The post How to Use Framing in Your Compositions to Improve Your Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Bond.
Photos look great when framed on the wall, but that is not the only way to use frames in photography. The world is full of frames, and they can be used in your photos to make the composition stronger.
In this article, you’ll learn how to find frames. You’ll also learn how you can work with frames to enhance your images. So let’s use framing in your compositions!
For this photo, traditional Korean paper, called Hanji, was held in front of the camera and used as a frame. The person in the photo is making this traditional paper, so the frame adds context to the image.
What is framing?
Framing, as the name suggests, is when you surround your main subject with a border of some kind.
The frame could literally be a picture frame you hold up in front of the camera. However, there are lots of other ways you can create frames in your compositions. For instance, you can photograph through a window frame, a doorway, or a gap in a wall. And you can always create your own frame, which you’ll learn about in a moment.
Why add a frame?
A frame is used in your image to draw the eye to your main subject. The subject could be a model standing in a doorway or architecture framed through a window.
Plus, a frame can add to your image. The right frame can add context, which creates a further narrative element.
Architecture can provide strong framing opportunities for your photos.
Where to find frames
Here’s the next question:
Where can you find a frame that will work for your photo? I’ve already mentioned a few classic ideas, but let’s look at those (and others!) in more detail below:
Doorways: One of the easiest frames to find is a doorway. You can position your main subject in front of the door and use it as a frame. Alternatively, you can photograph through the door and use it as a frame for the background scene.
Picture frames: Hold a frame in front of your camera or ask someone else to hold it for you. Then use this to frame something interesting.
Windows: This is similar to a doorway, but doesn’t run to the ground.
A wall: Here, you need to look for a gap in the wall to use as a frame. This can work well when the foreground (the wall) complements the background behind it.
Lensballs: One of the reasons a lensball is an effective photography tool is because it always provides a natural frame, with the outside of the ball framing the inside.
Photograph through: Look for objects you can photograph through, such as a plant pot or a tube. These will give your photo a circular frame.
Nature: There are plenty of natural frames. A cave entrance or a tree tunnel can work well.
A wide-angle lens was used to capture the archway in front of this temple, which created a great frame.
How to photograph with a frame
On the face of it, photographing with a frame is easy:
Simply compose a photograph in front of something like an arch or window.
However, you need to consider some key compositional and technical questions. For instance, what’s the subject in the frame? And how large or small should your frame appear?
Focal length: The focal length you choose will depend on how much you want to compress the area surrounding your frame. It will also depend on how far back from your frame you’re able to stand. For instance, when photographing indoors, a wide-angle lens may be needed to fill the photo with the frame of a window or doorway.
Subject: Just because you have a natural frame does not mean you have a good photo, especially if the subject behind it is uninteresting. Look first for your main subject, and then look for available framing options. If you’re taking portrait photos, this will be easier than if you’re photographing a landscape; you can, of course, always ask your model to stand within the frame.
Narrative: What will your frame tell the viewer about the rest of the photo? Is it possible to adapt the frame in some way so it better suits the scene behind it? How much of the area surrounding the frame will you include, and how will that affect the story you’re trying to convey?
There was no frame for this photo until the light was painted in!
Creative framing in your compositions
When a frame isn’t available, you have another option:
Create your own!
This creative approach to framing in your compositions can lead to the best results. That’s because you’ll have more control over the frame itself. You can control the size and shape of the frame. You’ll also be able to precisely match the frame to the image you are trying to create.
The following are some possible ideas for more creative framing:
Card or paper: Choose the color, cut out the appropriate shape, and make your own custom frame.
Copper piping: Placed close to the lens, this will create a flare-like effect when the sun shines off the metal, and this flare can be used as a frame.
Plant pot: Cut out the bottom of a plant pot and use it to photograph through. A wide focal length will likely be needed to catch the edge of the pot as you photograph through it.
Always look to see how a frame can add more of a story to your photo. In this image, the fishing net is used to frame the fisherman.
Get framing!
Now that you know all about framing in your compositions, it’s time to get out and practice what you’ve learned.
Do you enjoy using frames in the photos you take? Is there another approach you use when looking for frames? Have you ever tried creating your own frame so that it matches the photo you’re taking?
Share your thoughts in the comments! And if you have photos with frames, please share them, too!
The post How to Use Framing in Your Compositions to Improve Your Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Bond.
The post Mastering Noise Reduction in Lightroom: The Essential Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.
Shooting at a high ISO is a great way to retain control over other exposure parameters such as aperture and shutter speed while still getting a usable image.
However, even today’s digital cameras still produce noise and grain when shooting at values like ISO 6400, ISO 12800, and beyond. While an ISO 6400 photo is never going to look as clean as a photo taken at ISO 100, you can use Lightroom noise reduction to clean up your high ISO images.
Mastering noise reduction in Lightroom involves a few tradeoffs. But it’s a great solution for people who need the flexibility of shooting at high ISO values while still getting great results.
To understand how to use Lightroom noise reduction, it’s important to learn a little more about ISO.
In a nutshell, ISO is a measure of a camera’s sensitivity to light. When shooting with film, each roll has a single value and cannot be changed until you use up all your exposures and put in a new roll. Digital photography, on the other hand, lets you alter your ISO any time you want.
Higher ISO values let you use smaller apertures or faster shutter speeds because your camera produces a brighter exposure. As a result, you don’t need as much light coming through the lens in order to take a picture. This means that you can use a smaller aperture, faster shutter speed, or both. (Or you can use Auto ISO and let your camera figure out the rest.)
The tradeoff is that increasing your camera’s ISO inevitably leads to noise being introduced to the picture. (Digital noise is kind of like the static you might remember seeing on old television sets.) High ISO shots aren’t as sharp, and colors aren’t as vibrant, thanks to noise. But if shooting at ISO 6400 means you can use a fast shutter speed to avoid motion blur, then it’s generally a tradeoff worth making.
The best of both worlds would be a high-ISO shot that retains the color and sharpness of a low ISO shot. Unfortunately, that’s not actually possible (at least not with current technology). But mastering noise reduction in software such as Lightroom gives you a great deal of control over reducing high-ISO artifacts while keeping as much detail as possible.
A closer look
The effects of high ISOs aren’t always visible when photos are downsized for the web. To really see what happens at high ISOs, and to understand how to clean it up, you should look at images up close.
Here’s a zoomed-in view of the above image; you can now see the effects of shooting at high-ISO values:
Up close you can see the speckled background on the left and the lack of definition in the eyebrows. These are just some of the effects of shooting at ISO 6400. Noise reduction settings are at their default values: Luminance 10, Detail 50, and Contrast 0.
Lightroom lets you remedy these ISO artifacts, at least partially, through the Detail panel in the Develop module.
There are two types of noise reduction available: Luminance and Color.
Luminance is the most common form of noise in digital photography and refers to the slight speckled variations in brightness from one pixel to the next. You can see this most clearly in the brown background on the left side of the above photo.
Color noise is often obvious at very high ISO values like 25600 or greater. It looks like random splotches of color scattered around the brightest or darkest portions of an image. In modern digital photography, color noise isn’t nearly as much of an issue in most instances. Most of the time you won’t need to use the Color, Detail, and Smoothness sliders. For most practical purposes, it’s best to stick with luminance noise reduction adjustments.
To access the noise reduction sliders, click the Detail panel in the Develop module. The noise reduction sliders are grouped with sharpening adjustments because these often go hand-in-hand. Boosting noise reduction can have a smoothing effect on your images which can be somewhat mitigated by adjusting the sharpening sliders.
Getting detailed
When working with luminance noise, there are three sliders to adjust:
Luminance
Detail
Contrast
Luminance is a measure of how much noise to remove, while Detail and Contrast give you finer control over the effects of the noise reduction.
You might notice that Lightroom automatically applies a small amount of noise reduction to every RAW file by default. This is generally a good starting point because RAW files, due to their unprocessed nature, inherently contain more noise than in-camera JPEG files. And it’s almost always recommended to remove some of that noise even if just a tiny bit.
To start the noise removal process, move the Luminance slider to the right. The farther you go, the more pronounced the noise removal effect will be. I generally don’t push it past 50, but your settings will depend on your image and your personal preferences.
This is the same image as above, but with Luminance set to 50. Notice how the background is much smoother, as are the cheeks. However, the eyelashes have lost much of their sharpness.
After adjusting the Luminance slider to your liking, use Detail and Contrast to bring back parts of your image that might have been lost by the noise reduction algorithm. Move the Detail slider to control the threshold at which the noise reduction starts to kick in. This can help retain some of the details in your image but end up leaving some of the noise intact.
Bumping the Detail slider up to 80 brings back some of the sharpness around the eyelashes and other areas of the face.
As you adjust the Luminance slider, you will see some parts of your picture get muddy, almost like a layer of petroleum jelly has been smeared across the shot. Use the Contrast slider to bring back some of the high-contrast parts of your image that are most affected by the Luminance slider.
Moving the Contrast slider up to 40 helps mitigate a bit more of the effects of software-based noise reduction. However, the more you use the sliders, the more processed and artificial your images will look.
As with many aspects of photography, there is no single correct answer for how much noise reduction to use in Lightroom. Some high-ISO images will look fine without too much tinkering, while others require more drastic measures. Mastering noise reduction isn’t about finding one solution that works for every image. It’s about understanding how to use the editing tools to create the best possible outcome for any given photo.
Low ISO versus noise reduction
To really understand how Lightroom noise reduction works, it helps to look at some comparisons of images so you can see the results for yourself.
The following images show different versions of the same scene; one base shot is taken at a very low ISO, while another is taken at a high ISO. I then apply varying degrees of noise reduction and display the results.
When resizing images for the web, some of the issues with shooting at a high ISO are difficult to notice. However, a few artifacts do stand out, such as the muddiness of the solid blue radio toy, and a clear lack of definition in the intricate parts of the ball maze on the left.
For a closer look, here are 100% crops of each image:
A 100% crop of the original ISO 100 image. Note the fine detail in the cactus and the overall clarity of the picture.A 100% crop of the original ISO 6400 image. Colors are washed-out and subtle texture is obliterated. Note that the green paint lines at the borders of the white lines are completely gone.
When looking at these images close-up, it’s clear that the ISO 6400 photo is noticeably worse. However, if shooting at ISO 6400 or greater will give you the ability to get the shot you want, then it’s a tradeoff worth making.
High-ISO shooting becomes even more practical when you learn to eliminate some of these issues in Lightroom. Using the noise reduction options won’t fix a high-ISO image entirely, but it can go a long way toward cleaning things up.
A 100% crop of the ISO 6400 image with these adjustments applied: Luminance 80, Detail 60, and Contrast 55. While the ugly noise artifacts have been smoothed out, the image still isn’t as rich and detailed as its low-ISO counterpart.
Mastering noise reduction in Lightroom isn’t just limited to moving three sliders in the Detail panel. It’s best paired with other adjustments such as Texture, Clarity, Contrast, Saturation, etc. There is no one-size-fits-all preset to magically make your ISO 6400 images look as good as ISO 100 images. But with a little work, you can bring back some of the punch and brilliance of your originals.
A 100% crop of the high-ISO image with previous noise reduction edits applied along with the following: Contrast -15, Shadows +34, Blacks -35, Texture +42, and Saturation +22.
Noise reduction isn’t a cure-all, and it won’t resurrect parts of the image that were never captured to begin with. In the ISO 6400 shot above, no amount of software-based noise reduction can bring back the green paint along the white lines that were clearly present in the low-ISO image.
But careful use of the tools available to you can go a long way toward making a messy picture more than usable.
Nikon D750 | Nikon 85mm f/1.8G | 85mm | 1/250 sec | f/2.8 | ISO 6400. The sun was setting and I needed a fast shutter speed, so I chose to shoot at ISO 6400 and was able to adjust it in Lightroom. My clients loved the results.
Mastering noise reduction in Lightroom: Conclusion
Mastering noise reduction in Lightroom isn’t a science; each image is different and your own preferences matter most of all. Shoot some test images at ISO 6400 or higher, then see what you can do to clean them up using the tools available to you.
You might be surprised at how much latitude you have when editing. The more you experiment, the more skilled you will get.
And soon you’ll be transforming your photos from noisy messes into near-masterpieces.
The post Mastering Noise Reduction in Lightroom: The Essential Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.
The post ISO Settings in Digital Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darren Rowse.
ISO is one of three important settings on your camera that are used to take well-exposed photos.
The other two fundamental settings are aperture and shutter speed – and if you’d like to learn about these settings, check out our introduction to aperture and our beginner’s guide to shutter speed.
An introduction to ISO settings in photography
We regularly get questions about ISO from readers of Digital Photography School like these:
What is ISO and why is it important?
What is the best ISO setting?
Should I always choose the lowest ISO?
In this short tutorial, I want to answer each question in turn.
Let’s start with a definition of ISO:
What is ISO?
ISO actually has two definitions, depending on whether you’re discussing film or digital photography:
ISO in traditional/film photography
In traditional (film) photography, ISO (or ASA) is an indication of how sensitive a film is to light.
In film photography, ISO is measured in numbers. You’ve probably seen them on film canisters: 100, 200, 400, 800, etc.
The lower the number, the lower the sensitivity of the film, and the finer the grain that will appear in your photos.
ISO in digital photography
In digital photography, ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor.
The same principles apply as in film photography:
The lower the number, the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the resulting grain.
Higher numbers mean your sensor is more sensitive to light, and this allows you to use your camera in darker situations. The cost of doing so is more grain – although cameras are improving all the time. Today, many cameras can use high ISO settings and still get very useable images.
Here’s a time when you might want to choose a higher ISO:
If you’re photographing an indoor sporting event where the light is low and your subject is moving fast.
In such a situation, by choosing a higher ISO, you can use a faster shutter speed to freeze the athletes’ movement.
ISO settings and grain
Choosing higher ISO settings comes with a serious cost:
The higher your ISO, the more grain or noise that appears in your photos.
I’ll illustrate this below with two enlargements. The image on the left was taken at ISO 100, and the image on the right was taken at ISO 3200.
Can you see the difference? The high-ISO photo (right) is full of unpleasant noise, whereas the low-ISO photo (left) is completely clean.
ISO 100 is a “normal” or “standard” ISO on most cameras. It’ll give you lovely, crisp shots (with little to no noise or grain).
Most people tend to keep their digital cameras set to Auto mode, where the camera selects the appropriate ISO setting depending on the conditions you’re shooting in. However, most cameras also give you the opportunity to select your own ISO.
When you do override your camera to choose a specific ISO, you’ll notice that this impacts the aperture and shutter speed needed for a well-exposed shot.
For example:
If you bumped your ISO up from 100 to 400, you’ll notice that you can shoot at faster shutter speeds and/or smaller apertures.
Questions to ask when choosing ISO
When choosing my ISO setting, I generally ask myself the following four questions:
Light – Is the subject well lit?
Grain – Do I want a grainy shot or one without noise?
Tripod – Am I using a tripod?
Movingsubject – Is my subject moving or stationary?
If there is plenty of light, I want little grain, I’m using a tripod, and/or my subject is stationary, then I will generally use a relatively low ISO rating.
If it’s dark, I want grain, I don’t have a tripod, and/or my subject is moving, I might consider increasing my ISO. This will enable me to shoot with a faster shutter speed and still expose the shot well.
Of course, the trade-off will be noisier shots.
Situations where you might need to push ISO higher include:
Indoor sports events, where your subject is moving fast, yet you have limited available light
Concerts, which are low in light and often “no-flash” zones
Art galleries, churches,and more, where there are rules against using a flash and the interiors aren’t especially well lit
Birthday parties, where blowing out the candles in a dark room can give you a nice, moody shot that would be ruined by a bright flash. Increasing the ISO can help capture the scene.
ISO is an important aspect of digital photography to have an understanding of if you want to gain more control over your digital camera. So experiment with different settings and how they impact your images. And in particular, learn more about aperture and shutter speed, which – along with ISO – are a part of the exposure triangle.
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More photography tips for beginners
Feel like a beginner at photography? We’ve compiled our best tutorials for beginners here on our Photography Tips for Beginners page.
The post ISO Settings in Digital Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darren Rowse.
The post Tamron 28-200mm Wins Grand Gold Prize at Digital Camera Grand-Prix 2021 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
Tamron’s 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD superzoom has been awarded the Grand Gold Prize in the Interchangeable Lens/Mirrorless category at the Digital Camera Grand-Prix 2021. Tamron has also taken a Gold Prize for its 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD telephoto zoom in the Third Party/Mirrorless category.
The Digital Camera Grand-Prix honors the best cameras and lenses of the year; all gear debuted during the 2020 fiscal period is eligible, and winners are selected by photographic authorities.
In past years, awardees have included the Sony a7R IV (for Camera of the Year, 2020), the Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct (given Editors Award, 2020), and the Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM (for Lens of the Year, 2019).
But while Tamron has frequently received prestigious Digital Camera Grand-Prix prizes – in fact, the company has been awarded in each of the last six years – the new 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 perhaps stands alone, thanks to its breathtaking combination of focal length range, compactness, and image quality.
In fact, the Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 is the ultimate superzoom. It’s built for Sony full-frame cameras, and Tamron has ensured that it can stand up to the rigors of Sony’s mirrorless lineup; the 28-200mm is effortlessly sharp on high-resolution bodies such as the a7R IV, from 28mm to 200mm, at all apertures.
In other words:
You can capture stunningly sharp landscapes at 28mm, before zooming in for some nice sharp portraits in the 50mm to 150mm range, before capturing a sharp telephoto street shot or two at 200mm.
This is unprecedented for superzooms, which are equally well-known for their overall usefulness and frequent image quality issues. You can either have flexibility or sharpness, but not both, or so lens manufacturers seem to think – yet Tamron has proved that it’s possible to keep it all: sharpness, focal length flexibility, plus solid build quality, autofocus speed, and more.
I haven’t even mentioned the 28-200mm’s maximum aperture, which varies from f/2.8 to f/5.6 across the focal length range. The f/2.8 maximum aperture at the wide end of the range further increases the lens’s versatility. For night shooters – especially astrophotographers, who require clean images at relatively fast shutter speeds – an f/2.8 aperture is a must, and the 28-200mm can provide it.
The 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 is offered for a very reasonable price:
$ 729 USD, which is cheaper than many native Sony lenses, and brings an incredible bang for your buck when you consider what you’re getting.
So if you’re interested in a lens that can do pretty much anything, from landscapes to street photography to portrait photography and more, check out the Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD.
(Also, take a look at our review of the incredible Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 lens for Sony.)
Now over to you:
What do you think about the 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6? Are you impressed by Tamron’s innovation? Are there any competitors that you like better? Share your thoughts in the comments!
The post Tamron 28-200mm Wins Grand Gold Prize at Digital Camera Grand-Prix 2021 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
The post Tips for Photographing Birds in Flight appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Bruce Wunderlich.
This article introduces some key concepts for photographing birds in flight.
One of the most necessary ingredients is patience; you may often photograph an entire day and not get a single usable image. In most cases, there is some luck involved – you have to be in the right place at the right time, after all!
But hopefully, this article will give you the tools you need to improve your luck and capture stunning birds in flight photos.
Choosing a location
Let’s begin with how to choose the best location for your birds in flight shoot.
Near rivers or lakes is a great place to set up, because of the abundant food sources for the birds. Find a position on a hill that will put you at eye level with the birds.
And check out the position of the sun, because you should not be shooting into it. Light coming from behind you or from the left or the right of your position is preferred.
Also, birds will generally take off and land into the wind, so knowing the wind direction of your location will help you predict the flight direction of the birds you are photographing.
Lighting
Good lighting plays a key role in successful birds in flight photography.
As with any other kind of outdoor photography, the golden light of morning and evening is best. However, because you are shooting birds in the sky, these times can be extended and you’ll still get nice lighting on your subject.
Make yourself invisible
Some birds will not venture near humans, so you need to make yourself as invisible as possible.
In some cases, this might be as simple as not wearing brightly-colored clothing. However, avid bird photographers may also want to set up some kind of blind. Blinds can be purchased inexpensively from most hunting stores.
Also, sitting down will make you less noticeable to the birds than if you are standing.
Study your subject
Study the birds you enjoy photographing to learn their habits.
How does this help?
Knowing the birds can help you predict their movements. For instance, many birds, especially the larger species like herons or eagles, will relieve themselves just before they fly. Knowing this can help you be ready to shoot just before your subject takes off.
Lens
Choosing a good lens for birds in flight photography can be a challenge. I recommend you use the fastest and longest lens you can afford.
For your best chance at a great shot, you’ll need at least a 300mm lens, but a 500mm to 600mm prime lens is preferable.
(Unfortunately, these lenses don’t come cheap!)
Tripods
A great tripod head for birds in flight, especially if you’re using a large lens, is a gimbal head. It balances your camera and lens while requiring very little force to pan left and right or up and down.
A less expensive option is a pan head, which also allows for movement in all directions on two different axes. And while ball heads can be used for birds in flight photography, they’re not a very stable solution for large lenses.
Exposure
When setting up your camera to shoot birds in flight, keep in mind how the exposure triangle of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO plays an important part in getting the perfect exposure.
Shutter speed – You need your shutter speed to be fast enough to freeze the bird’s wings in your photo. While small birds’ wings may flap at approximately 40 beats per second, larger birds, like herons and eagles, flap around 2 beats per second. Many species of duck are fairly fast flappers, at around 5 to 10 beats per second. So the question remains: How fast should you set your shutter speed to freeze wing motion? Go for at least 1/1000s to 1/2000s. Even faster is better, if possible!
Aperture – In order to gain as much depth of field as possible, you should use the smallest aperture you can afford. Select your f-stop (the aperture number) based on your lens’s sweet spot (where your lens focuses most clearly), which is probably around f/8.
ISO – You want to keep your ISO setting as low as possible to avoid digital noise (graininess) in your photos, although most modern camera models do a decent job with higher ISOs.
So how do you bring all three elements of your exposure triangle together to get the best exposure? You may consider simply using your camera’s Shutter Priority mode, in which you set the shutter speed and the camera sets the aperture (and ISO on some models).
However, I recommend you try this alternative method:
Set your camera to Aperture Priority mode
Set your aperture to f/8 (the sweet spot) to get the sharpest-possible images
Using your camera’s light meter, check the exposure of the scene where you hope to photograph your birds in flight. You will probably find that some areas of the scene are darker than others.
Using the exposure reading you get from the darkest areas of the scene, adjust your ISO to bring your shutter speed up to at least 1/1000s. It follows that when your bird flies by and you are panning your camera into a lighter area, your shutter speed will increase to above 1/1000, and when your subject is in the darker areas, your exposure will still be appropriate.
Now, here’s one final step to tweak your exposure:
Have you ever noticed how, when photographing birds in flight, your image will seem dark and be missing details, especially in dark feathers? To bring out more detail in dark areas, change your EV (exposure compensation) setting to +0.3. This will add a little more light (though depending on the lighting, you may need to add a bit more exposure compensation).
On the other hand, what if you are photographing a white bird, such as a swan? The white bird’s image will tend to get “blown out,” so that you’re missing detail in the whites. To compensate, adjust your EV value to -1.0 to -2.0. This will pick up the detail in those white-feathered birds. (If you are thinking that your background will be underexposed, you’d be right – but you are photographing the swan, not the background!)
Focusing
To keep your flying bird in focus, set your camera’s focusing mode to continuous focus.
In this mode, as long as you have the shutter button depressed halfway and are focused on the bird, the camera will continuously acquire focus as the bird moves. Canon calls this function “Al Servo,” while Nikon calls it “Continuous Servo” or “AF-C.”
Also, both Nikon and Canon will allow you to expand your AF points so that your camera can identify moving subjects at adjacent points (which will help you keep your moving subject in focus).
Nikon also offers two AF area modes that can work for birds in flight:
The 51-point Dynamic Area AF and the 3D Tracking area mode.
Both of these AF area modes will search at all 51 AF points for the movement of your subject, although these modes can be a little too slow when focusing in some situations.
Composition
Composition can be the most difficult aspect of photographing birds in flight.
But all the basic rules of composition remain valid here. You always want to have more space in front of the bird than behind it; a good rule is to have a least two to three times the space in front of the bird.
One thing that helps maintain this space is to place your focus point in the center of the frame and try to keep it on the bird’s eye. This method works really well on large-beaked birds, such as herons.
Also, while most birds in flight images include just one bird, look for those occasions where you can capture two or three birds at once (for a great result!).
Technique
As the bird is flying toward you, quickly get your focus locked.
Then, when the bird is close and in a position you like, fire away. Keep panning even after you’ve stopped shooting. This follow-through motion will keep your last image in focus better than an abrupt stop.
When panning as the bird flies by, you want to match your panning speed to that of the bird. And depending on your shutter speed, this will help keep the bird in focus while the background may be blurred.
You want to keep the bird’s eye in focus and sharp; this is key. If you are handholding your camera, try to keep your left hand under the barrel of your lens and your elbows close to your body, as this will help you maneuver the camera as steadily as possible. If you are standing, keep your legs spread out to create a good sturdy base.
If you are planning to hold your location and position for a time, I recommend using a tripod. This will help keep your camera steady, especially if you are using a very heavy lens.
So stay alert and look for opportunities to capture great birds in flight images. It will take lots of practice to get that perfect shot.
But once you get it right, you will be hooked!
Also, if you’re interested in more bird photography tips, check out these articles:
10 Incredible Bird Photography Tips for Beginners
A Turn of the Head – Creating More Compelling Bird Portraits
An Introduction to Bird Photography
The post Tips for Photographing Birds in Flight appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Bruce Wunderlich.
The post Clothing for Portraits – How to Tell your Subjects What to Wear appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darlene Hildebrandt.
What is the best clothing for portraits? The clothes your clients or portrait subjects are wearing in their portraits can be a touchy subject to discuss with them, especially if you are just doing a portrait for them as “a friend with a good camera.” Even as pros, we have a hard time getting people to listen; they frequently show up in clothes that make us cringe and that even hurt our eyes.
This article will help you understand what to suggest your subjects wear for their portrait photoshoots. You’ll also learn how to help clients understand why your suggestions really are in their best interests so they actually listen and get it right.
Clothes make the portrait
What your subjects are wearing is just as important as all the other portrait details, such as lighting, location, and posing.
Poorly-selected clothing can really take away from an otherwise great portrait.
Here are the goals when helping your portrait subjects or clients select clothing:
Make the people the main subjects
Flatter the subjects and make them look their best
Make the clothing disappear and be a non-issue
Poorly-chosen clothing, or having no discussion about clothing for portraits at all, can result in just the opposite. This is not what you want to have:
Clothing that stands out so much you hardly even notice the people
Arms, legs, or tummies that look less than flattered and people that are unhappy with the end results
Clothing that gets so much attention it becomes more about the clothes than about a portrait of the people wearing them
So what is the best thing for people to wear?
I get asked for tips on clothing for portraits a lot in my portraiture classes. People hear funny things about what they should or shouldn’t wear for their portraits, and they show up in the damnedest things that sometimes make you shake your head and say, “What were they thinking?”
But people won’t know what is right (or what is best) unless you tell them. And you must help them understand why.
This is what I recommend people do for a portrait session:
Wear solid-colored clothing
Choose muted tones that are a bit subdued
Choose similar tones for the top and bottom (both dark or both light)
Choose one to three colors for your group portrait, colors with similar tones that go nicely together. Then have everyone work within that color palette. For example, a group could wear dark green, navy, and burgundy, which are all dark jewel tones. Or a group could wear tan, a lighter olive-green, and denim, all of which are lighter, softer tones.
Choose a top with sleeves at least to the elbow
Choose long pants for men/women or a skirt below the knee for women
Choose dark socks and footwear (unless it’s a barefoot photo on the beach)
Keep jewelry simple and minimalistic
Do hair the way you’d normally do it while wearing these clothes (more on that later!)
If people plan to get a haircut or new hairdo, make the appointment at least two weeks prior to your portrait session
(I added a few bonus pointers on hair and makeup, but they go right along with the clothing.)
Did you notice how I did not use the word “Don’t” anywhere in the list above?
There’s a reason for that.
People’s brains actually don’t register the words “Don’t,” “Not,” or “No.” So when you say them, the brain just disregards that part and registers what comes after. For example, if I say, “Do not think of a lemon,” what did you just do? Of course, you thought of a lemon. So when you are explaining clothing (or anything, for that matter) and giving suggestions on what to wear, take great care to always say what you do want.
If you tell people, “Okay, don’t wear stripes, flowers, or bright colors,” what will they remember? “I think my photographer said something about stripes and bright colors, so that’s what I’ll wear.”
Your subjects also probably heard somewhere that, for photography, you need to put your makeup on extra dark and heavy. Even people that normally wear no makeup or very little makeup can show up to a photoshoot with black eyeliner and raccoon eyes.
(I know because this has happened to me when I didn’t discuss makeup with my subjects ahead of time. And if it does happen, your subject will hate their photos because they won’t look like them. They likely won’t say anything; they just won’t pick any photos and you’ll think they didn’t like your work.)
It is your job as the photographer, even if you are just doing it for fun and for friends, to help people look their best in the portrait you take. So let’s look at the points above and how you should explain portrait clothing to your subjects so they get on board!
I actually had a hard time coming up with examples of what not to wear for portraits. I’ve been doing this for so long that I don’t have any subjects that come unprepared. So I’ve found a couple of group images just so you can see the difference clothing makes.
The image below is from a wedding, so the subjects weren’t all planning on having this group portrait done. But it shows what happens when the clothes have not been planned. There are multiple colors, some dark and some light. We have a few bright patterns and a short skirt. We have a lot of short sleeves (it was a hot day) and some white shoes. Can you see how all of those things make an impact? Overall, the effect actually isn’t that bad, and I’ve seen a lot worse. But let’s see what a little refinement can do to help.
A group portrait from a wedding. The shot wasn’t planned, so people were wearing what they were wearing.Another “bad” example of clothing for portraits (from a photo walk). Notice how all the colors and patterns draw attention?
Examples of clothing that is working
The family shown below chose all black and denim, and for the most part, it is working really well. I’d only suggest that the mother wear longer sleeves. Notice how much attention her arms get? For her, it’s fine, but for someone self-conscious about their arms or their weight, short sleeves will make their arms look larger.
In the image below, everyone is in black except for the baby. Babies are always tough, because finding plain colors or black for a baby is almost impossible.
Notice two things here:
The baby stands out the most. In this case, it’s fine, because she’s the smallest and you want to see her.
If there had been an adult in the light outfit, would it work as well? I doubt it; the person would stand out and look larger. No one likes to look bigger! Trust me.
The image below shows my sister’s family, so they’ve been well-trained on what to wear.
Once again, dark tones have been selected: grays, deep purple, and navy. Those all work well with jeans. Can you see the difference between me wearing long sleeves (left) and my sister wearing short sleeves (upper right)? What does it do to the bare arms? How do they look compared to mine?
How to get subjects to agree and follow your suggestions
The key to explaining all this and getting people to agree and go along with your suggestions is in how you tell them. If you just list off all this stuff, it can seem a bit pushy, like you’re telling them what to do. Most people assume they know how to dress; giving them a list could make them feel a tad insulted, so they get defensive rather than listen to your suggestions.
Photography is part technical stuff, part artistic stuff, and part psychology!
Let’s look at my recommended list again, but this time add in the why. By stressing the benefits to your subjects, they will get it in a big way.
As I said:
I’ve had very few subjects that I’ve photographed in the last ten years who showed up in poor clothing – simply because I’ve prepped them so well. They know that, if they want to look their best, they must follow these guidelines:
Wear solid-colored clothing so that we see all of your faces and no individual stands out. If you wear stripes or flowers, you will stand out from the rest of your group.
Choose muted tones that are a bit subdued so that you are the subject, not your clothes, and so you don’t stand out from the group. Bright colors project (especially reds, oranges, and yellows), which makes you look larger.
Choose similar tones for the top and bottom (both dark or both light). A white top and dark pants will make your top look bigger. White pants and a dark top will make your butt look bigger.
Choose one to three colors for your group portrait, colors with similar tones that go nicely together. Then have everyone work within that color palette. For example, a group could wear dark green, navy, and burgundy, which are all dark jewel tones. Or a group could wear tan, a lighter olive green, and denim, all of which are lighter, softer tones. This is so we see people first and your portrait looks stunning. Wedding group photos look so good because they’re all wearing the same colors and the people stand out!
Choose a top with sleeves at least to the elbow, because your arms take up more skin area than your face and will draw attention. It may also make your arms look larger.
Choose long pants for men/women or a skirt below the knee for women so that your legs don’t take attention from your face, and you will be able to sit and bend without showing too much leg.
Choose dark socks and footwear (unless preparing for a barefoot photo on the beach), because white sticks out like a sore thumb and that’s all you’ll notice in your portrait.
Keep jewelry simple and minimalistic, because too much jewelry takes attention away from your face.
Do your hair the way you normally would while wearing your portrait clothes: No fancy updos with jeans, no ponytails with evening gowns, etc. (This is common sense, or so you’d think, but I’ve had ladies go to the hair salon and get fancy updos, then show up in jeans and a t-shirt. It simply doesn’t make sense, because you wouldn’t normally do that when putting on jeans and going to the park for a BBQ or something.) This is because your portrait will be more timeless and represent more closely who you are, not just what you look like.
If you plan to get a haircut or new hairdo, make the appointment at least two weeks prior to your portrait session. Fresh haircuts rarely look their best the same day or thenext day. Ladies need time to practice working their hair; men need it to grow out just a little. Allow some time to live with your new look before your portrait session.
See a common thread in my notes above? Most people have the same fears about being photographed – yes, fears! Being photographed is right up there on the fear list, next to public speaking and going to the dentist. I kid you not!
People’s fears are about looking stupid, not knowing how to stand or pose, and looking fat or old. So if you can help them see that these clothing tips will allow them to eliminate at least one of their fears before you even start, then you just have to deal with all the rest later!
Most of these clothing suggestions have to do with helping subjects look slimmer and not stand out. How to stand and pose to minimize weight issues is another question entirely.
Putting it all together
You may notice that most of the “good” examples here are wearing dark colors.
That’s pretty common, as most people have heard that dark colors or black makes you look slimmer. To some degree, that’s true. But light colors can work, too.
In fact, if everyone in the group dresses similarly, then the one person in dark clothes would stand out. Little kids in denim and white tops with bare feet are super cute, as are little girls in white sundresses.
So don’t be afraid of other colors or tones. Just keep them similar. Some of my largest extended family groups that have done the best went so far as to put each family unit in their own color scheme (one in browns, one in greens, etc.), with the mother and father in another color scheme – all with dark jeans. I’ve also had some ladies buy everyone a matching shirt.
The thing is:
Once you get your subjects on board and understanding the logic behind portrait clothing choices – the “why” – they will go to great lengths to make it work, because they know it’s for their benefit!
Clothing for portraits: action plan
If all this portrait clothing advice sounds like a lot and is overwhelming, feel free to copy my list and make a little sheet to hand out to people. Just make sure you add the benefits, as shown in my second list!
The post Clothing for Portraits – How to Tell your Subjects What to Wear appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darlene Hildebrandt.
The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Grey appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.
Very simply – this week’s dPS Weekly Challenge Theme is ‘Grey’ and that can be a sky or a scene or anything that you want to find and photograph, creatively, that is grey or mostly grey! My example is the work table I was using at a recent (pre-covid) food shoot.
Or you can work on your greyscale (More here!)
Great! Where do I upload my photos?
Simply upload your shot into the comments 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.
Share in the dPS Facebook Group
You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.
If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites – tag them as #DPSGrey to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.
Follow us on Instagram?
The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Grey appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.
The post Is the Olympus Sale a Sign of Things to Come for Other Camera Companies? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Carl Spring.
A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away, or 2014, as most would call it), when I first started writing about photography, I created an article on my photography predictions for 2015.
In that article, I wrote about how one or more manufacturers would stop producing cameras. I specifically named Olympus (and Pentax) as companies I could see not surviving long-term. My prediction has unfortunately come true with the recent Olympus sale (six years later, but I was still right!).
This history lesson shows two things:
Talk of camera manufacturers not surviving has been around forever.
Eventually, some camera companies will fall victim to the ever-shrinking photography market.
After years of rumors and denials, June 2020 saw the sale of Olympus to Japan Industrial Partners (JIP). This is the same firm that acquired Sony’s VAIO PC business back in 2014. It now seems (although it’s yet to be confirmed) that JIP will most likely be dropping the name “Olympus.”
The sad loss of Olympus shows that digital cameras are an ever-decreasing market and begs the question:
Is Olympus a one-off? Or is the Olympus sale a sign of things to come?
Unfortunately, it will not be long before we no longer see the name Olympus on a camera.
A small caveat
For this article, I will simply concern myself with digital camera divisions. I know that companies such as Nikon and Canon have huge businesses outside of cameras, but that doesn’t mean they won’t close their digital camera divisions if they become financially unviable.
What is happening to digital camera sales?
Digital camera sales are still in decline.
To give you a sobering statistic, over 98% of all digital cameras sold are smartphones. As cameras in phones continue to improve, the small percentage of compact digital camera sales will more than likely continue to shrink to zero.
But there will always be a market for more serious digital cameras. Such cameras are aimed at those of us who enjoy photography beyond a snapshot. For those who photograph either for a hobby or an income, there will always be the need for a larger camera with more advanced features.
That said, figures are continuing to trend downward and are not looking good. There are Japanese analysts who are saying that, unless the industry rapidly changes, it will begin to collapse. How true this is depends on several factors, but one thing is for sure:
We are heading toward rock bottom.
The quality of phone cameras means the compact camera market is shrinking rapidly.
The Corona effect
A recent report by Slackline showed that the camera industry has been hit incredibly hard by COVID-19. The camera market came in at number three on a list of the top 100 fastest-declining e-commerce categories in 2020 (only beaten by luggage and briefcases).
The reason for this is obvious:
People are not traveling or attending events for which they could justify the purchase of a new camera. Add to this many professionals who are simply not upgrading due to a major drop in income, and you are seeing a perfect storm for any camera company that may be struggling financially.
The perfect holiday camera, if only we could go on holiday.
We are about to hit rock bottom
Back in 2019, Canon president Fujio Mitarai talked about the continuing drop in sales and the expectation that, in two years, the market would drop by around 50%.
Canon estimates that the total market will be about six to eight million prosumer and professional cameras. In 2019, when Mitarai made his statement, the sales of interchangeable lens cameras were estimated to be around 10 million.
When you see figures like that, it is hard to imagine every camera brand still being able to compete.
But who will dominate? And who will be left to follow the route of Olympus?
King Canon
A while back, I said that Nikon & Canon could go the way of Kodak.
But right now, it definitely doesn’t look like Canon is going anywhere. Figures published by Nikkei show that, in 2020, Canon owns 45.4% of the market.
Canon was late to mirrorless technology, and many (myself included) thought the EOS R and EOS RP were subpar compared to what Sony was putting out. However, Canon had huge success with the 5D line, as well as cameras such as the 7D. This meant that many were still happy with their bodies and would only be purchasing lenses, flashes, etc.
It was a misstep by Canon to underestimate mirrorless, but honestly, it didn’t hurt them too much. The sales of the EOS R and RP showed that Canon has a loyal and longstanding fanbase.
Add to this the release of the EOS R5 and EOS R6, as well as their success (overheating aside), I cannot see Canon losing its market share in the next 12-24 months. So if Canon is safe, who is most at risk?
Canon’s hottest release, the R5, sees the company continuing to dominate the market.
We need to talk about Pentax
Pentax’s stubborn refusal to move away from the DSLR is a potential sign that they may be heading for significant trouble in the very near future.
In 2020, the company’s statement of “Pentax believes in the future of DSLR photography” seems crazy. The sale of DSLR cameras has dropped massively since 2017.
Reading that first statement, you may think I am bashing Pentax’s managerial decisions, but I feel the problem may lurk a little deeper.
You see, I don’t think Pentax currently has the budget to develop a mirrorless camera from scratch. They have reached a point where they would need significant time and effort to do this, which comes at a significant cost.
Also, part of their recent brand statement was this line:
“When you take a picture with a single-lens reflex (SLR) camera, the light passes through the lens and, in turn, the optical viewfinder. You view the image directly with your eyes, and feel it with your heart.”
This reminded me of Fuji’s “Pure Photography” vision at the launch of the X-Pro3. Could this mean that Pentax is aiming for a niche of customers who will want to continue to use DSLRs? It certainly could be a strategy, but I am not sure how this will work in practice. I don’t think there will be enough DSLR sales to allow this to work. Even if it does, it will seemingly lead to tiny R&D budgets.
Whether it is down to budget or that Pentax truly believes in their vision and wants to create a niche, who knows? One thing that we do know is that the market has moved to mirrorless. By refusing to move with it, Pentax looks too far behind to come back, which is sad to see.
I truly feel that, as a company, Pentax will slowly fade into obscurity and then close its camera division.
Will the decision to stick to DSLRs hurt Pentax?
Could one of the big companies follow?
The obvious point this leads to is whether one of the bigger companies will eventually fall. I think it is a case of, “While that is unlikely, nobody is too big to fail.”
The way Nikon has been overtaken in camera sales by Sony signifies a shift in the market. Nikon is set to release a new flagship mirrorless camera very soon, which will likely keep them comfortable for a while.
Here’s the longer-term question, though:
Will the market sustain three major players?
If the answer is “No,” then you would have to say, simply based on recent performance, Nikon looks to be the most likely to fade away.
I feel the Fab Five of Canon, Sony, Nikon, Fujifilm, and Panasonic are here to stay. All of them are releasing amazing cameras and pushing things forward.
However, I feel that, over time, the market will be dominated by Canon and Sony, with Nikon starting to compete with brands such as Panasonic instead of the new Big Two.
That said, if the leaks about the upcoming Nikon releases are true, I may have to eat my words.
The high-end specialists
The decline in sales to professionals due to COVID may be posing big issues for brands such as Hasselblad and Phase One. These companies’ main market is almost exclusively professionals who need the very best quality images. Again, the coronavirus issues will be having an effect on sales.
Could this be enough to topple one of these companies? I honestly don’t know, as they play their cards very close to their chests. But there was something I found during my research for this piece that did make me think that all may not be perfect in Hasselblad land.
In a 2019 interview, Hasselblad’s head of sales for Europe, Uwe Moebus, said: “There are fewer professional photographers and it is getting harder and harder for professionals to make decent money.” He then spoke of the desire for amateurs to start using Hasselblad.
These comments hint at a shrinking market for Hasselblad and its need to diversify. With COVID, we will have to assume that this will not have gone as well as hoped and could be the sign of problems to come.
Does Hasselblad really need the amateur market?
Video is key if you want to keep up
While photography seemingly continues to decline, the video market is continuously buoyant in comparison.
This is due to YouTube being the new TV and the large number of YouTube channels popping up everywhere. There is also a market for crash cams in major film production. The idea of destroying a brand new camera is heartbreaking for most of us. However, when on a Hollywood budget, a relatively cheap camera that can be used with little regard to its survival (except for the memory card) is perfect for the job. This is a growing market for camera manufacturers.
The fact that Netflix has approved the use of the Panasonic S1H as a production camera creates a market that goes way beyond photographers and YouTube creators.
Sony has always been great with video; it is a huge reason for their success. The release of the 12-megapixel a7S III shows Sony releasing mirrorless cameras for video first (if not almost entirely). Obviously, this has become a hot topic (bad pun intended) with the Canon EOS R5. As a stills camera, everyone agrees it is a masterpiece. However, Canon marketed it almost solely based on its video features. All of the complaints, problems, and potential boycotts are based on this.
When shooting in 8K, you can extract a 35-megapixel still frame from the footage. In a field such as headshot photography, where you are looking for the perfect expression, you can now capture 30 shots per second, continuously. Shoot a minute of video, skim through until you find the perfect expression, then export the frame as a large megapixel file. This may well become the future for certain types of photography.
Sony’s video-first stance is clear to see.
How a decreasing market will be bad for consumers
Those of you reading this are probably part of the shrinking market segment that will continue to buy interchangeable lens cameras.
However, while the market and consumer needs will dictate which companies survive and which fall, the fact is that the Olympus sale will impact the whole industry.
While I feel that technological developments will continue, budgets for research and development will be cut. Fewer camera sales mean less ability for the engineering departments to push new technology. This may lead to a future with new models having smaller, more incremental updates rather than exciting, huge leaps forward in camera technology.
Again, I feel the future will be driven by video and the developments will come from Sony’s and Canon’s high-end cinema lines.
The thing is, though:
In purely photographic terms, what more do we actually need?
Is it really that bad?
Well, this has all been doom and gloom. Is there any silver lining?
The fact that, even when the market hits the predicted bottom, there will be enough money for several manufacturers to continue working with still gives us hope. The camera launches in 2020 have been spectacular and show no signs of stopping despite the Olympus sale.
In terms of photography, I really feel we are in a position where technology can no longer give us huge improvements. Maybe a stop more dynamic range here, a little less noise there.
But as a photographer, what else do you need right now? Autofocus systems are amazing. Noise at high ISOs is fantastic. Frames per second are almost video-like. We don’t need new technology; we need more creativity, and that is still solely down to the one who pushes the button.
The post Is the Olympus Sale a Sign of Things to Come for Other Camera Companies? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Carl Spring.
The post 11 Easy Creative Photography Techniques You Can Try on Any Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Bond.
A lot of photography techniques can be complex and require a steep learning curve.
But in today’s article, you’ll learn 11 easy creative photography techniques you can start using today! The techniques described below all require minimal extra equipment and don’t require additional post-processing.
Read on to get the most creativity from your camera with these easy-to-use techniques.
1. Reflection
It’s worth getting down to a low angle for reflections.
This is an easy creative photography technique to learn and is popular among many photographers. The main requirement is finding a reflective surface, though this is not all there is to it. Consider the following, and you’ll be capturing amazing reflection photos in no time:
Reflective surface: Look for surfaces that reflect (and there are many). Flat water works well, as does glass, marble, or even a regular mirror.
Choose a main subject: A successful photo will match up a reflective surface with an interesting main subject. Consider going out after it’s rained, as a puddle in front of a famous monument may only be there after heavy rain.
Find the angle: To get a better reflection, choose the correct angle. This often means getting right up against the reflective surface so the angle of reflection is shallow.
Create your own: No reflective surface? No problem. Just create one! Use the surface of a smartphone, a small mirror, or perhaps a bucket that you use to spread water and create a puddle.
A filter: The best way to control your reflection is by using a circular polarizing filter.
2. Silhouettes
Strong silhouettes work well against a horizon line.
The next option on this list of easy creative photography techniques is silhouettes.
Silhouettes occur when you photograph against the light. The key is to find an interesting shape, and then make sure the background is brighter than the object itself.
You’ll often need to get down to a low angle and then photograph up toward the sky; that way, you can ensure the silhouetted object stands out against the bright background.
Also, when photographing silhouettes, make sure you expose for the bright background. This will turn the subject into a dark silhouette.
3. Repetition
Lines and repetition can make for a strong composition.
A great design element to add to your frame is repetition.
This is something you’ll usually need to look for, but it’s sometimes possible to create your own repetition. There are possibilities for this both in nature and in the man-made world. Repetition may take the form of a line of trees, or of many bricks in a wall. The question, then, is how you’ll use this repetition.
Here are a few ways you can work with repetition to improve your photos:
Create a texture photo: In this case, the high level of repetition forms a texture.
Break the pattern: Here everything else is the same, with one variation. This works well to highlight that variation, which will then be the photo’s main subject.
Use background repetition: Backgrounds with repetition work very well for portrait photos or still life images.
Two or three: You don’t need to have repetition to infinity; two or three repeating objects, such as wine glasses, can work well.
4. Refraction
Wine glasses filled with water will produce refraction.
This is a form of photography that can be practiced with a camera as simple as a smartphone. You’re probably thinking of lensballs, but refraction photography can take many forms, including:
A lensball: This is a large glass ball that creates a refracted image of the background inside it.
A prism: A prism splits the light and can be used to produce a rainbow. You could either photograph the projected rainbow or photograph through the prism.
Water drops: Get out after it’s rained, and you can produce refraction in things such as water drops on a spider’s web.
A wine glass: Fill a wine glass with water, and you will see the refraction effect!
5. Contrast
Contrast with silhouettes works really well.
Contrast is a great concept to use in your photography.
The most obvious way to use contrast is by emphasizing dark and light areas of your photo through things such as silhouettes and shadows. But this is not the only way contrast can be used in your photography; anything that has an opposite can be used. You might choose to contrast something old with something new, for example.
6. Framing
Natural frames such as cave entrances are good frames.
The world is full of frames, from pictures on the wall to window frames. These frames can be used in photography, which is another easy creative photography technique.
You can achieve a great framed photo with any kind of camera. Good options for this include doorways and windows. You can even become more creative and make your own frame using objects that contextualize the scene behind it.
7. Panning
Bikes are the easiest moving object to try panning with.
Panning is a form of intentional camera movement. The technique involves following the motion of a moving object and using a slower shutter speed to blur the background behind it.
As long as your camera allows you to use a slow shutter speed, this is a technique you can try. Those using a smartphone should download an app that allows you to use a slower shutter speed to take a photo.
8. Point of view
A worm’s-eye view can look amazing. This example also shows how lines and repetition can work in a photo.
Changing your angle can give you dramatically different results, and it doesn’t matter which type of camera you use for this technique.
It’s easy to photograph from a standing position, but try some of these alternative angles:
Low angle: With this angle, you’ll get low to the ground. Things look different from down there!
Worm’s-eyeview: This angle involves looking straight up. It can be even more dramatic when you get right down to the ground.
Bird’s-eyeview: The easiest way these days to take a bird’s-eye view image is with a drone. However, find a high vantage point from a tall building and you can achieve a similar result.
9. Lines
This photo shows several lines converging in the left third of the frame.
Using powerful lines in your photos will almost always give you a strong composition. The trick, of course, is to utilize those lines correctly using the focal length available to you.
Here are some of the lines that can be used in your photography:
Leading lines: A leading line leads the eye to the main subject of your photo. This line might take the form of a road or a river meandering through your frame.
Horizon lines: Many photographs have horizon lines in them, which is a strong line running through the middle of your frame. Look to position it at the top or bottom third of your photo (using the rule of thirds).
Converging lines: In some photos, many lines converge at one point: the infinity point. This can be compositionally very strong. Look for lines of trees or a tunnel for this type of photo.
10. Shadows
The shadow in this photo shows an element of repetition, as well.
Photographing shadows requires a strong light source. This can be the sun, but an external flash is another option.
The best time of the day to photograph shadows is therefore when the sun is at a low angle: an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset.
Shadows can be formed and used in different ways. You might photograph a person’s shadow, shadows formed from trees, or the way shadows emphasize the shapes of hills.
11. Minimalism
This minimalist photo uses a bird’s-eye view taken from a bridge.
Keeping your composition nice and clean is the key to a good photo. This means that one of the best easy creative photography techniques is minimalism.
You can create minimalism even in the most cluttered environment as long as you frame your photo correctly. This style of photography requires that you give your subject some room to breathe. Focus on the main subject and position it in front of an uncluttered background.
Try out these easy creative photography techniques, yourself!
There are so many ways to be creative with photography. Which techniques do you like to use? Are there any simple-to-apply techniques you’ve tried that didn’t make this list? Share your thoughts in the comments!
And if you have any photos that illustrate these techniques, share them in the comments, too!
Then get photographing with these easy creative photography techniques!
The post 11 Easy Creative Photography Techniques You Can Try on Any Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Bond.
The post Color Management in Affinity Photo: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.
In terms of color management, no photo software is more complete than Adobe Photoshop. It’s easy to take this for granted until you switch programs (which you might do to escape subscription costs).
That’s why this article looks at color management in Affinity Photo, a popular standalone alternative to Photoshop.
Affinity Photo welcome screen.
Choosing a working color space in Affinity (Photo Persona)
The working color space you use in an editing program is a bit like a box of crayons. You are defining how big a box you use to describe your photos. Even if you can’t see all the colors inside that “box” on your screen, sometimes there is good reason to use them.
Choose your working space based on the likely output for your images. For example:
sRGB = publishing and printing online
Adobe RGB = CMYK/inkjet printing
ProPhoto RGB = archiving and top-quality workflows
Each choice has its own pros and cons.
The ability to make this choice seems mundane until it’s taken away. Some programs force you to use sRGB as the working space, for instance, which means you forfeit many of the colors digital cameras can capture.
So what does Affinity give us here?
Setting the working color space in Affinity is simple, though it’s not labeled a “working space” as such. You simply go to Preferences>Color>RGB Color Profile. By default, this is set to sRGB. You can change it to suit your photography and the purpose of your photos, as detailed above. Do the same with the 32bit RGB Color Profile setting.
Color preferences in Affinity Photo.
Other color preferences
For most of us, the color preference settings in Affinity can be left alone, except perhaps for the RGB Color Profile option at the top.
That said, you’ll generally want black point compensation switched on. You also won’t want the software to convert all open files to the working color space. And it’s better to be warned if a photo without an embedded profile is being assigned the working profile. This gives you a heads-up that the color may display incorrectly.
Note that each of the above options can be ticked on and off in the Color Preferences window.
Monitor profile
Affinity Photo accesses the default monitor profile assigned in your operating system. Unlike Photoshop CC (but like Lightroom), I don’t believe you can confirm the prevailing profile via Affinity itself. Past and present monitor profiles appear in drop-down menus, but you should never select these; the monitor profile is automatically applied.
Your monitor profile is a key component of color management in Affinity Photo.
Windows color management display settings. (You wouldn’t want to use sRGB as a display profile except for diagnostic purposes.)
Soft proofing (Photo Persona)
Soft proofing lets you preview the output color of your photos, whether the output is an inkjet printer, an RGB printer like those often used in minilabs, or even a specific audience (e.g., color-blind individuals). Soft proofing is available in Photoshop CC and Lightroom, but isn’t offered by many other programs. What about Affinity Photo?
In Affinity Photo, soft proofing comes in the form of an adjustment layer. You won’t find it among the menus at the top of the screen like in Photoshop. This is quite handy, because it’s so easy to flick layers on and off to see the effect of soft proofing and edits.
Soft proofing using a photo lab’s profile.
Color blindness settings in Affinity are located among the built-in LUT adjustment layers. The LUTs help you visualize colors as seen by three types of dichromats: protanopes, deuteranopes, and tritanopes.
Tritanope LUT for visualizing a type of color blindness.
Simulating dynamic range
The simulate paper color option you get in Photoshop is already applied in Affinity. You can’t switch it off.
But you do have the option of switching on black point compensation. This reduces the dynamic range of your screen image to mimic the look of paper and ink. It makes the on-screen photo look duller. That’s why professional photographers sometimes avoid showing clients the comparison.
Blocked shadows caused by a lack of black point compensation (BPC). Usually, the effect is less drastic than with this Newsprint profile. Note that BPC has more effect with a relative colorimetric rendering intent. It has less of an effect or no effect with other rendering intents.
Gamut differences
The Gamut Check option in Affinity Photo shows you which colors are not reproducible with any given output. You can fiddle with the color of the photo until all color is in gamut, but you’ll often do more harm than good.
It’s better to rely on the rendering intent setting if you want colors to be as close as possible to the original. The relative colorimetric rendering intent keeps colors looking relatively accurate and shifts non-reproducible colors back into gamut, but you’re free to pick the rendering intent that looks best to you.
The gray area tells me which area of red will be out of gamut (i.e., not reproducible on output). This is the Gamut Check option in Affinity soft proofing. Its practical use is somewhat limited, since you’ll often do more harm than good by trying to edit colors into gamut.
Creating a duplicate
When soft proofing, you may want to work on duplicate images side by side, so you can reference the original color and tone. In that case, create a duplicate image in Affinity by hitting Select All>Copy>New from Clipboard.
You can make adjustments to the soft-proofed image by adding extra adjustment layers to the background layer.
Having a duplicate image is useful if you want to get your output looking similar. A relative colorimetric rendering intent does most of this work for you.
Convert and assign ICC profile settings
As with Photoshop, color management in Affinity Photo includes the ability to assign or convert ICC profiles. The distinction between these two is important. You’d assign a profile if the photo you open has no embedded profile; you give it one that looks okay. This only becomes permanent if you save changes to the image.
By assigning the wrong profile to this image, I’ve oversaturated the color and started to lose textural detail.
When you convert from one profile to the other and know what color space the image is in, use Convert ICC Profile. One way of confirming the current profile is to look for it in the drop-down list. It should be highlighted:
The highlighted profile in the Convert ICC Profile window is the one currently embedded in the image.
The choice of rendering intents when converting between ProPhoto RGB, Adobe RGB, and sRGB working color spaces is usually moot. By default, these matrix profiles use a relative colorimetric rendering intent. The same situation exists in Photoshop.
Embedding profiles
The process of embedding ICC profiles is uncomplicated: You just check a checkbox. This is true whether you’re using Save As in Photoshop or exporting files from Affinity. In Affinity Photo, the Embed ICC Profile option is under the More heading when exporting. It’s checked by default.
There aren’t many instances when you’d deliberately leave the ICC profile out of images. Ironically, photo libraries and gallery websites might do this because the profile adds a couple of kilobytes to each file. In those instances, it’s an economical choice. In the past, photographers removed profiles to avoid confusing minilab printer drivers.
Photos in large color spaces generally look okay in browsers as long as the profile is embedded. In Affinity, just as in Photoshop, embedding a profile is merely a matter of checking a box. Or not unchecking it.
Many people’s color woes when publishing photos online stem from not embedding the profile. This is less critical when publishing sRGB images, but photos in larger color spaces will often look dull unless the profile is present.
Simple features, such as the ability to embed or remove ICC profiles, are often absent in photo-editing programs. But here, Affinity keeps pace with Adobe.
Affinity RAW processing color (Develop Persona)
The Affinity Photo Develop Persona assigns the ROMM RGB color space to RAW files. ROMM RGB is the original name for ProPhoto RGB. This color space encompasses the output of a digital sensor, whereas smaller spaces such as Adobe RGB and sRGB do not.
Histogram comparison
In Lightroom, the histogram is in Adobe’s proprietary “Melissa RGB” space. This is the same as the Affinity histogram, but with an sRGB tone response curve applied, which adds slightly more editing headroom in the shadows. Extra marks to Adobe for cleverness.
The Affinity RAW histogram is more akin to that of Adobe Camera RAW. If you convert to ProPhoto RGB or ROMM RGB in Affinity, the histogram should stay the same.
The sRGB profile here has pushed magenta hues off the left side of the RAW histogram. This is one reason to use larger color spaces when creating inkjet prints.
Recent versions of Lightroom enable users to preview the output histogram by turning on soft proofing. In other words, you’ll see which colors will be clipped, if any, in your destination color space. This might influence the edits you make prior to converting the file or even the color space you select. Does Affinity allow this?
If you select an output profile in Affinity Photo’s Basic panel, the histogram changes accordingly. With certain colors, you’ll see sRGB pixels move to the edges of the histogram. This tells you they are nearly or completely clipped. Running the cursor along the histogram shows you how many pixels are present at any level. ROMM or ProPhoto RGB is especially useful for preserving detail in bright yellows.
Neither sRGB nor Adobe RGB can contain the yellows in a photo like this.
A common misconception
You needn’t convert RAW files to the same profile as your working RGB space in the Photo Persona. This is a common misconception. Affinity can open and handle images in any color space, just like Photoshop. The working space only represents your most commonly-used color container.
Color management in Affinity Photo: Conclusion
I’ve used many photo-editing programs, and some are more frustrating than others in terms of their color preferences and controls.
Color management in Affinity Photo differs from that in Photoshop, but it doesn’t cut any major corners that I’ve found. So use it with confidence!
And if you have any questions at all, be sure to leave them in the comments section!
The post Color Management in Affinity Photo: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.
