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Photoshop Friday: Week #7 - Fixing Under-Eye Circles

April 18, 2008 – 7:22 am

Here’s the final edited picture that I’m using today (from a Colorado Springs high school senior portrait shoot–thanks Ashleigh for being the model today)!

colorado springs high school senior portrait

Here is the SOOC version (stands for “straight out of camera” with no adjustments):

The healing brush in Photoshop is often turned to when skin correction is needed. However, I sort of hate the healing brush. It certainly has its uses, but many times the blemish or under-eye circles are near dark areas of the photo (like hair) and it turns the skin grey.

The way around that is my preferred method of spot correcting skin, and that’s to use the clone tool on a separate layer, and then knock back the opacity.

Here are the step by step instructions:

With your photo open, go to LAYERS>DUPLICATE LAYER.

With that top layer selected, use the cloning tool at 50% softness, sample an area directly below the under eye circles (by holding down the control key and clicking on the sample area), and then paint over the darkness.

Then adjust the opacity on that top layer to make it all blend together. This method is great because it leaves a little of the lines/darkness so that your subject will recognize themselves, but just see a newer, better rested self.

Colorado Springs final portrait

Photographer’s Tips: Week #7 - Prime vs Zoom Lenses

April 15, 2008 – 8:03 pm

Most of the photographers I know have an obsession with prime lenses.

When you’re first starting out, prime lenses seem like a terrible idea. Why have a lens that just covers one focal length when you can get a zoom lens that covers many?

Convenience is the name of the game with zoom lenses.

You can’t beat the convenience of a lens that goes from wide angle to telephoto without having to make a lens change. But I am a lover of prime lenses. And here’s why:

Prime lenses only do one thing, so they do that one thing very well.

My 50mm lens only has to look at the world at a 50mm focal length, so it can do that job incredibly well. It doesn’t have to worry about 35mm or 24mm or 70mm–it only has to worry about doing the best little job that it can at 50mm.

My 24-70mm lens has a lot more to worry about. It’s got to cover 24mm, 70mm, and everything in between.

Many non-L series prime lenses are sharper than L-series zoom lenses. And when you get an L-series prime lens? Oh my, baby. The image is so sharp it could cut through streak.

Prime lenses only do one thing, so they can be cheaper.

To get excellent sharpness from a zoom lens, and a reasonably fast aperture, you have to pick up an L series zoom for over $1000k. But you can pick up a great prime lens that is very sharp and very fast (even faster than that L-series zoom lens) for $300.

Prime lenses are faster

Dollar-for-dollar, you’ll get a much wider aperture in prime lenses than zoom lenses. Wide apertures not only allow you to blur away backgrounds into prettiness, but they allow you to shoot in much darker situations (like indoor nighttime family snapshots).

Prime lenses are lighter/smaller.

This isn’t that big of a deal, but for going-to-the-park-with-Will lens, I like something that doesn’t make me look like I might also be peeking into people’s bedroom windows.

Prime lenses make me a better photographer.

I can’t really put it into words (so excuse me while I blubber like an idiot for a paragraph or two), but shooting with prime lenses requires more thought. Instead of standing where you’re standing and then zooming in and out until your composition is the way you want it to be, first you must decide on your focal length. Do you want a wide angle look? A normal look? Or a telephoto melting-of-the-background-and-compressing-the-image effect? Once you know that, you fix that focal length in and use your feet to compose the shot how you want it.

I like the way I move and think and compose shots when I shoot with prime lenses. They fit my style well. In fact, I shot 99% of my recent engagement portrait session with Julie and Marc using the 50mm and 135mm. That’s how much I love primes!

And now for the exact opposite

I use primes as my first choice, but here’s a review where the photographer’s first choice are zoom lenses. This is another case where what someone loves might not be your favorite. Give both a try and see what feels best to you!

By Colorado Springs Wedding Photographer | Posted in Photographer Tips | Also tagged lenses, photographers, tips | Comments (2)

Photography Tips - Week #6 (lenses, part 3 - my recommendations)

April 10, 2008 – 10:37 pm

Continuing in our lens extravaganza…today I’ll go over my lens recommendations for different budgets/situations (another post most useful for Canon photographers–sorry)!

Recommendation #1: Don’t buy the kit lens by default.

The kit lens that Canon bundles with their dSLRs has increased in quality in the last couple of years, but if the lens isn’t a useful focal length for you or fast enough, it is still a waste of money. If it was me buying my first dSLR, I would buy the camera body only and pick the lenses I want to use and just buy those (which is what we did).

Recommendation #2: www.the-digital-picture.com is your best friend.

This is my all time favorite review site. Great in-depth reviews about Canon photography gear. This lens comparison feature is the coolest thing ever. Plug in two different lenses in the top two boxes, then select a focal length and aperture, and you get to compare the sharpness of the two lenses by moving your curser over the image and then back off to the side (don’t feel badly if you didn’t figure that part out straight away–I wasn’t so quick on figuring that out, either). It becomes very clear exactly what a difference a good lens makes!

Recommendation #3: Pay attention to how you like to take pictures

Will your camera mainly be brought out for vacation, or outdoor pictures, or macro shots, or inside pictures? The way you like to take pictures will make or break a lens for you. No matter how much my photographer heros love the 85mm f/1.8, it didn’t change the fact that it didn’t work for how *I* like to take pictures. So these recommendations may work for you, but they may not. Do plenty of research on the pros and cons of any lens you’re considering and then think about whether those pros and cons are important to your style.

Recommendations for your first lens, your everyday lens

Unless you’re a Rockefeller, you are probably wanting to buy just one lens to start out. This is a great way to go. You can become a lens collector and slowly add to your camera bag in a way that doesn’t make your checking account cry.

Or better yet, get your spouse equally addicted and you can start buying each other camera equipment for every holiday, anniversary, and birthday. Just remember that even if you bought a particular piece of equipment for your husband for his birthday, it’s still yours. And whatever he buys you for Christmas is also yours. It’s just all yours.

If your budget is tight - camera body + 50mm f/1.4

If you are looking to take pictures of your family and plan on being indoors for a goodly percentage of those pictures (the every day stuff), you cannot go wrong with this combo. I could be very happy taking our family pictures with just my 20d and 50mm f/1.4.

Do not attempt to save $100 and buy the 50mm f/1.8. The f/1.8 does not have pretty bokeh, and apparently it manages to fall apart all over the place. Invest a teeny tiny bit more and get a truly fantastic lens.

If your budget has a little more wiggle room - camera body + 24-70mm f/2.8 L

This was my first lens and first love. The image quality is fantastic, and the extra range of the 24-70 focal length is great. The 24-105mm IS also gets wonderful reviews, but I would miss the extra background blur you can get from having f/2.8 as an option. When I’m taking indoor pictures, background blur is my friend. I don’t need all of my relatives seeing exactly how many piles of laundry are in the background. Much better for them to be just blobs of color.

Next up– telephoto time

Your first lens needs to be an all-around lens with an easy focal length for everyday shots. But you’ll probably find that you are wanting to add a telephoto lens to the mix to be able to reach the animals at the zoo a little better, or sneak shots of your kids in the living room while you’re standing in the kitchen.

I could make out with my 70-200 f/2.8 IS lens, but it’s the sort of lens that you have to sell your firstborn child for. The 70-200 f/4 IS lens is $700 cheaper, lighter, and even a bit sharper. You’re probably not going to be using this lens indoors anyway (too much zoom), so unless you’re planning on shooting weddings in a church, the f/4 IS should cover you.

And then — going wide

Everyone needs to find their own priority list for lenses, but in my list, wide angles go toward the bottom. I think they are the hardest lenses to use well, the least flattering, and therefore the ones I pull from my bag the least often.

The tough thing about 1.6 FOVCF camera bodies is that it makes “normal” lenses out of wide angle lenses. In order to get a truly wide angle from a 40d or Rebel, you’ll want the 10-22mm EF-S lens.

***

I hope that was helpful! Let me know if you have any specific questions. I’ll be answering a few next week!

By Colorado Springs Wedding Photographer | Posted in Photographer Tips | Also tagged cameras, equipment, lenses, Photographer Tips, photograpy, review, tips | Comments (0)

Photography Tips: Week #6 - Lenses (part 2 - my lenses)

April 9, 2008 – 10:29 pm

Continuing with our lens themed week (yesterday I wrote about basic lens information and last week I wrote about what to consider when purchasing a camera), today I’ll cover what lives in my camera bag (as well as the lenses that got booted from it).

Sorry Nikon photographers…this is a Canon post.

My Lenses

Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L IS

It is hard for me to pick a favorite lens, because I love them all, but if I had to pick just one favorite, it would probably be this one.

Pros: I love the beautiful bokeh it creates for portraits, and being a long (telephoto) fast (the maximum aperture is f/2.8) lens with 3 stops of image stabilization (I can take pictures in places that are three times darker), it is my best friend at indoor wedding ceremonies. I recommend it wholeheartedly to wedding photographers–I wouldn’t want to be without it. I also use it a lot for portraits–long lenses are more flattering, they condense a scene making it possible to bring a mountain or city skyline closer to your subject, and long lenses can also isolate a subject from a cluttered background better than a normal or telephoto lens.

Cons: It’s expensive. I think it would be hard to justify this lens if you couldn’t make money from it. People also complain about the weight…but I don’t think that’s a good reason not to carry the best equipment for the job. And needing to carry heavy equipment is a great reason to stay in shape.

Canon 135mm f/2.0 L

Since purchasing this lens last month, it has been a disproportionate amount of time on my camera. It definitely comes a close second to the 70-200 as my favorite lens. It’s the lens I keep on my camera for taking family pictures.

Pros: This is a long fast lens, so it has all the benefits of the 70-200 (with the exception of image stabilization). It’s faster than the 70-200 (f/2.0 instead of f/2.8) so the bokeh from it is even more amazing. It’s relatively lightweight. And this is one super sharp lens. The pictures I get from it are incredibly sharp and it focuses very quickly. A fellow photographer and friend of mine calls this her “magic lens.” At $900, it’s also a fantastic deal for such beautiful quality.

Cons: This is a fantastic focal length for my style and on my full frame 5d camera, but on a 1.6 FOVCF body (rebel, 20/30/40d, etc) I can see it being too long (or too “zoomed in”) for many people’s liking.

Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L

This was our first lens, and it is a fantastic multi-purpose lens. Many pros list it as their favorite lens, or the one lens they would keep if they could only have one.

Pros: It is fast, sharp, focuses quickly, and has a great range–a perfect “every day” focal length range.

Cons: I like the 24-70 more on a 1.6 FOVCF body than I do on the 5d–it’s a little too short for my style on a full frame body (but is great in tight quarters or for groups). This is another on-the-big/heavy-side lens.

Canon 17-40 f/4 L

This is our wide angle lens, and it does a great job of that. Perfect for wide angle wedding scenes.

Pros: It is a great wide angle lens. It is a fantastic deal–$650 and fairly small and lightweight. When I need a wide angle shot, I know I’m going to get a great one.

Cons: I’m not a huge fan of wide angles (though I know they are popular right now in portraits)–I prefer the flattering telephoto lenses. So this lens doesn’t get used much.

Canon 50mm f/1.4

This gets my vote for the one I recommend most to new photographers. If you are on a tight budget and can only get one lens, this is the one to get.

Pros: It is very fast, fantastically inexpensive ($250), and has beautiful bokeh (unlike it’s cheaper illegitimate sister, the 50mm f/1.8). This one also spends a lot of time on my camera at home. It’s wide aperture and multi-purpose “normal” focal length makes it a great bet for family photos. It is tiny and very lightweight. (And it’s the least expensive lens in my bag, so if something gets dropped or damaged from being out, at least it’s not an expensive loss!) You are also able to get very close to your subject with it–it has a minimum focusing distance of 1.5 feet, which means I can very nicely fill the frame with my little two year old subject.

Cons: Can’t think of any. Unless not having a pretty red “L series” stripe can counts as a con.

Lenses I have kicked to the curb

Canon 70-200 f/4 L

Pros: This baby is a fantastic value. One of the least expensive L lenses. It is sharp, relatively lightweight, and a great lens for traveling. We broke this one out for vacations and it was fantastic.

Cons: As a telephoto f/4 with no image stabilization, this was not a good indoor lens. The 70-200 f/2.8 IS kicked its butt, and then when we got the 135mm, we sold this one.

Canon 85mm f/1.8

Another prime lens (so far I’ve discussed the 50mm f/1.4 and the 135 f/2.0). Prime lenses are my faves and I plan on discussing the difference between primes and zooms later this week. But in short, prime lenses are usually a totally fantastic value because they only have to do one thing, and they can do that one focal length extremely well.

Pros: A lot of people like this lens.

Cons: I was not one of those people. To be fair, it IS a nice lens with great image quality and fast focusing at a great value (around $350). I think on a 1.6 FOVCF I would like this lens, but it was useless to me on the 5d. Every time I framed the shot how I wanted it, it would turn out I was too close and I’d have to take a step back. It has an almost 3 feet minimum focusing distance (compared to the 50mm’s 1.5 feet). I bought the 135mm to combat this problem (it also has a 3 feet min focusing distance, but being a much longer lens means that I can frame the shot just how I want it from that distance).

By Colorado Springs Wedding Photographer | Posted in Photographer Tips | Also tagged camera, canon, lenses, Photographer Tips, photographers, photography, review | Comments (3)

Photoshop Friday: Sharpening Your Photos

April 5, 2008 – 8:39 pm

(Photoshop Friday and Scrapbook Saturday are a day late this week thanks to BOTH my blog AND Photoshop wigging out on me yesterday.)

Whenever you are about to print a photo or share it online, one of your last steps should be to sharpen it. Whenever you resize your photo–either making it larger OR smaller–you’ll need to sharpen it.

Here’s the picture we’ll be working with:

denver family portrait bubble blowing

I have always used the “unsharp mask” feature (FILTER>SHARPEN>UNSHARP MASK):

photoshop tutorial screenshot

Next you get a little pop-up window that asks you to pick your settings. This is the setting I usually use, but I think every photographer finds one that they like best:

sharpen mask photoshop tutorial

Yesterday a fellow photographer taught me a new technique that I like a lot. It gives you a little more power to fine tune the effect.

Start by making a duplicate layer of your photo (LAYER>DUPLICATE LAYER):

Then you head over to the filter drop-down again, but this time you’ll select OTHER>HIGH PASS:

It will give you another pop-up prompt. Pick something around 30px:

Now it’s time to make the scary gray disappear. In your layers menu, change it from “normal” to “soft light” and then adjust the opacity of the layer to whatever seems right.