Adobe Lightroom Workflow – Part 2 – Flag, Rate, and Filter
May 16, 2009
In the previous article of this series we took an in-depth look at importing your photos into Lightroom. Now that your photos are imported, let’s take a few moments to go through them and tag them with a flag, rating or color so we can easily filter through them during the editing process.
It’s sometimes easy to underestimate the importance of a good tag and filtering process. If done right this can be a huge time saver. It’s also handy for archiving; when you return to these photos after weeks, months or years have passed you are immediately able to see the original tags you applied.
Digital Photography Tips – White Balance with a Gray Card
May 12, 2009
One thing that often gets overlooked by amateur photographers is getting accurate color in your photos. The first step to getting good color is making sure you have paid attention to your white balance. White balance, sometimes known as color balance, is basically making sure that white appears as white in a given lighting scenario.
Many people deal with white balance by simply setting their digital camera to Auto White Balance (AWB). While cameras do fairly well at achieving good white balance automatically, there are a few steps you can take to insure more accurate depiction of colors. Read more
Photoshop Tips – Advanced Black and White Conversion Using Actions
April 22, 2009
There are several ways to convert your photos to black and white inside Photoshop; quick options like the Desaturate command or simply adding in a Black & White Adjustment layer. But there are other more advanced options available within Photoshop that can give you killer black and white results.
The thing about black and white conversion is that one process doesn’t always work the best for every photo. There are several different methods because sometimes certain methods work better than others for the picture in question.
What we’ll cover here is a quick way to to create an Action that will automatically add the most popular black and white conversion techniques to your photo. We’ll combine this action with Layer Comps to give you an easy way to run through each of the conversion options to get a glimpse of what works best with your photo. I tend to lovingly refer to this technique as, Not Yo Mama’s Black and White Conversion.
10 Tips for Taking Outdoor Pictures and Portraits
April 3, 2009
It’s warm and sunny outside and you’re all set to go out and take some pictures! Shooting outdoors in the sunlight can create some unexpected results; exposure issues where your subject might either be too bright or too dark, squinty eyes in the sunlight and harsh lighting.
If you’re looking to make some photos that are more natural and pleasing, check out the following tips. If you’re just now starting out, check out our 10 tips to get started in photography.
Flash Photography Tips – Intro to Softboxes
October 1, 2008
In a perfect world, photographic umbrellas are all we would need to control our lighting. However, there are some cases when you need more control and directionality from your light source. This is where softboxes come in.
The basic principle of a softbox is the same as an umbrella: it provides a layer of diffusion that increases the effective size of your light source. Where softboxes differ is that their construction only allows light to pass through the diffusion material in the front. The sides and back are blocked, minimizing the spill of light.
Flash Photography Tips – Intro to Photographic Umbrellas
September 22, 2008
The photographic umbrella is one of the fundamental tools of off-camera flash photography. Because of the low cost, ease of use and effective ability to increase the size of the light source, an umbrella (or brolly) is a useful utility for new and experienced photographers alike.
An umbrella is a light modifier; it modifies the size and intensity of light emitted from your flash and gives you more control. Over the next few articles we’ll be looking at different light modifiers and the benefits of each. Let’s start now and look at the benefits that umbrellas give us.
Get It Local – Pocket Wizard Sync Cables
September 17, 2008
One thing that’s kept me in a perpetual state of wonderment is how in the world Radio Shack is still in business. Seriously. I remember buying some walkie-talkies from them when I was 12 years old and they seemed to be on their last leg even then. Please don’t get me wrong; I don’t particularly have anything against Radio Shack, I just fail to see how they’ve remained in business all these years. I mean, in the present day economy we’ve got the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy and the sale of Merrill Lynch, yet we can still trust Radio Shack to ask for our phone number when we buy batteries.*
I pretty much had to eat my words this past weekend. I had a portrait session coming up and realized I was a sync cable short for connecting my Pocket Wizard to my Alien Bees AB-1600. I usually order my sync cables from FlashZebra.com, but I knew I wouldn’t have time to get it delivered. I couldn’t trust Walmart or Target to have the cable I needed. Thus, my only hopeful source: the local neighborhood Radio Shack. Read more
Beginning Photography Tips – Don’t Underestimate Snapshots
September 8, 2008
I personally have two cameras. I have a DSLR which I use in my professional work, and I have a smaller point-and-shoot which basically serves as a knockaround camera, or one that I can easily take with me when I don’t have room for my pro rig.
I’ve got so much gear which I use with my DSLR that when I get the point-and-shoot in my hands, I feel like it’s not even worth taking out of the bag. On many occasions, such as holidays or family functions, I’ve neglected to take any pictures because the only camera I had was my measly little point-and-shoot.
Beginning Photography Tips – Fill the Frame
September 3, 2008
In one of my college photography courses, one of the most helpful (and simple) tips I learned was from my black and white photography professor when he said, “If you’re having trouble with your photography, try getting closer.”
After thinking on this for awhile I looked back over my shots and saw that, for any given subject, I was backing up or zooming out so that I was sure to get the most content within the frame (frame, here, meaning the confines of your camera’s sensor, not the big wooden square hanging on your wall). To many beginning photographers, the concept of “filling the frame” means “fill the picture with as much extraneous content as humanly possible,” which is exactly what I was trying to do. The subject of my pictures was unclear because I had included a lot of its surrounding environment.
Digital Photography Workflow – High Contrast Effect from Start to Finish
August 25, 2008
Your digital photography workflow is important because it’s the process that you employ to create an image. Each step in the workflow is important as it makes each sub-sequent step easier and makes the overall workflow more efficient, allowing you to devote more time and energy to creating great images.
One key to creating great images is starting with a great photo and then enhancing the photo further in Photoshop. In this tutorial, I’ll explain how I setup the lighting and composition for the photo and then used Lightroom and Photoshop to end up with the final image.
