Archive for the ‘Photography Tips and Tutorials’ Category
This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums (11-17 Oct ‘09)
October 17th, 2009 | 
Author: Weekly Assignment
This week’s assignment was Bokeh. And it showed just how useful the out of focus parts of your photo can be in creating a pleasing composition. Our winner this week was djwl’s Blue Gerbera. The simplicity and monochromatic tones created a very pleasing image that was just simply beautiful. Our first runner up was bmjesus’s Morning Dew shot. We really liked the vivid colours and sparkling dew. The simple curves and effective use of similar tones created a very pleasing shot. And last, but not least was kgtyamar’s Squares and Bokehs. The use of opposing colours and shapes created a very interesting shot that was really very fun. The composition was nice and the shapes really played against each other well. Congrats to this week’s winners!
Whether you’re looking out or looking in, Windows are our next assignment. You may find windows that are architecturally interesting or they may just enhance the composition. But remember what you’ve learned in the past with lighting, composition, and settings and apply it when you’re shooting windows. As usual, a quick run down of the rules for the assignment. First, your photo must have been taken between 7 – 21 October 2009. Second, your post must include the date the photo was taken and the words “Assignment: Windows”. And finally, your EXIF should be intact and it’s useful if you can include the main points (camera, lens, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc). Next week’s assignment will be Scary or Spooky. Halloween is coming up so try to come up with something that will give us a bit of a fright. Good luck!
Hot Threads
- What do you do when (if) you misplace your passion?: It’s easy to say “we all get burned out” whether it’s photography, writing, art, or something else. But what do you do when you hit that point? Do you work through it? Do you wait until the passion comes back? What is it that makes you want to shoot again?
- Show me the benefits of RAW (with sample file): The argument is never ending in photography… RAW or JPG. But in this thread, wulf gives you the chance to edit one of his RAW files to show how you can make it better than the JPG that the camera captured. Come check it out and get the file in this thread.
- How to: Basic Photo that looks Professional: Since this thread was posted about a month ago it’s had over 1300 views. In this thread you’ll see one way that you can process a photo to create a high key slightly desaturated look that you may see in some professional photos.
- What Would You Do: Our weekly post-processing thread is back again this week with another forum member photo that you’re invited to try to post-process and show your results. Whether you’re new or old to the forums, post-processing or the challenge, you’re more than welcome to join in!
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums (11-17 Oct ‘09)
Posted in 
21 Impressive Tree Images
Image by G a r r y
There’s something about trees that gets to me. I’m not sure exactly what it is but something about their shape, majesty, intricacy and symbolism draws me to them as photographic subjects. Today I spent a couple of hours surfing through Flickr, particularly looking for Tree images (some OF trees and others that just include them in some important way). Here’s some that caught my attention - many of which are even more beautiful large (click to see them bigger).
Image by ~jjjohn~
Image by Paulo Brandão
Image by fatboyke
Image by James Jordon
Image by Manky Maxblack
Image by G a r r y
Image by James Jordon
Image by ~jjjohn~
Image by Rick C
Image by mugley
Image by ViaMoi
Image by G a r r y
Image by c@rljones
Image by darkmater
Image by Doblonaut
Image by Gregory Bastien
Image by ~Prescott
Image by mugley
Image by Okinawa Soba
Image by thorinside
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
A Fly on the Wall – 10 Tips for Wedding Beginners
People often ask me if I ‘do weddings’. That’s a funny question for a photographer. Perhaps like asking a chef if he ‘does chicken’. I’m a photographer and I have the ability to photograph anything. Do I base my business solely around weddings? No. Can I do them? Certainly! And I love it.
I’ve never taken a class on how to photograph weddings or read a book on the topic. I have my own way, my own style and my own rules and my clients are happy with me so I must be doing something right!
As a woman, I really feel at an advantage in the world of wedding photography. Firstly, I can capture the excitement of the bride getting ready in a way a man can’t because, let’s face it, most brides don’t want a man hanging around while they’re getting dressed.
I have also been a bride and I see things in a vastly different way than a man ever could. Having started as a makeup artist, I’ve been involved in many weddings and have watched many-a-photographer sit and drink or flirt with the bridesmaids while precious moments are slipping by un-photographed (like the mom fitting her daughter’s veil).
Mind you, I have only done a few weddings and I don’t claim to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination. But I do think that I have a few tidbits I can share with anyone who is just starting out or perhaps is a man in the business looking for a little female perspective.
1. Don’t Manipulate
When the bride is preparing on the morning, don’t get in the way and ask for smiles or stage the dressing. Just be on your toes and try to anticipate what’s next.
Is her hair and makeup finished? She will probably be getting into her dress next. Is she in her dress? Get yourself to the bottom of the stairs to shoot her coming down. There is no time to relax if you’re the photographer!
2. Fill In
If allowed, wander around the house or hotel room and snap photos which can be used to fill-in spaces in the album to create a sense of ambiance and location. I always snap the makeup brushes, dresses hanging up, important things around the home.
If you’re at the bride’s family home, there will be loads of memorable things around the house to photograph. Family photos around the home, her childhood bedroom.
3.Get Alone
Spend a couple minutes alone with the dress, the shoes, the flowers, etc. to take meaningful photographs without anxious people rushing you. There should be plenty of time while you’re there.
But when you’ve got what you need, remember to leave in time to photograph guests arriving at the ceremony and the groom as he waits for his bride.
4. Be Bold
Don’t be shy in front of the audience. Obviously, use a zoom lens so you’re not hip-to-hip with the priest but be strong and bold and remember that you have a license to be there! You were hired and everyone knows that so don’t worry about moving around and shooting from behind the priest if it’s appropriate.
Editors Note: Check out these Wedding Photography Tips from a Celebrants Perspective.
5. Dress for the Occasion
If you’re a woman, forget wedding protocol and wear trousers! No trying to look pretty. Before I figured that one out, I was holding my skirt down more than I was holding down the shutter. Quiet shoes are a must - you don’t want to be tip toeing around like a criminal.
6. Remember the Others
When I first started weddings, my clients were friends so I generally knew one side of the family better than the other. It was entirely subconscious, but I realised that in the ceremony, I was gravitating to the people I knew and leaving the others out.
Find out who is family and make sure to get some images of them as well.
7. Be Bossy
This part is (still) the hardest for me. There are two times I have to throw my weight around: after the ceremony and during family set. I usually take the bride and groom away to a location for 30 minutes of shooting privately and this can be difficult as the guests often form a spontaneous receiving line and kidnap the couple.
c Craig Johnson
Know who is driving you there and make it happen. The bride and groom have told you what they want and although they are often distracted away from their plan on the day, they will thank you after if you make their original plan happen.
For the formal portraits, it can take a precise military operation to execute such an endeavor and this bit still makes my palms sweat! People are anxious to get to the food and dancing and I’m the only thing stopping them! Have a list arranged ahead of time of the specific groups the couple wants otherthan the usual his-family-her-family, him-and-his-guys, her-and-her-girls, etc.
The most important part in making this happen is to have your bossy go-to person who knows everyone (perhaps one of his groomsmen?) to announce all of the family and bridal party to step outside and then have him announce the groups you are needing. You can literally take each shot within 30 seconds if you can gather them and get them to engage with you all at once. Not as simple as it sounds, but it can be done. I just ask everyone to look at me and smile and then take about 10 shots at once. You can use the PhotoShop group merge function to grab all the smiling faces and put them into one photo if necessary.
8. Gear
A few of my thoughts on gear. NEVER use a pop-up flash. Always have an external flash ready to go and never point it directly at your couple. I always point it at the ceiling or a wall. I shoot with two cameras. My main one has a zoom lens and a flash and the other has either a 50mm 1.4 or 85mm 1.4 wide open so no flash is needed.
Be Professional
True story: I once saw a big, sweaty, poorly dressed wedding photographer hawk back a loogie and SPIT on the ground during formal portraits. Absolutely disgraceful!
It can be easy to fall into the fun of a wedding and obviously, you won’t be any good if you’re uptight and not having fun, but if you get too lax and begin socializing, you will miss important moments and you’re basically at work so remember to be professional.
I would even bring my own snack to eat on the sly when you get a chance - I would never accept an invitation to take part in the buffet. Remember that people are watching you and a huge percentage of them are either looking for a wedding photographer or know someone who is so be professional at all times.
c Craig Johnson
10. In My Opinion
I never take posed table shots. I absolutely h.a.t.e. it when the photographer comes around, interrupts your meal, wine or conversation and forces everyone to squeeze their head into the middle of the table for a photo. What on earth would the couple ever do with that photo? Certainly, it’s good to make a record of everyone who was there and you can do that without being intrusive and even do it in a beautiful way.
But - and this is just my humble opinion - the photographer can easily lose guests’ feeling of ease and comfort the instant he/she becomes intrusive. Make yourself invisible!
I really love photographing weddings. It is HARD work and I actually ache for a couple days after. Bring an assistant who can help you (that’s a bonus tip!) and get a good night’s rest beforehand. Have a blast and be confident - the bride and groom already love your talent because they hired you in the first place. So be secure in that fact and own it!
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
A Fly on the Wall - 10 Tips for Wedding Beginners
This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums (20-26 Sep ‘09)
Weekly Assignment
This week’s assignment was Contrast. Contrast can be found in visual design in colour as well as black and white, and it can also be found in textures and subjects. Our winner this week was villafane928’s Cowboy shot. The black and white of this shot had excellent contrast. The deep blacks in the shirt and pants along with the dark hair really made the subject stand out. Our first runner up was another black and white shot. beverlykaytw’s Walking up the Hill had a nice balance between the land and the sky and also brought the dark and light together creating a sense of contrasting parts of the land and contrast in the black and white. Our final runner up was madfox1’s Pencil shot. With this shot there were several kinds of contrast. The red and green are contrasting colours on the colour wheel. Then the different black and white patterns provided contrast between each other. The overall shot really just caught our eyes.
We also started our Shadow assignment this week. When we take our shots we often want to eliminate shadows. But shadows can also be a powerful element in the composition of a photograph. There’s only one extra rule for this assignment: No pictures of your shadow on the ground (too easy!). In the mean time, our standard rules for the contest apply. You must take your photo between 16 - 30 September 2009. You must include the date the photo was taken and the words “Assignment: Shadows” in your post. And the EXIF should be intact and it’s useful if you can include some of the main points in your post (e.g. Camera, lens, ISO, aperture, white balance, etc). Next week’s assignment will be Collections.
Hot Threads
- Post your best beach photos: As summer comes to an end in the Northern hemisphere and prepares to start in the Southern hemisphere, there’s no better time than now to show off your best beach photos. Come over and join us in this Share Your Shots thread where you’re welcome to share your best beach photo.
- Wide angle lens tips: Wide angle lenses can produce some great shots, but they can also be challenging to use. If you’ve ever wondered how you can improve your wide angle shots or if you have some tips and suggestions for how people can improve, come share in this thread.
- Which settings affect RAW?: Everybody talks about how you can really push your post-processing when you shoot in RAW. But what are the settings that cannot be changed after the fact, and which ones are more flexible? If you’ve ever wondered just how important it is to get it right in the camera is, this is the thread to read.
- What can I do with old flashes?: What do you do with your old flashes once you no longer have the cameras or when they’ve been sitting around unused for a while. Don’t throw them out, these old flashes can still be useful. Have a look at this thread for some suggestions about how to breathe some new life into those old flashes.
- What would you do?: Each week we run a thread where you have the chance to edit another forum member’s photo. Whether you’re a post-processing pro or new to the world of image manipulation you’re more than welcome to show us what you would do.
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums (20-26 Sep ‘09)
How to Create an Eye Catching Montage
It’s no secret that I love to create montages. In my studio, I often edit a few special shots to create montages for my clients to help them see the ways their photos can be used other than just plain ole framing.
Putting photos together can create a strong sense of location, emotion and to make a bold statement. Your choices can make or break it so choose carefully the photos you use, the positions in which you place them and even the background content of your montage.
Here are a few photos (some are revisited from my previous posts) and my thoughts regarding why I put the particular photos together.
Zoom – I really love this technique in combining photos.
Whether you’re deciding on the layout of facing pages in an album or creating a montage, the effect of zoom is really pleasing for the eye.
It’s the idea that in the first photo, you’re seeing things from far and the photo immediately zooms in on the next frame.
For me, it creates quite a nice emotional quality whereby I feel like I’m really sucked into the images.
Slice & Dice – A photo made up of two frames is also called a diptych.
There, I said it so don’t any one get cross with me for referring to these as montages! In this montage, I am using one image which has been cut in half.
It’s quite a quirky one, especially because I put the bottom half first (look at that drool!) On the right side, notice that her eyes are looking over at her smile. This brings in to play the next tip.
Looking In – I know some rules are made to be broken but I can’t think of a time that breaking this rule would ever be good.
Always have your subjects facing in. In this montage, I have the baby looking at herself from 4 corners, always facing in. I had to use Photoshop’s ‘flip horizontal’ function on a couple of them so they were all facing in.
On that note, flipping a photo horizontal can feel quite awkard – I never get used to that strange feeling after flipping a photo. I do one of two things. I either close my eyes while it makes the change and try to forget what it looked like before or I take a break for a few minutes and come back to the photo. That usually makes it easier.
Unrelated – I sometimes like to use objects or photos which weren’t from the shoot in a montage.
I thought these two complimented each other beautifully, although I had to get tricky with Photoshop to bring the colours of the flower and the headband closer together.
Tell a Story – Combining images gives the wonderful opportunity to tell a story. This photo (below) by photographer Kelly West Mars is so awesome to me because it…well…just tells a story!
If a picture paints a thousand words, imagine the tales you can tell when you combine more than one!
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
How to Create an Eye Catching Montage