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.
We all have Circadian rhythms or body cycles that are tuned specifically to us…whether you identify that as being a morning person or a night owl. This also applies to your creative rituals too though. Because our body clocks all operate on a unique pattern of restfulness and alertness, we have different times when we are the most creative. Our mind is able to focus on creative ideas and energies, and the distractions of the rest of the world aren’t nearly as distracting. The windmills are out there and we tilt away at them with every fiber of energy! Do you know when your creative zone occurs?
For me, that time often comes right around midnight. If I am not too sleepy, or I power through the initial desire to just go to bed, my mind suddenly becomes much clearer, my vision focuses, and I get so much done from my creative space, it’s kind of eerie. Tracy woke up once to find my literally typing a million miles a minute…the thoughts couldn’t get out of my brain fast enough. After about 3-4 hours of it though, my entire body just shuts down. The exciting thing though, is that I’ve been able to identify this creative zone. I know if I need to get some writing done, or some post production work on photos, or anything creative – those are the hours when I get the most accomplished.
We’re all different though, some people have this rush of creativity in the morning, or in the middle of meals or other activities. I’ve talked to so many people who still are unsure of when they really are at their creative best. When people attend workshops and get immersed in a creative world, the ideas flow much more naturally. The same holds for conferences, seminars, and any type of learning environment. It’s like the mind knows that other creatives are around and the energy for learning and expression is much higher than what we are normally exposed to. The trick comes in being able to identify when your creative zone normally happens when you are in that daily routine. Is it right when you wake up? After that first cup of coffee? Right before you go to bed at night? Or is it on those sleepless nights at 2am when your creative juices just start flowing?
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!
I had to bake bread for a work potluck today. That’s ok, I like cooking, and it seems others do too, because most of the time the dishes I serve are some of the first things to disappear. I decided last night to do something simple, but often popular: banana bread!
When it was done, the house sure did smell good from the caramelized sugar, bananas toasting, and who doesn’t like bread? (I know, I know – lots of carbs aren’t good for you…) But, every once in a while it’s fun to indulge. As luck would have it, this particular loaf of bread had some nice colors and tones to it, so naturally, I started thinking about my other hobby – photography!
With bread there’s so much you can do from capturing details, to using a shallow depth of field, to creative lighting and shadows, everything becomes a cornucopia of possibilities. Here’s a few of my selects from just ten minutes of prep, 60 minutes of cook, and ten minutes of shoot time!
Want a slice? What tasks have you taken and turned them into photo opportunities? The lesson learned here today (hopefully anyway) is to take something you have to do and make it something you want to do! In this case, it was a win-win scenario for me, but what about you? Sound off with your own fun-filled (or food-filling) photo projects!
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?
Tuesday night is trash night in the Anderson household – and whether mild and comfortable, or sub-zero and bone-chilling, it’s my job to gather all the bags and roll things out to the curb on my appointed night. Last night was no exception. However, even in such mundane tasks as “taking out the trash”, one can find beauty and art if you are open to it. Thankfully, I was on this night.
You see, not only is it trash night, but this also is going to be one of the coldest nights I can remember in Colorado – we are on pace to be at 17 below zero by morning! Like I said – bone-chilling! In our house, that translates to fires in the fireplace. A bundle of wood costs around $3 and it heats the entire house to where we almost have to open windows. So, we needed no encouragement to add the warmth of a fire last night.
Also, as an admitted “guy”, there is nothing more fun than poking and stirring a fire, whether it be in a fireplace or in a campsite. So, my face was naturally glued to the fire for most of the evening. Twist twist, poke poke. Then a log here and there…and some old cardboard I tore up to throw out (remember, it was trash night). The smell of the crackling wood and ash is still lingering in my mind too. That, combined with a nice red vino made for probably one of the most relaxing evenings.
It was quite relaxing too…and even Tracy joined me for a few minutes of quiet time just gazing at the embers before finishing things up for the night (a.k.a. the trash). The flames from the fire, still flickering inside my head, were doused by the chill of the air on stepping out to the garage. The frost already on the door was right there, in my face, reminding me of how cold it actually was/is outside. (Bone-chilling, in case you didn’t get that yet.) And right then, it hit me – frozen snowflakes of ice on the window – with the light coming down behind it…just gorgeous!
When thinking about these two images, and how much I liked them, it dawned on me further that these are great examples of how juxtaposing themes can work really well together…and it all came from taking out the trash! The point: keep your eyes open, the next dose of inspiration can come from anywhere, even the most mundane task on the planet! And wit an amazing contest going on now – this is as good a time as ever to keep your artistic eyes open!
A bunch of news for today – as most of you know, our inaugural workshop was this last weekend in Anaheim, and boy was it rockin’! Great participation, great input, and super feedback from everyone. On the anonymous feedback forms, every ranking was either a 9 or a ten (and there were more of the latter than the former)! Such a rush to see so much appreciation, and Denver is sure to draw an even bigger crowd. There’s only a few early bird seats left (3 I think), so if you haven’t registered yet – better sign up while the getting is good!
Saturday Aug 28th – Denver, CO
Workshop will be held at:
Arvada Center for Arts & Humanities
6901 Wadsworth Blvd Arvada, CO 80003
*****
On the free front – the August contest is underway on Flickr and the prize this month is a 50 sheet pack of Polar Metallic Paper from the folks at Red River Paper. You all likely know how much I love this paper and this company – here’s your chance to find out why with your own pack of paper to push out some super prints for clients, family, friends, or even your own walls! Submit your own image to the Flickr thread (the theme is Metal).
*****
Last but not least, the eBook has been flying off the virtual shelf, and the response there has been overwhelming too. Read the reviews, and get your own copy from the eBooks page here! It’s still a super deal at only $4.99 for the digital download – it includes 49 Photo Tips, explained in detail and with accompanying images to demonstrate the effect when appropriate! Add this one to your virtual library today! (An iPad version is due out shortly – working on the ISBN now…)
*****
That’s it for Friday! Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you here on Monday with the Super Exciting News that I can’t share yet! Are you ready for some excitement though? Stop back in to find out!
After extensive preparations, logistical planning and coordination, it is very exciting to finally announce the often teased and hinted at Learning Lightroom 3 Workshop Tour! Kerry Garrison and I have pooled our collective resources and we’ll both be at all the classes! We’ve got an initial launch in our own residence cities, with dates and locales already in place at:
Sunday Aug 1st – Anaheim, Ca [Completed]
Saturday Aug 28th – Denver, Co [Completed]
Seats are expected to go fast as this is a full day workshop aimed at getting you up to speed with Lightroom 3 whether you are new to the game, or ready to jump in for the first time! With lots of content, including “bags-o-schwag”, door prizes, and resource DVD’s, the dirt cheap Early Bird Price of $79 for the first 15 to sign up, we’re sure to hit capacity quickly! After that, the regular price of $99 per person kicks in. Special thanks to our sponsors: Adobe, Thinktank Photo, Nations Lab, and many more for their generous contributions to help get this off the ground. We’ve also got lots of local vendors who will be showcasing some super cool products at super cool discounts, and we’ll have gift certificates to give away too! So, come on out and check things out – it’s a steal at these prices!
Also, if you don’t live near any of the initial launch cities, make sure to submit a request for your own city (and get your friends to do the same!). Fifteen requests for another city brings us to you! There’s also an email subscription link on our launch page, (and here on the blog) so be sure to stop in and visit us at:
Last night I was working on a deadline for the PhotographyBB March Magazine issue (check for that to come out shortly – another couple weeks), and found myself trolling through my archives of images searching for examples to help illustrate my point. I came across a shoot I did solo a while back where I was down in South Carolina. I was on a dock trying to catch the fading sun to the west, and catching your stereotypical sunsets in SC isn’t easy because there’s too much LAND in the way…not enough water!
This was actually where I first learned the value of checking your entire surroundings because sometimes the best shot may be behind you. I turned around and caught this image:
Nice enough, but not really something I wanted to include in a portfolio of sorts to include in the now well-known PhotographyBB Magazine! Then I noticed something…apparently I had tried multiple exposure settings while on a tripod…I was bracketing! I had the same f-stop, same ISO, but the shutter speed was changing. Back then I was shooting with my venerable XT (now sold), and the whole idea of bracketing and even HDR was just not even close to being on my radar. Yet here I am now years later, trolling through archives with an opportunity to go back in time.
So, I pulled the 4 or 5 images together, cobbled them over to Photomatix and ran some tone mapping (didn’t even look at the settings, just was testing a whim to see if it would produce anything). Well, let’s just say it was…interesting. It clearly showed my sensor was absolutely filthy (sky splotches everywhere), and I clearly hadn’t learned the fine tuning of checking the edges or even cutting off important lines (like ship masts) from the composition. Nevertheless, the result was…accidentally interesting. I’ll leave it to you to judge:
The latest episode of Learning Digital Photography is now live and ready for your download and listening pleasure. As always, there’s news, interviews, and listener questions and answers – and this time it’s a theme of Treats, Travel and Tips. I had the pleasure of bringing Andie Smith back to the blog/podcast and we actually had a chance to sit down and really chew the fat on a lot of stuff.
That’s it for today – make sure you go grab the podcast from either the folks at PLM or via the iTunes feed. I’ve now added a page (check the top header) where you can go grab them if you forget… 🙂
Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
