scene.
This photo was taken using a 135mm lens. You can see the street vendor preparing food, the outside scene isn’t visible though.

Extra tip

When taking street photos with a long focal length you can sometimes take advantage of a shard of light. This will typically happen when there is a gap in the roof, perhaps in a market. Underexpose your photo at -2 or even -3 EV, with just enough exposure to give detail to your subject, but make the rest of the photo black. This will give some minimalism to your photo, which is a nice effect.

This image was photographed at 180mm, on a camera with a crop factor of 1.6x. The shard of light was used to make the background black, as it is underexposed.

What’s your preferred street photography lens?

Many people will stick to the 50mm lens as their street photography lens of choice, but there are alternatives available. To this day, my favorite street photo was taken at full zoom with a 70-300mm lens.

How about you, do you have a favored lens for street photography? How about trying a different lens, and see how that changes the types of photos you get?

Here at dPS, we love to hear your opinions, so let us know what you think. We’d also love to see your examples of street photos, together with the lens you used to take that photo. Please share in the comments section below.

Here is a selection of lenses that could be used for street photography.

This is a scene captured using a wide-angle lens, photographed at 17mm.

The scene was photographed at night. The 50mm lens is fast, and ideal for this type of scene.

This scene also shows the 50mm lens in action.

Even a fish-eye lens can be used for street photography. Though admittedly this photo is also architectural.

The post Which Street Photography Lens is Right for You? by Simon Bond appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
February 25, 2018
How to Create with a Good Workflow Using Smart Objects in Photoshop

Do you want to make sure you get the most details out of your shot? How about making sure none of your post-processing is destructive? It sounds like a really smart way to set up your workflow right?

A workflow is a process that goes from initiation to completion. In the case of photography, that implies from the time of shooting to post-processing. So the first thing you need to do is to ALWAYS shoot in RAW mode. This is a format that changes file extension with every manufacturer but they all share one common thing: raw files store all the un-processed and un-compressed data received on the sensor of your camera when you make a picture.

Why shoot RAW?

What is the point of that? Well this means that your file can tolerate more post-processing adjustments and that you can alter some of the settings from the image in a non-destructive way.

As I mentioned before, RAW files have different file extensions and therefore need special software to process them. Your camera surely came with a software that handles your files. However, in this article, I am going to show you how to get the most out of them in Photoshop which supports most raw formats either by default or by using a plug-in.

When you open a RAW file in Photoshop you will see that you can adjust the image with the sliders on the tool palette on the right. Start moving those around to recover the most detail you can from both the highlights and the shadows so you can even out the exposure as much as possible. You can also control the tone of the white balance, the saturation and vibrancy of the colors, and so on.

Tweak the image using the sliders and local adjustments in ACR

Once you have the overall settings adjusted, you can start working the settings in different areas to fine-tune your image.

Use the Adjustment Brush that you’ll find in the Menu bar on the top; you can change its settings like size and hardness on the right. Whatever adjustments you make to contrast or exposure will be applied only to the part where you paint with the brush. This is very useful when you are processing images with a lot of contrast. You can keep going with the other tools like the gradient for other local adjustments.

Open as a Smart Object

If you are already familiar with processing RAW files, these are likely your normal post-processing steps, after which you would click the Open Image button so that the photo opens in Photoshop with the applied adjustments. However, there is one more step you can add to your process to really make your images pop. You can open your photo as a Smart Object.

Here’s how to do it. Instead of clicking Open Image, just press the Shift key and that same button will become Open Object, now you can click it. Having done this, the image will open in Photoshop as a Layer. Now right-click the layer thumbnail and choose New Smart Object via Copy and a second layer, containing a second smart object will be created.

IMPORTANT: Don’t just duplicate the layer or you won’t be able to process them independently; every adjustment would be applied to both smart objects!

You can now rename the layers to identify which adjustments you are going to do in each one. For example, I’m doing Highlights and Shadows for my image but maybe for another image, it’s better to call the layers Background and Foreground, it depends on your image and what it needs.

Double processing

The cool part about Smart Objects is that when you double-click the layer, it will open again in the RAW editor, which means that you are back to all the data to keep processing without loss. You can make the adjustments that you need for a specific part of the image.

Finishing up

Now that you have done the best post-processing for each part is time to integrate it all into one amazing picture! Add a mask to the top layer by clicking the Layer Mask button on the bottom of the Layers Palette. With the layer mask selected you can start hiding the parts you don’t need. Remember that whatever appears in black on the mask means that you will see the layer underneath; whatever is white will show the top layer. I’ll turn off the bottom layer so that you can see what I mean below.

If you find it necessary, you can keep going with your adjustments, as you would normally do in Photoshop. You can add a filter or adjustment layer by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the Layers Palette. Have a look at these before and after examples!

Before

After

Before

After

The post How to Create with a Good Workflow Using Smart Objects in Photoshop by Ana Mireles appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 25, 2018
How to Compress Time Into One Photo

Throughout the history of photography, many photographers have blended multiple exposures into one final image. Obviously, they didn’t shoot the exposures at the same time, but at some interval to achieve something.

One really common purpose is to remove people by shooting several photos and making sure that all areas are covered without any people and then blend all the images into one image. Another purpose of shooting multiple images is bracketing for HDR. Yet a different purpose is to compress a long time into one photo.

In this article, you will learn how to make an image that compresses a long time-span into one image. It is a bit like a time-lapse movie sequence, but instead of making a movie you create one final image.

Like in time-lapse photography you will shoot several photos shot over a period of preferably several hours to see a change in the scenery. To make it more interesting, you shoot the photos during a change of light, like from daylight to nighttime. When you put such photos together, you get something really fascinating.

Required Gear

To be able to make such a photo you must have a camera and a tripod or similar device. While you shoot, you need to avoid touching the camera more than you have to. Therefore a cable release or remote trigger is recommended.

You will be standing still for several hours and the temperature will most likely change quite a bit. Remember to bring clothes for a change of temperature.

Where to Shoot

In theory, you can shoot these kinds of photos anywhere and of anything. But since you are putting a lot of time into one single image, it is recommended that you have an excellent composition of an interesting scene.

When to shoot

You should shoot when the light changes the most, which is from daytime to nighttime or the other way around. It is this change that will make it into a remarkable photo. If you just shoot for four hours around midday, you will get a midday photo.

How to Shoot

When you shoot photos that you intend to blend into one final image, it is essential that you make sure to have an almost identical composition in each frame. You can do that by stabilizing your camera, typically on a tripod. Minor pixel shift differences can be handled later in the post-processing phase, but big differences in the composition will be really hard, if not impossible to blend.

You can either use a remote control to trigger the camera for each shot or put the camera into a time-lapse mode. The advantage of triggering the shutter release remotely yourself is that you can time your shots if something interesting happens.

As the light changes, you will need to change the camera settings.

During the daytime put your camera in Aperture Priority mode at ISO 100 and set the aperture around f/8. This mode makes sure that the images have the same depth of field and therefore are identical, except for the change of light. Do a couple of trial shots to make sure you don’t blow out the highlights or the shadows. If the image is too bright or dark, use the exposure compensation to adjust.

As it gets darker, the camera will make longer exposures and when you hit the 30-second mark, you will need to increase the ISO. You will typically end up at ISO 800 or 1600.

You most likely want to switch off autofocus before it gets dark. It depends on the scenery. City photos often offer good low light autofocus points, while the contrast disappears in landscape photos and makes autofocus impossible. Alternatively, you can use Back Button Focus.

How many photos do you need?

You need at least two different photos, but any number larger than one will work. For my photo of Sydney, I used a couple of night shots. For the morning part, I only used two.

If you shoot the “many people” variation, you will need photos with interesting people in all those areas you want to be populated with people. For the photo of Manarola, Italy I used approximately 60 photos from a batch of around 200.

How to handle high dynamic range?

Some situations are hard or impossible to capture in one exposure because the dynamic range gets too high. Typically this happens in nighttime city photos or if the sun enters the frame. The difference between the strong light source and the shadows is too great to capture in one single exposure.

In these situations, you must either switch to Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) or do some manual exposure compensation.

How to blend the photos

You can use any layer-based photo editing tool to blend the photos together. I will demonstrate using Photoshop, but Photo Affinity, GIMP or any other similar photo editing tools can do the same.

The overall process is to pick one of the good photos from the shoot as the base photo. Then you handpick a set of other photos that you want to blend into the base image.

The technique you are going to use to blend is called “Layer Masking”.

Step 1

Put all the photos you have picked into an empty folder on your computer. JPEGs are fine, but you can also use RAW files.

Step 2

Pick your base photo and open that in Photoshop.

Step 3

Pick another photo with different light. Load that in into Photoshop by dragging the file onto the base image. Position the photo and press enter.

Notice that you now only see the top layer.

Step 4

Add a mask to the top image, by selecting the top layer and clicking Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All. You have now added a Black Mask. Notice that you can now see the lower image layer again.

Step 5

Select the layer mask by clicking on the black mask and then select the brush tool. Select white as your brush color and set the opacity to around 50% and hardness to 0%. You want to work with a BIG soft brush for most stuff. When you need to do more detailed work, increase hardness to around 50%.

Step 6

Start painting in some areas and see how the image changes. Each time you click the mouse and paint in an area, the more the top image becomes visible. Play around until you see something you find interesting.

Step 7

Add more photos by dragging them into Photoshop one at a time and make sure the new layer is the top one. You can drag it to the top of the stack if it is not. Then repeat steps 4-6 again.

The final image

In the end, you will end up with several layers containing photos from which you have used bits and pieces, to create your own unique and quite fascinating image. In the image of the idyllic alp town of Hallstatt in Austria, I used 18 photos to create my image.

Additional things to consider

8-bit or 16-bit?

Normally you should never use 8-bit mode for image editing, but if you are blending 20+ photos, you will run into serious performance issues at 16-bit, even with a high-performance computer. One workaround is to use 8-bit at the cost of image quality. You can change the mode by going to Image > Mode > 8-bit/Channel. The downside of using 8-bit is that you may end up having banding which is when you can see the colors transition from one to the other (they do not graduate smoothly).

Alignment

You have probably had to adjust the camera while shooting and most likely you will find that the images are slightly misaligned. It may not be more than a pixel or two.

You use the Move Layer tool to micro adjust the misaligned layer using the arrow keys.

Addition tip – try to make more than one final image from the same photos, by switching around the night and day photos.

The post How to Compress Time Into One Photo by Jacob Surland appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 25, 2018
Weekly Photography Challenge – Headshots
You don’t need a fancy studio or lights to do good headshots, but there are a few things you need to get right like the lighting and posing.

Images by dPS author Karthika Gupta.

Here are some tips for both to help with this week’s challenge:
- How to Make Headshots That Glow
- 3 Reasons to do Headshots with Natural Light
- How to Pose People for Headshots
- 3 Steps to Professional-Looking Headshots Using One Flash
- Video Tutorials – Portrait Posing Tips
Weekly Photography Challenge – Headshots

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Headshots by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
February 24, 2018