BetterPhoto Instructor Insights

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.

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).

How to Get Better Family Holiday Photos

By Peter K. Burian

As a father whose children are now grown, I really enjoy looking through the albums that my wife and I made when Kate and Julie were youngsters. It’s great to re-live your children's happy moments years later, as they’re getting ready to graduate from high school and college or getting married.

Today, we wish we had taken a lot more pictures during the holidays, particularly of the girls interacting with their grandmothers. If there are children in your own family, be sure that someone in the group keeps the camera handy during the festivities. Here are some techniques that should work well for family picture taking.

In most families, the holidays are filled with photo opportunities. Plan to take lots of really nice pictures and to share them as soon as online and then by ordering prints. (c) Peter K. Burian

Fill the frame: While it's great to get some overviews of the entire group and the decorations, also plan to take close-up shots of a single family member or a few who are interacting. Take advantage of the camera's zoom lens to get some nice frame-filling photos.

Add some light: Plan to use flash, even if there’s lots of sunlight streaming in through a window. Flash will fill in the shadow area, and help prevent under exposure: dark, grainy pictures.

Get down lower: Always try to shoot from your subjects’ eye level. This will produce the most pleasing pictures, especially of children. Get down on the floor with them if necessary to get intimate photos.

Be prepared: Natural expressions are fleeting and not all cameras respond instantly when you press the shutter release button. If you want to capture the hugs, a smile or an expression of joy, try this. While sitting in a spot where you're a bit inconspicuous zoom in on a potential subject. Make sure the flash is ready. A minute or so before you expect your subject to open a gift, or scream with joy, or hug a sibling, touch the shutter release button. This will allow the camera to make all the settings. Keep light pressure on the button and at the right instant press it down gently. You should record a photo at the perfect moment, capturing one of the best memories.

Shoot candids: I'm always tempted to play director, but it's important to take lots of unposed photos. Natural interaction is almost always better. Sure, it’s OK to request an occasional “freeze” or a “look this way” but also use the previous technique to get lots of candid moments. While some of your subjects will insist on posing, they’ll soon tire of that posture and you’ll start getting some candid shots.

Share your photos: Every family has a lot of photos that are still on the memory card or in the computer. This year, share them as soon as possible in an album on BetterPhoto.com. Also make or order prints of the best shots. Order several of each so everyone in the photo can get a print for their own albums.

Years from now, the Holiday pictures you took each year, especially the ones you printed and saved, will be some of the most cherished in your collection. So keep your camera ready during the festivities. Take lots of photos and be sure to share them as soon as possible with your online holiday album and prints.

Editor's Notes:

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

• Be sure to check out Peter’s instructor bio and his Pro BetterPholio website: www.peterkburian.com

• Also, Peter is a contributor to two new books: 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 are co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager.

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Layer Mask Technique in Photoshop

By Jim Zuckerman

(c) Jim Zuckerman

This beautiful grist mill is located in Jericho, Vermont, and I photographed it on my recent photo tour to New England. The original sky was white, and since I found that to be less than ideal (white skies are very distracting because our eyes are drawn to the lightest part of a photo first), I wanted to introduce some clouds. A blue sky wouldn’t be appropriate since that would imply direct sunlight, and this scene was illuminated by overcast conditions.

Therefore, the only thing that made sense was to put in a sky of gray clouds. The problem, of course, was all that vegetation. That made it very difficult to use my usual technique of cutting around subjects with the pen tool. The magic wand tool was useless in this situation.

The only way to make this into a believable composite was to use a layer mask with the gradient tool. Here is the procedure:

1. Open a cloud photo (the same size as the grist mill shot), choose Select > all, and then Edit > copy. This put the cloud image in the clipboard, Photoshop’s temporary holding place for one photo at a time.

2. Activate the grist mill image and use Edit > paste. This placed the cloud photo over the mill and the river.

3. Choose Layer > layer mask > reveal all (or click the small icon just to the right of the f/x icon at the bottom of the layers palette — this is the shortcut).

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

5. Choose the gradient tool. Drag the cursor from the bottom of the clouds to the top. The lower portion of the clouds will disappear leaving the top portion visible. If there are too many clouds, start dragging the cursor about 1/4 up from the bottom of the image. Experiment with exactly how you drag the cursor until the clouds look good. In this case, I started dragging about 3/5 up from the bottom.

6. Click on the brush tool, and now you can brush away clouds that cover parts of the subject that should be free of them, such as, in this case, the mill itself.

Editor Notes:

• Jim Zuckerman is a top stock photographer who teaches at BetterPhoto's digital photography school. His Photoshop courses online include Creative Techniques in Photoshop, Advanced Creative Techniques in Photoshop and Photoshop: Thinking Outside the Box.

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

Creative Photography: Capturing Texture

By Lynne Eodice

When we see an image of an old weather-worn building, we often get a sense of how rough the wood feels. Our memories of how objects feel is ingrained into our subconsciousness, and just the sight of them can evoke a sensation of touch. By making a strong statement about texture, you can add a tactile dimension to your photos.

Angled light captures the shape and imperfections of an object’s surface and creates a pattern of highlight and shadow to produce visual texture. The rough surface of a weathered building is best emphasized by strong, direct sidelight.

Framing is important too – it’s a good idea to get close to a subject when you want to emphasize texture. And very often, converting an image to black-and-white enhances the graphic qualities of your subject and eliminates the distraction of color.

(c) Lynne Eodice

Editor's Notes:

• Check out Lynne Eodice's excellent courses at BetterPhoto's digital online photography school:
  • Learning to Shoot Inspiring Images
  • Pro Tips for Great Exposure
• The upcoming book by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager - The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography - focuses on composition, color, and the elements of design.

Travel Photography: Planning Foreign Model Shoots

By Jim Zuckerman

(c) Jim Zuckerman

Travel photography is often frustrating because you can’t always be in the right place at the right time with the right lighting. If you like to photograph foreign people and their culture, you usually breeze in and out of a village or town relying on serendipity to get good shots. This is not the way to do it.

I learned a long time ago that it takes forethought and planning to guarantee great pictures of people in other cultures. Sure, serendipity does happen sometimes where everything comes together. We all know, however, that this doesn’t happen often.

(c) Jim Zuckerman

Therefore, when I travel to a place like Africa, I make a list of the types of images I want to take in tribal environments. For example, my preconceived idea list when I took a photo tour group to Namibia looked like this:

• Silhouette of Bushman archer
• Bushmen hunting party
• Silhouette of Bushmen against large sun
• Himba family in sunset lighting walking toward the camera
• Himba girls dancing

(c) Jim Zuckerman

To get these kinds of shots, I have to wear a director’s hat and set these images up. I use my local guide to set up the time of day (usually sunrise or sunset), the location (which I have scouted), and I always select the models to make sure they are the kind of people I want to photograph. The fee is negotiated before the actual shoot, of course.

At the appointed time, through a tribal interpreter, I direct the action. For example, I’ll tell a mother with children to walk to the camera from a particular place. Or I will tell a group of Bushmen exactly how to stand, look, crouch, or aim a bow. In this way, I get perfect pictures for my photo tour group and me.

Editor's Notes:
- Jim Zuckerman is a top stock photographer and who teaches Developing Your Creative Artistic Vision, Eight Steps to More Dramatic Photography, Techniques of Natural Light Photography and other online photo courses for BetterPhoto's digital photography school and special certification for photography program.
- In addition, Jim Z's work appears in a new book by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager: The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography (subtitled: "Learn to Master Composition, Color, and Design"). This book, published by Amphoto, is due out in October 2011.

Add Texture to a Photograph for a Painterly Effect

By Deborah Sandidge

(c) Deborah Sandidge

Layering textures with a photograph can create an expressive image reminiscent of a painting. This solitary tree photograph was layered with several textures from Flypaper Textures, which created the brushstrokes of color look. Texture adds a little definition and detail throughout an image. No clouds, no worries, empty skies work well for textured effects!

The key for adding texture is to find a blend mode that will work for the images. Copy and paste (or drag) the new texture layer over your original photograph layer, and find a complementary blend mode by scrolling through each Blend Mode. Here's how you do it...

With the move tool active, hold down the shift key and press the plus or minus key to see the various effects Blend Modes have on your image. Soft light was used for this combination. Nik Viveza was used to selectively tone down, brighten up and add color to areas in the image. The artistic edge treatment that pulls the image together is PhotoFrame from OnOne Software.

Make great pictures! ~ Deb

Editor note: Deb Sandidge teaches two photo workshops at BetterPhoto's online photography school: Photoshop - Enhancing Digital Images and Creating Works of Art and Digital Infrared Photography.

DSLR Kit Lens: Should You Buy It?

By Peter K. Burian

When buying a digital SLR camera, should you get it with the 18-55mm lens?

As the digital SLRs are becoming more and more affordable, an increasing number of families are buying a camera of this type. Friends and students who are planning to do so, often ask me the same question. "Should I buy it with the 18-55mm zoom or with a better lens?" Since the kit lens adds only about $100 to the price, they're worried that it won't be able to provide fine image quality. And if it cannot, what would be a suitable alternative, they wonder.

While most DSLRs can be purchased as "body only" they're also available as a kit including a short zoom, such as an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 model. Such lenses vary in terms of their optical quality but some (like the Canon IS model) are better than average and may be worth considering.

The Short Zooms:
When reviewing DSLRs for photo magazines, I occasionally get cameras with one or two kit lenses. (Most camera companies also provide a high-grade lens for the test period.) Based on my experience, some of the 18-55mm kit lenses are actually quite decent in spite of the affordable price. For example, the following are better than average: the Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS, the Sony 18-55mm SAM, and the Pentax 18-55mm models. The Olympus kit lens is a 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 model and it may be the best of the bunch.

A lens of this type is fine for getting started if you rarely make prints larger than letter-size. (You can find test reports on many lenses with a google search.) On the other hand, if your budget allows, a high-grade short zoom would be even better, particularly if you make or order larger prints. I would recommend the Sigma 17-70mm ƒ/2.8-4 OS HSM, the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 and especially the similar lenses from the camera manufacturers. Expect to pay $450 to $700 for a lens with superior optical elements, wider maximum apertures and more rugged construction.

Two Lens Kits:
No short lens can provide full versatility. If your budget is tight - and if the primary kit lens has gotten good reviews - consider a twin lens camera kit. The second one will be an affordable 55-200mm or 55-250mm lens, and the two will allow you to shoot most any type of subject effectively. This type of zoom often scores well in test reports. That's because it's easier to make than a lens that provides focal lengths from wide-angle to telephoto.

A twin lens kit including a short zoom and a telephoto zoom - such as this Sony setup - provides great versatility. A "bundled" package also offers much better value than buying the second lens separately at a later date.

Multi-Purpose Lenses:
Some manufacturers also package certain DSLRs with an 18-200mm zoom, the so-called "vacation lens". This type is very attractive if you prefer to carry only a single lens, but it's more expensive than the two kit lenses. As well, compromises must be made by the optical designers when creating a compact/lightweight lens that covers focal lengths from 18mm wide-angle to a full 200mm telephoto. You'll definitely want to read reviews about the one that's available in a kit with the camera you want.

If you want great versatility with a single lens, a DSLR kit including an 18-200mm zoom would be the best bet, such as shown with this Nikon DSLR. Granted, a two-lens kit may be a bit more affordable but it will not offer maximum convenience.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Since a short kit lens adds so little to the price of a DSLR, it's worth buying if you do not already own lenses that are compatible with your new camera. For the best results with an inexpensive lens, use f/8 to f/11 when practical, avoid shooting into the sun and buy the suitable lens hood if one is not included. If you insist on superior quality, however, check out the premium-grade short zooms from the camera manufacturer, or from Tamron and Sigma.

A 55-200mm or 55-250mm kit lens is very useful. Still, you might prefer to save up for a 70-300mm zoom if you often want to shoot more distant action. Expect to pay $450 to $600 for a very good 70-300mm lens and $700 to $1600 for a prosumer-grade model that will provide superb image quality. If the DSLR body is not equipped with an image stabilizer, be sure to look for a telephoto zoom designated IS, OS, VR or VC to get that feature in the lens barrel. The system will provide camera-shake compensation and you'll get sharper photos at long focal lengths.

NOTE: Peter Burian teaches two excellent online photography workshops - Mastering the Digital Camera and Photography and Mastering the Canon EOS Digital Rebels - at BetterPhoto's online digital photography school. Also see Peter's Pro BetterPholio website: www.peterkburian.com.

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