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Long Exposure Photography 201 – How to Edit a Long Exposure Seascape

10 Mar

In case you missed it, in an earlier article I introduced you to the 101’s of Long Exposure Photography, provided a checklist of the essential equipment, and detailed the exact steps to follow so you can capture a long exposure photograph.

In this article, I will share a precise workflow that you can use to process your long exposure photographs.

01 Long Exposure Photography 201 How to edit a Long Exposure Seascape

Long exposure seascape after editing.

Straight out of the camera (SOOC)

Long exposure photographs, when imported straight out of the camera are, in many ways, a lot like rough diamonds. Sadly, in most cases, the price tag usually isn’t one of them.

Straight out of the camera, it’s inevitable that your long exposure photograph will have a color cast and a degree of undesirable noise. Particularly if you miscalculate the exposure time and underexpose your image by accident (nobody’s perfect right?).

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Underexposed, blue, and noisy RAW image straight out of the camera.

After taking one look at an image like this, it would be easy to feel a little disheartened. You’d probably reject the image, write your time off, and hope for better luck next time.

Noise, color casts, and the occasional exposure miscalculations happen – it comes with the territory. Fortunately, with a little sprinkle of post-processing magic, you can correct these mishaps.

Now, to be clear, I’m not suggesting you adopt a “fix it in post-production” approach. Like any genre of photography, you want to capture your subject as best as you possibly can in-camera. But, unlike more sensitive photography genres (portraiture, commercial, beauty, etc.), the atmospheric and surreal nature of long exposure photographs provides you with greater tolerance for post-processing corrections.

The chances are there’s a diamond hidden among all those imperfections. Here’s precisely how you can uncover it.

Processing Steps for Long Exposure Images

Step One – Basic Edits

Step one: Dust it down.

After importing your RAW image into Lightroom, it’s likely it will look a little flat and may have a handful of imperfections. The most common being color noise and color casts.

03 Long Exposure Photography 201 How to edit a Long Exposure Seascape

This image has a significant amount of Color and Luminance Noise.

Before you can tackle the corrections, polish your image off, and proudly display it for the world to see, you need to be able to see what you’re doing.

Regardless of whether your image is underexposed or overexposed, it’s a good idea to use the Lens Corrections and Basic Tone Panel in Lightroom to strengthen the basics of your image. Doing so will make correcting those imperfections much easier in the next step.

Here’s an example

Load your image into Lightroom’s Develop Module and navigate to the Lens Corrections tab.

Enable the “Remove Chromatic Aberration” and “Profile Corrections” checkboxes. These features will detect the lens you used to capture your image and load a profile to correct any distortion. This is particularly efficient at removing the vignette caused by any ND filters.

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Before and after comparison of the Lens Corrections.

With the Lens Corrections in place, navigate up to the Basic panel. The general aim here is to refine your image as a whole using global adjustments. A good rule of thumb is to correct your exposure, restore detail in your highlights and shadows, and retain a good degree of overall contrast.

The specific values will vary for each image. Here you can see that increasing the exposure slider helps to correct the underexposed image. Further adjustments to the Shadows and Highlights were applied to restore detail. Finally, the Contrast, White, and Black sliders were fine-tuned to boost the overall contrast.

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Before and after basic global adjustments.

Step Two: Correcting Color Casts

Long exposure images are prone to blue or magenta color casts, often caused by using ND filters. Provided you captured your image in RAW, correcting the color cast couldn’t be simpler. Simply adjust the White Balance sliders to counter your color cast.

In this case, the blue color cast is easily removed by adjusting the White Balance to almost 10,000 K.

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The White Balance tool can be used to remove the color cast caused by your ND filters.

Step Three: Correct Noise

Noise can be problematic in long exposure photography. It’s caused by a variety of factors – ISO setting, the length of your exposure, and the heat of your camera sensor – none of which are terribly exciting to talk about.

In short, there are two variations of noise. Luminosity noise and color noise.

Luminosity noise creeps its way into your long exposure photographs through a combination of your ISO and the heat of your camera’s sensor. Essentially, the longer your exposure, or the higher your ISO, the more luminosity noise it will generate. Luminosity noise is colorless and typically shows up as small bright pixels.

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The small bright pixels are known as Luminosity Noise.

Color Noise is luminosity noise’s irritating ugly brother. It typically looks like unsightly splotchy green and red pixels. It’s often found in the darker and lighter areas of your image.

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Unsightly Color Noise.

In long exposure photography (LEP), it’s inevitable that you will encounter noise in your images. Sure, there are techniques to minimize it in camera. Like taking a bunch of shorter exposures, then aligning and blending them all together.

But if you read part one of this tutorial, you’ll know that sitting back and letting your camera do all the work while you enjoy a cup of tea is all part of the fun of long exposure photography. If the price you pay is a little bit of noise then I say, “Boil that kettle!”. Besides, it’s really easy to reduce or completely remove noise from your images. Take a look.

Navigate to your Detail tab in the Develop module and zoom into your image at 100%.

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The Detail tab allows you to reduce Luminosity and Color Noise.

Start by adjusting the Color Noise reduction slider upwards until the bulk of your color noise disappears.

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The Color Noise has been significantly reduced.

It’s likely you will still have some residual color noise. In that case, tweak the Detail and Smoothness sliders until you find a balance that removes the color noise and still retains detail in your image.

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Tweaking the Detail and Smoothness sliders has completely removed the Color Noise.

Now you can turn your focus to the Luminosity Noise. Adjust the Luminosity slider upwards until the bulk of your luminosity noise has vanished. To fine-tune the adjustment, you can tweak the Detail and Contrast sliders.

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The Luminance Noise is almost completely removed.

Be careful not to overdo the Luminosity slider. Retaining detail is more important than complete noise reduction. It’s no good having a perfect noise-free image if your subject now looks like it’s carved out of wax.

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Before and after noise reduction.

Step Four: Restore Presence

By now, your image should either be noise free or have a degree of acceptable noise. If you’ve had to be a little heavy-handed with your noise reduction, the chances are your subject might have lost a little texture and overall presence.

To restore this, navigate to the Basic panel and adjust the Clarity slider upwards. This will bring a little texture and presence back into your subject.

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Before and after increasing the Clarity slider to enhance the rock formation.

The overall color strength of your image also plays a big role in how your subject appears. In the example, you can see that reducing the overall saturation helps to mute the vibrant colors and lets the rock formation do all the talking.

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Decreasing the Saturation helps to mute the ocean and make the rock formation stand out.

Step Five: Creative Vision

By now your image will have progressed significantly. Let’s take a second to compare the results in just four steps.

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Original RAW versus current image with global adjustments.

You’ve probably invested a considerable amount of time preparing the shot, capturing the image, and processing it in Lightroom. Therefore, you might be tempted to call it a day, settle for the current progress, and share your not-so-rough diamond with us in the comments section below.

Alternatively, if you want to give your image a little extra sparkle before proudly unveiling it for the world to admire, then I welcome you to join me. Let me hold your hand while we lightly step into the world of Photoshop.

To get there, right click on your image, scroll down to “Edit” and select “Edit in Adobe Photoshop…”

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Open your image in Adobe Photoshop.

Photoshop can be a little overwhelming. Therefore, it can help to create a plan and jot down your ideas before you get to work. This will help keep you focused and will serve as a reminder of what you are trying to achieve.

Create a new layer and rename “Notes”. Then use the brush and type tools to jot down your vision and ideas. If you’re stuck for ideas, these questions (and this article) will give you a good place to start.

Where do your eyes get drawn to first?
Where do your eyes go next?
What elements enhance the story?
Which elements weaken the story?

Here you can see the notes that were created for the example image. These set the goal for the final outcome.

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Creating notes will serve as a reminder of your goal when you are editing your image.

Step Six: Bring it to Life

Up until now, all the edits have been applied globally (meaning to the entire image). If, like in the example, your long exposure image is looking a little flat and is in desperate need of some sparkle and polish, applying local adjustments to target specific areas of interest is a very effective method.

How do you know which areas to target? When you look at an image, your eyes will tend to gravitate towards the sharper areas that contain the most brightness and contrast. Take a look at the example.

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Notice how your eyes want to gravitate up into the bright sky. And, if they haven’t already left the frame, they may descend to settle in the high contrast areas on the outer areas of the rock.

Controlling your viewer’s eye is both important and quite simple. An easy method you can adopt is to create a series of simple minor adjustments that:

a. Gradually decrease the contrast and highlights in the areas you don’t want your viewer to focus on.
b. Gradually build up contrast and highlights in the areas that you do want your viewer’s eyes to settle on.

Referring to our notes, you can see that the aim is to draw the viewer towards the rock formation.

How to do you create those minor adjustments?

Here’s a simple Curves Masking System that allows you to lighten or darken selective areas of your image to control contrast, shadows, and highlights in a natural and subtle way.

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1. Create a Curves Adjustment Layer.

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2. Decide what areas of your image you want to target and lighten or darken the curve accordingly.

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3. Click on the layer mask thumbnail and use the keyboard shortcut Command + I (Mac) or Control + I (PC) to fill the layer mask with black to hide the effect.

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4. Select either the Gradient Tool or a soft Brush with the settings at Hardness 0%, Flow 10%.

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5. Press D to set your foreground color to white.

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6. Apply your Gradient or paint with white over your Layer Mask to reveal the effect of the Curves Adjustment Layer.

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This is what your Layer Mask will look like after applying the Gradient tool. The white areas of the Layer Mask will reveal the effect of the Curves Adjustment Layer.

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7. Create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer, clip it to your Curves Adjustment Layer and reduce the Saturation slider to desaturate your adjustment. Note: Only do this step if you Darken the curve in step 2.

Using your notes to guide you, work your way around your image. Apply several versions of the Curves Masking System to lighten or darken particular areas and control the viewer’s eye, each time varying the intensity of the Curve to create a subtle and natural result.

Here you can see how the Curves Masking System allows you to:

Selectively darken the sky to push the viewer’s attention down towards the rock formation.
Lighten the foreground to draw attention to the bottom half of the image.
Create contrast, presence, and depth in the rock formation to capture and hold the viewer’s focus.

Using the Curves Masking System to Darken the Sky

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Two applications of the Curves Masking System were used here to gradually darken the sky.

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The darkened sky helps to push your focus back into the middle of the frame.

While darkening the sky helps to keep your eyes inside the frame, you’ll notice the image is still looking a little flat and not very interesting. To inject a little more life into the image, you can use the Curves Masking System to create contrast, presence, and depth in your subject as well. Here’s an example.

Creating contrast, depth, and presence in the rock formation

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Several applications of the Curves Masking System were used here, alternating between lightening and darkening the Curve to gradually build up presence in the rock formation.

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Selectively enhancing the contrast and highlights in the rock formation helps to draw your focus in and creates a point of interest for your eyes to settle in and get comfortable.

With your subject now sparkling and ready to flaunt its new-found presence, you want to make sure it gets seen.

We know eyes love to settle on bright sparkly things. Therefore, you can use the Curves Masking System to strategically lighten areas of your image to practically escort your viewer’s eyes directly to your subject. Here’s an example.

Selectively Lighten the Foreground

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Several applications of the Curves Masking System were used to lighten the foreground to draw your attention to the lower half of the image.

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Increasing the brightness of the water immediately captures your attention. Care was taken to ensure the rock formation still contained the brightest pixels in the image.

Let’s take a quick look at the example image before and after, applying the Curves Masking System:

34 Long Exposure Photography 201 How to edit a Long Exposure Seascape

Before

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After

After several applications of the Curves Masking System, you’ll notice that your eyes no longer gravitate up into the sky and exit the frame. Instead, your eyes now descend toward the rock formation and go for a little swim in the silky water. Much more refreshing!

All that’s left for you to do now is to give your image a good clean and polish, then share it with us in the comments. Here’s how to do it.

Step Seven: Clean and Polish

Long exposure photograph is not only great for capturing surreal images, it’s excellent for letting you know if your camera gear needs a clean. Upon close inspection of your image, you may notice random dull spots. If so, the chances are there’s a bit of dust on your lens, ND filters, or your camera’s sensor.

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Random dull spot – often caused by dust on your lens, filters or camera sensor.

Removing these spots is incredibly simple.

On a new layer, select the Spot Healing Brush and simply paint over the spots. Photoshop will work its magic and voila! Your once (very) rough diamond is now ready for unveiling to the world for all to enjoy.

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You can use the Spot Healing Brush to remove dust spots and hot pixels from your image.

Recap

Let’s take a second to recap the long exposure processing workflow before taking a peek at the before and after.

Dust it down – start off in Lightroom to apply Lens Corrections and basic tone adjustments.
Correct color casts – adjust the White Balance to correct the color cast from your ND filters.
Correct noise – use the Detail tab to remove Color and Luminosity Noise.
Restore presence – navigate the Clarity, Vibrance and Saturation sliders to give your subject more presence.
Creative vision – open your image in Photoshop and note down your vision for your final image.
Bring it to life – use a series of Curves Adjustment Layers and Layer Masks to manipulate light and direct attention towards your subject.
Clean and polish – Select Photoshop’s Spot Removal Brush and remove the dust spots from your image.

Before and After

Original image before processing.

Final image.

Well, that concludes this two-part guide for capturing and editing long exposure photographs. Hopefully, the workflow, tips, and bad jokes shared encourage you to reach for your camera, venture outside, and unearth something special.

Share it below, I’d love to see it.

In case you missed it, you can read part one here: Long Exposure Photography 101 – How to Create the Shot.

The post Long Exposure Photography 201 – How to Edit a Long Exposure Seascape by William Palfrey appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Things People Say to Photographers – What Have You Heard?

10 Mar

If you’re in the photography business you’ve likely heard some pretty outrageous comments made by clients. In these three videos let’s have a humorous look at things clients say to photographers. Remember this is all in fun, and we, as photographers, value our loyal clients fiercely. Right?!

Things Clients Say

I this first video by Queen Photographers we see some of the most common phrases and things heard by photographers. Some just make our eyes roll. Have you heard any of these gems?

Shtuff People Say

Here’s another tongue-in-cheek look at “shtuff” people say to photographers. What’s your favorite? How about, “Wow your camera takes really good pictures!” If you aren’t a professional, even as an amateur or hobby photographer you’ve probably heard that one right?

Kid Edition

This one is probably my favorite of the lot. It was made by a photographer and his kids, using the kids as models. I think they did a fantastic job.

Let’s hear from you

So now it’s your turn. What are some of the doozies you’ve heard from people? Here are some of my faves:

Your camera takes great photos. (Never mind the two years of photography school, and years of experience I have been doing it.)
Much be nice charging that much for a wedding, you hardly have to do any work at all. (Said a wedding guest who has no idea a wedding takes up to 40-50 hours of work before, during and after the big day.)
Can you take a photo with my camera? (A father of the bride asked me this once, and I was the paid wedding photographer taking their family photo at the time!)
Can you NOT put your name/signature on our prints? I might want to get them copied and the copy shop won’t do it if there’s a professional mark on them. (Asked of me by an actual paying client.)
Can you NOT put your signature on any of my family’s prints? That is only for art and artists. You’re just a photographer and what you do isn’t really art, so I don’t want your name on it. (He then proceeded to convince everyone in the extended family why they didn’t need 20×24 prints which they have purchased and they all downsized to 11×14 or 8×10, thanks, buddy! But I refused to not sign them so he had to take it or get none.)
Can you give us the wedding photography package we want but just throw in a free 16×20 wall canvas? The studio down the street said they’d do it for less. (To which I suggested they go meet with that photographer and hire him if they liked his work. After 2 days they hired me at my price PLUS the 16×20 at full price.)

Let’s hear yours. Remember – this is dPS so please keep it clean folks, no curse words (use a bleep if you have to), or name calling. Keep it light-hearted in the spirit of the videos. Just do an eye-roll and move on.

The post Things People Say to Photographers – What Have You Heard? by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Week Photography Challenge – Antiques

10 Mar

This week it’s time to dig out all your old stuff, or get out and look for some antiques. Things that are aged and beautiful – look for old buildings, your old shoes, rotting wood of an old window, antique cars, clocks, books, etc., yes even people. Remember these old things have great value, especially our senior citizens – so photograph them with the respect they deserve.

Textured wall of an old building in Havana, Cuba.

If you want to add a few tricks to your images of antiques try these techniques:

How to Create an Antique Photo Look Using a Lemon and Layer Masks in Photoshop
How to Apply a Texture Overlay to Your Images to Create an Antique Look
How to Create a Retro Faded Look Using Lightroom or Photoshop
How to Add Vintage Frame Overlays Using Alien Skin Exposure X
How to Use Split Toning to Make Your Photos Stand Out

Split toning to make it look like an antique photo.

Antique cars of Havana.

Even try your hand at some light painting as was done here to “turn on” the car’s headlights.

An old typewriter makes a great subject. Simplify your composition for maximum impact.

Weekly Photography Challenge – Antiques

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 Week Photography Challenge – Antiques by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Announcement: Strobist Full-Day Shooting Workshop, June 7th in Washington, DC

10 Mar

Just a quick heads-up that I’ll be teaching a small-class lighting workshop in Washington, DC this June 7th. It is part of the Focus on the Story International Photo Festival being held June 7-10.

This class is small — a maximum of 16 people — and we will be shooting all day. It is designed for people who are new to intermediate in their lighting skills. If you are comfortable with shooting in manual mode, you will not be out of place. If you already have some experience, we will happily stretch you out a bit.

If you have your own lighting gear (small flash only, please) feel free to bring it. But you need not, as lighting gear will be provided for the class. Just bring a camera, normal range lens (a kit zoom would be fine) a storage card and batteries and you are good to go.

I teach this class a lot; it’s my favorite course. But oddly, almost never in the U.S. In fact, this is the only time I am scheduled to teach a small shooting workshop in the U.S. this year.

Here is my promise: if you show up as an “available light” photographer, you will leave as a lighting photographer. Period. I guarantee it. (In fact, I won’t let you leave until you understand it. So if you are intimidated, maybe… bring a sleeping bag.)

The class, which includes lunch, is $ 230. You need not sign up for the whole festival to take this class. (But the festival has a really strong speaker lineup, and a 40% off early bird discount until March 18.)

Links below, hope to see you there. (Hit me on Twitter if you’re coming!)
__________

FOTS International Photo Festival
My Lighting Workshop
Strobist

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Contest – Win One of THREE Online Professional Photography Courses from the New York Institute of Photography

09 Mar

Over the last few years here at dPS, we’ve run some incredibly popular competitions with one of our partners – the New York Institute of Photography – to give away some of their great online photography courses to lucky dPS readers.

Photo by Finnur Tomason, NYIP Graduate.

Due to popular demand – we’re doing it again this week.

For this competition, NYIP will name 3 winners.

Each winner will receive a free enrollment in their most popular course:

Professional Photography Course – worth $ 1,199

The professional photography will teach you to take control your digital camera.

Develop your eye as a photographer and develop a visual signature.
Utilize exposure, lighting, and lenses on your camera.
Describe the proper composition and how to take the perfect photograph in all conditions.
Discuss different photographic genres including wedding, landscapes, portraits, studio, and more.
Use the manual mode on a camera.
Explain how to make money with your camera in a variety of fields.
A professional photographer will serve as your mentor.
NYIP Graduates are eligible to become certified by the Professional Photographers of America (PPA).

Photo by Etienne Ludovic, NYIP Graduate

All students get the benefit of online courses they can work through at their own pace, as well as one-to-one feedback from professional photographers on their work!

How to Win

To win this competition you’ll need to:

Watch the video below and visit the course page HERE

Leave a comment below and tell us why you’d like to enter to win this course from New York Institute of Photography. Please note: there is a limit of ONE entry per person.

Do this in the next two weeks and on March 30th, 2018, the team at NYIP will choose the best three answers and we will announce the winners shortly after that date.

Deadline is March 23rd, 2018 at 11:59 pm PDT. Comments left after the deadline will not be considered.

By “best” – we’re looking for people who understand what NYIP is, what the course offers, and how it suits their needs. There’s no need to write essay length comments to win – but we’re looking to hear what you like about NYIP, the course and how it would help your development as a photographer.

This competition is open to everyone around the world no matter where you live, but there is only one entry per person, please. To enter – simply leave your comment below.

Don’t forget to share this post with your friends!

Learn more about New York Institute of Photography here.

NYIP is partnered with the PPA – Professional Photographers of America. NYIP graduates are eligible to become certified by the PPA.

Contest open to all. No purchase necessary to enter. The winner is responsible for any fees or taxes. The prize will be delivered electronically by NYIP. Only ONE entry per person. Please allow 2-4 weeks for prize delivery.

Disclaimer: NYIP is a paid partner of dPS.

The post Contest – Win One of THREE Online Professional Photography Courses from the New York Institute of Photography by Juanita Nessinger appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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How to Create a Mini Photographic Typology

09 Mar

Photographic typologies are a unique and interesting form of photography. Have you ever made a collection of something? Stamps, buttons, figurines? If so, then you’ve made a typology, without even knowing it!

Here’s how to translate your collecting skills into creating a mini photographic typology. It’s a fascinating way of comparing and contrasting almost anything visually!

How to Create a Mini Photographic Typology

This series is made up of broken cameras I’ve accumulated over time. With a strong concept, a plain background and simple subject matter, the differences between each camera are more pronounced.

What is a Photographic Typology?

A photographic typology is a study of “types”. That is, a photographic series that prioritizes “collecting” rather than stand-alone images.

It’s a powerful method of photography that can be used to reshape the way we perceive the world around us. In fact, I’ve often heard viewers exclaim that they hadn’t looked at a subject that way before viewing it in a typology.

By extracting visual elements and presenting them in a similarly consistent series, we can create a visual analysis of objects and the larger environment and its inhabitants – often without featuring the occupants themselves.

This is a typological series I created of microwaved Polaroid paper.

The History

Photographic typologies are believed to have originated from August Sander’s 1929 series of portraits titled “Face of Our Time.” His work depicted portraits of Germans between World War I and II. Sander used typology to record social groupings and classes and the relationship between the different human experiences within. He photographed a wide selection of people including farmers, children, factory workers, upperclassmen, and actors to create a comprehensive example of German society. In fact, his work had such an impact that it was seized and the photographic plates destroyed by the Nazis in 1936.

Sander recognized that displaying his portraits together as a collection revealed much more than stand-alone photographs. His work emphasized the similarities and differences between subjects by maintaining consistency in his overall theme, with all his subjects looking directly into the camera.

Typology of guitar picks.

The term “typology” was first used in 1959 when Bernd and Hilla Becher began documenting their architectural photographic series. Depicting decaying urban landscapes, each photograph was taken at exactly the same angle, from the same distance, with the same exposure settings. With the aim of recording a landscape in flux, the Becher couple described their subjects as “buildings where anonymity is accepted to be the style”.

Their work influenced generations of photographic typologists. Jeff Brouws, a well-known photographer uses typology to explore “historical, contemporary [and] everyday aspects of the American cultural landscape”. And John Cyr’s series depicting the developer trays of famous photographers has become a prime example of photographic typology.

This typology highlights the different effects polarization has upon various plastic materials.

Getting Started

Concept

Each typology begins with a single photograph. But deciding on a subject is easier said than done. To get started, pick a simple subject that will be easy to find in numbers. It’s funny how things become scarce once you begin looking for them. Some good ideas might include:

A rock collection or any collection with a similar concept or subject isolated on a white background.
Urban details like cracks in the sidewalk or drain-covers.
A variety of doors and windows.
Scenes or objects of a particular color.

Of course, going for a walk and selecting a subject you encounter is a great way to get started too. Typologists go to great lengths to seek out subjects for a series. Focusing on simple details and objects that are often taken for granted is an effective way to get into the mindset of a typologist.

A typology of aircraft flying overhead that I made by laying under the flight path of various airports.

Shooting a Typology

Typological studies can span over years and include hundreds of photographs. Creating a miniature typology of nine photos makes the task both easier, and more difficult. Because you are creating a mini typology, you want a project that clearly outlines the comparisons and contrasts within your subject of choice. Try to look for bold designs, sharp lines, or unusual subject matter.

One of the golden rules in typological photography is consistency. Not only do you need to photograph a certain type of subject, you need to create a body of work that clearly points to the differences and similarities between each one.

To eliminate distractions, try and maintain the same camera angle, lighting, and background. I find that for photographing objects, a clean white background works best. Try photographing at the same time of the day to maintain the same color temperature and lighting conditions.

For my aviation series, I positioned myself directly under the aircraft for consistent results.

Displaying a Typology

Once you have collated a consistent body of work, it’s time to arrange your typology. Open a Photoshop document and begin dragging your photos onto the page. You want to adjust them so they are exactly the same size as all your other images. To help maintain even spaces between the images I use the New Guide tool.

To help maintain even spaces between the images I use the New Guide tool.

Divide your image up into equal portions with the Guide tool so that you can spread your typology out nice and evenly.

Once evenly spaced, your mini typology is done!

Conclusion

Photographic typologies are a distinctive and unusual genre of photography. By classifying and combining images of similar subject matter, you can highlight the building blocks that form a cohesive image.

Why not complement your collections with some photography? Or head out into the world and visually process an environment into types? I would love to see the results in the comments below.

The post How to Create a Mini Photographic Typology by Megan Kennedy appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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A Quick Guide to Using Bounce Flash for More Natural-Looking Photos

09 Mar

Creating a portrait using flash is a whole lot more than just pointing your flash at your subject and taking the shot. Learning how to use flash creatively opens up a variety of new lighting options – which you can use to make the picture you envision in your head show up on your camera’s LCD screen. In this article, we’re going to look at using bounce flash.

Bounce flash is a handy trick you can use in a pinch to improve both the quality and amount of light in your finished picture using a flash unit right on top of your camera.

A photo taken using bounce flash to light the subject

The soft lighting for this image was created using a single flash, positioned on the camera and pointed directly up at the ceiling.

What is bounce flash?

Bounce flash is exactly what it sounds like. You aim the flash unit on your camera at a ceiling or nearby wall so that the light reflects off it and then back towards your subject.

This may seem like a really roundabout way of providing illumination, but there are a number of excellent reasons why you would want to bounce your flash, such as:

It quickly creates soft light.
It can be used to create directional light.
Helps you avoid the drawbacks of direct flash.

Let’s go through each of these points in more detail to get a better sense of how to use bounce flash to improve your photography.

Left: On-camera flash rotated to bounce off a wall to the side. Right: Built-in flash that cannot be rotated or bounced.

1. How does bounce flash create soft light?

One of the most important factors in determining how soft the light in your image will be is the apparent size of the light source. Notice I said “apparent size” – not “actual size”.

Your pop-up flash or attached speedlight are small light sources – so if you aim them directly at your subject you get harsh lighting. This is why photographers often use softboxes, umbrellas or other modifiers to create a larger source of light – which makes the light softer.

You can use this same concept to quickly create a larger apparent light source by bouncing your flash off a roof or wall and spreading out the light.

Direct flash is that which is aimed right at the subject.

Direct flash – not flattering to the subject and creates a harsh shadow on the wall behind.

Flash aimed at the ceiling to bounce the light and soften it.

Flash bounced off the ceiling – much more even and softer lighting.

2. How can bounce flash create directional light?

Understanding the direction from which the light is coming – and using that to your advantage – can have a huge impact on the quality of your photos.

Without flash, you’re at the mercy of whatever ambient lighting is available. When you are indoors in a dimly lit room, that ambient light is often rather unpleasant as the light usually comes from the ceiling overhead. This casts deep and dark shadows under people’s eyes – not at all a flattering look for a portrait.

By setting up near a wall, you can bounce your flash off it and effectively create a new light source that sweeps in from the side. Think of it as creating a new window to add more light to the scene. This new light will fill in those ugly shadows for a much more pleasing look.

The result of the flash being bounced off the wall to camera left is more directional light as seen here.

3. How does bounce flash improve on direct flash?

Sometimes a direct flash can significantly improve an image. Sometimes it results in redeye, awkward shadows, and a deer-in-headlights look.

Using bounce flash solves the red-eye problem since that is caused by light reflected directly back at the camera from the back of the eyeball. When your main light is bouncing in from overhead or from the side, you can also say goodbye to large shadows cast by your subject onto the background.

Lastly, direct flash creates boring lighting that flattens facial features and textures. Bounce flash results in more sculpted light that can be used to accentuate features and show depth.

Example of a photo taken using direct flash as the key light

This portrait was taken with direct flash, causing a harsh shadow on the back wall and a bad case of red-eye (Settings: 1/80th, f/3.2, ISO 500)

Example of photo taken without using any flash, high ISO

Without using flash, I had to bump the ISO up to 6400 in order to keep the right exposure. The colors are dull and there is a lot of noise in the shot (Settings: 1/80th, f/3.2, ISO 6400)

Example of a photo taken with bounce flash

With bounce flash, the light on the model is soft and even. There is a glimmer of catch-light in the subject’s eyes and no shadow on the back wall. (Settings: 1/80th, f/3.2, ISO 500)

What do you need to get started with bounce flash?

In order to shoot bounce flash, the bare minimum you will need is an external flash unit with a head that can swivel and tilt.

If you are planning on buying a new flash, make sure to research how it can be maneuvered. Some cheaper models will provide more flash power than your standard in-camera pop-up flash, but if they can’t be adjusted to tilt and swivel then you won’t be able to use them for bounce flash lighting.

Get a flash that can both rotate (swivel) and tilt (up and down) in order to do bounce flash.

Balancing the light

When shooting with flash in a bright room, you need to perform a balancing act in order to keep the light looking natural. This is the case with bounce flash as well.

A flash picture essentially has two exposures:

The ambient, or available light, which is all the light from windows, light bulbs, candles, chandeliers, etc.
The light from your flash.

As the photographer, you need to balance these two exposures to create the image you want. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean that you need to go around flicking light switches until you get the exact amount of brightness needed for each shot – your camera settings can control how much light will be in the final shot.

In this image, the flash is too strong and the exposure is not well-balanced with the ambient light in the room. Exposure here was: 1/125th, f/4, ISO 250, flash was ETTL with +2 Flash Exposure Compensation.

Aperture:

Opening up the aperture will allow more light in, effectively increasing the flash power and also making the camera pick up more of the ambient light

ISO:

Increasing your ISO means the sensor “collects” more light. Again, this effectively increases the power from your flash as well as the influence of the ambient light.

Shutter Speed:

Here’s where a lot of control comes in. As long as you stay within your camera’s maximum sync-speed, your flash will influence the final shot regardless of the shutter speed. On the other hand, a long shutter speed will collect a lot of ambient light, and a short shutter speed will collect less, often drastically affecting the final image.

It may take some time to get used to this balancing act with aperture, ISO, and shutter speed so that your bounce flash shots give you well-lit subjects with natural-looking lighting.

The inside of a car, lit by bounce flash

Firing a flash into the roof of the car creates soft, bounced light that really makes all the surface details shine.

Other details to keep in mind

Flash Power

Since the light from your flash has to travel the extra distance to bounce off a wall or ceiling before reaching the subject, you can’t use your camera’s ETTL metering as is to determine the amount of power needed. Your camera assumes that you are using direct flash, so if you don’t make any adjustments, the flash power will always be a bit too low.

Increase your camera’s flash exposure compensation depending on the distance to the surface you are using to bounce the light. For a typical ceiling in a home, this might be an adjustment of +1/3 or +2/3. If you are photographing in a hall with high ceilings, you may need to boost your flash by +1 or even more.

A young man photographed using bounce flash

A seamless background and soft light from bouncing the flash off a slanted ceiling gives this picture the type of quality you might expect from multiple flashes and a studio setup.

Color

Important question: What color is going to be reflected back at you if you shoot a flash into a pink wall?

Yup, you guessed it – it’s gonna be pink. The light from your flash is going to take on whatever color it bounces off. So unless you’re going for that funky, unnatural pink look, you’ll want to make sure you bounce your flash off neutral-color surfaces like whites, grays or blacks. (Alternatively, you can shoot or convert to black and white.)

Don’t blind people!

As you start to discover how fun it is to swivel your flash around and create dramatic and interesting light, it can be easy to forget where your flash is pointed. If an unfortunate passerby steps between the wall and your flash just as you fire off a shot, they might get an unwelcome blast of light. It’s a good idea to check and make sure the coast is clear before snapping each shot.

Give it a shot!

Bounce flash is a handy trick in your arsenal to help you land that perfect shot when the situation allows for it. So tilt your flash up and give it a try!

The post A Quick Guide to Using Bounce Flash for More Natural-Looking Photos by Frank Myrland appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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7 Tips to Help You Capture the Perfect Landscape Photo

08 Mar

Landscape photography is one of the most popular genres of photography and it’s easy to understand why. After all, every single person at some point in their life has probably looked at a landscape photograph of an epic scene with dramatic clouds and beautiful light and just thought, “Wow!” But as easy as it may seem, capturing stunning landscape images isn’t straightforward. Here are seven tips to help you capture the perfect landscape photo.

How to Capture the Perfect Landscape Photo

1. Find Your Perfect Spot

The starting point for any great landscape photo is your location. This, of course, means you have to start planning a shoot in advance to ensure you don’t waste time looking for it once you are on location. The first thing you need to do is decide what you are actually going to photograph. Is it a beautiful valley from lookout point? Or is it a historic castle perched on top of a cliff?

This might come from your research into the area you are visiting or it might be a place someone has told you about. It could even be somewhere that you have already been to, but now want to photograph.

Once you have an idea of where and what you are looking to photograph, you then need to look at the relevant maps to make sure that what you are planning to photograph is accessible. Then you need to delve in deeper and ensure that your view of that beautiful valley isn’t going to be obstructed by a big hill in front of you – this means using maps that show elevations. On top of all of this you also need to factor in the direction of the light and how that will affect your view.

Ideally you want to end up with an exact spot of where you would like to photograph and which direction you are intending to look. The good news is that in today’s digital world there are tons of options to help you find out this information from the likes of Google maps, and apps like Photographer’s Ephemeris or PhotoPills.

How to Capture the Perfect Landscape Photo

2. Light is Everything

Any sort of outdoor photography relies heavily on the light that is available. For landscape photography, light is even more vital. The most amazing scene in front of you will look uninspiring and mundane under a blanket of white cloud. If you want to capture the perfect landscape photo, then you need to ensure that you are working with the best light possible.

It’s no secret that most landscape photographers would recommend photographing in the early morning and late afternoon/evening. This is when you will get a low golden soft light from the sun that produces long shadows but that doesn’t mean you can’t photograph at any other time.

You just need to ensure that you understand and have planned for the light you intend to use. For example, it may be that you want to capture a particular side of a cliff. It may be that the only time it is lit by the sun at that time of year is late morning. The most important thing is understanding and trying to organize your shoot for the best time that you possibly can.

How to Capture the Perfect Landscape Photo

3. Compose Your Shot Perfectly

One of the best things about landscape photography is that you often have plenty of time to prepare and compose your shot. That big mountain in front of you isn’t suddenly going to move like an animal does in wildlife photography. As long as you have planned your shoot well and have arrived at your location early, you should have enough time to really fine-tune your composition.

The first thing I always do whenever I get to a location for a landscape shot is just to sit down and look around for 10-15 minutes, I recommend you try it. Not only does this help you evaluate the scene and think about the best composition, but it also helps you lower your heart rate (if you have had a long walk). It allows you to get over that initial awe that you often feel when you see an amazing landscape before you.

When you feel you are ready, compose the shot and take a few test photos while you wait for the perfect light. Think about the scene in front of you. Should you show more of the foreground? If so, is there a point of interest to capture the viewer’s eyes? Or are there interesting mountains or sky, in which case you need to show more of the background? As I said earlier, keep taking test photos and recomposing your shot until you feel that you have the perfect composition and then wait for the perfect light.

Clearly, on the odd occasion, you might have to work fast. For example, if you have a small break in a storm that allows the rays of the sun to get through, but the majority of the time if you have planned your shoot well, you should not be in a hurry.

How to Capture the Perfect Landscape Photo

4. Use a Tripod

For landscape photography a tripod is essential. If you want to capture the best possible photo, in the best possible light, you will have to use a tripod. The alternative usually means having to raise your ISO, which in turn means excessive noise in your photos that can affect the overall image sharpness.

But the other advantage of using a tripod is that it can give you more options for your photography. For example, you can use slower shutter speeds to capture movements of clouds or water or give you a more elevated or lower point of view.

Yes, they are a hassle to carry (you may want to invest in a good camera bag that you can strap your tripod to), but they are simply essential for landscape shots.

How to Capture the Perfect Landscape Photo

5. Use Graduated ND filter

Often the other most widely used accessory for landscape photography is graduated filters. One of the big challenges of landscape photography, especially in low light conditions is the difference in the light areas (the sky) and your dark areas (the foreground). For example, as it gets nearer to sunset, the sun drops lower on the horizon. This might mean that mountains obstruct it.

You then have a situation where your sky is really bright as obviously it is still being lit by the sun, but your foreground is dark because the light from the sun is obstructed by the mountains. So, if you expose for the sky (light areas or highlights) then your foreground will be too dark and if you expose for the dark areas (shadows) your sky will be blown out ( completely white with no detail).

To compensate for this difference in exposure settings needed, you can either use a technique called “exposure stacking”. That means taking multiple shots at different exposure levels and then merging them into one photo in post-processing (using layer blending or HDR techniques).

Or, most landscape photographers prefer to capture photos as correctly as possible at the time of taking the photo. In this situation, the only way to do this is by using a graduated neutral density filter, which balances out the difference in the brightness between the top and bottom of the photo.

How to Capture the Perfect Landscape Photo

6. Experiment With Shutter Speed

As mentioned earlier, one of the great things about landscape photography is that you often have time to take a few different shots. Even during the short time when it’s sunset or sunrise, you will have plenty of time to experiment with different settings and even a few different compositions. So don’t be afraid to really push your settings to extremes.

For example, set a really slow shutter speed of 30 seconds and if there is some wind you will see some amazing cloud movement streaks in the sky. Or if you are by the coast set a fast shutter speed to capture the waves crashing into the rocks. Play around with the settings until you have something that looks amazing and captures the scene perfectly.

How to Capture the Perfect Landscape Photo

7. Post-Production

Usually, the final step in any good landscape photo is some post-processing. This always seems to be a contentious issue as some photographers prefer to keep post-processing to a minimum and some like to really boost the image. Whatever your preference and way of working are, it comes down to personal opinion. But there are a few things that you should look at as a minimum.

For example, making sure your images are straight, clear of dust spots, and correcting the white balance should be a must. You may also want to tweak the crop of the photo if it needs it. Beyond that, ensuring a good contrast and boosting the saturation will help your landscape image jump out.

Generally speaking, every photo will benefit from some level of post-production. Some will need more and some less.

How to Capture the Perfect Landscape Photo

Conclusion

Landscape photography is an incredibly rewarding genre of photography. A great landscape shot often has the power to really capture the viewer’s attention which is why it’s no surprise that it’s also one of the most popular branches of photography.

The post 7 Tips to Help You Capture the Perfect Landscape Photo by Kav Dadfar appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Do’s And Don’ts Of A Corporate Photo Shoot

08 Mar

Whether it’s a newly minted company or a well-established one, companies want their brand to stand out. One of the best ways to do so is with highly professional, well-executed corporate photography. Every business can benefit greatly from professional photographs. With the online marketplace continuously expanding its reach, the quality of your photographs will make all the difference. After all, Continue Reading

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The Introverts Guide to Photographing People

08 Mar

Being an introverted photographer is a challenge, especially if you actually enjoy photographing people. As introverts, we tend to be happiest on our own, with family or with close friends. We avoid large groups and people that we don’t know well. We’re likely the last to speak up in a group setting.

Unfortunately, not “getting out there” holds us back from achieving some of our goals as photographers. But when we do get out there, we get tired or burn out from people quickly. But it is possible for introverts to actually thrive among people and even run a successful people oriented photography business.

Families cherish their home. I love making newborn photos for families in their own home. It’s so much easier for them than packing up their baby and venturing off for photos. The experience is all the more enjoyable for the family if they also happen to be introverted!

Let’s go through both the strengths and challenges of being an introverted photographer so that you can enjoy photographing people to your full potential.

Let’s Begin With the Challenges

It’s well known among photographers that constraints and challenges can actually help you become more creative. When you’re limited in some way, it forces you to find new ways around obstacles to achieve your goals.

So don’t worry that introversion can be a challenge to photographing people or becoming better known as a photographer. Finding ways to overcome these challenges will make you better than you would have been without them!

Relationships flourish in smaller groups.

1) The Challenge of Being Around People

As an introvert, you likely keep to yourself outside of school or work. Evenings and weekends are spent on your own or with family. You avoid crowds and would prefer to get together with close friends and have deeper conversations.

Of course, none of this is a problem on its own. But as a photographer, you may not be as ambitious as you would like to be when it comes to photographing people. Whether you’re an amateur or professional photographer, or even running a business, sticking to yourself instead of being out among people means you’re missing opportunities.

You’re missing out on learning from other photographers or collaborating on a project together. Running a successful photography business will be difficult without the connections you’ll make among families, photographers, and fellow entrepreneurs.

The scene suggests a neglectful mom, but that’s not quite what was going on. I often strive for a little humor in my photos!

A danger of not getting out there is that you might end up spending too much time on social media. But social media can present us with an illusion of how great other people’s lives are.

You’ll see the exciting lives being lived by everyone else and think that you’re boring and have nothing to share. You might get the impression that everyone else’s photography business is booming. Their mini sessions are booked solid, their summer is filled with weddings, and they’re a great success compared to you. But social media is much different than the real world of people.

How to Overcome the Challenge of Being Around People

If you love photographing people, you’ll need to focus on making yourself get out there more. A little practice will get you in the habit of spending more time with people. Think of it as exercising your social muscles.

Stop missing out on opportunities. Exercise those social muscles by finding a camera club or local Facebook group for photographers. Start now, and make it your goal to track down a group of photographers in your area in which to participate.

Once you’ve found a group, especially if it’s quite large, find one photographer to connect with. Maybe even another introvert. Start a project with them. Maybe you can assist each other in a project you’ve been wanting do.

If you’re extremely introverted, look around at what the extroverts are doing and pretend to be one. Listen to how easily they talk with new people and how the conversation just seems to flow. Begin to imitate them. You should also have some leading questions ready for new people you meet.

Little guys want to grow up to be as strong as their daddy.

2) The Challenge of Being “Out There” Too Much

Getting out there and among people will transform you as an introverted photographer. You’ll begin to get some of those portrait photography projects started, connect with interesting photographers, and maybe make a good new friend. However, after all this increased social interaction, you may find yourself tired out.

My first job in photography was a school photographer. I was taking traditional school portraits for up to 200 students per day. I had to greet them, make them feel comfortable, pose them, coax a great smile from them and wish them, “good day!” At the rate of 1000 students per week, I was exhausted! Not physically exhausted but, socially exhausted. The part of me that interacts with people was tired out.

The danger of becoming socially exhausted for long periods of time is that you’ll risk resenting people for stealing your time, you’ll become too exhausted to give your subjects the attention they deserve, and you’ll eventually burn out.

Rest is one of the most important parts of life. It comes naturally to cats and some babies, but not always for busy grown-ups.

No doubt, many introverts running a photography business burn out from being socially exhausted. If only they had overcome this challenge, they would still be enjoying their photography business.

How to Overcome Being “Out There” Too Much

I learned an important lesson from my first portrait photography job. After a lot of social interaction, I need to rest from people. It’s similar to resting from intense workouts at the gym. Give your muscles a rest and you’ll be ready to go again in the morning.

Introverts need to take a rest from being social. After resting, you’ll be energized and strong again. Resting doesn’t necessarily mean sleeping. As an introvert, it means spending time on your own. You can spend this time reading, writing, editing photos or enjoying a movie. It’s just a rest from social interaction.

Don’t resist rest. It’ll bring back your energy and joy for life.

Look for signs of being socially tired or exhausted. When your social energy is drained, take a break. It could be for a couple hours or a couple days. But as soon as you’re ready, get back out there.

If you run a photography business then you should take part of the week to rest from social interaction too. You could spend that part of the week editing your photos. That way you’re still working on projects that need to get finished but you’re resting at the same time.

3) The Challenge of Making Sales

We’ve covered “getting out there” and recovering from social interaction. But what about something like sales? If you want to convince people to be involved in your photography projects, sell your prints, or run a photography business, you need to be able to sell.

The key is to find a way to “sell” that works for you as an introvert. Don’t try to be somebody you’re not. Instead, work with your nature, overcome your challenges, and develop a method that works for you.

When you talk with other photographers or see them on social media, does it seem like they’re getting more work than you? Maybe it’s because they’re getting out there more, they’re talking, they’re enthusiastic, they know how to sell naturally.

How to Overcome Weaknesses in Sales

Selling doesn’t just mean making money. It means convincing people you’ve got something worthwhile to offer. Maybe it means persuading someone to be part of your project.

You already know that the first step is getting out there more. The more you’re around other people, the more opportunities you’ll have to sell. You’ve got ideas for doing that now. But there are other ways to sell yourself that will work comfortably with your introverted nature.

First, focus your efforts on being an incredible photographer. When people experience your photography services they will naturally refer you to other customers. That means they’re doing the selling for you.

Second, the extroverts that you have been getting connected with will sell for you. I constantly get referrals from extroverts who tell people about me. Extroverts are well connected with lots of people and will love to discuss your photography work if it’s good.

Remember, when your work is good, other people will sell it for you.

Finally, turn your website into a salesperson. Your website should have a good sales message on it. Everything that you would say in person should be on your website. But because it’s on your website, you write it once and then it does the talking for you.

People will find you as they search for the services you offer. If they like what they read on your website, they’ll want to hire you. You don’t have to go out there and sell yourself, let people come to you instead.

Your Strengths as an Introvert

By now, hopefully, you can see how to overcome the challenges of being an introvert. You can exercise your social muscles, get all the rest you need, and let your friends and website sell for you.

But there are advantages to being an introvert, so let’s look at your strengths.

Sometimes one-on-one time is the best.

1) You Work Well on Your Own

Because you do so well on your own, you’re especially suited to landscape and nature photography. You can pursue these projects on your own and then share them with the group later.

Street photography is ideal for you as well. You don’t have to interact with people to do street photography. Candid photography is perfect for capturing street or travel scenes. You can stand back and enjoy watching people while pursuing a candid or photojournalistic style.

Since you can work well on your own, you can spend a lot of time studying photography in books and online. Taking lots of time to learn, think and reflect will allow you to go much deeper with photography. Remember, the better you get, the more word will travel about you.

Running a photography business takes a lot of lonely work behind the scenes (learning, planning, editing, marketing). Since you’re perfectly happy to work on your own, there will be fewer distractions while getting your work done. Extroverts really struggle to spend long hours on their own, but this is where you excel.

Don’t forget to combine your rest periods with study or work periods. When you’re resting from social interaction, use that time to do important business tasks on your own.

2) You Will Become a Better Communicator

As you interact with more groups of people and work hard to communicate your ideas in person or on your website, your ability to articulate yourself will improve. As I work on my family photography website, I make little adjustments to my sales message. Over time, my message has become very strong and families love working with me.

Remember to watch how extroverts interact, and you can begin to imitate them so that your social skills will improve.

3) You Excel in One-on-One Conversation

As an introvert, you’re likely really good with one person at a time. This is good news because there are many other introverts out there that feel the same way. They may be drawn to you as a portrait photographer.

Consider working on your sales message with another photographer. The two of you can help each other flesh out your thoughts and find the perfect wording. It’s a lot more fun to craft a sales message with a like-minded photographer when there is no pressure of actually selling. Remember, that message is going to do the talking for you later.

Over to You

As an introvert, you can thrive among people and run a successful photography business photographing people.

Exercise your social muscles and recover by resting from social interaction. Without that rest, you risk burning out and resenting people.

Let’s continue the conversation. Leave a comment below letting me know how you struggle with photographing people. Together, we can overcome our challenges and grow as people and photographers.

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