Category: Photography

24 Images That Show Details of Every Day Life

Every day we do a lot of the same things again and again. Yet we overlook things right in front of our faces.

Here is a set of images that show things from our every day lives in a new light. What do you pass every day that you don’t really see?

By Henrique Simplicio

By Freaktography

By faungg’s photos

By Flood G.

By Lee Thatcher

By Nicolas Alejandro

By tsaiproject

By Patrick

By Moyan Brenn

By tonzn

By greenzowie

By Jose sepulveda

By m01229

By Chris Chabot

By John Watson

By Markus Spiske

By Victor

By Dave Fayram

By Emanuele

By mikepmiller

By Chris Campbell

By jpellgen

By Janine

By staceyjoy

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

The post 24 Images That Show Details of Every Day Life by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

October 8, 2016
Weekly Photography Challenge – Everyday Life

The first thing I want you to do it is to have a look at these photos of details of everyday life.

By Sam Hawkins

Weekly Photography Challenge – Everyday Life

This one should be easy and hard at the same time. Easy in a sense of finding subjects because it’s the things you see and use every single day. Hard in a sense that you need to look at them in a new way. See them differently, and photograph them in a way that is interesting.

Look for light, shapes, shadows. Get creative with your post-processing. Put in a macro lens or extension tube and get in close. Try something new just for fun.

By ioiyyfv

By Aftab Uzzaman

By waferboard

By 8 Kome

By Glenn Euloth

By Damianos Chronakis

Share your images below:

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images on the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

By Patrik Nygren

By Juan Antonio F. Segal

By artjouer street art

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

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

Digital Photography School

October 8, 2016
Tips for Getting Started with Coastal Photography
Many of us start out treating coastal photography the same as landscape photography. There are a lot of similarities. For both, you head out into the great outdoors, often to remote locations. You need a tripod and a remote shutter release for stabilization. You are capturing an entire scene rather than a discrete item or person. You want a deep depth of field. And so on.

But there are also differences between the two. In fact, treating coastal photography the same as landscape photography could leave you woefully unprepared when you head out. It could also lead to confusion as to how to set up and expose your photos. This article will help you get started with coastal photography, even if you are already familiar with outdoor shooting generally.

What to bring with you

There are two items you’ll need to add to your kit before you head out to do coastal photography. Both are filters, and you may have one of them, but they are both critical.

Neutral density filter

The first is a neutral density filter. In fact, you will probably want more than one since they come in different strengths. If you are not familiar with these filters, they restrict the amount of light allowed into your camera. Why would you want to do that? So you can slow down your shutter speed and allow the waves or the clouds to move through your frame while you are exposing the picture. That will smooth things out for you.

We’ll talk more about using them later, but for now just know that you’ll need one. I would start with a 10-stop neutral density filter, which is about as powerful as you will ever need. You can then add lesser strength filters like 6-stop and 3-stop filters later.

Graduated neutral density filter

Drop-in style filter system with a graduated neutral density filter on the right.

The second item you will need is a graduated neutral density filter (aka grad ND). You may already have this one since it is also useful for landscape photography. However, it is remarkably useful in coastal photography and you will use it all the time. In landscape photography, you may have trees, mountains, or other items sticking up into the sky such that you cannot use the grad ND.

In coastal photography, however, very often the horizon line is clear and unbroken in your picture. It makes is easy to use the grad ND in a lot more situations. For this reason you will use it all the time. In addition, the sky is often a significant portion of your picture in coastal photography. So making the sky look its best is incredibly important.

Where to go

Now that you have the right gear, it is time to head out. Before you do, spend some time thinking about where you will go. When you first get started in coastal photography, you will have a tendency to go one of two places: either a scenic overlook or a beach. Both have problems though, so let me explain a bit.

A great view does not always translate into a great picture. Therefore, just going to a scenic overlook will often not result in great photos. It can, so I’m not saying to avoid them, but just be aware of a few problems you are going to face. The primary problem is that you will have difficulty establishing any sort of foreground. You are up too high, and there is usually nothing to use to bring the viewer into the picture. We’ll talk more about composition in a minute, but for now just understand that you often need to get down near the coast and sometimes even get right behind something to set up an interesting composition.

On the beach

When you do manage to get right next to the coast, often that will be on a beach. Beaches are great, but they have their own problems when it comes to composition. After all, a beach is just a bunch of sand, and that’s hardly something that is going to look great in your picture. You need to find something to use as a subject or at least a center of interest. Sometimes that’s a physical object in the sand (boulder, boat, moss, etc.), or it might be a pattern in the sand itself.

The best places to go are where there are interesting features to use as foreground, and you can get down to the coast. While I just warned about beaches, very often they are the best place. They allow you access to the coast, easy parking, etc. Just don’t stay in the middle of the beach. Look for interesting features, walk to the periphery, or even go beyond the beach.

When to go

Next you need to decide when to go take your coastal photos. This one is easy. You want to go before sunrise or at sunset.

While this tip is easy, it is also absolutely critical. The sky will often take up a healthy chunk of your picture, so you need it to be interesting. Further, if you go in the middle of the day, you will face harsh contrasts that will ruin your picture. Avoid doing that whenever possible.

This leads to another problem, which is access. Many beaches and scenic coastal areas are closed and blocked off until sunrise or even later. You’ll miss the best light waiting around for them to open. Pay attention to opening hours and access to make sure you can get your shot.

How to compose your coastal photos

When it comes to composing your pictures, you always want to think about the foreground, subject or center of interest, and the background. You’ll generally want to set these up in your picture according to the Rule of Thirds.

Background

Let’s start with the easy one first, the background. In coastal photography, the background of your picture will usually be the sky. That’s one of the reasons why heading out before dawn or at sunset is so important. The sky just looks better at those times. When it comes to composition, the background will be determined by how the sky looks. Therefore, you hardly need to think about the background of your picture.

Foreground

That leaves the foreground and some sort of subject or center of interest to worry about. The subject is very important, but it varies dramatically from person to person and scene to scene. It can be a physical thing like boulders or plants, or it can be a man-made item like a boat or a lighthouse. Your subject can even be an intangible thing like a leading line or a shape. Just make sure there is something tying the picture together. If you don’t, you will be left with a mere snapshot.

And finally we get to the foreground. This is often the hardest part of the picture to set up, but at the same time it is also the most important. You want to use foreground to create a sense that your viewer can walk into the picture. If you are on the beach, look for interesting sand patterns to use. Otherwise, look for rocks, boulders, or vegetation that can serve this purpose. Of course, the water and waves will often serve as your foreground. How this looks will depend largely on how you expose the picture, we’ll cover that next.

How to expose your coastal photography

In coastal photography, your exposure controls affect more than just how bright or dark your picture looks. Your exposure controls also affect much more than just depth of field (aperture) or digital noise (ISO). How you expose your picture will also control things like the the subject and mood. That is partially true in other forms of photography, but it is especially true in coastal photography.

This is because your exposure settings will control how the water and waves appear in your picture. Specifically, how fast or slow you set your shutter speed will change the look of the water. If you want to stress the power and harshness of the sea, use a fast shutter speed (faster than 1/250th of a second). That will stop the action of the moving water. To create a sense of movement, use a slower shutter speed (between 1/8 second and 1 second). For a more serene scene, you can blur out the water entirely by using a very slow shutter speed (longer than 10 seconds). This is just a introduction to this concept, but to see the full range of options, check out this article: 7 Tips to Help Improve Your Seascape Photos by Controlling the Waves.

To go about using these different shutter speeds you can start by making sure you are in Manual mode and moving your aperture and ISO. To use a faster shutter speed, make your aperture a little larger (a smaller f-number) and your ISO a little higher. More often, however, you’ll want to use a slower shutter speed, for which can you should stop down your aperture to a small setting (f/16 – f/22) and use your lowest native ISO (usually ISO 100).

Using the neutral density filter

Frequently, however, there will be too much light to use the slow shutter speed you want. That’s where the neutral density filters come in. When you attach one of these filters to the front of your lens, it will restrict the amount of light allowed into your camera. That will allow you to use a slower shutter speed to achieve a proper exposure (without overexposing your picture).

Let’s make this a little more concrete with some specific numbers. Let’s say you have your shot set up with a correct exposure and you are at 1/50th of a second for your shutter speed, and your aperture is set at f/16 with an ISO of 100. You have a 6-stop neutral density filter in your bag, and you want to use a much slower shutter speed to create some blur in the water. In that case, attach the neutral density filter to your lens and now the amount of light coming into your camera is restricted by 6 stops. If you do nothing else, your picture will be severely underexposed (probably pitch black). This allows you to increase (i.e., slow down) the shutter speed by 6 stops to achieve a proper exposure, and the slow shutter speed desired.

Let’s walk through the process of slowing down the shutter speed by 6 stops, which you will do manually.
- Remember that a stop is a doubling of light, so slowing the shutter speed by the first stop from our starting point of 1/50th of the second will move it to 1/25th of a second.
- After that, moving it another stop will get you to 1/13th of a second.
- Next is 1/6th of a second.
- 4 stops is ? or 0.3 seconds.
- 5 stops is ? of a second
- Finally, slowing the shutter speed by 6 stops will result in a shutter speed of 1.3 seconds.
Take the picture with that shutter speed and your picture should be properly exposed with a nice blur to the water.

Variations

This is just one example, and there are a lot of variations you can do on that. For example, you could use a 10 stop neutral density filter instead. That would allow you to set your shutter speed as slow as 20 seconds in our scenario above. That would really blur out the water. You can also adjust the aperture and ISO to bring the shutter speed in exactly where you want it.

You’ll note in our example above, we could have made our aperture smaller (to f/22 in most lenses) and restricted the amount of light by another stop. Or we could have increased the aperture or the ISO to increase the exposure and use a slightly faster shutter speed. Think of these controls as fine tuning after you have your neutral density filter on your lens.

Getting started with coastal photography conclusion

Hopefully you now have a little better sense of where to go, when to go, and how to set up your shots for coastal photography. Armed with this knowledge, just head to the coast when you can and put these tips to work.

But be careful – the coast can be a harsh and unforgiving environment for both your equipment and for you. That said, I think you’ll find there is no better place to be than on a coast at sunrise or sunset.

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

The post Tips for Getting Started with Coastal Photography by Jim Hamel appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
October 7, 2016
Beginner’s Guide to Doing DSLR Video Clips

The video function on your camera is probably one that you don’t play with very often. It’s often disregarded – after all, DSLR cameras are not exclusively video cameras are they? But did you know that some big budget films, including The Avengers, have scenes shot on DSLR cameras? In fact, The Avengers used the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and 7D cameras on the set!

By Dave Dugdale

Understanding your camera’s video mode opens a world of opportunities to you. Filming is great for recording a developing scene, rather than trying to record a sequence in a still image. As a wildlife photographer, I use film to record sequences of behaviour with wildlife. For obvious reasons, it’s much easier to convey something that occurs over time with moving images. Whether you work with wildlife or not, I hope the following guide to taking DSLR video helps you to unlock the potential of your camera’s video mode.

#1 Understand frame rates

When you’re shooting a video, you’re actually recording images at a very fast frame rate. These are then played back so quickly that the human brain sees one moving image. Depending on where or what you are shooting, the frame rate you go for will vary. It’s worth noting that the frame rate your camera can shoot video at is different to the frame rate at which it can shoot still images.

Movies are shot almost exclusively at 24 frames per second. Television doesn’t have an internationally accepted frame rate. For example, in Europe and many other countries, videos are shot in PAL format at 25 fps. In North America, and also Japan, videos are shot in NTSC format and at 29.97 fps (often written as 30 fps).

By Steven Worster

#2 Choose your shutter speed

Big movie cameras will likely have rotary shutters. They are semicircular and spin around to expose the sensor for each frame. Filmmakers would then adjust the shutter angle to alter the amount of motion blur in a video and how smooth the movement appears to the eye.

DSLR cameras almost exclusively use curtain shutters. You don’t need to worry too much about the workings of the shutter for this. Just remember that to convey normal motion in your video, and avoid static uncomfortable viewing of your video, you should shoot at 1/ double the frame rate.

So, if you are shooting at 25 frames per second, then you should choose a shutter speed of 1/50th second. You can balance the exposure using the aperture or ISO. The following video illustrates the differences in motion blur with different shutter speeds.

#3 Do both wide and close-up shots

It can be easy to train your camera on an event, set it to record and leave it alone. But how many films or videos have you watched where the camera angle or composition never changes? Very few, if any. One of the best ways to keep the viewer’s attention, and add a professional touch to your videos, is to shoot one scene in a number of different compositions.

This is why shooting video with a zoom lens is so handy. You can zoom out to record your wide shots, and then zoom in to record close-ups that highlight the details of whatever you are filming. It allows you to jump between clips, keeping the viewer’s attention.

If you were to just show one clip for 30 seconds solid, it is likely that the viewer would become bored. If you cut between compositions, then their interests are peaked. It also allows you to skip through time, cutting between more interesting parts of a sequence (although you need to be careful that the scene looks the same and flows – that’s known as continuity).

Take a look at this example:

#4 Focus manually

It’s super tempting to use autofocus when you first start filming, especially if you’re recording a moving subject. But autofocus makes the lens search for the focus, and once it starts trying to refocus in your video then it looks very amateur. Instead, pull the focus manually.

You’ll need to practice this technique, but it’s not as hard as it sounds. Using a smaller aperture helps too. In big film productions, there are entire jobs for focus pullers – this is a guy who manually focuses the lens for the cameraman.

#5 Take filler shots

Make sure you record the little details around your subject of the film. It might be water hitting a leaf, or the wind blowing through trees. It could be anything. But filler clips let you pad out your final film with extra details, meaning that you don’t require footage of your target throughout the whole film.

This is particularly useful in wildlife films, as it helps to transition time and events more easily by breaking up different clips. It works in a similar way to the wide and close-up shots mentioned in tip #3 above.

#6 Record sound externally

Big productions never record sound directly from the camera. They’ll have a sound man with a boom pole, holding it over people talking. This removes the interference of you actually working the camera, but it also ensures sound receives the attention it deserves. A film without sound is often a bad film, but a film with only sound can paint a picture easily.

For wildlife, we record sound at a later date. Very rarely is it recorded at exactly the same time. Instead, it is dubbed onto the footage during editing. Here’s an example:

Notice how it helps the clips to flow into one another? I am definitely not a sound expert, but it helps to make a conscious effort to improve your sound recordings.

In Conclusion

Video is a fantastic medium, I love it. There is a reason we are transfixed by film and television. Quality film production is an art, just like photography, and it is great fun to try your hand at it. So switch over to the video mode of your camera and see what you can put together.

If you’ve made any DSLR films yourself, please share them in the comments below.

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

The post Beginner’s Guide to Doing DSLR Video Clips by Will Nicholls appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

October 6, 2016
How Birds Can Help You Learn About Your Photography Journey
When you feel like you don’t know what to do, what’s the next step? Frustrating, isn’t it? I think wisdom is found anywhere, from renaissance statues to butterflies, and even birds. Speaking of which, here’s a weird photography insight that I got by observing them.

Why birds are amazing

Birds are really awesome. Well, I guess they are, depending on what aspect you are looking at. I mean, we all know they can litter a lot, right? But one thing that has always amazed me is how birds can reach their destination halfway around the world, without ever having been there nor knowing how to get there. Take the Arctic Tern, for example, it’s a bird that goes from Greenland all the way to Antarctica. They make the trip without ever knowing where it is.

Life will find a way?

There’s this scene in Jurassic Park where raptors that were not supposed to reproduce ended up making babies on their own. That’s when Jeff Goldblum said, “Life will find a way”. That is weird but it is true. Birds fly miles upon miles, butterflies too and even turtles. They all reach their destinations without knowing how to get there.

Now, call me crazy but I think that the same hand that made them also made me and you. And if these animals have an internal GPS, I am sure I have one too and so do you. A GPS that allows us to reach our destination as a photographer, wherever that may be. I don’t think any of us have any problem with that GPS concept. But between where we are and where we want to be is a big, scary gap, it’s called process. And if there’s something I’ve learned from nature, it is to embrace it.

Embrace the process

Try to think like the birds think (don’t worry it’s not that hard with your brain not being larger than theirs). They probably feel a strong urge to go in a certain direction, and I am pretty sure that’s it. They can’t possibly know 100% how to get to their destination for sure because they’ve never been there. All they did was start, and also began embracing the process of life.

Normally when someone talks about the process of photography, they usually refer to stuff like exposure and the making of photographs. But what I would like to talk about here is more about the overall process of photography. I think it is all about accepting where you are and knowing paths will open up along the way. It is up to us to be open to it, and to be brave enough to take step after step, just like millions of birds, butterflies, and turtles.

Just start even if you don’t know the end yet

But unlike birds, sometimes our destination is not as we expected when we started, that’s where we need to be open. I remember a while back, when I was thinking of what to do with my life, I had no idea what to do next. I accepted that and felt that I would end up figuring it out somehow. I started with the lowest hanging fruit: Video Games. At first, I wanted to go into Video Games, then I realized what I really liked were the graphics. I did not want to spend all that time learning about art, so I entered Graphic Design. From there I got a camera on an impulse and started photography.

When I started with photography, I had no idea what I would do, nor did I have an idea of what I needed to do. All I knew was I needed to start, even if I knew not what I was doing. I had all of the intent of being a wedding shooter but now I am more a street photographer more than anything! You see, I think photography in an overall sense works that way. Decide to be a photographer, start right now, then be open to other paths that are in front of you. Providence will take care of you. Embrace the process.

Getting past road blocks

Of course, at every turn there are frustrations. No one said this stuff would be easy! But the thing is, you can recognize that you are in the middle of a process so that you can learn to embrace it.
- Learning your exposure is frustrating you? Embrace the process.
- Keep missing shots? Embrace the process.
- Still not where you want to be? Embrace the process.
- Have no clients knocking at your door? Embrace the process.
Embracing the process is simply accepting the fact that you are where you are supposed to be right now. Once it is time for you to move on, you will. But you will never be able to move any step further if you do not accept the process. Say no clients are knocking at your door, you haven’t gone trough the process of marketing your work yet. It’s pretty simple really, your situation will probably never outgrow your own skills.

Conclusion

I don’t know where you are, reading this. But I’m pretty sure you know what you want out of photography. Will you trust your inner GPS and take the first step? God only knows what’s in store for you.

All I know for sure is that you can always figure things out along the way. Embrace the Process. Be yourself, stay focused and keep on shooting. Please share your experiences in the comments below as well.

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

The post How Birds Can Help You Learn About Your Photography Journey by Olivier Duong appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
October 5, 2016
Six Tips For Using Filters to Improve Your Landscape Photos

One of the secrets to good landscape photography is the way in which you capture various elements of the scene. Sure, you can let your camera do the heavy lifting and figure out the exposure. But a landscape photo doesn’t have to be a literal interpretation of what you see, or of what your camera sees when left to its own devices. While post-processing can help make adjustments to an image so that it’s less literal than what you saw, making certain adjustments at the time of capture is more important, giving you something special to work with when the time comes to edit the image in post. Using filters such as polarizers, neutral density, and graduated neutral density filters can help you capture the scene in more creative ways. These tips for using filters can help you start making these adjustments and creating more dynamic images.

The following tips can help you start making these adjustments and creating more dynamic images.

1 – Use a polarizer to improve the sky

A polarizer cut through the morning mist to reveal blue sky in this shot of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

I believe every photographer should have a polarizing filter in their camera bag because of how useful they can be. Polarizers work by filtering out light that is reflected directly toward the camera at specific angles. When photographing a landscape with a blue sky, haze can occasionally cause the sky to be less vibrant. Using a polarizer, you can minimize the haze and reveal the true blue of the sky. This will work best when aiming the camera at a 90° angle from the sun; in other words, with the sun to your side.

By rotating the polarizing filter while composing your shot, you can see the effect the filter will have. Be sure you don’t go too far. It is possible to over polarize the scene, creating a darker blue splotch in the sky that will make the use of the filter obvious and the image appear unnatural. This is especially possible with ultra-wide angle lenses that take in a huge expanse of the sky. In the image above, a polarizer was used to reduce the amount of morning mist in the valley and show the blue sky behind the mist.

2 – Use a polarizer to reveal what’s underneath the water

A polarizer can reduce reflections on the surface of the water to allow you see what’s beneath the surface, and add visual interest to a scene.

Often when photographing a stream or lake, the light may reflect off the water’s surface to such a degree that it’s impossible to see what’s below. However, there may be times when there is something of interest underneath the surface, such as rocks, fish, or logs from fallen trees. Using a polarizer, you can reveal as much or as little of what’s beneath the surface by eliminating the reflecting light.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing either. You can nuance the effect by rotating the filter just a little bit, to retain some reflecting light while still seeing beneath the surface. In the image above, on the left, no polarizer was used and the reflected light prevents you from seeing below the water’s surface. On the right, a polarizer was used to reduce the reflected light on the water’s surface, allowing you to see the rocks beneath the surface.

3 – Use a polarizer to reduce reflections on wet rocks

In this image, light reflects off of the wet rocks by the waterfall.

In this image, a polarizer was used to reduce the reflected light from the wet rocks.

When photographing a waterfall, where there are generally a lot of wet rocks, light can reflect off of them, making them appear shiny. On occasion, that reflected light may be so strong that it detracts from the image. Using a polarizer can reduce the reflected light and reveal more detail in the rocks, adding interest to the image.

As with the water reflections discussed above, you can nuance the effect by rotating the filter to get the right balance of reflected light and detail underneath. In the images above, you can see how the highlights on the rocks can be reduced if desired by using a polarizing filter. Again, by rotating the filter as you look through the viewfinder, or on the live view screen, you can watch the effect happen and adjust it to your liking.

4 – Use Graduated Neutral Density Filters to darken the sky

The difference when using a graduated neutral density filter can be very apparent, as seen in the comparison of these two images.

When photographing the landscape, especially at sunrise or sunset, there is often a high amount of contrast between the sky and the foreground. That forces you to make exposure choices to determine what will be exposed properly. While digital cameras are much improved with regards to dynamic range in recent years, nature can still push your camera to its limits in terms of how much can be captured in a single image.

Graduated neutral density filters can help to reduce the dynamic range of an image, by darkening the brighter areas, like the sky, so that it falls within the range of what the camera can capture. Use Live View on your camera to see the positioning of the filter over the lens, especially when using a hard-edged ND graduated filter. Watch the way the foreground exposure changes in relation to the sky, as it is possible to overdo a good thing. If the sky gets too dark in relation to the foreground, try a less dense filter, for instance, a 2-stop ND grad rather than a 3-stop grad. Above, the image on the left was taken without the use of a graduated neutral density filter. On the right, a 3-stop,

Above, the image on the left was taken without the use of a graduated neutral density filter. On the right, a 3-stop, soft-edged graduated neutral density filter was used to darken the sky. Notice it also has the effect of brightening the foreground in relation to the sky, bringing out more detail in the darker area in the bottom left.

5 – Control the motion of water

A neutral density filter can be used to help capture the motion of water in a scene.

Because of its nature, moving water is often the most dynamic part of an image. You can create a different mood simply by changing the way you capture water. Longer exposures tend to be more calm and peaceful, while shorter exposures can capture the violence of a crashing wave, or the power of a river going over the falls.

Since shutter speed controls the effect of motion, by using neutral density filters you can evoke both moods by limiting the amount of light that enters your lens. Thus, you can adjust the shutter speed to give you the effect of motion that you want. You may not need a filter for faster shutter speeds, but if it’s a bright day and you want to slow things down, you’ll need a neutral density filter to do that.

Using a 3-stop ND filter is usually fine for waterfalls to slow them down just enough to get a nice creamy look to the falls, but when capturing waves on the ocean, it may not be enough to get the effect you need. Sometimes four or even five stops of neutral density is needed to get the exposure you need to slow it down to capture water the way you want. Adding a 10-stop neutral density filter will allow you to slow down your shutter speed to a minute or more, eliminating waves completely, creating a calm scene that feels quiet and peaceful as opposed to the crashing waves pounding the rocks or beach.

In the image above, a 3-stop neutral density filter was used to slow down the exposure just enough to allow the water’s motion to be captured as it crashed on the rocks. In the image below, a 10-stop neutral density filter was used to slow down the exposure further, to a full 2-minutes, creating smooth water and a calmer looking scene.

Using a 10-stop ND filter, you can make water appear calm by using a long exposure. This is a two-minute exposure.

6 – Create motion in clouds

When no neutral density filter is used, clouds are captured as we see them.

Using a 10-stop ND filter to achieve a slower shutter speed of 60 seconds, I was able to capture the motion of the clouds as they passed over New York City.

As a landscape photographer, clouds are often the focus of an image or at least a strong component in the composition. Clouds add depth and drama to a good landscape, creating background interest. But you can also manipulate the clouds to your creative advantage as well, capturing their movement and blurring them to create a sense of flight and speed in your scene. By using a strong neutral density filter, such as Lee’s Big Stopper 10-stop ND filter or Vü Filter’s 10-stop offering, you can slow down your shutter speed to allow the motion of the clouds to be captured.

The proper shutter speed to capture cloud movement will vary, depending on how fast the clouds are moving. The longer the exposure, the more movement you will capture. An exposure of 30 seconds to one minute for fast moving clouds, such as in the image above, will result in a motion blur where the clouds still resemble clouds. An exposure of two or three minutes will result in the clouds becoming streaks of color across the sky, unrecognizable as clouds anymore.

Conclusion

One of the complaints I hear about using filters is that it takes too much time to put them on the lens, or it slows you down. I prefer to think of it as being deliberate about the shot I am trying to capture, and making sure that my camera captures exactly what I want.

Do you use filters? What’s your favorite technique using on-camera filters? Please share in the comments below.

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

The post Six Tips For Using Filters to Improve Your Landscape Photos by Rick Berk appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

October 5, 2016
2 Simple Methods for Adding Color to Your Images Using Photoshop
Most of us have experienced photographing an incredible sunrise or sunset only to get home and realize that the colors in your images are not nearly as good as the colors you witnessed with your own eyes. There can be many reasons to this, such as camera limitations or mistakes you made in the field. However, that’s not what you will learn about in this article. Correcting the colors, or adding color, isn’t something you need to spend hours working on. In fact, it can be done in just a few minutes using Adobe Photoshop and you don’t need to be a Photoshop expert to do it.

Trolltunga, Norway – We will be adding color to this sky

As we all know there are many ways to get to Rome, there isn’t only one method of adding colors in Photoshop either. It can, as I mentioned above, be done fairly easy but the more detailed adjustments you wish to make, the harder it will become. In this article, we will be looking at two easy methods to add color in Photoshop.

#1 Adding Color with a Photo Filter

The first method we will look at involves the Photoshop tool called Photo Filter. This is an Adjustment Tool which you can find by clicking the Adjustment Tool icon (the half-filled circle located below the layers palette, see screenshot below). This creates a new layer named Photo Filter 1, which we will be working on.

A warming filter is the default setting so, as you might see, the image now has an orange color cast. Personally, I prefer using Warming Filter (LBA) as I find this to have the most natural color that suits my images best (see screenshot on the right). Select this filter by clicking on the Filter dropdown menu. Alternatively, you can select a color manually that might suit your specific image better. If you find the adjustment to be a little too weak you can strengthen its appearance by increasing the Density. I rarely go above 40% Density as the colors then quickly become washed out and results in a look I don’t want.

Photo Filter applied to the whole image at 40%

Photo Filter applied to the whole image at the default 25%

By using this filter we have brought back some of the color in the sky. There’s not a huge difference but we’ve managed to keep a natural look in the image while the sky still looks good. However, there’s one problem. We don’t necessarily want to add the extra color to the landscape itself, we only wanted the sky to be affected.

Left of the Photo Filter 1 text there’s a white box. This is the layer mask, basically telling Photoshop what area of the image should be affected by that particular layer. White means that it’s visible and black means that it’s concealed. By default the entire mask is white. To remove the adjustment from the landscape itself follow these steps:
1. Select the Layer Mask by clicking on it (it will show square brackets around the mask when it is selected, see screenshot on the right))
2. Select a black brush and set Hardness to 0%
3. Reduce the opacity of the brush to 80%
4. With the Layer Mask still selected, carefully paint on the areas you do not want affected by the filter. You’ll see the adjustment disappear from those places as you paint.
The Photo Filter layer masked to only affect the sky.

This is the easiest way to manually choose where the adjustment will be visible. Unfortunately, it’s also the least accurate. You might see some haloing along the edges or perhaps the color bleeds onto the horizon at certain places. By zooming in on the image and using a smaller brush you’ll be able to reduce the amount of haloing or bleed. Other methods, such as Luminosity Masking, are more accurate but also demand a better understanding of Adobe Photoshop.

#2 Add contrast with Curves Adjustment Layer

Another easy method to add colors is by using the Curves Adjustment Layer. Unlike Photo Filter, we will be using Curves to add contrast in the sky. Follow these steps to do a Curves adjustment:

Open a Curves Adjustment Layer by clicking on the Adjustment Layer icon again, and selecting Curves this time.

You want to add some contrast and increase the colors slightly by darkening the sky. Do this by clicking in the middle of the line in your Curves layer and pulling it down gently. Make sure that you don’t go too far as that will lead to unwanted grain or color distortions.

That’s it. To remove the adjustment from the landscape create another Layer Mask and follow the same steps as with the previous method above.

As you might have noticed these are two subtle adjustments. You won’t get a surreal sky by following these methods. Instead, you’ll maintain a natural look and still bring out some of the color you wanted to capture.

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

The post 2 Simple Methods for Adding Color to Your Images Using Photoshop by Christian Hoiberg appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
October 4, 2016
Step by Step Tutorial for How to Shoot Tethered
Tethered shooting is a photography technique that has been practiced by many professional photographers for years. In short, tethering allows you to connect your camera to a computer or tablet and almost instantly view your digital images on the device within seconds after it is captured. Due to expense and accessibility, tethered-shooting was generally reserved for photographers who do a lot of studio work and high-end commercial photo shoots. However, as tethering technology became significantly cheaper and easier to use, tethered shooting as been practiced by professionals and enthusiasts alike.

If you’ve ever been curious about tethered shooting, this article will give a brief overview of the process as well as some steps to easily get started.

By Tyler Ingram

What is tethered shooting?

Tethered photography is the process of connecting your camera to a computer, tablet, or even a smartphone using either a cable or wireless app. After a successful connection between the devices, any new image captured by the camera is then passed directly to the computer and saved in a pre-designated folder. You’re then able to see the image fully displayed on the computer screen and even do some post-processing to the image.

Benefits of tethered shooting

The main benefit of tethered shooting is the ability to quickly preview the image on a large monitor within seconds of capturing it with your camera. This allows both you and a client to scrutinize your images on a big screen, allowing you to make adjustments to the photo shoot as it’s taking place. Depending on the tethering software you’re using, you might even be able to do quick edits to the photo on-site. Both you and the client can see exactly what’s being photographed and can make sure your visions for the shoot are in alignment. Overall, this type of collaboration should lead to a better result.

By Photographer

Downsides of tethered shooting

The ability to almost instantly preview photos as they’re being captured does come with a few downsides.

First, either you or your client could get too caught up in little details while inspecting the photos, and this can stall a photo shoot. Thus, it’s important to set expectations with your client and be able to push forward without focusing too much on details. Second, tethering can suck the battery life out of both your camera and your connected computer. If your tethered photo shoot may take longer than an hour, you’ll want to have extra batteries on hand and be shooting near a wall socket in case you need to plug in. Lastly, tethering software can be notoriously finicky and is prone to not working for no apparent reason, so you’ll want to have a backup plan in case of an outage.

What you need for tethered shooting

The traditional and most reliable way to connect your camera to a computer or another device is by using a cable. There are a variety of different cables and ports available, so which cable you use will depend on your exact devices. Some DSLRs with built-in Wi-Fi even offer wireless tethering or remote shooting, but this is typically limited to being used on a tablet or mobile device only, not a laptop computer.

In this particular instance, we’ll assume the camera is a DSLR and the connected device a laptop computer, as this is a very common tethered shooting setup. In this case, you’ll need:
- An extra long (ie. 15 feet) USB cable to connect your camera to your laptop
- Tethering software, such as Adobe Lightroom or Canon EOS Utility 3
- Optional – a portable table to hold your laptop such as Tether Tools’ Aero Table
- Optional – a JerkStopper to prevent accidentally yanking your USB cable from your camera
Tether Table Aero is a lightweight, durable aluminum platform that attaches to almost any tripod or light stand, turning it into a handy utility table for holding a laptop or extra camera gear.

To be clear, there are many tethered shooting programs available, but this article will highlight two low-cost, simple methods in particular: Adobe Lightroom and EOS Utility 3.

Simple tethered shooting with Lightroom

The quickest and arguably the easiest way to start tethered shooting is by using Adobe Lightroom’s Tethered Capture feature. Follow these steps to set it up:

Step 1 – Connect the camera to the laptop

Connect your DSLR to your laptop with a USB cable. Then turn the camera on.

Step 2 – Start Tethered Capture in Lightroom

Open Lightroom and navigate to File > Tethered Capture > Start Tethered Capture

Step 3 – choose tethered settings

In the Tethered Capture Settings dialogue box, you have the option of choosing a Session Name (e.g., “Tethered Shooting Test,” specifying the photo names, choosing a destination for your photos, and adding metadata and keywords. Be sure to pay particular attention to where the photos will be saved so you can find them later. After setting your options, click OK.

If all goes well, the screen below will pop up, giving you a narrow control panel (outlined in red below) for some light remote shooting options, and a Library in which photos captured via the tethered shooting connection will populate.

However, it’s not uncommon for Lightroom to have difficulty detecting the connected camera. If you follow the above steps and still see this screen below, try troubleshooting by first making sure your version of Lightroom and your camera’s firmware are both updated. Also, check compatibility to ensure your camera can tether capture with Lightroom. Note: there are third party plugins available for other non-compatible cameras such as the Fuji X-T1, do a search for your camera model and you may find a solution (Pentax here, Sony here.

Finally, try rotating through several different USB cables to make sure they’re working well. But if you’re looking for a more consistent way to tether shoot, check out the other option below.

Reliable Tethered Shooting with EOS Utility 3

If you shoot with a Canon DSLR, whip out that CD that came with your camera and install the EOS Utility 3 onto your computer. When your Canon DSLR is connected to your computer, you’ll be able to use this program to control your camera remotely and shoot tethered. This method is much more reliable and consistent than using Lightroom’s tethered capture option.

Steps for using EOS Utility 3 for tethering:
1. Start by downloading the EOS Utility 3 and opening it on your computer. Click on the “Remote shooting” option.
2. Selecting that option will display the following interface. The display gives you the ability to alter some settings such as white balance or drive mode on your camera directly from this interface, but there are still some functions, such as lens zooming, that you’ll have to do manually.
3. While still in the Remote Shooting setting of EOS Utility 3, set your camera to Live View mode, and tethered shooting will be enabled. In this case, Live View will appear directly on your computer screen so you will see exactly what your camera sees. When you take a photo in tethered shooting mode, the captured photo will appear on your desktop.
Over to you

These are just two of many options available for tethered shooting. Do you frequently shoot tethered? If so, what types of programs do you use for reliable results? Please let us know your tethered shooting tips and tricks in the comments below.

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

The post Step by Step Tutorial for How to Shoot Tethered by Suzi Pratt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
October 4, 2016
Tips for Taking the Torture out of Extended Family Portrait Sessions
I have yet to meet someone who loves getting their picture taken with the whole extended family. The thought of getting all the dramatic aunts, crazy uncles, wild kids, and tired grandparents together and smiling all at the same time seems nearly impossible, and not at all fun. I know of many photographers who refuse to do big family portraits because they can be so unpleasant. I have grown to love big extended family portrait sessions throughout the years. You can too, whether you’re the photographer, or one of the silly cousins getting her photo taken.

Think of big groups as your own family

The first thing that helped me love extended family sessions was the way that I thought of them. Instead of a difficult crazy session, I try to think of them as my own family, and take the photos with love. Let me share a story that may change your mind about extended family sessions too.

A while ago I was asked to add a missing brother to an extended family photo. The entire family had been there when they had the photo taken, except for this one brother who couldn’t get off work. Months later, one of the other brothers tragically passed away. Their most recent family portrait wasn’t complete, and they’d never be able to get a new one.

So, I took this working brother to the same location, took a photo of him, worked him into the photo through the magic of Photoshop. I matched everything the best that I could, so they could have the last most complete family portrait. It made me realize how fragile life is, and how fragile families are. If I have an opportunity to capture a family right now, today, as they are, I’m happy to do it. You never know when or why that portrait may become priceless to them.

Not only are these photos precious and invaluable, but they can be a lot of fun, and not too difficult to pull off. Let me give you some tips to help.

Take charge, be bold, move fast

When you’re working with a big group of people, someone has to be in charge. That person is you, the photographer. This is not a time to be timid and quiet, hoping things will fall into place. As soon as you’re ready to start, get everyone’s attention. Taking charge right away will let them know that you are confident, that you know what you are doing, and that they can trust you. Smile a lot, and if it works for you, throw in some humor. Tell your group that if they will listen to you closely, and do everything you say, that it will be quick, painless, and even fun. Everyone there likes to hear “quick, painless, and fun”, so you’ll have their attention right away.

Don’t take a long time getting everything situated. Have everything scoped out beforehand, and have a firm idea of where and how you will place everyone. Know what order you will be photographing each group, and if you have any stragglers, kindly, but firmly move them toward the picture location. If there are a lot of small children, this is especially imperative. You will lose their interest and patience so quickly, so you need to take advantage of any time when they are even remotely cooperative. You won’t get any good photos when everyone is exhausted and sick of you, so you have to be done before that happens.

Add some personality

With a big group, it seems like you might only have one option – get everyone to look at you, and hope they are smiling. Many clients do want a more traditional family photo, very posed, with everyone looking and smiling. But try giving them a few photos with a little bit of their family’s personality. When you are working with so many people it’s really hard to get a perfect traditional photo anyway. Most of my clients know that isn’t really my style, so they are happy with the more fun, casual photos.

My favorite thing is to ask everyone to hug in to Grandpa and Grandma, or hug someone next to them. Set everyone up for the more formal photo, and once you’ve captured that, just ask them all to hug. Usually it feels silly enough that they start to laugh, and you get genuine laughs and connection.

Try different poses and positions

It can be a challenge to know how to arrange a really big family group. You could easily have four generations in one photo, which can add even more challenges with arrangements. Some families like family photos where they are all squished in together, in one big family group. I’ve had some that want them completely mixed up, where nobody is grouped into separate families. This is okay, but I find that most families like to at least be able to tell which small families within the group belong together. You can do this by just having each family stand next to each other, or you can even put gaps in between each family. I usually do both, so they have options to choose from later.

I usually place Grandpa and Grandma in the center then evenly distribute their children’s families on either side.

My style doesn’t involve a lot of props, so you won’t notice a lot of chairs and stools in my family photos. They are an option if you’d like to create different levels, but it usually takes a lot of time to get that set up, and your subjects lose patience fast. I prefer a more casual, natural look to something that looks very precise and contrived. Sometimes worrying about those extra things can cause a lot of stress for you, and for your families, and make the whole process more of a chore. But feel free to use them if it’s your style and preference.

Find suitable locations

If you want to have some seated photos, look for locations that have places to sit built in. I love rocks, logs, or even park benches. You can also have some people sit on the ground, some kneel, some stand, but again, be careful not to take so long over-posing that you lose their patience.

It can be difficult to find a place that will work for such a large group. Try to find locations with simple backgrounds that don’t detract from the faces. If possible, schedule the session during the early morning or evening, to take advantage of better lighting. Look for places that have large trees or buildings to filter the light. It’s much harder to make difficult lighting situations work with 30 people than it is when you’re just photographing one.

Don’t move around a lot with a large family once you’ve found a good spot. Find one or two good backgrounds, three if they’re really close to each other, and stick with them. This will keep their photo groupings more consistent with each other, and will make the session go much faster and smoother. Try getting 30 people to move quickly over to a different rock, and you’ll see what I mean.

Get all the break-off groupings

Once you’ve photographed the big huge family, it’s time to get all of the little groups. Keep this moving quickly, and be efficient moving from one group to the next. Here’s a list of the different groupings that I do:
- Entire extended family
- Grandpa and Grandma (Dad and Mom) alone
- Dad and Mom with their children (siblings)
- Dad and Mom with their children and children’s spouses
- All the siblings
- The siblings and their spouses
- Grandpa and Grandma with the grandchildren
- All the grandchildren
- The sisters together
- The brothers together
- Each separate family
I don’t do every one of these every time. It depends on what the family wants. Also, I know every family is different, and there may not be Mom and Dad, or any grandchildren, etc. This is just to give an idea of how you might break the groupings up.

I try to do the whole family first, and then the smaller groupings. Because it’s hardest to get everyone paying attention and happy for the whole group, you want to get that in when everyone’s fresh. However, sometimes some of the families arrive before others. It’s a great use of time to take the photos of those families while you’re waiting for the entire group to get there. They’ll be happy that they’re finished early, and that they don’t have to sit around doing nothing while they’re waiting for the latecomers.

A few more tips

Remember when you’re working with big families, that letting go of perfection can save you, and them, from a miserable experience. Kids often don’t cooperate, and sometimes some of the family is really grumpy about being there for photos. Do the best you can, and let the rest go. If there are little ones not looking at the camera, or even crying, you are still capturing that family at this moment in time, and giving them a gift. They may end up treasuring the silly faces, and loving the memories of when one grandchild was going through his never-sit-still phase.

Direct the adults

Tell the parents and grandparents to do their best to continue looking at you and smiling, even if you are trying to get their kids’ attention. Many a good photo is ruined by a parent looking down and lecturing their child right at the moment when the child finally does look up and smile. If the adults are picture-ready at all times, then you will have a chance at catching the split second that their kid smiles, and they’ll be smiling too.

Shoot lots of the big group

Take LOTS of photos in a row with the big group. You may think that you have what you need, but then later when you look at the photos full size, you’ll realize that Uncle Bob blinked in every single one. If you take a lot of photos, one right after the other, you can do head swaps later if you need to open some eyes. If they’re taken at approximately the same time, it will be really easy to change the faces, because they’ll be in the same place in every photo.

Love your families

Lastly, remember to love the families you are photographing. They love each other, even through their faults and imperfections, enough to want to preserve a moment in their lives. This photo is so important to at least one person there. Important enough to go through all the hassle of gathering their entire family together in one place at one time. They are trusting you to give them this cherished gift. Consider yourself one of the family for that hour or so, and let your lens capture the love.

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

The post Tips for Taking the Torture out of Extended Family Portrait Sessions by Melinda Smith appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
October 4, 2016
5 Tips for Using a Kit Lens for Travel Photography

There are many good reasons not to use a kit lens for travel photography. If a kit lens is the only lens you own and you have a photography trip planned, you may be thinking about buying a better quality mid-range zoom or even a prime lens to replace or accompany it.

But before you do so, I want to tell you a story.

Why a kit lens isn’t so bad after all

10 years ago I bought my first digital SLR, a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT. I had switched systems from Pentax so I didn’t have any lenses to use with it. The camera came with an 18-55mm kit lens, and undecided about what other lenses I needed, I took it with me on an extended trip to South America.

I soon realized that the quality of the lens was not as good as it could be (I nearly used the word horrible). It wasn’t sharp and there was lots of chromatic aberration and purple fringing in my photos. Canon have since discontinued that early kit lens and replaced it with another, better one.

But that lens and camera combination gave me a tremendous amount of freedom. It was light enough enough to carry with me everywhere. I never had to change lenses, which helped keep the sensor reasonably free of dust. I had a wide-angle lens at 18mm, a short telephoto at 55mm, and all the focal lengths in-between.

It was during this trip that I had time to think about my future and what I wanted to do with it. I decided that I wanted to write about photography for a living.

Five months later I sold my first feature to Practical Photography magazine, illustrated with photos taken in South America with the Digital Rebel XT and that same kit lens. Yes, the lens may have been horrible, and I’d never want to go back to that camera and lens combination, but the photos I took with it were good enough to be published in a major photography magazine.

What lessons can we learn from this? Here are some of the key lessons.

1. Your equipment matters, but not in the way you think

The key thing is that the equipment you chose to take with you is light enough for you to take just about everywhere, so that you don’t miss any photo opportunities that present themselves. That’s one of the reasons that mirrorless cameras and high end compacts have become popular with travellers.

Relating this back to lenses, one of the benefits of prime lenses is that they tend to be smaller and lighter than better quality mid-range zooms.

2. Location and timing are more important than gear

Travel photography is about getting yourself to interesting places, when the light is beautiful, so that you can take photos that evoke the mood and atmosphere. If you don’t do this, it doesn’t really matter what camera and lens you have. Your photos won’t be as interesting as those from people who do take the trouble to do these things.

The photo above was taken during a 4-day jeep trip in south-west Bolivia. It’s a remote location at 4200 meters above sea level in the Andes that I never would have seen without going on that trip. It doesn’t matter what camera and lens you have, you’ll never take photos like this if you don’t make the effort to get to places like this one.

3. You need to interact with the locals

You get more out of the journey on a personal level when you talk to local people. The ability to confidently communicate gives you the chance to learn about their lives and the way of life of people from a different place or country.

It also opens up the number of photographic opportunities that come your way. Perhaps the people you talk to would like to have their photos taken, if you ask. Or you can ask people what local sights they can recommend for you to visit with your camera. You will learn about local temples, markets, festivals and other interesting cultural events or places that make good subjects.

I came across this scene in Punta Arenas, Chile (above) and was struck by the contrast between the expensive looking racing car and the houses. These two guys were happy for me to take a photo. The confidence to talk to people in this type of situation, and ask for permission to take a photo, is just as important as your gear.

4. Money is always a factor

Travel can be expensive, and it may be wiser spending money on experiences than gear. You don’t want to be in the situation of having spent so much on lenses that you don’t have enough money left to do all the things you would like on your journey.

5. Kit lenses are not perfect

I think it’s wise to acknowledge at this point that there are many reasons why you might want to buy a better lens than your kit lens. You might need a prime lens with a wide aperture for shooting in low light or experimenting with shallow depth-of-field. Or you may need a shorter focal length or a longer one. A weatherproof lens so you can shoot with confidence in the rain might also be handy.

These are all valid reasons for buying a better lens. Most photographers who start out with a kit lens end up buying better ones eventually. My photos were published in spite of me using a kit lens, not because of it.

But if a kit lens is all you have, there is no need to worry. You will have plenty of opportunities to buy better lenses in the future. For now, just get out there and seize the moment. Enjoy your trip, have a wonderful experience and make as many beautiful images as you can.

Mastering Lenses

If you want to know more about buying and using lenses then please check out my ebook Mastering Lenses: A Photographer’s Guide to Creating Beautiful Photos With Any Lens.

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
tablet_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_tab-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78623” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
mobile_slots.push( googletag.defineSlot( “/1005424/_dPSv4_mob-all-article-bottom_(300×250)”, [300, 250], “pb-ad-78158” ).addService( googletag.pubads() ) ); } );

The post 5 Tips for Using a Kit Lens for Travel Photography by Andrew S. Gibson appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

October 3, 2016