Photography Tips Guide

Archive for the ‘Digital SLR Cameras’ Category

This fun Photoshop technique lets you showcase your photos on a computer screen or billboard and it uses the vanishing point filter to distort and crop the image.

The Vanishing Point Filter was first introduced with Photoshop CS2 so you will need Photoshop CS2 or later for this project.

Step 1

Open an image of a computer screen (or a billboard) in Photoshop and open the image you want to place on it.

The Sacré Coeur image is mine and the computer screen is © iStockPhoto, Dmitry Kutlayev.

Size the image to place on the computer screen to the approximate size the image needs to be having regard to the size of the computer screen image. The computer screen I used is 1600 x 1200 so I sized my photo smaller than this.

Step 2

Create a new blank layer on the computer screen image (Layer > New > Layer) and then switch to the image you want to add to the screen or billboard. Choose Select > All and then Edit > Copy. Return to the computer screen image.

Step 3

Choose Filter > Vanishing Point and click Ok. This opens the image in the vanishing point filter.

Step 4

Here you can create the perspective grid for the image. To do this, click the Create Plane tool and click at all four corners of the area that you want to paste the photograph into.

If the grid is red, it is not a grid that can be used so you need to readjust the corners until it turns blue. You can adjust the grid size if that makes it easier to see.

Step 5

Once the grid is in place, press Ctrl + V to paste the image from the clipboard into the filter.

Step 6

Click the Transform tool and size the image to approximately the size it needs to be.

Drag the image over the grid and you will notice that it reshapes to conform to the perspective of the grid.

Step 7

Size the image so it fits in the area covered by the grid. Any portion of the image that extends beyond the grid is automatically hidden.

Step 8

When you are done, click Ok to return to Photoshop. Your image should be neatly aligned inside the screen.

To finish, you can add a curves adjustment layer that lightens the image to match the screen lightness. You can also add a gradient to the curves layer mask to adjust the lightening of the image to match the original screen lights and darks.

Step 9

I also added a shadow to the layer by selecting the layer and select the Add a Layer Style button at the foot of the layer palette. Select Inner Shadow and create an inner shadow for the image so it appears more realistically situated on the screen.

Using a similar technique, you can place a photo on an image of a billboard or any other similar flat but angled surface.

Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips.

Showcase your Photos Using the Vanishing Point Filter

In the world of photography, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the externals. The cameras. The gear. The prints. The travel. The business. The opportunity. It’s easy to loose perspective when there are always new things to buy, new abilities to develop, and new connections to make.

No matter where you are in your photographic career or ability, sometimes you need fresh perspective to renew your passion and ignite your…vision.

Fortunately, David duChemin brings us a book to do just this.

Within the Frame is not a technique book, nor is it a manual of “how to’s. It is, in the words of duChemin, a book about ” chasing your vision and telling your stories as clearly and passionately as possible with compelling photography.” Of course, in the end, photography is less about the technique than it is about vision. After all, it is passionate vision that will make way for dynamic storytelling.

Still yet, duChemin does not discard the importance of “how to”. But rather than give a systematic list of do’s and don’ts, duChemin challenges photographers everywhere to become analytical about how they “think” about their photography. Do you shoot what moves you? Do you make your audience care? How do you create images that are power – and yet matter?

DuChemin also gives an overview of gear for purpose. He answers the question of “what lens do I use?” for a variety of scenario’s, for the best storytelling possible. He describes helpful systematic approaches for shooting unfamiliar places – be they India or Chicago – in order to catch that “perfect shot”.

Engaging and thought provoking, “Within the Frame” is full of beautiful images from around the world complete with their EXIF data, and the stories behind them. Visually pleasing, mentally uplifting, it is evident duChemin sought after the release of a new kind of book for photographers – one that he would have wanted someone to share with him. Like a mentor you can throw in your backpack, “Within the Frame” will gently guide any photographer back to the center of what it’s all about.

For that, it’s worth the $35. And more!

Grab a copy for yourself at Amazon where at the time of publishing this review it is $26.39 USD (34% off normal retail price).

Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips.

Within the Frame [BOOK REVIEW]

Today Joe Decker shares some tips on wide angle photography.

One of the first lens purchases aspiring landscape photographers typically made is a wide or super-wide lens, anything (in full-frame 35mm terms) from 24mm on down, and with good reason, wides offer photographers the ability to capture the sweeping vistas of the natural landscape. But they can also be a challenge to use effectively, it’s all to easy to end up with a wide-angle shot that lacks the power and grandeur we felt when we were shooting. In this article, I’ll explain why that’s so often the case, and provide a few tips for working around those challenges, showing you how to use wide-angle lenses to create dramatic, effective images.

Nordenskjöld Lake, Torres Del Paine National Park, Chile. Image Copyright Joe Decker

1. Get Close!

Because wide-angle lenses take in a bigger angle-of-view than other lenses, using a wide-angle lens at the same distance from your subject will render that subject smaller than it would otherwise. To compensate for this, you’ll have to move closer to your subject. Don’t be bashful about getting close, particularly with super-wides&mash;it’s almost impossible to get “too close” to your subject with a 14mm lens. This emphasis in size that wide-angle lenses give nearby objects means that …

2. It’s All about the Foreground

Contrary to what you might expect, this means that the most important element of your wide-angle landscapes is the foreground. While wide-angle lenses do capture the wider landscape, they also (almost inevitably, because of their wide field-of-view) capture quite a bit of foreground as well, and this foreground is emphasized by the wide-angle perspective. As a result, if your foreground isn’t interesting, your photograph won’t be interesting. This leads us naturally to the Josef Muench idea of the near-far composition, an image which uses a wide-angle lens to not only show a broad vista, but also to show one detail of that landscape in an up-close, intimate way. When you’re photographing wide, be sure to spend some time looking for the most interesting foreground available to combine with your grand vista.  (If there isn’t an interesting foreground, you might want to consider using a longer lens to leave out that less interesting foreground.)

Fallen Redwoods, Stout Grove, Jedediah Smith State Park, California. Image Copyright Joe Decker

3. Watch those Verticals!

Wide-angle lenses tend to bend and distort verticals, as you can see in the tree trunks near the top of Fallen Redwoods. Now, you might decide you like that effect, or that you hate it, but it’s important to be aware of it and to make a conscious decision about it. For some images it’s fun to embrace, but more often I find myself having to work to avoid it or correct it later.  Avoiding it can be as simple a matter as composing so that there’s only a single obvious vertical (and that that’s vertical), alternatively, using shift movements with a tilt-shift lens can correct some of this distortion in-camera. Post-exposure, Photoshop’s “Lens Distort” filter can also save the day.

4. Leading Lines

Compositionally, lines (such as streams or railway tracks) leading from the bottom corners of an image towards the center often have a particular magic for guiding the viewers eye through the picture, making for strong images, and this is particularly the case for wide-angle images. Hot Stream is a great example of this, the viewers eye tends to wander from the corner  back through the image along the stream. As the stream moves back into the image, the stream gets smaller (in terms of inches on the printed page) quickly due the wide perspective. This quick fade (in width) into the distance creates a real sense of depth in the image.

Hot Stream, Húsavík, Iceland. Image Copyright Joe Decker

5. Filter Woes

Shooting wide creates two problems for those of us who use filters. Polarizers are a specific problem, the effect of a polarizer on a blue sky varies across the sky so greatly that wide-angle images including the sky are left horribly unnatural, so leave off the polarizer unless you know there’s no blue sky in your scene. Screw-in filters are a separate problem, it’s all too easy for the filter edges, particularly if you’re stacking more than one filter on the same lens. Filter systems, such Cokin’s P-series filters (with the wide-angle filter holder), can help you avoid these problems if you must use filters.

Dwarf Arctic Birch, C. Hofmann Peninusla, Greenland. Image Copyright Joe Decker

6. Focusing

One of the things I enjoy most about working with wide-angle lenses is the ease of focusing them. As you move to wider and wider focal lengths, the depth-of-field at a particular aperture gets deeper and deeper. This allows you to make great use of the concept of hyperfocal distance, that is, the nearest distance you can focus a particular lens at a particular aperture and get “good focus”. At 24mm, by focusing about six feet out from the camera you’ll capture everything from about three feet to infinity in focus—even at f/11. At 17mm, focusing at the right point at f/11 will get you everything from infinity down to 17 inches away. Find (using a web site like this or any of a number of other sites, software tools or printed tables) and write down the hyperfocal distance for a couple of your widest lenses at a couple of your favorite apertures, and you’ll have an easy way of bringing the entire scene of near-far compositions into critical focus.

Using wide-angle lenses can certainly be tricky, but I love them all the same. Used well they can allow the photographer to create images that immerse us in a world with both small, intimate details and bold, dramatic vistas.

Joe Decker is a professional nature photographer and writer for Photocrati’s Photography Blog He also offers nature photography workshops and coaching around the western United States.

Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips.

6 Winning Ways to Work Wide

The Samsung SL720 (named the Samsung PL70 in Europe) is the second new compact digital camera to be announced this week by Samsung. It has a more advanced spec sheet than it’s little brother with a 5x optical zoom lens (starting with a wider 28mm focal length and extending to 140mm), 12.2 megapixel image sensor and 3 inch LCD display.

The Samsung SL720 also boasts the ability to shoot HD video that allows you to ‘pause and re-record’ movies in one movie clip.

The Samsung SL720 has both optical and digital image stabilization and comes with not only face detection but face recognition (you can program it to recognize up to 20 faces which it will prioritize when you’re taking shots but also to help you find people when in playback mode).

Samsung SL720 News Release

Samsung Digital Imaging, leaders in innovation and digital imaging, today announced the release of the compact 5x optical zoom, 28mm Wide Angle PL70; a camera which combines innovative technology and user-friendly features in a streamlined, stylish package.

Take fantastic group pictures and wide landscape shots with the wide angle lens, and get closer than ever in crisp focus with the 5 x optical zoom; the perfect feature combination for amateur photographers.

HD Movie Recording
The 12 mega pixel PL70 includes HD movie capture so you can ‘Pause and Re-record’ high definition videos and super sharp movie-quality recordings in one movie clip – a Samsung patented function. It also features HDMI connectivity so you can see your video creations on the big screen via an optional cradle.

Smart Auto (Scene Recognition)
The PL70 features a 3.0” (230K) TFT LCD screen and Samsung’s new “Smart Auto” (Scene Recognition) technology which has 11 optimized picture pre-settings such as Portrait, Night portrait, Macro, Macro Colour – helping people take the perfect shot regardless of the conditions. You can also use these settings when sorting through your photos – making it quick and easy to find all the photos or videos you’ve taken.

Smart Album
The PL70 includes Samsung’s unique “Smart Album” Digital Contents Management system; a program built into the camera that significantly reduces the time it takes to find your favourite photos – so it’s quicker and easier to store and manage your photo collection. The clever navigation program automatically organizes photos based on the date they were taken, their contents, colour, or themes – so you’ll never have an excuse for losing a photo again.

Face, Smile and Blink Detection
Samsung’s Perfect Portrait System is also included in the PL70; “Face Detection” locates the subject’s face within the frame and automatically adjusts focus and exposure to ensure better composition and image quality for portraits; in “Blink Detection Mode” the camera takes a series of shots when closed eyes are detected so friends and family are always captured with their eyes open; in “Smile Mode” a picture is automatically taken when smiles are detected and, in “Beauty Shot” mode, facial skin is retouched for a brighter and smoother skin tone. Samsung’s Self Portrait is also included within the PL70 – a beep sounds when faces are positioned centrally so you don’t have to be behind the camera to take the perfect shot.

Dual Image Stabilisation
Samsung’s Dual Image Stabilization technology combines Digital and Optical image stabilisation to ensure outstanding photos without blur – even in low light conditions. Couple this with a highly sensitive ISO 3200 that offers a faster response to light, you can capture great low light shots without needing any flash.

The PL70 is available in a range of colours including red, pink and silver and has a recommended retail price of £199 from leading high street and online retailers from August 2009.

Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips.

Samsung SL720

One issue with Lightroom is that all the images that you print from the print module print with white backgrounds.

One DPS reader recently mentioned this in a post I did on creating a Triptych in Lightroom. While the reader is correct in supposing that Lightroom does not offer color backgrounds for images, there is a workaround that you can use to print with any color background you like.

Here’s how to print with colored backgrounds in Lightroom:

Start in Photoshop or another bitmap editor that lets you create and save JPG images. Create a new image the size of the page that you want to print.

For convenience, I’d create images for all the paper sizes you plan to use all at once. This means you may want one for 5 x 7″ paper, one for 4 x 6″ and one for Letter paper for example. Whatever size you print at, create a new image that size and at around 96 pixels per inch if you’re using a solid color background.

Fill the document that you have created with the color background that you want to use. For example, if you want a black background, fill the documents with black and for another color background, fill the document with that color.

If you typically use an Identity Plate to print your name or other details on the image in Lightroom then you’ll need to know that what you’re doing right now is creating something that will replace the Identity Plate in Lightroom so you can’t use both a background and a text identity plate.

However, if you know this ahead of time you can add the same details you add to your identity plate to this image as text.

If you plan to do this, you’ll will need separate documents for each paper size in each of the two orientations: Landscape and Portrait. If you’re just using plain backgrounds you won’t need to create one in each orientation as you can rotate the images later on – you just won’t want to rotate something that has text in it. You will probably want the images to be a better size for printing so 1500 x 1000 pixels will print on 6 x 4 paper at 250 dpi so the text will look crisp and neat.

Once you’ve created all your documents, save each with a name that indicates its size and color and, if relevant, its orientation. I suggest you save it somewhere that will make it easy to find and so they are safe from being removed accidentally.

Return to Lightroom and switch to the Print module. Set up your image or images to print. You can use a Contact Sheet/Grid layout or a Picture Package.

To add your background locate the Overlays panel on the right and click the Identity Plate checkbox. Click on the Identity Plate to display the menu and select Edit. When the Identity Plate Editor dialog opens, click the Use a graphical identity plate option and click Locate File.

Select the image that you created for this paper size (and orientation, if applicable), and click Choose. Click Ok to add the image as the Identity Plate.

When the image appears in the document set the scale to 100 so it fills the page layout and drag it into position.

You might notice that you cannot make the image any bigger than the page itself and you can’t drag it out of its original aspect ratio – this is why you need to create multiple versions of the image one for each paper size as the ratios 8:10, 5:7 and 4:6 are all different.

Once you’ve dragged the background over the entire page, click the Render Behind Image option in the Overlays area.

This moves the solid color image behind the pictures on the page.

You can now change the stroke border if desired to, for example, add a white or gray stroke if you’re using a black or dark gray background.

Then go ahead and print your image.

You might realize by now that any image can be used as a print background.

So, for example, you can crop an image in Lightroom to the size that you need for the background, export it to disk as a JPG and then reimport it as an Identity Plate to use as a background for your printed images.

You could do this with a black and white version of an image or a color version. The Overlays > Identity Plate area also provides an Opacity slider allowing you to make the image partially opaque to lighten it so it doesn’t overwhelm the images you are printing.

When you are done, save your Identity Plate by clicking on the Identity Plate option, choose Edit and then from the custom dropdown list, choose Save As and save it so that it can be easily accessed next time.

Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips.

How to Print with Colored Backgrounds in Lightroom