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A great way to capture attention in a photograph is by considering the shapes that are in the composition. People’s eyes are automatically drawn to follow certain shapes, such as curves and lines. Below are some examples of this practice.

"Lines Before Zero" by petitescargot

"Between The Lines" by quelquechose

"Forest Lines" by snowyowl199513

"Lines IIB" by stachelpferdchen

"Lines And Curves" by sabasti

"Paper #5" by tmphotographia

"Living Lines" by ladyrapid

"Abstract Lines Grey" by filh

"The Balcony" by gyaban

"Lines Of Darkness" by leehi

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject; something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer is like an empty canvas – we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned, right?

The premise is simple; snap some photographs over the weekend dealing with the weekend’s focus, and if you send them to us (or Tweet them to us) we will post them up in the follow-up article. Having a focus will help us as artists and photographers to see things that we might not always see, and make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus,  with what we found on the Web, and your submissions, that fall in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

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Taking pictures is just the first step. Whatever you decide to do afterwards will most probably involve publicising your efforts. Whether to reach a wide audience with the intent to sell, or just to express creativity, you have to get your pictures Out There. Photo blogs are one way of doing this, with a number of options currently available. Here we will be discussing a number of free blogging platforms at our disposal, and what factors you should take into consideration when deciding between them. These are the most popular options: Google’s Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr and Posterous.

Blogger

Blogger fits in nicely with the Google products and is a just a click away on the top bar in Gmail, so if you already are a Gmail user, no additional sign up is required. When a photo is uploaded to the blog, it is actually being hosted on another Google service, Picasa Web, which has a 1GB storage limitation. Before you cry foul, consider this: an image 1200 pixels at its longest side, saved at 72ppi would clock in at an average of 500kb. That’s 2 million photos. Probably more than enough.

Blogger among the other Google services

This actually brings us to one of Blogger’s limitation as a photo blogging option. You can upload images of any size, but if they are wider than the blog placeholder, they spill out in a very awkward fashion. Each image’s size can be scaled to fit in the blog properly, but I think this produces poor visual results, in terms of a photoblog. It’s more suited for having images accompanying a text-based blog. At least there is the gallery option: when you have more than one image in a post, clicking on any one will bring up the gallery, a full screen image view, from which you can scroll to the next images.

When it comes to other functionalities, Blogger falls short again. Theme options are limited, but at least the layout of each theme is then customizable. Sharing to Google Plus is the easiest thing to do, however if you want to include sharing to Facebook and Twitter, it’s another story. You can install widgets that show up in the sidebar, but these look more like an afterthought than anything else. In my test blog with a dark colored theme, I found out that the sharing widget kept its white background. Not nice.

Blogger has one ace up its sleeve that none of the other platforms can boast of (if you can generate a sizeable readership, that is). Through its AdSense program, Google will serve ads to the viewers of your blog, earning you something in the process.

Wordpress

Wordpress comes in two versions, wordpress.com and wordpress.org. We will be talking about wordpress.com, as wordpress.org functionality is a situation in which you download the blogging software to install on your own server.

What will immediately become clear when going through the dashboard, is that there are a lot more behind the scenes options than in other blogging platforms. This may be daunting for some, or an incentive for others, it all depends on personal preference.

Wordpress has a much larger selection of themes to choose from, some of which are specifically designed for photo blogs. One of the things to watch out for when selecting themes is whether they are fixed width or variable width. The latter will widen up according to image size. My suggestion is to test them both, and see what works best for you.

Wordpress also offers more space, clocking in at 3GB. Actually this issue of storage space can be overcome if you host your images elsewhere and just link them in the blog, instead of uploading them to the blog itself. This can come in useful if you already have a Flickr account.

One cool feature which I found out using Wordpress, specifically a theme called Duotone, is that it can display the main fields of the photo’s EXIF data (metadata): aperture, ISO, focal length, shutter speed and camera model. This avoids the need to look it up and type it out each time you post. The only caveat is that the data is only available when the image is uploaded, not linked.

I found the sharing features on Wordpress to be the most complete from the platforms reviewed here. You can link your blog to Facebook, Twitter and a number of other services, so that each post is automatically published to them once posted. Then there are a slew of sharing buttons which can be displayed underneath each post, giving the reader the option to share the content they like on their social network of choice.

EXIF data and sharing buttons in Duotone theme, on Wordpress

Tumblr

If all the above sounds unnecessarily complicated, then Tumblr is for you. It’s the easiest to use platform and has nice photography themes that give prominence to the content. It has no storage limit (so far), but there is a limit on the number of posts per day. I couldn’t find an official figure on the site’s help pages, but the general consensus seems to quote a figure of 75 photo posts per day.

If you’ve slanted your head in puzzlement (as in: why would I want to post 75 times a day), keep in mind that Tumblr is part blogging platform, and part social network. All the platforms have some social features promoting interaction between users, but Tumblr’s is the most popular and heavily used. So the limitation is in place to avoid people using it like a Twitter account and spamming their timeline with posts.

Limited sharing options in Tumblr

There are no sharing buttons under Tumblr posts. Instead users can “reblog” content they find onto their own Tumblr blog. However you can still set up an automatic post to Facebook and Twitter.

Posterous

I had been using Posterous for a while as my definitely-not-serious photo blog, posting images of quirky or bizarre things I came across. The main feature was that you could just email the image to a specially coded email address, and it will be launched as a post and automatically posted on Facebook and Twitter. Other blogging platforms have since implemented this “post by email” as well.

Then came some sort of rebranding exercise, and Posterous Spaces was born. I had received the email notification, didn’t understand what was going on and lost interest. For the purposes of this write-up I investigated further, and all it turned out to be was that you could have different blogs (which they labelled “Spaces”. I don’t know why.) which could be either public, or assigned to different readers. It is a bit what Google Plus did with Circles, where the content you post to a Circle will only be viewable by members of that Circle. I have yet to determine how this could be useful from a photo blogging perspective.

Posterous Spaces doesn’t have the level of options that Wordpress has, and yet is not as intuitive to use as it could be. A fair amount of head scratching was involved in understanding what goes where.

Too many options menus?

I was rewarded with a couple of nice, customizable, variable-width photography themes, the best auto-post functionality out there (it sends posts to a number of other social services, and even posts to other blogs!) and one of the most interesting features a photo blog could ask for. When viewing images in gallery slideshow mode there is an option at the bottom left of the screen, whether to include images from this post or from the whole site. How cool is that? Fine, it’s up to the blog viewer to “discover” this feature, but for a free platform it’s a brilliant proposition.

Posterous also comes with 1GB of storage space, but what I found peculiar is that it does not allow images to be linked from another location. All the other platforms allow this.

The Fine Print (not ours)

If you are researching other photo blog options than the above, it pays to dig deeper and have a read at their Terms of Service (ToS). This is where you’ll find the legalese that governs your use of the platform, and (more importantly) what happens to the copyright of your images. All the above platforms have made it explicitly clear in their ToS that the user would retain complete ownership of the uploaded content, as long as it is yours to start with.

In Closing

There isn’t a clear winner or loser here, all the factors have to be weighed in the light of what’s important for you, the prospective photo blogger. I would definitely recommend testing out all of them first, because:

• (a) there’s nothing to lose, they’re free
• (b) you get the hands on feel, and see what works for you and doesn’t, and
• (c) you get to see how your pictures would actually look. Maybe you like what a platform has to offer, but cannot find a theme that you like.

Bonus tip: once you’ve made your choice and set up a photo blog, get a few posts up there before you tell the whole world to have a look at it. As a viewer I wouldn’t like following a link only to find there’s only one image up.

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Other Links:

"Bad Or Best" by bloodonthemoon5

"Man And His Bestfriend" by vagrantpsychotic

"Walk Away" by stolen-photography

"Diamonds Are A Girl's Best..." by gabriellemallinus

"You're My Best Friend" by sacaxmandee

"Best Friend" by onephotoaday

"Dog, Man's Best Friend" by zavorka

"Best Friend" by gares

"My Best Friend" by gundabandi

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject, something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer, is like an empty canvas, we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned right? So with this in mind we created this series, one that will get you out doing what you love. The premise is simple: snap some photos over the weekend dealing with the weekends focus, and if you send them to us, or Tweet them to us, we will post them for others to see. Having a focus will help us as artists & photographers see things that we might not always see, make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not. In seeing other photogs chase after the same focus, it can only breed even more creativity in our own work.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus, with what we found on the Web (including some of the photos sent from you) that falls in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

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Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition. Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.

This week’s Indie Spotlight shines on Oksana Rall. Oksana is a Russian native, but she has lived in Frankfurt am Main Germany, for the last two and a half years.

Oksana loves to photograph people and their emotions. She does not care if it is at a wedding, family, kids or portraits. Although, she finds photographing women to be the most interesting, because there must be a perfect game between both photographer and model.

Kit:

Oksana currently uses a Nikon D700 , although she would like to have a D3S, as well, for their higher ISO and faster, better performance. IN the course of her photography Oksana works with several different lenses: a 24-120 f4, a 105 macro f2.8, a 70-200 f2.8 and a 50 f1.4. Oksana uses all of them quite often, but chooses to use the 50 f1.4 less when working with kids.  When she shoot portraits, she uses the 105mm or 70-200mm the most. They have the ability to shoot close up portraits or shoot full portraits that include a well rendered background.

Workflow:

Oksana’s workflow varies depending on the purpose of her photograph. In any case, after shooting all the desired images, she corrects them in Lightroom 3. After Lightroom 3, she does some additional editing to some of the photos in Photoshop CS5 to clean, liquefy or add more interesting colors using layers and masks.

Tips, Tricks and Techniques:

Where possible, Oksana uses mostly natural light and a flash (sb-600) when photographing. The flash can be on the camera or on the side; she uses a radio synchronizer.  Oksana finds that a video light is also very good for portraits, especially at night or in a good interior; you just have to adjust your white balance accordingly.

Lessons Learned:

Oksana’s personal preference is “movie effect” photos. She normally captures about 300 shots of one person, and only two or three pictures will have potential for the movie effect. She has learned that the movie effect is where everything works in the photo: main subject, background, composition, emotions, everything. You look at the picture, and it makes you think deeply about it. Who is there?  What is the story of his/her or their life?  Why are they here?  Oksana feels the photo is a real great piece of work if it makes people think and remember the scene after. She achieves this effect with Photoshop and, of course, a good shot.

Inspiration:

Oksana is in love with two photographers’ work: Platon Yurich and Ilya Rashap. Both photographers are also Russian and they focus on portrait photography. Oksana finds the work of  both photographers to be extremely talented and cutting edge.

What’s Next:

Currently, Oksana is working on perfecting the technique of multi-exposure and moving effects to show a bit unreal portraits and movements.  Oksana takes this a step up by utilizing the technique in non traditional locations, and practices it everywhere she shoots.

Links:

You can follow Oksana on her website, his blog or social networks: Facebook, 500px and fotocommunity.com.

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In the last articles we focused on the use of “Develop Presets” and how they can be used to apply quick changes to an image. We also touched on how they can be used to bring efficiently to the work-flow by allowing the photographer to apply develop settings to a number of images at the same time. In this article we will focus on .  How to use Import presets to improve the efficiency of the import work-flow and how to use export presets to do the same for the export process.  We defined  “Presets” to be;  Presets are simply actions or settings in Lightroom (LR) that have been combined in such away that they can be executed with one click of the mouse button.

During a typical work-flow the photographer can make use of three types of presets as shown in the work-flow diagram below.

Import Presets

In a previous article we discussed the process of importing images into the Lightroom catalogue but we did not spend very much time on how the process can be automated with the use of presets.  In the “Apply During Import” panel of the import screen , Lightroom provides the facility to apply a “Develop Preset” and a Keyword preset to a group of images whilst they are being imported to the Lightroom  . As an example lets say that in a previous session the photographer had created and saved a preset which adjusts the white balance and colour temperature to match the conditions of a specific location. we can call this preset X. Two months later the photographer shoots another session at the same location.  He/She can select  Preset X in the Apply During import panel and during the import process the white balance and colour correction settings will be applied to each image .In addition the photographer can use a Metada preset to apply a specific  set of keywords to all of the images being imported at that time.And  finally the photographer may define a preset to capture all of the settings in the Import screen (file naming, Import Settings, Locations etc)

Exporting and Export Presets

It has been my experience in leading Lightroom workshops that the acts of importing and exporting images from Lightroom provides the most difficulty for new users of the software. Every time I lead a basic workshop on Lightroom I find that I need to devote at least  one third to one half of the workshop time on these two topics. Unfortunately due to the limited amount of space allotted these introductory articles I cannot go into any real depth but must limit myself to an overview of the export section. Hopefully  a future article will afford me the time to do a more in-depth presentation on these critical areas.

At some point in time you will need to get your images out of Lightroom , either for upload to the web, for printing or to just store as finished work in some type of archive. Lightrooms export function provides a wide variety of  options to assist you in your task.  Lets us take a look at the basic. export screen.

At the top of the screen is the selection box which is used to determine where your images are sent to during the export process, the dialogue boxes shown in the  settings box will be dependent on the export source that has been selected.. In the example shown the settings are those associated with exporting the images to a hard drive. If you have installed third-party plugins from vendors such as “NIK” or “On One” they may appear as export locations and the dialogue boxes will change to reflect their specific settings.  On the left panel are the export presets. These preset are similar in function to the “Develop” presets in that they allow the user to apply a series of predefined actions to an image whilst it is being exported “more on this later”.  The right hand or central panel contains all of the settings required to  manipulate the final output image.

Export Location:  Sets the physical location of the output file and determines how Lightroom will deal with things such as duplicate file names

File Naming: Sets the parameters for how export files will be named .For example if the files are to be renamed using a specific naming convention or if they are to be exported using the original names.

File Settings: Set the parameters relating to the export file type. file (tiff,jpeg), Its colour space , compression and bit depth.

Image Sizing: Controls the pixel dimensions  (resize to fit) and size of the output file.

Output Sharpening : Controls the application of sharpening during the export process

Metadata: Controls how much metadata is applied to and exported with the Image

Watermarking: Allows a watermark to be applied to the image during the output process.

Post Processing: Controls what happens at the end of the export process (Show the files in explorer, Launch another application )

All of these settings can be saved as an export preset and reused at any time. As an example if the photographer wants to output a set of images  as Jpegs with a  pixel dimension of 640 X 480 , resolution of 72dpi ,colour space of Srgb  and Standard output sharpening for use on the web. He/She would dial in those settings in there respective panels and save the preset as “Weboutput” for  future use every time he/she needed to generate images for the web.

Have you ever tried to create a watermark for your images using Photoshop , it  takes a bit of work to get it done and if you wish to repeat it then you need to record and action.  Lightroom makes “light” work of watermarks.

Lightroom facilitates the creation of either text  or graphical watermarks  by selecting the watermark style at the top right hand section of the watermark screen . The example above shows the creation of a text based watermark but the principles are the same for the graphical watermarks. .

Image Options:  Select the image to be used as the basis for the watermark, when the watermark style is set as Graphic

Text Options:  Set the font type,colour,opacity, when the watermark style is set as Text

Watermark  Effects: Determines how the watermark will appear on the image, (offset, location, opacity etc)

And as usual all of these settings can be saved as a preset for future use on other images.

Next time we explore the Print module of Lightroom

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This weekends theme is “Best Friends”. Best friends can come in the form of mothers, friends, sisters, dogs, cuddly toys, or even yourself. Who is your best friend? Dedicate some time this weekend to your best friend/s and a camera!

"Piggyback" by juliadavis

"You're My Best Friend" by carpesav

"Portrait Of Best Friend" by fogke

"Best Friend" by basistka

"Man's Best Friend" by latifa700

"I Can Be My Own Best Friend" by p0rg

"Best Friends" by eibo-jebbah

"Best Friend" by sigpras

"Best Friend" by knofla

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject; something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer is like an empty canvas – we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned, right?

The premise is simple; snap some photographs over the weekend dealing with the weekend’s focus, and if you send them to us (or Tweet them to us) we will post them up in the follow-up article. Having a focus will help us as artists and photographers to see things that we might not always see, and make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus,  with what we found on the Web, and your submissions, that fall in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

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Can you explain what the difference is in crop sensors and full frame sensors?

-Madison, UT

Back in the film days (Whoa! Flashback!), the rectangle that captured the image on a standard SLR (the film) was one size: 24mm x 36mm. That was it, there were no other choices. But with the advent of DSLR’s we now have to factor in the sensor. They now use imaging sensors. Imaging sensors are cut out of large sheets of expensive chips called wafers. Since a full frame sensor is larger, only 20 sensors can be cut out of a standard-sized wafer, which in turn costs more to the manufacturer which makes the camera pricier too.

People usually refer to a sensor’s size by its “crop factor.” That’s the number you use to find the 35mm equivalent of a given lens. It’s just like taking the middle of an image and throwing away the outside edges. If a sensor is 24mm x 36mm, then there is no crop factor, since it covers the same area as 35mm film, and we refer to this as ‘full frame”.

Every camera manufacturer is slightly different; models from the same manufacturer are even different. For example: Nikon has two different sensor sizes: full frame (D3) and 1.5x (mainstream Nikon SLR cameras). Canon has three sensor sizes: full frame (Canon’s 1Ds/5D), 1.3x (Canon’s 1D series) and 1.6x (Rebel/60D/7D). Other manufacturers are in the same range, with Olympus being the notable exception, at 2x.

Well that’s peachy, but why should you care? There are distinct advantages and disadvantages to full frame sensors that can definitely influence your next camera selection.

So which is the right one for you?

Let’s figure out the differences between a crop sensor and a full frame sensor, so you can decide which one suits your needs.

An APS-C format SLR (left) and a full-frame DSLR (right) show the difference in the size of the sensors

For the average Joe with a camera, a smaller 1.5x or 1.6x sensor will be fine. If you’re the kind of person who has a kit lens and maybe one other lens, it just doesn’t make sense to spend the extra money on full-frame.

If you have lots of glass from the film days, it might be worth looking into a full frame body. Modern Nikon bodies are compatible with nearly every lens Nikon ever made, and Canon bodies all work with EF glass.

So here are the advantages and the problems:

Advantages:

• Low-light performance: Digital imaging sensors have tiny little light sensors that record light and produce a pixel. The tiny sensors are called photosites. Naturally, the larger the photosite, the more ability it has to capture weak light signals. Picture it like a satellite dish. Therefore, when all other factors are equal, a full frame sensor will always perform with less noise at high ISOs than “crop frame” DSLR cameras. (Super Bonus!)
• Viewfinder Brightness: Because full frame cameras use larger lenses, they can produce a brighter viewfinder image. Very handy.
• Pro bodies: Canon and Nikon do not make DSLRs with all the bells-and-whistles in a crop sensor format so those who simply prefer a crop sensor camera cannot get all the same ultra high-end features available on the full frame bodies.
• Depth-of-Field: You may have noticed that although your point-and-shoot has an f/1.8 lens, it is nearly impossible to accomplish short depth-of-field on most point-and-shoots. The reason is that the sensor size affects the depth-of-field. Since a 35mm equivalent (full frame) sensor is larger, it allows a more shallow depth of field than a crop sensor camera.

Now for the problemos:

• Weight: The sensor itself barely adds any weight to the DSLR, but it requires larger, heavier and more expensive lenses. And with time, that leads to monkey arms.
• Lens availability: Although full frame lenses will work properly on crop frame DSLRs, the reverse is not true. Therefore, crop sensor DSLR cameras have a greater variety of lenses available to them.
• Field of view: This is both a drawback and a benefit. Landscape photographers like full frame cameras because it makes all lenses seem like they are zoomed out more. You might think of crop sensor cameras as having a built-in zoom of 50 or 60. To be technically correct though, the sensor size doesn’t magnify the scene at all; it just restricts the field of view.
• Cost: As stated above, manufacturers cannot make as many cameras with full frame sensors as they can with cropped sensors because only 20 full frame sensors can be cut form one standard-sized wafer. This, among other similar production costs, means that Full Frame DSLR cameras will always come at a premium price.

So what’s right for you? That has to be your decision: what are you planning to do with your photography and what shape is your wallet in?

The left half shows the photo as it came from the digital camera. The right half shows the photo adjusted to make a gray surface neutral in the same light

What is white balance and how does it affect my images? – Greg, GA

If you come from the world of film (Whoa! Flashback!), you may remember using filters to correct for incandescent or fluorescent lighting. In the digital world, these correction filters are no longer necessary, replaced by a feature found in most — even the entry-level — digital cameras called, “White Balance.”

I’m sure you’ve seen those images that people take: they don’t bother with white balance and their indoors pictures invariably come out with a yellow/orange or bluish cast. The reason that pictures turn out with a yellow/orange cast in incandescent (tungsten) lighting and bluish in fluorescent lighting is because light has a color temperature. A low color temperature shifts light toward the red; a high color temperature shifts light toward the blue. Different light sources emit light at different color temperatures, and thus the color cast. So why adjust the color balance?

For the simplest explanation– the reason we adjust white balance is to get the colors in your images as accurate as possible.

Here are some of the basic White Balance settings you’ll find on cameras:

Auto – this is where the camera makes the decision. You’ll find it works in many situations.

auto WB

Tungsten – this mode is usually symbolized with a little bulb and is for shooting indoors, especially under tungsten (incandescent) lighting (such as bulb lighting). It generally cools down (think blue) the colors in photos.

tungsten wb

Fluorescent – this compensates for the ‘cool’ light of fluorescent light.

florescent WB

Daylight/Sunny – not all cameras have this setting because it sets things as fairly ‘normal’ white balance settings.

Sunny WB

Cloudy – this setting generally warms things up a bit more than ‘daylight’ mode (think red).

Cloudy WB

Flash – the flash of a camera is a cool light so in this mode you’ll find it warms up your shots.

Flash WB

Shade – the light in shade is generally cooler (bluer) than shooting in direct sunlight so this mode will warm things up.

Shade WB

What is best? There are the above settings that you can change each and every time you are in each and every one of the above named situations (which can be tedious) or you can try one of these three ways to figure out which white balance adjustment will work for you; auto, manual or RAW.

Kodak Brownie camera circa 1900

1. Auto White Balance: Since the good ol’ days of the Kodak Brownie, manufacturers like to automate everything for us. Thus, today’s digital cameras give us that handy-dandy Auto White Balance (AWB) function. Depending on the camera brand, some AWB works better than others. For the most part, AWB works very well in sunny and cloudy outdoors, and is fine for most indoors situations (a little orange or bluish cast does sometimes add to the mood of the picture anyway, e.g. the warm orange glow of a candle).

To figure out if your camera works well in the AWB setting, take pictures under tungsten, fluorescent, and mixed lighting (i.e. tungsten or fluorescent, plus natural light coming through the window), and see what the results are. If they look normal, you can just use AWB on your camera.

2. Manual White Balance: This is where the actual concept of “White Balance” comes in. If we can tell the camera which object in the room is white and supposed to come out white in the picture, the camera can calculate the difference between the current color temperature of that object and the correct color temperature of a white object. And then shift all colors by that difference.

To manually set the white balance in your image, point your camera at a pure white object or a gray card (”neutral” gray is 18% gray and will reflect all colors equally). Grey cards are readily available in a myriad of convenience options. Angle the camera so that it is reflecting light from the room as a neutral reference, filling the screen completely with it, then pressing the White Balance button (or set it in the menu). This is how the camera does its WB calculation. It may take few seconds for the camera to perceive the shot, but it wills this color setting until the next white balance is performed. From then on, any picture taken will have its color temperature shifted appropriately. It’s quite simple, really, and you should not be afraid to try it out and see your indoors pictures improve considerably (assuming there is enough light for correct exposure).

3. RAW File Format: A discussion in WB would not be complete without a mention of the RAW file format available in many advanced digital cameras. When you save an image in RAW file format, you are saving it the way the image sensor sees it — without applying any adjustments (including white balance) to it. In fact, the camera ignores any WB setting you dial in.

Later, in an image editing software with the appropriate RAW plug-in, you can convert the RAW image to JPEG, and apply any color temperature shift. The white balance can be set by either choosing a white balance preset option or selecting an area in the photo that can be considered to be a neutral color. You can undo your change and try again until you obtain perfect color balance.

For most of us, Auto WB is fine and does a pretty good job in diverse situations, but when you are not happy with the color cast of your picture in review, try one of the preset WB settings. If this still does not give you what you want, consider manually setting the white balance by using a white card or sheet of paper (or white T-Shirt, etc.). But my favorite way and for ultimate control over white balance, I always shoot in RAW file format, and adjust in post-processing. I find that to be the easiest in most situations and it allows me full control in post production.

Now- what’s next? More questions? Desires, wants, concerns? Tell me – I can help you with that! They don’t call me the Photo Coach for nothin’. Email me at coach@fuelyourphotography.com

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Of the thousands of photo apps available to us, the panorama apps category seems to be growing fairly quickly.  Panorama shots are difficult to achieve through normal means – you need a lens for that – and even more difficult to achieve on the tiny camera found on our iPhones and Androids. Sometimes simply turning your phone to landscape mode still doesn’t capture the view you desire.  For super-wide shots, or panorama photographs, you’ll need an app capable of stitching together multiple pictures together to form a solid, well-compiled shot.

My favorite? Autostich . I don’t take that many panorama shots, and you don’t either, I’m sure. This app stays on my iPhone just in case I need it. After visiting a friend’s horrifically messy dorm room, I felt the need to capture the entire scene in all of it’s glory, so I launched the app. The result?

The resulting panorama clocks in at around 4200 pixels wide. Shrunken down to fit on this website, the results are not as mystifying, but the message is clear. You have to be careful to keep your camera at the same angle as you shoot, or you might experience some slightly disorienting “bending” (look at the bed above.)

On the plus side, the app takes absolutely no time to get a hang of, which is one of the reasons I recommend it. Ease-of-use is key. Panorama shots seem prevalent in travelers’ portfolios; the need to capture the entire scene of somewhere new and exciting demands an app that we can open up, click a button, and get to work.

Pretty simple, no?

There are three buttons on the home screen, two of which get the most use from me. “Shoot Panorama” takes you right to the camera. With Autostitch, you don’t really care to see your pictures after you take them. You’re encouraged to leave about a 30% overlap between pictures, but besides that simple rule, just shoot, turn, shoot, turn, and repeat until you’ve taken enough pictures of your scene.

Click “Stitch” and your shots are lined up, rendered, and stitched together in a relatively slow process (be patient.) Thankfully, we get to watch our panorama be stitched together right before our eyes, and it’s safe to say – the results are always astounding.

Before saving, you need to crop your picture into a huge, long rectangle. The stitching process often leaves the edges aligned improperly (we’re stitching pictures together here, people!) Even this is made easy, as the app has an “auto-crop” feature that chops off just enough of the awkward edges to form a nice, wide, rectangular shot. Naturally, the app can save to your camera roll or upload to various social networks. There’s also a neat feature where you can send the panorama directly to another app for further editing (such as my previously-reviewed TiltShift Gen.)

Also on the home page is an option for selecting previous-taked photos to be stitched together, an option present in just about every photo app out there, and a “My Panoramas” button, which takes you to a page with saved copies of previously stitched panoramas, in case you’ve lost your saved copies or just need to come back to old photos for further stitching or editing. This feature also comes in handy if you’re reviewing the app and need to resave every panorama you’ve ever taken!

Besides the occasional use for extreme-cases, I see Autostitch being a best buy before a long hiking trip or an over-the-mountain type of adventure. This app will prove to be a sure-fire way to impress your friends by going above and beyond a simple landscape-mode shot of that beautiful sunset. This app can capture the entirety of just about any scene you’ll stumble upon and will do it quickly and easily. As far as panorama apps go, Autostitch receives my approval.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a forest to trim.

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Other Links:

"Rain" by juredolzan

"Let The Rain Pour Down" by appleplusskeleton

"Bokeh Rain" by casheefoo

"Umbrella And Rain" by buthy-13

"Rain Of Light" by moth-called-marigold

"Heavy Rain" by stamatisgr

"A Train In The Rain" by josemelim

"Sunset Rain I" by bep-art

"Dark Rain" by jay-cougar-prints

"Rain City" by elasias

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject, something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer, is like an empty canvas, we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned right? So with this in mind we created this series, one that will get you out doing what you love. The premise is simple: snap some photos over the weekend dealing with the weekends focus, and if you send them to us, or Tweet them to us, we will post them for others to see. Having a focus will help us as artists & photographers see things that we might not always see, make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not. In seeing other photogs chase after the same focus, it can only breed even more creativity in our own work.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus, with what we found on the Web (including some of the photos sent from you) that falls in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

Example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

Advertise here via BSA

Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition. Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.

This week’s Indie Spotlight features Nick Gatens from Louisville, Kentucky in the United States. Nick is a macro photographer at heart who gives us a very different and pleasing perspective on things that we see everyday but rarely take time to stop and appreciate their beauty.

Kit:

Nick currently shoots with a Canon Digital Rebel T2i, he owns three lenses – a100mm f/2.8 macro, the 50mm f/1.8, and the 18-55mm kit lens. Nick’s favorite lens is his 100mm f/2.8 macro, and it is particularly suited to his style of photography. Macro photography was the main reason Nick wanted to become a photographer; macro photography mirrors his lifestyle as his modus is to take the time to appreciate the little things in life – and it’s the exact same when he has his macro lens in his hands.

Workflow:

Nick takes on the difficult task of  shooting the majority of his macro shots handheld, using natural light. he shoots using full manual settings on his camera except for sometimes utilizing auto focus.  Nick avoids carrying a tripod or a huge backpack full of gear, so he has  adapted his shooting style accordingly.  Nick prefers the control that the manual settings afford him; he finds that shooting in manual mode forces him to slow down and put more thought into composition.  Like most experienced photographers he also shoots in RAW.  In his post production flow, Nick strictly use Lightroom for any adjustments, starting with a handful of presets.  Having these self-customized presets allows Nick to determine  where he might be able to take an image, after this determination he then starts at the top of the develop module and drags almost every single slider to both extremes to see what effect they have on the image. Though Nick often has a preconceived idea of where he wants to go with an image at the time of capture, he sometimes stumbles into better results by letting the process take him somewhere that he didn’t consider.

Tips, Tricks and Techniques:

While shooting macros, Nick often will first focus his lens on his subject, be it auto or manual focus, and then physically move himself and his camera to achieve his final focus and composition, naturally this is another reason while a tripod does not work in his particular style of shooting, but his style of shooting requires the care of a surgeon and nerves of steel.  In composing his image Nick often moves  toward or away from the subject, crouches down or raises up. This is particularly difficult because slightest movement can entirely change a macro shot but Nick likes the ability to have  more control over his results, rather than trying to keep his camera in a single spot and focusing only with the lens itself.

Lessons Learned:

Nick learned to shoot ‘through’ things with his  macro lens.  Prior a breakthrough, Nick used to make his macro subject the most prominent part of his foreground (and would often remove items in front of his subject for that reason).   As Nick says “For the longest time, it never occurred to me that using a very shallow depth of field would throw the foreground out of focus just as much as the background; as soon as I realized how to use this to my advantage, I began to use it often to add even greater depth to a photograph.”

Inspiration:

As will all great photographers, Nick finds inspiration in the work of other photographers.  The first of two of the photographers that Nick most admires is Steve Shaluta who is the person responsible for Nick picking up a camera; before Nick even owned a camera Steve encouraged him, answered his questions and taught Nick the ins and outs of working as a photographer. Fleur Olby is the second of Nick’s inspirational sources he gains great inspiration from her work photographing flora.   Nick is so impressed with Fleur that he says “”her work never fails to inspire me. She is able to show me things I haven’t seen in plants that I’ve photographed countless times myself.”

What’s Next:

Nick’s love of photography encourages him to want to shoot any and everywhere but his current project is one in which he is attempting to shoot in all 50 states of the United States before moving on to Canada.  In Nick’s macro photography he always finds something unexpected to shoot at any location, he revels in capturing exquisite detail at any location be it flora/fauna or architecture.  While this doesn’t necessarily mean macro in the traditional sense that most people think of.  Nick’s often uses his macro lens to capture detail in a larger scene that may be beyond the capability of less pristine lenses. Nick also has a strong desire to dive into street photography.  As we photographers know this takes particular courage to overcome fear of rejection and being rebuffed, but like many of us Nick is in the process of getting over his fear in order to meet this goal.  Nick has also current is engaged in  a very special project that he hopes will open doors for him during the course of the year.

Links:

You can keep up-to-date with Nick’s macro photography and special projects  online on his Google+ page or at his website.

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Rain; it makes you soggy, uncomfortable and causes ridiculous amounts of traffic. It always appears on your bad days, making them into terrible days. Only a handful of people say they like rain, and even then it is only enjoyable when you have the time to actually go out and get soaked and look like a wet dog… if you are on your way to work for an eight hour shift, or off to meet a date, rain is always unwelcome. For this weekends focus, however, we are asking you to make some time (if it rains!) to go outside and have fun in the rain. Make sure to protect yourself and your equipment! (Obviously, this weekends focus is relying on the weather, so if there is no rain then feel free to experiment with water. Think outside the box, can you make interesting rain-like effects with a hose pipe, for example?)

"The Rain" by ojosverde

"Rain" by iamfragile

"It's In The Rain" by forbiddensorrow

"November Rain" by onechristina

"After The Rain" by kelvinlu

"The Rain" by menoevil

"Rain" by kle-m

"Rain" by skippiethebush

"The Rain Rain Rain Came Down" by littlemisslove

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject; something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer is like an empty canvas – we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned, right?

The premise is simple; snap some photographs over the weekend dealing with the weekend’s focus, and if you send them to us (or Tweet them to us) we will post them up in the follow-up article. Having a focus will help us as artists and photographers to see things that we might not always see, and make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus,  with what we found on the Web, and your submissions, that fall in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my subm

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Hello Readers:

What a busy time it has been in the photography world, the purchase of Instagram, the redesign of Google +, and a raft of new cameras being released from many manufacturers. Are you ready for a busy shooting season Summer starts in the Northern Hemisphere on June 21, in the Southern Hemisphere, however, it marks the start of Winter.

If you have any questions abour preparing your equipment for the season or want to get tips on shooting a particular type of scene/setup be sure to read our Ask The Coach series here at FYP, in addition to all the great advice our professional photographer Dawn post from user submitted questions, you can also ask her questions of your own by emailing her at coach@fuelyourphotography.com, she’ll be happy to respond to any of your questions and answers are posted monthly on the third Thursday of each month.  I encourage you to make use of this great resource!

If you’ve had your equipment stored for a while, now is the best time to check your equipment to make sure that it is in good working order.  It can be rather disheartening when you pick up your equipment for a shoot only to find that you are unable to use it because it is not working at its capability or is broken.  I know this part is hindsight but the manner you store your equipment is very important, neither heat nor cold are your cameras friends.  Heat will not only cause your camera rubber to become sticky but extreme heat will also cause the glue in your lenses to soften and therefore may make them render a soft focus even when you don’t intend to do so.

For this reason you should also never leave your camera in an parked automobile.  Cold is also an enemy to your camera, if you are shooting in a situation where it is 50 degrees or lower outdoors you should place your camera in a sealed plastic bag before returning indoors so condensation forms on the plastic bag rather than the internals of your camera and lenses, leave it in the bag for at least 15 minutes.  When storing your equipement you should make use of those little silicia packets that you find in the boxes when you purchase new shoes and hard drives etc.  The keep humidity down when you have your equipment in its bag and prevent mildew on the lenses.  All that done, GREAT now lets move on to what you are really here for.

This month we have a great line up for you as always.  In addtion to our Indie Spotlight that showcases new and inspirational photographers each Monday we also have the Weekend Photo Focus on Friday to challenge you to get out with your camera at the weekend and shoot the images in the challenge and see your images posted in the Weekend Photo Find every Monday right here at FYP.  This month we have an app review by Conor, Andrew assist us in choose the right photography blog, Hugh show your more tricks in Lightroom you can explore the series here, Dominic shows you some advanced Photoshop tricks with the Firefly series, Brooke gives us an insightful article about kids and photography. in addition to our monthly FYP Photography Contest that features phoneography this month.

We are also looking for a few writers to contribute a monthly article if you like to write and want to share your experiences with others and get exposure for your work drop me an email editor@fuelyourphotography.com, lets talk about how you can fit into our FYP family.  If there are topics you’d love to see us cover feel free to drop me a line I’m sure one of our capable writers would be more than happy to cover your suggested topic, you can email me at editor@fuelyourphotography.com.  Also let me know what you’ve been shooting or intend to shoot, we all have a bucket list, one of mine is to shoot in Africa, Lebanon and the Greek Islands, what are yours?

I’m looking forward to hearing from you, take care!

- Jeremy

Editor-in-Chief

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I have a simple hypothesis.

“Parents often condition their kids to begrudge photography”.

Have you ever found yourself in the following scenario?
Your photography sensor goes off inside you and you must get a picture. Either your kids are doing something adorable or you’re having a great time at some memorable event.
You grab the camera, eager to capture the amazing images already playing around in your head.
But wait!
Your kids aren’t doing exactly what the images in your head portray…
Let’s direct them instead!
“Suzy! Suzy!” Several pitches and cheerful calls later you have her brief attention.
“Look over here!” “Turn around!” “Stand like this!”
“Smile!”
“Stand a little closer to your brother!”
The orders are innocent. And I’ve repeated this scene in real life a million times. But here’s what happens:

Kids don’t like orders.

And as the parent, we likely already give a lot of orders throughout the day. The camera begins to be associated with more rules and commands, and it often times interrupts the flow of what was already a great shot before we got all involved in trying to create perfection. Is it any wonder that some kids despair when they see the camera coming out of the bag?
But how do you achieve the pictures you have in mind without coaching?

1. Drop the instructions and let things happen naturally.

Not only can we capture some meaningful imagery when we step back, but we also condition our kids to not mind the camera being present–when it’s not just a tool that comes with commands or interruptions. How wonderful if they hardly knew it was even there!

2. Learn to be okay with photos not looking at the camera.

Often times the strongest storytelling images are a result of something happening and catching an uninterrupted moment. Do we remember to look for those or do we often barge in with the perfect photo concept to execute?

3. Quietly integrate the camera into your activities.

Not every picture needs to have a person in it! By beginning to focus on some of the small details of an activity together, you can quietly integrate the camera into a setting without drawing attention before turning the camera on your kids. The more natural the camera presence becomes, the less inhibited our subjects will be.

4. Join in the fun and let your real life INTERACTION bring the REACTION that you are hoping for.

Rather than asking for smiles, use the opportunity to be playful. Making your interaction something the kids eagerly anticipate and enjoy will bring authentic smiles, laughter, and emotion. Most importantly, we begin conditioning our kids to have a more positive response to the camera.

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Weekend Photo Focus Submissions:

"Song 1" by vpickering

Other Links:

"Into The Nightstreet" by fogke

"It Was A Snowy Night" by strany

"Surfers Paradise Christmas Eve" by drewyboy

"The Shadow Of Steigtind" by sindreahn

"Niagara Falls At Night" by kla91

"White Night" by strany

"Urban Marina" by sunnydayze

"Silent Beauty" by dgxxl

"Night" by odpium

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject, something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer, is like an empty canvas, we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned right? So with this in mind we created this series, one that will get you out doing what you love. The premise is simple: snap some photos over the weekend dealing with the weekends focus, and if you send them to us, or Tweet them to us, we will post them for others to see. Having a focus will help us as artists & photographers see things that we might not always see, make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not. In seeing other photogs chase after the same focus, it can only breed even more creativity in our own work.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus, with what we found on the Web (including some of the photos sent from you) that falls in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

Example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

Advertise here via BSA

Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition. Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website

"The key to a pleasant artistic or realistic HDR image is to remember that using HDR processing software is just the beginning." -- Hamish Carpenter.

This week’s Indie Spotlight features a talented photographer from West Bloomfield, MI, USA. Hamish Carpenter’s style is a bit different than any other High Dynamic Range (HDR) photos we’ve seen. His style of photography tends to deviate towards capturing eye-popping colors to help draw the eye into the scene — sometimes bordering on fantasy-like. This is usually achieved by using HDR technique to combine multiple over and under exposed photos of the same scene as he prefers them to be have more artistic feel, although there are some exceptions to the rule; especially in wildlife photography where a more natural shots are desitred.

Kit:

Hamish owns 2 Canon cameras, a Canon 7D DSLR and a great premium compact Canon Powershot S95 but most of the time, you’ll find him shooting away with the Canon 7D fitted withCanon EF 24-105mm F4L IS USM standard zoom lens. The lens is an extremely versatile lens which allows him to shoot from a fairly wide to an adequate telephoto range. He prefers to use natural light most of the time but he’ll use a speedlight depending on the situation.

“The fact that the lens has a constant aperture of F4 throughout allows me to shoot in all but the most poorly lit environment.”

Workflow:

The majority of his editing work begins with Adobe Lightroom before being sent to Photomatix for HDR processing. He moves on to Adobe Photoshop for general cleanup as well as masking, before doing the final touch up using his favourite tool from Nik Software Suite, Color Efex Pro 4 together with Topaz Adjust. All of his final HDR images are usually completed with a conservative vignette.

“These programs are amazing at adding final effects to an image to make it truly standout.”

Tips, Tricks and Techniques:

Hamish believes that the key to a pleasant artistic or realistic HDR image is to remember that using HDR processing software is just the beginning. When processing HDR, depending on the subject, the tonemapped image rarely looks complete. There may be area of ghosting, color shifts, halos, etc so his ideal method of correcting these problems is by using layers in Adobe Photoshop. Once the tonemapped image is processed, he will import it along with the original 5, 7 or 9 exposures into Adobe Photoshop on seperate layers. He will then use masks to reveal the best parts of each image, combining them all into a well balanced and toned composite image.

“Using layers and masks, local adjustments can be made rather than global adjustments to the entire image.”

Local adjustments are then applied to correct color balances, ghosting (if necessary) and definitely halos which are usually seen in areas of high contrast where dark and light colors meet (this is usually seen in clear blue skies). His method in fixing unsightly halos is to mask in those troublesome areas from other images. He uses a couple of third-party plugins (such as NIK, Topaz, etc) at the end of his post-processing to give the image that extra punch.

“When using third party plugins as final effects for photos, it is best to apply these effects selectively so they only affect certain parts of the image to achieve the best results.”

Lessons Learned:

Hamish recently discovered a special technique while he was photographing some trees in a park surrounded by greenish-yellow grass. Due to the lack of lights, he was forced to use low shutter speed and it turns out that moving the camera up and down while the shutter is open, creates an interesting effect. As he reviewed the image, he noticed a rather beautiful abstract rendition of color caused by the blurring of the brown tree trunks, combined with the greenish-yellow grass. The technique is far from perfect but he will continue practicing it. ”During daylight, an ND filter is ideal to produce the slower shutter speed needed to produce this effect while moving the camera.” After doing some research, he founds out that the technique can be applied to many different scenes and objects in order to produce an abstract, artistic result.

Inspiration:

Hamish has a long list of photographers whom he admires for their captivating and inspiring shots but 2 of them is on top of the list, Trey Ratcliff and Scott Kelby.

Trey Ratcliff has been known as the master of HDR photography. Hamish admires the fact that not only does Trey takes beautiful images but also enjoys educating fellow photographers with some of his tricks and techniques and always reminds everyone that beauty is in all around us and it’s just a matter of searching our cities to find objects and scenes to photograph.

Scott Kelby has been a household name for many of us for a long time. It’s still a mystery to Hamish as to how Scott accomplishes everything he does in a single day. “Scott is also an amazing educator, arguably the best out there today amongst a bevy of talented photographers.” Scott has created a training medium known as Kelby Training, where he provides video tutorials from the world’s best photographers in their respective fields — from Macro Photography, Wedding, Automative to Sports Photography and it has become Hamish’s main source for all of his photography learning needs. “I cannot recommend Kelby Training enough for anyone beginning to learn photography.”

What’s Next:

Hamish has been a sports aficionado, having played several sports throughout high school and college. He has taken a couple of shots at some golf tournaments during practice rounds but if given the chance, he would relish the opportunity to photograph world’s best golf players on the PGA Tour during a major tournament. “The combination of the lush landscape and natural surroundings along with the world class talent could lead to a plethora of tremendous photo opportunities.”

There seems to be a common approach in regards to photographing strangers — from afar. He admires those who can take a 35mm lens and approach a stranger to take their photos and would someday take up the courage to approach a random stranger on the street to photograph them and capture their essential uniqueness which separates us all from one another.

Links:

Hamish Carpenter’s work can be found online via his personal website as well as his Flicker account. You can also follow him on twitter @hcarp.