If you are considering the switch from Photoshop to Affinity Photo, you might wonder how it will affect your photo editing workflow. And how will just a tiny loss in features (for a big drop in price) affect your options for photo editing? Keep on reading to find out how your workflow will change, what you will miss and what Continue Reading
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How exciting is it to freeze things in action? High-speed photography and water make the perfect recipe to get stunning images – and creating them is incredibly fun and easy too! Here are some tips for doing your own water splash photography.
You will definitely need an assistant. He/she will make your life much easier. It’s true that you can do everything by yourself but it’s way more productive if you have some help, a person who can throw the objects into the water, get them out and then throw them again. And again. And again.
Fill the aquarium with tap water, half or 2/3 full, depending on how deep you prefer the subjects to fall. Please keep in mind that if you fill the tank too high, every splash will probably result in water spilling. Please be careful with both flashes and your camera, when working with water.
Any decent camera will be okay, but to obtain better quality you would probably like to use a crop-sensor or full-frame DSLR – or a mirrorless camera, with a good lens. Shooting from a distance, I used a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens at 200mm in order to obtain as much depth of field as I could.
As subjects you can use anything you like. I personally prefer fruits and vegetables because they vary in size, shape, and color.
Always use a tripod for your camera. Set the camera at a position where you have the desired framing of the aquarium, leaving enough space up, down and on both sides to capture most of the splashes. After you have positioned the camera, set the focus manually.
For this step, ask your assistant to hold the subject in the water approximately where you want to make the splashes happen. Leave the camera on manual focus (or use back button focus). This way, the camera won’t need to refocus every time you make a picture, and you’ll know that the subject will be in focus every time the object is thrown into the same location.
You have to know that freezing the motion (in this case) is done by the flash and not by the camera. Here’s a little bit of theory to explain this.
You have probably already made pictures where you stopped a human or an animal in motion. You’ve achieved that result by using a really quick shutter speed, somewhere between 1/4000th or 1/8000th of a second. But in the studio, where you use flashes or strobes, things change.
Your camera has to be in sync with the flashes (sync speed) and in most cases, this results in a shutter speed of 1/125th – 1/200th which is way too slow to freeze fast action. Luckily, there is this magic word called “flash duration”. This is the short period of time when the flash emits light which, if short enough, gives you the freezing effect you wanted.
You can use hot shoe flashes (speedlights) as they generally have pretty short flash duration, but only at very reduced power settings of 1/32 or 1/64 of full power. That results in low light, but you can compensate for that by increasing the ISO and opening the aperture.
The other option I prefer is using strobes with short flash durations. Most manufacturers make the flash duration of their strobes public information and the power at which you get the shortest flash duration. For the pictures of this article, I used Elinchrom ELC Pro HD 500 strobes, which have the shortest flash duration – 1/4000th of a second – at power 3.1.
For your water splash setup, you will need two flashes, one on each side of the aquarium, aimed directly at your subject. I prefer to use light shapers which restrict the light to hit only the subject, so it doesn’t spill all over the scene, thus avoiding unwanted reflections and highlights.
For this shoot, my camera settings were ISO 100, 200mm, f/16, at 1/125th of a second.
This is the fun part! If you an assistant you’ll have to synchronize your movements. As he drops the objects in the water you’ll need to capture the perfect moments. In practice, this means that you will count to three, after which he’ll drop the object while you press the shutter release and pray to get the moment just right!
I sincerely suggest you repeat these four steps for a few hours. I prefer to set my camera to continuous or burst mode (my flashes recycle very fast) and record three or four pictures per drop. That way I increase the probability of capturing the subject and the splash of the water.
This part is crucial! Despite all the efforts you have made to capture the perfect splash, the raw images you’ll get will definitely still need a little bit of polishing and processing.
Raw unprocessed image.
I only use Lightroom and Photoshop for post-processing, but you can achieve the desired effects in any preferred image processing application.
After you’ve selected the image you want to retouch, you’ll first need to clean the water. I suggest that you use the Adjustments Brush, with Blacks set to -100. Apply this brush everywhere on the image except the subjects (that would make the subject too dark).
Adjustment Brush settings to apply to the water.
You can use the brush even on the splash itself, because this will make it cleaner and sharper, but be careful not to over do it because you can lose some details on the splash.
After the Adjustment Brush has been applied.
Now open the image in Photoshop, create a new empty layer, select the brush color black, and start painting the new layer black. Be careful near the subjects, to avoid painting them also. This way you can achieve a clean black background around the subject. You can even paint away small drops of water that you consider unnecessary. Try to preserve a little bit of the surface of the water though.
If you like the painting you applied, it’s time to add sharpness to the image using the Unsharp mask at the level of your taste. You can also add some contrast or saturation depending on the final look you want to get.
Are you ready to give water splash photography a try? Here’s another dPS article that can give you some more splash tips, How to do Creative Water Splash Photography with Off-Camera Flash.
If you have any questions please post them in the comments section below, and also share your images so we can see your results.
Bio
Stefan Mogyorosi is a photographer based in Oradea, Romania. He works mostly on commercial projects for the beauty industry, but also likes to do personal projects photographing still life, macro, fashion, portraits, or glamour. Experimenting with freezing motion and working with liquids are his top priorities right now.
Personal page – http://www.mogyorosistefan.ro
Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/mogyorosistefanphotography/
Instagram page – https://www.instagram.com/mogyorosistefan/
The post Water Splash Photography Made Easy by Stefan Mogyorosi appeared first on Digital Photography School.
In this quick review of the Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art Lens, I will go over some of its features and give you my overall impression of this lens.
I belong to several photography groups, both online as well as within my local area, and often times when we meet, we end up talking about our gear. Conversations typically revolve around the gear we have, what we would like to have, and what we want to sell off. On several occasions, I have heard my fellow photographers talk about the Sigma Art series of lenses. They always start the conversation with, “Oh, I absolutely love my Sigma Art lens. The bokeh is so dreamy!” Now, I am a Canon shooter – always have been and always will be. But that does not mean that every once in a while, I don’t like to test out gear from other companies to compare performance, specifications, and price.
The Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM Art Lens comes with a case and a lens hood.
So when I had the opportunity to test out the Sigma 135mm 1.8 DG HSM Art lens, I jumped at the chance. I spent about three weeks with this lens and used it for a variety of photography assignments – both indoors and outdoors. Here is my review based on my personal experiences with this lens.
As per Sigma’s website, the Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM Art is a medium range telephoto prime lens designed for modern high-megapixel DSLRs. A new large Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) delivers ample torque to the focusing group for outstanding speed, ensuring exceptionally stable performance even at lower speeds. This state-of-the-art prime lens touts a dust and splash proof mount for guaranteed performance in any condition and its large 1.8 aperture allows for more creative control over imagery.
The Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM Art Lens attached to my Canon 1V film camera.
My telephoto lens of choice is my Canon EF 70-200L lens. It’s heavy and bulky but gives me some of the best picture quality in its class. Compared to that lens, the 135mm felt lightweight and comfortable to carry around all day. Being a fixed lens, there are no moving parts, unlike the zoom ring on the 70-200mm. While this meant that I had to move around to get shots at various distances, it was not an inconvenience. I just used pretended to have a zoom lens by moving my feet!
The lens looks very sharp and clean. The smooth matte black finish of the lens gives it a certain visual appeal. The build quality is very clean and it feels like a solid piece of glass. The lens is a little heavy (at about 2.56 pounds or 1.2 kg) but if you are used to walking around with other telephoto lenses, it’s not any different compared to using those.
The legendary quality of having the dreamiest bokeh is very true with this lens. It is super sharp even when shooting absolutely wide open. I typically shoot very wide opened with all my Canon L-lenses which fits my style of photography. The aperture of f/2.0 is my personal sweet spot – the one that I really trust to give me a shallow depth of field and dreamy bokeh (blurry background). This lens did not disappoint at my favorite f-stop.
But even at f/1.8 (the widest aperture on the Sigma 135mm), the lens was tack sharp with very shallow depth of field. Once it was stopped down to f/16, there was some softness on the edges of the frame but it’s not very prominent. With a lens of this quality, the best aperture would be between f/1.8 to f/4 (in my opinion) to get the best of the shallow depth of field and bokeh that we all love.
Shot at ISO 200, f/1.8 – wide open – look at that dreamy bokeh.
ISO 200 at f/2.0
ISO 200 at f/9 – more of the entire scene is clear and visible – with a wider (deeper) depth of field here.
The Sigma 135mm at f/1.8 Art Lens showed slight edge vignetting when shot wide open. But for my style of photography, it’s minimal and nothing I could not fix in post-processing. I was very impressed with the number of tack sharp images that I could keep even when I used the lens completely wide open at f/1.8.
The image above left was shot at ISO 200, f/2.0 and on the right, the same scene was shot at ISO 200, f/9. There is no visible softness or vignetting at either aperture. The bokeh at f/2.0 is so dreamy (shallow depth of field) and at f/9 more of the background is visible.
The Sigma 135mm has an electronic hypersonic motor. This makes the autofocus very fast and smooth. I found that the lens locked focus easily and did not hunt while focusing. The AF motor was also relatively quiet and smooth as compared to other telephoto lenses like the Canon 85mm f/1.2L II USM that is really slow while hunting for focus in the AF mode.
While hiking my two boys decided they would lead the pack. I really wanted to capture this independent streak and both images are shot less than 2 seconds apart. The Sigma 135mm had no problems tracking focus as they moved up the trail. Both images were shot at ISO 200, f/2.0 and both have the subjects tack sharp and in focus in spite of the movement.
While the Sigma 135mm is not described as a macro lens, it did offer 0.2x magnification with a minimum focusing distance of just under three feet. Since I have a dedicated macro lens that I use for my detail shots, I did not pay much attention to this feature. However, in a pinch, this lens could be used to provide some magnification.
The 135mm zoom was a little tight when I had to take in-studio headshots but once I got the focus locked, it turned out beautifully. Both images were shot at f/2.0 ISO 640, 1/125th.
Overall I was really very impressed with the Sigma 135mm 1.8 DG HSM Art lens. It is a superbly built piece of gear that was incredibly fast, easy to carry, handle, and use.
The only thing I needed to get used to was the fact that it was a prime lens and not a zoom, unlike my favorite 70-200mm telephoto lens. This meant I had to move around to get shots at different angles and different focal lengths, but I don’t consider that a con. Instead, I feel that shooting with a prime lens makes you more careful and thoughtful about your compositions since you have to physically move around to get a diverse range of shots.
The Sigma 135mm lens is definitely something to look into if you are in the market for a good quality telephoto lens.
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If you spend any amount of time online you’ll be well aware of the rapid expansion of access to video content that has happened over recent years. Being largely user driven, this content varies from professionally produced through to home videos of cats, puppies and everything in between.
With the increase in internet speeds and processing power of viewing devices, we have the ability to watch countless hours of video content where and when we like. This provides some interesting opportunities for you as a photographer to consider, either through creating video content, or using video as a platform to show your work in a different way.
Ultimately it allows you to connect with people differently, using elements of storytelling and emotional connection that can only exist through the use of motion and sound. Here are some reasons why I have embraced video as a way of communicating.
Anyone who has been to see a film or documentary and become heavily invested in the story and its characters will be able to relate to this. While still images can communicate much of a subject, the depth of which you can tell stories through motion is effective in a different way.
Hearing the person’s voice rather than reading a quote, listening to them describe a situation or speak to another person and feeling the emotion in what they are saying and how they are presenting it. There is the element of moving images that cannot be replicated through stills. It is not to say that motion is a better way, just a different way to tell stories.
It also allows the viewer to have a different experience in seeing environments through motion. Seeing the elements that exist move and interact is again difficult to replicate through stills. Wildlife photos versus wildlife footage is an excellent example of how your understanding of an environment can shift based on the way you are viewing it.
Music plays a significant role in every piece of film or TV content, from the news to drama to documentary. It has incredibly strong pulling power with our emotions and this is something anyone can take advantage of. The immediate tone that is set with music helps to identify what we can expect to feel, the anticipation of a lion hunting its prey, the feeling of accomplishment for a climber reaching a summit, or a family coming together after a long time apart. The ability to pull your audience further into a story with the emotive power of music is something we should look at seriously if producing video content.
While we may not have the budget for commercial music or large-scale productions, there are a lot of options available through stock music sites that will give you the style of music you are after. By using music that is available for licensing, you are free to have your video projects available for public viewing with no concern of copyright infringement as long as the music is licensed for the correct use.
This is a great way to bring a collection of images together and show them in a more dynamic way. The collection of images may simply be your portfolio, or it could be from a wedding you have shot, an overseas trip, or a family event. There are many benefits to presenting still images in this way as it allows you to include music and some animation or movement of your images within the frame as opposed to just a static position.
It also means your photographic portfolio can now be viewed on platforms that would otherwise be unavailable for still images, such as YouTube.
Producing video content doesn’t have to include exclusively just video. Incorporating stills and animation can help tell stories in a more complete way, as well as utilizing content that may already exist.
An example of this may be a short story telling project about a person’s life growing up. Using old photos as part of the visual elements means you are able to give greater context to that person’s life, their story, and what they were like at this time. It also brings a greater level of authenticity to the person’s story as the viewer is able to see a visual representation of what they are talking about.
Another example of this is you may be telling the story of an artist. Using images of their art as they describe their motivation, process, and aims allows to help show their work as they are discussing it. Again, giving better context to who they are as well as a visual representation of their work within the video piece.
Many documentaries have a narrator or voice-over directing the flow and narrative of the story. Character driven stories only allow the voice and vision of the person the story is about, to appear.
While often there is an interviewer involved, the voice of the person asking the questions is removed from the final edit leaving only the people appearing in the video as the ones directing the story.
This has some considerations when asking questions during an interview, and more specifically, the way in which the person being interviewed responds.
A quick look across the most popular social media platforms will show how much video content is being favored. In fact, doing a few tests will show you that the current algorithms being used by these platforms favor video content above almost all others.
While YouTube is still the king of video, other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are definitely showing great reach and interaction with its users and video content. This can be a big advantage for those producing video as you have the potential to reach a bigger audience based on this shift.
It used to be the case that if a client wanted photographic work done, they hired a photographer and if they wanted video content produced, they hired a video producer or production company. But, there has been a shift in recent years with clients having the option of choosing one person who is capable of producing both. This has a number of benefits for the client as well as the supplier.
For the client, they only have to deal with one person or company. This is especially important if the styled approach needs to match across different content (photo still and video, for example. For the producer of content, it means you are able to offer more solutions for your clients, giving them a turnkey solution for production and more reasons to use you instead of anyone else.
There has never been a greater demand for video content. That demand is only set to rise as video content is embraced across all sectors of our society and more online platforms.
Here lies the opportunity for content creators. While there is nothing better than custom footage made specifically for a story, film, or documentary project, there is not always the budget or easy access to what is needed. Stock content is an excellent way for producers to obtain content for their respective projects. This is not a new concept as stock content has been around for a long time.
By looking through the libraries of some of the larger stock libraries, you can quickly determine the style of content that is accepted by stock libraries, and what is the most popular for purchase and download. There are many options for your approach to creating stock video content. However, maximizing your existing connection or access to local areas or industries means you can take a more strategic approach to what you produce based on your knowledge of said industries or areas.
This is almost like a behind the scenes process of telling your story. It is a great way for your audience to get a better idea of who you are as an artist and producer. It will allow your followers to become better invested in your work and your story so they become better connected to you.
By understanding your process in a transparent way, your followers can not only understand the amount of effort and resources that go in to producing your work, they will also develop a better understanding of what it takes to be a successful artist.
Even if you are not using video production within your business or work, it is a good skill to develop for the future. As mentioned earlier, there is no doubt we are consuming more video content than ever before.
Organizations that traditionally would not consider producing video content in-house are starting to do so. Developing the skill and understanding for what is needed to produce this content will give you a better understanding of the strategy needed, whether you are producing it personally, or engaging the services of an external producer.
This will often lead to better planning and execution of a project, which results in better quality outcomes.
If producing video content is of interest then get out there and start experimenting with this medium. As most, if not all cameras for photography also shoot video now, it means there is little or no investment in equipment to get started. Be sure to check out some articles on how to get started shooting video and hit the record button and start experimenting.
The post 10 Reasons Why it’s a Good Idea to Start Producing Video Content by Damian Caniglia appeared first on Digital Photography School.
If you think learning is a boring task, you definitely haven’t studied photography. To make this point, I decided to explain the relationship between shutter speed and movement by spending the day at a theme park.
When you get an unwanted blur in your photograph it can be very frustrating. However, this shouldn’t stop you from experimenting with your camera’s shutter speed. Perfectly sharp images can be great for composition and color but they don’t really reflect everything that’s going on and can fail to convey the atmosphere.
Shutter speed 1/640th, f/9, ISO 200.
Shutter speed 1/50th, f/22, ISO 200.
Theme parks can be the most fun, but even so, they can appear a bit dull in still images. However, just adding a little movement can do the trick. Don’t you agree?
Shutter speed 1/1000th, f/3.5, ISO 200.
Shutter speed 1/15th, f/22, ISO 200.
If you are comfortable using Manual Mode on your camera, then please do so. However, if you are not used to adjusting your settings you can always do these exercises by using Shutter Priority Mode. To do this you have to set the dial of your camera to the S (Nikon, Sony) or Tv (Canon) symbol on your mode dial. This mode gives you the flexibility to choose the shutter speed that you want, and the camera figures out the rest of the settings for you in order to have a well-exposed photo.
However, there is one thing that you do need to know first . . .
The shutter is a curtain inside your camera that opens to allow light to enter the camera and hit the digital sensor (or film) in order to create your photo. Shutter speed refers to how fast or slowly it opens and closes. The longer you leave the shutter open, the more light will come in.
Therefore, as long as it’s opened everything in front of your lens is leaving an imprint. In the case of a moving object, this results as a halo or a ghost and is why you get blurry photos when using slower shutter speeds. The longer the exposure time, the blurrier the subject will be.
Shutter speed 1/60th, f/22, ISO 200.
Shutter speed 1/30th, f/29, ISO 200.
Now that you have that clear, let’s dive into the fun part and start doing some creative effects with this knowledge. First, we’ll start with a sharp background and a blurry object/subject, as this is the easiest one to achieve. For this one, you need to be standing still and have something or someone in motion in the scene in front of you. As for your camera, you need to use a slow shutter speed. How slow depends on the speed your subject is moving, so just make a few tries.
Note: All movement gets registered in the image when you are using slow speeds, including your own. So if your subject requires for you to shoot lower than the length of your lens (i.e. slower than 1/50th with a 50mm lens) it’s better if you use a tripod or else your fixed background will look blurry as well.
Shutter speed, 1/6th, f/22, ISO 200 and an 18mm lens.
Shutter speed, 1/50th, f/29, ISO 200 and a lens focal length of 33mm.
For the second effect, let’s do the opposite; a blurry background and a sharper subject. You don’t want the moving subject completely sharp because then you can lose the purpose and it will look dull or worse, fake (as in Photoshopped into the image). So it’s always better for the subject to have a small halo around it that shows its movement, direction, and speed.
This one is a little bit trickier because, on top of choosing the correct shutter speed, you also need to follow the moving subject with your camera, matching its speed (this is called panning). So please don’t get frustrated if you don’t get it right on the first try because the results are worth the effort!
Shutter speed, 1/50th, f/29, ISO 200. The camera was moved in a circular motion to follow the subject.
Shutter speed, 1/40th, f/32, ISO 200. The camera was moved in a vertical motion to follow the subject.
Shutter speed, 1/60th, f/22, ISO 200. The camera was moved in a horizontal motion to follow the subject.
When you feel comfortable with the previous techniques, try introducing some mixed movements. In other words, your subject moving one way and you in another.
Shutter speed, 1/50th, f/22, ISO 200.
Shutter speed, 1/40th, f/32, ISO 200.
Liking it so far? It gets better! You can even put some movement into photos of still subjects.
Shutter speed, 1/50th, f/22, ISO 200 with an 18-35mm lens.
To achieve this effect you need to use a zoom lens. What you have to do is to twist (zoom) so that you go from one focal length to another while the shutter is still open. The bigger the zoom, the more intense the effect.
Shutter speed, ½ a second, f/29, ISO 200, focal length 18-28mm.
Shutter speed, 1/50th, f/29, ISO 200, focal length 18-45mm.
Shutter speed, ½ a second, f/29, ISO 200, focal length 18-55mm.
There you go, you are ready to enjoy your day in the park while making some amazing looking shots. Take a ride, have fun, and let all your problems all blur away!
Shutter speed, 1/15th, f/22, ISO 200.
Please share your comments, questions, and motion blurry images below.
The post How to Have Fun with Shutter Speed and Added Motion Blur by Ana Mireles appeared first on Digital Photography School.
In many parts of the world, spring has blossomed into summer, furry and feathered babies were being born and summer is on its way. Photographers are pulling out their camera gear and finally heading back outside for some nature photography. I am so ready to get out and photograph the bounty that warm weather brings, I bet you are too. Before you head outside though, here are a few tips on having a little lower impact on the nature you’re photographing.
Spring has sprung so let’s all get outside and shoot. Canon 5DIII, 70-200 @ 121mm, ISO 500, f/4, 1/750th.
When you do head out to do nature photography, consider your carbon footprint. We lead such comfortable lives these days that’s it’s easy to forget that hopping into the car for a two-hour drive isn’t all that great for our environment. Car-pooling with two or three of your friends is an easy way to reduce emissions. It’s a lot more fun to spend the day shooting with friends, too.
Planning a day trip or holiday to shoot with your friends is not only more fun, it also helps to reduce your carbon footprint when you carpool and share vehicles.
Another way to reduce your carbon footprint is something I call “doubling up.” Whenever you fly somewhere, research what else you can easily see while you’re there. For example, this fall I’ll be a special guest photography teacher for Big Sky Yoga Retreats “Yogatography,” a combined yoga and photography retreat in Montana.
The ranch I’m staying at is only about a 90-minute drive from Yellowstone National Park so it makes perfect sense to add a few days in the park after the retreat ends. Of course, I also save money by combining my visit to Yellowstone with the Yogatography retreat but more than that, I reduce emissions by flying to Montana once instead of twice.
The last time I was in Yellowstone I was only carrying a little point and shoot while I hiked so I’m pleased to be able to “double up” this fall when I’m in Bozeman teaching and have another crack at shooting Mammoth Hot Springs with some beefier gear.
Once you arrive at your location, heed the park signs. Often, the signs are meant to protect you from harm. But sometimes they’re meant to protect the wildlife around us.
On the left, a sign from Antelope Island in Utah requesting that cars and hikers stay on the road to avoid aggressive wild buffalo encounters. On the right, a funny and scary bathroom sign from a Nevada park. For heaven’s sake, don’t slip. There are rattle snakes!
Several years ago in Utah, I left the trail while I was shooting in Arches National Park. My guide quickly pulled me back and pointed out what I hadn’t seen. Right next to where I’d planted my foot was a type of very slow growing fungal plant life that, when crushed, will not revive for hundreds of years.
It’s hard to see, but tucked in and around the rocks and bushes are delicate fungal plants that are easily crushed when stepped on. Canon 5DIII, 24-105 @ 22mm, ISO 100, f/16, 1.5 seconds.
We all want the best, most unique photographs but if we all leave the trail, our combined impact can destroy the beautiful environments we are trying to capture not to mention causing a lot of potential injury to ourselves.
While I greatly admire photographers who openly teach and share, consider very carefully whether you should share every amazing location you stumble upon with every photographer you know. Unfortunately, delicate environments can’t handle hordes of photographers. The wear and tear of too many people hiking in and out can destroy the natural beauty of the location itself, even if everyone stays on the trail.
Canon 7DII, 70-200mm with 1.4xIII extender @ 280mm, ISO 1000, f/5.6, 1/250th.
I love to photograph the tiny Key Deer on Big Pine Key in Florida. When I drive the island, I know just where these little creatures like to hang out. I don’t tell very many people about this location though, because the deer have become too habituated to humans, frequently approaching people and begging for food.
Too many human visitors can also frighten wildlife, disrupt nesting, and impact natural reproductive cycles. While complete secrecy about a magical location seems stingy, consider sharing more environmentally fragile places only with photographers who know and understand the impact they have on where they shoot.
When I see a lush, velvety plant growing at the Chicago Botanic Garden, all I want to do is run my fingertips across its surface. The rule at the garden, however, is to look and not touch. Sometimes I practically have to put my hands in my pockets to stop myself from touching the amazing specimens on display!
Luckily, they have a wonderful Sensory Garden where visitors are encouraged to physically touch the plant life. The Sensory Garden is mainly a teaching and learning area. But by allowing visitors to touch the plants there, it also helps prevent wear on the rest of the garden, leaving it pristine for the thousands of weekly visitors, many of whom are photographers.
These broad velvety leaves beg to be touched. Canon 5DIII, 24-105mm lens @ 105mm, ISO 1000, f/4, 1/2000th.
If you’re shooting in a wild and remote place, use the same rule as that applies at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and don’t touch the plant life. Imagine hundreds of people walking through that same wild area and touching the same plant you’re touching. It wouldn’t take much before the plant started to wither around the edges, and ultimately turn brown and die. Next time, before you touch, ask yourself whether you’re truly leaving no impact on the plant. If you are impacting it, perhaps reconsider your actions.
It probably goes without saying that when you pick wildflowers you’re impacting the environment in a negative way. Acres and acres of wildflowers are a breath-taking sight. A field left with only one or two flowers standing? Not so much.
Like a field of wildflowers, a picked-over field of tulips wouldn’t be nearly as stunning to photograph as this lush bed was. Canon 5DIII. 70-200mm lens @ 111mm, ISO 250, f/4, 1/1000th.
In some locations, it’s also illegal to pick wildflowers. It’s also illegal to remove shells, bones, pottery shards, and petrified wood from many state and national parks. While we humans seem to have a knee jerk reaction to gather and collect things, leaving plants and artifacts alone preserves them so that all of us can visit, enjoy and photograph them.
Is that mud flat, playa or sand dune you’re photographing absolutely pristine? If it is, take care not to walk on it or leave footprints. Don’t drive on it or leave tire tracks either. Environmental recovery from this sort of carelessness can take decades before there will be enough wind or rainfall to smooth out your tracks. You’re not only wrecking the image-making opportunity for the next photographer that comes along, you’re destroying the beauty of the location for everyone who visits it.
On Cumberland Island, in Georgia, the National Park Service has constructed boardwalks so that visitors can view the dunes without damaging them. Canon 5DIII, 100-400mm lens @ 100mm, ISO 12800, f/8, 1/6000th.
Because I mainly photograph wild horses, I’m frequently asked if I touch, pet, or ride them. These questions always strike me as naive but, because most people are used to domesticated horses, perhaps they think that wild horses tolerate or accept humans more readily than other wild animals. They don’t.
Does this wild stallion look like he wants to be petted? He doesn’t. His ears are pinned back and he has an eagle eye on me too. Canon 5DIII, 100-400 @ 400mm, ISO 1250, f/6.7, 1/500th.
The same rules apply to wild horses that apply to any other wild animals. No matter how sweet or cuddly a wild animal seems, never approach, feed, touch, hug, or pick it up. Wild animals are often so much bigger than we are and even if they fearfully strike out with mildly aggressive behaviors, you can be seriously injured. Always keep a safe distance between you and the animal you’re photographing and, in some cases, shoot from the car or another protective structure like a blind. If, as a photographer, you’re afraid you’ll be too far away, buy or rent a bigger lens.
If you’re afraid you’ll be too far away to get a good photo, buy or rent a bigger lens.
Visitors to Big Pine Key often get too close to the Key Deer that live there. This woman fed the deer her lunch leftovers (!!) and then tried to pet them. This is the perfect example of what not to do when you’re photographing wild animals.
These rules may not seem like much “fun” but they are for the animals’ safety as much as for yours. Animals that become too accustomed to humans become less wild, more dependent on humans for their food, and ultimately nuisances when they start to forage for food in suburban areas. When too many wild animals invade populous areas, they are often culled, which is just a more politically correct word for killed. Keep your distance and keep wild animals wild, free, and alive.
You’ve probably heard this bit of advice before. Whatever you carry in with you when you head into a refuge, preserve, or wilderness area, you should also plan to carry out with you. Garbage littering the landscape doesn’t make a very pretty picture. Of course, you can just “Photoshop it out in post-processing” but for the environment’s sake, and for the safety of the animals who might ingest any garbage left behind, take everything you brought in with you back out when you leave.
The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group volunteers do an amazing job of regularly cleaning up the river but too many people toss their trash into it rather than carrying everything out with them when they leave. Even the day after a massive clean up effort, these wild horses were drinking next to floating trash. Canon 5DIII, 100-400 with 1.4xIII extender @ 560mm, ISO 1250, f/8, 1/500th.
An even nicer thing to do is to leave the area cleaner than you found it. On your way out, pick up the garbage other less savvy hikers and photographers have left behind and dispose of it appropriately once you get back home.
If you’re a weekend warrior type of photographer – and many of us are – it might seem like a natural thing to bring your faithful pup along with you. In a very few situations, bringing your dog (or any domestic animal) may work out just fine, but at best bringing your dog along is a distraction from making images. At worst, your dog can wreck a field of flowers or scare off wildlife (or get injured).
These two dogs are having a much better time relaxing at sea than they would be out hiking while you photograph wildlife. Canon T3i, 55-250 @ 240mm, ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/320th.
Perhaps if you’re a macro flower photographer, your well-behaved and leashed dog won’t a problem. He can rest on the path while you shoot. A puppy however (at least any that I’ve ever met) probably won’t be content to relax on the trail. Instead, he’ll be crashing through the flowers, possibly damaging them, and rendering them less likely to be image-worthy for the next guy that comes along with a camera.
If you’re photographing butterflies, birds, or wild animals, your dog should really stay at home for his safety, as well as the other animals. I’m sure that some of you are scratching your heads right now and exclaiming how well-behaved your dog is, but seriously… I’ve been out there on the range photographing wild horses when someone shows up with their “amazing dog.” The horses’ behaviors always change as they become aware of the dog.
This stallion has just sighted a hiker and her two dogs on the river bank. He’s alert and ready to protect his family. Canon 5DIII, 100-400 @ 241mm, ISO 500, f/4.5, 1/3000th.
Your dog might be cool with wild animals but the wild animals are immediately on alert. Remember, dogs are instinctually predatory animals and other animals recognize that. The behavior dynamic shifts when you bring your dog, no matter how amazing he is. Yell at me all you want, but please, leave Fido at home. Your dog impacts the environment and not in a good way for photography.
I was in North Carolina a few weeks ago hiking on Shackleford Banks and photographing the wild horses. The first thing I did when I got back to my rental house was to shower off the sweat, sand, sunscreen and bug spray. As I toweled my hair dry, I kept itching my ear. That’s when I discovered the tick. Thankfully it wasn’t attached yet and I could just pick it off my skin but, ugh, so gross.
Photo Credit: Eden Halbert. Here I am in on Shackleford Banks in 80F+ degree weather, covered head-to-toe in UPF 50 quick dry clothing. Depending on your environment, wear a hat, sun- and bug-protective clothing, sunscreen and bug spray. Don’t forget to bring and drink plenty of water.
To reduce nature’s impact on you, my recommendation is to wear a hat, sun- and bug-protective clothing, sunscreen, and bug spray. Plus, remember to do what I forgot to do. After your photography hike and before you get into your car, check yourself, your clothes and your camera bag for ticks, burs and other clinging critters.
Finally, set yourself up as a good example for your fellow photographers. More often than not, when another photographer crashes around like King Kong, it’s not with the intent to be destructive. It’s usually because he/she doesn’t know any better. If you model more appropriate behaviors, and explain why all these strategies are so important to preserving nature, your friends will follow your lead.
What strategies do you use to lower your impact on the nature and wildlife you photograph? Please share your thoughts in the comments. The dPS community would love to hear from you.
The post How to Practice Low Impact Nature Photography by Lara Joy Brynildssen appeared first on Digital Photography School.
In days of yore, back when DSLR cameras were SLR, a roll of film was inserted in the back of your camera to give you 24 or 36 exposures. A double exposure was created in-camera by taking two different photos on the same frame of film.
The Double Exposure Effect created in Adobe Photoshop using Blend Modes, Layer Masks and of course two or more images.
When I did shoot with an SLR camera, I managed to achieve this effect more by accident than intent. In order to take another shot, you had to manually wind onto the next exposure!
With the onset of digital, this technique is very easy to replicate in Adobe Photoshop. If you don’t have Photoshop, get GIMP, it’s free to download and use. If you do a search on YouTube, there are plenty of tutorials on making double exposure effects to choose from. The more popular tutorials seem to use images of a portrait and a landscape.
However, you can use any images you want as this is quite a stylistic technique.
In essence, all you need are two images.
One of these images will have to be cut out using a layer mask so that the other image can be clipped to it.
Then it’s a case of using the blending modes, reducing the opacity, and other color effects to produce the desired result. Depending on what images that you use, experiment with the different blending options to see which effect you like the best.
In this article, I will show you a step-by-step tutorial on how to create your very own double exposure effect using Photoshop. The hardest part will be selecting the two images that you want for the composition.
For my first image, I’ll be using this photo of the Hook Lighthouse. I took this shot a couple of years ago while on holidays along the hook peninsula in Wexford, Ireland.
Hook Lighthouse on the Hook Peninsula in Wexford in South of Ireland.
However, I didn’t get to snap any seagulls. This is exactly what I wanted for my second image, a close up side shot of a seagull.
I found one on Pixabay. If you don’t have images ready to hand. You can go to sites such as Pixabay or Unsplash. These two sites alone have excellent quality images to choose from and you can download any image for free (note: please read the usage terms for the Creative Commons license and be sure to follow them).
Seagull image from Pixabay.com
So, first I needed to make a selection of the seagull. The Quick Selection Tool did a good job and I finished it off by using the Refine Mask. I was able to save this out on its own layer with a layer mask.
Using the Quick Selection Tool and Refine Mask in Photoshop to isolate the subject from the background.
I decided to add a blue background in keeping with the nautical theme but also the seagull is predominately white, so he stands out more.
I added a blue background after I isolated the seagull from the original background.
I brought the lighthouse image in as a Smart Object above the seagull layer and resized it. Next, I dragged the seagull layer mask to the lighthouse layer (which copies and applies it to the second layer) and changed the Blend Mode to Vivid Light. Finally, I then reduced the opacity to 68%.
I used the Blend Mode – Vivid Light which produced some funky colors on the beak of the seagull. But I liked the effect it created on the lighthouse image in comparison to the other Blend Mode options.
The Layers Panel in Photoshop and how the double effect in Photoshop is achieved.
At this stage, the colors on the seagull went a little too funky, especially around the eye and its beak.
So, I added a Hue & Saturation Adjustment Layer, checked the colorize tick box, and dragged the Hue slider to 183 and increased the Saturation to 10.
I added a Hue & Saturation Adjustment Layer to get rid of the funky colors that the Vivid Light Blend Mode created around the beak of the seagull.
The lighthouse rocks were still a little too sharp, but I didn’t want to reduce the opacity of the overall image any further. So I duplicated the seagull layer and dragged it to the top of the layer stack. I chose a big soft brush and I dabbed a couple of times on the layer mask around the rocks and the lighthouse to give it more of an opaque/ghostly look.
A GIF animation illustrating the different stages in creating a double exposure effect.
I had hoped to put a video together to accompany this article. But honestly, Adobe Creative Cloud have done a great job with a video on their YouTube channel, in illustrating this technique in under 45 seconds!
Now it’s your turn, let’s see what you can do. Why not give this technique a go? Please post your questions, comments and results in the section below.
Disclaimer: the author was not sponsored by Adobe, Pixabay or Unsplash. Words and opinions are those of the author only.
The post How to Create a Double Exposure Effect Using Photoshop by Sarah Hipwell appeared first on Digital Photography School.
One of the beautiful things about modern digital photography is the astronomical degree of choice that is available to us. No matter whether you’re a professional photographer, a weekend warrior, or a casual enthusiast who just likes to take snapshots of your kids, your food, or your feet – there are dozens, even hundreds, of camera models and options to suit your needs. There are specialty cameras for recording extreme sports, underwater cameras for photographing the deep blue sea, and a slew of lenses available for DSLR and mirrorless cameras to suit any situation in which you might find yourself.
There are also some clear differentiating factors between these various options that make some cameras better suited to certain situations. One of the most common issues I see discussed is that of full-frame versus crop-sensor cameras. To help clear the air regarding this particular question I’d like to address four common myths about full-frame, with the goal of helping you choose a camera that suits your needs.
Taken with a 10-year-old crop-sensor Nikon D200 and 50mm f/1.8 lens.
I see this myth being perpetuated all the time, particularly in online forums but also when talking to people in person. It’s a shame because it’s just not true. full-frame is certainly better in some aspects compared to crop-sensor cameras, but to declare that they are universally better is colossally misleading.
One analogy I like to use here is that of vehicles, particularly pickup trucks. A beast like the Ford F-150 is a fantastic and phenomenally well-rounded truck that excels at hauling, towing, and all the usual heavy-duty jobs for which one would typically buy such a vehicle. By comparison, the Toyota Tacoma is a smaller truck and not quite as powerful or capable, but actually beats its larger counterpart in some regards such as better gas mileage, smaller turning radius, and greater overall agility in a more urban environment.
Taken with a full-frame Nikon D750 and 85mm f/1.8 lens. A crop-sensor camera would have worked, but would have required me to be farther back in order to get this same composition and there was simply not enough space in the room to do so.
Neither truck is objectively better; both are well suited to the specific needs of the people who purchase them. The same is true for cameras in that full-frame cameras work very well in many regards. But to say they are better negates some of the unique advantages of smaller crop-sensor cameras.
full-frame models, as a rule, have strengths like greater high ISO capabilities, improved dynamic range, and improved build quality. If these things are important to you, then a full-frame camera might suit your needs. However, smaller and less expensive crop-sensor cameras have some unique advantages as well such as:
These are all generalizations, of course, and there are always exceptions to the rule. But suffice it to say that just because full-frame cameras exist doesn’t mean you need to get one.
Taken with a crop-sensor Nikon D7100, 50mm lens, and +10 close-up filter.
This is a myth that’s closely related to GAS, or Gear Acquisition Syndrome – a condition that plagues many photographers and often causes them to continually buy more cameras, lenses, and accessories in the hopes that these things will help improve their photography. Getting a full-frame camera will certainly allow you to take advantage of the unique benefits that they offer, but it will by no means do anything to actually improve the quality of your photographs.
No matter what camera you have, whether it’s a mobile phone, pocket camera, or crop-sensor DSLR, the best thing you can do to make yourself a better photographer is to learn more about photography, not spend money on new gear. In fact, sticking with the gear you have and learning to work within its limitations can have a profound impact on your photography and go quite a long way towards helping you improve.
Taken with a full-frame Nikon D750 and 50mm lens, but it was years of learning about composition, lighting, and other photographic principles that helped me get this shot.
To extend the vehicle metaphor just a bit, buying a Formula 1 car will not automatically make you a better driver. Certainly, it will allow you to have access to the unique capabilities of such a fine automobile. But simply parking an F1 racecar in your driveway will in no way upgrade your own ability to operate a motor vehicle. Some photographers mistakenly think that purchasing a full-frame camera will give their photography a boost. But in truth, it’s the day-in-day-out work of practicing the fundamentals of photography like composition, lighting, color, contrast, etc., that will lead to improvements.
If you do decide that you want to invest in full-frame gear, you can take solace in the fact that price is no longer the barrier to entry that it once was. The first full-frame camera was the Canon 5D, which came out in August 2005 and cost about $ 3500 USD, which made it prohibitively expensive for all but the most dedicated professionals and ardent enthusiasts. Crop-sensor cameras were far cheaper, making them the default solution for many photographers around the world. To this day they remain a perfectly viable option for almost any type of photography.
However, as prices have gone down over the years it is now much more feasible to purchase full-frame gear compared to days gone by. New full-frame cameras such as the Nikon D610 or Canon 6D are about $ 1400-1500 (at the time of writing this) and can often be found on sale, which is a steal compared to just a few years ago. And while more expensive models such as the Canon 1DX Mark II or Nikon D5 can easily cost as much as a used car, you certainly don’t need those high-end models to take advantage of many of the benefits of shooting full-frame.
Taken with a full-frame Nikon D750 and 70-200 f/2.8 lens. I could have taken a similar shot with a crop-sensor camera and different lens, but I specifically wanted the wide aperture of this lens and the control over depth of field offered by the D750.
Another benefit of the passing of time is that full-frame cameras which were cutting-edge a few years ago are significantly cheaper in price now that they have been replaced by newer models. Consider the Canon 5D Mark II, a camera which is so good it was used to film the season finale of the TV show House in 2010. While it can’t match the blistering high ISO performance and other tricks of its newer counterpart, it’s still a phenomenal camera and can be found used online for much cheaper than the shiny new models.
Friends and family members often ask me for advice when it comes to buying cameras and camera gear, and this used to be somewhat precarious territory due to the understanding that real photographers always ended up buying full-frame cameras. Thus, advising someone to buy a crop-sensor camera was to tread on dangerous ground because in a few years that person might realize his or her gear is a second-class citizen in the world of photography and it would have been better had a full-frame model been purchased from the start. Thankfully nowadays, as Princess Leia said to Han Solo at the end of Return of the Jedi, “It’s not like that at all.”
Taken with a crop-sensor Nikon D7100 and 50mm f/1.8 lens.
Sensor technology in cameras today is so good that you can shoot professional photos whether you have full-frame, crop-sensor, medium format, micro-four-thirds, or in some cases even just a mobile phone. Camera gear is not the limiting factor it once was. So while many professionals certainly like to shoot full-frame, there is a growing number who prefer the features, size, convenience, and price of smaller models especially in the world of mirrorless cameras like the Olympus OM-D EM1 Mark II or Panasonic GH5.
If you have specific needs that are not being met by your crop-sensor camera then it may be a good idea to consider a full-frame camera. But otherwise, the gear you have is probably good enough and you’d be better off investing your money in lenses, lighting, and education rather than a new camera body.
Taken with a full-frame Nikon D750 and 50mm f/1.8 lens. Why that particular setup? Honestly, I just like how that camera feels in my hands and I enjoy using it.
I’d like to hear from you, the DPS community, on this one. What type of camera gear do you shoot with, and is there any way in which you find it to be limiting? Do you shoot with full-frame and if so, what do you like about it? Are you content using crop-sensor cameras?
For the record, I personally use both crop-sensor and full-frame cameras and have specific purposes for both. But it’s always interesting to hear from other photographers on subjects like this. Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
The post Four Common Myths About Full-Frame Cameras Dispelled by Simon Ringsmuth appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Markets the world over are fascinating places. A photographer’s paradise, with a cornucopia of things to aim the camera at. Here are 18 images from a trip to the market:
By Carsten ten Brink
By Roberto Verzo
By David Stanley
By jpellgen
By Brook Ward
By Bud Ellison
By swong95765
By sara marlowe
By Rod Waddington
By Vanila Balaji
By aotaro
By David Guyler
By Neil Howard
By Leticia Roncero
By eugenuity
By James Merhebi
By Ryan Bodenstein
By Grant Matthews
By sdosani
By Carla Cometto
By Didier Baertschiger
The post 21 Images That Show a Trip to the Market by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Start off your shopping trip by browsing this collection of 21 images of markets.
By Adam Baker
By Eduards Osis
By Cocoabiscuit
This week’s photography challenge is about shopping. Just like we have a weekly challenge, many cities of the world have weekly markets. Wherever you live, find your local market and get out and shoot it.
Don’t forget to take your shopping bag and bring home some fresh veggies, and maybe some lovely flowers.
By Mark Shahaf
By Stephen Cysewski
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.
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 – Markets by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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