FREE WEEKLY PHOTOGRAPHY LESSONS & TIPS

MAGAZINE WORK

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:43:00 +0000

Even though you may not be doing magazine work now, in the future you may need to know how to create space in your photo for text. If possible, it is wise to create a few variations of the same photograph to allow for magazine titles and other text. If creating various copies is not realistic, create your composition to allow for space around the subject for graphic design work. My photo below was composed in such a way as to allow for a text addition at the bottom of the image.

Composing is easy when you have a client who gives you exact specifications. When in doubt, however, choose a wider composition. In the television industry this is called the "TV Safe Area", whereby you compose wider than necessary to account for different viewing platforms.

To see more of Mark Hemmings work, click here.

RGB COLOR

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:30:00 +0000

Before any color space experts get angry at my gross simplification, please be aware that this blog is primarily aimed at those learning photography. So . . . in easy to understand terms, your digital camera has an option of different color spaces. sRGB is the most common, and Adobe RGB is the usual choice for professional photos that will be printed.

Your camera is probably set to sRGB by default, however you may be able to change it to Adobe RGB or other color spaces. If you are not a working professional, you can probably stick with sRGB.

This blog post is an encouragement to utilize sRGB for all photos that will end up on the web. If your photo does not have a color space saved, or is in another color space, it would be wise to change the photo to sRGB prior to uploading it to the web. Open your photo in Photoshop or another image editor, and then save the photo with "save as". There should be an option to choose a color space for the photo prior to saving the image to the hard drive.

The above photo from yesterday was taken in Adobe RGB for professional printing, however for this blog I changed it to sRGB, resized it, and it is now properly displayed for the web.

To see more work by Mark Hemmings, click here.

All photos copyright Hemmings House Pictures, 2009

FIRE AND STROBES

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:31:00 +0000

It is often difficult to capture fire with strobes or flashes. To get good images of fire it is best to use natural light, and let the shutter stay open as necessary. There are circumstances however when you may need to use strobes to light people or places, but need natural light to capture the flow of fire.

A local bartender named Shawn Horgan from the Alehouse in Saint John, New Brunswick asked me to do a shoot of the above drink, lit on fire. We lit the scene and subject with strobes, but found that the fire was very weak in appearance. An easy fix was to create two exposures; one for the subject (strobes), and one for the fire (natural light). As soon as we took the first photo with the studio lights we immediately took a second photo in Aperture Priority mode with no flashes. The result of the second photo was a nice flowing stream of fire. Since the pictures were taken so quickly one after the other, the subject didn't move at all.

In Photoshop, I simply cut out the fire and pasted it over the first photo. The results look realistic, and everyone involved was happy with the final product.

To see more of Mark's photography, click here.

DRAMATIC LIGHTING

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:59:00 +0000

The greatest light in my opinion is dark ominous clouds with a late evening, horizontal blast of warm sun light. The directional sunlight is due to a break in the clouds at the horizon, and this light illuminates the landscape while the sky stays dark. This contrast makes for very dramatic photos!

When you encounter such a scene, make sure your camera is on its highest contrast setting, and try underexposing a little bit. This photo is untouched, straight from the camera. It was shot at a historic village in New Brunswick called King's Landing. To see more photos by Mark Hemmings click here.

OUR NEW STUDIO!

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:12:00 +0000

When doing exterior architectural images, try to wait until the sun is just about to set, or even after the sun sets. By doing this you can take advantage of exterior building lights that normal would be invisible in broad daylight.

This fine building is home to Hemmings House Pictures, our photography and film company in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It is a fantastic location, with cruise ships in the harbor, and evening light filling our studio and office spaces. Our building has exterior lights that do a wonderful job of illuminating the facade, but are only visible from sunset onwards.

By waiting for this time of day you can get both the warmth of the setting sun, as well as the warmth of exterior building lights. To see more photos by Mark Hemmings, click here.

DIRECTIONAL LIGHTING

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:56:00 +0000

One way to create strong dramatic portraits is to use one single overhead light. This will create deep shadows under the eyebrows, and will accentuate strongly defined bone structures. In normal portraiture this style is usually not welcomed, but for fashion and fine art shoots, it will work nicely.

These are mannequins that I photographed a few years ago in New York city. To see more photographs by Mark Hemmings, click here.

TIME LAPSE

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:41:00 +0000

I have been fortunate to have a growing number of clients who want time lapse photography done. Many DSLR cameras have this feature built in, such as the Nikon D300 and D5000. An inexpensive but great way to begin time lapse experimentation is by purchasing a Nikon D5000 and experimenting with the Interval Timer Shooting options.

I am not sure what Canon models have time lapse abilities, but the Nikon options work very well. The above sample is a test clip that I did at the Toronto Pearson Airport.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Use manual exposure mode to avoid exposure fluctuations

2. Use a Kelvin white balance option to avoid color fluctuations

3. Use a tripod (obvious!)

4. Use manual focusing

5. Five second intervals are a good place to start

6. When assembling the stills in a movie timeline, try 12 or 24 frames per second

I make my time lapses in Photoshop and After Effects. However there may be easier ways to create them. In a future blog post I will explain the post production side of time lapses.

To see more work by Mark Hemmings, click here.

DSLR's FOR THE CAR

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:42:00 +0000

I looked up in the sky the other day and found another sun dog!

Many great photographs happen when you are out living your normal life. Most often however we don't have our camera with us at that opportune time. Freeman Patterson mentioned in one of his books that he keeps a spare camera in his trunk for such occasions, and it is a good idea. If you are a Canon shooter you could invest in a used Rebel DSLR, or if you are a Nikon shooter any used DSLR models will work for a backup camera. While it is a bit risky to keep camera equipment in your car, you can reduce the impact of an incident by purchase a used consumer model and stock lens.

To see more photos by Mark Hemmings, click here.

SMALL INTERIORS

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:53:00 +0000

Have you ever needed to photograph a bathroom? It is very tricky due to the size of the space, and lighting issues. Often you will need to rely on the ceiling light, which creates unpleasant shadows. A way to make small spaces more attractive is to take a bedsheet and pin it up (if possible) at the four corners of the ceiling. The bedsheet will sag a bit in the middle, which is fine. The single ceiling light now acts as a giant softbox, filling in harsh shadow spaces.

Here are the problems with this approach: You may not be at liberty to pin a sheet up on the ceiling. Hopefully you can find some other solution for the bed sheet; as long as it fills most of the ceiling, and of course covers the ceiling light, it should be fine. Problem number two is the diminished light strength, due to heavy diffusion (the bed sheet). The solution is to have a longer exposure.

To see more images by Mark Hemmings, click here:

PHOTO ASSISTANTS

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:59:00 +0000

This week's blog post is not so much a photo lesson, but an admonition to avoid deleting photos in-camera. During each photo shoot I get my assistant Jon or Jen to stand in for the subject so I can adjust the lighting. In the past I would always delete these test shots, even if I did not need to delete them due to a large memory card. A few weeks ago I decided to collect all the pics of my photo assistants posing for the camera. The results are fantastic, and I plan to put them on my website when I get a few more images.

If you can avoid deleting photos in-camera, who knows what kind of jems you will come up with. I realize that it takes extra time during post-processing, but I have found that many of my favorite shots through the years have actually been the test shots, that I normally would have deleted.

To see more photos by Mark Hemmings, click here.

STROBES OUTDOORS

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:26:00 +0000

I shot this iPhone pic of my assistant Jon as we were setting up for an exterior portrait shoot. I didn't realize until later how funny the picture turned out, as it appears that Jon unwittingly became a conductor of electricity.

When using strobes outside in full sunlight you can run into problems. The prominent issue is the fast shutter speed and high "f" number required to make a decent exposure. It is best to use manual exposure mode for shoots like this, with your shutter speed set to 1/200. This number is a safe average of most camera shutter sync speeds. If you have a faster shutter speed than what your camera is made to handle, the strobe or flash will have no effect.

Next, your aperture, or "f" number will probably be quite high because of the locked shutter speed of 1/200 and the bright daylight. You may find that the proper exposure is f8, or f14. This can be a problem because when the aperture number increases, less light is available from the flash/strobe to the subject. It is not that the flash or strobe becomes weaker, rather it takes a more powerful flash to counteract the smaller lens opening.

If you find that you need more flash power even though it is broad daylight, but you are at max power on your flash or strobe, then try these techniques:

Use a polarizing filter on your lens. This will drop your aperture f-number down approximately two stops (depending on the type of polarizer). When you use a lower f-number there will be more effective light power traveling from the source to the subject.

Another option is to simply place the lights closer to the subject. This instruction may seem laughable due to its obvious nature, but many new photographers do not realize that effective light power increases when the distance between light source and subject decreases.

To see more photographs by Mark Hemmings click here.

EMOTION AND GEOMETRY

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:15:00 +0000

I rarely have success with silhouettes, but I do enjoy this (almost silhouette) photograph of a young boy in the Magdalen Islands. There is enough exposure to see the boy without blowing out the background, and the low sun supplies the image's warmth.

In most of my images I try to combine two major elements; emotion and geometry. My favorite images emote a sense of mystery or contemplation, set in a composition of rectangles, circles, and/or triangles.

When learning how to craft good photographs, ask yourself what emotion is presented to the viewer, and what compositional design elements are supporting the subject matter. In this case, the boy presents the viewer with a contemplative scene, set within a triangular composition.

To see more work by Mark Hemmings, click here

MID-CENTURY MODERNISM

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:31:00 +0000

I was staying at a hotel in Caracas, Venezuela a few months ago, and when I looked out across the street I was taken by a tile design on the side of an apartment block. I immediately thought "late fifties" era Modern, and as I got closer I read the inscription, "E. Tamiazzo, Hecho En Caracas, Oct. 1955".

No doubt most of the city dwellers walk by that piece everyday without noticing it. It often takes fresh eyes from outsiders to appreciate the qualities of particular cities. I did a search for Tamiazzo, but nothing came up under English Google results. Maybe a Spanish speaking person can help me out with a bit of information. The remarkable thing about this mural is that the individual tiles were only a few inches square. It must have taken a long time to create the wall art.

When photographing artwork on buildings, a good way to present the artwork is to make the structure darker than the mural. The structure is necessary, to show the viewer the context of the artwork, but it should remain secondary in importance. Place your camera on high contrast, and if needed, increase the contrast afterward in an image editing program. Most of the time you are looking for a gritty, high contrast scene, especially if you are shooting in a city environment. If you are a RAW shooter, you can also try the "clarity" tool in Photoshop Raw converter. This tool will keep light levels relatively stable, but will increase the graphic appearance of the image. As in my above sample photo, try to arrange the composition in such a way that the building also acts as a design element with vertical or horizontal lines.

To see more photos by Mark Hemmings, click here.

JAPAN & NIKON D90

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:40:00 +0000

With regards to talking about D-SLR filmmaking, I am a bit outdated dealing with the D90, especially with the recent introduction of the Nikon D300s. However, it takes awhile to put short films together, and this one that I did in Japan was shot entirely on the D90. The future looks bright for creating films on these new and relatively inexpensive cameras, considering each new model will benefit from the shortcomings of the last model. Hope you enjoy the film, and to see it larger on Vimeo, click on the "JAPAN" link below the film.

JAPAN from Hemmings House Pictures on Vimeo.

To see more work by Mark Hemmings, click here.

MEXICO & DSLR VIDEO

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:21:00 +0000

Each winter my friend James Wilson and I teach photography and filmmaking courses in San Miguel, Mexico. It is a wonderful Spanish colonial town, full of great food, color and activity. The following commercial was my first foray into using DSLR's as video cameras. I was hooked! Lauchlan Ough and I used the Nikon D90 and the Canon 5D Mark II to create the following:

We have learned a lot since then, and will continue to upload films that we have done with digital SLR cameras. For those wanting to start on this path, you may find the Nikon D5000 a useful entry model, due to its lower cost, and excellent still photo capabilities.

If you would like to come to San Miguel and learn photography and filmmaking with us, click here for more information.

STAR & LAND PHOTOS

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:39:00 +0000

At the risk of sounding lazy, this weeks lesson is based off of the next lesson below. Follow the same instructions, but include a landscape or man made object such as a house or barn. Your results will always be unpredictable, primarily because of different light intensity from moon phases, as well as distant street lights slowly illuminating your landscape.

I took this photo last week during a trip to the Magdalen Islands. It was 2 a.m., pitch dark, and a cloudless sky . . . perfect for star photos. Please see the next lesson below for exposure information.

To see more photos by Mark Hemmings, click here.

PHOTOS OF STARS

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:46:00 +0000

Most of you know how to take great star trail photos, where you set the camera on a tripod at night and keep the shutter open for a few hours. The result is beautiful streaks of colored light streaming through the night sky.

I had a need recently to photograph non-moving stars. This is tricky for most photographers, due to the lack of professional camera equipment. The ideal situation would be a 50mm f1.4 lens with a professional camera body that works really well in low light situations. For the amateur photographer with normal equipment, here are some guidelines. Keep in mind that the results may have a lot of "noise", due to the high ISO settings. You may be able to reduce this problem by increasing the contrast of the photo afterward in an image editing program.

I will admit that the stars are starting to streak in this image, however in doing the tests with normal consumer equipment, these were the best results that I could come up with. So . . . in your camera menu turn off Active D-Lighting (if you have it), go to maximum contrast, set the white balance to 5600K, or Daylight, focus to infinity, and then put the focus on manual, set the exposure to manual, and place your camera on the tripod.

I am going to assume that you are using a lens that has a fastest aperture of f4. If your lens has a lower F number than that, all the better! Adjust your manual exposure to a shutter speed of 30 seconds, set your lens to the widest zoom (which will reduce the appearance of streaking stars), and adjust your ISO setting to 3200.

You are now ready to take the photo. Trip the shutter with either a remote shutter release, or use your 10 second timer. If you need to physically press the camera's shutter release, it probably won't be detrimental, however using a remote release technique is a good habit to get into.

When you look at your photo on the computer screen, you will see that the results are quite mottled and grainy. Try adjusting contrast to increase the brightness of the stars, and decrease the mid-tones. For more advanced Photoshop users, you will already have other methods for noise reduction.

Here is a basic chart for different f-stop and ISO combinations, depending on the type of lens that you have access to:

F5.6 - 30 seconds - 6400ISO

F4 - 30 seconds - 3200ISO

F2.8 - 30 seconds - 1600ISO

F2 - 30 seconds - 800ISO

F1.4 - 30 seconds - 400ISO

The reason that I have chosen a 30 second exposure is that it is the easiest shutter speed for those who are learning new techniques. 30 seconds is usually the longest shutter speed that a camera can offer you, prior to manually keeping the shutter open. 30 seconds is also a fair balance between brightness levels and keeping the stars relatively still!

To see more photos by Mark Hemmings, click here.

RAINY DAY PHOTOS

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:51:00 +0000

I would like to encourage you to take nature photographs when it is raining. Most photographers have a hard time with this because of the hassle, but it can be done by using a tripod and an umbrella. It is even better if you can convince a friend to come out and hold the umbrella!

I have photographed Japanese bamboo forests many times in the last 10 years of my Japan travels. A rainy day in Kyoto initially looked like a disaster, until I started shooting. The colors of the bamboo were very rich, with a nice sheen and texture. I was pleasantly surprised! My day was salvaged by a simple introduction to watery surfaces. As long as you avoid including the sky in your composition, you will find that photographing nature scenes in the rain can be quite rewarding. Watery surfaces can provide a whole new dimension to old locations that you have photographed ad nauseam. If you are shooting macro scenes of flowers and plants on a dry but overcast day, try bringing a spray bottle full of water. The colors will pop out, and your shots will go from good to great!

To see Mark's photography, click here. All photos copyright Mark Hemmings

NIKON 35mm LENS & FOOD PHOTOS

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:57:00 +0000

A friend of mine recently bought the relatively new Nikon AF-S 35mm F1.8 lens. I have been using it lately for food photography, specifically menu items that don't need to be blown-up beyond 8x10 inches. The most important aspect of the lens for me is the ability to get in very close to the subject matter. The closest focus distance is 30 cm, which is quite valuable for certain types of food photography. The closer your lens is to the subject, the more options you have for creative depth of field experimentations.

While professional food photographers might not use this lens because it is not full frame (DX, used with normal consumer Nikon DSLR's), it is a great lens for practicing the art of food photography. A good way to start shooting food is to offer menu photography for your local diner or family-run restaurant. They probably won't have money to pay you, but why not work out food credit? When you get confident in your food lighting skills, and are ready to handle larger commercial jobs with dedicated photography budgets, you will already have a decent knowledge of how to present and light the dishes.

To see more photos by Mark Hemmings, click here. All photos copyright Mark Hemmings.

ELEMENTS OF COMPOSITION

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:03:00 +0000

Compositions can be created by many different design elements, such as color, texture, shapes, lines, differing sizes, etc. Next time you take a picture that you like, ask yourself which design elements are at work in this photograph. Sometimes fewer design elements are better, especially for Asian inspired scenes, and at other times the more compositional elements the better, such as high impact magazine ads.

When I took this Barrios picture from a train station, the scene seemed happy and carefree. I looked behind me, and the same type of houses, on an almost identical mountain, seemed depressing and dangerous. Why the difference? The other neighborhood was in the shadow of the mountain, the houses weren't painted and there was a bit of cloud cover on that side.

Two almost identical scenes, but with vastly different emotions being portrayed. In this instance, color and brightness were the design elements that significantly altered the composition. The next time you are out shooting, use the following design elements to your advantage, and always work toward an image that portrays any kind of emotion. Below is a general list of design elements:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_(visual_arts)

Line - the visual path that enables the eye to move within the piece
Shape - areas defined by edges within the piece, whether geometric or organic
Color - hues with their various values and intensities
Texture - surface qualities which translate into tactile illusions
Direction - visual routes which take vertical, horizontal or diagonal paths
Size - the relative dimensions and proportions of images or shapes to one another
Perspective - expression of depth: foreground, middle ground, background
Space - the space taken up by (positive) or in between (negative) objects

To see more work by Mark Hemmings, click here. All photographs copyright Mark Hemmings

CARACAS MODERN

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:06:00 +0000

Although not an expert, I am a big fan of mid-century modernist design, architecture, and art. A recent trip to Caracas, Venezuela was beneficial for me in many ways, especially as I was able to document modern design via still cameras and video. Caracas went through a modernization period in the 1950's that removed much of the Spanish Colonial style that is throughout Central and South America. While a trip to Caracas can easily be depressing to those who do not appreciate mid-century design, for those who are inclined, the city is quite valuable.

The Humboldt Hotel is a great example; it was opened in 1957 by Perez Jiminez, but closed in 1970 due to shifting politics. Re-opened in 2002, the interior and exterior make for great photo opportunities. While the interior furnishings are new, I assume they are commensurate with what the hotel used to look like during its grand opening.

The photo lesson for today is an encouragement to always seek photo opportunities in places that you would normally consider unattractive. If you do your homework prior to departing for another country, you may be surprised by a newfound appreciation of the location's architecture, art and design history.

To see more photos by Mark Hemmings, click here. All photos copyright Mark Hemmings

TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:10:00 +0000

A few days ago I arrived home from filming a television documentary on the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra. We stayed for a week in Caracas, Venezuela, going to different neighborhoods doing interviews and photo sessions with the youth.

Traveling to dangerous cities such as Caracas can be a challenge due to the high possibility of camera theft. I remember on past trips, especially to Japan, I would take a pro body such as the Nikon D2x, with a Nikon D70 as a back-up, with a 70-200 f2.8 pro lens, an 85mm, 50mm, and 12-24mm zoom. This made for a massive backpack, extremely heavy and uncomfortable.

Lately I have been traveling professionally with the least gear possible. I am not well versed with Canon equipment, but a Nikon D90 with an 18-200mm zoom has served me very well when on the road. I have always relied on the excellent quality of prime lenses, but zooms seem to be getting better each year. The D90 and 18-200 combination is adequate for almost all magazine work, and most stock agencies will except images from this equipment. And if it does get stolen or lost, it is a much easier pill to swallow than replacing a $10,000 professional Nikon body and lens!

While I haven't tried the new Nikon D5000, it might be an even better option for frequent travelers. It is small, light, can do decent travel videos, and is priced very well for its excellent image quality (based on my knowledge of the similar D90 CMOS sensor).

To see more work by Mark Hemmings, click here. All photos copyright Mark Hemmings

BACKGROUND SHADES

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:53:00 +0000

This studio backdrop is pure white in reality, but in this photograph it is gray. If all you have is a white wall to shoot against, you can change the shade of the background from pure white to dark grey. Simply move the model closer to, or further away from the wall.

If this subject was very close to the background, the wall would be pure white. If you don't want pure white, move the subject away from the wall. If your room is large enough, you will eventually get to the point where the white background has turned black.

How do you do this? Make sure that your studio lights are overpowering any ambient window or fixture lights. A good combination to start with is a shutter speed of approximately 1/200, and an aperture of f8. Place your lights slightly over the subject, in any direction that you choose. Make sure the lights aren't pointing toward the background. With this studio set-up, you should be able to effectively control the shade of the background simply by altering the position of the subject. This technique is very useful for photographers on a budget, as you will not need to purchase a gray background.

To see more work by Mark Hemmings, click here. All photos copyright Mark Hemmings

OVERHEAD PHOTOS

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Wed, 27 May 2009 02:20:00 +0000

This photo was taken by me a few years ago in a special section of Kyoto called Higashiyama. Because of the crowd, I needed to hold the camera over my head to get the shot. This technique can be very effective, but also troublesome when in autofocus.

To insure you focus on what you want, even when you aren't able to see the scene through the viewfinder or rear screen, try the following:

While looking through the camera, autofocus on chosen subject. Then switch the camera to manual focus, place the camera over your head, and start shooting! The focus will remain constant while you try different compositions over your head. When you are done remember to switch the camera back to autofocus, if that is the mode that you usually use.

It is a simple tip, but it can very effective especially with darker scenes such as dusk and very early mornings. To see more work by Mark Hemmings, click here. All photos copyright Mark Hemmings

CLARITY TOOL

noreply@blogger.com (MARK HEMMINGS) — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:41:00 +0000

There will be times when a commercial shoot will result in an image that is unavoidably low-contrast. If you need to photograph two dimensional subjects, such as this antique flag, you may find that even a high contrast in-camera setting does not provide the clarity that is required. Thus, in Photoshop RAW we can use the "Clarity" slider to help with our mid-tones.

Set your camera to shoot in its RAW setting, and open the resultant file in Photoshop. In most cases, the program will be set up so that the RAW converter handles the file prior to opening the normal Photoshop screen. You will find a slider called "Clarity", and by taking it to the right you will see the mid tones increase in contrast, while keeping the highlights and shadows relatively untouched.

This tool is an easy and quick way to do mid-tone contrast adjustments to flat, washed out subject matter.

To see more work by Mark Hemmings, click here. All photos copyright Mark Hemmings