Bläcker Photography

Photography: Home Made Studio

2008-11-05T17:19:00.002+01:00

There has been alot of DIY things floating around in my head, and as some of you know a while back i showed you how i did some "studio" shots that work really nicely if your into product photography.

Below are some "essentials" that you will kind of need, but that you also probably have laying around in the house.

1. Light

Some sort of light is a big advantage, the more you can move it and twist it the better. But if your planning to combine two different light sources try not to do so, because it will mess with your WB. Remember to preset the WB, which makes life a lot easier in the post process stuff. Light is not necessary but it allows for flexible working hours so to speak.

2. Background

Black and white paper, or sheet or cloth or a t-shirt, anything that is uniform in one of the colors will make great backgrounds. Remember you can also combine colors, just have in mind what "effect" you want to go for. Remember you can also reflect light with the white objects!

3. Camera

The only thing you will mostly working with here is aperture and shutter speed, so its not only DSLRs that you can use this with, also those high end compacts will work for this type of project.

4. Some sort of "tripod"

What i mean here is that you dont need a tripod tripod, one of those things with three legs etc. The whole idea of this is that you want to have the stuff laying around, to take some photos if your bored for example. I have used everything from a cup to books to pillows, to anything that will create a new angle will work. The more things you use as your tripod the messier its going to get, so think about that before your stacking up with 30 books to use.

5. Glass

Glass, might be hard to get, but it was not for me. Glass is great to lay above your background color to create the "reflective" effect, so if you have a picture frame that is a bit on the older side, odds are that the cover is made from glass and you can just remove it from the time being. Thats what i did and it worked great - now handle the glass with care, i dont want to hear stories about you guys cutting yourself, and handle the glass with some sort of protection to keep those finger/fat prints of it!

Thats pretty much it, with some practice you can pretty much have your own studio at home, the bigger the subject the bigger everything needs to go - that pretty much a studio in a nutshell

Photography: Taking Unfocused Shots

2008-11-04T13:57:00.003+01:00

orginal post by dps blog

We all have heard out there that they key to good photography has always been to get those perfectly sharp and in focus shots, specially when it comes to portraits.

However purposely leaving your main subject (or the whole shot) out of focus can also create a stunningly dreamy images also.

1. You might choose to focus on a seemingly unimportant element of the scene (do this by choosing a wide aperture which will give a narrow depth of field and focus on something in front of or behind your main subject).

2. The other option is to make your full image out of focus but choosing to focus well beyond or in front of your main subject. Again, a wide aperture will help here and you will probably need to switch your camera to manual focusing mode or it will attempt to find something to focus upon.

This second option will take a little experimentation. Get things too unfocused and you’ll end up with a completely unrecognizable subject - the key is to have enough focus for it to be recognizable but out of focus enough to create a wonderful dreamy mood.

Below are two more examples of unfocused images for a little inspiration.

Photography: Backlit Subjects

2008-11-03T18:55:00.003+01:00

orginal post by dps blog
Back light has some what been another one of those typical "no no" things that you should not do when it comes to photography. One of the first thing that some one thought me was to always shoot with the sun hitting your back. This just made pictures better for some reason, but during the past few months i been checking out back light photography so to speak. And its really nice

Why backlight?

backlight can add drama to an image
backlit images can show the delicacy of a subject (think transparent or translucent things like flowers or insects)
backlight can help create real mood in a shot
backlit images can highlight details on the edges of subjects
backlight can reveal textures that might previously have been hidden
backlit images can show off the shape and form of a subject
backlight can create shadows that add points of interest to an image

This does not mean that back light should be applied to all shots out there - but its another thing to have in mind while shooting.

Below are some really nice backlite photos:

Another thing worth mentioning is that metering can play a big difference here, so try spot metering if you want the foreground to be properly exposed or use a fill flash! Try a few different things, and feel free to share!

Monthly Assignment : November

2008-11-01T12:43:00.004+01:00

The monthly assignment is something that i m going to start this month and its going to be going for the whole month, until the end of it that is.

So what is this deal? Well its to push you to get some nice shots and to work as an incentive so to speak to get your camera out there. Note i will also working on this.

So how does it work? Well what you want to do is that you want to upload the image to flickr and tag it with "blacker-november08" for the November assignment for example and, and the last word in the tag will change from month to month, and year wise as well, note that were moving into 2009 soon!

So this months assignment is going to be, Portraits

This mean a photograph that includes a person some how.

There are some rules to be followed, this they are the only to get you working and practicing your photography. The rules are that the image should be taken on the same month for the monthly assignment so to speak. So for this month the shot has to be taken in November.

I will pick a personal winner, and who knows i might reward that winner some how?! So lets start snapping those images, and remember you only got one image per person!

Categories that i will judge the image by: lightning, creativity/idea, theme, composition, and i will ask my mom what she thinks (she is very biased and only likes a very few pictures), but she wont make the final decision but it will have some sort of influence.

Get out there and shoot some portraits for me :) and place some entries, remember to post the image in the Bläcker Photography Flickr Group, if not i cannot find them that easy! Thanks!

Most important of all is that you have fun

Photography: Capturing Motion Blur

2008-10-30T20:12:00.004+01:00

orginal post by dps blog1. Slow Down Your Shutter Speed

The reason for movement blur is simply that the amount of time that the shutter of a camera is open is long enough to allow your camera’s image sensor to ’see’ the movement of your subject.

So the number one tip in capturing movement in an image is to select a longer shutter speed

If your shutter speed is fast (eg 1/4000th of a second) it’s not going to see much movement (unless the the subject is moving mighty fast) while if you select a longer shutter speed (eg 5 seconds) you don’t need your subject to move very much at all before you start to see blur.

photo by: winningpost

How long should your shutter speed be? - Of course the speed of your subject comes into play. A moving snail and a moving racing car will give you very different results at the same shutter speed.

The other factor that comes into play in determining shutter speed is how much light there is in the scene you are photographing. A longer shutter speed lets more light into your camera and runs the risk of blowing out or overexposing your shot. We’ll cover some ways to let less light in and give you the option to have longer shutter speeds below.

So how long should your shutter speed be to get movement blur in your shot? There is no ‘answer’ for this question as it will obviously vary a lot depending upon the speed of your subject, how much blur you want to capture and how well lit the subject is. The key is to experiment (something that a digital camera is ideal for as you can take as many shots as you like without it costing you anything).

photo by: mjmr2008

2. Secure Your Camera
There are two ways to get a feeling of movement in your images - have your subject move or have your camera move (or both). In the majority of cases that we featured in last week’s post it was the subject that was moving.

In this type of shot you need to do everything that you can to keep your camera perfectly still or in addition to the blur from the subject you’ll find that the whole frame looks like it’s moving as a result of using a longer shutter speed. Whether it be by using a tripod or have your camera sitting on some other still object (consider a shutter release mechanism or using the self timer) you’ll want to ensure that camera is perfectly still.

3. Shutter Priority Mode
One of the most important settings in photographing an image which emphasizes movement is the shutter speed (as outlined above). Even small changes in shutter speed will have a big impact upon your shot - so you want to shoot in a mode that gives you full control over it.

This means either switching your camera into full Manual Mode or Shutter Priority Mode. Shutter Priority Mode is a mode that allows you to set your shutter speed and where the camera chooses other settings (like Aperture) to ensure the shot is well exposed. It’s a very handy mode to play with as it ensures you get the movement effect that you’re after but also generally well exposed shots.

The other option is to go with Manual mode if you feel more confident in getting the aperture/shutter speed balance right.

photo by: Rob Caugh

All images where taken from the Flickr Group

Inspiration: Underwater 360 Pano

2008-10-29T21:52:00.006+01:00

I was just messing about on the web looking at photographs as usual, and i stumbled upon some 360 underwater images, i couldn't not believe it, i have never seen such a thing before so i just had to share the image with you guys!

I think this is just amazing, i scuba dive during the summers so i m a big fan of the underwater world, but i never had the chance to photograph under the surface. P.s scuba diving has got to be one of the most relaxing things to do out there

Inspiration: Rain photos

2008-10-29T20:36:00.002+01:00

I m going to start posting some "inspiration" photos every week or so, as it was raining today i decided to go for a rain theme - i could not find any rain shots from the Flickr Group so i juts grabbed some random ones of the web. This is of course leading up to a upcoming post!

Hope you enjoyed them, they are some lovely shots, and i hope they inspired you to take some photos

Video: 10 Photography Tips

2008-10-29T20:29:00.002+01:00

Apart from the advertisement this video is really good, its a very basic understand of portrait photography! So check it out, this is no ad for her or her books whats so ever, so feel free to skip like the 30sec of the video

Comments and critique on the video and add tips, just place a comment in the comment section!

Photography: Shooting into the Sun

2008-10-27T21:03:00.006+01:00

orginal post by dps blog

Here are eleven quick and simple tips at combating the problems that bright sunlight might bring when shooting outdoors:

1. Move into the shade

With some subjects you’ll be able to move them (and yourself) into the shade. This is particularly relevant with portraits where your subject is highly portable. Sometimes the simplest solutions are best.

2. Make your own shade

If your subject is not movable (for example if you’re shooting macro work with a flower) create your own shade. Use your own shadow, the shadow of someone else or bring an object with you (like an umbrella, a reflector or large sheet of card) to block out the sun.

4. Use a Reflector

Another way to fill in the shadows caused by direct sunlight is to use a reflector. These bounce light up into the face of your subject and are great because they allow you to shoot into the sun - as with when you’re using fill in flash.

5. Change Your Perspective

Sometimes moving your subject isn’t possible - but moving around it can give a different impact. This might be moving to the other side of the object, shooting from directly above or even getting down low and shooting up. Doing so will change the angle of the sun hitting both your subject and the camera and give your image a completely different feel.

6. Use a Lens Hood

Suffering from lens flare? If your lens came with a lens hood - get it out and use it. If you don’t have one - it’s not difficult to construct one out of card - or to even use your hand to shield your lens from the sun. Just make sure that your shot is free of your hand or the DIY hood that you’re using.

7. Filters

Sometimes a filter can be handy when shooting in bright sunlight. I try to take a CPL with me at all times. The polarizing filter will help cut down on reflections and cut down the light getting into your camera to let you use slower shutter speeds and smaller apertures if you’re looking for more control over these elements of exposure. Polarizing filters have the added bonus of giving you some control over some colors - particularly when you’ve got a blue sky in your shot .

8. Play with White Balance Settings

Many digital cameras come with the ability to choose different white balance settings. While you can make adjustments later on post processing (particularly when shooting in RAW) choosing the right setting at the time of shooting can be worth experimenting with. I personally shoot in RAW and do this later on my computer - but have friends who prefer to do it in camera.

9. Metering

Direct sunlight makes correct metering tricky. In these conditions I generally choose spot metering mode on my DSLR and choose the main subject of the scene that I’m photographing (the focal point) to meter off. Alternatively pick a mid-tone area to meter off if you want everything to be exposed relatively well. Check your shots immediately to see if you need to adjust your technique (your histogram can be handy here) and if you have the luxury of time - take multiple shots metering off different parts of the scene so that you can choose the best one later.

10. Pick The Time of Day to Shoot

For many of us we won’t have the luxury of sitting all day long waiting for the perfect light - but if you do, the time of day can dramatically impact your shot. Dawn and Dusk are particularly good times to shoot as the direction and color of the light is often more useable than the direct overhead light of noon.You can see this an alternative to shooting during the golden hours if you will!

11. Shoot Silhouettes

‘If you can’t beat em join em’ is a saying that could come into play here. If the bright light of the Sun is causing you a headache - why not use it to your advantage and make your subject into a Silhouette against a bright background.

This is kind of a follow up to shooting portraits, you can get some great results using the fill flash, reflectors etc!

Photography: DIY Lightning

2008-10-27T20:54:00.004+01:00

orginal post by dps blogIn this post I’ve found 10 DIY Flash and Lighting Hacks that put some of these lighting techniques within the grasp of the rest of us. Some are more involved than others but all are fun and will provide you with some new lighting gear to experiment with.

1. Multi-Super-SB-Ring Light

What can you make with six speedlight flashes, a coffee can and a little spare time?

You get a multi-super-sb-ring-light! (pictured left).

You could probably also blind a small village if you’re not careful!

Find out what it is, how to make one and what the results are like here.

This one looks like a lot of fun to play with - even if it’s just for the challenge of it and the looks you’d get when you pull it out next time you do a shoot..

2. Poor Mans Ring Flash

All you need for this one (pictured left) is a used milk bottle/jug and some scissors.

The result is that you’ll have a Poor Mans Ring Flash.

A ring flash is one that fits around the lens - it creates a wonderfully unique lighting effect. They will usually lighten your wallet by a couple of hundred dollars.

3. Inexpensive Light Tent

Have you ever wanted to replicate the crisp clean product images that you see in catalogs with the products seemingly floating on a white background?

If you do - you need some kind of light tent/light box.

As usual, light boxes can cost you quite a bit

4. Party Bouncer Card

Another cool DIY Hack is this Party Bouncer Card (pictured left) which is so simple yet promises to be so useful and effective.

This one is for those of you with a camera which doesn’t have the capability for an off camera flash.

It allows you to bounce some light off the ceiling while also diffusing the light going forward - this will enable you to get a less harsh flash effect that many flashes leave images with. I like this one as it pushes the light out from your flash in two directions which can lead to a more even light rather than just diffusing it - a little more sophisticated.

Another quick DIY on diffusing a flash is to put a little translucent magic tape over a flash (or a piece of white tissue paper can do it too).

Any of these methods will decrease the amount of light getting out from the flash onto your subject - hopefully resulting in a more subtle light and a less blown out image.

5. Turkey Pan Beauty Dish

Beauty dishes are wonderful pieces of photographic equipment to experiment with - but they can be very expensive.

Not any more (at lest if you use this DIY trick).

In this hack learn how to use a simple Turkey Pan to get some pretty amazing beauty dish results! The comparison examples in this tutorial between the turkey pan version and the real thing are pretty convincing.

I must remember to add Turkey Pans to this week’s shopping list.

Check out this tutorial here.

6. DIY Ghetto Flash Extender

I’d not heard of this type of device before - but since I found this tutorial I’ve discovered a number of photographers who for one reason or another want to be able to extend the reach of their flash.

This is particularly useful for wildlife photographers who want to supplement natural light in tricky lighting with fill flash. Of course sometimes it’s difficult to get close to that animal and a normal flash would have no impact.

Enter the Flash Extender (one popular one is the ‘better beamer’).

Want to make one for yourself? This tutorial for the DIY Ghetto Flash Extender will tell you how.

7. Disposable Camera Flash Slave

Lately I’ve had more and more questions from readers about how to set up shots with multiple flash units to light a subject from more than one angle.

It’s not difficult to do if you have the budget to buy yourself an extra speedlight flash or two (or more) but if you don’t have the budget is there a way?

In this tutorial and author shows you how to use a disposable camera to act as a remote slave flash.

OK - this tutorial isn’t for anyone looking for a quick simple solution - but it is a challenge that I’m sure some of you will be up for (Jake?!)

8. Flash Mounted DIY Softbox

Another way that professional photographers diffuse the light that comes from a flash and gets a nice subtle and even light on their subject is to use a softbox

A softbox sits over a light (it’s a big box with white walls) which ensures the light is spread out evenly.

This DIY Softbox tutorial is great - it requires card, a white sheet (silk if you can), velcro, scissors, glue and the template that the tutorial provides you with.

The results look pretty good - but if you want more DIY softboxes the same site also has another tutorial for an alternative softbox.

Again - this one looks pretty good.

9. Flash Bouncers

It costs £1, takes 5 minutes, requires craft foam, a little elastic and some scissors.

The tutorial even includes a template for you to print out on your printer and then cut out - what more do you need?

Even the technologically challenge could make this one (speaking of myself of course).

Nice work from Chris with that one.

Another similar Flash Bouncer/Diffuser can be found over at DPReview here. This one is foam also.

Lastly - another card/paper version of the flash bouncer.

10. Full Budget DIY Lighting Studio

It’s time for one last DIY lighting hack - this one attempts to bring it all together with a full DIY Budget Studio setup.

The author of it takes up the challenge of creating a full studio lighting system for under $75.

It includes lights, reflectors, diffusers and flash diffusers - all using items that you could pick up at hardware and craft stores.

It also shows you a few test shots at the end of the tutorial that compare different lighting options.

You will need your own flash unit to use the flash diffusers on - but the rest is all included in the tutorial.

Personla: Happy Birthday to Me

2008-10-27T18:28:00.001+01:00

Yeah its my birthday today so i m going to get something good going here hopefully tonight

just gotta cram some chapters before hand!

Cheers!

Photography: I just could not wait

2008-10-26T20:46:00.001+01:00

I just couldn´t wait for that flickr group poll to end, so i just created the group anyways.

Take me to Bläcker Photography Flickr Group

Its nice to see that at least 3 people took the time to cast their votes, thanks guys!

Personal: No post today

2008-10-26T17:52:00.004+01:00

Sorry guys no post today, i gotta hit the books, and i have been hitting the books pretty much all weekend since Saturday, took Friday of to spend time with my brother as i previously stated.

I have a exam coming up on Friday, and i feel really bad about this one, its just WAY to much stuff to learn, and its not that interesting, but what are you going to do about it, thats life.

I will come with a birthday specially post to celebrate my 21nd year on this planet :)

This is how things are looking, i m currently renting a room, trying to get my own place but apartment prices are just too expensive, so this is a temporary living: but here is a current shot of my workstation if you will:

Poll: Would you like to see a Bläcker Photography Flickr Group?

2008-10-25T14:38:00.007+02:00

The reason for this poll is that i want to start to get you guys involved in photography, so this Flickr Group is going to be the place you guys send in your images for the assignments, experimetns etc. So its going to be easy for me to find them to post the images on the blogg later on. What do you think?

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Photography: 5 Things to Help Your Composition (part 1)

2008-10-24T19:17:00.004+02:00

Sorry that it has taken me quite some time to post today, my brother is home from Budapest and he is leaving tomorrow so i have spent the day with him and later were are going to have dinner with the family (i m turning 21 on Monday so were kind of celebrating that)

Back to business:

There are some general guide lines that i have mentioned in previous posts, but now i m going to offer you a set of tools that will help the overall composition of your image.

Patterns:

Patterns are always nice eye catchers and tend to be pleasing to the eye, if you look about in your surrounding you will find out that a lot of things are actually made of patterns. Just looking around and about where i m writing this from i can see a clear pattern on the curtains, the way the plates are lined up drying from the previous wash etc. If you work with these they will help your image

Symmetry:

I m a BIG fan of it, why? I really dont know, i think that things that look symmetrical look really nice (might just be a opinion things) but this is something that you can clearly see in my photography. For some reason symmetrical makes to image look well balanced and just makes your eyes go from the outer part of the frame to the inside of the frame

Texture:

Texture is always nice, it adds that little "extra" thing to your image. It makes those 2D images look just a bit more 3D. The best way to bring out textures is by having the light hit the textured object at a certain angle and thus casting shadows that will bring out the textures in the image.

DOF (Depth of Field)

Works great to isolate/bring out certain parts of the frame out. Got some great tips today from this professional wedding photographer, he works a lot with the 85mm f/1.8 and he says that at f/1.8-2.8 he gets the face perfect while the bokeh works its way to the outer part of the face as well as the hair or vale. So that might be something to take into account if your at a wedding next time.

Lines, lines:

Work those lines into your image, they works great and who does not like lines! Depending on how you use the lines they can either draw the eye from left to right of the image and vice versa. Or from the outside to the inside of the image and vice versa, always a nice eye catcher. So what are lines? Pretty much anything if you ask me, but of course you all know what clear lines are. So if you see some out there in the photo that your going to take, try to embed them into your image

Have a great weekend!

Photography: Portrature During The Golden Hour

2008-10-23T22:35:00.002+02:00

orginal post by dps blog

If you seen my flickr, or my work else were, you may notice that I m not a big fan of “following” waves of photography, I like to try out new things all the time, to the extent that I don’t really a signature type of photography so to speak. But this doesn’t bother me, because there is just so much for me to learn out there still.

If you’re into portraits, you’re probably going to enjoy this read, if you’re not you might as well continue because you already read more than two paragraphs.

The golden hour isn’t only there to pull of those great landscape shots, but you can also use it to your advantage to get a different type of light on your portraits, neat huh?

Well how do we go about this?

Mornings:

Here I am referring to when there is enough light out to work with some decent shutter speeds, often that time during the day when its “misty” outside, and the sun is just breaking over the tree canopy. That’s the time I m talking about.

Now there is BIG problem with mornings, and we all know what that is (unless you’re a morning person) that is dragging your subject out from their bed and have them pose for you!

For some reason I have noticed that the direction of the morning light tends to highlight textures in general, thus adding a very nice feeling to your images, so you can incorporate this into the shot.

Evenings:

The time frame I am talking about is about 1h to 45 before and after sunset; this will work as a great background and not to mention that the light will be gorgeously directional. Not to mention that people are probably going to prefer being your models at this time during the day! I was browsing some wedding photography the other day, and noted that a lot of photos where taking at the sunset time, stunning background with a very lovely subject matter.

I have a few tips for the evening shoots, so what I suggest you doing here is that you try to force your camera to have somewhat a faster shutter speed and use a flash, either on or off camera, what this will do is that it will give you a very nice colorful background if you choose to use the sky as the background, and the flash will expose your subject correctly. If you can bounce the flash or diffuse it somehow so you don’t cast those really strong shadows, because that will not in my opinion work with the harmony of the background. Another thing to add here is that you could use some color filters for your flash, I would recommend using warm colors because that would make the photo more “believable” so to speak, if you don’t have the color filters for your flash, you can always fix that in post process, but it´s always very nice to get the photo perfect from scratch!

That’s it for today ladies and gents!

I will be heading for my lovely bed,

Update: Bläcker now features a RSS feed

2008-10-23T19:41:00.003+02:00

Just click the RSS logo at the top right hand side of the blog (over the donation section)

Wow, i been trying to add a RSS feed to this blogg for like ages now, i just managed to do it!

Kudos to me :)

So now instead of checking the blogg out for updates all the time (if you now do so) and if you dont want to subscribe by email (which send you an email everytime i write a new entry) you can now use the RSS feed.

I just recently discovered RSS feeding, thats becasue i now have vista and the feeds apear on my desktop.

Just wanted to share that! Dont be afraid to subscribe if you like what you read

Photoshop: "Umphing" Your Shots, 10 quick steps

2008-10-23T12:41:00.009+02:00

A little background on the photo first:
This was like one of the first shots i took with my Nikon D40x . The steps i took are not necessarily the best steps to use, but they are the "basic" get to know and play with photoshop steps. Masters these and you will start to understand the software a lot better.

And maybe sooner we can move into some MUCH more complex and complicated and TIME consuming tutorials etc.

To get a time ref, this took me about 5min to fix up. I did it quite fast and not very detailed.

As always there are alot of new people walking into the digital photography world in general everyday, so i though i would go ”back to the roots” this time.

For this entry I m going to try to explain how to add that little bit extra to your shots, as some people call it around the web the “umps” effect, if you will.

Step 1: Select the image, and open Photohop (or Elements because the steps I m going to do are really simple and if I m not mistaken should work there as well)

Here is the image I choose:

As you can see there is nothing really wrong with this shot as it is, but its missing that little extra in my opinion.

Step 2: I always do the following step, I double click the “Background” layer twice, this brings up a “New Layer” dialog box, and then I just pres Ok, unless you want to change the name in that case feel free to do so.

Step 3: Duplicate the layer (press command/control + J) to do this, or go into Layer > Duplicate Layer.

Now you have two exact same copies of the image in two separate layers, one at the bottom called “Layer 0” and “Layer 1” – “Layer 1” being the copy of “Layer 0”

Step 4: Click on “Layer 1” so you have it selected, make sure that its selected if not the following steps will not work.

Step 5: Create a new fill or adjustment layer, how do you do this? Well you can either click the round button that is half grey and half black (in the layer palette) and click on Hue/Saturation, or you can go into Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation, which brings up a dialog box, just click Ok, which will bring up a new dialog box: the Hue/Saturation

dialog box

Step 6: Adjusting the Hue/Saturation, if you just want to increase the saturation of the entire image just grab the saturation slider and drag it to the right, until your happy and press Ok, this will apply a saturation increase for the entire image.

But I m going to go a bit step further.

In the Hue/Saturation dialog box, at the top you se a little drop down box, and at first “Master” is selected, what this means is that its going to apply any changes that you make to the entire image, but this is not what we want.

So i played around with the drop down boxes, till i was happy, look around on the photo to waht colors you see.

Note: that you don’t need to press OK between each step because it will “save” the settings, OK button is only for when your 100% satisfied.

Step 6: Fixing the Contrast/Brightness, to do this either click the circle logo in the layer pallets and select Contras/Brightness, or go into Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Brightness/Contrast (if your using this method it will always bring up a dialog box, so press Ok to get the actual Brightness/Contrast dialog box)

Step 7: Adjusting Contrast/Brightness, now before you go about anything here think about what effect you want. And then play aroud with the sliders.

Step 8: One thing to note that every time you add a new adjustment layer you will get a layer mask with it, so lets put this to use. Select your Brush Tool (B) and press D (D will render the colours with your brush tool to black and white) and click on the Brightness/Contrast 1 layer mask, the white box next to the circled symbol. Make sure you have black as your foreground colour and now lets pain “away” the Brightness/Contrast 1, this means to remove that Brightness/Contrast where we don’t want it to be.

Step 9: Get a new Contrast/Brightness adjustment layer, but now lets focus on the foreground, so play around with the sliders till you get something you like and paint away what you dont want.

(Step 10: Croping the image, only if you want to but i dont always do)

Here is the final product:

And Here is what we hade before any PP:

Conclusion: there is a pretty big difference between the before and after as you can tell, hope this helps out with some of you starter ups out there. Maybe i will throw another tutorial together later tonight or another entry dont know yet!

Photography: The Crop Factor

2008-10-22T08:58:00.003+02:00

This is actually a request, or a suggestion from our reader Rob over here. He asked me a while back (quiet a WHILE back) to explain the crop factor. So here it goes, i m going to try to explain it as good as i possible can

Lets first start by lining up the type of sensor that are available out there:
DX, full frame, APS-C, crop factor, 24x36, image circle - honestly i didnt know that all of these existed untill i wrote this article i was only aware of full frame and DX.

Back in the good old days (film days that is) the "sensor" if you will, measured 24mm x 36mm, that was for some time the "standard" size of all SLR´s back in time. But these days when things have moved over to digital things have changed a bit

Depending on what manufacturer you choose the "crop" factor and the sensor size will be different. Note that "crop" factor and sensor size is pretty much the same things, its talking about the sensors crop factor equivalent to the standrad 35mm film. Do you follow here? Great if you do so.

Nikon has two different sensor sizes: full frame (also known as FX), and 1.5x (DX)

Cannon has three different sizes: full frame, 1.3x and 1.6x

Olympus has one size that i m aware of: 2x

Below is an image trying to illustrate the crop factor:

So why is this sensor talk important? Well it is, because every sensor type has its advantage and disadvantage.

As a rule of thumb (dont bash me here) full frame sensor have better image qualiy, specially when it comes to higher ISO´s performance.

So lets put this into practice, a great example is Nikons D300 (1.5x) vs D700 (full frame):

The D300 is one of the best non-full frame cameras out there when it comes to ISO performance, its will give you some very good results at the higher ISO´s but the D700 will give even better results: so lets put some numbers in here just to make things easier. You will start to loose alot of iamge quality on the D300 above ISO 16000 while the D700 does that at ISO 64000. And why is this? Well its because of the sensor size, note that both camera have a 12MP sensor, so there is no differnece there. So on the D700 the pixels are bigger thus rendering a better dynamic range and noise performance, and therfore giving you a clearer image at higher ISO´s (check this link out for ISO comparisonts over at cameralabs)

Frull frame is something that is pretty good to have when it comes to landscape photography; why? Because most (but not all) cheaper primes and wide angle are pretty much made for full frame. An example of this is that you can pick up a 24mm f/2.8 prime lens for about $300 while the DX 12-24 f/4 will run you about $900, so that is quite the difference.

While a down side to full frame is that the lenses are some what more bulky and big, but from what i read around the web people seem to be enjoying carrying around kilos of stuff. Another thing to note is that full frame bodies are some what more expensive these days (still dont know why, marketing maybe?)

Now the croped sensors have its advantage when it comes to using longer focal lenghts, for example if you get teh 70-200mm f/2.8 you will get a 105-300mm f/2.8 lens on a croped body (1.5x) this means that you will have almost the double reach with the same aperture, while a teleconverter would be needed for the full frame camera and thus you would loose a couple of f-stops.

So what should you choose when getting a new DSLR?

Well if your used to have a SRL and have a nice lens collection for that, it wouldnt be bad to spend the extra cash to get that full frame body so you can use those lenses specially if your into landscaping, it will save you alot of cash!

If you shoot at low light, it can be quite a pickle. Because lets be honest here, the D300 for example renders some really good results at higher ISO, but the full frame renders better. What i can say here is that it all comes down to what else your going to use the camera for, plus size is thing to take into consideration (even tho there isnt THAT big of a differnce between the D700 vs D300)

But if your into shooting wildlife and animals etc a croped body could be a great bennefit for you, because you will get that extra reach without having to spend the money on teleconverters while loosing f-stops.

I hope i cleared some things for those whom where wondering about crop factor and sensor size

Photography: The Power of Double Exposure

2008-10-21T17:48:00.002+02:00

This was actually inspired by a friend of mine over at cameralbs, where he shared one of this photographs.

But right of the bat i noticed two things: that the shots was correctly exposed all over the place, and that the sky wasnt overexposed (something that we often get when shooting overcast conditions). So i asked him what he did, and he told me that he pretty much spot metered of the sky and of the foreground.

So i wanted to try to use this, but in a very different scenario. I love sunsets, and i think a lot of people out there also enjoy the view of a wonderful sunset, the colors the warm feeling etc. Back to the point, to get those beautiful colors of the sky i told you guys a while back to crank down the EV to about -0.7 but in that case you ended up with a silhouette, which can be nice. But i m kind of tired of them!

So what i did is that i set up my camera on my mini tripod, and metered of the foreground (to get the perfect exposure) and then i took the photo, now i metered of the sky and cranked down the EV to about -1 to get nice colors and took the shot.

So now i have two images, one where the foreground is correctly exposed and the background is totally blown or overexposed. And another shot where the foreground is completely black but it has the lovely colors of the sunset.

So i took the photos to photoshop. Added them both into the software, so now i two mini windows inside of photoshop. And then i drag over one image to the other image, doesnt really matter what dirrection you do it because the process will be the same, but inverted if you do it vice versa.

What i did now is that i applied a layer mask to the top layer, the top layer in my case was the one with the very black foreground. I then masked out the bottom of this image so now i have one great image. It can take a very long time to do the masking if you have some very complex objects. I m sorry that i dont have the first to image to show you guys but i do have the final product.

Once your done masking your welcome to either merge the two layers and play around with the photo even more to make those colors pop out! Which was something i did as well as you can see

Thanks for reading and i will try to keep updating as often as i can.

Photography: White Balance, once again

2008-10-21T17:37:00.002+02:00

Alright so i have discovered the power of using the "White Blance Preset".

This is a function that you can find if i m not mistaken in any "modern" DSLR out there, my D40x has it and i my guess is that yours probably has it to. You can probably find it under the WB settings....

So why am i praising this tool so much? Well its great for studio work as well as those "tricky light" situations. Remember that i was tell you guys earlier to shoot in RAW so white balance would never been an issue? While autoWB is great for those moments when you dont have any time (note here: i always keep my camera on autoWB unless i m doing something special) so you can fix the WB after in post process!

But i m going to be honest with you guys, i have tried to mess about with the WB in photoshop and i m never really 100% happy with the results i get when i find myself in those special moments, what i tend to do then is that i just erase the background my object is in and add a layer of white, which has in the past made some of photos look 2D, like the photo below for example. There i just took the photo on autoWB and removed the background and it looked the way it looked, tho in that case i was going for that look so you are welcome to use it in those cases!

Now back on track here, so when do i use white balance preset?

I often use it when i m so called "doing my studio" work. This means that i m using one type of light source under controlled condtions. So what i do is that i grab the background and i just go into the menu of my camera (follow the instructions provided by the camera) and i take a shot of the surface that is ment to be white, it doesnt really have to be white, but what ever clear object you take a photo of will give the camera the reference that is supposed to be white (does that make sesnse)

Below are some example where i shot the apple on a off white surface, but with the help of the WB preset i got the "background" to look white, and it saved me loads of time in post processing, actually i never processed this image only turned the photo from RAW to JPG

I´m Back!

2008-10-20T16:47:00.001+02:00

Well i would just like to inform people I AM BACK!

Readers: I m of on vacation

2008-06-30T18:59:00.002+02:00

Hello everyone!

I would like to start of by thanking you guys for reading the blog and taking such interest in what i do, and what i like to share. I hope to see some of you stick around for a while and maybe partake in what i do some day, and hopefully we can become bigger and share the experience of capturing special moments with the camera.

I would like to say that on Wednesday the 2nd of this month i will be going on vacation till the 29th of July. What does this mean? Well it means i have not found anyone that wants to help me out so i think there will be no posting in 1 months period almost, if you feel you can help me out with a few posts while i m gone, feel free to drop me an email or post in the comments section and we can discuss it. I m sorry that i wont be able to post, but i will be going to a place in Spain where Internet will not be available to me.

p.s i m also stopping by Amsterdam, anyone know anything special i should stop by to see there? As in i must go?

Regards,

Alex

Photography: How to Photograph Fireworks

2008-06-30T18:44:00.003+02:00

orginal post by dps blogWho doesn't like fireworks? I think thy are great and they put on quite the show. But how do you capture them on camera? Well read on and you will find out!

1. Stability

You will need a very stable surface, where the camera is steady. A tripod or a monopod or anything that will hold the camera in the position you want will work.

2. Remote Releases

Try using a remote release of some sort to fire of the shutter of your camera. This will make sure that the shot is 100% steady. If you dont have the remote release you could try your luck at the 10second timer or just press the shutter, which in most cases isn't going to render any blur but you can never be 100% certain.

3. Framing your image

Wow, this sounds hard? Well its is kind of hard to frame your fireworks shots, because you cant really be 100% sure were they are going to explode so to speak. And to make the fire works shots some what special you want to have something else but along with the fireworks in the frame right? To make ti better then all the other fireworks shots that are out there. So picture in your mind what you want to capture (lean towards the wider angle here) and if you capture to much you can just crop the image later on in post processing.

4. Focal length?

If you want to be on the sure side, always lean towards the wider angle so to speak, as this will capture more in your frame. But if you know exactly (or have a very good idea) where the fireworks is going to explode into a very beatiful pattern then feel free to zoom in as this will render some very interesting results.

5. Aperture?

I would suggest anything from f/8 to f/22, nothing below that that is for sure as you want to get as much as you possible can in focus (not to mention that the smaller apertures renders the "start" like shaping of strong lights)

6. Shutter Speed?

I use the bulb mode on my camera when capturing fireworks. Why? As soon as i see the fireworks trailing towards the sky i open the shutter and just leave it open till the explosion has passed and you will get the entire firework in your image. From the long trail (or tail) till the beatiful explosion.

7. ISO?

100/200 should be more then enough, as your using bulb mode and the fireworks can be very bright, you don't want to overexpose the shot!

Photography: 10 Surefire Landscape Photography Tips Part 2(2)

2008-06-28T10:30:00.003+02:00

orginal post by dps blogTime for the second part before i m heading of to work, typing this while brushing my teeth, no problem i have a good 30 minutes to make it to work.

6. Look for Lines

Oh boy do i love looking for lines in my landscape photography. I try to look for them everywhere, i don't know if i have shared this with you guys but i m a very big fan of symmetry and i think symmetry looks great no matter where it is, and thats why i love lines. You want to be asking yourself the question "How am I leading the eyes of those viewing this image" and lines works really good.

7. Try to Capture Movement

Another one of my favorite things to capture, but i find it some what hard. Now this is great capture movement in your image, the wind in the trees, the waves on the beach, water flowing over a waterfall or moving clouds. These are some great attributes to add a bit of life to your images.

8. Work with the Weather

Its sure nice to go for a walk when the sun is shining, and take your camera with you when your walking and take some shots? I love that to, but you will find yourself getting better results when you have a overcast weather, the reason for this is that you won't get so many harsh shadows, you will probably not overexpose the shots because there is not any direct sunlight. And it gives you great opportunity to blur such things as water in movement without having to use any filter on your camera.

9. Work at the Golden hours

Whats are the golden hours? Well those are the hours when the sky the atmosphere is feeling warm, and your driving the car and you say "look at that sky" and some one replies "thats beautiful, i love the colors" those are the golden hours. The hours when you get some very very nice warm tones from the sky which everyone loves. Try before and after the sun set or sunrise, but don't wait to long specially when it comes to the sunrise. Sunset and sunrise do not render the same colors, sunset renders more vivid and warmer colors, but you usually get a very nice fog in the morning if you had a warm day.

10. Look were you focus.

To get most of things in focus you just dont want to place that camera and aim at what seems to be the middle of the photograph and press the shutter, this is going to give you some area that are going to be out of focus. What you want to focus on so to speak is 1/3 way up from the bottom of the frame that you want to capture