BetterPhoto Instructor Insights

Creative Composition: Close-Ups and Autofocus

By Rob Sheppard

(c) Rob Sheppard

I love close-ups. They truly bring you into a different world that we normally don't see. And I am not talking about super close work, either. Any time we get in close to a natural subject, we are looking more deeply at the world around us in a way we usually don't do. In a way, the act of close-up photography gets us to pause and look for and observe details that we might otherwise pass on by.

One challenge that comes from close photography is the focus point. When you are close, depth of field is very narrow, no matter what f-stop you use, so the actual point of focus becomes very, very important. This is even more critical when you play with extremely shallow depth of field as I often like to do.

(c) Rob Sheppard

Autofocus can be really challenging when you are up close. I will usually shoot manual focus when I am doing any close-up work with any lens. The challenge the camera has is that since depth of field is always very limited (and gets less and less the closer you get), yet there are many points where the camera can focus and it will "choose" its focus point rather arbitrarily. Often visually the wrong point for the subject and the composition.

My preference is this:

1. Change the camera/lens to manual focus

2. Roughly focus on the subject to get a basic distance

3. Then without changing the lens' focus, move the camera toward and away from the camera until the right point is in focus

4. Take the picture

5. You can be careful as you do this so you do not have camera movement during exposure that will make the image soft.

When you manually change focus of the lens up close instead of doing what I just described, you can find it harder to focus partly because of a curious thing that happens when you are close. The size of the subject in your camera's view changes because magnification changes with focus distance. That slight change in size of subject can make it harder to see the focus change on the subject itself.

Both of these close-ups are from the redwoods. The first is in the Dicentra or bleeding heart genus and is often called squirrel corn when it is so white. The second is a redwoods sorel flower.


Notes:

• Outdoor Photographer editor at large and author Rob Sheppard teaches many excellent online photo courses at BetterPhoto, including Creating Storytelling Photos, The Magic of F-stops: Choosing the Right Aperture and Composition Boot Camp.

• Rob is also a contributor to the new book (co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager): The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light

Creative Photo Technique: Zoom During Exposure

By Deborah Sandidge

An easy way to create an artistic look with your photography is to use in-camera effects such as zooming the lens during exposure. No Photoshop needed!

(c) Deborah Sandidge

For this technique, the lens is zoomed in or out during exposure to suggest motion. To keep things sharp, yet blurred at the same time, I mounted the camera on a tripod and experimented with zooming until I found just the effect that worked for the starfish. It may take quite a few tries to nail the shot as this isn't an exact science, however it's fun to do!

Zoom-blur tips:

• Experiment with your lens to get the hang of zooming, and you don't need to zoom the entire focal length of the lens to get a great effect.

• Zooming during exposure is great for overcast days, and you can use a neutral-density filter to slow down the exposure even more.
• Use a small aperture and experiment with shutter speed, giving yourself time to zoom smoothly.

• Try this at night too - with city lights, or colorful lights from a fair or circus.

Have fun shooting! ~ Deb


Notes:

• Deborah Sandidge teaches two excellent online photography courses at BetterPhoto: Photoshop: Enhancing Images and Creating Works of Art and Digital Infrared Photography

• Deb is also a top contributor to the new book by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager: The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (publication date: April 2012)

• In addition, zoom blur is one of the in-camera artistic techniques covered in the "Photographing Motion" chapter of the just-published book The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography.

Creative Photo Composition: Patience Is a Virtue

By Kerry Drager

Many aspiring photographers - and not just beginners, either - work far too quickly. They get their picture and are eager to dash to the next spot. One photo? Really!?! After only a single shot, you haven’t even gotten started! Whenever possible, take the thoughtful, more deliberate approach by dropping the ready-aim-fire attitude.

Certainly, not every scene or subject can involve a leisurely approach - such as candids, action, or fast-changing light. Or you may be heading for an appointment, for example, and there’s only time to shoot one image. But when the light’s right, the scene’s inviting, and there’s no need to rush it, slow down and make the most of a photogenic setting.

An example is my accompanying series (below) from a recent trip to Capitola, California's colorful seaside town. I started with an early-morning big view that shows buildings, beach, and reflections. Next, I went for a tight shot by zooming in on just the colors and patterns. For the third image, I changed my camera position to catch the close-up scene.

Here’s a quick tip: Once you begin using a tripod for every stationary subject, your photography will start to improve immediately. Yes, immediately. Using the accessory that photographers love to hate forces you to slow down, analyze your scene, and then carefully design your photo so that you can get it exactly the way you want it.

(Note: Jim Miotke and I cover these and many other concepts in our new book: The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography.)

1/8 sec. @ f/22; ISO 200; 70-300mm @ 145mm; tripod (c) Kerry Drager

1/125 sec. @ f/13; ISO 200; 70-300mm @ 280mm; tripod (c) Kerry Drager

1/2 sec. @ f/22; ISO 200; 70-300mm @ 230mm; tripod (c) Kerry Drager

Photographing at Twilight: Why and How

By Deborah Sandidge

Shooting at twilight allows the photographer to create beautiful story-telling imagery. The drama of the night sky can make a big difference in how the image is represented. Scout out locations ahead of time, and make a few test shots to figure out the best composition and a few variables. The photograph is your story, a visual narration of what you experience, your interpretation of the scene.

(c) Deborah Sandidge

You can see from the test shot below, how much more impact you can create by photographing during more flattering light conditions. The lights on the bridge create starbursts, and the city lights and night sky are reflected in the water. This automatically creates a much more glamorous look compared to the image below.

What's great is that you really don't need anything additional to add to your photo arsenal to accomplish twilight photography. You probably already have a tripod and cable release, or you can use the self timer feature on your camera.

What you might want to do is experiment with white balance. If you have Live View enabled, a feature on many cameras, you can scroll through the various white balance settings to find the most complementary setting. Don't worry about the "correct" white balance, use the one most complementary to the scene. I find 4000K a good place to start. If you are shooting in Raw format, you can tweak this after the fact, which is most helpful if you change your mind!

Since you are set up on a tripod, use the lowest ISO, and use an aperture to create the most depth of field, or to quote fellow BetterPhoto.com instructor Tony Sweet, depth of feeling. You can shoot during twilight almost anywhere, cityscape, landscape, before dawn or after sunset. Twilight can make the ordinary look magical...

Make great pictures! ~ Deb

NOTES:

Like these ideas? Then join Deb Sandidge for her online photography workshops: Photoshop - Enhancing Digital Images and Creating Works of Art and Digital Infrared Photography.

Also, Deb is a top contributor to one of the upcoming BetterPhoto Guide books (co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager): The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (due out in April 2012 and published by Amphoto Books).

A Strong Case for Using a Tripod

By Lynne Eodice

We all know that using a tripod will give us sharper photos, but many of us use one sparingly, such as when we shoot after dark. Although they can be cumbersome, there is a good case for using a tripod all of the time – and that’s because you will be free to use nearly any exposure combination!

If you’re hand-holding a camera in low light, you’re restricted to using very high ISO settings, for example, and risk getting more digital noise in your photographs. A tripod will enable you to use lower ISO settings in low light, and you will be able to use a longer exposure time and smaller apertures for greater depth of field, if you choose to. And when you want to photograph subjects like fireworks, city scenes after dark, traffic streaks or silky water effects, you can’t get long enough exposures without a tripod.

(c) Lynne Eodice

Yes, image-stabilizing (or vibration-reduction) lenses have been a big boon for image sharpness. However, you’ll get the best results – and greater exposure choices – by using a tripod on a regular basis.


Editor's Notes:

Check out Lynne Eodice's excellent courses at BetterPhoto's online digital photography school:

• Learning to Shoot Inspiring Images
• Pro Tips for Great Exposure

How to Get Great Ski and Snowboard Photos

By Peter K. Burian

We have all admired the spectacular magazine images of skiers and snowboarders in multi-coloured outfits, caught in mid-air against a sky of azure blue. While those shots were taken by pro photographers, with professional athletes, you can also get dramatic shots of your family in action on the slopes. You'll need to take the lift to get up the hill yourself, of course, and if you're ready to do that, consider the following tips.

For the best photos, use a telephoto lens and a fast shutter speed, find an ideal background, and take lots of shots. Be sure to shoot from a safe position; check with the Ski Patrol in advance. (c) Peter K. Burian

Use a long lens. Ideally, you'll want to take photos with a digital SLR with a 70-300mm telephoto lens or using a super zoom camera with 14x or longer lens. (Carry it in a hip pack or small backpack.) While it's possible to take frame-filling photos with a shorter lens, you'll be a lot safer if you shoot from a greater distance. And a telephoto will include less of the surroundings, such as various distracting elements.

Set Sports mode. Novice photographers will find this Scene mode to be useful since it will usually make suitable settings. These include a fast shutter speed to freeze the action, continuous drive for shooting a series of photos in a burst, and continuous autofocus. If you're more experienced, set ISO 400, Shutter Priority mode and 1/1000 sec. to stop the action, AF-C and wide-area autofocus, the continuous drive mode and +2/3 exposure compensation. Add a polarizing filter to enrich a blue sky.

Find a suitable location. Be sure to shoot from a position of safety where you will not create a hazard. Ideally, you'll want lots of snow and a blue sky or a background of trees. Bright colours will really pop, while your subjects, and the flying snow trailing them, will be clearly delineated against either type of background. Take care not to include signs, the lifts or the snow-making equipment.

Get the jumps. Club competitions are a great time to get action shots. If your subjects are jumping, get down low and capture some dynamic action shots, framing them in the air, against the sky, especially if it's blue.

Set focus in advance. While Continuous autofocus should be able to track a subject moving toward you, the situation (or your equipment) may call for pre-focusing. If the skier or boarder will suddenly appear from over the crest of a hill, set focus for a likely spot and wait. Start shooting a series the instant the subject reaches that point.

Snow can provide a spectacular background for a variety of outdoor sports and activities, besides offering stunning nature and landscape opportunities. So while others stow their camera equipment until April, why not get out there with your camera and take advantage of the many opportunities?


Notes from the Editor:

• Peter Burian teaches two terrific courses - Mastering the Digital Camera and Photography and Mastering the Canon EOS Digital Rebels - at BetterPhoto's online digital photography school.

• Also, Peter is a contributor to two new books: The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography (just published) andThe BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (due out in April 2012). Both of these how-to photography books are co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager.

Happy New Year!

By Kerry Drager

Best wishes for an outstanding 2012!!

Snowman at Dawn - (c) Kerry Drager

This 7-foot-tall "snowman" was created by a country artist/shopkeeper near my California home. My wife Mary bought it as an awesome Christmas gift for me. As shown here, it now livens up our little ranchette!

• A small aperture (f/16) helped turn the lights into small sunstars.

• I shot the scene from a low camera angle (kneeling on one knee) in order to place the head and hat directly against the dawn sky.

• Along with a tripod, I used a cable shutter release (the camera's self-timer also works) and mirror lockup (but not all DLSRs have this feature) to prevent possible camera vibration when clicking the shutter during the long exposure.

• A sunlight/daylight White Balance setting captured the dawn colors just as I saw them.

• Photo data: f/16 @ 5 seconds, ISO 400; 50mm lens.

Like these ideas? Check out BetterPhoto's online digital photography school, and also the new books co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager: The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography (just published) and The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (due out in April 2012).

Improve Your Computer Monitor's Accuracy

By Peter K. Burian

One of the most frustrating aspects of digital imaging is getting prints that do not resemble the beautiful images that we see on a computer monitor. Are your own prints as impressive as the images you saw in the electronic display? Or do they exhibit an undesirable color cast or unsatisfactory brightness?

Problems such as these are common when making prints after modifying images using a computer if the monitor does not produce a true display of an image's actual color and brightness/contrast. In order to achieve a high level of satisfaction with any print, you must be confident that your monitor accurately reflects the characteristics of a digital image: the correct brightness, contrast and color rendition. That's easy to achieve with color management. While there can be more to that, monitor calibration is the primary component.

The concept of color management can be complicated and multi-faceted, but the most important aspect, monitor calibration, is straightforward. After installing the software that came with the kit, and attaching the sensor to the monitor, follow the on-screen instructions. Photo Courtesy of Daymen

Hardware and Software: In order to ensure that images are displayed with maximum accuracy, buy a monitor calibration kit such as a Datacolor Spyder3. The affordable Express works well (about $100) but serious photographers might want the Spyder3 Elite (about $250). Especially with Express, the calibration process is straightforward and should take less than 10 minutes.

Settings: If you're using a Windows Operating System, disable the computer's Adobe Gamma feature before calibration. Right click on Start > Open All Users > Programs > Start Up and if Adobe Gamma is listed, delete it. This will not actually delete that software but will prevent it from interfering with the more sophisticated calibration software. If given the option to set a desired Gamma and White Point, I recommend setting 2.2 and 6500K, respectively.

The calibration software will create a profile for your monitor and adjust the display so it provides greater accuracy re: brightness, contrast and color rendition. As you start working with a fully reliable monitor, you should find that the display produces substantially greater accuracy. When you make a print, it should closely match the appearance of the image on your monitor display in color rendition and in tonal values. That should certainly minimize frustration, reducing the need to make a lot of test prints that can waste time, ink and paper.


NOTES:

- Peter Burian teaches Mastering the Digital Camera and Photography and Mastering the Canon EOS Digital Rebels at BetterPhoto's online digital photography school.

- Also, Peter is a contributor to the just-published The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography and the upcoming The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (due out in April 2012). Both of these how-to photography books are co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager.

Photoshop Tip: How to Replace a Sky

By Jim Zuckerman

(c) Jim Zuckerman

There are two things about this picture that are good and one thing that’s terrible. I like the low perspective from which took the picture, and I also like the ears flared out. Both of these make the huge elephant seem even more impressive. The terrible aspect of this image is the white sky. It’s very distracting.

To replace this sky is impossible using any of the selection tools in Photoshop because the fine grasses blend with the background in such a way that they can’t be separated. None of the other software programs like Topaz Remask 3 or Mask Pro 4 by onOne could do justice with this scene, either. I could make the sky a solid blue color with Nik Software’s Viveza 2, but that wouldn’t be appropriate. The diffused light calls for an overcast sky to make this look believable.

There is only one solution. I used a layer mask in Photoshop to produce the image below.

(c) Jim Zuckerman

Here is the process:

1. Choose a sky full of gray clouds. It should be similar in resolution to the elephant photo.

2. Copy the clouds to the clipboard with Select > all, and then Edit > copy.

3. Paste the clouds on top of the elephant photo with Edit > paste.

4. Make sure the foreground and background color boxes at the bottom of the tools palette are black/white, respectively.

5. Make a layer mask using Layer > layer mask > reveal all (or use the shortcut — the small icon immediately to the right of the fx icon at the bottom of the layers palette).

6. Choose the gradient tool. Drag the cursor from the bottom of the clouds to the top. The bottom portion of the clouds disappear gradually, as you can see, leaving the elephant and the grass exposed but covering the sky. You can vary the demarcation line between the clouds and the clear bottom portion of the image by varying how long you drag the cursor in the photo. If you drag it an inch, the line will be hard. If you drag it four inches, the line will be softer, more gradual.

7. There will still be some clouds on the elephant, so now choose the brush tool and brush them away. If you make a mistake and brush some of the sky away, reverse the black/white color boxes so they are now white/black and paint the clouds back. When you do this touch up, work at 200% or so.


Notes from the Editor:

- Jim Zuckerman is a top stock photographer and published author who teaches many courses at BetterPhoto's photography school online, including Creative Techniques in Photoshop, Advanced Creative Techniques in Photoshop and Photoshop: Thinking Outside the Box.

- In addition, Jim Z is a contributor to two new BetterPhoto Guide how-to books (co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager): the just-published The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography and The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (due out in April 2012).

Travel Photography and Creative Photo Projects

By Deborah Sandidge

(c) Deborah Sandidge

This old bicycle is aged to perfection, and locked up for safety against an old peeling painted wall in Lima, Peru. The yellow and blue wall added more texture and detail throughout the composition. I tend to like to work close, and sometimes the parts are more interesting to me than the whole, as with this bicycle.

Bicycles are an ongoing project that I like to add to during my travels near and far. I used Nik Color Efex Pro Tonal Contrast to accentuate the texture in the mid tones, and also subtly increase the overall saturation.

Make great pictures! ~ Deb


Notes:

- Like these idea? Then join Deb Sandidge in one of her online photography courses - Photoshop - Enhancing Digital Images and Creating Works of Art and Digital Infrared Photography - at the BetterPhoto school of digital photography.

- Also, Deb is a contributor to BetterPhoto Guide book (co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager): The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (due out in April 2012 and published by Amphoto Books).