Tag Archives: tip

a lightroom tip

March 29, 2008 – 4:33 pm

(There are days when I want to make out with Scott Kelby for making my life better. This is one of those days. [I'm going to be really humiliated if he ever vanity-googles his name and discovers this post.])

I was reading his Lightroom book last night and read the following tip, which I am now compelled to share with the world:

When you are in the develop module and decide that you want to crop a photo, hit the “L” key twice after you select the crop tool. Now you can move the cropper edges around (and move your photo around underneath the crop area) and see exactly what it will look like when cropped because everything else will be totally dark.

I explain things terribly so I’m sure that makes no sense, but if you have Lightroom and have never tried this, you need to.

Right now.

You’ll want to make out with Scott Kelby, too.

By Colorado Springs Wedding Photographer | Posted in Photoshop Tips | Also tagged lightroom, photographer, photography | Comments (0)

Photography Tip Tuesday: Week #4, Portraits and Flash

March 25, 2008 – 8:13 am

It’s Tuesday which means it’s time for photography tips! I don’t know about you, but I am PSYCHED that this is week four, because I am so tired of looking at this Bad Picture. Egads. It is now posted FOUR TIMES in my pretty little blog.

For anyone new to the party, this month I’m going over two photos: one good, and one bad, and analyzing a few easy to change things that make the good one different from the bad. We could very easily go longer than four weeks, but, like I said, I am sick to death of these pictures, so it’s time for a change next week!

For one last time, we have the good picture:

portrait photography colorado springs

And the bad:

bad photographer portrait

Simple Tip - Your Camera’s Flash Sucks

Whether you have a $1000 camera, or a $200 camera, the flash that comes on it sucks. It is very good at exposing your subject correctly, but it is awful at making the photo look natural or beautiful.

All you need to do is look at The Bad Photo and you know instantly that my on-camera flash fired. Why? Nic has a white spot on his forehead (called a hot spot) and there is a horrible shadow behind his head.

In The Good Photo, no flash has fired. His skin looks nice, and there are no unsightly shadows.

In some situations, you absolutely couldn’t take a picture with a point-and-shoot without using a flash. But many cameras fire the flash almost always, regardless of whether or not it is needed. An easy way to make your pictures better is to turn off the flash. Indoor nighttime shots will take on an orange tone, but that isn’t undesireable–in fact, it will usually make you feel warm and cozy about the photo, because in that moment the light was nice and warm and orangey.

Step it Up - Make Your Flash Rock

As much as flash *can* suck, flash can also rock. There are as many things to learn about using as flash as there are about rocket science, and it all starts with getting an external flash. If you have a dSLR, you’re going to want to pick up an external flash. They aren’t super pricey (if you’re a nikon shooter, you can pick up this little baby for $100). The cool thing about external flashes is that the head can be rotated. Why is this cool? Because it enters you into the world of bouncing flash.

When you fire your flash directly at your portrait subject, the light source is small. If you turn your flash head toward the wall behind you (and in front of your subject), the light will bounce off the wall and then hit your subject. Instead of having a small flash-sized light source, you now have a light source the size of the wall! It’s like having a giant soft-box at your disposal.

Soft light is more flattering, won’t give you those “hot spots” like you see on Nic’s forehead in The Bad Photo, and avoids hideous flash shadows.

For more on flash and cool lighting, check out any of these sites (be prepared to start buying more strobes and accessories just as quickly as you collect lenses):

Strobist

Flash Flavor

Scott Kelby

By Colorado Springs Wedding Photographer | Posted in Photographer Tips | Also tagged flash, natural light, photographer, photography, tutorial | Comments (0)

Photography Tip Tuesday: Week #3, Portraits

March 18, 2008 – 12:23 pm

Hello Week #3 of Photography Tip Tuesdays!

This month we’re examining two snapshot portraits, and why one works, and the other doesn’t. Photography Tip #1 is here, Photography Tip #2 is here.

This is our bad photo:

bad portrait

And here is our good photo:

portrait of photographer

Simple Tip: It’s called “portrait” orientation for a good reason

When you want to print a sheet of paper the hotdog way, you select “portrait.” When you want to print it the hamburger way, you select “landscape.” It’s right there in the name, yet the vast majority of snapshots of people are horizontal prints (probably because it’s easier to hold the camera that way).

A very easy way to improve most of your compositions is to turn the camera, remembering that “portrait orientation is for people, landscape is for landscapes.”

People are tall and skinny, and so they fill the frame better when the photo is vertical. In the bad photo, Nic doesn’t fill the picture. He is the subject, but he’s swimming around with a bunch of clutter. In the good photo, Nic fills the frame.

Stepping it Up: All rules were meant to be broken

Finding ways to break this rule can lead to very interesting compositions. Most of the time landscape orientation portraits are showing a beautiful landscape, like this engagement portrait:

engagement portrait colorado

Close-ups can be very interesting, though, too, because it usually leads to cropping the face in an unexpected way:

toddler portrait

If you’re going to use a horizontal orientation, though, it’s important to remember to watch your composition. You most likely will be creating some white space, so you’ll want to make sure that space really is white (and not full of a lamp or china cabinet as in The Bad Photo) and that you utilize the rule of thirds to keep things interesting. (More of the rule of thirds next week for our “simple photography tip.”)

By Colorado Springs Wedding Photographer | Posted in Photographer Tips | Also tagged close-up, face, landscape, photographers, photography, portraits, tutorial | Comments (1)