When it comes to photography and lighting, so many are immediately put off that they go running off into the night, panicking unnecessarily. Previously on the blog I had talked about how to set up a flash with an umbrella, and five things to be aware of. You can read those here, here, here, here, and here.
Now that we know how to set up our lights, it’s time to take a look at where to position our lights. You have a couple choices: directly in front, off to one side, or behind your subject. We can talk about this until the cows come home, but it always is easier to show than to tell, so let’s take a look at each!
Here’s what happens when you put your light directly in front of your subject:
See how everything looks kind of washed out? It’s not very flattering, so maybe we can move the light behind our subject and things will look a little better…after all, this isn’t really very good, right?
Here’s what it looks like when you put your light behind your subject:
Well, this is kind of interesting – putting your light behind your subject produces a nice little rim around the edge, but there is nothing but shadow in front. Kind of hard to see details in the subject’s face. Probably not good as a single light source solution. Let’s try off to the side and see what happens.
Most of the time the subject of the a photo is easy to see – whether it’s a portrait, landscape, travel, or architecture. While these subjects are easy to identify, the use of shadows in these topics is not discussed as often as it should be. We spend so much time trying to get the lit portion of our images in focus, composed to our satisfaction, making sure things are sharp, and all the rest, we sometimes miss the value of shadows in our imagery.
The shadows of an image can be just as important to the composition as the lit parts are. When talking about how to light images with strobes and studio lights, the use of shadows to give definition is often discussed, but the same discussions can be germane to naturally lit photos too. Remember, the word photography means to paint with light (photo and graphos), so even the absence of light can be significant in defining our images.
Whether you shoot portraiture, architecture, landscapes, or even abstracts, shadows can and do play a role in how you compose your images. Do you look at the shadows in your images? What story do shadows tell in your work?
Share your own thoughts on how to accomplish a story by shooting with shadows below in the comments – would love to hear others feedback. In the meantime, keep on shooting.
Often when I talk to people about their work flow one big question and the need to do some pixel based editing in Photoshop, one of the questions that often comes up is “Why can’t I do X in Lightroom?”
Most of the time, it involves answers that include explanations of pixel based editing versus parametric editing, and lots of other technical reasons as to why certain things can’t happen in LR. But sometimes (and this is the best part), I find out they are adding to their work flow because it can be done in Lightroom! One of the most common ones is masking effects. When I show people this, I almost always get a “Holy Cow!” or some other variation on the “cow” part.
So, today I thought I’d share a quick tutorial on how to implement masking edits in Lightroom. Let’s take a look at the base image I am using here – a boat dock on Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks of upstate NY:
So, the dock here is a significant portion of the subject, but it’s way darker than the rest of the image, and really could be increased by a stop or two relative to the sky. So, rather than round trip to PS, let’s see what we can do here. I’ll start off with making a general masking selection of the entire area. So I check the Adjustment Brush (near the top of the Develop Module on the far right hand side), and then at the bottom of the image (over on the left), there’s a box that says “Show Selected Mask Overly”. I check that box. Then I just start painting!
It’s a prety broad brush I’ve used, so we need to clean it up, as some of the water got caught and that will leave an ugly halo effect if I don’t take care of it. So, to get more detailed selections completed, I zoom in, and then switch to erase mode while still showing the mask. This is in the lower options of the Adjustment Brush, on the right hand panel – see where it has “A”, “B”, and “Erase”? Click the erase and start painting again to undo the mask:
You, of course, will have to adjust the size, feathering and opacity of your brush to taste, and to accommodate your brushing technique as needed (hint: Wacom tablets work better than regular mice or trackballs). Once you’re finished with your refining of the mask, go ahead and uncheck the option to display the mask and see your results.
At this point you can actually do something else kind of cool – hover your mouse over the dot that is on display and then slide it to the left or right as you see the exposure increase and decrease for the selected area! Pretty cool, eh? This same technique works with other features in the adjustment brush, whether you are working on eyes, teeth, dodging, burning, or even skin softening. The scrubby slider is a nice feature in here. Then, finally, one thing I’ll do is make a side-by-side comparison of the image in a before and after mode to make sure my changes aren’t too garish or over the top (you can do a side-by-side comparison, top and bottom comparison and even split the screen between the two for a more detailed look):
Side by Side ViewLooks pretty good for this quick tutorial…and here’s the final image after our masking edits are done:
Adirondack DockNow I grant you that this is probably not a portfolio image, but it hopefully was helpful in illustrating how you can mask and edit your photos inside of Lightroom without having to do the round trip as often to Photoshop!
Like this tip/trick? Got any other comments, questions, or curiosities of how to leverage Lightroom more in your own work flow? Sound off in the comments, and as always, keep on shooting!
When we approach the topic of depth of field, most people nod along about how the composition can change pretty dramatically when moving between various apertures – but have you ever really studied the differences? Take some time and do an exercise. It’s not that difficult, and really seeing the differences in photos can totally lift the roof on your approach to composition. For this exercise, I took a scrap piece of lumber, and nailed 6 framing nails into it about two inches apart from each other.
Step two was to set up the lighting, the tripod, and the “wood art” in a scene where i could adjust the aperture and keep everything else constant. With my own little studio set here in the house, that was accomplished easily enough. I set the focal point on the nearest nail, and dialed in the exposure I wanted. Then, I switched to manual focus so as to not bump or have the camera try to shift it for me and dialed through the various f-stops.
Step three – simple post production: camera calibration, white balance, and lens correction. I also applied a 75 value to the sharpening slider from the detail panel, but did so universally. So, with everything but aperture constant, here’s the results:
So, at this point you should have enlarged the photos above, and scrolled through the entire gallery so you can see exactly what is sharp at f2.8 all the way through f16. By the time you get to the end, so much has changed and often gradually, it’s hard to see the difference. But if you look at the f2.8 and f16 shots side-by-side – they are worlds apart compositionally speaking. Now I grant you, nails hammered into a 2×4 piece of lumber 2″ apart is not the most artistic piece ever shot, but it hopefully illustrates what can happen to a photo simply by changing the aperture and keeping everything else constant!
WHere do you think creatively adjusting your depth of field would work? Try to think outside the box here too. A few ideas for starters:
A flower from close up…
A portrait shot, with background blurred
Macro photography – bugs and insects, computer chips and parts
There’s a whole world out there with plenty of opportunities to create gorgeous photos with only your creativity to limit you. Where do you want to go today?
Over the weekend I had the distinct pleasure of joining my colleague and good friend Kerry Garrison (who you probably know from Camera Dojo) out “in the wild” as we traveled to the Breezy Point Resort north of Brainerd MN (about three hours west and north if the twin cities) and spoke at their Northern Lights conference. Through the coordination of our sponsor, Nations Photo Lab, and the conference hosts, MNNPA, we had a wonderful time. Not only did the coordinators treat us like Rock Stars (we did give some autographs though), the attendees were quite engaging too.
The pre-conference sessions were set to start at 12, and our gig started at 5. After a few of the logistical things were addressed that always come up with hosting conferences (they even had a live wedding going on one room next to us – what a great opportunity for a bride to get a wide range of photographers applying their trade), we got rolling. A mere five minutes into our introduction, we paused to add even more tables and chairs to the room as more and more people started filing in. For a regional conference to have a crowd this big during a pre-conference tech talk was quite surprising, but also very enjoyable. So, what did we talk about?
The topic was none other than Lightroom 3! We talked about how to navigate around, some of the benefits and tips and tricks of LR to soon realize that we are very fortunate to be in the position that we are. It was humbling to realize that we really are on the cutting edge as so many people are using Lightroom 1, LR 2, or even earlier generations of Photoshop for their workflow. Our discussion quickly was adapted to both demonstrate why and answer questions on what makes Lightroom 3 such a useful tool for both established and emerging photographers.
The questions raised were just wonderful ranging from very broad-ranging ones like “Why should wedding and portrait photographers care about upgrading their work flow?” to ones as detailed as “Can Lightroom manage PSD files?” and “How can I keyword photos during import?” By the time our two hour segment was up we had barely covered the import process, a little bit on the adjustment brush, and the nuts and bolts of things like cropping, selective color, and black and white conversions.
Ours was the last segment for the day and we were then invited to the after party over in one of the adjoining houses. Food snacks, drinks and such were all available and in abundance. With the abundance of spirits, everyone was in great spirits themselves as we laughed and talked further with lots of people about photography stuff until the wee hours of the morning. By 1am we were done though and needed to head back to our respective cities (myself to Denver and Kerry to Anaheim, CA). So, during our road trip back to Minneapolis for the return flight, we decided to record this show for you. Answers to all the questions above and more are here, as well as a few photo opp stops! Thanks for taking the time to listen, hope you enjoy it and we’ll be back again soon with more photo goodness!
Did you meet your goals in 2010 photographically speaking? It’s an interesting question, especially for me because as I started to move in toward the holidays, with a new job ramping up, had felt as though work in the photography arena had stagnated for me to a degree. It really was not the case actually – and the back story here is what is important. None of us are an island – we all need help to both keep ourselves motivated, and to keep the fires and energies burning. Sometimes we recharge from a break other times it’s from a good kick in the…well, you get the idea!
The Back Story
Colleagues, mentors, tutors, and others in the field can be a hugely helpful influence, and one sage such associate recently told me to shoot more and talk less. The whole idea of “shut up and shoot” had come back to haunt me! This is advice I give to others when they approach me – how dare he suggest that. But then I considered…and in all honesty, the last month or so of photo production had not been as productive as I had wished. I had excuses of the new job, sure…but the bottom line was that my colleague was right! I needed to get out and shoot more! So I did just that. In doing so, I got a few good decent photos together, including one for the desktop download series…
Then, another industry association (although I use that term lightly), is none other than Mr. David DuChemin. You may recall he paid a visit to the podcast a while back, and occasionally we have had a few exchanges on Twitter, but it’s definitely a one-sided relationship where I learn from him and not vice-versa! 🙂 (There I go again with the self-deprecation – someone needs to shock me so I stop doing that!) Anyway, he reminded me that the whole point of our craft is to share our vision and work with others. It came through a Twitter exchange when I was giving a compliment to his work by also using my well-known tactic of self-deprecation. It stuck with me so much, that I’d rather just share his exact words:
Sage Advice from David DuChemin
– and that is exactly what I had not been doing photographically. Oh sure, test shots from lens reviews, a few sample photos here and there…but nothing really from the inner core that had apparently been needing some voice. So, with that I decided to go ahead full force – not only with capturing more images, but completing the last of the Desktop Downloads for the year!
The 2010 Desktop Downloads
What’s that? You don’t know about the Desktop Downloads? Of course not, because I had been neglecting to share the information with everyone on the regular monthly basis that a new photo for inspiration and enjoyment had been uploaded. For many months of the year, I was capturing photos and content to share, and not sharing it! The legwork behind it was lost in the business. So, I owe the audience an apology and 12 downloads for the year! No worries though – you know why? Because I met my goal for the year! In going back through each month for the image I had selected, I realized that this was also tied to a “project” I gave myself for 2010 – to shoot more often, and take on more projects. The goal was one a month, and I did it! With my personal success finally realized, it’s high time to share that success with everyone else. For the monthly desktop image for December, you can get click the appropriate link and download for your own inspiration and enjoyment!
To get the rest, simply hit the Downloads page and save for your own desktop wallpaper or screen saver as you prefer… As an aside, there are a couple months I had done the download as a calendar, thinking it would be more functional (May and June), but after toying with the idea for 2 months, decided it detracted too much from the image for my tastes (all due respect to Jeffrey Friedl and his PS plugin that helped produce those months though.). Nevertheless, with the year far from over (most of December is left for us), I can officially say I met my goal for the year with 12 photo projects. Already, I’ve shot nearly 20% more than I did last year, because of directed projects and diligence. Have you met yours? There’s still time, so get out there and shoot! Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow…
Editor Note: (Who am I kidding, that’s still me…) I know the Monthly Newsletter is still not out as promised and I expect that to be out tomorrow as well, so if you’d like to still sign up for that, there’s still time!
I was having a conversation recently with a fellow photographer and the discussion turned to taking the sharpest possible photos with your camera, and what was needed for it. Inevitably, post production came into play, and being very much a purist, he claimed that he does no sharpening in post production. It struck me that this sounded odd to run no sharpening algorithms in a digital world, as my understanding was quite different. I tried to make the case orally, but was hard-pressed to really make a convincing argument for it without supporting documentation. Given my penchant for writing, the resolution was my advice to “read the blog in a few days…there will be a post on sharpening”! So, for Paul (and for others who may be interested, here’s my take on whether or not to sharpen your images, and when!
The way I understand the digital photography landscape (no pun intended), is that there are three phases in which you can (and should) sharpen your images:
Capture Sharpening – This type of sharpening is done on initial import from your camera to your image editor. Whether that is through ACR in Photoshop, in Lightroom (which has ACR built in), or any other application. This initial one is of utmost importance because of the inherent softening of images during the demosaic process when interpreting raw sensor data. As I understand it, the settings used here are relative to the camera you are using, but not so much the specific image.
ACR Sharpening
Creative Sharpening – After import, this would be the time when selective and subjective interpretations are done on images. Whether you choose to apply USM (unsharp mask) in Photoshop, a High Pass overlay layer, or some other means, these types of effects are always done to taste, and very much open to interpretation.
Creative Sharpening using High Pass Filter
Output Sharpening – Last, but not least, output sharpening is when you apply sharpening effects specific to your output device. These settings are dependent on the output device, such as a printer, the web (screen), as well as the size and resolution of the output image (smaller size requires less sharpening than larger files). Even within output sharpening there are settings specific to the printer you are using, and to the paper you are using,
Again though, these are just my impressions on whether sharpening is needed in a digital age or not. I know someone is going to ask, so should probably state here that an entirely different set of criteria should be used when talking about film sharpening techniques…but I digress! 🙂 Back on topic, there’s actually a couple really good resources (from my biased perspective of course) that discuss sharpening in much greater detail than I did here. First off, a book called “Real World Sharpening” by Bruce Fraser and Jeff Shewe is one I would highly recommend. For those with an online reading preference, here’s another good article on the subject, also by Bruce Fraser.
Am I off base? What are your thoughts on sharpening? Is it needed in a digital world? When and how do you sharpen your images (if at all)? Sound off in the newest poll (also in the sidebar):
A while back I had approached a few companies about putting together an article on how to create panoramas. One of those companies was PTGui – and I’ve finally had a chance to put together a few images through their software to take a look at the processing and stitching quality. First impressions are good…what I especially liked is that the software has the ability to render both panoramas as well as HDR processing algorithms. While a dedicated work flow that addresses panoramas and then a separate work flow to address HDR work may yield better results, I’ve gotta say that PTGui does an impressive job for a multi-function program: Continue reading “Creating HDR Panos with PTGui”→
Being in Colorado, I am always one of the first to read the latest blogs for the day because East Coasters usually set their publish time to somewhere between midnight and 2am, which means between 10pm and midnight my time, I can catch up on all the news that is going to hit in the morning. (California folks got me beat by an hour…)
So, when Scott Kelby’s blog went live a while ago, he was encouraging people to join the Kelby Training website with a video teaser compiled by his chief video guru, Jason Scrivner. It’s a pretty funny video teaser, but did pique my interest enough to stop over and see how much time was involved in the new video.
So, while debating the intervalometer cost implications for my SLR – I decided to give the Canon CHDK a run for its money. After downloading the CHDK for the A590 and making sure it didn’t break the camera I went out in search of an intervalometer script. I think it’s a VB script, but can’t be sure…nevertheless the results were kind of fun!
I tried to include as much info in the teaser as possible, but if anyone has questions on how I did all this, feel free to share your questions (or feedback if you prefer) in the comments or vial email! Here’s a dry run of my daily commute home (if only the real time commute went that fast!):
[display_podcast]
Happy shooting! If you have your own time lapse productions, feel free to link them in the comments too! See you back here again tomorrow… 🙂
