Category: Photography

Going Fishing! Fun With Fisheye Lenses

On a recent outing to Yankee Stadium, the only lens I had on my 5D Mark III was the Canon 8-15mm fisheye zoom. I love a fisheye for a situation like this- great foreground, great sky, and an obvious subject. Most fans go to the game hoping to zoom in on their favorite player. Knowing I would never be close enough, I went the other direction and wanted to get everything.

I used to think I’d never want to shoot with a fisheye lens. My objections were the same as most others who’ve ever shot with one: “All the shots end up looking the same,” or “there’s too much distortion.” Then I actually got to use one. And my first results were much as I expected- too much distortion, and a lot of shots that all looked the same. But the more I started working with it, the more I fell in love with using the fisheye. It’s a lot more versatile than I gave it credit for.

A fisheye lens has become a staple in my bag for shooting weddings. I’ve found it useful in the church for taking an overall scene, as well as on the dance floor for shots like this, of the bride and groom surrounded by their guests. Simply pop the flash at the same time and put them in the spotlight.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City is a prime place to shoot with a fisheye. It can get crowded, and the shooting area can be tight. In addition, the architecture is incredible, so emphasizing those lines with the extreme wide angel makes a lot of sense. EOS 60D with EF 8-15mm Fisheye zoom.

I’ve found fisheye lenses to be useful in many situations. The secret to using a fisheye is to know it’s limitations, as well as it’s strengths, which is true for all lenses. You can use them for portraits, but you need to be aware of subject placement in the frame, as well as how close you plan to get. The closer you get, the more caricature like the image will be. Stand back a bit, and don’t put your subject too close to the edge, and you can use the surroundings to put your subjects as the main focus. Add a pop of the flash with the head zoomed slightly, and it will create a spotlit effect. I’ve found a fisheye is a great way to get a group shot without simply lining the subjects up.

Another great use for fisheyes- a fairly obvious one- is tight spaces. You don’t always have room to step back, and you might want to include most of the scene in front of you in one shot. In many cases, that’s not possible without a fisheye. You need to be prepared to deal with the inherent distortion, but that can be used creatively to really draw the viewers eye. Use the lines of the image, try an extreme point of view by getting the camera higher or lower.

Fisheyes are great for landscapes as well. They emphasize the foreground and make it possible to include both foreground and sky. Distortion is less of an issue here, unless the horizon is prominent. In that case, it’s essential to either embrace the distortion, or be sure to place the horizon in the center to minimize the distortion. If the horizon can be obscured, this point becomes moot. I love to use fisheyes as the “anti-macro”. I get close up to a flower, or even underneath them, placing them prominently in the frame.

Finally, architecture is an excellent use for a fisheye lens. While it’s traditionally not used for architecture due to the distortion, the way a fisheye can emphasize the lines of a beautifully designed building opens it up to a variety of uses, especially interiors of large cavernous buildings like cathedrals and churches, or sports arenas.

I’m still finding new ways to use my fisheye lens. What are yours?

By getting close to this daisy, it is easily emphasized in the foreground, while the other daisies just behind it get pushed back. EOS 5D Mark III with EF 8-15mm Fisheye Zoom

Fisheyes are great for portraits of kids. The extreme wide angle emphasizes the expressions and movements, creating a cartoon-like effect. EOS 5D Mark III with EF 8-15mm Fisheye zoom.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Going Fishing! Fun With Fisheye Lenses

Digital Photography School

July 12, 2013
6 Kickass Kickstarter Photography Projects in July

If you’ve ever had an interesting project for which you needed funding, then you’ve already likely heard of Kickstarter, the crowd-funding website that was launched only in 2009. Since then, though, the site has already provided the means for funding various video games, movies, food-associated projects, comics, stage shows, journalistic endeavors and music aspirations. The site doesn’t allow people to Continue Reading

The post 6 Kickass Kickstarter Photography Projects in July appeared first on Photodoto.

Photodoto

July 12, 2013
5 Ways to Strengthen the Message and Story of Your Photographs

A Guest Post by Sergey Sus/

Photographers decide what is in the frame and what is not. We cant always control every single item the frame. We can however, control of position relative to the subject and when we press the shutter button. Here are 5 ways to to improve our photographs.

Obvious Subject

Our brains analyze what the eye sees instantly. The subject and story of a photograph must be identified quickly by the viewer. If the viewer cant figure out what the subject is…. all interest is lost.

Brightest

Our depth perception of a photograph creates a 3D effect. The brighter objects appear nearer, darker objects recede further back. If the subject is ‘near’ to the viewer it has to be brighter then the rest of the frame. Dodging in post processing accentuates the subject while burning recedes.

Sharpness

Human brain focuses on sharp items in a photograph next. Photos with shallow depth of field are so pleasing to our eyes – we dont need to search for a subject as its the only sharpest part of the photo.

Size

The largest item in a photo – and our eyes go straight to it as we begin to ‘digest’ the photo. It is possible to have the subject as the smallest item in the picture, what then? Make it the sharpest and brightest!

Color

The 3 primary colors Red, Green and Blue – the colors which are noticed first. When photographing people outside in a park – get as little of the 3 primary colors in the frame. Sounds easy? Well, when in a park green and blue are unavoidable. If those colors are minimized and then desaturated in post the subject will stand out more in the final photograph.

Sergey Sus is a Los Angeles based photographer telling telling real stories, individual, professional and family. Problem solver, artist and teacher. His work can be found on http://www.sergeys.us/.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

5 Ways to Strengthen the Message and Story of Your Photographs

Digital Photography School

July 12, 2013
The Winner of $1000 Survey Competition is….

Thanks to everyone who participated in our recent dPS reader survey. The response was amazing with over 7800 people taking part.

The information provided has already proved useful in improving dPS and we’re using the information to help improve our new site design (keep an eye out for this in the coming month) and some of our upcoming content.

As part of this survey we put up $ 1000 to one participant in this survey and have just drawn that winner.

The winner is… Abhinandan Wadkar!

Congrats Abhinandan – we’ve just shot you an email to let them know how to get their prize.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

The Winner of $ 1000 Survey Competition is….

Digital Photography School

July 12, 2013
Colour Composition: Using Subtle Colour

In my last article I wrote about using colour boldly. Today I’m going to look at ways you can use colour in a much subtler, gentler fashion.

Bold colours are most often found in man-made objects. If someone paints a wall bright red, for example, and you take a photo of it against a deep blue sky, then you are using colours that are just about as strong and deep as it is possible to get.

In nature though, colours are often much more subtle. And there are ways that you can use the subtlety of colour found in nature to create photos that capture the mood of the scene.

Let’s look at some examples to explain what I mean:

For this portrait I photographed my model against a cliff and use the cloudy white balance setting to warm it up. The background and the model’s skin and hair are all shades of brown. Apart from white, I don’t think there’s another colour in the image.

Here’s another portrait taken the same afternoon. The background in this photo is the sea, although it’s difficult to recognise as it’s out of focus. It was overcast, so the sea has come out grey rather than blue. But it suits the image. Just like the previous portrait, the colour palette is limited.

I created this photo by focusing on the grass in the foreground and using a wide aperture to defocus the setting the sun. I applied a low colour temperature in post-processing to give the scene a cool feel. Even though it is sunset, the colours are subtle.

Here is a close-up photo I took in a local museum. The colour palette is very subtle. The box is cream, and the background is green. There is some nice tonal contrast going on in this image.

So far, the examples I’ve given have all used soft or pastel colours. But you can still use bright colours such as red in a subtle way. Here’s an example:

My model was wearing a bright red jumper and headband, so I positioned her against a white coloured building to provide a neutral background. The neutrality of the background colours emphasise the strength of the red.

I hope the photos in this article and the last have given you some ideas about using colour in your photos. It’s a little more difficult to use colour with subtlety that it is to fill the frame with bright colours. But it does give you an extra tool for expressing yourself with. And don’t forget, you don’t have to settle for the colour palette that nature provides. Feel free to make the colours in your images more subtle by desaturating them in post-processing.

Mastering Photography

My latest ebook, Mastering Photography: A Beginner’s Guide to Using Digital Cameras introduces you to digital photography and helps you make the most out of your digital camera. It covers concepts such as lighting and composition as well as the camera settings you need to master to take creative photos like the ones in this article.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Colour Composition: Using Subtle Colour

Digital Photography School

July 11, 2013
Explore the Funnier Side of Mobile Photography with these Photo Apps for iPhone

The huge strength of the Apple iTunes store is that it features a vast array of apps in virtually any category. Photography is one of the most popular iTunes categories, and with good reason. We’ve already done a very comprehensive post about some of the hottest photography apps on iTunes, but they were all mostly of a serious nature. That Continue Reading

The post Explore the Funnier Side of Mobile Photography with these Photo Apps for iPhone appeared first on Photodoto.

Photodoto

July 11, 2013
How to Create Realistic Looking HDR Photographs

By Sean Ogle.

HDR photography has gotten a bit of a bad reputation, simply because so many people don’t know how or when to use it.

It kind of reminds me of my first experiences using Photoshop in high school. The only thing I knew how to do was open a photo, head to the filters, and create surreal, barely recognizable images.

That’s what I see many photographers doing with HDR today. They open up Photomatix or HDR Efex Pro and start making photos that look overly processed, overly saturated, and basically just all around over done.

Sure, there are people that like this look, but those photos overshadow the true benefits that HDR can bring to the table.

My favorite photos are the ones that look almost too real. You can tell they’ve been edited, but you aren’t exactly sure how.

With that said, the most practical use of HDR is when you’re trying to create a more realistic depiction of what your eye is actually seeing in any given scene.

This could be a landscape photographer trying to capture the perfect sunset over an ocean, or perhaps a real estate agent that’s trying to accurately show the interior of a home.

This shot of from the Jersey Shore is a good example of that:

Without HDR there’s no way I’d be able to get the detail in the foreground, while also bringing out the colors of the sky.

What’s important here is the average person wouldn’t be able to tell this was an HDR image.

So what are some of the key components to making a realistic looking HDR shot?

Let’s take a look.

Take it Easy on the Saturation

This is one of the easiest mistakes to make with HDR. We tend to be drawn towards bright and vibrant colors, but when editing, even slight adjustments can have very significant effects.

Had I not touched the saturation with the photo above, this would look like a big orange mess after the initial HDR processing.

This is particularly important to keep in mind if you’re shooting outdoors in grassy park or forested areas. Green and yellows are the hardest colors to accurately reproduce when doing HDR, and the secret to getting them correct is to significantly reduce the saturation.

HDR was used in this case in order to bring out the detail of the clouds, which were extremely dramatic in person. However, the saturation was turned down to -35% in HDR Efex Pro to create this image. Without doing that, the green looked completely unrealistic, and the foreground didn’t accurately capture the high desert surroundings.

Use a Tripod

Yes, this is an HDR 101 tip, but it’s extremely important. When going for realism, you want things to look as crisp and clean as possible. While the latest software actually does a surprisingly good job at correcting for minor shifts in images due to camera shake or a handheld series of brackets, it still isn’t perfect, and can leave things looking slightly fuzzy.

The biggest selling point for a realistic image is it’s clarity and this will work against you if you aren’t careful.

Consciously Make Adjustments to “Structure”

This is perhaps the biggest secret towards getting realistic HDR shots. Your eyes can see a lot more detail than a photo can capture. By very sparingly adjusting the structure setting (or the balance between HDR “strength” and “smoothing” in Photomatix), you can bring out just enough “pop” to make what might otherwise be a dull image seem much more lifelike.

Never use any settings or presets that are labeled “strong”, “grungy”, “accentuated”, “grainy” or anything similar. These are pretty much a dead giveaway that your photo is going to look fake. For many amateur photographers, it’s these effects that make a photo look “cool”, but if you’re going for realism, these are deal breakers.

However, like most aspects of HDR, structure can very easily be overdone.

Pay Attention to Your Histogram

The natural eye has a much higher dynamic range than a camera sensor, and because of this, if your brackets don’t capture the full range of light, you could find yourself with an image that isn’t quite the way you remember a scene looking.

As much as possible you want your underexposed shots all the way to the left, and your overexposed shots all the way to the right on your histogram. You may need to take more than 3 shots in order to capture the full range.

When shooting interiors with windows this is especially important. You don’t want whatever is outside to get blown out, so by making sure you’ve captured the full dynamic range you’ll be able to create a more realistic representation of the room and not lose any detail in the windows.

One Final Thing to Keep in Mind

Every shot you take should have a purpose, and when you’re shooting, you should be very deliberate about that.

When you don’t have an idea of what you want the final result to be, it can be really easy to go overboard, and end with something that’s much more surreal than you were expecting.

If you’re shooting interior real estate, make sure you’re not losing detail outside. If you’re shooting landscapes, spend extra time adjusting for structure and saturation.

HDR is one of the very best ways to create stunning, realistic images, but only if you have the discipline to properly edit them.

Sean Ogle is an HDR photographer and entrepreneur. He specializes in helping people build small businesses that allow them to do more of the stuff they like to do. He also golfs way more than the average person probably should. DPS readers can grab his book 50 Tips to Improve Your HDR Photography for free here.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

How to Create Realistic Looking HDR Photographs

Digital Photography School

July 11, 2013
How to Use Lightroom on 2 Computers and Keep the Catalogue Synchronised

A common question that we hear from readers about using Lightroom is how can it be used on two computers while keeping your catalog synchronised?

In this video Phil Steele shares 3 great strategies for doing just this.

For more great Lightroom tips from Phil Steele check out his Lightroom Made Easy Course which many dPS readers have enrolled in and found helpful.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

How to Use Lightroom on 2 Computers and Keep the Catalogue Synchronised

Digital Photography School

July 11, 2013
How to Prepare your Photographs for Stock Submission

Post processing is an important part of photography. No matter how good you are at photography, your commercial success depends entirely on your final product. Using Adobe Lightroom and other post processing software, you can transform your photograph into a truly remarkable commercial success. Stock Photography is one of the most proficient ways of earning money for photographers but it Continue Reading

The post How to Prepare your Photographs for Stock Submission appeared first on Photodoto.

Photodoto

July 10, 2013
How I Caught a Glimpse of the Elusive “WOW-Factor” & What You Can Do To Get Your Own
We all want to amaze our friends, family and hopefully even our raving fans with our photography, but in order to do so we need to first find out how to make our photos stand out – we need to harness the elusive “wow-factor” and have it help us define our style.

Do You Shoot to Record a Moment In Time or to Tell A Story?

This question is one you must ask yourself every time you pick up the camera. There are two types of photographs in my eyes – ones that record a moment in time and ones that tell a story. Each serve their purpose and I have nothing against either one, but I do think that photographing to tell a story is more prone to “wow-factor” photos.

That’s not to say that you can’t take good photographs of moments in time after all there are amazing and beautiful things happening all around us every day. Take this wild flower for example.

Technically it’s a good photo right? It’s sharp, composed with purpose, and processed to showcase the flower’s natural beauty, but it’s nothing more than a moment of time captured. Unless you have an obsession with white flowers this probably doesn’t jump off the page for you.

Moments in time can be spectacular though. Take this lightning bolt photograph that I captured a few weeks ago and if you’re curious you can read about out how I did it here.

It’s a photo that many people were excited about when I published it, I’ve even sold a couple prints of it, but does it have the “wow-factor” that I’m talking about today? I don’t think so. In reality this photograph is no different than the photograph of the flower above it. It records a moment in time, but doesn’t tell much of a story. However, it is compelling in a way, and that can be attributed to the fact that we don’t typically get to see a lightning strike for more than a fraction of a second.

Still for me it’s missing the point of this post which is the “wow-factor” that comes from having a compelling story within your photograph.

So How Did I Catch A Glimpse of the ‘Wow-Factor’

Over the weekend I caught a glimpse of something that made me stop and think “wow that’s cool” and ultimately it’s what has inspired me to write this post for DPS.

I was photographing a wedding at a location where the building spans the main street through the city. I was presented with the idea of having the couple kiss under the arch of the building, but in order to do this we had to stop traffic in both directions for a couple minutes – not an easy task on a Friday afternoon so this was a one shot deal.

While there are always other things to try and I’d love to have had a second, third and fourth chance at this photo I am pleased with the result of this shot. I think it succeeds in telling a story and I know that the bride and groom absolutely love it so in the end that’s what matters most to me anyway.

Three Keys To Help You Find Your Own Glimpse

I’ve been using the word ‘glimpse’ in this post because I do believe that “wow-factor” is something that for many of us will come and go until we can fine tune our aim.

I don’t believe that it can be taught specifically, but I do believe that it can be learned. This might sound kind of strange, but what I mean by this is that we each have to figure out what works for our own style through our own process. After years of experience we will fine tune our abilities and as an end result harness the “wow-factor” to define our style.

That said here are three key points for you to keep in mind every time you set out to create a photograph which I believe will help speed you along the process of creating photographs with the “wow-factor” you’re looking for.
1. Shoot with Purpose – When you click the shutter button how often are you thinking about why you’re clicking the button? Instead try telling yourself exactly why you’re taking the photograph that you’re taking before you take it – by doing this you’ll be photographing with purpose and hopefully end up with a better shot to show for your efforts.
2. Tell a story – A picture is worth a thousand words right? Well this cliche is only true if the picture actually tells a story. Otherwise, it’s just another photo added to the pile.
3. Go Beyond – I didn’t have to stop traffic to get a photograph of my couple kissing in the middle of the street. I could have shot with purpose and told a story on the sidewalk or in a garden, but by going the extra mile we were able to capture a more compelling image.
I think that we all get chances to create photographs with ‘wow-factor’ in them. They don’t happen often and it takes more than simply clicking the shutter button to come up with the vision that makes a photograph something more than just another moment frozen in time.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

How I Caught a Glimpse of the Elusive “WOW-Factor” & What You Can Do To Get Your Own

Digital Photography School
July 10, 2013