Photoshop tips – making your images pop – soft-light layer
Photoshop tips - making your images pop - soft-light layer
As much as I am a firm believer in getting it as close as possible in camera, by using proper exposure and proper camera settings, and good light .. most often an image can be enhanced in Photoshop with a few simple techniques. There is an entire industry built around software and plug-ins and add-ons and action sets for Photoshop to enhance and manipulate images in Photoshop. However, I'd first like to go over some of the simpler ones that you can use in Photoshop without additional software. These Photoshop Read more inside...using two video lights
using two video lights for photography
Video lights as a way of lighting still photography portraits is something that I've mentioned more often on this blog of late. When the subject and setting is such that a more dramatic way of lighting would work, then I quite often use video lights. This image is from the recent workshop in Philadelphia, and someone held a single video light to the right and above me. The angle that the light should be held at, is guided by how I want the shadow under her nose to appear. I prefer the shadow to appear as loop lighting or as butterfly Read more inside...the black foamie thing – on-camera flash modifier
on-camera flash modifier - the black foamie thing
Also make sure you check out this video clip where I demonstrate how I use the black foamie thing to flag the light from my on-camera flash. In essence, the (in)famous Black Foamie Thing is just a simple little device that I use to shield my speedlight's output from directly hitting my subject when I bounce my flash forward. It has another benefit in that since I usually fasten to the 'underside' of the flash-head, it blocks light from hitting people in the face that are standing behind me or next to me. It really does help with Read more inside...Shooting candid portrait at events, with bounce flash
Shooting candid portrait at events, with bounce flash
My favorite image from a Bar Mitzvah party that I photographed. It is one from a series of candid (or semi-candid) portraits of various guests and their kids at the party. Aside from the obvious photographs that need to be taken during these kinds of events, I also try and grab more candid images, and for these a telephoto zoom (70-200mm f2.8) works really well. By going wide open on this lens, you can really isolate your subject .. and also draw in more of the available light. In this case the background is a mixture of Read more inside...unsharp images – so what went wrong this time?
checking my technique to ensure sharp images
I love sharp images. Crisply sharp. However, I'm not stuck on the idea that the image has to be sharp over the need for an image to have impact. Images that draw us in, usually have emotional impact of some kind. But still, I like sharp. How sharp your subject appears, is a balance between a bunch of factors we have to balance,. These factors might be with careful forethought, or just something we intuitively adjust for. Shutter speed, choice of aperture, subject movement, your own movement, choice of equipment, and our own Read more inside...When aperture does NOT control flash exposure
When aperture doesn't control the flash exposure
The axioms regarding flash photography that get thrown around most often, are: ambient exposure is controlled by shutter speed, flash exposure is controlled by aperture. While these are true, there's also an over-simplification happening here. Just rallying those two statements in a perfunctory manner, we actually lose understanding of how flash and ambient exposures actually inter-relate. The problem with the first statement is that it disregards that aperture and ISO both control ambient exposure as Read more inside...review: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens
review: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens
The specialty of a macro lens is in allowing you much much closer to your subject than a normal optic would .. with the ease of continuous focusing from infinity to the closest distance. No need to screw in additional rings or lenses or reverse your lens. A macro lens works as a close-up lens, and as a more usual optic. And that's the versatility of it. The main feature of the Canon 100 mm f/2.8 IS macro lens (B&H / Amazon) is that it offers stabilization. Now this might not seem such a big deal to photographers who work Read more inside...photography tip: using a zoom lens
photography tip: using a zoom lens
It was a busy weekend again, with a wedding and a portrait session on Sunday. From the photo session on Sunday, here's my favorite image of the day. I just love the way the background appears in this photograph. The bokeh of this lens is just wonderful. camera settings: 1/250th @ f4 @ 400 ISO The camera used was the Nikon D3, (B&H), and the lens was the 70-200mm f2.8 VR , (B&H). A telephoto zoom like this, or the Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS, (B&H), is essential for this kind of portrait work. That image is typical of the Read more inside...taking photos under the mid-day sun / hard sunlight
taking photos in hard sunlight / mid-day sun
A recent post on using off-camera flash, the question came up about how I work when I'm on my own and don't have an assistant holding up a softbox. Using off-camera lighting does make your options easier in how you position your subject, since it is much easier to have great portrait lighting on your subject. By adding light to your subject with the flash & softbox combination, you have the freedom to be less concerned about perfect light on your subject. When I work on my own, I approach things differently. I now have to not Read more inside...- « Previous Page
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