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Thursday, December 12, 2019
How to Overcome Photo Envy and Become a Better Photographer
You’ve got a goal to become a better photographer. Along the way,
you’re going to have to confront your weaknesses. Photo envy is one of
the greatest weaknesses a photographer can face because it is a weakness
that hurts other people.
If you regularly feel jealous when you see another photographer’s good photos then you probably suffer from photo envy.
Photo envy will make you bitter and pessimistic. When envy takes
root, it leaves you feeling inferior and resentful at other people’s
success.
I’ll show you how to overcome photo envy so that you can get on with becoming a great photographer.
The one time I forget all about photo envy at a photo session. That’s because my only concern is
for my subject.
How do you know for sure that you have photo envy?
Admiring another photographer’s work and aspiring to be as good as
them is not envy. It’s natural to be captivated and inspired by other
people who are better than you.
You’ll know photo envy by its tell-tale effect on your emotions. The test is simple: if you take an immediate
emotional turn for the worst when you see other people’s good
photography, then you suffer from photo envy.
You probably first noticed your photo envy while scrolling through social media.
A really good photo posted by a friend or another photographer took you
by surprise. You felt a terrible sinking feeling in your gut and chest.
You’re jealous.
Perhaps you regularly have beaten up by thoughts of inferiority, or
even felt hopeless or like crying? You wonder how they can be so
skilled, and why they’re getting all the attention. You think, “when
will I finally get noticed.” What does it take?
The stakes
You’ll be tempted to think that simply becoming a better photographer
or getting more business is the solution to your photo envy. But it’s
not.
Envy is a weakness within yourself and the only way to cure it is to face it directly. And you must overcome photo envy before you become a good photographer.
If you don’t overcome envy before you become a better photographer, you’ll simply become a good photographer
with a harmful weakness. You’ll naturally take out your resentment on
other photographers, not to mention your friends and family.
Even
though I don’t think about photo envy during a session, I know the next
time I’m on social
media, I’ll see a photographer’s amazing photos and
feel envious again. So I employ my regular
tactics to defeat photo envy.
How do you overcome photo envy?
You don’t have to be jealous, inferior and resentful forever. Follow this plan, and you will overcome photo envy.
Envy is something that needs to be overcome in the moment. Remember, you’re good at spotting moments as a photographer! Here is how to overcome photo envy.
The very second you feel envious of somebody’s photography, stop what you’re doing. Stop
scrolling, stop clicking and stop thinking about yourself. Now get
ready because you’re about to tell the photographer how much you love
their photos.
Whether you’re envious of a friend or a competitor, you need to send
them a personal message immediately. Do not put it off for later. Simply
send them a message letting them know how much you enjoy their photos.
After all, the reason you’re envious is that they’re so good.
If you’re not sure what to say then try something like this:
Hi there, I just wanted to tell you how amazing I think your photography is! Your images never fail to wow me. How long have you been into photography?
Overcoming photo envy is that simple.
I
know that becoming a more skilled photographer isn’t enough to deal
with my photo envy.
Becoming a better photographer out of spite isn’t a
good game plan.
Be a better person and a better photographer
Why does this method work so well? Because you’re retraining yourself
to be a good person. Envy has become automatic when your response
should have been admiration and encouragement.
When you tell the person how much you love their photography you will
notice the feeling of envy leave your body and good feelings will flow
in to replace it. Just wait until they write back and compliment you.
Every time you’re scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest,
etc and you feel envious, send a personal note right away telling them
how much you like their photography. Pretty soon you’ll be an
encouraging person rather than an envious one.
But you can take all this a step further.
With
my photo envy under control, I’m free to pursue my goal of becoming a
better photographer.
When I go to a session, I have a toolbox of
creative elements that I use. I’ve
memorized them so I
don’t have to overthink it. I can focus on my
subject and know that I’ll get home with some good
photos.
Lead the locker room
Telling the person (especially competitors) how much you love their photography is the key to overcome photo envy.
But you can do better than “not be envious.” You can become a generous leader among photographers.
Backlight is one of my favorite creative ingredients.
Let’s think about a locker room for a moment. You likely experienced a
locker room or a change room in high school, so you know what a
humiliating experience it can be. Inferiority and envy can run wild and
then spill out beyond the locker room.
If you follow sports, then you hear about the rivalries in the locker room and how it can bring the whole team down.
But when somebody steps up to lead the locker room in a good
direction, everything changes. When somebody is an encourager and a
problem solver, then envy and rivalry burn out. If anyone chooses to
remain miserable and envious, they quickly lose their place in the
locker room, they’re ignored until they’re just gone.
I always look for some interesting gesture in the moment.
Now let’s get back to the world you’re a part of. Would you like to
be an important part of your photography community rather than just
sitting home and feeling jealous about how everyone else is doing? Then
step up and lead the locker room.
Be the encourager in online forums and Facebook groups. Start an
in-person group to help new photographers or unite photographers that
act like competitors.
I don’t mean that you have to be a traditional leader. You
just need to bring order to the chaos. Pump out positive energy and
watch it chase envy and rivalry away. A simple compliment from you might
be what helps another photographer overcome their photo envy.
By this point, there isn’t a shred of envy left in you. You are happy
to see others do well. In fact, you even start making others look good.
Be a shameless promoter of others. Look for good photographers and share them with the world.
It could be as simple as showcasing them through a guest post on your blog or social media.
But how can you make your competition look good and expect anyone to remember you? You simply have to trust that when you make others look good you will not be forgotten.
Envy can’t touch you when you do this.
Along with backlight and low angles, I love a photograph with texture. This helps your photo to pop.
Up your game every step of the way
We’ve almost forgotten about your real goal, which is to become a
great photographer. That’s actually the easy part! You figure out what
you wish you could do and learn it!
Find an ebook, course, or mentor who can show you. Learn, practice, refine, celebrate.
I used to be jealous of photographers who had beautiful light in
their photos. I had no idea how to achieve that look and didn’t know
what to do about it. Eventually, I had an opportunity to learn the
skills I was surprised to see that there was no magic involved; all I
had to do is learn.
You’re on a journey of becoming a better photographer, but pay attention to who
you become along the way. Becoming a better photographer will not make
you less envious. You can let photo envy take root and bring you down.
Or, you can overcome photo envy by being an encouragement to others.
Lead the locker room and make a lot of other photographers look good.
Whenever you feel a twinge of jealousy, get in touch with that
photographer and tell them how great their photos are. This is how you
overcome photo envy. Do you have any other tips to overcome photo envy? If so, share them with us in the comments!
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News: The Canon EOS Rs to Have 75 MP Sensor and Dual Card Slots
Over the past few months, rumors have abounded regarding a “professional” Canon EOS R. But recent news has given us the month of the release, making this new Canon camera more exciting than ever.
As initially reported by Canon Rumors,
this Canon mirrorless snapper is about to enter the market, offering a
resolution far beyond anything previously offered by Canon.
The Canon EOS Rs (as the folks at Canon Rumors are calling it) will
apparently be announced in February of next year, presumably around the
same time as the Canon 1D X Mark IIIand the Nikon D6, though it’ll be aimed at a completely different audience.
So what should we expect from Canon’s pro-level mirrorless model?
The EOS Rs will have plenty of the features you’d expect based on the EOS R, but better:
The latest and greatest Canon processor, the DIGIC 9.
A “similar” continuous shooting speed to the EOS R (which clocks in at 8 fps in One-Shot AF).
An improved EVF.
Weather sealing.
But the Canon EOS Rs is also rumored to possess a few traits that
should pique the interest of quite a few professional photographers:
Dual card slots and a 75 MP sensor.
The dual card slots are somewhat expected, given the slew of
complaints that Canon received regarding the lack of dual slots on the EOS R. But a 75 MP sensor is groundbreaking for a 35mm camera, offering a higher pixel count than either the Canon 5DS and 5DSR duo or the Sony A7R IV. It would be, in fact, the highest-resolution 35mm digital camera currently available.
Now,
a camera like the EOS Rs is designed with professional photographers in
mind. The huge megapixel count is required by, for instance, commercial
photographers, as well as those looking to make giant landscape prints.
But while megapixel monsters are undoubtedly powerful, they come with some downsides.
The first is the price; the Canon 5DS debuted at around $3700 USD,
and I don’t expect Canon to knock many dollars off the EOS Rs MSRP.
The second is file size. The RAW files produced by a 75 MP camera
will be huge, which makes storage (both in memory cards and on
computers) potentially frustrating.
And third, higher megapixel counts result in smaller pixels. This
hurts high ISO performance on even the most professional of cameras,
which is one of the reasons why megapixel monsters are often
outperformed by other full-frame cameras in low-light scenarios,
especially when images are compared at native resolutions. What do you think about the Canon EOS Rs? Is it something you’d be interested in? What would you like to see in it? Let me know in the comments!
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
The Ultimate Guide to Learning how to use Your first DSLR
New to Photography?Check out our free Ultimate Guide to Photography for Beginners.
If you’ve bought yourself a DSLR
(or mirrorless camera) and, after unpacking it from the box, you are
intimidated by the number of buttons and dials, and by the thickness of
the manual, it can be very tempting to put the manual down, flick it
onto ‘Auto’ and start shooting.
Whilst that is fine for some, it may not be long until you crave the
creative control that inspired you to purchase a DSLR in the first
place, but where do you begin?
If you consider yourself a beginner who is unsure of how to make the
most of your camera, this post is designed for you. It’s intended to be
a brief, a one-stop shop to help you take your camera off auto, and
take control of your DSLR. It isn’t intended to be a replacement for
your camera manual, so will not explain every last setting in great
depth, but will cover enough of the basics to get you in control of your
camera, and give you the key topics to go back to your manual to read.
Steps for Learning How to Use Your DSLR include:
Here’s some steps for learning how to use that new DSLR that we’ll cover in this article.
Master Shooting modes (including priority modes and full manual)
Understand ISO
Learn the ‘exposure triangle’
Master Metering including exposure compensation
Learn About Focussing
Understand file size/types
Learn about White balance
There’s lots to learn if you want to get the most from your DSLR but lets start by digging into each of these topics. Note to Mirrorless Camera Owners: almost everything in this article is relevant not only to DSLR owners but also mirrorless camera owners too!
1. Master Shooting modes
The best place to start is with shooting modes. The shooting modes
will most likely be found on a dial labelled with ‘auto, Av, Tv, P, M’
and maybe more. Selecting a shooting mode will determine how your
camera behaves when you press the shutter, for example, when ‘auto’ is
selected, the camera will determine everything to do with the exposure,
including the aperture and shutter speed. The other modes, ‘Av, Tv, P,
M’, are there to give you control:
Don’t worry if your mode dial looks a little different; different
manufacturers use different abbreviations for the shooting modes. Your
mode dial may have the letters ‘A, S, P, M’ (instead of Av, Tv, P, M),
yet they all function in the same way. Below, I have given each
abbreviation for the given mode. Aperture Priority (Av or A) Aperture priority can be thought of as a ‘semi-automatic’
shooting mode. When this is selected, you as the photographer set the
aperture and the camera will automatically select the shutter speed. So
what is aperture and when would you want to control it?
The aperture is the size of the opening in the lens through which
light is allowed to pass whenever the shutter is opened – the larger the
aperture, the more light passes through.
The aperture is measured in ‘f-stops’ and is usually displayed using
an ‘f-number’, e.g. f/2.0, f/2.8, f/4.0, f/5.6, f/8.0 etc, which is a
ratio of focal length over diameter of the opening. Therefore, a larger
aperture (a wider opening) has a smaller f-number (e.g. f/2.0) and
smaller aperture (a narrower opening) has a larger f-number (e.g.
f/22). Reducing the aperture by one whole f-stop, e.g. f/2.0 to f2/8 or
f/5.6 to f/8.0, halves the amount of light entering the camera.
Aperture is one of the most important aspects of photography as it
directly influences the depth of field – that is, the amount of an image
that is in focus. A large depth of field (achieved by using a small
aperture (large f-number)) would mean that a large distance within the
scene is in focus, such as the foreground to the background of the
landscape below.
An
aperture of f/13 was used here to give a large depth of field, ensuring
that the whole image, from the foreground grasses to the background
mountains. was sharp
Whereas a shallow depth of field (achieved by using a large aperture
(small f-number)) would produce an image where only the subject is in
sharp focus, but the background is soft and out of focus. This is often
used when shooting portraiture or wildlife, such as the image below, to
isolate the subject from the background:
A large aperture of f/4.5 was used to capture this water vole, against a soft, out of focus background
So
when using aperture priority, you can get complete control over your
depth of field, whilst the camera takes care of the rest. Further Reading: Read more about Aperture Priority Mode. Shutter Priority (Tv or S) Similarly to aperture priority, this is another
‘semi-automatic’ shooting mode, though in this instance, you as the
photographer set the shutter speed and the camera will take care of the
aperture. The shutter speed, measured in seconds (or more often
fractions of a second), is the amount of time the shutter stays open
when taking a photograph. The longer the shutter stays open, the more
light passes through to the sensor to be captured.
You would select a short shutter speed if you wanted to freeze a fast
moving subject, such as shooting sports, action or wildlife, for
example:
A very fast shutter speed of 1/4000th sec was used to freeze the motion of this grouse in flight
You would use a long shutter speed if you wanted to blur a moving
subject, for example water rushing over a waterfall (slower shutter
speeds will require you to put the camera on a tripod to ensure the
camera is held steady whilst the shutter is open):
To capture the motion of the waves, and render the water with a soft, milky texture, a shutter speed of 6 seconds was used here
So whilst you worry about what shutter speed you need for a given
photograph, the camera will determine the appropriate aperture required
to give the correct exposure.
Aperture and shutter priority shooting modes may be semi-automatic,
meaning that some may deride their use because they’re not fully manual,
however they are incredibly useful modes to shoot in that can give you
enough creative control to capture scenes as you envisage them. Further Reading: learn more about Shutter Priority Mode. Program (P) Program mode is almost a halfway house between the semi
automatic modes of aperture/shutter priority and full manual control.
In program mode, you are able to set either the aperture or shutter
speed, and the camera will maintain the correct exposure by adjusting
the other one accordingly, i.e. as you change the aperture, the shutter
speed will automatically change, and vice versa. This gives you
additional freedom that using either aperture priority or shutter
priority cannot give without switching between shooting modes. Manual (M) Manual mode is exactly what it sounds like, you are given
full control over the exposure determination, setting both the aperture
and shutter speed yourself. There will be an exposure indicator either
within the viewfinder or on the screen that will tell you how under/over
exposed the image will be, however, you are left to change the shutter
speed and aperture yourself to ensure you achieve the correct exposure. Practically Speaking:
as a first step to taking your camera off ‘auto’, aperture priority and
shutter priority modes offer two very simple ways to start to
understand how the different setting impact your images and are a
perfect starting place for learning how to use your camera more
creatively.
2. Understand ISO
ISO is a measure of how sensitive the sensor of your camera is to
light. The term originated in film photography, where film of different
sensitivities could be used depending on the shooting conditions, and
it is no different in digital photography. The ISO sensitivity is
represented numerically from ISO 100 (low sensitivity) up to ISO 6400
(high sensitivity) and beyond, and controls the amount of light required
by the sensor to achieve a given exposure
At ‘low’ sensitivities, more light is required to achieve a given
exposure compared to high sensitivities where less light is required to
achieve the same exposure. To understand this, let’s look at two
different situations: Low ISO numbers If shooting outside, on a bright sunny day there is a lot
of available light that will hit the sensor during an exposure, meaning
that the sensor does not need to be very sensitive in order to achieve a
correct exposure. Therefore, you could use a low ISO number, such as
ISO 100 or 200. This will give you images of the highest quality, with
very little grain (or noise).
Taken at ISO 100, the image does not show signs of noise (even when looking at the 100% crop (right)
High ISO numbers If shooting in low light conditions, such as inside a dark
cathedral or museum for example, there is not much light available for
your camera sensor. A high ISO number, such as ISO 3200, will increase
the sensitivity of the sensor, effectively multiplying the small amount
of available light to give you a correctly exposed image. This
multiplication effect comes with a side effect of increased noise on the
image, which looks like a fine grain, reducing the overall image
quality. The noise will be most pronounced in the darker/shadow
regions.
This
image was taken as the sun was going down, meaning there was not much
ambient light. Therefore, this was shot with ISO4000, however you can
see very obvious noise in the 100% crop (right)
Practically Speaking:
you want to keep the ISO as low as possible, as the lower the ISO, the
less noise and the higher the quality of the resulting image. Outside
on a sunny day, select ISO200 and see how it goes. If it clouds over,
maybe select an ISO between 400-800. If you move indoors, consider an
ISO of around 1600 or above (these are approximate starting points). Most digital SLRs now have an ‘auto-ISO’ function, where the
camera sets the ISO depending upon the amount of light in which you are
shooting, keeping it as low as possible. Auto-ISO is a very useful tool
when starting out with your camera, as it is allows you to define an
upper limit i.e. where the images become too noisy such as ISO1600 or
3200, and then forget about it until situations where you specifically
want to override the automatic setting, for example if taking landscape
images using a tripod, you can afford to use the lowest ISO possible. Further Reading: Discover more about how to use ISO.
3. Learn the ‘Exposure Triangle’
It’s important to note that aperture, shutter speed and ISO are all
part of the ‘exposure triangle’. They all control either the amount of
light entering the camera (aperture, shutter speed) or the amount of
light required by the camera (ISO) for a given exposure.
Therefore, they are all linked, and understanding the relationship
between them is crucial to being able to take control of your camera. A
change in one of the settings will impact the other two. For example,
considering a theoretical exposure of ISO400, f/8.0, 1/10th second.
If you wanted to reduce the depth of field, and decided to use an
aperture of f/4.0, you would be increasing the size of the aperture by
two whole f/stops, therefore increasing the amount of light entering the
camera by a factor of 4 (i.e. increasing by a factor of 2, twice).
Therefore, to balance the exposure, you could do the following:
Situation 1: Reduce the shutter speed by a factor of 4, i.e. to 1/40th second.
Situation 2: Reduce the ISO by a factor of 4, i.e. to ISO100
Situation 3: A combination of the above, shutter speed by a factor
of 2 (to 1/20th second) AND reduce the ISO bv a factor of 2 (to ISO200).
Aperture,
shutter speed and ISO are all facotrs that influence your exposure, and
are all linked. It’s just a case of balancing the books!
They all have the net effect of reducing the amount of light by a
factor of 4, countering the change in aperture. It’s just a case of
understanding that they are all linked, and so changing one setting,
will cause a change in another.
Using a combination of the semi-automatic shooting modes and auto-ISO
would mean you won’t necessarily need to think about adjusting your
exposure in such a way initially, however understanding the relationship
that ISO or aperture has with shutter speed, and knowing the practical
implications is a big step in mastering your DSLR . Further Reading:Read more about the Exposure Triangle.
4. Master Metering
Through out all of the above discussion, I have said that the camera
calculates the exposure depending on the amount of available light, but
what is it actually doing?
When taking a photograph, using any form of automatic exposure
calculation (e.g. aperture priority mode, shutter priority mode,
auto-ISO etc) the camera always tries to calculate an ‘average’
exposure. It will asses the entire scene, both light and dark areas,
and determine the exposure so that all of the tones within the entire
image average to 18% grey – called the ‘middle’ grey.
This is known as metering, and it is the reason that if you point
your camera at a bright white scene, such as after it has snowed, and
take a photograph the resulting image will always appear darker than you
or I see it. Similarly, if you point your camera at a really dark
scene, such as a low-lit room, and take a photograph the resulting image
will always be brighter than you or I see it.
The scene is always being averaged by the camera and most of the time
that results in the image appearing to be correctly exposed. However,
you can control what areas of the scene are being assessed by the camera
in order to influence the way in which the exposure is metered.
Generally, there are three metering modes that you can choose from: Average – The camera will assess the tones across the entire
image form corner to corner, and expose the scene to 18% grey from that
assessment. Centre-weighted – The camera weights the exposure reading for
the area in the centre of the viewfinder that can total up to
approximately 80% of the scene, ignoring the extreme corners of the
image. Spot metering – The camera will use a very small area of the
scene, typically a small circle in the centre of the viewfinder that
totals approximately 5% of the viewfinder area. It will make the
assessment of dark/light tones in this area and expose the entire scene
to 18% grey, from that assessment. Practically speaking:
when starting out with your camera, either average or centre weighted
metering are a good starting point. They will both provide a fairly
consistent measure of the exposure required and, if you select one mode
and stick with it, you will soon begin to understand when a scene will
be under exposed (i.e. too dark) or over exposed (i.e. to light)
compared to how you see it with your own eyes.
But what can you do if a scene is under/over exposed? That is where exposure compensation comes in. Further Reading:A Beginners Guide to Metering Modes
Exposure Compensation
Generally found on a small +/- button near the shutter, this is one
of the most useful functions to learn how to use. It allows you to
either increase or decrease the cameras default meter reading to account
for the actual brightness of a scene.
If a scene contains primarily bright tones and is being rendered too
dark, for example, a bright white snow scene (that will typically be
reduced to 18% grey by the default metering system), you can apply
positive exposure compensation to let the camera know that the scene
should be lighter than middle grey.
A
spring lamb leaping in front of a snowy hillside. Left: Straight out of
camera, with the snow caught as grey. Right: With +2 stops exposure
compensation (added in post processing). The bright snowy background
caused my camera to underexpose this scene by nearly two stops, which
could have been corrected by exposure compensation in camera.
Conversely, if a scene contains primarily dark tones and is being
rendered too light, for example, a dark night scene (that will typically
be increased to 18% grey by the default metering system), you can apply
negative exposure compensation to let the camera know that the scene
should be darker than middle grey. Further Reading:How to Use Exposure Compensation to Get Better Exposed Photos.
5. Learn About Focussing
Regardless of what shooting mode you are using, or what ISO you
define, the chances are there will be a subject of your image that you
want to have in focus. If that focus is not achieved, the image will
not be what you wanted. Autofocus modes DSLRs come with a range of autofocus modes, however, for
simplicity, the two that are most important to understand are AF-S and
AF-C AF-S – autofocus-single. This is best used when taking photos of stationary subjects
such as portraits of people, landscapes, buildings etc. When you
half-press the shutter, the focus will be acquired and locked on that
point for as long as you hold the button down. If you want to change to
focus, you need to release the button, recompose and then
re-half-press. AF-C – autofocus-continuous. This is best used when taking photos of action or moving subjects
such as sports and wildlife. When you half-press the shutter, focus
will be acquired and locked on to a given subject. When that subject
moves, the focus will adjust with it, refocusing all of the time until
the photograph is taken.
(These modes are not to be confused with the AF/MF switches on the
lens, where AF stands for autofocus and MF stands for manual focus.
That switch is an override for if you want to manually focus your lens.
If you want to make use of the autofocus modes discussed above, ensure
the lens is set to AF). Further Reading: Understanding Focus Modes Focus Points Both of those focus modes rely on what are known as focus
points. When you look through the viewfinder, you should see a number
of squares/dots overlaid across the screen. When you half-press the
shutter, you should see one of these squares be highlighted in red.
That is the active focus point, and it is that position within the frame
that the camera is focussing on. A viewfinder with 9 focus points is
shown below:
New DSLRs can come with over 50 focus points and the temptation is to
leave it on fully automatic focus point selection, with the thinking
that the camera will be able to select the correct focus point.
However, only you know what you want to focus on, and there is no better
way than ensuring the correct subject is in focus than by using one
focus point, and placing that focus point over the subject.
If you select a single focus point, you should be able to change
which point is active fairly easily either by using directional buttons
one of the dials. If you select a focus point that is on your desired
subject, you will ensure that the camera focuses where you want it to.
After a small amount of practice, you will soon get into the habit of
being able to change the focus point without taking the camera away form
your eye. Practically speaking:
Initially, set your camera to use a single focus point (your camera
manual should tell you how to do this). This way, you will be able to
choose what you are focussing on, ensuring that the subject you want to
capture is in focus. Once you are familiar with the basic focussing
modes and focus point selection, you can then explore the more advanced
modes that your camera may offer.
6. Understand File Size and Types
You will have the option to be able to change the size of the images
that your camera records, and in which file type. You want to set the
file size to the largest possible (whether it is ‘large’ or ‘fine’ or
‘super fine’) to ensure that you are making the most of the mega pixels
that you have just invested in.
You will also have the option of choosing whether to record the
images as ‘raw’ or ‘jpeg’ file type. A raw file is uncompressed, and so
contains a lot of image data that allows for a lot of flexibility
during post-processing (i.e. on your computer) but also comes with
additional complications such as the need to ‘process’ every file using
dedicated editing software and a larger file size. A jpeg is a
compressed file type, that is automatically processed by the camera.
They will be ‘print ready’ straight out of the camera, and are much
smaller files, meaning you can fit more images per memory card. Practically speaking:
When starting out with your camera, using jpeg is the most straight
forward. It will enable you to get the best results whilst you learn
the basics or your camera before complicating matters with
post-processing of raw files.
7. Learn about White balance
If shooting in jpeg, as recommended above, you will need to make sure
you set your white balance before taking a picture. The white balance
can significantly impact colour tone of your photographs. You may have
noticed that sometimes your images have a blueish tone to them or, in
others, everything looks very orange. This is to do with the white
balance and, whilst you can make some adjustments to the image on your
computer, it is much simpler if you get it right up-front.
Different light sources (such as the sun, light bulbs, fluorescent
strips etc) emit light of different wavelengths, and therefore colours,
which can be described by what is known as colour temperature. Light
from a candle, or from the sun during sunrise/sunset, is very warm, and
contains a lot of red/orange wavelengths; whereas light from a
fluorescent strip is much cooler, containing a lot of blue wavelengths.
This coloured light is reflected off of surfaces, but our brain in
clever enough to recognise this and automatically counter the effect,
meaning that we still see a white surface as a white surface. However,
your camera is not that intelligent, and unless told otherwise, will
record the orange or blue tones giving the colour cast to your images.
Left:
The image captured using auto white balance has a heavy yellow tone
from the artificial street lighting. Right: the same image, corrected
for a ‘Tungsten’ white balance, giving the cooler tones on the stone
work, and the bluer sky
As the colour temperature of different light sources is well known,
there are a number of presets built into your camera that help to
overcome the different colours of light in different situations –
cooling the warm light, and warming the cool light – all in the cause of
trying to capture the colours of the scene accurately. The ‘auto’
feature (auto WB or AWB) will attempt to predict the colour of the light
by detecting the predominant colour of the scene and then countering
it, however it may not necessarily make a correct decision, leaving you
with inaccurate colours. Therefore it is best to set the colour balance
before you take your image and just to make sure (note: the
above image was a raw file giving me a lot of latitude for white balance
correction. Jpeg files are not as susceptible to white balance
adjustments, meaning the white balance correction needs to be made
before the image is taken): Daylight – To be used on clear sunny days. Bright sunlight, on a clear day is as near to neutral light that we generally get Cloudy – To be used when shooting on a cloudy day. Adds warm tones to daylight images. Shade – To be used if shooting in the shade, as shaded areas generally produce cooler, bluer images, so need warming up. Tungsten – Used for shooting indoors, under incandescent light bulbs, or under street lights, to cool down the yellow tones. Fluorescent – Compensates for the green/blue tones of fluorescent light strips when shooting indoors. Flash – the flash will add a cool blue cast to the image, so used to add some warmth. Practically speaking:
avoid auto white balance and set the white balance manually.
Generally, you will be able to look up at the sky and see what kind of
day it is, and determine the colour balance required pretty easily. If
you move indoors, just check the lighting that you are shooting under,
and again select the appropriate white balance. It will soon become
second nature to set it as you take your camera out of the bag. Further Reading:Learn more about White Balance
So that is an overview of the settings you will encounter when you
want to take the leap and take your camera off ‘Auto’. You don’t
necessarily need to consider them all straight away, but exploring and
understanding the effect of each setting will soon have you in complete
control of your camera. The biggest step, that will give you the most
noticeable difference in the feeling of control and direct influence on
creative results, will be to start using the ‘aperture priority’ or
‘shutter priority’ shooting modes and once you are familiar with those,
you can start thinking about exploring further. Soon enough, you will
no longer think of your camera as a mysterious black box, but understand
how to achieve the photographic results that you bought it for in the
first place.
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It’s often challenging for photographers to get consistent results in
low light. Problems encountered may include camera shake, out of focus
photos, and noisy images. There are three main reasons that these things
happen.
You may not be using shutter speeds fast enough to hand-hold your camera without getting camera shake.
Your camera may struggle to focus properly in low light.
Your photos might be noisy because of high ISO settings, underexposure, or a combination of both.
With this in mind, let’s look at some steps you can take to get consistent results when shooting in low light conditions.
1. Take your camera off full automatic
If you’re using your camera in a fully automatic exposure mode, such
as portrait or night scene, it’s time to stop. You have little or no
control over your camera’s settings by using these modes. That stops you
from getting the best results in low light.
The only modes I recommend that you ever use are Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Program Auto or Manual (the last one only if you really know what you’re doing).
For best results in low light avoid your camera’s fully automatic exposure modes!
2. Avoid using the built-in flash
Fully automatic exposure modes may also engage the camera’s built-in
flash in low light. The problem is that built-in flash doesn’t provide
high-quality light.
Don’t get me wrong. There will always be circumstances where it’s
more important to get the photo than to worry about its aesthetic
qualities. If you’re photographing a friend or loved one in the dark,
it’s better to use the flash and capture the moment, however ugly the
light, than not capture it all. But if you want to create beautiful
photos, then you will want to either learn to use off-camera flash or make the most of the available light.
I made this photo at dusk using an off-camera flash with a softbox.
There’s no way you can replicate this quality of the light in this image
without the right equipment.
3. Use Image Stabilization
Image Stabilization lets you take sharp photos using longer shutter
speeds than you could with a non-stabilized lens. This is useful to know
if your photos tend to suffer from camera shake in low light.
There are two types of Image Stabilization. Canon and Nikon build it
into their lenses. That means the technology only works if you have the
right lens. As most kit lenses are image stabilized it is likely you own
at least one image such lens you can use in low light.
Other manufacturers, like Olympus and Panasonic, place the image
stabilization mechanism in the camera body. The advantage of this system
is that it works with any lens. If you’re not sure how image
stabilization works with your camera then check your manual for the
details.
Most image stabilization systems give you a four-stop advantage. Let’s look at what that means in practice.
Let’s say you’re using an 18-55mm kit lens on an APS-C camera.
Ideally, without image stabilization, you need a shutter speed of around
1/125 second to achieve a sharp image with a hand-held camera (some
photographers may argue you could use a slower shutter speed). An image
stabilization system that gives you a 4 stop advantage means you can
drop the shutter speed to 1/8th of a second and still get a sharp image.
That’s very helpful in low light.
For example, I made this photo in a dimly lit museum with a
non-stabilized 18-55mm lens at 1/160 second, f5.6, ISO 1600. If the lens
was image stabilized I would have had the option of using ISO 100 and
1/10th of a second, giving me a much cleaner image with less noise.
4. Don’t be afraid of high ISO
Most modern digital cameras give you excellent performance at high
ISOs. It’s quite possible your camera is capable of giving great results
at ISO 3200, 6400, or even higher. You won’t know until you try. This
is another good reason for taking your camera off fully automatic. Now
you can decide what ISO to use, rather than leaving it up to your
camera.
The best thing to do is test your camera at all its high ISO levels
to find your noise tolerance level. For example, you might find that ISO
6400 is the highest setting you’re comfortable using. Once you’ve
decided this, you know the ISO range you can work with for your camera.
This photo is taken at ISO 6400, the highest ISO I’m comfortable
using on my camera. I had to use the high ISO setting because the photo
was taken indoors in low light.
5. Use a prime lens
If you don’t have one already then it’s worth considering buying a
prime lens. For example, most 18-55mm kit lenses have a maximum aperture
of f/5.6 at the 55mm end. But on a 50mm prime lens that maximum
aperture could be f/1.8 (or even wider). That’s a difference of over
three stops (eight times more light), which means that you can take
photos in much lower light conditions.
The only caveat is that there is much less depth of field at wide
apertures. But you can use this to your advantage by exploring the use
of bokeh in your low light photos. I made this photo of a Chinese
lantern, taken at night, using an 85mm lens set to f/2.
6. Use a tripod
A tripod comes in really handy for taking photos of landscapes and
cityscapes in low light. All the methods listed so far, such as using a
high ISO, Image Stabilization, prime lenses and so on, have
disadvantages. Noise increases at high ISOs, wide apertures don’t give
much depth of field, and even Image Stabilization has its limits.
The benefit of a tripod is that you can use your camera at its lowest
ISO setting (giving good image quality), and a small aperture such as
f/8 or f/11 (allowing for a greater depth of field).
Shutter speeds will slow right down at these settings. Again, use
this to your advantage. Slow shutter speeds are great for landscape
photography because moving parts of the landscape, like water, become a
silky blur. With cityscapes, the light from passing traffic becomes long streaks of light.
A tripod also opens up techniques like long exposure photography (photos taken with shutter speeds between a minute and eight minutes long) and painting with light (using flash or torchlight to illuminate the scene during a long exposure).
I
used a tripod to create this landscape photo, which needed an exposure
of 30 seconds at f/8 and
ISO 100. The water blurred during the exposure,
which helps add mood and atmosphere to the photo.
The key to getting consistent results shooting in low light is
understanding the limitations of your equipment and taking control of
your camera to make it do what you need, rather than what it wants. With
a bit of work and patience, you can learn to take great photos in low
light. The benefit is that low light conditions are often beautiful.
Most places and landscapes look beautiful at dusk. Shooting at these
times will help you take moody photos.
Do you have any ideas for shooting in low light? Let us know in the comments!
What’s the best equipment for taking amazing portraits?
I’m often asked what the best equipment is for taking great
portraits. Many people assume that a great camera will take great
portraits. That is simply not true. A quick scan through Flickr,
Instagram or any photo sharing site will reveal thousands of beautiful
portraits, some taken on mobile phone cameras, and yet others using very
basic entry level equipment.
A great photographer can take great photos using any kind
of camera. A great camera in unskilled hands will still deliver
mediocre photos. Before you invest the big bucks in high end gear take
the time to learn the craft first.
I started out my professional career with a borrowed camera and very
cheap lens. I worked this way for a few years and then invested in a
high end second hand camera and lens. If I were starting out again now I
would do exactly the same thing. My advice on buying a camera is always
buy within your means and upgrade as your skills start to improve. Most girls love buying shoes and handbags. I admit I’m a self-confessed gear-a-holic!
It’s taken me 25 years to accumulate this gear. My gear is subjected
to punishing workouts, with my average shoot being approximately
2000-3000 images. I need gear that is built to last and won’t curl up
and cry for its mama when I push it too far.
My portrait gear essentials – what’s in my bag
Cameras
Canon 1Ds Mark III –
this is a pro-level camera, so it’s more expensive and a lot heavier
but it’s designed to survive heavy usage. I would say I use this camera
for 80% of my shooting.
Canon 5D Mark II – I’ll
favour this camera body if I know I have to shoot with a high ISO (in
very low light or on a night shoot). At 400-1600 ISO this camera is
amazing.
Lenses
I like to work with a focal length between 70mm and 200mm. With a
long lens, facial features are slightly compressed, which is really
flattering for portraits. The workhorse Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens – this lens is my workhorse and I use it for 70% of my shoots. It’s fast, sharp and consistently gives amazing results.
I like working with zoom lenses because they give me the luxury of
zooming in to get tight head shots and mid-shots, or zooming out to get
full length shots. All without moving my camera. As a result, I can stay
out of my model’s personal space, which can be intimidating or
confronting, and keep the momentum of the shoot flowing. The traveller Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens – this is the lens I use for events, lifestyle and travel shoots. It’s light, compact and my go to lens when travelling. Makes my heart skip a beat Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L lens –
it’s expensive, heavy, and slow to focus but I quickly forget all of
this when I see the gorgeous results. I love using this lens for head
shots, beauty, portraits, and events.
This lens will give amazing results in very low light conditions and
the shallow depth of field will eliminate any background clutter giving
me the luxury to use it lens in any location.
Tripods
Most of my portraits are shot using tripods. I like to set up my
shot, position my model and then focus on their expression. Keeping my
camera fixed in one position allows me to do this and really suits my
shooting style.
Having my camera on a tripod also allows me to focus 100% of my
attention on my model and frees me up to gesture with my hands, or step
away from the camera without breaking the shot.
I have four tripods:
Manfrotto 190XPROB – small, light-weight tripod that I use when I travel
PocketWizards
I have six PocketWizard remote flash triggers because I’ll often have three different sets running. I love the PocketWizards because they are reliable and rarely misfire.
Light meter
I believe the light meter
is an essential tool in good portrait photography and would never leave
home without one. When you use a light meter you know you have most
accurate readings.
Minolta IV (not available any more) – I’ve had this light meter for
over 23 years now and I’ve grown rather fond of it. As a basic meter
it’s excellent, reading ambient light or flash, and it’s perfect for
most lighting conditions.
Lighting
Speedlights I
use a speedlight off camera for about 20%-30% of my photo shoots. Like
any piece of gear, they have their pros and cons, but they can light you
out of some tight spots (quite literally).
I use Canon 580EXii speedlights as my preferred lighting when I am travelling or need to work quickly or in tight locations. I will also use a Photoflex medium size softbox that folds flat, and is perfect for lighting one person and couples.
Six 8GB memory cards.
I prefer smaller cards because I don’t like to have an entire day’s
worth of images on one card. I’ve had several cards fail over the years
,and also lost one once.
Elinchrom Lights
60% of my shoots require studio lighting, so I need heavy duty
monolights with fast recycle times, and a high quality of light. When
I’m working on location, I still need a great quality of light and I
give my Elinchrom Rangers a work out in those situations.
Large Softboxes If
I could only pick one light modifier to take to a deserted island, it
would have to be a softbox. Small, medium or large this little puppy is
my go to light source for 80% of my shoots.
Why? The quality of light is soft, flattering and malleable. Changing
the angle and proximity of the softbox to the subject, easily changes
the quality and direction of light.
A softbox, I feel, recreates the effect of soft daylight through a window.
I think what I like most about softboxes is that they are subtle. Highlights gently merge to shadows.
If it’s a studio shoot I love using my Chimira Medium softbox, with
white reflective interior. The white interior creates a softer light and
this particular softbox has an extra layer of diffusion on the inside,
adding even more softness to the light. Rotalux Deep Octabox Rotalux deep octabox
would be the result if a softbox married a beauty dish and made babies.
This, as far as I’m concerned, is a match made in heaven for lighting
single person portraits.
Laptop
MacBookPro 15”
Shooting tethered to a computer has made my life as a photographer so
much easier, because I can use my computer as a teaching tool. ?I can
show my model a series of great images, with slightly different poses.
We can talk about how the poses are different and what I want them to do
in the next series. They can see what I mean and it makes more sense,
straight away.
I
use a speedlight off camera for about 20%-30% of my photo shoots. Like
any piece of gear, they have their pros and cons, but they can light you
out of some tight spots (quite literally).
If
I could only pick one light modifier to take to a deserted island, it
would have to be a softbox. Small, medium or large this little puppy is
my go to light source for 80% of my shoots.
Rotalux Deep Octabox