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Getting Photos Organized with ACDSee DAM Software

11 Apr

The post Getting Photos Organized with ACDSee DAM Software appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.

Getting Photos Organized with ACDSee DAM Software - Best DAM software

As soon as you begin using a camera with any regularity, you need to find a way of labeling photos and putting them in order. If you don’t, it could soon take hours to locate a given picture among all your folders, hard drives, and devices. ACDSee DAM software sets you on the right path from the beginning.

Organizing images with ACDSee DAM software — Cataloging photos used to involve writing on them directly or typing out captions on sticky labels. Many people didn’t bother, but digital photography made record-keeping easier. Original photo by Brett Jordan.

By investing in good DAM software at the earliest opportunity, you won’t get into a position where you have a huge backlog of digital pictures to organize.

By investing in good DAM software at the earliest opportunity, you won’t get into a position where you have a huge backlog of digital pictures to organize. In this article, I’ll introduce you to ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020, which offers a great set of features without breaking the bank.

More reasons for needing DAM

There are many
reasons you might want to locate specific photos among your collection. For me,
writing these articles is one of them. A set of photos illustrating a theme
might be scattered far and wide in my collection.

That’s where ACDSee’s Image Basket is so useful. You can work on
pictures from all over the place as if they were in one folder.

Ten photos from different folders collected in an ACDSee Image Basket. Note that I’m trying out a Lomo filter here using the experimental tools of View Mode.

Perhaps for you, it’ll be a photo book or a website that causes you to search for photos. Or you might be looking for portraits of friends and family. ACDSee DAM software includes excellent Face Detection technology. Once you’ve identified someone a few times, the software does a good job of finding other pictures of the same person. Or, if it’s not sure, it will ask you to confirm ID.

ACDSee DAM software - face detection technology - face recognition technology — A quick demo of Face Detection technology, albeit using an artwork. With photographic portraits, the software learns facial features and starts to identify friends and family automatically.

A legitimate reason to label photos and get them in order is for posterity. One day, your photos may interest future generations of your family or even local historians. How many prints exist from the last century where the identity of the subjects and location is lost? I find that a shame.

The importance of DAM software — Countless prints of places and people from the last century have become anonymous with time. Photo by Suzy Hazelwood.

ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020: A solution

There are some serious pieces of DAM software on the market. By far the best known is Adobe Lightroom, which happens to be a strong raw editor, too. Other examples include iMatch and FotoStation. But all these products come at a price.

Dam software choices - Lightroom — The familiar interface of Adobe Lightroom on a MacBook. Photo by energepic.

ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020 is remarkable for several reasons.

It offers a lightning-fast browser, multiple ways to search your pictures, easy tagging and keywording of images, and a good set of editing tools for rendered files.

What’s not to like? You get all that for about a third of the price or less of many rivals.

Manage Mode

In Photo Studio Home and other ACDSee DAM software, Manage mode is where you make a lot of things happen. It’s an HQ for your photography. So, what can you do there?

Folders and catalog panes – finding pictures

The folder system
of your OS is accessible through the left-hand Folders pane in Manage Mode. And
that’s handy because you’re already familiar with it.

As long as your image folders are well named, it’s an easy task to find
what you’re looking for. Alternatively, you can use the adjacent Catalog tab to
filter photos by a wide variety of attributes.

The Folder pane in ACDSee DAM software — The Folders pane in Manage mode. You only get to preview the images inside if they’re not in subfolders, but you can easily switch to Photos mode to see all content.

Manage Mode drop-downs

There are six drop-down menus exclusive to Manage mode: Import, Batch, Create, Slideshow, Send, and Editors. Importing files is easy. At this stage, you can rename files, add metadata, and divide file types into subfolders, among other things.

Creating a contact sheet in ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020 — Building a contact sheet of flower photos via the Create drop-down in Manage Mode.

ACDSee links up seamlessly with other software too, which is what the “Editors” drop-down is for. Simply add any other programs you’re likely to use and you’ll be good to go. You can flick between them as you can with Lightroom and Photoshop or Photoshop and ACR.

Properties pane – organizing, categorizing

You can add metadata and keywords in Manage, View, or Edit mode of ACDSee. That’s what the Properties pane on the right is for.

As a stock photographer, keywords are a necessity for me. They help potential buyers find my pictures if I’m lucky. I add any words I think are relevant to the image.

At the very least, you should batch-add keywords to photos from the same shoot.

Map view in ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020 - adding geodata — You can add geographical information to the IPTC data of your images by placing them on the Google map in Manage mode and hitting “Reverse Geocode.”

Import keywords

A welcome improvement in the 2020 version of ACDSee is the ability to import sets of keywords. It’s hugely time-consuming to create a keyword list from scratch, but now you can import lists from the Internet or elsewhere. You can also export lists so that you can move them from one piece of software to another.

Keyword lists help you to be thorough in your keywording instead of relying on random ideas. They also save you from repeatedly typing the same words.

Adding keywords in ACDSee DAM software — Keywording in View mode using the foundation list linked in this article. You can adapt and grow your list as required.

You can import Foundation List version 2.0.1 into ACDSee. You’ll need to build on it, but it gives you a useful structure and a good head start.

Keywords are stored in the ACDSee database and can be applied to all file types. Note the “Embed ACDSee Metadata” tool does not write keywords to the IPTC keyword data field. I recommend copying and pasting keywords to this field if you want them to be visible elsewhere.

adding keywords in ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020 — Here, I’ve pasted keywords from the Organize tab into the IPTC data field of the Metadata tab. This ensures visibility elsewhere. Of course, you could enter words directly into this field, but then you forfeit the rigor of using a hierarchical keyword list.

Photos Mode, View Mode

ACDSee automatically catalogs the images as you browse. You can catalog folders you haven’t browsed, too, which might be useful if you’re adding lots of pictures in one hit. This is possible in Manage mode or Photos mode.

Photos mode lets you rifle through folders of images according to their date. It even gives you a fair chance of finding pictures with no keywords or tags of any kind. This is a good way of seeing all the photos on your drive in a short space of time.

Finding images in Photos Mode - ACDSee DAM software — Flying through images by date in Photos mode. This was the day the “Tour de Normandie” cycle race began a stage in Vernon a few years back.

For browsing photos individually, View mode is the place to be. It’s
incredibly fast, and it gives you a big preview of each photo. This is also a
good place to grade, categorize, and keyword your photos.

I’ll give you a complete workflow to use below, so you can catalog photos like a pro!

Edit Mode

ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020 offers a solid set of editing tools for photographers of all levels. Of course, there are things omitted at this price point that advanced photographers may miss. Here are three absentees, along with their workarounds:

No layers or adjustment brush as such, but you can perform localized edits using gradient tools or a regular brush tool. These come with blending modes, so you get quite a lot of control over the result without the sophistication or confusion of layers.
No raw editing. You can open most types of raw files without any say in their processing. Don’t forget you can link ACDSee to a raw processor if you need that extra control. That may also solve the problem of other missing features (e.g. perspective tool).
No 16-bit support, so you have to save any files you edit in 8-bit color. If you bring 16-bit archival files into Photo Studio Home 2020 and want to preserve their color depth, you must use “save as” to create new 8-bit files with all your edits.

One niggle and some good points

On my PC, the Clone tool in this software and the version before it refuses to work. I get a black screen. That’s odd since I don’t see the same thing with ACDSee Ultimate.

There’s lots to like about the editing tools in Photo Studio Home 2020. You get all the control over color and tone you’re likely to need, including the basic version of ACDSee’s esteemed Light EQ tool. This lets you adjust shadow, mid-tone, and highlight areas of an image separately.

I like some of the little touches in ACDSee, such as the way right-clicking resets the default value of any tool. There are creative features here, too, like Color LUTs, Special Effects, and a fun Tilt-Shift tool.

ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020 - tilt-shift tool — The Tilt-Shift tool works well with high-angle views, but you can try it out on all sorts of photos to alter their “bokeh.”

Workflow suggestion

Although this is a sponsored post, I’m a regular user of ACDSee software. I use it to organize pictures and I edit a lot of TIFFs and JPEGs in it. Below is a Photo Studio Home 2020 workflow that takes you from importing photos to saving the finished articles.

Importing photos and naming folders

1. Import your photos. You can open the Import dialog box in Manage Mode or have it open automatically by selecting the software in Windows Autoplay.

2. Choose a destination for your photos in the Import dialog box. An example might be “Pictures” in Windows. Name a “single subfolder” using the following naming convention: yymmdd-location (e.g. 200531-Paris-France).

3. Locate your imported folder of photos via the Folders tab in Manage Mode. Using the above naming convention, the latest folders are at the bottom of the folder list by default.

4. Double-click the first thumbnail in your newly imported image folder. This will open the image in View Mode while allowing access to other images in the folder. You’re ready to start grading and cataloging your pictures.

Assessing and grading photos

5. Make sure the Properties pane is open alongside your photos.

6. Decide on rejects by tagging all keepers with the checkbox in the Organize pane (top left). At this point, tag all photos you will or might keep for whatever reason. Important: do not reject raw files on the basis of poor sharpness in View Mode, since you are probably looking at an enlarged view of the embedded JPEG. Check the technical quality of raw files later in Edit Mode.

7. Flick back to Manage Mode and click on View > Filter By > Untagged. Delete your rejects. Or, just filter them out by selecting “Tagged” if you don’t like deleting stuff.

8. Back in View Mode, you can now rate your images. Ratings go from one to five. Rather than rate photos on a whim, I suggest writing down the meaning of each rating at the outset so you have a reference point. For instance:

1 – poor photo with sentimental value.
2 – adequate record photo, average family snap.
3 – fairly strong photo with visual interest, worth showing to friends.
4 – approaching your best, worthy of inclusion in portfolios.
5 – your very best, potential competition winner.

Tracking workflow

9. In Edit Mode, use color labels to indicate where in the workflow images are. Again, I have suggestions:

Red – to delete. Once you get raw files into Edit Mode, you can assess their technical quality better at 100%. You might yet want to delete some of them or downgrade their rating.
Yellow – editing in progress. Still more work to be done on color and tone or retouching. Perhaps other possibilities to explore or versions to create.
Green – editing over. Nothing more to be done with this picture. Ready to use.
Blue – to print. You can return the status to green once it’s printed.
Purple – uploaded to a specific photo website, stock library, etc. You can use the blue label for this as well if you don’t tend to print photos.
No Color Label – nothing done since the initial assessments.

10. Photos that need work (those with yellow labels or no color labels using the above system) can be finished in Edit mode. Apply edits ranging from basic color and tone to special effects and LUTs. When you’re done editing, change the color label so you know you’ve worked on it or finished it.

Categories and keywords

11. Give your finished photos categories and keywords. If you’ve imported a set of keywords, you can go through the list top-to-bottom and apply any that suit the image. ACDSee comes with quick keyword lists built-in, which may be enough, depending on how thorough you want to be.

12. Copy and paste keywords from the Organize > Keywords field into Metadata > IPTC > Keywords. Write a caption in the Description field of IPTC. Hit “Enter” or none of this will save. This makes the data universally visible outside of ACDSee.

Naming files

I haven’t spoken of file naming above, since you might want to do that at the beginning or end.

Each photo needs a unique name. You can do it on import if you like. However, if you later delete photos, you might leave irritating gaps in your number sequence (file names invariably include numbers).

A way around this is to forget consecutive numbers and use date and time instead. This works as long as you don’t shoot multiple frames per second, which would create duplicates.

ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020 - file naming — Photo libraries always had their own file-naming conventions. In the digital age, including subject names in the file name makes your photos SEO-friendly.

I always rename files after I’ve selected, converted, and edited them. That’s when I do most of my admin. Raw files keep their original names because I rarely revisit them.

I recommend using a sequential number and place, or subject names in your files (e.g. 0001-Eiffel-Tower-Paris). This can often be done quickly using ACDSee’s Batch Rename tool. The number should obviously be unique in every image.

Get started

Photo Studio Home 2020 is nothing if not versatile. Seasoned photographers who want extras like raw editing or layers can hook it up to other editors and still benefit from the superb DAM tools.

For beginners or photographers who only shoot JPEGs, this feature-laden software might be all they need. Why not get your photos sorted now?

ACDSee is a paid dPS partner.

The post Getting Photos Organized with ACDSee DAM Software appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.

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A Photographer’s Guide to Buying a Drone – Getting it Right the First Time

05 Mar

The post A Photographer’s Guide to Buying a Drone – Getting it Right the First Time appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Matt Murray.

In this photographer’s guide to buying a drone, I’ll share with you some invaluable tips for buying a drone for the first time.

Seven years ago, my employer wanted a photo of a local lighthouse from an elevated viewpoint. It sounds ridiculous now, but very early on a winter’s morning, I was loaded into a cherry picker with two cameras and hoisted 15 meters in the air to take photos. I’m a little bit scared of heights, so I really had to concentrate on getting the images and not looking down!

With the introduction in the last few years of many relatively low-cost good quality drones (also known as UAVs – unmanned aerial vehicles), that whole scenario seems laughable.

So why should you think about buying a drone if you haven’t already?

Here are some of the key considerations.

Image: By chance, I saw this boat sailing past when I was taking aerial images of fishing boats in Y...

By chance, I saw this boat sailing past when I was taking aerial images of fishing boats in Yamba. Taken with the DJI Mavic.

A photographer’s guide to buying a drone

Why buy a drone?

The main reason for buying a drone is the unique viewpoints that it will bring to your photography that you couldn’t achieve easily otherwise.

Sure, you can take elevated images from buildings, planes, helicopters – or even a cherry picker. However, those options are unlikely to be suitable or cost-efficient, depending on what you’d like to photograph. Having a drone in your kit opens up new possibilities and viewpoints like never before.

How else would you be able to take images from viewpoints like this? Boats at the seaside taken with the DJI Mavic Pro 2.

What kind of photographers would benefit from having a drone?

The short answer is – all kinds of photographers. I’ve seen or heard of aerial images from UAVs used in many industries.

Travel

Aerial images have been a stable of Instagram travel accounts for years now. Many Instagrammers take a compact drone with them on their travels to add to the range of shots they can take at a destination. They can use the images for both posting on social media or as deliverables for clients.

These images are often featured by large national and regional travel accounts to showcase destinations.

A Photographer's Guide to Buying a Drone

Real estate photographers

Drones are widely used amongst real estate photographers and seem to be essential kits these days.

Aerial images are common on many listings here in Australia to show the boundaries and layout of a property and its location to nearby landmarks and amenities.

Fine art

This is a small but very well paid niche. Some photographers make thousands of dollars for breathtaking fine art aerial images taken with UAVs.

Stock photographers

There’s been an increasing number of aerial images and videos sold on stock photography sites recently. Using a drone is one way to add to the range of images you have for sale in your portfolio.

A Photographer's Guide to Buying a Drone

A stock photography library I shoot for had a call out for images to illustrate bad parking. This is an image I sold them for the campaign.

Wedding and portrait photography

Aerial images are becoming increasingly popular for weddings, engagement shoots, and portrait sessions.

Images for your family archive

When I’m out and about taking photos for stock or travel, my family often accompanies me. I love taking aerial images of them; it certainly makes for a different type of shot in the family photo archive.

Tips before buying a drone

If you’re thinking about buying a drone, it pays to do your research first. Take a look at photos taken by drones on Instagram using hashtags such as #dronephotography, #dronestagram, and #droneoftheday.

Which make and model of UAV took these images? Looking at the photos will give you a good indication of the quality you can expect from each model.

Join some drone-related Facebook groups. Have a read through the discussions and ask questions. People will often be happy to share how they took a photo, what equipment they used, and what post-processing they did on the image.

My daughter taking her board out for a surf in northern New South Wales, Australia.

Try before you buy

Do you know a friend who has a drone? Ask if you can go along with them next time they fly it and learn the basics. You could also see if a local drone Facebook Group has meetups where you can learn the ropes. Maybe you’ll love it, but maybe you’ll hate it. Handy to know before you shell out for such a high cost.

Buy cheap, buy twice

I’ve heard many people buy a cheap toy drone to see if they’ll like it. The truth is, many of those cheaper drones are a complete nightmare to fly, and people are put off when it crashes. Typically, the more expensive a UAV, the easier it is to fly.

I’d recommend the “try before you buy” approach over this.

Which drone should I buy?

Ultimately, this is down to two different factors: the first is your budget, the second is what you want to do with your aerial images.

If you want to sell your images for stock, weddings, or fine art, go with the drone with the best image quality. However, if you want to travel with your drone, take family photos or only post to social media, perhaps you’d value a compact, lighter offering.

Pros and cons of some popular drone models

Below are some of the pros and cons of popular drones.

The Mavic Pro

The Mavic Pro is one of the best-selling drones of all time. It’s capable of taking photos in both horizontal and landscape orientations, which I found very handy when I owned it. The 12-megapixel camera has a fixed f/2.2 aperture, which compared to newer offerings, is a bit limiting. The good news is, you should be able to pick up one for a good price secondhand.

DJI Mavic Pro

Mavic Pro 2

I sold my Mavic Pro when they released the Mavic Pro 2. It has a significantly better 20-megapixel camera with a 1-inch sensor, which suited me better for taking larger images for stock libraries.

It also has an f/2.8-11 variable aperture, which gives you the potential to be more creative with your aerial images.

The one potential downside is that when facing the horizon, the gimbal doesn’t rotate the camera so you can capture vertical images like you can with the Mavic.

Read a full review of the Mavic Pro 2 here.

The Mavic 2 drone.

Mavic 2 Zoom

The Mavic 2 Zoom came out at the same time as the Mavic Pro. Its main advantage over the Pro 2 is the ability to zoom the camera. Combined with movement, you can use this to achieve the dolly zoom effect. The downside is that its camera is only 12-megapixel, and the aperture is f2.8-3.8.

Read a review of the Mavic 2 Zoom here.

DJI Mavic 2 Zoom

Mavic Mini

The Mavic Mini is a very small and light drone with impressive specifications. The Mavic Mini is the cheapest I’ve covered and would be ideal for many people wanting to take aerial images as they travel. It has a 12-megapixel camera. Unlike the others listed, it is only capable of taking images in JPG format for stills.

DJI Mavic Mini

Also, read a review of the DJI Spark here, and the Mavic Air here.

What else do I need to consider?

Is your device up to scratch? To fly a DJI drone, you’ll need the DJI GO app on your smartphone or on a tablet.

Is your device good enough to support the latest app? You’ll need to look into this before you get started.

Make sure your phone or tablet is powerful enough to run the drone app.

How will you edit your image?

If you’re a dPS regular reader, no doubt you’ll know all about the various ways you can post-process your images. I use Adobe Lightroom and occasionally Adobe Photoshop to edit my JPG and DNG drone images.

Insurance

UAVs are an expensive investment. Make sure that your camera insurance or home contents insurance adequately covers your new kit.

DJI have their own insurance product – DJI care. Whichever option you go for, make sure you understand the limits of the policies, so you don’t get caught out.

Flying legally

This is very important. You don’t want to find yourself on the wrong side of the law, especially if you take your drone overseas.

It’s good to learn all the rules when you’re considering buying one or while you’re waiting for it to arrive.

Rules differ from country to country, region to region, so always make sure you know the correct laws to fly at your destination.

For example, in Australia, you’ll need permission to fly a drone in a National Park in the state of New South Wales, but over the border in Queensland, you do not.

Early morning view of South Stradbroke Island, Queensland. DJI Mavic.

Flying safely

Investing time learning the rules and regulations is just one part of things. You also need to learn to fly safely.

A major part of this is learning to identify hazards, whether they be trees, powerlines, buildings, weather, or as I found out once, a swooping bird in my local park.

It’s always a good idea to have a pre-flight and post-flight-check routine in place.

Conclusion

Buying a drone is a fantastic way of adding new viewpoints to your photography. The latest offerings from companies such as DJI have given photographers the ability to capture scenes that were not possible a few years ago without chartering a plane or helicopter.

However, there are many things to consider before you dive in. Consider what you want to use the images for, which model to buy, and how to edit your images. You also need to learn how to fly safely and legally.

I hope this photographer’s guide to buying a drone has been helpful if you are currently looking at adding a drone to your photography kit.

What other considerations do you think are important when considering buying a drone? Tell us below.

The post A Photographer’s Guide to Buying a Drone – Getting it Right the First Time appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Matt Murray.

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Getting Started with Off-Camera Flash in Photography: Equipment

29 Jan

The post Getting Started with Off-Camera Flash in Photography: Equipment appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Carl Spring.

When you are just getting started with it, off-camera flash in photography can feel incredibly difficult. You then look at all the amazing work of others and begin to wonder why your photos never look like that.

In this short series, we will look at getting you started with off-camera flash. We’ll take you from a complete novice through to someone who will feel confident and able to get the most out of their flash.

Let’s start with the things that I will cover in this series:

How off-camera flash works
What gear you will need
The technical bit
Using modifiers
Adding more flashes.

Off camera flash photography with a Hasselblad

Off-Camera flash in photography is something that can take your portraits to the next level. It is also not as scary as you might think.

The Gear

If you are getting into off-camera flash, you have several options. Some of you may have a flash for use on-camera, some of you may not. For this article, I will go through what you need.

If you are looking for a shopping list, it is as follows:

A flash
Flash triggers
A flash stand
Umbrella bracket
A flash modifier

I will then suggest a setup for those on a budget and a setup for those with a little more cash to spare.

As with all recommendations for gear, I am not paid by any brand to push their gear (I should really push this out with a plug shouldn’t I? hit me up camera companies!!) And they are my opinions, so please let’s not argue about this in the comments guys.

Right, Let’s go through each item one by one.

A Flash

The Vivitar 285Hv, AKA “The Tank.” Smashed, missing pieces and hit by skateboards. It still works fine. I even replaced the flash foot with a metal one when I snapped it.

This can be any flash. You can use an old manual flash bought for under $ 20 on eBay, through to the latest and greatest speedlite from your camera company, which will cost you over $ 400. Going even further, you could get a battery-powered studio strobe. What you need or want will depend on your budget and your needs.

There will be very little difference in these in terms of light quality. The difference will be in the ease of use and the power of the light.

The temptation may be to go with the same brand as your camera, but in all honesty, you can get much better value for money.

Now at the budget end, you can still get great mileage out of an old, fully-manual flash like the Vivitar 285. This flash is an ugly beast of a thing that is full manual. It doesn’t even have an LCD screen.

However, it is built like a tank, and you can buy it for around $ 20 to $ 30 on eBay. You can also get old flashes by Canon and Nikon for a little more. Remember, when using manual flash, you do not need to worry about which brand you are using. You can just as easily use a Canon flash on a Nikon camera and vice versa.

If you have more money to spend, then you really cannot look at flash these days without looking at the Godox brand. Godox produces a great range of flashes in all shapes and sizes. They also come with triggers built-in. This means you only need to buy a trigger for your camera and you are good to go.

By going with something like the Godox system, you also have the luxury of being able to change your flash power from the camera. This makes the process a lot easier, but it does come at a cost.

If you are buying a new flash from Godox or similar, make sure you invest in the flash specific to your camera brand.

A great mid-range flash would be the Godox 860II. This flash has Godox’s wireless system built-in and uses a Li-ion battery and recycles quickly even at full power. You also get a huge amount of flashes per charge (over 500) that will last even the most eager photographer for a full day of shooting.

From here, you can get bigger options with more power, but my honest recommendation is that, when starting out, you generally won’t really take advantage of what these units offer. Save your money and then invest in these later as you need them and, more importantly, once you know why.

Two of the most popular flash triggers made by Godox. they are rebadged under several names. In this case, PixaPro.

Flash triggers

Okay, you have the flash, now you need to trigger them.

Flash triggers come in many varieties. From a super simple trigger and receiver, through to a controller with an LED screen that allows you to see exactly what setting your flash is on and change them remotely.

What you need here depends on the type of flash you have (or purchase). For the budget option – old school flash with no built-in trigger – we will stick with the basic, but functional, option.

You can get a set comprising of a receiver and two triggers for around $ 20. They are as basic as they sound; however, they generally do the job and are pretty reliable. There is no screen, and from past experience, you may need to carry both triggers even when using one flash as they can occasionally be temperamental. There is no control of the flash at all. If you need to change your flash power, you need to go to your flash and change it by hand. It does the job and does it well without any bells or whistles.

Stepping up, look at the Godox trigger.

When you add the Godox trigger to a Godox flash, you can change the power remotely, and as you get more advanced, you get to do other things such as change groups, and high-speed sync. Basically, this trigger will allow you complete control of your flash from wherever you are shooting.

You will expect to pay around $ 50 and up for the trigger. You won’t need a receiver in this setup as the flash has one built-in (one less thing to forget to put into your bag). Overall, you get much more control here.

The more you invest in a trigger system, the more reliable it will be. For an amateur, this isn’t a huge issue, but if you are doing paid work, it really is worth investing in a decent set of flash triggers.

Flash stand

Unless you have an understanding friend or family member, you need a stand to put your flash on. If you are doing this on a budget and already have a tripod, you can use that as an interim measure, but flash stands are cheap. You can get a flash stand for $ 15 to $ 20. When stepping up in price, the main things you gain are better build quality, better quality knobs, and air cushioning.

Air cushioning means, if you undo the stand, the light doesn’t simply drop, it is cushioned by air, reducing the risk of damage to your flash. However, this is designed more for larger, studio-style flashes, so there is not a huge benefit in this for a speedlite-style flash, especially if you are looking to save money.

A flash stand by a company such as Manfrotto will cost you in the region of $ 80-$ 100. However, these are a purchase for life. Unless something major happens, a good-quality flash stand will last you for years and never need software updates.

Two different types of umbrella bracket. The metal cold shoe is the reason I had to put a new foot onto the Vivitar 285 you saw above.

Umbrella bracket

This is the key piece of equipment that allows you to fix your flash to your light stand. It also allows you to add modifiers to your flash, such as umbrellas and softboxes.

As with light stands above, the only difference with flash brackets is the build quality and the quality of the knobs.
A good umbrella bracket will cost around $ 20 to $ 30. I would suggest investing in this straight away. You can get cheaper, but not by much. It is worth the extra few dollars to buy a higher quality one.

A thing to remember here is that you may also need to buy a cold shoe for your umbrella bracket. This screws into the umbrella bracket via a spigot and has a shoe for your flash to mount to. These only run at a few dollars and some umbrella brackets have them built-in. Make sure you check and purchase as necessary as you may end up incredibly frustrated if your shiny new gear turns up, and you cannot connect your flash to your light stand. Trust me; I’m talking from experience here.

With a cold shoe, the main question is do you go for a metal or plastic one. Personally, I prefer plastic. The reason being that if your flash does happen to take a tumble and you are on a plastic cold shoe, it will usually snap. This may seem like a bad thing, but with a metal cold shoe, physics means it will snap at the weakest point. This is usually the base of the flashgun. Instead of snapping the cold shoe, you will snap the base of your flash off.

Now hopefully, your flashes never take a tumble, but I know mine definitely has. A gust of wind can come from nowhere. I have replaced several plastic cold shoes, but have luckily never snapped the base off a flashgun yet (touch wood, fingers crossed, etc.)

Off-camera flash in photography with a simple umbrella of a woman in a green coat at sunset

One of the first off-camera flash portraits I shot. Simple gear can create great results.

Modifiers

Softboxes, beauty dishes – there are many different modifiers, and the prices range from the insanely cheap through to the incredibly expensive.

I would always advise starting with umbrellas as a modifier as they are cheap, cheerful, and versatile. Also, learn one modifier inside and out before investing in more. When you know a modifier, you can use it in several ways and will allow you to create a variety of looks as you get used to working with it.

You can buy a 30” convertible umbrella for under $ 10 (you can shoot through it or shoot it reflectively). You will not get a better price-to-performance ratio from any other modifier.

It is tempting to buy a bucket load of modifiers if you have the money to invest, but what happens is, you become unfocused and try different modifiers, not really knowing the uses of each.

Buy one, learn it, then buy another. Don’t waste your money buying fancy gear just for the sake of it.

Extras

Please, please invest in (or make) a sandbag. A sandbag goes onto the bottom of your light stand and holds everything down, which means a minimal risk that your nice new equipment gets smashed on the floor.

You can make one of these incredibly cheaply, but they are worth their weight, literally. If you don’t have one (or have forgotten to get one), a camera bag will do in a pinch.

When using an umbrella outside, it is like having your flash gear attached to a kite. If you don’t weigh it down and the wind catches it, you may be picking your flash kit up in pieces.

Buy one and use it. If you don’t, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

So, how much are we talking about?

I have priced these beginner kits for those on a tight budget, and those with a bigger budget. Please note, I haven’t gone crazy with the larger budget. What you see here is what I truly believe to be the best beginner kit for getting started.

You will gain nothing from spending lots of money. The aim here is getting the gear to get started without over-complicating things.

The cheap and cheerful

This shot was taken on a setup almost identical to the one below.

Flash: Vivitar 285HV from eBay: $ 30

Triggers: Alzo Trigger Set $ 21 (There are several weird and wonderful companies producing this type of trigger, check Amazon/eBay for them.)

Flash Stand: $ 23

Umbrella Bracket: $ 10

Convertible Umbrella: $ 7.50

Sandbag: Use your camera bag

Total: $ 91.50

You read that right, $ 91.50. You can get started in off-camera flash for the price of a meal out.

A little to invest

Off-camera flash photography with one light and a reflector.

This portrait was taken with only one light and a reflector. There is so much to learn when getting started in off-camera-flash photography that adding more lights will add problems.

Flash: Godox 860ii: $ 179

Trigger: Godox XPro C: $ 69

Air Cushioned Flash Stand: $ 29.65

Umbrella Bracket: $ 29.48 plus cold shoe $ 9.95

Convertible Umbrella: $ 7.47

Sandbag:$ 21.95

Total: $ 346.50

What do you get for the extra cash?

More control.

You can control the flash output directly from the camera plus advanced features such as add groups when you add more flashes in the future. You also get a flash that will take a lot more shots and recycle much quicker between photos. Lastly, if you don’t get on with off-camera flash, you have an awesome flash to use on your camera.

Right, so now you have your shopping list for off-camera flash in photography, next up comes the science part. I’ve just got to go out and get myself a new lab coat, so enjoy this article and see you next time.

Is there a set up that you use for off-camera flash in photography? Please share with us in the comments.

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

27 Oct

The post Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jackie Lamas.

Even though every wedding is unique, each wedding photographer knows that the timeline of photos is pretty much the same, beginning with the getting ready photos.

Learn how to successfully photograph the bride and groom getting ready, what you’ll need to prep for beforehand, and why it’s important to capture this part of the day during a wedding.

wedding-day-getting-ready-photos

What are the getting ready photos exactly?

The getting ready portion of a wedding day is when the bride and groom begin to get dressed for their wedding celebration.

Getting ready photos are to include both the actual getting ready portion and the details of the day like shoes, florals, dress, rings, etc.

It’s usually when the bride is getting her makeup done, getting into her dress, putting on her jewelry, and all of the other final details that go into her complete look. The same goes for the groom; photos of him getting into his tux or suit, putting on his watch, tie, and shoes.

Image: The getting ready portion of the wedding day lets you get photos of the important details of...

The getting ready portion of the wedding day lets you get photos of the important details of the day.

Sometimes, getting ready photos will include more people during the shoot. For example, the bride might want to get ready with all of her bridesmaids and have her maid of honor help with putting on her veil.

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

Other times, you might get the bride and groom getting ready together in the same space. Either way, it’s a crucial moment during the day that leads up to all the festivities. It tells more of the story of how the wedding day unfolded.

Prep for the getting ready

wedding-day-getting-ready-photos

Inform your clients during a pre-consultation

A pre-consultation is where you meet with your clients and go over the details of the wedding day. It is important to find out if the couple will be getting ready in the same location or different locations.

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

If at all possible, advise your clients to get ready in the same location but in separate rooms. That way, you can bounce between both of your clients and capture the getting ready shots.

However, sometimes it isn’t possible. But don’t worry, sometimes you can re-create some of the getting ready moments before the ceremony and still get those beautiful getting ready photos to go with the narrative of the day.

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

Advise your clients to tell their key people (those helping with the brides or grooms outfit) to be ready, too, since they will also be photographed during the getting ready stage. This goes for the mother of the bride, father of the bride, bridesmaids, and groomsmen.

Make sure the key people are dressed and made up for the getting ready photos so everyone looks great in the final images.

Tell your clients to make sure florals are ready during this time so that you can photograph them before the wedding day begins.

Prep your gear bag

There are a few items you should have handy for the getting ready portion of your day. They aren’t required but do make the getting ready photos more streamlined and easier to photograph.

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

One handy tool is a Command Hook. This will help you stick the hook where you want, hang the dress or suit, and photograph it virtually anywhere at the location of the getting ready photos. It also helps hang other details that are important to the wedding day.

Bring a small poster board or some fabric to style a flat lay of the details. This could include things like the rings, shoes, garter, bouquet, or special details like vow books. It can give you a cohesive look to the detail photos. That way, you’re also not limited to the surfaces in the getting ready room, if there are any available spots.

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

PlayDoh or similar putty can help keep rings styled or from falling over. Roll a tiny ball and place it under the rings, ring boxes, jewelry, and other items to keep them in place. Then simply remove it after you’ve achieved your shot.

wedding-day-getting-ready-photos

Use a video light or flashlight from your phone to light the details if you need a little boost in light. Some getting ready rooms, like bridal rooms, are tiny and don’t offer much light, so having a video light or using your flashlight from your cell phone, can help give you the light you need. It can also help you to get interesting photos of the details like rings or shoes.

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

While these items aren’t a must, they do help with styling the details of the getting ready portion.

What to photograph during the getting ready portion of a wedding day

The getting ready part of a wedding day isn’t just about photographing your clients getting into their dresses or suits – it’s much more than that. It’s about capturing a part of the day that begins all of the events that everyone is excited about!

When photographing the getting ready, mix different style shots like full length and close-up shots of the same scene.

When you photograph a getting ready, make sure to get photos either styled or depending on your photography style, the following:

Rings, ring boxes, ring pillows or carrying cases
Florals: bouquets, boutonnieres, hairpieces, and corsages for others
Shoes
Accessories like jewelry, watches, gifts of the bride and groom
The something blue, something old, something borrowed if they are part of the wardrobe/attire.
Getting ready: Makeup and hairstyling, adjusting their dress/suit, putting on the dress/suit
Putting on shoes
Detail photos of the dress/suit alone and on the bride/groom
Invitation set
Portrait of your client alone
Portrait of the client with their bridal party or others who are in the room with them
Anything else that is considered special or important
Key people in the background or with your client

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

How to get the most out of getting ready photos

The getting ready photos are somewhat of a photojournalistic approach to the day. Besides the detail shots that you style, most everything else is photographed as it unfolds during this time.

wedding-day-getting-ready-photos

To get the most out of the getting ready photos, try and get different focal length shots of the events like the makeup and hair. Get a wide shot of the room but also get close-up photos of the makeup as it’s applied. Capture real emotions from the people in the room with your client.

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

When your client is ready to get dressed, ask them to clear out the portion of the room that you’d like to use. For height, consider getting on the bed if your client is using a hotel room.

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

If you can, choose a location with nice lighting and a calm vibe. It will help set the tone of the getting ready portion of the photos.

Remember, during this time, clients are usually feeling a mixture of emotions. They also have to attend to tasks, questions, and anything that might come up that is related to the planning of the wedding.

wedding-day-getting-ready-photos

So a calm setting can really set the tone for the rest of the day while you photograph your client as they get dressed.

Also, don’t worry about moving furniture if you need to, or other items to get the best photo possible. Try different areas of the getting ready room to choose the best photos of the details, dress, and your client.

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

Photograph a portrait of your client after they are dressed alone

As mentioned above, setting the tone for the rest of the day can make all the difference for your client. This is why, after your client has gotten dressed, that you take them to a calm location and photograph a portrait of them alone.

wedding-day-getting-ready-photos

During this time, don’t ask anything of them. Don’t mention the wedding, planning, or anything that is related. Just help them to feel calm by using a soft tone, directing them to get the best angle, and show them a photo or two so that they get excited by how great they look!

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

This will also build a nice rapport with how you handle the stress of the day. It will also help your client to feel less saturated or anxious about their wedding day.

How to photograph getting ready photos after the fact

Sometimes you don’t have time to take getting ready photos of both of your clients due to logistics, being the only photographer, or otherwise. Other times, time slips away and cuts time for getting ready photos altogether. Or, your client might have opted to set the hours of coverage to cover more of the reception than the getting ready portion.

You can take portraits like this later in the day to re-create the getting ready photos.

If this is the case, don’t worry, you can recreate the getting ready photos after the fact! For example, before the ceremony, while your client waits to come out and down the aisle, you can get a few getting ready photos of them in the suite or empty hallway/walkway. Simply ask them to fluff their dress, have their key person adjust their veil, or pretend to tie their dress or suit.

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

You can get action shots like having your clients look into the mirror and pretend to put on their jewelry or suit jacket or shoes. While you might not have been there during the actual getting ready, you can always pretend like you were by styling and directing your clients in between other wedding day events.

wedding-day-getting-ready-photos

Why are getting ready photos important?

Getting ready photos are important to a wedding day because, as the photographer, you’ll have time to get the important details of the day photographed. The rings, vow books, bouquets, and most importantly, the dress or suit that your clients wear.

wedding-day-getting-ready-photos

Each of these items was thought about, and chosen with the utmost care and attention to the details. Anything that your clients poured their hearts into is worthy of photographing. It also makes for a nice retelling of the wedding day in an album or publication after the wedding day has ended.

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

Most importantly, photographing getting ready photos allows you to set the tone for the day and reassure your client that you are there for all of it. That you are there for the best moments of the day and to help them feel confident, beautiful, and excited about the rest of the wedding events. It’s like you’re there as their personal cheerleader on what is usually a stressful day.

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

Having this time with your client also helps you to get to know them a bit more. You can try different angles during the individual portraits, and also get to know who the key people are that need photographing during family formals and bridal party photos.

In conclusion

Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding

Telling the story of a couple during their wedding day is truly an honor for any photographer. The getting ready portion of the day sets the tone and begins the story of how the day unfolded. These tips will help you successfully capture your clients during the start of their most important day as a couple.

Do you have any additional tips for capturing the getting ready photos of any wedding day? We’d love you to share them with us in the comments!

The post Tips to Achieve Memorable Getting Ready Photos at Any Wedding appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jackie Lamas.

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Getting great sound for video: an introduction

25 Oct

Great audio and video complement each other

Great sound is important, at least as important as the video. I don’t know about you but I’m more intolerant of poor audio than bad video. Clipped or distorted audio is much more distracting than overexposed or out of focus video. I’m always amazed watching documentaries from 40+ years ago, the audio sounds great, even if the film has seen better days.

In the early days of using domestic DV camcorders for professional production (Sony DCR VX-1000) a lot more had to be done to mod the sound side of the camera than the video side. The pictures were just about acceptable but the sound side of the camera was lacking, no XLR inputs and no easy to use manual controls. The audio side of the industry changes a lot slower than the video side, every couple of years there’s a new video codec or standard but with audio the pace of change is much slower.

The audio side of production isn’t as sexy as the video. You can end up spending thousands of dollars on the camera because the pictures look nice and it’s the latest trend but the audio side is often relegated to second place or below.

What we’re going to be looking at here is the best way to get great audio for your video, we’re going to be looking at some of the technical aspects but also some of the practical considerations as well.

Microphone selection

Making the right choice of microphone is a key first step.

While I don’t want to over stress the technical requirements, selecting the right microphone for a given situation is important. There are a lot of mics out there and the choice can be confusing but it helps to know which type of mic is suited to which situation. There’s no point using a short shotgun mic to record your on-screen talent walking and talking through a crowded street towards camera, you won’t hear them well until they get close to the camera.

Mics should be selected on the way that they pick up audio and also the way they reject unwanted sounds. There are 3 basic types: omnidirectional, unidirectional and bidirectional.

Omnidirectional

Omnidirectional microphones pick up from all around but usually with some frequency fall off at the rear. Lapel mics are a prime example of an omnidirectional pickup pattern.

Lapel microphones are one common type of omnidirectional mic.

Unidirectional

Popular patterns include cardioid, super cardioid and hypercardioid. All of these are very much biased toward pick up from the front of the mic with varying amounts of fall off when off to the side. Shotgun mics employ these capsules for great off-axis rejection of audio.

A shotgun mic like this Sennheiser MKH-70 picks up mostly from the front. Be careful about placement, though, as it will also pick up some sound from the rear

Bidriectional

Also known as a figure of 8 pattern – great for studio work, 1-on-1 interviews. Some popular podcasting mics offer this as an option like the Blue Yeti.

A figure of 8 pattern pickup, note the null area right in front of the mic.

There are also combinations of mics that allow stereo recording, sometimes a matched pair in AB recording and sometimes a combination that allow MS (Mid-Side) recording. Using MS is a lot more involved as you also have to use a mixer/recorder that supports it and consider if the post production software you are using can work with it.

Short stereo gun mics like this Sennheiser MKE440 offer better audio than built in mics, although some headphones would be useful here!

Dynamic or condenser?

Within these main mic categories you will also encounter the terms dynamic and condenser; it’s important to know that dynamic mics don’t require power but condenser mics do. You won’t get any audio from a condenser mic if you can’t provide power to it, this is sometimes achieved down the cable from the camera or mixer (phantom power) or via an internal battery.

Now that you’ve chosen your mics, what are some of the practical considerations when recording sound?

Wind noise

Wind noise can ruin your audio; avoid or reduce it rather than relying on post production fixes.

Even if you have the best mic in the world the recording it makes can easily be ruined by wind. There’s more of this around than you think; it’s something that doesn’t bother you because your ears and brain filter it out, but can cause real problems for your microphone. Sometimes there are options in camera and audio recorder menus to reduce wind noise but you shouldn’t rely on this as it’s selecting a high pass filter and it’s just not as good as reducing the wind across the mic capsule itself. Make sure you take something physical with you to reduce it.

Even if you have the best mic in the world the recording it makes can easily be ruined by wind.

A simple foam cover will do virtually nothing, so don’t rely on it. However you can benefit from these covers indoors, they can reduce noise when swinging a boom as effectively you are creating air turbulence across the mic when you move it. In this scenario a foam cover may suffice, it’s less visually distracting and introduces less audio frequency coloration than a dead cat.

A foam cover can be effective indoors for reducing noise across the mic when swinging a boom but it virtually useless outdoors.

A dead cat, one of the best ways of reducing wind noise, also available for lapel mics.

A basket, combined with a dead cat and even a foam cover can give great results but requires care when handling as it’s easy to damage.

A proper dead cat will help a great deal outdoors as long as it’s properly used, and make sure it’s maintained. There’s a reason that you sometimes find a hairbrush in the box when you buy one, use it as a matted one does not work well. Oh and don’t wrap spare cables around it, either in storage or in use!

A proper basket or blimp works wonders and the longer hair covers are even better in high wind, however you may find that you never need something like this.

Monitoring

The often used Sennheiser HD-25 headphones. Great isolation and good comfort.

How do you know that you’re recording? The red light on the camera or ‘Rec’ on the LCD screen, yes that helps but what about audio? Usually an on-screen level meter will give a good indication but that doesn’t guarantee what you are recording is any good, or even what you intend to. It only tells you what level you’re recording at.

A decent set of headphones is required, even a cheap set of ear buds will do in an emergency but you need to listen. You also need to teach yourself what to listen for, what’s going to hurt your recording and what you can safely ignore.

Be careful which socket you plug your headphones into, I’ve known multiple people who’ve plugged the headphones into the mic socket and vice versa. You do get some audio but headphones don’t make the best microphones!

Want more audio recording tips? This video from DPReview TV shows what happens when you have a great mic but poor mic placement compared to what happens when you use cheap mic with great placement.

Like photography, limit background disturbances, you can sometimes eliminate or reduce issues in post but it’s always better to not record them in the first place.

Clocks, AC, refrigerators, fans, traffic, construction work and aircraft are not your friends. Be realistic though, don’t stop a recording every few minutes because you can detect some background noise 2 streets away. If the noise is relevant to your video and you can include a shot showing it then of course there’s no problem.

Clocks, AC, refrigerators, fans, traffic, construction work and aircraft are not your friends.

Constant low level hum is usually OK, jack hammers are not. You sometimes have to change location or position to get better audio, maybe even paying construction workers to stop for 30 minutes if there’s no other option.

A lot of this can be reduced if not eliminated in the edit but it’s more work and often the results are far from satisfactory unless you have the time, the tools and the skills to deal with it.

Dual system or in camera recording?

An separate audio recorder can give you better quality and flexibility but might not be needed.

Separate audio recording is popular but not always necessary. If the camera has good, low noise pre-amps and decent limiters then it might be feasible to forgo an external recorder. There are issues here however, can you record multiple mics and have individual level control over each one? A built in camera limiter sometimes acts across both channels at the same time, far from ideal. What about the connections? Usually these use 3.5mm plugs and sockets and it’s very easy to break these especially if the cable gets pulled at an angle.

There are lots of other considerations as well, an external recorder can give you more tracks and the new Zoom F6 with it’s 32bit float recording means that precise level setting is not required.

If using an external recorder, how easy is the syncing going to be? Are you using timecode or a clapperboard to sync, are you recording using the on-board camera mic as well to help sync automatically in post? Built in tools in editing software have improved vastly over the years but it’s not faultless.

Wireless

Wireless systems like the Sennheiser AVX have got simpler and cheaper over the last few years and can offer lots of possibilities

Wireless mics are a key tool when recording sound, you may not need them for every shoot but they can offer enormous flexibility. They are great when everything works but can be a real pain to troubleshoot when it doesn’t. However recent developments with wireless systems that don’t need complex set up has cut down the issues, like the Sennheiser XSW and the Rode Wireless Go.

Of course wireless systems aren’t only limited for use with lapel mics, they can also be used with booms and to send audio from mixing desks in theatrical locations. Just make sure that you’re not using other people’s frequencies when using a UHF system and you have the input gain set correctly if using a line level output.

Wireless systems can be really useful when using a boom.

That’s not to say that you won’t encounter problems. Always carry spares, cables, batteries and mics if possible. If the failure of one thing in the chain will jeopardize your shoot make sure you have a way round it. It’s good practice for lots of things but because of the complexity of the audio chain it’s especially true for good sound. Try recording more than one mic if possible that way you have a backup in case the mic fails mid shot.

Technique

How you use microphones is as important as which ones you use. Get the mic as close as you can without it being in shot, unless you want it to be. Use the right mic – boom, static or handheld.

Sometimes getting good audio might mean that the mic has to be seen, sometimes you can disguise it. If you place a black lapel mic on a black shirt it might be possible to remove it in post but you need to consider is the quality of sound more important than the cleanliness of the shot?

Hiding mics isn’t always easy, you can pick up clothing noise if you aren’t careful.

Hiding lapel mics under clothing can be time consuming. It may need a few attempts to minimize rustle and the type of attachment and clothing is a big consideration. You can often spot a lapel mic hidden under clothing, especially if it’s underneath a light colored T-Shirt.

A lapel mic might not be the most appropriate; could you use a boom instead? Sit down interviews for example are often best recorded with a mic on a boom pole and stand slung over head just out of shot. This eliminates clothing rustle and the possibility that the interviewee will touch the mic or walk away with it – yes it does happen. This can be especially useful if you are recording multiple interviews in the same location or if your subject is really pushed for time.

One word of caution though, make sure that the mic doesn’t slowly dip into shot unnoticed. A small piece of light colored tape around the tip of the foam cover can help here.

Check your kit, make sure everything works

Audio Checklist

Take the right mic – There are different mics for different situations, don’t use a long shotgun mic in a small car.

Reduce noise – Use a dead cat outdoors to reduce wind noise, noisy environments should be avoided if it doesn’t relate to the subject.

Listen – Use good headphones for best results and don’t rely only on meters, make sure you’re getting good clean sound not something you can just about hear.

Single or Dual system? – Dual gives more options but can be more complicated.

Wireless – Newer systems that don’t involve setting frequencies are easy to use but are more limited in range, take a backup just in case something goes wrong.

Technique – The closer the mic is to the source (without distorting) the better the audio will be, sometimes hiding a mic under clothing doesn’t give good results.

Keep it simple

If you are just starting out all this may seem very daunting, there’s a lot to think about especially if you are doing everything by yourself. If you can employ someone with more sound experience to help, at least to start with, you’ll learn a lot. There’ll be someone there with more knowledge who will be more valuable to you that just another pair of hands.

My advice would be to keep things simple to start with and give yourself some extra time just in case things don’t go to plan… it hardly ever does.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Samsung is getting ready to test the Galaxy S11 periscope tele camera

08 Oct

The South Korean tech publication The Elec reports that Samsung will soon receive test sockets for periscope-style tele camera that is expected to make its debut in at least one of the Galaxy S11 models early next year.

The test sockets are used for final hardware-checks before shipping the components and are manufactured by fellow Korean company MecaTech Systems which also produces smartphone camera and time-of-flight (ToF) modules.

Test socket produced by MecaTech Systems, image: The Elec

MecaTech has been in the module-testing industry for the past 15 years and has been gaining recognition as smartphone manufacturers have increased reliability testing of their modules which is particularly key for multi-cam modules with multiple lenses and zoom capability.

According to rumors the upcoming Samsung flagship will feature a 5x optical tele lens, matching the current king of zoom Huawei P30 Pro. The main camera will allegedly come with a 108MP Quad-Bayer sensor, with the module manufactured by Samsung Electro-Mechanics.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Getting to Grips with Fill Light in Portrait Photography

08 Oct

The post Getting to Grips with Fill Light in Portrait Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

Image: Using fill light is an essential skill that will allow you complete control over the contrast...

Using fill light is an essential skill that will allow you complete control over the contrast and tonality in your images in any type of lighting situation.

It should be no secret to any photographer that one light is all you need to achieve great results. While one light setups (in this context, specifically those that don’t involve the use of a reflector) are both well discussed and incredibly useful, sometimes it’s good (or even essential) to go beyond the basics. The next step in your progression is probably going to be to add fill lighting.

Fill light is one of those essential skills that every photographer should have a good grasp of no matter what type of light they are using.

Image: One light setups are powerful, and the results can be great. However, sometimes it’s us...

One light setups are powerful, and the results can be great. However, sometimes it’s useful to be able to take even more control over the contrast in your images.

This article will help to get you started with two types of fill lighting. The first of these is the use of the humble reflector. The other is to use a second dedicated light source. Both of these methods are very different in how they are implemented and what they can achieve. Mastering both will give you a more complete skill set with which to use in your photography.

What is fill lighting and what does it achieve?

Image: In the image on the left, the lack of fill lighting has left most of the details in the back...

In the image on the left, the lack of fill lighting has left most of the details in the back of the subject’s dress as pure black. Adding fill light (right) has brought those details back.

The concept of fill lighting is quite simple.

The idea is that you use it to light the shadows in your frame. What this does is:

Brings up the exposure of the shadow areas in your image.
Reduces overall contrast in your frame (much like landscape photographers use graduated ND filters to reduce contrast in their images).
Brings your final images more in line with how the eye sees the world, rather than the limited range of your camera’s sensor.

While really dark and contrasty images definitely have their place (I love them myself), images (especially portraits for clients) will benefit from a more even contrast ratio. I once heard it described (I’m sorry, I don’t remember where) that in lighting for TV and cinema, the shadows are always lit. This was a lightbulb moment for me as I had always wondered how cinematographers seemed to show a lot detail while still retaining a good amount of contrast. The answer was controlled fill lighting.

Two types

Reflectors

Reflectors are a powerful and versatile tool that allows you to be as subtle or as bold as you like with your fill lighting.

The most basic type of fill lighting is that provided by the ever so basic, yet powerful, reflector. You probably have at least one of these already (or you’ve made a few). Reflectors provide fill light by reflecting light (go figure) from your key back into the shadows of your frame. In a lot of cases, reflectors will be your first foray into fill lighting. However, they will also be one of your most-used pieces of kit altogether.

Secondary lights

Using a secondary light source as fill is going to be your most versatile option.

You can also use a second light (or third and beyond) as your fill light. A dedicated fill light will do the same basic job as a reflector, but it is infinitely more controllable. You can fine-tune the exposure and shape of your fill light with a precision that reflectors just don’t allow.

Contrast ratios – The very basics

Image: Left: The shadows are filled heavily and the fill light is metered one-stop below key. This r...

Left: The shadows are filled heavily and the fill light is metered one-stop below key. This results in a low contrast image with shadows retained. Right: the fill here is four stops below key. The contrast is high and the shadows are deep, but all of the detail is present.

The very concept of a contrast ratio can seem technical and daunting, I know. However, it is not at all that difficult of a concept and it’s just not that technical. At the most basic level, a contrast ratio simply tells you how bright one light is in relation to one another in terms of the aperture of your camera.

If your key light is metering at f/8, that means that if you set your camera to f/8 and an appropriate shutter speed (lower than your camera’s max sync speed) you will achieve a correct (subjective) exposure in-camera.

Fill lighting will always be underexposed in relation to your key light. If it’s even to your key light, you will get flat, no-contrast images as a result. For a contrast ratio that provides low contrast, you will want your fill light to be at least one stop darker than your key light. Since our hypothetical key light is f/8, that means the key light in this instance needs to meter f/5.6. This is a ratio of 2:1 (which is more advanced and you definitely don’t need to know to get started).

In short, if you want less contrast, your fill light should be one to two stops under your key light. If you want more contrast, try three to four stops.

Metering

If you want to be as precise as possible with these ratios, you will want to consider a light meter. That way you can measure any light falling on the scene with the press of a couple of buttons. This is the easiest way to go about it and works in the studio and natural light. You can also meter the light bouncing off a reflector.

Image: A light meter is the easiest and most accurate way to read what your light is doing. However,...

A light meter is the easiest and most accurate way to read what your light is doing. However, they don’t tend to be cheap.

That does not at all mean that you have to use a light meter, though. While more difficult (especially if you’re new to lighting like this), you can do it with your histogram on the back of your camera. Take a test shot with just your key light on. Now take one with only your fill light on. (Note: you won’t be able to do this if you are using a reflector.) Because fill lighting should be raising the exposures on your shadows, the shadow area of the histogram of your fill light test shot should be further to the right than that of your key light test shot. If the shadow areas on both histograms line up, you need to increase the exposure of your fill light. If the shadow areas of your fill light’s histogram line up with the mid-tones or highlights of your key light’s histogram, you need to decrease the exposure of your fill light. (I did say it was trickier.)

Image: Left: Without fill light, you can see the shadows are underexposed. Right: With subtle fill l...

Left: Without fill light, you can see the shadows are underexposed. Right: With subtle fill light, you can see the shadows are brought up quite a lot.

Of course, you don’t have to do either of these things. You can always eyeball the whole setup and try to adjust things on the go. I would say this is perfectly fine with experience, but as you start out, I encourage you to at least have a go with the previous methods. It will drastically reduce the amount of time it takes you to get to grips with the technique and fully understand what is going on with your light. The more you understand, the easier you will find it to adjust things on the fly. You will also be able to learn new techniques faster.

Fill light with reflectors

Reflectors can be subtle or bold when used as fill and are pretty versatile for what they are.

Reflectors are:

Cheap
Easy to setup
Easy to use
Very effective

Getting started with reflectors as fill lighting

Reflectors are powerful, yet accessible, tools for fill lighting.

Before you start to think about fill, you will want to decide what your key light (main light source) is going to do. Set up your key light so that it is shaping and lighting your subject the way that you want. Meter so that you have the exposure settings that you desire.

Image: A small(ish) softbox placed in front of and above the subject creates soft light with shadows...

A small(ish) softbox placed in front of and above the subject creates soft light with shadows underneath the subject’s features.

Now, evaluate the shadow areas that your key light is creating. If you’re using natural light, or strobes fitted with modeling lights, you can do this by eye. Alternatively, you can take a test shot and review it on the back of the camera.

Here you can see that while the light is soft, the shadows are a prominent part of the image.

Place your reflector so that it is roughly opposite your key light. Evaluate what the reflector is doing (either by eye or test shot again).

Image: Adding a reflector beneath the key light serves to raise the exposure in the shadow areas of...

Adding a reflector beneath the key light serves to raise the exposure in the shadow areas of the image.

What you are aiming for is for you shadows to be brought up in exposure, but not eliminated altogether. If you want low contrast, bring your reflector in as close as possible. If you want more contrast, move it away.

Image: With the reflector used as fill, the shadows are still present, but the overall contrast in t...

With the reflector used as fill, the shadows are still present, but the overall contrast in the image has been reduced.

It can take quite a lot of practice before you learn to see the subtle changes a white reflector provides. The key is to get as much practice in as possible.

Set up an object and light it. Put your reflector wherever you want and start taking shots, being sure to move the reflector into different positions each time. Review each shot and try to notice the behavior of the light in each instance. This exercise will give you a pretty good idea of how a reflector is going to behave in any given situation. Do this exercise often and you will find you can see even the most subtle shifts in light where it was difficult before.

Another quick tip to help you see the difference in contrast in a scene is to squint. It sounds ridiculous, but squinting reduces your vision to blocks of value and you will be able to see the contrast in the scene more easily.

A second light

Image: A second strobe serving as fill gives you the most control over how you manipulate your shado...

A second strobe serving as fill gives you the most control over how you manipulate your shadows.

Like reflectors, using extra lights as fill is a fundamental skill, albeit one with a slightly steeper learning curve. That said, unlike reflectors, using a dedicated light source allows you full control over the power output, making it much easier than a reflector to control how the light is going to behave.

Image: Varying degrees of contrast between your shadow and highlight tones are possible just by adju...

Varying degrees of contrast between your shadow and highlight tones are possible just by adjusting the power of your fill light.

To get started using a dedicated fill light, place your key light in your desired position and set the power for your desired aperture. Let’s return to that hypothetical of f/8.

Here, a softbox is placed at 45 degrees to the subject.

Knowing your aperture, place your fill light where it will affect the shadows in the manner you would like and set the power output so that it will be underexposed in relation to your aperture. How much you underexpose for is entirely up to you. If you want, say, two stops of fill in this scenario, then you will want your fill light to meter at f/4.

Image: A 7′ parabolic umbrella with diffusion was added about 10-feet away to serve as fill. I...

A 7′ parabolic umbrella with diffusion was added about 10-feet away to serve as fill. It was set to meter 2-stops under the key light.

Take a test shot and see if you have your desired effect. Adjust as required and there you go.

Image: In this before (left) and after (right) you can see how the shadows on the right side of the...

In this before (left) and after (right) you can see how the shadows on the right side of the image are lifted and filled in with the fill light.

Taking it further

Image: You can design fill lighting however you like. Feel free to use multiple sources of different...

You can design fill lighting however you like. Feel free to use multiple sources of different sizes and shapes if it works.

Of course, you are not limited to a single fill light. You can have multiple fill lights lighting your subjects from both sides. You can also mix lights and reflectors for different strengths of fill lighting from various angles. You can pretty much do whatever you want in terms of designing a light set-up. You are only limited by the equipment you have at hand and what you can dream up.

Using multiple fill lights allows you to control every aspect of contrast in your images.

An idea is only crazy if it might work and you don’t try it.

Tips for fill lighting

1) It’s often better to retain the shadows rather than fill them in completely. This is not a rule, but images that retain some amount of contrast are often more natural and pleasing to the eye.

2) Pay attention to the catchlights in portraits – Extra light sources mean extra catchlights. When you are setting up your lights (reflectors included), be sure to watch the catchlights in your subjects’ eyes. Catchlights can make or break a portrait, so make sure you are controlling them as much as you are the lighting itself.

3) Big light sources at a distance work very well as fill light.

Image: This is by no means a rule, but big light sources (like the 7′ umbrella to camera right...

This is by no means a rule, but big light sources (like the 7′ umbrella to camera right) from a distance work really well as fill lighting.

4) Don’t be a slave to the ratios – While using the ratios as a starting point can, and will, be a useful springboard, that doesn’t mean you should adhere to them rigidly. If something isn’t right, adjust as you see fit. Nobody cares in the end if your ratios are exactly 4:1, but they do care if your photos look right. Use your best judgment and change things up if you need to. Sometimes only the tiniest of power adjustments will completely change the end result.

5) Think outside the box – Any light source can be your key and your fill. You’re probably aware that you can use flash to fill-in shadows in natural light, but you can also use natural light as fill where your main lighting is provided by flash.

Image: Here, the key light is a large window to the camera right. The fill light is provided by a st...

Here, the key light is a large window to the camera right. The fill light is provided by a strobe. You can mix light sources however you want to achieve your fill lighting.

That’s it

Hopefully, that’s served as a primer to get you started and demystify fill lighting. Being able to control the contrast in your images with lighting is a fundamental skill that you will be able to use across multiple disciplines. It will allow you to bring a new level of depth to your images straight out of the camera.

Get out and practice, start simple and go slow, and you will master the basics in no time at all.

Try out some of these tips, and share your photos with us in the comments!

The post Getting to Grips with Fill Light in Portrait Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

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ZTE appears to be getting ready to launch smartphone with 32MP front camera

01 Feb

Smartphone front cameras used to be overshadowed by their counterparts on the rear of mobile devices, offering low pixel counts, fixed focus lenses and generally simple specs. This is changing quickly, however, with some front cameras on the latest high-end smartphones featuring high-resolution sensors, AF-systems, computational bokeh modes, HDR and other advanced functions.

It looks like ZTE is now about to take things to a new level by launching a smartphone with a 32MP front-facing camera. The new device, which is said to be the ZTE Blade V10, has emerged in a regulatory filing on China’s TENAA website and is thought to use Samsung’s ISOCELL GD1 sensor.

The latter comes with a 0.8 micron pixel pitch and pixel-binning technology, merging four adjacent pixels into one for better dynamic range and lower noise levels. The sensor also comes with real-time video HDR, so the ZTE could be a good option in difficult high-contrast scenes.

Other specs put the new model into the mid-range bracket of the market. There’ll be a 6.3-inch full-HD+ LCD display, an octa-core chipset and a 3,100mAh battery, according to the filings. The main camera comes with a 16MP primary sensor and a 5MP secondary sensor, likely for depth sensing.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Tips for Getting Started in Street Photography

27 Sep

This article will help you with those all important decisions for getting started in street photography. Including the best gear to use, settings to apply, and what to do about the tricky topic of photographing people in public.

Any image of a street that can be used to tell a story about the location it shot could be defined as a street photograph. It could be a large city or a small village.

Getting Started in Street Photography - artists in a street market

Gear

As a street photographer, you want to be able to blend into your surroundings. By blending in, you stand a better chance of going unnoticed and capturing candid moments. This means you will want to keep your gear small and light.

Camera

The big question these days is around the DSLR or mirrorless choice. My advice for street photography is the latter.

There is nothing wrong with using a DSLR if that is what you prefer or have already. However, mirrorless cameras will simply save you space and weight. Your street photography adventures will be much more enjoyable if you’re not arriving home to find one arm longer than the other after carrying around a DSLR all day.

Another benefit to mirrorless is that the electronic viewfinder (EVF) will provide you with an accurate representation of the exposure for your image before you even press the shutter.

If you find yourself without your camera and get the urge for street photography, there’s nothing wrong with using the camera on your phone.

Shot and edited on an iPhone.

Lenses

If you’re getting started in street photography, you will want to use a zoom lens, rather than a prime. An 18-55mm kit lens (or similar) will be fine to start. I recommend planning to move to a prime lens once you have more experience.

The reason for this is that they are (usually) sharper than zoom lenses and shooting consistently at one focal length will help you to develop your own style.

When you’re ready to invest in a prime lens, you can look back at the metadata of all the street photos taken with your zoom lens and observe what focal length you used most often. This will help inform your decision making for which focal length to choose when buying a prime lens.

Settings

When shooting street photography, your camera should be ready to take the next shot at a moment’s notice. This means you’ll need to have your settings dialed in as much as possible.

I recommend starting in full Auto. This will allow you to concentrate on your surroundings and nail the composition. When you are more confident, you could move on to aperture priority.

Here’s some advice for when you start looking at those manual settings.

Aperture

The best street photos make use of the entire frame. This means you’ll want a good depth of field, which means that the image is in focus from the nearest point in the photograph to the furthest point. I recommend shooting between f/5.6-11.

Good depth of field street photography - people on a bridge

Shutter speed

For any kind of handheld photography, a good rule of thumb is to use a minimum shutter speed that is equal to or greater than one over your focal length. This is to avoid blurry photos caused by camera shake. For example, if you are shooting at 50mm, your shutter speed should be at least 1/50th of a second.

If you are including people in your photos, you have two options.

First, use a fast enough shutter speed to freeze their motion. Anything faster than 1/100th should do it, for walking pace. A faster shutter speed will be needed for joggers and cyclists and will vary depending on how fast they’re moving.

Freeze motion man riding a bike - street photography

Secondly, if you want to get creative and blur their motion slightly to project a sense of movement in your image, you can use a slightly slower shutter speed. But make sure you still use one that’s fast enough to avoid camera shake.

Sense of movement

ISO

Keep ISO as low as possible while still achieving the points mentioned above for aperture and shutter speed. This will reduce the amount of noise (grain) in your photos.

Focus

If your lens has a focus ring that stops at infinity, use it and switch your camera to manual focus. If not, you’ll need an autofocus setting that allows you to track your subject, as it’s likely to be moving if it’s a person.

Focus tracking man walking - street photography

Metering

When you’re first getting started with street photography, you’ll want to use a metering mode that measures the whole frame. This will help you to prevent under or overexposure. Different camera manufacturers have different names for this metering mode. For example, Nikon refers to it as “Matrix Metering” and Canon refer to it as “Evaluative Metering”.

Composition

The rules of composition are an article in themselves. You can read more about it in this article.

Good composition is one of the most important elements of any photograph, but try not to get too hung up on it. As mentioned a few times in this article, you don’t have long to see and capture an image when practicing street photography.

While I agree that you should always try to get things right in-camera, sometimes this just isn’t practical. It’s better to get the shot and crop it later if you need to, rather than not get the shot at all.

When looking around you, don’t forget to look up or down. You never know what opportunities you might be missing.

Looking up

Looking down

Blending In

At the beginning of this article, I talked about how important it is to blend into your surroundings. There are a couple of ways you can do this.

Environment

If you go to tourist hot spots for your street photography, you’ll just look like another tourist. This means that when you hold your camera up to look through the viewfinder, you’ll just be another person with a camera. It’ll be white noise to everyone around you so it’s a great place to start off with and build your confidence.

Tourists street photography

Camera Position

By holding your camera down by your side, or in front of your torso, you can make it look like you’re not even taking a photograph. It can be particularly helpful in this scenario if your camera has a tilting screen.

For this technique (called shooting from the hip), you’ll want to use a wide-angle lens to maximize your chances of capturing the shot. I took the shot below while continuing to walk and holding my camera by my side.

Camera by my side street photography

Clothing

Wearing bright clothes will instantly make you more noticeable so be sure to wear dark or neutral colored clothes.

Confrontation

One of the hot topics of street photography is how to avoid confrontation when photographing people in public. Or what to do if someone takes offense when you have just taken their photograph without permission.

This section is not intended to put you off, but prepare you in the event that you are confronted. It’s only ever happened to me once. A security guard asked me to move on, so I did.

Here’s a quick summary of the different kinds of confrontational situations you may find yourself in and what to do if they arise.

Authorities

A common experience for street photographers is being approached by security guards or the police, in particular when taking photographs of buildings in big cities. The bottom line in this situation is that you are in a public space and therefore are allowed to be there.

However, you’re not likely the first street photographer that security guard or police officer has encountered, and you’re even less likely to be the last. Don’t give street photographers a bad reputation by being difficult. No photograph is ever worth the aggravation. Just move on.

Members of the public

With the ubiquity of social media and people growing ever more aware of their privacy, you can understand if someone doesn’t like it when their photo is taken without permission. Particularly if they have no idea where that photo might end up.

I liked this pop of red in the shirt against the subdued tones of the building. Unidentifiable subject.

The same rules apply here as in the previous section. If you and your subject are in a public place, you are within your rights to take their photograph. If a person confronts you and wants you to delete the photo you took of them, there’s a couple of ways you can approach it.

If they’re not a major part of the photograph, politely remind them of your rights. Inform them that they’re barely noticeable and you intend to keep the photograph. However, if you sense that they might turn aggressive, it’s always best to do as they ask. Again, it’s not worth the aggravation.

If the person that has approached you is a major part of the frame, it is best to respect their wishes and delete the photo.

Clearly identifiable subject.

Summary

Street photography is meant to be fun. Try not to get too hung up on gear and settings in the beginning and just enjoy yourself. Keep practicing and the ability to spot a photo opportunity developing in front of you will become instinctive.

Over to you. Let me know in the comments if you think there’s anything I missed or would like to know more about.

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The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

06 Sep

When you strive to get your images right in-camera at the moment you take them you’re going to reap many benefits that you might not even realize.

“Just Photoshop it” has become a recurring theme in photography when it comes to fixing image errors. Depending on who you talk to it can seem like Photoshop is a magic pill that will solve all manner of photographic problems. While it’s true that image-editing applications can help deal with a variety of issues, from correcting exposure to removing objects to swapping a cloudy sky for a sunny one, there’s a lot to be said for the philosophy of using as little editing as possible.

The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera - butterfly on a red flower

I didn’t need Photoshop to get this image. Instead, I needed to get up early, know where the light was coming from, and understand how to use my camera equipment.

This is a tricky subject to tackle because there is so much wiggle room when it comes to defining what the term in-camera really means. To some, it means allowing for no post-production at all, even simple cropping. Others define it as getting things mostly correct at the time you press the shutter button, even though some basic adjustments such as straightening or exposure correction might be needed later.

There are photographers for whom getting it right in-camera means looking out for background obstacles, stray hairs, or wayward arms and legs that might otherwise ruin a good picture.

I don’t like to get caught up in the minutia of what in-camera means. But I will say that if you can strive to have more aspects of a picture correct at the time you make the image, the end result will be that much better.

This holds true for most types of photography save for the outlier examples like extreme focus stacking in macro photography or the types of artistic creations and collages that require post-processing.

two kids with arms around each other - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

An ounce of prevention

There’s an old bit of wisdom you might have heard that goes like this:

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

It applies to many areas of life and the same holds true for photography as well. If you can take a few seconds to fix problematic areas at the time you take a picture it will save you untold minutes or even hours back at your computer. This took me a while to learn when I first got started with portrait photography. But the more I operate by this philosophy the more efficient my workflow becomes.

portrait of 3 ladies - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

Do you see the green recycle bin on the left side of the photo? It might not look like much, but if this is printed on a large canvas it would stick out like a sore thumb. Background distractions like that are much easier to fix by adjusting things during the session instead of spending time Photoshopping each image later.

Years ago the only things I knew to look for when taking pictures of clients were things like smiling faces and good posing. As such, I often found myself banging my head against my keyboard while going through my Lightroom catalog afterwards because of unwanted distractions in my photos.

Automobiles, pedestrians, trash cans, litter, animals, street lights, and a host of other imperfections can all be fixed in Photoshop but it’s so much easier to just make sure they don’t even show up in your photos in the first place.

portrait 3 ladies in trees - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

Eventually, I did see the recycle bin so I altered my point of view just slightly, which took a few seconds but saved me a lot of post-processing time.

This works for other things too like stray hairs, bits of dirt and debris that can get blown around and land on clients, or unwieldy shirts that like to get un-tucked. These problems can all be solved to some degree or another using computer software but it’s never going to be as fast or simple as just dealing with them when they occur.

The trick to doing this is to be looking out for such things at the time of the photo shoot. That is what took me so long to really learn, and to be honest I’m still learning even now! There are so many things to look out for when taking pictures. That background flotsam or bits of rubbish on the ground might be the last thing on your mind, but they can easily ruin a photo or at the very least cause you to spend much more time eliminating them afterwards than you would like.

My best advice to you in this regard is to simply train yourself to be aware. Look at your surroundings in addition to your subjects, and work on seeing background elements and other distractions that might normally escape your eye.

When you see things, take corrective action and even let your clients in on what’s going on. I have paused many photo sessions to say things like, “Oh no, there’s a street sign in the way behind you. Let’s all take a few steps this way…” and every time it has been appreciated by the people who are paying me to do a good job. It sends a message that you know what you are doing and care enough to get the shots right.

portrait of tweens - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

A more extreme version of this, but one that’s just as important, is to take note of problematic points that cannot be altered in Photoshop and deal with them at the time of the photo session.

Issues like sign posts sticking out of heads, heads turned in the wrong direction, hands in awkward places, or having people with complementary outfits in close proximity to one another can easily ruin an otherwise outstanding photo session and are all but impossible to fix in post-production. The more you look for these problems and fix them on the spot, the better your photography will be.

Lighting and exposure

Years ago with early digital cameras, it was crucial to get the exposure just right at the time you took a photo. But today’s digital cameras have such incredible dynamic range that you can clean up a great deal of exposure issues in post-production. However, this should be used as a last resort and not relied on as a general rule, almost like a safety net below a trapeze artist.

When shooting in RAW you can lower highlights, raise shadows, and adjust color all day long to get just the right look you are aiming for. This is a huge benefit if you are doing work for clients. It’s even useful if you just want to squeeze the most out of your shots as a casual photographer. This type of exposure correction has saved my bacon more times than I can count when doing work for clients.

expecting couple in silhouette - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

This couple was severely backlit which made for a very challenging photo situation.

Despite the flexibility of the RAW format and the editing possibilities offered by many photography applications such as Lightroom, Photoshop, and Luminar – you will find that it’s best to mitigate potential exposure and lighting issues at the time you take the photo instead of on your computer.

It’s not that you can’t fix exposure issues in post-production later, but that if simple exposure adjustments can make them disappear before you even take a picture then why would you want to spend time fixing it later?

The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

It took a lot of editing to wrangle a good result from the RAW file, but I could have just adjusted my exposure settings on the spot and saved myself a lot of time afterwards.

Your time is valuable

The more time I spend as a photographer the more valuable I realize my time really is. Even if you are a working professional who makes 100% of your income from photography, the less time you have to spend editing your images to fix exposure issues means more time doing other things that would help you hone your craft or grow your business. Or time you can spend with your family!

Even though you can fix a host of photographic issues ex post facto there’s no substitute for doing what you can to get it right in-camera and make sure those issues never even happen in the first place. Aside from saving yourself untold hours of time fiddling with sliders and layers on your computer, you will also be growing your skills as a photographer.

It will take some practice as you learn to reduce unwanted distractions and get accurate exposure settings when you press the shutter button. But you will reap rewards in terms of knowledge, confidence, and sheer experience. In the end, the result will be better photos taken by a better photographer, and that’s the kind of benefit you just can’t get by moving sliders around in Lightroom.

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Posts Tagged ‘Getting’

More reasons for needing DAM

ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020: A solution

Manage Mode

Folders and catalog panes – finding pictures

Manage Mode drop-downs

Properties pane – organizing, categorizing

Import keywords

Photos Mode, View Mode

Edit Mode

One niggle and some good points

Workflow suggestion

Importing photos and naming folders

Assessing and grading photos

Tracking workflow

Categories and keywords

Naming files

Get started

A photographer’s guide to buying a drone

Why buy a drone?

What kind of photographers would benefit from having a drone?

Travel

Real estate photographers

Fine art

Stock photographers

Wedding and portrait photography

Images for your family archive

Tips before buying a drone

Try before you buy

Buy cheap, buy twice

Which drone should I buy?

Pros and cons of some popular drone models

The Mavic Pro

Mavic Pro 2

Mavic 2 Zoom

Mavic Mini

What else do I need to consider?

How will you edit your image?

Insurance

Flying legally

Flying safely

Conclusion

The Gear

A Flash

Flash triggers

Flash stand

Umbrella bracket

Modifiers

Extras

So, how much are we talking about?

The cheap and cheerful

A little to invest

You may also like

What are the getting ready photos exactly?

Prep for the getting ready

Inform your clients during a pre-consultation

Prep your gear bag

What to photograph during the getting ready portion of a wedding day

How to get the most out of getting ready photos

Photograph a portrait of your client after they are dressed alone

How to photograph getting ready photos after the fact

Why are getting ready photos important?

In conclusion

Great audio and video complement each other

Microphone selection

Omnidirectional

Unidirectional

Bidriectional

Dynamic or condenser?

Wind noise

Monitoring

Dual system or in camera recording?

Wireless

Technique

Audio Checklist

Keep it simple

What is fill lighting and what does it achieve?

Two types

Reflectors

Secondary lights