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Getting Started with Landscape Photography – 4 Easy Tips for Beginners

One of the things I like most about photography is that there is always more to learn. It keeps the mind active and the creative juices flowing. But the wealth of information out there can be overwhelming for beginners in landscape photography. Where do you start?

There are a few easy things you can do that will have an immediate impact on your photography so you can start making better images right away. Let’s focus on those and leave the more technical stuff for later.

1. Pay attention to the light

There is no such thing as bad light. The key is to understand what kinds of images are suitable under various lighting conditions.

During golden hour, the day’s last light makes the rocks glow.

The Golden Hour

This is the time right after sunrise and right before sunset when the sun is low in the sky and casts beautiful golden light. Start here! It’s hard to go wrong with golden light, which is the most popular time of day for photography.

The cactus in the foreground is in the shade while golden hour light reflects off the mountain in the background.

Bright Midday Light

The opposite of golden hour, the harsh direct light you find at midday can be the most difficult to work with – unless you photograph in the shade.

Just look for interesting subjects that are in the shade and leave the sky out of the frame. The even soft light is great for close-ups and flower photography.

Flowers photographed in the shade.

There are more types of light to work with and different times of day to photograph, but start with these for the quickest results.

2. Remove distractions

Pay attention to the things in the background of your images and try to simplify the background as much as possible. Sometimes there is an unwanted object, like a trash can for example, that you might not notice unless you are looking for it. These things can often be hidden behind your main subject simply by moving to one side, photographing from a higher or lower perspective, or getting closer.

Try to simplify your composition as much as possible with fewer items in your scene. Find a way to photograph your main subject on a clean background.

To make this image, I had to change my perspective to eliminate debris on the sand as well as other rocks and birds from the frame.

Beware of tree branches or other things that poke in to the edge of your frame. Before you take your shot, try to remember to do an “edge check”. Look around the edges of your frame and make sure it looks clean.

3. Look for one thing

Your photograph cannot be about everything. You need to decide what is most interesting in your scene and make your photograph about that. Get closer to it.

One exercise that will get you in this habit is to go on a photo walk with the purpose of looking for one particular element of design. You’ll find that when you set your mind on one thing, you’ll start to see it everywhere. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Textures and Patterns

Often beginning photographers will try to capture an entire vista in one photograph and don’t notice the details. But the more you train your eye to notice the details, the more interesting your photographs will become.

The best thing about photographing textures and patterns is that you don’t have to go far to find them. Your subject can be anything from rocks to grass or peeling paint. I’m sure you can find subjects with wonderful textures close to home. Try to fill your frame with the pattern.

Filling the frame with the pattern of colorful rocks.

Lines

Look for horizontal lines, vertical lines or diagonal lines. Try to find lines that lead the way to some interesting subject.

Colors

Take a look at the color wheel and notice complementary colors. Those are the ones that are opposites on the wheel such as blue and orange, red and green, or yellow and purple. Any scene with complementary colors is always striking (which is why so many photographers carry around a red umbrella or a red jacket for their partner to wear in a grassy or forest scene).

Complementary colors plus diagonal lines.

4. Make time to practice

It doesn’t take long to develop good habits and learn what makes an interesting photograph. But it can be hard to remember if you only go shooting once in awhile. Try to make a habit of doing it every day, even if it’s only for fifteen minutes. By doing this, you’ll reinforce the habit and find yourself seeing the potential for great images all around you all the time.

Golden hour – there is still enough light to photograph the depths of the canyon while the last of the day’s light reflects off the top of the highest rock.

Conclusion

There are more technical things that you’ll want to start learning soon such as; how the exposure triangle works, understanding depth of field, picking the right shooting mode, focus settings, and more. It’s endless (which is a good thing).

But for now, these tips will get you on the right track so you are happy with your images right from the beginning. Have fun!

The post Getting Started with Landscape Photography – 4 Easy Tips for Beginners by Anne McKinnell appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 13, 2018
Shooting portraits with the $12,800 Leica Noctilux-M 75mm F1.25 lens

Photographer and YouTuber Matt Granger recently got a chance to shoot with two unreleased Leica lenses that many a portrait photographer dreams of owning. On a freezing cold day in Brooklyn, he went out with friend and model Stephanie Pham to test out the APO Summicron-SL 90mm F2 ASPH and—the pièce de résistance—the $ 12,800 Noctilux-M 75mm F1.25 ASPH.

You can’t even buy the Noctilux yet, but Granger was able to get his hands on one for testing purposes ahead of his trip to Ethiopia, and before he hopped on a plane, he just had to try this lens out in a quick 10-minute portrait shoot by the water in Brooklyn. All of the photos were taken with the Leica SL, and since the Noctilux-M is an M-Mount lens (duh), Matt attached it using Leica’s own M to L mount converter.

Matt was kind enough to share a few full-res JPEG samples with us, which you can scroll through in the gallery below.

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In the video, he mentions several times how difficult it can be to grab focus with a lens this fast, but the Leica SL’s focus peaking seemed to help him nail the shot more often than not. In fact, he complains that it’s harder to nail focus stopped down, because the peaking was far less helpful when more of the frame was in focus.

Check out the full video up top to hear Matt’s thoughts and watch him work with this ultra-fast (and ultra expensive…) lens, and then head over to his website to download a few more samples for pixel peeping purposes. Finally, don’t forget to let us (and him) know what you think of the images and these two lenses in the comments down below.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

February 13, 2018
Review: Google Pixel 2 is the best smartphone for stills photographers
DPReview smartphone reviews are written with the needs of photographers in mind. We focus on camera features, performance, and image quality.

The Pixel 2 and its larger sibling, the Pixel 2 XL represent Google’s latest flagship phones. Both offer a single 12.2MP F1.8 main camera and an 8MP F2.4 ‘selfie’ camera. From a photographer’s perspective that might not sound like anything special – after all, the iPhone X offers dual rear cameras – yet thanks to behind-the-scenes processing, the Pixel 2 is capable of some of the most detailed photos we’ve ever seen from a smartphone.

It also features a background blurring effect (portrait mode), DNG Raw capture (with use of a third party app), 4K/30p video and optical image stabilization. Plus, all Pixel 2 owners get free Google Photo storage for photos and videos shot on the device through the end of 2020. After that point users will still get free storage but files saved will be high-quality compressed versions (full-res storage will still be available for a price).

Priced at $ 650, the Pixel 2 is not cheap, but it is 2/3rds the price of the iPhone X.

The Pixel 2 offers excellent image quality thanks to a combination of hardware and software processing .
ISO 82 | 1/23000 sec| F1.8

As smartphone cameras progress, we’re seeing a cultural split from traditional camera companies, who rely mostly on hardware and optics to achieve good image quality, just as they did with their film cameras. Instead, smartphone manufacturers are relying more on computational photography and artificial intelligence to produce a photo that is detailed and well-toned, right ‘out of camera’. With just one button press – no need to set the exposure or dynamic range compensation or AF mode yourself.

Google’s secret sauce is in what the company calls ‘HDR+’, which judges exposure intelligently and uses multi-imaging techniques for every shot. So has computational photography, à la Pixel 2 come far enough to replace the pocket cam? How about the mirrorless camera or DSLR?

Aside from the excellent camera, the Pixel 2 is a fairly ordinary smartphone.

Key photographic / Video specs
- 12.2MP rear camera (1/2.55″ | 1.40 ?m pixels)
- F1.8 max aperture
- 4K/30p video
- 1080/120p, 720/240p slow motion video
- Optical image stablization
- Dual Pixel AF with phase detect
- DNG Raw capture and manual control with 3rd party apps
- 8MP front camera (F2.4 max ap.)
Other specs
- Android 8.0 operating system (Oreo)
- 5 in 1920×1080 AMOLED (441ppi) display (95% DCI-P3)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor
- 4GB Ram
- 64 or 128GB internal storage
- Unlimited cloud photo/video storage with Google Photos
- 2750 mAh battery
- $ 650
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
February 12, 2018
How to Make Use of Foggy Surfaces for Abstract Photography

When I mention that one of my favorite subjects to photograph is foggy surfaces, I get a few weird looks. To the uninitiated, the subject is an unusual one and most likely a boring one too. Photographers in-the-know furrow their brow, recalling the dreaded lens fog plaguing important shoot days and holidays photos.

Nevertheless, diffused glass is a beautiful and extremely diverse tool, great for adding an atmospheric layer to any image.

What is a foggy surface?

First of all, “foggy surfaces” (or fogged) is a term I use to encompass a whole wealth of surfaces that render softly focused images. Office partitions, shower doors, windows – there are hundreds of different sources of glass diffused organically by weather or intentionally by the manufacturer.

Frosted glass is an artificially diffused surface material. Created by sandblasting annealed glass, frosted glass is used to separate environments without sacrificing light. It suggests a sense of openness without sacrificing privacy. These surfaces diffuse and soften subjects to create dense, otherworldly subject matter that investigates form as much as they obscure.

Due to scratches and reflections, this image has an extra layer of depth.

Where to find fogged surfaces

A great source of fogged glass is through your everyday exterior office window. Decorative or plain sheets of frosted glass are used as partitions, making use of natural light. Photographing objects through these types of glass creates beautiful, isolated studies of subjects matter.

Plant leaves pressed against the glass plays with light and form, unusual office chairs take on a new life framed by a foggy canvas. It’s amazing how little it takes to re-imagine form in a whole new way with something as simple as a thin layer of glass.

One of my favorite times for taking photographs is on a rainy day. The heavy atmosphere, the movement, the transformation of color and light – it’s all enticing to me and nothing illustrates this more than the view through a damp, slowly fogging window.

On a cold and wet day, warmer moisture in the air turns into condensation upon contact with cold air. Inside a vehicle, warm air brushes against the coldness of a window and this begin to collect as condensation on the glass. This fogs the window and the pane of glass frames and reflects the environment while housing the subject itself beyond the glass. It’s a bit of a mixture of art and science, and the results are really beautiful if you’re willing to brave the wet conditions.

This photograph was taken through a tram window on a cold and rainy night. Commuter’s coats and the lights in the tram create a surreal landscape of color.

The bad type of fog

Seeking out subjects in the rain as can also lead to “camera fog”. This is a type of fog you want to avoid. Transferring a camera from a warmer environment to a cooler one causes condensation inside the camera too. While a few rounds of camera fog won’t destroy a camera, taking steps to acclimatize your camera will prevent extra wear.

Before heading out for a rainy day photography walk, minimize the issue by putting your camera inside a plastic zip-lock bag until the temperature inside the bag and out have equalized. Depending on the difference in temperatures, you may need to leave your gear in the bag for a few hours to acclimatize. While it’s a bit of a pain, but it’s better to keep the fog outside of the camera!

Fogged glass can create beautiful abstract effects.

Photographing fogged surfaces rely on the light coming through the glass. Different times of the day can render completely different results.

How to photograph fogged surfaces

Photographing fogged surfaces is very similar to photographing transparent surfaces like glass. The strength of the light behind the subject will dictate how your subject will look. As you probably don’t have an opportunity to adjust the backlight, try taking photographs of subjects at different times of the day. The morning may depict an office plant in detail, but the light in the evening will lend more of a silhouette effect.

The result of an image taken through fogged glass also relies heavily on the proximity the subject to the glass itself. However, most subjects will be tucked behind a window or a building security system. Like street photography, this means that you’ll have to make the most of what you have.

From the exterior, closer objects, or even objects leaning against the glass will be the sharpest subjects. Distant subjects like faraway light sources are dispersed into the cloudy shades of the surface. It’s like having your focusing done for you. Try a few different angles and change your distance in relation to the subject.

Try to focus on detail rather than quantity, that way you will have a frame full of information rather than an empty frame of a faraway scene. If possible, try setting up a tripod so you’ll be able to use slower shutter speeds to capture the image. This isn’t ideal in every circumstance, however.

The post How to Make Use of Foggy Surfaces for Abstract Photography by Megan Kennedy appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 12, 2018

How to Use ND Filters Creatively to Make the Most of a Scene

Photography is the art of capturing light. In many instances, harnessing the light and properly exposing a scene means controlling it first. This is necessary for many landscape scenes where contrast is high. You have likely seen high contrast many times: a sunset with dark foreground elements, a church with deep shadows, or a moonrise over a snow-filled background. Each of these situations (and many others like it) will present a challenge for you to overcome.

One of the tools that you have at your disposal to alter the amount of light hitting your camera’s sensor is neutral density filters (ND). These dark gray pieces of glass come in many styles (graduated, 1-stop, 2-stop, 10-stop, etc.) and do not alter the color of your image but do restrict the amount of light.

How to Use Neutral Density Filters Creatively to Make the Most of a Scene

I stacked a Graduated ND filter and ND Stopper for this image to control the gray sky and flatten the water around the island with a long exposure.

They provide an opportunity to control your exposure or create long exposures that emphasize static elements. This article will focus on Graduated ND filters that are clear on one half and dark on the other, as well as ND stoppers which are completely dark.

You can find more info here on dPS for learning about the fundamentals of using in ND filters. The rest of this article will focus on a few creative ways that you can experiment with ND filter angles, grades, and techniques to create unique shots.

Stack ‘em

You can easily combine ND filters to control more light in the scene as filter holders usually have more than one slot for multiple filters. Having multiple slots is a huge advantage because it allows you to stack filters on top of each other to control the light.

Be sure to think about creative combinations of filters to give you the most out of a scene. For instance, you may want to shoot a really long exposure to flatten out the water in a sunset, or you may want to control very bright highlights such as the sun. The table below outlines some of the possibilities that stacking filters can provide you.

	ND GRADUATED	ND STOPPER
GRADUATED FILTERS	Graduated ND filters can be stacked on top of each other to control light and feathering at the horizon. Try stacking a hard-edged grad with a soft-edged grad to control more light high in the scene and then feather into a lighter foreground.	An ND stopper filter will evenly stop out the light in the scene. You still need to control the highlights! Add an ND grad to control highlights in the scene and bring up the foreground shadows.
ND STOPPER	You can combine an ND stopper with a flipped ND grad (i.e, put the dark side of the grad on the bottom). This approach is non-conventional but could be used if your highlights are at the bottom of a scene. See the Flip ‘em section of this article for more.	Stacking ND stoppers on top of each other can give you very long (>1 minute) exposures even in the brightest conditions. This is a great tool for you to use to extend creativity mid-day.

For this image, the boats in the harbor were important to complement the sunrise overhead. I stacked a Graduated ND filter and ND Stopper to control the sunrise and raise the foreground shadows.

Preserving foreground highlights and shooting sunbursts can be difficult because of the extremely high contrast. I double-stacked graduated filters for this shot to give me a firm control of the highlights (the sun) and maintain the snowy landscape in front.

This image was captured on a cold night in Minnesota (about -25F). At those temperatures, the sky after sunset has a purple hue, which was exacerbated by the double-stacked graduate filters that I used to control the light of the moon and allow you to see its craters.

Rotate ‘em

ND filter holders rotate easily around the lens giving you flexibility in the angle you choose. ND graduated filters are often aligned to the horizon by the photographer. This makes great sense if you have a flat horizon, but what if a mountain range is sticking up in front of you? You can take a little bit of creative license and easily align the ND filters to the angle of the mountains. Examine your scene and think about how the orientation and filters could emphasize foreground elements or draw the viewer’s eye.

In the images of Nugget Falls (below) in Juneau, Alaska I shot one image with a graduated filter flipped with the dark side of the sky and one over the falls. Although I personally prefer the images with the brighter falls, you can see how the lighter sky draws your eye to the mountain and glacier beyond the falls.

How to Use Neutral Density Filters Creatively to Make the Most of a Scene

Hold ‘em

Let’s face it, you are not going to have a filter holder for every lens in your kit. However, that does not mean you cannot use filters! You can also hand hold a filter in front of your lens in a pinch.

I recommend that you mount your camera on a tripod before trying to hand hold filters. It will make them the easier to handle and allow you to compose your scene before adding the filter.

I was not carrying a filter holder for a 100mm lens, but handheld the filter on this shot to raise the foreground shadows. Sometimes you have to make due with what you have.

Practicing in the Field

As you begin to use and experiment with ND filters you are going to grow as a photographer. Keep creativity in mind to give your shots a distinguished and unique look. As I like to say, “pixels are cheap” so be sure to make lots of pixels as you experiment with your ND filters.

I would love to hear how you have extended your photography through creative uses of ND filters.

The post How to Use ND Filters Creatively to Make the Most of a Scene by Ian Johnson appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 12, 2018

Panasonic Lumix GH5S sample gallery

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The Panasonic GH5S is a heavily video-focused variant of the GH5, and we’ve already tested its video capabilities extensively. To complement our sample reels, we have a full sample gallery for your viewing pleasure. Take a look at the still image side of this video-centric camera.

See our Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S
sample gallery

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

February 12, 2018
A quick tour of Fujifilm’s camera and lens factory in Sendai, Japan

Documentary cameraman Johnnie Behiri of Cinema5D was in Japan recently, when he was invited to visit one of Fujifilm’s camera and lens factories in Sendai, Japan. Having been on a few factory tours ourselves, we suggest you do exactly what Behiri did: say yes, and bring a camera to document your journey.

The factory Behiri visited is responsible for putting together Fujifilm’s Fujinon MK lenses, the X-T2 ILC, and the GFX 50S medium format camera and lenses. The tour is short and sweet, but you get to see how careful Fuji must be about cleanliness in a factory like this, and watch as the technicians assemble each Fujinon MK lens by hand.

This isn’t the first time someone has been invited inside the Sendai Factory. In fact, we went there ourselves in 2016. And one year before that, The Fuji Guys took their own tour of the factory, which you can watch below (even if it is a bit dated now):

Fuji fans can watch both tours above. And if this inspires you to go behind the scenes with a few other manufacturers, check out our visit to the Hasselblad factory in Sweden, the Leica factory in Germany, Canon’s L lens factory in Japan, and more.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

February 11, 2018
Adobe RGB Versus sRGB – Which Color Space Should You Be Using and Why
How frequently have you been to your camera settings to switch between Adobe RGB and sRGB color space? Are you even aware of what these terms mean, or what exactly is a color space? Even I was unaware of these technical terms until a few years back but I quickly realized their importance.

What is a color space?

A color space is a part of the color gamut, which is basically the universe of color tones. So you can assume different color spaces to be planets of different sizes. Out of many planets, Adobe RGB and sRGB are two most commonly used color spaces in photography.

Depending on your preferences, you can choose the desired color space and get the best possible result out of it.

By The original uploader was Cpesacreta at English Wikipedia [Attribution or CC BY 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons

What are Adobe RGB and sRGB color spaces?

Adobe RGB is a bigger color space than sRGB as it is comprised of many more variations of color tones. This is one of the reasons that Adobe RGB monitors are vastly used by photographers – they can display more colors as compared to an sRGB monitor.

Monitors and printers

Adobe RGB monitors are used by a majority of modern day printer operators as well because they are capable of showing what a CMYK (cyan magenta yellow and key or black) printer color profile can produce. This helps the printer operator to ensure that colors that are being displayed on the Adobe RGB monitor shall be very close to the print that comes out of the CMYK color space printer (used for magazines and publications).

So being a photographer it makes sense that you use an Adobe RGB monitor so that you can edit your photos and see the actual colors that will come out in the prints.

Whereas, if you are sure that you will not get your photos printed in the near future then it does not make any sense to use an Adobe RGB monitor. If you only take photos for yourself or to upload them to the web, then an sRGB monitor is ideal for your purposes.

Camera shooting color space

But in order to view the actual colors of Adobe RGB or sRGB color space on your monitor, you need to capture the photo in that particular color space in the first place.

Unless you capture a photo in the required color space, be it Adobe RGB or sRGB, you cannot use that photo to its full potential. Shooting photos in the larger Adobe RGB color space allow you to capture more color tones, thus helping you see accurate colors on Adobe RGB monitors and in the prints. Whereas clicking in sRGB color space allows you to upload images to the web without any change in colors.

While shooting in one of these two color spaces each has their own advantages, there are few disadvantages as well.

Setting your camera color space.

Advantages and Disadvantages of shooting in Adobe RGB

Advantages:
1. You get to capture a wider range of color tones in your photos.
2. This color space is capable of displaying color tones that come out of a CMYK printer, thus ideal color space if you print your photos.
Disadvantages:
1. When you upload a photo captured in Adobe RGB color space on the web, the colors get desaturated (and can look “off”).
2. Adobe RGB monitors are costly, so in order to edit Adobe RGB color space image, you need to invest a lot in a monitor.
NOTE: You can convert an Adobe RGB color profile image into sRGB color space using software such as Photoshop and Lightroom.

Left: While exporting photos in Lightroom, you get the option to choose the color space. Right: In Photoshop, you can go to Color Settings and select the required option as your working color space.

Advantages and Disadvantages of shooting in sRGB

Advantages:
1. When you upload a photo shot in sRGB color space, the colors remain the same and do not get desaturated, unlike an Adobe RGB image.
2. A majority of monitors in the world use the sRGB color space and are not that expensive, unlike Adobe RGB monitors. This ensures that the colors that you experience on your monitor would be almost the same on any other sRGB monitor.
Disadvantages:
1. As the color tones in sRGB are less compared to Adobe RGB, you do not get accurate colors in your prints.
2. If you submit your photos for photography contests, there are chances that those photos will be viewed on an Adobe RGB monitor. This might reduce your chances of winning as a photograph captured and edited in Adobe RGB will look more pleasing to the judges.
Conclusion

Adobe RGB or sRGB, which color space to choose while shooting?

If you are a photographer who prints your photos often and you want to ensure that the colors are accurate in your prints, then you must shoot in Adobe RGB color space. Shooting photos in sRGB color space might give you a variation in colors that you see on your monitor and in the final prints. Also if you participate in online photography contests, it is safe to capture and edit photos in Adobe RGB color space.

But if you only capture photos to upload them on the web, then shooting in the sRGB color space is the ideal choice for you. If you upload Adobe RGB color space photos to the web, you will notice that colors get desaturated.

Left: This is how your photo gets desaturated when you upload Adobe RGB color space photo to the web. Right: When you upload sRGB color space photos, you get correct colors as seen here.

Nonetheless, to be on the safe side you can shoot photos in the Adobe RGB color space. If needed you can always use the file for prints, and if you wish to upload to the web then you can simply convert the color space using Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.

The post Adobe RGB Versus sRGB – Which Color Space Should You Be Using and Why by Kunal Malhotra appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
February 11, 2018
Photography tour guide killed by toxic lava fumes in Hawaii

Photographer Sean King, owner of tourism company Hawaii Stargazing Adventures, tragically passed away during a tour group excursion on February 1st after breathing in toxic fumes from a lava flow, according to local news organization KHON2. Heavy rains over the lava flow resulted in noxious steam, according to officials speaking with the news agency, which made it difficult to see and breathe.

According to friends and officials, King was with three other people as part of a guided hiking tour when it began to rain—he soon lost consciousness. The three individuals were forced to leave King behind and hike several hours before they had cell reception to call for help. Hawaii Fire Department officials spotted King from a helicopter and used it to airlift him to a nearby ambulance, but unfortunately it was too late.

Friends describe King has having been a passionate photographer with a great fondness for the Kilauea volcano. Speaking to KHON2, Bruce Omori, a friend of King’s, described the conditions that led to the photographer’s tragic demise:

The conditions today, I mean they were horrible. It was dumping so much rain out there. There was a stationary cell that was directly over the flow field, and it was really heavy. We’re shooting that and I’ve never gotten so wet in the helicopter, because it was raining so hard. It was raining so hard that we couldn’t venture any further, because we normally fly the entire length of the flow field, but it was impossible. So much rain was coming down.

According to Big Island Now, Hawaii’s Criminal Investigation Section detectives are investigating the incident as an “unattended death.”

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

February 10, 2018
How to Geotag Your Photos Using Lightroom and a Smartphone App

As a landscape and travel photographer, it is important to be able to track where you traveled and note exactly where a specific picture was taken. Sound complicated and expensive? It’s not if you have a smartphone and a geotag app that will track your GPS location. In this article, I’ll show you how to use Lightroom and the Geotag Photos Pro app to mark your photos locations.

Geotag Your Photos Easily in Adobe’s Lightroom with the help of Geotag Photos Pro App

Geotagging is the process of pinpointing the location you took your picture with the aid of a GPS unit. There are a few ways to collect GPS information from a camera. A GPS unit can be built-in to your camera, an accessory to your camera, or a smartphone app like Geotag Photos Pro.

All of these GPS accessories will add EXIF data to your photo files. This data usually consists of the file name, folder location, city, GPS coordinates, as well as the date and time the image was captured. This feature can be very useful if you are a travel or landscape photographer who would like a record of your travels and photo shoot locations.

How does it work?

Your camera records the picture information each time you take a shot, including the time each photo was captured. All the while, you will have the Geotag Photos Pro app running on your phone to record your exact position at the time the photo is taken. It’s all tracked based on the time the image was shot. The fun comes later when you merge all of the data in Lightroom.

Geotag Photos Pro app

Using GPS attachments on an SLR can be expensive and cumbersome. The Geotag Photos Pro app might be a good solution for you. It will work with whatever capture device you prefer to use, a DSLR, a mirrorless camera, a compact point and shoot, or a mobile phone.

Available in both IOS and Android versions, the app records your position while you are taking photos. It then creates a “.gpx” file that you export to Geotag Photos Pro desktop app or other apps and services like Lightroom, Flickr, and Apple Photos.

It’s all tracked by synchronizing the clock on the app with the clock on your camera. It will create a track log with custom interval settings that you set up. The best part is you can bring it into the Lightroom mapping module and it will create a map of your shoot with thumbnail images along the route.

Setting up the app

Before you start your photo walk, make sure that your camera and your cell phone are synced at the same time. There is no need to have internet access to use the app, it works through a GPS signal which is available anywhere for free. First, start the Geotag Photo Pro App.

In the settings, set the desired time for Geotag Photos Pro for your logging interval – 2 minutes is the optimal time interval. That way you can create a balance between the battery life of your cell phone and the accuracy of the app without using up all of your power. If you’d like it to track at faster intervals, you can set it up that way or manually set a point on your track.

You don’t need to hold on to the phone or watch the app once you have initiated your photo walk and you are happy with the interval settings. It will create a map similar to the one below when you are done. Your map may create an odd route as if you were walking in the ocean like this one, but there is actually a pier which doesn’t show up on this map.

After your walk

When you have finished your walk, Complete the track on the app and share the track log to your Dropbox, iCloud, or Google Drive account and download the track to your computer.

Once you have downloaded the .gpx file track log, import your images into Lightroom and select the images in the filmstrip that you would like to geotag. Then open the map module of Lightroom.

Just below the map window but above the filmstrip, there is a squiggly line that is the track log menu (circled in red above). Hover over it, navigate to your saved .gpx file and load into Lightroom. Once you open the file, you will see the track start to load on your map.

Once you see a map similar to this (below), it is time to geotag your images.

Geotagging your images

Look at your filmstrip and navigate to the images you would like to include in the track log. Click on the first image and shift-click the last image in the sequence to select them all. Then click on “load track logs” and select “Auto Tag the select photos”.

Now the photos and location will load to the track. If the track doesn’t look 100% correct, you can move the location of the track to put the images in the right place.

Now you will have a track log of the images you took located on the map. Hover over the picture icons, and your images will pop up in the location where they were photographed. How cool is that?!

In conclusion

What a great tool for you as a landscape and travel photographer! As GPS gets more advanced, it will be included in more cameras and make this process a little easier. But for now, an app like this is fun and easy to use and adds another handy element to your photo toolbox.

Give it a try on your next trip!

The post How to Geotag Your Photos Using Lightroom and a Smartphone App by Holly Higbee-Jansen appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

February 10, 2018