Category: Photography

How to Take Better Action Photos of Dogs

If you enjoy photographing your pets, and dogs, in particular, this article will help you take better action photos of dogs. Learn what camera equipment to use, the best settings, and general tips for success.

The Camera Body

If you want to take better action photos of dogs, I recommend a camera body with a fast burst rate. From my experience, five frames per second is the minimum. If your camera has a faster frame rate than that, you are going to increase your keeper rate as long as your approach and technique are on point, which we will get to shortly. I personally use Nikon’s D610 and D7000 and have great success with photographing dogs in action.

The Camera Lens

I recommend long and fast lenses. I’ve tried to photograph action shots with the 50mm f/1.8, and the Tokina 100mm f/2.8, with very little success. While both of these lenses are incredibly sharp, they are soft wide open and do not focus well on moving subjects.

Longer lenses with fixed apertures generally focus on moving subjects much faster than shorter lenses. They also keep you and your camera gear safer. Think about it. If you have a 45 point Border Collie running full speed right at you, you need to get the photograph and get out of the way quickly.

A longer lens will give you the time you need to move once the dog starts to fill the frame. I personally use the Nikon 300mm f/4 and sometimes I’ll even throw a teleconverter on it for extended reach and cleaner bokeh.

Camera Settings

Setting Your Autofocus

I recommend locking your autofocus directly in the center of the frame. When photographing action shots of animals you don’t have time to be moving the focus point around. I also suggest using AF-C (Continuous focus mode, called Servo on Canon), which may also be called autofocus continuous, AF-Continuous. This is the setting I always use when trying to get action shots of dogs.

Set your Camera to Burst Mode

Make sure you check your camera drive setting. I know it’s common sense, but make some kind of reminder, though, a checklist you look at before capturing action shots. I’ve been photographing animals for over a decade, and still screw this up sometimes. It wastes time if you don’t have your camera set to burst mode and also wastes the dog’s energy. Dogs can only run for so long and you need every opportunity you can get within that time frame.

Photographing Running Dogs

When I photograph dogs running, I aim to get them looking straight into my camera lens. I want the dog running directly toward me, and I focus on as much eye contact as possible. So to consistently get great photographs of dogs running in this manner, you’re going to need some help.

What I do to accomplish this is have the dog owner or an assistant stand fairly far away from me. I will then position myself on my belly, using my camera bag to stabilize the lens. I try and keep my back to the sun when outdoors. This will help me get the shutter speed that I want to photograph the dog running. I shoot for 1/1250th of a second to 1/2000th.

I’ll first take a test shot to make sure my exposure is right. Then I have the assistant throw a tennis ball right at me. I usually tell them to try and hit me with the tennis ball. This sends the dog running full speed, right at me. I will also instruct the assistant to quickly move to the left or right as soon as the ball is thrown. This saves me tons of time later in post-processing by not having to remove them from the background with Photoshop.

Photographing Dogs Catching Frisbees

This is a little trickier and complicated to pull off compared to photographing running dogs. The goal is to get the dog in mid-air right before he is about to bite down on the Frisbee. I use pretty much the exact same camera settings and approach that I do for photographing dogs running.

I do change one thing, though, and that’s the camera shooting angle. I like to shoot from the hip. Meaning the camera is around my hip level. I’m not actually shooting from the hip, but kneeling down on one knee. Following the dog chasing the Frisbee, I bump the focus until the dog is close to the target. Then holding down the shutter button, I burst out some shots until the buffer gets filled.

Photographing Dogs Jumping

This is simpler than capturing the two types of dog action shots mentioned previously. It definitely requires an assistant to pull off consistently, though. You also don’t need a lens as fast or long to photograph docs jumping compared to the other types of action shots. Although, I prefer using long lens simply because it makes a smoother, more out of focus background.

Here’s how to do it. Position yourself so the dog is in only one-third of the camera frame or less. Check your exposure. Have an assistant hold up a toy, a tree branch, or whatever the dog is interested in enough to jump up and grab. Have the assistant hold it up high, with their arm extended as long as they can. This is incredibly helpful when it comes to post-processing.

Look out for the Safety of the Dog

You can photograph a dog all day just lying around and looking cute. When dogs are running and chasing Frisbees, they get tired. If you are doing a pet photography session and want action shots, this is going to happen incredibly fast.

The dog owners don’t always prepare for it, but I’ve done this many times, and I always prepare. I keep several bottles of water on me, along with a collapsible drinking bowl. If the dog is panting heavily, give them a rest. If they drink a 16-ounce bottle of water in less than a minute, you may want to wait a while before attempting more action shots.

Some factors that you need to consider when shooting action shots are how hot it is, the dog’s age, and the breed. Certain dog breeds handle heat better than others. This is also true for exercise needs. If you are a professional pet photographer, you should be well aware of what the dog’s exercise needs are as well as how well they handle the heat.

Conclusion

So I hope that you find these tips helpful for taking better action photos of your dogs, or those of your clients. Any action photography takes some practice so keep at it and you’ll start to have more keepers over time. Please share your dog action photos in the comments below, we’d love to see them.

The post How to Take Better Action Photos of Dogs by Dave Spates appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

September 24, 2017
How to Make a Joiner Collage for a Retro-Style Panorama Image
Almost every camera can do a panoramic shot. A lot of apps and software can create a “little planet” image. So how can you capture that beautiful view and still stay creative? Try going vintage! In this article, I’ll show you how to do a patchwork-style collage (called a Joiner Collage) so you can do any panorama in an original way and end up with a one-of-a-kind image.

What is a Joiner Collage?

Back in the 80s, an artist called David Hockney was studying how human vision works and experimenting with an idea he created called Joiners. Using Polaroids at the beginning and commercial 35mm film later, he shot one subject from many different angles and then put them together into one image creating sort of a patchwork pattern.

Following on this idea, I’m going show you how to do some digital panoramas. By following these steps, you can capture any subject from every point of view that you want. Here is a panoramic I made of Milan that I’ll use to show you all the steps.

How to make a Joiner

To start this project you already have to be thinking about it from the moment you make the photos. Three things you have to consider:
1. You will want to shoot all the photos that you are going to need so that you don’t find yourself in front of the computer with a piece of your scene missing.
2. If you decide to go with a regular shape like a square or a rectangle then try to visualize how many pieces you need per side and divide your scene like a grid (e.g. Five photos for the horizontal side and three for the vertical side).
3. You need to set the resolution to a lower setting than you might be used to, because all the files will be combined into one (I’ll explain how further along). If you shoot each one at 25 MB for example, or the highest your camera can shoot, it will probably be too big for your computer to handle.
Once you have all the images, organize just the ones are you going to use, all into one folder.

Merging the images

Now open the folder in Bridge and select all images. You can easily do this by holding the Shift key while clicking the first and then the last file; it will select all the images in between as well (or Cmd/Ctrl+A for select all).

With all the photos selected you can now go to the menu Tools > Photoshop > Load Files into Photoshop Layers.

The result of this command is exactly what its name suggests. It will open one image composed of all the selected images as layers. However, the file will be the size as an individual image, so you need to make room to fit all of them.

Go to menu Image > Canvas Size and a window will pop up with the current measurements. In the drop-down menu choose Percentage and multiply it by as many photos you will line up in your panorama, plus one. So if you are doing a panorama of 5×3 you need to put a percentage of 600 x 400, that way you will have also some blank space to play with.

I like to leave the point in the center so that space will be created evenly on the sides. But you can move that around depending on how you feel it’s easiest for you to spread your images out on the canvas.

Arrange the Joiner collage

Now all you have to do is use your creativity and arrange the photos to create your Joiner collage.

To make this task easy, use the Move tool from the tools panel. Tick the Auto-Select choice and choose Layer from the drop-down menu from the settings of the tool. This will allow you to just click on each image and move it without having to go back and forth to the layers panel. The tool will select it automatically.

Tweak your final image

That’s it! Once you have the final layout you can add some adjustment layers if you want to fine-tune the levels, contrast, saturation or anything else on your panorama. Add a background color if you decide to incorporate some negative space around your Joiner, and flatten the image.

You can also add some effects if you want to create different versions of the image. For example, you can turn it into negative.

You can also do an abstract or surreal panorama by duplicating layers, forcing perspective, and anything you can imagine.

Keep in mind that David Hockney, the creator of the Joiner worked mainly with portraits, so you don’t have to limit yourself to panoramas. Try all sorts of subjects, the sky is the limit!

Conclusion

I hope you give this fun and easy technique a try. Please share your Joiner collage images in the comments below. We’d love to see what you create.

The post How to Make a Joiner Collage for a Retro-Style Panorama Image by Ana Mireles appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 24, 2017
Video Tutorial – How to Work a Scene to Find the best Light and Composition
In this short video tutorial, photographer Mike Brown takes you on a photo walk looking for images. Watch as he scans the scene and finds the best camera angle, waits for the right light, and frames the shot for the best composition.

Go on a photo walk and see how Mike goes about working a scene, before quickly snapping a photo and moving on. Take your time, look around. If you see something interesting explore the scene a little. Have patience as well.

Some key points you can learn from this tutorial include:
- Sometimes you need to wait for the light to change.
- Simplification is often a good thing.
- Move around the scene, and put things in the foreground as well.
- Use shadows for more creating more dramatic images.
The post Video Tutorial – How to Work a Scene to Find the best Light and Composition by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 23, 2017
Weekly Photography Challenge – Square

This week for the photography challenge let’s keep it simple and look for shapes. One in particular – the square.

Weekly Photography Challenge – Square

Look for square subjects. You can even crop your image into a square and make a composition that is suitable for that format. Shooting for a square is a bit different than using the regular camera format – try it and see how you do.

Share your images below:

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 on the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

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

Digital Photography School

September 23, 2017
My 5 Favorite Lightroom Sliders

Lightroom is a mature, fully featured photo-processing app. It has tools bursting out at the seams, from lens corrections to color corrections and even camera styles and mode emulations. That doesn’t stop you from having some favorites though. These are the ones that I seem to use on every photo that I choose to edit.

My five favorite Lightroom sliders

So, here are my five favorite Lightroom sliders in no particular order. I’ll use two different photos to walk through but will give other examples as well. Here’s our two starting photos, both raw files that have been exported as JPEG with no settings applied.

#1/2 – Shadows/Highlights

My first two favorite sliders are used as a pair. The Shadows slider changes luminosity of the darker areas in the photo. The sliders in the Basic panel are all interactive and affect each other, so pushing the Shadows sliders to the right will also affect the darkest part of the photo typically controlled by the Blacks. Because of this, you’ll often need to bring the Blacks slider down a bit to compensate.

The first photo with Highlights at -100 and Shadows at +100. Notice how it resembles HDR tone mapping.

The Highlights slider affects the brighter parts of the image. I use this most often to bring back detail in these areas. A great trick for underexposed photos is to increase Exposure to brighten the photo, then bring down the Highlights slider to rescue lost highlight detail.

Together the Shadow/Highlights pair act as tone mapping controls in Lightroom. By bringing Shadows to +100 and Highlights to -100, you can get a natural look faux HDR photo from a single photo. In fact, the Auto control in Lightroom’s HDR tool sets Shadows to +70 and Highlights to -100 most of the time, which isn’t too far off this cool look.

The second photo with our faux HDR settings applied.

I’ll generally apply this to any landscape or cityscape as a Lightroom Preset, and then refine it as needed.

#3 – Clarity

During the development of Lightroom, the Clarity slider was called Punch, which is a great way of describing what it does. Contrast work across the whole image. Clarity, on the other hand, tends to increase or decrease edge contrast on the tones that are neither the darkest nor lightest tones in the photo.

Clarity slider set +43.

Basic panel settings so far for photo number one.

Pushing it to the right intelligently creates more punch in the image, without increasing contrast in the blacks and whites.

Clarity +25

On portraits, Clarity is like a grit slider, bringing character to male portraits.

Before and after Clarity +52 has been added to this male portrait (right).

Moving Clarity to the left softens out those mid-tones. While I’ve seen other mention that it doesn’t affect the colors, I feel that it does add a small amount of saturation. This soft look is great for skin, especially female portraits. I don’t use it globally in those case though, I use it as a local adjustment with the Adjustment Brush tool, allowing me to apply it only to specific areas.

Here’s what negative Clarity looks like. While it’s softened the skin, it’s also softened all the mid-tones in the photo.

Here’s the same setting, but only applied to the skin. It makes a huge difference and provides an effective way to retouch skin in Lightroom.

#4 – Vibrance

Sticking to the Basic panel, Vibrance is located in the Presence section right below Clarity. Vibrance is a special form of Saturation. Saturation works by increasing the intensity of each color until they’re a pure tone. Too much can be garish, and this is where Vibrance steps in.

Vibrance works on a more relative scale. It affects colors that are already saturated less than muted ones. This means it takes a lot longer to look garish and balances out the saturation of all colors in the photo.

Our first photo with +31 Vibrance added to the previous settings.

Our second photo with Vibrance +23.

The Vibrance slider in Lightroom has one other trick up its sleeve though. It prevents skin tones from becoming saturated. This means you get to increase the saturation of your portrait location, without giving an Oompah Loompah tone to your subject. That’s a big win in my opinion.

Even with Vibrance of +50, the skin tone still looks reasonably natural, avoiding the orange look that Saturation would have at a similar setting.

For landscape photos this does mean Vibrance pushes greens and blues more than reds and oranges, so for sunsets and sunrises, I usually mix Vibrance and Saturation evenly.

#5 – Dehaze

Dehaze is a Lightroom CC only feature. You can use it in Lightroom 6 with presets though. It’s not as convenient, but access to the feature via presets is still useful even if you don’t have the Dehaze slider.

The Dehaze slider is located in the Effects panel.

Dehaze of +60 on a foggy shot from Venice.

Dehaze is aptly named as it removes haze from an image. That sounds simple, but it’s really doing a lot of work to figure out what’s happening in the photo, so it knows which areas are affected by haze, and applying the correction based on the haze at that point in the photo.

Photo one with Dehaze +30

Photo two with Dehaze applied.

It works as an effect on images without haze as well, where it increases contrast and saturation. It does tend to darken the photo, so you generally need to boost exposure as well when you’ve used it. Dehaze can also be used in reverse, to increase the haze in a photo, giving it more atmosphere.

Negative Dehaze can make a photo look foggy.

Haze in and of itself isn’t a bad thing and does add mood to a photo. It’s when areas of the photo are more substantially affected than others that it comes into its own. For these times, Dehaze is available as a local correction via the Adjustment Brush, Graduated Filter, and Radial Filter.

Develop settings for our second photo.

And you?

So those are my five favorite Lightroom sliders. Do you have any favorites that you use all the time? Please add a comment below and let us know.

The post My 5 Favorite Lightroom Sliders by Sean McCormack appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

September 22, 2017
How to Break the Rules with a Central Composition

When you started your journey to become a photographer, it’s likely you quickly encountered the famous Rule of Thirds. This rule is a fantastic guide for how to achieve a balanced and visually-pleasing composition, which is why most photographers use it – from newspaper editorial images to action shots to portraits.

It’s also a very safe way to take photos. However, a central composition has a fascinating way of catching the viewer a little off-guard.

At its core, photography is about boldly pushing limits and demanding attention. And the centrally composed image is one that definitely demands attention – although not always necessarily for the right reasons.

Give a camera to someone unfamiliar with photography and they tend to put the subject right in the exact middle of their picture. Interestingly enough, it’s almost our default position. But over time we learn to compose according to the “rules” and a central composition then becomes a “mistake”.

A clear example of the rule of thirds being followed to a “T”

But why is it that the same style of composition can look so amateurish sometimes, and then so dramatic or fascinating at other times? Let’s take a closer look at some of the challenges – and benefits – of breaking all the rules and giving a central composition a shot.

Using Symmetry

One of the strongest reasons to use center composed images is to exaggerate or make use of the symmetry in a setting. Symmetry is when both sides of a picture look like a mirror image of each other – or at least very similar.

Humans are naturally drawn to patterns – and the art of photography is a way to capture or display a pattern. Showing symmetry requires a bit more thought when choosing your camera angle so that the different elements of the picture function together as one.

One thing about using symmetry in photos is that it quickly creates a very distinct style. Filmmaker Wes Anderson is famous for his use of center-composed, wide angle, symmetrical shots. It’s a distinct flavor that makes his movies instantly recognizable and adds a charm that his audiences love.

Square Shoulders

An interesting quirk of using central composition for your image is that you can more easily get away with portraits where the subject’s shoulders are square to the camera – in other words, their body is facing the camera directly.

The model is square to the camera, but it isn’t distracting as it matches with the central composition and vertical lines of the trees.

Typically, a model can slightly turn their body or drop one shoulder to appear more flattering in the image. Because center composed images accentuate lines so strongly, your model can be completely square to the camera without it detracting from the picture.

Lines That are Lines

Center composed images benefit from having strong lines. These can be either strong horizontal, vertical, or leading lines that pull towards the center of the image.

Recognizing the natural lines in a setting and using them to your advantage is important for keeping your center composed shot from looking unintentionally amateurish.

The lantern is in the center of the image, but the lines of the steps aren’t horizontal. As a result, the image looks unbalanced.

The lantern is still in the center of the image, but this time the lines are horizontal and work to support the style of the shot, rather than to detract from it.

Paying attention to the lines isn’t important only for a central composition. Generally speaking, it’s a good rule in photography to make sure lines that are horizontal in real life are horizontal in your pictures.

A Touch of Minimalism

The center composed image thrives on being simple, clean and clear. Your subject is the singular focus in the shot. Cluttered backgrounds or distracting foregrounds may often hurt your image.

With a wide aperture, the background turns into smooth out-of-focus bokeh, eliminating any distracting details.

Using a wide aperture to achieve a narrow depth-of-field goes a long way to decluttering an image. By letting the background fall into soft and creamy bokeh, it pulls more attention visually to your subject.

This shot shows the messy and distracting background that the previous effectively removes with selective use of aperture.

Trying out Different Subjects

A central composition isn’t just for portrait shots. You can try it out in nature photography, car photography, detail shots or whatever your heart desires. All of the same rules apply.

Hunting out interesting symmetrical patterns in nature, whether they are in the veins of a leaf or a straight forest path through a tunnel of trees, can make for a very satisfactory center composed shot.

Editing a Central Composition

Trying to figure out if your subject is smack dab in the center of your frame? This is a good time to break out the cropping tool in your photo editor. Your preferred photo editor will come equipped with a grid that will let you carefully ensure that your subject is in the right spot.

This is the interface in Lightroom for cropping an image. Notice the grid lines which give a clear indication of when the subject is centered.

Having your subject just a hair off of the center line could be an irritating little distraction for your audience. So it’s best to get it right!

To Each Their Own

Photography is heavily subjective – it depends on personal taste. A picture that doesn’t earn a second look from one person could be another person’s favorite shot.

The key for becoming the best photographer you can be is to continuously learn and explore. Discover new methods, tools, and skills that give you the creative freedom to approach a familiar subject from an unfamiliar direction or a new perspective.

That’s why it’s a great idea to keep central composition handy in your photography toolbag, for those moments when you can use it to demand your viewer’s attention.

Who knows? Maybe it will even become your distinctive style as a photographer!

The post How to Break the Rules with a Central Composition by Frank Myrland appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

September 22, 2017
How to be Better Prepared for Your Next Photo Shoot
Greater success with your event, street, travel or any other genre of photography can depend a lot on how prepared you are before you leave the house and how observant you are at the location you are making pictures. Here are some tips to help you be better prepared for your next photo shoot.

A participant in the annual Chiang Mai Flower Parade enjoys having her photo taken.

I’ve based this article on street and event photography so I can use my photos to illustrate specific situations.

Planning

Planning your photography session in advance can make it a much more rewarding experience. You don’t necessarily need to start making spreadsheets and contingency preparations if you’re going out to photograph a local farmers market or craft fair. But a little groundwork can make times you are out with your camera significantly more enjoyable.

Having some prior knowledge of your subject, the location, and the type of activity that happens there (if any) will increase the opportunities you have to capture better photos. Even the way you dress and the footwear you choose can potentially have an influence on your photos. Certainly, the amount and type of camera equipment you choose to carry will have an effect on the outcome of your photography excursion.

Girls talking before a parade starts.

For example

Performers rest prior to the start of a Chinese New Year parade.

Before heading out to photograph the Chinese New Year Parade I checked so I knew the starting time, location, and the route it would take. I arrived at least an hour early for some behind the scenes moments when the morning light was rich.

Some prior knowledge of the type of subjects and activity I would encounter enabled me to anticipate the flow of action. So I was able to capture the dragon as it moved through the streets and received cash gifts from locals in its mouth.

A woman places money in the mouth of a Chinese New Year dragon during a street parade in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Prepare yourself too

I was wearing a good pair of sports shoes as I knew I would need to run at times to keep ahead of the parade. With many parades and festivals in south east Asia, there are often few restrictions for photographers assertive and considerate enough to just go with the flow of things.

I traveled light, without an abundance of camera gear. There’s always a choice between carrying more and having it weigh you down and making your movements more difficult and not having the right lens with you. I typically prefer to take two lenses so I have one on the camera and the other in a small belt bag. This way I am free to move and can often get closer to the action than if I was weighted down with a shoulder bag or backpack full of gear.

Photographing the dragon during a Chinese New Year parade.

Researching is easy these days. So planning and being prepared before you head out with your camera takes very little effort but can make a huge difference to the photos you’ll make and how much you enjoy your experience.

Anticipation

Once you’re on location it pays to take a little time to observe and anticipate how you can obtain the best photos.
- Walking around, watching people, and considering what you think will be the best spots to take photos from is an important first step. Think about lighting and composition.
- How many places will you be able to clearly see your subject?
- What will the background be like?
- Will the lighting work for the style of photo you want to make?
- Are there any vantage points that allow you to get above your subject?
- Is there some place safe to get down and lie on the ground for a low perspective?
Try to position yourself where there will be a good background.

Find a good vantage point

Once you’ve found a good location it can often pay to stay there for some time. Consider the flow of the action and if you can get a good variety of photos from your position, don’t rush off. This is particularly relevant when you have a pleasing combination of good lighting and a background you can incorporate into strong compositions.

If you are constantly changing locations you may find that you have to adjust your exposure frequently and your background is different which will require more attention to your framing.

Sometimes moving around is necessary to follow your subject. It’s good to be aware of your surroundings and considerate of who else is around you, especially if you are on the move a lot. At events with a lot of spectators, you don’t want to block their view but you also want to make sure you and your equipment are safe.

Watching dancers practice prior to the start of a parade I observed the pattern of their movement and positioned myself so the background and light were best, and then made a series of photos. The image on the left illustrates reasonably well what’s happening. But because I had paid attention to the dance I knew the girl would arch her back and I would be able to photograph her face and a more interesting pose.

Get out of the flow of traffic

Putting yourself in position a little away from the traffic flow, when there is one, will allow you to work more freely also. I made this series of photos of cheese vendors at Istanbul’s spice market by standing in between two of the stalls where there were no other people. I got the nod from the men selling the cheese nearby that I was okay to be there and was even offered a slice of very tasty cheese to try.

It’s good to get out of the traffic flow so you can take photos without being bumped or disrupting business.

As I savored the flavor of the cheese I observed the action of the vendors offering cheese to passers by and got a feel for the rhythm of activity.

Once you find a good location make a series of photos.

Being out of the flow of foot traffic (which was very busy) allowed me to take my time without being bumped and jostled. I made a series of photos that illustrate this part of the market better than I could have with a single image taken as I was just passing by. This series of photos were made with my 50mm prime lens.

A few tips for taking the photos
- Concentrate. Don’t hesitate or be distracted from your task. Stay focused and single-minded about getting the photos that you have come to make.
- Don’t worry about making mistake. These will help you learn. Keep all your photos on your card so you can compare them once you have them loaded to your computer.
- Choose your moments carefully. Machine gunning your subject will result in an overwhelming number of bad photos which can be discouraging.
- Use a narrow aperture and a fast enough shutter speed to avoid blur. You might need to raise your ISO even if you are working in bright conditions.
- Use manual focus and zone focus to ensure greater success.
Conclusion

With a little research and planning, you’ll be better equipped mentally to approach your chosen subject with confidence. Observing your surroundings and the flow of activity once you’re on location will help you find the optimal spots in which to position yourself to obtain the best photos. Then, employ some solid photographic technique to ensure you make some great photographs.

The post How to be Better Prepared for Your Next Photo Shoot by Kevin Landwer-Johan appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 21, 2017
How to do High-Speed Photography – the Fundamentals
What is high-speed photography?

High-speed photography is capturing the moments that happen in a fraction of time which you can’t see with the naked eye, like a bursting balloon or a splash of water. This photography is different from other kinds because it requires almost 1/20,000th of a second exposure time to freeze these moments. Most DSLR cameras don’t have such a high shutter speed, so how can you take these kinds of shots? In this article I will explain how to do high-speed photography.

What camera and lens do you need?

Let’s talk about the gear you need for high-speed photography first. Of course, you need a DSLR camera and the good news is that any DSLR will work. If you have any other camera that has manual controls, it will also work fine. Next is the lens and just like the camera, any will work. I use a 100mm macro lens for close-up shots like liquid sculptures and a 24-70mm zoom for balloon shots.

The only lens requirement is that the focal length should be long enough so that you have sufficient distance between your camera and the subject, to keep your gear safe from colors and water splashes. I found that 100mm macro is the best lens as it has 1:1 magnification so you can fill the frame with your subject. Because of the 100mm focal length, your camera will also be far enough from the subject.

Other equipment needed

Next, you need flashes and you need a lot of them. In some shots, I’ve even used four flashes together. The next requirement is a tripod because you need to do lots of work simultaneously, so it’s better that camera is fixed on the tripod. You also need a shutter release cable or remote to release the shutter.

Have patience

The most important requirement for this kind of photography is practice and lots of patience. Sometimes you’ll take hundreds of shots and none of them will be good, and you may think that it’s not your cup of tea. But don’t give up, as with practice and patience you can get desired results easily.

When I was trying to take following water drop shot, it took me almost 3 months and over 3,000 shots to get my first accurate shot. Eventually, I discovered a trick that made everything easy for me. I’ll share that trick later in this article so keep reading.

$Refraction-01.jpg$

Get a helper as well

You may also need an assistant as you have to do lots of tasks all at the same time, and you can’t do everything on your own. Also, there will be a lot of mess after your shoot and it’s very boring to clean it up all alone. Last but not least, you need to find some creative hacks. For example, for “Dancing Colors” shots I made this setup using a soap dish, a plastic pipe, a black swim cap, some Velcro and fixed this in the air vent of the subwoofer of my computer speakers.

Along those lines, one day I also discovered that it’s much easier to fire flashes instead of releasing the shutter to capture an accurate moment. So I used some wire and a push button switch to make a switch to fire the flash manually.

Camera settings

Before we talk about camera settings, I am going to reveal a shocking truth. Are you ready for this? Okay, the reality is that camera shutter speed doesn’t matter in high-speed photography. In fact, in this image, my shutter speed was 1/10th of a second.

What, have I lost my mind? I just wrote that you need 1/20,000th of a second to freeze the moment and now I am saying that shutter speed doesn’t matter. Relax, I’ll explain everything.

In such photography, we usually shoot in a dark room with a narrow aperture and using bulb mode. We open the shutter and fire the flash at the right time to expose the image. So, regardless of whether the camera shutter speed is 1/10th or 1/250th, the exposure time is only when the flashes fire (for the duration of the flash).

Color injected into water.

Hence, these are the camera settings required:
- Camera mode: Bulb
- Aperture: f/11 – f/16
- ISO: 100 – 400
- Focus: Manual
- Flashes with the lowest power setting possible.
Why do you need to use your flashes on the lowest power setting? Because that will give you the shortest flash duration. If you fire a flash on full power the flash duration is around 1/1,000th of a second. But at 1/128th power, it comes down to almost 1/35,000th of a second, which will freeze the subject completely.

Color injected into water.

Work flow

Set your camera on a tripod with a shutter release cable. Set the lowest possible ISO, go for 100 and increase it only if you don’t have enough flash power. Then, set the aperture between f/11-f/16, focus manually, and leave the camera. Now you need to train someone to press the shutter release button on your mark and release it as soon as the flash has been fired.

Your job is to do the action using one hand (like bursting the balloon, playing the beats or releasing the water drop) and fire the flashes using a switch at the perfect moment. You’ll need some practice but eventually, you will do it accurately.

Points to remember

Shoot in dark room: You should always shoot in a dark room as you are using bulb mode and sometimes your shutter speed will come down to 1/10th or 1/5th. So, if the light in the room is bright, it’ll affect the shot. The room should only have a small (low) light source so that you can see everything.

Small Aperture: Always shoot between f/11 – f/16 so you can get deep depth of field and everything comes into focus. Also, with a narrow aperture, the ambient light won’t affect the shot as much.

Manually Focus: Manual focus is a must as a camera can’t focus in the dark and you may miss the action if the camera keeps attempting to focus.

Flashes: Use the lowest power and slave mode on your flashes so you don’t need to attach all the flashes using wires. With slave mode, you need to fire only one master flash and the others will fire automatically.

The secret trick

Now sit back and relax, because I am going to reveal a super easy way that you can shoot high-speed photography and get such pictures without much effort. Your chances of getting an accurate shot will increase tenfold. Are you ready?

The secret is to use burst mode on your camera. Set your camera to high-speed burst mode. You also need to change the camera mode to manual and the shutter speed to 1/125. Plus, you need to attach your master flash to the camera so that it’ll fire with the camera simultaneously.

Now when you press shutter release button, the camera will start taking photos and keep clicking until you release the button. Depending on your camera model, it will click between four to 10 shots per second.

With one hand, press the shutter release button and with your other hand do the action. Once the action is finished, release the button. By using this trick, you can get your first perfect shot in just 5-6 trials.

Conclusion

High-speed photography is a lot of fun. It can be tricky to get right. But don’t give up, keep trying until you get the desired results and share your photos in the comments below.

$Refraction Fundamentals of High-Speed Photography$

The post How to do High-Speed Photography – the Fundamentals by Ramakant Sharda appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 20, 2017
Review: Nikon D7500 with 18-140mm Kit Lens

The 7000 series of cameras from Nikon have been very popular since they were first introduced in 2010. It is a mid-range camera in their lineup but sits at the top end of the amateur level cameras. As with many of these cameras the new one in this series, the Nikon D7500 can also be purchased with a kit lens, this one came with the 18-140mm lens.

The Nikon D7500 with the 18-140mm kit lens. Image courtesy Nikon Australia.

The new D7500 is in the DX format or crop sensor camera. It has a 20.9 megapixel CMOS sensor and is said to be “equipped with a high-performance EXPEED 5 image-processing engine.” Nikon also claims that it is a good camera for video and that it supports 4K UHD. For more technical information please go to the Nikon website.

Nikon D7500 out of the box

When you first get the camera out you’ll notice it’s surprisingly light. I use a D800, so most cameras are light compared to that. However, the D7500 is a good size and feels nice in the hands. There is some weight to it, but it’s comfortable. When you have the camera, with the kit lens attached, hanging around your neck the weight doesn’t hurt you.

They have made the grip deeper so it is easier to hold onto, and also more comfortable to hold. With some models, it feels like you are digging your nails into the camera, but that hasn’t happened with this one.

Holding the Nikon D7500. Image courtesy Nikon Australia.

Easy to use

When it comes down to it, what you really want from a camera is one that is easy to understand and use. There is no doubt that you will find both of those with the Nikon D7500. In previous models you had to go into the menu to change some settings, a lot of them are now buttons on the camera. ISO is changed with one up near the shutter button. You can change aperture with the scroll wheel at the front and the shutter with the one at the back. It is easy for your fingers to find everything you need.

ISO

It has a high range and will go up to 51200 and the slowest speed is 100. It has enough of a range that would suit most people who want to take photos in both low light and on sunny days.

With images taken at 12800 during a night show at Sovereign Hill you can see noise in the images, which is to be expected, but the amount isn’t that bad that the images are not useable. When compared with what older cameras did at ISO 3200, this camera takes a good image at the higher ISOs with much less noise as on other models. It fits in with many of Nikon’s cameras for using in low light.

The Winter Wonderland at Sovereign Hill was dark and to get images the ISO was put up to 12800.

Autofocus

Nikon has worked on the autofocus features with the D7500 and it is fast. You can track subjects and get fast focusing to get sharp images of whatever you are trying to capture. It doesn’t take long to get any subject in focus. It means you can work quickly, especially if you like doing street photography or something else where fast autofocus is needed.

Touch screen

Like most new cameras it does come with a touch screen which makes accessing sections in the menu easier and faster. You can just click on what you need. You can also use your fingers to scroll through the images you have taken. It turns the menu into a series of buttons, so you can move around it much faster and find what you need to make any necessary adjustments.

Another night image that was hand held and taken with ISO 128000.

LCD screen

The screen at the back is tiltable (it’s not full articulating) so you can change it when you want to use Live View. This is especially good for places where you have strange camera angle, for example, when you are photographing something that is close to the ground. You can put the camera in Live View mode, and then tilt the screen so you can see what you are shooting without having to get down on the ground as well.

Live View is really good, though you always need to be careful with how quickly it can drain the battery. Without a doubt, you will use the battery faster if you use this mode all the time. If you use the viewfinder instead the battery will last a lot longer and you will get plenty of photos.

This image was taken at Abbotsford Convent.

DoF preview button

It has been pointed out that the current model, the D7500, does not have a depth of field preview button (shows you what your image will look like with your selected aperture). Though it seems that many cameras are now removing this feature. It is not something that I either use or have looked for in a camera, but if it is an important aspect in your photography then it may be a problem for you.

Long exposure photography

You can use any DSLR camera for long exposures, and this one is no different. The images come out very sharp and you get the great effects that you would normally expect. One part that was surprising to me was using Live View with an ND filter on the camera, I could still see the scene. Many Nikon cameras do not do that. When the filter is on you can’t see anything, and you need to remove it to refocus and recompose. This is a great added advantage and makes taking long exposure images that much easier.

Long exposure taken at Banyule Flats using the D7500 and the 18-140mm kit lens.

Snapbridge

The camera has wifi, Bluetooth and Snapbridge. You can now connect your camera to your phone and get photos to instantly publish on social media. In other cameras the Snapbridge hasn’t worked well with Android phones, but with the D7500 I had no trouble getting my phone to find it and download images. It worked really well, and so far the best experience I’ve had with this app.

The 18-140mm kit lens

This is an interesting lens to include in a kit and many people would be really interested in it. The usual 18-55mm has been replaced with this one. It is a good choice for most people who are starting out with photography.

It has an aperture of f/3.5 at 18mm and when you zoom to 140mm the aperture range starts at f/5.6. It is much the same as other lenses of this type. For most photography, you are not going to want to go wider than those. It is a kit lens and you aren’t going to get something really amazing. If you want higher quality you need to buy the body separately and then get a lens separately.

The kit lens takes pretty good images of flowers up close. Not quite as close a macro lens, but fairly good.

Most lenses for cropped sensors are of a similar quality. The images from this lens appear sharp and the quality is good. While testing this camera and lens the combination was used for night photography, long exposures, walking around, and some macro. It performed well in all circumstances.

The lens does have Nikon’s Vibration Reduction or VR, which a lot of users now want. Though you can choose to turn it off, which you should do if you are using the camera on a tripod. You also don’t have to use this function.

I tend to turn VR off on my lenses so I don’t leave it turned on when using my tripod. I haven’t found it a problem, but if find that your images have some movement, or you have trouble holding the camera very still then you may find it easier to keep it turned on.

This image was taken as walking around the city.

Who would buy this camera and lens?

The Nikon D7500 is the top level amateur or non-professional camera that Nikon makes. It is for serious amateurs who want to get the best out of their photography, but can’t quite justify the extra expense of a full frame camera.

It would suit someone looking for a second camera after learning how to take photos with one of the entry level Nikon cameras, like one of the D3000 series models. It is a good step up and there are many features that the D7500 is capable of that the others aren’t.

There is no reason why someone who is new to photography shouldn’t purchase it either. It would be an ideal camera to learn and experiment with as you grow into the camera. The kit lens will also give you a lot of room to advance as well.

Another long exposure that was taken with the D7500 and the 18-140mm lens

Price

Amazon has the Nikon D7500 body listed at $ 1246.95, and if you want to buy the kit with the 18-140mm you can get it for $ 1546.95.

Conclusion

Overall, the Nikon D7500 would suit someone who is fairly serious about their photography and wants to get the most out of their camera. Someone who wants to take a lot of photos and also wants a model that is capable of doing many different types of photography. It is a camera that will do everything you want it to and you won’t be disappointed.

The post Review: Nikon D7500 with 18-140mm Kit Lens by Leanne Cole appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

September 20, 2017
Video: 10 Hot Tips for Better Landscape Photography
Do you enjoy landscape photography and want to take your work to the next level? Here are 10 hot tips to help you do that.

10 Landscape Photography Tips

Recap of the tips
1. Planning is key – How to Find the Best Locations for Landscape Photography
2. Location – arrive early to be prepared.
3. Composition – try the rule of thirds or advanced techniques.
4. Use a tripod.
5. Prepare your camera gear – take care of it when on location.
6. Focus using the hyperfocal distance.
7. Set your exposure – use the histogram, exposure compensation, or even bracket if necessary.
8. Aperture – set it to get a wide depth of field.
9. Avoid camera shake by using a remote or the self-timer in your camera.
10. Filters – using a polarizer and/or ND graduated filters can enhance your landscape photography.
Do you have any other landscape tips you could add to this list for any newbies? Please share in the comments below.

The post Video: 10 Hot Tips for Better Landscape Photography by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 19, 2017