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How to Photograph a Minimalist Landscape
The post How to Photograph a Minimalist Landscape appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Bond.

Creating amazing photos can be much easier than you think. The simplest images can be the most striking. Keeping your image simple means minimalism. In this article, you’ll learn about creating minimalist landscape photos. The creation of these type of images requires the correct use of a lens, and often the correct selection of location. Read on and find out all you need to know to create minimalism in your landscape photos.

In this photo, the main subject is the mountain in the distance. The remainder of the frame is kept simple.

The location for a minimalist landscape

Where you take your photo will determine your success with minimalist landscape photography. You’ll have more success in remote locations, but urban environments can also be used for minimalism as well.

When photographing in a busier environment, you’ll need to use the correct lens and camera angle to maintain minimalism with your photo. More remote locations naturally have a minimalist feel, but the challenge in those locations is locating a strong main subject.

The following are locations you could use for minimalist landscape:
- Coastal – This is a great location for minimalist photography. The great expanse of the sea invites minimalism. You can further build on this by flattening the sea through long exposure. Interesting rock formations or a lighthouse can make great main subjects.
- Deserts – Whether you’re photographing on the sand or on the ice, deserts are the land equivalent of the sea when it comes to minimalism. Vast, uniform in their features, and without the clutter of human development.
- Mountains – Another area that is remote are mountains. These also offer opportunities to create a minimalist landscape. With too many mountains in the one scene they can also be potentially cluttered, so choose compositions with care. A lone hut surround be the green foothills of a mountain range would make for a good subject.
Deserts make excellent locations for minimalist landscapes.

The lens

The lens you choose is equally as important as the location for a minimalist landscape. There is no absolute rule over which lens to use; it depends on the location you find yourself in. If you have chosen a location in the wilderness, the chances are you can use either a wide angle or a long telephoto lens. However, if you’re photographing in the city, the lens becomes important.
- Wide angle – A lens that works well for minimalism, as you can use that wide angle to create the nice negative space required for a minimalist landscape. Think how you can get down to a low angle for those ripples in the sand on a sand dune. In a more cluttered environment, you need to be careful though, as the wide angle could easily cause unwanted elements to appear in the frame and make it too busy.
- Long focal length – The longer focal lengths allow you to zoom in on a particular portion of your scene. Here, the challenge is to avoid compressing too many things into the same photo. Choose an area on the horizon that’s interesting but devoid of too many extra elements. This focal length can be a big advantage in an urban setting that’s generally too chaotic for minimalism, yet has portions of the skyline that can be zoomed in on to create a minimal image.
This photo uses a wide-angle lens. This really captures the interest in the foreground from the shapes in the sand.

Adjust your perspective

Photos that are taken at eye level work well for many situations. However, when you’re looking for minimalism, changing to a new angle works wonders.

The following are good choices when it comes to simplifying your image:
- Bird’s eye – Things looks very different from a high angle looking down. The higher you get, the more dramatic this becomes. One of the reason’s drone photography works so well is its potential for minimalism.
- Worm’s eye – At the other extreme is the worm’s eye view looking up. You could include a small amount of the horizon line, and make the remainder of the photo about the sky. This will give you a landscape photo with a very minimalist feel.
- Framing – The use of a frame around the landscape portion of your photo could give you a minimalist photo. The landscape itself need not be minimalist in this case, so long as the surrounding frame provides enough negative space to tick the minimalist box.
- Lensball – A lensball, in effect, frames a landscape inside a spherical object. That allows you to take a minimalist landscape, and keep the area surrounding the ball simple. This will give your photo a minimalist edge as well.
A lensball can be used to capture a scene that’s not normally minimalist, and capture it in a minimal way.

A good main subject

Every photo type is strengthened by having a main subject. In some cases, the inclusion of that main subject can be more of a challenge. Portrait photos, for instance, always have the main subject – the person you’re photographing. Landscape photos may not always have an obvious focal point – in some cases, it’s not needed – but for most photos, it will give you a stronger image.

In a minimalist landscape, that main subject will leap out of the photo strengthened by the minimalism across the rest of the frame. So what type of object could you use for this main subject?
- A lone tree – The classic, a lone tree. There’s a good reason for this, of course. It’s a clear focal point in an image, looks beautiful, and works well for a number of composition types. It’s also relatively easy to isolate a lone tree.
- A single person – A lone person silhouetted against the horizon. Someone riding their bike up the ridge of a hill. Whether you decide to stage this or it was more spontaneous, the photo will have more narrative.
- A building – A red-walled building against green hills is a good combination for a photo. In a coastal setting, a lighthouse can make for a great subject.
The single yurt acts as the main subject in this photo.

Use other techniques

Minimalist landscapes naturally dovetail with several other well-known photography techniques. You can apply one or more of these to your photo, for a better image. Take a look at some of these techniques, and look at why they’ll improve your photo:
- Silhouettes – In order to photograph a silhouette, you’ll be photographing towards the light, and quite likely towards a sunset sky. This means landscape features in your photo will likely also be black with a colored sky. This will give you a good chance of creating a minimalist image.
- Long exposure – Blurred clouds moving across the sky, or flattening the sea are both potential results of long exposure photography. Use a tripod and expose for more than 5 seconds to flatten the sea, and usually longer than 30 seconds to see cloud movement.
- Refraction – The use of a lensball for refraction photography is a good way of creating minimalism even in a busy setting. Place the more complicated scene within the lensball, and surround the ball with a blurred bokeh background for minimalism.
- Harmony – This means keeping the same set of colors within the same photo. So try cold colors or warm colors. Even better for minimalism is keeping the same color, but in different shades. There is lots of potential for this in landscape photography, especially when the photo is taken from a bird’s eye point of view.
- Contrast – One of the reasons black and white photography works so well is its intrinsic minimalism – especially those black and white photos with the highest contrast. Look to experiment with two main colors, and not more when creating a minimalist landscape.
In this photo, there are a number of elements in the frame. The minimalism is provided by the single tone of the image. The main subject is silhouetted against the background.

Conclusion

Landscapes and minimalist photography are two of the most popular photography genres there are, so it makes sense to combine them.

Have you experimented with this type of image? Did you use any of the approaches mentioned in this article? Having read this article, would it make you approach your landscape photography in a slightly different way? What approaches do you use for landscape photography?

As always, we’d love you to share your opinions and photos with the community. Please share in the comments section of this article.

The post How to Photograph a Minimalist Landscape appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Bond.

Digital Photography School
May 14, 2019
Rokinon announces pricing, availability of its new 45mm F1.8 lens for Sony full-frame cameras

Rokinon, known in other markets as Samyang and Bowers, has announced the pricing and availability of its new AF 45mm F1.8 lens for Sony full-frame camera systems.

The lens, which Rokinon calls ‘tiny but premium’ is the latest in its ‘Tiny Series’ lens lineup. The optical construction consists of seven elements in six groups, including two aspherical elements and one extra-low dispersion element. Certain elements inside the design also feature Rokinon’s ‘Ultra Multi-Coating,’ which is said to reduct flaring and ghosting.

Inside, it features an autofocus motor for Sony camera systems, a nine-blade aperture diaphragm and an aperture range between F1.8 and F22.

While the lens was designed for full-frame Sony mirrorless cameras, it can also be used with Sony APS-C models where it ends up being a 67.5mm equivalent focal length lens. The lens measures in at 61.8mm (2.43in) by 56.1mm (2.21in) and weighs just 162g (5.7oz).

The Rokinon AF 45mm F1.8 lens is available to pre-order for $ 399 on B&H and has a suggested retail price of £349.99 in the UK. Orders are expected to ship at the end of May 2019.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

May 13, 2019
How to Use Scene Elements to Create Impactful Panoramas
The post How to Use Scene Elements to Create Impactful Panoramas appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ian Johnson.

Close your eyes and let me take you to a scene that you have experienced before. You are standing in front of a wonderful vista. It is huge – a sunset, a mountain range, a canyon, a cityscape – and you are blown away by the grandeur of it. After admiring it for a bit you pull out your cell phone or camera to take an image. But alas, your phone cannot capture the image because it extends far out of your field of view. “Not to worry,” you think to yourself as you flip your device into panorama mode to create impactful panoramas.

A few seconds later and your newly stitched image captures the whole scene with one problem: all the things you loved about the scene have been reduced to tiny pixels making it hard to appreciate how beautiful it was out there. In my opinion, you’ve fallen victim to the “panorama trap.”

Paradoxically, wider is not always better for capturing a large vista!

This panoramic image illustrates the “Panorama Trap.” I wanted to photograph the mountains, but there is nothing compelling to draw me into the image or tell the story of that place (it happens to be the Denali Highway).

You can up your panorama photography game by carefully thinking about elements of the shot before making it. For instance, integrating close foreground elements using hyperfocal distance or switching to a longer lens can give you a more interesting shot. We’ll go through that and more in this article!

Why panoramas?

In order to capture a more interesting shot, it is useful to think about why you are using a particular technique. For instance, you might think of black and white photography for shadows and contrast, macro techniques for tiny things (although that’s a rule to be broken), and side-lighting for portrait photography. Each of these techniques or photography genres is meant to maximize the benefit and impact of the elements in the image.

So, why panoramic? Because you want to maximize and impress the viewer with grand-scale elements in the image which you cannot capture in one image alone. Using the mantra of “making a shot” and not “taking a shot” is good to keep in mind for panoramas. To make a more compelling panorama, envision what you want to accomplish and how you want the image to feel or influence your viewer before pressing the shutter button.

Some scenes are just too big for one image! This snow-covered landscape caught my attention during an afternoon of skiing. I like the framing of the trees on the left, but to my eye, this image still gets caught firmly in the panorama trap because it lacks compelling elements in the foreground.

Techniques

Integrate Close Foreground Elements using Hyperfocal Distance

Foreground elements are critical pieces to incorporate into your image to grab the viewer. Foreground elements help tell a story, give the image context, and make it more interesting to look at. Since many panoramas get taken with a mid-length (e.g., 50 mm) to ultra-wide lenses (e.g., 12mm), you must walk close enough to foreground elements to give them a presence in the image. You can maximize the impact of a foreground element by using a photography technique called hyperfocal distance.

This image was made during a recent trip to Hawaii and shot on a Nikon D810 with a 24mm Sigma Art f/1.4. The Mamane Tree in the foreground was a compelling silhouette. I am only about 10 feet from it, but HFD enabled me to keep the foreground and Milky Way sharp.

Hyperfocal distance (HFD) is not a “hyper-difficult” subject. By definition, it is the closest thing your lens can focus on while keeping the horizon at infinity. HFD is influenced by your lens focal length, by your camera’s sensor size, and by your aperture. As a rule of thumb, wider lenses have a shorter HFD than longer lenses, and the larger your sensor is, the shorter the HFD is. Creating a smaller aperture (e.g., f/16 instead of f/2.8) will also decrease the HFD.

Depending on your system and camera settings you may be able to have foreground elements 2.0 feet (0.6m) away and have all elements beyond that in focus! There are many resources to learn HFD from and to calculate it for your camera system. I recommend starting with this article to learn more. As you use HFD more, you will begin to have an intuitive sense of how far objects have to be from your camera to be in focus.

This image incorporates HFD to frame the image. The closest spruce is about 8 feet in front of me. I made the image with a Nikon D810 and a 12mm, ultra-wide lens

Hopefully, you have made the connection of why HFD will help you integrate interesting foreground elements into your panoramic image. Here’s how you can achieve intriguing panoramas in three generic steps:
1. find a compelling scene,
2. locate an interesting foreground element, and
3. walk to the HFD in front of the foreground element and begin shooting.
I recommend stopping your lens down to f/8, so it is at its sharpest and shooting with a panning tripod head to keep your horizon straight and level. It will make the stitch and final image cleaner. However, don’t be overwhelmed – these techniques take time and patience.

This image was made on an Olympus OMD Em5 with a 12mm lens adapted with a Metabones speed booster. The foreground silhouette tree was about 8 feet away. I got as close as HFD would allow to make it impactful in the image.

This image is not utilizing HFD, but I had to consciously know how close to stand to these spruces to give them impact in the image. I intentionally balanced their silhouette against the glow of the Northern Lights.

Now that you have learned briefly about HFD, I’m going to tell you to keep in mind that rules are made to be broken! The foreground of your image may be far more important to the telling of that story than the horizon. Having an in-focus foreground element and out-of-focus background is okay too.

The image below has many compelling elements. However, my goal was to bring you into the winter scene by ensuring the hoar-frost-covered Black Spruce in the foreground was tack-sharp.

Rules are made to be broken! In this image, I knew my background and stars were going to be out of focus. That did not matter to me because they were only accents to the foreground trees and their beauty.

Use long lenses to bring the scene to you

You may be thinking to yourself “I can’t always get closer to my subject, so what then?” Not to worry – you can make compelling panoramic images by using long lenses to bring the landscape closer to you. When using a long lens of 150mm or more, it is critical that you use a tripod with a panning head. Use a cable release to remove shake in the lens and shoot at a large aperture (e.g., f/20) to get sharp elements.

This image of Denali was made with an Olympus OMD Em5ii at 100mm. I isolated the mountain and its foothills to create a panorama full of layers, colors, and textures.

You can use a telephoto lens to isolate and photograph your favorite part of a scene. Above, I used one to isolate Denali, and below, I used it to isolate a cannery against the large mountains of the Juneau Range.

The steps for making a panoramic image with a telephoto lens are similar to using HFD. You need to:
1. Identify a scene,
2. identify which part of the scene to isolate with the telephoto, and
3. shoot the scene with the telephoto and cable release.
I made this image from a boat and shot it at 330mm to isolate the cannery. The effect of “compression” from the telephoto lens made the mountains feel very close to the cannery. In reality, they are over 18 miles (350km) away!

Practice makes perfect

Experimenting with HFD and long lenses is going to result in some images that you “could have done better on.” Expect to learn from your mistakes!

I’ll share an image that illustrates when my HFD distance estimating was off. I did not achieve a sharp foreground and background. However, I like how the sharp part of the image draws your eyes through the snow-covered trees. So, this image is not a total flop.

As I always say, “pixels are cheap.”

I hope you make tons of pixels while experimenting with panoramic images!

Even images that are not perfect can have qualities you like! The air glow on this night was spectacular and I like how the distant spruces are in focus drawing your eye through the tunnel of snow-covered trees.

The post How to Use Scene Elements to Create Impactful Panoramas appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ian Johnson.

Digital Photography School
May 13, 2019
Leica Q2 sample gallery updated

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We’re wrapping up our full analysis of the Leica Q2, and in the process of testing we have (naturally) taken lots and lots of photos with the camera. Take a look at what we’ve been shooting, and keep an eye out for our full review in the near future.

See our updated Leica Q2 sample gallery

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

May 13, 2019
Adobe Price Hike Just a ‘Test’; Should Photographers Be Worried?
The post Adobe Price Hike Just a ‘Test’; Should Photographers Be Worried? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Adobe made waves earlier this month when it doubled the price of its Creative Cloud Photography plan–from $ 9.99/month to $ 19.99/month.

Soon after, the price reverted back to the original. And Adobe has assured its customers that it was just testing a new price.

But this begs the question:

Should photographers be concerned?

It’s not like we haven’t seen this before. Last year, Adobe announced price increases for a number of its CC products, though the Photography plan was spared. So the Photography plan – which includes Photoshop, Lightroom, and Lightroom Classic – remained an affordable deal for professional photographers.

But if Adobe is testing out a price increase, then it’s no doubt a real possibility for the future.

If that’s the case, would Lightroom and Photoshop be worth it?

The increased price did come with one benefit: Creative Cloud storage, which currently sits at 20GB, shot up to 1TB.
(It’s now back to 20GB.)

But how many photographers have been waiting for additional storage? For many photographers, the increased CC storage is worth little.

Maybe it’s time to start looking into other options.

In the past few years, a number of strong Photoshop and Lightroom contenders have been released–and at significantly lower price points.

For instance, Affinity Photo retails at a one-time payment of $ 49.99. It offers many of the same functions as Photoshop, including basic editing tools, layers, and some more sophisticated options, such as lens distortion corrections.

And ON1 Photo RAW is a neat alternative to Lightroom. For a single payment of $ 79.99, you get a combination of advanced photo editing and photo organization software. Plus, it comes with a set of excellent presets.

Photographers should also check out Luminar 3. This is a full-featured program, offering an excellent combination of basic editing options, local adjustments, and photo organization. All for a one-time price of $ 70.

A couple more options:
1. ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate (for $ 8.90/month or a one-time fee of $ 84.95)
2. Exposure X4 (for a one-time fee of $ 119)
Here’s the bottom line:

With Adobe considering a Lightroom/Photoshop price hike, other options (which you can purchase for a one-time fee) have suddenly become far more enticing.

For those of you who aren’t willing to fork out the additional US$ 10 per month, take a look at these other options.

Just in case.

The post Adobe Price Hike Just a ‘Test’; Should Photographers Be Worried? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Digital Photography School
May 13, 2019
Olympus celebrates its 100th birthday with a short documentary on its imaging division

To celebrate its 100th anniversary, Olympus has shared a trio of short documentary videos showing the history and subsequent evolution of its three primary business divisions: medical, scientific solutions and imaging.

The above video, officially titled ‘Olympus 100th Anniversary Documentary: A Great Moment,’ shares not only the history of Olympus’ imaging division, but also interviews with Olympus research and development executives, camera store technicians and Pulitzer Prize-winning National Geographic photographer and Olympic visionary Jay Dickman.

Olympus has also created a dedicated website for its centennial celebration, which includes a timeline of the history of Olympus products, from the first microscope it produced to the launch of its mirrorless camera system and beyond.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

May 13, 2019
How to Put Some “Sparkle” in Your Photos with Sparkler Photography
The post How to Put Some “Sparkle” in Your Photos with Sparkler Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

Sparklers are fun, festive, and can add, well…Sparkle to your photos! Getting good sparkler shots will test your skills too, teach you new ways of operating your camera and allow you to make some “hot shots” people will admire. So let’s look at the tools, techniques, and tips for sparkler photography as well as give you some ideas to try.

4 seconds, f/11, ISO 100

Playing with fire – Safety First!

If you play with fire, __________________ (complete the rest of that common saying). You’ve heard that, right?

“Play with fire and you’ll get burned.”

That’s NOT what we want to happen! So, Safety First!

These things ought to be common sense, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t list some precautions. After all, you are playing with fire.
- Sparklers are HOT! The best sparklers for photography, (those with metallic nature and metal wire handle), burn between 1000 and 1600 degrees Centigrade, (that’s 1,800-3000 F)! Even after they burn out, the sparkler will be red hot for some time. Use them with great caution.
- Flying sparks can burn you and your photo equipment. I have pitted glasses used as props in my shots with the sparks and the same can happen to your lens if too close. Stay back and zoom in, keeping your camera out of the range of flying sparks. Put a UV filter on your lens for extra protection.
- Make your shots in a safe area with no flammable materials nearby. Sparkler photography is best done outdoors with cement, pavement, or other non-flammable surfaces underneath. I have read too often of photographers setting areas on fire (even historic sites!) by improperly using fireworks. I have also read of weddings where the bride’s dress was set on fire with a sparkler and all kinds of other sad and ugly stories. Don’t be that idiot! Have a bucket of water, perhaps even a fire extinguisher, nearby just in case. A water bucket can also be useful for disposing of expended but still hot sparklers.
- Be careful when lighting sparklers. Often they take a bit to light, and standard paper matches could burn your fingers as they burn down. A long fireplace-style lighter works well. Light one at a time, never a bundle of them.
I could go on and if you search for “sparkler injuries” you might decide not to try this at all, but the point is, be smart, be safe, and above all…be careful!

What you need

Camera – Full manual control of exposure and manual focus is pretty much required. Automatic modes won’t cut it for good sparkler photography and autofocus will cause much frustration.

Tripod – You will be shooting long exposures, often several seconds, and you can’t possibly hold your camera still enough for that time. Also, unless you have an assistant, you will also be busy with the sparkler. Your camera needs to be on a stable tripod.

Sparklers – I’ve found the best sparklers for photography are the metallic type with wire handles. Those with bamboo handles and a paper end produce a different-looking spark pattern, a lot of smoke, and are not well-suited to photos. You can also buy sparkers of different sizes.

Consider the amount of time it will take to make the shot you want as well as the distance you will be from the camera. Standard size (#10) sparklers work fine for shorter effects up close. Consider the bigger ones if you need more time or will be far away. I stock up during the Fourth of July season here in the U.S. If you have to buy online in the off-season, search for “Smokeless Sparkers” and you will find sites that sell the proper type in various sizes.

Props and People – The right props in a photo can help “tell a story” which the sparklers enhance. (See the shots in this article). Have those ready and be sure to consider their flammability. If you will have people in your shot, especially if they are children, be sure you carefully instruct them in the safe use of sparklers. Their safety is your responsibility! Also, consider the clothing people wear. Obviously, easily flammable clothing is a big NO. Dark colors will help them “disappear” in the shot if that’s what you want while lighter colors will help them show up. Again, if you have any doubts about being able to use sparklers in your photography and doing it safely, just don’t do it – period.

4 seconds, F/14, ISO 400 – Flash Fill light was also used here

Remote trigger for your camera – If you are any distance from your camera, (especially if you are working alone), you will need a way to fire the shot remotely. You might get by with the timer, tripping the shutter and then running into the shot, but I like to be able to do multiple shots using just one sparkler. (They are hard to extinguish and re-light. If you need to run back to the camera to make another exposure, your sparkler will likely burn out by the time you can do that.)

I use a Yongnuo RF602C radio trigger with my Canon 6D and so can work from a distance, repeating the shot several times in the duration of just one sparkler. A wired remote could work too, depending on the length of your cord and distance from the camera to subject.

Flashlight (aka “Torch”) – You will most likely be working in the dark, so being able to set your camera, adjust focus, and do what you need to without too much fumbling will require a flashlight. We also discuss other uses for the flashlight along with Flash below.

Flash and Orange (CTO) Gels – This is optional, depending on the shot you’d like to make. We’ll get into using flash with your shots a bit later.

Bucket of Water and Fire Extinguishers – I discussed why previously but will repeat it. Have a place to put still hot sparklers after they burn out and also a means to quickly douse a fire in the chance things go bad.

2.5 sec. f/11, ISO 100

Long exposure and camera settings

You will want full control over all your camera settings, so Manual Mode is a must. You will also want to be able to set and lock focus, so Manual Focus is needed. Shooting Raw (not .jpg) images will free you from having to worry about white balance and also give you greater latitude for adjusting exposure in editing if you aren’t right on.

As for the specific camera settings, that will take some experimentation. Start with ISO. You’ll be taking long exposures and keeping the ISO low. ISO 100 is fine and will help limit image noise. The desired depth of field will help determine your aperture, and that in combination with your shutter speed, (which will need to be long enough to accomplish whatever action you’ll be capturing) will determine your exposure. Sparklers are brighter than you may think and I achieved many of my shots with the light of the sparkler alone.

Take a look at the sample photos included in this article for which I’ve listed the camera settings. Note that ISO is almost always 100, aperture between f/8 and f/11 with the shutter speed determined by the duration of the action I’m capturing. Sometimes, rather than guessing how long you will need, it might be a good idea to use the Bulb mode for your shutter. Click the shutter once to open it as you start the action, then close it when finished.

0.5 sec., f/8, ISO 100

Use with still-life photography

Your imagination is your only limit to how you can use sparklers to put some pizzaz in your shot. I am a fan of using them in Still Life photography for several reasons:
- Use the sparkler to contribute to the theme and story you’re telling with a photo. Note the images in this article where sparklers add to the festive or holiday feel of the image.
- Consider how the light of the sparkler plays with the other props or people in the scene. Glass which allows the sparkler light to shine through. Reflective objects or things that might look good backlit can make for interesting shots. You will often be able to make the shot with the light of the sparkler alone.
- Back to the safety factor – With still-life images, you can be more in control of the situation, the location, and the other variables when working with inanimate objects. Working with people increases the hazard.
- If an object moves, (and is lit well enough) during a long exposure, it will be blurred. I like the sparkler to be the moving object while the other objects in my scene are static and thus sharp even with a longer shutter speed.
- Multiple takes are usually necessary to get a “just right” shot. I often make multiple shots even during the duration of one 35-second burn of a small #10 sparkler. After it’s exhausted and I toss it in the water bucket, I chimp my shots, decide what I might do differently or better, adjust and make another series. Still-life subjects don’t care while your model might not be as patient with many multiple takes.
1/160 sec, f/3.5, ISO 800 – The sparkler was added with the technique described below

Use in wedding photography

Using sparklers in conjunction with wedding photography has become popular and can make for some nice images. A personal confession here – I’ve done wedding photography and find it scary enough. Add fire to the mix – as well as some potentially inebriated guests wielding that fire! – and the fear-factor goes up exponentially for me. I’m not saying don’t do these kinds of shots if that’s something you’d like to add to your wedding photography repertoire. Do your homework and read up on how other wedding photographers are using sparklers. Then, as you should with all wedding photography, do it with due diligence and the safety of your clients utmost in mind.

That said, read on in the Special Effects Section below to learn how you can include sparkler effects in your wedding images through some creative editing while not having to have them physically present during the wedding shoot.

This sparkler shot was done independently – 14 seconds, f/11, ISO 100, and then layered over the dance shot below

Writing with fire

Another popular effect done with sparklers is to “write” or “draw” with the light trail created when a sparkler moves during a long exposure. (Interesting that in the Greek roots of the word “photography,” Phos means light and graphi means writing.) During a long exposure, a sparkler can be used to “write” words, draw pictures, or trace the outline of an object. A tip when writing letters or words; usually the subject doing the “sparkler writing” will be facing the camera and for them, (so the letters appear proper to the camera), they would need to form backward letters. Make it easier for them by letting them write as they normally would and then flipping the image later in post-production.

I’ve also made some fun shots, such as that of the bicycle in this article, by “outlining” the basic shapes of the object with the sparkler during a long exposure. For this kind of thing, you might want to look into longer-burning sparklers such as #20 types which burn for about 2 minutes. They even sell extra-long #36 sparklers which will burn for up to 3 ½ minutes. Get what you need to accomplish the shot you’ll be making.

80 seconds, f/11, ISO 100. I probably could have traced the bicycle just once to simplify the shot and use a shorter exposure

Mixing ambient light and using flash

What you want to show up in your shot will determine your exposure settings and other techniques. Sometimes, all you want to show up is the sparkler itself. If that’s the case, put your camera on a tripod, put the unlit sparkler (or a stand-in object) where you expect the sparkler to be, use your flashlight and focus on that spot. Then turn off the autofocus so the focus is locked on that spot. You will want to shoot in the dark, have a dark background, and wear dark clothes if you or your subject will be in the shot moving the sparkler. Make a shot without lighting the sparkler with the ISO at 100 and adjust the aperture, so the resulting image is totally black. Shutter speed will be dependent on how long you expect the action to take.

Now, leaving all the settings there, light the sparkler and make the shot. Evaluate the shot to see what adjustments might be necessary. Once you have it dialed in, repeat as needed with another sparkler. If you are shooting relatively short, say under 5-second exposures, you may get multiple shots during the 35-second burn of even a small #10 sparkler.

Now, say you want your subject to appear in the image with the sparkler. A still-life object might work just fine with a similar technique with the light of the sparkler enough to illuminate the subject. The cocktail glasses and flag shots here were done in that fashion. The bicycle shot was too, though a long 80-second exposure was needed to trace the subject fully.

The New Year 2017 shot needed a little help from a flash. The 4-second exposure was about right for the static sparkler placed behind the glasses, but it’s placement behind the glasses, and the amount of light it cast, wasn’t enough to illuminate the other objects in the scene, so some fill-flash was used.

2.5 sec, f/16, ISO 100

Say you want to see your subject holding the sparkler, perhaps drawing with it, or maybe show a wedding couple in the shot with sparkler effects in the shot too. Set up the shot as before with enough shutter duration to capture whatever motion you want with the sparkler. Then, just before completing the exposure, pop a flash on your subject to illuminate and freeze them.

If your camera and flash support second curtain sync, that’s a great way to do this as the flash will be automatically triggered just before the exposure is completed. If not, or if perhaps you want to put the flash off camera, you can also manually trigger it with the test button. It takes a bit more timing and luck, but being able to put the flash where you want it and timing the flash to your action might be worth it.

Another option, since you will be making a long exposure, is to use a flashlight to “light-paint” your subject. As with the flash, if you want the sparkler to produce a trail but the person or subject to be frozen, illuminate them with the flashlight at the end of the exposure.

I mentioned the use of a CTO (Color Temperature Orange) gel with your flash. Because most sparklers burn with a warm gold light the much bluer light of the flash won’t match them. Putting a piece or two of CTO gel over your flash allows its light to better match that of the sparkler. Carefully crafted, you will be able to make it look like it was the sparkler lighting the subject when in fact the flash was doing the work.

1 second, f/11, ISO 100

Special effects with sparkler shots

I mentioned a wedding shot where it had the sparkler effect but without actually having the sparkler there. Here’s how you do it:
- Shoot your sparkler shots on a dark background. Then in post-production, adjust the black so the only thing visible is the sparkler and light trail itself.
- Open the image you want in Photoshop, say the wedding shot.
- Open the sparkler shot as a separate image. Then “Select All” and “Copy” that shot.
- Go to the wedding shot and then “Paste” the sparkler shot over it on a separate layer.
- Change the blending mode on the sparkler layer to “Screen.” The black will become transparent, leaving the sparkler trail over your wedding shot.
- Adjust the placement, size, and so forth on the sparkler overlay to put it where you like.
- Using masking tools on that later, mask out any of the sparkler effects you don’t want to show.
Sparker effected added using Screen Blending mode with the sparkler on a separate layer.

The beauty of this technique is you can make your own “stock images” with various sparkler effects and have them available later when you might want to add them to other images. The other advantage is you don’t have the hassle and risks of using sparklers around your subjects.

If you don’t want to mess with sparklers at all but still want the effects, you can also buy “sparkler effects” packages and alphabets which you can use with this same technique.

So, have fun, be safe, and put some sparkle in your photos! Then, be sure to share them with us in the comments below.

The post How to Put Some “Sparkle” in Your Photos with Sparkler Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

Digital Photography School
May 13, 2019
5 Camera Accessories You Shouldn’t Buy Cheap

The post 5 Camera Accessories You Shouldn’t Buy Cheap appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Suzi Pratt.

With each passing year, it seems that camera gear and accessories get progressively cheaper. Third-party brands now offer everything from lenses and flashes to batteries and tripods. This gear is typically priced at a fraction of the price of name brand manufacturers and the quality is often on par. Photographers have often said that “you get what you pay for” when it comes to camera gear, implying that cheaper goods offer less quality. But is that still true today?

In this article, I’ll highlight 5 camera accessories you shouldn’t buy cheap and should consider paying full price for. This isn’t to say that there aren’t cheap, third-party brands offering solid quality for less. But these are items that you’ll want to research extra hard to make sure you’re buying the best product for your camera.

1. Camera strap

All cameras come with a stock camera strap that you can use to secure your camera on your shoulder. However, the quality and long-term durability of these camera straps are often questionable. Thus, it’s becoming more commonplace for photographers to purchase their own camera straps. Peak Design and Black Rapid are two popular brands offering sturdy and stylish camera straps. These straps are on the pricey side with the Peak Design Slide coming in at $ 64.95 and the Black Rapid Breathe at $ 68.99. Each strap also attaches to your camera differently, but their main benefit is being able to detach on demand if you need to remove the strap (ie. for use on a tripod or gimbal).

Are there cheaper camera strap alternatives? Certainly. But consider the fact that you are trusting the camera strap to hold hundreds or thousands of dollars of equipment and be sure to buy a camera strap that you can trust.

2. Tripod

Along the lines of keeping your valuable camera gear safe, it’s also wise to invest a little extra into a high-quality tripod. I’ve spent years buying cheap, compact tripods for travel only to have them fail on me sooner than expected. As a result, I’ve amassed a pile of broken tripods. Last year, I finally took the plunge and bought a more expensive Manfrotto tripod. Solid and reliable, I now wonder why I didn’t just buy this tripod in the first place.

When purchasing a tripod, it’s also important to buy a quality tripod head. Ball heads are popular and are often the default tripod head that you’ll receive. However, they tend to loosen over time. Luckily, there are many other tripod heads out there that offer more stability and precise control over your camera movement. My personal favorite tripod head is the Manfrotto MH804-3W, which I now use for all of my architecture and real estate photo shoots.

3. Camera batteries

When buying a new camera, it’s always important to budget for a few extra camera batteries. You’ll always want spares just in case, and authentic spare camera batteries are generally not cheap. For example, a spare Sony Z-battery for the A7III costs $ 78. Similarly, a spare Fujifilm battery is $ 65. Third-party brands such as Wasabi Power offer cheaper battery knock-offs, but there’s a risk in using these.

Battery knock-offs may or may not offer the same amount of power as the original batteries. I’ve used third-party batteries for certain cameras such as my Canon DSLRs and not seen any difference in their power. However, camera brands are getting smarter and will sometimes detect knock-off batteries. For instance, my Fujifilm X-T3 flashes a warning sign if Wasabi Power battery is inserted, and it definitely does not last as long as an authentic Fuji battery.

It’s also said that using third-party batteries can void your camera’s warranty. I’m not sure how the camera brand would know if you were using a knock-off battery, but it’s still something to look into.

High-megapixel cameras come at a price as they eat up storage on your memory cards and hard drives.

4. Memory cards

All of your photos and videos are recorded onto memory cards, so it is very important to select quality memory cards. SanDisk is one of the biggest and most reputable memory card makers. There are other brands such as Lexar and PNY that also make quality memory cards. But I’d be wary of buying memory cards made by any other brands. With that said, even the most reputable memory card brands tend to fail and malfunction, so also be sure to use multiple memory cards if your recording device offers multiple card slots.

5. Hard Drives

Related to memory cards, hard drives are also important for storing and backing up your photos and videos. If you’ve ever had a hard drive fail, you know the importance of choosing a quality hard drive and making sure you have a backup for your backup.

Similar to memory cards, even the most high-quality hard drives can fail, so the best brand names are up for debate. Western Digital and Seagate are generally good hard drive brands, even though I’ve experienced hard drive failures from them both.

Lately, I’ve had the best luck with Samsung SSD hard drives. I use a 1TB Samsung T5 as my main working hard drive and a 4TB LaCie Rugged Mini as my secondary backup. This combo is great for working on the road, as well as in the office.

Conclusion

There you have it – 5 camera accessories that you’ll want to consider splurging for because in some cases, you still get what you pay for. Are there cheaper, high-quality alternatives for these items? Certainly. But when it comes to these 5 items, take the extra time to read customer reviews and make sure you’re buying the best gear for your camera.

Would you add or remove any items from this list? Let me know in the comments below!

The post 5 Camera Accessories You Shouldn’t Buy Cheap appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Suzi Pratt.

Digital Photography School

May 12, 2019
CP+ 2019 Panasonic interview: ‘We’re proud of our cameraness’
The CP+ 2019 trade show in Yokohama, Japan, gave us the chance to speak to most of the major camera makers. Panasonic put forward an extensive team to discuss the company’s move into the full-frame market.
- Michiharu Uematsu – Technical PR Adviser, Merchandising Dep., INBU
- Tetsuya Uno – Group Manager, Optical Engineering Dep., INBU
- Koji Shibuno – Manager, Software Engineering Dep. Key (responsible) engineer of AF engineering, INBU
- Takayuki Tochio – Senior Coordinator, Product Engineering Dep., INBU Key engineer of Picture Quality
- Hidenari Nishikawa – Senior Coordinator, Merchandising Dep., INBU
- Shiori Kitaoka – Senior Coordinator, Communication Dep. CMD
Please note that this interview was conducted partly via an interpreter, and has been edited for clarity and flow.

How different is it to design a lens for a much bigger sensor? What are the challenges?

When we’re designing a lens, we look first at the most important properties: sharpness, transmission, distortion, vignetting, CA. But there are also some things are not measurable, quantitatively, such as bokeh. These are the ‘taste’ of the lens. So we need to understand this.

We assess bokeh at various distances. With Micro Four Thirds, the depth-of-field is deeper, relatively speaking. It’s obvious where the tack-sharp range is and where is the ‘big bokeh’ [significantly out-of-focus area] range is. But now, for the full frame we need to consider the intermediate range: the ‘small bokeh’ area. It could be around the focal plane: that may already begin to be defocused with a full frame sensor.

We’re constantly developing this to ensure the perfect ‘taste’ to our S-series lenses

We segment with depth: for the big bokeh area we want the beautiful bokeh with no onion ring effect and no unpleasant vignetting [of the bokeh: the ‘cats’ eye effect’]. We need to have smooth vignetting from the center to edges, with circular bokeh in the center and a smooth progression to non-circular bokeh near the corners.

With the small bokeh [transitional] area we think about the double-line bokeh: which is considered a ‘busy’ bokeh effect. Around the focal plane area the transition between tack-sharp and out-of-focus is very important.

We needed a way to quantify and evaluate these usually qualitative aspects. This feeling when we look at the picture, we need to calculate or transfer those parameters to the quantitative evaluation.

We’re constantly developing this to ensure the perfect ‘taste’ to our S-series lenses.

How well can you model bokeh or do you just have to build a sample lens and test it?

Thanks to very good simulation system we can roughly predict what the bokeh will look like beforehand. We create a prototype model but there can be gaps between what we expected from the simulation and exactly what we made, so we iterate with creation of the prototypes. So we model, create pre-production samples, evaluate and adjust before making another prototype model.

We firstly simulate a typical value of what we’d like to develop, then we can simulate the differences made by manufacturing tolerances, so we can predict those as well.

What are the challenges of making larger lenses with the high speed AF performance we’ve seen in Micro Four Thirds?

In terms of the mechanical part of the lens, we have a newly-developed double focus system and ultrasonic assist system. We have the double focus system in the 50mm lens and ultrasonic assist in the 24-105mm and 70-200mm.

In our double focus system, we have two groups of lenses which move independently for autofocus. Because we’ve separated the two groups, we can broaden the freedom of the development to give the best image quality and fast autofocus. Because we divided the AF into two, each group ends up being lighter, so they’re faster, too.

We have a newly-developed double focus system and an ultrasonic assist system

For the ultrasonic assist, it’s a new addition, on top of the linear focus actuator. The system keeps the lenses moving constantly, so that they don’t have to overcome ‘stiction’ [the friction that needs to be overcome to start moving] before being driven to the correct location. This means the force needed to drive the lens is much less. So we have an ultrasonic system moving the lens a matter of nanometers, to ensure the lens isn’t having to move from a dead start each time. It’s a small enough vibration that you don’t see it as AF wobbling.

Have you shared your DFD technology with Sigma and Leica?

The autofocus system protocol between the body and the lens is standardized in the L-mount alliance. So the other alliance members know what information the autofocus system needs. Beyond that it’s up to the individual lens businesses whether they include that information to be fully compatible. It’s up to them what they implement.

How do Leica L-mount lenses behave on the S1 and S1R?

Because this [DFD information] is already included in the protocol standard of the L-mount alliance, they already know how the body can command the lens to work.

The protocol hasn’t changed: L-mount lenses that already exist should work in the same way as our new lenses. The protocol was already fixed when Leica started it as the SL system. Of course we’re working on it all the time so it may be upgraded at some time, but for now it stays the same.

How does Panasonic plan to balance its resources between L-mount and Micro Four Thirds?

Because this was the launch of the S-series, we put the maximum effort into the S-series, including lenses. But you already know that we’re developing the 10-25mm F1.7 lens for Micro Four Thirds, that’s coming soon. So of course we are developing both S-series and G-series at the same time.

The forthcoming Panasonic Leica DG Vario Summilux 10-25mm F1.7 is supposed to show the company’s continued Micro Four Thirds ambitions.

Has the expansion to a new system involved any expansion of engineering or manufacturing capacity?

We have optimized our human resources internally so that we can develop both S series and G series to the highest standard.

The S1 video spec is good but not up to GH standard. Do you see L-mount making sense for pro/semi-pro video?

First of all, let us confirm the concept of these cameras: the S1R is for the professional photographer while the S1 is for the hybrid stills and video photographer, so the concepts of those models are a little bit different. This might be why the spec is not beyond the GH series.

In the future, we’d like to consider the users’ needs: it’s open to users’ feedback.

Do you feel there’s an advantage to Micro Four Thirds, when it comes to video?

There are many categories of video shooters from broadcasting or run-and-gun, through to cinema and creative videography. If we are thinking about broadcasting or run-and-gun videographers, there may be some advantage to the small, compact and lightweight combination. That’s the first benefit, compared to the larger sensor system. Image stabilization and overheating will be less of an issue, compared to full-frame sensors.

The degree of [creative] freedom broadens if you use a larger sensor, so maybe the cinema type of videographer would prefer the larger sensor, such as full frame. Maybe for cinema it’s better to take full frame.

Was EVA-1 level videography considered when developing the L system and its lenses?

Of course we have been discussing with professional camcorder team as a fundamental part of the engineering, but we haven’t discussed deeply how we might create such models. We’re not discussing which mount would be used for the coming product.

Of course we don’t disclose any further product information. At this point we don’t have any future information we can disclose.

Panasonic talks about the ‘cameraness’ of the S1: the degree to which it feels like a camera

You’re arriving in a very crowded sector of the market. What is it you think Panasonic can uniquely bring?

Firstly, cameraness: the interface, in terms of both hardware and software [making the device feel like a camera]. If you look at competitor models, they’re very innovative cameras but they’re having some negative comments in the market that the grips are smaller than expected or that the interface is [too] cutting-edge, leaving people confused when they first try to use them. We listened to a lot of customers’ feedback to create the S-series, so we designed the position of buttons, shape of buttons and also the menu settings accordingly. We’re proud of this cameraness and the interface, first of all.

In terms of features, we have the high resolution mode, which is number one in the market and Dual IS that gives up to six stops of stabilization. 4K/60p is a feature only we have in the full frame market and the electronic viewfinder is really high resolution: that too is number one in the market. This isn’t everything, of course, but we can offer all those functions and features, to even professional users so that they can easily come to our system and start using them for their professional work.

Also our HLG Photo mode: this comes from our background in videography and this allows for a new photographic style.

What does HLG mean for stills photography: what happens next? Editing tools for HDR images?

The editing, as you say, and the public awareness are important in the near future. Firstly we’d like everyone to try the HLG HDR photos, where people can have a [means] of expression beyond the standard definition.

In terms of editing, we are co-working with an alliance: we’re trying to find a solution to edit HDR images. On the technology side we’d like to be at least one step ahead of our competitors, so we will keep improving the image sensor technology to be capable for the high dynamic range world.

Of course we’re one of the few companies that can create HDR TVs as well as cameras, so of course we’re working with [our] TV business group. That way you’re not only shooting but can also display and view HDR images in the best possible environment.

For the HDR Photo style we’re working to have a wider [DR] option so that you can be really creative when shooting HLG photos.

Editor’s note

This meeting was a mixture of briefing and interview, which is why some of the answers are quite long and detailed. The upshot of this is, perhaps, that you don’t have to read quite so closely between the lines to see the message Panasonic wants to send. My own interpretation of it would be ‘we’re not just an electronics company: we care about even the most subtle aspects of image quality.’ Or maybe that’s just my response to hearing the word ‘cameraness’ again.

The thing I haven’t been able to capture in the text is the slide Panasonic showed me about the autofocus hit-rate they measured when shooting their cameras side-by-side with phase-detection-based rivals. The testing protocol wasn’t fully disclosed, but it showed their products delivering a hit-rate comparable to some pretty good cameras, and even out-performing phase-detection systems when the subject gets close to the camera.

My own interpretation of it would be ‘we’re not just an electronics company: we care about even the most subtle aspects of image quality.’

This is something we’ll be looking at as we test the S1 and S1R, because the general perception of DFD is that it’s flat-out inferior to phase-detection. This isn’t helped by the visually disturbing ‘flutter’ as the cameras try to maintain focus on moving objects (an effect made more dramatic by the high res viewfinders and shallow depth-of-field of the lenses on the S cameras).

Overall, though, it’s clear that Panasonic wants its S1 and S1R to appeal specifically to professional stills photographers. When it comes to video, the company’s plans seem less well-developed. For now, at least, it seems that Panasonic sees the GH series as its main video/stills camera platform.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
May 12, 2019
How to Travel Light With Your Photography Gear
The post How to Travel Light With Your Photography Gear appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Karthika Gupta.

For the longest time, one of my dreams has been to live away from home and travel with my family for an extended period of time. I used to dream about all the places I could travel to, and how much fun I would have living a nomadic life. Of course, then I would wake up, and the realities of my responsibilities would take over.

A couple of years ago after a major life setback with the loss of my mom to cancer, I decided that my life was too short not to make my dreams come true.

That year, after several months of discussion and planning, my husband and I decided that our little family would spend our summer in India – traveling and visiting family. Somewhere along the way a trip to Ladakh, London, Zurich, and Rome got added to the roster. Pretty soon I was in charge of planning and packing for a life on the road for two and a half months. We’d be living out of just four suitcases – one for each one of us. As a photographer, I knew that somewhere in those suitcases I had to pack my camera equipment along with my essentials.

Since that year, my family made a conscious decision to take time away from everything over the summer and spend at least 3-4 weeks traveling. Last year we spent two weeks in Utah, and back-country camped for a week in the wilderness of Denver. As the official photographer (both for personal reasons as well as professional ones), I have had to nail down the task of packing my gear and traveling as light as possible to make the most of the trip.

Here are a few things that helped me make the most of my time away from home. It is very likely that I have missed some key photographic opportunities, but overall I am pleased with my gear setup, the opportunities that my family has experienced, and the images that I have created. As a bonus, all the camera equipment I take along make it back without any significant mishaps along the way. If traveling has taught me anything, it is that not every moment needs to documenting and not every piece of gear needs to be used at the same time!

1. Gear choices

Let’s face the reality of life as a photographer – we all love and want all the gear that we think we need wherever we go. As I pack, I realize that as a photographer I always have so many things I want to take. However, often the need for gear is quickly overruled by the need for practical things like clothes, shoes, and books. After a few days on the road, showers are not an overrated thing, they become necessary! I narrow down my list based on where my travels are taking me and what gear I could realistically carry and transport safely without any damage.

This is my typical kit for most travel adventures
- A wide zoom lens – my go-to is the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8
- A simple point and shoot camera (yes, this is my backup as weight is a concern on most trips)
- One telephoto lens – I have the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8
- One camera body – Canon 5D Mk III
- 3 camera batteries
- 1 battery charger
- A small travel tripod – this is my latest addition and it fits in my carry-on bag
- A remote trigger
- 7-8 camera CF cards ranging from 8GB to 32GB
- One compact 2TB External Hard drives (backup photo storage)
- Two generic lens and camera cleaner kits
All of these things comfortably fit into my REI brand hiking backpack. I use this bag for everything and store my gear in individual soft-cover bags inside the pack. This is what I have done since day one and something that has worked well for me.

As a mom of young kids, my backpack not only carries my gear but also snacks, extra t-shirts, books, color pencils and at a minimum, 5 matchbox cars of many colors. Just as the camera is my toy, my kids have their own toys that have to make it on every trip.

My most recent trip to Portugal had very limited gear because we were traveling light. So I had to get creative with my 24-70mm lens around town as I was enamored with all the beautiful tiles all over Lisbon!

The one thing I always wish I’d taken with me is a rain cover for the camera itself. My backpack has a rain cover, which I use when caught in a sudden downpour, but without a separate rain cover over my camera, I am not able to use it in the rain – which can be disappointing. Somehow, I always forget to buy one before my trips.

2. Organize and plan your trip

For me, being prepared and organized includes having a rough idea of where I am going and the kind of environment I am going to expose myself and my gear to. Before I leave for a trip, I jot down all the serial numbers, make and brand for my camera equipment, and store them in a document on my cloud-based Dropbox account. This gets updated and checked multiple times in the year as I sell and buy new gear. Just add this as one of your to-dos before you depart on your trip. All my external hard drives are stored off-site at a friend’s place as well as the remainder of my gear.

Now, obviously, this is a friend I trust. But another option would be to lock it in an off-site storage facility. As part of your research, another good thing to keep in your back pocket is the name, address, and contact information of authorized service dealers for your gear in the country you are visiting. Sometimes things go wrong no matter how prepared you are. Having information about services centers and authorized dealers for your gear is a time saver – especially when you are traveling in areas where internet connections are not very reliable.

During my travels, my gear choices depend on the activities planned and the kind of travel we are going to do. When traveling with my family in Rome and Zurich, we traveled everywhere either on foot or used public transportation. So I just carried my camera body and the 24-70mm lens among other daily necessities in my backpack. The rest of my camera equipment was either packed away in the hotel room safe or locked away in my suitcase.

When we hiked and camped in the Himalayas, my camera, along with both my lenses, were always on my person. The tripod was handed off to the porters that were carrying our camping gear. For my camping trips, I just carried all my CF cards and ditched the charger and external hard drive at the house where we were staying because it was highly unlikely I’d find a charging port on the journey.

Sometimes, if I ask nicely, my husband will carry my gear bag but only because it is not too feminine!! Also, it doesn’t scream camera bag.

This is my camera bag, day pack, and hiking bag. It can hold a lot of stuff and has back support which is really important. Plus it is not too”girly” in case I need some help carrying it!

When we travel on a road trip, my camera and 24-70mm lens sit up front with me and store the rest of the gear in the car trunk. When I fly, I carry all my gear in my backpack – I am too paranoid about checking in any gear.

My next purchase for a long haul trip is going to be a Pelican case, so I don’t have to carry anything on my person. As I age, I find that I cannot carry heavy bags as easily.

All these choices are possible because of the research I do ahead of time.

Additionally, a good mindset to have when you travel to far-off exotic locations is one of acceptance of physical and mental limitations of both your and your camera gear.

I experienced some altitude sickness when I traveled to Leh and Ladakh as we were traveling on roads at almost 17,000 feet above sea level. I also found my gear did not function as efficiently at that altitude. My batteries did not last as long, and the camera also did not shoot as fast. The first few times it happened I freaked out. However, then I just accepted it as something beyond my control and gave myself some extra time to be patient when getting the shot that I wanted.

3. Know your gear

This one is too basic to include here, but it is amazing how many of us don’t follow this simple tip. We are so enamored with the latest and greatest gear available, but yet don’t quite know how to use the stuff that we do own.

The best way to get over this is to limit yourself to a few key pieces of camera equipment for an extended period. One of my photography goals is to capture star trails and the Milky Way. The opportunity presented itself when I traveled to Ladakh. After all, I was going to be in a remote part of the country at an altitude of almost 15,000-17,000 feet above sea level.

Now astrophotography is not my thing. I always limited myself from trying it out because I don’t usually travel with a tripod, nor do I own an intervalometer. So this time I downloaded the camera manual on my phone and studied it before I left. With that information, I was able to comfortably and confidently use the B (a.k.a Bulb mode) on my camera to capture star trails in Ladakh. It was quite a thrilling experience for my maiden attempt.

Nothing quite prepares you for seeing the milky way. That first glimpse takes your breadth away and without the right gear, it is impossible to capture.

This is one of my first milky way shots and now I find myself looking out for stars every night! This would have been impossible without a tripod and proper remote trigger.

Another good thing to practice before you head out is gear maintenance. I routinely clean my lens and camera throughout my trips, so I carry two camera cleaning kits because I know my gear gets a lot of time out in the elements when I travel.

Before every major outing, I spent the time to clean out the dirt and dust from the camera and the lens. I keep the dust pen in my camera bag in case I need it while I am out and about photographing.

4. Be local and think like a local

I have to include this one in any travel photography related article because it does relate indirectly to taking care of yourself and your gear. I often find photographers I meet along my journeys have a fake sense of entitlement. When you are a guest in someone’s house, are you not on your best behavior? Why is it that when you are a guest in another country, common sense and basic manners seem to fly out the window?

Locals are still people who deserve the same amount of respect and courtesy as anyone. Put yourself in their shoes and try to imagine what they experience when someone shoves a camera in their face without so much as a hello or a smile.

My 24-70mm lens is my go-to travel lens. It really lets me get into small places and photograph a variety of things. I am not one for a more obscure lens where people don’t know I am photographing them. Instead, I prefer to interact with people and let them know, rather see, that I am taking their picture. This is just the way I work.

While in Ladakh, we visited a lot of beautiful monasteries. Most of them are still in use, and we saw many temples where the monks were in prayer. Even if there is no sign discouraging photography, please use common sense not to invade their private space – especially when they are chanting.

I cannot tell you how many times I have come across tourists that almost jump over each other or hang out of moving cars just to take pictures of monks chanting and praying. Seeing this rude behavior almost made me embarrassed to take my camera out!

Being respectful has everything to do with travel and travel photography.

Additionally, flashing your fancy gear around is almost begging for the wrong kind of attention. One evening in Rome, I was out with my kids taking photos around beautiful horse-drawn carriages. We lost track of time and soon found ourselves in a deserted alley. I quickly put my gear away in my backpack, stuffed it with our jackets, grabbed my kids, and sprinted towards a more crowded piazza.

5. Make friends with local photographers

The internet is an amazing tool for almost anything. It is such a great resource to find and connect with other photographers, especially if you are traveling to areas that are new and foreign to you. When I travel, I always try to connect with some local photographers. We sometimes meet for dinner/drinks, chat on the phone, and just become friends.

They even give me advice on some of the local, non-touristy spots to photograph as well as offered to lend me gear if I need it (Well! Some do…not all want to part with their gear to a total stranger).

A recent trip to the city where I got to try out a 40mm lens and get some cool shots indoors in low light.

Conclusion

I hope these tips are helpful as you plan your next vacation in a far-off destination. Travel in itself is quite the adventure and adding photography to it is just the icing on the cake. However, remember to travel light and enjoy your trip for all that it is – not just a photography expedition.

Also, there is no such thing as perfect photography, but there is something known as a life-changing experience. Travel to experience more of those than just taking pretty pictures.

Do you have any extra tips for traveling light with your photography gear? If so, please share them with us and our readers in the comments below.

The post How to Travel Light With Your Photography Gear appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Karthika Gupta.

Digital Photography School
May 12, 2019