Now for my own workflow:
When I import the photos off the card, I put them in a set of folders that have been organized chronologically. For example:

Pictures > 2012 > January > 14 Jan – DustinEricaGarden

So that’s where you would put all the originals from the shoot. Since I shoot in RAW format, I will quickly head to Photoshop to convert them to JPGs and size them down for Client Proofing. To do that in Photoshop, go to:

File > Scripts > Image Processor…

Here I select the source files (which would be the originals) and that I would like to save them in the same location. Saving them in the same location will create a new folder labeled “JPEG” inside where you imported your original photos. While still in the image processor window, I will make sure that the JPG check box is selected and the resize one too. Then I will put in 1000px for both the height and the width of the images. This won’t make them square, but adjust whichever edge is longer to 1000px. This makes for easier online proofing. At the bottom I will add my Copyright statement and then tell it to run.

Once the photos are resized, I will then upload them to a site called ZangZing (FREE) for client proofing. What I do here is create a new album for my clients and upload all the originals and ask them to go through and mark “Favorite” on the ones they absolutely want to have printed/edited. I give them about a 15 photo limit because otherwise they might select them all. I restrict album access to private so only the client can see the photos.

Once the photos have been selected and ready for enhancements/editing, I create a general folder labeled, “Edits” for each month. For example:

Pictures > 2012 > January > Edits…

And inside each Edits folder are these two subfolders:

> JPGs
> PSDs

Original Quality, edited, JPGs are saved in this area. At the same time I finish a photo I like to make it “Web Ready” by resizing it and putting my logo on it and I then I save it in a folder called “BLOG” inside my “JPGs” folder. For example:

Pictures > 2012 > January > Edits > JPGs > BLOG…

I might create subfolders within “JPGs” or “PSDs” for a series of photos I edit just to keep clients separated from my own work or other files.

This type of organization has worked great for me because it’s been far easier to remember when an event happened rather than some crazy name I saved it all under.

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As far as my editing workflow goes – that changes depending on the photo I am working with. From HDRs to Portraits to Landscapes… they all need a special kind of love.

But, one thing I do make an effort to do when I am done editing the photo is to do levels so that if I print the photo, it will be bright enough. I will do a slight sharpen on it. Then I will increase the Sats because some printers take the sats away depending on where you go. Those are my finishing techniques but it’s a workflow.Further Reading:

• Recommended Post-Processing Software
• Lightroom vs. Photoshop
• Recommended Computers for Photo Editing
• Show your best work

Let’s ask the question: What is our favorite type of photography?

Do we love those portraits or do we find joy in the majestic beauty of landscape photography? Maybe we get a rush with sports photography or find it hard to keep from drooling when it comes to stunning automotive photos.

Even if we like it all – we have to realize that we cannot go after it all at once and need to focus on just one area to start with. But let’s look into these different areas and what lens would be best for us:

Portrait Lenses

It’s no secret that a 50mm prime lens is what we want. However, there is a cheap version and an expensive option. Apart from the slightly smaller f/stop number and metal body on the more pricey option – the glass is the same and will virtually take the same photo! Go with the cheaper one – we can buy two more at the cost of one.

Also – we might want to consider getting a really nice telephoto lens (70-300mm) to take those amazing portraits. The ability to be farther away from our clients can increase their comfort level because we are not right in their face. This lens can also prove to be very versatile for us!

Landscape Lenses

Getting that wide shot is very important! Look into getting a really wide lens (10-24mm) so that we can be really close be see a lot through our lens. These can be expensive, but worth the money because of our growing talent!

Sport Lenses

Feel like going pro down on the field? We need a prime 400mm lens to stop that action dead in its tracks! To be considered a sports photographer, we need to have a serious telephoto lens so that we can be close without actually being a part of the action. Depending on the big leagues we want to get in to, it is required that we have a certain lens.

Automotive Lenses

There isn’t a special lens that we would need for this type of photography. A wider lens would be nice to have on hand – but it depends on the photos we are trying to capture with a car.

Now we talk about the brand you want to buy! So many of us are on a budget when it comes to getting some new gear – then we look at the prices of some of these lenses we need and decide that we really have no budget (it kind of gives a whole new meaning to jaw-dropping prices). However, we accept that fact that Canon is going to make the best lenses for your Canon camera… the same goes for our Nikon cameras. Finding a “more affordable” lens does not mean we are going to get the same results. We might have the focal length we need but the photo will still be blurry. And no one wants a blurry photo!

As a disclaimer – there are really good alternative lenses that take really good photos. We just have to test them out before putting all our eggs in one basket!

What is the next lens we are going to get? Depends on what we love the most right now! Follow these additional links for more detailed information to help us look through the right lens:

http://improvephotography.com/1148/cheap-telephoto-lens-canon-nikon/

http://improvephotography.com/jims-recommended-photography-gear/recommended-lenses/

http://improvephotography.com/1098/prime-or-zoom-lens-dslr/

http://improvephotography.com/967/difference-cheap-expensive-lens-camera-dslr/Further Reading:

• Prime Lenses vs. Zoom Lenses
• Is It Necessary to Buy the Expensive Lenses?
• The Best (and Worst) Cheap Telephoto Lenses: A review
• What you probably don’t know about wide-angle lenses

Ready for Pinterest!

As with learning any topic, students usually learn a tremendous amount of information about a topic for the first while, then they reach a certain level of competency and halt all learning.  The same is true with photographers when we get a new camera.  When we first get our hands on a camera, we spend every waking second learning how to use it and all the buttons and dials.  Then… we suddenly stop. But if you stop learning your camera too soon, you miss out on some REALLY COOL features in most–but not all–DSLR cameras.

This post will hopefully enlighten you on a few features that are commonly (but not always) put in DSLR cameras that most photographers don’t know they have.

Oh, and my favorite thing about writing this post is that I just CAN’T WAIT to read the comments.  There are always a few “know it alls” who have to share with me the fact that they “knew that stuff already.”  I get a lot of pleasure out of those comments for some reason… but I hope everyone finds at least one thing in this list that is new.

These are the settings I like so that my preview on the LCD looks closer to what it will look like after post-processing.

Custom Picture Controls

First, some background.  Picture Controls (that’s Nikon’s name for it) or Picture Styles (for the Canonistas) are applied to every picture you take.  The RAW photo coming off the sensor lacks contrast, sharpness, and color saturation.  In fact, it’s downright ugly.  Your camera applies these adjustments to each picture to pretty it up for you. I have never worried myself with setting the Picture Control because I ALWAYS shoot in RAW.

However, I was out shooting with Dustin Olsen a few months back and looked at the back of his camera to see how the photos were coming out.  WOW!  It was so much more beautiful than my LCD screen!  Dustin sets a custom picture control so that the photos on the LCD screen look more like how they will look in post-processing.  This helps him to visualize the finished photo.  Changing the picture control if you shoot in RAW will not affect the image you see on the computer, but it will help you see what you’re capturing on the camera. To set a custom picture control or picture style, go to your menu and find the custom picture control setting.  I like to use these settings:   If you shoot in RAW instead of JPEG, this is still true because your camera saves out a JPEG preview that is used as the thumbnail image and to display on the LCD screen on the back of your camera.

Multiple Exposure

Multiple exposure can be pretty fun for creative effects, and it is an oft-overlooked feature on many DSLRs (not all of them have this).  Multiple exposure means the camera takes 2 or 3 (or more) photos in a row and then combines them to create one picture. For example, you might shoot a runner sprinting down the track.  For a creative effect, you could set your camera to multiple exposure and lock it down on a tripod.  Then take three pictures of the runner sprinting by and the camera will combine them into an action sequence.  You can get the multiple exposure effect in Photoshop too.

Time Lapse

Sorry Canon shooters, your DSLR most likely won’t have this feature; however, most Nikon cameras come with this feature.  A time lapse is when your camera is set to take a picture every second or so.  Then, the individual frames (usually taken over the course of 30 minutes or more) are combined to create a video like this one. On a Nikon DSLR, you can find this feature on the menu called “Interval timer shooting.”  I wrote out a tutorial here of how to do timelapse on both Nikon and Canon cameras.

Time Before Sleep

Nothing is more annoying when shooting than when the screen constantly turns off while you’re reviewing images on the LCD screen.  I like to take a nice long look at the photos and zoom in on different parts.  I like to work methodically most of the time, and especially when shooting landscapes.

All DSLRs allow the photographer to adjust how long a photo is displayed before the screen goes to sleep.  I like to set this to about 10 seconds.  If you are short on battery life, this probably isn’t a great idea, but I always have fresh batteries lying around and use a battery grip, so I don’t really worry about battery life nearly as much as I worry about being able to get a good long look at the photos I’m working with.

Lately, I’ve been experimenting in working with an iPad so when I shoot a photo, it shows up almost immediately on my iPad (wirelessly) so I can see the photos full screen.  I love it for landscapes where I’m working slowly and really checking each picture, but it’s probably impractical for shooting portraits, sports, wildlife, or other fast-moving subjects.

Flash Compensation

No, not exposure compensation.  Exposure compensation is when the photographer tells the camera to decide the correct exposure, and then get either brighter or darker depending on what exposure compensation setting the photographer set the camera to.

Flash compensation works similarly.  The camera will determine how much flash output is needed, and then the photographer can set the camera to either give more or less power to the flash according to the look that the photographer is attempting to achieve.

When might you use such a thing?  I thought you’d ask.  If you’re using an all-manual flash like the YN-560 (see my YN-560 review here), then this is entirely irrelevant.  This is also mostly irrelevant if you are using an eTTL or iTTL flash because those flashes allow the photographer to change the flash compensation from the flash’s menu so you don’t have to go through the camera menu.

The use-case for this is when you’re in a pinch and are forced to use that blasted pop-up flash.  Photographers hate using the pop-up flash because it looks ridiculously ugly since the light is coming from the same angle as the camera and therefore not directional.  However, if you use flash compensation, you can control how much flash is used and achieve much better pictures when you’re in a pinch and you need to use flash (like when Aunt Janet hands you her point-and-shoot to take a picture at the wedding).

Depth-of-Field Preview

This feature is somewhat better known among photographers, but still the kind of thing that a lot of photographers don’t notice until they have shot for years.  Most DSLR cameras have a small black button on the front of the camera just to the left (camera left) of the lens.  If you look through the viewfinder and press the button, it will make the screen go a bit darker, but it will also show you how the depth-of-field will look when you take the picture.

The button is useful because, contrary to popular belief, changing the aperture setting on your camera does not immediately adjust the aperture in the lens.  The aperture snaps into place only right before the picture is taken.  This is done so the camera can gather as much light as possible for focusing before the picture is taken.  So when you’re looking through the viewfinder, you already know what the depth of field will look like.  Don’t worry about the fact that the viewfinder will be darker–this is just because the closed aperture reduces the amount of light going through.

Instagram Mode

Newer model Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras have begun to include “Instagram mode,” but it currently requires two tablespoons of butter to activate.  All you have to do is smear the butter over the front element of your lens and viola!  You have that “beautiful” look that only Instagram can offer.

Sorry for those of you who aren’t geeky and don’t understand nerd humor.  Instagram is an iPhone (and Android) app for photography that puts some really overdone effects on photos so everyone can call themselves artists (okay, fine… it’s fun).

Back Button Focus

I get SOOO MANY questions about back button focus that I decided this one deserves its own post.  Learn about back button focusing here.

Using back button focusing can help get your focus more precise and faster.

 Further Reading:

• Photo Basics Lesson: How to Check the Exposure
• What is Bulb Mode and 5 Ways to Use It (Long Exposure Photography)
• Back Button Focusing – Easier than you think!
• 13 Things Your Camera Wishes You Knew

I made this graphic so it is convenient for you to pin this on Pinterest if you'd like. Put your mouse over the picture and click the "Pin it" button.

One of the most frequent questions I have received in the last month has been about back button focus and how to use it on Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras.  In this article you’ll learn what back button focusing is, and how to back button focus for Canon and Nikon cameras.

What is back button focusing?

The camera usually focuses when the shutter button is pressed half way down, and then the photographer takes the picture when the button is pressed in fully.  Back button autfocus makes it so the shutter button doesn’t control the focus activation at all, but instead assigns another button on the back of the camera (hence the name) to activate focusing on the camera.

What is the purpose of back button focusing?

The best way to explain the benefits of back button focusing is through two examples.

Example number one

First, suppose you are shooting portraits.  The person who you are shooting is standing still and you want to take several different shots of the person.  You take your first shot, and then change your composition and need to move your focus point to be on the person’s eye.  If your camera has 40+ focus points like many DSLRs do, you have to use the four-way selector to tediously move the focus point to the correct spot, focus, and then take the photo.  How annoying!

You can use back button focusing to solve this problem because the distance between the photographer and the subject stays the same between both shots, but the composition changes.  With back button focusing, the photographer activates focus for the first shot, and then is able to recompose infinite times as long as the distance between the camera and the subject remains exactly the same.

You’ll note that there are other ways to solve this problem, such as focus and recompose (equally tedious, but sometimes it’s your best bet), or holding the AF-L, AE-L button, but that is just plain annoying.  Back button focusing is superior in this instance as long as the photographer is careful not to change the distance between the camera and the subject (which would throw off the focus) when using shallow depth-of-field.

Example number two

While I was shooting wildlife in Yellowstone earlier this year (read about that trip here), I came amazingly close to a pack of wolves one morning (well, close as in it filled the frame with a giant 800mm lens… I wasn’t THAT close…)  and I shot as fast and furious as possible as the famous Alpha 06 wolf played in the snow in front of me.

Just as I was shooting madly, another photographer scooted too close in front of me and my 800mm lens began to focus on the photographer’s shoulder!  Focus on such a long lens can be somewhat slow, and by the time I readjusted my heavy tripod and lens, the wolf was running away and all I got was butt shots.

In the same situation, back button focus could have saved me.  When the photographer’s shoulder appeared in the frame, my focus would have been locked on the wolf still and I could have shot to the side of the photographer and still got sharp shots as soon as I shewed him out of the frame.  Instead, I had to find focus again in low light with a plain white field of snow in front of me (meaning focus was tough to acquire).

Back Button Focus for Canon

Canon was the first camera manufacturer to implement back button focus in 1989 and has put the feature in all DSLR models made in the last 8 or 9 years (yes, even the Canon Rebel XT and XTi).

In the Canon camera menu, you’ll look for an option called “Shutter/AE Lock Button” and then in that menu you’ll see a whole host of options.  The one you’re looking for is called “Metering Start / Meter + AF Start.”  Could they have possibly made that any more confusing for us photographers?  No… I think not.

The following is a cheat sheet from the Canon Learning center where you’ll find the menu option on your Canon camera to set up back button focus.  If your camera isn’t listed here, just poke around a bit and I’m sure you’ll find it easy enough.

EOS Rebel T3: C.Fn 7 (option 1 or 3)
EOS Rebel T3i: C.Fn 9 (option 1 or 3)
EOS 50D: C.Fn IV-1 (option 2 or 3)
EOS 60D: C.Fn IV-1 (option 1, 2, 3, or 4)
EOS 7D: C.Fn IV-1 (Custom Controls — Shutter, AF-ON, AEL buttons)
EOS 5D Mark II: C.Fn IV-1 (option 2 or 3)
EOS-1Ds Mark III: C.Fn IV-1 (option 2 or 3)
EOS-1D Mark IV: C.Fn IV-1 (option 2 or 3)

More advanced Canon cameras have a dedicated button on the back of the camera that will be the button used to activate the focus on the camera, and other Canon cameras (such as Canon Rebels, Canon 60D, etc) will use the AF-L, AE-L button as the button that will activate focus after this option is selected.

Some advanced cameras (for both Canon and Nikon) like the 5D Mark III and the Nikon D800 have a dedicated button for AF-On. Other cameras (like a D7000 or a Canon Rebel) allow the photographer to program the AE-L, AF-L button to work for back button focusing.

Back Button Focus for Nikon

On a Nikon camera, it is a bit easier to set up back button focusing than it is on a Canon, but you still have to know exactly what to look for.

There are dozens and dozens of Nikon model DSLR cameras, so I can’t go through each of them, but if you follow one of the tutorials below for a similar camera to your model, I’m sure you’ll get it set up easy enough.

Back Button Focus on a Nikon D7000

1) You need to assign the AE-L, AF-L button (yes, that button that you’ve never used before and always wondered what it does) on the back of the camera to be AF-On. To do this, go to your camera menu and look in the custom setting menu (the pencil).  In the custom setting menu, go to Controls, and then choose F5 “Assign AE-L/AF-L button.”  Within this menu, choose “AF-On.”
2) Now you need to set up the camera so it will take a picture even when focus has not been achieved.  This is preferable in most situations because you may have focused and recomposed the shot.  To do this, go to your Custom Setting Menu and choose Autofocus.  Within this menu, select A1 “AF-C priority selection” and set it to “release.”  Then set AF-S priority selection to “release” as well.

Back Button Focus on a Nikon D3100, D3200, or a D5100

Check out this video tutorial that explains step-by-step how to do it.

Should all photographers use back button focusing?

Definitely not!  If you’re not yet 100% comfortable with operating your camera or if you don’t quite understand how focus works, then head for the hills, hide yourself in the corner, and grab a teddy bear for protection.  Back button focusing will only make using your camera more complicated–which is why camera manufacturers for decades have used the half-press shutter method of focusing.

If, however, you’re a confident photographer and you’re ready to try an advanced technique that can definitely improve your focus in some situations, then meet back button focus.

I thought back focus was a bad thing!

Back focus and back button focusing are two very different things.  Back focus is when the lens focuses behind the intended target, and back button focusing is a technique used by advanced photographers to focus by separating the focus and shutter activation of the shutter button.Further Reading:

• 8 Things You Didn’t Know Your DSLR Could Do
• Sharpness question (photography Q&A)
• Pre-focus the moment
• Teleconverters and autofocus: What every wildlife photographer should know

This is a serious problem for photographers.  We are careful to set the white balance properly in Photoshop or Lightroom, but what good does it do if your screen is not properly calibrated?  Answer–none!  The same is true for adjusting color saturation, brightness, and just about everything else.

Here's a photo I edited before and after color calibrating. See the difference? Which side do you think is the color calibrated one? If your screen isn't calibrated, it can be hard to tell!

Does everyone need to calibrate their monitor?

Probably not.  If you’re just a hobbyist photographer who is learning the ropes, this probably isn’t the biggest fish you have to fry.  There are many more important things to learn in photography than color calibration; however, if you’re more serious of a photographer and want to know that your photos look their best… then it’s time to calibrate!

I will note, however, that not all photographers agree on screen calibration.  Dustin likes to do the manual calibration,  I prefer to use the screen calibrator.  It gives us something to argue about while we’re barbecuing.

Is monitor calibration only for printing?  Will it mess up my photos on the web?

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No way!  The purpose of calibration is to make sure that your eye sees the photo the same way on your screen as others will see it.  For printing, you can be sure that by calibrating your screen your photo will look very close to how it looked on your computer screen.

However, when you edit on a calibrated screen and then post your photo online, it does not mean that everyone else will see the photo properly.  Their screens are most likely uncalibrated, but it is still important to calibrate.  Why?  Because computer monitor manufacturers strive to make their products reproduce colors properly, so by color calibrating, you’ll be at neutral even if some screens are off one way and others are off another way.

There is a caveat, however.  Almost without exception, computer monitors are kept brighter than a calibrated screen.  So if I edit a photo on a calibrated device, it will likely show up a TINY BIT darker on uncalibrated monitors.  Most people find that they like their screens pretty bright.  The way that I avoid this is to simply brighten my photos a TINY bit in Photoshop or Lightroom before posting on the web since I know most people will be viewing the photo on a brighter screen.

What if my monitor can’t adjust enough?

It is possible that your monitor will be off enough and not have the necessary adjustments that it couldn’t be properly calibrated.  However, the way that the color calibration tool that I personally use works, is that it simply saves a new color profile on your machine, so there is no need at all to adjust settings on the screen.  It does everything for you.

What tool do you recommend for color calibration?

No doubt, what you’re looking for is the Spyder 4 Express from DataColor.  Color calibration tools often cost over $1,000, but this little piece of love does the job for around $110.  I personally use the Spyder color calibrator and it works VERY well.  The one I use is the “Elite” not the express, but most people probably can get away just fine with the Express.  I really like the free software that comes with the tool.  It walks you through the process step-by-step and makes it amazingly simple.  You can easily calibrate the screen in just 3 minutes.

Is there a free option for color calibration?

Yep!  Windows 7 comes with a monitor calibration tool built-in.  The trouble with this and many other tools is that it is quite subjective and inaccurate, but it might be a good option for photographers who don’t want to spend a load of money on a color calibration device.  This will at least get you closer.

On Windows 7, go to  Start > Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Display > Calibrate Color.  Then open that program which will walk you through how to get a ROUGH approximation of a calibrated screen.

If you use a mac, check out Dustin’s instructions on the Pixels to Paper post.

Further Reading:

• Pixels to Paper: Printing your Print Portfolio
• Photo Basics Lesson: How to Check the Exposure
• What Photographers Need to Know About Sharpening for the Web and Print
• Recommended Computers for Photo Editing

All designed up and ready for you to pin this photo on Pinterest!

Photoshop is overwhelming!! There is no way around it! There is just so much to constantly learn that undoubtedly, at some point, we have all needed someone to show us around and give us a few pointers. Photoshop is the digital photographer’s greatest tool if you know how to use it. Here are the things we all wished we knew when we started working with Photoshop:

How layers work
The number one thing that we need to understand about Photoshop is how layers work. It can be very confusing at first, but once you realize you have greater flexibility with your edits, you won’t go back.

Layers work from top to bottom. The bottom layer is your base layer, or the foundation of your creative project. From there, you add new layers on top of that to apply your edits and build upon your foundation. If you want to paint a color or increase exposure – add a new layer to affect the lower layers. It’s easy!! If you don’t like the layer with your edits, you can hide it by clicking on the “eye” icon to the left the layer. This way you can toggle back and forth to see how your edits are affecting everything below it.

Word of Caution – once you start working with layers, be sure to have the correct layer selected. There is nothing more frustrating than to keep attempting an effect that does not appear to be working only to discover that you had the wrong layer highlighted. Almost every tool in Photoshop is designed to only affect ONE layer at a time.

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Masking
What is a layer mask?? This is another part of flexible editing – but when you have this enabled on your layer, you are able to hide or reveal certain parts of your layer by just using the brush tool and painting over that area. You don’t want to use the eraser tool – this effectively replaces that option!! If you want to hide something, use a mask… decide you went too far or need to bring part of that hidden area back? Use a mask. Some people might ask why not just throw the lasso tool around it and hit the big delete key? Well – a mask allows for greater precision when selecting your objects and you even have the flexibility of bringing an area back if you went too far. Once you hit that delete key or use the eraser tool, you commit to the idea that you don’t need that data or information anymore.

You can only use Black or White paint in order for the mask to work. Just remember, black paint conceals… and white paint reveals. An easy way I like to remember this is: Black is dark like the night – things are hidden. White is light like the day – objects are visible.

To add a layer mask to your layer – you select the small icon at the bottom of your layers panel that looks like a square with a circle in the center of it. You’ll notice a white square linked to your layer thumbnail.

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Adjustment Layers
These pseudo adjustments (i.e. – Exposure, Brightness, etc) are similar to what you find in CameraRaw. It is applied as a separate layer and it comes with a mask. While you are able to make such adjustments globally… you can also mask out areas if you want just certain parts to be affected by the layer.

Your modifying options of these adjustments layers is available in the Adjustments Panel (Window >; Adjustments) when that specific layer is selected. You can hide these and get a greater idea of what you are adjusting – and if you do not like it, just delete or hide that layer and you are back to where you were.

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Filters
Isn’t it just so awesome that Photoshop comes with all these super wicked filters?? Virtually one click away and you can transform a photo and make it look like a hand-painted canvas piece of art or a psychedelic dance hall print. Because it’s so easy, I would suggest you proceed with caution. These filters are very cool but need to be creative and used in moderation because otherwise, it screams AMATEUR.

However – filters such as blur and sharpen are great to use (and some of the very few exceptions) when working on finishing touches of a photo. But just like anything else – too much of a good thing becomes bad. Using filter effects should be done in moderation. Don’t overdo it… actually… never mind. Go overboard!! Get it out of your system and then go back to it and not overdo it.

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History States
For every action applied – you just created a history state. By default Photoshop will only keep track of your 20 previous steps. If ever you decide you want to go back in time… only 20 clicks before hand can be undone. No more.

If you have plenty of RAM in your computer, we suggest that you change your Photoshop Preferences to support around 200 history states. You may not use all of those – but you have the assurance of being able to undo the edits you are doing.

Preferences >; Performance >; Under “History & Cache” >; Change History States from “20” to “200”.

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CameraRAW
What is all this hoop-la about CameraRaw and what is this RAW image format I see on my camera?? To be honest – CameraRaw is not technically part of Photoshop but most photographers will do 90% of their editing in the CameraRaw dialog window before making it all the way into Photoshop. CameraRaw allows you to adjust your photos to reflect as if the camera settings were set for that. For example, you forget to change the white balance or the exposure compensation on your camera – No problem! Shooting RAW images gives you that option because of all the data and information contained in the image. CameraRaw also makes it so you can push it to the next level with basic type edits. It’s extremely powerful and all the pros are doing it.

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Image Processor

Do you have a lot images you need to apply the exact same thing to each one? Using image processor is the quickest way to get things done quickly! I use this one when I convert all my RAW images to JPG or when I have series of photos I need to optimize for the blog. Image Processor is the easiest way to streamline your workflow when working in Photoshop.

File >; Scripts >; Image Processor…

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What is something you wished you knew when you started working in Photoshop??

Further Reading:

• How to Create an AWESOME Photoshop Action Sequence in 10 Easy Steps
• Five Minute Upgrade: Learn to customize Photoshop for speed and creativity
• Organic HDR: It’s HDR without the HDR!
• Recommended Post-Processing Software

Printing? Does anyone do that anymore in this digital age?

More of our photos are finding their way online with our ever growing digital presence. We tweet it, we pin it, we share it. But, some of us have lost the “Print It” button.

Offering high quality prints is a GREAT way in supplementing your income, as a portrait photographer! But. You are going to need an AMAZING print portfolio to further sell your work and you have to know how to do it right before your client is willing to hand you more money for a set of prints of their own.

Screen Calibration

Often times, we forget that computer monitors are color calibrated differently. We already see things differently, now we have this to worry about. We don’t realize that the screen is already effecting the saturation and tone of the photos.

Doing a manual calibration of your monitor every six months to a year is recommended to help ensure that, what you see is what you get when your photos come out of the printer. Many times people will ask, “What about those Spyder screen calibrators you place on your screen?”

If your screen has glass on it, the calibrator will have a difficult time reading the colors as they tend to be distorted due to reflections in the glass. Mac users will notice this more because of the glossy glass placed on nearly all their screens. For some people, this works great… For others, they wonder why they have a purple tint on their screen.

To manually calibrate your screen:

Mac Users – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51gbxDwz0NM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I recommend to change your white point to 5500. This will make the display warmer and more accurate.

PC Users – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHKdivqPKrI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Photo Prep

Now that you have gone through and calibrated your screen, it’s time prepare your photos for going to the printer. Most printers will often times dull down the saturation and sharpness of the photo. Before saving your photo, add a bit more sharpness and saturation (more than you would prefer) to compensate for the printer.

“Oh, Crop!” – Don’t forget to crop your photos to the size you will printing them. Sizes such as: 5×7, 8×10, 18×24, and others are not full frame (the size that comes out of your camera). They will require a portion of the edges to be cropped off. Be sure you are the one to decide where it’s cropped before the printer does.

At the printer!

Professional printers such as MPixPro, WHCC, etc require you to maintain a high resolution in order to print through them. 240-300 ppi. This is another very good reason to shoot in RAW because your photos already have this high quality ppi.

Places such as Walmart or Walgreens cannot handle resolutions over 172 ppi. While the prints turn out fine, you will notice a certain lack of professional quality.

TEST. THIS IS A TEST AND ONLY A TEST!

Before running a big print job at the printer, be sure you do a test print of something to determine quality. This also gives you an idea of how much saturation you need to add or even take away in your photos. Having a properly calibrated monitor will make this process easier, but you don’t want to run the risk of colors being printed wrong.

Your Dazzling Portfolio

Getting your own portfolio ready can be even more of a headache than printing for a client. I recommend that you find a portfolio that is about 12″x12” with removable black inserts. This is large enough to print your photos and have them displayed portrait or landscape. This eliminates the need to rotate the book to see the photos.

Print your photos at an 8×12. This is a full-frame size and is just right when showing your work off. Highly recommended!

Placement of your photos is equally important. Make sure you create some type of theme between photos that are placed next to each other. Matching colors, lead room, etc… They need to, in some way, relate to one another because they will be seen at the same time.

Going from pixels to print is the challenge. Create a nice portfolio for yourself, but give your clients something they will want to hold onto for a lifetime.   Further Reading:

• What Photographers Need to Know About Sharpening for the Web and Print
• How to Color Calibrate Your Monitor for Photo Editing
• It’s finally here! How to Create Your Own Photography Portfolio Website in 10 Minutes or Less
• 10 Photography Portfolio Website Tips from a Web Designer

There are several INEXPENSIVE ways to get a studio look in your photography without actually working in a studio.  The first way is to use a bed sheet, the second a reflector, and the third… use flash!

Method #1: The Free Option

Photography doesn’t have to be as complicated as it sometimes seems to be.  15 minutes ago, I wanted to take a picture to illustrate how you could get that “studio photography” look in your photos without expensive gear or even a studio.  So, I found a large window in my home to use as a light source for the photo.  Then, I went and hung a black bed sheet on the wall with some thumbtacks to use as a background.  Then, I took the picture.  Simple as that!  I had great photos of my kids in just 15 minutes without spending a dime on additional gear.

The photo below tells the rest of the story.  It totally works!

All designed up and ready for you to pin this photo on Pinterest!

METHOD #2: The “Other” Free Option

See the photo below?  If I would have shot this in a studio, it would have turned out exactly the same.  No different at all.

Getting the "studio look" without a studio

A photo of the setup with the reflector behind the model.

I shot this photo while in a building with horrible yellow incandescent lighting, while doing a video tutorial for the online portrait photography class.  We were doing a location shoot inside the Idaho State Capitol building, which is very dim and has ugly yellow lighting.  I wanted to show how you could get many different looks on a shoot in the same location, so I whipped out a reflector and turned it to the white side and placed it behind the model.

Then, I set up a 22″ beauty dish with a YN-560 flash (total cost $150) directly above the model and placed a reflector under the model (barely outside the frame) to kick back some more light onto her face.  This simple lighting set up (often called clam shell lighting since the flash and reflector envelop the model from above and below) turned out a great result.

Did I need an expensive set up for this photo?  Nope!  Just a little creativity in getting the studio look without a studio.

The Third Free Option

I think photographers who start out in flash photography limit themselves by not allowing themselves to think creatively.  Often while I’m on a shoot outdoors, I will create a few “night” portraits or “studio” portraits right on location no matter where we are or what time of day it is.

This technique is actually quite simple to do.  You just overpower the sun’s light with the light from your flash, then adjust the exposure on your camera.  If you turn up your flash power enough, you can make the background completely black (like a black studio background), or you can turn it most of the way up and make the background look like night even if it is the middle of the day.

5 Steps to Black Backgrounds Without Any Background At All!

1. Turn your camera to manual mode and grab a flash
2. Set the shutter speed at 1/200 (flash sync speed), and your ISO as low as it can go (usually ISO 100)
3. Adjust your aperture up until the picture is completely black.  This will usually be around f/18 or f/22
4. Use a flash on FULL POWER (you might need two flashes if it’s very bright outside).  Don’t worry about the flash appearing too bright in the photo.  One you adjust your aperture to compensate for the bright flash, it will look great
5. Snap the picture.  You can adjust the aperture until the brightness on the model looks right

Isn't that awesome!??!

But wait!  There’s more!

There is more to getting the “studio look” in your photos than simply using a backdrop.  There are other aspects of working in a studio that can be achieved without actually owning a photography studio.

One of the main advantages of working in an actual studio is that the photographer can control the lighting 100% and doesn’t have to worry about annoying incandescent lights messing up the shot, or reflected light from shiny surfaces in the room.  Studio photographers can fix these problems by painting all walls and the ceiling white or black (the white is like having a built-in fill light and other photographers paint black to prevent any reflection).

So when working outside a studio, you can encounter problems because you get other light sources ruining the shot.  You can see an example of that in the photo below.  The light from the flashes is neutral, but the yellow incandescent highlights from the ugly yellow lights in the room are also hitting the subject and causing light inconsistencies.  You can address this in Photoshop by selectively changing the color temperature on the affected areas, but there is a much much simpler way.

Notice the yellow highlights from the room are noticeable and distract the viewer from the neutral flash color.

The easiest way to prevent the overhead lights in a room from ruining your flash photography is simply to turn up the power of your flash.  If you overpower the light in the room, it won’t affect your photo at all!  When I shoot in a space like this with a lot of other ambient light sources, I usually turn the power on my flash up to full so that other room lights do not affect the photo nearly as much.

You could also gel your flash with a warming gel to better match the color temperature of the lighting in the room and then change your white balance, but who wants to go through that much trouble when you can just turn up the power?

Don’t want to miss any articles on Improve Photography?  Join our facebook group!Further Reading:

• How I Fooled 316 Photographers
• Super Handy Guide to Buying Flash Photography Gear
• How to Photograph Gorgeous Night Portraits
• Recommended Flash Photography Kits

Need more blur? Go to: Filter > Blur > BINGO! Same with sharpening! But before we “Go to:” anywhere in Photoshop – we need to nail it the camera, first! Simple things such as adding blur or increasing the sharpness are things we can do before making it to Photoshop.

We Want More Blur?!

Get further away and zoom in.

A large aperture (i.e. -  f/2.8) will play a big part in how much we blur we can achieve in the camera. Prime lenses are great for this because they can get such a low f/stop number… but what about our affordable zoom lenses that only make it to f/4.5?? We need more blur in our background but our f/stop is maxed at out. So give this a try this:

1. Step back away from your subject/foreground.
2. Zoom in to achieve the same framing you originally intended.
3. Keep the same, low, f/stop number.
4. Meter your light for proper exposure.

Being further away from your subject will help increase the amount of blur in your background, and you will create what they call lens compression. When lens compression happens, you will notice that your background will appear closer to your subject than it actually is compared to if you were to take a wide angle shot of the same thing, up close.

We need more detail!!
Achieving that Deep Depth-of-Field can also be a challenge sometimes! You need your interesting foreground in focus just as much as you need the entire background in focus. So where do you focus?? You want to focus about 1/3 of the way into the photo… which is the lower third.

1. Frame your shot just the way you want it. Good composition and creative perspective will go a long way!
2. Consider the Rule of Thirds and focus where the lower third is in your shot.
3. Increase your f/stop number to around f/16-20 to ensure that from the lower third, and up, is in focus.

By focusing on the lower third, you are telling the camera that you want this area closest to the camera to be in focus! You don’t want to forget that! Your large aperture will take care of the rest of photo because it is responsible to get as much in focus as possible. It just forgets about the area closest to the camera if you were to focus anywhere else, except for the lower third.

We just took your existing knowledge about depth of field and we added to it. Little things like this can go a long way in making better quality photos.

If changes need to be made to this article, please let us know.Further Reading:

• Self-control with depth-of-field
• Depth of field — it’s more than just aperture!
• Looking through the right lens – What is next for you?
• Sharpness question (photography Q&A)

But before the article, I want to invite you to join the Improve Photography community on our Facebook fan page.  We and the awesome members of the community answer EVERY SINGLE PHOTOGRAPHY QUESTION that our readers post there.

#7: 2/3rds Turn

Ever wonder why people gain 10 pounds in the camera? It’s because we cut out their entire environment around them; forcing our client to take up more room in the frame. Instead of having our client face square to the camera, we need them to do a 2/3 turn away from the camera. Having them turn away will give them a slimmer profile look in the camera and shave off those 10 extra pounds.

#6: Texture Lighting

When working with our clients and the lighting, we will want to position them so that the light goes across them instead of at them. This is extremely important to remember when photographing a wedding because our brides will have this beautiful dress on with most likely a really nice floral pattern. If the light does not go across her dress, then we will not see the “textures” as well as we would like. I think we can all agree that even the bride would like to remember the details of what her dress looked like. But this concept can apply to many things – if you want textures to show up, the light needs to go across the subject, not at the subject.

#5: No Hands

While this might seem more like an “Old Photographers” tip, I promise you that once you realize your hand is nearly the size of your face… you will want to hide it too! The face should be the most important part of the photo and when it starts competing for attention because we can see the back or palm of the hand, then we got to switch things up. Get creative with where the hands go – keep the fingers close together – and a way we go!

#4: Chin Down

Many people will have the natural instinct to lean backwards in a photo. I do not know why, but it happens and when it does we can see up their nose, into their mouth, and their eyes are partially closed. Honestly, no body wants to see that. By telling our client to bring their chin down not only helps us avoid what is going on in their nose and mouth, but we open their eyes up. The eyes are the most important and this can be a great tip in getting them to open up a bit more.

#3: Diagonal Lines

Our world is made up of vertical and horizontal lines and it does not help when our client is nervous in front of the camera and goes into performance mode by keeping their hands and arms straight down their side. We need to break that up by introducing some diagonal lines into the photo and we can easily do that by having our client put their hand on their hip or in their pocket. I have found this to not only add a bit of “attitude” to the photo, but it also makes the client feel a bit more comfortable because I am sure they have stood that way before.

Using diagonal lines is a great way to improve your wedding photography.  Wedding photos are often dull and the subjects look to stiff in front of the camera.  Check out more wedding photography tips here.

#2: Shift Weight

When positioning our clients we should always try and get them to put their weight on their back foot (this doesn’t work as well with plus sizes). We can tell that their weight is on their back foot because they can still lift up their front foot and maintain balance. Shifting the weight will align the hip and shoulder track giving a more comfortable pose for our client to stand in and they will be naturally turned 2/3rd from the camera. This tip is closely related to tip 7, but if we can effectively apply this to our poses, many of the others will just fall into place. Naturally.

#1: Model Communication

None of what we have mentioned here will do us any good unless we are able to communicate it. Establishing clear and open communication of what we want the client to do will make for a much better shoot. Our entire goal is to position our clients so they look good in front of the camera and these tips will only enhance the posing ideas that we come up with.

Interested in learning more about portrait photography?  Jim and I teach a 30-day online portrait photography class where we teach posing, flash photography, touching up portraits in Photoshop, and much more!

If you liked this post, you’d also enjoy our article 101 Portrait Photography Tips.Further Reading:

• What Gear Does a Wedding Photographer Need?
• How to win clients as a wedding photographer
• Mastering the Digital Age of Photography (By Dustin Olsen)
• How to Make Great Photos in Boring Locations