Category: Photography

ImageRights – Finding and Pursuing Copyright Infringement of Your Images
Image Rights (imagerights.com) is a middleman for those of us not in tune with the various legal systems, as they pertain to unauthorized use of our images. It’s an opportunity to go after copyright infringement (entities who use your photo work without your permission) and effectively hire a lawyer in a number of countries. It’s also a discovery service to find out where you images are being used.

It’s not perfect, and does not pertain to every case of copyright infringement, but it is a useful tool for those with a lot of online images. This article is an overview of the service, as an in-depth how-to would be very lengthy.

How it Works

Getting Started

Let’s take a look at the dashboard of Image Rights.

I like that Image Rights (IR) uses a simple flow diagram to help me visualize what goes where, and what comes next. Images are uploaded by you (upper left), then when a discovery happens (upper middle) there are some options. Starting with the Inbox, you are shown all the current matches for your images. It is then up to you to filter the noise form the signal.

I have redacted the names to protect the (potentially) innocent or guilty, except for National Geographic. I left them up there so you can see the details. That was a photo I entered in their contest, so I know that is an authorized use of my image.

IR gives you a link to where the image is stored (it will also show you items that are hot-linked) and where it is used. At this point, you click through the links to see if the image is actually used on the site (sometimes it no longer exists) and if it really is yours.

Opening a Case

Clicking the check box next to an image means you want to open a case to start an investigation. Doing so brings up the Prepare Case screen (see below).

Here is your chance to triple check the image use, let IR know if the image is registered with the US Copyright Office (USCO), and give them details of your normal fees.

Down at the bottom is where you finish your submission and provide more details. I often have images show up from articles posted here on dPS, that are scrapped by a number of disrespectful sites. I will mention the total number of images and their use. Real people read these comments, and they help clarify all the details to prevent too much back and forth during the discovery phase.

Once you click Submit, then poof! Away it goes to be reviewed.

Sorting the Wheat from the Chaff

Getting back to the Inbox for a moment, there are more options than just opening a case. Take a look at the drop down offered next to each item.

The Sightings Folders explains each of these.

Those are my real world numbers after using the service for 18 months, along with explanations that most of these things will not be followed up by IR. I use the Authorized and My Site options often, as IR will find my images here on dPS, as well as other sites where I write. This is why they have the “Power User” section at the bottom of that screen; to help you create Quick Move buttons if you find you are clicking the same things over and over again.

Where it Goes Next

Back to the dashboard:

After submission, your claim will be assessed by real people at IR, then it will be taken on one of three paths.
1. Case Closed: Various reasons can close a case. Often this is because the claim is outside of countries where IR has legal relationships.
2. Takedown: The case may have merit, but recovery prospects look low, or no firm will take on the case. These items are moved to “Recommended for Takedown”. These are up to you to complete and sometimes recovery of a fee is still possible on your own.
3. Recommended for Recovery: this is where you hope your case will end up. You will receive an email asking you what you want to do. Here, the law firm has given input to IR about how much should be asked from the infringer and you are given options to pursue or not.
If you agree to the terms, the case will move to the active stage, and the law firm will being their lawyering activities to attempt to recover a fee from the infringer. I have seen cases sit open for 6-12 months. My oldest is now 16 months. Sometimes it takes a while.

Winning, or Not

In an over-simplified view of the site, cases that are open will either be won or lost. Sometimes they are closed because of no action.

If you win, yay! IR will send you an email, and a note will be added to your case describing how much was recovered and what your cut will be. Payments can take a month or two to filter through.

What Does it Cost?

ImageRights has three basic levels of service.

The basic level allows you to upload 1000 images, costs $ 50 each time you open a case, and allows you to keep 50% of any money recovered from infringers.

The Pro level allows you to upload 50,000 images, costs $ 495/year and gives a 55% payout. It also comes with three free USCO registrations (more on that in a minute).

The Premier level allows you to upload 125,000 images, costs $ 1295/year, pays out 60%, and comes with five USCO registrations.

How Photographers can Use ImageRights

The most obvious use of IR is to find out who is using your images, and if you choose, make them stop and/or pay for the use of your image.

As their Basic service is free and includes up to 1000 images, it’s a good way to kick the tires and see if the service is useful to you. Be prepared for a bit of noise at first as the crawlers are given your fresh files. Also, if you have some common photos of icons (e.g. The Taj Mahal) be prepared for some false positives.

In the past year I have recovered more money using IR that I have sold via Alamy, my stock photography host. That stat is also common among the my friends who use the service, and also sell stock photos.

I have also found it is a good way to build your CV and electronic tear sheets. One of my clients uses my images in their advertising and is allowed to distribute them to re-sellers of their service for advertising. I can see where the images are used and potentially find new clients who are in need of similar images.

Copyright Registration

IR also has a useful USA copyright registration feature. You can register up to 750 images at a time in one process.

You can do this in the Images area, by selecting individual images you wish to register, then clicking “Register” at the top. Or you can start a registration from the USCO Registration tab, which will eventually loop you around to selecting individual items.

The fee is $ 89 ($ 55 of which is the USCO fee) for Basic members and the other tiers each get a number of registrations free. You will receive a certificate in the mail, and an email with all the file names listed. IR will also remember which items are in process, or have finished registration, when it comes to opening cases. They will even put this data into the metadata of your image file if you use Lightroom!

Lightroom Publishing Service

Lastly, IR has a Lightroom Publishing Service which is a godsend for those of us addicted to the Adobe world of image edits. Create folders in the service just like you would in any other service and then publish them to the site.

IR then scours the Internet looking for new matches. Plus, if you register any images with the US Copyright Office, that information will be shown in the image metadata inside Lightroom.

Limits of the system

First, there are the countries where IR has no partner legal firm. China, Colombia, Mali; these are some of the many countries without well-defined, and fair copyright protection systems.

Second, there are many uses which just aren’t worth a lawyer’s time to pursue. Blogs, image share sites, and social media platforms are a few of the instances where the payout, or lack of a chance of payout, means no firm will take your case. You are still free to pursue action yourself though.

Also, the bots that run the checks don’t catch everything. Other services like TinEye and Google Image Search are useful in finding other cases of infringement. IR does have a feature called ClaimCapture that let’s you manually enter an infringement in order to purse, so using other search sites is helpful.

People can also simply fail to respond and often there is little you can do. I had a law firm, of all people, blatantly (website banner) use one of my images without permission. They were contacted by IR’s law firm and I noticed the image was promptly removed, but they simply ignored future requests for payment. Knowing that the cost of taking another firm to court would outweigh the benefit, this case was closed after a year of non-response.

This is my most found image, it’s been taken and used on 15 sites without my permission.

How much time does it take

There is a learning curve at first, for sure. I spent maybe an hour a day at first, or after I uploaded a major amount of images. But like anything, I started seeing what was actionable and what was just not worth it. Now it is about 10 minutes a day, as things are more calm. At first it is a lot of work until you start seeing the types of sites taking your images. I notice Russian or Chinese or Nepali sites and I know I have no chance of recovery, so I put them in the “no chance for recovery” type piles instead of taking the time to submit them, only to have IR reject them. That part is just learned from doing. But it was certainly worth it for me as for pay out.

Conclusion

It’s not a perfect system. If you opt for the Pro plan there is risk of not seeing a return. So far it has worked okay for me, but it’s not like I will retire on all the illegal use of my photos. I like that it gives me some recourse when there is an obvious infringement (like Yahoo using my photo and removing my copyright). It also highlights sites where a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice is needed. Lastly, it is a relatively easy way to register your images with the US Copyright Office.

Do you do anything to protect your stock photography? What services or methods do you use? If you do photography as a hobby, it may not be worthwhile for you to go to all this trouble. But if you make a living from your images you may want to look into ImageRights.

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The post ImageRights – Finding and Pursuing Copyright Infringement of Your Images by Peter West Carey appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 11, 2016
Flickr’s New Home Page is Fantastic!

Even in the new Instagram, Facebook, Snapchatty world, Flickr still remains my favorite place to share photos. I have now posted over 120,000 photos to Flickr and it remains my primary online archive for my body of work. Even though you don’t hear about Flickr as much in the headlines these days, there is still a very robust community there who shares great work every single day. I usually post two batches of photos each day to Flickr, once in the morning and once in the evening.

The value proposition for Flickr is compelling. Both free and $ 49/year Pro accounts offer 1 terabyte of storage for your photos. One terabyte should be enough for almost every photographer out there today. Fortunately for me, I’ve been grandfathered into the old Flickr Pro account structure, which allows *unlimited* photo storage. I have already passed 1 terabyte at Flickr, but I am a very rare outlier. 99.9% of the photographers using Flickr today are nowhere close to this limit.

In addition to generous storage, Flickr also gives both Pro and free accounts a terrific iPhone/Android app and a beautiful web experience. Where Facebook and Instagram downsize and degrade your photos, Flickr allows you to host your full high resolution original JPGs. This also makes Flickr a great place as an additional layer of backup for published JPG images. Pro accounts also get ad free browsing and sharing (that’s why even free accounts don’t see advertisements on my photo pages) which makes the account worth the $ 49 a year alone. There are also some nice additional benefits to going Pro.

Recently Flickr made a very significant change to the web version of the site. Flickr.com, the main home page has been completely redesigned and in my opinion is 1000% better.

You may or may not have the new home page yet, but they are slowly rolling it out to everybody over time. If you haven’t been to flickr.com in a while I’d encourage you to check the new feed page out. You have to be logged in to see the new changes, but they make following your Flickr friend’s photos such a better experience.

Several new design elements have been brought into the new feed page.

1. There is now a three column layout. Photos are easy to browse and you can just scroll down the page looking at photos from your contacts.

2. Preview. This is my favorite feature of the new feed. If you see a photo on a page that you want to see larger you just click on it. The photo instantly blows up big and beautiful in a very clean version on your screen. Even better, Flickr has incorporated keyboard commands to the large view of these previews, so if I like a photo and want to favorite it or comment on it I can just press the F or C key on my keyboard. If someone has uploaded multiple photos in a batch (like I usually do) I can also easily use the forward and backward arrow keys to go through a batch of photos, easily interacting with each image with my keyboard commands.

Once you are done looking and interacting with a batch of photos using preview, you can just hit the escape key and it takes you right back where you were to your place in feed. Very slick!

Previously if I wanted to go through my contacts’ photos I would have to go to the “People” menu item which was a very glitchy page that bounced around too much on page reloads. I still use the People tab because it allows me to filter between friends/contacts photos and sometimes I just have time to look at my friend’s images, but I’m finding that I’m spending the majority of my time following my contacts’ images through the new feed page. I also like that it includes entire batches of photos that I can click through if I want whereas the old People page only would show the last 1 or 5 images depending on how I set it.

In addition to providing a great new way to look at your contacts’ photos huge, the new page is very fluid and very fast. It feels like a big tech breakthrough vs. the old People page.

My only complaint about the new page is that like other pages on Flickr it still makes you hit the dreaded “load more” button when you get to the bottom of the page. I wish that Flickr used true infinite scroll like Facebook does. It is such a better experience.

At first I did not like that you cannot fave/comment on batches of photos directly from the page, but after playing around with preview and seeing how well it worked and how fast it was, combined with awesome keyboard shortcut commands, I became a convert and now flickr.com has earned a coveted spot on my bookmarks bar. Hats off to the Flickr design and engineering team for such an awesome improvement to the site.

There is a help forum thread on the new Flickr feed where you can read more about the new Flickr feed and see what others think of it here.

You can follow my work on Flickr here.

Thomas Hawk Digital Connection

September 10, 2016
How to Create an Infrared Effect in Photoshop

Note: For this tutorial I am using Photoshop CS6, however every version from CS2 up will work for this technique.

What is Infrared Photography?

Infrared (IR) light lies just beyond the visible spectrum, so we can’t actually see it with the naked eye. However, IR photography allows us to view this spectrum with a camera, to capture a whole new world of invisible light.

In basic terms, anything that reflects a lot of infrared light, will appear red in IR photography. As healthy vegetation absorbs blue and red-light energy to fuel photosynthesis and create chlorophyll, organic matter is the most popular subject for IR photography. The surrealistic effects that are created when IR comes into contact with plants and grass makes the method very popular for with landscape photographers, and is a great way to diversify your portfolio.

There are a few ways to capture IR photos in-camera

As most digital cameras are somewhat sensitive to IR waves already, screw-in filters are a reasonably straightforward way to make IR photographs. They are, however, fairly expensive and significantly reduce the amount of light that reaches the sensor of your camera, thus also increasing exposure times. Infrared light also focuses at a slightly different point than visible light. Once the filter is on, you won’t be able to see much at all, a combination that makes for a difficult time focusing. Autofocus is also rendered useless.

You can also use a film camera with special infrared film. This type of film is quite expensive and requires special handling, but shooting IR photos with it requires no modification to your camera.

Your third option is to pay for your digital camera to be altered to capture infrared light exclusively. But the procedure is expensive, and involves altering the internal layout of the camera, meaning it will never photograph light in the visible spectrum again.

This simple tutorial will show you how to mimic the distinct, surrealistic effect of in-camera IR photography, without the hassle or expense of buying an IR filter, IR film, or doing a camera-overhaul.

Step 1 – Open our image in Photoshop

Open up your image with Adobe Photoshop. The image I’ve chosen for this tutorial has plenty of organic material in it, so the finished result will be pretty intense. However, if a subtler effect is what you are after, simply pick an image with less dense greenery. As demonstrated in the conclusion, sometimes less can be more with this effect.

Now, duplicate the image layer via Image > Duplicate Layer or by using the shortcut CMD/CTRL + J. Rename this layer “Infrared” via the command box or by double-clicking on the layer name.

Next, invert the colors of the layer you just named “Infrared” by using the Invert option in the Adjustments Layer Panel. We will be using a few tools in the Adjustment Layer Panel. This method adds layers over the original image rather than directly editing it, which reduces the overall image quality and its ability to be altered again later if you change your mind. This is called non-destructive editing.

Once the layer is inverted it will look like a color negative.

Step 2 – Blending Modes

With the Invert Adjustment Layer selected, change the Blending Mode to Color, from the dropdown menu in the layers panel.

The image should now have a nice orange and blue tone.

Step 3 – Channel Mixer

Select Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Channel Mixer, or select the Channel Mixer icon in the adjustment layers panel.
Now, in the Channel Mixer, first set the output channel to red, and move the red slider to 0. Move the blue slider to +100.

Then set the output channel to blue. Increase the red to +100 and move the blue slider to 0.

Leave the green output channel as it is, making sure that the green slider it is set to +100.

The image will now look a lot more saturated, color wise.

Step 4 – Hue and Saturation

This step is going to vary depending on what photo you have selected, but the overall goal is the same: isolating the pink/red colors and converting them to whitish/yellow color.

Make a Hue and Saturation adjustment layer via the Adjustment Layer Panel. Select the red channel. Reduce the saturation down so the result is almost grey.

Following this, adjust the hue slider until you get a hint of yellow. Feel free to play around with the other channels slightly to get the best results.

My image now looks more faded and subtle:

Step 5 – Finishing Touches

To finish up, I adjusted the contrast of the image using the Curves Adjustment Layer on the Adjustment Layer Panel.

Other Examples

Here are some examples of other landscapes I’ve used this technique on:

The image below started with little or no blue tones. The final image takes on the appearance of a black and white, hand painted with a slight yellow tone.

Inorganic material isn’t really affected by the IR treatment, so only the grass and plants in this image take on a surreal hue.

I hope this tutorial was useful as a quick trick to diversify your landscape work.

Enjoy playing around with this technique, because the results are often unpredictable and can lend a completely different perspective to an image. Please share your questions and IR image results in the comments section below.

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The post How to Create an Infrared Effect in Photoshop by Megan Kennedy appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

September 10, 2016
Weekly Photography Challenge – City at Night
After the sun goes down it’s a great time to get out and photography in the city. Here are some good examples of photography in the city at night to give you some ideas.

Weekly Photography Challenge – City at Night

By Andrew Xu

Here on dPS we have lots of resources to help you get out and photograph your city at night. Check out these articles for some good tips:
- Tips for HDR Night Photography to Retain Maximum Image Detail
- How to Enhance Urban Night Photographs Using Luminosity Masks in Photoshop
- 13 Great Subjects for Urban Night Photography
- Tips for Getting Proper Exposure for Night Photography
- 9 Tips to Help you get Sharp Focus at Night
- Tips for Retouching a Night Photograph using Lightroom
- How to do Long Exposure Photography and Light Trails at Night
- Stacking Light Trails for Night Photography Special Effects
- Tips for Doing City Photography from Above
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 favourite 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.

By Chris Chabot

By Vincent Anderlucci

By T.E.A Photography

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.

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The post Weekly Photography Challenge – City at Night by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 10, 2016
Darkness and Light – 21 Images of the City at Night

Recently I spent a few days in the marvellous city of New York. It’s a great place for all kinds of photography, but I love doing night shooting there. So this week I thought I’d share some of my shots from my NYC trip and some other people’s night photography work in a city.

My NYC night shots

Shot in and around Times Square.

Some other night photography shots

By Nattawut In-yoo

By Derek Bruff

By Mike Boening Photography

By Viisoreanu Florin Gabriel

By Patrick Marioné – thanks for > 2M

By sonder3

By leonhe2

By Thomas Hawk

By Frank Kehren

By damon jah

By Michael Muraz

By Luc Mercelis

By David Yu

By tommy@chau

By Mac Qin

By Darlene Hildebrandt

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The post Darkness and Light – 21 Images of the City at Night by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

September 9, 2016
Getting the Right Timing for Great Outdoor Photographs by Planning Ahead
There is more to taking great outdoor photographs than a pleasing composition and the correct exposure. There is another important aspect. One that is too often overlooked when trying to capture a beautiful scenic subject or vista. The right timing is required to get great photographs.

Often on social media sites, images are posted that show ideal composition and exposure. But they are not photographed at the best time of day to capture the most attractive and interesting image. Some say that taking the most eye-catching photos is only about luck; being in the right place at the right time. But with the proper preparation, the odds of creating an exceptional photo can be increased. Certainly, without any pre-planning, you may be able to create “okay” images on a regular basis, but let’s examine the role timing takes in capturing more stunning images.

Shooting toward the east in the evening produced some detail-revealing light on this image.

Research

Much preparation for an outdoor photo shoot can be done from your computer, before even leaving the house. Listed here are three very effective tools that can help you find great shots. They can show you where you want to be, and when you want to be there:
- Google Earth: The Google Earth software provides street views of any location on earth. This is very useful, as you can literally see and plan a shot from your computer before leaving to shoot. Google Earth gives you the ability to determine the best location, and its ideal angle to capture before even arriving!
- GPS: Use GPS devices to help navigate to the exact location where you plan to shoot.
- The Photographer’s Ephemeris: TPE is a very useful on-line tool to help plan outdoor photography. Its maps show how natural light falls on the earth both day and night for any location on earth, and for any time or day in the future!
  
  A screen capture from TPE shows the direction of the sun when the above image of the statue and church was captured.
Time of day

Photographing at the right time of day is a big factor to getting the right light for a special image. It is a well-known fact among serious art-driven photographers, that some of the best light for making great outdoor images, happens early in the morning and late in the afternoon. These are called the “golden hours”.

But in addition to shooting during those times, notice should be taken as to where the sun is casting its light. Shooting into the light will mean that your subject will be in the shadows, or even silhouetted. Yes, the exposure can be compensated in this situation, but watch what happens to the sky in the image. It will be blown out and colorless. There are times when this shot may work, but the point here is to always be aware of the direction of light.

Same location as above, but taken facing into the morning sun. Notice how the sky is completely blown out when the exposure is set for the statue. Even though this is almost the same image as above, it doesn’t make near the same visual impact.

Don’t leave this factor to luck. When planning a trip, try to schedule the day around good light. Shoot westward in the morning, and toward the east in the late afternoon and early evening. Midday light in most cases is very harsh, and produces very contrasty images and deep shadows. Again, producing arresting images in this light is possible, but is also definitely more challenging.

So what does one with a camera do in the middle of the day? Rest or travel! The bottom line is, that if you are on vacation, with an open agenda, and are looking to take great photos of the sights, plan around the light to get the best results.

Using TPE I was able to determine the exact day that the sunrise would aline with the bridge to capture a one of a kind image.

Season

Considering the season of the year can make a great difference in your photos. The angle of the sun changes from season to season. For instance, photographing a deep canyon in the winter will produce a much different image than one taken in the summer. Because of the lower angle of winter sun, light won’t reach the canyon floor as it would in summer.

Besides the change in light, there is the obvious a variation of foliage colors (or the absence thereof) from one season to the next, that can completely change the image captured at a given location. Sometimes it is fun to capture a four-season image of the same subject and location.

Weather

Weather conditions are a great factor when it comes to capturing the perfect scene. They should always be considered, even though they can’t be planned.

Overcast days, while not great for sky images, often produce very nice even lighting. This is ideal for shooting things like waterfalls. Bright sunlight can make it almost impossible to capture the scene without blowing out the water, and making it necessary to use a Neutral Density filter. Don’t look at dreary weather as always being a negative; rather, turn those negative conditions into a positive result. For instance, a foggy morning may mess with a pre-visualized image in one location, but an alternative location nearby may be perfect for foggy conditions.

These waterfalls were captured while the sun was shining. Notice the hot spots created by the sun on the water.

Cloudy, overcast conditions allowed for a long exposure of the same waterfalls, removing the hot spots or need for an ND filter.

Rainy conditions may also produce pleasing effects on the subjects being photographed, darkening bright rocks and saturating foliage. However, it may be necessary to use a polarizing filter to reduce glare. Also, when faced with unexpected weather conditions, be patient! Some rather fantastic shooting conditions occur following storms. Watching and waiting for just the right weather-related effects can provide an opportunity to capture a unique image, of even the most commonly photographed locations.

Special Occurrences

You could be out all night. Your tripod and camera all set up to watch the skies to photograph a meteor shower, and not see a single streak of light! But with a little research you can ascertain when the next large meteor shower will occur. Thus the chance to capture the desired photos will be increased. To take the meteor shower experience one step farther, look for a night without a moon. This will help the stars to appear more vividly in the photographs. Use The Photographer’s Ephemeris to find special occurrences of the moon or sun, or look for times when the sun or moon rise or set may be in line with a special location. This a fun and creative way to produce a fascinating image, instead of an ordinary one.

Knowing when and where the moon would rise allowed me to plan and be ready to capture a unique image of Marietta, Ohio. Using TPE to research this image, I knew the exact time and location of the full moon rising. The sunset light behind me cast fantastic light on the city, that absolutely defined the shot, prints of which I have successfully marketed.

Day of the week

Every photo event timing factor considered so far has had something to do with light and lighting. But timing also includes the aspect of planning a less stressful, more convenient, and possibly more productive photo shoot. The day of the week is one such factor.

Time off from day-to-day activities often happen for many individuals and families on the weekends. Many are out visiting popular locales en force on those days. High traffic photo sites are best visited mid-week. There will be a better chance of having more room to work, free of other photographers attempting to get the same shot.

Conclusion

To wrap up this article on timing and preparation, remember the five P’s of capturing that great image:

Proper Planning Prevents Poor Photographs

Whether just taking a day trip or a long vacation, planning your photographs around the best available light will increase your chances of capturing a memorable image.

Do you have any tips for planning for the best light? Please leave them in the comments below.

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The post Getting the Right Timing for Great Outdoor Photographs by Planning Ahead by Bruce Wunderlich appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 9, 2016
6 Reasons Why an iPad Makes a Good Photography Companion
I have an iPad Air 2 and I simply love it. It’s my portable digital workhouse. I can pop into most cafés where free wi-fi is the norm. I can enjoy a delicious cup of java, while checking my inbox, or pen a draft for my next article for dPS.

iPad Air 2

My main reason for purchasing the iPad was that I went back to college recently. I thought about buying a laptop. After a bit of research, I decided an iPad, paired with a keyboard case, essentially turned it into a mini laptop of sorts. Plus it was less expensive and more portable. I’ve completed the course, but the iPad has now become a great companion for my photography.

I was recently in a cafe waiting to meet a client, when an idea started to take shape about the advantages of having an iPad as a photographer. Following on from a previous article I wrote on “Can an iPad be used as a softbox or custom background?“, I realized that I am using my iPad more and more in my photography work than ever before.

iPad Air 2 paired with a Logitech keyboard

I could go on at length, extolling the many virtues of having an iPad/tablet as a photographer. Instead, I’ll limit my list for now to just six.

Here are my top six reasons an iPad makes a good photography companion
1. Portability makes it handy to take anywhere
2. Displaying your work or portfolio makes you look good
3. Editing and sharing images is easy
4. Reading and learning
5. Spoiled for choice with so many Apps
6. Google Drive
1. Portability of the iPad

The iPad Air 2 and other tablets are just so light, and even more portable than most laptops. The iPad Air for me is the ultimate Digital Briefcase! The dimensions are 9.4 x 6.6 x 0.24 inches (240 x 169.5 x 6.1 mm). It weighs just 0.96 pounds (436 grams). I feel like James Bond! (sorry Jane Bond)

The iPad fits snugly into my camera bag.

2. To display your work

As a photographer, your work should speak for itself. As a commercial photographer, it’s what gets you your next gig. Now more than ever, there are so many ways to get your work online.

The first option is to have a personal website. But this does mean paying for a domain name and hosting. So what if you don’t want to invest in a website? If you are just starting out in your photography career or you’re a keen hobbyist? Again there are many ways to showcase your portfolio online and in most cases for free. For example there is Behance Display, Flickr, 500px and Morpholio to name just a few.

The retina display on the iPad allows maximum clarity of your photos, and makes it very easy for the viewer to look at the details by easily “zooming in” by pinching the screen. Also, flicking through your images or albums with a swipe of a finger, makes the experience much more tactile and hands-on. Similar to flipping pages of a book.

Recently, I met with a client and I needed to bring a digital portfolio with me. I don’t have my full range of work online. I also couldn’t rely on a solid wifi connection. So I put together a portfolio, saved it out as a PDF, and synced it to iBooks on the iPad. A typical page layout program, such as InDesign would be used to put a portfolio together. However, if you just have Photoshop, then here is a great way to create your own portfolio PDF for your iPad from multiple pages.

Creating a PDF portfolio from multiple pages in Photoshop

Open Photoshop and create all your pages the same size, 2048 X 1536 pixels. Place each image and text on a separate page. You can determine how many pages that you want in your portfolio. A general guide is 15-20 pages.

Go up to File>Automate>PDF Presentation. Check this box, “Add Open Files”, and click Save. Name your file and Save it to a location on your computer.

This is handy tip in creating a pdf file from multiple pages or images in Adobe Photoshop.

Make sure to check the Add Open Files box.

When another dialog box appears, make sure Optimize for Fast Web Preview is checked.

Make sure that the Optimize for Fast Web preview box is ticked.

Click on Compression under General (on the left side, see below screenshot). At the top, change the Adobe PDF Preset to High Quality Print, and next to Image Quality, change the setting from Maximum to Medium. Then click on the Save PDF button.

Choose the High Quality Print from the Adobe PDF Preset at the top. Then change Maximum beside Compression to Medium.

Tip: Try and keep the file size below 5mb so as you can email it to potential employers or clients. If you can’t optimize the file size to less than 5mb, then create another portfolio with less pages. PDF files can be viewed on a Mac or PC.

If you don’t have Photoshop, then read on to number six below, and I’ll show you how to create a PDF portfolio using Google Slides.

3. Editing and sharing images is easy

I haven’t done a lot of editing on the iPad. I prefer to do my post-processing at my desktop, where I have the big monitor and stylus. However, I think the iPad Pro could possibly change my mind.

I did try Snapseed. It’s impressive, so intuitive, and free. Other free editing apps are VSCO, Adobe Photoshop Express, and Instagram. What also makes these apps powerful is the ease with which you can share your images online to your social media accounts, or upload them to the cloud.

4. Reading and learning

I’m coming around to reading ebooks and PDFs on my iPad rather than a book. Although, you can’t beat a physical book in your hand. That said, from a practical point of view when travelling, carrying just one book takes up so much room!

I now have my Nikon D750 user manual downloaded on the iPad. This manual alone, although relatively compact in size, still has 507 pages and weighs 310g (11oz).

Tip: If you are using the Safari browser and open a PDF file, you can save it straight to iBooks.

5. Choice of Apps for the iPad

Given the array of apps already in the app store, it’s just not possible to run the gauntlet on them all. Here are a few that popped up on my radar.
- LightTrac ($ 8.99): LightTrac calculates and plots the angle of Sun and Moon on top of a map, for any location.
- The Photographer’s Ephemeris ($ 8.99): TPE shows you which direction the sun is shining at any given time during the day, no matter what location you choose.
- Pocket Light Meter (FREE): A light meter that is always in your pocket. It is indispensable for film photography with a manual camera. Measures reflected light, and allows reciprocity calculations.
- Simple DoF Calculator ($ 1.99): Simple DoF Calculator allows you to calculate the depth of field and hyperfocal distance for any given settings.
- Take notes to a new level with Evernote (FREE), the productivity app that keeps your projects, ideas, and inspiration handy across all your digital devices.
- Photography Releases – 500px has a free one. If you shoot Stock photography, a model/property release is a must have.
- Snapwire also has a free model/property release. I downloaded this app and found it really useful, especially as it stores the photographer’s information. No need to keep filling in this info for every release. Plus it has the templates for all of the major stock sites.
6. Google Drive

What’s not to like about Google Drive? Google Drive is a complete office suite with Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Plus you get 15 GB free storage online. In Google Photos, images not exceeding 2048 x 2048 pixels, and videos shorter than 15 minutes ,also do not count towards this limit. It is hard to find fault with this setup when it’s all free!

It is really a Digital Photo Assistant. You can access email, write and publish blog posts, keep track of your schedule and contacts. Share out documents and collaborate with clients online. I also love that you can work with Google docs offline. This has proven as a great time saver if your internet connection is poor, or you simply don’t have access to an internet connection when you need it.

Google Slides is Microsoft’s version of Powerpoint. Here’s an animated gif to illustrate how easy it is to create your PDF portfolio. It’s well worth giving it a go.

An animated gif illustrating how easy it is to use Google Slides to create a PDF portfolio for the iPad.

To sum it all up

It was a challenge to keep this list to just six things. I know this could change over the next few months as I continue to use the iPad.

I didn’t mention uploading your photos from your camera directly onto the iPad. You can, but you need the Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader – $ 29.00 or the Lightning to USB Camera Adaptor – $ 29.00.
I only mentioned a mere smidgen of available apps, and most of those were free. This is only a tip of the app-iceberg-store. Some of the paid apps look interesting too.

It’s mind boggling just keeping up with trends. With the recent launch of the iPad Pro. It won’t be long before the iPad has morphed into a real contender, in place of a laptop, for the photographer out in the field.

Do you have an iPad or tablet? What apps do you use? Please share in the comments below.

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The post 6 Reasons Why an iPad Makes a Good Photography Companion by Sarah Hipwell appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 8, 2016
Tips for Stress-Free Wedding Photography
As wedding photographers, we love to think photography is the most important element of a bride and groom’s wedding day. Surely they want fabulous wedding photography, so certainly they will give us all the time in the world to create beautiful images.

But it doesn’t really work that way. Weddings are busy. Often you are scrambling to get all the images you need really quickly, leaving no time for the fun, romantic images you really want to create for the couple. Worse yet, someone springs a pose list on you that you weren’t expecting, or changes the location everyone is meeting for family portraits.

The easiest way to make sure you have enough time for all the photographs you want to create on the wedding day, is to know how much time you need and to be prepared.

Know how much time you really need

Depending on their style and process, every photographer needs a different amount of time to take photographs at a wedding. As well every wedding is different, with unique locations, bridal parties, and families.

If you are not certain how long it takes you to create the images you need, time yourself. When you know your own process, you will be better able to help the bride and groom accurately schedule enough time for all the photographs.

Can you travel to the beautiful park the couple wants to use for photographs between the ceremony and reception? Or did they forget to allow for the time it actually takes to drive there? Do you need 20 minutes to photograph the family, or is it really more like 45 minutes when you include the set up of lighting equipment?

Look for open pockets of time in their schedule during the day. You may not get all the photography time together in one block, but when you know how long you need for each session, you can schedule it to work within the couple’s timeline.

Tips for finding enough photography time on the wedding day

Pre-Wedding planning consultation

Have a pre-wedding consultation. A final consultation one to two weeks before the wedding is a perfect time to go over details. Discussing the timeline with the bride and groom before the wedding will let you see where photography will best fit into the day. It will also help them see how much time you need to do your job well. This is close enough to the big day that they should know all the details, yet far enough out that they can tweak schedules, if need be.

Ask about other wedding vendors. Find out how everyone from the florist to the caterer will also fit into the couple’s day. The follow questions may help you:
- Ask when hair and make-up appointments are scheduled to be done and where.
- Find out where the flowers are being delivered and at what time.
- Ask how long the ceremony will last and how they plan to personalize it.
- Know if the couple will do a receiving line, or somehow greet guests formally right after the ceremony.
- Confirm what time they want to arrive at the reception.
- What time will dinner be served,
- When would the DJ or band like to start the dance.
Knowing when the other professionals need the attention of the bride and groom will help you know when it’s your turn.

Plan for family portraits. Many photographers balk at the “dreaded pose list,” but capturing family photographs is an important part of wedding photography. To make the process of organizing family portraits easier, find out who’s in the their families, and what groupings are important to the couple. When you set the time for the wedding photographs, have the bride and groom inform everyone of the timeline, so they will be ready when it’s time to start.

Remember to add in travel time. Often the ceremony and reception are in different locations, and sometimes the couple likes to stop off at a third spot just for photographs. Make sure to add in the time that it will take to drive to these places into the schedule.

Know the sunset time. Whether you want to make sure you have enough light for evening portraits or for sunset images, knowing beforehand when sunset is that day, let’s you plan accordingly.

Before the wedding day

Pre-scout your locations. Go to the wedding venues a day or two beforehand, to look over the locations for possible photography backdrops. If you can’t scout before the wedding day, plan to arrive early at the venues to find the spots you will use for photography.

Have the bridal details lined up beforehand. Let the bride and groom know if you’ll want to photograph cufflinks, rings, shoes, jewelry and such details before they get dressed. Having these together and ready saves time.

Consider a “first look.” If your time between ceremony and reception is tight, it can be hard to get all the photographs done. Allowing a special moment for the bride and groom to see each other for the first time at the beginning of the day, can open the couple up to the idea of doing photographs before the ceremony.

On the wedding day

Know how to pose people. Brides and grooms are usually not experienced at posing themselves for photographs. If they aren’t sure how they look, it can take longer for them to get comfortable in front of the camera. When you already have a variety of flattering poses in mind, you are able to quickly move through the session.

Avoid backtracking. Whether you need to set up lighting equipment, gather family for portraits, or go to a cool location with the couple and the whole wedding party, do it only once. When you consolidate, you save time and hassle for everyone.

For example, it’s much easier to ask grandparents, or small nieces and nephews, to attend just one photography session on the wedding day. Pick a time when both the bride and groom will be ready for photographs, and plan to do all the different combinations you need to do at once. There’s no need to ask Grandma to arrive two hours before the ceremony for one photograph, if she needs to stick around after the ceremony for one more.

When the couple does a “first look,” before the ceremony, it can work well to take all the family portraits at that time a as well. Otherwise, immediately after the ceremony is a good time to do them, before people wander off to the reception and start mingling.

Work down from the biggest groups to the smallest groups. When you have large, extended family photographs to organize, get those done first. It allows people that only need to be present for one or two photographs to leave, letting you focus on the smaller groups with less chaos.

Summary

When you look at all the elements that go into the schedule on the wedding day, you can be prepared. When the bride and groom see how the photography fits into their schedule, they can make sure they have allowed enough time for you to do your job.

Do you have other tips to add? How do you carve out enough time for photographs on the wedding day?

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The post Tips for Stress-Free Wedding Photography by Becky Appleby appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 8, 2016
Tips for Starting a Photography Business the Right Way
Are you ready to make the switch from a hobbyist to full-time professional photographer? That,s great, congratulations on your decision. It’s a great profession to be in, one that gets your creative juices flowing every time you pick up a camera. But along with the desire to start your own photography business, there are a few necessary steps that you need to take to make sure you start off on the right note!

Define who you are as a photographer and what is your business all about.

Get all the necessary legal paperwork in place

As per wikipedia, a professional is a member of a profession, or any person who earns their living from a specified professional activity.

The fact that you are charging money to clients in exchange for photos means you also need to document said money, and pay appropriate taxes. In most parts of the world, this means registering your business with the local governing body, reporting income accurately ,and paying appropriate taxes. Make sure you research what the legal requirements are where you live, and follow them.

You don’t want to get into trouble with the government at a later stage. Part of the registration process may require you to have a business name, as well as get a tax id. Many photographers pick their own name for their business, while others like me, choose a generic name to represent their brand. There is no right or wrong way, just pick one that works for you.

Maintain an online presence for your photography business

The important thing to maintaining an online presence is have a way to represent your body of work, i.e., your portfolio. Luckily, there are many free options for uploading your images to the Internet. Sites like WordPress and Blogger (previously called Blogspot) offer a way to create a blog. Flickr and 500px are other options to upload and host your images.

Getting a custom website, with a custom URL (in most cases your business name) takes it up a notch in terms of creating brand awareness (you can look at low cost options like Square Space). It is much easier to tell a client that your portfolio can be found at (for example) “www.memorablejaunts.com”, rather than saying “memorablejaunts.blogspot.com”. Depending on your business name this can be a mouthful and difficult to remember.

As you think about your online presence also consider social media. There are many options to choose from to be socially engaged with your clients, and more importantly, your potential clients. With so many social media platforms out there, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed. So my advice would be to pick two to three, and actively engage with your audience there. In the initial part of my career, I focused on Facebook, then added Twitter and Instagram to my social media strategy. As you create your own social media strategy, remember to be consistent across the board. Let your website and social media tools speak the same language, and showcase your style consistently.

Be social online AND offline

The internet has been a blessing in disguise for most small businesses. The world is no longer just limited to who we know, and our friends. It is very easy to find like-minded peers and colleagues all over the world. Reach out and form genuine connections. Don’t worry about what they can do for you. Instead focus on how you can help them.

Often times it is just being a positive voice – encourage them, congratulate them, and be genuinely happy for their success. Don’t be fake, being pretentious is a complete put-off. On that same note, make an effort to engage with local peers and colleagues. Take them out for lunch or just a cup of coffee – take the time to listen to their story and acknowledge their success. This is basic common courtesy, but you will be surprised at how many new and experienced photographers don’t seem to get this respect. It always pays to have a friend or a listening ear in the business!

My Facebook Business Page speaks the same language as my website and Instagram business account – the look, the feel, as well as something as simple as a profile picture – they are consistent across all platforms.

I have been more active on Instagram over the past six months and have met some really interesting people all over the world – it is such a perfect visual medium for photographers

Some sites that have communities of photographers (all various levels)
- Meetup.com
- Instagram – there are many photography related hashtags as well as geotags that you can search on to find other photographers, groups and peers.
- Facebook – there are several public groups where photographers are welcome to join to ask questions, showcase their work, and get feedback
- Local camera stores and community colleges – check your local camera store or community college to see if they have any groups that meet regularly. If not, don’t be afraid to start one.
Accurately track your income and expenses

I say this from experience! It is very painful, and time-consuming, to back-track and look through credit card receipts to tally expenses. The better and more sensible option is to spend one day every week to tally income and expenses. This will give you an idea on where you are financially at any given point of time.

Believe me, when you are just starting, expenses can add up very quickly. Before you know it, you can rack up a sizeable amount of debt that can be hard to get out of and handle.

Keep it simple…I use a daily planner that has all items related to my business (to do tasks, as well as daily expenses). Once a week, I update a spreadsheet similar to this with all expenses, to keep a running tab of where I am financially.

Gear – need versus wants

This one is a hard one to control. It is human nature to want to have the best of everything, especially when you are starting something new. We have self-perpetuated this fantasy that having the best and latest/greatest, is essential to our success.

Gear, especially photographic gear, is very expensive and becomes obsolete very quickly. Really think through what you need to be successful in your job, and have a game plan on how to build up your gear. The first two years of my business I survived on a Canon 5D MarkII and Canon 24-70L 2.8 lens. My backup camera was an old Canon 10D whose battery life was less than two hours. But it was my backup, and I was really careful with my gear. If I needed another lens, I just rented it.

Once I started photographing weddings, for more than a year I rented the 70-200mmL 2.8 and a speedlight, before I saved up money to purchase them for myself. Also remember that there are other things that you will need to have a successful photography business like: a computer, editing software, and as well as business insurance. It is better to invest in those upfront (and they are needed to run a successful business) rather than just on camera gear!

I shoot digital for client work and a mix of film and digital for personal work.

I hope all this did not scare you! Being a professional photographer is a hard thing to do, but it is incredibility satisfying. You can achieve a lot of success in this field if you are willing to put in the long hours and do what it takes to be successful.

Remember this is a business, one that you have willingly chosen to undertake. Give it your best, but also have fun. Don’t get too bogged down with all the mistakes you think you are making. They are not mistakes, they are learning opportunities, and they will make you a better photographer and better business owner in the long run.

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The post Tips for Starting a Photography Business the Right Way by Karthika Gupta appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 7, 2016
How to Quickly Remove Dirt Spots Using Median in Photoshop

You’ve rolled out your white background for your shoot; whether it’s vinyl or paper. It’s a bit dirty from shoes, but you’re under pressure to get the shoot done, so you carry on regardless. When the shoot is over and the photos are back on the computer, that’s when you see how bad it really was. The scuff marks, the footprints, the stray hairs, these are going take ages to clone out. You’re sorry now that you didn’t clean it up, or cut off some paper. Sigh. Better just getting going on the processing.

But wait! There’s a better way.

It doesn’t have to all be cloned out. There’s an easy way, using one of Photoshop’s lesser known tools called Median. Median is a form of blurring, where groups of pixels get changed to the middle value of the pixels. Higher values are reduced, lower values are increased, averaging out the values.

Steps for cleaning up your white background

So your floor has specs of dust, hair, and just general footprint dirt on it.

Step one – duplicate layer

Duplicate your background layer by dragging it on to the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.

Alternatively, use the shortcut Command/Control + J. If you’ve got a set of layers, then use the shortcut Shift + Cmd/Cntrl + Option + E to stamp them into a new layer.

Step two – Median

Go to Filter>Noise>Median.

Move the Radius slider until the dirt disappears. I’ve used 10 here.

Step three – apply a layer mask

If you’re not familiar with Layer Masks, you can use the Erase brush to bring remove the areas you don’t want blurred, but I recommend using Layer Masks.

A white Layer Mask reveals everything on the layer, while a black mask conceals the contents of the layer. You want a black mask for this layer, so hold down the Option key on Mac (Alt for PC), and click the New Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers Panel. A black mask appears on the layer and the Median filter is concealed.

Next, select the Brush Tool (or use the shortcut B), then hit D for Default colours. Then use the shortcut key X to swap foreground and background until the foreground (i.e. the top swatch in the tools panel) is white. With a soft brush, paint over the dirt to reveal the Median filter’s affect. Don’t go too close to the edges of your subject. If you make a mistake, press X to swap the brush to black, and paint it back to hide that area again. This is the beauty of Layer Masks, you can reveal or conceal over and over again without having to undo (this is called non-destructive editing).

This trick isn’t limited to backgrounds. You can be use it on any areas of continuous tone, for a quick result. I’ve had to use it on skies, where I’d accidentally used a dirty sensor cleaning brush and left marks on the sensor. Here’s how you could fix such an issue using Median.

Fixing a dirty sky with Median

As with the background cleaning technique, start by duplicating the background layer. You can see the issue quite clearly in the sky (below), and in the smooth parts of the river.

Next, apply Filter>Noise>Median. The issue will need a far higher Radius than the background required.

Select only the sky area

Next, hide the Median layer by clicking on the eye on the layer, then select the layer underneath. From the tools panel, choose the Quick Selection tool or press W. From there, drag the cursor along the sky, close to the buildings. Because of the hard edges against the sky, the selection is made easily.

Next click “Select and Mask” (outlined in red above). You’ll see the sky clearly, and the rest of the image faded. Brush the cursor over the tips of the buildings, street lamps and other things that need to be protected from the blurring effects of the Median filter. Press return (enter) to create a selection with marching ants visible.

Turn the visibility back on for the Median layer. Press the Layer Mask icon in the Layers panel to create a mask.

You will see areas where the Median filter has blurred edges, so you’ll need to brush the mask with a black brush to hide these. You don’t need to be precise, using a large soft brush along the edge of the buildings will make it a quick job.

Remove the Median where it has blurred the edges of the city buildings.

The final part is to go along the water with a white brush, set to 50% Opacity, to hide the dirt in the water.

The final image looks far better than the original.

Much quicker than manually cloning the dirt out, right?

Have you tried this method, how did it go? Do you have another fast way of removing dirt? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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The post How to Quickly Remove Dirt Spots Using Median in Photoshop by Sean McCormack appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

September 7, 2016