Nick Fancher is an experienced photographer of fashion, weddings, and men’s and women’s lifestyle. In 2007, he founded Shutter-Think Photography, specializing in portrait and fine art photography.

Product photography with one monobloc flash and softbox and a cubus.Very simple lighting set up that is easy for starters and some samples.

Kerry shows how he uses Live View mode to nail his focus when doing macro photography.

In this episode Mark shows us how to use the stroboscopic feature on a speedlight. Mark will demonstrate how to create unique images that capture motion. Watch as Mark walks you through the steps to get captivating shots.

Photography Tips

Achieve ad-campaign worthy beauty images with this simple one-light setup.

A great variety of new articles, tutorials and highly inspiring portfolios, as well as an interview with US Landscape Photographer Guy Tal are included in this issue. They will be of help not only to intermediate and advanced photographers but also all those who are in those early stages.

We are promoting imagery from landscape photographers worldwide. We are also showcasing some spectacular landscape locations in great detail with map links for all to visit.

It makes no difference if you are using a large format or a compact camera, the magazine welcomes everyone the same way. We are here to help each other improve and make sure that Landscape Photography will be here for ever and remain one of the best and most inspirational genres in photography.

Neil Paskin talks about Practice and Persistence in landscape photography. David Lee will guide us to Holwell Tor in England and David Hay explains all about Autumn landscape photography. Mike Bell is giving us an insight into Histogram for beginners, Joe Rainbow will take us a trip down to Porth Nanven in Cornwall, England and Julian Bunker says it all when it comes to Beaches of North Michigan. We do not stop here though as Our conversation with landscape photographer Guy Tal will take you by surprise, Trevor Anderson talks about a coming storm, Dimitri Vasiliou takes us to Loch Droma in Scotland and 3 gentlemen will inspire us with their portfolios, Larry Keller, Leslie Ashe and Nuno Luis.

Come and see for yourself, the inspiration is endless.

http://landscapephotographymagazine.com/

A photography tip is to pay close attention to angles. Angles can be very helpful when you’re planning a composition. They can point towards certain things you want to focus on, creating a visual path for the viewer’s eye to travel. Make good use of angles.

Take pictures of the souvenirs you purchased when you travel. You could take a picture of the store where you bought something or simply photograph the object with an original background. This will allow you to create a story behind the objects you bought as souvenirs: you should enjoy this when you come home.

Learn the apertures of the camera and understand how they are used. The aperture varies the amount of light allowed to travel through the lens which expands and contracts to allow this light to pass through. The more light that is allowed to travel through the lens, more objects in the photo will be in focus. The less light allowed through, the focus will shift to only focusing on objects in the foreground.

Learn a valuable art in composition by learning that less is more when it comes to your photos. There is no reason to clutter or add a bunch of elements to your shots. It doesn’t translate near as well as you think it will. There is beauty in the art of simplicity, so keep your shots simple!

A lot of people are finding it difficult to know how to find ways to becomes a successful photographer, the thing about photography is what plays a major factor is how much you know. You want to always keep on the lookout for new information to learn and to apply that information to the best of your ability, that’s how you can hope to achieve success.

Purchase a dSLR camera if you want to take professional-looking photographs. When you are shopping for a camera, do not worry about how many megapixels the product has; instead, focus on the image sensor. Most professional photographers buy full-frame dSLR cameras, which take incredibly clear pictures of your subject matter.

Read the manual for your camera. It seems obvious, but most people don’t bother. Manuals are often thick and bulky. They usually get shoved in the back of a drawer or just thrown away. Instead of throwing it out, take the time to read it. It can really help you take better pictures and prevent you from making stupid mistakes.

You want to set yourself apart from all the other photographers in the world. You can do this by figuring out how you like to capture things, and by figuring out which emotions you want to feature. Find and express an individual style.

An important factor in photography composition is framing. Make sure that you judge your subject through your camera’s viewfinder. Eliminate objects that take away from your subject matter by zooming in on the main focal point. This can eliminate unwanted focal points and keep clutter in your photographs at bay.

Make your subject more comfortable by introducing some kind of a prop. Give a lady a flower to play with or a man a football. Give a bride and groom some bubble gum and have them blow bubbles together. You do not really have to include the prop in the frame in some cases but there may be shots that work out well with them.

A great photography tip is to talk to as many photographers as you can to learn their tricks.

Learning on your own is an excellent path, but it’s always helpful to hear about what other photographers are doing. You might learn subtle tricks that can really improve your photographs.

Pay attention to the symmetry in your pictures. A picture that is supposed to be symmetrical and isn’t will appear much worse than if it were and frustrate your viewers. Make sure you’re standing in the dead center of a symmetrical object if you are trying to create a symmetrical composition.

Photographers generally do not like having to think about using regular flash photography. The reason is most people cannot stand not knowing what the flash is going to do with the picture. Flash is sudden and a huge burst of light, and it is hard to tell what effect it will have. Adequately monitored however, knowing more about its effect can be attained.

When taking a picture, try to take one at a medium distance and then take one closer. You may decide later on that a picture would have looked better had you taken it a little closer. Also, try to make sure your subject is toward the center of the picture.

Portraits
If you want to take high quality portraits, do not rely on your camera’s built in flash. Instead you want to look at investing in a softbox to use for external lighting. If you can’t afford this, look into purchasing an external flash unit with a diffuser for your camera.

When photographing portraits, isolate your subject.

Use a medium telephoto lens or the medium telephoto setting on your zoom. That, combined with a large aperture (try f/4 or larger), blurs the foreground and background. Focus on the eyes. Use diffused lighting for a flattering look. If outdoors, wait for an overcast sky or shoot with the subject in the shadows and the sun at your back.

For an interesting photograph, play around with the focus. A smaller f-stop number, or depth of field, will focus on your main subject and make the background blurry in comparison. This style is good for portraits, where the subject is close to the camera. A bigger f-stop number will give you a greater depth of field, which means that everything in the photo will be in focus. This is perfect for landscape photos.

With all of the information you just learned you should start feeling more positive in your photography endeavors. You want to make sure all of the information you learned is applied in every aspect possible in your photography, the only way you can hope for true success is if you actually try out new tactics.

Traditional Lighting Setups - Mark answers a viewer’s question about broad and short light with regard to studio lighting. Join Mark in the studio as he walks through six traditional lighting setups. Learn the techniques used to create butterfly lighting and loop lighting, among others.

Issue 7 of landscape photography magazine is out now.

A great variety of new articles and tutorials, as well as an interview are included in this issue. They will be of help not only to intermediate and advanced photographers but also all those who are in those early stages.

We are promoting imagery from landscape photographers worldwide. We are also showcasing some spectacular landscape locations in great detail with map links for all to visit.

It makes no difference if you are using a large format or a compact camera, the magazine welcomes everyone the same way. We are here to help each other improve and make sure that Landscape Photography will be here for ever and remain one of the best and most inspirational genres in photography.

Hudson Henry talks about his passion for landscape photography. Navin Sarma gives us an insight of the Olympic National Park in USA. Adrian Hall talks about when the light is right. David Hay explains all about Drag Landscapes. We have Costa Quebrada on the map. Dimitri tells us why he always exposes for the light. Dan Andre and Tom Grubbe talk about their featured images. Mike Bell explains all you need to know about RAW and this month we are interviewing Christopher Maun. And of course, some exceptional landscape photography sent in by our readers, including the amazing work of Lofoten Islands by Stein Liland. These are just some of the subjects we are analising in depth.

A magazine full of inspiration.

http://landscapephotographymagazine.com/

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/26851575[/vimeo]

This week Mark Wallace shows you how to take a series of photos and stitch them together into a large, seamless panoramic photo.

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 42nd edition of the downloadable PhotographyBB Online Magazine. PhotographyBB Magazine is a free, downloadable monthly publication with the goal of educating beginner to intermediate level photographers, and has become a leading resource in the future of free information distribution. PhotographyBB Magazine offers readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, discussions on issues surrounding the photo community, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe® Photoshop, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom.

This month’s edition features photography techniques for shooting outdoors during the challenging lighting conditions associated with bright, mid-day sunlight. Additionally, readers will learn how to make their landscape photos jump right off the page/screen in this month’s Photoshop tutorial for increasing midtone contrast in landscapes.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

Last month’s edition was clearly our most popular to date, so this month we’ve set the bar even higher. We took the reader-submitted questions from last month’s call to the readers, and answered them in this edition with a special Q&A feature on memory cards. There’s a lot to be learned in the realm of photography, so we ask our readers to continue to submit their questions.

Photography is a craft who’s success lies directly in the creativity of the photographer. How can we break through creative boundaries? This month we look at techniques for learning to see with fresh eyes, along with the power of leveraging creativity by shooting with a friend.

By way of download in PDF format, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. Each edition contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers. In addition, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and practical tutorials on how to use image processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

PhotographyBB was founded in Oct, 2006, and is a division of PowerButton Central (2004).
For more information, visit the PhotographyBB website at: http://www.photographybb.com

A great variety of new articles and tutorials are included in this issue. They will be of help not only to intermediate and advanced photographers but also all those who are in those early stages.

We are promoting imagery from landscape photographers worldwide. We are also showcasing some spectacular landscape locations in great detail with map links for all to visit.

No matter if you are using a large format or a compact camera, the magazine welcomes everyone the same way. We are here to help each other improve and make sure that Landscape Photography will be here for ever and remain one of the best and most inspirational genres in photography.

Fran Halsall expresses her thoughts on Integrity and Inspiration in landscape photography. Julian Barkway showcases his views on Intimate Landscapes. David Hay talks about the Working Landscape. Mike Bell explains ISO in our beginners guide. Kathy Thomson takes us on a tour down under, visiting Lake Albert. Dimitri Vasiliou talks about the weather affects on landscape photography. Elizabeth Restall takes us away on the Greek Island of Mykonos. And of course, some exceptional landscape photography sent in by our readers, including the amazing work of Badlands, Utah by Cecil Whitt. These are just some of the subjects we are analysing in depth.

A magazine full of inspiration.

http://landscapephotographymagazine.com/

Get your own copy of this update to the hugely successful book “Wedding Photography –

A Guide to Posing” by David Pearce by simply clicking HERE

This will give you an instant PDF download page with no SIGN UP or any other information needed. Just give it a few minutes to download.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/11562219[/vimeo]

Handheld camera shots can be an important aspect and choice in telling a story. Where would film making be today if it weren’t for Saving Private Ryan or The Blair Witch Project? These are both projects that would have been tremendously difficult to shoot with DSLR cameras, because a major limitation of the cameras is their sensitivity to quick or jittery movement. Rolling shutter is also known as the jello cam, and the effect is exactly as it is described, it make the image look like jello. Objects in the frame become skewed and ripple.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/11361814[/vimeo]

Razor thin focus is “cool” and “sexy”, but it is far from a cornerstone of modern cinema. A lot of DSLR shooters shoot in natural light, and this causes us to shoot wide open on our lenses. But mainstream films are never shot in their entirety with a wide open aperture which is becoming far to common practice with a lot of film shot on DSLR’s.

Custom White Balance is the process of setting the neutral gray reference point manually, rather than relying on your camera’s Auto White balance (which typically only approximates neutral grey.) Custom WB is an important step for anyone who is serious about achieving accurate colours in their images. If you are shooting RAW single images, then you can just take a picture of a spectrally neutral grey card and set the WB in post-processing. However, if you are shooting JPEG or Video, it is important that you set the custom WB in your camera before shooting.

I discuss ISO and other related topics (aperture, shutter speed, histogram, and so on) in my recently completed an introductory photography book: “A Concise Introduction to Photography.”

Some basics about your camera dial, including the Tv, Av, and M modes

The basics about Aperture (the size of opening of your lens that lets light in).

How varying your lens Aperture can affect Depth of Field (the range, from near to far, of your photograph that appears to be in focus)

In this episode I will introduce you to a cheap method for doing macro photography, the practice of taking close-up photographs of small objects, like insects, coins, flower petals, or any number of things.

The standard practice is to use something called a “macro lens”, which allows you to focus at close distances, and achieves a magnification of at least 1:1 or greater (i.e., the object photographed is projected as life-size on the sensor). Such lenses, however, are very expensive.

On this shoot I show the techniques for lighting on location for some fashion and sexy model photography!

Katy Perry Esquire UK August 2010 – Behind the scene

Motorcycle pin-up shoot by Glen McDowell

Depth of Field Explained

A great variety of new articles and tutorials are included in this issue. They will be of help not only to intermediate and advanced photographers but also all those who are in those early stages.

We are promoting imagery from landscape photographers worldwide. We are also showcasing some spectacular landscape locations in great detail and map links for all to visit.

No matter if you are using a large format or a compact camera, the magazine welcomes everyone the same way. We are here to help each other improve and make sure that Landscape Photography will be here for ever and remain one of the best and most inspirational genres in photography.

Higger Tor, Creative seascapes, Preparations before a photo shoot, Shooting under available night light, Visiting Corfu, Shutter speed choice, Lightroom tutorial are just some of the subjects we are analising in depth.

A magazine full of inspiration.

http://landscapephotographymagazine.com/

Scott Kelby gives three great tips to shoot outdoor portraits

Tony Corbell demonstrates 1-light portraiture techniques using the Profoto D1

Behind the Scenes of a Strobist on location photoshoot with Conceptual Photographer, Ben Sant of BTS Photography. We go out to the shores of the Great Salt Lake to shoot 3 looks with just one speedlight coupled to one umbrella. You don’t need thousands in gear to get studio quality lighting.

In this week’s episode Mark Wallace explains the Inverse Square law and how it applies to photography and helps you calculate light fall off.

I used 3 monoblocs for the light.Two were used as rim lights to give pop to the hair and an other one through barndoors was used to illuminate her face and body, here is the lighting set-up :

Wind was done by assistant by waving a reflector up and down

Here are a few lighting diagrams from recent studio shots :

Bare monobloc studio flash positioned behind model, camera left.

Monobloc via shoot-through umbrella close to model , camera right.

2 bare monoblocs positioned behind subject.

Moving around a little

Bare monobloc high on lightstand, inclined, camera right.

Shot with 1ds mark II – 24 -70 2.8 L lens – Bowens 500 W/s Gemini’s

More diagrams  – speedlite flashes :

One thing that can make a huge difference in your shooting is learning to shoot in the manual mode on your camera and in this episode Mark will show us just how easy it is to do

This week Mark Wallace shows us how to use a slow shutter speed to get some really fun photos. By shooting at night with slow shutter speeds you can create interesting shapes with light.

An instructional video on how to make the best DIY beauty dish.

In this episode we look at how to turn any lens into a macro lens using affordable Diopters.

Photography : Studio Lighting Setup with DIY Ring Light

full blog post here: http://greyscalegorilla.com/blog/2010/10/studio-lighting-setup-with-a-homemade-ring-light/

Beginners guide to getting landscape based photos of the stars.

I made this video to give a visual reference to the various tips, techniques, and lessons that you will want to know if you want to go out and try shooting stars.

PhotographyBB announced today the release of the 29th edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is a free publication with the goal of educating beginner to intermediate level photographers, and has become a leading resource in the future of free information distribution. PhotographyBB Online Magazine offers readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, discussions on issues surrounding the photo community, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe® Photoshop, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom.

The edition features a tutorial on how to create dramatic landscape photos. Additionally, readers will learn about the differences between small flash units and studio strobe, along with the practical applications of each option. This release also examines the relationship between sensor sizes vs megapixels (in digital cameras), and how both of these factors combined affect overall image quality.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“The theme of this edition is Learn, Practice, and Grow. The team has put together a great issue with plenty of tutorials and tips to learn from, put into practice, and ultimately grow as a photographer (be it amateur or aspiring professional). This month we look at how to time-manage your social media efforts from a photographer’s standpoint. We also take a peek at the latest new features in the official Lightroom 3 release from Adobe, and how to manage your workspace in Photoshop CS5.

In our Photography Around the World series, we are off to Hawaii for a look at my own little adventure on the island of Oahu, including touring the filming locations from the TV series, LOST.”

By way of download in PDF format, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. Each edition contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers. In addition, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and practical tutorials on how to use image processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #29
in PDF Format:

PDF (11.9 MB)

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 28th edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine

. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is a free publication with the goal of educating beginner to intermediate level photographers, and has become a leading resource in the future of free information distribution. PhotographyBB Online Magazine offers readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, discussions on issues surrounding the photo community, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe® Photoshop, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom.

The edition features techniques for improving photography at auto-shows, a portraiture tutorial on skin softening, and how to create digital frames for showing off web gallery photos with style. Additionally, photographers will learn how their peers are using personal blogs as a means for acquiring photography related jobs and freelance work.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“Once again, our team of contributing authors have knocked it out of the park. With ‘social media’ being the latest buzz in the online world, I’m pleased with how our team is tackling the social media aspects with regard to photography. This month we look at flickr and how photographers are making use of it not only for self promotion, but for networking and relationship building with their peers. We also have a great editorial on how to find inspiration in your own backyard, an expose on why photographers should consider complimenting their photo gear with a point-and-shoot camera, and some fantastic tutorials in this month’s edition.

In our Photography Around the World series, we are off to New Zealand for a photographic exploration of the Otago Rail Trail, a popular biking trail for outdoor photo enthusiasts.”

By way of download in PDF format, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. Each edition contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers. In addition, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and practical tutorials on how to use image processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #28 in PDF Format

Master photographer Tony Sweet demonstrates how to use a tilt shift lens while photographing a river bed.

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 27th edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine

. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is a free publication with the goal of educating beginner to intermediate level photographers, and has become a leading resource in the future of free information distribution. PhotographyBB Online Magazine offers readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, discussions on issues surrounding the photo community, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe® Photoshop, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom.

This release features an 11-page special report on the release of Photoshop® CS5 and the amazing new features of this processing powerhouse. Additionally, photographers interested in starting their own photography business will get an overview of the type of business entity they may become, along with important considerations when selecting a business name.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“The contributing team has gone all out this month in bringing us one of our best processing issues to date. Every one of us, as photographers, has a collection of photos which we have yet to post-process, and this edition of the magazine tackles just that. We have a great article on simplifying your digital workflow, and for the portrait photographers we have a tutorial on creating drama through subtle selective coloring.

For those photographers who are just getting started and are looking to purchase their first digital SLR, we have some tips on the important features you need to look for in choosing a camera that will last long and allow you to produce your best photos. Also, we take a look at how photographers of all levels are using Twitter to make big waves in getting their photos seen and their names known.”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #27
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (7.04 MB) | ZIP (6.18 MB)

Part of the mystery, and joy, of photography is its ability to show us what our eyes can’t see. Some of the sights that are normally ‘invisible’ to us that can be revealed with a camera include:

i) Motion over time – This, of course, can be revealed by photographing using a slow shutter speed. Not only can ‘natural’ motion be revealed in this way, but we can generate abstract images that can only be seen in the completed photograph by generating ‘unnatural’ motion by purposely moving the camera during exposure

ii) Color – Our brain can ‘neutralize’ colors in order to achieve our own ‘custom white balance’. For example, people are often amazed at the blue color cast seen in photographs that are taken in the shade or the color cast that results from photographing a white object located right next to a brightly colored one.

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PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 26th edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is a free publication with the goal of educating beginner to intermediate level photographers, and has become a leading resource in the future of free information distribution.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine offers readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, discussions on issues surrounding the photo community, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe® Photoshop, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom.

This edition examines some key traits necessary for those interested in becoming professionals, or “photo-preneurs.” Additionally, there are some helpful tutorials on conveying a sense of motion in night portraits, along with the top 5 landscape photography tips and techniques.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“Now into our third year of publication, I’m pleased with the growth of the magazine as well as our valued readership. Thanks to the help of the press, bloggers, and the use of social media, we’ve seen a huge increase in the numbers of readers, and the response has been very positive. In a way, this ties into a new series we’ve been running (and will continue to run) for two months now on Social Media for Photographers. This series will be exploring the different social media options that are available, how they work, and how photographers can use them to connect with others and promote their own work successfully.

This month, we take a look at the key differences, advantages, and disadvantages of the RAW vs JPEG file formats. We’ve also got a very special in-depth coverage of the new Lightroom 3 Beta 2 release by John Ogden. Here we dive into details regarding the small tweaks Lightroom 3 has to offer, as well as some of the big changes that have been highly anticipated. Also, if you are planning any trips this year, you’ll want to check out our travel photography tips for some important considerations that many vacationing photographers often overlook.

In our Photography Around the World feature, we’re off to Tanzania for a photo-safari. Along with experiencing the majesty of these beautiful animals, you’ll also learn some valuable tips should you ever have the chance to take a photo-safari yourself.”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #26
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (6.08 MB) | ZIP (5.61 MB)

This article does not deal with camera settings, but rather with the general principles to getting the perfect shot and making sure the scene looks good. Some general camera tips, however, include shooting above f/6.3 to allow good depth of field and shooting at a low ISO to avoid noise. Other than that, it all depends on the situation you’re in.

For the purposes of this article, interior photography refers to architectural photography of interiors, not to be confused with general photography indoors. Interior photography is a great photography niche to have skills in, as many companies, real estate agents and publications are always in need of good interior shots.

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Light painting is the process of photographing at night and illuminating the scene by moving the camera, or a handheld light/torch. The actual source of the light doesn’t need to appear in the photo, but the technique gives you the flexibility to cast light on only certain aspects of a scene.

It can lead to some really stunning effects!

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PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 25th edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine. This edition marks the two year anniversary milestone for PhotographyBB, who continue to educate beginner and intermediate level photographers in digital photography. PhotographyBB Online Magazine has become a leading resource in the future of free information distribution, offering readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe® Photoshop™, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom™.

The Two-Year Anniversary edition examines the role of amateur photographers looking to break into the professional realm, along with the impact on the photography industry. Additionally, portraiture and flash lighting techniques are featured, along with a guide on what to look for when purchasing a new lens.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“I am extremely proud to announce the release of our Two-Year Anniversary edition. It’s been an amazing journey so far, and thanks to the help of our talented team of contributing authors coupled with our growing readership, the magazine continues to grow and evolve as we head through 2010.

This edition covers portraiture lighting techniques, and how to achieve a balance between ambient lighting conditions and portable flash units. We also continue our detailed look at some of the new features in the Lightroom 3 beta release, including the Watermarking Tools and the new Identity Plate. We are also extremely pleased to welcome world-renowned photographer, Kevin Kubota, into the spotlight. Kevin was very forthcoming in telling us about his professional life as a photographer and how he got to where he is today, and it was a pleasure to do this interview.

In our Photography Around the World feature, we’re off to Canada for a trip through the Canadian Rockies. From the wildlife to the icefields, you’ll get a great look at the spectacular scenery which British Columbia and Alberta have to offer.”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #25
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (6.31 MB) | ZIP (5.82 MB)

Since one of the most important aspects of photography is how to control your lighting, today I’ll be explaining how to perfectly light a scene for a warm, dramatic effect. We’ll be using grids – hard lights that are more controllable – and the subject to be used will be food, because it is usually shot with hard lighting.

Step 1: Items Needed

Dishes:
Find yourself a place setting, that looks good with whatever food you are going to shoot. My girlfriend likes sushi, so that’s what I decided to shoot here. I went to a local market and picked up the place setting in this shot which seemed to work well. I like to keep the dishes simple so they don’t make the shot too busy.

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You truly haven’t experienced a tack sharp image until you have shot with a prime lens, especially for the price. The way zoom lenses have to be made (more moving parts) causes them to have more variations or possibility for variations.

Prime lenses, on the other hand, are set at a certain focal length (no moving parts besides the focus ring) and have the luxury of being able to offer a wider aperture. As a result of having a bigger aperture, the blessings are twofold. Firstly, you are able to capture more light without sacrificing shutter speed, and secondly, a wide aperture means more depth of field for isolating your subject from the background.

People sometimes forget that good equipment doesn’t directly lead to good photos. Of course, the better the equipment, usually the easier it is to get good photos – but sometimes that is not the case. Understanding how and why your equipment works the way it does is by far more important.

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Even on a cloudy day, when you step indoors, the level of the light drops by more than 5 f-stops. So, on that same cloudy day when the exposure might be ISO 100 at 1/60 at f/8, indoors the exposure suddenly becomes ISO 400 at 1/15 at f/4. On a sunny day, the difference is even greater.

Why is there so much less light inside? Outdoors, the sun creates a huge amount of light, and even when the sun isn’t directly hitting the subject (as on an overcast day) the sun lights the clouds making the entire sky one giant, soft light. When inside, the roof and the walls block virtually all of the light. Even if you have four 3-foot by 5-foot windows, the light coming into the room is still limited. Exceptions obviously exist, such as skylights and when direct sunlight is streaming through a window.

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I had the chance to work with Evelien lately, here are some video outtakes and photos :

For these shots a shoot-through umbrella was used positioned at camera left.I use a Gemini 500 w/s with a large shoot through, it spreads the light very well and you can control the shadows easily

For these shows two flashes were positioned behind the model as you can see on the video.Frontal light was using the shoot-through umbrella with a third flash set a bit towards camera left and more to the left for the second shot.

]]> /feed/ 0 http://www.digitalpixels.net/2010/02/uncategorized/shooting-70-basketball-portraits-in-2-days-with-dustin-snipes/ http://www.digitalpixels.net/2010/02/uncategorized/shooting-70-basketball-portraits-in-2-days-with-dustin-snipes/#comments Sat, 20 Feb 2010 08:53:50 +0000 admin http://www.digitalpixels.net/?p=7503

“  I was first set up (by the tournament people) in a room with very little to work with. About three feet of shooting space, seriously. So I scouted around the arena and found a loading dock to take all the photos in. It was great because it a had a very gritty feel to it and I could get three differnt looks in a very short amount of time, which was good because I got between 1-5 minutes with each of the players. I was seriously grabbing them as they were walking into the gym to play. ”

Make sure to check Dustin’s blog with lighting setups and postproduction notes about this shoot.

Dustin Snipes blog about the postproduction

idem about the lighting

photos © Dustin Snipes

Three point lighting is often the best way to create a flattering portrait, shoot a great headshot and make an interview on video look professional. Here is the essence of three point lighting:

Key Light This is your primary light source.

Fill Light This light adds illumination to the shadow side of the face. The amount of fill used will determine how dramatic the shot will look. Using a lot of fill looks more flattering on most faces, while using little or no fill will give a more dramatic appearance…

Backlight – This light hits the subject at the back of the head, carving them out of the background. When you would like the subject to look more glamorous or important, a backlight can be a great way to go.

Background Light – A fourth light is used to illuminate the background. Sometimes the keylight can be used to light both the subject and the background. If you only have a few light sources, sometimes you have to get creative.

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In response to the global demand from photographers, scuba divers, surfers and snorkelers around the world, leading underwater photography website DivePhotoGuide.com has launched a highly anticipated free series of comprehensive underwater photography tutorials and guides to help the world learn underwater photography. Never before has there been such a growing interest in underwater photography. Affordable digital cameras have made underwater photography more accessible, and social media has made it easier than ever to share photos with your friends, family and the world.

The underwater photography guides offer easy-to-read tutorials for photographers all levels to learn how to take great underwater photos.

The tutorials are written by professional underwater photographer Jason Heller and DivePhotoGuide.com editor Matt Weiss, along with contributions from several world renowned professional and award winning underwater photographers, such as National Geographic photographer David Doubilet, Martin Edge, and Alex Mustard. Each tutorial includes beautiful underwater photos and equipment set-up shots that illustrate each technique.

Underwater photography can be incredibly rewarding, but it does pose unique challenges and requires an understanding of basic principles and techniques. Beginners will find the Getting Started Guide very intuitive, including the top ten basic principles of underwater photography and how to select your first underwater camera system. Other tutorials include macro, wide angle, super-macro, composition, lighting, surf photography and a number of creative techniques. New and advanced techniques and tutorials will be added on a regular basis.

More than Tutorials

Popular underwater photography website DivePhotoGuide.com has been a valuable resource to a community of over 50,000 underwater photographers around the world since 2005. In addition to the new free techniques guides, the website features underwater photo galleries from the top pros and amateurs in the world, daily underwater photography and ocean related news, in-depth articles, a comprehensive underwater photography equipment guide, travel guide, event calendars and a monthly photo contest with prizes.

go to tutorials

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 24th edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine. For beginner and intermediate photographers interested in learning more about digital photography, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine is a leading resource in the future of free information distribution, offering readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe® Photoshop™, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom™.

The January 2010 edition examines the merits of keeping a strong and tidy photo portfolio, be it physical or an online gallery. Additionally, this issue explores composition techniques, and how negative space can strengthen a photo while drawing the viewer deeper into the image. This month also looks at the Lightroom 3 Beta release in-depth, featuring the new Publish Services and Watermarking tools.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“It’s a new year and that means exciting new features for 2010. This month’s edition kicks off a new series on portraiture lighting, and how to achieve better portrait photos using a single flash unit in combination with ambient lighting. We also have a few Valentine’s goodies, including a Photoshop tutorial and a book suggestion for those who are interested in learning to create dramatic and romantic Hollywood style portraits. Additionally, we dive into the Lightroom 3 beta release for a look at some cool new features that every Lightroom user is sure to make use of. Pre-visualization can be a powerful tool, and one of our newest contributing authors gives us a great look at how we can use pre-visualization in our photography.

In our Photography Around the World feature, we’re off to India for a colorful look at Pushkar’s annual fair. It’s a great thing to see other parts of the world through photography, and inspire our readers to consider visiting new places in their lifetimes.”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

PhotographyBB was founded in Oct, 2006, and is a division of PowerButton Central (2004).
For more information, visit the PhotographyBB website at: http://www.photographybb.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/photographybb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/photographybb

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #24
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (6.31 MB) | ZIP (5.82 MB)

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 23rd edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine. The PhotographyBB Online Magazine is a leading resource in the future of free information distribution, offering readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe® Photoshop™, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom™. PhotographyBB Magazine can be downloaded free at: http://www.photographybb.com/magazine

The December 2009 edition theme is Happy Holiday How-to’s, providing the readers with tips and techniques for shooting in Winter weather such as keeping your gear safe from the elements while still allowing you to get those stunning Winter shots. Readers will also learn how to shoot abstract bokeh shots, where the name of the game is shooting creatively, out of focus. PhotographyBB’s in-depth look at the new Lightroom 3 Beta release covers the differences in the new and improved Develop Module.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“As the final edition for 2009, we always try to make our December edition extra-special. This year the contributing team have gone above, putting together the best how-to edition we’ve published to date. In this edition, our readers are going to learn the importance of creating compelling photos, and how to make your own photography more compelling to viewers. I’m also pleased to announce that we have a very special guest contributor this month. World renowned photographer and best-selling photography author, David duChemin joins us in our Spotlight Interview seat, with a look at his books, photos, and some valuable insight into today’s photographic world.

In our Photography Around the World feature, we’re taking our readers all around the globe to show you Christmas Around the World. From Vancouver to Singapore, we have some amazing photography submitted by our readers to show us just what Christmas looks like in their town.”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

PhotographyBB was founded in Oct, 2006, and is a division of PowerButton Central (2004).
For more information, visit the PhotographyBB website at: http://www.photographybb.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/photographybb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/photographybb

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #23
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (7.71 MB) | ZIP (7.06 MB)

Slideshow consisting of photographs taken on the streets of Barcelona, Spain.

I think what will be surprising for many of you watching today’s tutorial will be the utter simplicity of the set-up. I’ll show you a small shooting space, a simple background, and a very easy one light portrait technique.

For me, it’s never about spending thousands of dollars on lighting gear. I’ve always sought out the “easiest to use” cost effective lighting I could find. I’ve never been impressed with photographers showing a “gazillion” dollars worth of gear to shoot a portrait.

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Chris Burfoot discusses both pop-up and California Sunbounce reflector panels

Chris Burfoot explains flash duration and camera sync speeds

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 22nd edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine. The PhotographyBB Online Magazine is a leading resource in the future of free information distribution, offering readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe® Photoshop™, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom™.

The November 2009 edition theme is all about “how-to” with some great tutorials and photography techniques to get our photographic creative juices flowing. This month examines some basic macro photography tips, keeping wildlife (and yourself) safe during nature photography sessions, and a new “Evolution of an Image” series where the creation of a photograph is examined from start to finish.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“The contributing team has put together a spectacular issue full of tutorials this month. I’m pleased to announce a new series in our magazine where we take a look at the evolution of a photograph starting with the gear, to the shoot, to the processing of the final image. It’s a great way to learn techniques and see how the pros do their work. We also have a very special new series looking at the new features of Lightroom 3 (Beta) in depth. Our resident Lightroom expert goes through the ins and outs of the Library Module this month. Even better still is that Adobe has made the Lightroom 3 Beta available for free, so now is a great time for those users who are new to working with RAW images to try it out.

In our Photography Around the World feature, we’re going to try and warm up our readers with a trip to Cabo San Lucas. Most of us are experiencing the cold of fall or even winter, so it will be nice to soak up some digital sun!”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #22
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (7.56 MB) | ZIP (6.69 MB)

Chris Burfoot teaches how to mix Flash with ambient sunlight outdoors

Chris Burfoot demonstrates the Elinchrom Octa, a giant softbox, used as a white background.

+  demonstrates the Elinchrom Octa, a giant softbox, used as a huge ringflash for fashion and lifestyle portraits.

Yes, I know – another tip about shooting against the Sun but that one is really important. When shooting foliage – especially now – in autumn – make sure to locate yourself so the leaves get backlit as it reduces reflections. If you have a polarizer at hand, screw it to your lens as it enhances the effect.

When you’re walking through the forest these days, learn to see how the angle of the sun changes the colors in the leaves.

More colorful tips here: #ingosphototips <—

Reshared post from +Ingo Meckmann

Photography Tip: Shoot foliage against the Sun

I didn’t shoot this in the Redwoods but at a nearby lake here in Switzerland. That log was just about 2 feet long but by going extremely low and close with a 24mm lens I made it look ginormous.

I actually had to go so low that I couldn’t even use my tripod anymore. I therefore created my own, very sophisticated, tripod:

I placed the camera right onto the wet gravel – scarily close to the water – and used three ND-filter boxes and placed them under the lens (24-105mm f/4) to tilt it slightly up and stabilize it at the same time.
I was able to shoot 9 bracketed exposures in manual mode without even moving the camera a bit.

Want more tips? check here: #ingosphototips <—

Google+: Reshared 1 times

Reshared post from +Ingo Meckmann

Photography Tip: Fool your audience and use the MacGyver tools

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/20047720[/vimeo]

This film documents a Full Moon Night Photography Workshop in the Big Bend region of West Texas led by photographers Scott Martin and Lance Keimig. Learn more at on-sight.com and thenightskye.com. Learn more about the filmmakers at walleyfilms.com

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 21st edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine. The PhotographyBB Online Magazine is a leading resource in the future of free information distribution, offering readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, and image post processing tutorials in AdobeR PhotoshopT, and RAW processing in Photoshop LightroomT.

The October 2009 edition appropriately features Halloween themed tutorials such as “How to Photograph Ghosts” and “Digital Pumpkin Carving in Photoshop.” Additionally this issue explores a sneak peek at the new Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Beta release, and some of the exciting new features that Adobe has to offer.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“I’m really proud of the work that our team has done with this issue. In addition to our regular photography and tutorial columns, this month we have a special feature – a sneak peak at the new features in the Lightroom 3 (Beta) release. Readers can check out these new features, then download their own beta copy from Adobe Labs and try it out for themselves.

Additionally, since this month typically lends itself to gorgeous outdoor fall photography, we are also looking at outdoor portrait shooting techniques. For Halloween, we’ve even got some themed tutorials to really get out readers into the Halloween spirit. Couple that with the FAQ series where we answer questions from our readers, and the continuation in our popular HDR series, and I feel we have a special issue this month.

In our Photography Around the World feature, we’re whisked off the Ireland for a spectacular photographic view of the countryside, mountains, churches, and forts.”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #21
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (6.30 MB) | ZIP (5.64 MB)

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 20th edition of the PhotographyBB Magazine Online. The PhotographyBB Magazine Online is a leading resource in the future of free information distribution, offering readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe(r) Photoshop(tm), and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom(tm).

The September 2009 edition features a theme of image processing related articles. Readers also have their questions answered in the continuing FAQ series. What’s the best time of day to take photos? How to I get the best exposure in tough lighting conditions? Find out in this month’s FAQ column. In our “Portraiture Photography 101″ series, we examine methods for reconstructing the main elements of a portrait shoot, from analyzing an existing portraiture photo.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“This theme of this month’s edition is ‘It’s Processing Time.’ Often we find ourselves with a large collection of images gathering digital dust on our harddrives as they remain in their un-processed state. This month we’re looking at using all the tools including Photoshop, Photomerge, ACR, and even Adobe After Effects in a series of processing related articles. We’ll be showing you how to remove people from an image easily without having to use the clone tool, as well as some other exciting stuff!”

In our Photography Around the World feature, we’re off to Moscow’s Golden Ring cities, a photo-spectacular myriad of locations full of ancient architecture, history, and culture.”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

PhotographyBB was founded in Oct, 2006, and is a division of PowerButto

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #20
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (6.17 MB) | ZIP (5.51 MB)

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 19th edition of the PhotographyBB Magazine Online. The PhotographyBB Magazine Online is now a leading resource in the future of free information distribution, offering readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe(r) Photoshop(tm), and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom(tm).

The August 2009 edition features a theme of “How-to” related articles. Readers have their questions answered in the continuing FAQ series where real questions from our readers are anonymously and thoroughly answered. In the new “Portraiture Photography 101″ series, the August edition also examines portrait lighting techniques for the importance of form in portraiture work.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“Last month the focus was composition. This month, our theme is clearly “how-to” with several articles to educate our readers on different photographic techniques. This month we look at the basics of panoramic photography and how to process panoramic photos, which will be continued with more advanced techniques in the September issue. We also have a look at some great techniques for getting started in your own backyard with Astro-Photography, without breaking the bank. If you’ve ever wanted to take gorgeous moon photos or starfields, then this is one you won’t want to miss.

We also have a look at two of America’s most famous and spectacular national parks; Yellowstone and Grand Teton, which have provided awe-inspiring subjects for some of the most famous photography.”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

PhotographyBB was founded in Oct, 2006, and is a division of PowerButton Central (2004).

For more information, visit the PhotographyBB website at:
http://www.photographybb.comTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/photographybb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/photographybb

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #19
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (6.58 MB) | ZIP (6.28 MB)

Terry Watson shows his technique for doing Smoke Photography

Taking photos and lighting in hotel rooms :

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 18th edition of the PhotographyBB Magazine Online. The PhotographyBB Magazine Online is now a leading resource in the future of free information distribution, offering readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe(r) Photoshop(tm), and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom(tm). The July 2009 edition features a look at the new Pentax K-7 digital SLR, along with several articles on tips for better photographic composition techniques. Readers have their questions answered in the continuing FAQ series where real questions from our readers are anonymously and thouroughly answered. The July edition also examines portrait lighting and composition techniques in a brand new “Portrait Photography 101″series.
Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“The name of the game for issue 18 is all about composition. This month we take an in depth look at symmetry; how it is everywhere in our lives and how we can use symmetry to create stunning photos. We also take a different look at the Rule of Thirds as it applies to both photography today, as well as historical works of art in the past. In keeping with the composition theme, this month’s Photoshop tutorial teaches our readers how to create a digital composite image by adding fireworks into any night photo scene.

In our Photography Around the World column, photographer David Martin takes us to Australia for a look at the splendor of the scenery, rainforests, wildlife, waterfalls and so much more.”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

PhotographyBB was founded in Oct, 2006, and is a division of PowerButton Central (2004).

For more information, visit the PhotographyBB website at:http://www.photographybb.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/photographybb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/photographybb

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #18
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (8.94 MB) | ZIP (8.14 MB)

Consider if the subject in the foreground was holding a piece of the white background seamless paper next to their face with only the key and fill lights on. When the exposure for the face was correct the paper would be reproduced as white wouldn’t it? Not 255.255.255 blown out white, but something in the range of 240s which makes it look like what it is, a piece of paper not the blazing sun.

Let’s say you measure the key and fill for exposure by pointing the meter at the camera dome-up and get a reading of f/8. Now leave the key and fill on and put the meter on the background near where the head appears in the viewfinder and take a reading.

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PART 1: The Basics

1.1 Introduction
1.2 Definitions
1.21 Magnification
1.22 Macrophotography
1.23 Close-up Photography
1.23 Photomicrography
1.24 Photomacrography
1.25 Supermacro Photography

PART 2A: Supermacro Tools Intro

2.1 Standard Macro lenses
2.2 Super Macro Tools
2.21 Camera Lenses
2.22 Teleconverters

PART 1: The Basics

1.1 Introduction
1.2 Definitions
1.21 Magnification
1.22 Macrophotography
1.23 Close-up Photography
1.23 Photomicrography
1.24 Photomacrography
1.25 Supermacro Photography

PART 2A: Supermacro Tools Intro

2.1 Standard Macro lenses
2.2 Super Macro Tools
2.21 Camera Lenses
2.22 Teleconverters

PART 2B: Extension Tubes & Diopters

2.23 Extension Tubes
2.24 Dioptres
(a) Dry
(b) Wet
(c) Hybrid

PART  3: Techniques

3.1 Lighting
3.11 Gear
(a) Focus lights
(b) Strobes
(c) Snoots
(d) Colour Filters
3.12 Types of lighting
(a) Front-Lighting
(b) Side-Lighting
(c) Back-Lighting
(d) Balanced Light
(e) Ambient
3.2 Focus
3.21 What Affects Focus?
3.22 Methods
(a) Full Manual
(b) Full Auto
(c) Auto w/Focus Lock

PART 4: Composition

4.1 Golden Rule/Rule of Thirds
4.2 Symmetry
4.3 Negative Space
4.4 Simplicity
4.5 Selective Focus
4.6 Tips and Tricks

4.61 Breathing
4.62 Bracing the camera
4.63 Finding the subject
4.64 Buoyancy
4.65 Subject choice

PART 5: Technical Mumbo Jumbo

5.1 Optical Misconceptions/Common questions
5.11 Tools “stealing” light
5.12 Depth of Field
5.13 What Diopters Do
5.14 Diffraction
5.15 Sensor Crop Factors

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Want full control over the light and shadows in your photography? Understanding how light works is necessary, and this paper will attempt to explain how to affect the lighting, shadow quality, and apparent shininess of your subject.

The light source has 4 properties that affect the lighting of the scene.

1. Apparent size
2. Distance from subject
3. Intensity (brightness)
4. Color temperature

The subject has 2 properties

1. Surface reflectivity
2. Surface roughness

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“This is my first video shot on and around Waterloo Bridge in Central London. Shot on a Canon 5D with a 17-40mm, 50mm and a 135mm over 4 hours last week. I ran out of time and hope to do this area again in the day time.”

Metering with your digital camera: Incident v.s. Reflected. Covers metering tricks with these two techniques and shows how to improve exposure in your images.

An online search and a trip to the library turned up plenty of vintage Hollywood portraits for study. A closer, objective look at the photographs revealed a few surprises. This is a pretty common part of the process for me. You see, I had an image in my head of what a vintage portrait looked like and it was pretty accurate, overall. But the camera angles, in particular, were lower than I would have thought. Eye contact with the camera wasn’t as common as I’d envisioned. Research pays off.

Study reinforced that depth of field was generally shallow in the vintage images because large format cameras were used. High contrast was the order of the day because of the photo materials available and to “blow out” details in the skin.

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Image interpolation occurs in all digital photos at some stage– whether this be in bayer demosaicing or in photo enlargement.  It occurs anytime you resize or remap (distort) your image from one pixel grid to another.  Image resizing is necessary when you need to increase or decrease the total number of pixels, whereas remapping can occur under a wider variety of scenarios: correcting for lens distortion, changing perspective, and rotating an image.

Common interpolation algorithms can be grouped into two categories: adaptive and non-adaptive.  Adaptive methods change depending on what they are interpolating (sharp edges vs. smooth texture), whereas non-adaptive methods treat all pixels equally.

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Get extreme close ups with two lenses attached together for extreme macro photos

Diffraction is an optical effect which can limit the total resolution of your photography– no matter how many megapixels your camera may have.  Ordinarily light travels in straight lines through uniform air, however it begins to disperse or “diffract” when squeezed through a small hole (such as your camera’s aperture).  This effect is normally negligible, but increases for very small apertures.

Since photographers pursuing better sharpness use smaller apertures to achieve a greater depth of field, at some aperture the softening effects of diffraction offset any gain in sharpness due to better depth of field.

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Self-portrait shooters usually rely on the trial-and-error method of focusing. Shoot, shoot, and shoot again until the perfect combination of pose, exposure, and focus are achieved. But there is a better way (several, in fact)! All of these methods are quick and easy and will give you accurate focusing without a lot of frustrating trial and error.

Before you begin, you’ll just need to acquaint yourself with how to put your camera into manual focus mode. You won’t actually use manual focus for focusing—you’ll just use it to keep the focus once you’ve got it set just the way you want. For each of the methods below (except the last one), you’ll auto-focus first and then set the camera to manual focus so that it won’t attempt to re-focus when you take the shot. You’ll also find that having a remote shutter release helps immensely.

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Kerry Garrison from CameraDojo.com demonstrates how to use a light meter to get good exposures during a quick product shoot.

Kerry from CameraDojo.com shows how he uses Live View mode when doing macro photography

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 17th edition of the PhotographyBB Magazine Online. The PhotographyBB Magazine Online is a leading resource in the future of free information distribution, offering readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe Photoshop, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom.

The June 2009 edition features articles on photography techniques and issues facing today’s digital photographer. Readers will learn tips on composition and how keeping things simple can lead to great photography. The issue also examines how to overcome “photographer’s block” when lack of inspiration occurs. Included is also a Photoshop tutorial on creating an urban “grunge” type effect for dramatic impact.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“Issue 17 is all about stunning photography; from photography techniques down to our reader submissions, this month the magazine is packed with photos. Last month we launched a new column on Frequently Asked Questions, and the response has been phenomenal. Readers have emailed in some brilliant questions, and our columnist (Colin Bell) has done a superb job with the responses.

In our Photography Around the World column, photographer Ian Miller takes us to Cambodia, a place of interesting history and rich culture. We also have some tips on how you can make money with your photography, an editorial for the film purists, a look at 50mm prime lenses, and an interview with one very talented photographer!”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #17
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (8.23 MB) | ZIP (7.77 MB)

Using a camera, strobes, and explodingwater balloons, you’ll see how Chase  and his crew freeze ultra high-speed action in the studio.

Freezing fast motion (AKA High Speed Photography), can give some pretty special photographic effects. High Speed Photography is used in physics, health research, sports and more. This guide describes how to capture super fast movements using ordinary camera gear and a little home made electronics. I will describes the setup I used the problems I encountered and what I did to solve or work around them.

We have to handle shutter lag, synchronize the flash and time the exposure to just the right moment.
But the shutter lag of any normal camera is so long that it will be all most impossible to time the exposures. And how do you synchronize the flash with an exposure time of less than 1/6000 second?

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This tutorial will walk you through the steps of making stunning raindrop reflection images. Lindsay Adler (of Adler Photo Workshops) will cover equipment and techniques, and give you advice to make the most of your time.

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 16th edition of the PhotographyBB Magazine Online​. The PhotographyBB Magazine Online is a leading resource in the future of free information distribution, offering readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe® Photoshop™, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom™.

The May 2009 edition is packed with helpful tips for beginners to intermediate level digital photographers. This month the magazine explores positive ways to engage law enforcement officials, preparing your gear for rainy day photography, and a brand new “readers questions” column. Additionally there are Photoshop™ and Lightroom™ tutorials for photographers to get the most out of their post processing techniques.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“Issue 16, for me, is a bit more down to earth. We wanted to put together an issue that would be helpful to beginners as well as intermediate level photographers. That’s why this month I am really happy to welcome a new column to the magazine which addresses actual questions sent in by our readers. We’re also exploring various issues that all photographers face, such as photography when it comes to the law, and this month’s feature on preparing your gear so that you don’t have to stay indoors on those rainy days.

Additionally, my ‘vacation spot’ list is getting longer thanks to our Photography Around the World column, where this month we visit the vibrant Isla de Mujeres. We’ve also got out photo assignment top picks from the PhotographyBB Forum assignments as well as the top images from our Flickr group – some truly inspiring work from all the participants!”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

PhotographyBB was founded in Oct, 2006, and is a division of PowerButton Central (2004).​ For more information, visit the PhotographyBB website at: http://www.photographybb.com​​Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/photographybb

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #16
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (4.48 MB) | ZIP (4.13 MB)

The traditional wisdom is to shoot portraits on lenses ranging from 85mm to 120mm focal length when using a 35mm film or full frame DSLR camera. The reason is simple. You avoid distortion, and because of the slight compression produced by a telephoto lens the portrait tends to be more flattering.

However, in the world of photojournalism and reportage style photography wide-angle lenses are commonly used to give the viewer a feeling of being right in the middle of the action.

Nowadays in everything from weddings to corporate work, photographers reach for their wide-angle lenses and because we see so many images in magazines, books and online most people have grown accustomed to wide-angle distortion. It has become more acceptable to see celebrities, politicians and people featured in news stories looking slightly distorted.

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Light is the language of photography. To express yourself well and communicate you need to be able to speak with light.

Light determines what you see (and what you don’t see); the mood of an image; colour and tone. Light can be loud and brash or soft, gentle and soothing. It can wrap around something or cut across it as hard and sharp as a Samurai sword.

People have probably been writing about the qualities of light and how to use it in relation to photography from the moment the first print was made. Google “light in photography” and you will get millions of hits (well actually 68,800,000 hits to be entirely accurate).

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Back in the day, it used to be that only professionals or people with wads of cash could afford a Panoramic camera to capture Panoramic images; the time and skill required to stitch images together was beyond the scope of your average digital photographer and the tools to do so were even more primitive or non-existent. Not so today; in present times there’s an abundance of photo stitching software and even adverts on TV with little kids taking and stitching photos together, so while the process may look like child’s play, there are still a few things that need to be considered when taking the pictures for a stitched panorama.

Start by getting your tripod level; easily done with a levelling base, but if you don’t have one, not to worry. If you’ve got a level on your tripod, adjust your leg heights until the bubble is right in the middle, then rotate the base around 360 degrees, checking the base stays level all the way round. If your tripod doesn’t have a level then sit your hotshoe level on it and adjust the legs as necessary like above.

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The swivel (or umbrella holder) is designed in a way that the umbrella does not go exactly 90 degrees into the shaft. It is tilted upwards a bit – this is done since the flash mounted on the swivel is not 100% aligned with the center of the umbrella. If the insert was angled at 90 degrees, light from the flash would hit only the top of part of the umbrella, creating uneven light.

So the umbrella is tilted upwards a bit. However, the swivel is one and mounting options are many – you can use big or small umbrellas, place the umbrella in different positions within the shaft or shoot through only half open umbrella. Since the shaft if fixed, sometimes you’ll end up with the light going only to the top or bottom half of the umbrella – this is why you’d like to place the flash as close to the umbrella axis as possible.

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What is a Large format camera ?
That’s grand-dad’s bellows box-like camera, where you had to disappear under a dark cloth. The principle remains the same, however nowadays they have evolved into precise and sophisticated instruments.

With a few notable exceptions, these cameras share the following characteristics:

1. Large image size: 4×5 inches (10x12cm), the most popular format by far, up to 20×24 inches (the Polaroid camera, which can be rented on-site for a reasonable fee). The film comes in separate sheets rather than rolls, but see below.

2. Flexible bellows connecting the front and back: they allow the use of a range of focal lengths (with different lenses. there are no zooms in such formats) and focussing distances, as well as providing for lateral adjustments and angular adjustments between film plane and lens plane.
3. Ground glass viewing: makes it possible to assess the image with great accuracy once you get used to the dimness and inversion.
4. Interchangeable lenses: you are not limited to a particular mount.

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Water Droplet and Splash Photography Tips

A list of tips in order to improve your photography.

“1. Learn Where You Need To Improve

Before getting better at anything, you need to work out what you actually need to work on. Write a list of things you don’t feel confident with, it can be as long or as short as you like but try to keep each one as narrow as possible. When you have your list, concentrate on just one item from it and spend time practising, researching and doing everything you can to improve that particular aspect of your photography. When you feel confident with it, cross it off and move onto the next one.
2. Be Critical

When you take a photograph that you’re not happy with, don’t just scrap it. Spend some time looking at it and work out what you don’t like about it. Write your thoughts down so you can look back over them later. You might start to find a pattern where it’s the same things that you aren’t happy with. If that’s the case, go back and add it to your list.”

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Computer tethered photo capture

Every branch of photography has its challenge. Portrait photographers have to capture the subject’s entire personality and character in a single shot. Architectural photographers have to fill shadows, dodge reflections and shoot a picture that portrays the feeling of space. And still life photographers? They get to move lights around so that the object is properly lit, focused and sharp.

Those aren’t always the most exciting jobs in the world but much depends on the type of objects in front of the lens. Photographing shampoo bottles in front of a white background all day could grow quite dull quite quickly. But photographing food usually requires a great deal of creativity.

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DIY DSLR Ring-Flash Videos

My latest enthusiasm in photography has been nightwork and lightpainting. A lot of my work is done with a simple pen torch, a flashlight and string, but I wanted to create a broad stroke of colour, a paintbrush rather than a pen effect.

Having seen some inspiring ideas online, I decided to try putting one together. The best I had seen had involved paint rollers, but I couldn’t work out how I would use them, so I decided on a simple “light on a stick” design.

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PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the 14th edition of the PhotographyBB Magazine Online. The PhotographyBB Magazine Online, now into its second year of publication has grown into a leading resource for beginner to intermediate digital photographers. Each issue offers information such as digital photography techniques, DSLR camera function training, image post processing tutorials in Adobe Photoshop, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom.

The March 2009 edition explores some of the issues facing photographers as of late; Photography and the Law. This month’s issue also features an in depth look at DSLR sensor sizes and how they relate to lenses, focal lengths, and crop factors. Additionally there are Photoshop and Lightroom tutorials for photographers to get the most out of their post processing techniques.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“I’m very excited about the release of our 14th Issue. We’ve been constantly making small changes to the magazine, which is exactly what this month’s release is all about. This month we take a deeper look into the life and issues facing photographers, such as photography safety, legal concerns, and debates such as the validity of contemporary photography as art.

Additionally, we are transported to the mountains of Ireland, namely Croagh Patrick, on a photo hike with our contributing author Kenneth Fagan.”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

PhotographyBB was founded in Oct, 2006, and is a division of PowerButton Central (2004). For more information, visit the PhotographyBB website at:http://www.photographybb.com by email at: magazine@photographybb.com or Twitter: PhotographyBB

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #14
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF | ZIP

A video discussing the quality of light in photography, using a one light source lighting set-up.

How to Use The Histogram in Digital Photography

A video tutorial explaining some of the key elements to indoor and low light photography, and ways you can get sharper photos and avoid the blur that comes with indoor shooting.

However amazing the vision of a photographer may be, however sharp their lens and regardless of the number of pixels on their camera’s sensor, the shot can only succeed if the lighting is right. It follows that we should commit both thought and budget to our lighting equipment.

Studio photographers know this and typically spend far more on lighting than on cameras and lenses, but some people take the opposite approach and although they’re often prepared to spend far more than they need to on cameras and lenses, they sometimes underrate the importance of light and try to economize on the equipment that will actually make a real difference to the quality of their work.

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What is negative space?
When composing a piece of artwork, we generally work with three elements: the frame, the positive space, and the negative space (also called white space). The frame is the bounding size of the artwork, the positive space is the subject, and the negative space is the empty space around the subject.

Negative space helps define a subject, so subjectively speaking, negative space works when there’s a balance between the positive and negative spaces. Negative space also works when it draws the viewer’s eye into the subject at hand.

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When you use your camera to automatically chose aperture and shutter speed, what your camera is actually doing is using the built in light meter and measuring how much light is being reflected to the camera.

But that doesn’t mean that’s all there is to it. You should also think about the angle of the light entering the frame, what kind of shadows you want, and whether you want to use fill-in-flash (using flash to light the subject if you have a really bright background).

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Generally, the more pixels packed onto a sensor, the higher the resolution of the images it can produce. (Image resolution is somewhat confusingly also measured in pixels, but the term pixels doesn’t always refer to the exact same thing.) A megapixel is 1 million pixels, so a 12-megapixel photo has a resolution of about 12 million pixels. Sounds like a lot, till you consider gigapixel photos, which have over a billion pixels in them.

By comparison, a 30-inch monitor with a 2560×1600 display resolution amounts to a measly four megapixels, and even the best high-definition video currently is around two megapixels, no matter how large the TV.

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How to get nice soft light for portraits using diffusion and reflection.

This page is going to be dedicated to dispelling many of the myths and misconceptions regarding wedding photographers. I will be updating this as necessary, but the real purpose of this page is simply to educate the public, and present some real factual information regarding this business of wedding photography.

During the bridal and family photographs…some of the subjects may look at someone with a camera other than the photographers…so you end up with family and bridal portraits that have some of the people looking in different directions. That doesn’t make for a very appealing image. And while these can usually be retouched to some degree, it may cost you significant money.

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To put it simply, macro photography is close-up photography. There are various schools of though on when a photo becomes a macro (when it’s close enough) but most have agreed to disagree on the exact details of this grey area.

They have agreed though that when an image projected on the camera sensor is relatively the same size as your subject this is defined as macro photography.

We give this term a 1:1 magnification ratio.

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The advantages of indoor lighting setups is that you control every detail of your lighting. The disadvantage might be that you currently don’t have all the lighting equipment to get the results you want. So, what I’ll be doing is showing you some basic lighting setups using mostly 1 or 2 light sources and still getting great results. You’ll see that the KISS principal (keep it simple stupid) is often your best solution in getting good shots.

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Photography tutorial – depth of field

There is so much talk on some forums about the ’softness’ of shoot-thru umbrellas and how much it works to provide a soft light. And there is certainly some truth to that statement… especially with umbrellas at a distance.

We are going to examine a couple of shots we did with both in the same light. I also shot the setup so you can see how simple it is, and what I am referring to with the light.

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Intro to color management

How do I figure out what to charge for my photography? There are several things to take into consideration. However, the first thing is that you’re in business to make money, pure and simple. Turning a profit is the primary goal of any business. Sure you want to provide a quality service; naturally you want to make your clients happy. You love photography and enjoy doing it but if your focus is not on making money then you’re not running a business, you’re just fulfilling an expensive hobby.

There are a lot of photographers out there who are new to the industry and are charging ridiculously low prices. They went to the mall and bought an entry level camera then started telling everyone they would make 8×10s for $15. You’re killing yourself, your future career and everyone in the industry around you. Before you jump the gun and assume that a $13 profit on a 8×10 is a good deal, think again.

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Photographing cars with one speedlight flash and softbox

The purpose of HDR photography is to create an image of a scene that has a greater range of light values than can be normally be captured by a single film or digital image.  Depending on how it is used, HDR imaging software can allow the photographer to create an image that is closer to what the human eye perceives when looking at a high dynamic range scene.

However, more and more it is being used to create surreal, whimsical or fantastical photo illustrations that don’t necessarily reflect the human experience but fall into a whole new genre of photographic art

Most simply put, dynamic range, as it applies to photography, is the difference between the maximum (brightest) and minimum (darkest) measurable light intensities for a given scene, film, sensor, screen, etc.  This range in photography is often referred to in terms of stops.  A stop equals a doubling of the amount of light.

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First, a word of caution: while nobody is likely to mind you taking a few snaps of a local band playing a Friday night down at the pub, some large events at major venues may place restrictions on photography. Many digital cameras are capable of recording video and fairly high quality sound, so you may find that they are banned from the venue to prevent piracy and bootlegging.

On the plus side, if you contact the venue or the band in advance, you may find that they will be only too happy to have you take photos, and may even have a special area set aside for photography. If you are a reasonably experienced photographer and you’re certain you can get some good photos, you may find that the band or the venue will offer to buy any that they like.

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I love landscape photography. It is an amazing feeling to capture the majesty and splendor of the world around us in a photograph.

Of course, thousands of other photographers have felt the same way over the years. And plenty of ‘em are better photographers than me!

It is very easy to take the exact same snapshot as everyone else. Especially when it comes to beautiful, scenic locations and landscapes – The very thing that makes them so appealing to you, has almost definitely made them appealing to hundreds/thousands of other photographers over the years. The task of creating a unique photo is daunting – how does one find a distinguishing vision in a scene that has already been done thousands upon thousands of times?

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A contest which seems to be almost eternal is the photographers war on zoom vs. prime lenses. A few commonly asked questions are which is best, which should I use, which is the most affordable, and which will give me the best image quality? Sit tight and be prepared to pick a side, the war is just beginning.

Zoom lenses are perfect for situations where you don’t have the time to keep changing lenses every half hour, or need the versatility to be shooting landscape one minute and wildlife high in the branches of trees 30 seconds later. In the aspect of versatility and function when you’re on the go, having a zoom lens will save you many headaches and many missed shots.

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Once in while we receive e-mails from aspiring or beginner wedding photographers asking us for advise on how to become successful in the wedding field. Our first question is always what their motivation is to become a wedding photographer. A couple will reply that they heard from somebody that it is easy money, or that they got a cool camera that takes great photos or that they would like to make some money on the side etc.

While it is true that wedding photography can be a very profitable business achieving success in the wedding industry is not just a matter of getting a camera and start shooting. Wedding photography involves artistic talent, prediction, human sense, complete knowledge of photographic techniques, business knowledge, marketing, and a strong desire to learn and deliver the best to the wedding couple.

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Photographing people wearing glasses – dealing with reflections

What lighting setups should I use?

A guide through several lighting set-ups for studio work.

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the twelfth edition of the PhotographyBB Magazine Online. The PhotographyBB Magazine Online is quickly becoming a leading resource in the future of free information distribution, offering our readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe® Photoshop™, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom™.

The January 2009 release features digital photography articles with tutorials to help digital photographers to learn new techniques for achieving both better photographs as well as leaning post processing skills in Adobe’s Photoshop® and Lightroom®.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“This release marks our twelfth issue for our magazine. We’ve come a long way over the past year, and the magazine has grown considerably in popularity and readership. We are happy to say that we will be continuing our tradition of free monthly releases of the magazine for the coming year, with some pleasant surprises in store for our readers. Our January release features articles lending tips on taking better architecture photography, small set photography, a trip to Las Vegas, the Top Ten Lightroom Library Module tips, and much more. We’ve also got a fascinating look at how photographers are making use of social networking sites to promote themselves and their photography businesses.”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #12
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (5.98 MB) | ZIP (5.58 MB)

Now, let me say this up front: From the research I’ve done, I don’t believe photographer Dave Hill actually uses a Photoshop plug-in; I believe he creates his look without a plug, using a series of layer blend modes, High Pass Sharpening, Skin Smoothing, and Dodging and Burning (and I am working on that whole Photoshop-only workflow as we speak, and will do a post on it when I’m finished), but since I needed to get this job done fast; I used the Lucis Art Pro 6.0 plug-in, and I feel like it got me pretty close to the look (a mini-review of the plug-in is coming up tomorrow in the 2nd and final part of this post).

Before you run the Lucis Pro 6.0 plug-in, you’ll need to do something to soften your subject’s skin, because the hyper-sharpening the plug-in adds will greatly magnify every blemish, spot, or skin irregularity and it looks pretty bad. So, I started by using the Healing Brush. I Option-clicked [PC: Alt-clicked] in a nearby area that didn’t have a blemish (to sample that skin texture), then I chose a brush size just slightly bigger than the blemishes I wanted to remove, then I moved over the blemish and just clicked once to remove it. So, I went through the image and did that first.

part one

part two

Taking pictures with your new digital camera can be handy. You won’t have to waste films, so you can practice all the time while simply deleting the pictures you don’t really like. Most of all, they come with a lot of handy programs, one of which is the light meter which judges the amount of light that your lens needs so your photograph comes out more natural. A lot of photographers are now turning to using digital cameras more and more.

However, you have to remember that not all fancy equipments will give you the best pictures. Here are some simple digital photography tips. First, consider your hands. Shaky hands will likely give you blurred results, but a lot of digital cameras now offer the auto-focus option so you can reduce the number of blurred pictures you don’t want.

Most digital photography tips will likely tell you to take advantage of the zoom features of your camera, but try not to use it overly so. Remember that digital zoom is different from the actual zoom, wherein digital zoom merely lowers the pixels count. Using this to objects that are too far away may result to either blurry or pixelized photos.

Finally, it’s one of the more common digital photography tips but it bears repeating: preview your pictures and learn from it. You can check it out in the LCD of your camera, or you can look at them in the computer for better resolution. Checking them while still in the camera gives you the chance to reshoot some of the photos. It will certainly save you time, especially if you want to capture a particular moment again.

All the cameras coming out now are colored, and also have a lot of options you can choose from to make photographing easy for you. However, there’s always a lot of nostalgia and implications when doing black and white photography. For one, a lot of magazines and newspapers still use traditional grayscale imprints, which cost less than printing in color and using special paper.

Getting into black and white photography is harder than you think. Having to achieve a particular mood can be daunting, especially since you’re limited to a limited scale of colors—or lack of them. Lighting is especially important, and if you already know how to control the light exposure of your camera when shooting colors, then you’ll have to relearn it when shooting for black and white.

A lot of cameras don’t offer the option to shoot in black and white, so you might have to convert the picture when you upload them in your computer. However, if you have to take pictures of them, you can use the low contrast effect. Black and white photography often deals with less contrast, which brings out a certain murky mood that goes along with the practice. When shooting outside, one of the best tips is to make sure that there’s a great contrast between your subject and the skies. Achieving a perfect balance will give a semblance of action on the take.

Whether you’re taking photos of people, landscapes, or even architectural buildings, you can always be sure that the character and the mood of the setting is always important. This doesn’t change when you’re doing black and white photography, but also subjects you to change some of the ways you’re doing your work. Achieving the type of photos you want may take some time, but with a lot of practice, you’ll get there.

“Bokeh” simply means blur, specifically out-of-focus blur (as opposed to the kinds caused by subject or camera movement). It includes, but is not limited to, out-of-focus highlights. Out-of-focus specular highlights are simply where aperture shape will show up most easily in pictures (i.e., spots of bright sky in out-of-focus foliage, for example).

The reason people think it only refers to highlights, and that the shape of the aperture blades are the defining feature, is because that’s the most obvious effect.

Humans like obvious. The only lens I ever got rid of because of its specular highlight bokeh was a Zeiss 100mm ƒ/3.5 for the Hasselblad. It had five aperture blades, and small, bright out-of-focus spots were perfect pentagons.

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All photography needs light.  It’s at the heart of the word photography.  For the most part that light comes from the sun or from an artificial flash.  But today I’d like to talk about the use of fire as the primary source of light.  Fire, from a single candle to a raging inferno, presents some great opportunities to stretch your creative side.

There are many different forms fire takes and a few different ways to attempt to capture those special images that convey the power, heat, subtlety or warmth that comes from the flame. Let’s take a look at some of the more common practices.

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There are a number of general statements about photography passed off as “the truth”. They are repeated again and again in introductory texts about photography and on the Internet. Repetition, however, doesn’t make a false statement true. Here are the most common myths I’ve encountered

1. Autofocus works by measuring the distance to the subject
2. Unlike linear polarizers, you don’t have to turn circular polarizers
3. A 50 mm lens on 35 mm systems is called “normal” because it delivers about the same view as the human eye

4. Infrared films record thermal radiation
5. Wide-angle lenses distort the image
6. Flash range is increased when using positive flash exposure compensation
7. The shorter the exposure time, the faster the shutter
8. Different focal lengths create different perspectives
9. Tele-photo lenses have a shallow DOF
10. Macro lenses are only sharp at close distances
11. Digital cameras have a deeper DOF than film cameras
12. Medium format lenses have a higher resolution than 35 mm lenses
13. Using a TC results in different DOF than using a longer base lens
14. Depth of field around the focus distance is 1/3 towards the camera and 2/3 away from the camera

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“What qualifications do you need?”

Actually need? None whatsoever. I’ve not so much as an ‘O’ level related to photography.  I do have two degrees in unrelated subjects and I’ve previously run another business.

Having run a business before is what really makes the difference.

However, if you’re looking to study, then look for courses that include a significant amount of business studies or are at least oriented towards the business of being a photographer.

More academic ‘Arts’ courses may look attractive but remember when you are writing your essay about contemporary trends in photography, that this knowledge is fine for academia, but rarely impresses potential clients (I used to be a university lecturer too

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Walk into most professional photographer’s studios and you’ll be confronted with truckloads of lighting equipment. To the average hobby photographer it’s enough to make your mind boggle – and for your stomach to turn as you think about the cost of it all.

Most of us can’t afford a full lighting rig – however what if there was a way to experiment with the type of lighting gear that pro photographers use without spending too much money? What if you could make it yourself.

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Ever wondered how to create those wonderful atmospheric exterior photographs where golden light from a house window streams into the cold, blue light of the street? You must have seen them – National Geographic photographers use this technique all the time when taking pictures of villages or towns.

Advertising photographers use it when photographing hotels and guest houses. It’s a really old trick to make the place look cosy and inviting – the front door is often left open so that yellow light spills out onto the doorstep.

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Here is a great lighting simulator to plan and test your portrait lighting with one light source + fill light if wished

When the photography world first came across the idea of candid portaiture – making informal shots of people who were not aware of being photographed or at least not posing for the camera – it was a Big Thing. This was because up to then, portraiture called for large studio cameras wound up with cranks, fancy studios with painted backgrounds and – you can guess – big bucks for the privilege.

One way to be seen yet ignored is to take the time to blend into the background. Imagine walking into a market in Kashgar in far western China: as a tourist, everyone notices you, especially if you arrive with a group. You represent new custom, a chance to sell their goods. But if you only want to grab some shots then run to the next sight, the anticipation turns to disappointment. Little wonder if some stall-holders are not too friendly.

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In some ways “nocturnal” photography is no different from most genres, and in other ways, there’s a world of difference. This article will explore the similarities and differences, and give tips to overcome some of the specific issues that are rarely encountered in other fields.

There are two main challenges you’ll face shooting outdoors under a night sky, that are less common in daylight photography: overwhelming darkness can make focus difficult, and exposure is a trickier matter because most night scenes have an extremely wide range of contrast, far exceeding the tonal range of film or digital.

Exposure times stretch into many seconds, perhaps even minutes. This is where the tripod comes in; if you use an SLR camera, this is also a great time to familiarize yourself with the mirror-lockup feature. Use either a remote shutter release or the timer mode, to avoid shaking or vibrating the camera as you press the shutter release. Again, these techniques will be familiar to the landscape photographer, but are uncommon in many genres, but strictly required in night photography.

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Many people dream of the long, languorous days of summer, with its gentle, warm zephyrs. But, as a landscape photographer I dream of the short days of winter, preferably with snow and ice. Despite what you may think this isn’t simply a case of me being contrary. No, honestly, it isn’t! For me there are many compelling reasons why landscape photography is a more worthwhile experience in winter.

So, what’s wrong with summer? I usually find photographing the British landscape in the high summer months, between June and September, an unrewarding exercise. To my mind, wherever you are, summer limits photographic opportunities.

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Composition is the combining of distinct parts or elements to form a whole.  In photography that thought is very important in taking good pictures.  The following guidelines are just to be thought about though, it is not necessary to try to use them with every picture you take or there wouldn’t be any creativity in your work.  Once you learn these rules and strategies you will be more prepared to find great picture spots and opportunities.

Before you just step up and take a picture you should consider what you want your viewers to look at and how you should display main points of interest.  You should ask yourself, what is the main subject?  What angle should the light be hitting in my picture?  Is there anything that could accentuate the main subject?  Where should the main subject be in the frame?

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By ‘exposure’ we mean the amount of light that falls onto the film, or CCD if you are using a digital camera. In modern cameras the exposure is usually set to automatic by default and, most of the time, it can be left there and will produce beautiful pictures. There are times though, when the lighting conditions are difficult or we want to produce a particular effect and it would be nice to understand what is going on ‘under the hood’.

The problem with all types of film and recording media is that they cannot record the entire range of contrast (black to white) that the eye can see. Especially when you take into account that the eye is constantly adjusting to cope with high contrast. On a sunny day if you look into the shadows of a scene then into the bright areas, the iris in your eye will quickly adjust so you can see detail in both.

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Depth of field (DOF) is the distance in front and beyond the object that is in focus. This tutorial will teach you about how to use Depth of Field in your own photography.

A short depth of field can be very useful when you want to isolate your object from the background, such as when taking portraits or macro photography. A large depth of field is great when you photograph landscapes and overall when you want every detail to be in focus.

There are three variables that affect DOF, the size of the Aperture, the distance to the object and what lens you’re using. (There is a fourth thing that affects the DOF, but that’s the size of the sensor and unless you have two cameras with different sensor sizes this isn’t something to take into account.)

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Astrophotography is a complex activity, you can not simply point a camera at the sky and take a photo. There are a wide range of technical challenges that must be solved. Learning the basics is just the first step in the process, there are a multitude of small issues that need to be addressed while photographing. Few are of any great difficulty, but there are a lot of them.

Astrophotography is learning to dispense with the plethora of small details, any of which can ruin the photo if not dealt with. Learning to photograph the stars takes time, practice and experiencing more than a few failures before the skills are mastered.

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The PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #11 for December is now available for download!

The holiday season is upon us and what better way to celebrate than to grab a cup of hot chocolate, kick back, and enjoy the December Issue of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine. This month, we head back to Moscow where Jon Ayres gives us a look at how the holidays are celebrated in Russia. We’ve also made some slight changes to the magazine to include more “how-to” style articles. Check out this month’s issue for:

• Night photography techniques – Part II – Painting with Light and Holiday Lights
• Best Shooting Gear for the Holidays
• Better Portrait Posing Techniques
• Mastering Photoshop Brushes
• Pro Retouching Techniques
• and more!

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #11
in PDF or ZIP Format:

PDF (6.31 MB) | ZIP (5.92 MB)

ISO should be one of the easiest aspects of digital photography to master, but many beginners in photography still have a hard time understanding this fundamental camera setting.

I suspect this is because of the way it is being taught. You see, ISO started out as a property of film, and it was much easier to visualise it in terms of the old technology. So that’s where I want to start my explanation, before bringing you into the 21st century with ISO today.

ISO actually started out as ASA, which stands for American Standards Association. Decades ago, a commercial film manufacturer came up with a set of numbers to define the sensitivity of different types of film. That set of numbers was accepted by the American Standards Association, so all American manufacturers could use the same system. Later, the American standard was adopted by the International Standards Organization, so ASA became ISO.

What does all that mean? Well, it means that the letters ISO didn’t really stand for anything except for the name of an organization.

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People always say, ‘Never work with children or animals’ – where’s the challenge in that!

Capturing stunning images of children is one of the most rewarding parts of my job – and while they aren’t always perfectly behaved, there are many ways in which you can put them at ease and within a great environment in order to shoot the best images possible!

Parents and Grandparents always want beautiful shots of their little ones – and today there are so many different ways to present these – framed prints, albums, on canvas, photobooks and even digital photo frames.

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How to create the high key image outdoors

1. Set up a white diffuser or diffusion panel behind your subject like a backdrop. (Make sure the sun is behind diffuser but not necessarily low in the sky)

2. Set up a second diffuser above your subject.

3. Take a meter reading of the subject while he/she is within the created tent by setting your meter to around 1/125 second and holding your meter just under your subject’s chin with the incident dome facing the camera position.

4. Set the f/stop setting on your camera according to the meter recommendation. Be sure to experiment with the look by adjusting the exposure up or down to taste.

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Digital cameras and zoom lenses go hand in hand. When shopping for your new camera, chances are one of the first features the salesman mentioned was the power of the zoom lens.

You know how it goes: “This camera has a five times optical zoom, but this one has ten times optical and the digital zoom extends that to…blah, blah, blah.” A powerful telephoto lens is terrific, and essential if you are shooting lots of sports photography, wildlife photography, or any photography that requires you to capture your subject from a distance. But with all the marketing that goes on around telephoto power, you could be forgiven for believing there is little value in a good wide-angle lens.

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The main problem with using an on-camera flash is the same as using the built-in flash, the light goes straight at the subject and flattens features and can cause red-eye. With an on-camera flash you almost always want to use a diffuser if shooting straight on. There are a wide range of diffusers such as my favorite, the Gary Fong Lightsphere. What you really want to achieve is a larger light source to help prevent harsh shadows. Without a diffuser, your best bet is to aim the flash at something you can bounce the light off of such as a wall, ceiling, foam board, reflector, or even a white shirt.

In a pinch, I have seen napkins, sheets, playing cards, index cards, and small children used to bounce light. A diffuser like the Gary Fong Lightsphere works well because it not only send light towards the subject but will bounce light from all directions softening shadows very nicely. This type of diffuser is great for event photographers (like weddings, etc) because you can’t always set up an optimal lighting setup during an event like that.

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Film might not be dead, but it has been relegated to a niche category. In its place has risen the digital camera, a product  so successful that it has set the popularity of amateur photography on fire in a way not seen since George Eastman launched his mass-market Brownie.

It’s not hard to see why. While it can be argued (and I have tried) that film cameras still have some advantages, the modern digicam is better in so many ways that the demise of film is no surprise at all. Here’s a list of five ways the digicam wins.

Cost

This is the biggest. While the actual camera itself might cost more than an equivalent analog box, once you have it, the running costs are almost zero. No trips to the chemist or lab to have film developed– heck, no film to buy. And although you have to recharge the batteries once in a while, the price is negligible.

This alone is good enough to get more people out snapping, but the close-to-zero running costs are probably the biggest factor in the modern surge in photography as a hobby. You can shoot as much as you like. No more rolls of film with Christmas at both ends and a few birthdays in the middle — today we can shoot 100 frames, keep the best and throw the others away. No wonder amateurs are getting better.

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In the first of our Mythbusting series we are going to look at a common myth that you should always use the lowest ISO number possible to get the best results This is based on the knowledge that the higher the ISO number you use, the more noise (digital artifacts) will be created in your image While this is certainly true, what we are going to examine in this article is wether or not you should always shoot in the lowest ISO number your camera can handle in order to get the best images Will this myth be confirmed or busted? Continue reading to find out

The different ISO settings will control the light sensitivity of the camera, the problem is that the higher you crank the ISO setting, you will introduce more noise effects In a dim room with no other lighting available, you can increase your ISO setting in order to make the camera more sensitive to light New cameras actually perform quite well at ISO 1600 which was unheard of only a few years ago Upcoming cameras will be able to shoot very usable images at ISO 6400. If we don’t want to add any unneeded noise or digital artifacts if possible if we want the cleanest images we can possible get

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The first thing we need to do is to connect the lights to your camera, for this we are going to need what is called a PC Sync port. On most Canon DSLR’s the PC Sync port is on the left side of the camera under a rubber flap. In the image here you can see the PC Sync port and the end of a PC Sync cable. In my typical setup I will have the main light plugged into the PC Sync port to fire it and the other lights will automatically fire at the same time because they have a built-in optical slave that will fire the flash when another flash is detected. Since this happens far faster then the mechanical shutter, the effect is that all of the lights fire at exactly the same. There is a limit of how fast the lights will sync to the camera but we will address that in a moment.

If you are unlucky enough to not have a PC Sync port on your camera then you will need to purchase a hot shoe adapter. The recommended one is the Weim Hot Shoe Adapter which sells for about $50 at most places. This will got into your camera’s hot shoe (when an acessory flash plugs in) and has a PC Sync output port on it.

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# Use a wide angle lens, but get close. A wide angle lens will help you expand your viewpoint, but at the same time, you don’t want your photos to be too impersonal to the subject. Get close to the important aspects of the scene and make them the primary focus of the shot. Then, try to include other objects or people that are important to the situation. Place the primary subjects at different spots around the image to create a more dynamic photo with tension. A wide angle lens will also give the viewer a perspective of being in the middle of the action.

# Continuously look around. If you’re on the street, in a market, or surrounded by a lot of action, then you could be missing out on opportunities to grab some great photos if you don’t keep your eyes open to everything around you. Sometimes it may be easier to stand in one spot and let everything else flow around while waiting for a good scene to materialize.

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Inside each lens is a diaphragm that can open and close, the size of the opening at any given setting is what we refer to as the aperture setting. On our cameras we refer to specific size settings as f-stops such as f/2.8, f/5.6, f/11, etc. While the obvious value of adjusting the aperture is to control how much light enters the camera, there is a secret hidden world beneath the hood that we will need to get a grasp of as well, but let’s start at the basics first.

For a given ISO setting and shutter speed we can adjust the amount of light entering the camera by adjusting the aperture, a smaller diameter (higher f-stop value) will allow less light in, while a larger aperture (smaller f-stop number) will allow more light it. If we refer to the Sunny 16 rule, we know that on a bright sunny day, if we are using ISO 200 and a shutter speed of 1/200th then we will get a good exposure at f/16. As the sun goes down and there is less light, we need to allow more light into the camera, we can do this by opening the aperture up (again, using a smaller number) to allow more light in. This sounds easy enough right?

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The most popular studio lighting accessory? Hands down, the square softbox. Whether mini 12×12-inchers or 50×50-inch monsters, these boxy lighting tools are often the first thing to greet you when entering any portrait studio.

But does the square (or almost square) softbox deserve its popularity? For me, the answer is “no.”

Although square softboxes put out a relatively soft-edged or “wraparound” light that’s flattering to people and objects, unless baffled (and therefore dimmed), they often throw a ball of light that’s hotter in the center than the edges. And this ball shines straight ahead in a broad, fat swath that makes it tough to finesse — useful but sloppy.

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Pocket wizard strobist – The Strobist Jet Pack

First thing was to place a black Bristol board on the table and then place a clear nylon sheet on top of it. (Actually, the first step was to convert my leaving living room table into a portable studio, but the wife was asleep so we were fine with it).

Then I placed the doll on the table and adjusted my Nikon SB 26 with a gelled gridspot and a radio slave. I set the flash to tightest zoom so the flash and gridspot will work together. (No point in having the flash on wide if I am trying to restrict light).

If you look at the setup image, you’ll also notice it is yellow – this is the light coming from the the leaving room lamp. I didn’t care much about it as I used high shutter speed, so only “flash light” made any impact on the sensor.

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Quantity

Among all the aspects of light, quantity is the easiest to control and manipulate. In fact, most of the controls found on your camera is designed for this function. The quantity or amount of light is controlled by your camera’s ISO, shutter speed and aperture. If there’s too much light then you get overexposure and too little will leave you with underexposure.

The photo below illustrates deliberate overexposure or what is called high-key. It shows how a photo would look if large amounts of light is allowed to hit the camera sensor.

Color/Temperature

Different types of light have different colors. We don’t notice these difference so much because the human eye is designed in such a way that it will automatically negate slight color changes in light. Cameras, sad to say, are not as evolved and are susceptible to all sorts of color casts.

The color or temperature of light is measured in degree Kelvin (K) in a scale which runs from 2500K to 10000K. Light which has a higher Kelvin temperature (5000K and up) has a blue color cast to it. It is also described as being cool. Lower temperatures (2700K or below) have a yellow/red cast to it and is said to be warm.

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A particular technique that I always love is dragging the shutter to go for a really long exposure and I’m always very amazed by the results. That was the first technique I learnt actually. Though I must say I didn’t really learn much from joining those photography courses back then, it still did taught me a thing or two on the basic like the aperture and the shutter speed. Thanks to the technology in today’s world, there is the internet and forums where we can find and read up just about anything we want to know about photography and of cos to study and learn how the professional shoot by looking at their pictures and reading people’s critiques.

The first place that those clubs and societies brought us to are usually the Bird Park or the Botanical Garden and mine was the Bird Park. It was there that I made my first attempt on long exposure to capture the man made waterfall inside. From there, I learn, study, improve, read up, practice again and again and the following pictures are what I’ve taken over the years.

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The artificial lighting learning curve for most photographers starts with a built-in flash or external flash mounted above the viewfinder. The photographs they take with a single flash look flat and boring because they lack shadows to create the illusion of depth or look unflattering due to the position of the shadows to the side of the head and nose.

The first step a flash user can take to improve the the lighting is to change the direction of the light. Not by moving the light a few feet to one side – which only creates dark distracting shadow – but by simply raising it a foot or more above the lens. Raising the flash above the lens was a trick discoved by wedding photographers about 40 years ago. When the flash is raised straight up the head shadow disappears behind the shoulder the one created by the nose is hidden out of sight directly below it in a full face view or out of camera view in an oblique pose.

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I just love gridspots. The amount of light control that a gridspot will give you is incredible. So, a while back I ordered some honeycomb grids from saxonpc. It is with two of those gridspots that I took the image on the left, but first thing first. In fact Saxon PC is specializing in making computer cooling solutions, little did they know that their honeycomb is just perfect for light control. OK, they knew, they made a site for it. Yet it was fun to say “little did they know”.

One of the first projects on DIYP was a coroplast made gridspot, which totally rocked, but getting those nice black honeycombs tickled so much and I caved in.

In fact this solution is very similar to HonlPhoto’s 1/4″ and 1/8″ gridspot solutions. If you are willing to settle a bit on the looks and spend a few minutes modding, you can save a few Dollars. Not that a few dollars will take you anywhere today.

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What I’m aiming for is the article I wish I’d found when I first got my camera, to help explain the relationship between three critically important parameters: the ISO speed, aperture (or f-stop number), and shutter speed.

To lead with, the easiest way I think to approach these three things is to understand physically what they mean inside your camera. So, here we go.

• ISO speed: A measurement of how quickly your camera’s sensor absorbs light.
• Shutter speed: A measurement of how long your camera’s shutter is open for when you take a shot.
• Aperture: A measurement of how wide the shutter on your camera’s lens opens up when you take a shot.

For completeness I should note that ISO speed is not specific to digital cameras with sensors. On film cameras, a particular roll of film will have a specific ISO speed that it is rated for. Fortunately for DSLR users like us, we can change the ISO speed without having to change film. All three of these parameters affect how light gets to your camera’s sensor to create an image, so let’s start looking at them in more detail.

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It is said that everything comes around full circle, creating a cycle. This is most certainly the case with reemergence of blank and white photography onto the scene. Why is black and white photography becoming en vogue again in a world that so emphasizes color? Despite the incredible popularity of digital photography in general, and creation of color images in particular, there will always be room for black and white.

Over the past few years, we seem a movement back to the classics, yet combining the technology of today. More and more modern movies are being filmed in black and white. Magazines are incorporating black and white ads into their publications. It is even common for the high end art galleries to have featured exhibits all in black and white. This movement is due to the artistic and emotional qualities that are just not possible to capture using color photography.

The most notable quality of black and white photography is its ability for emotional power. What might be a simple shot can take on a new appeal for a viewer when seen a different way. That is why black and white photography has a tendency to make photos look more like works of art. It transforms a dingy or overcast look into a striking photo evoking emotion while producing a clean, crisp look. Try incorporating black and white into your portfolio to help expand your range of artistic style.

Black and white has the ability to focus the attention to the emotional center of the photograph. The human face provides a great subject for black and white photography. A small lift of the chin or a look upward with the eyes can all change the emotion of the piece. the vast range of expression a person carries is endless. The smoothness of a child’s cheek, the wisdom in another’s wrinkles all have a story to tell in a photograph.

Black and white almost always invites the viewer to want to know about the story behind the picture. If it’s a landscape, “What happened here?” is the question that often springs to the mind of the viewer and the longer they gaze at the photo, the more their imagination fills in the details. If you are viewing the face of a serene or melancholy girl, it is almost impossible not to wonder what she is dreaming about or what of life’s issues is weighing on her mind.

While emotional power and invoking the search for meaning makes for compelling reasons to incorporate black and white photography into one’s portfolio alone, the romance of the genre is most certainly another. Black-and-white photography speaks to the simplicity and elegance that love often is. It has the ability to capture the thread of emotion and passion that touches the heart. A picture that might be considered lewd by the harshness of color, becomes an art form in the more subtle shadings of black and white. Try surroundings that incorporate moisture or water such as the beach, or the rain, or even the dew drops of early morning to bring about feelings of sensuality to the viewer.

Experiment with black and white and ask friends and family their opinions to learn how to master the subtle but powerful artistic effects that black and white can bring. The digital camera has brought about in a whole new generation of black and white photography. More and more, black and white photography is being sought as an option for all types of occasions.

If you have not started to experiment with black and white shots, it’s worth the time to learn how to capture the powerful images this type of photography can make possible. Along with the creative use of light and framing, black and white gives itself well to editing that you can do with Photoshop to bring out the emotional center of each shot. Before long, you may actually find your self seeing black and white shots in a color world. Your awareness of what will make a great moment in this format will become acute and you will be ready to capture those moments spontaneously, which is always the best kind of photography.

Looking into digital photography, ever want to start Learning Digital Photography? Find some great tips on how to take digital photographs with This Free Report

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dan_Feildman

Sooner or later, most photography enthusiast give some thought to “how to start a photography business.” Unfortunately, there are a ‘few’ challenges that “doom” us to failure. One of the biggest challenges that we bring is our failure to make the distinctions between our love of photography (re: our enjoyment and passion for photography) and the business of photography (understanding buying and spending habits of people that are photography customers).

For example, many of us think that because our photography work is “so good,” that we shouldn’t have that much trouble selling it. We, sometimes, mistakenly, think that great art and photography “sells itself.” Big mistake! Great photography does not sell itself. In the business world, nothing sells itself – nothing! Knowing this is critical to start a photography business.

Our failure to make the distinction between our passion for photography and our desire to be in the photo business is also evident in how we try to tell people about what we do. For example, photography customers don’t care what type of equipment we use. They don’t care how many mega-pixels we have, nor how much our equipment cost us, nor what brand of camera we use. Photography customers (current and potential) want to know that we can, and will, produce the highest quality photography work for them.

Think about it, the mechanics that repair our cars don’t tell us what tools that they use. The chefs in the restaurants that we patronize don’t tell us what type of pots, pans or stoves that they use. In those businesses, it is already established what customers want and how best to give it to them. In other words, other businesses do a better job of understanding their ‘niche.’ In order to start a photography business that is consistently successful and growing, we must be clear on what niche we are offering and how to sell the benefits of our niche to the customers.

Another mistake that we budding photography business owners repeat is failing to “specialize” (know our photography niche) in what we do. As photography enthusiasts, we enjoy shooting any and everything. As photographers, that’s just fine. However, when we start a photography business, we, mistakenly, try to be ‘all things to all people’ – we take every photography job offered us.

One of the obvious problems with this approach is our failure to recognize how it drastically cheapens the value of what we do as skilled photographers, in the eyes of the customers. Mistakenly, we want our customers (current and potential) to know that we can photograph anything – after all, we’re very versatile photographers! What the customers actually see is that we’re not “versatile photographers,” we’re just someone with a camera that’s available to take pictures when they call us. Serious photography customers (re: those that can afford to spend regularly) want to do business with specialists – photographers that know their photography niche.

Successful wedding photographers are clear on this, as an example of my point. Their ‘primary’ customer (usually the bride) has dreamed about her wedding day for most of her life. She isn’t looking for a vesatile photographer. She wants a “wedding photographer” that can make her ‘look’ as good, happy and beautiful as she has been in all of her lifelong dreams of ‘her day’ – her wedding day. There’s a special skill to this type of photography service. In fact, this niche has more to do with well developed ‘people skills,’ in my opinion. Successful wedding photographers that are clear on these nuances are more successful in business.

Do your research.

* Inventory Your Photo Collection – Take a look at your photo collections. Determine what it is that you 1.) shoot the most; 2.) shoot consistently well; and 3.) enjoy shooting. Identify your and categorize the photos into various niches, i.e. portraits, sports, glamor, pets, children, landscape, etc.
* Research The Photography Markets – Do internet searches using the words “photography niche.” Also, use the type of niche that you think your photos fit. For example, “event photography niche,” “wedding photography niche,” etc. Also, a good source to help identify some of the photo markets is “The Photographer’s Market.” This is a book that is published annually and claims to provide photo buying contacts and information. Online searches are the most useful, in my opinion. Books by author and photographer, Dan Heller are good places to get a better understanding of the vast world of photography, without all the ‘artsy-hype,’ in my opinion. He also has a very informative website – DanHeller.com
* Identify ‘Real’ Markets – Find out what type of photography (of your specialties) your customers currently are purchasing. What type of photography is selling? At some point, you’ll have to ‘balance’ the realities of the different niches. There can be some factors that aren’t consistent across all photography niches. For example, some niches require longer “workflow” (workflow is the post production process of taking photos) periods and tasks than others. Higher quality portraits normally require photo editing – which is time-consuming. Event photography requires the processing, packaging and delivering (presenting) of photos. True story: I went through my large photo collections and found that I had a very large number of outstandingly beautiful flowers. I can’t begin to tell you my disappointment when I found out that there is ‘virtually’ no market of photos of flowers – it seems that everybody has them already, everybody! Lesson learned – identify ‘real’ markets.

Ten Tips To Assist You To Identify Your Niche

1. Identify specialties that fit your style:
2. Determine if you have the necessary equipment for the niche
3. Do you have identifiable and specific skills in this niche area – can you articulate them?
4. Who is your target audience
5. What type of photography do they purchase the most
6. Where are they taking their photography business currently – your competition
7. What will be different about your services
8. Does where you live support your preferable niche
9. Is your niche ‘stock photography’ or ‘assignment photography’ – do you know the difference
10. What is the future potential and tendencies of your niche

Fortunately, the internet makes this information just a few clicks away. The information isn’t difficult to find and learn. Knowing your niche increases your confidence tremendously. Truly know your niche – and your photography business will follow!

Kalem Aquil is a ‘semi-burnt-out’ photographer that dispenses free, unsolicited (yet, very good and accurate) tips and advice to budding photographers that want to take their photography business to the next level. He dispenses such advice to budding photographers such as “where to start,” “what to charge,” “how to know if you’re really, really ready,” etc. etc. etc. He dispenses his free and unsolicited advice here. Subscribe to his free ezine, the “Best Amateur Photography Tips Digest,” and receive a Bonus Special Report – “How To Build Your Own Successful Photography Website.” Click here to subscribe.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kalem_Aquil

Low light…it can be a photographer’s nightmare. But here are some basic techniques that I use daily to overcome this obstacle. Some of this may sound mundane, but I am surprised constantly by how many photographers do not understand these basic principles.

First, let’s talk about lenses.

For those of you who do not already know this, we refer to lenses in terms of how “fast” they are. This is kind of a misnomer, but what it really means is his: how big is the aperture? The larger the aperture, the more speed you can get out of the camera…hence…how fast it is. The absolute minimum aperture for exposing images in low light should be f2.8. If you have a lens that has a smaller aperture opening than this, your ability to capture sharp images will be drastically reduced. Most “kit lenses” are f3.5 to f5.6, and most of them lose aperture as you zoom in (the closer you zoom, the smaller the aperture becomes). This can spell certain doom in low light. So the first, and most important tip is to invest in quality lenses. Invest in lenses that are f2.8 or faster…f1.8 or 1.4 is even more preferred.

Second, let’s talk about film speed (ASA) or CCD speed (ISO).

In a nutshell, the larger the ASA or ISO 3, the “faster” that medium is at exposure. This becomes very important in low light situations. The downside is that the higher the speed, the more “noise” one can expect. As a rule of thumb, I typically use ASA/ISO 200 for sunny days outside, ASA/ISO 400 for indoors with good lighting, ASA/ISO 640 for indoors with medium light, and ASA/ISO 800 for indoors with low light conditions. I have found that anything higher than a speed of 800 produces too much noise for what I do.

Third, let’s talk about Shutter Speed.

In low light conditions, even with a professional flash mounted, I have found that anything slower than 1/30 produces blurry images. Human movement in that time frame (both the camera operator and the subject) is just enough that the image will be blurry at 1/20, so I try to never step below 1/30. The only exceptions are when I mount the camera on a tripod and I am shooting a stationary object, not humans, unless you are trying deliberately to capture their movement, but that’s another discussion.

Fourth, let’s talk about Flash.

Rules of thumb for flash photography in low light conditions. If the ceiling of the room is low and light in color, I set the flash to TTL (through the lens), point the flash head at the ceiling and I use the diffuser. This “bounces” the light around the room and produces a really nice effect for evenly distributed lighting. In rooms where the ceiling is low, and a darker color, I do the same thing, but remove the diffuser. In high ceiling, lightly colored rooms, I set the flash to it’s full power manual setting, point the flash head at the ceiling, and use the diffuser. The down side of this is that it will take longer to recharge the flash unit, but the payoff exceeds that I think. In the same room with darker colors, I use the manual flash, point the flash at the subject, and if the subject is close, I use the diffuser…if the subject is more than about 10 feet away, I remove it.

Now let’s put that all together.

In low light situations, we want our lens open to it’s “fastest” aperture…preferably f2.8 or faster. The reason for this may surprise you, but, the main reason is that so you can expose the background correctly. Did you hear that? It’s right…the background. Why do we want to do that you ask? I’ll tell you why. Anyone can get a picture of a person in a dark environment with the background completely black. That takes no skill at all. But show me the photographer that can light up the background in a dark room, and expose the subject correctly, and that is the professional. Next, we want to make sure that we are using the right film speed (ASA 800) or CCD speed (ISO 800). Lastly, we want to make sure that our shutter is set to the right speed (1/30). Anything slower will blur. Use the flash as described above, and you will be on your way to taking better images in low light conditions. Of course these tips are not set in stone, but they do offer us a starting point that should help the user make progress. And as always, practice makes perfect!

About the author: Lee Randall Stewart is a professional wedding photographer with offices in Newport Beach, CA and Honolulu, HI. His work has been seen all over the world in numerous wedding photography editorials and magazines, and he remains one of the industry’s leading professionals. To see his Newport Beach based website, please visit http://LeeRandallStewart.com and to see his Honolulu based website, please go to http://HawaiiPhotoStudio.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lee_Stewart

PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the tenth edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine. The PhotographyBB Online Magazine is quickly becoming a leading resource in the future of free information distribution, offering our readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, and image post processing tutorials in Adobe® Photoshop™, and RAW processing in Photoshop Lightroom™.

This month’s release includes a tutorial on better night photography, a guide on keeping your camera gear (and yourself) safe when shooting in winter conditions, Photoshopping your own personalized (to each recipient) holiday cards, “Is CS4 worth the upgrade?,” a look at infrared photography, and much more.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“What began as a small PDF e-zine for digital SLR beginners has now grown into a popular resource for digital photographers of all skill levels. We’ve been so fortunate in receiving article contributions from a generous team of hard working volunteer writers. As a result, we’ve been able to expand the magazine considerably, giving our readers new article columns with useful tutorials and techniques for every digital photographer.”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide photographers in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop and Lightroom, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

Download the PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue #10
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1) Setup your single light source (It can be a continuous source, a low power strobe or a 100 watt flash).

2) Make sure you use a very large light modifier for your source, such as this homemade light panel, a very large shoot through umbrella, or a large softbox (I like the 60 inch convertible white satin umbrella – about $38.00). But remember, any translucent white shoot through umbrella should work just fine as long as its big (at least 40 inches).

My examples below will show both my 31 x 47 inch ebay softbox as well as my 60 inch shoot through umbrella as the main light source.

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If you’ve been learning about digital imaging, whether by shooting with a digital camera or by scanning your film images, you’ve probably come across the concept of 8-bit and 16-bit images. Support for 16-bit editing seems to be all the rage these days, especially since the release of Photoshop CS. Even the new Photoshop Elements version 3 supports many 16-bit operations. Given that 16-bit images are by definition twice as big as 8-bit ones, you may be wondering why anyone would even want them.

An 8-bit RGB (red, green and blue) image uses numbers from 0 to 255 to represent each constituent color, or “channel” in the image. Zero is the complete absence of that color while 255 represents the maximum amount of that color. Thus, a value of (255,0,0) represents pure red, (0,255,0) would be pure green, (0,0,0) and (255,255,255) would mean pure black and pure white respectively, and so on. Zero through 255 gives 256 total distinct values that each of these three channels can have. If you multiple 256 times 256 times 256, you get 16.7 million different combinations. That’s a lot of different colors, hues and shades.

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In this lesson we show how to set up and shoot the perfect portrait every time. With a few simple tips and tricks, you can rig your portrait gear to save time and make those school portrait jobs a snap.

• The concept of the string method
• Creating a basic portrait set
• Setting your gear for consistent results

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” To put it simply, the EV button allows your to quickly underexpose (darken) or overexpose (brighten) your image. How it works is pretty simple. When you’re taking a photo, the camera’s job is to adjust itself by changing the shutter speed and/or apperture to properly expose your shot so that it’s not too bright or too dark. Some cameras do this better than others but that’s another story.”

” In P mode, the camera will adjust the EV by changing the shutter speed and/or the apperture. In S/Tv mode, since you set the shutter speed manually, it will adjust the aperture to compensate. In A mode, the camera will change the shutter speed since you manually control the apperture.”

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With only a couple of well placed lights and a little imagination, shooting a fashion portrait can be easy.

Lighting Equipment

* Photoflex Boom
* Photoflex BoomStand
* Photoflex HalfDome2 Small White (strobe)

* Photoflex LiteDome Medium 24x32x17
* Focusable Spot Light with Gels

We set up a Medium LiteDome and strobe head on a Boom and Boom Stand.

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You know those numbers on the side of that lens you just bought for your digital SLR? 70-200mm … 50mm … etc? Those numbers are a lot less absolute then they used to be?

The reason? Not all image sensors on digital SLRs are built the same, and the sensor you have has a large effect on exactly what focal length your lens actually is. Here’s why.

Back in the era of film cameras, SLR cameras had a standard, full-frame sensor. But with the advent of digital cameras, sensor sizes began to change. Sensors on the first generations of digital cameras were expensive to produce, so camera manufacturers simply made them smaller. They created the APS-C sensor, which has become the standard on most digital SLRs.

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In the studio you use a low-key or high-key background to create contrast between the background and the face. Which key is most effective for the background is mostly influenced by the tone of the clothing, which needs to blend into the background so as not to overpower the face in the photo. Outdoors, by manipulating the balance of ambient-to-flash with EC and FEC or manual shutter/aperture and flash power, we can render the ambient-lit background normal (perfect match), darker and low-key (underexposed) or lighter and high-key (overexposed) while retaining normal exposure on the face of the subject

When flash is used outdoors there are two factors contributing to the exposure which can be controlled independently. Because the duration of a flash is so short the shutter speed of the camera has no effect on the flash* lit foreground of a photo taken outdoors with flash. Changes in shutter speed will however affect the ambient exposure of the background. That fact allows the background to be made lighter or darker with shutter speed while the foreground is keep the same.

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Today’s cameras provide fast, reliable, auto focus systems (AF). Most modern cameras are now equipped with multi-point AF sensors that do a great job provide quick high-speed tracking for our subjects.

As great as the technology is, it can’t read your mind. Even the most advance auto focus system cannot determine your photographic intentions. With subjects at various distances from the camera, a multi-point AF system will often focus on the nearest reliable target. Undoubtedly there will be times the cameras auto focus will focus on the wrong subject, giving you less than desirable results.

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Photography resolution is a measurement of image quality, so you may define resolution by how much detail is in your print. If your print has sharp detail you may consider your image to be of good resolution. If detail is blur in your image you may consider your image to have poor resolution. Good resolution is a direct result of having a large number of pixels in an image.

Digital images are made up of millions of small dots – each dot is called a pixel. Each dot contains a small piece of image information, and when added together with the other pixels you’ll get your final image.

Print resolution is measured in pixel per inch (ppi) or in dots per inch (dpi) – both hold the same value. 300ppi means that there are 300 pixels per inch or 90,000 pixels per a square inch.

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Color management is the practical application of the science of color perception and reproduction to make it possible to predict and previsualize how colors will be reproduced using differing mediums such as fabric and photographic dyes, CRT and LCD computer screens, and various types of printing.

Human perception of color is highly subjective and changes depending on the viewing conditions. Color management quantifies color using a device called a photospectrometer, which can record the intensity of each wavelength (i.e., color) of light. Using this tool color scientists have create a “roadmap” for color which can be used as a tool for standardization and communication of color information between devices.

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“Panoramas, images that combine a series of photos into a sweeping vista larger or wider than what you could capture in a single photograph–are among the most exciting and unexpected benefits of digital photography. Photographers used to need special film cameras to take super-wide panoramas, or they simulated the effect by taping together a set of prints, exposing lots of ugly seams in the process.”

“When you take a few photos and later combine them into a panorama, you tend to lose the tops and bottoms of the scene due to the way your photo editing program stitches the images together. The wider your panorama, the more you tend to lose from the tops and bottoms. One easy way to mitigate that loss is to shoot your panorama with the camera held vertically, in portrait mode, rather than the usual landscape orientation. ”

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I was out with my new circular polarizer and the effects were quickly shown, here are two samples to quickly show the effects of a polarizer filter :

In the world of fashion and high-end portrait photography, lighting is the key to professional-looking images. Having the ability to control the light that falls on your subject allows you many different ways of expressing an idea photographically. It can also greatly transform the way your subject comes across in a photograph. In this lesson, I will illustrate differences between hard and soft lighting, positioning of light sources and the importance of developing the shot.

• Using a large, soft light source
• Using reflectors to control contrast

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There have been several scientific studies which have attempted to quanitfy beauty. Most involve showing photos to panels and having them rate which they think is most attractive, then via measurment determining the common denominators in the photos deemed beautiful: shape of face, width of eyes, shape of nose, etc.

Artists dating back to the ancient Greeks, who discovered Pi and the “Golden Mean” have used it as a guide for composition and defining the perfect proportions for human anatomy.

Composition is how the message of a photo is packaged and facial angles which set-up the geometric relationships between the eyes, mouth, nose and ears are just one aspect of the overall composition in a portrait.

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Today, photography is an incredibly popular hobby that is gaining in popularity. The demand for cameras that can take great photos for personal use is numerous. Now is the time to take advantage of it. Here are some tips that you can use to get you started with your photography plans.

Flash

If you’re trying to take a picture of an object at a distance, don’t bother with your camera’s flash. You’ll be lucky if it travels 10 feet, but 5 feet is more realistic. If the subject is further away that that the flash becomes a waste of battery power instead of being useful.

If possible, avoid using the flash that you find on most cameras nowadays. It tends to give the subject ‘red eye’, and it removes a lot of the shadow that can create depth in a picture. If you have to use a flash, such as an indoor nighttime shot, keep your subject away from walls. This way you won’t end up with an ugly black shadow that resembles an outline.

The number one lighting to avoid in photography is the use of your built in camera flash. Using the flash setting in your camera actually creates the dreaded red eyes and makes your subjects appear featureless shadow blobs. Only use this setting in the case of an emergency if you are left with no other choice.

If shooting outside or in an area that is bathed with outdoor lighting, confirm whether or not flash on the subject is appropriate. You want to turn it off if it is bathed in bright sunlight or other really bright conditions. Turn the flash back on when in heavy shadow or darker areas.

The most important thing to remember about lighting when taking photographs is this: the less light you have to create from artificial resources, the better. By all means, use a flash if you need to, but always strive to use natural light if at all possible. Even when shooting indoors, open the windows, and let mother nature’s light stream in.

A random element that can give you unique photos is to change the lighting. There is an unlimited number of ways you can use light to change pictures. Using side lights can help to create silhouetting the subject to hide their features. It can also create back-lighting and mood. Using sync-flash can also help to create unique photographs.

Pay attention to natural lighting. You might need to use your flash feature or install additional sources of light, but you can use natural lighting to create interesting effects with light and shadow. Position your subject accordingly. Make sure the photograph is not too dark or too bright: look for a structure and contrast with lights.

Red eye may seem like a small flaw, but it can deem a photo un-frame worthy. You can prevent red eye by avoiding flash whenever possible, if you do need to use flash, have the subject not look directly into the lens. Some cameras also have a red eye feature.

Know the range of your flash when you are using it in the dark. If you do not know how long the range is and take a photo things may be dark in your photo. Experiment with your flash before you start taking photos and it is dark outside.

You should now see why this hobby is very popular. There is so much you can do in it! There is also a ton of information on how to start enjoying the benefits of it. By following these tips, you are well on your way to becoming a successful photographer.

The angle of the sun on the horizon is smaller during wintertime, creating numerous pleasing effects for photographers, such as a prolonged period of the magic hour.

We refer to the magic hour as the time around sunrise or sunset, when most of the light is reflected and the direct light of the sun passes through a lot more atmosphere, thus filtering out the harsh neutral or blue cast.

Due to the low angle of the sun, textures will look three-dimensional and become alive and shadows will be long and deep.

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Set the ISO to 400 – this gives you much greater latitude with the strobes.
Set the aperture to f/6.3 as a good starting point. With wide-angle lenses, DOF is not really a problem.
Adjust the shutter speed to expose for the windows. Generally, for a “blown-out” window effect, 1/80th or slower will work. To bring in a view completely, dial up to your camera’s maximum sync speed (usually 1/250th) and only then start stopping down the aperture. Once the windows are exposed properly…

Add an off-camera light to one side or other of the camera. Bouncing from a wall or the wall/ceiling joint results in a much larger apparent light source, and thus yields softer shadows. However, watch for hot spots! In particular, reflections in windows, mirrors, and glass cabinets are problematic. Hot spots on the ceiling are also common, but can be fairly easily dodged/burned out if the light can’t be re-positioned.

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Lighting and photographing two-dimensional objects such as framed paintings and prints so that they look professionally rendered can be considerably more challenging than in other types of photography. The challenges have mostly to do with lighting issues and camera perspective, but once you’re aware of how to tackle the potential hazards of two-dimensional copy work, you’ll be surprised at how easy it can be.

* Positioning Camera
* The limitations of built-in flash
* The limitations of using household lighting
* Creating an even light source
* Balancing the light
* Controlling perspective with different lens settings
* Changing out artwork

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Why start with just one light? Because you can get amazing portraits, that’s why. Did I mention less equipment, less complication, less cost, and less time? Oh, and once you’ve mastered portraits with a single light, using more lights is pure gravy. I have lots of lighting, but I break out a single light more often than I get out multiples. Many of you reading this have yet to really get into this lighting stuff, so you probably only have one flash. So it makes sense that the first article where we get into lighting setups would focus on portraits with just a single light.

The first thing you should do is read Metering For Flash if you haven’t already done so. This will teach you the process for getting the exposure right with the flash and camera in manual mode.

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The angles of the human face and body people consider visually pleasing are universal regardless of the medium. Movie directors and cinematographers are masters of lighting and facial angles which make the human face appear natural and three dimensional.

They in learned the techniques from the poses and lighting used in paintings by master artists. A knowledgeable photographer can use these same “classic” facial views and poses to great advantage, even in candid situations, to improve the appearance of people they photograph.

A 2/3 view of the face is created by turning the face away from the camera just to the point at which the skin visible at the side of the far eye disappears from view. When this is done the shape of the far eye and cheekbone become apparent and make the face appears more three dimensional and thinner.

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PhotographyBB Online Magazine Issue 9 is out for free download :

PDF (6.94 MB) | ZIP (6.42 MB)

When you are shooting a home with a view, there’s nothing more important to the home owners and listing agent than seeing stunning view through the windows. You want to make the windows look like someone took out the glass! From a photo editing standpoint what you’d like is have complete control of the interior and the view through the windows independently. Here’s how to do that.

This is probably not something you are going to do on every image in a shoot, just the very best images or the ones to be use on brochures or in high visibility media.

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For better or worse, my goal is for this experience to serve as a sort of template for how I approach a new lighting technique.

This week deals with first attempts to reverse engineer how people were getting that cool, controllable 3-D tonality in their shadows, specifically by using ring flash.

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Natural Lighting
Artificial lighting
Lighting Angles
How many lights do you need?
Lighting Ratios

Photography is the art of illusion, tricking the viewer into thinking an image reproduced on a two-dimensional piece of paper or a computer screen is natural and three-dimensional. The third dimension in a photograph is created by the contrast between light and shadow.

If a subject is illuminated with the light at or near the camera lens there will be virtually no shadows and the resulting image will look flat. Moving the light source away from the camera lens position will create shadows and the illusion of depth. But because the range of brightness film or a digital camera can record is limited, the detail in the shadow areas will be lost unless some method of “fill” light is used. Fill light can be provided two ways: 1) a reflector which redirects the single light source into the dark shadows, or 2) a second light source.

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So first let’s look at polarization in general. You can think of light as traveling in waves. One way to visualize these waves is to imagine taking a length of rope and tying one end to a post. Moving the free end up and down sets up a “wave” along the rope which also moves up and down. If you think of the rope as representing a beam of light, the light would be “vertically polarized”.

You could also move the free end around in a circle and, if you got the timing just right, you could set up a wave that looks like a corkscrew. This is analogous to a light beam having circular polarization.

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There’s an aesthetic discipline in photography which has all but dropped off the radar these days. It’s to make your composition in camera using the full available frame and keep that through to the final print without any cropping.

Photographers advocating this discipline often proudly printed their shots in the darkroom with a thin black border, or even the film rebate visible in the print to show that their composition utilised the full frame and negative without any cropping. These days with the digital darkroom to hand most photographers crop their images. It’s so easy to do.

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This week we are going to look at using one speedlight with no modifications… no umbrellas or softboxes to modify the light, just the bare strobe. This can sometimes seem like pretty harsh light, but there ways to use the single light that can create a very modern, clean and sometimes become almost not noticeable.

We will take a look at a group of images that use only one strobe, in different ways. I want you to try some of these shots when you get a chance. I use a stand or a human boom (assistant) to position the light, and it is very important that it is positioned perfectly.

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Flash photography basics video.

Shooting in full manual mode will always be the best way to get the most creative shot since you are in control of everything. But there are instances when you just do not have the time to fiddle around with the proper combination of ISO, aperture and shutter speed. On these occasions, you have to rely on your camera’s metering system to get you the correct exposure.

All light meters, including in-camera meters, are designed to give you a reading that will make the subject have the same tone as a 15% gray card. Manufacturers designed meters to give you an average reading on an average or neutral subject. This is very important to keep in mind when relying on your camera’s different metering modes.

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Capturing movement in images is something that many photographers only think to do when they are photographing sports or other fast moving subjects.

While there is an obvious opportunity in sports photography to emphasize the movement of participants – almost every type of photography can benefit from the emphasis of movement in a shot – even when the movement is very small, slow and/or subtle.

The reason for movement blur is simply that the amount of time that the shutter of a camera is open is long enough to allow your camera’s image sensor to ’see’ the movement of your subject.

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Autumn is all about color and leaves. Red, orange and yellow suddenly becomes the predominant color of nature instead of the usual green. What you need to know is that red, orange and yellow are advancing colors. This means that if you look at different colored objects at a same distance from you, the objects that are colored red, orange and yellow will appear closer. This is the reason why photos of autumn landscapes look like they’re jumping right at you. Below are five tips you can use to help you get creative with autumn leaves.

There is no rule in photography that prohibits you from moving things around to get the best possible shot. Try playing around with different colored leaves and different angles to get the effect you want.

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Let’s establish a few ground rules for what we are going to be doing. First, this isn’t an ETTL, CLS, or any other kind of electronic exposure control in the flash unit. We are talking about manual settings. Manual is where the power is.

We also must make a few demands for the units themselves: They must have variable power, some way to fire them off camera (Sony strobe units are pretty proprietary I have seen) and they should have some sort of “Zoom” for the light. This last part isn’t mandatory, but it does offer some great flexibility.

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Sometimes people look at my images and think that the more unusual lighting effects are created in post, but it’s all done in-camera.

I did this with the Hummer shot to get the detail that was missing behind the axle stands that were retouched out in post. I also shot a separate exposure for the crash test dummy background in the Chevy Malibu shot.

I do composite different exposures together when it’s necessary, though. I try to light everything in one go. But if there are little bits or pieces that need to be shot separately to get them perfect, I’ll do that and then composite them into the main exposure later in Photoshop.

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photos © Tim Kent Photography

“I’m upgrading to a digital SLR. What camera model and lens should I get?” We get asked this often, and our reply is always the same. It matters little what DSLR you have, so long as you’ve got great lenses. And when you’re starting out, there’s really no need to shell out thousands of dollars on lens (unless you have money that you simply must get rid of). We always, always recommend the 50mm. Some of the world’s best photographers have made careers for themselves with the 50mm.

If you bought a 35mm camera during the 70s or 80s then chances are, it came with a 50mm lens. Even Leica rangefinders were bundled with 50mm lenses. The reason for this is that the 50mm perspective approximates that of the human eye, which is also the reason it is called a “normal” lens.

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The fourth time-based manipulation I frequently use is zooming through the exposure. And last month we pulled that technique out of our as.. bag of tricks during the “stone soup” shoot in NYC.

As you can see, one came from back camera right and another from underneath the puppet. These gave a more 3-D look to our guys. Also, I gelled those flashes with a 1/2 CTO and a fluorescent green combo, which gets you a neat, sodium vapor feel without going all of the way there. Sort of the way sodium vapor looks to the eye, rather than to the camera. It is more logical. Straight white light would look weird and contrived in this environment.

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There has been some great articles and interest lately on long exposures so I thought I would put together a hodgepodge of techniques and then turn it over to DPS readers to see what they can come up with. I’ve broken this slow shutter shoot-out into 3 categories. When you submit your photograph, do it under one of these styles. I’ve thrown in a few of my own as examples into the article just to give you an idea. Get a tripod, set your cameras to shutter priority and fire away.

Light is what makes up your photos. Perhaps too often we limit ourselves to the normal diffused lighting we are used to seeing. Locking your camera down on a tripod and setting it for a slow shutter speed allows you to manually get some movement on the lights in your scene. Experiment with flashlights, rope lights, candles or anything handy. In the picture here I had a friend sit perfectly still in a completely dark room.

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By now, most of you have read many times as I have walked through the process of balancing my flashes and ambient. I want to get past that.

Today, I want to accomplish two things:

1. To set you up with a way of quickly understanding and/or communicating how a given photo was balanced, and

2. To stop having to repeat walk-throughs on this process every time we mix flash and ambient. Which is just about every lit photo we shoot.

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We’ve mentioned in previous posts how in-camera metering can be very unreliable. It can meter the scene differently even if the subject and lighting do not change. In the series of photos below, I left the camera at evaluative mode and took three shots at different focal lengths. I shot in AV mode with the ISO at 400 at f/5.

You can see that the camera’s meter fluctuates depending on the focal length I was shooting in. This should not be the case since I’m shooting the same subject under the same light. You might think that the difference is not that big but I’ve seen cases where the meter will fluctuate to almost a full stop depending on where you zoom in.

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I’ve gathered up all the 16 articles, that make up the Microstock Photographer’s Guide, and turned them into one pdf-file. I did this after having looked the list over, and realized how long it would take to sit and read it all here on my blog. Not being a big fan of reading page after page on screen myself, I figured most of you probably feel the same way. Now, it’s easy to print it all out and read it on paper.

Now, I’ve said all along that I might very well turn the series into an actual book. Of course, the articles would only serve as a starting point. I would have to add many more examples, post-processing tips and so on. On that note, anyone who have read the series are welcome to give me their suggestions. Previously, people have suggested adding more interviews with successful photographers as well as a chapter on legal issues one might encounter in the world of microstock.

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Well, if ISO determines how sensitive your sensor is to light, and your sensor records the light (a fancy way to say records the finished image) then that sensitivity of the sensor is basically going to determine (along with your aperture which determines how MUCH light hits the sensor and shutter speed: which determines the DURATION OF TIME the light is exposed to the sensor) how bright your image will be (how much light will be absorbed by the sensor).

Film is composed of lots of little circles that make up the GRAIN of the film. Digital photography is similar, except for that our little circles aren’t circles at all, they’re squares. . . a gazillion little squares that come together to create an image. Sometimes those little squares in the image become slightly visible and this is referred to as NOISE. Check it out in the image of my son above.

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When going through the more advanced websites about lighting, you’re bound to run into a lot of terms you’re not familiar with. In this article, we’ve compiled some of the most mentioned equipment and techniques photographers today use to modify light coming from a hot-shoe flash or studio light.

Barn doors have four leaves or doors that act to shape light. This is usually used to prevent light from spilling into where its not wanted or to block the light from hitting the lens.

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When ever we use a light source to illuminate an object, that object is being hit with multiple “rays” of light. Some of those rays are hitting the object in the place which is nearest to the light source, and some of the rays are hitting the subject where is furthest from the light source. OK, nothing new until now.

As a crude generalization one can argue that the light that falls on the closer side to the light source will be brighter then the light hitting the furthest side. This is because the light will scatter more when it makes it long journey to the far side. (This is not true for focused beams and laser, but this thumb rule can be applied to most studio lights and strobes).

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In most modern SLR cameras, the autofocus sensor located at the center of the frame is generally designed to be more sensitive and more accurate than most or all of the camera’s other AF sensors. In low-light situations, it is possible for the center AF sensor to be the only one that will reliably lock on to the subject and achieve focus lock.

This has given rise to the technique of center point focus-recompose, which involves placing the center AF sensor on the portion of the subject that needs to be the most clearly focused, and activating autofocus. Once focus has been achieved, then the camera is reoriented until the desired framing is achieved, and then the shutter is released. There’s just one problem with this idea: it is 100% guaranteed to cause focus to be behind the intended center of focus.

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While we look at the Mona Lisa today and see it’s composition as fairly standard and simple – for it’s time the composition of the Mona Lisa was ground breaking and has set new trends in painting which have been followed for centuries since.

One of the compositional elements that the portrait is known for is Leonardo’s use of a pyramidal composition which shows the subject with a wider base at her arms and her hands forming the front corner and everything is in place to draw the eye up her body to her eyes and her infamous smile.

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Hand Held
This is, without a doubt, the cheapest option. You’ve already got a hand, so why not put it to use? The idea is to hold your camera in one hand and your flash in the other. While this gets the job done, it can sometimes be a more daunting task than one would think.

First off, you’ve got both of your hands full. So, if you need to make an adjustment on either the camera or the flash, you’ll have to shuffle your equipment around. And when you’re holding several hundred dollars worth of equipment in your hands, the last thing you want to do is carelessly shuffle things around.

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One thing that seems to baffle a lot of new photographers is understanding the term “stop” as it pertains to a measurement of light. We see this word used over and over with regards to shutter speed, aperture, film speed, filters, lighting, and other ways that light is used. You may hear a phrase like “you should expose one side of face 1-2 stops under the lit side of the face and expose the background 1 stop under the main subject”.

For many people that’s about like asking them to solve a complex calculus problem. So what does it all mean and how do we use this information? That’s exactly what we are going to look at in this article

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Imagine yourself, camera in hand, walking through a busy metropolis. The sights, the sounds and the smells of a bustling city overwhelm your senses. People all around you are scurrying to and from work. Others are sitting in outdoor cafes enjoying lunch.

As you survey the scene, you spot an elderly man across the street sitting alone in a wheelchair. He holds a small cup out and thoughtfully watches the activity. You’re amazed at how seemingly invisible he is. No one gives him a second glance. In fact people seem to be going out of their way to avoid him.

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I find the family photo part of the day can be quite stressful. People are going everywhere, you’re unaware of the different family dynamics at play and people are in a ‘festive spirit’ (and have often been drinking a few spirits) to the point where it can be quite chaotic. Get the couple to nominate a family member (or one for each side of the family) who can be the ‘director’ of the shoot. They can round everyone up, help get them in the shot and keep things moving so that the couple can get back to the party.

Photograph rings, backs of dresses, shoes, flowers, table settings, menus etc – these help give the end album an extra dimension. Flick through a wedding magazine in a news stand for a little inspiration.

When shooting outside after a ceremony or during the posed shots you’ll probably want to keep your flash attached to give a little fill in flash. I tend to dial it back a little (a stop or two) so that shots are not blown out – but particularly in backlit or midday shooting conditions where there can be a lot of shadow, fill in flash is a must.

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I’ve been using the EV (Exposure Value) button on my camera more than any of the other buttons so I thought I would share with you why and when I use it. Remember that I shoot with a Nikon so shutter speed and aperture are controlled with the front and back wheels not buttons . But before I get into that, let me briefly explain to you WHAT the EV button is and what it does.

To put it simply, the EV button allows your to quickly underexpose (darken) or overexpose (brighten) your image. How it works is pretty simple. When you’re taking a photo, the camera’s job is to adjust itself by changing the shutter speed and/or apperture to properly expose your shot so that it’s not too bright or too dark. Some cameras do this better than others but that’s another story. When you play with the EV button, what you’re doing is telling the camera to either brighten or darken the photo from the optimal exposure it perceives.

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Studio photography lighting tabletop glassware

Develop diving skills. “For photography the most important skill is buoyancy control — the ability to hold yourself in a stable position in the water,” Snyder says. Most underwater photography is close-up work, and adjusting focus may mean moving the camera back and forth by fractions of an inch — while staying motionless in the water.

Predetermine lighting setups. While sometimes you may have a cooperative subject that will stay still long enough for you to adjust lights, sometimes you won’t. Snyder will find an underwater area similar to the one he wants to shoot at, and set up his lights there.

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I’m grabbing one of the most requested Skribit questions, “What’s the best recommendations of lenses to use at a wedding?” Well, first, let me say, “It kind of depends on your budget.” So dear reader, let me start with the basic set-up and move up to the exotic and pricey options.

Let’s talk cameras first. Regardless of whether you are a Canon or Nikon shooter, I would be choosing one of the models with the APS-C sensor size. I’m a Canon shooter and love the Canon 40D. If I were a Nikon shooter, I’d definitely be looking at the new D300. Nikon has finally got pretty darn close to Canon in the low noise area with their new D3 and D300 series of cameras. Why do I love the APS-C size sensors? Because basically I’m cheap. What’s the #1 characteristic of photographers? We are all CHEAP…… ‘nough said here.

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In this day and age it’s possible to create quite beautiful photographs without fully understanding focus and depth of field. As long as your auto focus lens purrs when you hit the button and a little sensor lights up on the intended subject, you’re good to go.  But, really, that’s putting out a bare minimum of effort to control focus in an image. There are certain principles that, when understood, will help you create more consistent images.

As is often the case, I try to give out information that can be understood relatively quickly and utilized immediately. Rather than dive into the deeper complexities of focus I’d like to illustrate a depth of field guide I’m conscious of when shooting portraits. At the end of this post are some suggestions for further reading.

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I LOVE ALL THE DIFFERENT FILMS! When I buy film, I buy 2 or 3 rolls of about 10 different films rather than boxes of the same film. I love to experiment with new films and see how they all result in vastly different photos. Though I’m starting to prefer certain types of film for certain cameras of mine, I’m certainly not excluding any specific type of film. This is another point that digital can’t reproduce with Photoshop.

I LOVE THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF FILM! I’ve pulled off some pretty amazing shots with b/w film — shadows, straight into the sun, and water reflecting sunlight all in the same frame. Right now, digital can’t keep up.

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There seems to be some curiosity about shooting film among younger photographers and it’s reviving the medium (just when you thought the film vs. digital debate was dead, the bones get dug back up!). I enjoy shooting film but never, ever made a head-to-head comparison of film vs. digital on the same day / subject. I’ve been a bit curious so this weekend was a good occasion to have a little imaging shootout.

To be honest, I don’t know how to test those things outside of a lab, where all conditions can be measured equally. But the real world is not a lab, the real world is software pushing and pulling on dynamic ranges and various ways to enhance all of these settings

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Film is a four-letter-word. It’s a hideous part of our photographic past, and we’ll be better off once it’s been eliminated from society. I’m ashamed to admit that I tried film once, but I quickly learned just how disgusting it really is and I’ve been clean ever since that occasion. Just take my word for it — FILM IS BAD (mmmkay). Here are ten things I hate about film:

1. DIRTY DIRTY GRAIN

Seriously, this has to be one of the things I hate most about film. That grain you get all over the photos is absolutely terrible! And the worst part is that you can’t entirely get rid of it with Photoshop — so you’re stuck with it. Those awful little specks show up all over the photo and add unwanted texture and inconsistencies. I don’t know about you, but if I want grain in my photo for “artistic reasons” I’d like to be able to at least have the choice of adding it in during post processing. That’s why digital is the way to go.

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ps: note the satire

Digital photography requires a solid workflow, allowing for professional preparing of digital photo files for the web and print. For the Digital Photography Workflow series, we consulted with a number of experienced professional photographers who are also stellar photo.net members and frequent contributors to the Photo.net Digital Darkroom forum, to walk us through their specific digital photography workflow.

In this article, Patrick Lavoie discusses his unique digital workflow process tailored to meet the needs of his professional career as a photo retoucher and digi-tech working with high-end fashion photographers, the set of software and tools he prefers to use, and goals he accomplishes with his digital workflow.

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I have used all 1/2 inch CPVC pipe and fitting on the whole project. The sizes here will make a nice desktop Light Box, you can make it any size you want or need. Just remember you will need 2 pices the same size for the width and 2 of the same size for the depth. The 4 legs will all be the same. I did not use the cleaner on the pipe before I glued it, I just don’t plan on running any water thought it so I see no need for it. The glue holds just fine without it.

Cut all pieces that you need. After you have cut all your pipe pieces you will need to clean the burrs from the ends of each pipe. The inside is not important but the outside should be clean and free of burrs. Set them on end and check that all the pieces are the same length. If needed sand or file them to the correct length.

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Studio Product Photography Tips Video.

I have always loved using off-camera camera flashes and want to extend my arsenal of different flash modifiers. In this first round I will concentrate on the type you can mount directly on the flash. I may return to umbrellas, softboxes, diffuser screens other larger modifiers later.

I have started assembling a flash modifier kit. You may remember my home made snoot from my coin podcast. Snoots are one kind of modifiers, but there are many more: filters, grids, flags, and gobos to mention some. Diffusers can also be counted, but are on the border if you look at modifiers in a more traditional manner. I will not make this a flash photography 101, but just briefly touch on each type, and then return to each in later posts.

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There are a lot of situations where I “need” RadioPoppers. It’s not for shooting people five feet away who are making me point my camera directly at the sun. You can do that without Poppers. What I do want them for is shooting around corners, where I might have a flash in the next room or in an alley that wouldn’t fire if I was just using the regular i-ttl capabilities of my gear.

Or I may be 50 yards away, trying to shoot a nice portrait at dusk under ambient conditions that change by the moment where I have to balance the flash differently as the twilight fades. Poppers let me do that Even more frequently, I might have strobes set up on stands to shoot a wedding party, and to loosen everyone up I will move in very close to shoot right in their faces (this always cracks up bridesmaids, for some reason) and once you get outside that 30-degree visibility window with normal i-ttl you’re not able to rely on the system to give you good exposures. For some of those situations I can use my Pocket Wizards, and believe me I still will rely very heavily on those in my pantheon of lighting tools.

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How to develop your black and white film video tutorial.

A picture may be worth a thousand words (or even more) but is it worth a thousand dollars? How do you decide what your photography is worth?

Pricing your photography is difficult for many photographers, and there is no “magic formula” for pricing. Photography has many different markets, with different price expectations, and photographers have different skill levels. Despite the wide ranges in the marketplace, there are a number of tools that you can use to establish prices for your work.

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For the small group of photo luddites who still cling to film cameras, praying for a revival of old school technology, it’s time to give up and join the future…before it’s too late! Not only has digital changed the nature of photography and related businesses, but it has also changed the way we work and the type of equipment we use to get the job done.

What good photographer wouldn’t want a couple of 4800 watt second Speedo packs, or half a dozen 102 heads, or 15 heavy duty light stands that can reach to the sky? The answer to that question has abruptly changed and the affects on the bottom line, budgets, travel, hiring assistants etc… have changed with it. For the old-school photographer, still trying to market himself or herself with the tired film-is-better mantra, budgets will soon push these stragglers into the 21st century.

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Chase Jarvis TECH: Photo Shoot In 180 Seconds.

• Getting close is very tricky, so knowledge of the environment is crucial in insect photography. Observe your subject carefully; try to see patterns in their behavior: do the honeybees like one particular flower in your yard best? Stake one out and wait for the subject to come to you.

• There is not just one bee or fly out there. Remember, you are surrounded by millions of insects every day and if the first one you see gets away, there’ll be another soon enough.
• Patience is the key. Think of insects like they are two year old kids running around without a break. But everyone, even bumblebees and toddlers eventually needs a break, so that’s when to make your photos. It may only last for a few moments, so be ready.

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VANCOUVER, CANADA, AUGUST 14th, 2008 – PhotographyBB announced today, the release of the seventh edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine. The PhotographyBB Online Magazine sets the stage for the future of free information distribution, offering its readers: Digital Photography tips and techniques, DSLR camera function training, and tutorials for all of the major post processing software suites such as Adobe® Photoshop™, Photoshop Lightroom™, Photoshop Elements™, Dreamweaver™, and Corel Painter Pro.

Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram had these comments regarding this recent release:

“Continuing in the growth of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine, Issue #7 has exceeded my expectations. This month we are continuing several multi-part columns, such as our series on HDR Photography Techniques, Darkroom Photography, our Photography 101 class, and our brand new Lightroom™ tutorial series. Additionally, we are taking a photographic look at London, one of the world’s most spectacular cities. Our magazine started out as a small project aimed at helping DSLR beginners to improve their techniques and to learn more about digital SLR photography. However, our journey up to our current seventh issue had seen us become one of the top digital photography resources for beginners. We just launched an ongoing photography challenge, in which the top 3 winners will have their images published in the magazine every month. Many thanks to the readers for coming back each month, and my hat goes off to all of our contributing writers for their quality contributions to the PhotographyBB digital photography community.”

By way of download in either PDF or ZIP formats, PhotographyBB continues its trend through the future of free downloadable magazine distribution. In a completely ad-free format, each issue contains informative and educational tutorials for amateur and intermediate level photographers.

In addition to articles which aide beginners in getting the most from their DSLR cameras, the PhotographyBB Online Magazine also features useful and applicable tutorials on how to use post-processing tools such as Photoshop, Elements, and more, to build on digital photography post-processing skills.

PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website at: http://www.photographyBB.com/magazine

PhotographyBB was founded in Oct, 2006, and is a division of PowerButton Central (2004). For more information, visit the PhotographyBB website at: http://www.photographybb.com or by email at: magazine@photographybb.com

About the importance of photography at real estate sites. “It’s so important to have photos that are professionally presented,” says Rosalind Clarke, a senior sales associate with the Corcoran Group. “If things look shoddy or unprofessional, not only are buyers going to find the property unappealing, they’re going to associate you with being shoddy and unprofessional.”

A Realtors’ association survey found that when it comes to web features that buyers consider “very useful,” 83 percent cited pictures, 81 percent cited detailed property information and 60 percent cited virtual tours. (I bet the tours figure is low because few sites offer them. I’d much rather see a video walkthrough of a place than a couple of still shots.)

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While down in Florida last month, I found out that my parents’ next-door neighbors (and good friends) were selling their house. I was a little bummed, as they are good folks and you hate to see them leave.

But I was even more bummed when I saw the point-and-shoot specials the real estate agent had thrown up on the “for sale” page.

We only had one working flash. But certainly we could do better than that…

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If you have ever shopped for a flash or read a review, you may have noticed a section of the spec called the guide number or GN. While this value is a measurement of power that the flash has and allows you to compare flash models, is this number useful to you at all?

In this article we dig into the guide number and see how we can use this number help us dial in our flash and camera settings using some math instead of just guessing and retrying until you get what you want. Using the information presented in this article you should be able to use the guide number to calculate the best f/stop setting as well as determine the maximum range that your flash can be effective at.

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Point your camera at a subject, check the meter, and press the shutter release button. The camera clicks. Later, you review your shots on the camera’s LCD display and take a look at the histogram. Both the meter and histogram show you versions of how your images are exposed and both are quite useful. But while they do have a lot in common, they work quite differently. This week we’ll take a look at how they compare.

The meter registers whatever you point it at. It only knows what it sees right now and has no memory or what you pointed it at even a moment ago. It also doesn’t see anything outside its field of view, an area that may not even cover the entire frame depending on how you have it set. As a spot meter, it may only see a one degree circle in the center of the frame, totally oblivious to whether anything beyond that is over or underexposed. Even on matrix or “evaluative” metering, the whole frame may factor in to the exposure calculation, but not every part equally. It does all this in an attempt to help you emphasize what you think matters most in a shot while not totally neglecting everything else.

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The advent of high quality and inexpensive digital cameras has made it easier than ever to learn the basics of photography. The immediate feedback you get by being able to preview your images (via the LCD screen) in relationship to your exposure settings is invaluable.

In the film days (not that long ago!), photographers had to take notes while in the field so that they could compare the results after the images were processed. It could take days or weeks before a film-photographer could process their images and examine their work. This could be sped up slightly if you had your own lab. Mistakes in exposure and lighting were expensive. New photographers breaking into the field faced these same challenges. Learning photography was usually a tedious and expensive endeavor.

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For part four we are going to look at making simple changes to our photos in post production. We are going to change the composition of our photos shot on pure white or pure black. We will also look at a way to add some color back into the background on the images shot on pure white.

The first thing we are going to do is change our composition. When I’m shooting on a pure white or pure black background, I shoot 95% of those images vertically. I fill the frame with my subject as much as I can. I want to maximize the image area they take on the sensor of my camera so that I have more options for enlarging the photo later if I want. If I want a lot of negative space in the final photo, I’ll add that in Photoshop later because it is easy to create white or black space and still have a full frame of the subject. Imagine the area of your camera’s sensor for a moment with the photo above on it as it is captured…

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I normally talk about the importance of using a flash when taking shots into the sun to give sufficient light to add features to your subject but there are also times when making your subject featureless apart from their outline against a bright background can be most effective – or when in other words silhouette is a worth exploring.

Silhouettes are a wonderful way to convey drama, mystery, emotion and mood to the viewers of your photos and often stand out in an album because of the combination of their simplicity but also the story that they convey. I love them because they don’t give the viewer of a clear picture of everything but leave part of the image up

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For most of you that own a DSRL, you’ll have a built in flash to help you light your subject. So why, oh why would you even bother spending your hard earned cash on another flash that goes right on top of the one you’re used to using? Isn’t it overkill?

The answer to this is yes…. and no. Yes, if you just slap you new speedlight on your camera and use it like your built in flash. All you’ll get out of it is more power. And even then, if you use it in TTL (auto) mode with close subjects, you might as well sell it on Ebay (or to me ). Ok, so why get a speedlight then? Here are my top 7 reasons for owning them.

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Studio portrait photography with one light source video.

Studio lighting basics for shiny metal and reflections.

We’ve taken our white seamless BG and made it pure white. The task set before us now is to get a few more visual options out of that white seamless paper or simple white wall we are shooting against.

When I got my first studio space I had few resources to fill it up with backgrounds and stuff that studios should have. The very first thing I bought was a roll of white seamless paper. I had to start using it with two lights. One on the subject and one on the background. That’s all well and good but I needed to have the ability to get as many looks out of that one background. These are some of the simple and effective techniques I still use to get some different looks from a single background.

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Filters are basically tools to modify the quality of light hitting your sensor. They used to play a more integral role in photography before digital cameras came along. Nowadays, a lot of people discount the importance of photographic filters thinking that they can replicate any effect they want during post-processing. This is not entirely true. There are some filters that can never be replicated on the computer no matter how good you are with Photoshop.

Filter mounting refers to how the filter attaches to your lens. The two most common filter mountings are threaded and the square filter system. Threaded filters are circular in shape and just screw on directly to the lens. Square filters require a filter holder to attach the filter to the lens.

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part II

Want to photograph a moving subject so that it’s not blurred and yet preserves a clear sense of motion, rather than seeming frozen in space? Try stroboscopic flash. Like high-speed flash syncing and wireless TTL flash, it’s one of those seemingly byzantine flash techniques that most photographers never get around to mastering. Here’s what you need to know.

Stroboscopic flash uses multiple flash pops to capture a moving subject relatively sharply and repeatedly as it travels across a single frame. A feature of many high-end flash units, stroboscopic flash requires working at night or under very low ambient light.

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Classic Three Light Portrait Video

I felt challenged today to see if I could shoot a full length portrait on a plain old white seamless background with a single battery powered light source. There is this thing I do with barebulb flashes that blows the background to white and I use an adjoining wall near the subject to catch light from the bare bulb to bounce back to light the subject’s face.

The challenge I gave myself today was to shoot without a light stand. I figured I would try placing the bare bulb flash on the ground behind my client and use those bi-fold cutter doors as reflectors to catch the light from the flash and bounce it back to the front of the subject. I taped the Sunpak 120J and Pocket Wizard with white tape to further conceal the rig in case I was in the frame. The challenge was to not have to remove anything in Photoshop.Here is the taped rig…

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Most Digital (and film) cameras today offer a nice feature called Manual Focus.  This has not always been the case. The older more experienced folks remember that in the good old film days there was a big excitement when auto focus was introduced as a new feature.

There are many reasons to use Auto Focus – it is fast, accurate, and let you, the photographer concentrate on composition, lighting, framing and other technical and artistic factor of your picture.

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PHOTOSHELTER CEO COMMENTS ON PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT BETWEEN GETTY IMAGES & YAHOO! FLICKR

Announcement validates PhotoShelter’s approach to stock photography; Counsels Flickr photographers to mind the details on exclusivity and compensation

New York, NY, July 9, 2008 – PhotoShelter Inc., the leading online destination where more than 37,000 photographers sell stock photography and access powerful solutions for e-commerce and image storage, today released a statement from CEO Allen Murabayashi, commenting on the recent partnership announcement between Getty Images and photo sharing website flickr. Murabayashi directly linked the strategic move by Getty and flickr to the positive, tangible impact that PhotoShelter’s business model is having on the stock photo industry, and cautioned photographers to carefully scrutinize the details of Getty’s contract terms before agreeing to exclusive sales rights and ceding as much as 80% of every sale to Getty.

“The Getty-flickr partnership validates that PhotoShelter is driving positive changes in the stock photo industry and is threatening Getty’s domination at the high end of the market. We entered this industry with a mission to change it after seeing how industry giants like Getty have grown increasingly out of touch with buyer needs and ever more exploitative of photographers’ rights and royalties. Our solution: offer image buyers new levels of freshness and diversity by cultivating a global community of photographers, giving them an open, commercial platform to sell their work as stock, and ensuring they get a fair deal on every sale. The structure and timing of this announcement validates that we are achieving our mission. Getty sees a successful approach that compromises their market share, margins, and control of the industry. They are tapping into the flickr community to find image diversity and new talent. In other words, they’re searching for exactly what is occurring every day at PhotoShelter. As we close the first half of 2008 with strong growth in photographers joining our movement and big ticket licensing deals to large clients that have traditionally bought through Getty, we view this partnership as a logical move by a threatened industry leader..

“Over the past two years, Getty has approached us on multiple occasions with a similar partnership deal. We rejected Getty because we felt it was bad for photographers on many fronts and would not allow us to accomplish our mission of providing diversity to buyers and commercial independence to photographers, by sharing with them a greater percentage of every sale.

Getty’s Fine Print
“Flickr users should be aware that the standard Getty contract terms give Getty exclusivity on selling their images, enables Getty to control the pricing and usage terms, and guarantees them pennies on the dollar for every sale. Sharing 20% to 40% of every sale with the photographer is simply a raw deal. When the agent for the sale earns a larger share of revenue than the artist who produced the work, that’s just inappropriate. Through PhotoShelter, photographers earn 70% of every sale and have access to the fastest growing set of commercial licensing opportunities to ad agencies, magazine and book publishers, corporations and leading design firms. This could mean a difference of thousands of dollars on a single sale.

The standard Getty contract also prohibits a photographer from selling an image elsewhere, and gives Getty control to dictate pricing and usage terms. Through PhotoShelter, photographers set their pricing and usage terms, and are not bound to exclusively list images here. We are promoting photographers’ commercial success and don’t seek ways to control or restrict that success.

Image Buyers Embrace PhotoShelter
“Image buyers have embraced PhotoShelter’s approach because they demand the ultimate in diversity – fresh, high-quality images being replenished by thousands of photographers across the world on a daily basis. The only true way to achieve this is to cultivate deep relationships with a truly global community of photographers that are focused on commercial success, provide photographers with both a fair deal and the right incentives to continue to produce quality work, and share with them the tools and insights that push them to achieve their full potential in the business and art of stock photography. We believe image buyers will see this new partnership as a half hearted step toward offering greater diversity while battling the competitive threat posed by the organic community we are growing.

“In an attempt to address changing buyer demand and tap into a new source of content – this new arrangement still perpetuates Getty’s old-world business model that’s based on exploiting photographers and providing the minimum selection necessary to buyers, while focusing on eliminating competition. This partnership falls short of addressing the real movement—that’s changing the industry for the better.”

About PhotoShelter Inc.
PhotoShelter is an online photo community where 37,000 of the world’s photographers find new opportunities and liberation from the traditional model of selling their work.

The PhotoShelter Collection is a global stock photography marketplace where photographers from 130 different countries contribute over 4,000 new images daily for rights-managed and royalty-free licensing. Through PhotoShelter, photographers keep an unprecedented 70% of every sale, compared to the industry standard of 35%. The Collection provides image buyers with a freshness that results when accomplished pros and undiscovered hobbyists share their distinct perspectives in an edited collection designed to add diversity and authenticity to any project.

PhotoShelter Personal Archive is the leading online solution that enables independent photographers to succeed in selling their images directly to clients. Personal Archive provides state-of-the-art tools for image storage and protection, searchable galleries and slideshows and ecommerce capabilities for easy website integration and instant online sales of prints and licenses. A true solution designed to make the business of photography easier to manage – Personal Archive offers security, global accessibility, and advanced marketing tools so photographers can make their images work harder for them.

Sunsets and sunrises are an inspirational subject for any photographer. In fact, a good sunset photo is often the reason many people become interested in nature photography. You don’t need to have a great camera or professional training; almost anyone with a camera can take great sunset photos.

The great news is, good sunset photos are surprisingly easy to take. In my gallery, I don’t actually display many sunset photographs. You see, they are hard to sell, because almost everybody has a few great sunsets they have photographed themselves. Rather than buy mine, they are more likely to grab their camera and show me the picture they took the night before!

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With slow shutter speed (otherwise known as long exposure), the elements of time and motion are introduced into your photography. We’re going to run down some quick suggestions and examples on some ways to get you started, but before that, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• The tripod is your friend, especially when shooting with slow shutter speeds.
• Long exposures create noise. Set your camera’s ISO to the lowest possible setting.
• Mind the light. You will not always be able to use long shutter speeds, especially if the light is too strong since you will lose detail in the highlights.

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“Most portraits are taken with the camera at (or around) the eye level of the subject. While this is good common sense – completely changing the angle that you shoot from can give your portrait a real WOW factor.”

“It is amazing how much the direction of your subject’s eyes can impact an image. Most portraits have the subject looking down the lens – something that can create a real sense of connection between a subject and those viewing the image. But there are a couple of other things to try:”

portrait tips I

portrait tips II

One of the most important things your photo should have is an ability to hold your viewers attention. There are a lot of techniques that can be used to help you compose your shot so that people will spend more than a second looking at it. Besides keeping your viewers focused on your photo, the techniques below can also help emphasis your main subject.

There are many ways to hold your viewer’s attention. Here are five that you can easily start off with:

1. VIGNETTE

A vignette is a gradual loss of light and picture quality towards the edge of the photo due to poor lens construction. Although it is considered a lens aberration, a vignette is helpful in drawing the viewer’s attention towards the center of the photo. It also adds character to a photo since it makes it look like it was taken with an old camera.

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Camera Meters and Histograms Video

Umbrella or softbox in the studio video.

It seems computers can do most anything with an image now a days. So why bother with all those cumbersome filters? The answer is that most of them are still superior to the techniques used with a computer. Plus, if the image is more accurate coming out of the camera, less time and effort will be needed in post processing.

Lastly, understanding the play of light and filtration is an important cornerstone to understanding photography, which is simply put, capturing light.Bumping up contrast and adjusting color is as easy as a couple of mouse clicks nowadays. My goal in this post is to compare the two techniques and let you draw your own conclusion. Knowing that good polarizing filters cost more than $100, I hope you can be a little more informed if you wish to go that route.

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Fireworks Displays are something that evoke a lot of emotion in people as they are not only beautiful and spectacular to watch but they also are often used to celebrate momentous occasions.

Perhaps the most important tip is to secure your digital camera to something that will ensure it doesn’t move during the taking of your shots. This is especially important in photographing fireworks simply because you’ll be using longer shutter speeds which will not only capture the movement of the fireworks but any movement of the camera itself. The best way to keep your camera still is with a tripod

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The image that came straight out of your camera is probably not good enough to be sold
Since the advent of photography, photographers have toiled over their images after the image was taken. In the film days, this meant hours in the darkroom. Today, it means Photoshop. That doesn’t mean you need to manipulate the image beyond the point of recognizability (in fact, that’s usually a sign of a bad photographer), but it does mean you need to understand about the basics of contrast, curves and levels.

Take time to retouch skin blemishes, fix fabric wrinkles, and remove the stray twig or gum wrapper.  Advertising agencies will pay more for these images, not only because they’ll save retouching money, but because they just look better in the first place. Image sales are all about perception. If the image is perceived as being professional, the price will be received as being reasonable.

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Setting up a remote camera video.

Black and white photography is a rewarding and challenging field of artistic photography. Even people who don’t care about photography can find themselves drawn to a great black and white image. As a photographer, black and white can allow you to discover a whole new character in a familiar subject.

For many digital photographers, black and white photography is nothing more than colour photography converted by software. It is a matter for your own judgement whether this is effective for your photographs.

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“This is a DIY project I have had in mind for a while now. When I purchased my studio flash heads, they came with a couple of small softboxes. Although I prefer to use translucent umbrellas whenever I can (small, light, easy to transport), there are times when a softbox is a better solution. While I could use the studio head softboxes in some circumstances with my small strobes, there was no way of effectively holding the flash in place without a lot of jerry rigging. To this end, I wanted to design a softbox that would be light, reasonably strong and durable, adaptable (double diffuser, grid attachment, barn doors etc.) at a later date and have a quick and easy way to mount the flash.”

“While I achieved most of these goals, the finished softbox was a bit heavier than I would have liked and as is usually the case with these projects I figured out a number of modifications I would like to incorporate into my next attempt after it was finished. For now, I think I will label this as a ‘prototype’ and hopefully come up with something better for the mark II version.”

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“One of the most impressive things about professional photography is the range of people who take it up. From teenagers skipping college and shooting bands between trips to exotic locations, to former surf fans who have found a way to turn a couple of hobbies into a one full-time job, the background of the people who choose to generate an income from images can sometimes be as interesting as the pictures they take.”

“With a Ph.D. in physics from Moscow State University though, Elena Elisseeva might well have the most impressive pre-camera resume of all. After working in a number of research and corporate jobs in Canada, she eventually turned to a passion she had enjoyed since her teens. She took up stock photography full time.”

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I’ve been receiving more and more emails asking for information about the softbox I use with the speedlites.

Several brands offer this package, I opted for the Chimera set as it was complete and had a larger box than the other brand at the time of purchase.

So, here are some details about what I’m using.

As you can see it is the Chimera PRO II XS softbox that I’m using.

Nice adapter ring is within the package I bought.FIrst time you might need to get the hang of it but after a few shoots you’ll be used to it and able to set the box up in less than 5 minutes.

It has an extra reflective screen for the inside, you can attach it via velcro :

Are you fired up, ready to go, can’t wait to get on site and take the first shot. I hope so. Because if you are not, think about changing jobs – your giving the rest of us a bad name. Too many photographers approach a wedding as just a way to make a little extra money. I call it beer money. It’s that extra bit of cash in their pockets from a weekend job. Other photographers may complain, “Oh, I’ve got another darn wedding to shoot tomorrow.” If it’s a darn wedding, then why are they shooting it to begin with? Hey, we are back to that beer money mentality again.

“Folks, if we are not going to give our clients about 110% of our energies, effort, talent, and creativity all the time, then it is time for us to look for work elsewhere. Sure there are a lot of photographers that love what they do. They are constantly wanting to try different ideas and put a new twist or creativity into their shots. Man, we have to do just that every single wedding if we want to stay fresh for ourselves and give our clients our best result.”

continue at DigitalProTalk

The philosophy I have when shooting on pure white is that I want to light the BG and the subject independently from each other. Meaning; The light on the subject isn’t making a change to the exposure on the background and the light on the background isn’t making a change to exposure on the subject. As I talked about before, those cutters on the sides of the set are key to making this happen. The next consideration is keeping the subject a fair distance away from the background as well.

In this first example my subject, Thomas, is about 11 feet away from the white seamless hanging behind him. The closer he gets to the background, the more likely it is that light reflecting off of the seamless is going to add exposure to him in the final image. The further I get my subject away from the seamless, the less light coming in from the background will get to him. I’ll talk more about that specifically in a bit.

continue at Zarias

“Richard Avedon, Herb Ritts, and countless other great photographers have rocked the white background for decades. I recently went to a huge bookstore here in Atlanta and counted the number of magazine covers shot with a simple white background like we are going to investigate here. 87 COVERS SHOT ON WHITE OR A VARIATION OF A WHITE BACKGROUND. Eighty-seven magazine covers at one book store. Its everywhere and it is everywhere because it is simple and effective and makes your subjects pop. It beats the bloody hell out of any wrinkled up grey/blue/brown muslin any day of the week.

Walk into a Target store this week and look at the in-store signage. How did I learn to shoot like this? Because this is how we shot JC Penney’s catalogue clearance images when I shot for them. Need to add text and other artwork to a photo? A simple white background lets you do so all day long.”

continue at Zarias

580ex Speedlite flash in softbox, triggered by master 550ex speedlite flash.

continue for set-up and additional photos / speedlite articles.

Canon 1ds mark II camera, 24-70 mm lens.

Speedlite on manual power, 1/2

Shutter speed : 1/100 sec – aperture : f/7 – iso 200

Shooting with speedlites on the beach video

“I’ve had a number of posts, email, and even phone calls from friends, asking about when they would need a permit to shoot, and how to go about getting one.

This isn’t an easy question to answer, because every city and every location has its own set of rules (or lack thereof) and most times the biggest problem isn’t getting a permit; it’s finding out whether you need a permit or not in the first place.”

“Who needs a permit?
Again, there is no hard and fast rule about who needs a permit, but generally if you’re shooting in a city, from the sidewalk, with a handheld camera (even a professional DSLR), you don’t need a permit. However, the moment you decide to unfold a tripod, in most big cities, it instantly becomes “permit time,” because now this has just gone from a tourist with a nice camera, to a commercial photo shoot.”

continue at ScottKelby

It might not be everyone’s goal but just about anyone who has ever sold an image will have considered it at least briefly. Once you discover that your camera can be a cash machine, the thought of trading in the nine-to-five for days of professional shooting is never far behind.

After all, you’d be getting paid to do something that you currently do for pleasure.

But there’s a big difference, of course, between photographing for fun — and enjoying the odd income from it — and relying on your camera to pay the mortgage and feed the family. Starting any new business is hard, demands some very specific knowledge and often includes an expensive on-the-job education.

That’s especially true of professional photography which now has plenty of tempting roads leading in but is harder than ever to stay in full-time.

Only 10 Percent of your Time is Spent Behind the Camera

continue at PhotoPreneur

Firstcall, the mail-order photographic specialist, has launched a new and unique service that allows photographers the ability to print their images taken using a digital camera, in a traditional way in their own darkrooms.

This revolutionary approach to fulfilling the needs of photographers arose after much market research involving the frustration of photographers who still shoot using film but increasingly use digital cameras too. By using this service a “common denominator” is established making it possible to carry on printing in a darkroom regardless of original.

Firstcall has invested in a £15,000 PCR8 CCG Film Recorder that writes JPEG or TIFF files to 35mm film using a precision (3 pass) laser which then creates negatives equal to the original resolution of the film.

The service involves sending a CD to Firstcall, containing up to 36 images, and an unprocessed black and white Ilford film is returned for developing and printing at the customer’s home. The compete service, including postage, costs £15 and the CD with “burnt” film is returned by next day post.

Further Details

Transfer your digital images on to film for use in your own darkroom – a revolutionary new service

When teaching photography it is the ability to show the effect of light when making an image that most photographers agree is diminished considerably when printing digitally.

In an ideal world you would be able to take a digital image and print it in the darkroom thereby getting total creativity in a way that a digital printer is not capable.

Well now that option is available, at prices never before possible, due to our investment that makes the dream a reality. Mixing digital and film images for printing in your darkroom is now both easy and available.

The process focuses on a high-technology CCG Film Recorder which we have purchased and the idea couldn’t be simpler. Simply send us (up to 36) of your digital images in TIFF or JPEG format on a CD, they can be black and white or colour and we will record them onto Ilford film for you and then return the film and CD by return post.

The film recording of digital imaging is done by a precise set of lasers (3 pass) to a standard, equal to that of the resolution of the film itself. In other words it is like copying the digital images onto to film at full 35mm resolution.

The reasons for launching this new service should also help the education world considerably.

A cost saving is the most obvious. Assuming a digital A3 inkjet print costs around £5 to print when you cost inks and paper and outsourcing printing on RA4 using a Fuji Frontier will cost about £6. Normal processing of a black and white 12 x 16 print costs you only about £0.90 (Kentmere paper and Fotospeed chemicals) so the COST SAVING IS THERFORE AT LEAST 80% when compared to digital printing.

Other advantages include:
1. Allows you to mix digital and film-based images with common printing.
2. It makes no difference if you shoot in colour or monochrome. With digital you can convert colour to B&W easily.
3. Decreases the concern about falling numbers of film-based SLR cameras available.
4. You only need to send the best images for converting so there’s no waste when compared to straight film.
5. It is easy to combine and archive work onto one film.
6. Most work remains in-house so you retain 100% control over your images.
7. The service “future-proofs” a photographic department to carry on using the equipment and processes it is used to.

What to do. Simply send your CD with your images and complete the order form on page 161 or send us your address and payment details in the normal way you place an order. We will return it along with an unprocessed Ilford Pan 100 film for you to develop normally (if you prefer Pan 400 please indicate this at the time of ordering). All film is returned next day by 1st Class mail (volume permitting).

The cost of the transfer service is £15 per roll of film for normal customers and £10 for educational customers. Prices include VAT and FREE postage. This means each image costs as little as 28p and can then be processed exactly how you like in the darkroom. Using the A3 analogy, even adding 28p to the 90p, means you are still saving a huge amount when compared to normal digital printing.

Firstcall Photographic

Canon 1ds mark II camera – 24-70 L lens @ 57 mm

1/160 sec shutter speed – f / 5.6 aperture – ISO 200

Shooting photos on the beach with a slave 580ex flash , triggered by master 550ex flash.

ETTL + 1 1/3 – Flash Exposure Lock on face area.Ambient light is underexposed.

continue for video and outtakes.

Download video

Photographing in the woods with Bert Stephani

When it comes to photography – practice the hard stuff. Get your camera off “P” for Professional!! Try and practice some lighting techniques you have never tried before. Learn and practice different ways of photographing the bride and groom. Try different or unconventional light sources. I watched a presentation by John Solano at the Nikon booth, showing how he uses a flashlight to add a cool touch of impact to his images. I bought one that evening on-line and can’t wait to give it a try.

And why not? I might find that I love the results!! Or even more exciting I might find a new way to use this tool, just from practicing. We constantly need to be practicing the hard stuff and more importantly, seeking out the new and the hard stuff to practice.

continue at Digitalprotalk

Choose a career in movies and everyone will tell you that your first years will be spent waiting tables. Set your sights on medicine and you know you’ll have to spend four years in undergraduate digs, and several more sweating through medical school.

Aim at building a professional photography business though, and you might think it’s as simple as buying a camera, renting a studio and taking bookings from the lines of people hoping that you’ll shoot for them.

The business side of photography, when it hits, can be a little shocking.

The first part of that lesson lies in the Parks Canada’s decision to call a photographer in the hope that he would enter the running for a commission. Josh started shooting to document his own outdoor sports activities and it was those pictures that led him to study photography… and to his first professional job.

continue at PhotoPreneur

“Not everyone gets a second chance with a team of Navy Seals. But, for photographer Morgan Silk, inspiration is hard to shake. It wasn’t enough that he’d shot the special forces as they reenacted a hostage rescue scene.Silk wanted to get down from the director’s platform, away from the commercial constraints and create his own intense, individual portraits”

.

“They may talk like anybody else, but Navy Seals sport some pretty intense gear. Silk wanted to focus on the power of their weapons, their special training. In order to let these elements emerge, Silk kept the setup pretty basic, blending natural and artificial light. “I just wanted to concentrate on the subject. I didn’t want to complicate it.” Silk shot with a Hasselblad H2 with a Phaseone P45+ back tethered via Capture One software to a MacBook Pro. He used a 80mm lens and an exposure of f/11 at 1/60th of a second. The lighting was straightforward: a beauty dish directly above the camera acted as the key light,”

continue at F-Stop

This lesson shows a very effective method for shooting a full-length fashion shot in the studio using strobe lights and large soft boxes. This shot was lit with a 5-foot OctoDome³ and strobe as the main light, a large LiteDome and strobe as the fill light, and a focusable continuous light as a background light.

topics covered

• One light with a bounce fill
• Basic two light solutions
• Using Dome accessories
• Spot lighting the background
• Manipulating strobe and continuous lighting simultaneously

continue at PhotoFlex

Using a Ring Flash

When it comes to photographing jewelry, there are different approaches to consider with regards to how each particular piece will come across.

Your choice of background is one consideration. Another is whether or not to include props within your shots. Still another is establishing a lighting style that is either soft or higher in contrast.

This demonstration shows how softboxes can be configured to achieve various contrast levels when shooting jewelry.

continue at PhotoFlex

Sharpness describes the clarity of detail in a photo, and can be a valuable creative tool for emphasizing texture.  Proper photographic and post-processing technique can go a long way towards improving sharpness, although sharpness is ultimately limited by your camera equipment, image magnification and viewing distance.  Two fundamental factors contribute to the perceived sharpness of an image: resolution and acutance.

“For digital cameras, resolution is limited by your digital sensor, whereas acutance depends on both the quality of your lens and the type of post-processing.  Acutance is the only aspect of sharpness which is still under your control after the shot has been taken, so acutance is what is enhanced when you digitally sharpen an image (see Sharpening using an “Unsharp Mask”).”

continue at Cambridgeincolour

“Photographing and processing smoke can be a frustrating experience. The guide covers everything from properly setting up a mini studio to processing your images in Photoshop. Both web and PDF versions of the guide are available.

“For first timers, photographing smoke can be an extremely frustrating experience! Capturing delicate wisps of smoke is as challenging as it is rewarding. The key to success is having a basic understanding of the overall setup; that is, the camera in relationship to the lighting and background. Fortunately, you don’t need a lot of expensive photography gear to capture exceptional shots. In this guide I walk you through the process of setting up a mini studio to maximize your time while getting great shots.”

continue at PaxtonPrints

“Maybe you are a professional portrait photographer trying to separate yourself from the high school senior market or maybe you are a parent just wanting to impress your children. Either way, this simple project can be great fun and produce professional results for photographers of all skill levels.”

“A couple of months ago I was doing a portrait session in the studio with an 8 year old boy. I was shooting him with his football on a high key white background. I asked him to throw the ball up in the air. As he did, I fired off a shot. After reviewing the images, I noticed what a great job the strobes did in stopping the movement of the ball. It got me thinking that this could come in handy when shooting high school seniors.”

continue at PopFoto

” One of the most common approaches in portrait lighting is to use the softest possible light and to maintain good detail in both the highlight and the shadow areas of the photograph. This kind of lighting usually involves more than one light and the effect is often a highly flattering, idealized look. In this lesson we decided to step away from the standard technique of portrait lighting by attempting to create a more dramatic look. ”

“In the following examples, we used only one light source, but varied the type of light modification being used from one shot to the next. One important point to remember is that none of these shots are meant to be the right answer. Rather each one serves as an example of the quality of light that you can achieve using these different lighting tools.”

continue at PhotoFlex

“Bit depth quantifies how many unique colors are available in an image’s color palette in terms of the number of 0′s and 1′s, or “bits,” which are used to specify each color.  This does not mean that the image necessarily uses all of these colors, but that it can instead specify colors with that level of precision. ”

“For a grayscale image, the bit depth quantifies how many unique shades are available.  Images with higher bit depths can encode more shades or colors since there are more combinations of 0′s and 1′s available.”

continue at Cambridgeincolour

continue at Cambridgeincolour

“The Gray Card is a process control benchmark for color management. Without one our camera, monitor and printer are only as good as our eye’s ability to discern color, and our eyes are easily fooled. Absent any external reference our eyes will accept a wide range of variation in color as being normal. That’s due in part because in real life we experience things under a wide range of light conditions.”

“For lack of a better tool the arbiter of when color is neutral for most photographers is the toolbar eyedropper tool in Photoshop. It should be set to 5 x 5 sample size for measurements which will average out any pixel-to-pixel variation. When a photo contains an image of a gray card which is known to be neutral, an eye dropper reading on the card will reveal from the RGB values how accurately the color balance in the camera was.”

continue at super.nova.org

* “Your camera is light and compact enough that you have it with you at all times.
* You have about as good a lens as he does; like most first-time SLR owners, he hasn’t bothered to upgrade from the cheap low-contrast zoom lens that was included in a kit with his camera body.

* He is using the pop-up flash on his camera as his primary light. You would never be that uncreative (at least not after reading the rest of this article).
* Your camera has a better system for combining light from the flash with ambient light (“fill-flash”).”

continue at Photo.net

“This is the guide I wish someone had written for me when I started 3 months ago. It’s much shorter than photography books that cover the same topics because it’s a computer geek’s guide. I skip right over the basics of using a camera because you can guess your way through the basics or even read your camera manual (wimp!).

I skip any advice about composition or artistic technique because there are better guides that cover those (though I might give it a shot next month). I use terms without defining them because I assume you can use Wikipedia if you need more detail.”

“Focal length is the most obvious way in which a lens affects a photo: it controls the angle of view, and hence how much of the scene is included in your photo. The reason that it is measured in focal length rather than degrees, is that the angle of view yielded by a certain focal length depends on the size of the camera’s image sensor.”

continue at BernieCode

Focus :

“Cameras today offer a wide range of focus options. Manual, semi-manual and an array of automatic methods. Although it is nice to have variety, more complicated options often confuse new photographers, who expect the camera to always know where and how to focus. Luckily, with digital cameras, you can immediately see if your shot came out well. The problem is that with small preview screens, it is often difficult to tell if something is slightly off-focus. The best strategy is to make sure you understand how focusing works and how to optimize it. Simply put: don’t rely solely on the camera to focus.”

Aperture :

“Another issue with unsharp photos may be your aperture setting, which indirectly controls Depth Of Field (DOF). DOF is essentially how deep the focus is. The camera may be set up to only focus on a shallow depth, rather than the whole landscape and some or all of what you are trying to shoot is out of that range. To fix this, either set your camera to landscape mode, or close the aperture to f8 or more. Keep in mind that that even though you broaden the depth of field by doing this, most lenses may drop in performance with smaller apertures, leading to overall less sharp photos.”

continue at NYfalls

The Rule of Thirds :

“The Rule of Thirds gets trotted out more often than any other in all types of photography and is one of the first rules of composition taught to most photography students. While sometimes it can feel a little cliche it can also be a very effective technique in landscapes (although keep in mind that breaking this (and other rules) can also produce dramatic and interesting shots).”

Framing Images

While adding points of interest to a foreground is an important technique for adding interest to landscape shots – a similar technique is to ‘frame’ the shot by adding interest to other parts of the edges of an image.Perhaps the most common way of framing a landscape shot is to include an overhanging branch in the upper section of a shot. Similarly framing a shot with a bridge might work.

continue at DigitalPhotographySchool

“The camera metering system reacts to the amount of light reflected from the scene in the viewfinder and computes the camera settings needed to make a nominally correct exposure. What is adjusted depends on the mode the camera is in:”

“Metering systems can also apply some program logic to make assumptions about the content of a scene and its relative importance. Consider two landscape photos with sky at the top. In the first the sky fills the upper 2/3 of the photo and the darker foreground 1/3. In the second the sky only fills the upper 1/3 and the darker foreground 2/3. Now based solely on how the photo is framed, odds are that in the first photo which is mostly sky it is most important, but in the second which is mostly foreground.”

continue at Super.Nova

“The physical law of light states that “the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence“. The angle of incidence is the angle that light is striking a surface. The angle of reflection is the angle that the light is reflected, or bounced”

“To get a correct reflection in your subject, you need to know how to position your reflector to direct the light from your original light source.”

continue at PhotoFlex

“Every photographer wants both maximum resolution and maximum depth of field. But unfortunately these two demands can be mutually exclusive. As you stop down the aperture on a lens the light passing through tends to diffract, reducing sharpness, though DOF is increased. The reason for this is that the edges of the diaphragm blades in the lens tend to disperse the light.”

“At larger apertures this diffracted light is only a small percentage of the total amount of light hitting the sensor or film, but as the aperture is stopped down the amount of diffracted light becomes a larger percentage of the total amount of light being recorded.”

continue at Luminous Landscape

“Light Trails continue to be popular subject matter for many photographers and they can actually be a great training ground for those wanting to get their cameras out of manual mode and to experiment with shooting in low light at longer exposures.”

“Following area few examples of light trail shots as well as some practical starting point tips for those wanting to give it a go.There is not just one particular type of camera and kit that you’ll need to capture light trails – however it is important to have a camera that allows you to have some control over exposure settings – particularly those that allow you to choose longer shutter speeds.”

continue at DigitalPhotographySchool

“The RAW file format is digital photography’s equivalent of a negative in film photography: it contains untouched, “raw” pixel information straight from the digital camera’s sensor. The RAW file format has yet to undergo demosaicing, and so it contains just one red, green, or blue value at each pixel location.

Digital cameras normally “develop” this RAW file by converting it into a full color JPEG or TIFF image file, and then store the converted file in your memory card. Digital cameras have to make several interpretive decisions when they develop a RAW file, and so the RAW file format offers you more control over how the final JPEG or TIFF image is generated. ”

continue at Cambridgeincolour

“Learn how light works to model a 3D face in 2D using window light before spending a lot of money on lighting gear. It costs little beyond your time and will will save you money in the long run because you’ll understand intuitively what you need and be able to get better results with less. ”

“You need a window with soft indirect light. A north facing window has that all day in the northern hemisphere. South of the equator use a south facing window”

continue at Super.nova

“Understanding camera lenses can help add more creative control to digital photography. Choosing the right lens for the task can become a complex trade-off between cost, size, weight, lens speed and image quality. ”

“This tutorial aims to improve understanding by providing an introductory overview of concepts relating to image quality, focal length, perspective, prime vs. zoom lenses and aperture or f-number.”

“All but the simplest cameras contain lenses which are actually comprised of several “lens elements.” Each of these elements aims to direct the path of light rays such that they recreate the image as accurately as possible on the digital sensor. ”

continue at Cambridgeincolour

“Typical indoor ambient light, for instance, might be about 1/60th at 4/f at ISO 400. So If I shoot you in that light, available only, you are going to be properly exposed. You’ll still probably look pretty bad — we nailed the quantity, but the quality of the light is likely ugly as it comes from overhead fixtures.”

“So let’s move from the hypothetical to the practical and do a little exercise in walking the ambient exposure up a little bit to see the effect of various shutter speed on the flash/ambient combo.”

continue at Strobist