Category: Photography

How to Clone Yourself – Step by Step Tutorial
You have probably seen photos on the internet where the same person appears in multiple spots in a single photo. At first sight, you might not have believed it, and later you must have gone berserk looking for ways that effect can be achieved. Well, who does not want that superhero feeling where you can appear in 2-3 different places doing 2-3 different things as well in a single photo.

Let me tell you, it is not at all complicated or difficult to clone yourself multiple times in a single frame. You can achieve this effect by going through two simple stages, the execution stage (shooting) and the post-processing stage. By the end of this tutorial, I am sure you will be able to create pretty awesome clone photos, feel free to share them in the comments section.

Part One – How to Clone Yourself – Execution

In the execution stage all you need is a:
- A digital camera
- A tripod
- Shutter release remote or use the built-in self-timer
Step 1:

Mount your digital camera on a tripod. As you will be taking multiple photos you need to make sure that the frame in each photo remains the same and the camera doesn’t move.

Step 2:

Make sure that Manual Mode is selected as you do not want any aperture, shutter speed, or white balance variations in your multiple photos. This is to make sure that all your photos are consistent in exposure, depth of field and color temperature.

Step 3:

Now focus on the point where you will be standing or sitting and switch the focusing mode to Manual as well. This is again to ensure that each photo is consistent in terms of depth of field and sharpness. An important suggestion is to use an aperture which is not too wide, something around f/5.6 – f/8 would be ideal to get good depth of field.

Step 4:

Switch on the 10-second timer on your digital camera so that you have enough time to position yourself in the frame and get ready for the photo. If you have one, you can also use a wired/wireless shutter release remote to click photos once you are ready and in position.

That’s it, now you are ready to take as many photos you as want to by positioning yourself at different spots in the frame.

Here you can see the four shots I took. It’s important to take one of just the scene without you in it as well as you’ll need it for the next stage.

Note: It’s important to take one of just the scene without you in it as well as you’ll need it for the next stage!

Part Two – How to Clone Yourself – Post-Processing

Now comes the interesting part of this tutorial where you get to learn how you can clone yourself multiple times in a photo using software such as Adobe Photoshop. Let me take you through a step-by-step explanation of how I achieved this photo.

Note: you need an image editing software that works with layers to do this. Lightroom cannot do this.

Step 1:

Import all the photos into Adobe Photoshop and get them to a single workspace by going to individual photos, pressing CTRL/CMD + A (select all) and again pressing CTRL/CMD + C (copy). Now go to the photo where you want all other photos to be brought together and press CTRL/CMD + V (paste). Do this for all the other photos until you have all the photos in one workspace as layers.

Make sure the image without you is the bottom layer. If it is not, drag it there now.

Note: Alternatively you can open Adobe Bridge and find your images. Select all the ones you want to use (CMD+click on each to select more than one) and go to Tools > Photoshop > Load files into Photoshop layers. This will achieve the same thing as copy and pasting each image. If you work in Lightroom you can select them all, right-click and select Open as Layers in PS as well.

Step 2:

Now add a black layer mask (press and hold ALT and then click on Add vector mask icon as shown in the photo below) in order to start the editing process. Select the Paintbrush tool and make sure that black is selected as the foreground color, and then click once on the mask of the layer you want to work on first.

Note: Make sure the mask is selected not the layer. See the white bracket corners on the mask? That means it is selected.

Step 3:

Layer by layer, start painting (at 100% brush opacity)_ over the area where you are located in that frame to make yourself visible in the photo. Do this with all the layers in order to make yourself appear in the photo at multiple spots as shown in the image below.

While bringing back one of yourself in the frame, if by mistake you erase your previous photo (your clone) you can bring it back by selecting the foreground color as white and painting back over it on the mask. So basically, painting with black lets you make the elements of the current layer visible, and the white color erases the elements of that current layer if you by mistake overdo it.

Black reveals – white conceals

Finish up

Once you are done cloning all your photos proof check the final photo carefully, there is a chance that you might have erased a part of one of your clones by accident. Make sure you aren’t missing any toes or limbs.

So once you are satisfied with the final result, export it and start flaunting it on your social media channels and please share in the comments below.

The post How to Clone Yourself – Step by Step Tutorial by Kunal Malhotra appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
December 9, 2017
Quick Video Tutorial – 8 DIY Photography Hacks for the Kitchen

Here is another fun video from the team over at COOPH. This time they’re playing with ordinary household items found in your kitchen.

Here are 8 DIY photography hacks you can do at home

Watch as they play with some eggs, kitchen utensils, have fun with a cheese grater, make a DIY softbox for a flash, play with reflective surfaces, flour, and some fruit!

Get cracking (pun intended) and see what you can come up with trying these tips out.

The post Quick Video Tutorial – 8 DIY Photography Hacks for the Kitchen by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

December 9, 2017
Weekly Photography Challenge – Wide-Angle
Different lenses produce a different look and effect in your images. Wide-angle lenses add depth and dimension to your images and give them a sense of three-dimensionality. They can be used to add humor and add interest as well. But, you must use a wide-angle lens properly.

Weekly Photography Challenge – Wide-Angle

The key to using a wide-angle lens is to get close to your subject. Really close! Not so close that you can’t focus, but close enough to make the subject appear larger than real life.
- Wide Angle Versus Telephoto Lenses for Beautiful Landscape Photography
- How to Use a Wide-angle Lens with Wildlife for a New Perspective
- How to Use a Wide-Angle Lens for People Photography
- 6 Reasons to Love Ultra-Wide Lenses
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 – Wide-Angle by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
December 9, 2017
How to Enhance Colors Using Photoshop’s Color Range Tool

Luminosity Masks have become a go-to technique for many photographers wanting to make selective adjustments on their images. While it’s a great way to create precise masks, it’s a mask solely based on the luminosity of a pixel and it may not be ideal when you only want to make adjustments to a specific color. Perhaps you want to enhance that beautiful sunset you photographed last night or maybe you want to change the color of your subject’s eyes. Regardless of what color based adjustment you want to make, there’s a simple and quick method of creating a precise selection based on the color value using Photoshop’s Color Range Tool.

Why Use Selective Adjustments

Before we jump into how you can create a precise selection based on a color, I quickly want to talk about why you should be using selective adjustments in your post-processing.

My area of expertise is landscape photography but this topic is important no matter what type of images you capture or your ambitions. If you have a desire to make your images look better, you need to be making some selective (local) adjustments to them.

It doesn’t need to be anything super-advanced, but start by at least making some selective color adjustments. The main reason you’d want to do this is to get rid of the unwanted color cast. The color cast can come as a result of your previous post-processing or it can come straight from the camera and it’s something that sticks out as a negative when viewing the image (the exception is when it’s a deliberate color cast that serves a purpose).

I used Selective Adjustments to keep the shadows cold in this image.

It’s also quite common that you’ll want to make an adjustment only to a specific area of an image (known as a local adjustment). A normal adjustment will affect the entire image (known as a global adjustment). Instead, create a mask that selects only the part of the image you want to affect (for example the highlights, a color, or maybe just a specific subject) and make your adjustment. Now, you’ve kept the majority of the image untouched but have made a visible adjustment to that particular area – no global color cast and no unwanted effects.

Create a Mask Based on Color

Okay, let’s jump into it and start making a few adjustments based on a color. In the example below, I want to increase the saturation and brightness of the yellow flowers in the foreground. A typical way of making a similar adjustment would be to use the Hue/Saturation adjustment and increase the saturation of the yellows. Yes, the flowers are saturated and brighter now but so are the cliffs, areas in the sky, and even some of the water.

First of all, make sure that you’re on a Stamp layer – in other words, one which is all the layers below it merged into one (you can delete this layer later but you’ll need it for the next step). Now, go to Select > Color Range… A new box should now appear and it’s here that you’re going to create the mask.

For the best results, make sure that Sampled Colors is selected in the top drop-down menu. It’s possible to work with the other options as well but I find the mask to be much more accurate by manually sampling the colors you want. Next, with the Eyedropper Tool selected, click on the color in your image that you want to select. For me, that’s one of the yellow flowers in the foreground. Notice that the image within the Color Range box now has changed and it’s mostly black. This represents the selection we’re making (only the white parts of the mask will be affected).

Refine the mask

The Fuzziness slider is a useful tool to make the selection more or less refined. By pulling the slider towards the left, you’re creating a more restricted mask and it affects less of the similar colors to what you’ve selected. Pulling it towards the right has the opposite effect and the mask starts including similar colors. I prefer to use a fuzziness of approximately 70-80 but I recommend you play around with it for each shot.

That’s it! Click OK and you’ve created a precise mask based on that color. Now, you choose the adjustment you want to use – I’ll use the Hue/Saturation slider for now.

Adding Colors to the Selection

Before we continue and start enhancing the image, I want to show you how you can add more colors to the mask. Let’s say that I also wanted to make the same adjustment to the bright parts of the sky. Before clicking OK and creating the selection, I would simply hold shift (or select the second Eyedropper Tool named “Add to Sample) and click on the sun. You’ll see that the mask has changed and the area around the setting sun is also whited out.

Unfortunately, this step also included some of the cliffs in the lower right corner which I don’t want to be affected. The best way to remove that from your mask is to paint directly on the mask with a black brush after creating an adjustment layer.

Making the Adjustment

The last thing I’m going to do is to increase the saturation and brightness of the flowers. With the mask we created active (you know it’s an active mask when you see the marching ants around your selection), create a new Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer. Since we’ve already created a mask that targets only the yellow flowers, we don’t need to go into the yellow channel, instead, we continue using the Master channel.

Now just drag the Saturation slider towards the left until the colors are saturated to your taste. I also increased the Lightness slightly to make the flowers pop even more.

Before

After

This technique of creating a precise mask can be used with any adjustment layer that you want. I often combine it with any color-based adjustments such as Hue/Saturation, the Photo Filter, and Color Balance. For adjustments that affect the brightness and contrast of the image, I prefer using Luminosity Masks.

The post How to Enhance Colors Using Photoshop’s Color Range Tool by Christian Hoiberg appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

December 8, 2017
The Importance of Being Honest With Yourself and Your Clients
If you do any photography for clients, either on a regular basis or whenever work comes your way, there can be a tendency to be somewhat creative when answering questions about your skills, abilities, and expectations. You might be asked to shoot a wedding when you don’t necessarily have the gear or experience to do what the client expects. Or someone might ask you to take product photos when your background is in portraits.

It’s not uncommon to be on location at a photo session and have things suddenly go awry or get strange requests from your clients. Even in the editing phase, you could very well find yourself dealing with a situation that you aren’t ready for. In times like these, it’s important to remember three simple words we have all heard since we were kids – tell the truth. You might not like the immediate results, but it will work out for the best for you and your clients in the long run.

Set your client’s expectations

Not long ago I was asked to do a portrait session for a high school senior. I knew the family and we were all looking forward to the session. But about a week before we were scheduled to take photos, we hit a bit of a wrinkle. Her parents asked if their daughter could have her two dogs in the photos as well. I had a moment of panic because this was a situation for which I was quite unprepared.

After I thought about it for a little while, I realized I had two choices, neither of which was all that appealing. I could have said yes in which case I would be agreeing to something that I was not ready for. Or I could have said no in which case I would have run the risk of angering the client and maybe even losing their business to another photographer who would agree to take the photos they wanted.

The truth of the matter, though, was that I simply didn’t know the answer so I told the client just that. Rather than say yes or no, I laid my cards out on the table and hoped for the best. I explained that I would be willing to give it a try but I had no experience with this sort of situation, and there would be a chance the pictures wouldn’t turn out at all.

This high school senior wanted some pictures with her dogs. I obliged but tried to be as honest as possible regarding my comfort level and experience with this type of photography.

Honesty is the best policy

Instead of being upset or angry, her parents were quite pleased with my response and told me they appreciated me being upfront about it. They felt more comfortable working with someone who was willing to tell the truth rather than spend money on a photographer who just told them what they wanted to hear and might not be able to deliver on the results.

On the day of the shoot, I continued the trend of being open and honest and suggested a couple options for photos, many of which the family quite liked. I even enlisted the help of the parents. Even though the photos aren’t going to win any awards or get printed in magazines, the family was more than pleased with the results. They liked the collaborative nature of the photo session as well. They felt like they could trust me and knew that I would do everything in my power to get some photos they would like, and in the end, that’s what really mattered.

We enlisted her mom to help!

This type of honesty can go a long way towards making sure your clients know what to expect when they book your services. Getting everyone on the same page before, and during, the photo session can help make sure they know what they are getting and you know that you haven’t promised something you can’t deliver.

Work with a safety net

Being open and honest with your clients is a little tricky and can involve walking somewhat of a fine line because as a photographer you are getting paid to know what you’re doing and you have to project a certain degree of confidence. After all, people are paying you to know what you’re doing so you had better know how to do it!

That being said, if you are honest with your clients about what you can do, it can give you a great deal of wiggle room when out actually doing a photo session. It also helps build a relationship of trust with your clients.

I normally shoot photos on location at parks and open areas around town. When I was taking pictures for another high school senior the two of us met up at a local garden, talked about school and college, and then got to work on the photo session. I started by giving him some very specific directions to get some good shots in the bag – the slam dunks if you will. He politely obliged, and we took some pictures that turned out just fine when I reviewed the images on my camera.

This young man was willing to try some new locations and poses for his senior photos. We got some good ones in familiar spots first, and then tried a couple of experiments just to see what would happen.

Get the safe shots then experiment

After that, I spoke to him quite plainly about some ideas I had and asked if he would be comfortable trying some pictures that might be different than what he expected. Instead of just barking orders I explicitly said: “I’ve got an idea and I’m not sure how it will turn out, but would you be up for trying something and see what happens?” This sort of talk put him at ease, and he told me he appreciated that I was straightforward and plainspoken with him, and he gladly agreed to experiment with some poses and locations that were new to both of us.

I don’t have quantitative data to support this, but I have a strong suspicion that if I had played the classic “fake it ’til you make it” approach I would have been nervous, fidgety, and a little on edge the whole time. Instead, my honesty about the photos we were taking helped make the session comfortable for both of us and we got some pictures that both he and his parents liked quite a lot.

Neither of us had ever been to this spot before, but I asked if he was willing to try something new and he was all for it.

Be open to ideas – but be honest if you aren’t sure about it

Here’s one final example of how important honesty is when working with clients. Not long ago I was asked to shoot photos of a family in early November in time for them to get their Christmas cards printed. We discussed the details of the shoot beforehand and she gave me examples of the types of pictures she was hoping to get. I assured her that I could certainly get that same look and feel. (I really meant it too because I knew the location, I knew my own capabilities, and I was entirely confident I could get the shots she wanted.)

During the photo session, one of the family members asked about some different types of pictures. Rather than blindly agree with everything she asked for, I slowed down and discussed the details with her on the spot. I knew the capability of the lenses I had with me, I knew the setting and the lighting, and I asked her several questions in order to make sure I was giving her honest and straightforward answers.

Soon enough I found myself standing atop an eight-foot ladder shooting straight down at a collection of hands on a tree stump. While it was certainly something I had not imagined beforehand I was able to set expectations with the client, build a safety net in case things didn’t work out, and ultimately get a shot that everyone liked.

Not the type of picture I’m used to taking, but I explained that and the family didn’t mind at all.

Be honest with yourself

I want to make it clear that as a photographer working with clients you should absolutely possess a high degree of knowledge regarding your craft. You should understand lighting and composition, and know how to work with your subjects (even if they’re inanimate objects) to get the pictures you want. You should know your camera like the back of your hand and have a firm grasp on the fundamentals of exposure like aperture, shutter, and ISO.

But you should also know your own limitations, and understand what you can do as well as what you haven’t yet learned. Essentially you need to make sure you don’t over-promise and under-deliver when crunch time hits.

This is a mistake that a lot of new photographers make, myself included. It’s thrilling to get a new camera and some lenses and think that you can suddenly start taking on paid jobs. I know, I’ve been there! But if you take time to learn your own limitations and be honest with yourself about what you really should and should not be doing, you will find yourself producing better results while also having a clear idea of how you can improve over time.

Here’s a photo that illustrates what I’m talking about

I took this picture without being honest with myself. When I look back on it now I notice so many problems that were plain as day if only I had been willing to see them. This mother and her girls look great, but as their photographer, I really should have known better before agreeing to do their photos.

I had gotten a DSLR and a 50mm lens about a year before this and I thought I knew everything there was to know about photography! But in reality, there was a vast chasm between what I thought I knew and what I actually knew.
- I didn’t understand the relationship between aperture and depth of field, hence the reason the girl in the foreground is out of focus.
- I didn’t fully understand the capabilities and limitations of my gear and shot at much higher ISO values than I should have in this scenario.
- My knowledge of light, shadows, and composition was lacking.
- I didn’t know how to edit my RAW files to get the final images to look how I really wanted.
The list could go on, but the lesson here is that if I had been willing to own up to my shortcomings I would have either waited to do the photo session until I actually did know what I was doing. Or I would have been more forthcoming with the clients about what I could do and what they could expect.

This shot turned out okay, but there was a lot I didn’t know about using external speedlights when I took it. I should have taken more time to learn what I was doing first.

Do the right thing

One final note, or perhaps a bit of advice, is to be forthcoming with your clients about the limits of what is culturally and legally permissible. If you’re in this business long enough you might be asked to shoot photos at a spot where photography is prohibited by custom or by law. (Note: if you are ever asked to take photos on train tracks, do not do it. Not only is it dangerous and life-threatening, but train tracks are private property and you will likely be trespassing if you shoot photos on them.)

Alternatively, someone might inquire about taking pictures at locations that are particularly dangerous to themselves or you as the photographer. Sometimes even the subjects you are shooting might want to engage in risky activities or behaviors that are either illegal or, as your gut instinct might tell you, just plain wrong.

Trust your instincts

It’s best to be upfront and honest if you find yourself in these situations. Tell your contacts or potential clients, “Thanks, but no thanks.” and explain that you just aren’t willing or able to meet their request. “But my friend did it, and it was no big deal!” they might reply. If they do…stand your ground, maintain your integrity, and advise them to look elsewhere for their photos. Don’t compromise your integrity and professionalism to get pictures you know you shouldn’t be taking.

Conclusion

One of the best feelings in the world is when I see someone pick up a camera, get inspired, and start using it to create images with meaning, impact, and a sense of artistry. Digital cameras make photography easier than ever before but if you are working with clients whether it’s shooting weddings, portraits, products, real estate, or any other type of transactional relationship you have to be honest with them and yourself to build a rapport and sense of trust that can lead to long-term partnerships.

The post The Importance of Being Honest With Yourself and Your Clients by Simon Ringsmuth appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
December 8, 2017
How to Master Natural Light Portraiture

I love working with natural light, I always have. Even more so now that our digital cameras have sensors so incredibly capable of making images in extremely low light. Making portraits using natural light only is a good skill to learn so you can make photographs anywhere. Here are some tips to help you mast nature light portraiture.

Be aware of the quality of light

When you want to make a series of portraits using only natural light, you first need to be aware of what the light is like at your chosen location and the style of portrait you want to make. Is the quality of light hard or soft?

If it’s a bright sunny day and the light is harsh (hard), you will get portraits with a much different look and feel, than if the sky is cloudy and overcast. Morning and evening light will give your portraits a different quality (soft light) as will photographing your subject indoors and using light from a window.

Soft side light from a window.

Hard sunlight can be quite challenging to work with, but can produce some good results if you style you portrait well. If you’re working in open sun it can be helpful to have a reflector on hand and a friend to assist you so dark shadows can be reduced.

What kind of photo do you want?

Having a concept in mind for the type of photo you want will give you a better chance of success. If you’re heading out to make some portraits on a sunny day and have an idea of making some soft dreamy romantic photos, this will be difficult. But if you want to make some photos to illustrate the idea of a journey in a hot country the light will be your friend and support your idea.

Bight, harsh sun in the middle of the day.

Cloudy days provide a soft light that’s generally easier to get a more even exposure. The flat light tends to render a softer feeling to portraits.

So if you’re making portraits with natural light on a cloudy day, you will have more success if your concept is for a gentler look. Photos taken under a cloudy sky and later converted to black and white work well as the tone range will be more limited than on a sunny day.

Portraits on a cloudy day.

Use light to your advantage

If the sky is heavily overcast you will find it challenging as the light will be very dull. On days when there’s not such thick cloud you will notice the light is still soft, but brighter and more vibrant (less flat,) so nicer for making portraits. Be careful of your exposure settings if the clouds are moving and the light value is frequently changing.

Finding a shaded space and making use of naturally reflected light will help you achieve a different look on a bright sunny day. This is not the same as the light you have on a cloudy day. Light reflecting off a wall close by or light-toned pavement, (cement rather than asphalt or dark paving,) will fill in shadows on your subject’s face and produce a more even, lively result.

Light reflecting off a nearby white wall provided fill light for this portrait.

Placing your subject so they are slightly inside a shaded area, but close to the bright sun, can allow the reflection of the sunshine to have a very helpful effect in lighting your subject. So long as your subject is not too far away from the bright light you can make use of the reflection to add a more interesting dynamic to your portraits.

The Golden Hours

Of course, making portraits with the rich morning or evening sunshine (often called Golden Hours), or even subdued light can produce very pleasing portraits. Be careful though not to have your subject look directly ahead into the sun as they will typically make an unpleasant face. Backlighting or side lighting your subject at these times can be more effective and more comfortable for your subject. Diffused morning and evening light is lovely to work with as it is soft yet can still be quite rich and warm toned.

Diffused early evening light.

Try new things

I’ve loved making natural light portraits for many years, but I also enjoy developing my technique by trying new ways of working. If you enjoy a particular aspect of photography, stick with it, develop what you do. But don’t just do the same thing every time.

If you like making portraits in natural light on a cloudy day because you find it easier, sometimes try shooting on a sunny day. Stretch yourself to learn some new technique. You may discover something new, a new way ot working that you really enjoy.

Portable natural light studio

I have a portable natural light studio I love to take into the mountain villages here in northern Thailand. We’ve even started including it in some of the workshops we run and our customers love the professional looking results they can achieve. My outdoor studio only requires that we have space to set it up, (just a few square meters is enough,) and a sunny day for the best light, but I do use it on cloudy days too.

The best thing about it is having control over how the sun lights my subjects. I set it up so the sun is behind the backdrop. Above the backdrop is a fine gray nylon screen to filter the sunlight. The light reflects off the ground which is a light colored earth and works well with Asian skin tones, or a large plastic sheet. I have more recently introduced a large reflector too and am achieving some very pleasing results.

The light coming from behind the backdrop is providing great light on these subjects’ hair as a rim light, and on their faces via reflected light.

The portable studio behind the scenes.

Your turn to try it

Next time you head out to make some portraits try something different with the light. If you prefer sunshine, make some in the shade as well. If you prefer a cloudy day challenge yourself to go out in the middle of the day when the sun is shining and find a location where you have some good light. Remember, the only time you cannot make a photo is when there is no light at all.

The post How to Master Natural Light Portraiture by Kevin Landwer-Johan appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

December 7, 2017
6 Types of Bracketing Your Camera Can Do and How to Use Them

Bracketing is a method of taking multiple images of the same scene at different settings in order to capture more detail in your shot.

You might not be aware that there are actually a number of bracketing techniques besides the most common method which is exposure bracketing.

Exposure bracketing allows you to retain more dynamic range in your final image. However, other bracketing techniques which we’ll discuss in this article can help you capture more detail in different focus planes, different color temperatures, or even detail in the amount of noise or grain that is captured.

Let’s go ahead and begin with the bracketing technique that you’re most likely already familiar with – exposure bracketing.

#1 – Exposure Bracketing

In exposure bracketing, we take the same image several times at different exposure values or (EVs) in order to accommodate for the brightest highlights and the darkest shadows in the shot. The resulting images can be merged together either in camera or by using editing software. This produces an image with superior tonal range than what you’d have gotten if you had taken only a single shot.

Most cameras can do this automatically in HDR mode, however, the majority of them are only able to save the resulting image in a JPEG format. That is a huge limitation if you want to change some parameters in post-production like White Balance, Exposure, Saturation, etc.

Your camera will usually have a number of options for you to choose from, like the total number of shots to be taken, drive mode (continuous or single), and the exposure difference between each image (1EV or 2EV). ). The exposure bracketing settings can be found under the drive mode menu on most cameras.

#2 – Focus Bracketing (Stacking)

This bracketing technique is most useful when you have a limited depth of field giving you a narrow sliver of focus in your image. Several images are taken at different focal planes, from the nearest focus distance or plane to the furthest focus distance.

All the other in-camera settings must be constant, your exposure should remain untouched because none of the three pillars of exposure (shutter, aperture, ISO) are changed. Really all that’s changing is the focus point.

In macro photography, this can be very useful because the images can be stacked in order to produce one where the subject is fully in focus as opposed to just a certain part. You can think of this method as slightly widening the depth of field on your subject without losing any silky smooth bokeh you get at wider apertures.

After merging or focus stacking the three focus bracketed images. It’s not perfect but it has more of the bear in focus than any of the other three images.

Not many cameras will have a focus bracketing function or feature, however, if your camera does, I encourage you to read the manual to learn how it works. For those with cameras that don’t have this feature then it’s really simple to do it manually. You want to have your camera on a tripod and you also want to make sure you’re shooting a static subject.

All you have to do is take multiple images at the same settings (I advise the use of manual mode or aperture priority), between each image you want to adjust your focus plane manually from the closest to furthest. You can experiment with different distances between focus planes to get the results you want. In post-production, you the have the freedom to make the entire image sharp, or just all the parts of your subject, or even just select areas.

#3 – Flash Bracketing

In flash bracketing, multiple images are taken of the same scene with varying light intensities from your camera flash or speedlight especially a fill flash. The light intensity from the flash is varied in steps from low to high intensity as images are captured.

You then have a number of images all with different flash exposures from which you can pick the best one.

Neutral or normal intensity

This can be very handy in low light situations or in general where you are unsure what flash intensity is going to correctly expose your image.

Flash exposure bracketing (FEB) can be found as a feature on many speedlights, you might want to read through the manual first to figure out how to find and activate it. For some cameras, it is in the camera menu. Once found it’s as simple as picking the number of photos to take, as well as the flash exposure compensation between them.

The final step is taking the images, it’s important to note that FEB can be very slow due to the limitation of the speedlight recycle rate (the time it takes your speed light to be ready to fire again after an actuation). So always keep that in mind when shooting.

Here’s another example which was done outdoors. Notice how the exposure changes on the girl (due to the amount of flash) but the background remained the same.

#4 – White Balance Bracketing

This is one of the more unusual bracketing techniques available in digital photography. As the name suggests, White Balance bracketing allows you to take several images of the same scene at different color temperatures.

This method mostly applies to photographers that only shoot JPEG since the White Balance of an image can always be changed in post-production if it’s recorded in RAW format. Images are taken at blueish color temperatures in stages all the way to reddish temperatures.

This bracketing technique is particularly useful in scenes where there is mixed lighting and it may be difficult for the Auto White Balance mode to correctly pick a color temperature.

You can then pick the image with the most accurate (or pleasing) color temperature afterward. You can manually set the color temperature range within your camera settings in degrees Kelvin.

White balance bracketing can be found in the camera settings, and you should be able to pick the number of photos to take as well as the white balance difference between them in degrees Kelvin. If your camera does not have the feature then you can individually take the photos manually, changing the white balance between them. Just make sure you shoot in RAW + JPEG so you have more creative freedom in post-production. Use the JPEGs for previewing so you can pick the image with the right color temperature, then match that to your RAW file and you can make all your other edits.

#5 – Depth of Field Bracketing

This is a bracketing technique that is very similar to the focus bracketing (stacking) method mentioned earlier. Multiple images are taken of the same scene at different apertures, your exposure must remain constant meaning that your shutter speed and ISO can change (Aperture Priority is recommended).

Just like in focus bracketing, you are able to get a varying depth of field in your shot when you stack the resulting images in post-production, effectively allowing you to get more in focus while not sacrificing any smooth bokeh you got at your widest aperture.

Depth of field bracketing is a technique that won’t be found on many cameras as a function or feature. You will have to do it manually, the good news is that it’s very easy to do. You want to make sure your camera is in Aperture Priority then take images of the same scene while changing your aperture between each image, it might be handy to use a tripod so that the frame is identical. In post-production, you have the freedom to stack your images and get everything in focus or just the subject in its entirety while keeping some satisfying bokeh.

#6 – ISO Bracketing

The final bracketing technique in digital photography is ISO bracketing. As the name suggests, this method involves taking several images of the same scene at different ISO or sensor gain values.

What might come as a surprise to you is that your aperture and shutter speed must stay constant which results in a number of images all with different signal to noise ratios and also different exposures.

ISO bracketing is useful because you get images with different amounts of noise. So you can pick the aesthetic that’s most pleasing to your eyes in that respect.

ISO bracketing can also be used for HDR in situations where your aperture is closed all the way down but you don’t want a shutter speed that’s too slow (in order to correctly expose) such that things in the scene change between images; like water, people or even marine traffic.

ISO bracketing is one of the less common bracketing methods that can be found as a function in your camera. I advise that you check your camera manual to make sure your camera has this feature. If it doesn’t, then you can put your camera in Manual Mode, then select Auto ISO and activate your exposure bracketing, you can also pick your exposure range as well as the number of pictures to take (note: this only works on some camera models).

If your camera isn’t able to do ISO bracketing via the method mentioned above then you can do it the old school way; manually! Put your camera in Manual Mode, make sure you select an aperture, shutter speed, and an ISO between 800 to 1000 that correctly exposes your image. Take your first image as your base at 0EV, the next step involves lowering and raising your ISO while taking images to get your shots at different exposures.

Conclusion

Most of the bracketing techniques mentioned here in this article are not actually available as built-in features or modes in a lot of the cameras that you and I can buy. However, with the power of full manual controls, you can always try them for yourself and see what kind of results you’re getting.

The post 6 Types of Bracketing Your Camera Can Do and How to Use Them by Fadzai Saungweme appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

December 6, 2017
How to Choose Your First Camera Drone and Skyrocket Your Photography
Maybe you are in love with photography and in the process of turning it into a passion. You might be a professional photographer who’s always searching to improve, or you might just like capturing those beautiful trips like no other. If you’re in any of these categories, you might want to consider buying yourself a drone.

This guide is all you need to help you make a choice. I have experimented with most of the drones on the market so you don’t have to.

How useful is a drone for photography?

I think you already imagine how cool it could be to reach those places you always wanted. No more climbing trees for great panoramas. And best of all, you can literally fly your camera wherever you like (within the law, of course).

Bonus: You’ll be able to take unbelievable videos as well.

Maybe, you always thought taking pictures is where you’ll stop, but don’t tell me you’ve never been fascinated by one of those cool drone videos on YouTube.

The great thing about a drone is that most of the time, it comes with an included gimbal that stabilizes the image perfectly. That feat alone makes both video and photography easy to do and cinematic almost straight away.

Will you be able to afford it?

Gone are the days where only blockbuster movies had the budget to record and shoot photos from the air. Today, thanks to less expensive technology and increasing popularity of quad-copters, almost everyone can afford a drone. And the results are absolutely fascinating.

These are my general recommendations when it comes to pricing for a good camera drone:
- If it’s a drone that comes with a camera, you will need to spend over $ 400 if you want to have image stabilization.
- You can also pick a cheaper drone with GPS and stabilization that comes with no camera. That might be a good option if you already have a GoPro or action-camera and a tight budget.
- If you want a beginner drone just to learn how to fly, don’t spend more than $ 50.
How to pick your first camera drone

So you decided to get into drones and skyrocket your photography/videography. I have created an infographic explaining the main things you should look for in a camera drone. Now you have two paths you can choose from:
1. Get a small beginner drone (under $ 50) to learn the basics of piloting it, and only after that buy a more expensive one.
2. Get a more expensive drone with GPS, which is stable enough when flying and can return to home automatically if you mess up.
What are the best inexpensive beginner drones?

Ways you can go about buying your first beginner drone:
- Get two or more VERY cheap drones (at $ 15 each) and simply learn the basics of flying in the house, while having a backup.
- Get one cheap beginner drone (around $ 50), that usually comes with a low-quality camera (I don’t recommend this because it’s nothing like the more expensive ones).
- Choose a cheap beginner drone and the more expensive one at the same time, if you want to just try it a few times and then jump into the action.
Here are my top beginner drones you can start with:
- JJRC H36 – A super resilient drone that works great inside. This is what I would recommend any friend. About $ 18.99 on Amazon
- Cheerson CX-10 – A very small drone that’s around $ 20 and can do flips. About $ 18.99 on Amazon.
- Hubsan x4 – A very sturdy and well-made drone with a camera. About $ 32 on Amazon.
What are my top choices for a camera drone?

This is my top three list of recommendations I have for different types of consumers, ranging from $ 500 to $ 1500 USD.

I’ll underline the main features you should look for in each drone, while also spotting the drawbacks of each.

#1 – DJI Mavic Pro Platinum – My overall winner

This quad-copter is one of the most popular right now, for some really good reasons. The DJI Mavic Pro Platinum is the newer version of the Mavic, but it is quieter and has a longer battery life. This is why I would recommend it.

I’d recommend it to anyone from travel enthusiast to the professional photographer and so on. It has its limitations, but for the price of about $ 1000, here’s why it rocks:
- It comes with a stellar gimbal (a motorized system that stabilizes the camera while in the air).
- Has a 4K camera with a fixed aperture of f/2.2 – This makes it pretty good even in low light conditions.
- You can take amazing photos in 12mp resolution.
- It’s foldable – This makes it the most portable high-quality camera on my list, and pretty much on the market. You can simply take it in a small bag and go on your vacation, no problem.
- Long range – it can go up to 7 km in perfect conditions, which is more than enough for anyone.
- Long battery life – it promises about 30 minutes of flight time, but in real life conditions, 26 minutes is more likely.
- Has great GPS and return to home features.
- Has front sensors for detecting obstacles and stopping in time.
Disadvantages: Can’t really think of anything. It’s amazing for the price.

#2 – Xiaomi MI 4K drone – The cheapest, yet still amazing

The Xiaomi MI 4K drone costs about $ 500 and comes with all you need for great photo/video results.
- Just as the Mavic before, it comes with an amazing gimbal and camera attached to it, in order to keep the image steady in the air.
- Again, you can shoot 4K photos (12.4 mp) and video or go lower in resolution so you can record in more frames, and do slow-motion.
- The range is over 3 km, which is absolutely fantastic.
- Battery life is said to be 27 minutes, but in real life, I got a maximum of 24.
- It comes with very good GPS and returns to home when the battery is low and also when the signal is lost (just like the Mavic)
Disadvantages of the Xiaomi 4k drone
- It’s not nearly as portable as the Mavic.
- It is louder.
- It doesn’t have the front facing sensors to stop before impact that the Mavic does.
Consider how much these drawbacks mean to you when you take into account the super cheap price. Don’t get fooled thinking a smaller price means lower quality. Xiaomi, just like DJI, is a Chinese company with a focus on creating high-quality hardware, that’s impressive even by western standards.

#3 – DJI Phantom 4 Professional – the pro choice at a small price

You have probably heard of drones like Phantom 3 or 4 by now, and they were all amazing, but the DJI Phantom 4 Professional is on the next level.

If the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum is not enough for you in terms of camera capability and you want more professional freedom in your work, this is the best way to go.

Here’s what this $ 1500 drone comes with:
- The 4K camera we’ve been used to has a 1-inch sensor now. This means nighttime photos will be considerably better and less noisy compared to any of the previous drones.
- The 20mp sensor also delivers amazing quality photos and video.
- It can shoot 4K in 60fps and Full HD in 120FPS and comes with a mechanical shutter (just like your DSLR), so you get a smooth video image and no rolling shutter effect.
- It’s super secure with obstacle sensing in 5 directions: 2 front sensing cameras, 2 side infrared detectors, Sonar and cameras on the bottom (to land precisely), And even one in the back!
- Just like the Mavic Pro Platinum, it comes with 30-minute flight time, 3-axis gimbal stabilization and 7 km range (but, this time, it’s dual-band transmission, so the signal is more secure).
What are a few disadvantages: It’s bulky and loud. It can’t fold up, so if you want to take it on vacation, it will be harder to carry.

I recommend this drone for the more professional bunch of people, who want to use it more intensely for professional projects and don’t mind the bigger form size. This drone is great for people who want to have more control over their images, and it’s perfect if you want to shoot at high ISO in lower light.

Over to you

I only gave you three choices because I believe these are the best of each price category. So, depending on your budget, you can confidently choose one of these, as there’s simply no competition on the market right now.

Don’t forget to fly safe and check the regulation in your area!

The post How to Choose Your First Camera Drone and Skyrocket Your Photography by Paul Archer appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
December 6, 2017
How to Make Food Photos Look Tastier with Luminar

When it comes to food photography, photo editing is at least half of the battle. Sure, there’s an art to styling and shooting food so that it looks yummy right out of the camera. But more often than not, it pays to spend a little time sprucing up that photo in post-production. There are lots of popular photo editing tools out there, but lately, I’ve been preferring Luminar by Macphun, soon to be Skylum.

Simple and straightforward to use, you can enhance any food photo in Luminar right out of the box. Here’s how to get started. I should be clear that this is my personal food photography editing workflow. Feel free to make adjustments and edits to your own taste (pun intended) and preferences.

The final image, edited in Luminar.

Get Started

First, open a photo in Luminar. You can open an image three ways; by clicking the blue Open Image button on the welcome screen, by going to File > Open, or by dragging and dropping an image on the welcome screen.After your image is open, take a look around at the software’s interface.

The top bar contains a variety of useful tools such as crop, transform, and undo, plus unique features like clone and stamp, erase, and a handy history menu which lets you scroll back through every edit you’ve made to an image. There’s also a button to give a quick preview of changes made to your image, and even a compare slider showing the image before and after editing.

1. Apply a Luminar Preset

On the bottom row of Luminar, you’ll find a menu of presets, which are essentially filters, with predetermined settings. (Note: if the presets are not showing click the icon third from the right in the top toolbar.) There are dozens of presets to choose from and they’re sorted by category. In the default version of the software, there’s not a specific category for food photos, but the Basic presets will do just fine (and as you go, you can create your own custom presets).

Selecting a preset automatically applies the edits intended by the designer of the preset. In the sandwich image below, the Fix Dark Photos preset has been applied. Directly over the preset is a slider that allows you to adjust the intensity of that preset. On the right side, a panel opens up showing what aspects of the photo have been edited. You can go in and fine-tune the adjustments to taste using the sliders.

2. Open up the Filters Catalog

Applying a preset will get your photo off to a great start, but you’ll often need to make a few micro adjustments to your image.

To do this, click on the Add Filters button in the right-hand corner. This will open up the Filters Catalog, offering you tons more editing tools. Hovering your mouse over a filter will result in a pop-up window that explains the filter’s effect and shows an example thumbnail image (as seen below).

Here I’m adding the Dodge & Burn Filter.

Finding and Sorting Filters

There several tools in the catalog that will help you find the filters you need. First is the search bar where you can type in a filter name. Below that is a drop-down menu that lets you see filters according to their usage, such as Issue Fixers, Essential, and Creative. Finally, you can star or favorite your most-used filters to make them easier to find. For food photos, I stick to pretty basic filters that add minor adjustments.

Below, I’ve applied a Dodge and Burn filter to darken (burn) some of the sandwich bread. I also added a Denoise filter to reduce some of the grain in the black background.

3. Crop the Image

After applying a preset and fine-tuning with filters, I’m feeling pretty good about the color and lighting of my image. All that remains is cropping the image. To do this, click on the Tools menu in the top bar and select Crop. This will reveal a cropping interface with guidelines, a collection of crop preset,s and the ability to rotate the image if you like.

In this case, I cropped in just a bit to put more emphasis on the sandwich and remove the bit of food on the right.

The Crop tool in Luminar.

4. Clone and Stamp

Almost there! Now that I’ve cropped the image to my liking, there are a few messy spots that I want to erase. Time to clone and stamp! This feature is also in the Tools drop-down menu where you found Crop.

In this workspace, Clone & Stamp works very similarly to other image editors such as Photoshop and Lightroom. Simply hold down the Option key and click on an area you want to copy pixels from. Then click (paint) over the object you want to remove or replace. In the photo below, a few messy spots on the bread have been clone stamped, as well as part of the black shirt background.

Clone tool for fixing a few messy bits.

5. Save, Export, Share, or Open Image in another platform

When you’re done editing your food photos in Luminar, you have several options for saving and sharing images.

One option is to go to File –> Save As. Just note that this will save your image in a Luminar 2018 native format (.lmnr) so that you can continue to fully edit and adjust the same image later. If you choose you can save all the layers and the history for this image in the .lmnr file.

Saving as a .lmnr file.

If you want to save in another file format such as a JPG, you’ll have to Export. This brings up a dialogue box where you can specify file size, format, quality, and the location of the saved image.

Your final option for saving images is to share them directly to online platforms such as Facebook or 500px. It’s necessary to sign into your individual accounts to connect them to Luminar, but once you do so, sharing them directly to other websites is a snap.

You can also open the image in another image editing platform such as one of Macphun’s many other programs (i.e. Aurora HDR).

In Conclusion

Whether you’re trying to fix or spruce up a food photo, Luminar by Macphun, soon to be Skylum, is a great photo editing platform. Not only does it have a wide range of adjustable presets, but it also has basic and advanced tools that both amateur and pro photographers will appreciate.

Download a free trial of Luminar and give it a go! Post your food photo results in the comments below.

Final, edited photo.

Disclaimer: Macphun, soon to be Skylum, is a dPS advertising partner.

The post How to Make Food Photos Look Tastier with Luminar by Suzi Pratt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

December 5, 2017
10 Tips for Photographing Moms and Their Kids

Creating gorgeous photographs of moms with their kids can be a daunting task. But with a little planning, responding well to the family dynamic, and paying attention to whether or not you’re selecting flattering angles you can create lovely portraits that they’ll treasure for years.

Women can be harsh critics of themselves, so it’s well worth spending some time thinking about how to make moms happy with their portraits. Both in terms of helping moms relax beforehand and on the day, and paying attention to choosing flattering angles as you photograph them. I’ve learned lots through my experience over the years – here are 10 tips to help you photograph moms.

Clothing

Suggest avoiding sleeveless tops so underarms aren’t exposed, as well as avoiding graphics on clothing so that the focus is on faces and not on clothing. For new moms, a loose t-shirt or a shirt is more flattering than tightly fitted breastfeeding tops.

Makeup

Here you can suggest using a face powder to minimize shine, an under eye concealer to minimize shadows, and a pale eye shadow to brighten the face.

Relaxing Mom

Spend some time chatting to Mom before you meet her, and before you start photographing. The more relaxed she feels, the better your photographs of her will be.

Find flattering angles

If you’re providing any posing guidance, suggest Mom leans her weight on her back foot for the most flattering angle. Suggest she thinks about bringing her forehead in space to minimize any double chins – Peter Hurley has a great video demonstrating this technique (see below). The best place to hold a toddler is generally on Mom’s hip, rather than holding them squashed across or into her body.

Angles for new moms

Be careful that the weight of their baby isn’t creating bulges, as new moms are often sensitive about remaining baby weight and won’t want it emphasized. Holding the baby in the crook of their arm works well to minimize this. Or if Mom is very conscious of baby weight, have Dad hold the baby and encourage Mom to snuggle in from behind, bringing her arm round Dad’s so everyone’s involved.

Another good option is to have Mom lie on her side, near her baby. This brings her head nice and close to the baby for an intimate portrait, and is also a flattering angle for those conscious of baby weight.

Games and laughter

Find out which games the children are particularly enjoying at the Moment, and have Mom instigate those games. Peek-a-boo, spinning on the spot, aeroplanes, lifting babies up in the air (safely!) and tickles are surefire hits for some lovely giggles.

Cuddles and kisses

This is one of the most highly prized photographs for moms, so encourage the children to give Mom a lovely cuddle. If they’re not feeling like dispensing kisses on demand, ask them if they know how to kiss Mom’s nose. Often the challenge of proving they can will get the kids to oblige!

With newborns, encourage Mom to place a gentle kiss on the newborn’s face – you may need to point to the spot that you’ll be able to see in shot.

On the move

moms will want to remember the feeling of holding a little hand in theirs. So remember to photograph moms walking with their children, hand in hand. Having Mom run towards the camera with her children can also be a great way of helping more camera shy mothers to relax and have fun.

Quiet moments

Keep an eye out for the tender moments between moms and their children – these are very emotive and can be very powerful photographs for mothers. Capturing the strength of that bond is such a privilege, and the gentle oments of calming a baby or young child can be a great opportunity to do just that.

Shy moms

For shy moms, try to incorporate details such as their arms holding the baby – you don’t need a face-on portrait if it makes her feel uncomfortable. Having these kind of details will mean a lot to the baby when he/she is grown up, to see themselves lying in their mother’s arms.

And if their mom is camera shy, all the more reason to make sure the child gets some photographs with Mom in shot!

Conclusion

For one reason or another, it so often ends up being the mother who takes snaps at home and on holidays – with the unfortunate result that moms are often absent from most home photographs.

Making sure to incorporate beautiful photographs of Mom with her kids is a lovely gift to level the playing field here and make sure that Mom features in their photo albums too!

Do you have any other tips for photos of moms with their kids? Please share them and your images of moms and kids below.

The post 10 Tips for Photographing Moms and Their Kids by Louise Downham appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

December 5, 2017