Category: Photography

How to Create a Lightsaber in Photoshop Video Tutorial

With all the recent hype and talk about the newest installation in the Star Wars movie empire (The Force Awakens), I thought this might be a fun project to do.

If you’ve followed along with the saga you know about lightsabers, the weapon of choice for the Jedi knights. Even if you aren’t a fan, you’ve likely heard of it, or had your kids or grandchildren request a toy version for themselves. So how fun would it be to add one to your photos.

Here are two videos that take slightly different approaches to creating a lightsaber in Photoshop. You can learn some new techniques and see which method you prefer.

This one by Adam from Photoshop Tutorials:

And another with Andrew from Creative Edge Studios:

If you give this a try, please share your images in the comments below. See how creative you can be, and how realistic you can make your lightsaber look. Have fun!

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Digital Photography School

January 10, 2016
26 Elongated Panoramic Vistas

Sometimes using a format other than the standard proportions works better for an image. One of those times is shooting landscapes of sweeping wide vistas.

A great way to do that is to create a panoramic image. Here are a few photos that take advantage of that format to create stunning results.

By John Watson

By Geert Orye

By Geert Orye

By Chris Lofqvist

By Christopher Chan

By Lorenzoclick

By Neil Howard

By Christos Tsoumplekas

By Zach Dischner

By mariusz kluzniak

By Zach Dischner

By Jason Mrachina

By Christopher A. Dominic

By Always Shooting

By mariusz kluzniak

By ©Mike Photo Art

By Massmo Relsig

By Tim Hamilton

By Vadim Kurland

By Davide D’Amico

By Wenjie Qiao

By Arne Bornheim

By Adrien Sifre

By Chris Toe Pher

By Kelly DeLay

By Daniel Gillaspia

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The post 26 Elongated Panoramic Vistas by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

January 10, 2016
How to Make Sure You Use Your New Camera

Raise your hand if this scenario sounds familiar: you get a new camera, possibly as a gift, and immediately your mind leaps with excitement at all the photographic possibilities that await. You quickly start taking photos of everything around you; houseplants, food, pets, your kids, the trees in your yard, even mundane objects like cookware, or office trinkets. You just can’t wait to get your new camera and kit lens off the shelf and shoot photos of everything.

But after a week or two the lustre wears off, and your camera starts spending more time in your closet than in your hands. You find yourself too distracted, too uninspired, or worst of all, too busy to take photos. Every now and then you pick up your camera, put it in Auto mode, and take a few interesting pictures – but sooner or later your camera, which initially held such wonderful photographic possibilities, spends most of its time tucked away, only to be pulled out on special occasions when you really need some good photos.

If that rings a bell it’s because almost everyone interested in photography goes through a similar phase at some point. Thankfully there’s hope! I’ve been in this same situation, as have many other people I know. So, here are some tips that will help you get your camera out more often, so you can start learning and growing as a photographer.

Take your camera with you

This may seem obvious, but it’s an important step that many new camera owners overlook. Your fancy DSLR or mirrorless camera doesn’t have to be just for special occasions, it can be for anything you want. The important thing is that you have it with you to take pictures.

Basically, if you don’t want your camera to end up collecting dust on a shelf, don’t let it sit and collect dust on a shelf. Going to work? Grab your camera. Heading to a friend’s house? Take your camera. Taking a walk? By all means, bring your camera. Of course you’re going to bring your camera to events like your kid’s baseball game or your friend’s graduation, but using it only in those circumstances often leads to camera atrophy.

This shot was a complete accident. It was not planned at all, and I only got it because I had my camera with me when I was out for a walk.

The famous hockey player Wayne Gretzky once quipped, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”, and the same holds true for photographers. The only way you’ll ever start taking more pictures, and thus growing as a photographer, is if you start taking more pictures. And you can’t do that if you don’t have your camera.

I take mine with me to work every day, and even though I have a similar daily commute and work routine, I constantly find myself looking for new shots to take, and new ideas for photography. If you are worried about breaking your camera, buy a cheap bag or a better carrying strap. If you’re a bit self-conscious of what people may think if they always see you with your camera, just tell them you’re trying to learn more, and get better as a photographer. It might seem kind of weird at first to take your camera with you wherever you go, but that will likely pass (it has for me, and for others I know) as you start to discover the joyful serendipity that’s inherent in documenting the world around you with a camera that’s leaps and bounds better than the one in your mobile phone.

Join a photography community

In the movie Office Space, the protagonist, a twenty-something chump named Peter Gibbons, tells a pair of consultants why he has so much trouble doing his job. “It’s a problem of motivation,” he casually explains, as the three of them discuss his low work performance, and what can be done about it. Photographers, especially new ones with recently-acquired gear from the holidays, often suffer from the same problem. They are highly motivated to take pictures and use their cameras, but when the rigours of their daily life set in, they lose the motivation they once had. One solution is to join a group, whether online or face to face, of fellow photographers and enthusiasts.

Photography communities have been invaluable to me as a source of knowledge and inspiration.

Being a part of a photography community offers all sorts of benefits. You can get answers to questions, get help with your camera, share your own experiences with others, go on photo walks, engage in photo critiques, and get to hang out with a lot of really fun people. If you live in a small town like I do, you may not have a group that you can join in person, but there are many online forums that offer similar experiences. DPS has an extensive set of online forums where people engage in all sorts of photography discussions, and there are hundreds more like this on the internet. Facebook is rife with thousands of photography groups that cater to interests as varied as people who like sharing photos, to those who own specific models of cameras, or live in certain locations. Reddit’s r/photography forum is a fantastic source of news, information, discussion, and education.

I could go on and on, but the point is that joining some type of photography community will not only help motivate you to take more photos and grow as a photographer, it will also help you meet a lot of new and interesting people who share a similar passion for taking pictures.

I don’t know anything about astrophotography, but asking about it in photography communities taught me enough to get this composite shot of a recent lunar eclipse.

Do a Weekly Photo Assignment

Many churches, businesses, and support groups use the concept of accountability partners; people with whom you develop a personal relationship in order to keep each other on the straight and narrow path. Photographers can benefit from this type of accountability as well by taking part in weekly photo assignments, essentially ensuring that you always have a reason to go out and take pictures. DPS has a weekly photography challenge, but there are lots of other weekly challenges you can find online as well.

While the goal is not to create a one-on-one relationship of support and trust, just knowing that you have an assignment to take pictures each week can go a long way towards helping you use your camera more often. In doing so, you will learn more about your equipment, but also grow as a photographer as you try new things, and get exposed to ideas for pictures you would have never otherwise considered.

Doing weekly photo assignments has forced me to look for picture opportunities where I would have never otherwise seen them.

Notice that I said weekly and not daily, and there’s a reason for this. Photography burnout is a very real problem especially for new photographers, and doing a daily challenge or assignment can be fun at first, but often gets more than a bit overwhelming. I know several people who have actually stopped taking photos because of a daily challenge. They felt like they were failures because they could not meet the requirements of taking pictures every single day, and that in turn led them to stop taking pictures altogether.

Monthly challenges are nice, and will not usually overwhelm you, but they are (in my opinion) a bit too infrequent to be sufficiently challenging or motivating. Weekly photo assignments seem to hit the sweet spot, and can be a fantastic way to help ensure you get a lot more use out of your camera.

If you do a weekly assignment for a while and don’t feel as though it offers enough of a challenge, then by all means start doing daily photo projects. Alternatively, if you find that you can’t meet the demands of a weekly photo, then go down to one a month. The point of these is to hold yourself accountable for using your camera more often, to improve your skills over time, and a weekly assignment is a fantastic place to start.

Never let the value of your photos be determined by others

This final rule is more of a word of caution to new photographers – do not fall into the trap that likes or shares on social media equates to quality images. Use your camera to take photos that are interesting for you, not for others. Find ways of expressing yourself, capturing emotions, telling a story, or presenting a scene through photography, not with the purpose of getting likes on Instagram or Facebook, but simply because it’s something you personally enjoy.

The problem with chasing after likes and shares is that there’s simply never enough. Initially you might be thrilled to have a dozen, but soon you’ll want more. After a little while you’ll be thrilled to have 100 likes, but then you might wonder why your friend got 200 on a picture that you think is clearly subpar. One of your photos gets shared a hundred times, or you post an image that gets lots of shares, but another one is virtually ignored. Or a beautiful shot you took gets no retweets, while a selfie you took with your iPhone gets retweeted dozens of times. Or an image you spent hours trying to capture gets no comments at all.

If your enjoyment of photography can only be quantified by social media metrics, you’ll probably never be satisfied.

This is one of my favorite animal pictures I’ve taken. I know it’s not perfect and the squirrel blends in a bit too much with the leaves, but I like it and that’s what gives it value to me.

The problem with these scenarios is they all rely on external validation of your work, and if it fails to materialize, then it can lead to feelings of worthlessness on your part. Taking pictures should be fun, interesting, experimental, captivating, and enjoyable for you. If you like your photos, then it doesn’t matter if you don’t get hearts, thumbs-up, plus-ones, or shares online. Of course you can, and should, seek opinions and advice from others so you can learn to grow your skill, and improve as a photographer. But, don’t let the worth or value of your images be determined by the numbers below them on social media. That’s a trap into which many budding photographers have fallen, and while it can be fun to see one of your images get a lot of attention, the truth is that attention is so fleeting that people will move on to something else within a few hours.

Summary

If you just got a new camera, congratulations! If you have one that’s been sitting around waiting to be used, go pick it up! I’m excited for you, and I am thrilled for the journey that awaits. If you have been in these situations before, what are some of your favorite tips and tricks that have helped you use your camera more over the years? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

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The post How to Make Sure You Use Your New Camera by Simon Ringsmuth appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

January 10, 2016
Histograms for Beginners

When the digital revolution came to photography it brought with it a plethora of advantages for photographers: making vast quantities of images with no increase in cost; seeing the photo immediately after you make it; changing ISO with each shot; and the advent of the digital darkroom; to name a few.

One of the most important benefits of digital photography is one that can be a little intimidating for new photographers – the histogram. But there’s no reason to shy away from it – it’s actually pretty easy to use once you understand how it works. The histogram is simply a graphical representation of the tonal range of your photo that helps you evaluate the exposure.

Before digital photography, we had to wait until we developed the film to know for sure whether we got a good exposure when we made an image. Now, by using the histogram, this information is at your fingertips before you take the shot (in cameras with Electronic Viewfinders), after you take the shot, and during post-processing as well.

How to Read Your Histogram

It’s easy: the blacks are on the left, the whites are on the right, all the mid-tones are in between.

The most important thing to know about the histogram is that a spike on the right, that touches the edge of the graph, is a problem. That means that there is a portion of your image where the highlights are “blown out”, or completely white with no detail. The reason this is such a big problem is that an area that is blown out contains no data at all, so you will not be able to do anything in post-processing to adjust it. This only applies if the spike touches the edge of the graph. If it spikes before the edge, that’s okay.

If there is a spike on the left edge, it means part of your image is completely black. You may want to use your exposure compensation to adjust the exposure to the right to make it brighter. But remember that having part of your image completely black, especially for a night shot, is okay.

There is no such thing as a perfect histogram. It’s just a graphical representation of the tonal range in your image. It’s up to you, as the artist, to decide what to do with this information. Having solid blacks and bright tones (provided they are not blown out) is not necessarily a bad thing.

Let’s take a look at some examples of how histograms will look for different types of images.

Histogram Examples

High Key Scene

When you have a scene that is high key, it has a lot of bright tones, and not so many mid-tones or blacks. When you are photographing a scene that you want to be high key, your histogram should be stacked up on the right side – but not going up the right edge. If you want your scene to be high key, but your histogram is showing a lot of mid-tones, your whites are probably going to come out looking more gray than you would like.

A high key or light toned scene

Histogram for the image above showing mostly light tones

Low Key Scene

A low key scene is one that is dark, which you would expect when photographing at night. In this case, your histogram will be stacked up on the left side. You may have a spike on the left edge, which indicates solid blacks.

A low key or dark scene will have mostly tones on the left side of the histogram.

Histogram for the image above showing a dark scene.

High Contrast Scene

A high contrast scene is one where there are lots of very dark, and very bright tones, and perhaps not so many tones in between. In this case, your histogram will show data on the left and right, and not so much in the middle.

High contrast scene. Extreme brights and extreme darks with little in the middle.

Histogram of high contrast scene above.

Low Contrast Scene

A low contrast scene has a lot of mid-tones, and few and bright tones. Your histogram will have a bell shape.

Again, it’s up to you as the artist to choose what to do with this information. You have to decide whether the information in the graph is what you want or not. It’s just another tool in your arsenal, to help you transform your artistic vision into a photograph.

If you’re not happy with your histogram, use your exposure compensation to adjust the exposure by making the image darker or lighter. Or, you may choose to affect the light on the scene instead by using a flash, a reflector, or a diffuser. The choice is yours.

Understanding the Colour Histogram

You’ve probably noticed in the examples above that the histogram not only shows the tones in grayscale, but it also shows you colours. Yes, it’s possible to blow out a colour! If there is one particular colour that is very bright in the scene, sometimes that colour will become so saturated that you loose detail. This commonly happens with red flowers for example.

To combat this, you can slightly desaturate the colour in post processing to bring back some of the detail in the flower petals. The histogram above shows the increase in red tones towards the brighter end of the scale.

When to use the Histogram

In the field, you can use the histogram in conjunction with Live View to see it before you make an image (or turn it on if you have a camera with an Electronic Viewfinder like many mirrorless models offer). You can also see it afterwards when you review the photo on your LCD screen. Either way, it’s critical that you use the histogram to check your exposure while you’re in the field. That way you have an opportunity to make another exposure while you are still on scene.

Don’t rely on your LCD to give you feedback about exposure. It’s great for checking composition and focus, but not exposure. That’s because the brightness of your LCD has nothing to do with the brightness of your image, since you can adjust the brightness of your LCD. For example, you can brighten it so you can see it more easily outside on a sunny day. But then if you don’t change the brightness back again and you look at it at night your images are going to appear super bright, when they actually are not.

The histogram is also available to you while post-processing your image. Use it to see where adjustments need to be made and to ensure that you don’t create areas that are too bright or too dark while processing your images.

I hope that gives you a better understanding of how to use this handy tool. If you have any questions about histograms please put them in the comments below.

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Digital Photography School

January 9, 2016
10 Winter Miles of Stand Up Paddling on South Platte River

January 3, 2016. First SUP paddle of the year with Rob Bean. We paddled 10 miles on the South Platte River from highway 58 to Kuner. Great weather, river flow ~900 cfs at Kersey, several bald eagles and hundreds of ducks. There are no portages on this river section since we started just below the Plumb Ditch Dam (the second diversion dam if you paddle from Evans).

We started from a gravel bar under the new bridge on highway 58 – a right river shore with parking on a wide shoulder, a shorter, steeper route with barbed wire fence on the upstream bridge site. Downstream bridge site may be more convenient without the fence, but with a little longer walk. You can reach the bridge by turning into the new highway 49 at traffic lights from Colorado highway 34 between Evans and Kersey.

Rob posted his pictures on facebook. They actually show much better our launching site.

Start at gravel bar under the new highway 58 bridge

Somewhere on the river around Kersey

Ducks, ducks, and more ducks. Hundreds of them.

Finishing 10 mile trip at Kuner

A little bit icy landing at Kuner (left shore upstream of the bridge)

Related posts:
South Platte River below Denver – river guide
Starting 2015/16 Winter Paddling Season on South Platte River
Paddling SUP on South Platte River from Kersey to Kuner
South Platte River from Wildcat to Evans by SUP

paddling with a camera

January 9, 2016
Weekly Photography Challenge – Panoramic Photos
Panoramic or ultra wide views of scenes are popular and work well for many different subjects.

By David Yu

By David Yu

Weekly Photography Challenge – Panoramic Photos

If you have never done a panoramic photo now it your chance to try it. The simplest way to create one is to just crop a regular image into one that is really long and narrow. Make sure the subject fits the format and you aren’t cutting off anything important to the composition.

The other, more complex way to make a pano is to shoot a series of images and stitch them together, usually using Photoshop. We have a few articles here on dPS on how to do that if you need some tips:
- How to do Landscape Panoramic Photography
- How to Shoot Panoramic Photos
- Getting Started in Panoramic Photography (beginner)
- Step By Step How to Make Panoramic HDR Images (advanced)
- HDR Vertorama Photography – How to Create Mind-bending Images (advanced)
- Step by Step Using Merge to Panorama in Lightroom (beginner)
By Guy Lejeune

By David Kingham

By Stavros Markopoulos

By Jeff Wallace

By vonderauvisuals

By inefekt69

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 Howard Ignatius

By Chuck Coker

By Don Whitaker

By Linus W

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The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Panoramic Photos by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
January 9, 2016
How 10 Minutes a Day with Your Camera Will Help Make You a Better Photographer

How to make sure that the camera is your tool, so taking photos can be your passion.

Spend 10 minutes with your camera every day

Have you ever found yourself standing in front of an awesome moment trying to decide which camera setting to choose?
Try the following tips for just 10 minutes a day with your camera, and soon enough you will forget it’s even there. The camera will become a natural extension of your eye and hand, and will not be an issue when you see a photo you want to take.

This self-tutoring plan is based on natural human curiosity, and on the fact that muscle memory can do a better job than brain memory in performing manual tasks, such as setting the desired shutter speed. Once you have created a link between your vision, and the finger that turns a dial, or presses a button on your camera, it will stay in that finger’s muscle memory for good. Then, next time you think about that function, it will happen magically by itself.
Here are some examples for 10 minute exercises to do with your camera. Take them as inspiration for making some of your own.

Explore your camera like a toddler

A toddler is crawling and exploring, seeing new bits and pieces of the world, then stands up and making a new step every day, walking while seeing things from a higher vantage point. You can do the same with your camera if you allow yourself to touch and turn dials, push buttons, or change menu settings without a specific goal. Do that on a daily basis, not in a moment before you need to capture an exciting event. Practice this until you feel safe to take a wrong turn on your camera’s menu, and remember there is always a way back in, by using “Reset Menu”.

One Day, One Button

The secret for fast learning is in keeping it simple. The human brain is really good at learning and performing one process at a time. So if you choose one variable, and focus your attention on it for the whole 10 minutes, it will burn into your brain and stay there.

The place to start is the shutter release button. For 10 minutes, work on different ways to half press it, then fully depress it, and then retrieve your finger tip back to half press. This is better done in front of a mirror, so you can look at your index finger while it’s working. Start at a fast shutter speed and adjust it slower after each shot. When your photos become blurry, try again until the movement of your finger tip is unnoticeable. You’ll start to see that you can shoot hand-held using slower shutter speeds with every minute of practice do you. This will help you discover your lower limit for shooting hand-held.

Repeat

Even an experienced professional musician plays repeating scales for few hours a day, before the real work begins. If you repeat your camera’s operation in a simple, yet systematic way, you will feel the difference from day one. Unlike the musician, it will only take you 10 minutes a day to create a change.

For example try standing on a busy street corner following passing cars with your camera (panning), taking some shots with a slow shutter speed. Try to blur the surroundings and keep the car as sharp as possible. For 10 minutes do just that, and explore different ways to hold and move your camera along with the passing car. Shoot at different shutter speeds every time, building your eye-arm-finger connection to work together for the simple task over and over again. Do only that, and nothing else on those 10 minutes.

Take your camera everywhere with you

Your body language tell everyone around you about your feelings. The moment you feel uncomfortable, others around you can tell, and then they will feel the same.

The way you are perceived by others, reflects your confidence with your camera. Try taking the camera on your shoulder while going to the supermarket or post office for errands. After about 10 minutes of being out doing daily chores with your camera, you will forget it’s even there, and will project that to others around you. Then you can start taking photos everywhere.

Summary

If you let yourself play with your camera for just 10 minutes a day, you’ll feel different and see the results right from day one. Remember that you learn your camera in order to forget it’s there, so you can focus on your photos.

Do you have any other ideas or tips for using your 10 minutes a day? Please put them in the comments section below.

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The post How 10 Minutes a Day with Your Camera Will Help Make You a Better Photographer by Ouria Tadmor appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

January 8, 2016
Your Next Purchases After You Get a New Camera
Buying camera gear can be a daunting task, especially if you’re just starting out with photography basics. If you recently got your hands on a new camera, chances are you’ll need a few extra accessories before you’re ready to start shooting like a pro. So, before you start snapping away, go through this checklist and make sure you consider adding a few extra accessories to your photography kit, before taking it out for a spin. As a heads up, this article is written assuming you have a new digital (not film) camera.

The two cameras on the right are interchangeable lens cameras; the two on the right are not.

1. Extra Lenses

The very first thing you’ll want to do is take a close look at your camera and determine whether or not it is an interchangeable lens camera. If your camera can change lenses, it is considered one, and you will definitely want to think about adding a lens or two to your kit. However, if your camera’s lens cannot be removed, skip this section and move on.

When evaluating which camera lenses to get first, it’s generally not a bad idea to start out with the kit lens that is usually sold with a new interchangeable lens camera (SLR or Mirrorless). These kit lenses are considered starters, and they are inexpensively priced and versatile. Most kit lenses are zooms, meaning you can take a close-up, or wide-angle shot, by simply twisting the zoom ring on the lens.

The two lenses on the left are zooms; the two lenses on the right are primes.

Another lens alternative, that most beginning photographers don’t usually know about off the bat, are prime lenses. They only have one focal length, meaning you have to physically move yourself to zoom in, or out, of a photo. The benefits of shooting with prime lenses are numerous including:
- Quality: Most primes are slightly higher quality, and have crisper images than those taken with zoom lenses.
- Size: Prime lenses are smaller, more compact, and weigh less than zooms.
- Price: Prime lenses are usually pretty reasonably priced, compared to zooms of the same quality (maximum aperture).
If you’re considering purchasing a prime lens to accompany your kit lens, start out with a 35mm or 50mm lens. In terms of composition, 35mm (on an APS-C or cropped sensor) is the closest focal composition of the human eye, meaning it will allow you to capture more or less the same amount of a scene that your eye sees. The only downside to 35mm lenses is that they tend to be a bit bulky and expensive, which is why the 50mm is often a preferred alternative at a fraction of the size and price.

As a beginner shopping for prime lenses, ignore the different f-stops (i.e. f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2) specified for each lens and simply purchase the cheapest prime lens that fits your budget. Lenses hold their values well over time, so you can always sell it later when you’re ready to upgrade.

2. Memory Cards

Before you can shoot anything with your new camera, you need memory cards to store all of your photos on your camera. There are a number of different memory cards available, with the most common being the SD (Secure Digital card) and the CF card (Compact Flash card). Be sure to check your camera’s manual, and make sure you buy the right type of memory card. As a beginner, start out with 16GB or 32GB memory cards, and have at least two on you just in case. Also, keep an eye out for sales on memory cards, and stock up when prices are low. You can never have too many!

SD memory cards are on the left. The large card on the right is a CF (compact flash) card.

3. Memory Card Case and Reader

After you purchase memory cards, consider also adding a case or wallet, dedicated to storing and organizing your extra memory cards, as well as a card reader to transfer images from your camera to your computer. Many laptops have built-in memory card readers, but these will generally only accept SD cards. Also, I’ve destroyed many of a memory card by incorrectly inserting SD cards into my laptop, so I always use a card reader. They’re inexpensive, compact, and can even transfer over several memory cards at a time.

A memory card reader in action.

4. Ergonomic Camera Strap

While every brand new camera will come with its own default camera strap, there is also a variety of others available that can help you carry your camera in a flexible, stylish manner. One of the most popular alternative straps is the camera sling, which rests comfortably on your shoulder and keeps your camera hanging closer to your hip, rather than dangling around your neck in front of your chest. There are also rugged, sturdy camera wrist straps if you prefer keeping your camera at arm’s length.

5. Adobe Creative Cloud Lightroom subscription

Just like all of the items previously mentioned in this article, there’s certainly no shortage of photo editing software choices. But if you’re just starting out, you may as well start with the industry standard for photo editing: Adobe Lightroom.

Considerably more user-friendly than Photoshop, Lightroom doesn’t let you do a ton of photo manipulations like putting your dog’s head on your cat’s body, but it does give you a plethora of tools to process your images. While Lightroom used to cost an arm and a leg, the new Creative Cloud subscription gives you unlimited access to the latest and greatest version, for a low monthly fee. Lightroom is used by pros and hobbyists alike, so if you plan to get serious about photography, take the time to learn how to edit photos in Lightroom.

Over to you

There are certainly plenty more recommended accessories for beginning photographers. You can see a list of the favorite photography gadgets of our dPS writers here.

Would you add any others to the list? Let me know in the comments below.

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The post Your Next Purchases After You Get a New Camera by Suzi Pratt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
January 7, 2016
Twitter QA: The Magic Lamp

I get Twitter upstreams pretty often, and enjoy seeing photos from Strobist readers and answering questions when possible. I don't do full-blown critiques or portfolio reviews because of time restraints and an utter lack of any qualification to judge other photographers on my part. But a pic and a Q? Sure, I'm down for that.

Reader Mans Duffani, from Benghazi, Libya tweeted the above photo—a beautiful portrait—to me. It's a great example of a strong photo that could have been made even better if Mans had taken a moment while shooting to consider the image from front to back. Read more »
Strobist

January 7, 2016
How to Create Your Own Desktop Calendar
Ansel Adams once said “12 significant photographs in any one year is a good crop”. Creating a desktop calendar is a fun way to share your photography with family and friends, and they make great gifts. These calendars can feature any and all subjects; family members and gatherings, vacations, wildlife, landscapes, or whatever you enjoy shooting. Small enough to set on a desk or mantel, this type of calendar displays your best images all year long.

What do you need?
- Software – Creating these calendars requires some type of design software such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher, CorelDraw, Mac Pages, or Microsoft Word. If you have no other design software, Adobe Photoshop may be used, though it presents more challenges than the others. You can also do a Google search for “2016 desktop photo calendar templates” and you will find several like these, or these for MS Word.
- Inkjet photo printer and 4×6″ photo paper – Depending on the number of calendars you want, you may choose to send out the calendar pages to be printed by an online printing service, such as Mpix.
- Paper cutter – To easily and accurately trim your calendar to its finished size, a paper trimmer works better than scissors!
- Jewel case – The jewel case (CD case) is used to package and display your final calendar.
Instructions
1. Select 12 photos: Sometimes selecting your images can be the toughest part of creating a calendar! Finding 12 images of which you are really proud, or having too many favorites to whittle them down to just 12, may present something of a dilemma! Not only do you need 12 photos, you need to select which photo to feature in any given month of your calendar. Try to choose photos that depict a season or month in which you plan to place it, such as choosing a snowy landscape for winter months, or budding flowers for spring.
  
  Collect your 12 final images into a folder for use in your calendar.
2. Set up your page size: In your design software, set up for a 4×6″ page. (If you’re using Photoshop, set the dpi to 300 which will allow for sharp resolution for printing.) Be aware that the size of the jewel case is actually only 5.5″ tall, which means the 4×6″ prints will need to have half an inch trimmed off the bottom for finishing.
3. Design the layout: The layout can be as simple as placing your photo at the top of the calendar and placing the calendar dates below. Be creative and add interesting elements to your page by adding rules or borders around your photos. Keep in mind the font you use is a factor in the calendar design. (Setting the text for the calendar is much easier in software like Adobe Illustrator.) You will need to keep your calendar high enough on the page that they will show above the bottom of the jewel case.
  
  The red line on the bottom (0.5″ from bottom) indicates where page will be trimmed after printing. The blue line (1″ from bottom) indicates the area of the page that will be below the edge of the jewel case.
4. Add some color to your calendar: Choose colors from your image to use as background colors, or for any text or rules, to add zip to your calendar page (most design software features an eye dropper tool that is handy to accomplish this). Using complementary colors such as red and green, or blue and orange works well. You may need to lighten the background colors as you don’t want them to overpower your image; rather, let them accent the hues within the photo. If you are using dark colored backgrounds, your text will need to be white, and vice versa, with light colored backgrounds your text will need to be black, or a very dark color to make it easily readable.
  
  Notice how the green borders highlight the green color of the water in the image.
  
  Holidays can be printed in another color to mark their importance and add color (note the red dates above).
5. Template: Once you have completed your first page you can use it as a template for creating the other 11 pages of your calendar. You may also want to create a cover page, which will give you the opportunity to add a 13th image to your calendar if desired.
6. Check your work: Once you have all your calendar pages created, double check all of your dates for accuracy. It may also be useful to have someone else check them for you, as another person can often catch the errors that you missed.
7. Print out a test copy: A print of all your pages, trimmed to size and placed in a jewel case, will ensure that all pages are properly displayed.
8. Save file or print: If you are sending your calendars to a service like Mpix for printing you will need to save each page as a high resolution jpg image, and be sure to give each file a unique file name. Of course, you may print the calendar pages on your personal printer using 4×6″ inkjet photo paper.
9. Trimming your pages: Cut each calendar page down to 5.5″ high so they will fit nicely into your jewel case.
10. Load your pages: Place all calendar pages, January through December, into the jewel case.
  
  Including a cover page is a great option for calendars that depict a special event or location.
Your calendar is now ready to use, or give to a friend or family. You may want to ask your recipients to save the jewel case, so you can create a refill calendar with a new batch of images next year.

There are many unique items you can design featuring your photography. What ideas do you have for creative photo projects? Leave your ideas or suggestions in the comments below.

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The post How to Create Your Own Desktop Calendar by Bruce Wunderlich appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
January 7, 2016