You enjoy photographing in the field, whether its landscapes or events. When it comes to viewing your captured images, polishing them up and showing to people, you need a laptop to make this possible, especially when you are far from home or office. But you are not a techie and Cores make your head spin! How do you decide on Continue Reading
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The post Finding Photography Inspiration in Ordinary Places appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.
Photography is filled with highs and lows. One week you might find yourself overflowing with ideas and see photographic opportunities all around you. The next week, you’re stuck in a vast wasteland where nothing seems to be worthy of your camera. Finding photography inspiration isn’t something that requires exotic travel destinations or even fancy camera gear. Often you can uncover extraordinary picture opportunities in the most ordinary of places.
Inspiration is a tricky thing. While it can come when you least expect it, I have found that you often have to work for it.
If you’re expecting a brilliant photo opportunity to show up on your doorstep, it probably won’t happen. But if you purposely go out in search of photo opportunities, inspiration is usually close behind.
A quote widely attributed to Thomas Edison says that “Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.“
The same applies to photography.
This might sound a bit cliché, but the hustle and hurry of everyday life can be a hindrance to photography. If you’re so busy going to and from work, school, the store, and back, it probably seems like you have no time to take pictures.
When a spare fifteen minutes does come your way, the idea of getting out your camera to take pictures can seem more exhausting than inspiring.
A local photo walk can be just the ticket to newfound photography ideas and inspiration. It doesn’t have to be expensive, fancy, or exotic. Instead of spending lots of time and money on a bipedal picture-taking excursion, try just going out your front door and walking down the block. But here’s the trick: go slowly.
The pace of my photo walks has changed over time from a steady gait to almost a crawl. Not literally of course, but you have to tell yourself that your goal isn’t to cover a lot of ground or get your steps in for the day. It’s to look for picture opportunities, often where you never thought you would find them.
Everyday locations like the mailbox, the gas station, the park down the road, or even your own kitchen become fertile ground for inspiration to take root if you keep your eyes open and go slowly.
Your daily locations might not seem exotic to you because you see these things every day. A visitor would see familiar objects with fresh eyes, and the trick to taking this approach is to try to emulate that perspective. Just because you see everyday objects as ordinary and unworthy of photographs, doesn’t mean they can’t lead to flashes of inspiration.
The next time you feel stuck in a photographic rut, take a short, slow walk around a familiar setting and try to see it with a fresh set of eyes. You might be surprised at how things can transform from familiar to phenomenal.
And, even everyday objects can be used for finding photography inspiration.
One thing that prevents a lot of people from taking more photos is the thought that they might look silly doing it. I’m as guilty of this as anyone, and most times when I am out with my camera, I feel completely awkward and self-conscious. I feel like the whole world is staring at me, pointing and laughing at the weirdo with a camera taking pictures of sticks and leaves and flowers!
In truth, that is almost certainly not the case.
In all likelihood, most people don’t really care about someone minding his or her own business who just happens to be carrying a camera.
When was the last time you stopped and stared indignantly at a passer-by harmlessly taking pictures? If those types of people don’t bother you, then you probably aren’t bothering anyone when you’re the photographer.
This kind of advice is easier said than done, but if finding photography inspiration is your goal, then you have to stop worrying about what people think.
Some of my favorite pictures I’ve ever taken were in ordinary places like parks or downtown areas filled with people. And, not once has anyone ever told me I was bothering them.
Make sure you’re not being rude, obnoxious, or intrusive when taking pictures. If you’re just being a nice person and not bothering anyone, you can be almost entirely certain that no one will think twice about your presence. If they do, they probably think you’re some kind of fancy artist who clearly knows a lot about photography!
This took me a long time to learn, but it’s a lesson that has repeatedly made a big difference for me.
Years ago when I started getting more involved with photography, I thought only great photos were worth taking. I constantly passed up photo opportunities because I didn’t think the results would be worth the effort, and wouldn’t lead to any sort of photography inspiration.
What I learned was that inspiration takes the exact opposite approach! The images I thought were boring, mundane, or just flat-out bad taught me how to improve my photography by leaps and bounds. By examining my bad photos, I was able to understand why they were bad. They helped me learn how to take good photos as a result.
There’s an old saying, Don’t let a perfect plan be the enemy of a good plan. It applies in a variety of situations, particularly photography.
If you’re waiting for inspiration to strike because you are seeking the perfect image, you might be waiting a very very long time. Try the opposite approach instead: take lots of pictures that aren’t great, and see what they can teach you along the way.
Another thing to consider is the sheer enjoyment of the art.
Stop thinking of your images in terms of objective quantification. Learn to value process over product! It’s the repeated practice of process that leads to superior products.
Take pictures because you enjoy it, not because you think the end result is good or bad. Enjoy the journey, take pictures just because you like it, and let that be your source of inspiration.
While social media sites like Instagram can be a boon to photographers, they can also be a curse.
Finding photography inspiration online can seem like a no-brainer: just follow some accounts with brilliant photos and you’ll surely get ideas for your own!
In reality, what often ends up happening is we compare our own photos to others and conclude that we just don’t measure up. All the other pictures look so amazing, so detailed, so colorful, and so full of life! Yours, by contrast, seem dull and lifeless. Worse, your pictures (even ones that you thought were awesome) only got a handful of likes, hearts, or thumbs-up. Meanwhile, someone else’s shot of breakfast cereal got a thousand. It’s just not fair!
Social media can be inspiring, but just as often it can be downright demoralizing.
The solution?
Get rid of social media!
Don’t delete all your accounts, but turn off notifications for photo-sharing sites and move those apps to the neglected depths of your phone screen. Log off social media sites on your computer, and stop measuring your worth by likes and upvotes.
This has consistently been one of the most effective ways of finding photography inspiration for me. Temporarily shutting out social media, removes any temptation to take photos for online accolades and attention. I start to take pictures that are interesting, challenging, or fun. Then I soon find inspiration flooding back.
Finding photography inspiration isn’t always easy, but it can be simpler than you think. It doesn’t have to involve a lot of time, money, travel, or fancy camera gear either.
Inspiration can come in ordinary ways from ordinary places, and lead to some outstanding results.
What about you? What are your favorite ways to get inspired as a photographer? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
The post Finding Photography Inspiration in Ordinary Places appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.
The post Pet Photography 101 – video appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
Taking photos of pets can be tricky. In this video, Matt Granger gives you some great tips to get better photos of your furry friends.
Decide on what you want in the scene. Less is generally more, so you may just decide on a nice clean background to really let your pet shine.
Ensure you have a wide enough depth of field to get your pet’s entire face in focus. Also, use a fast shutter speed. If your shutter speed is too slow, you may end up with some blur if your pet moves suddenly (and we all know they do!).
Use a flash so that you get enough light into the scene. That way, you can keep your shutter speed fast, and your aperture wide.
Alternatively, consider photographing them outdoors in sunlight to really make their fur and eyes shine.
You need to get your pet where you want them to be for the shot. To do this, you may need to use a little bribery. This can come in the form of treats.
Have your camera set and your focus ready, and once they get into position, you can fire off some shots knowing that they will be in focus.
Once you have bribed them into the position, you need to get their attention so that they look in the direction of the camera.
You know your pet, so use whatever you know will get their attaention – be it their favorite toy, or simply tapping the lens hood.
Don’t set up a scene that is really unnatural for your pet. Use something that they are used to sitting on so that they are comfortable, and so you are not forcing the scene.
Don’t always expect to get it right on the first attempt. Take many shots to get the one you like.
And, moreover, have fun with your furry friends!
You may also like:
The post Pet Photography 101 – video appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
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As the number of newly-diagnosed Coronavirus cases continues to increase, so do the strict orders to stay home. For some, this means an increase in free time along with a decline in disposable income. Across the photography community, multiple retailers, software manufacturers, teachers and more are offering discounts, extended trials or freebies to help pass the time and (hopefully) make your dollars go a little further in this time of economic downturn.
We’ve rounded up just a few of the offerings from around the photography world and are sharing some of our favorites below. Keep in mind not all of these specials are specifically made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, but we’ve included them below, unaffiliated, to ensure as little goes unseen as possible.
This will be a living list, so as we come across more deals and freebies, we will be adding them to the collection, which is split into two categories: ‘Deals and discounts’ and ‘Classes, courses and webinars.’ If you know of any we’ve missed, please share them in the comments below and we’ll be sure to add them to the list.
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In addition to granting free access to its Creative Cloud suite for qualifying students and educators alike, Adobe is also giving everyone two months of free Creative Cloud to help creatives affected by the ongoing pandemic. PetaPixel has shared a thorough guide on how to get your two free months.
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Serif has increased the length of its free trial to 90 days (from 30 days) for its entire Affinity suite and is offering all of its apps, both desktop and mobile, for 50% off. This includes Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher. Additionally, Serif has pledged to ‘engage more than 100 freelance creatives for work, spending the equivalent of our annual commissioning budget in the next three months.’ Serif says more details on that initiative will be announced soon and has in the meantime shared a letter regarding this news.
As always, Adorama has a number of special offers and discounts across various photo gear, as well as a ‘Deal of the Day’ that kicks off with a new product at 10am EST everyday.
B&H too has its own ‘Deal Zone’ that features ‘unbeatable specials.’ Not everything is photo-specific, but you can count on at least two or three photography-specific deals going on every day.
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While not exclusive to the COVID-19 pandemic, DaVinci Resolve 16, an inline video editor akin to Adobe Premiere Pro, is free to download for Linux, macOS and Windows computers. Whether you’re looking to cut your Adobe subscription to bring down your monthly bills or simply want to try something new, it’s hard to beat the price of nothing and the app itself is a treat to use, as we’ve been over before.
DxO is slashing prices by up to 30% off through March 31st, including the recently-released DxO PhotoLab 3.2 update as well as its Nik Collection. With the discount, PhotoLab 3.2 and the Nik Collection cost $ 99.99 each, compared to the usual $ 129.99. You can also try out both programs for 30-days with free trials.
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ON1 is currently offering 50% off Photo RAW 2020.1, bringing the normal $ 99.99 price down to just $ 49.99. ON1 is also offering 50% off its ‘Gold Package’ version of Photo RAW 2020.1, which includes the program, 50 fine art texture overlays, the ON1 Foundations video course, a one-year SmugMug Portfolio membership (normally a $ 180 value), as well as a pack of presets, LUTs and ‘styles.’ You can find both the standard download and the ‘Gold Package’ download at ON1’s online store. The deals end March 31, so you only have a few days left to snag this deal.
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Skylum is currently offering Luminar 4.2 and Aurora HDR as a bundle for $ 149, a $ 39 savings over the usual price. In order to see the deal, visit the Aurora HDR product page, click ‘Buy Now’ and scroll down to see the bundle with Luminar 4.
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As we covered earlier this week, Professional Photographers of America is currently offering its library of more than 1,100 courses for free. Usually these classes are limited to paying PPA members, but to help photographers and creatives affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, PPA has temporarily opened them up for all.
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In a webinar scheduled for this Thursday, March 26th, at 4:00 PM MST (6:00 PM EST), Drone U’s Vic Moss shares important lessons learned through his 30-plus years of experience as a photographer and 6-plus years operating drones.
‘Drone U has decided to offer some free courses and webinars during this time to give people an outlet. Many of us are cooped up and still need a creative outlet. Now is a good time to hone our skillsets, so Drone U thought we’d do this. We’re all in this together, so let’s get through it together,’ Moss tells DPReview.
Here are a few concepts that will be covered:
While the webinar will be available for replay after it’s recorded, the live session offers attendees the opportunity to ask questions. Register here.
This course is offered for free through Skillshare. All you need to do is create a free account to access a 2-month trial that can be canceled (it would be wise to set a reminder if you’re not interested in becoming a full-time member). Drew Roberts and Nathan Labruzza of Los Angeles-based Wild Rabbit Aerials, have created footage for major car companies including GMC, Ford, and Toyota, a Super Bowl ad for SodaStream, and footage for numerous feature film productions.
The duo walks through the basics of aerial cinematography including how to get started from the ground up. They share some hard-learned lessons from their years of experience, how they conduct the simplest to most complex shoots and run through the post-production process. Register for this course through a free Skillshare account here.
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Brit + Co, a lifestyle and DIY-based site, is offering all of their courses, which usually range from $ 27 – $ 107 each, for free through March 31st. Simply use the all-caps promo code ‘SELFCARE’ without the quotes at checkout. Click on ‘Have a Coupon?’ and you’ll automatically be registered without having to use your credit card or PayPal account.
Relevant courses include ‘How to Become a Wedding Photographer,’Phone Photography: Capturing Your Travels,’Family Photography: Capturing Your Little Ones, and their ‘Wanderlust Photography Bundle’ which gives an introduction to travel photography and walks you through using photo editing apps. ‘Some of us can’t work and are catching a serious case of cabin fever. All of us want to stay inspired, creative, and take care of ourselves,’ reads the official blog post introducing the initiative.
YouTube hosts millions of free tutorials from creators around the globe. As with any major platform that goes largely unmoderated, save for removing objectionable content, the quality of information offered can vary. Justin Odisho has consistently created high-caliber content around showing creatives how to use Adobe products.
Adobe Premiere Pro is inarguably an industry standard when it comes to video editing software. In a series of 187 videos, Odisho walks you through everything from color correction to creating effects. Lightroom, Photoshop, and After Effects users will also find a wealth of information to master their respective crafts.
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Scott Kelby’s Kelby One program is also offering free weekly webinars and memberships to some of its most popular classes. In a notification on the Kelby One website, it reads ‘We hope these resources help during this trying time as you work from home or self-quarantine for safety.’
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Pets appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
With many of us stuck indoors, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make this week’s photography challenge our PETS!
I’m currently missing mine, as I’ve had to hunker down in a town that isn’t mine, and my doggies are 400kms away from me. But, for many of you, they are hunkering down indoors with you. So take this time to give them your love, take some fab photos of them and share with us all so that we can see how cute and adorable they are.
They can be any pet you have. You can photograph them with any technique too.
So, check out these pics to give you some ideas, have fun, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Check out some of the articles below that give you tips on this week’s challenge.
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 favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge.
You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.
If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites – tag them as #DPSmypet to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.
The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Pets appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
The post The dPS At-Home 7-Day Photography Challenge – Week Two appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
As many of us around the world are continuing self-isolation, and social distancing (whoever thought that would be a thing?) due to the C-word, we thought we’d make it a little less boring and stressful and give you (and us) an “At-Home, 7-Day Photography Challenge.”
This is week two of the challenge (you can see week one here, and still do those challenges, as there is no deadlines on any of these).
These are all things you can try in and around your home.
As always, we would love to see your results in the comments section. That way, we can connect and share, and keep ourselves occupied with something positive and creative!
This one will be a lot of fun, and you get some interesting effects! Creative Water Photography – A Step-by-Step Guide to Making Water Monsters
This one How to do High-Speed Photography – the Fundamentals
Okay, so this one can also apply to any of your furry friends that you are self-isolating with. We’d love to see you take some photos of your pet and share them with us! Who doesn’t like a cute pic of a cat, dog, or hamster? Tips and Tricks for Photographing Your Own Dog
So this next one gets you onto the computer for some fun creative editing. How to do Creative Photography Montages with a Contact Sheet Template in Photoshop
Another one on the computer for more creative editing. How to Add a Toy Camera Effect to Your Digital Images Using Photoshop
Want to learn how to create a cyanotype in Photoshop? Try this one. How to Mimic a Digital Cyanotype Using Photoshop with Ease
You can try this one with someone in your household, or do them as self-portraits. Whichever way you decide to go, it has some interesting effects. Dragging the Shutter for Creative Portraits
Have fun! And share them with us in the comments section either on this page or the page of the challenge article.
The post The dPS At-Home 7-Day Photography Challenge – Week Two appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
Like many photographers stuck at home due to the coronavirus, Chris and Jordan need a creative outlet. Let’s see what happens when they try to re-create bad product photography from a kids’ toy.
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Photos from this episode
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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The post Everything a Beginner Should Know to Improve Their Street Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by James Maher.
Street photography may seem simple on the surface, just a lot of waiting around looking for an interesting moment to happen. However, the reality is that it is one of the most difficult forms of photography. Particularly at the beginning, it can be very hard to improve in street photography.
The best moments don’t occur very often, and when they do, you have to be aware enough to see it quickly. You have to be brave enough to capture it, and your camera has to be set right.
A lot has to go right, but when it does, that’s when the magic happens. There is a specific set of tips that are important to learn early on that will make all of this much easier and, eventually, second nature.
Fear and timidness are two of the toughest obstacles to overcome for new street photographers. If you don’t feel this way, then skip to the next tip! But most people have a lot of difficulty with this aspect at first. It takes time to overcome, but the less timid you can become, the faster you will be at capturing the best moments.
No matter how tasteful your photography is, street photography is a little creepy! We’re kind of stalking people on the street a bit. But it’s important to know that we’re doing this for a reason. We like people and we want to create interesting photos of our society.
The fear aspect will get better with time – the more you shoot, the easier it will get. But it can help early on to capture some street portraits to get you comfortable. You will quickly realize how many people will be flattered by what you are doing.
Another important thing to know is how to deal with a situation if you are caught.
I just like to smile and be honest. I tell the person that I was photographing the area and the people and culture, and I thought they looked great! Flattery can get you a long way.
If the person seems uncomfortable after you speak to them, offer to delete the shot. You don’t have to, of course, but it’s the right thing to do.
And always be careful about who you photograph. Sometimes, a photograph is just not worth the chance of getting yourself in trouble.
I typically prefer to shoot on Aperture or Shutter Priority settings. Since you are usually going back and forth between different levels of light, this allows you to focus on the scene itself instead of going back and forth on your camera settings. In steady lighting conditions, Manual Mode works very well, though.
Raise your ISO up! I typically use ISO 400 if I am in pure sunlight, ISO 800 in light shade, ISO 1600 in dark shade, and ISO 3200-6400 for dusk into night.
Raising the ISO allows you to have a faster shutter speed to freeze motion. It also gives you more depth of field to make sure you capture the focus correctly, or if you have multiple subjects at different depths.
On Aperture Priority, f/8 is usually my ideal setting whenever possible. It allows enough depth of field but also enough light to enter the camera. And as it gets darker, I will go down with the aperture.
Finally, I always try to keep my shutter speed above 1/250th of a second to freeze motion in people. The key on Aperture Priority is to pay attention to your shutter speed as the lighting gets darker, to make sure that it does not dip too far below 1/250th.
Prime lenses are made for street photography. They are smaller, lighter, and less noticeable. Also, the act of using a single focal length will make you much faster and more intuitive with the camera. Using one is a key way to improve your street photography.
Zooming constantly will just slow you down and keep you off balance when a moment occurs. With a prime, you are ready when something happens.
I prefer a 35mm and 50mm focal length depending on what I am shooting. Both are wide enough to capture complicated shots that mix foreground and background, and they allow you to get close and intimate with your subjects.
When some people think of street photographers, they think of the photographers that jump out in people’s faces to take a photograph. It just does not have to be done in that way to get great, candid, close shots. I find the opposite approach to work much better.
I prefer to act like I am just looking around at something above or behind the subject I want to capture, and I carefully get myself in position. They just think I’m probably a tourist looking around, and while they notice me, they continue in their own world without realizing I’m photographing them.
I also take very quick shots where nobody notices. That way, you don’t have to do any acting in these situations. But, acting comes in handy very often.
Finally, you don’t always have to walk around while photographing. Pick an area with foot traffic and wait around. Doing this allows your subjects to enter your personal space instead of entering their space. It also allows you to get very close and nuanced photographs with much less chance of people noticing what you are doing.
One of the keys to creating interesting street photography is showing emotion and feeling in your images. One of the best ways to do that is to capture those emotions and feelings in your subjects.
Pay attention to the looks in peoples’ eyes or the gestures in their bodies. Try to see who is walking around wearing their emotions on their sleeves, so to speak.
I would rather photograph a non-descript person with incredible emotion over the flashiest person just walking down the street emotionless.
This is a general tip for improving most photography, but it is especially difficult for street photography. The closer you get, the more intimate your moments will feel.
But you don’t have to put so much pressure on yourself at first. Start from further back and over time, work to get closer and closer. This is a process that can take a little time to get comfortable with.
At some point, you need to become fast with your camera to capture some of those split-second moments. Embrace your intuition and work to become spontaneous and fast with the camera.
You will miss a lot of photographs this way and come back with a lot of bad ones (why editing is so important), but the special photographs will be special.
If you feel that there is the potential for a great photograph in your gut, just stop thinking and go for it. The worst that can happen is you will delete the photograph later on.
Unlike some other forms of photography, perfection is not celebrated as much in street photography. We’re looking for real and unplanned moments, and these moments are not perfect.
Sometimes the best way to improve your street photography is to just loosen up.
What matters is that the photograph is interesting and it looks good. Everything else is gravy. If the photograph has those qualities, who cares if it’s skewed, a little blurry, highlights are blown out, or if there’s an element in the way. That’s the real world.
Sometimes these aspects will ruin your photograph, of course, but just as often they’ll ground the moment in reality.
As you are learning and getting comfortable, it’s very important to practice in busy places with a lot of foot traffic. This gives you many chances for great photographs and it’s easier to work in a candid way as well. This is how to work out the kinks and develop your technical skills and overall awareness.
But it is equally important to photograph in slower and quieter areas too.
These areas can be just as interesting and even more so than the busiest areas. It can take some time to get used to photographing here and figuring out what makes a good photograph, but you will be much better off for trying.
Street photography is about taking something that is internal, capturing it in the real world, and then showing those ideas in your work.
It’s not worth taking photographs that you think other people will find interesting. Ultimately, your work can only become so good that way.
Shoot what you think is the most interesting and forget about everyone else. Over time this is how you will develop a strong and distinct voice.
And most importantly, get out there and shoot as often as you can. That is the real way to improve your street photography.
Do you have any other tips to improve street photography that you’d like to share? Please do so in the comments, along with any street photos you’d like to share.
The post Everything a Beginner Should Know to Improve Their Street Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by James Maher.
The post File Management Tips to Create a More Efficient Photography Workflow appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jackie Lamas.
As you gain more clients, this also means that you’ll have to start implementing a more efficient workflow so that you can work quickly and get your images to your clients. In this article, we’re going to explain some file management tips to help you stay organized session to session.
A workflow is a process in which a photographer has a file management system in place that helps them to get images edited and processed faster and more efficiently.
Basically, it’s a way to organize your images so that you can get them to your clients much faster. The way that a photographer manages their workflow can be different from person to person depending on what they photograph, their workloads, and what the end goal for their clients is.
In time, you’ll be able to implement these file management tips so that your workflow is quick, and you’re able to deliver the images to your clients faster. You’ll also access the images on your hard drives quicker when you need them because they’ll be nice and organized.
The first of the file management tips regards uploading your photos to your computer. Some like to go straight into Lightroom or the editing program and upload the images directly.
However, I recommend that you first upload your images onto your actual hard drive. This can be directly onto your computer’s hard drive, an external hard drive, or both. Uploading to both is the best option since sometimes computers can shut down or stop working and you wouldn’t want to lose your photos!
Make sure to copy the images from the memory card rather than moving them. Doing this means if the upload didn’t go smoothly, you still have all of the images safe on the memory card.
Here are the steps to organize the Upload of your images onto your computer or external hard drive:
The location is optional, but it does help keep the information to the session together. It’s also good for searching later on when you want to find a location photo to post on social media or otherwise.
Renaming images can seem like an added step, however, keeping the naming simple with numerical sequence, adds more organization in the end.
It’s tough when looking for an image by the original image name of IMG_ when it would be much quicker to remember the name and then look for an image that way.
Rename with the last name, a dash, then the sequence number, for example, Burns-0001. Use more than three zeros so that you can safely number the images when you have more than one hundred images.
If you have more than a thousand, use another zero. This can keep all of your images organized and you won’t get jumping numbers from 01 and 11.
When you import the images into your editing program, the renaming stays and will get saved the same when you’re finished editing. This is really helpful especially when the family wants a particular photo to order. They can simply use the sequence number and you can quickly find the image in the edited folder.
Now that you’ve organized the session into the yearly folder, session folder, and have renamed the files you’re ready to import into Lightroom.
Some photographers like to import the images straight from the memory card into Lightroom but creating the folders seems easier in Finder than in Lightroom. However, with time, you can choose how you want to import the photos that help your workflow work for you.
There are two different options to choose from when importing. You can simply add the photos, which is the simplest choice seeing that we’ve already backed them up onto your hard drive in the desired folders. Or the COPY option, which will create a duplicate of your image into a specific folder on your desktop. This usually creates a copy in another place and can take up unnecessary storage on your computer.
We’ll go with the ADD option today since we have put the originals in the specific folder we made earlier.
Check the Collection option and put them into a Collection with the date and name – just like we did in the source folder.
This will make it easier to find the folders in the left sidebar while editing without making multiple duplicates or without getting lost in the Import or Folders section.
Now we’re ready for editing!
In Lightroom, editing can seem like a lot of work. However, you’ll want to go through this process so that your workflow is quicker and editing time is minimized.
Use the color tags to choose your favorites. This is how I personally tag the photos using the number keys:
After you’ve used the color of your choice for the chosen photos, at the bottom of the screen is a Filter option. Choose the blue square (or the colors you’ve chosen), so that all you see are the photos tagged Blue.
The great thing about using the filter and colors is that if you missed a photo somewhere, you can turn off the filter and go back and choose more photos to edit or tag.
Alternatively, you can untag a photo and it will hide it from view. Then you can just edit the blue-tagged photos without additional clutter.
Using the color tags in the toggle on/off filter modes keeps your photos organized, in the same folder, and easy to edit.
The final of the file management tips is exporting your final images.
After you’ve edited your photos it’s now time to keep them organized so that you can find the final edited photos with ease.
Go into the Library window, with the color tag filter ON, choose all of the images you’ve edited with the Select All option, and click Export.
Choose the same folder your images are in, but create a subfolder with the words EDIT (or you can choose whichever name is best for you). This will create a folder within the original source folder on your hard drive.
This keeps all of the images from that session in the same location, which makes it easier to find later on.
These file management tips will help you categorize and catalog your sessions so that you have a more efficient photography workflow from start to finish.
Do you have any other file management tips to better organize your workflow? Share with us in the comments.
The post File Management Tips to Create a More Efficient Photography Workflow appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jackie Lamas.
The post Great Photography Ideas for When You Are Stuck Indoors appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.
In Australia right now, it’s bushfire season. And this year, it has been a particularly bad one. That means that for a significant part of the Summer so far, I’ve been stuck indoors trying to avoid noxious bush fire smoke. To top it off, now we have the Coronavirus to contend with. Usually, the majority of my photography is based outside. But to keep myself sane, I’ve been busying myself with photography projects around the house. Here are some tried-and-tested photography ideas for when you are stuck indoors.
When you’re stuck indoors, it can seem like the subject matter is limited. However, under the eye of the camera, ordinary objects can become extraordinary.
As photographers, we are trained to seek out unusual and distinctive subject matter, so day-to-day objects can fall by the wayside. But responding to the subjects in your immediate environment can offer a new creative perspective, expanding your photographic repertoire.
Photographers generally strive to achieve sharply focused images. But if you’re stuck indoors, shifting your technique a little can be a refreshing change. Blurry or deliberately out-of-focus photography can render unexpectedly beautiful results.
During a longer exposure, try physically moving your camera around to cultivate streaks of light. Or, instead of focusing on achieving pin-sharp photographs, switch your camera to manual focus and embrace an intriguing blurry aesthetic.
Abstract photography is a field of photography that doesn’t rely on objective subject matter. Instead, abstract photographers aim to convey ideas by focusing on the emotive experience of image-making and viewing.
There are plenty of subjects found indoors that you can use to generate abstract images. Try isolating subject matter with macro photography, or focusing in on interesting textured surfaces.
In terms of photography ideas for when you are stuck indoors, this has to be one of my favorites. This little project involves photographing the stress-points of plastic objects.
While it might not sound particularly exciting, taking photographs of polarized plastic reveals colorful, otherworldly visual attributes in materials that are often taken for granted.
With a polarizing filter, a computer screen and a selection of plastic objects, you can investigate the materials around you in a whole new light. Have a look at the full guide here.
Another great photography idea for when you are stuck indoors is physiography. Physiography involves recording the movements of a swinging light suspended over a camera during a long exposure. Because the light source needs to be suspended from a sturdy roof or beam and the project needs to be performed in the dark, physiograms are a great photography idea for when you are stuck indoors.
Check out the how-to here.
This photography idea for when you are stuck indoors is a simple one – change it up a bit!
Photography at home can impact your practice in every environment. So, if you are inclined to photograph in color, why not take advantage of your time indoors and practice black and white photography instead?
If you shoot in aperture priority, try switching to shutter priority.
If you are used to shooting landscapes, try focusing on details around the house. Have a go with a lesser-used lens, or even have a go at improving your camera-phone skills.
Whether it’s online, in a book or a magazine or on a podcast, there is a wealth of information about photography available. Reading up on photography is a great photography idea for when you are stuck indoors. Study new techniques, brush up on your photographic history, revisit camera theory…the options are endless.
Grab a book or kindle etc, settle in and get some knowledge.
If (like me) you have a steadily growing stockpile of digital images that need a little TLC, you’re in luck. Being stuck indoors is a great time to revisit those old files hidden in the depths of your hard drive.
If you aren’t in the mood for photography around the house, editing old photos is a great alternative. Plus, you may find some gems that somehow went under the radar!
Being stuck indoors may seem like a real pain…until you realize the wealth of photographic opportunities around you! Whether it be experimenting with abstraction, polarization, or physiograms, or taking some time-out to study or re-visit old photos, there are plenty of photography ideas for when you are stuck indoors.
The hard bit is choosing which one to try first!
The post Great Photography Ideas for When You Are Stuck Indoors appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.
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