Category: Photography

8 Tips for Mastering Your Portrait Photography
Becoming a master of portrait photography takes lots of patience and practice. It’s likely there are a few mistakes you are making with your portraits that hold them back from excellence. In this article, I will walk through eight tips to instantly boost your portrait photography game and take it to the next level.

#1 Adapt to the available light

Light is one of the most important elements to keep in mind when taking portraits – specifically how the light looks on your subject’s face. Proper lighting, or lack thereof, can make or break your image. Direct the person you are photographing to turn their head towards the main light source, whether it’s a street lamp or the sun. If you’re having them look towards the sun, tell them to look in a direction that won’t cause them to squint or be unpleasant for them. You don’t want people going blind on your shoot, right?

While the golden hour is a fabulous time to photograph portraits, you won’t always have the luxury of perfect lighting thanks to the whims of Mother Nature. In these situations, you need to adapt to the available light to maximize your portrait opportunities.

Keep in mind, there is no such thing as bad light. It can all be used to your advantage if you know what you’re doing. Here are some basic tips for different natural lighting scenarios:
- Harsh sunlight – have your subject stand in the shade to provide even lighting across their face.
- Golden hour – have your subject face the sun to give a nice glow on their face or put the sun behind them to get some halo lighting.
- Cloudy day – you will pretty much be good to shoot anywhere since the clouds will naturally diffuse the sun and provide flattering, even light on your subject’s face.
- Night time/low light – look for a street light or other light source that can provide good lighting on your subject’s face.
#2 Give directions to your subject

Let’s face it, most people are not confident or even comfortable being in front of the camera. Providing gentle directions to the person you are photographing can help them relax. Keep your directions simple and positive. If you don’t know any poses, focus on one thing to improve each shoot. Perhaps you ask your subject to lift their chin to provide a more flattering view of their face. A little positive direction goes a long way.

#3 Find a clean background that contrasts with the subject

Backgrounds are extremely important in creating pleasing portraits. The key role of the background is to provide context to the environment the person is occupying and make them stand out. Finding a clean background that provides contrast with your subject is crucial.

Some things to be mindful of:
- Branches, poles or other objects may look like they are growing out of your subject’s head, depending on where they are in the image. Try to frame the shot so that your subject’s head is distanced from distracting elements.
- Try to find colors or tones that either complement or contrast your subject’s skin tones and clothing.
#4 Focus on the dominant eye

This is particularly important if you’re shooting with shallow depth of field. Be sure to focus on the dominant eye of your subject, the one that is closest to the lens. If the dominant eye is out of focus, your photo will end up looking slightly off. This can ruin an otherwise good portrait.

#5 Keep your lines straight

Crooked horizon lines can give your portraits a weird look, so make sure to keep those lines straight. The same goes for environmental elements like doors and the edges of buildings. If these types of lines aren’t straight, it can give your portraits a tilted look that isn’t flattering. Of course, you can straighten important lines in post-production, but this will involve cropping, which may ruin the composition. Focus on getting it right in camera.

#6 Be careful where you crop extremities

Hey, I get it. Sometimes you don’t want to frame up a full body shot of your subject. Maybe you want to pull in closer for an upper body profile or headshot. In these cases you will be cropping a portion of your subject’s body out of the frame, so be very careful where you crop their extremities.

Some tips about cropping:
- Don’t crop body parts at the joint: Cropping your subject at the elbows, knees, or wrists can make them look like they have lost a limb. Try cropping halfway between joints instead. For instance, if you are cropping out part of the arm crop halfway up the wrist or bicep rather than at the elbow.
- If your subject’s hands/feet are in the frame make sure they are all the way in: Don’t accidentally lop off fingers or toes at the edge of the frame. This can ruin your portrait.
Look at the hand here, it appears somewhat cut-off or missing.

This is better, it includes her while arms and hands.

#7 Pay attention to the edges of the frame

If you’re shooting portraits on the street, get that trash can out of the corner of your frame! Or at the very least, make sure it’s out of focus and blends into the background.

When you’re photographing a person, it’s easy to have all your focus on them to the point where you lose track of the outside of the image. But having distracting elements on the edges of the frame can ruin your portrait. Make the proper adjustments in framing before you press that shutter and keep those edges tidy.

#8 Incorporate something interesting

If you really want to take your portrait photography game to the next level, it’s important to think outside the box and get creative. A lot of portraits can be boring and look the same; properly exposed pictures of people just standing there.

To spice up your portraits, try incorporating some interesting props or environmental elements. Now, you don’t need to grab onto Instagram trends, like wrapping your subject in LED lights, but including props can help your portraits stand out from the crowd. Get creative and start mastering your portrait photography game.

Conclusion

Follow these eight tips and see how your portrait photography improves. Please share any comments or questions you have in the section below, as well as your images.

The post 8 Tips for Mastering Your Portrait Photography by Dan Bullman appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
May 5, 2017
Let’s Have a Laugh! – Using Humor in Photography
Go on! You know it is good for you! Let’s have a laugh! This article is about using humor in photography.

Clearly, somebody has something to laugh about – even in the rain.

This article is not so much Five Handy Tips, as it is more a case of Three Gentle Nudges. Maybe you are like me and can be a bit too serious about your photography. I am suggesting that you let go a little. Even one photograph which makes you smile has got to be worth letting go, relaxing a little. It may be that it is only you who is caused to smile, but I absolutely think that is worth it on its own. Then again, you might make tens, hundreds, even thousands of others smile. That has got to be a good thing, hasn’t it?

1. It is not that funny

Please notice that above that I said smile, I did not say laugh.

You think you’re funny, don’t you?!

I once asked the teenage daughter of a friend of mine why she liked a particular teacher. She said that the teacher was funny. She gave the example that he would lean against the board, put a piece of chalk in his mouth, and pretend to smoke it as if it were a cigarette. Even 20 years ago, this was a bit dodgy, but the thing which really struck me was … it was NOT that funny! Mildly amusing, worth a smile, but not really what you would call funny.

Captions for a postcard, please.

That may be the first lesson which we need to learn in respect to seeking humor in photography. It is unlikely that you will ever, in your whole life, take a photograph which is going to cause people to roll on the floor, kick their legs in the air, and clutch their ribs with laughter. You will have done very well, to even cause a mild chuckle.

Much more likely is that you will raise a smile. But, frankly, that is enough. I think you should relax about it and be happy to raise one single smile. Surely, if you manage to make just one other person smile, that is a good thing.

2. The great snapshot!

Though I have admitted above that I can be too serious about photography, I have long been a strong advocate of the snapshot. That is a photograph, taken quickly, with little premeditation, with no great artistic pretensions, with any camera which is at hand.

Those girls do!

If you have a daughter, it is very likely that you have an image like one the above. I wonder, though, is that image in your mind, or did you actually take the photo? Whether it is your big “proper” camera, your phone, or pocket camera, I would encourage you to abandon all other thoughts. Just get on with it, and take that snapshot.

Pink Cadillac? Taken through a window, with whatever phone I had 10 years ago.

I would have thought that the above meets most peoples’ definition of a snapshot. It certainly lacks any artistic pretentions. But, a pink Lamborghini has got to be something which makes most people smile, even if they have very little interest in cars.

The fact that it is parked in handicapped reserved parking is only funny because the evidence would seem to be that there was, in fact, plenty of parking available. The whole thing is also somewhat of a reflection of the culture of the location in which it was taken.

Listen to Wayne

One of my favorite quotations was born in ice hockey, but very applicable to photography.

I think this is a good thought to have in your mind for any type of photography. It is especially pertinent in respect of these type of snapshot photographs. Just for a moment, abandon your aspirations as a serious photographer, and simply take the shot. There is almost zero chance of any downside, no negative consequences, and you might just manage to create an extra smile or two in the world.

3. No thinking here, please

This is an extension of the above point. It is consistent with saying, “take the shot”. However, can I urge you further in that direction?

Do not question the process of taking the photograph in any way at all, please. Don’t think about it, just point the camera and push the button. I think we are in the territory of sports again, and the Nike slogan “Just do it” applies here. Take the shot. (Is anybody else hearing Judi Dench as M, from a recent James Bond film, or is it just me?).

Al-fresco hairdressing.

You should not overthink it. If you see something which pricks your interest even slightly, which even starts to elicit a smile … raise the camera and take the shot. You don’t know why it might be funny, you do not even know for sure that it is funny. Again, my advice to you would be, take the shot.

Do as you are told!

Just enjoy it

I took the above photograph a few years ago, in Malaysian Borneo. It is not printed and displayed on my wall, nor is it of great importance to me. But it does pop its little head up now and then, and when it does, it makes me smile. Does it make you smile at all? If so, why does it make you smile?

It makes me smile because of what I assume is the obvious reason, the irony of telling people to walk by means of a notice on a motorbike. That is why I took the shot. Years later, I realized that it is also the declamatory nature of the exclamation mark which makes me smile. You are not being asked, you are being told to walk, by someone from the comfort of sitting on a motorbike.

Yes, of course, in this context, “walk with” has a different meaning, but you should not worry too much about letting the facts get in the way of a bit of humor, should you?

Relax!

I did not think about anything like all of the above as I was taking these photographs. As I suggest, if you see something which even makes you think about smiling – photograph it! It is not likely to be that funny anyway, the humor might only fully reveal itself later, so take the shot, it’s only a digital file.

Which way are you going?

Further thoughts

I would like to talk about unguarded moments, juxtapositions, discovered photographs, constructed photographs, kids, smiles eliciting smiles, distortions of reality, and the strange things people do. But for now, can you please just take this article as a firm nudge to be open to possibilities.

In summary
1. Do not worry about trying to be funny. It is unlikely that you will take a photograph which will actually make people literally LOL (Laugh Out Loud, just in case anyone is not sure).
2. Stop being a serious photographer for a moment. It is a snapshot!
3. Take the shot! Do not think about it for one millisecond, just do it.
Let’s dance!

Go on! Have a go! I hope you have been nudged in the right direction. I don’t think I am alone in wanting to see something of a humorous nature from you. Please share your humorous images in the comments below.

Editor’s note: keep it clean, please. No nude or partial nude photos, or images which are disparaging, disrespectful, or hurtful to any other person.

The post Let’s Have a Laugh! – Using Humor in Photography by Richard Messsenger appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
May 5, 2017
How to Photograph in the Harsh Midday Sun

It’s all about the light! The golden hour when the sun is just above the horizon shining its low angle golden rays on the scene; sunrise and sunset when the clouds light up pink, orange, and red; and the blue hour when the sun is below the horizon but it is not yet totally dark. Those are the best times to photograph.

But midday? That’s when tourists make snap-shots, right?

Well, yes, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t options for you too. You just have to know what to do when the sun is high in the sky shining its harshest light on a day with no clouds to soften the rays.

We don’t always have the option to shoot on the edges of the day when the conditions are best. On a recent trip, I was in between two destinations and had a few spare hours to visit a small village on route. It turned out to be an amazing location, but the light was harsh and the buildings were white. I could barely look at them let alone photograph them. I had to put my harsh light tactics to the test.

Here are some midday photography tips to help you:

1. Look for shade

The first thing I did was look for shady spots under trees and on the opposite side of the bright white buildings I was facing. Shade provides a nice soft, even, light, which is perfect for colorful subjects and ones with interesting shapes. I especially like to photograph flowers under soft light because the delicate nature of the subject lends itself to soft light.

2. Look for shadows

Subjects with really distinct shapes will also have very distinct shadows in the harsh lighting conditions of midday. So you can make your photograph all about the shadows. Look for patterns in shadows, leading lines made by shadows, and shadows that create interesting shapes in your frame. Remember, you don’t necessarily have to include the object itself, sometimes just the shadow makes your photo a bit more mysterious.

3. Look for reflections in water

Whenever there is a body of water near a subject that has harsh light on it, you’ll get a bright reflection. This works best when the subject being reflected has a lot of color. Ideally, the subject will be in direct light and the water will be in the shade. Again you don’t have to include the object with the direct light on it. Sometimes photographing just a reflection can make an interesting abstract image.

4. Use the time for scouting

When all else fails, rather than photographing, you can use the time to scout out locations for the future. Walk around, find a great subject and play with different compositions. Make “sketch” images by trying different compositions and choosing which one has the most impact. Then, when you find it, make a note of the exact location and make an image so you remember your camera angle.

It’s also a good idea to take note of how long it takes you to walk to that location, what the trail or route is like, and anything you may want to make note of should you need to return in the dark, like before sunrise for example. You’ll thank yourself later when you don’t have to guess at a location and composition before you can really see what is in your frame.

5. Rest up

When you’re on a long trip, sometimes it’s best not to wear yourself out by doing three photo shoots a day. Of course, you’re going to go out for sunrise and sunset. During the day you might want to clean your gear, get out some maps and do some planning, research stuff on the internet, or even take a nap.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your photography is simply to have a rest so you have lots of energy for your next outing.

Conclusion

What tips to you have for working with the midday sun in your photography? Please share them in the comments below.

The post How to Photograph in the Harsh Midday Sun by Anne McKinnell appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

May 5, 2017
5 Hacks and Tricks to up your Landscape Photography Game

Landscape photography is something that most photographers do. You may be a beginner or an advanced landscape photographer, you may have your own style, or you prefer certain subjects, but there’s always room for something more, something different.

This article is meant to show you five ways in which you can experiment with landscape photography. The techniques will force you to think differently about the surrounding landscape and will uncover new potential shots in places or situations where you might not have considered even getting your camera out.

Let’s see what these five landscape photography hacks that will up your game:

#1 – Long exposures in unusual places

When you think about long exposures you may be thinking of water flow, night photography, or everything that is in low light. The thing is, you can do a long exposure on anything that moves or changes over time. If something is still, then there is no point of doing this technique.

Sometimes you’ll need a Neutral Density filter of 6-stop or maybe even 10-stops if you want to do this during the day when the light is bright. In this case, you would need an ND to dim it down. The idea is to seek subjects that are moved by the wind for example; it works better if some elements of are still and some are moving. Maybe leaves or some thinner branches are moving and the thicker tree trunk is still.

Place your camera on the tripod, use the ND filter if necessary, and take the shot. You’ll get a simple, yet powerful image that represents not only a glimpse of time but few seconds. You can also try this with crops blown by the wind.

#2 – Move your camera while shooting

You usually try to stay still when you shoot so that’s why, as a landscape photographer, you use a tripod. But sometimes it’s interesting to bend the rules and see what the unexpected offers. You can try and move the camera while shooting. Move it from up to down or maybe you can rotate it slightly while the shutter is pressed.

This technique will produce more of an impression of what you see and certain movements work better with certain types of subjects; for example, move your camera up and down if you have straight tall trees. It also helps to have an exposure time of about one second.

#3 – Zoom your lens

Another element that usually stays the same while you press the trigger is the focal length. But what would happen if you changed it during the exposure? Of course, it helps a lot if you have longer exposure time so that you’ll have time to actually zoom.

You have two options with this technique. You can just zoom in or out and you get an interesting effect like everything is “running” to the edges of the photo.

Or you can first zoom your lens in all the way and hold the zoom ring. While you press the shutter button keep the zoom ring fixed and rotate the camera so that the lens zooms out. Don’t forget to keep the hand that is holding the zoom ring still; you are actually zooming out by moving the camera. You’ll get a twisted effect that I find it works better on pines or similar trees.

#4 – Use graduated filters in unusual ways

As a landscape photographer, you likely know how to use graduated ND filters to balance the brightness of the sky with the foreground, but you can do so much more with them too.

In the old days, photographers used to dodge and burn certain areas of a photo to lighten or darken those spots. The technique is still used today in post-processing.

But what if you could do this right in the camera using two graduated ND filters to darken the margins of an image. You only need to place the grad ND filters at a 90-degree angle, one facing left and the other facing right. You don’t even need to have the same filters; you can use a 2-stop and a 3-stop, for example. This will create a light beam effect.

#5 – Create Cinemagraphs

Cinemagraphs are the new thing, and they look cool. You may be wondering what is a Cinemagraph? Well, it’s a combination of still photography and video. The result is a video, but because of this combination, I included this idea here. Here’s an example of what they look like:

In short, the technique requires you to record a video, preferably with the camera on a tripod, freeze one of the frames and make it a photo, and then creating a mask that reveals only one element that moves. It looks better if you make the video loop-able but that is not absolutely necessary. The effect plays with your mind because everything is still apart from one element that moves.

Conclusion

I hope you’ll find these ideas interesting and you’ll use them to open new horizons and explore new techniques. I think experimenting plays a big part in photography and landscape photography is no exception.

Share your landscape tricks and tips in the comments below.

The post 5 Hacks and Tricks to up your Landscape Photography Game by Toma Bonciu appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

May 5, 2017
Lighting 103: Use Gels to Tune Your Home’s Lighting

Abstract: You can use your knowledge of color temperature and gels to improve the quality of light in your home.

So far, everything we have done has centered on gelling a single light to create a single desired color shift. But before we make the jump into using multiple colors and light sources, one quick hack for your home's lighting that will help you to improve the quality of light in compact fluorescent and LED bulbs.

Like the gawdawful green-tinged lamp above, for example. Read more »
Strobist

May 5, 2017
A Step by Step Guide to Processing Portraits in Lightroom
Every time we ask our readers what post production software they use to edit there portrait photography the most common answer is Lightroom. It’s no surprise either – it’s a powerful tool for editing and organising your photos.

However we know when we talk to our readers about Lightroom that while we all know it’s got amazing power that it can sometimes be overwhelming too. Many of you report knowing you don’t use Lightroom to it’s full potential and wish you had a guide to editing your portraits using the tool.

Today we’re excited to announce our new online course, “Lightroom Mastery: People & Portraits“.

If you’ve ever wanted to discover the secrets professionals use to perfect portraits in Adobe Lightroom, then this course is for you.

And for a limited time, you can access over 4 hours of Lightroom training… that’s 32 step-by-step video modules for a massive 50% off the regular price.

This brand new online course from professional photographer Mike Newton will teach you all the Lightroom secrets the pro’s use to retouch portraits and turn average shots into stunning creations.

Mike is a commercial photographer and has worked with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies like Bayer and Metlife, technology companies like Uber, and clothing brands like Deckers Outdoor Corporation.

Checkout his intro video below to see what you’ll be learning.

No matter what level of Lightroom user you are, you will walk away from this course with huge improvements in the quality of your portrait edits and the speed of your workflow.

The best part is, Mike makes it super easy to understand.

In this course you’ll learn how to use the very best of Lightroom for photos of people including:
- The adjustment brush
- Radial filter
- Cloning and healing brushes
- Mike’s very own Lightroom editing workflow for editing portraits
- Eyes and lip editing techniques
- Teeth whitening tips
- Skin editing techniques including blemish removal
Save 50% on this brand new Lightroom Mastery for Portraits Course for a limited time.

PS: as with all dPS products this course comes with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If for any reason you don’t find it suits your needs please contact our support team and we’ll arrange a refund.

The post A Step by Step Guide to Processing Portraits in Lightroom by Darren Rowse appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
May 3, 2017
How to Choose the Right Monitor for Photo Editing
Photographers rarely think twice when it comes to buying expensive camera bodies or high-end lenses, but often seem willing to skimp on a monitor. Why is that? In many cases, it’s because one monitor appears very much like another, especially when purchased over the internet, which is how many of us shop for such things.

This article will help you know what you should look for in a monitor, and show you how to interpret many of the tech specs you’ll see when shopping online. Not so long ago, buying a monitor for photography was an expensive business, but today there is more choice available at every price point.

By Senado Federal

Panel Technology

One of the things you must think about when choosing a monitor is panel technology. The “panel” is the main part of the monitor — the screen. It includes polarizing layers, glass substrates, a liquid crystal (LCD) layer, and a color filter. It’s a high-tech sandwich.

The main difference between monitor technologies lies in the way the liquid crystals are oriented, which fundamentally affects the way your monitor behaves. Here are the main three panel types:

TN (Twisted Nematic) Panels

These type of panels are often favored by gamers for their fast response times, which reduces unwanted ghosting and blurring effects in moving pictures. The biggest downside of TN panels is that their viewing angles are greatly inferior to other panel types. If you move in front of the screen, the color and contrast are liable to shift in appearance. This flaw varies in severity between monitors.

Be aware that, in monitor specs, viewing angle numbers are highly misleading. They’re based on a lenient contrast test, so you should ignore the common claim that a TN panel has 170/160° horizontal and vertical viewing angles. Those figures bear little relevance to what you’ll experience when editing a photo.

Laptops are almost always made with TN panels, which makes them sub-optimal for photo editing in a perfect world. They’re more usable if you can fix your position in front of the screen and maintain a consistent viewing angle.

Image from Maxpixel CC license.

IPS (In Plane Switching) Panels

Plane Switching panels are consistent in appearance from almost all probable viewing angles. In this respect, they are far superior to most TN panels and better than VA panels. IPS panels are also favored for their innately high-quality color reproduction. In most regards, a monitor with an IPS panel is better for photo-editing than one with a TN panel.

A drawback of IPS technology is a phenomenon known as “IPS glow”, which is a glowing effect that appears across much of the panel when viewing dark screens in subdued light. The more money you spend on an IPS monitor, the less likely you are to encounter this, but it’s probably fair to say that it’s more problematic for gamers. IPS glow is different to backlight bleeding, where light appears to seep out from the edges of the screen. That, too, is more likely in budget or mid-priced monitors.

There are various sub-categories of IPS panel, including S-IPS, e-IPS, H-IPS, and P-IPS. The basic benefits of an IPS panel apply to all of them, though the different types may vary in areas like color depth or response time. An e-IPS panel, for instance, is usually cheaper because it typically runs a lower color depth (i.e. 6-bit) than other IPS types. We’ll look at color depth anon.

Proprietary technologies that are similar in behaviour to IPS panels are Super PLS (Samsung) and AHVA (AUO).

VA (Vertical Alignment) Panels

These type are not considered as good as IPS in terms of their viewing angles or color reproduction, but better than TN panels in both respects. They are a kind of a happy medium. The technology is relatively rare, but still used by some of the leading manufacturers in a minority of displays (the proper word for monitors).

A VA panel typically has a bigger contrast ratio than an IPS panel, with an ability to display dark tones and blacks very effectively. Big contrast ratios are not always as desirable to photographers as they are to gamers, however, because they make it harder to imitate the dynamic range of a print when soft-proofing.

Standard or wide gamut?

Image courtesy Wiki-Media Commons.

There is no right or wrong answer when deciding whether you should buy a standard or wide-gamut monitor, but there are pros and cons attached to either choice. Let’s look at some of them:

Standard gamut monitor

Pros
- Cheaper.
- Wide variety of models available at all price points.
- Doesn’t need immediate calibration and profiling (an OS monitor profile will truncate the color of a wide-gamut monitor).
- Won’t display garish colors in non-color-managed programs.
- Less prone to banding (usually offset by more color depth in wide-gamut).
- Syncs okay with the output of most photo labs.
- Smaller gamut might suit wedding or events photographers, for whom a large color gamut is less of a draw.
Cons
- Not so good for color-managed inkjet printing, since the monitor gamut won’t encompass the color output of the printer
- Less attractive, especially for landscape fans, who lose significant color particularly in cyans and greens
Wide gamut monitor

Pros
- Just looks better, especially skies, sea, grass, foliage, etc. More colorful and more nuanced detail in cyans and greens – good choice for landscape shooters.
- Much better for anyone wanting to soft-proof (preview) the color of an inkjet print, since the monitor gamut will cover the output of most inkjet printers.
Cons
- More expensive.
- Ideally requires immediate profiling, otherwise the OS monitor color will severely prune the monitor’s gamut.
- Colors in non-color-managed environments will appear garish (e.g. Windows desktop).
- More prone to banding, though this is usually countered by increased color depth.
Rather oddly, I run standard gamut and wide-gamut monitors side-by-side, and the difference in colors is marked. However, with monitors as with many other things, ignorance is bliss, you don’t miss what you never had.

Image from unsplash CC license.

Aspect ratio, resolution, and screen size

Aspect ratio

You’ll find the cheapest monitors typically have a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is fine for watching movies, but a 16:10 aspect ratio is worth aiming for if you can afford it. The latter allows a little more vertical working space and, as Wiki observes, is a closer fit for the classic 3:2 ratio used in many photos.

Resolution

For many years, a myth circulated that said your photos should have a 72ppi resolution for the web. In fact, as most of us now know, a monitor screen is oblivious to image resolution. This is proven, if proof is still needed, by the fact that Photoshop’s “Save for Web” feature does not attach resolution to images, even though they appear as 72ppi when reopened.

Image courtesy of Wiki-media Commons.

Although several factors may affect the sharpness of an image on your screen (e.g. contrast, anti-glare filters, viewer-to-screen distance), the central thing that dictates sharpness is the monitor’s pixel density, or dot pitch. A greater pixel density or a finer dot pitch is indicative of a sharper onscreen image, all other things being equal. If you google “dot pitch calculator” or “PPI calculator”, you’ll find an easy means of calculating the pixel density of any screen.

As an example, an average desktop monitor might have a pixel density of around 90-100 ppi, while the 27” 5K iMac with Retina display has a pixel density of 217 ppi. That’s impressive in a big screen.

An extremely dense pixel pitch tends to have a flattering effect on photos, just like every photo looks sharp on a smartphone, but isn’t a necessity for efficient photo editing.

Photo from Pixabay, CC0 public domain license.

Screen Size

These days, “bigger is better” seems to be the mantra when it comes to choosing a monitor. Of course, it is pleasant to view your photos on a big screen, but my advice is to buy what you can afford and don’t give precedence to screen size over other important attributes. Also remember that big screens need big resolutions to look as sharp as smaller screens from the same distance, so don’t be deceived by pixel dimensions alone. Scrutinize the pixel density, as outlined above.

Anti-glare Filters

Apart from Apple iMacs, nearly all desktop monitors are equipped with anti-glare filters for the obvious purpose of cutting out distracting reflections. This creates a matte finish to the surface of the screen. The degree to which this affects the sharpness of the screen image varies a lot, ranging from imperceptible to adding a noticeable grainy effect. You might make an analogy with glossy versus matte prints; the glossy print typically looks a little sharper.

An anti-glare filter is not something to be avoided in a monitor (almost impossible, anyway), but it is worth researching how much it affects the image in your desired screen before buying. Ideally, of course, it’s a good idea to get a look at a monitor before investing. Always check negative reviews when buying online.

Photo by Rawpixel CC license.

Color Depth

On to a slightly complicated subject, which we’ll attempt to keep simple. Color depth relates to how many distinct colors a monitor can display.

Theoretically, the more colors a monitor can display, the more smoothly it can reproduce gradual changes in tone and the less prone it is to frustrating “banding” or posterization effects (characterized by ugly pixelated blocks of color).

Most monitors on the market have one of the following two specs:
1. 8-bit color (native)
2. 6-bit color + FRC (2 bits)
The second of these uses dithering to create colors that aren’t there, which is theoretically inferior to a monitor that can natively display 8-bit color. A monitor with 6-bit color is more prone to banding problems, as previously described.

Note that calibrating a monitor increases the likelihood of banding, so more color depth offsets this and effectively makes a monitor more adjustable. Laptop screens nearly always use 6-bit color, so should ideally be calibrated conservatively.

You may see 10-bit color in more expensive monitors. This, again, could be genuine 10-bit color depth or 8-bit + FRC. Bear in mind that a 10-bit monitor can only display its 1.07 billion colors if 10-bit is supported by your graphics processor, software and video connection.

Hardware LUT calibration

Hardware LUT calibration is a fancy feature you’ll find in some high-end monitors from Eizo and NEC as well as a few consumer brands.

Image courtesy of Wiki-media Commons.

What is an LUT?

An LUT is a lookup table, which maps the input signals from your PC into, typically, 8-bit RGB color output from your LCD monitor.

In a monitor, greater color depth allows for smoother, more nuanced tonal transitions without banding. Like a monitor, an LUT may also vary in its color depth; the more colors it can process, the better the monitor will be at displaying smooth tones and precise color.

The above is true even if the final output is an 8-bit monitor, so a 10, 12, 14, or 16-bit LUT produces better color in an 8-bit monitor than an 8-bit LUT. The difference between a 10-bit and 16-bit LUT may be less appreciable.

Hardware Calibration

The type of hardware calibration under discussion here doesn’t refer to use of a hardware device like a Spyder. Instead of storing an 8-bit LUT in your video card, like most monitors do, expensive graphics monitors usually have a high-bit LUT built-in to their own hardware for more refined calibration. You’ll still use a calibration device to measure your monitor’s color, but the final color reproduction should be superior.

Expensive graphics monitors often allow you to store and switch between calibration profiles, so you can alter calibration settings with the click of a mouse using proprietary software. This is impossible in normal monitors, where calibration data is loaded into the video card LUT on startup and not changeable without recalibrating your monitor.

A Final Word

When choosing a monitor for photography, panel type is king. If you buy the best IPS (or equivalent) monitor you can afford, the other features are frosting on the cake. Good luck!

The post How to Choose the Right Monitor for Photo Editing by Glenn Harper appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
May 3, 2017
6 Reasons Why You Should Use a Standard Lens for Street Photography

Henri-Cartier Bresson is well-known for his use of a 50mm lens, a standard lens on a 35mm film camera. If it’s good enough for Henri, then I guess it’s good enough for most modern street and travel photographers. When I worked at EOS magazine (Canon) we published an article about a photographer who traveled to India with nothing but a standard 50mm f/1.2 lens. His photos were beautiful.

But what is it about the standard lens that’s so appealing to street and travel photographers? I’m glad you asked! Let’s take a look.

What is a standard lens?

A standard lens is a prime lens with a focal length roughly equivalent to the length of the diagonal measurement of the sensor (or film). A standard lens on a full-frame camera would have a focal length of 42mm. It is a lens that produces a field of view that is similar to the human eye or appears natural.

In practice, the 50mm lens is considered the standard for full-frame cameras (although Pentax makes a 42mm lens). A 35mm or 28mm lens is standard for an APS-C camera, and a 25mm lens is standard for a Micro Four-Thirds camera.

I made all the photos in this article with a Fujinon 35mm f1.4 lens, a standard lens on my Fujifilm X-T1 camera. Standard lenses have lots of benefits. Here are some of them:

My Fuji 35mm f/1.4 standard lens.

1. Standard lenses are relatively small

Standard lenses are easy to design and make. The optical quality is superb. They are not big lenses and don’t require as many raw materials as larger lenses. They are inexpensive to manufacturer and the savings are passed onto the buyer.

But that doesn’t mean you should buy the cheapest standard lens you can find. You also need to take build quality, autofocus performance and weatherproofing into account when buying a standard lens. That $ 100 standard lens may look like a bargain, but you could easily end up wishing you had bought something better.

The small size of standard lenses is good news if you are going to be walking around for hours at a time taking photos. The lighter your kit the more energy you will have for photography.

Smaller lenses are also more unobtrusive when taking photos of people in the street. If you use a telephoto lens and point it towards somebody it’s obvious that you are taking a photo of them. But use a standard lens and you could be taking a photo of a building, the street, or the scene in general. You can take a photo of somebody without pointing the camera directly at them (as long as you’re not too close). You are much more likely to be ignored.

I made this photo in Hangzhou, China with a standard lens. The girls didn’t notice me. It helped that they were totally engrossed in what they were doing.

3. Standard lenses have wide apertures

This is good news if you work in low light or like to use wide apertures for creative effect. If you like bokeh you’ll love using a standard lens. I used a wide aperture on my standard lens to make this photo. I deliberately focused on the dragon’s head and blurred the background.

4. You can focus close to the subject

Most standard lenses are capable of focusing quite closely to the subject. That means you can take close-up photos without having to change lenses or use an extension tube or close-up lens. This ability, combined with the wide aperture, make standard lenses incredibly versatile.

You can step back from the subject and take a photo that includes plenty of the scene. Likewise, you can move in close and take a close-up. You can open up the aperture and create bokeh, or stop it down and get much more of the scene in focus.

The close focusing ability of a standard lens helps you create a variety of images that show both the entire scene to small details and everything in-between. It’s a great tool for building a body of work around your subject. I used my standard lens to create both these images below, taken in the same building in Beijing, China.

5. Standard lenses teach you to see

When you use the same lens for an extended period of time you get to know it really well. You’ll understand how it sees the scene. You’ll know what to expect in terms of perspective and depth of field, and how that changes as you get closer to the subject.

There is nothing wrong with zoom lenses, but they add an extra element to the photo taking process as you have to decide what focal length to use. An 18-55mm kit lens, for example, can be very useful. But there’s also a dramatic difference between the 18mm and 55mm focal lengths in terms of composition and angle of view. Deciding which focal length to use wastes precious time, especially in a situation where something interesting is happening.

For example, in China, I often didn’t have much time to think. Something happened in front of me, like this boy posing for a photo, and I had to react quickly. A prime lens helped me do that as I didn’t have to think about focal length.

With a standard lens (or any prime) you are committed to that focal length. You don’t have the option to zoom in or out. You can only change the framing by moving closer to or farther away from your subject. It simplifies the photo taking process and helps you create photos with simpler, stronger compositions.

6. Standard lenses occupy the middle ground

Telephoto lenses are great for taking photos of people from a distance, but photos taken with them can lack a feeling of intimacy as they are shot from a distance. It’s also harder to stop down and get the background in focus as well.

Wide-angle lenses are a real challenge as they tend to include too much of the background. It’s hard to create a simplified composition with a wide-angle lens, especially in the street where lots of things happen that are outside your control. You also need to get much closer to your subject, and may need to invade their personal space. It’s hard to do this and not have the subject react to you in some way.

Standard lenses occupy a good middle ground between these two extremes. You can get close to your subject without getting too close. You can create simpler and stronger compositions than you can with a wide-angle lens, but can still stop down and keep the background sharp.

This photo is a good example. I was fairly close to this couple. But, I if had been using a wide-angle lens I would have had to get even closer, invading their personal space and changing the dynamic. A photo taken with a telephoto lens would have a greater sense of distance and separation from the couple. In either case, I wouldn’t have made a photo capturing a candid expression like this.

Your turn

What lenses do you like to use for street and travel photography? Are standard lenses part of your kit or do you prefer something else? Let us know in the comments – it will be interesting to see which lenses DPS readers prefer to use.

Andrew is the author of the ebook The Candid Portrait.

The post 6 Reasons Why You Should Use a Standard Lens for Street Photography by Andrew S. Gibson appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

May 3, 2017
What Bugs You? 19 Images of Creepy Crawly Critters

With spring comes new life, growth, rebirth. It’s also time for the bugs to show up!

Those creepy crawly, flying, buzzing, annoying insects. But yet some of them are oddly beautiful as well. Let’s see some images of these creatures.

By Allxan.

By Mike Keeling

By Grozzle J

By Dinesh Valke

By Tibor Nagy

By Santanu Sen

By Markus Trienke

By uditha wickramanayaka

By Giuseppe Calsamiglia

By Robert Whyte

By Robert Whyte

By Ziva & Amir

By the_tahoe_guy

By Mike Keeling

By Mike Keeling

By coniferconifer

By Steve Bremer

By Mike Keeling

By John Flannery

The post What Bugs You? 19 Images of Creepy Crawly Critters by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

May 2, 2017
How to Plan a Successful Sunset Portrait Session
In this article you will get some solid tips for planning and executing a sunset portrait session. Learn how to take the images that you and your subjects will love.

Plan ahead for a successful sunset portrait

Many photographers feel overwhelmed when they start photographing portraits, professionally or for fun.

Where should I shoot? How should I pose people? What lens should I use? What settings should I be using? When should I move them to/from a great spot? What should I say to get great emotion?

A plan will give you confidence and help alleviate some of the immediate pressure of decision making. It’s not restrictive because often the best shots are unplanned, but rather something to give you confidence and a direction to fall back on when you aren’t feeling inspired.

Here is our rough plan for all of our sunset shoots, whether it be an engagement, part of a wedding, family portrait, maternity, or outdoor newborn session. Our sunset portrait sessions are always planned approximately one hour before sunset.

This plan’s purpose is twofold – it not only helps you have more confidence and direction, but will also help you make the most of your location and sunset lighting.

STEP ONE: ARRIVE EARLY TO SCOUT

Plan to arrive at least 20-30 minutes early to scout a new location. You never know what amazing little lane or spot may be just around the corner, so it’s worth taking some extra time to explore. It’s also nice to arrive before your client so that you can make them feel welcome upon their arrival.

STEP TWO: ASSESS THE LOCATION

Start to assess the location by asking the following questions:

Where are some nice shady spots to begin? Shady spots are perfect to start off with while the sun is still bright and harsh.

What is the highest point at the location? If you are at a hilly location, this is where you will be able to capture the final moments of sunset and make the most of the golden light.

Where is the most impressive spot for sunset? This is where you want to end up – so it should be last on your route.

With these questions answered, you can very roughly map out a planned route. This means you’ll always have a direction to head and will be able to lead the clients confidently around the location.

STEP THREE: SHOOT FOR THE BEST LIGHT

To make the absolute best of the sunset lighting, you can follow the same sort of pattern every shoot (in this order):
1. Shade shots
2. Filtered Light shots
3. Silhouette shots
4. Sunset shots
5. Dusk shots
Let’s put your plan into practice, assuming sunset is 6 pm:

4:40 pm – Arrive, scout the area and assess the location.

5:00 pm – Your client arrives and is briefed about the fun time they are going to have!

5:10 pm – SHADE SHOOTING

Get straight into shooting in the nice shady spot you already found. We love to knock out some more formal shots like these here, as usually these are photos clients love, but don’t want big on the walls. Save the more impressive lighting for landscape shots.

5:25 pm – FILTERED LIGHT SHOOTING

You can then move on to any shots where you want the sun in the photo, but you can filter the light through the trees. (Read our past article on four different ways to filter sun flare in this article: How to Control Sun Flare in Your Photos). Photos such as these:

5:40 pm – SILHOUETTE SHOOTING

Roughly 10-20 minutes before sunset is usually the best time to try a silhouette. As silhouettes require you to shoot at a very low angle, you won’t be able to match up the height of the sun with the clients’ feet if you wait any longer. You can read our article on capturing silhouettes here.

5:50 pm – SUNSET SHOOTING

At this point, the light will be golden – so you want to be at your final spot. Do all you can to make this most of the beautiful soft light – you can even position your clients out in the open if you know how to control sunflare. We try to take a variety of photos at this time – a landscape, waist-up, and close-ups. That way, we can create wall art sets that all have the same sunset colouring.

6:00 pm – DUSK SHOOTING

The sun has set, but you still have a glorious window of 15 minutes where you can capture the gorgeous colours of dusk. Because the sun is no longer emitting harsh light, you can now use the whole other side of the location! Areas that were previously too lit by the sun can now be shot in the soft light of dusk.

6:10 pm – DONE!

This plan is designed to give you some structure if you are lacking confidence and direction for your sunset portrait photo sessions. It will help you get the most from the sunlight, and effectively manage your time during the shoot. Of course, being photographers, we’re all for creativity, so breaking the rules is great once you have more confidence.

Please share your sunset portrait images in the comments below.

The post How to Plan a Successful Sunset Portrait Session by Alana Orth appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
May 2, 2017