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The Power of Shooting Simply with One Light and a Reflector
In this article, I’ll give the virtues and benefits of shooting simply, with only one light and a reflector.

Lighting is often perceived as a complicated beast, but does it have to be? Sure, in terms of technical aspects, there’s an awful lot to learn before you can truly master lighting. There are also plenty of techniques that involve numerous light sources at various power outputs, rigged together with any number of modifiers.

But are these necessary? If you want to learn every aspect of lighting inside and out, then the answer is yes. However, when you are a beginner, I would argue that it’s far too easy to get bogged down in those complications when in reality, you could conceivably go an entire photographic career without touching them.

One light

With a single light source and a reflector for fill, you have enough creative options in terms of lighting that you could go an entire lifetime with nothing more and still fill a diverse and varied portfolio. Technically the reflector is a second light source if you want to get into that, but it’ll be referred to as a reflector for our purposes here.

You may not want to and it’s more than likely that once you’ve got the basics of lighting down, you’ll want to dive deeper and deeper until you get to those ultra complicated set-ups, but it is possible. One light set-ups can give you both dramatic, shadowy photos which ooze mood as well as bright, cleanly lit images with plenty of detail throughout.

On top of that, there’s only one light to set up, only one light to modify and only one light to meter. If you’re working with limited time, say 20 minutes to set up, take a few shots and get out of there.

Four, five and six light set-ups just aren’t going to be an option. Of course, it’s also a whole lot easier to lug around one light then it is to take five.

Terms you need to know

This article will cover examples that are based in a studio where all ambient light is cut out (with one exception) and bounce is controlled through light placement or flags. As such, the light and the reflector are the only things lighting the images and each has its own respective role.

Key Light – The key light is your main light source. In these instances, it’s the actual strobe. It could just as easily be any other type of light source such as a window or a street light. This is the main light that you will be shaping your subject with.

Fill Light – In these examples, the fill light is the job of the reflector. When placed opposite the key light, the reflector bounces light back onto your subject and fills in the shadows. This helps to reduce contrast and also tends to lead to more flattering images of human subjects. A fill light does not have to be a reflector. Again, it could be any light source that acts independently of your key light to fill in shadows on your subject.

Reflector

In all of these examples (except one that’s annotated), the reflector used is a large, cheap 5-in-1 reflector. You can buy one of these from just about anywhere that sells photo equipment for around $ 20 or less. Sure, there are expensive versions, but in my experience, they’re not worth the extra money. Get a good sized (32″ or 42″) cheap one and take it everywhere. Don’t be too precious with it and let it get dirty, battered and warped through use. They’re easily replaced.

If you don’t want to buy one, reflectors are pretty easy to make. White foamcore, posterboard, cardboard painted white, or a styrofoam insulation are all easily turned into reflectors.

Modifiers

Since the specific focus of this article is portraits, all of the modifiers used range from fairly big to huge. This is so that the light was as soft and flattering as possible. You can absolutely use a single hard light source with a reflector, so don’t consider the absence of examples of hard light here to be some kind of rule against it.

Example 1

This shot is about as simple as it gets. The subject was placed a few feet from the background. The light source was a 5-foot octabox which was placed at forty-five degrees from the subject. The distance of the light was determined by watching how the modeling light fell on the subject and where the catchlights were in her eyes. It ended up about five feet away.

Because the octabox is quite a big modifier, it would have been possible to get away without using a reflector. The soft light the large modifier produces would wrap around the subject in a pleasing way. It also means that the subject could turn and face any direction she wanted for posing.

Regardless, I still chose to add a reflector to bring up the shadow side. It was placed as close to the subject as possible so as not to interfere with composition.

Example 2

Much like the first example, this image was created with the light source at a 45-degree angle to the subject. This time, the modifier was a mid-sized 2×3′ softbox.

To get the softest quality of light, it was placed as close as possible to the model without interfering with image composition. There are few things as annoying as having to retouch the corner of a softbox or a beauty dish out of every frame.

This time, the reflector was turned slightly away from the light source. This was because I didn’t want the full surface area of the reflector to be filling in the scene as I wanted to retain some of the dramatic lighting that the single smallish light source provided.

Example 3

This is exactly the same set up as the previous example, all that changed here was the modifier.

The softbox was exchanged for a beauty dish to increase contrast and add drama. The reflector was turned slightly so that it had maximum impact on the shadow side.

Example 4

To really take advantage of the contrasty lighting possible with one light, I opted for a large, gridded beauty dish in this example. Again, placed at forty-five degrees (notice a pattern here?), the light fall-off is much more abrupt than here, as compared with the bigger softboxes.

At 120 cm, this particular beauty dish is quite a bit larger than normal. As such, it is still quite soft, with a bit more wraparound than its smaller, more normal sized siblings.

A silver reflector was added to bring up the shadow side of the subject in order to ensure separation from the background and to keep the shadows from becoming pure black.

Example 5

In a previous article, I wrote that you may very well never use a gold reflector. I’ve been thinking about that a lot since I wrote it and endeavoured to do exactly that. Instead of using the gold side of a normal 5-in-1 reflector, I used a Westcott Omega reflector, on which the gold is far subtler and less intrusive, making it much, much more flattering for portraits.

The key light in this image was a five foot octobox. If you look at the catchlights, you will see two other light sources. To camera left, there was a wall of windows which was underexposed by a stop to act as fill. To camera right is the gold reflector.

By adding a single light source to the ambient light, you get an incredible amount of versatility of what you can achieve.

Example 6

This image was created exactly the same way as the previous one with the same octabox and the same gold reflector. This time, however, the power output of the flash was turned up so that it killed the ambient light from the windows. The reflector was also placed slightly to the rear of the subject in order to bring detail back into her hair.

Example 7

One technique that I really love is to place the light source directly in front of the model (it’s okay to move it to the side a bit so that you can shoot past it) and as close as possible. With a single light, this can create some lovely, dramatic images. This was done with a large beauty dish.

The white reflector was placed flat and rested on the subject’s knees. This results in a makeshift clamshell technique, but instead of two lights, you’re only using one.

Wrap-up

I could go on and on and on about this. The point here is to remind you to never forsake the power of simplicity when it comes to lighting techniques.

Sure, those set-ups with half a dozen lights, three reflectors, nine flags, your neighbor’s dog and a Swiss passport are great and you should absolutely explore them. Just be mindful that not every job has to rely on such complexities. Stripping things back to basics can, and does yield wonderful results.

Tips

Here are a few tips and trick to help you get the most out of your single one light source set-ups:
- For portraiture, get the light in close. The larger the apparent light source, the softer the light. The softer the light, the more flattering it is for the subject.
- Don’t just introduce a reflector blind and leave it there. Watch what it’s doing. Use modeling lights and learn to see the subtle differences the reflector creates. It’s hard at first, but with practice, you’ll start seeing the changes.
- Meter with and without the reflector. As the reflector is acting as an independent light source, you can meter its exposure. If you want a specific ratio, or you know you want your fill two stops underexposed, meter it.
- Don’t be afraid to turn the reflector at funny angles. If it’s a large reflector, in particular, you probably don’t want or need the whole surface area in use. Turn it any which way that provides the effect that you’re looking for.
- You don’t shoot with off-camera lighting. So what? All of this applies to window light as well. A light source is a light source.
- Don’t have a reflector? Buy one right now. Seriously. Stop what you’re doing and order one right now. They’re important and they’re not expensive. Godox sells one for less than $ 15.
- Use these techniques on anything. I’m a portrait photographer, so the focus here has been portraits. But every single aspect covered here can be used when lighting any subject at all. Flowers? Check. Animals? Check. Food? Check.
Conclusion

In terms of variations on these techniques, this article hasn’t been anywhere near comprehensive. Honestly, using a single light and a reflector will give you an infinite variety of techniques to use in your photography.

When you’re starting out, I strongly encourage you to explore these as much as possible before moving on to more complicated set-ups as you may find, that most situations would benefit from the simplicity.

The post The Power of Shooting Simply with One Light and a Reflector appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
June 12, 2018
€80K Oskar Barnack Award finalists announced
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Leica has released details of the twelve finalists for this year’s Leica Oskar Barnack Award, one of who will take the €35,000 (approx. $ 41,000) top prize. Organizers say that 2500 photographers submitted work to the competition this year, and that 110 countries are represented in the contest that looked for portfolios of 10-12 images demonstrating ‘the relationship between man and the environment in the most graphic form’.

The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Berlin in October, with the best portfolio earning the photographer a €25,000 cash prize as well as €10,000 of Leica M equipment. The best new photographer will win an M camera and lens kit of the same value along with €10,000, and the ten runner-ups will receive €2500.

Above you’ll see a single image from each of the portfolios, but to see all the images and to get a better sense of the issues and stories they cover, visit the Leica Oskar Barnack Awards website.

Press release
Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2018: The twelve finalists have been chosen

During European Month of Photography (EMOP, Berlin), the finalists’ project portfolios will be presented in a major exhibition in the ‘Neuen Schule für Fotografie Berlin’ from 10th to 31st October 2018

The twelve finalists of this year’s Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA) have been chosen. The complete portfolios from the categories ‘Leica Oskar Barnack Award’ and ‘Leica Oskar Barnack Award Newcomer’ can now be viewed at www.leica-oskar-barnack-award.com

This year, around 2,500 photographers from a total of 110 different countries submitted entries to the LOBA competition.

This year, the jury was again impressed by the large number of entrants and the high quality of the portfolios entered in the competition. “With every new year of the competition, it is remarkable to see how intensely and creatively the entrants fulfil the thematic requirements of the LOBA. We have consciously maintained the theme of ‘the relationship between people and their environment’ since the first request for entries to the LOBA competition in 1979. Today, this theme remains as valid as it was in the past – in fact, we could even say that it is now more important than ever before”, says Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Art Director & Chief Representative Leica Galleries International.

In addition to Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, the members of this year’s LOBA jury were:
- Mark Lubell, Executive Director ICP – International Center of Photography (USA)
- Markus Hartmann, Hartmann Projects (Germany)
- Terje Abusdal, Photographer & LOBA winner 2017 (Norway)
- Christian Wiesner, Artistic Director, Paris Photo (France)
The winners and finalists of the LOBA will be honoured in the course of a formal ceremony in Berlin on 10th October. The portfolios of all twelve finalists will then be on view from 10th to 31st October 2018 at a major exhibition in the ‘Neuen Schule für Fotografie’, Brunnenstrasse 188-190, 10119 Berlin. The LOBA Catalogue 2018, presenting the winners and finalists in detail with comprehensive portfolios and interview, will be published to accompany the exhibition.

With prizes amounting to a total cash value of around 80,000 euros, the LOBA is one of the industry’s most prestigious photographic competitions. The winner in the main category will be honoured with a cash prize of 25,000 euros and Leica M-System equipment (a camera and lens) valued at an additional 10,000 euros. The winner of the Newcomer Award will be honoured with a cash prize of 10,000 euros and will also be presented with a Leica rangefinder camera and lens. In addition to the two main categories, ten further submissions to the competition will each be honoured with prizes of 2,500 euros.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
June 12, 2018
Samyang officially announces 24mm F2.8 AF lens, available in July for $400

Just a week after we came across leaked images of the lens, Samyang has unveiled its latest Sony autofocus lens, the AF 24mm F2.8 FE.

Samyang calls the lens ‘tiny but wide’—and rightly so. This lens weighs just 93g and measures 37mm from front to back without the hood or rear lens cap. The FE mount means it works with full-frame Sony cameras, including but not limited to the A9 and A7 IIII.

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The optical design of the lens is made up of 7 elements in 7 groups. Three of the optical elements are aspherical lenses and two are high-refractive lenses. The lens also features ‘ultra multi coating’, which helps minimize chromatic aberration and undesired light dispersion.

As the leaked images suggested, the lens features a minimum focusing distance of just 0.24m/0.79ft and has a rubberized focus ring for when you want to take things manual.

The Samyang AF 24mm F2.8, which retails under the brand name Rokinon in the United States, will be available in July for $ 400.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

June 12, 2018
Why You Need to Manage Expectations – Both Yours and Your Client’s
As you prepare for a photo session with clients you probably run through a checklist to make sure you don’t forget anything. Cameras? Check. Lenses? Check. Lighting modifiers? Good to go. Props, stepstools, spare batteries? Got ’em.

But one thing that often gets left behind, so to speak, is a set of expectations that you and your client might have for the photo session. You might have something in mind for the session based on your experience, your work with previous clients, or the particular set of gear you are bringing along. But if your clients have a different set of expectations it can spell big trouble and will require a lot more than a few batteries and extra memory cards to fix.

These clients hired me for a maternity session and it went smoothly thanks to a very clear set of expectations that we discussed beforehand.

Expectations are important

Think of the many ways in which your expectations influence your perception of the services and products you buy. When you go out to eat you will expect a certain level of service based on previous visits. If you go on vacation you will probably look for reviews online and base your satisfaction of the accommodations on how well those expectations were met.

If you hire a contractor to remodel your kitchen you will make sure to have lengthy discussions with them to make sure the work they perform is precisely what you want. It’s fair to say that as a consumer you probably base many of your buying decisions on expectations that have been set for you.

And yet, as a photographer, how often have you worked to set expectations for potential clients? Your website might proudly proclaim that you do weddings and formal events, but there are probably two dozen other photographers in your area who offer similar services. The same goes for most types of photography: families, youth sports, products, high school seniors, or even aerial drone images.

You’re good at what you do but what makes you stand out from the rest, and what can your clients expect when you show up to take pictures?

What can clients expect from you?

One of the first things I learned when I started doing portraits for clients was that the things which I thought were the most important were not at the top of my clients’ priority lists. I spent so much time thinking about pricing and choosing a template for my website that I neglected to properly craft a message letting clients know what they could really expect out of me.

A few dozen sample images of portraits in parks along with a testimonial or two are a great way to market yourself. But these don’t really tell clients much about your approach to a photo session or what you will do to get the shots they are looking for.

Set expectations early

Think about the many ways in which you can set expectations in advance to let clients know how things will go. This goes well beyond simply telling your clients how much you charge, how many prints or images you will deliver, and whether you take checks or credit cards.

For a session to go smoothly think about the more esoteric expectations and do your best to manage them before a single click of your camera shutter. Some items to ponder would be…
- Your shooting style: Are you easygoing, flexible, and open to improvisation or do you have a more strict and pre-planned approach to photo sessions?
- Accepting input: Do you incorporate input from clients in terms of poses, locations, or picture ideas?
- Who can attend the session: Will you let clients bring friends, family, or even pets to a photo session? (Not to get their pictures taken, but just for help, encouragement, or comfort.)
- Where you draw the line: Are you willing to engage in illegal or semi-legal activity to get photos? Some clients might want to shoot in areas that prohibit trespassing or are otherwise off-limits which might be beyond the scope of your services. “But my friend got photos taken at this abandoned warehouse last year.” they might say, in which case you might advise your client to solicit the help of another photographer.
- What types of pictures are off limits? Your clients might want to do pictures on train tracks or recreate some risqué images they saw on Instagram. If that’s not your cup of tea, your clients need to know about it. And in the case of train tracks, the answer should always be NO!
This picture was not my idea; my clients suggested it on the day of the shoot, and we made it happen. I told them that I was open to their ideas so they offered some, and the results were great.

More expectation examples
- Posing: Are you the type of photographer who likes to use specific formal poses or do you take a more casual hands-off approach? This is especially important if you are doing wedding and other types of events that are not easy to replicate.
- What’s your approach to social media? Will you share pictures of the session online, talk about the session before or afterward, or snap behind-the-scenes photos to ingratiate yourself to other potential clients? Some people might be fine with this but other clients may prefer more privacy. If so you would need to adjust your approach for those clients, or let them know so they can make an informed decision about whether or not to use your services.
- Photography locations: Do your clients want to shoot in locations that just won’t work (or the wrong time of day), or you simply can’t get to with your gear? Discuss what your clients expect beforehand so you won’t be caught off guard during the session if they ask you to shoot in a dimly-lit alley, behind a waterfall, or in the middle of a crowded mall.
- Photography assistant: Do you use a second shooter and if so, what will his or her role be during the session?
- Turn-around times: How long will your clients have to wait to get prints or digital files after the session?
I was asked by some friends to take pictures at a funeral for their loved one. The key to the whole experience was a crystal-clear understanding of what the clients wanted and what my role was as the photographer.

This is just a starting point. You are going to have other things that are unique to yourself and your photography. And even though some of these might be clearly spelled out in your contract, it’s a good idea to set and manage expectations clearly and without room for misinterpretation. A contract may cover you in legal terms, but don’t assume your clients have meticulously read and understand every single word.

Open communication is key

In my experience, one of the best ways to set these expectations is to have some kind of real-time back-and-forth dialog with your clients. Exchanging information over email and social media is fine, but when it comes to hashing out the details of a photo session nothing beats a phone call or in-person meeting.

If the latter isn’t all that practical, then, by all means, talk with your clients on the phone or via video chat. This can help you set a positive tone for the session, ease their minds about any concerns they might have, and give you a chance to explain what they can expect. Reassure them that you have their best interests in mind.

What do you expect from your clients?

There’s a flip side to setting expectations and it’s one that sometimes gets overlooked when planning or executing a photo session. You might have bent over backward to let your clients know what to expect from you, but what have you done to let your clients know what you expect from them?

Just as every photographer is different, each client is also unique. They have an attitude and approach that separates them from everyone else. In order to make sure things run smoothly, think about ways to communicate your expectations of them with your clients. Otherwise you, and they could end up knee-deep in frustration with no easy way out.
- Punctuality: Do you value punctuality and expect your clients to be on time for a photo shoot? This might seem obvious but not all clients take the same disciplined approach as you might when it comes to arriving when they are supposed to.
- Cell phone usage during a session: Will you ask your clients to put their phones away during the session? For some photographers, this isn’t an issue, but others get irked if clients are constantly snapping, tweeting, and texting during a photo session. If you expect them to be focused and attentive, let them know in advance.
When this family arrived I spent a few minutes explaining how I was going to conduct the session and listened to their ideas as well. It set a positive tone that resulted in some images that they really liked.

More examples of your potential expectations:
- Transportation on-site: Do you expect your clients to be able to walk around or transport themselves to different locations? If you are doing high school senior photos do you plan on taking them to different locations in your vehicle? If so, do the seniors and their parents know that this might be a possibility? Iron out these details beforehand or you could find yourself in an uncomfortable situation the day of the shoot.
- Other photographers at the session: If you are doing a wedding, will you be the only photographer or will the groom’s uncle (who just got a new DSLR for his birthday) be hanging out taking photos also? Some photographers don’t mind this sort of thing, but most would rather the clients tell Uncle Bob to leave his camera at home and let you do your job. Communicate your expectations well in advance to avoid hurt feelings the day of the ceremony.
When working with kids, especially infants, things are never going to go how you expect! But discussing things with the parents beforehand is a good way to help deal with issues as they crop up.

As before, these are only some of the things to consider when setting client expectations and the best way to go about doing that is with a phone call or other type of back-and-forth conversation. This information might be on your website, but it’s incumbent on you as the photographer to do everything you can to make sure your clients know what you expect of them. Don’t simply just assume they have read through every page of your site.

This family was a joy to work with, largely because of clear expectations from both parties (the family and myself).

Conclusion

Finally, one tip that might be useful to you is to make a checklist of these items so you have it handy during conversations with the client. This way you can update it over time as new issues come to light, and you can make sure to properly address all the most pressing expectation issues that could come into play before, during, and after a session.

The goal here is to make every session a positive experience for your clients as well as yourself, and the more work you do to manage expectations for all parties involved, the happier everyone will be.

The post Why You Need to Manage Expectations – Both Yours and Your Client’s appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
June 11, 2018
Buying Guide: The best waterproof cameras
Last updated: June 11, 2018

Whether you want a compact camera for a trip to the beach or ski resort – or maybe just something that the kids won’t break – there are plenty of waterproof, rugged cameras available at a variety of price-points.

All of the cameras in our group are waterproof, freezeproof and dustproof, while a few are also crushproof. With the exception of the SeaLife DC2000, the cameras have zoom lenses in the 4X-5X range, while the DC2000 has a fixed, 31mm equiv. prime. The DC2000 is also unique in having the only 1″-type sensor in the group, which should give it a big leg up on the other cameras in this market segment, which use 1/2.3″ sensors. The Nikon W100 comes in even smaller with a 1/3.1″ sensor equivalent to what’s in a smartphone.

Our pick: Olympus Tough TG-5

Olympus has made many of our favorite rugged cameras and that tradition continues with the TG-5. Naturally, it can dive deep, freeze, be dropped or be crushed without skipping a beat. It also has a cool tracking mode that keeps a log of your location and altitude during your travels. Olympus has created a number of useful accessories for the TG-5, including fisheye and telephoto adapters and a ring flash.

While the TG-5’s image quality will never match a camera with a larger sensor, such as the SeaLife DC2000, it’s still very good. Having Raw support is a big deal, allowing you to adjust contrast and remove color casts in underwater photos. Performance is generally snappy (notably burst shooting speeds,) battery life is excellent and 4K video looks good.

Downsides are few; The control dial is poorly placed, there’s no shutter priority mode, the video record button is too flush with the body and the screen scratches way too easily. Overall, though, the TG-5 is the best rugged camera in this class.

Also consider: SeaLife DC2000

If you want better image quality and don’t mind having a fixed focal length lens, the SeaLife DC2000 is well worth considering. On its own the DC2000 can go 18m / 60ft underwater and with its included housing^* those numbers increase to 60m / 200ft. The DC2000 has a 1″-type, 20 Megapixel sensor and a 31mm equiv. F1.8 lens. Image quality is markedly better than the rest of the cameras in the group, and Raw support lets you get the most of it the sensor.

What you won’t find on the DC2000 is GPS, super-close macro mode or 4K video. Battery life is relatively poor, as well. But if you’re a diver who wants to ‘focus’ on image quality, the DC2000 is easily the best in the group.

* You can purchase the camera without the housing directly through SeaLife

While we haven’t completed full reviews of the cameras in this group, the summaries below give you a good idea about their feature sets and how they perform.
- Our pick: Olympus Tough TG-5
- Also consider: SeaLife DC2000
- Fujifilm FinePix XP130
- Nikon Coolpix W100
- Nikon Coolpix W300
- Panasonic Lumix DC-TS7 (FT7)
- Ricoh WG-50
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
June 11, 2018
How and Why to Use the Canon Camera Connect Application

If you own a Canon camera, chances are it comes with a built-in WIFI connection. This wireless connection can be a real game changer when it comes to photographing and sharing your photographs instantly. This versatility can really up your game during sessions and create more buzz when you share your photos after a session with the use of the Canon Camera Connect application.

In this article, I was using a Samsung Galaxy Prime smartphone and Canon EOS 6D camera with a Canon EF USM 85 mm f/1.4 lens.

What is the Canon Camera Connect application?

Canon Camera Connect is an application that you can download from the app store on your smartphone. It is used to wirelessly connect your DSLR to your phone so that you can photograph remotely, view images on the camera that you’ve already taken, and edit those images as well.

If your camera has built-in Bluetooth, it can also function by connecting your camera to your smartphone via that method as well.

This is what the Canon Camera Connect application icon looks like in the Google Play Store on Android.

How to use the application

There are a couple of ways you can connect your camera and smartphone in order to use the application. The first is connecting via an existing internet connection and using the information for user ID and password on both devices and then opening the application. The biggest drawback with the application, however, is that when the internet is faulty or patchy, your devices can disconnect and not allow you to use the app.

The second is the best option, in my opinion, because it connects to the camera directly and unless you are out of range or your phone goes to “sleep” you are always connected. Setting up the connection is easy. Go to menu on your camera, where you see the option to “Enable” the wifi connection, below, you’ll see the options for connecting.

In the Menu, go to the wifi settings to set the SSID that you will use to connect to your smartphone.

Choose to “connect smartphone”. Within that menu, you are going to be able to set up your connection with a personalized name. I chose to name mine SET1 with the SSID which is the name of the wifi as “jl”. The encryption key is the password you’ll have to enter when you connect your phone to the camera’s wifi connection.

Choose Connect Smartphone to choose the settings to connect directly to your smartphone.

SET1 is the name I gave it in my camera’s menu. If you go into change/review settings you can set and change the name of the wifi that your smartphone will connect to.

Once you have the settings configured and enabled to connect, on your smartphone, go to the wifi networks and choose the one that you have named for your camera. Enter the encryption key and you will be connected. The application also has an easy to follow connection guide that can help you in case you forget the steps.

Here, using Easy Connection will help you to set the name and see the encryption key that you will need for your smartphone to connect to the camera’s wifi.

Here, you can see that the wifi network my camera has available so that my smartphone can connect. On the right, you see the main menu of the application.

You can add more Sets/Connections and can name them inside of your camera’s Wifi settings menu. This can save time if you use different devices with the application and camera.

View images and share instantly

In the Canon Camera Connect application, you have the option to view the images from camera instantly.

There is nothing more exciting than connecting your camera to the application after a session, transferring the images you believe to be great, and sharing them instantly onto social media. Clients love to see to see “sneak previews” of their session! This will also cause more excitement to see the final photographs.

Once you’re connected, you can view the images that are on your camera from your smartphone.

Connect your camera to the application, choose VIEW IMAGES, and select the ones you’d like to download. You can choose to resize or to leave them in original size. You can also edit the images in the application. They can be sorted by date in descending or ascending order which can make finding specific images faster.

Remote Live View mode

The other option that you have from the Camera Connect application home screen is to use the Live View Shooting mode. This feature is extremely helpful during sessions where you have your camera on a tripod and need to move around your subject, which could be a person or still life.

Here you can see the remote live view shooting mode. In the center photo, you can see that you can change your settings while photographing your subject. On the right, it’s the photograph that I just took.

From the live view shooting mode, you can see what you’re photographing, and change settings like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. The live view mode feature is fantastic because you don’t have to be stuck behind your camera or go back and forth between the subject and the camera.

Moving around your set, making adjustments to the set and to the camera, and “seeing” your photograph before even hitting the shutter can save you time. You can make sure you have everything just right before triggering the remote, all from your smartphone.

Using multiple devices

The Canon Camera Connect application can be set up on various devices as long as you download it, which is free in the app store on both Android and iPhone. Download the application and set up your camera to connect directly to the device you are going to be using.

Being able to use the application on multiple devices allows for more versatility when you’re photographing in different locations. All without having to use cords or tethering your camera to one specific device.

Choose Connect Smartphone to choose the settings to connect directly to your smartphone. You can also choose to connect to multiple devices.

Drawbacks

While the Canon Camera Connect application is very useful and functional, like all applications, it has certain drawbacks. The major drawback in using Camera Connect, and it’s not so much the application but the camera, is the wireless connection can drain the camera battery. I’ve noticed that it doesn’t matter if it is via an internet connection or directly to your smartphone, the battery life is cut significantly. Make sure you carry more than one camera battery if you attempt to use the application on location.

If you are connected directly to the camera’s own “wifi” you won’t be able to use any other wireless internet. However, connecting directly to the camera does secure the connection and you won’t be disconnected due to a patchy network. Just be mindful to not distance yourself too much or the application will disconnect since you won’t be in range of the camera.

Lastly, if your phone or camera go to sleep, then it disconnects the wifi connection automatically and you have to go through the entire process of choosing the camera’s wifi and connect again. It can become tedious, so my suggestion is that you set both your phone and your camera to not to to “sleep” so that you don’t encounter this issue.

Conclusion

In the end, the Canon Camera Connect App is highly recommended for both remote live shooting and for downloading your photographs instantly so that you can share them with clients or on social media. The pros out weigh the cons. T

his application can truly give you more options when you are photographing both on location and in a studio. Download the application and test drive it, it will not disappoint.

The post How and Why to Use the Canon Camera Connect Application appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

June 11, 2018
REVIEW and Thoughts on the Sony RX100 V Compact Camera
Sony’s RX100 is a storied line of compact cameras that have always packed a powerhouse of features into small but sturdy frames. This fifth iteration (the Sony RX100 V also know as the DSC-RX100M5) builds on that history with a wealth of features for a modern photographer’s needs.

Who the Sony RX100V is for

The RX100 Mark 5 is, in my mind, the perfect camera for family travel, street shooting, and as a secondary landscape camera when your main camera is occupied. The 24-70mm equivalent zoom lens lends enough useful range while the 24mm end of the lens works well for landscapes, group shots, and even the occasional selfie.

I bought the RX100 V specifically for its high frame rate for video but have grown to love the high-quality 4K video in such a compact body. With a frame rate up to 1000 frames per second (fps), it is amazing what can be captured with this small package. The 20MP sensor makes for excellent image quality with some room to crop to your liking.

This camera will appeal to landscape photographers who might want some freedom for unique compositions while their heavy DSLR is stuck to a tripod. Street photographers will love its compactness and flip out screen. I don’t see it getting a lot of use as a portrait camera, although it does have a nice f/1.8 – f/2.8 starting aperture range.

Small Package – Big Stats

Let’s take a look at some key stats from Sony’s website:
- 20.1MP 1″ sensor
- 2.9X optical zoom – 24-70mm equivalent
- 11 – 44x at digital zoom
- 2.95″ 1.2MP rear screen with 100% coverage
- Active Optical SteadyShot
- Four focus modes including Manual
- 315 point wide phase detection autofocus, 25 point contrast detection plus four other modes
- Exposure Compensation from -3EV to +3 EV in 1/3 stop increments
- Full expanded ISO range from 80-25,600 for stills and 125-12,800 for video
- Shutter Speeds from Bulb/30 seconds to 1/2000th maximum
- Auto High Dynamic Range and ND Filter capabilities
- Exposure and White Balance Auto Bracketing feature
- 4 x 2 3/8 × 1 5/8 inch (101.6 x 58.1 x 41.0 mm) physical size
- Approximate weight of 10.5 oz (299 g)
- All kinds of picture effects, creative styles, and picture profiles
- US $ 999 suggested retail price
Camera Controls

The controls are a mixed bag. On the one hand, there are few of them and most photographers will be familiar with how to change ISO, adjust the Exposure Compensation and zoom the lens. On the other hand, after a year of testing, I have found the main rotating dial for mode selection is getting a little sticky. It’s not as smooth as it was when new.

I do like the ease with which you can shoot 4K video (see 4K video section later in this article for my impressions on that). The video button is right by your thumb when holding the camera and makes for ease of use. I would say it’s even easier to use than most smartphones. You use your pointer finger for shooting still images and your thumb for shooting video.

As is typical with Sony cameras, the menu screens are arranged over and then down and there are a lot of them. As I mention later in the Apps section below, this can make things a little cumbersome, but with all the features manufacturers pack into their software these days, it’s to be expected.

The flash is activated with a manual catch release and must be manually pushed down, leaving it a bit exposed for possible damage.

Flip Screen

The flip screen is a handy feature which I love. If you take anything off-angle, especially low shots, this feature will save your back and help you better compose your images. It flips both up and down as well as options in between.

It’s not a touchscreen, which is a little disappointing, and it doesn’t rotate to the side and front like some screens. But the simple versatility of flipping up and down is a bonus. Those looking for help composing selfies need only flip the screen all the way up and the image will correct for front viewing and composition.

Focus/Aperture Ring

For those of us who learned manual focus and are familiar with the use of a manual aperture ring, this feature is a great throwback which feels natural to me. Using the big ring around the lens feels like a natural way to change the aperture and it is a lot smoother than lenses from the 80s and earlier.

It’s also a great way to tighten focus when getting in close or shooting video. While not perfect, it can be used to rack and control focus on video shoots to a finer, smoother degree than with buttons or knobs. I find myself using this feature often.

ISO Performance

DXOMark gave the sensor a rating of 70 on its 0-100 (or 102 if you count the Hasselblad X1D-50c) scale. This puts the Sony RX100 V in the middle of the pack for its peer group and I tend to agree. You can comfortably shoot up to ISO 1000 without much noise encroaching on image quality, but after that, you’ll start to notice a difference.

The ability to shoot as low as ISO 80 is a nice touch for landscape photographers. While it is an expanded option (meaning it is not true ISO 80 according to the standard) the smoothness is a delight.

A 100% crop of the ISO 80 image above.

Going to the other extreme, ISO 6400 will show a lot of noise but can be cleaned to an acceptable degree in post-processing. Below are images with no noise reduction applied, shot at ISO 6400.

Viewfinder

I’m not too sure why the Sony RX100 V has a viewfinder. Maybe I’m an old curmudgeon, but looking through a viewfinder only to find a smaller screen always seems weird to me. Also, accssing it requires the flick of a small catch on the side of the camera and then you have to manually pull out the viewfinder.

This is clunky and more than once I have pulled that eyepiece all the way off.

Oops!

It does have a diopter for those who need that. But the viewfinder requires manual pushing to put it back in place. It seems antiquated.

Autofocus Speed

Sony’s hybrid phase/contrast-detection autofocus system will delight most parents. It’s not DLSR super-fast, but with 315 focus points and quality action tracking, the camera can keep up with most children. What does that mean for people without kids?

While the maximum focal length of 70mm won’t make this camera a secondary in sports photographers’ camera bags, the autofocus speed and lock-on capabilities make it no slouch for everyday action. I found the camera quick to latch on to main subjects and tracking was accurate while following things like swinging pocket watches that were on fire.

One downside I found was having to use the four-way directional controller (via your thumb) to slowly move the focus point while in Flexible Spot mode. It’s slow, but there isn’t another option. Having the flexibility is great, but don’t expect to use it for fast moving subjects.

One note on manual focus: Having the zoom assist for manual focus is awesome when shooting the small things in life and for checking to ensure what you want really is in focus.

Burst Mode – High-Speed Stills

The high-speed continuous shooting mode is awesome. It shoots up to 24fps while autofocusing and can shoot in either JPEG or RAW, which is impressive. It takes a while for the memory to dump to your card but this feature is superior to most DSLRs.

The burst mode is great for any kind of close (remember the 70mm limit) action. It is especially useful when the camera is coupled with an underwater housing and you are trying to snap photos of turtles or fish that are much agiler than you.

It does, however, mean you will have a lot more images to delete. 30 minutes of shooting various subjects at 24fps can easily lead to over 1000 images to cull.

Flash Performance

Average. Let’s just put that out there.

A flash this big, with an index rating of 1.31 ft to 33.46 ft (0.4 m to 10.2 m) in Auto shouldn’t be expected to outperform a dedicated strobe with its own battery pack. It’s good up to about 10 feet in/3m in real-world use and does the job.

But you don’t buy this camera to use the flash all the time. The is no dedicated hotshoe either, so adding a speedlight isn’t an option.

High-Speed Video

This is one area I find the RX-100 V stands above its competition. I love the high frame rate shooting, with speeds up to 1000 frames per second (FPS). The video is shot in a maximum size of 1040p, or standard HD, so don’t expect 4K at 1000 fps (that will run you maybe $ 50,000).

The clips are at a maximum of 2 seconds long, but with NTSC rate of 960 fps, that’s 80 seconds of video when played at 24 fps. Using the high-frame-rate is fairly easy and you can choose to activate recording either before or after pressing the record button. Meaning, it will buffer video once activated so you can move through the action and then stop recording when finished. Or, hit record and then move through the action.

For instance, I shot some burning hourglasses for Andy Suzuki and the Method for a music video of theirs called Overtime. Not knowing how long it would actually take to (quickly) move with and through the flames and capture the hourglass on fire, I chose to freely buffer and stop recording after I knew I tracked through the shot. It worked quite well as you can see below.

4K Video

To be sure, not all 4K videos are equal. Comparing the Sony RX100 V to a $ 5000 video camera would not be fair, so I chose to grade the Sony against expectations for a dual-purpose camera. Most importantly, I wanted to see good video quality (great was not required at this price point and form factor) and decent audio.

With those parameters, the Sony did not disappoint and did better than expected. I would label it a quality 4K video that fits into the middle ground between consumer grade and semi-pro grade. It’s already blissfully far ahead of my other Canon gear (which sadly lack 4K in cameras that cost five times the Sony).

The SteadyShot capabilities should be taken with a grain of salt, in my opinion. While it does help, the camera’s small size makes it difficult to get truly steady shots while shooting handheld at 4K.

?

Panorama Mode

I was first introduced to Sony’s panoramic mode while teaching a student. It was intriguing then and still works today. It’s a lot like most smartphones now, in that you pan the camera over a limited range (about 180 degrees) and the camera will work its magic for you.

I had some trouble recently after not using the camera for a while.

My family was visiting Grand Canyon National Park, which just begs for panoramas. It had been about 5 months since I used the feature and it took me five tries before I was successful. When you fail, the camera usually doesn’t tell you what you did wrong, just that things didn’t work (sometimes it will tell you to move faster or slower, but other than that, you’re in the dark).

This frustration took away from the enjoyment of the scene in front of me.

I’ve been shooting panoramas since the days of masking 35mm film and feel I understand how it works in smartphones and other digital devices. Why the camera was not cooperating with me that day is still unknown to me. My advice is to practice before you need to use it.

Apps

I’m not used to a camera that has additional apps available and it looked like a cool idea at first. Then I realized I needed to pay to upgrade the camera to do things others already do, like time-lapse shooting.

The apps are a little clunky to get into, requiring navigation through the directory of menus just to switch mode, essentially. I wish there was an easier way to access them.

That being said, the time-lapse app is very useful and has some pre-baked settings to help with sunrise, sunset, passing clouds and other common situations. That helps a lot.

Connectivity

This camera comes packed with the modern convenience of wifi. It can connect to your phone if you have the Sony PlayMemories Mobile app. For those that love the instantness of transferring images to their phone, you’ll enjoy it. It’s not the simplest setup, but once activated, transfers are pretty easy (but buried in the menus).

After a year of use, I eventually removed the app from my phone. I wasn’t using it that often as I found it just as easy to wait and plop the SD card into my laptop when back at home. The zoom on the camera wasn’t much more than simple zooms with my phone and considering my viewer would see the image on a phone, most likely, the 20MP were wasted for this.

In the Field

I remember buying the Canon Powershot G-1 back when it first came out in 2001, just before my daughter was born. I was frustrated then with the startup speed and those memories came flashing back when I start the RX100 M5. It’s just not quick to come into play. I ran some tests to find that it takes 2-3 seconds realistically to start up. It seems like an odd slowness and I had to adjust or be disappointed about missing quick shots.

The weight of the camera is just right in the hand. It feels solid, even though I worry about breaking the flash and viewfinder because they are a little less robust.

It’s not truly compact enough to fit in your pocket comfortably unless you have tight pants, but it’s also comfortable enough to carry in your hand most of the time when exploring a new city. It also fits perfectly in a coat pocket or purse.

Westminster Abby – Great Britain ISO 125, f/5.6, 1/50th.

What Could Be Improved

First, it seems everyone expects a touchscreen on a camera of this size these days. They even want them on DLSRs. It’s helpful when focusing and choosing exposure settings and it would be a huge help the Sony RX100 series.

Second, battery life is not that great. Sony says it’s good for 220 shots or 110 minutes of video. While shooting 4K video out the plane window from LA to Seattle, I changed the battery three times during a two-hour flight. No flash, not a lot of focus adjusting, just video shots out the window and about 40 stills. It seemed subpar.

Lastly, they need to add or assign some programmable hot-keys so photographers can pick and choose the features to have at hand. Having to go into and out of an app to shoot time-lapse is cumbersome (after I paid $ 9.99 for it as well). Maybe they could make it assignable to one of the Scene modes available from the top dial.

Wait! One more pet peeve about cameras of this size – no external charger. Charging is in-camera via micro-USB, which is easy enough, but shipping the unit with a charger would be much appreciated considering how quickly it can go through batteries while shooting video.

Two Great Accessories

This camera is thankfully small enough to hide in most coat pockets (not so much with jeans, unless you have fairly loose ones) but I eventually wanted to take the camera backpacking. Worried about the danger of scratches and dents (or worse), I looked around and found that Lowepro makes a perfectly sized case for it.

It’s called the Tahoe 25 II and has room for the camera plus a memory card or two in the zippered pouch in front. A belt loop makes it ideal for hiking and I used it often during an attempted climb of Mt. Whitney.

The second accessory is an underwater case from Ikelite. There is a more expensive version of this case and it offers full control of the camera. But I found the action case to cover what I needed without shelling out too much (it retails for about $ 300 US).

Conclusion

My conclusion is the Sony RX100 V is a winner of a compact camera. It’s packed full of feature and has the ability, with apps, to expand as new software is created. The 4K video is excellent and the high-speed video is a lot of fun.

This camera is perfect for family trips (while reviewing images for this article, I noted I had previously rented the Sony RX100 IV for a family trip to Europe and enjoyed that version as well). It can fit the family in for a group selfie while not breaking your shoulder carrying it around all day. Compact enough for a purse or coat pocket, it is always at hand when your phone just won’t give you a quality image.

With a dynamic range around 12 stops, it can already deliver a wide range exposure latitude. Couple that with the user-adjustable bracketing and there is almost no scene you can’t capture.

Lastly, this camera is slowly but surely turning me into a Sony convert.

Sample Photos

Skógafoss – Iceland ISO 80, f/6.3, 1/80th.

Seljalandsfoss – Iceland ISO 125, f/8, 1/200th.

Underwater sea urchin – Costa Rica ISO 125, f/4, 1/60th high-speed burst mode was used

Panama canal locomotive and the moon – Panama ISO 6400, f/4, 1/13th.

Ground cover – Costa Rica ISO 80, f/5.6, 1/40th.

Mt. Whitney and The Milky Way – California, USA ISO 1000, f/2.2, 25 seconds.

Mt. Whitney – USA ISO 80, f/2.2, 1/1000th.

Mt. Dickerman – Washington, USA ISO 80, f/3.5, 1/400th.

San Gabriel Mountains – California, USA ISO 80, f/5, 1/800th.

Downtown Juneau – Alaska, USA ISO 12,5 f/6.3, 1/250th.

Ducati ISO 640, f/1.8, 1/1000th.

Seattle and Elliot Bay – USA ISO 80, f/5, 1/320th.

Tide Flats – Alaska, USA ISO 125, f/18, 1/400th.

The post REVIEW and Thoughts on the Sony RX100 V Compact Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
June 11, 2018
DPReview TV: A look back at APS film

Every photographer knows about APS-C sensors, but what about APS film? This week, Chris and Jordan take a stroll down memory lane and try out the original APS format, short for ‘Advanced Photo System’, a technology that promised to streamline the film workflow, but which ultimately lost out to digital technology. Tune in to see what made APS so interesting, and whether 15-year-old expired film is still up to the task.

Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.

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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

June 10, 2018
5 Questions Professional Photographers Hate and What You Can Ask Instead
You probably know a few professional photographers, and you’ve undoubtedly found them to be an invaluable fount of information. However, there are a few questions that beginners commonly ask that they secretly despise. Let’s take a look at five of those questions, and what you can ask instead.

#1 – Which camera should I get?

You’re just starting out with photography. You’ve discovered your creative eye through your phone, and you’re looking to get serious. Photography sounds like a fun hobby – it gets you outside and allows you to share your unique view of the world with others.

Perhaps you have some friends who are also photographers, and you don’t want to be left out when they start getting excited about apertures and bokeh. So where do you begin? You ask which camera you should buy, right? Wrong!

Why pros hate this question

Pros hate this question because it’s too vague. There are so many cameras out there, and they’re all designed to cater to specific needs. A camera is a very personal thing – much like a car – so others may find it difficult to advise your purchase.

A pigeon judges the tourist with a camera in a city park.

Do you want to shoot stunning stars at night (which would benefit from a full-frame camera), or do you want to build your fashion Instagram account? Are you looking to photograph wildlife (where a cropped sensor might come in handy), or are you interested in portraiture? Will you be traveling a lot and need something small and portable (mirrorless)? What is your budget? These all come into play choosing a camera.

It also depends greatly on your experience. If you’ve never played with f-stops, ISO, and shutter speeds, then any entry-level camera that teaches you these things will serve you well. Practice with the fundamentals of photography, learn what you enjoy shooting, and get more familiar with what all the features actually mean. Then you can make a much more informed decision or ask more directed questions.

What to ask instead

Do a little research first in order to understand your own needs. Narrow down the type of photography that interests you, and identify the features that are most important to you. Use Google! Armed with this knowledge, you can then confidently approach a pro (preferably one who does the kind of photography what you’d like to shoot, as they’ll be more knowledgeable and helpful to you) and ask specifics to help narrow your choices.

Here are some examples of good questions to ask:
- I really want to shoot the Milky Way, but I can’t afford a full-frame camera. Do you know of a less-expensive model that does well in low light?
- I want a super compact camera for my vacations that can take better snapshots than my phone. It would be great if it also has built-in wireless so I can upload photos on the go. What would you recommend?
- I get a lot of beautiful birds in my backyard. I’d love a better camera to capture them and perhaps some of the flowers in my garden. Can you suggest a basic camera, hopefully, one with a flip-out LCD screen?
Bonus tip

Rent! Just like a test drive, you can easily rent cameras, lenses, and accessories from your local camera shop to try out equipment and find what you really like before you invest the big bucks. Many shops even have weekend deals (pick up on Friday, return on Monday) at very affordable prices ($ 20-100 range).

#2 – Which is better: Canon or Nikon?

So now you’ve narrowed down the type of photography you wish to pursue, and you even have a few ideas of camera models that might be good for that. As you continue to research, however, you see options from Canon and Nikon. But which is better?

Why pros hate this question

Pros hate this question because it’s a silly competition the really needn’t exist. Which is better, Toyota or Honda? Marvel or DC? Deep dish or thin crust?

“Better” is such a subjective term, and asking this question really won’t give you a good answer. If you ask this of several photographers, you’re likely to get divided opinions, and this won’t help you in your final decision. Many photographers started with one brand, and they’ve simply stuck with it as it’s too expensive to switch (most brands are also deliberately not cross-compatible).

The truth is, these are competing camera makers. One will pull ahead with some fancy technology, and the other will jump up to match, adding its own new feature to gain an edge. And guess what? There are other brands, too – gasp!

Sony has been making amazing headway in its mirrorless department, and even Fuji has become popular with some photographers for their compact system. Just like camera models, they each offer different things, and it depends on the features most important to you.

Do you want to take low light pictures with little noise? Do you care about good dynamic range? Is superb multi-point autofocus important to you? Do you like using knobs and buttons over a digital menu? Brands are more about the specific features, and while pros can sometimes be polarized on which is “better,” they’ll generally agree that certain ones will perform better with regards to a given feature.

Shot with a Canon camera.

Shot with a Fuji camera.

What to ask instead

Just like the cameras above, figure out what you want most out of the camera you’re looking to buy, and ask about specifics. This will help you steer toward the camera that would be best for you, and it will be more than just an opportunity for the photographer you’re asking to sell you on their favorite brand.
- I want to shoot landscapes at sunset, but I worry about the sky being too bright while the foreground is all in shadow. Which cameras perform better in these situations?
- I find all of these menus far too complicated. Is there a camera that lets me adjust the settings more naturally?
- Which brand generally has cleaner pictures at a high ISO?
Bonus tip

Be sure to ask your questions of multiple people (preferably using various brands) to get a balanced viewpoint. Even with more specific questions, “best” can still be subjective.

#3 – What settings/camera/lens are you using?

Okay, so now you have a good idea of what camera you want, and you’re excited to start shooting. You’re observing your pro photographer friends, and you want to emulate their setup.

But what camera settings are they using?

Why pros hate this question

Pros hate these questions mostly because of context. While these can certainly be legitimate questions under the right circumstances, most pros are asked these under less-than-flattering implications.

“Wow, that’s a great picture! What camera are you using?” This implies that the art of the photograph is completely removed from the photographer and can be accomplished through mere equipment alone. This will irritate a photographer faster than asking a chef if his food is so good because he uses expensive spoons and knives.

Asking about settings is arguably better, as this provides insight as to how a waterfall was blurred into silky smoothness, or how a hummingbird was completely frozen in the shot. When pros receive this question, though, they often get the impression that beginners are looking for a silver bullet for how to take good pictures.

Settings are very specific to the photograph. This question will only be useful to you if you’re looking to shoot the same kinds of things under the same conditions. And they are only helpful if you understand what the settings mean – and how to make adjustments for your specific situation.

As well, megapixels has become this magic number that consumers have come to equate with quality. 24-megapixels is worth the extra $ 300 because it’s so much better than the 20-megapixel model, right? While more megapixels does mean slightly better quality, this number really doesn’t matter to the average photographer. Many pros don’t even pay much attention to this number (unless they’re in the business of fine art prints).

Typical photographs are printed at 300 dpi (dots per inch). Even an 8×10 print (2400 x 3000 pixels = 7.2 million pixels) requires only 7.2 megapixels. 20+ megapixels don’t come into play until you’re talking poster prints. If you’re only looking to print a few images at home or share them on social media, you needn’t worry about spending more for a higher number; most modern cameras will easily have you covered.

What you can ask instead

The camera never makes the photographer. Incredible images can be produced from the most elementary equipment. Know that a camera is a tool that only allows you to perform your job more effectively, but the art is still created by your vision. Know what you want to create, and ask informed questions of the tools – without the implication that the art wouldn’t be possible without them.

Understand what the settings mean before asking about them so you know how best to apply them to your own work.
- I admire your macro shots. I’ve been trying to accomplish something similar with my flowers, but I can’t seem to get mine as sharp as yours. What shutter speed are you using?
- I know you do a lot of night photography. Which wide-angle lens do you prefer to use for those shots?
- I’d like to start printing larger images for my wall at home. Your prints turn out really well. How many megapixels does your camera have?
Bonus tip

A wise person once told me to never buy any equipment until you feel limited by what you own. Before you go drooling over someone else’s camera or lenses, ask yourself if an upgrade would afford you shooting opportunities you cannot already do (and that you’d actually want to do – that’s the hard bit!).

And know that just because a pro has more megapixels than you (or a newer model camera, or a more expensive lens) they aren’t necessarily able to take pictures that you can’t. It’s your experience that separates you, not your equipment.

#4 – How can I make money with photography?

You have your camera. You more-or-less understand the settings, and you’ve gotten pretty good. Now, you want to see if you can turn these pixels into profit.

So you ask a professional photographer you know how you can make some money with your photography.

Why pros hate this question

Pros hate this question because many don’t know the answer themselves. Or they do, but they don’t want to disappoint you.

The truth is that photography is a very difficult industry to break into, and it is seldom lucrative. With better cameras being more affordable to the average user, anyone can fairly easily take high-quality photos. In short, few want to pay you for pictures they could take themselves.

It’s a troublesome question to answer because so many are struggling to find just the right path to that elusive pay check.

Additionally, much like the above topics, there is no single perfect answer. There are specific types of photography that are more successful at earning a living wage than others (hint: they directly involve people), but a new photographer will find it challenging to see money out of their photography without a lot of hard work, effective self-marketing, and a niche business model.

Most pros have several sources of income. It’s rare that a single tactic will prove sufficiently effective.

What you can ask instead

Take a look at your local market to see what’s popular and where a need exists. Spend some time identifying what sets you apart from everyone else and build a portfolio with which to market yourself. Then you can approach those pros with specifics to help you develop your business plan.
- I love photographing people at conventions in all of their colorful costumes. What do you typically charge for a single session?
- I’d like to upload some of my photos to a stock photography site. Which ones give the best payouts to photographers?
- How much do you charge for travel to wedding locations? Do you think I should offer free engagement sessions?
Bonus tip

This day and age, the money is with people. If you have a fear of working with people, you’re unlikely to make a living at photography. Portraits, events, and weddings are far more likely to see income streams than landscapes, abstracts, and macro images.

That doesn’t mean the latter isn’t possible, it’s just more difficult. And even those areas require marketing yourself to galleries, travel and tourism companies, and individuals. So get used to interacting with people!

#5 – Thoughts?

You have some experience under your belt now, and maybe you’re even making a few bucks on the side. You have a general understanding of what makes a good photograph, but you want to take it to the next level.

How can you improve?

Why pros hate this question

Pros hate this question because it’s also vague. You post an image on a photography forum with just the single word, “Thoughts?” While it’s great to request feedback on your images, this question puts a lot of work on the responder to generate a viable conversation about your photograph.

This is also likely to garner some less-than-helpful (and possibly less than desired) responses, as it’s so open-ended. What type of feedback are you looking for, exactly? Are you displeased with the composition and you’re looking for pointers? Do you want some tips on ways you can make a person’s eyes stand out more? Gain more sharpness to that mountain landscape?

In many instances, this is not actually an invitation for critique but rather praise. Therefore, you might receive criticism you’re unprepared to receive. Being clearer with your request can spare you and others some angst.

What you can ask instead

When seeking feedback, figure out what you actually want to know about your photo and direct your questions in that manner. Specifics help guide people answering you, and you’re more likely to get more and better responses.

It’s also perfectly acceptable if you just want to share your pictures without constructive criticism. Just make that clear so you don’t get any undesired feedback.
- I really don’t like how this picture seems a bit fuzzy. Is there anything I can do to sharpen it, or should I do something different when taking the picture?
- This was my first time shooting waterfalls. I’m not looking for criticisms at this time, I just wanted to share.
- I tried doing an HDR with this sunset, but it looks a little fake. How can I make it look more natural?
Bonus tip

Feedback is a wonderful way to improve. However, be prepared to hear it if you put the request out there. Even the most thick-skinned of photographers can find criticism difficult to take. Listen to the feedback you receive, take each with a grain of salt (in the end, it’s your art), and try to not be defensive (it’s a natural reaction).

It will doubtless be painful at first, but you will be a better photographer for it.

Conclusion

Those more experienced in your field are generally happy to help, and they welcome your questions. But they want to make sure you’ve done a little research on your own first so you understand what you’re asking. Assess what you enjoy shooting, experiment a bit, and possibly check out renting some gear.

In the right context, and with the proper information on what your needs are, pros can be an excellent resource for improving your own skills in photography.

The post 5 Questions Professional Photographers Hate and What You Can Ask Instead appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
June 10, 2018
How to Reduce Digital Noise in Astrophotography Using Exposure Stacking
Astrophotography has become increasingly popular in recent years, with good reason. There’s something about the night sky, stars, and The Milky Way that are fascinating to us. They remind us of how small we are and how huge the universe we live in really is. Photographing them can make for some pretty spectacular images.

Digital Noise in Astrophotography

As camera technology has advanced, photographing the night sky has become possible for photographers of all levels and budgets. Low-light performance continues to improve, allowing us to photograph the stars at higher and higher ISOs. However, digital noise continues to be one of the biggest challenges for astrophotographers.

There are a number of different approaches to dealing with digital noise in your astrophotography, from your camera settings to the way you process them in post-production.

Digital noise is caused by a couple of things. Firstly, the camera sensor heats up as it exposes an image, causing an increase in noise. Secondly, an increase in sensor sensitivity, or ISO, can lead to more digital noise in your images. As both high ISO values and long exposures are going to lead to more digital noise, you’re going to need a strategy to deal with it in your astrophotography.

Exposure Stacking

There is a technique called exposure stacking that is very effective in reducing the digital noise in your photos. You take multiple exposures with the same settings, stack them into layers inside Photoshop, align the stack, then Photoshop will create an image based on the median of all the stacked exposures. The final image will show the parts of your exposures that are consistent through each layer, like the stars. Because digital noise is random, and changes from one exposure to the next, it will not be visible in the final stacked image.

If you’re still following me, great. It sounds complicated, but I’m going to walk you through exposure stacking step-by-step and you’ll see it’s really not that difficult. It can take a little time to get right, but it’s totally worth it when you see the difference it can make in your night sky photos.

Capturing the Stars In-Camera

There are plenty of other articles that will teach you in detail how to take great astrophotography, so I won’t go into it here. However, there are a few considerations that are required to get the exposures correct in order to be able to use the exposure stacking technique later.

1. You need multiple exposures with the same camera settings. You can take as many shots as you want, but I would suggest using a minimum of 10. Try to capture them as close together as possible to minimize movement of the stars between each exposure. The more time that lapses from the first exposure to the last, the more work will be required to stack them properly.

2. Turn off Long Exposure Noise Reduction. This is probably called something like “Long Exposure NR” in your camera. It will cause each exposure to take twice as long when it’s turned on, meaning there will be twice as much movement of the stars between exposures. It also means you’ll be double-processing your images, causing a reduction in image quality.

3. Make sure the stars in your photos are pinpoint. They need to be sharp and have as little streaking as possible. You can work out the maximum exposure time to create pinpoint stars based on the focal length of your lens using this tool.

Import and Develop in Lightroom

Again, there is a wealth of information about how to process astrophotography in Adobe Lightroom. All I do in Lightroom is check each exposure to eliminate any images that are unusable due to camera movement, do a basic edit, then open my selected images to Photoshop as layers.

Use “Open as Layers in Photoshop” to do exposure stacking. Go to: File > Edit In > Open as Layers in Photoshop.

The main things to remember here are that you make sure to sync your edits with all the exposures that you’ll be using and to avoid over-processing the images in Lightroom. Avoid sharpening and noise reduction at this stage of the process. Also take it easy on contrast, clarity, and dehaze. You can perform more creative edits on the final stacked image.

Aligning and Stacking Exposures in Photoshop

Ensuring your images are all aligned correctly is vital when doing exposure stacking. If they are not, you will end up with blurry stars. There are a couple of ways to align exposures. Try the auto-alignment method first and if it doesn’t do a good job you’ll need to use the manual method.

Auto Alignment
1. Select all layers.
2. Select Edit > Auto-Align Layers…
3. Select Auto. Click OK.
Manual Alignment
1. 1. Make only the bottom two layers visible.
  2. Select the second layer and change its blend mode to Difference. You’ll see the image go mostly black with white specks. The white areas represent the parts of the two visible images that are not aligned correctly.
1. Click Edit > Free Transform.
1. Click View and make sure Snap is unchecked.
2. Zoom in on a corner, hold down command/control and move the corner box around until you see the white parts of the image line up and turn black. It will take some trial and error.
1. 1. Repeat with each corner of the image. You may need to go back to readjust a corner that you’ve already moved. It won’t be perfect, but try to get it as close as possible.
  2. Press return to exit Free Transform mode, then change the blend mode back to Normal.
  3. Make the layer you’ve just adjusted invisible and the next one up visible.
  4. Repeat with every layer, aligning each one with the base layer until they’re all aligned as well as possible.
Stacking Layers
1. Make sure all layers are visible and selected.
2. Right-click on one of the layers and click Convert To Smart Object.
1. Click Layer > Smart Objects > Stack Mode > Median.
Finish up

When Photoshop has finished working its magic, you should end up with an image that’s much cleaner with significantly less noise than you started with. Your stars probably won’t look quite as sharp when zoomed into 100%, especially if the alignment wasn’t quite right, but you’ll be the only person who looks that closely. Don’t forget to crop the edges that have moved during the alignment process.

Now you can apply any other creative edits you might like to your image. You can either do this while still in Photoshop or save the image and apply the adjustments back in Lightroom.

This may seem like a complicated process, but once you’ve done it once or twice you’ll get much quicker. If you’re anything like me, you’ll find the effort is worth it for the lovely, clean, noise-free astrophotography images it gives you.

The post How to Reduce Digital Noise in Astrophotography Using Exposure Stacking appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
June 9, 2018