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Mindful Photography

15 Sep

Being behind a camera is definitely one of the best places to be, but channeling all that creativity can sometimes take you away from appreciating your surroundings.

Get your Zen on with this article by Aaron Eisenberg. He lays out some excellent tips on being mindful of the moment, while still capturing it.

We plucked out a few of our favorites here:

Rather than going into a place and snapping away, take time to look around and find the best shot or two. This saves digital storage, creates better photos and gathers greater memories!
Spend a day taking notes rather than snapping photos. This can spark conversations and provide you with more depth to your documentation.
Forget about likes and favorites while you’re on vacation. Wait to post your photos on social media until after you’re home again.

Photo by Aaron Eisenberg

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5 Tips to Take Your Landscape Photography from Good to Great

15 Sep

The beauty of the scenery in Antarctica

Landscape photography is one of the most favoured genres of photography. It also happens to be the one genre that is not easy to master. The reason is simple, to become really good at landscape photography, you need to spend hours trying to master it. Most photographers are not able to dedicate that amount of time, so it becomes frustrating. Many photographers end up being disappointed with their images, but there are few things that you can do to make sure you get better results, in a short space of time.

1. Foreground interest

This is a common tip, but one that makes a lot of sense. Having a subject in the foreground, anchors the image. It tells the viewer where to look first and once they have looked at that, their eye will explore the rest of the image.

You can place your foreground subject anywhere in the lower third of your image, but it might be a good idea to put it more to the left side of the frame. This is not a rule (I really don’t believe there are any rules in photography), but rather a suggestion. We read text from left to right, so if your foreground interest is on the left hand side, it makes it feel easy for the viewer to interact with the image. The foreground interest could be anything, a piece of driftwood, a rock, a tree, anything that works for the scene.

Foreground interest anchors a scene

2. Color in your scene

Your image will have inherent color based on the time of day and subject you are shooting. If you are shooting a forest, your scene might be predominantly green, if you are doing a seascape, there may be lots of blue because of the colour of the water.

Be aware of the colour in your scene and work with the opposite colors on the visual colour wheel. As an example, there are three primary colors that your camera sees, they are: Red, Green and Blue. The additive colors (opposite colors) are Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. To be clear, Cyan is the opposite color to Red, Magenta is the opposite to Green and Yellow is the opposite to blue. These opposing colors can work well in a scene, particularly yellow and blue.

Look at the colors in your scene and decide what you want to emphasize. To make sure you have great colours to work with, you will want to shoot during the golden hours and emphasize the warm colors.

Rich colours will enhance the drama in your image

Rich colors will enhance the drama in your image

3. White Balance

When you are shooting landscapes, you will want to be shooting at golden hour, or the blue hour. These are the times of day when the light works really well for dramatic landscape shots. In the golden hours, the light will be warm tones of yellow, orange, or red. Check your white balance setting when you are shooting at this time. If your camera is set to Auto White Balance, it will cancel out much of the warm tones in your image as it tries to neutralize any color casts you may have in your scene.

If the golden hour light is really strong in your scene, Auto White Balance will make the scene look really bland and colorless. Try and shoot on Daylight White Balance instead. That way, the camera will be capturing the light as it truly is in the scene. You could even turn your white balance to cloudy or shade to enhance the warm tones even more. Use this settings as a creative tool, it can really make a good impact on your image.

Use white balance creatively, this image was shot using shade white balance

Use white balance creatively, this image was shot using the Shade preset.

4. Movement

Some of the best landscape images have some form of movement in them. The movement can be caused by water, wind, or both. Subjects that work well with movement are rivers, waterfalls, seascapes and even stars. A long exposure image of the sea with water looking all silky and wispy is ethereal, and adds drama to the image. We don’t see this smooth silky water naturally with our eyes, it is only possible with the camera. The results are often very appealing, and it gives a serenity to the scene that is almost magical. You will need a tripod to get this right, you will also need to use a longer exposure of a few seconds. Timing is also important, particularly with seascapes. You may have to time the shot for when the water comes rushing over the rocks, or up the beach. That way, the image will be filled with silky streaks of water and it will look amazing.

Movement in water can make a scene look dramatic

5. Less is more

Landscape images become more dramatic if there is a very clear subject in them. If you are unsure about what should be included in your scene, ask yourself this question as you look around the scene, “Does that rock, tree, river, etc., add to the scene or not?” If you think it is not adding to your scene, remove it. Even if you are unsure, remove it and take a shot to see how the image looks. In many images, less is more. If you have less items in your scene, there is less to distract the eye, there is less that can make the scene confusing, so give it a try. Set up a shot, take a photo and then start minimizing the distracting elements.

Sometimes, less is more

Try these five tips and share your results in the comments below. Do you have any other tips to add?

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The post 5 Tips to Take Your Landscape Photography from Good to Great by Barry J Brady appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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7 Tips for Better Commercial Food Photography

14 Sep

Earlier this summer, I was awarded a dream photo shoot to photograph chocolate chip cookies for my local grocery store. What sounded like a simple job at first, ended up being more challenging than expected, and in this article, I’ll walk through the process of approaching a commercial food photo shoot for a real client, with seven key tips to keep in mind.

Select your gear

One of your best friends in food photography is a macro lens, as it lets you zoom-in and capture small details and perspectives, that your client’s camera phone can’t. In a day where just about everyone has the ability to take pretty good food photos with their cell phone, it’s important to always create photos that your client couldn’t easily capture themselves using low level gear. Personally, I always photograph food with two camera bodies (a Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 6D) and two lenses (24-70mm f/2.8 and a 100mm f/2.8 macro lens).

Lighting-wise, you can easily use reflectors and natural lighting if it’s at your disposal, but I prefer a simple and cheap off-camera flash setup consisting of a Canon 580 EXII Speedlight flash, Yongnuo wireless flash triggers, a simple lighting stand, and a shoot through umbrella. My lighting setup is in the diagram below.

Food photography tips

Depending on what kind of food photography quality you’re aiming for, it may also be wise to invest in a food stylist. In this case, I did not use one, but started to wish I did at certain key moments, which I’ll address later.

Set up the shot

Generally speaking, food photography can be done just about anywhere, but you should always check with your client to see if they have a preference of shooting on site in a particular location, or if they want you to conduct the shoot in your space. In this case, the latter scenario applied. Since the photo style we were going for would be pretty cropped and zoomed in, I didn’t need a fancy kitchen or dining room setup. But I would need a variety of surfaces and props to enhance those heavily cropped images.

Tip #1: Understand the client’s photo needs

There tend to be two main scenarios when it comes to food photography. Sometimes the client will have a menu of dishes prepared and you need to shoot as many as possible in a given time frame, OR the client has one particular dish or menu item that they want highlighted. This assignment falls into the latter category, as the whole point was to take images of one particular item: an extraordinary large chocolate chip cookie, dubbed “The Cookie.”

My local grocery store had spent a year experimenting in the kitchen to come up with a recipe for a gigantic chocolate chip cookie, and they needed photos of the product to help with promotional marketing. These photos in particular had a very specific purpose of being blown up into large decals and posters, that would be plastered on walls and windows throughout the store, so the highest resolution photos would be needed.

Food photography tips

Tip #2: Research with Pinterest

After understanding the client’s basic photo needs, I always conduct research on Pinterest to get inspired and visually identify patterns among other similar photo shoots. While many clients encourage photographers to add their own twist or dose of creativity, it’s also a good idea to have a sense of traditional ways that others have executed similar photo shoots, in case your client ends up wanting a more traditional image. A quick search for “chocolate chip cookies” on Pinterest gave me a slew of ideas on different ideas to effectively photograph, “The Cookie.”

Tip #3: Use a variety of surfaces

Per the researched examples that I had found, plus my personal approach to food photography, I set out to shoot these cookies using three main surfaces: a ceramic plate on a granite countertop, a wooden cutting board, and the white paper napkins and packaging that came with each cookie. The purpose was to offer the client a variety of surfaces and textures to choose from, in addition to a variety of implied settings in which “The Cookie” might be consumed.

Food photography tips

Tip #4: Incorporate people and action into the scene

The next photographic approach I took involved having a human model interact with my photo subject. Incorporating a human element, either by simply including a body part such as a hand holding the cookie, or a partially eaten cookie, gives the photo subject a sense of purpose and utility that the client might find helpful. It also adds a sense of scale – important to show the size of “The Cookie”.

Food photography tips

Tip #5: Use ingredients and pairings

Pretty much every food has a logical pairing, such as white wine and fish, beer and burgers, and milk and cookies. Instead of just focusing on one component, why not set the scene by introducing a natural pairing to the photo subject? This not only sets the scene, but it can also help provide scale, in this case showing how large “The Cookie” is compared to a glass of milk.

Food photography tips

Tip #6: Be open to feedback and further collaboration

After going through the above scenarios, and putting together a first batch of photos for client feedback, I was a bit surprised when they replied saying, “These are great, but not quite fitting our ideal vision.” Luckily, I asked for feedback early in the shoot and was able to collaborate further with the client to hone in on what they were actually looking for, which were photos more to the tune of this:

Food photography tips

While the client’s initial instructions were to produce a variety of photos of the cookie, like the ones I first delivered, it took an extra conversation with them to realize that there were two main points they really wanted to illustrate:

Size mattered: Since “The Cookie” was truly large, similar in size to that of a DVD, we really needed to emphasize its huge size.
Have to see the goo: The selling point of “The Cookie” is the super gooey melted chocolate center of each cookie.

With these two points really emphasized, the resulting images ended up being purely macro shots, but the challenge was capturing the gooey melted chocolate centers. This is when a food stylist probably would have come in handy, but through trial and error, I was able to use my oven and microwave to re-create the melted chocolate look in my own kitchen.

Tip #7: Find the finished product and document it!

Whenever you perform photography services for a client, make every effort to get your hands on the final product that has your photo(s) in use. Having proof of your published photos is excellent for building your portfolio and credibility as a photographer, not to mention it just feels really good to see your images blown up on the side of a building.

The final product: my photos used in decals on the side of a building.

Conclusion

Do you have any other tips or approaches for tackling commercial food photography jobs? Let me know in the comments below!

The post 7 Tips for Better Commercial Food Photography by Suzi Pratt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Road Trip: The wildlife and nature photography of Dave Welling

13 Sep

Based out of southern California, nature photographer Dave Welling has been volunteer and Director to the Wildlife Waystation hospice center since 1987. This has given him an intimate understanding of wildlife, and he often spends weeks at a time photographing the colorful landscapes and rare specimens that populate his portfolio. Take a look at his work and find out more about him. Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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6 Phrases to Help you Learn Photography Faster

13 Sep

5 simple photography tricks for accurate shots

Learning all the ins and outs of photography is a never ending challenge. For some, the technical side of photography seems more difficult to understand. Others feel they are challenged by the creative side of understanding composition and light. When learning any new skill, the understanding of fundamentals is always most important. The complexity of settings, along with endless creative options is what makes photography so challenging. That’s where these six sayings come in. These simple phrases will bring you back to the basics, helping you to create quality images quickly, allowing for more time to experiment creatively.

1. ISO: Set it first – change it last

Set it and forget it until you have to remember.

Many people get confused by the purpose of ISO, and how to use it when controlling light. Unlike the other two big settings (aperture and shutter speed) when used properly, ISO gives your photograph the ability to be more sensitive to the available light. When you are setting your ISO, remember to choose a setting based on the amount of available light you happen to have in your scene. Don’t set it because the shot you took before was too dark and you want to brighten the exposure.

ISO 2500, f/1.8 at 1/125th of a second

Every time you enter a scene, before you take a shot, ask yourself, what kind of light is there?

Here are some starting ISO settings, adjust as necessary for your scene:

Bright sunny day: ISO 100-200
Shade/clouds: ISO 400-800
Indoors: ISO 800-1600
Little/no light: ISO 1600 and up

Don’t forget the negative side of ISO. Most camera models go above 1600 ISO now. However, if you choose 1600, or higher, you will most probably see noise (digital grain) in your image. There are many post-production techniques to remove noise, but it’s always best to capture your best shot in the camera. Consider this when choosing a higher ISO in dimly lit areas.

2. Set an intention

Both shutter speed and aperture measure and control how much light the camera takes in. But they each also have a creative aspect that must be considered when choosing your settings. Knowing their distinct qualities, and creating an intention when you shoot, are two extremely important fundamentals of photography.

ISO 200, f/4.0 at 1/5000th

Ask yourself, “What is my purpose?” Why are you taking that photo? Be clear on what you want to capture. Give yourself a moment to set an intention or two, then keep it in mind the whole time. Once you have figured out your main purpose, you can use that to choose which setting you will set first. As aperture affects the depth of field and shutter speed affects movement, which aspect is more important for creating the image you want?

Let’s take a look at two more awesome phrases to easily remember the different purposes of aperture and shutter speed.

3. Shutter speed: fast freezes – slow shows

Shutter speed is all about capturing (or not capturing) motion. When you want to show movement in the photograph, use a slower shutter speed. If a subject is moving and you want to freeze that movement, use a higher (faster) shutter speed. The faster the subject is moving, the higher your shutter speed must be to freeze them/it.

Quick Tip: Do not hand hold and shoot below 1/60th of a second. You are a vibrating creature, you are always moving. At about 1/60th of a second, the camera might capture the movement (called camera shake) you create just by pressing the shutter button.

Image #1 (left): ISO 1000, f9.0, 1/20th
Image #2 (right): ISO 1000, f/4.0, 1/125th

Here are some starting points to freeze moving subjects. Start here and adjust as necessary:

Moving cars: 1/4000th of a second or faster
People running: 1/1000th or faster
Kids playing: 1/500th or above
Person sitting still: 1/100th or faster
Still object: 1/60th or faster
Night scene: (tripod) 1/60th or slower

4. Aperture: High number = more in focus. Low number = less in focus

This setting is all about depth of field, the distance between the front and back of a focal plane. The focal plane is determined by the spot where you tell your camera to focus. The higher the f-number, the larger the distance of that plane. This means, more depth of the scene is within the focal plane, thus it is in sharper focus. The opposite is also true. The lower the f-number, the smaller the distance between the front and the back of the focal plane and less is in focus.

If you want everything in the photo to be fully in focus you will need to choose a higher f-number. If you want to create a shallow depth of field bringing only one part into focus, you will use a smaller f-number.

Image #1 (left): ISO 160, f/11.0, 1/400th
Image #2 (right): ISO 160, f/1.8, 1/4000th

Here are some aperture starting points, same as before, adjust as necessary:

Close-ups or detail shots: f/2.8 or lower (larger)
Portraits: (one person) f/1.8 – f/5.6
Groups: (2 or more) f/5.6 – f/8.0
Local scene: (less distance) f/8.0 – f/11
Landscape: (more distance) f/11 – f/22

5. Frame your finder

Witness your scene through your viewfinder, as you allow your eye to examine every inch of what you can see through the lens. Look from top left, across and down to the right. What is in each corner? Notice the edges of the frame. When examining everything you see, slightly move your camera around as you prepare for finding the best version (framing) of this shot. This will give you a greater sense of what you do, or do not want to be in the shot. You will notice if you have cut something off, or added something into the shot you do not want.

When you make a habit of always re-framing your viewfinder as you are shooting, you will gain a greater sense of awareness, allowing for more shots from other vantage points you hadn’t considered before. Even more importantly, as you practice this, every shot you take will be closer to what you want to capture in the first shot you take.

See what is in every inch of your frame before snapping the shutter!

6. Count your clicks

Once you have your desired exposure based on the purpose of what you are capturing, you can choose to change your purpose (capture a different effect) by going up or down the range of either aperture or shutter Speed. To make sure you keep a proper exposure like you had before (assuming you are shooting in Manual Mode), just count your clicks. If you click six times in one direction on shutter speed (because now you want to show motion), you will need to click six times in the other direction for aperture to keep a proper exposure.

For example: When photographing a birthday party, you may go from focusing on close-ups and details, to kids running around, to capturing a sunset. In this case, the first intention is creating a shallow depth of field to capture a non-moving object. Set your aperture to a low f-number. Using your meter, now set your shutter speed for correct exposure and snap away. ISO will already be set because that’s the first trick to remember.

Now it is time to capture the kids running around. You will switch focus from aperture to shutter Speed. To make sure you freeze their movement (no one likes a photo of a blurry kid), you will change your shutter speed to 1/1000th of second.

But wait! Before you start moving the dial, remember to count how many clicks you are going. If you clicked down four times to get to 1/1000th of a second, then you will click UP four times using your aperture dial. Now your exposure will be the same, but you quickly changed your settings to creatively capture something entirely different. Note: if you are using Aperture or Shutter Priority modes the camera will do this adjustment for you automatically.

There you have it

The best thing you can do now is turn these tricks into habits by jotting down these simple phrases and stuffing them in your camera bag. Next time you are ready to shoot, read over them once or twice before you begin. As you practice using these tricks in order to become more accurate and efficient behind the lens you will create more stunning eye-catching photographs of any subject you choose to capture.

Do you have any other cool phrases that you say to yourself when you are shooting? If you know any other great tricks that are easy to remember and simple to understand, let us know in the comments section below. Together, it will be fun to build a compilation of great photography learning quotes!

The post 6 Phrases to Help you Learn Photography Faster by Danielle Werner appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Weekly Photography Challenge – Backlighting

12 Sep

Check out these examples of images that have backlighting. Take a good look and get some ideas. Now it’s your turn.

Weekly Photography Challenge – Backlighting

This week’s challenge is to look for the light, particularly how it is hitting your subject. Backlight occurs when the light is coming from behind your subject, aimed back towards the camera. It works really on transparent objects like leaves and flowers.

By The Guy With The Yellow Bike

By Bill Gracey

By Julie Kertesz

Look for things that allow the light to come through them, show their color. Or look for light that outlines the subject as in a rim light.

By Bill Gracey

By Adam Hilliker

By Dwight Sipler

By Tambako The Jaguar

By GollyGforce – Living My Worst Nightmare

Share your images below:

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer upload them to your favourite photo sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

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

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5 Tactics to Make Your Photography Clients a Wellspring of Repeat Business

11 Sep

Have you ever wondered why some photographers have their doorbell ringing all day long while others are struggling week to week in order to sell their work? The secret is simple – successful photographers are also successful psychologists who invest most of their time and effort in developing long-lasting relationships with their clients. Building bonds with people may get rather Continue Reading

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How to Improve Your Photography Without Buying New Gear

11 Sep

It’s not the camera that makes good photography; it’s the photographer. How many times have you heard that? Probably a lot more times than you can count. It has become a bit of a cliché than anything, but it’s one that still rings true. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on brand new, state of the art camera systems and lenses, to be able to create great photos. You know that by now. There’s just one problem. All of those lenses and cameras are so, so shiny.

Most of that shininess is just a product of the camera manufacturers’ marketing departments churning out a constant onslaught of, “Buy me! Buy me! I’m so shiny! Buy me now!”

Shiny lenses are great, but are they the best investment for your photography right now?

Shiny new lenses are great, but are they the best investment for your photography right now?

The best advice? Ignore it as much as possible.

A bad photo made with a $ 5000 camera, is no better than a bad photo made with a $ 700 camera. It may be sharper and it may have a higher dynamic range, but it’s still a bad photo.

It’s okay to want new and better things, and depending on how fast you progress in your photography and what you want to achieve with it, you will eventually have to upgrade and buy new pieces of kit. There may be a few exceptions in genres like macro and wildlife photography; however, the chances are that you don’t need that several thousand dollar lens right now.

Grow out of your equipment

If you take the time to really learn and put into practice all of the various skill sets, you will eventually come to a wall you can’t pass with modest equipment. That’s when it’s time to upgrade. Take your time getting there though, and enjoy the experience. With well rounded skills, you will know that moment the instant it arrives.

Other ways to invest in your photography

However, there are places where you can invest your money that will not only help your photography, but also speed up the process quite a lot. These are education and experiences. Really, they’re both the same thing, but it’s easier to describe them in terms of two sub-categories.

Education

Everybody needs to learn. Constantly. Never stop learning; otherwise you’ll get left behind.

The Internet is full of free resources, and you should absolutely use every bit of it to your full advantage. To quickly rise to the top of the learning curve, however, you should consider adding things like books, online courses, and workshops to your shopping list.

Workshops can be great value for money and provide a boost to your skills as well as introduce you to new locations.

Photography books tend to be focused on a particular subject. They also tend to go much further in depth than other resources. Most importantly, they’re relatively cheap. Try to avoid books that try to encompass everything about photography, and stick to specific topics like lighting, portraits or food.

How big of a library can you put together for the cost a lens that you’ve been after?

In the same vein, workshops and seminars can deliver a huge amount of information in a very short period of time for a reasonable cost. They also have the benefit of giving you face to face tuition with someone who’s experienced in the field that they are teaching. This is often invaluable, particularly if you learn better with a hands-on approach.

When considering workshops, please do your research and be sure of what you’re buying. Just think, would you buy something from eBay without first checking a seller’s feedback?

Personally, I feel one of the most overlooked, yet one of the most valuable tools, to learn photography is monographs and coffee table books. Studying the work of accomplished photographers will show you all of the things you’ve learned in theory, put into practice. It can also help you discern your likes and dislikes and give you ideas on what to try for your own portfolios. Don’t just stick with the old masters like Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham; include contemporary photographers like Martin Parr and Mario Testino for a more thorough reference.

Experiences

Spending money on travel can help to force you to use the gear you have.

Spending money on travel can help to force you use the gear you have.

If education is learning, then experience is the actual doing. Do you want to be a travel photographer? Then don’t upgrade your lenses, buy a plane ticket instead. Do you want to be a fashion photographer? Hire experienced models and make-up artists. Wildlife photographer? Go photograph wolves on a workshop and rent the lens you need, rather than buying it.

If that’s a bit too expensive, then consider buying things to photograph. Food, toys, flowers, whatever fits in-line with your interests, and gets you up and using the camera you have now.

Purchasing things to photograph will help you build a portfolio which is far more important in the long run.

You can read all the theory in the world, but if you don’t put it into practice it just stays theory. The bonus here is that by actually working toward your goal, you will probably wind up earning a bit of money to put towards that fancy kit when you do need it.

It all comes back to the “grow out of your equipment” idea discussed earlier in this article.

You already have what you need. If you have read this article through, then the chances are that you already have everything you need to go out and make photos and develop your skills.

Now, I don’t presume to know every situation out there, and my experiences are only mine. I cannot, and will not, tell you what to do, but if you’re yearning for a new piece of gear I can only encourage you to honestly answer the question, “Do I really need this for my photography to progress or do I just want it?”

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Equipment Tips for Landscape Photography

09 Sep

2-for-1 special

As part of Landscape Photography Week here on dPS, we’re offering TWO for the price of ONE on our best-selling Living & Loving Landscape Photography ebooks!

Click here to take advantage of this offer.

“The best camera is the one you have with you” someone said. Is it true? Almost.

The point is that if you are a landscape photographer and you want to pursue the perfect sunset shot, it’s unlikely that you will achieve that goal with your iPhone.

Here’s some advice on the gear you should have in your backpack, both for what I call primary gear (camera, tripod, and lenses) and for all other accessories. Without further ado, let’s start!

Camera

Don’t focus on the brand, focus on technical features. Given that all cameras today have all the basic functions, for landscape photography you need a camera with a good (please read “great”) dynamic range and weather resistant body – that’s all.

Dynamic range is essential, because it defines the ability of the camera to capture shadow and highlight details at the same time. Its unit is the Exposure Value (EV), and a value of 14 EV or above identifies an excellent camera.

Weather resistant means that the camera is weatherproof to a certain extent (note: weatherproof does not mean waterproof!). Remember that you will not take shots comfortably seated in a studio, so you should be prepared for humidity, rain and snow.

A Full Frame or an APS-C DSLR camera is up to you and to your budget.

In the last few months I noticed an incredible hype for mirrorless cameras and I must confess that I was tempted too. They probably will be the future, but not today, at least for landscape photography. The point is that the only real advantage of those camera is the weight, and in a 10kg backpack, saving 0.5kg is quite useless. Also, do not be duped by megapixels: you need a 42.2MP camera ONLY if you are going to print larger than 24×16″, and there’re still great cameras with a lot of megapixels in the DSLR market.

Nikon D810 – image courtesy of Nikon

Lenses

Landscape photography, fortunately, doesn’t require a lot of lenses, just a few good ones.

Focus on wide angle lenses: for a full frame camera, lenses with a range from 14-35mm are a great choice, from 10-22mm if you have an APS-C sensor camera. Zoom lenses are okay, but obviously prime lenses are best for sharpness and overall quality.

Another point for DSLR cameras is that there are really few wide angle lenses for mirrorless cameras. If you are thinking of using your DLSR lenses on a mirrorless camera using an adaptor, say goodbye to quality.

As with the camera body, I recommend weather resistant lenses: rain, humidity and snow could be a serious problem.
Finally, don’t focus on useless features: as you are going to shoot between f/8 and f/11 in the 95% of the times, you don’t need a fast f/2.8 lens (and for this choice your wallet will be extremely happy!). Also a stabilized lens is useless, because as you are going to use a tripod, you’ll turn if off every time anyway.

Zeiss Distagon T* wide angle lenses – image courtesy of Zeiss.

Tripod

No, you can’t use a table or a flat surface, you need a real tripod. They could be really expensive, but as for other gear, focus just on some key features. Truth be told, there is just one feature that you need – sturdiness.

The aim of a tripod is to let you take shots avoiding any vibration, so you need something that can resist the wind. If you can, choose one with independent legs as they could make the difference if you’re on a rock in front of the sea or on any other irregular surface. Aluminium or carbon fibre is up to you (and your budget). Just remember that a carbon fiber tripod is not just lighter, but it will also not be affected by the galvanic corrosion of water, so if you’re a seascape photographer this could make the difference on its life expectancy. Finally, remember that the danger of using a carbon fiber tripod during a thunderstorm with lighting, is just an urban legend.

Induro tripods – image courtesy of B&H Photo Video.

Remote shutter

To further reduce the possibility of introducing any vibration, I really recommend the use a remote shutter. There are many different type of remote shutters and it can be hard to decide which one is best for you. In my opinion, avoid wireless/infrared remotes and go for the more reliable cabled solution. If you love time-lapse or long exposure photography, choose a programmable one.

Avoid smartphones applications too: they will drain the battery of your phone very quickly and your phone is not weatherproof.

Genuine or compatibles? Of course, genuine remotes are probably more reliable, but they are quite expensive, especially the programmable ones. That said, I’ve been using a compatible programmable remote for three years, and it’s still working perfectly.

Nikon MC-36 programmable remote shutter – Image courtesy of Nikon.

Filters and filter bag

You camera could have the sensor with the best dynamic range available, but unfortunately it’s far from the dynamic range of human eye. You can overcome this limit in one of two ways: post-production or using filters on camera. For a cleaner result, as I love to spend my time in the field and not behind the monitor of my computer, I suggest you use filters. Also because there are some filters, like Neutral Density and Polarizing filters that are not possible to simulate in post-production. There are many different kinds of filters and hundreds of different uses of them. We could speak for hours about this topic, so for now let’s just consider them as something that cannot be missing from our backpack.

Finally, if you are a filter user, don’t forget to bring with you a filter bag: handling filters on the top of a cliff or with your feet in the ocean is always a challenge: just one misstep and your precious glass is gone. Look for a dedicated filter bag and hook it to your belt, around your shoulder, or fixed to your tripod. I’ve tried many solutions, but actually I really believe that the Terrascape bags are the best, and most reliable solution on the market.

Terrascape filter bag – image courtesy Terrascape.

Tablet/Smartphone

Even you are an old-school photographer, you should consider the incredible advantages provided by the use of a tablet (or a smartphone) in the field. Here are just few:

1) Cartography: Download the awesome, free app Maps.me and you’ll never get lost. You will not be only able to download the needed maps for offline use, but you can also import .kmz files, and this means that you’ll have always with you all the spots you found on Google Earth to reach them easily!

2) Weather: A good landscape photographer should continuously monitor the weather evolution. For that reason, the daily weather forecast is not enough. Download an application that lets you see the actual satellite/radar situation and you’ll be able to select between two or more spots according to the short term forecast. A wise choice is AccuWeather.

3) Planning: If you want to take a great sunset shot, you must know exactly where the sun will be, in the location where you’ll stand with your tripod. Once you know that, you’;; need a tool that allows you to calculate, quickly and accurately, all the needed exposure parameters to properly set your camera. There are many different applications that do theses task, but just one that let you do everything all in one app: PhotoPills

Image courtesy PhotoPills

4) Food: Is there something better than having the perfect breakfast after a cold sunrise session, or a warm and delicious soup after a rainy sunset? An application like Tripadvisor will let you quickly find the best restaurant or coffee near your your location.

Cleaning cloths and a rain cover

A landscape photographer is at the mercy of the weather and Mother Nature, so you must consider that a sunny day can become a rainy nightmare in a few hours, so you must be prepared.

First of all, be ready to protect your camera and your lens. Even if they are weatherproof, it’s not a good idea to test the quality control system of the camera manufacturer. You can buy an expensive rain cover from a photography website, or for just few dollars you can go to a local market to buy some refrigerators bag for vegetables…they work perfectly!

Also remember that the overall quality of your shoot is affected by how clean your lens is – bring with you as many microfiber cloths as you can.

Extra tip: if you are using slot-in filters, to protect them from rain while you are not shooting, use a shower cap.

ThinkTank Rain cover – image courtesy of ThinkTank

Torches (flashlight)

If you are out with your camera to capture a marvellous sunrise, it’s quite easy to remember to bring with you a torch or flashlight to reach the desired location. Do the same for sunset! After sunset the light fades out very quickly, and you may find yourself losing orientation in the darkness.

If an hand torch is fine, the best solution is a head torch (head lamp – get one at a camping supply store) is the best solution as it will let you both hands free. Remember – safety first.

Petzl Tikka RXP Headlamp – image courtesy of Petzl.

Spares

Do you know what could be worse than having a dead battery or a full memory card? Nothing. Believe me, if you’re in front of the perfect sunset just with your iPhone it’s a pity, but if you’re there with your camera and a dead battery, you’ll blame yourself for the rest of your life. Remember that the intense use of Live View mode or extreme cold weather may compromise the charge level more quickly than expected.

Also bring always with you a spare memory card, even if your primary one has a lot of space and you want to take just few shots – it may break or crash. If your camera has two card slots, use them simultaneously, because having a live backup is always a great idea.

Loupe

It’s difficult to review images on your LCD display when it’s sunny, so I always use a Loupe. They are also useful for a more accurate manual focus as they can reach a 2x magnification.

Kinotehnik Loupe – image courtesty of Kinotehnik.

Bubble level

Every time you straighten the horizon line in post-production, automatically you crop a small amount of the image. So, why not to take your shoot correectly with a straight horizon line?

If you are like me, it’s impossible without help from outside. If you own a modern camera, you may have a built-in virtual horizon function. But if your camera is older, or simply don’t have this function, consider buying a hot shoe bubble level (also useful to protect the hot shoe of your camera against oxidation).

Hot shoe bubble level

Clothing

Don’t underestimate the importance of your clothing; it is as essential as your camera. If you are suffering from heat or cold, you’ll definitely focus on yourself, and not on photography. You are dressed properly when weather conditions do not affect your activity. In summer, don’t forget to bring with you a water bottle and a cap; in winter, never forget gloves, a neck warmer and a wool hat. Always bring with you a rain cover and an umbrella (that you can also use to protect your filters and tripod from rain and wind).

The North Face gloves – image courtesy The North Face.

First Aid Kit

It’s not that difficult to peel the skin from one knee on a cliff, or get a small wound on a finger, and when it happens a bandage and a disinfectant are worth a thousand sunsets. Again – safety first.

But don’t think just for yourself, think also for your gear. Always bring with you a swiss multitool knife and some duct tape. If they are able to fix the wing of a plane, they will be able to fix the leg of your tripod too.

First Aid kit – image courtesy Care Plus.

Bonus tip: music!

To take a great landscape picture, you should be in the right mood, and for me there is nothing like hearing my beloved Ludovico Einaudi, while wandering deep in nature, with my tripod on my shoulder. Remember that you can have thousands of dollars of equipment in your backpack, but they are completely useless if your soul doesn’t want to use it.

What gear do you use for landscape photography?

Here on dPS this is landscape week – here is list of what we’ve covered so far. Watch for a new article (or two) on landscape photography daily for the next day or so.

6 Tips for Better Low-Light Landscape Photography
Landscape Photography and the Human Element
5 Ways a Telephoto Lens Can Improve Your Landscape Photography
Landscape Photography from the Side of the Road
32 Majestic Landscape Photos to Inspire Your Wanderlust
Weekly Photography Challenge – Landscape
Landscape Photography – Shooting the Same Location Through the Seasons
How to Solve 5 Composition Conundrums Faced by Landscape Photographers
6 Tips for Creating More Captivating Landscape Photographs
Tips for Getting Started with Urban Landscape Photography
3 Simple Steps to Make Your Skies Pop in Lightroom

The post Equipment Tips for Landscape Photography by Francesco Gola appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Tips for Getting Started with Urban Landscape Photography

08 Sep

2-for-1 special

As part of Landscape Photography Week here on dPS, we’re offering TWO for the price of ONE on our best-selling Living & Loving Landscape Photography ebooks!

Click here to take advantage of this offer.

Memorable Jaunts Urban Photography Article for Digital Photography School Downtown Chicago Skyline as seen from Museum campus

My friends always joke that if I had my way I would pack my belongings, load up the family car, and head to the mountains to live out the rest of my days away from all the chaos of city life. What a happy dream, and one that someday I hope to make a reality, but for now I live in a urban city as far away from mountains as you can get. Urban living does have some benefits, in that it presents some wonderful photographic opportunities, if you know where to look and how to go about it.

There is some confusion among photographers between the terms: urban photography and street photography. Technically they are quite similar, and it is very easy to overlap the two, but here’s how I look at them. To me, urban photography portrays the urban landscape (e.g. buildings, bridges, structures, monuments, etc.) and does not necessarily include people where as street photography often features people or other human elements living in an urban setting. Now keep in mind, urban in itself has different meanings for different people. Wikipedia says, urban is anything related to a city. I like to think of urban as anything that is not rural (e.g. no corn fields, agricultural lands or remote mountain areas). This opens up a whole gamut of photographic opportunities for every pallet.

In general, here are some of the rules or tips I like to follow while on an urban photo expedition.

Preparation

Memorable Jaunts Urban Photography Article for Digital Photography School Dharamsala Monastery Photo

A little prep work paid off as I was able to photograph inside one of the monastery temples in Dharmsala, India

Before going on an urban photography excursion it is very important to be prepared. That not only means packing your gear the night before, and making sure all the cards are formatted and all batteries are charged (although you should do that too), but it is also beneficial to understand where you are going, and how are you going to get there.

What are the traffic patterns? Are there any parking restrictions? Do you need any special permits to photography there? Is photography even allowed? The Art Institute of Chicago is a perfect example. While photography is permitted, they don’t allow large camera bags or roller bags. So a small purse/backpack with a single camera and lens setup is your best bet. Do some research, and ask around if other photographers have experienced any issues in the location you want to explore.

Gear choice

I touched on this briefly already, but most urban photography expeditions are best done on foot where you are free to explore alleyways, buildings and street corners. I don’t know about you, but walking with about 30lbs of gear on my back is not my idea of fun, unless I am backpacking in the mountains! Pack light and carry at most two lenses.

My camera of choice is the Canon 5D MKIII and my go to lenses are Canon EF 24-70mmL zoom and Canon 100mm macro. Sometimes if I am brave, and in the mood for a good upper body workout, I will ditch the 100mm macro and carry my Canon EF 70-200mm. I carry an extra battery for my camera and one extra 32GB memory card. All of these fit comfortably in my backpack.

Shoot smart

Memorable Jaunts Urban Photography Article for Digital Photography School Willis Tower Image Downtown Chicago

A really wide shot of Willis tower with other buildings around it, provides a sense of scale and grandeur of one of the tallest buildings in the world.

Often we tend to photograph first and think later. The mindset of, “I have a limited amount of time so I will take pictures of everything and anything and cull my images later” is one that is very easy to adapt. I am guilty of this as well, and have to consciously remind myself to think first, and photograph later. But challenge yourself to stop being a lazy photographer (I fall into this trap too) and start photographing smart. Especially with urban photography, there is only so much you can portray about a building or a monument. Limit yourself to

One horizontal photo of said object/building/monument
One vertical photo
One zoomed in detail if there is anything particularly appealing
One wide angle shot to give a sense of place and space

Memorable Jaunts Urban Photography Article for Digital Photography School Mumbai Sea Link Photo

However a zoomed out, wider view of the entire bridge in the early morning hours with the sea, gives the viewer a true sense of its beauty

A zoomed in view of Mumbai’s famous Sea Link does NO justice what so ever to this engineering marvel.

Angles and Framing

Memorable Jaunts Urban Photography Article for Digital Photography School Pfister Hotel Downtown Milwaukee

Adding the name of this historic hotel in downtown Milwaukee in the frame makes it easy to find, and completes this story.

This tip goes hand in hand with the shoot smart strategy above. Try and get everything correct in-camera so you spend less time in front of the computer, and more time out exploring. I find that when I am out photographing urban scenes, I am shooting in conditions where I don’t have much control – think harsh midday sun, far away subjects, etc. Hence, I pay particular attention to the technical aspects I can control.

When I am framing my subject and composing the image, I try to convey a story. There is no right or wrong way to do it, remember it’s your story, so as long as you can convey your message, go for it. When photographing a really tall building, go wide. If you cannot go wide, then try to either get the top half or the bottom half. Is it a historic site? Are there some special markers or markings? Something that will help explain why you have taken that particular shot?

Experiment with various angles as well – get down low or shoot from high above. I am not a big fan of tilted angles, particularly on urban landscapes. They make me dizzy and I always wonder which way am I supposed to tilt my head to see the image. Unless the building has a natural slant like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, I don’t get the image! Of course, this is just my personal preference. If tilting is your thing, your forte – then go for it. Experiment and see what works for you.

Memorable Jaunts Urban Photography Article for Digital Photography School Chennai Train Station

The name of the train line at the front of the train gives this image a sense of place (and yes, I included people in this urban photo).

Memorable Jaunts Urban Photography Article for Digital Photography School Downtown Milwaukee Photo

An apartment community with boat parking docks is aptly called Harbor Front in Downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin

End goal

Always have an end goal for any photographic exercise. Goals can vary. Maybe you want to try out new gear, explore modern architecture, or maybe you just want to explore a new city or an old favorite neighborhood though your view finder. No matter what the goal, be clear and set your own expectations.

Memorable Jaunts Urban Photography Article for Digital Photography School Taj Hotel Mumbai Photo

The majestic Taj hotel in Mumbai taken from a roof top building several miles away.

Memorable Jaunts Urban Photography Article for Digital Photography School Downtown Chicago Fountain Photo

A fountain in Downtown Chicago comes alive as the sunlight hits the water flowing out of it (my personal perspective, my story).

I wanted to show the beautiful bridge that acts as an entryway to downtown Milwaukee, and decided to live with the glass refection very obvious against the blue sky (this was taken from the sky deck of the Pfister Hotel).

At the end, when all is said and done, if there is one tip I can give you, this is it – remember to have a good time exploring, and don’t get too caught up in getting the perfect shot. It is okay to put down the camera at times, engage in conversation with others, and also experience the space and place you are in with your mind’s eye! So get out there and explore.

Here on dPS this is landscape week – here is list of what we’ve covered so far. Watch for a new article (or two) on landscape photography daily for the next day or so.

6 Tips for Better Low-Light Landscape Photography
Landscape Photography and the Human Element
5 Ways a Telephoto Lens Can Improve Your Landscape Photography
Landscape Photography from the Side of the Road
32 Majestic Landscape Photos to Inspire Your Wanderlust
Weekly Photography Challenge – Landscape
Landscape Photography – Shooting the Same Location Through the Seasons
How to Solve 5 Composition Conundrums Faced by Landscape Photographers
6 Tips for Creating More Captivating Landscape Photographs

The post Tips for Getting Started with Urban Landscape Photography by Karthika Gupta appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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