Photo Tips and Tutorials

Female nude photography has always intrigued me, particularly how a sense of trust is created between photographer and model.

What I find even more intriguing is how, as Australian photographer Peter Adams does in the majority of this book’s pictures, is how he convinces a model to pose outdoors in and on often forbidding — and uncomfortable natural landforms. Rocks, trees, seashore etc.

Adams pictures are never boring, never salacious and frequently with a touch of humour invested in them. His lighting is impeccable, compositions arresting.

However, The Digital Female Nude is not just a book nudes: Adams takes it further, into tutorial-land, telling you too how to shoot quality nude pictures.

His first message is for you to decide what sort of photographs you want to take, in colour or black and white, then he encourages you to take inspiration from other, successful photographers or the acknowledged old masters in art … da Vinci, Degas and the rest of the crowd.

More help: how to recruit models, choice of location; getting the legals right … release forms, the issue of copyright etc.

Then he gets down to the choice of camera gear. Whilst he admits it is possible to use a point-and-shoot, he stresses that using such a basic camera “can quickly become very frustrating.” His advice: jump in the deep end and acquire a DSLR.

There are a few vitally useful chapters on technicalities: exposure control; speed and lens aperture; ISO setting etc; lighting; useful accessories … and finally, 30 or so pages on the Digital Darkroom.

If you want to move into nude photography, this book would be hard to beat.

Author: P Adams.
Publisher: PIP.
Distributor: Capricorn Link.
Length: 176 pages.
ISBN: 978 1 86108 556 6.
Price: Get a price on the The Digital Female Nude at Amazon.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

The Digital Female Nude [Book Review]

Image by Romain Guy

As lovers of photography – we can all admit to dreaming of chucking in the day job and setting up shop as a professional photographer, but for many of us it can remain just that – a dream. But for those with the talent, support system and drive, becoming a freelance photographer can be realised! So what’s stopping you? To help you negotiate your way from using photography as a hobby to making a living from your work we have outlined a few helpful hints below. Obviously not everyone has the luxury of jacking in the job right away but with a little patience and preparation anything is possible!

Financing

Your first consideration has to be monetary. Can you afford to quit tomorrow? For most people this is probably unlikely. Most pros who give up a reliable stream of income to become self-employed suggest saving two to three months salary before even considering what they will write in their resignation.

Perhaps your spouse can afford to support you for a while or perhaps you already have some money invested in savings that can be used to pay the mortgage and bills before work starts to come in – everyone’s situation will be different. Whatever your own personal situation, it is worth sitting down and planning your income and expenditure for the first few months of being self-employed and work out how much you will need to sustain yourself and your family. It is also worth investigating whether you can secure a grant from your local authority, a charity, organisation or even the government.

Finally – there is of course the option of taking out a bank loan to get started, but this should be given a lot of thought before a commitment is made.

Location

Next decided where you want to ‘base’ yourself. Working from home has many obvious benefits but can become quite isolating if you live alone and depending on your strength of will – can also become quite distracting. Also if you are working from home, bear in mind that this may not be possible in some rented accommodation – so check with your landlord. What is more, regardless of whether you are a home owner or are renting – try to avoid dedicating one room solely to your business – for example a study or a home studio – if you do you could be asked to pay business rates.

Working in a collective studio with other photographers is a great way to bounce ideas of people, whilst making and maintaining friendships – however there will be another cost involved. Setting up a shop or your own studio is another option, but again if you start off with limited finance this may be something you can aspire to over time.

Equipment

Sure you have a camera but do you have all the other necessary bits and bobs that a professional could require such as: flash guns, reflectors, filters, shutter release, battery packs, a wealth of lens, tripod, memory cards etc? This will ultimately depend on what genre of photography you enter and so you may not need every accessory under the sun – just be prepared for what you will need. Furthermore just because you are turning pro – doesn’t mean you need ‘professional’ kit! It’s how you use it that counts.

Look online for second hand deals, visit camera exchange stores for bargains, and never forget January welcomes a month of sales!

In some countries, self-employed individuals can claim back certain ‘capital’ costs against their tax bill, so ensure you keep all receipts of new items. Also if you have remembered to keep the receipts of items you are ‘bringing into the business’ i.e. kit that you already own, you may also be able to claim back some of the value of these items back against your tax bill (more on this in part 2). Talk to your account or a tax advisor to discuss these matters further.

Work ethic

Once you have your business in place, equipment at the ready and a brand built, the next key element to put into place is your working style. It goes without saying that to succeed you will need to be reliable and efficient and always meet deadlines, but how will you operate and how will divide your working day? The benefit of being self-employed is being your own boss and thus you can set your own hours, however this could also mean working late or weekends to compensate. A disciplined and motivated approach will ultimately reap the most dividends, but be sure to factor in time to relax and recoup creative energy too. For those less disciplined, create a schedule carved into twenty-four hour portions; colour eight slices to represent sleep and eight or so hours dedicated to work. The remaining hours can then be labelled for relaxation, activities, personal photography projects, housework or non-business related errands. With time, this segmentation will flow more naturally but is a great boon to those who are easily distracted. But be honest with clients and decide a reasonable date when you can realistically deliver on your promises.

In this four part series we will explore everything you need to know from getting started to finding work. In the second part, posted in the next week, we will outline the legal concerns with getting your business up and running. Stay subscribed to dPS for the next installment of this series!

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

How to Become a Pro Photographer: Part 1

It’s a new week and I’ve got a new set of tips to improve your photography. This week’s tips focus on planning and decision making while taking your shots…. Eventually it will feel like second nature and you won’t even be aware of the process, until then… keep these tips in mind.

1. Daydream

Yes, that’s right keep dreaming about your shot. Pre-Visualize in your mind what it will look like and walk through the steps you need to take to get it. This is a shot I thought about for several weeks before finally setting it up and taking it. With only one camera, I often feel like I’m constantly juggling lenses!

2. Use wide lens

Try to use wide lenses for landscape shots when you want to create an impact of size. You can use a wide range of lenses to shoot landscapes but the vistas are amazing if you shoot with the widest lens possible because they give you a bigger angle of view.

3. Sharpen Your Subjects

Keep your main subjects sharp. Sharp details in the image truly draw the viewers’ eyes towards the subject. Use your tripod in low light conditions to make sharp pictures. Try to make use of the new sharpening effect in Adobe Camera RAW. It does a great job and has improved from previous versions.

4. Keep it Clean

A background makes or breaks your shot so be sure to think carefully about the how you place your subject. Keep the background clean, simple and clutter free. Think about where the viewer should be focused….

5. You Can’t Have Too Many Clouds

Use fluffy white clouds on a blue sky to produce dramatic skies. Is it overcast with too many clouds to see the sky? The sky is now a giant soft box. This is the time to shoot portraits or waterfalls and streams with a motion blur effect.

6. Behind Every Great Shot is the Sun

Stand with the sun at your back and the light of the sun falling on your subject. Unless you are making artistic pictures always try to keep the sun behind you.

7. Light Trails

Enhance your dawn and night urban shots with light trails. Use vehicles or any other moving lights to add interest, mood, and drama. Light trails almost always makes the shot interesting (learn: how to shoot light trails).

8. Silhouettes

The key is an uncluttered, lit background. Simply place your subject in the foreground so that you have clean, sharp lines and go for it. Play with placement and angles to make awesome silhouettes (learn: how to shoot Silhouettes).

9. Top to Bottom

Look straight up. Look straight down. Now examine everything in between. There are great shots from every vantage point, including an unexpected angle. Sometimes we focus so much on the obvious shot that we miss something special just a heartbeat away.

10. And finally… It’s a Camera not a Machine Gun

Unless you are taking action shots or a time lapse series, try to reduce the number of shots. Don’t just fire away hoping for something good to appear during editing. Think, move, and adjust your framing before you click the shutter. You’ll develop better instincts and save hours of time editing those hundreds of extra images.

Check out these links to follow the whole series

• 10 Quick, Easy and Intuitive Tips to Improve your Photography
• 10 Landscape Composition Tips Illustrated with Pictures from Eastern Washington
• 10 More Quick Composition Tips Illustrated
• 10 Quick Tips for Photographing Antelope Canyons 

Amar Ramesh is an emerging photographer from Redmond WA, USA….Photography, to him is a passion with infinite opportunities and he loves to share the lessons and tips that he learned with others….Please visit his Facebook Page for more….He is also in Flickr|Twitter|Portfolio.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

10 Quick and Easy Tips to improve your Photography

I was blown away the first time I saw Jon Cornforth’s images.  Even more so because many of the images were taken in my native Washington State.  While we have many talented photographers in our fine state, I was also impressed with how personable Jon was on Twitter and when I subsequently emailed him to ask if he’d like to be interviewed for DPS.  His images have been featured on covers of Backpacker, Outdoor Photographer, Alaska Airlines Magazine and he has won numerous awards for his stunning photography.  I wanted to interview Jon to see what insights he had to help those considering following his footsteps into the awe inspiring world of nature photography.

1. By the look of your site, would it be safe to classify you as a nature photography, primarily?

For better or for worse, I shoot only landscapes that are untouched by man or wild animals in their natural environment.  So yes, I call myself a nature photographer.

2. How did you get your start in photography?  What lead you to it?

I bought my first SLR ten years ago to take on mountaineering trip as well as an extended backpacking holiday through Southeast Asia.  I have always been very connected to the outdoors, from growing up sailing to backpacking & rock-climbing in college.  I became hooked on photography once I started shooting with a real camera rather than disposable or point & shoot cameras.

3. At what point did you go pro?  In other words, when did it become your major source of income?  And what decisions did you have to confront on that path?

Fortunately, I was not addicted to a high income or a particular career path when I naively decided to make photography my career.  My wife was supportive of my initial ambitions, but it took several years until I started making any money at it.  After 9 years as a professional photographer, I now make a modest living.

4. On your blog you mention making a switch from traditional gallery showings and sales to gaining more sales online.  Can you fill in some of the gaps about how that came about for you?

I found initial success working with several art galleries in Washington & Hawaii, as well as selling prints at prominent juried art festivals.  Those sales started to dry up for me a few years ago as the housing market declined.  I was also advised early on by several pros that I became friends with that stock agency income was evaporating, so the only way to make any money licensing images was by doing it myself.  I realized that I needed to adapt to the new reality, so I built my website to be search engine optimized (SEO).  I have also started taking clients on photography tours.  I have zero interest in taking 6-12 photographers to popular National Park viewpoints, so most of my tours are on a custom/private basis.

5. What have become your biggest marketing tools in the last two years?

Admittedly, social networking has been a huge benefit for my business.  I was caught off-guard by it and it certainly does not come naturally to most people.  I started using Twitter 18 months ago, adapted my previous blog to a custom WordPress site 14 months ago, then reluctantly joined Facebook 12 months ago, Flickr 10 months ago, and only recently started using YouTube.  I can not definitively state that when I do X online that I then make Y amount of money, but overall my social networking has helped my reputation grow into a highly regarded and recognized natural history photographer.

6. What advice would you give to our readers looking to follow your path and make a living selling photos?

Do not even begin to think that you can quit a high earning job and make a comparable amount of money shooting nature photography.  There is a reason that a lot of photographers are retired.  You need to be able to pay your bills.  I am very careful about how I spend money on my trips.  I hardly ever pay for a hotel, but instead camp wherever I travel.  I recently flew to Iceland and spent 15 days shooting, but only spent $1921 including my airfare, but that was still a big indulgence for me.  I have a small boat in Alaska that is a major investment, but it has allowed me to shoot things that otherwise would have been impossible.  Ultimately, you have to treat your photography as a business in order to make a living.

——–

I want to thank Jon for taking the time in-between trips to Alaska to answer my questions.  More of his fine work can be spied on his site, Cornforth Images, and he can be followed on Twitter as @cornforthimages.  And if you’re intersted in traveling with Jon and learning a thing or two, he’s heading back to Alaska in early September then off to Patagonia in January.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

An Interview With Professional Nature Photographer Jon Cornforth

Aah the rings of marriage. As many’a groomsman speech has pointed them out: the engagement ring, the wedding ring and the suffering. Har har. Jewellery is pretty much the main detail of an engagement. As soon as the girlfriends take a breath after a long and high-pitched shriek, they want to see the ring. Then comes the wedding and the rings are only one of many details. Details that, come that huge and long-awaited day, YOU are responsible for photographing. She stayed up many a sleepless night tossing and turning over the colour of their centrepieces. You had better damn well take a picture of them.

There are a few wedding detail shots you should get at every wedding: the dress, the shoes the rings.

I like to take the shot of the rings someplace meaningful. While at the house photographing the bride getting ready, I like to snoop around the house and see if there’s anything that looks to be of deep meaning. An heirloom sculpture, a sumptuous velvet armchair or blown glass. Or I style the rings on the bridal bouquet or flowers in the garden. I heard a couple talking about their azaleas so I quickly borrowed their (Tiffany’s!) rings and placed them on a dewdrop covered azalea in their garden:

I seldom photograph the rings on the hands of the bride and groom (you know the one…resting gently on the bouquet). I think it’s so much more creative to photograph the rings as your main subject, completely independent of their wearers. They’re like a little golden couple all on their own.

Now to the technical. The ring shot must be absolutely perfectly focused and sharp as a tack. A beginner can use macro mode on their camera. A photographer who ventures into manual should use a nice open aperture for shallow depth of field and pay attention to your focus points. For this type of shot, I like to manually select my focal point. Then, you can be sure that what looks great on screen won’t be out of focus in the computer.

As for editing, I always further sharpen my ring shot and run some actions to juice up the colours and the light. A vignette can be a great way to pull even more of the viewer’s focus into the rings. And when shooting the rings on flowers, it’s not always easy to find a perfect flower. Find one as perfect as you can and then heal out any brown spots or wilty edges.

The ring shot is one of my all time favourite shots. I love searching out the perfect spot for them to rest and positioning them just so. And they’re by far the easiest subjects of the day. I mean…who ever heard of a ringzilla?!

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Wedding Photography – How I take the ring shot

A Guest Post by Claire Woollam the Digital Iris.

Every few months I feel a lack of motivation creeping in and I realise that my daily photographs in particular (I’m doing a 365 project this year) are starting to become a bit dull and lacking in inspiration. Happily I’ve managed so far to climb back out of that hole and get creative again – here are my top tips.

1. Get Surfing

A few minutes spent on Google Images, Flickr and sites such as DPS never fails to help me get my photo-mojo back. I find pictures rather than words stimulate the creative juices best. If you blog, you may be able to find a tool which lets you view the pages of other bloggers’ who have similar interests to yours (I use Blogger where you can link to other people’s sites through your Profile page).

2. Exhibitions

I’m lucky – living in London means there is always a fantastic range of galleries showing pictures from all manner of photographers, many of which are free. An hour or so spent looking at someone else’s shots in ‘real life’ rather than on a computer screen always manages to inspire me. I particularly enjoy seeing less well-known works, which tend to be displayed in more intimate and interesting spaces, often a source of inspiration in themselves. But no matter where you live, you can usually find something going on near you, be it at a local library, community centre or even a shop window on the local high street.

Get online and check out your area’s listings to make sure you don’t miss any up and coming exhibits. I like to do a bit of quick research before I head along to a gallery – having some background knowledge on the photographer and their style means you can better appreciate the pictures in front of you and you don’t waste time when you’re there reading reams of gallery pamphlets or stuff on the walls.

I particularly like that many photography exhibitions are quite small scale, meaning that you don’t end up with the ‘museum fatigue’ experienced when trudging around a large, expensive art gallery, feeling obliged to see everything at all costs because you’ve paid for it and you’re damn well going to see it all! (or is that just me?!)

3. Library Books

We visit our local library most weekends. Admittedly some of the photography books are looking rather old and might be considered to be a bit technically out of date. However, big anthologies of pictures are always a pleasure to flick through and can help bring fresh creative blood to your brain.

The bonus of libraries is that there’s no bookshelf space dilemma at home and they’re free! You can always make like me and fill in a suggestion card for new titles – a few months after asking for ‘more photography books, please!’ low and behold a nice fresh little stock appeared on the shelves: if you don’t ask, you don’t get!

4. Change your Daily Routine

Always walk the same way to work? Take the same bus or train? Comfortable in the same Saturday morning routine? Make up your mind to introduce a change next hour, next day, next week. Find a new area or some different streets to roam during your lunch break. Get up an hour earlier and walk in the opposite direction than you usually do from your house. See where your feet take you and what your lens comes across.

5. Submit Photographs, Enter Competitions

It’s always helpful to get feedback on your shots via sites like Flickr, but nothing beats the buzz of seeing a picture you took in the local paper or short-listed for a competition. When you know you’ve done good, you can’t fail but want to do more and better!

Local papers often look for pictures from your area and most nationals run regular competitions, both in paper and online. A quick search of the Internet may bring up some interesting and inspiring opportunities. Why not give it a whirl – you may be pleasantly surprised! So these are the kind of things I get up to when I feel the need for a digital energy injection. It would be interesting to hear what other people do to revive flagging photo motivation.

Get more from Claire Woollam at her site – the Digital Iris.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

5 Cheap and Easy Ways to Re-inspire Your Photographic Creativity

You know I write everything from experience. No point in figuring things out and not passing on the info! So here is a list of simple things to remember (or in my case, forget) when packing up your bags for a photo shoot or wedding:

• Choose your bag. I have a girly camera bag (from Jo Totes) and a big Lowepro Roller. I use them for different types of work. For example, I bring the roller fully packed with everything I need if I know I have an assistant to roll it around for me. It it’s just me or I know the weather is rainy (mud in the wheels!) I make sure to bring a bag I can wear on me.
• Charge your batteries and pack the charger
• Wipe and format the memory cards. Nothing more annoying than stopping a couple midway down the aisle so you can change your memory card and wait the 20 seconds for 8 gigs of last week’s photos to clear out.
• Check that you have extra batteries for your flash and that you have them in a handy place for a quick change. If you’ve been using them for a while, it might be good to just change them before you head out so it doesn’t become an issue. On that note, ALWAYS make sure you trash used batteries. Even putting them in your pocket can be a no no because I assure you, you will forget if they’re old or fresh.
• Make sure you’ve packed a lens cleaning cloth.
• Business cards! Keep a little pile of cards in all your camera bags, handbags and put one or two in your pocket. If I notice that one of the bridesmaids has an engagement ring, I make sure to hand her a card and tell her to check the blog for her friend’s photos within a week.
• A pen. Seems unimportant, but I find myself needing a pen at least once.
• One of those little tiny folding umbrellas. But don’t put it back in your case once it’s gotten wet!
• In all my camera bags, I keep a check list of these things so I can just quickly run through before heading out the door.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Packing your Bags for a Photo Shoot

Weekly Assignment

This week we got up close with some creepy crawlies in our Bugs or Insects assignment. I have to admit, sometimes it wasn’t too nice looking through the assignment, but there were some amazing details captured. And who realized that bugs were so colorful? Our winners this week were separated by only 1 point, so let me start out by saying well done. The winner though was pedro96’s Fly. This one had some great colours, and the details in the eyes really just drew us in. Technically very well done as well. Our first runner up was kansasA’s Hornet’s Nest. Oh, kansasA was brave to take this shot! The detail was great, and the blurred hornet flying in really adds to the shot. And last, but not least was yet another fly shot, this one by i speak in math. Once again, those colours just catch your eye. This time the fly’s body is a little bit different in colour though. Just goes to show how much bugs can vary!

This week we started an assignment that should please all the bookworms out here, because our assignment is Books. Whether it’s the lazy days of summer that make you want to pick up a book or just a desire to spend some time in another world, we want you to put the written word into your photos this week. As usual, a quick reminder of the rules. First, your photo must have been taken between 18 August – 1 September 2010. Second, your post must include the date the photo was taken and the words “Assignment: Books”. Finally, your EXIF should be intact, and it’s helpful if you can include some of the main details like camera, lens, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. Next week will be fun for all the car lovers out there as we focus on Cars. We’ve all seen some gorgeous shots in car magazines, and that’s what we want you to aim for. Good luck everyone!

Hot Threads

• What’s Your Workstation Look Like?: We all have to edit out photos somewhere (or at least download them off the camera somewhere). But what does your workstation look like? Total mess? Ultra neat? Multiple monitors? Gorgeous view? Share a picture or tell us about it over in the forums.
• Help Me Understand Why You Use an External Flash: Most cameras have a built in flash, and that’s something almost everyone has used at some point or another. But as you start reading more and learning more about photography you might hear about external flashes, speedlights, and even off camera flash. But why would you want to use these things? Come share your experiences and examples of why an additional flash makes all the difference.
• Using a Wide Angle Without Warping People: Wide angle and ultra-wide angle lenses are fun. One of the fun things about them is that they distort things. But, how can you use a wide or ultra-wide angle lens without distorting people? If you’ve ever wondered, come on over to the forums to read what you can do. And if you have your own hints and tips to share, feel free to share those as well!
• Trying to Photograph Dark Skinned People: We all know that photographing people and getting the skin tones right is difficult in the best of situations. But it can become even more difficult with very dark or very light skin. So how do you make sure that dark skinned people don’t wind up overly shadowed while still getting a good exposure of the background? Come share your hints over in the forum.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums (22-28 Aug ‘10)

Image by Éole

This week your photographic challenge is to photograph your ‘favorite subject’ and share the image with us.

Most photographers that I talk to have a subject that they just keep coming back to – whether it be a person, a landscape location, pet or some other kind of subject matter (I have one friend who just loves to photograph shoes and another who likes taking photos of himself jumping on beds…. yep…. beds).

So this weekend you’re invited to go back to that subject that you just can’t stop taking photos of and take one more!

Once you’ve taken your best “Favorite Subject” image, upload it to your favourite photo sharing site and either share a link to it below or embed it in the comments using the our new tool to do so. Please note it sometimes takes us a while to approve comments with images as there’s a moderation queue – particularly over the weekend.

If you tag your photo on Flickr, Twitter or other sites with Tagging tag it as #DPSFAVORITE to help others find it. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.

PS: don’t forget to check out some of the great photos shared last week in the ‘Imperfection’ challenge.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Your Favorite Subject: Weekend Photography Challenge

Image by Paul Cox

This question arrived in our inbox from a regular reader – Sammy – and I thought it might make an interesting community workshop where you, the readers of dPS, have a go at giving some good tips on how to approach the situation of working with a model for the first time.

Dear dPS. I have long wanted to work in a studio environment with a professional model to test my portrait skills (my kids are completely sick of me posing them). So this week I booked a professional model to come and sit for me. When I booked her I was full of bravado – but now as the day approaches I’m completely losing it and am so nervous.

I’ve been up front with her that this is my first time but don’t want to come off as a complete idiot – do you have any suggestions for working with a model for the first time? Perhaps some tips on how to make them at ease, posing tips and anything that won’t make me come across as a complete hack – or worse, a sleaze who is so desperate that he’ll pay for the company of a pretty girl (I promise I’m not)! Help!?!

What advice do you have for Sammy with photographing a model for the first time?

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

How Would You Approach Photographing a Model?

Let’s face it, starting street photography is no easy task. For the average photographer, going from shooting flowers into shooting people in the streets is like stepping into a Ferrari after driving a Toyota Prius. It is intimidating at first, but quite exhilarating once you try it out. After shooting on the streets for about four years, here are my top ten tips for somebody (with absolutely no background in street photography) to get their feet wet.

1. Ditch the zoom and use a wide-angle prime

Street photography is not like your 2nd grade science class. You don’t examine your subjects under a microscope. Rather, street photography is about experiencing life, up close and personal. When starting off street photography, you may be tempted to use your 70-200 zoom lens to feel less “awkward” from shooting in the streets. Rather, it will do much more harm than good.

First of all, you will look even more conspicuous in public holding a huge zoom lens. Secondly, if you use a zoom lens you have to point it directly at somebody, which makes the person you are trying to capture feel as if they have a gun pointed to their head. Rather, try using a wide-angle prime lens. This will solve two of the forementioned problems. One, prime wide-angle lenses are often quite small and look much less threatening than the typical telephoto lens. Furthermore, by using a wide-angle lens, you can still capture your subjects without necessarily pointing your camera directly at them. Which brings me on to my next point…

2. Get close

When I say close, I mean GET CLOSE. Get so close so that when you are taking photos of people on the street that you can see the perspiration dripping from their forehead or the texture of their skin. By using a wide-angle prime lens (as mentioned in the before point), you will be forced to get close to your subjects. The advantage of this is that the wide-angle lens will give you a perspective which makes the viewer of your images feel as if they are a part of the scene, rather than just a voyeur looking in. Not only that, but when you are taking photos really close to people, they often think that you are taking a photo of something behind them. I recommend using either a 24, 28, or 35mm on a full-frame or crop camera.

3. Always carry your camera with you

You have heard this a million times and you know that you should, but you always seem to find excuses or reasons NOT to always carry your camera with yourself. “It’s too heavy, it’s annoying, it’s a hassle, it’s frustrating.” I’ll tell you what’s frustrating. Missing the perfect photo opportunity (the decisive moment) and regretting it for the rest of your life. I have to admit that is a bit dramatic, but it is true. If you always carry your camera with you, you will never miss those “Kodak moments” which always seem to happen at the most unexpected times. I have taken some of my best images at the most unexpected moments—images that would have been impossible to take if I did not have my camera by my side.

4. Disregard what other people think of you

One of the things that people are worried about when starting street photography is worrying about being judged by other people as being a “creeper” or just being plain weird. Disregard these thoughts. When you are shooting on the streets, you will most likely be alone. That means that anyone who may be “judging” you is people that you do not know and will most likely never see again in your life. So why let them get in your way?

We may feel constricted by these “social rules” but remember, they can always be broken. There is no law out there which doesn’t allow photography in public places (regardless of what the police may tell you).

To prime yourself better for your street photographer “role,” try doing something unusual in public. Lay on the ground for a minute and see how other people react around you, get up, and simply walk away like nothing happened. Go to a busy intersection and stand like a statue and see how people react (trust me, nobody notices. I had to do this as an experiment for one of my sociology classes). When you go into an elevator, stand the opposite way. The social world is full of false rules that constrict us. Break them, and shooting in the streets should become quite natural.

5. Smile often:

It is funny how far a smile can go, especially when shooting in the streets. If you take a photo of somebody and they give you a weird look, simply tip your hat to them and show them two rows of your pearly white chompers. I would say that when smiling to strangers (even in the city of angels) I get over a 95% response rate. Even some of the most unapproachable people will smile back at you. By smiling often and to others, this will help you relax and lighten the atmosphere around yourself. People trust a street photographer who smiles, as they will simply disregard you as a hobbyist, rather than someone with malicious intent.

6. Ask for permission

Although many street photography purists say that the only true street photography is candid, I would highly disagree with them. Feel free to go up to strangers who you think look interesting, and ask to take a portrait of them. People love getting their photos taken, and as long as you act courteous and casual about it, most people will accept. Feel free to ask to take portraits of many mundane subjects of everyday life like the waitress at the diner, the bellboy of a hotel, or even a parking lot attendant.

7. Be respectful:

This is one of the tricky grey lines when it comes to street photography. I personally try my best not to take photos of homeless people when they look too down on their luck. Although I do agree that there are tasteful images taken of homeless people which call people into helping these people, there are also many images that look like pure exploitation. Think of the cliché shot of a homeless person crouched over on the street, begging for money. Before you take these images, think about what message you are trying to convey. Are you shooting for the reason of building awareness of the atrocious situations that many homeless people live in? Or are you merely taking a photo of a homeless person for the sake of taking their photo? Nobody can be the judge—only you can decide.

8. Look for juxtaposition:

I feel that this is what makes street photography so unique and fascinating when compared to other genres of photography. Street photographs are able to convey the humor, irony, and the beauty of everyday life, by juxtaposing people with others and the environment. Look for signs with interesting messages that seem to be contradictory to the people standing around it. Be on the lookout for human heads that seem to be displaced by street lamps. Look for two individuals that seem to be differing in height, complexion, or even weight. Capture an array of emotions from people, whether it be happiness, sadness, or curiosity.

9. Tell a story:

Imagine that you are a film director and that you are trying to make an interesting play. Who would you decide to play as your actors? What is your backdrop going to be. How are the actors going to be interacting with one another and the environment? What kind of emotion are you trying to convey—whimsical, curious, or gloomy? If a viewer looks at one of your photos, will they simply move on or will they take a minute or two and study your image, trying to figure out the intrinsic story? Does your image captivate the viewer and make them feel that they are a part of the scene? Ask yourself these questions the next time you are taking photos on the street.

10. Just do it:

This is the last but most quintessential point of all of becoming a street photographer. Reading all of these tips aren’t going to do you any good to become a street photographer. Photography is not done behind the computer screen, but on the streets with a camera in hand. Honestly when it comes down to it, all this obsession over cameras, lenses, and gear doesn’t matter. Grab your DSLR, point-and-shoot, iPhone, or whatever and hit the streets. The beauty of the world awaits you—don’t miss your chance.

About the Author: Eric Kim is a street photographer based in Los Angeles. He is currently writing a book titled “Street Photography 101” which will be distributed to the world for free in a convenient PDF format.

You can read excerpts from his in-progress book over at his blog and you can see his street photography on his website. Also feel free to also follow him on Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook as well.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

10 Tips for the Aspiring Street Photographer

Just a quick note to readers to inform you of a few important developments here at dPS over the last few days.

Firstly – we’ve just moved servers. dPS has grown so quickly over the last couple of years that our old servers were increasingly struggling to keep up (and were getting quite expensive to run). So we made the decision to switch (over to Amazon’s system). To do this switch meant a complete reworking of how the site was hosted and took a number of months – but yesterday we flicked the switch and we’re now on the new system.

This means a faster and more reliable system (cheaper too) however as with any move like this there have been (and probably will be a few more bugs. We’ve already fixed most of them but one that is still impacting some of our readers is a problem logging into our photography forum area.

We’re aware of the issue and our team are on the case. I’m unsure how long it’ll take to fix it up but wanted to let you know we’re aware of it and are on the job.

In the mean time – if you’re missing the ‘community’ thing here on dPS – there are some great discussions going on in our Facebook page where close to 40,000 of our readers now follow what’s going on at dPS (to join them simply hit the ‘like’ button on the page).

We’ll give further updates of the server move there and on our Twitter account.

Also – while I’m here, we’re tantilizingly close to hitting the 500,000 subscribers mark! We’re sitting on 497,198 – help us to get to the half million mark by making sure you’re subscribed to our RSS feed and/or newsletter (and by sharing us with your friends).

Update: forum login issues have now been resolved!

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Updates on Servers, Forums and 500,000 Subscribers!

A guest post by Music Photographer Rick Bennett.

Bars are challenging shooting environments now matter how you slice it–crappy lighting, drunk crowds, cramped spaces. Add in musicians who like to move around a lot, speakers in photographically inconvenient locations, and microphone stands that tend to bisect heads, and you’ve got an ideal situation for a photographer who likes a challenge. In Part 1, I covered the basics of equipment needed to shoot bands in bars: low-noise-at-high-iso cameras, off-camera flash, and mongo glass. In Part 2 I talked about where I’ve found success with placing my flashes, and the camera settings that have yielded the best results. Finally, in this part, I get to the shooting.

Before you start shooting, take care of your ears so that you can do this more than a couple of times–buy some ear plugs at your local hardware store (near the goggles and other protective gear) or pharmacy (near the sleep aids). I find I spend a significant amount of time standing right in front of the speakers, and my ears are ringing pretty badly by the end of a performance if I don’t use ear plugs. Even with the plugs in, you’ll be able to hear every part of the performance.

While shooting, you must be polite. Most people are accommodating if you step in front of them for a moment to make a shot, but do that too frequently or for too long, and you’ll start to irritate the fans of the band. Remember that the band is there to perform for their fans. The pictures you make are secondary to that purpose. I’ve only been in one situation where I felt like my presence as a photographer was not appreciated by one fan–I finished the shot and stepped off the dance floor. The huge majority of the time, people are very forgiving of me moving in and out of the crowd in order to get the shot I want. But I’m very careful to not obstruct any one person’s view for more than a few seconds–no more than any other fan would obstruct their view.

The easiest way to stay out of the fans’ view is to crouch down for the low angle. Most big bands perform on a stage that is raised several feet above the heads of the crowd so that everyone can see. Bands who play in bars don’t generally have this advantage, but you can create that look by taking pictures from low angles. The shots look cool, and the fans will appreciate not having to look around your f/2.8 lens to see their favorite guitar solo.

I find the most challenging aspect of shooting musicians is composing shots without microphone shadows or severe instrument shadows. This isn’t a problem for guitars, but any instrument that is close to the face can be problematic, e.g. saxophone, trumpet, violin/fiddle. The shadows are easy to see if you’re shooting with ambient stage lighting and no flash. But with remote flash, it means you have to be on the same side of the instrument or microphone as your flash is. In this lighting diagram, if the left flash fires, the microphone will cast a nasty shadow across the singer’s face. If the right hand flash fires, no shadow problem. So you have to stay close to the flash, but not so close that it looks like on-camera flash.

The other major compositional challenge is getting pictures framed so that microphones and stands don’t detract from, or steal attention in, the photo. Microphones and stands are part of a performance, but I don’t like them to dominate a picture. For example, if I’m framing two musicians in the shot and the microphone from one musician is covering the face of the other, I won’t take the shot (or I’ll delete it later). I’ll change my position, or wait until the musicians change theirs if I can.

I also don’t particularly care for shots from dead-center on a signer. It will look like they’re eating their microphone, or worse, have it shoved up their nose. That’s why I tend to take pictures from the side–I get great shots when the singer pulls back from the microphone a little bit so that you can see their whole face.

If I’m shooting the gig for the band, or in the hopes that the band will hire me in the future, I’ll work through the following shot list during their performance:

• a couple of shots of every member of the band. If some play and sing, I’ll capture them doing both.
• detail shots, generally closeups of instruments during a set break. Not all of them, just those that strike me as interesting photographically.
• detail shots of instruments being played. Again, not all of them, but whatever strikes me as interesting at the time. I love shots of accordions!
• motion blur of fingers on instruments, usually a guitar or bass. No flash here, just a 1/15 to 1/60s shutter, and up close with a f/1.8 lens. The challenge here is to capture a moment where the instrument isn’t moving very much, but the fingers are.
• any time the band interacts with the fans or fans enjoying the show, e.g. clapping, dancing, rock hands, etc, with band and fans in the frame
• a group shot where a) all the band members are visible in the frame, and b) everyone is playing, and c) a little bit of audience

Finally, be sure to give the drummer some lovin’. Drummers are usually in the back, with no stage lighting whatsoever, and as such, they rarely have pictures taken of them. I’ll even change the angle and power of remote flashes if I need to in order to capture a drummer. I make it my mission to capture at least one killer image of the drummer before I go home for the evening. If the drummer has any ambient lighting hitting them at all, a slow shutter will create some great motion blur.

When taking all of these pictures, I’m looking for “music faces”–points where the musicians are clearly enjoying themselves, and “music moments” where two (or more) musicians are jamming together. These are the images I really like to see. When I look at my images in post processing, I can tell who captured my attention photographically because I’ve got a lot more images of them. And I’ve walked away from shooting some gigs (not paid, or pre-arranged by the band) because the musicians weren’t performing–they just stood there playing their instruments. Meh, that’s no fun. I could have taken five shots and have faithfully captured their performance.

Make sure the band knows how to get in touch with you by the end of the performance. They’ll definitely have noticed you (especially if you have that 70-200 f/2.8 lens) and are probably interested in seeing your work.

What you do with the images and how you processes them will depend on your purpose in taking them. If you wanted to get the band’s attention and hopefully have them hire you, then pick a handful of the best and get them on-line in a hurry. That will help solidify in their memory that you were the one taking pictures, and, holy cow, you took some great ones! If the band had already hired you, then I assume you’ve already worked out a method of payment and delivery.

As you’re going through the images from the night, don’t sweat the deletes. I typically keep only 1/4 to 1/3 of the images from a night of shooting. And the band doesn’t see those out-of-focus poorly framed shots.

Don’t wait for the band to contact you–reach out to them through whatever means possible: Facebook, Twitter, their website. Let them know where to see your work and how to contact you for more.

Good luck! And share your work in the forums.

Rick Bennett has been shooting bands in bars, at festivals, and on big stages for about a year. You can see more of his work on his blog, portfolio, or Flickr stream.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

How to Photograph Bands in Bars, Part 3 – Shooting

A guest post by Music Photographer Rick Bennett.

Band photography in bars can be very challenging, but with a little bit of knowledge and planning you can make images that blow away the standard fan photo. In Part 1, I discussed equipment choices: cameras, lenses and flashes. In this article, I’ll describe how to set up just before the performance to get the best shots.

First and foremost, you need to attempt to assess the security of your gear before you pull anything out. No band photographs are worth losing a camera or lens or flash over. The bands I’ve tended to shoot have played in nice neighborhoods in well established bars with well behaved clientele. But I’m constantly on the alert because the clientele could change in a heartbeat. In some situations, I’ll leave flashes and camera bags unattended, but I’ll never walk away from my camera. A VAL (voice activated light stand) can certainly help keep an eye on your gear, but the best place for the bag with extra gear is with the band’s gear, usually close to the stage. Having it close to their things means they’re more likely to help keep an eye on it as well. That being said, I’ve never had a problem with gear walking off, but that is something you’ll have to assess at every gig.

I generally try to find a seat (if they have seats) near to the front of the audience, left of center from the audience’s perspective. If there is an obvious front-row of fans, I’ll put my “home base” behind them since a) those fans would be the most irritated by a blocked view, and b) their excitement can make great framing devices. I choose left-of center because most guitar players are right handed, and I prefer pictures where the body of the guitar is closer to the camera. I want to be off-center because it generally results in better images of singers if the microphone doesn’t cover the lower half of their face. But this is just a “home base” where I’ll come back to in order to change lenses or enjoy some of the music. This is not where you’ll park your camera the whole performance. More on that in Part 3. After you’ve determined your home base, try to introduce yourself to the band, if this wasn’t arranged ahead of time. Get their permission to shoot their performance–I can’t imagine they would be upset by it, but it helps to build rapport by asking.

If you’re going to use off-camera flash, you’ll need to determine placement based on the layout of the bar. My standard layout is to work with two flashes, one at the extreme left of the stage, and the other at the extreme right. See this light diagram as an example. But again, it all depends on what you’ve got available to you for clamping/securing/mounting a flash. If I’m going to clamp a flash to something that the bar owns (and isn’t as simple as a chair or table or steel pole) I’ll check with a bartender or sound-guy first. I’ll let them know I’m there to shoot the band, and ask permission to mount a flash on their light-bar, for example. No one has ever given me grief, but its good to get permission first–asking forgiveness is not a good way to build your reputation. After I’ve placed the flash, I point the flash at the far side of the stage–this way the closest performer is in the “feathered” light, where the furthest performer gets the most direct blast, but at a much greater distance.

When shooting with two flashes, I generally set their triggers to different transmitter channels for the first set, and to the same channel for the second set. This gives me a wide variety of pictures–some with dramatic hard lighting, some with more balanced cross light.

Since I’m using manual flashes, I set my shutter speed to one click down from my max sync speed, which means I’m set to 1/160s. For the most part, this usually eliminates the stage lights, if any. I can always slow that down if I decide I want to let in more ambient or motion blur, but I start with 1/160s. Then I go to each of the positions of the band members, and if needed, place my hand about where their face would be, take a shot, chimp, repeat, until I determine the proper aperture for that performer. This ends up being pretty straight forward in a one-flash setting: the performer closest to the flash might be f/11, the next one might be f/8, then f/5.6 then f/4.8. I might write this down in a note pad, but usually I just get a feel for how “hot” the closest performer is, and knock the aperture down from there. If I can’t get enough light on the performer most distant from the flash, I’ll either increase the power on the flash or increase my ISO. I prefer to keep my flash power at 1/4 for fast recycle times, but that isn’t always possible because of the layout of the bar.

If you’re not using off-camera flash, I recommend setting your ISO to the highest setting you can tolerate based on the noise it produces, probably in the 800 to 3200 range. With my D60, I never went higher than 800 if I could help it. With my D5000, I can go all the way to 3200 with impunity. Next I’ll set the camera to spot metering, servo-continuous focusing, and aperture priority at the lowest setting for the lens. The D5000 (and other cameras I’m sure) can also enable “Auto ISO” where you specify the range of ISO that are acceptable (I’ll allow 200-3200) and the minimum shutter speed. The camera will then automatically boost your ISO as needed to match your given shutter speed. I’m still getting used to this feature, but I think it has the potential to really help in these kinds of situations. I’ll also set the camera to capture RAW+Basic JPEG. I save RAW and JPEG because the RAW files allow me to manipulate color balance better than JPEG, and the camera applies the best noise reduction to the JPEG.

To summarize, my camera settings generally look like this:

• Off Camera Flash: Manual mode, 1/160s, aperture depends on performer distance to flash, ISO 200-800 if possible to get flash power set to 1/4. Metering mode doesn’t matter since I’m in manual mode.
• Ambient Only: Aperture priority, smallest f-stop for lens, ISO high enough to get to 1/120s shutter speed, spot metering for close up shots, matrix metering for wide angle.

In part 3, I’ll cover shooting

Rick Bennett has been shooting bands in bars, at festivals, and on big stages for about a year. You can see more of his work on his blog, portfolio, or Flickr stream.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Photographing Bands in Bars, Part 2 – Set Up

Over at the dPS Facebook page (please do connect with us there) earlier today I asked the following question:

What mistake do you most commonly make or what problem do you most commonly come up against in your photography?

The responses have been great so I thought I’d open it up for discussion here on the blog. Feel free to share your response here in comments below or over on Facebook.

PS: I’m glad I’m not the only one with the problem of forgetting to switch a high ISO off when I’m taking a shot in low light.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

What Mistakes do you Make most in your Photography?

A guest post by Music Photographer Rick Bennett.

Some of my favorite photography subjects are musicians while they are performing. They tend to be having fun, they like the attention, and they’re challenging to capture well because of their environments. Capturing musicians in the wild can be tough and very rewarding.

Digital Photography School recently published 6 Tips for Budding Live Concert Photographers. One of the tips was to start out shooting friends’ bands in small clubs. I’m going to expand on that suggestion by writing a three part series on photographing bands in bars. In the first part, I’ll deal with equipment choices. In the second part, I’ll deal with set-up just prior to the performance. In the last, I’ll discuss shooting techniques.

The most obvious part of the equipment you’ll need is a camera, and your choice of camera can really make or break your final images. It should probably go without saying that a dSLR is almost certainly required, but there are some high end compacts that could fit the bill. At a minimum, the camera should either have a hot shoe or replaceable lenses. If the lenses aren’t replaceable, look for very fast built-in glass. It also needs the ability save images in RAW format since the color balance will likely be completely crazy from any stage lights. If you’re not familiar with RAW processing, its easy enough to convert your images to black and white, and those look cool too. Finally, your camera needs to give you the ability to choose your focus point and easily manually focus. Like I said, most standard dSLRs fit all of these requirements.

One consideration that’s more difficult to determine is low noise at high ISO. Don’t be fooled by the specs on the box: 1600 ISO on a Nikon D5000 is not the same as 1600 ISO on an Olympus E-620. For example, in one review the noise in a D5000 JPG at 3200 ISO is about the same as the noise in an E-620 JPG at 800 ISO. That’s a two stop difference that can change a 1/30s blurry shot into a usable 1/120s. Check the available reviews to make sure you’re getting a camera with the best high ISO performance in your price range. High quality at high ISO means you’ll be able to boost the ISO close to the max, meaning faster shutter speeds to help stop motion when using ambient light.

Next, you have a choice when starting out: either use off-camera flash or use fast (f/2.8 or better) lenses. At the low end the price is about the same: a decent manual flash + triggers + mounts can be just under $200 while a “Nifty Fifty” or the Jive Thirty Five are also under $200. As with everything photography, the prices only go up. The choice of off-camera flash vs. fast glass is a tough one. Flash can work in most situations but there are some venues where placement of a remote flash can be very challenging or even prohibited. Conversely, an f/1.8 50mm or 35mm lens captures a lot of light but the short focal length means you’ll be right in the performers’ faces, and some bars (at least in my town) don’t even bother to light the performance area. I started with off-camera flash, then acquired the Jive Thirty Five, and I’ve used them both during performances to capture different moods.

The ideal lens is a bigger zoom: 70-200mm f/2.8. Its almost as fast as an f/1.8 but it allows you to back away from the performers a bit (or shoot a stage that you can’t access). But even that lens doesn’t solve all the lighting problems in a bar and I’ve found I still like to use off-camera flash for many bar stages. If you can’t afford an f/2.8 zoom, then any other zoom will do if you’re willing to use off camera flash. In most bars a 5.6 300mm lens won’t be able to shoot at less than 3200 ISO at 1/30s. That means a lot of motion blur and camera shake if you don’t use flash.

To go with flash, you probably will start with a lower cost full manual flash like the workhorse classic Vivitar 285HV. It gives you decent range of manual power settings, and a tilt-zoom head. My one complaint about the 285HV is that it doesn’t have a swivel head. In a bar with awkward mounting conditions, a swivel head can go a long way. So look for a flash that has manual power settings down to 1/32 and a zoom-tilt-swivel head. Some in this class have a built in optical slave, which might seem like a good way to save some money on the triggers, but it will likely just kill your batteries-the slaved flash will go off every time some other fan of the band takes a picture. Manual triggers (i.e. those that don’t support TTL metering) can be had for less than $50.

If you want to take it up a notch, you can go TTL (through the lens metering) with your off-camera flash. That is beyond the scope of this article, but it will allow you a better level of creative control from the camera, and it will cost significantly more as well.

When I’ve done off-camera flash in a bar, my preferred light stand is a VAL-voice activated light stand. They range in price, but frequently can be had for the price of a pint or two when you enlist a friend or relative to help you. With a VAL, you can have very focused light on a single performer without blasting the whole stage with light. And it is easy for a VAL to adapt to performers moving around a lot-a clamped flash can’t do that. My preferred VAL is my wife, and we quickly worked out elaborate hand signals so that I could tell her who to point the flash toward: one finger meant the first performer from the left, two fingers meant the second one, and so on. I know its complex, but you can probably figure out your own method of signaling the VAL. If you add a snoot to the flash, which keeps the beam narrowly focused, you can create dramatic lighting on a performer that looks a lot like a spot light.

If a VAL isn’t an option for you, you’ll need a way to secure the flash to something in the bar. You’ll likely need an umbrella swivel, or some other method of converting a hot shoe to a 1/4-20 bolt. Then you can clamp the flash pretty much anywhere. I’ve clamped flashes to pictures, light bars, chair backs, shelves, posts, and drop ceilings (the drop-ceiling scissor clamp is a must here!). If you can, scouting the location will help you know what kind of clamp you’ll need for ideal placement. In some venues, if the crowds are light, I’ve even used standard light stands. A super clamp or modified A-clamp will serve you well here.

In part two, I’ll discuss setting up your gear at the venue.

Rick Bennett has been shooting bands in bars, at festivals, and on big stages for about a year. You can see more of his work on his blog, portfolio, or Flickr stream.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

How to Photograph Bands in Bars – Equipment

  

A Guest post by Steve Berardi from PhotoNaturalist

In digital photography, there’s a lot of talk about bits:

• 12-bit vs 14-bit Analog to Digital Converters (ADC)
• 8-bit vs 16-bit color
• 32-bit vs 64-bit Photoshop

But, what does it all mean? Although more bits generally means better quality processing, it’s not always that simple. Sometimes you really need to know the full story before making a conclusion.

Before we jump into these specific examples that are common in digital photography, it’s important to understand what a bit actually is.

What is a bit?

The word “bit” comes from two words: binary and digit. Each bit has two possible values: 1 or 0. Sometimes it’s also helpful to think of a bit as either “on” (1) or “off” (0).

Although one bit can store two possible values, a sequence of two bits can store four possible values: 00, 01, 10, and 11. With a sequence of bits, order matters, so “01″ is very different from “10.”

Each time you add a bit to a sequence, you double the number of possible values, so if you go from two bits to three bits, you go from four possible values to eight possible values.

As an example, let’s say you were interested in storing something that has 16 possible values. You would need 4 bits in this case (2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 16).

Analog to Digital Converters (ADC): 12-bit Vs. 14-bit

Every digital camera has some kind of analog to digital converter (ADC) that converts the analog signal captured by the sensor into a digital signal that produces your image. Most DSLRs these days either have a 12-bit or 14-bit ADC.

The bits in this case refer to the number of possible tonal values that your camera’s sensor can capture. For example, a 12-bit ADC can capture 4,096 possible tonal values for each pixel. On the other hand, the 14-bit ADC can capture 16,384 tonal values for each pixel.

At first, it may seem like the 14-bit ADC is a clear winner: it can capture 12,000 more tonal values! But, these two extra bits are not increasing the dynamic range of your camera, they’re only adding more steps within that range. It’s kind of like if you took a loaf of bread and cut each slice in half to make even smaller slices. You might have more slices of bread now, but the size of the loaf is the same!

So, you’ll experience slightly better image quality with the 14-bit ADC, but it’s really just noticeable in the deep shadows and smooth gradients (like those you find in a photo of a sunset).

For more details on 14-bit vs 12-bit ADCs, check out these helpful articles:

• Deep Shadows: 12-bit vs 14-bit
• Smooth Gradients: 12-bit vs 14-bit
• Understanding Dynamic Range in Digital Photography

Color: 8-bit Vs. 16-bit

In most post-processing software, you have the option between 8-bit color and 16-bit color. The bits in this case refer to the number of possible tonal values available to each color channel (red, green, and blue) of each pixel.

With 8-bit images, you have 256 possible values for the red channel, 256 values for the green channel, and 256 values for the blue channel. And with 16-bit images, you have 65,536 possible values for each color channel.

Using 16-bit color will result in some pretty large filesizes, but it’s worth the extra size because with 16-bit processing you’ll significantly reduce your chances of posterization (as seen in the photo below). It’s a good idea to use 16-bit color even if you originally shot in JPEG (which is 8-bit), because the extra bits will help reduce rounding errors when performing common post-processing tasks like Curves or Levels.

For more information on 8-bit vs 16-bit color, check out these helpful articles:

• Understanding Bit Depth
• What is Image Posterization?

Photoshop: 32-bit Vs. 64-bit

Some post-processing applications, like Adobe Photoshop, offer 32-bit versions and 64-bit versions. The bits in this case refer to the number of possible memory addresses. With 32-bits, you can use up to 4GB of physical memory, but with 64-bits you can theoretically use up to 17.2 billion GB of memory (although this amount is usually severely limited by the operating system).

There’s a common misconception that the 64-bit version of Photoshop is always faster, but in reality, to take advantage of the speedup (which is minimal), three things need to happen:

1. You need more than 4GB of physical memory
2. You need to be working with very large images (at least 800 MB)
3. You need to be running a 64-bit operating system (e.g. Vista x64 or Mac OS 10.6)

You might think that 800 MB is larger than you’ll ever work with, but filesizes can get big pretty quick if you’re building a panoramic image, or working with multiple layers of images to blend exposures.

Even if you do meet all three conditions above, there’s still a chance you won’t notice any speed-up at all, depending on the operations you’re performing on the image. Also, keep in mind that many third-party plugins do not work with the 64-bit version of Photoshop.

For more details on 32-bit Vs. 64-bit Photoshop, check out these informative articles:

• Photoshop CS4: 32-bit vs 64-bit Benchmarks
• Photoshop CS5 64-bit vs Photoshop CS4 32-bit Benchmarks
• Lifehacker Guide to 64-bit vs. 32-bit Operating Systems

Remember: Not all bits are created equally

The key thing to take away from this post is that not all bits are created equally. Just because something has twice as many bits that doesn’t mean it’s automatically twice as fast or two times better quality. Before making any kind of conclusion about 16-bit vs 32-bit / etc, you really have to understand the story of how those bits are being used.

About the Author: Steve Berardi is a naturalist, photographer, and computer scientist.

You can usually find him hiking in the beautiful mountains and deserts of Southern California. Read more of his articles on nature photography at the PhotoNaturalist and follow him on Twitter.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

16-bit Vs. 32-bit Vs. 64-bit: What Does it All Mean?

Sure as the sun will shine tomorrow, there is some photographer sitting at home right now reading reviews and looking at photos online from that new lens or camera body they just must have. Forget one, there are thousands doing it. Maybe even you just took a break from shopping gear to read this article now.

We live in an age of immediate gratification, where the things we can tangibly see and possess with greater speed grab our attention. For amateur and professional photographers alike, that urge often manifests itself in the form of gear. A new lens, light, body, trigger, monitor, software – we often work ourselves up to a fevered pitch, convinced that we need these new items. While it’s true many times the right lens or light can really help advance a technical image you’re working to create, most of the time we just want the item because we want it.

American humorist and Washington Post columnist Art Buchwald once said, “the best things in life aren’t things.” I like to think the best things in life are where we can go, who we meet and what we can experience in the short time we are given. Indeed a recent New York Times article, “But Will It Make You Happy?” showed that many people are much happier when they buy less and instead do and experience more with their money.

The day you stop worrying about what you can buy, and instead turn your attention to where you can go and what you can experience will be one of the happier days of your life.

Now I’m not advocating for you to head to your local camera store, sell of all your gear and hop a flight shoeless to a foreign land, but rather to consider how you spend your money on gear. I like to have just enough gear to cover my frequent and basic photographic needs, and then renting equipment I will need for specific, infrequent jobs. Yes, a brand new D3s would be a wonderful thing to have, but the reality is in all but the rarest of jobs do I need such a top of the line piece of equipment.

Think of the places you could go and the experiences you could have if you spent your money on travel instead of every single piece of gear you think you need. You’ll have plenty of photos to cherish. The memories of our journeys stick with us throughout our lives. In fact, years down the road we’ll even remember a mediocre travel experience as a fond one. It’s funny how memory works that way, but thankfully we remember the positive things, ultimately influencing our view of the world.

Traveling doesn’t have to be incredibly expensive either if you know where to look. I almost exclusively find all my flights and hotels through Kayak.com. Their new Explore feature allows you to pick your home city and then view a map with flight prices over locations all across the globe. Keep your mind open and you could find a great fare to somewhere you might never have thought to go before. There are lots of travel sites and services out there, be sure to search around all of them or subscribe to special fare alerts.

So think before you obsess over that new piece of gear. Ask yourself if you really need it, or would a trip somewhere around the world be a far more rewarding use of your hard earned money.

As St. Augustine once said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” Immerse yourself in the chapters of the globe.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Buy Less Gear: Travel and Experience More

A Guest Post by Viennese Concert Photographer Matthias Hombauer

Being a concert photographer can be very exciting. Imagine yourself standing 6 feet away in front of your beloved idol and taking portraits of them. Not only do you have the ability to shoot one image but can take hundreds of pictures that you can carry home. As a passionate music lover this seems to be heaven and indeed this is a close description how it can feel.

• But how do you start to become a concert photographer?
• What equipment do you need?
• How do you get the shot?

In this short tutorial I will write about my experience of being a concert photographer – I hope it will improve your skills in this exciting field of photography.

1. Getting started! Prepare yourself to become a concert photographer

What is the best way to start? The easiest way to build your career is to begin in small clubs. In these venues it’s more likely that you can enter with your camera equipment without any special press accreditation. Therefore this is the perfect playground for you to change your camera settings and getting used to be in front of a stage. Why not ask some friends who play in a band and offer them your skills next time? For sure they would be more than happy to have pictures of their next concert.

But all beginnings are difficult and so is concert photography.

The problem in these small venues is in the lack of stage light! Most of the concerts I was starting with had only a blue and a red spotlight on stage. Beside the fact that the musicians look like creatures from another galaxy the light is so low that you hardly get sharp pictures when not using proper equipment.

What is the solution for this dilemma?

2. Buy a fast cheap prime lens, now!

Talking about lenses for concert photography always ends up with the same conclusion: use fast lenses! Most of the time the stage light is very low so your only chance to get sharp images is to use a fast lens.

As a beginner I would recommend the cheap 50mm 1.8, because of its ability to shoot in low light at its lowest aperture setting. This lens saved me a couple of times when the light technician seemed to sleep and the stage was almost pitch black. For small stages a 50mm lens is a good compromise to get a head shot of the lead singer and a full length shot of the drummer (depending how big the stage actually is).

How to get rid of the red creature from another galaxy-look? Convert your pictures into black and white and the musicians will look way more natural again.

3. What was this noise all about?

One important setting on your camera is the ISO value. A good setting for your camera’s ISO value is crucial for concert photography. Most of the time you’ll find yourself dialing your ISO setting up to 1600 or higher to get a decent shutter speed.

You may be thinking: “What?! I am using a lens with an aperture of 1.8 and an ISO setting of 1600 and I still not get the shot I want?”

Unfortunately the answer is: Yes, at least most of the time.

Using such high ISO settings at a digital SLRs with a crop sensor will generate a lot of noise. Therefore I recommend to use noise reduction software in your post processing workflow. Or, even better (but more expensive): Buy a full frame camera.

4. Which Mode and Settings Should I shoot with?

In my opinion this is an individual preference and you should try what fits to your style. I always shoot in Aperture priority mode and at my lowest aperture setting (e.g 1.8; 2.8, depending on the lens you are using).

Some people also use manual mode, but I feel rather comfortable that my camera sets the right exposure and I don’t have to think about it.

I always use spot metering, because the stage lights are changing rapidly and you’ll never know if the lights will hit the artists face in the next second or not.

Use multi shot mode. Do not only shoot 1 picture but 3 or 4 to have a higher yield of pictures that you can use.

Finally: Always shoot in RAW format. Sure, you’ll need more storage space, but it is absolutely worth it to have the ability to change all the parameter like white balance and exposure afterwards in post processing.

5. What about Shooting in Big venues?

Welcome to the world of rock stardom! Are you ready to get close to your idols? Thousands of screaming people, squeezed in between the trench and the people behind, create a sheer unsurmountable barrier whereas you enter easily from the side of the stage, sipping coke and walk to the stage in front of the security guards.

You realize all the fancy equipment on the stage that you just used to know from videowalls – and then, suddenly the lights go dark. The band enters the stage, some people scream, others faint but you are just anxious and think: “am i dreaming or is this real” Then it hits you again, damn, it’s real and I am better back to reality again and take some great pics!

This is how it feels like standing in front of a big stage (at least this is the case for me).

You’ll think now: “Great, sounds good, I would like to do this, but how? Tell me, tell me, tell me!!!” The answer: You need a press accreditation. “Oh my gosh, what’s this?”

Don’t be afraid, it’s easier than you think. I started to work for a small internet magazine for students. These small magazines and online platforms will give you the opportunity to get to bigger concerts. Maybe you won’t get tickets for Woodstock 2011, but it should be possible for smaller festivals.

Try to get in touch with people, ask other photographers, talk to other students, maybe one of them is running a magazine. Try your luck at a local newspaper.

I am sure, if you really want to become a concert photographer, there are many ways to achieve your goal.

Once you got your press accreditation, the fun begins. You have to go to the press/VIP ticket counter to get your press ticket.

Most likely, depending on the artist, you are allowed to take pictures of the first 3 songs without flash. Not more. These are the rules and everybody has to stick to it. Leonard Cohen allowed just 1 song. Fortunately it was a long one, 6min time, 300 pictures! Exhausted and happy to get a good one for the newspaper!

Face the truth: you’ll delete most of your pictures and end up with just a few really good ones. As Chase Jarvis is saying just take more pictures to get THE shot you are waiting for.

6. I am standing in front of the stage with my 50mm lens. Why do the others have all this big ones (do they try to compensate for anything)?

Ok, this is the deal. Bigger Venues need bigger lenses and mostly high ISO too!

If you are looking around professional concert photographers they most likely have a full format sensor camera (yep, because of the high ISO capability) and a 24-70 2.8 or 70-200 2.8 or both – or even an ultrawide angle/fisheye lens.

Sure, you can also try your luck with your 50mm but on big stages you definitely need a telephoto lens. The zoom ability is also crucial in my opinion, because you can not move forward, so you have to compose from your point of view.

Sometimes the artist will permanently move so it’s easier to follow him/her with your lens. For instance, Jamiroquai was jumping around for 10 minutes. The other advantage of this back-breaking lenses is that other photographers will take you more seriously and get afraid that you might take better pictures than them.

I hope I could convince you that being a concert photographer is much fun even though you have to spend a lot of time and money for it. But believe me, if you see your pics after the concert of your favourite band on your LCD display on the back of your camera, the efforts it took are forgotten in a second.

Summary:

• start in small venues
• use a lens with a small aperture (e.g. 50mm 1.8)
• use high ISO settings
• try to get in contact with magazines and internet platforms to get your press accreditation
• save your money for a full frame camera and fast zoom lenses: 24-70mm 2.8, 70-200mm 2.8, ultrawide/fisheye lens
• Enjoy your new life as a concert photographer

Check out more of Matthias Hmobauer’s photography at his blog.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

6 Tips for Budding Live Concert Photographers

Photo by -bwr-

A few months ago I wrote a post on how curiosity is a characteristic of great photographers.

I was rereading this post earlier this week and began to ask myself a few questions:

• How do some people end up more curious than others?
• Is Curiosity a personality trait or can it be learned?
• How can I be more curious?

As I pondered these questions I thought of the images that I see each day on Flickr’s interestingness pages (the shots in this post come from there). Some of the shots are just so unusual that I would never have thought to take them. Obviously there are some ‘curious’ photographers behind them – but how do they do it?

I’ve never studied this but I suspect that while curiosity could well be something a personality type thing and that some of us will be more naturally curious than others – it is also that we can all probably learn how to be – to some extent.

How can you add Curiosity to your Photographic toolbox?

10 Ways to be a more Curious Photographer:

Photo by elTwitcho

1. Don’t be held Captive ‘the Rules’

There are a lot of ‘rules’ going around when it comes to photography. Read the books (read this blog) and you’ll find them. Some of them have formal names like ‘rule of thirds’ and ‘the golden ratio’ while others are often just called ‘the right way to…’.

Rules are a great thing to know (and use) – however the curious photographer often takes great shots because they not only know the rules but because they set out to break them.

Take the Rule of thirds – sometimes the most powerful shots are those with a centered subject staring down the barrel of the lens.

2. Ask Questions

Curious photographers are always asking questions. Questions of other photographers, questions about their own work, questions about their cameras, questions of their subjects etc

As a result they often learn things about their art (and themselves) that the rest of us don’t and their work improves because of it.

Find someone with the same camera as you and ask them how they use it. Find a photographer from a different genre to you and ask them about their techniques. Look back over your last month’s photos and ask yourself what you did well (and not so well).

3. Ask ‘What if…’

One of the key questions you should get in the habit of asking is ‘what if’? Curious people don’t just ask questions – they also come up with solutions.

Many of the solutions will end up being thrown away but if you ask ‘what if’ enough times you’re bound to make progress eventually.

What if I held the camera on this angle…. What if I got my subject to stand like this…. What if I lay on the ground to take this shot…. What if I lengthened my shutter speed…..

Photo by gakrid 4. ‘Turn Questions into Quests’

An old teacher once used this phrase with me and it’s stuck in my mind ever since – ‘turn your Questions into Quests’.

Asking ‘what if…’ (and other questions) is not enough. Keep a record of the questions that you ask yourself and keep coming back to them from time to time to attempt to find a solution to the problems behind the questions. Taking your questions to the next level like this may not always be fruitful but at times it’ll lead you on journeys of discovery to unexpected places.

Set yourself quests and challenges for your photography. I occasionally set myself a list of photos that I want to capture in an afternoon or will have a week where I explore a theme (the assignments in our forum are great for this).

Get more tips and tutorials from our free weekly newsletter

5. Learn from Others

While sometimes the best way to learn is by trying, making mistakes and then trying again – sometimes it’s more effective to find someone else who has already tried, made mistakes and tried again to help you avoid the pitfalls of photography.

Find another photographer to buddy up with when you go out on shoots. Swap ideas, give each other tips and share the lessons that you learn. This is actually whey I started this blog and more recently our forums – I want to learn more about digital photography and I know together we’ll discover so much more.

6. Put disconnected ideas together

Edward De Bono has a lot of different exercises that help people develop lateral thinking skills. In a number of his books he talks about how one way to think outside the box is when you put random ideas together to find new solutions to problems. Get in the frame of mind where you regularly do this and you’ll be surprised at how your mind comes up with wonderfully creative things.

The shot above of the guy under the umbrella with capsules dropping down on him is a prime example of this. Who would have ever thought to put drugs raining down on someone under a bright umbrella?

Photo by Anoxlou 7. Play

Perhaps the most curious of people are children who do a lot of what we’re writing about here (especially asking questions).

Another thing that children do is ‘play’. With no other agenda than having fun and seeing what happens next children will play with the things around them and experiment and push the boundaries of their environment. In doing so they learn about life, themselves and their world. I find that it’s often when I take this ‘playful’ approach to life that I’m at my most creative and make all kinds of discoveries.

Some of my best photos have come out of periods of ‘play’ when I just fooled around with my camera with no agenda at all. Play with new angles, with different shooting distances, with shooting from different perspectives etc

8. Go with the Flow

One of the biggest blockages to creativeness and curiosity are statements like:

• We’ve never done it this way before
• This is Stupid
• It will never work

It is often directly after such statements that ideas stop being explored, projects end and people return to the humdrum of life.

Learn to ignore such statements and follow your intuition and hunches and you might just find yourself doing something that ‘has never been done before’ that people wish HAD been done before. I’m sure many of the images in the Flickr interestingness page are the result of this evolution of ideas by people who didn’t know when to stop.

Photo by J.Star 9. Get Proactive

One of the main things that I notice about curious people are that they rarely sit still and are always pushing forward and taking the initiative. Curious photographers don’t expect great photographic opportunities to come to them – but instead they actively search for them. They have a mindset where it almost becomes natural to ask, seek and find the things that the rest of us hope that will one day fall in our laps.

Grab your camera, get out of the house, find some interesting subjects and start shooting. That great shot won’t just come knocking on your door!

10. Slow Down

We live in a fast paced world where we race from one thing to another, rarely sitting still.

Unfortunately it is easy to bring this way of life into our photography. We impatiently wait for ‘the shot’ and when it doesn’t quickly come we snap away and move on. However in most cases photography isn’t a fast paced medium. I learned this talking to a Pro Landscape photographer once who told me that some days he’d sit in a spot for a full day and only take a handful of shots. He had learned to slow down, to see the smaller subtleties of life, to be patient and the results were that his work was truly magnificent.

Set aside a few hours this week to go and sit quietly in a pace in your town or city and watch the world go by. Don’t set yourself an agenda – just watch and when you see something worth photographing take the shot.

Note: this post on being a curious photographer is an update of a previous post on dPS. We hope you enjoy the refreshed version.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

How to Be a Curious Photographer