Category: Photography

How to Turn Your Kids into Star Wars Characters Using Photoshop
Do your kids love Star Wars? Do you love photography? If so, here’s a great opportunity to join forces and turn your kids into Star Wars heroes or villains by giving them the ultimate Star Wars weapon, the lightsaber.

All you need to awaken the force are these three steps:
1. The setup
2. Capturing the shot
3. Light up your sabers using Photoshop
BONUS tip – The Jumping Jedi

Step #1 – The Setup

For the setup, you will want to make sure that the photographs of your kids look as close to a Star Wars scene as possible. Don’t just take a picture of your kids wearing a t-shirt standing in the kitchen. Luke Skywalker doesn’t light up his lightsaber in a kitchen. Your kids will have a lot of fun getting into character, so spend some time on the setup.

Costumes

You can buy costumes for your kids on Amazon. Here are the costumes used in this tutorial.
- Luke Skywalker
- Rey
- Kylo Ren
- Lightsabers
- Total customs cost ~ $ 40-70
Location

For the location, you will want to find a place that looks like it could be a scene in any of the Star Wars movies. The easiest location to use would be a park with trees, and no noticeable man-made objects in sight.

Step #2 – Capturing the Shot

Action shots

For action shots of a lightsaber battle, you will want to use a fast shutter speed of at least 1/500th of a second, and set your camera to continuous (burst) shooting mode. This will allow you to freeze the action of the battle and take multiple shots in sequence to ensure you capture the best of the action.

Shutter speed was 1/800th of a second.

Portraits

For the portraits, give your kids some epic poses to follow. To give you ideas for creative poses, do a Google images search for the Star Wars character of your choice. This will also help your child get more into the character. For example here are some for Rey.

Do basic edits to the image

After you capture the image, you will need to make a few adjustments to the image to make it stand out. This can be done in Adobe Lightroom and is the final step before your photo is ready to go into Photoshop for the lightsaber effect.

For the look of Star Wars, a few basic edits, such as increasing the contrast and the clarity will help give it a rough and grungy look that Star Wars is known for.

Notice the differences between the before and after of this image by making a few basic edits in Adobe Lightroom.

Step #3 – Light your sabers up in Photoshop

Adding the lightsaber effect is the last and final step in making turning your kid into the Star Wars character of their dreams. This process should take about five minutes per photo once you have done it a few times.

Part 1: Prepare the layer

Start by creating a duplicate layer by pressing CTRL/CMD + J.

Select the icon to create a new fill or adjustment layer, and from that menu select Hue/Saturation. Then, move the lightness slider to -100 to make it black.

Select CTRL/CMD + E to merge the adjustment layer and duplicate layer. Next, set the blending mode drop down to Screen.

At this point, your layers are prepped and ready to add the lightsaber.

Part 2: Add the lightsaber by using the brush tool

Select the brush tool, and adjust the size and hardness of the brush. The size of your brush will vary based on the size of the lightsaber and your image. Set the hardness of the brush to approximately 50%.

Begin to add your lightsaber using brush strokes. Select the end point of the lightsaber, then hold down shift, and click the other end of the lightsaber to draw a straight line. Repeat these lines multiple times to fill in the lightsaber with brush strokes. You will likely need to add free-form brush strokes around the base of the lightsaber to fill it in.

Illuminate the lightsaber

The next step allows you to illuminate the lightsaber. Create three duplicate layers of the lightsaber by selecting CTRL/CMD + J three times. For each layer, you will then select Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. But, each layer will be set to a different radius setting. For this image, we used 5, 15, 35, 75 for each respective layer. Note, that the amount of Gaussian Blur needed may vary based on the size of your image. Adjust these numbers as needed to ensure you have a nice glow from the lightsaber.

Select all of the duplicate layers (do not select the background), and merge them into one layer by pressing CTRL/CMD + E. Then set the blending mode to Screen.

Add color to the lightsaber

It’s now time to add color to your lightsaber. Select the icon to create a new fill or adjustment layer, and choose the option for Color Balance. Activate the clipping mask so that you only add color to the lightsaber, not the entire image. You can choose any color of your choice, but in this example, we are working with green.

You will want to add the color selection to each option for Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights. Adjust the color slider up or down based on the color preferences for your lightsaber. For this photo, we set shadows, midtones, and highlights to green at around +65.

Your lightsaber is now complete, but there is still one more important step to get a realistic photo. You need to add some glow to the subject from the illumination coming off of the lightsaber.

Part 3: Add the reflective glow from the lightsaber

Select the background or base layer. Click the icon to create a new fill or adjustment layer, and choose the option for Color Balance. Choose the same color as you used for your lightsaber, but this time as you adjust the color for Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights, it will work best if you emphasize the color around the highlights more than the shadows or Midtones. For this photo, we used Shadows +32, Midtones +38, and Highlights +70

Add a vector mask and then select CTRL/CMD + I to hide all of the color balance. Select the brush tool, and make it a soft edge brush with an opacity around +18. This will allow you to brush in a soft reflection of glow to parts of the image that make it look realistic.

Bonus – Jumping Jedi

A bonus tip that you may want to use in your Star Wars photo shoot is a jumping Jedi. With a few simple tricks, you can give the illusion of your Jedi jumping high into the air over a swinging lightsaber.

First, make sure you use a tripod as you will need the camera to be completely stationary for two different shots. You can have your Jedi jump off a chair at the same time that his enemy swings his lightsaber. Then remove the chair and capture a shot of the exact same scene, but this time without the chair or characters in the shot (tripod use is important for image alignment later).

The second shot should be empty with the exception of the background because it will allow you to take the chair out of the original picture to create the illusion of a jumping Jedi.

Here’s how it’s done in Photoshop.

Start by opening both photos as layers. You will want the empty background shot to be set as the base layer and the action shot as the top one. Select the top layer of the action shot, and click Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal all.

Select the brush tool, and make sure that your foreground color is set to black, which will allow you to brush away the top layer to reveal some of the base layer. If your foreground color is set to white as opposed to black you can switch it to black by clicking X. Simply brush over the chair (make sure you are painting on the mask NOT the layer) to make it disappear.

Add the lightsaber effect from above, and you have the illusion of a jumping Jedi.

Below are some additional examples of the final images from this Star Wars project to give you additional ideas for action shots and portraits to bring your characters to life.

Finally

You can watch this whole process in the follow short video as well:

Note: thanks to my co-author on this article, David Kahl.

Try to awaken the force in your family by giving them a lightsaber and following this tutorial. In addition, leave a comment with any other fun photography projects that you have captured with your kids or family. Share your images if you give this a go, we’d love to see them!

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The post How to Turn Your Kids into Star Wars Characters Using Photoshop by Paul Fontanelli appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
February 10, 2017
8 Tips For Doing Stunning Urban Landscape Photography

As a photographer, when you hear the word landscape your mind will most likely conjure up images of lush valleys, looming mountains, and majestic, sweeping vistas. With good reason, as the natural world can be a place of staggering beauty. But done well, a different type of landscape photography, the urban landscape, can produce shots that are equally as compelling as anything Mother Nature can throw your way.

The energy of a major city lends images a vitality that can’t be found anywhere else. There’s so much movement and life in the urban environment, and the best city shots capture that buzzing vibrancy.

Shooting urban landscapes also has plenty of practical advantages too. Every type of photography is all about the light, and that is one thing cities never run out of. You can shoot in the artificial glow of the metropolis long after you’d have been forced to pack up your kit and make your way home from a day in the countryside.

Couple that with the fact that, for the most part, cities are a lot more accessible for the majority of us, and shooting urban landscapes is the ideal activity for photographers during those long winter months.

So here are our top 8 tips for getting the most out of your time pounding the sidewalks.

#1. Research

You wouldn’t embark on a traditional landscape photography outing by jumping in the car, heading for the hills and hoping for the best. Likewise, the success of an urban landscape shoot depends largely on how well you plan.

Your home town

Even if you’re off to capture the town or city you grew up in, putting in the effort to do a little research up front usually pays dividends.

For example, when I wanted to get a shot from high up, overlooking my hometown of London, I didn’t foresee any problems in finding a suitable viewpoint. However, after a little digging, I learned that while London isn’t lacking in tall buildings offering amazing views, the number you can actually gain access to, that are also well suited for photography, can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

The vast majority are either restricted entry or in the case of The Shard (seen at the top of this article), cursed with a viewing gallery shrouded with ultra-reflective windows.A few minutes Googling directed me to a lesser-known church tower on the banks of the Thames with unrestricted views downriver, saving me hours of fruitless searching.

Visiting another city

If you’re visiting a city for the first time, it’s a good idea to spend a little longer familiarizing yourself with the place before you go. Drawing up a shot list of the locations you want to photograph is a good idea as well.

But all that being said, don’t make yourself a slave to it. Few things are more exciting or rewarding in photography than allowing yourself the freedom to meander through a new landscape, get a little lost, and allow whatever happens to happen.
One word of warning: depending on your location, be sure you know where you can and cannot shoot. Many places these days are understandably sensitive about strangers waving cameras around. If in doubt, ask.

#2. Light

The quality, color, and angle of the light can make or break any shot, and this is especially true for urban landscape photography. A subject that looks dull and uninspiring at one time of day can transform into a truly spellbinding image just with the passing of a few hours.

As with any landscape photography, dragging yourself out of bed before the sun puts in an appearance can reward you with the kind of light show that almost makes up for all that missed sleep. The golden hour, that brief a period right after sunrise and before sunset, can present you with views of a city that you may never have seen before.

Plus, you can carry on shooting long after the sun’s gone down. Cities come alive at night. They never get truly dark, and some of the most interesting shots can be taken with the only illumination coming from artificial light.

Just remember to bring your tripod!

#3. Hustle and Bustle

Major cities are fast and frenetic places. Everyone seems to be moving a million miles an hour and there’s always something going on. It’s the perfect environment for photographers.

If you can manage to avoid getting swept along in the tidal wave and stop to look around, you can capture images that convey all that chaotic frenzy. Using a slower shutter speed will help you pick up a real sense of movement, either tripod-mounted or handheld if you’re feeling brave.

#4. Details

There are countless small and fascinating details in cities. Always be on the lookout for the tiny intricacies, the patterns, and shapes that otherwise go unnoticed.

They won’t all be right in front of you. Keep your eyes moving and your head on a swivel, some of the most rewarding shots are going to be found way above your head or close to the ground.

Whether it’s an advertising billboard, some rugged brickwork, or a set of windows, get in close, fill the frame, and isolate your subject.

This is another time when the quality of the light can make all the difference to the success of a shot. A strong, high contrast light can give interesting areas of highlights and shadow, turning an everyday scene into a beautiful abstract. If you have time, it’s worth revisiting potential subjects at different points throughout the day.

#5. Composition

Moving from the countryside to the urban environment doesn’t mean all the old landscape composition rules go out the window. Much of what applies standing on top of El Capitan in Yosemite Park, is still relevant looking down on New York from the Empire State.

Keep the basics of composition in your mind, things like the rule of thirds, leading lines, and natural frames. Then be prepared to break the rules when necessary.

Always think before you shoot. Look around you and see if taking a different viewpoint would improve your shot. Can you get higher and look down or even lie on the ground and shoot upwards?

Unfortunately, in major cities buildings are often so close together they can restrict your options and movements as a photographer, but make sure you’re at the optimum position for your subject. The difference between a winning shot and a mediocre one can sometimes be measured in the space of just a few feet.

#6. People

One area where urban landscapes differ greatly from the traditional is in the number of people you’re likely to encounter. It can be frustrating when you arrive at your dream location, only to find it swarming with tourists, as well as the locals going about their daily business, all seemingly determined to clutter up your shot. Along with the great light, it’s another good reason to be up and about in the early hours of the day, while everyone else is still tucked up in bed.

But people make great subjects for candid portraits as you wander the streets. Big cities attract some real characters, and capturing them in their home environment can lead to some winning images.

One thing to remember is to always ask your subject’s permission before you shoot. The vast majority will be more than happy to oblige so long as you’re polite. (Take this from a man who once got a severe and humiliating telling off from a Buddhist monk in Thailand for taking his picture without having the courtesy of asking first. They’re not as chill as you’d think!)

#7. Reflections

Modern cities seem to be more glass than anything else. This is great news for you as a photographer. You can use that beautiful reflective quality in your compositions to create some wonderful, quirky effects.

The major landmarks in every city have been photographed a bazillion times. So, you have to work a little harder and think a little more creatively to come away with shots that are distinctly your own. Shooting a famous and easily recognizable building reflected in the windows of another gives an interesting change of context, especially as it often contrasts the old and the new.

Many big cities are built along the banks of hefty rivers as well, which gives you another opportunity to utilize reflections in your shots. Clear skies offer the best results, preferably at the start or end of the day to give a little color. A dull, overcast day will be reflected in the water, giving it an ugly, muddy quality.

#8. Monochrome

Urban landscapes are very well suited to the simplicity of black and white photography. Taking away the distractions of the vast range of different colors on show in any city and focussing on just the tones and textures, gives a completely new dimension to your shot.

The increased contrast of a monochrome image benefits architecture especially, enhancing the shape of buildings and accentuating their details. Again, the light is all-important. A low sun highlights surfaces and gives areas of rich shadow for added depth.

Try and avoid using the black and white function on your DSLR and shoot RAW if you can. Then use your post-production software for the conversion. It allows you much more control over the final image.

Conclusion

Shooting urban landscapes can be a richly rewarding experience and gives you the opportunity to try out several different disciplines at once.

You have the chance to flex your portraiture and architectural photography muscles, as well as experimenting with close-up abstracts and shooting in black and white. Plus, you get to practice all that while staying firmly in civilization and never more than a few feet from a decent cup of coffee!

Of course, all that added convenience comes at a price. Shooting in cities has its inherent risks and you always need to keep your wits about you. Watch where you stand to shoot and make sure you’re not in any danger from fast-moving traffic or trespassing on anyone’s property.

Also, keep a tight grip on your equipment, especially if you’re shooting at night. Cities have more than their fair share of bad people who’d not think twice about running off with your expensive kit. If you’re nervous, it’s the perfect opportunity to buddy up with another photographer and explore the location together.

Please share your urban landscape photos in the comments below.

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The post 8 Tips For Doing Stunning Urban Landscape Photography by Andy Callan appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 10, 2017
The Fuji XF 18-135mm – a Versatile Travel Lens
From one article comes another – One plus of being a Fuji X Photographer is that Fuji will lend you gear to try. When I did an overview of the 18-55 Kit lens, a commenter asked about the difference between it and the Fuji XT 18-135mm. I don’t own that lens, but through my Fuji connection, I was able to borrow one for a short while and give it a go. So thank you to the commenter that allowed me to find out I could borrow stuff to test!

The sunrise on New Years Day. I had no hesitation using the lens, over lenses I own already, to capture this image.

First thoughts on the Fuji XF 18-135mm lens

Straight up, I think this is a great travel lens, despite the issues with the lens that are common to most kit lenses. But, these issues are outweighed by the usefulness of this lens. The weight and size were fine in general use, and I never felt that I was being let down by the lens. When I got the lens, I did a walkabout locally where I familiarized myself with it.

A wide shot of Long Walk in Galway. The Museum is on the left of the shot.

Here’s the Museum from the same position at 135mm.

Galway Cathedral at 18mm.

A detail shot of the roof to the left of the some at 135mm.

Salthill with the sun setting near Blackrock Diving Tower.

I moved slightly to frame the sun in the tower, but still roughly the same distance away, zoomed in to 135mm.

The sunset didn’t quite pan out, but I used the 135mm end of the lens to frame it with the diving tower.

Specs of the Fuji XF 18-135mm lens

The Fuji XF 18-135mm weighs 409 grams (just shy of one pound). It’s not lightweight, but it’s not heavy compared to similar lenses in this class. Aperture runs from f/3.5 at 18mm to f/5.6 at the 135mm end. The full frame equivalent is 27-200mm. I owned the Canon 28-200mm for a while and sold it because of the softness. This Fuji 18-135mm, while not as sharp as the XF 18-55mm, is not as soft as the Canon version.

The lens extends in length as you zoom it. The lens barrel doesn’t rotate, so attached filters remain in the same relative position. It comes with a plastic lens hood, and the filter ring is 67mm. As with the 18-55mm, the lens has OIS to reduce camera shake. Fuji claims that this offers up to an impressive 5-stops of camera shake reduction. It’s in the WR (Weather Resistant) range of lenses also, meaning you can use it out in the rain, something I did when visiting London.

Travel and the Fuji 18-135mm lens

Super zooms, by and large, make for great travel lenses. The width is usually good enough for any situation. If you need more, it’s easy to shoot two overlapping shots and create a panorama later. The longer focal length means you can easily capture street portraits or zoom in to get details. Wide shots often have to include other tourists, especially when handheld. Detail shots can give a better flavor of an attraction, and give you something not everyone else thinks to shoot. The best part? Not having to change your lens to get both shots.

The weight of the lens isn’t a cause for concern, even carrying around all day. With a small messenger bag like the Think Tank Retrospective 10, you can use the lens mounted on a Fuji X-T2, while carrying a bottle of water and all your accessories. When traveling I had this combo, a 35mm f/1.4, a flash and trigger set, along with a small shoot-through umbrella. Also in the bag were an iPad mini, a power bank, and a foldable bluetooth keyboard. I never felt like I was weighed down and was quite productive with this setup. Whenever a shot presented itself, I simply grabbed the camera and was ready to go.

London

During the time I had the lens, I was at The Societies convention in London. It was a perfect chance to use the lens as a tourist. Some of the attendees organized a night shoot down by the river Thames. We walked along South Bank to the Millennium Bridge, shooting along the way.

A shot of the London night skyline showing the OXO tower and St Pauls’ Cathedral.

The same view at 53mm

And again at 70mm, longer than the 18-55mm could do.

The Millenium Bridge and St Pauls.

Under the Millenium Bridge I light painted the beams with a torch (flashlight) to get a little more detail into them.

A wide view of the river showing the Moon and the Shard

A 135mm zoomed-in view of the Shard with a plane flying past.

I also did a little walkabout the morning I was leaving. It was raining, but I kept the lens in the bag when not in use and it performed perfectly. Knowing it was weather sealed also made me more inclined to shoot in these conditions.

The Albert Memorial, complete with tourists.

The Asia Group visible in the bottom left of the previous image at 135mm.

The Houses of Parliament from Westminster Bridge. Technically the bell is called Big Ben, not the clock tower.

The clock tower that houses Big Ben.

People

I also made use of the lens in the studio, where it performed equally well. Shooting in studio tends to be around f/8-f/11, which is the sweet spot of most lenses. The Fuji XF 18-135mm lens didn’t disappoint.

A model shot taken in the studio.

Issues

The main problem with the lens is that shots are a little soft. It’s simply a function of producing the zoom range to a price point. This isn’t really a problem, as the files can be sharpened in Lightroom or another raw converter as a batch process.

Versus the Fuji 18-55mm lens

As both the 18-55mm and the 18-135mm are offered as kit lenses, you may wonder which is better for you. The 18-135mm is larger, heavier, and slower than the 18-55mm. It’s also not as sharp. If a smaller size and faster aperture are important to you, go for the 18-55mm. If you want more reach and don’t want to bring two lenses while traveling get the 18-135mm. Here’s what the two lenses look like side by side.

The Fuji XF 18-135mm lens with the XF 18-55mm.

Here’s the full extension on both lenses. I had to tape the back of the 18-55mm to stop it from slipping (zoom creep) for this shot. The 18-135mm was solid the whole time.

TheFuji XF 18-135mm lens with the XF 18-55mm, both at full extension.

Verdict on the Fuji XF 18-135mm lens

This is a great travel lens that needs a little post-processing to bring out its best. Despite already owing the 18-55mm, I would consider getting this lens specifically for travel

Pros
- Great reach (zoom or focal length range).
- You only need one lens for travel making it really convenient.
- It’s still compact compared to full frame equivalents, like the Canon 28-200mm or 28-135mm IS.
- The built-in OIS (stabilization) is great for handheld shots.
- It’s Weather Resistant.
Cons
- It’s still heavier than the 18-55mm lens.
- This lens is a little softer than other Fuji lenses, especially at 135mm.
- The edges of the frame are a little softer than the centre.
Shop for this lens on Amazon.com or on B&H Photo’s website.

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The post The Fuji XF 18-135mm – a Versatile Travel Lens by Sean McCormack appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
February 10, 2017
How to do Multiple Exposures In-Camera

Combining two or more exposures into a single image is a technique that almost certainly began as an accident (much like photography itself). When using early film cameras, it was all too easy to press the shutter button while forgetting to change the plate – a faux pas that was generally rewarded with an overexposed jumbled mess. When roll films became popular, camera manufacturers thought it prudent to build a mechanical interlock into the film advance mechanism to prevent accidental multiple exposures (unless you used a special override button).

Most digital cameras carried on the tradition of discouraging such mischief by simply not providing the facility at all. As a consequence, a distinctive style of this sometimes serendipitous art began a steady decline – until recently. Today, the thirst for retro styles is gaining popularity and many photographers are once again experimenting with this old technique.

Traditional multiple exposure methods

If you cannot do the electronic equivalent of resetting the shutter without winding the film, how can you achieve this effect? Unless your camera offers you special multiple exposure options, you’re limited to doing everything during one long exposure so that your image can accumulate on the sensor.

One method is to build up your image by firing a flash several times during a long exposure, under low ambient light. This technique is often used by cave photographers as it allows them to create what appears to be a floodlit underground chamber by popping off a number of flashes in different parts of the scene. The disadvantage is that you need a dark environment, but the technique can be effective – particularly when using a flashgun set to produce a rapid burst of flashes in strobe mode to capture fast-moving action.

In normal daylight conditions, the only way to achieve a long exposure is to employ a neutral density filter, which will allow you to achieve an exposure time of ten seconds or more. During this time, you can cover and uncover the lens as needed to superimpose a series of still images.

Since both of these methods rely on accumulating more and more light on the sensor from different subjects during a long exposure, it’s easy to produce a result that’s overexposed unless you carefully compensate by underexposing each shot in the sequence. It’s also somewhat tricky to see how your composite image is turning out until the exposure is complete.

New possibilities

Some digital cameras now offer a multiple exposure function, that not only provides a simple means to recreate the traditional effect but also extends the creative possibilities by using more sophisticated blend modes. In addition, the technology is not limited to just high-end DSLRs. Now even smartphone users can enjoy making multiple exposure images using apps such as Multiple Exposures for the iPhone or Photo Blender for Androids.

Photo #1

Photo #2

Combined using the Photo Bender app.

If you have a recent camera model, it’s increasingly likely that it will sport some form of multiple exposure feature. Check your camera user manual for details. The specific facilities on offer will vary from one camera model to another, but all those that have this feature will be able to simulate the original technique. So let’s start with a simple double-exposure example using a Canon 5D Mark III.

Double-take

In this technique, both images are exposed normally and then added together. This means that the brightest parts of the final image will be made from the brightest parts of either of the two component images, a fact which can effectively be used to make each image cut out the other. Set the camera’s multiple-exposure setting to take two photos and blend them in the Additive mode, as shown here for the 5D Mk III:

Shooting the images

For the best results, you will need two images with light backgrounds. In this example, my subject was photographed indoors against a fairly light background (below left). If your subject is outdoors, it’s often useful to position yourself low down so that your subject is against the sky.

For the second image, look for a high contrast subject that has white areas where you want the first image to be cut-out. In this case, I chose to photograph a tree against the sky (above right), remembering to use the camera in portrait mode but rotating it such that the tree was inverted.

When the images are added in the camera, the light pixels around the subject’s head overwrite the dark pixels from the tree. In the same way, the light pixels from the lower left and right corners of the tree image overwrite the pink feather boa in the first image. Depending on how light the background is in each image, this pixel addition will produce something between a faint high-key effect to a full blown-out white wherever the two subjects don’t overlap.

Camera settings

By default, the multiple exposure setting is disabled. When it is activated on the 5D Mk III, it can be set to either allow you to review and change some settings between exposures or just fire away continuously without slowing down to review images. For this example, I chose the “On:Func/ctrl:” option to allow me time to compose the next shot. One big advantage of selecting that option with Canon cameras is that it enables you to switch to “LiveView where you can see an overlay of your previous shot to help you line up the next one.

Using a previous image

Canon cameras allow you to combine a photo taken the conventional way, with an exposure taken in the multiple exposure mode. To try this, choose the “Select image for multi.expo” option. If you’ve set the total number of exposures to two, you now only have to shoot one extra exposure in multiple exposure mode to complete your composite.

Nikon cameras take this a step further by allowing you to select any two images from the camera’s media card and combine them using a feature Nikon called “Image Overlay”. This is particularly flexible because you can simply keep combining pairs of images and applying exposure adjustments as needed to make your composite raw image.

Auto exposure compensation

If you shoot in this Additive mode and don’t want to exploit the cut-out effect, then you need to reduce the exposure of the individual images according to the number of shots you include in your composite. For example, you should underexpose each shot by one stop if you’re combining two images, or by two stops if you’re combining four images. Alternatively, you can leave the adjustment to the camera. Since you’ve already told the camera how many exposures you wish to combine, it can work out how much exposure compensation to apply in order to create a composite that still retains details in the highlights.

To apply this compensation automatically, simply select “Average” instead of the “Additive” option and set your camera to either aperture or shutter priority mode. If you want to experiment with overlaying textures and making abstract patterns, Average is a good initial blend mode.

Bright and dark

Both the Additive and Average options effectively just accumulate one image on top of another with optional exposure adjustment, so these modes are not that different to conventional film multiple exposures. However, thanks to the increased computing power on some DSLRs, you’re no longer limited to just overlaying images by simply adding their brightness values. Images can also be combined by taking pixels from either one source image or the other, based on which one is brightest (or darkest). To show how this works, consider this combination of window and clouds.

Selecting the Bright mode gives priority to the clouds, which will appear in front of the window at the top of the composite. The dark trees will be excluded in favour of the brighter parts of the window at the bottom of the composite.

If you select Dark, then the darkest pixels win and the clouds appear behind the window in this rather more subtle version.

Other creative techniques

Having tried out the various blend modes your camera has to offer, it’s worth considering what changes you might want to introduce between shots. As long as you don’t turn the camera off, you could swap lenses, filters or even countries between shots so that you could combine, for example, a macro image with a landscape. Since cameras invariably allow you to combine a live image with one previously stored on the card, there’s a great deal of scope for creatively combining images. Here are two simple examples you might want to try.

Layering a landscape

Zoom lenses provide a very convenient way to create a layered effect from a simple skyline. In this example, I combined four shots of different parts of the horizon and also adjusted the camera’s white balance for each exposure to simulate a distance haze.

To produce this effect, follow these steps:

1. Set up your camera to take four exposures in Average multiple exposure mode using either aperture or shutter priority.

2. Set the white balance to 2500ºK to produce a strong blue tint and zoom out for a wide-angle shot. Position the horizon in the top quarter of the viewfinder and take the first photo in the sequence.

3. Turn on LiveView and zoom in slightly so that you can see the magnified overlay which will become your next nearest line of hills. Pan the camera to a different part of the horizon to create some topographic variety and tilt the camera up to position the next horizon just below the previous one. Set the white balance to 4000ºK to create a less intense blue bias and take the second photo.

4. Reposition the horizon lower still on the LiveView screen. Zoom in a little more and with the white balance set to 5500ºK, take the third photo.

5. Finally, zoom in fully, pan the camera again for some foreground interest and position the horizon near the bottom of the screen. Increase the white balance to 7000ºK and take the final photo.

Focus effects

Most of the time, we strive to achieve a sharp focus in our pictures, perhaps with some creative background blur. Shooting multiple exposures enables you to combine a pin-sharp image with a soft out-of-focus one of the same subject to smooth out highlight details or make it glow with an unusual soft-focus effect. Here are the steps used to make a highlight-smoothed image:

1. Set the camera on a tripod and set the multiple-exposure blend mode to Dark.

2. Take a sharply focused photograph of the subject. In this case, some roses were set against a dark background to give them more definition in the final image.

3. Defocus the image (set the lens focus to manual to stop it refocusing on the next shot). In this example, I’ve defocused rather drastically to illustrate the effect.

4. Take the second photo.

Since the highlights are blurred, they become darker. In the Dark blend mode, these darker tones make it to the final image instead of the original highlights. The dark background from the sharper image also takes priority over the fuzzy edges in the defocused image, resulting in a composite image that’s well defined against the dark background but with highlight details smoothed out.

For a more traditional soft-focus effect, it’s necessary to preserve the highlight detail and add the highlight blur around it. You can achieve this effect by simply selecting the Bright blending mode to produce a soft glow, as shown here.

Action shots

In the techniques considered so far, the camera has been set up to review the image after each shot in the sequence and if your camera allows, to store each component image to the media card. This is useful to help line up each new image with the previous one.

But for fast-action shots, this takes too much time to process in-camera. If you want to take a composite photo of someone jumping over a fence, (then apart from arranging for a bull to be located in the same field as the subject) these are the basic steps to follow:

1. Set the multiple exposure mode such that it doesn’t display the image after each shot or write to the card. On the 5D Mk III, this is achieved by setting the Multiple Exposure menu item to “On:ContShtng” for continuous shooting.

2. Set the number of exposures according to the speed of the action you’re anticipating (more exposures for faster action) and set the shutter speed and aperture to values that will be able to capture a sequence of sharp images.

3. Set the camera on a tripod and pre-focus at the distance where the action is to take place. Set the lens focus to manual to ensure the focus doesn’t change during the shoot.

4. Set the drive mode to continuous high speed burst.

5. When the action takes place, press and hold the shutter button to ensure that all the individual exposures are taken.

Blend modes

If you leave the blend mode set to Average, you’ll get a solid background with a number of ghostly overlays corresponding to the various exposures. This is because the exposure of each image in the sequence is automatically reduced to prevent the accumulating image from becoming too bright, but the results can be rather thin and disappointing, like this shot of a Canon camera swinging against a light background.

If you set the blend mode to Dark when using a light background, the results will be much more defined like this:

It follows that the converse is also true. When you are shooting a lighter colored object moving against a darker background, the best results are obtained by selecting the Light blend mode:

Slowing down

Not all multiple exposure action shots need to be frantic. This image was made using an EOS 6D in multiple exposure mode set to take nine exposures in the Bright blend mode. One image was taken every two minutes.

Look for future image material

Much more sophisticated multiple exposure techniques can be achieved by using dedicated editing software such as Adobe Photoshop. At the moment, you may only be interested in combining some images in-camera, but bear in mind that you might want to experiment on your computer in the future. Even if you’re not familiar with powerful desktop editing software just yet, it’s always worth getting together the raw material you can process on a rainy day.

The next time you’re out and about with your camera, think about photographing interesting textures, silhouettes, and fast-action sequences, instead of just taking single photos. You’ll soon be on your way to creating some eye-catching multiple exposure photos.

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The post How to do Multiple Exposures In-Camera by Dave Baxter appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 10, 2017
Photographer’s Metadata – What it is and How to Use it

PART ONE – THE KNOWN

As a photographer, there is a huge amount of information which is easily available to you in your image file. Every single photograph is accompanied by a mass of information, the EXIF (Exchange Image File format) or metadata. However, I think there is more information, which very few photographers acknowledge at all. For a long time, I have been calling it Photographer’s Metadata. In this article, we’ll look at what that means, and how you can use it in your photography.

As the word metadata has emerged into more common use, this has not necessarily been accompanied by a full understanding. Just to clarify a little, data’ is simply information. It might be presented in different ways, with words, numbers, pictures even. Broadly, metadata is defined as data about data. The photograph is the data, and the Exif is data about the photograph, Exif is therefore, metadata.

Making use of the Exif can be very helpful, but it is a big topic, and it is worthy of a bigger discussion.

PART TWO – THE UNKNOWN

What is Photographer’s Metadata?

With any photograph, there is a huge amount of information which is known to only one person. Truly, there is a lot which is known only to you, the photographer, the person who made the photograph. You may like to use some other term like “emotional baggage” or “personal context”. You can choose to think of it in whatever terms you like, but I think this is massively significant information, which needs to be grasped as a truth, BUT probably needs to be handled very carefully. All that additional information that only you know is what I call Photographer’s Metadata.

Here is an example

A large number of people on the planet will know that this is the Taj Mahal (below). That data is hardly unique to the photographer. A subset of those people may know that it was taken from the opposite side of the river which runs at the back of the Taj Mahal site.

Some photographers, meteorologists, keen geographers, or others, may start to guess what time of day it was taken, the time of year, etc. They may be able to check some of that, and other technical details in the Exif, and start to come to conclusions based on that data and their thoughts about it all. Their thoughts will have varying degrees of truth, and varying degrees of effect on the perception of the photograph.

Information, known only by the photographer

When I was sat in the back of the taxi approaching the Taj Mahal, with all my senses being assaulted, I thought, “It is the Taj Mahal! How the heck can I take a photograph which offers anything different, anything worthwhile, a photograph which has not been done a thousand times before?” No one else knows that I had that thought. Now, I hesitate to use the word “unique” but I have never seen another photograph like the one above. We are now getting into the territory of what I have termed Photographer’s Metadata. Things that only you, the photographer, know about the photograph which you took. Only I know the conversation I had with myself in the back of a taxi, and that original question changes the way I see this photograph.

Only the photographer (yes, me!) knows that I walked away from the groups of people, that I was very much on my own when the photograph was taken. I was temporarily in a small oasis of still calm. Likewise only the photographer (still me) knows that I needed to go back over the river, to the site of the Taj Mahal itself, before sunset and the gates being closed. So, I had to work quickly. It was moderately cool and breezy. The crows were indeed crowing. Only I know how many shots were taken to achieve this one photograph, that this one was chosen for the position of the crow in flight.

A man appeared about three meters ahead of me, was talking to me, holding out his hand for money.

It affects your perception of your image

The point is quite simple, really. However, I believe that it is very complex in its consequences. The point is that ALL of this, all the information, and probably more, has an influence on my perception of the image. All of the things which only you know will affect your perception of your photographs.

How others will see your image without this data

Photographer’s Metadata is part of the joy of taking photographs, of adding to your cache of memories. However, you might be well served by examining it very carefully, considering what it is that only you know. Then, you need to try to make some judgments. Firstly, how does the Photographer’s Metadata change the way you look at the photograph? Secondly, how will everyone else, without the benefit of that information, see the photograph?

Please take a few moments to consider one or more of your own photographs. Think about all the circumstances of that image, try to relive the context of it being taken. No one else on the planet knows what is in your head, your thoughts, memories, and feelings in respect to the photograph. Again, how does all that change the way you perceive the photograph? What is that others do not know and which, therefore, cannot have a similar effect on their perception of the photo?

A typical shoot

Thinking of a typical photographic expedition. Only you, the photographer, would know that you had done some research using The Photographer’s Ephemeris. That you had put the alarm on for 4:30 a.m. to get to the identified spot at the optimal time. Only you know that you couldn’t manage to get around the barbed wire fence and that your choices were restricted by keeping the fence out of the frame.

Only you know about the over-zealous security guy who was nagging at you; that it was very hot; that the lens you had on the camera was not ideal; the wind blasting the sand around did not encourage you to change it; only you know that there was an ugly building just out of the shot; that the last time you were there, camels had been strolling through the frame. This time you were unusually blessed by a few wisps of clouds in the sky, your stomach is rumbling, and you are going to have to respond to the call of nature soon, and is this light going to get better or worse?!

Only if you are able to acknowledge the Photographer’s Metadata, can you then make decisions as to what you want, or need, to do with this information. Grasping this additional truth could be a massive help in letting you make judgments regarding your photographs. I will try to give you some practical help.

What to do with the Photographer’s Metadata

It is all the things which you, the photographer, know about the making of the photograph which, very likely, no one else on this planet has any idea about.

It is knowing that your passport has been stolen, that you think you met the girl of your dreams a week ago, but she has no interest in photography. If you hurry back, the hotel will still be serving breakfast. Look at the detail on those columns, you must photograph those later. But which angle would be best? That entrance archway, is someone please going to walk through it soon? Please, someone, walk through it soon, or should I just move on? All this and more encompasses the Photographer’s Metadata.

So what?

What does all this matter? I think it matters a great deal that you are at least aware of Photographer’s Metadata. Only if you are aware of it, can you then decide whether you need, or want, to do anything about it.

A few months ago, I was so happy to listen to the very talented wedding photographer Ian Weldon being interviewed. It was early in 2016, on The Photography Xperiment Podcast with Andrew Hellmich. I’ve heard others dance around the edges of the topic of Photographer’s Metadata, but Ian Weldon fully embraced everything that I have been thinking about for several years.

He was asked about his workflow and he proceeded to describe how he downloads the photographs after he gets home from a wedding shoot. Nothing too shocking there yet. He then said:

” … and usually I leave them for two weeks and don’t look at them at all … the whole wedding, don’t look at it, don’t even entertain looking at it. I do that to take myself away from any emotion that I had at the wedding. The thing is it’s kind of that guy who I was talking to, that I had a really great conversation with, that photograph of him might not be a great photograph, I might just think it was because he was a nice guy.”

Validation!

Of course, I was happy! You are bound to be happy when someone articulates the same ideas as you, aren’t you? Particularly so when that person is a very individual and successful photographer who has clearly given his craft a great deal of thought.

Ian Weldon then went on to say, “So I have to kind of take a step back from it, and distance myself from the wedding somewhat, so then I can make a judgment on the photography, rather than the relationships I had with the people while I was there. I’d leave it six months if I could! But I don’t really think the clients are going to be happy about that.”

Atomic half-life?

I must have been paying some attention in physics classes because I have often thought of the lingering effect of Photographer’s Metadata as being something like an atomic half-life. That is the time an isotope takes to decay, to lose half its radioactivity.

A professional wedding photographer is talking about the effect that his emotional investment in the taking of the photographs has on his judgment of those images. Ian Weldon has arrived at a time of two weeks as being sufficient for enough decay of those emotions. He said he would leave it six months before looking at the photographs again, before starting to edit them, if he thought the clients would accept that. But what Ian Weldon is saying, I think, is that the emotions from the wedding have sufficiently decayed enough for him to be reasonably objective by the time two weeks have elapsed.

Do you recognize this process with yourself whatsoever? It is difficult to speak with confidence about the perceptions of others, and it may well be argued as a positive thing, that Ian Weldon is more than commonly in touch with his emotions. Without wishing to encourage you to be prone to being on the psychiatrist’s couch, I suggest that might be why he is such an interesting photographer.

Is this something for you?

If you think that this is all a load of tosh, I don’t think there is much which I can do or say to convert you to this particular religion. On a psychological level, perhaps you have never noticed that you respond differently to the same photographs on different days. On a physiological level, it has been demonstrated that we even perceive colors differently at different times of the day.

As important as I think it might be to acknowledge the truth as I see it, I do also fully acknowledge that there is a massive range of ways in which we individually perceive and process our experiences. The classic old/young lady still makes the point well.

Acknowledgement

With the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program, the recognition of reality, by stating your name and, without equivocation, that you are an alcoholic, is a very good start. Probably an essential one. Of course, it is completely up to you if and how you choose to take on this information.

However, I would suggest that if you simply acknowledge Photographer’s Metadata you will have taken the first couple of steps towards handling it. “My name is Richard, and I know things about this photograph which no one else knows.” On its own, simply acknowledging that truth is a good couple of steps. It might help you decide which shot to post to your favorite social network(s). Or help you to choose which one to give further, time-consuming, detailed post-processing. It might help you decide which one to enter into a contest.

In short, awareness of Photographer’s Metadata will give you a chance of being more objective in your assessment of your own photographs.

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The post Photographer’s Metadata – What it is and How to Use it by Richard Messsenger appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 9, 2017
9 Mistakes That Can Cause Blurry Photos

While I agree that sharpness is a bourgeois concept, to become a better photographer you will need to learn how to take sharp shots. The key to capturing these sharp photographs is to learn about all of the pitfalls that can cause blurry photos. Once you know all of the ways you can make a mistake, the only thing between you and sharpness is your hand-eye coordination.

1. Back focus

Back focus is the bane of almost every photographer’s existence. This occurs when you think you are autofocusing on your main subject, but the camera misreads the situation and focuses on what is behind them instead, ruining the image. This happens primarily in situations where the focus is placed near an edge between your subject and the background.

The only way to fix this is to be aware of situations where it could happen. If you are photographing near an edge, be more careful, or lock the focus in a safer area before recomposing. Constantly pay attention to whether you think the focus is accurate or not, and if you have a keeper image, it can’t hurt to capture a couple photographs just to make sure the focus is correct.

2. Shutter speed too slow for shooting handheld

The rule of thumb is that your shutter speed must always be ONE divided by the focal length of your lens to offset handheld camera shake. So if you have a wider angle lens such as a 30mm, then you need a slower shutter speed of 1/30th of a second to guarantee sharpness. If you have a telephoto lens such as a 200mm this tip is even more important since you will need a 1/200th of a second to offset the shake in your hands.

Photographers shooting on aperture priority mode often get caught by this when they do not pay attention to their shutter speed, which can easily dip below the acceptable number.

Keep in mind that if you have a cropped or micro 4/3rds sensor, you will need to figure out your full-frame equivalent focal length to calculate the minimum shutter speed necessary. For example, if you have a cropped sensor with a factor of 1.5x, and you are using a 200mm lens – the minimum shutter speed required is: 200mm x 1.5 = 300 or 1/300th of a second.

3. Shutter speed too slow to freeze motion

To freeze motion you need to use a fast shutter speed. The number that I use is 1/250th of a second for people who are walking. Running and sports can be between 1/500th and 1/1000th depending on the speed, but it all depends on how fast your subject is moving. Make sure to pay closer attention to your shutter speed when photographing something in motion (especially if you shooting in Aperture Priority mode).

4. Not focusing on the eyes in portrait photography

If you are photographing someone’s face, particularly with a shallow depth of field and close up, the focus needs to be on the subject’s eyes (unless you decide otherwise due to creative reasons). The nose or the chin is not good enough – it needs to be on the eyes. I can’t tell you how many portraits I ruined early on where the person’s ear was sharper than their eye.

5. Not raising your ISO high enough

In situations when you are not trying to capture a shallow depth of field, raising the ISO is often a very good strategy, even up to 1600, 3200, or 6400 depending on your camera and the light. Raising your ISO will allow for a faster shutter speed to offset handheld camera shake and freeze motion, and for a smaller aperture so you can have a larger depth of field. The added grain/noise will usually be very worth the added sharpness in the scene.

6. Not stopping fully to take a photograph

This is my biggest pet peeve, and I see it done particularly when people are traveling and overstimulated by their environment. If you are going to take a photograph, make sure to stop yourself. Take a second to frame the photograph before you shoot it. If you capture a photograph while you are in motion, it will be slightly blurry unless you are using an insanely fast shutter speed.

7. Not cleaning the front of your lens

Smudges on your lens will reduce the sharpness and can ruin some of your photographs. Carry a lens cloth or use a thin soft t-shirt to clean it.

8. Missing the focus in dark situations

Your camera’s autofocus capability, particularly with entry-level cameras, will diminish significantly in darker places. Make sure to pay even more attention to where the camera is locking its focus, and try to look for white, shiny, or contrasty objects to lock the focus on. If all else fails, go to manual focusing.

Using a lens with a larger aperture (like the 50mm f/1.8) will help, as will using the center most focusing point in your camera. It is a cross-point type and as such is more accurate and can often focus better in lower light situations.

9. Tripod mistakes

When using a tripod, you want to make sure to never touch it while a picture is being taken. Even holding it to keep it steady will introduce blur. Use a remote shutter release or set your camera on a 2-second delay before you take the photograph.

Pay particular attention to your tripod when photographing on a windy day. The wind can also shake the camera and add some blur. To combat this, try to capture your photographs in-between wind gusts and even consider raising your ISO up so that your shutter speed will be faster. It is much easier to take a 10-second exposure in between wind gusts than a 30-second exposure.

Finally, make sure to turn your image stabilization off when photographing on a tripod. This might not matter with certain newer cameras, but it is always a good habit to get into. The stabilizing system has the potential to add minor vibrations to the camera when it is fully still.

You may also want to read: 5 Tips to Get Sharp Photos While Using a Tripod.

Conclusion

If you follow these nine tips you should be better equipped to avoid getting blurry photos. Do you have any other tips to add? Please post them and any questions you have in the comments section below.

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The post 9 Mistakes That Can Cause Blurry Photos by James Maher appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 9, 2017
How to Turn Your Kids into Star Wars Characters Using Photoshop
Do your kids love Star Wars? Do you love photography? If so, here’s a great opportunity to join forces and turn your kids into Star Wars heroes or villains by giving them the ultimate Star Wars weapon, the lightsaber.

All you need to awaken the force are these three steps:
1. The setup
2. Capturing the shot
3. Light up your sabers using Photoshop
BONUS tip – The Jumping Jedi

Step #1 – The Setup

For the setup, you will want to make sure that the photographs of your kids look as close to a Star Wars scene as possible. Don’t just take a picture of your kids wearing a t-shirt standing in the kitchen. Luke Skywalker doesn’t light up his lightsaber in a kitchen. Your kids will have a lot of fun getting into character, so spend some time on the setup.

Costumes

You can buy costumes for your kids on Amazon. Here are the costumes used in this tutorial.
- Luke Skywalker
- Rey
- Kylo Ren
- Lightsabers
- Total customs cost ~ $ 40-70
Location

For the location, you will want to find a place that looks like it could be a scene in any of the Star Wars movies. The easiest location to use would be a park with trees, and no noticeable man-made objects in sight.

Step #2 – Capturing the Shot

Action shots

For action shots of a lightsaber battle, you will want to use a fast shutter speed of at least 1/500th of a second, and set your camera to continuous (burst) shooting mode. This will allow you to freeze the action of the battle and take multiple shots in sequence to ensure you capture the best of the action.

Shutter speed was 1/800th of a second.

Portraits

For the portraits, give your kids some epic poses to follow. To give you ideas for creative poses, do a Google images search for the Star Wars character of your choice. This will also help your child get more into the character. For example here are some for Rey.

Do basic edits to the image

After you capture the image, you will need to make a few adjustments to the image to make it stand out. This can be done in Adobe Lightroom and is the final step before your photo is ready to go into Photoshop for the lightsaber effect.

For the look of Star Wars, a few basic edits, such as increasing the contrast and the clarity will help give it a rough and grungy look that Star Wars is known for.

Notice the differences between the before and after of this image by making a few basic edits in Adobe Lightroom.

Step #3 – Light your sabers up in Photoshop

Adding the lightsaber effect is the last and final step in making turning your kid into the Star Wars character of their dreams. This process should take about five minutes per photo once you have done it a few times.

Part 1: Prepare the layer

Start by creating a duplicate layer by pressing CTRL/CMD + J.

Select the icon to create a new fill or adjustment layer, and from that menu select Hue/Saturation. Then, move the lightness slider to -100 to make it black.

Select CTRL/CMD + E to merge the adjustment layer and duplicate layer. Next, set the blending mode drop down to Screen.

At this point, your layers are prepped and ready to add the lightsaber.

Part 2: Add the lightsaber by using the brush tool

Select the brush tool, and adjust the size and hardness of the brush. The size of your brush will vary based on the size of the lightsaber and your image. Set the hardness of the brush to approximately 50%.

Begin to add your lightsaber using brush strokes. Select the end point of the lightsaber, then hold down shift, and click the other end of the lightsaber to draw a straight line. Repeat these lines multiple times to fill in the lightsaber with brush strokes. You will likely need to add free-form brush strokes around the base of the lightsaber to fill it in.

Illuminate the lightsaber

The next step allows you to illuminate the lightsaber. Create three duplicate layers of the lightsaber by selecting CTRL/CMD + J three times. For each layer, you will then select Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. But, each layer will be set to a different radius setting. For this image, we used 5, 15, 35, 75 for each respective layer. Note, that the amount of Gaussian Blur needed may vary based on the size of your image. Adjust these numbers as needed to ensure you have a nice glow from the lightsaber.

Select all of the duplicate layers (do not select the background), and merge them into one layer by pressing CTRL/CMD + E. Then set the blending mode to Screen.

Add color to the lightsaber

It’s now time to add color to your lightsaber. Select the icon to create a new fill or adjustment layer, and choose the option for Color Balance. Activate the clipping mask so that you only add color to the lightsaber, not the entire image. You can choose any color of your choice, but in this example, we are working with green.

You will want to add the color selection to each option for Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights. Adjust the color slider up or down based on the color preferences for your lightsaber. For this photo, we set shadows, midtones, and highlights to green at around +65.

Your lightsaber is now complete, but there is still one more important step to get a realistic photo. You need to add some glow to the subject from the illumination coming off of the lightsaber.

Part 3: Add the reflective glow from the lightsaber

Select the background or base layer. Click the icon to create a new fill or adjustment layer, and choose the option for Color Balance. Choose the same color as you used for your lightsaber, but this time as you adjust the color for Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights, it will work best if you emphasize the color around the highlights more than the shadows or Midtones. For this photo, we used Shadows +32, Midtones +38, and Highlights +70

Add a vector mask and then select CTRL/CMD + I to hide all of the color balance. Select the brush tool, and make it a soft edge brush with an opacity around +18. This will allow you to brush in a soft reflection of glow to parts of the image that make it look realistic.

Bonus – Jumping Jedi

A bonus tip that you may want to use in your Star Wars photo shoot is a jumping Jedi. With a few simple tricks, you can give the illusion of your Jedi jumping high into the air over a swinging lightsaber.

First, make sure you use a tripod as you will need the camera to be completely stationary for two different shots. You can have your Jedi jump off a chair at the same time that his enemy swings his lightsaber. Then remove the chair and capture a shot of the exact same scene, but this time without the chair or characters in the shot (tripod use is important for image alignment later).

The second shot should be empty with the exception of the background because it will allow you to take the chair out of the original picture to create the illusion of a jumping Jedi.

Here’s how it’s done in Photoshop.

Start by opening both photos as layers. You will want the empty background shot to be set as the base layer and the action shot as the top one. Select the top layer of the action shot, and click Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal all.

Select the brush tool, and make sure that your foreground color is set to black, which will allow you to brush away the top layer to reveal some of the base layer. If your foreground color is set to white as opposed to black you can switch it to black by clicking X. Simply brush over the chair (make sure you are painting on the mask NOT the layer) to make it disappear.

Add the lightsaber effect from above, and you have the illusion of a jumping Jedi.

Below are some additional examples of the final images from this Star Wars project to give you additional ideas for action shots and portraits to bring your characters to life.

Finally

You can watch this whole process in the follow short video as well:

Note: thanks to my co-author on this article, David Kahl.

Try to awaken the force in your family by giving them a lightsaber and following this tutorial. In addition, leave a comment with any other fun photography projects that you have captured with your kids or family. Share your images if you give this a go, we’d love to see them!

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The post How to Turn Your Kids into Star Wars Characters Using Photoshop by Paul Fontanelli appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
February 9, 2017
8 Tips For Doing Stunning Urban Landscape Photography

As a photographer, when you hear the word landscape your mind will most likely conjure up images of lush valleys, looming mountains, and majestic, sweeping vistas. With good reason, as the natural world can be a place of staggering beauty. But done well, a different type of landscape photography, the urban landscape, can produce shots that are equally as compelling as anything Mother Nature can throw your way.

The energy of a major city lends images a vitality that can’t be found anywhere else. There’s so much movement and life in the urban environment, and the best city shots capture that buzzing vibrancy.

Shooting urban landscapes also has plenty of practical advantages too. Every type of photography is all about the light, and that is one thing cities never run out of. You can shoot in the artificial glow of the metropolis long after you’d have been forced to pack up your kit and make your way home from a day in the countryside.

Couple that with the fact that, for the most part, cities are a lot more accessible for the majority of us, and shooting urban landscapes is the ideal activity for photographers during those long winter months.

So here are our top 8 tips for getting the most out of your time pounding the sidewalks.

#1. Research

You wouldn’t embark on a traditional landscape photography outing by jumping in the car, heading for the hills and hoping for the best. Likewise, the success of an urban landscape shoot depends largely on how well you plan.

Your home town

Even if you’re off to capture the town or city you grew up in, putting in the effort to do a little research up front usually pays dividends.

For example, when I wanted to get a shot from high up, overlooking my hometown of London, I didn’t foresee any problems in finding a suitable viewpoint. However, after a little digging, I learned that while London isn’t lacking in tall buildings offering amazing views, the number you can actually gain access to, that are also well suited for photography, can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

The vast majority are either restricted entry or in the case of The Shard (seen at the top of this article), cursed with a viewing gallery shrouded with ultra-reflective windows.A few minutes Googling directed me to a lesser-known church tower on the banks of the Thames with unrestricted views downriver, saving me hours of fruitless searching.

Visiting another city

If you’re visiting a city for the first time, it’s a good idea to spend a little longer familiarizing yourself with the place before you go. Drawing up a shot list of the locations you want to photograph is a good idea as well.

But all that being said, don’t make yourself a slave to it. Few things are more exciting or rewarding in photography than allowing yourself the freedom to meander through a new landscape, get a little lost, and allow whatever happens to happen.
One word of warning: depending on your location, be sure you know where you can and cannot shoot. Many places these days are understandably sensitive about strangers waving cameras around. If in doubt, ask.

#2. Light

The quality, color, and angle of the light can make or break any shot, and this is especially true for urban landscape photography. A subject that looks dull and uninspiring at one time of day can transform into a truly spellbinding image just with the passing of a few hours.

As with any landscape photography, dragging yourself out of bed before the sun puts in an appearance can reward you with the kind of light show that almost makes up for all that missed sleep. The golden hour, that brief a period right after sunrise and before sunset, can present you with views of a city that you may never have seen before.

Plus, you can carry on shooting long after the sun’s gone down. Cities come alive at night. They never get truly dark, and some of the most interesting shots can be taken with the only illumination coming from artificial light.

Just remember to bring your tripod!

#3. Hustle and Bustle

Major cities are fast and frenetic places. Everyone seems to be moving a million miles an hour and there’s always something going on. It’s the perfect environment for photographers.

If you can manage to avoid getting swept along in the tidal wave and stop to look around, you can capture images that convey all that chaotic frenzy. Using a slower shutter speed will help you pick up a real sense of movement, either tripod-mounted or handheld if you’re feeling brave.

#4. Details

There are countless small and fascinating details in cities. Always be on the lookout for the tiny intricacies, the patterns, and shapes that otherwise go unnoticed.

They won’t all be right in front of you. Keep your eyes moving and your head on a swivel, some of the most rewarding shots are going to be found way above your head or close to the ground.

Whether it’s an advertising billboard, some rugged brickwork, or a set of windows, get in close, fill the frame, and isolate your subject.

This is another time when the quality of the light can make all the difference to the success of a shot. A strong, high contrast light can give interesting areas of highlights and shadow, turning an everyday scene into a beautiful abstract. If you have time, it’s worth revisiting potential subjects at different points throughout the day.

#5. Composition

Moving from the countryside to the urban environment doesn’t mean all the old landscape composition rules go out the window. Much of what applies standing on top of El Capitan in Yosemite Park, is still relevant looking down on New York from the Empire State.

Keep the basics of composition in your mind, things like the rule of thirds, leading lines, and natural frames. Then be prepared to break the rules when necessary.

Always think before you shoot. Look around you and see if taking a different viewpoint would improve your shot. Can you get higher and look down or even lie on the ground and shoot upwards?

Unfortunately, in major cities buildings are often so close together they can restrict your options and movements as a photographer, but make sure you’re at the optimum position for your subject. The difference between a winning shot and a mediocre one can sometimes be measured in the space of just a few feet.

#6. People

One area where urban landscapes differ greatly from the traditional is in the number of people you’re likely to encounter. It can be frustrating when you arrive at your dream location, only to find it swarming with tourists, as well as the locals going about their daily business, all seemingly determined to clutter up your shot. Along with the great light, it’s another good reason to be up and about in the early hours of the day, while everyone else is still tucked up in bed.

But people make great subjects for candid portraits as you wander the streets. Big cities attract some real characters, and capturing them in their home environment can lead to some winning images.

One thing to remember is to always ask your subject’s permission before you shoot. The vast majority will be more than happy to oblige so long as you’re polite. (Take this from a man who once got a severe and humiliating telling off from a Buddhist monk in Thailand for taking his picture without having the courtesy of asking first. They’re not as chill as you’d think!)

#7. Reflections

Modern cities seem to be more glass than anything else. This is great news for you as a photographer. You can use that beautiful reflective quality in your compositions to create some wonderful, quirky effects.

The major landmarks in every city have been photographed a bazillion times. So, you have to work a little harder and think a little more creatively to come away with shots that are distinctly your own. Shooting a famous and easily recognizable building reflected in the windows of another gives an interesting change of context, especially as it often contrasts the old and the new.

Many big cities are built along the banks of hefty rivers as well, which gives you another opportunity to utilize reflections in your shots. Clear skies offer the best results, preferably at the start or end of the day to give a little color. A dull, overcast day will be reflected in the water, giving it an ugly, muddy quality.

#8. Monochrome

Urban landscapes are very well suited to the simplicity of black and white photography. Taking away the distractions of the vast range of different colors on show in any city and focussing on just the tones and textures, gives a completely new dimension to your shot.

The increased contrast of a monochrome image benefits architecture especially, enhancing the shape of buildings and accentuating their details. Again, the light is all-important. A low sun highlights surfaces and gives areas of rich shadow for added depth.

Try and avoid using the black and white function on your DSLR and shoot RAW if you can. Then use your post-production software for the conversion. It allows you much more control over the final image.

Conclusion

Shooting urban landscapes can be a richly rewarding experience and gives you the opportunity to try out several different disciplines at once.

You have the chance to flex your portraiture and architectural photography muscles, as well as experimenting with close-up abstracts and shooting in black and white. Plus, you get to practice all that while staying firmly in civilization and never more than a few feet from a decent cup of coffee!

Of course, all that added convenience comes at a price. Shooting in cities has its inherent risks and you always need to keep your wits about you. Watch where you stand to shoot and make sure you’re not in any danger from fast-moving traffic or trespassing on anyone’s property.

Also, keep a tight grip on your equipment, especially if you’re shooting at night. Cities have more than their fair share of bad people who’d not think twice about running off with your expensive kit. If you’re nervous, it’s the perfect opportunity to buddy up with another photographer and explore the location together.

Please share your urban landscape photos in the comments below.

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The post 8 Tips For Doing Stunning Urban Landscape Photography by Andy Callan appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 9, 2017
The Fuji XF 18-135mm – a Versatile Travel Lens
From one article comes another – One plus of being a Fuji X Photographer is that Fuji will lend you gear to try. When I did an overview of the 18-55 Kit lens, a commenter asked about the difference between it and the Fuji XT 18-135mm. I don’t own that lens, but through my Fuji connection, I was able to borrow one for a short while and give it a go. So thank you to the commenter that allowed me to find out I could borrow stuff to test!

The sunrise on New Years Day. I had no hesitation using the lens, over lenses I own already, to capture this image.

First thoughts on the Fuji XF 18-135mm lens

Straight up, I think this is a great travel lens, despite the issues with the lens that are common to most kit lenses. But, these issues are outweighed by the usefulness of this lens. The weight and size were fine in general use, and I never felt that I was being let down by the lens. When I got the lens, I did a walkabout locally where I familiarized myself with it.

A wide shot of Long Walk in Galway. The Museum is on the left of the shot.

Here’s the Museum from the same position at 135mm.

Galway Cathedral at 18mm.

A detail shot of the roof to the left of the some at 135mm.

Salthill with the sun setting near Blackrock Diving Tower.

I moved slightly to frame the sun in the tower, but still roughly the same distance away, zoomed in to 135mm.

The sunset didn’t quite pan out, but I used the 135mm end of the lens to frame it with the diving tower.

Specs of the Fuji XF 18-135mm lens

The Fuji XF 18-135mm weighs 409 grams (just shy of one pound). It’s not lightweight, but it’s not heavy compared to similar lenses in this class. Aperture runs from f/3.5 at 18mm to f/5.6 at the 135mm end. The full frame equivalent is 27-200mm. I owned the Canon 28-200mm for a while and sold it because of the softness. This Fuji 18-135mm, while not as sharp as the XF 18-55mm, is not as soft as the Canon version.

The lens extends in length as you zoom it. The lens barrel doesn’t rotate, so attached filters remain in the same relative position. It comes with a plastic lens hood, and the filter ring is 67mm. As with the 18-55mm, the lens has OIS to reduce camera shake. Fuji claims that this offers up to an impressive 5-stops of camera shake reduction. It’s in the WR (Weather Resistant) range of lenses also, meaning you can use it out in the rain, something I did when visiting London.

Travel and the Fuji 18-135mm lens

Super zooms, by and large, make for great travel lenses. The width is usually good enough for any situation. If you need more, it’s easy to shoot two overlapping shots and create a panorama later. The longer focal length means you can easily capture street portraits or zoom in to get details. Wide shots often have to include other tourists, especially when handheld. Detail shots can give a better flavor of an attraction, and give you something not everyone else thinks to shoot. The best part? Not having to change your lens to get both shots.

The weight of the lens isn’t a cause for concern, even carrying around all day. With a small messenger bag like the Think Tank Retrospective 10, you can use the lens mounted on a Fuji X-T2, while carrying a bottle of water and all your accessories. When traveling I had this combo, a 35mm f/1.4, a flash and trigger set, along with a small shoot-through umbrella. Also in the bag were an iPad mini, a power bank, and a foldable bluetooth keyboard. I never felt like I was weighed down and was quite productive with this setup. Whenever a shot presented itself, I simply grabbed the camera and was ready to go.

London

During the time I had the lens, I was at The Societies convention in London. It was a perfect chance to use the lens as a tourist. Some of the attendees organized a night shoot down by the river Thames. We walked along South Bank to the Millennium Bridge, shooting along the way.

A shot of the London night skyline showing the OXO tower and St Pauls’ Cathedral.

The same view at 53mm

And again at 70mm, longer than the 18-55mm could do.

The Millenium Bridge and St Pauls.

Under the Millenium Bridge I light painted the beams with a torch (flashlight) to get a little more detail into them.

A wide view of the river showing the Moon and the Shard

A 135mm zoomed-in view of the Shard with a plane flying past.

I also did a little walkabout the morning I was leaving. It was raining, but I kept the lens in the bag when not in use and it performed perfectly. Knowing it was weather sealed also made me more inclined to shoot in these conditions.

The Albert Memorial, complete with tourists.

The Asia Group visible in the bottom left of the previous image at 135mm.

The Houses of Parliament from Westminster Bridge. Technically the bell is called Big Ben, not the clock tower.

The clock tower that houses Big Ben.

People

I also made use of the lens in the studio, where it performed equally well. Shooting in studio tends to be around f/8-f/11, which is the sweet spot of most lenses. The Fuji XF 18-135mm lens didn’t disappoint.

A model shot taken in the studio.

Issues

The main problem with the lens is that shots are a little soft. It’s simply a function of producing the zoom range to a price point. This isn’t really a problem, as the files can be sharpened in Lightroom or another raw converter as a batch process.

Versus the Fuji 18-55mm lens

As both the 18-55mm and the 18-135mm are offered as kit lenses, you may wonder which is better for you. The 18-135mm is larger, heavier, and slower than the 18-55mm. It’s also not as sharp. If a smaller size and faster aperture are important to you, go for the 18-55mm. If you want more reach and don’t want to bring two lenses while traveling get the 18-135mm. Here’s what the two lenses look like side by side.

The Fuji XF 18-135mm lens with the XF 18-55mm.

Here’s the full extension on both lenses. I had to tape the back of the 18-55mm to stop it from slipping (zoom creep) for this shot. The 18-135mm was solid the whole time.

TheFuji XF 18-135mm lens with the XF 18-55mm, both at full extension.

Verdict on the Fuji XF 18-135mm lens

This is a great travel lens that needs a little post-processing to bring out its best. Despite already owing the 18-55mm, I would consider getting this lens specifically for travel

Pros
- Great reach (zoom or focal length range).
- You only need one lens for travel making it really convenient.
- It’s still compact compared to full frame equivalents, like the Canon 28-200mm or 28-135mm IS.
- The built-in OIS (stabilization) is great for handheld shots.
- It’s Weather Resistant.
Cons
- It’s still heavier than the 18-55mm lens.
- This lens is a little softer than other Fuji lenses, especially at 135mm.
- The edges of the frame are a little softer than the centre.
Shop for this lens on Amazon.com or on B&H Photo’s website.

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The post The Fuji XF 18-135mm – a Versatile Travel Lens by Sean McCormack appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
February 8, 2017
How to do Multiple Exposures In-Camera

Combining two or more exposures into a single image is a technique that almost certainly began as an accident (much like photography itself). When using early film cameras, it was all too easy to press the shutter button while forgetting to change the plate – a faux pas that was generally rewarded with an overexposed jumbled mess. When roll films became popular, camera manufacturers thought it prudent to build a mechanical interlock into the film advance mechanism to prevent accidental multiple exposures (unless you used a special override button).

Most digital cameras carried on the tradition of discouraging such mischief by simply not providing the facility at all. As a consequence, a distinctive style of this sometimes serendipitous art began a steady decline – until recently. Today, the thirst for retro styles is gaining popularity and many photographers are once again experimenting with this old technique.

Traditional multiple exposure methods

If you cannot do the electronic equivalent of resetting the shutter without winding the film, how can you achieve this effect? Unless your camera offers you special multiple exposure options, you’re limited to doing everything during one long exposure so that your image can accumulate on the sensor.

One method is to build up your image by firing a flash several times during a long exposure, under low ambient light. This technique is often used by cave photographers as it allows them to create what appears to be a floodlit underground chamber by popping off a number of flashes in different parts of the scene. The disadvantage is that you need a dark environment, but the technique can be effective – particularly when using a flashgun set to produce a rapid burst of flashes in strobe mode to capture fast-moving action.

In normal daylight conditions, the only way to achieve a long exposure is to employ a neutral density filter, which will allow you to achieve an exposure time of ten seconds or more. During this time, you can cover and uncover the lens as needed to superimpose a series of still images.

Since both of these methods rely on accumulating more and more light on the sensor from different subjects during a long exposure, it’s easy to produce a result that’s overexposed unless you carefully compensate by underexposing each shot in the sequence. It’s also somewhat tricky to see how your composite image is turning out until the exposure is complete.

New possibilities

Some digital cameras now offer a multiple exposure function, that not only provides a simple means to recreate the traditional effect but also extends the creative possibilities by using more sophisticated blend modes. In addition, the technology is not limited to just high-end DSLRs. Now even smartphone users can enjoy making multiple exposure images using apps such as Multiple Exposures for the iPhone or Photo Blender for Androids.

Photo #1

Photo #2

Combined using the Photo Bender app.

If you have a recent camera model, it’s increasingly likely that it will sport some form of multiple exposure feature. Check your camera user manual for details. The specific facilities on offer will vary from one camera model to another, but all those that have this feature will be able to simulate the original technique. So let’s start with a simple double-exposure example using a Canon 5D Mark III.

Double-take

In this technique, both images are exposed normally and then added together. This means that the brightest parts of the final image will be made from the brightest parts of either of the two component images, a fact which can effectively be used to make each image cut out the other. Set the camera’s multiple-exposure setting to take two photos and blend them in the Additive mode, as shown here for the 5D Mk III:

Shooting the images

For the best results, you will need two images with light backgrounds. In this example, my subject was photographed indoors against a fairly light background (below left). If your subject is outdoors, it’s often useful to position yourself low down so that your subject is against the sky.

For the second image, look for a high contrast subject that has white areas where you want the first image to be cut-out. In this case, I chose to photograph a tree against the sky (above right), remembering to use the camera in portrait mode but rotating it such that the tree was inverted.

When the images are added in the camera, the light pixels around the subject’s head overwrite the dark pixels from the tree. In the same way, the light pixels from the lower left and right corners of the tree image overwrite the pink feather boa in the first image. Depending on how light the background is in each image, this pixel addition will produce something between a faint high-key effect to a full blown-out white wherever the two subjects don’t overlap.

Camera settings

By default, the multiple exposure setting is disabled. When it is activated on the 5D Mk III, it can be set to either allow you to review and change some settings between exposures or just fire away continuously without slowing down to review images. For this example, I chose the “On:Func/ctrl:” option to allow me time to compose the next shot. One big advantage of selecting that option with Canon cameras is that it enables you to switch to “LiveView where you can see an overlay of your previous shot to help you line up the next one.

Using a previous image

Canon cameras allow you to combine a photo taken the conventional way, with an exposure taken in the multiple exposure mode. To try this, choose the “Select image for multi.expo” option. If you’ve set the total number of exposures to two, you now only have to shoot one extra exposure in multiple exposure mode to complete your composite.

Nikon cameras take this a step further by allowing you to select any two images from the camera’s media card and combine them using a feature Nikon called “Image Overlay”. This is particularly flexible because you can simply keep combining pairs of images and applying exposure adjustments as needed to make your composite raw image.

Auto exposure compensation

If you shoot in this Additive mode and don’t want to exploit the cut-out effect, then you need to reduce the exposure of the individual images according to the number of shots you include in your composite. For example, you should underexpose each shot by one stop if you’re combining two images, or by two stops if you’re combining four images. Alternatively, you can leave the adjustment to the camera. Since you’ve already told the camera how many exposures you wish to combine, it can work out how much exposure compensation to apply in order to create a composite that still retains details in the highlights.

To apply this compensation automatically, simply select “Average” instead of the “Additive” option and set your camera to either aperture or shutter priority mode. If you want to experiment with overlaying textures and making abstract patterns, Average is a good initial blend mode.

Bright and dark

Both the Additive and Average options effectively just accumulate one image on top of another with optional exposure adjustment, so these modes are not that different to conventional film multiple exposures. However, thanks to the increased computing power on some DSLRs, you’re no longer limited to just overlaying images by simply adding their brightness values. Images can also be combined by taking pixels from either one source image or the other, based on which one is brightest (or darkest). To show how this works, consider this combination of window and clouds.

Selecting the Bright mode gives priority to the clouds, which will appear in front of the window at the top of the composite. The dark trees will be excluded in favour of the brighter parts of the window at the bottom of the composite.

If you select Dark, then the darkest pixels win and the clouds appear behind the window in this rather more subtle version.

Other creative techniques

Having tried out the various blend modes your camera has to offer, it’s worth considering what changes you might want to introduce between shots. As long as you don’t turn the camera off, you could swap lenses, filters or even countries between shots so that you could combine, for example, a macro image with a landscape. Since cameras invariably allow you to combine a live image with one previously stored on the card, there’s a great deal of scope for creatively combining images. Here are two simple examples you might want to try.

Layering a landscape

Zoom lenses provide a very convenient way to create a layered effect from a simple skyline. In this example, I combined four shots of different parts of the horizon and also adjusted the camera’s white balance for each exposure to simulate a distance haze.

To produce this effect, follow these steps:

1. Set up your camera to take four exposures in Average multiple exposure mode using either aperture or shutter priority.

2. Set the white balance to 2500ºK to produce a strong blue tint and zoom out for a wide-angle shot. Position the horizon in the top quarter of the viewfinder and take the first photo in the sequence.

3. Turn on LiveView and zoom in slightly so that you can see the magnified overlay which will become your next nearest line of hills. Pan the camera to a different part of the horizon to create some topographic variety and tilt the camera up to position the next horizon just below the previous one. Set the white balance to 4000ºK to create a less intense blue bias and take the second photo.

4. Reposition the horizon lower still on the LiveView screen. Zoom in a little more and with the white balance set to 5500ºK, take the third photo.

5. Finally, zoom in fully, pan the camera again for some foreground interest and position the horizon near the bottom of the screen. Increase the white balance to 7000ºK and take the final photo.

Focus effects

Most of the time, we strive to achieve a sharp focus in our pictures, perhaps with some creative background blur. Shooting multiple exposures enables you to combine a pin-sharp image with a soft out-of-focus one of the same subject to smooth out highlight details or make it glow with an unusual soft-focus effect. Here are the steps used to make a highlight-smoothed image:

1. Set the camera on a tripod and set the multiple-exposure blend mode to Dark.

2. Take a sharply focused photograph of the subject. In this case, some roses were set against a dark background to give them more definition in the final image.

3. Defocus the image (set the lens focus to manual to stop it refocusing on the next shot). In this example, I’ve defocused rather drastically to illustrate the effect.

4. Take the second photo.

Since the highlights are blurred, they become darker. In the Dark blend mode, these darker tones make it to the final image instead of the original highlights. The dark background from the sharper image also takes priority over the fuzzy edges in the defocused image, resulting in a composite image that’s well defined against the dark background but with highlight details smoothed out.

For a more traditional soft-focus effect, it’s necessary to preserve the highlight detail and add the highlight blur around it. You can achieve this effect by simply selecting the Bright blending mode to produce a soft glow, as shown here.

Action shots

In the techniques considered so far, the camera has been set up to review the image after each shot in the sequence and if your camera allows, to store each component image to the media card. This is useful to help line up each new image with the previous one.

But for fast-action shots, this takes too much time to process in-camera. If you want to take a composite photo of someone jumping over a fence, (then apart from arranging for a bull to be located in the same field as the subject) these are the basic steps to follow:

1. Set the multiple exposure mode such that it doesn’t display the image after each shot or write to the card. On the 5D Mk III, this is achieved by setting the Multiple Exposure menu item to “On:ContShtng” for continuous shooting.

2. Set the number of exposures according to the speed of the action you’re anticipating (more exposures for faster action) and set the shutter speed and aperture to values that will be able to capture a sequence of sharp images.

3. Set the camera on a tripod and pre-focus at the distance where the action is to take place. Set the lens focus to manual to ensure the focus doesn’t change during the shoot.

4. Set the drive mode to continuous high speed burst.

5. When the action takes place, press and hold the shutter button to ensure that all the individual exposures are taken.

Blend modes

If you leave the blend mode set to Average, you’ll get a solid background with a number of ghostly overlays corresponding to the various exposures. This is because the exposure of each image in the sequence is automatically reduced to prevent the accumulating image from becoming too bright, but the results can be rather thin and disappointing, like this shot of a Canon camera swinging against a light background.

If you set the blend mode to Dark when using a light background, the results will be much more defined like this:

It follows that the converse is also true. When you are shooting a lighter colored object moving against a darker background, the best results are obtained by selecting the Light blend mode:

Slowing down

Not all multiple exposure action shots need to be frantic. This image was made using an EOS 6D in multiple exposure mode set to take nine exposures in the Bright blend mode. One image was taken every two minutes.

Look for future image material

Much more sophisticated multiple exposure techniques can be achieved by using dedicated editing software such as Adobe Photoshop. At the moment, you may only be interested in combining some images in-camera, but bear in mind that you might want to experiment on your computer in the future. Even if you’re not familiar with powerful desktop editing software just yet, it’s always worth getting together the raw material you can process on a rainy day.

The next time you’re out and about with your camera, think about photographing interesting textures, silhouettes, and fast-action sequences, instead of just taking single photos. You’ll soon be on your way to creating some eye-catching multiple exposure photos.

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Digital Photography School

February 8, 2017