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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Photographers, photographers everywhere! It seems in this social media age, new digital photographers flood the industry every day. These “professionals” boast low prices and high quality. There’s nothing wrong with that, but how do you get your work to stand out from the pack? What makes your images different than Johnny Photographer who was given a DSLR for Christmas along Continue Reading
The post 8 Steps to Getting Your Photography Business Noticed appeared first on Photodoto.
There is just something about the natural world that seems to touch us humans to the very core of our being, especially when it involves wildlife of any form. When we hear the words “wildlife photography”, wide open planes of the African Savannah with herds of zebras, wildebeests and antelope come to mind.
But that is just one part of the natural world pie! Don’t get me wrong, visiting Africa and going on safari are really high on my bucket list of places to visit and things to photograph, but I get equally excited when I am hiking in a national park that is frequented by bears, bison, eagles and pronghorn deer. There are several brilliant wildlife photographers out there, and every image they produce has a jaw-dropping reaction from most of their fans and followers. If you spend some time and really study their work, you will notice a consistent method to their approach. There are some simple basic guidelines that budding wildlife photographers can follow to creating their own Kodak moments!
Here are a few things to keep in mind for a safe, productive, and exciting wildlife photography trip.
I spent three hours of the afternoon exploring the wonderful forest lodge at Jim Corbett National Park in India because the park roads closed in the afternoon hours to allow animals to move about freely in the jungle without the noise created by countless jeep safaris – something that is not mentioned in most guide books.
Traveling itself is one of those tasks that needs an incredible amount of planning and research. So it is no surprise that when you are planning a wildlife photography expedition, you need to add a lot more to the mix. Scope out the best places to photograph animals, the best time of day, travel times to and from, as well as any permits and paperwork needed, well ahead to time to avoid any disappointments once you get to the location.
Once we were back in the park on our safari, I was able to see this juvenile elephant walk across the path on his way to the deep jungle.
This is a very important part of any photographic expedition and quite possibly an article in itself. Choosing the right gear for your wildlife excursions is key. A lot of factors will determine what lens and cameras you need to carry with you.
Are you primary going to be traveling in a car? If so, you could bring more than one camera, and a long telephoto lens. Are you going hiking/camping, and will you be constantly on the move while looking for animals? If so, then maybe you’ll need to limit yourself to one camera, and a medium telephoto lens to reduce your load. Is there a possibility for you to get up-close and personal with the animals? Then, carry a smaller focal length like an 85mm or 50mm lens.
Are you planning on photographing landscapes too? You may need a wide angle lens if so. Will you have access to your computer frequently? If not, you may need a portable external hard drive to backup your images. How many batteries do you need?
As you can tell, having a plan for where, and what you are looking to photograph, is really critical in determining what gear you pack.
Driving around in Yellowstone National Park one December morning found me face to face with this coyote (above) – who was simply enjoying his morning run. I was too surprised to remember the appropriate lens choice, camera setting, etc. I just took the snap, and while it may not be technically perfect, it is one of my favorite images. Just look at the trot in his paws.
On the other hand, a photographic expedition into Yellowstone National Park a few days later gave me a chance to use a 400mm super telephoto lens to capture this moose feeding along the hillside.
When doing wildlife photography, it is very important to keep safely in mind. It doesn’t matter if you are going on safari, or hiking alone in national parks. Wild animals by nature are unpredictable, and it would behoove us to remember that we are in their space, and we need to be respectful of that.
Rules and guidelines in wilderness areas are there for a reason – your safety and security. Make sure you follow them so that you, or others around you, don’t get hurt or injured. Whenever possible, travel in a group, or at least with one other person. There is security in numbers, and that can work to your advantage.
Seek help from experts who have made the journey before you and listen to their advice. Hiking a nesting area or denning area is never a good idea, for a reason! Take care of your gear. Especially if you are away in remote locations, you don’t want to be careless and risk your gear malfunctioning just when you need it. Dust and dirt are difficult to clean when you are out in the field.
On a 10 mile alpine hike in Glacier National Park in Montana, USA, the only gear I could comfortably carry was my 24-70mm lens and I was able to snap this picture. Not the closeup I really wanted, but this conveys a message unlike any closeup shot I could have gotten. Bonus points for spotting what everyone was looking at!
Wildlife photography, like most other genres, needs a lot of practice, and an even greater amount of patience. People spend hours and hours to get the perfect shot – often in less than perfect conditions like the cold, rain, and even overnight in a bind waiting for the sunrise shot. So depending on what you are looking to photograph, be prepared to be patient and wait it out.
Practicing is a little harder to accomplish unless you happen to live close to a national park or wildlife frequented area. A good alternative may be to spend time at the local zoo and try to capture photographs of animals there. A lower cost alternative to testing out your gear as well as playing around with settings.
You could also try this – Guide to Attracting Critters to Your Garden for Backyard Wildlife Photography
A pond close to my house is a watering hole for many birds during the spring and summer months. I am always out there practicing trying to get a clear shot of these cranes feeding. Perhaps one of these days, lady luck will be on my side!
I don’t know about you, but I absolutely hate experiencing my vacation through the back of my camera. My life is quite busy and hectic with kids, family, and a full time business. Vacations are always a welcome, and much needed break to get away from it all, and time to do the things we all enjoy.
Yes, I absolutely want to capture moments through my camera, but I also want to be physically, and emotionally present with my family. I am just as happy seeing that exotic bird or that elusive wild animal with my own eyes, as I am getting a shot of it – I don’t need to prove it to the world!
While we were hiking in Glacier National Park in Montana, we saw a wolverine – yes, we truly did! About 10 minutes after this photo was taken, the path turned really narrow with a steep incline, so I did the most sensible thing I could do, and put the camera away. A few minutes after that, we saw a brown patch of fur run along the path! A ranger later confirmed that a wolverine was frequenting the area we had just hiked. Yes, I have no photographs to prove it, but I have the most wonderful memory of seeing one of the rarest (to see) animals in the wild! Wolverines are a shy species, so don’t expect to see one out in the wild. They live in dens made out of snow tunnels, rocks and boulders and can be found in remote forests and tundra.
What are some of the most interesting wild animals you have photographed? Share your experiences in the comments below.
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The post 5 Tips for Getting Started with Wildlife Photography for Beginners by Karthika Gupta appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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This is the Canon EF-M 28mm F3.5 Macro IS STM. It is a compact, light weight, close-focusing lens designed exclusively for Canon’s EOS M lineup. It’s image-stabilized and uses a quiet stepping motor mechanism for autofocus. It’s priced at $ 299.
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| The lens comes with a removable cover for the front |
$ 299 places it below a majority of macro primes for cost. However, the Nikon Micro?Nikkor 40mm F2.8 does still beat it out in price by around $ 50, and is 2/3-stop brighter.
All the trump cards held by the Micro-Nikkor fold when other features of the EF-M 28mm Macro are brought in to consideration, though. First, even though it is a wider FOV lens, its nearest focus distance is 3.7″, nearly 3″ closer than the Micro-Nikkor. Even taking the slightly longer field of view of the Micro-Nikkor in to account, the Canon is able to achieve a 1.2x magnification in “Super Macro” mode over the Nikkor’s 1x magnification.
When working at such diminutive focus distances, there’s an inherent issue that many experienced macro photographers have learned to work around. The camera, lens, and sometimes even photographer start blocking light from the itty bitty subject. To get around this, macro photographers will use specialized lights, typically ring lights mounted to the filter thread.
Canon has gone the extra mile (inch?) and included a pair of LED lights (hidden under their cover in this shot) mounted on the left and right hand side of the front of the lens, diffused by a clear white ring, eliminating the additional requirement of a macro light kit for those extreme close-ups.
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3.7″ is quite an extreme working distance, and this means a maximum reproduction ratio of 1.2x in ‘Super Macro’ mode. Image stabilization is included and is effective for shooting in a wide range of scenarios, although for the extreme close-ups it’s better left switched off and replaced with a tripod.
A subject at minimum focus distance illuminated by the two LED’s together receives about 8.9 EV illumination in normal macro and 9.1 EV in super macro mode when measured with an incident light meter. The lights have two levels of brightness, and are switched on via a button on the lens barrel. Both come on with a single press, and a press and hold switches to one light only. Sadly, there’s no ability to have just one LED on at full brightness and the other dimmed. They’re either both on at the same power level, or illuminated independently.
The lightweight construction and STM focus motor also help this lens focus reasonably quickly, especially when compared to the painfully slow-focusing macro lenses of yore. It isn’t as fast as some of the quickest we’ve seen, but does very well, especially considering how close its MFD is.
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By itself, this lens weighs 130 grams, making it so light Canon boasts about the 28mm F3.5 being the ‘world’s lightest autofocus macro lens for an ILC system.’ When mounted to the EOS M3 the total weight is a featherweight 492 grams, exemplifying the lightness and convenience benefit of mirrorless systems compared to DSLRs. By comparison, a Nikon D5500 body weighs 420 grams. Add another 235 grams for the 40mm Micro lens, then another 200+ for an LED macro light kit, and the total comes out to 855 grams, or nearly double the weight of the Canon kit.
This diminutive size means weight can also be saved when making a tripod selection, as long as it is sturdy enough for work that is incredibly sensitive to vibrations.
Less weight means less fatigue and more reasons to bring the camera on location.
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This graph shows the maximum resolution (as a percent of Nyquist) attained by our copy of the lens at various apertures. It uses MTF-10 criteria, which is a measure of the finest detail that can be resolved with at least 10% contrast. If that sounds complicated, just keep in mind this figure is well correlated to total resolution, though isn’t as great a representation of perceived sharpness, which correlates more with MTF-50 measurements (more on that on the next slide).
Our results here show that center resolution peaks at 80% the linear resolution that can be theoretically attained, at F5.6 – a decent result. If this were resolved across the frame, you’d get about a 16MP image from this 24MP sensor. Of course it’s not, but corners aren’t too far behind, at 67% by F6.3. Not bad when you consider the higher resolving power demands placed on the lens by the smaller APS-C sensor… but what about perceived sharpness?
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The MTF-50 result – better correlated with perceived sharpness – tells a slightly different story, indicating only around 875 line pairs per picture height resolved, which translates to ~4.6MP, or 19% of the total sensor resolution. It’s not a terrible result, but does indicate that while the lens resolves a lot of detail, it doesn’t quite maintain as much contrast as a higher performing lens might. This is no surprise, given the lens’ size, weight, and price.
While performance isn’t state of the art in terms of macro lenses (the Sony FE 90mm F2.8 deserves a shout out here), it does a good job throughout the aperture range, with good field uniformity, and fair ability to resolve fine detail, particularly when you factor in the disadvantages of the smaller APS-C sensor (which places high demands on lens’ resolving power). It doesn’t have L-series levels of contrast and perceived sharpness – but we wouldn’t expect it to.
See our gallery for a set of infinity shots to see how this tiny macro resolves real-world detail on a flat plane.
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The EOS M3’s articulating touch screen is great for close-up work when using this lens. It takes a lot of strain out of working low when one doesn’t need to peer through a viewfinder or crouch low to see the screen. Magnifying the image for focus checking also works brilliantly on the M3. There’s no pixel binning or frame rate drops in 100% magnification mode, which helps the touch-enabled panning function to operate quickly and smoothly, helping ensure the narrow focus plane is placed exactly where you want it.
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| Even club soda can make an interesting photo when shooting this close |
Or rather, it can be used creatively. 1.2x magnification means that objects are 1.2 times their actual size on the sensor plane. This means objects, details or textures can completely fill the frame, creating wonderful abstract shots that aren’t usually possible without a fair bit of kit. Combine this ability with a set up that is easily carried around and opportunities for interesting shots begin to pop up everywhere, as it offers a whole new view on the seemingly mundane.
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| This image was taken with just the built-in LED lights for illumination, and was cropped and brightened in post. |
Well, for $ 300, expecting absolute perfection is unrealistic, especially in the photo world.
First, it isn’t the sharpest lens out there. It’s pretty good, but in the macro world there are better options. That said, none of them have those lovely lights and will probably cost more.
The lights and image stabilization aren’t powerful enough to make this a hand-holdable macro, so don’t make the mistake of expecting that. The handheld spider shot above illustrates the pitfalls of lighting exclusively with the on board LEDs.
First, the light cast by the LEDs isn’t particularly intense. It’s bright enough to light subjects at minimum focus distance outdoors, but only when its overcast. Any direct sunlight will overpower the light and will make the lens’ shadow very obvious. By itself, the light needs to be combined with a tripod, and should be thought of as a way to avoid the complications of a ring light system (batteries, cables, etc) instead of an all-purpose fill light.
Second, when working with a high reproduction ratio, depth of field is inherently incredibly shallow. The LED lights aren’t bright enough to allow for stopping down for deep depth of field while shooting handheld in dim ambient light.
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| Using a narrow aperture can achieve deep depth of field when close focusing, but diffraction will decrease sharpness, as can be seen in this shot at F18. |
It is important to remember that shallow depth of field is a challenge with all macro lenses. One way to get around that issue is by focus stacking. There are many software solutions to focus stacking, and Olympus has even gone as far as to include it as an automatic function in some of its cameras. One can only hope Canon does eventually as well.
The only other gripe is with the lights and their configuration. It would be nice to be able to rotate the lights 90 degrees for a sort of “clamshell” lighting instead of being stuck with the “copystand” lighting constantly, or to be able to have them configured either way regardless of wether the camera is being used in portrait or landscape orientation.
As a standard lens, it performs fine in normal working distances, but vignetting is strong wide-open, making the EF-M 22 F2 a better general use prime lens if you don’t need the macro performance.
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| This image used a combination of the built-in lights and a back lit semi-transparent surface |
For beginners looking to shoot macro, the EF-M 28mm F3.5 Macro is a great place to start. Its close focus abilities mean it has a wide range of macro use cases, and the built-in LEDs mean one doesn’t have to budget for a set of lights when just getting started. It’s a great starting point for learning the challenges and pitfalls of macro photography, and will produce great results when applying those lessons.
Click here to see our Canon EF-M 28mm F3.5 Macro Sample Gallery
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Do your images end up looking soft when you resize them and export them for the web? When you resize an image, it loses some sharpness. With a 24 MP image measuring 6000 px you need to resize quite a lot to downsize it for optimal web use which is often around 800 px wide. That is why a set-once-and-forget Continue Reading
The post The Secret to Getting Tack Sharp Images for the Web appeared first on Photodoto.
Have you ever felt that your photography isn’t improving as much as it once was? Do you feel that the level of your work is stagnating and not progressing much more?
Yet you keep reading article after article, either on the web or in magazines. You hope that one of them will provide the next breakthrough for your work and help you rip through the barrier that will bring your photography to the next level. You show off your work to friends and family, and you hear the resounding praises of, “That’s a beautiful photograph” or, “You nailed it”, or any other form of overly positive, loving feedback. The people that you show your work to love it, but you feel that it’s just becoming a little boring, and the next image isn’t really any different from the last.
By Justin
If this sounds like you, don’t panic; you’re very likely not alone! Even better, there is a very simple remedy for this. This remedy will not only help you now, but also continue to help you well into the future, and at all stages of your photographic journey. You won’t need to read anything extra for it, nor will you have to buy any equipment. To break through this barrier you need to do one thing: be more selective with the feedback you listen to.
The trouble with feedback from people like friends and family is that, unless they are photographers themselves, they won’t tell you want you need to hear. Rather, they will tell you what you want to hear – which is generally positive reinforcements – however, when you come to think of it, no one really wants to hear that their latest photo is rubbish!
But it’s this honest, yet brutal truth, that will ultimately help you take better photos. Sure, I’ll be the first to admit that it wasn’t the best feeling in the world when I was once told a collection of my photos weren’t that great. To make things worse, this came from a photographer whom I greatly admired and respected. It shook me up a little. It made me feel a little inadequate. It made me question if this was indeed the career for me, and if I actually had what it took to succeed.
By arileu
But I needed to hear it. I needed to know what my work was actually like. Being continually told that my work was great and amazing wasn’t really helping with anything other than inflating my ego. I needed to hear exactly how a seasoned photographer viewed my work, and I needed to hear it honestly and clearly. This feedback set me on the direction that I needed to take to improve my game, and because it wasn’t sugar coated, I had no ambiguity about any of the feedback I had received.
This kind of feedback is not something that you will get from friends and family. You have to go out there and find a third party. A person that not only has no emotional connection with you, but also who knows one or two things about photography. By removing the emotional connection, you open the door for truth and honesty.
By Quinn Dombrowski
How it’s delivered, however, is a variable you cannot control. This means you also need to bring something to the table; a thick skin. Some photographers, just like doctors, are fantastic at delivering bad news in a nice subtle, even positive, way. Others will tell you how it is, warts and all, without the sugar coatings. But where do you find this third party?
There are many avenues you can take to find the right third party for getting feedback on your work. Social media, such as Instagram and Facebook, can be great. Facebook in particular has many useful groups where you can seek feedback and critique on your work. But if keeping it in person and face-to-face is more your thing, looking around at camera clubs is another option. The feedback you get at camera clubs may not always be accurate, but it is a useful tool to network with other photographers.
By s3aphotography
Just keep in mind exactly who your third party will be. You ideally would like your mentor to be involved in the genres you’re most interested in – there’s no point showing a wedding photographer, for example, a body of sport or landscape images. Also keep an open mind to having multiple people. This will help you smooth out any personal preferences each photographer may have, and find a more common denominator to look out for.
Being more selective with who you seek for feedback will help improve your photography immeasurably. It won’t always be easy to hear your work being torn apart, but if you keep at it and keep your chin up, you will come out the other side a stronger photographer and perhaps even a stronger person.
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The post Improve Your Photography by Getting the Right Feedback on Your Images by Daniel Smith appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Do your images end up looking soft when you resize them and export them for the web? When you resize an image, it loses some sharpness. With a 24 MP image measuring 6000 px you need to resize quite a lot to downsize it for optimal web use which is often around 800 px wide. That is why a set-once-and-forget Continue Reading
The post The Secret to Getting Tack Sharp Images for the Web appeared first on Photodoto.
When I first got started in photography I thought I had things all figured out regarding cameras, lenses, exposure, and even some post-processing. However, the first time I greeted a client on location for an actual photo shoot, I realized just how clueless and ill-prepared I really was, and found myself nervous to the point of almost being nonfunctional. I was so uptight and anxious about the whole photo session, that I’m still not sure how I managed to get any good pictures, but thankfully things have gotten much better in the subsequent years.
Even though I have greatly expanded my knowledge and experience, I still get a little nervous when meeting with clients. I have found several tips that work well to calm the butterflies in my stomach and help make for much more enjoyable and productive portrait sessions, both for me and my clients. I’m going to share them with you.
Even after doing this type of work for years, I can still get nervous going into a photo session.
While this triad of temporal distinctions is entirely nonscientific in nature, I have found that my stress and anxiety regarding a given portrait session generally can be divided into three discrete phases:
Here are my tips for helping yourself relax, take things easy, and get mentally prepared for the photo session. While not all of these may apply to you, I do hope they are general enough to be useful to you in similar situations.
If you aren’t relaxed the kids won’t chill out either, and neither will their parents.
Adele, one of the most popular singers in the world, recently told Rolling Stone that she gets stage fright. “I’m scared of audiences,” she said. “I don’t like touring. I have anxiety attacks a lot.” As a photographer this gives me some degree of comfort knowing that my nervousness leading up to a photo session is not all that different than world-famous singers and actor,s who perform in front of thousands of people every day. Even though I have done many portrait sessions, I still get nervous beforehand, but have found a few tips and tricks to help calm myself down and relax in order to clear my head and do the best job I can.
Whether it’s a friend, a coworker, a family member, or even a former client, spending time talking about the upcoming session is one of the best ways to clear my head and get some reassurance. For me it’s my wife, who is a solid rock and a constant reminder that I can do the job. She and I discuss my goals for the session, look at examples from other photographers, and talk about what has worked and not worked in past sessions. These conversations always help me calm down, while also giving me a big boost of confidence that goes a long way towards a successful photo session.
In the days leading up to this session, my wife and I spent a long time discussing the shoot and planning things out. This did wonders to calm my nerves and helped me do a better job at the session.
Look at your own past images as a reminder that you are fully capable of doing the job. Sometimes in the days leading up to a photo session I start to wonder if I really have what it takes to get the shots I want, but looking through my own portfolio always offers enough reassurance to bring me out of that funk and back to reality. Yes, each session has its own unique challenges, but reminding myself of what I have done before, is a great way to relax and prepare for what is about to come.
Have a plan for the session and make a list of poses and shots you want to get. It can be a mental list, but a physical list will help you be sure to get everything you want, and will allow your clients see that you are prepared if you cross items off it during the shoot. One of the last things you want is to get back to your computer and realize you forgot to get a shot of grandma holding her new grandbaby, the happy couple underneath their special tree, or little Timmy in his special new cowboy boots that his mother emailed you about the day before. Making a list will help you avoid this scenario while also helping you to de-stress before the session.
This couple sent me a few ideas for different shots, and since the location was 60 miles away I used Google Maps Street View to investigate things beforehand.
Visit the location to make sure you know what it’s like, and how you can use it to frame your shots. Ideally this would be at the same time of day as your photo session, so you can make sure you know what the lighting will look like on the day of the shoot. This will help you see all sorts of things you might miss if you just show up the day of the session, and it will make you look like a confident professional as you direct your clients.
Know your gear inside and out. It sounds silly but you don’t want to freeze up in the middle of a session because you can’t find the menu that lets you change white balance, or you forgot which dial changes the shutter speed. If you find that you need a quick refresher re-read the manual, watch online tutorials, or just spend 15 minutes poring through the menus and buttons. When it comes time to do the photo session, you can rest assured that these planning efforts will have been put to good use.
You don’t want to scramble trying to locate menu options and camera buttons. Make sure you know your gear beforehand, so you can focus on your clients when you’re on the job.
If you’re going to do a newborn session, practice with stuffed animals. If you’re on location, get a friend or family member to go out with you a week beforehand and do some test shots, so there are as few surprises as possible when you go out there with the client.
Make a list of all the gear you need and check it off one-by-one as you pack up for the session. You don’t want to get to the location and realize you forgot something at home, or left a battery on the charger. I once did an outdoor shoot and realized all too late that I forgot my lens hoods, and almost immediately started hyperventilating into my camera bag when the clients asked for some shots with the sun behind them, just out of the frame. Things ended up working out, but a simple list would have prevented a great deal of stress during the shoot.
Chatting with this couple as I set up my gear helped put everyone at ease, including myself.
One of the weirdest parts about a portrait session can be the few minutes when you are visiting with the client before you start actually taking pictures. What do you do? What do you talk about? How do you strike a balance between friendly and professional? It’s enough to send even the most seasoned photographer’s blood pressure to the top of the charts, and messing up this brief pre-session period can send the rest of the gig into a tail spin.
In my experience one of the best ways to help you and the client relax is to go on the offence instead of playing defence. Don’t stand around waiting for people to talk to you, as they are probably feeling just as awkward, and are likely waiting for you, the person in charge, to take the lead. Even if smalltalk is not your forté, you need to be willing to strike up a conversation and have a few things ready to talk about as you are getting set up. In a nutshell, make this time all about the client, and helping them feel comfortable.
As you are getting ready to start taking pictures talk to your clients about their life outside of the photo session, and find out what hobbies they have, what they like doing in their spare time, or even what they are doing over the coming weekend. Ask questions to show you are interested, and use this time to also run some ideas past the client in terms of what you will be doing. This helps build a sense of rapport and respect, and can go a long way towards putting everyone at ease. Your clients might be just as nervous as you, but getting the chance to get to know each other will help put everyone at ease and also help them feel comfortable if you have lots of lighting, lenses, or other gear. If there are kids involved, bring some toys or snacks (nothing crumbly as it will get on their clothes) to win them over. At my most recent family session I gave the two-year-old a fake toy camera and asked if he could help me get some photos. This not only won him over but his parents too, and a week later, before they had even seen their photos, they were telling some friends about how much they enjoyed the picture session.
A few minutes chatting sports with the grandparents and playing with the kids went a long way towards a more successful photo session.
Even though you have done everything in your power to chill out, relax, and put your mind at ease leading up to the photo session, things can still be a little nerve-wracking as you go about the process of actually taking pictures. At any moment there are a thousand decisions to be made, and trying to balance everything can be enough to make your palms sweat. My favorite trick for relaxing during a photo session is to simply make things fun. Don’t bark out orders, but instead have your clients do silly things like make faces or try just-for-fun poses. This will help you loosen up, and also give you a chance to build on the rapport you have already established at the beginning. Clients can tell if their photographer is wound up tight and needs to chill out, and if you make things more fun and lighthearted as opposed to all business, you will find yourself loosening up, relaxing, and getting much better results.
These are just a few of my favorite tips and tricks to help me calm my nerves before and during a photo session, but what about you? How do you approach your portrait sessions and what do you do to help yourself relax? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
This week on dPS we’re featuring articles all about different kinds of people photography including portrait, event and travel photography. See all the previous ones below, and watch for more people photography articles over the next few days.
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The post Tips for Getting Yourself to Relax as a Photographer and Have More Successful Portrait Sessions by Simon Ringsmuth appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Much of the power of Photoshop comes from its use of layers, which can best be thought of as transparency over your image. Layers have lots of benefits, like the fact that you can work on your image without affecting the pixels in the underlying image. But perhaps the most powerful aspect of layers, is your ability to affect exactly where, how, and how much of your changes will affect the underlying image. That is all done through layer masks. In fact, it might be fair to say that layers are really only effective because of layer masks.
What are layer masks? Think of them as filters that let you control the impact of the changes you make to your image. Just like you can change ordinary filters to determine what gets through them, so you can adjust a layer mask to control what changes. If that sounds confusing, don’t worry, and I will walk you through the basics of layer masks now.
To understand layer masks, it is best to start with the simplest form. A mask that does nothing – that is, it lets absolutely everything through from the layer you are working on, to the layer underneath – it is represented by solid white. This is referred to as a “reveal all” layer mask in Photoshop. When you look at your layers palette with a white/reveal-all layer mask, it will look like this:
When your mask is all white, any change you make on that layer, will apply to the underlying image. How do you create an all white image layer mask? Very often – as in the case of adjustment layers – one will automatically be created for you. Or, to add one yourself, just go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. You can also click on this button at the bottom of the layers palette to create one on the layer you have selected
An all-white layer mask is actually pretty useless. The utility of the layer mask comes when we start masking (hiding) things off. Before we get into that, however, let’s talk about how to create an all-black layer mask. As you might expect, a black layer mask works the opposite way as a white one, and lets absolutely nothing through to the layer underneath. You can make all the changes you want to this layer, and it will have no impact on your underlying image. Here is how it will look when you create one:
To create an all-black layer mask, just go to Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All or press ALT while clicking on the same button used in the graphic above to make a white layer mask. Now that you know what layer masks are, and the basics, we can get into the real fun of them, which is where you have blacks, whites, and even tones of gray in the same mask.
Layer masks allow you to apply changes to some parts of the image, but not others. Just remember that wherever your layer mask is white, it will let the changes you made to the layer through, so that they apply to your image below. Wherever your layer mask is black, it will not let the changes through, so they will not apply to the image. Before we get into how to do that, let’s talk about when you might want apply changes to only part of your image.
Let’s take this picture of an old barn. I’m choosing this image because it will be simple to adjust using masks, as it only involves two main areas. As you can see, the sky is too bright, while the barn and foreground are too dark. In doing this for yourself for the first time, use a simple picture like this to get started.
As you probably know, you do not want to edit these two areas in the same way, so a global adjustment to the whole image won’t help. You can, however, use masks so that edits only apply to the areas you want. For example you might darken the sky like this:
Here I masked off the barn and foreground so that the darkening only applies to the sky. I used a quick Curves Adjustment layer to darken the image. As you can see, the mask of the sky is white (so the changes affect the image in that area), while the mask of the barn and foreground is black (so the changes do not affect that part of the image).
Now let’s do the opposite to brighten up the barn and the foreground. Once again, I’ll use a layer mask so that my changes only affect the barn and the foreground, so that it looks like this:
This is the same move I made above, but in reverse. I created another Curves adjustment layer to brighten up the image. Now the layer mask is white over the barn and foreground, which means the brightening effect shows through in those areas. The layer mask is black over the sky though, so the brightening effect does not impact the sky (which is already bright enough).
But how do you do go about creating these layers and masks? Let’s find out now.
There are different ways to mask off portions of your images. Sometimes you will want to create a mask with a hard or definite edge, while other times you will want to gently blend in the effect to a portion of your image. In this article I will cover how to create a mask on an image with a hard edge (I will get into blending in changes in a later article). The photo of the decaying barn used above will work just fine for this, so let’s stick with that photo as our example.
To darken the sky in the image, the first thing you need to do is select the sky. To do so, click on the Quick Selection tool from your tools panel. Then click anywhere in the sky, and while holding the mouse button down, move around where you want to select pixels for your selection. Photoshop will automatically detect edges. To make the Quick Selection tool larger or smaller, use the square bracket ( [ and ] ) keys. If you end up selecting pixels you don’t want for your selection (and you inevitably will), press the ALT key (Option on a Mac) while clicking and it will remove them.
Photoshop is famous for providing several different ways of accomplishing the same thing. Making selections with hard edges is just such a case. You don’t have to use the Quick Selection tool. You can also use the Magic Wand tool, which will select similarly-toned pixels. Or you could use the Pen tool, or the Magnetic Lasso tool to draw the edges yourself. I could actually see a good case here for the Color Range command (Select > Color Range), which selects pixels of similar colors. Any one of those tools could work. While I want to point that out, I don’t want to get bogged down covering each of them. For now, just know that while I typically use the Quick Selection tool and did so here, there are other tools you can use to make the selection.
Once you make your selection, you can refine it a bit if you wish. Just bring up the Refine Edge dialog box and make adjustments there.
If you do not like the selection, you can always clean it up a bit later. Once you have made the adjustments, you can use the Brush tool to add or subtract parts of the image from the mask (more about that in a minute).
Now that your selection is created and refined, you are ready to put it into action. What we want to do is darken the sky. There are different ways to go about doing that, but what I’m going to use is a Curves adjustment layer. You don’t have to use this tool though, this same process will work when you create any sort of adjustment layer. If you are more comfortable using Levels or Brightness/Contrast, for example, use those.
In any case, all you will do now (with your selection still active) is click to create the Curves adjustment layer (or whatever type of adjustment layer you are comfortable with) and voila, the layer is created with a mask that has hidden the pixels you don’t want to change. It will look something like this:
If you use a Curves adjustment layer like I did, you just pull the line down to darken the picture. Pull it down to the left of the main cluster of pixels so that the curve is steepened through that main cluster. Of course, you may be using Levels or some other darkening tool, so just use those in whatever way you are comfortable.
In our example, we have now darkened the sky, but there are other problems with the picture. In particular, the barn and foreground are still too dark. How do we go about changing that? Pretty much the same way we did for the sky.
Start by making the selection. You can do it the same way as you did for the sky if you want. Just grab the Quick Selection tool and click around in the dark areas to create the selection. In this case, you can also just create a selection that is the opposite of the selection we previously created. That is, you previously made a selection of the sky and left everything else alone. Now you want to make a selection of everything else and leave the sky alone. To do that, you can just call up your old selection (Select > Reselect) and then tell Photoshop to reverse it (Select > Inverse). You now have a selection of everything but the sky, which is what you want.
From there, just create a Curves adjustment layer (or whatever tool you prefer to use) and apply the effect. Once you brighten the foreground, here is how it looks:
You may find, when you are done, that there are parts of the image that don’t look quite right. Perhaps there are pixels included in one of your masks that you didn’t want, or conversely you missed pixels that should have been in the image. You can clean up the mask after the fact. I find that the easiest way is to use the Brush tool.
Select the Brush tool on the tools panel. Once you do so, pay attention to the foreground color, that which the brush will use. If you set the brush to white, it will add to a selection (show the layer through the mask). If you set the brush to black, it will remove pixels from the selection (hide the layer with the mask). Some keyboard shortcuts to keep in mind are B to bring up the Brush tool in the first place, then D to make sure the colors are set to the default (black and white), and finally X to switch between black and white.
The Brush tool is great because you can set the hardness of the edge. Start by keeping it at its softest setting, and just changing the size of the Brush by using the bracket keys [ and ]. Use it to touch up the selection (mask) where needed (make sure you are painting on the mask NOT on the actual layer). Another tip is to press ALT (option on a Mac) while clicking on the mask in your layers palatte, which will cause the screen to display the mask only. That way you can see exactly where your mask is being applied. Press ALT again while clicking on the mask to go back to normal view.
This exercise will get you started using layer masks to make adjustments to portions of your pictures. Once you have done this a few times and start to master it, there are a lot of other additional techniques you can add to further enhance your photos. For example, while this article showed you how to use masks where you have defined edges, you can gradually blend in effects using masks as well. Further, while in this article we only affected brightness, you can use layer masks to affect color, brightness, and contrast to a great degree.
Of course, masks are not just for adjustment layers either. You can make changes on layers and control where and to what extent, the change gets applied. For example, you might sharpen or blur a layer, and then use a mask to apply that effect to only a portion of the picture. It also works well by making changes with a plug-in to a duplicate layer, then creating a mask to control the application of that plug-in’s changes.
When you use layer masks, you are well on your way to unleashing the full power of Photoshop. Get started with the techniques in this article, then you can add on other aspects from there.
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You are so excited about an upcoming newborn session. You can’t wait to cuddle the new baby, as you soothe them to sleep and pose them. Then you find out that the parents want to include their toddler, or even worse, toddlers! Now the excitement has changed to anxiety about throwing a toddler into the mix. Toddlers can be unpredictable, difficult to bribe, and sometimes want nothing to do with the new little person in their life.
Take a deep breath and remain calm. You can do this! Here are my three secrets to getting amazing toddler and newborn photos:
Remember that just a couple weeks ago, they were front and center in their parents’ lives. There have been a lot of changes, and most likely a little less attention for them.
Talk with the parents to find out about big sister. What does she like? Does she have any favorite songs or shows? What is her favorite treat? Talk with mom and dad beforehand, and see if they are okay with a little reward. Make big sister the center of attention when you arrive. Get down on her level, tell her about yourself, and ask her questions. Have her introduce you to her new baby sister. You want big sister to trust and like you.
Toddlers are so curious, and love to help. Show them some of the hats or headbands you brought for their little sibling. Ask them to pick out their favorites. Once they are comfortable with you, it will be a lot easier to get them to listen, when you want to take a picture with their new baby sister.
After you are done setting up, ask them to help you test out the light. If you can get them to lie down, the battle is half over. Tip: have baby all wrapped up and ready to go, before you have big sister help by being a light tester.
Now that you and big brother are friends, give him some choices. He needs to know that he is in charge. Forcing him to do something he doesn’t want to do, can backfire.
Some choices could be:
Choices make big brother feel in control. If he doesn’t want to cooperate in the beginning, that’s okay. You can try again later.
Let him take a break and then you can try again in a little bit. Use this break to get some images of baby alone. After big brother has had a break, you can give it another try. Sometimes multiple breaks are needed.
Tell big brother what to expect, and how long it’s going to take. Children have a much easier time if they know what to expect, and that there is an end time. You want to tell them what they’re going to do, how many pictures you’re going to take, and what happens after (the reward!).
“We are going to take a picture of you and your baby brother for mommy and daddy. It won’t take long. I will take five photos, then we’ll be done and you can pick out your prize! I’m going to start counting. 1 – 2 – 3 …”
Counting works great as even young toddlers can understand counting to three or five. You can take multiple photos while you draw out one number so you’ll end up with a lot more than five. With squirmy toddlers, multiple images are definitely needed. Once you hit the number, they are done.
If you don’t think you got a useable image give them a choice of counting again or taking a break. You want it to be short and sweet so big brother is more likely to cooperate.
After big sister has done what you have asked, give her a lot of praise. Even if all she did was make a choice to do pictures in five minutes instead of now. You asked her to make a choice, and she did. Great job big sister! It might not seem like a big win, but it will help when you try again.
Praise and thank big sister for every little thing she does. Kids love being praised, and to know that they are doing a good job. There is no such thing as too much praise when you are trying to get a toddler to cooperate.
Make a toy chest or prize bin. You can add toys that your children don’t play with anymore, or find items at the dollar store. When you first meet big sister and are becoming friends, show her what you brought. Point out a few items in your prize bin, and tell her that after she takes some pictures, she’ll get to pick out any one item to keep.
While you are praising big sister, remind her of her reward. “You are doing such a great job with your little brother. I can’t wait to see what prize you pick out!”
You can show the prize bin during breaks. A toddler’s attention span isn’t the greatest, so sometimes they need reminding that they’ll get a prize soon. For a real challenging toddler, you can let them pick out their prize ahead of time, and put it on a shelf or with mom and dad as a reminder.
Do you have any other tips for working with toddlers and newborns? Let us know if you try these and how you make out. Please share your results in the comments below.
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