Author Archives: Josh

About Josh

I'm a self taught photographer from Brighton, England. I take a lot of photos and enjoy teaching my methods to anyone willing to learn- this is my blog, check out my video training. Google

Creative Retouching Essentials In A Day eBook Review & Coupon

I was recently sent a copy of ‘Creative Retouching Essentials In A Day‘ to review, and after having given it a thorough read though, I thought I would share my thoughts with you.

If you’re interested in learning Creative Retouching Essentials In A Day, then stick around because I have a 50%-off coupon code to share with you.

The ebook is written by Julia Kuzmenko. She’s an internationally published professional Beauty, Fashion & Portrait photographer, digital artist and retoucher. An International College of Professional Photography (Melbourne, Australia) graduate and NAPPmember.

She also a Wacom & AfterCapture Digital Imaging Contest 2012 winner (Portrait Category, second place): the winner image & retouching video.

Lets start by looking at the lessons you’ll learn and what’s inside them, then we can look at some pros and cons.

LESSON I – Setting up for a good start:

Preferences & Memory Usage
Customizing Your Workspace
Image File Formats, Resolution, Size & Canvas
History Panel
Color Theory & Management

For what I consider to be quite a short ebook, there is a surprisingly large about of detailed knowledge in this lesson. People often overlook the importance of things like color management, not really understanding why it matters, but all the information I would expect to find here, is here.

This section ranges from image size and resolution, all the way to your computer’s RAM. It’s the sort of information I skipped over when I started processing myself, not fully understanding why it mattered to much, and that’s held me back in the past. Reading this lesson is a good way to start as you mean to go on.

LESSON II – Painting and retouching tools:

Brush, Clone Stamp, Healing Brushes & Patch Tool
Default Tool Keyboard Shortcuts
Brush Opacity vs. Flow
Free Transform Tool
Selection Tools & Refine Edge Function
Liquify Tool
Photoshop Actions

This is where the most important information can be found. These are all the tools that you need to know about to get started with your photo retouching.

If you’re like me, then everything you’ve learned about Photoshop has been through either trial or error, or Googling a problem whenever you’re stuck. The good thing about this section is it covers the important information you need to know before you get started. Simple things like brush opacity and flow, and clone, healing and brush tools. There’s some useful diagrams for each.

This is also where the ebook starts to get quite creative with liquify tool, and various Photoshop actions.

LESSON III - Essential Photoshop panels for beauty & portrait photographers:

Layers Panel: Opacity & Fill, Handling, Grouping
Blending Modes
Layer Masks
Adjustment Layers

This lesson is all about setting up Photoshop and your workflow to produce the best results. Simple, but powerful tools like layer masks are used to create a nondestructive workflow, so that you can make adjustments, and then come back later and change them if you like, using the layers system.

You will also learn about things like selective color and curves, so that you can really understand how to creatively process your photos. The curves tool is a very popular tool for photographers these days, and they’re a great way to create a cross-processed effect.

BONUS MATERIALS:

Essential Beauty Actions set ($69 VALUE: Magic Smile, Magic Eyes, Frequency Separation preset, and many more) + USER MANUAL & VIDEO TUTORIAL BELOW
Getting Better Every Day in Photography & Photoshop / ADDITIONAL PDF
Custom Beauty Brushes (free download URL) & USER MANUAL
Collection of Photoshop Gradients

Who doesn’t love a few free bonuses, eh! The first bonus is a set of actions (they’re like Lightroom Presets). They’re used to make a few changes at once, and it’s a great way of having a professional input on your amateur processing.

The other bonuses are equally useful, as they provide additional information, and another Photoshop tool.

PROS – Creative Retouching Essentials eBook

Length – I didn’t really expect this to be a positive in my books, but I have to say that I was actually quite pleased with the length. We’ve all bought training products before, whether it’s a book or a DVD, and more often than not, when it’s too long, we don’t ever get round to using it at all.

This ebook is only about 25 pages, which is much less daunting, easy to manage, and provides me with exactly what I need. You don’t need to waste your time learning all the tools and panels Photoshop has to offer, if you only want to master or improve your photo retouching skills. The layout helps too…

Layout – This is something I’ve overlooked myself in the past. The way the pages are layed out in three columns, you end up with all the information you need in a section on 1-2 pages. This means that it’s much easier to refer back to when I’m trying to find a particular piece of information.

Interactive – Throughout the ebook there are links to different resources and videos to help you with the learning process.

Images – The images that Julia uses are simply fantastic. She’s a very accomplished photographer and retoucher, and her images speak for themselves. Have a look at some of her images below.

Tori 1 9 CARGO JK 1200 400x600 Creative Retouching Essentials In A Day eBook Review & Coupon

Julia Kuzmenko 10 400x600 Creative Retouching Essentials In A Day eBook Review & Coupon

IMG 7963 1196 CARGO JK 1200 400x600 Creative Retouching Essentials In A Day eBook Review & Coupon

CONS – Creative Retouching Essentials eBook

No Refunds - As this is a digital product, the author has decided against offering a refund, through fear of someone purchasing it, and then immediately asking for their money back, effectively stealing the product. I always offer a refund with my digital goods, but I can see where Julia Kuzmenko is coming from.

I would say that you need to make extra sure about your purchase before you go through with it.

Final Thoughts

Even though I’ve been using Photoshop for a couple of year, I still learned a lot from this ebook. I have never really used Photoshop as my processing software, as I tend to stick to Lightroom, but I think that might start to do more processing in Photoshop now that I’ve seen how powerful it is.

I’ve negotiated a 50% discount for the ebook for Expert Photography readers, so enter ‘Expert50‘ at the checkout to make the saving.

About the eBook

This ebook is targetted to photographers to want to retouch their photos professionally, using Photoshop. If you do not use Photoshop, this ebook is not for you.

The ebook is best viewed using Adobe Reader, but you can also read it on your tablet too, although please download it to your computer first.

So if you like what you’ve seen, but you would like to know more, check out the full description of the ebook here.

If you’re ready to take your photo retouching to the next level, and you would like to get started right now, click on the button below, and enter the following coupon code for 50% off:

50% Off Coupon for ExpertPhotography readers: Expert50

10 Most Exciting Kickstarter Photography Products

Kickstarter is one of my favourite websites as it’s a fantastic resource for Photographers who want to fund their own Kickstarter photography products.

The beauty of the website is that designers and inventors no longer need investment to bring a product to market, they simply need to have a working prototype. They find the money they need to start production by pre-selling their product to people who love the idea and don’t mind waiting a few months to receive it.

I present to you, the 10 most exciting Kickstarter photography products…

CameraMator: Wireless Tethered Photography

I get really excited about wireless camera tethering, as it’s clearly a sign of the future. There has been countless times where I’m taking a photo, and I’ve had to zoom into the image on my screen, for whatever reason. If you can connect your camera, and control it wirelessly to your iPad, this makes previewing the images much easier, and this is exactly what CameraMator has done.

You don’t even need to have a WiFi network as CamearMator will create one for you to connect to- that means you don’t have to be inside to use it! You can also control Aperture, Shutter, ISO and White Balance for all supported cameras, through the app. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, you don’t have to use the camera’a hotshoe to make it work.

In the video you’ll see that they only use the hotshoe as a place to hold the device, but it’s not necessary for it to work. This frees up the hotshoe to be used with Pocket Wizards, or devices like that. Exciting stuff!

It costs $299, which is a bargain. You can purchase it here.

Quikdraw – an innovative lens holster

I absolutely LOVE this product. I’m constantly changing lenses and fussing with body caps and lens hoods, while trying to get my bag open. When you’re in a busy shoot, this is the last thing you want to be doing.

The great thing about this holster is that it keeps your lenses all within reach, so that you can quickly and easily change them over when ever you need to. If you shoot with a lot of prime lenses like me, then this is exactly what you need.

It’s suitable for Canon or Nikon lenses, comes in tan or black, can hold over 20lbs, and it’s priced dependant on how many mounts you need. They’re currently $84.95 each, here.

Travelwide 4×5 Camera

The Travelwide is a 4×5 film camera designed to make large-format photography more accessible and fun than before. Large format cameras are usually big, bulky, heavy and expensive, but this is a much simpler camera. Made up of only nine different parts and customisable with different lenses, backs and coldshoes, you can use the camera in the way the name suggests- while traveling.

It was on Kickstarter for $99 and it uses 4×5 film, which offers 16x the resolution of a standard 35mm frame of film. It’s lighter than a DSLR, and although that includes the weight of a lens, the camera doesn’t come with a lens, or a film holder. You can pick up a lens about $150-$200 and a film holder for $10-$15. Still though, a very exciting camera for anyone interested in film photography.

ONDU Pinhole Camera

I’ve never seen such simple, beautifully handcrafted, sustainable cameras in my life. These six pinhole cameras from ONDU are handmade by two brothers out of locally harvested chestnut and maple wood. To suit various photographic needs, they come in 6 different dimensions and film sizes, from the most common Leica 135 format to the 4˝ x 5˝ film holder camera.

As I publish this post, the two brothers are only two days into their Kickstarter project and have already raised the $10,000 they’re looking for. Get them while they’re hot!

Radian

This is one of the most impressive and high quality time-lapse accessories I’ve ever seen. Not only will it work landscape, but it’s strong enough to work in a portrait configuration too. It can be controlled by your smartphone (something we all like to do these days) and it’s incredibly easy to set up. If you’re into time-lapse photography, then this is a great accessory for you to own, as it can be used in conjunction with other time-lapse accessories.

It costs $150 which is unheard of, considering a timer costs about $130, which makes this a bargain. It only weighs 225g and it has a massive panning load of 7kg. It’s currently off-sale, but you can pre-order here.

If you would like to learn more about time-lapse, click here.

Luxi – Incident Light Meter for iPhone

Luxi is a small diffusion dome that fits securely over your iPhone’s front-facing camera. When attached and used with a light meter app, Luxi will help you determine the best settings for your DSLR or other camera so that you can take perfectly exposed pictures.

The light meter built into all cameras measures reflected light. A reflected light meter shows an appropriate setting for an average of the whole scene. If you are taking a picture of a scene that does not have an average lighting situation, your camera’s built-in light meter will not be accurate. Usually, that causes an overexposed or underexposed picture.

This is where Luxi comes in. It only works for natural, or constant light (not flashes), but it’s a much cheaper alternative to a light meter. It costs ~$20, which is a whole lot cheaper than $200+ you’d pay for a traditional light meter.

The Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner

I’m still a big film shooter as you can probably tell, so this one really caught my attention. It’s a new way to scan all of my 35mm film, without having to rely on the lab to do it for me. It’s also great if you’ve got a load of old developed film sitting in a box, that you don’t know what to do with.

You simply attach your smart phone to the device, turn on the light box, roll in the 35mm film, and take a photo to save the development. It’s that simple and it produces some fantastic results. It was originally available for $40 on Kickstarter, but it’s now $59 and available here.

Impossible Instant Lab: Turn iPhone Images into Real Photos

From the company that brought back Polaroid film comes an exciting new printer for your smartphone photos. You simply take a photo on your iPhone, and then place your iPhone face down on the Instant Lab, open the shutter, and wait for the photo to expose.

Then all you have to do is click print, like you would on a normal Polaroid camera. An easy way to make instant prints of your iPhone photos.

It’s currently unavailable, but you can find out when it will in the stores here.

The Pop-Up Pinhole Project

If you like DIY photography, then you’ll love this product. It’s the plans and supplies that you need to create your own medium formet pinhole camera at home. It’s been created by a girl from Brighton (my hometown) who’s original project became so popular online that people were imitating it, and so she decided she wanted a produce a kit for people to do it themselves.

It’s a really fascinating project, and one that’s going into production as it’s reached it’s Kickstarter target by over double the amount needed.

Snapzoom: The Universal Smartphone Scope Adapter

If you’ve ever used the digital zoom on your iPhone, you’ll know what a bad idea that is. The photos come out looking terrible. And that’s what makes this product so exciting, because it allows you to use your phone (not necessarily smart) as a camera for binoculars, telescopes, microscopes and more.

When it hits the market, it will retail for $74.95, but can still buy it today for $70.

17 Creative Photography Tutorials to Cure Boredom

Do you sometimes struggle to come up with creative photography ideas, and start to find photography a little bit boring?

You’re not alone. It’s often all too easy to forget what fun photography can be until you start look at the works of others for inspiration. Take these 17 creative photography tutorials for example, they all provide you with a different insight into how to create more interesting photos, for fun.

Night Photography

During the winter months, I used to find that I simply didn’t have time to take photos for fun during the day time anymore, which invariable left me turning to shooting outdoors at night. I didn’t really know what I was doing at first, but I soon learned, and started to love night photography.

You can learn all about night photography in this fantastic ebook: Seeing The Unseen – Landscapes at Night – $15

The Brenizer Method

Wedding photographer Ryan Brenizer invented this really cool technique while on his honeymoon which is dubbed “The Brenizer Method”. For those who may or may not have heard of it and are not sure of what this technique is exactly, it’s essentially using a telephoto lens to create a very shallow depth of field as if shot with a wider angle lens. This technique makes a dSLR image look like it was shot by medium format.

High Speed Photography

Freezing fast motion (AKA High Speed Photography), can give some pretty special photographic effects. High Speed Photography is used in physics, health research, sports and more. This guide describes how to capture super fast movements using ordinary camera gear and a little home made electronics.

Smoke Photography

Smoke photography can be used to create some awesome looking effects, using flashes, torches, natural light and more, all in a very small space. Once you’re done, you can edit the smoke to appear in a different colour, and merge two photos together to make it appear as if the smoke has come from somewhere it’s not.

Macro Photography

Close-up photography is great for really bringing out the detail of your subject. In this macro photography tutorial, they tell you how to get the best results when shooting macro outside.

HDR Tutorial

This tutorial will attempt to demonstrate how to make a realistic HDR, one that is virtually indistinguishable from a single exposure. The biggest goal is producing a tutorial that can stand as a standard by which anyone can learn to create a balanced HDR. Ultimately, the processing choices are yours. These are the building blocks.

Also in ebook form: HDR Photography Essentials Pack – $29.

Panoramic Photos

Panoramas can produce some awe inspiring photos, providing the viewer with a much wider viewing angle than they would typically see, either from a photo, or their eyes. You can create small panoramas, merging just three photos, or go the full 360, and produce miniature globes like in this post here.

Milky Way

Learn how to take photos of The Milky Way from Jim Harmer over on Improve Photography. This is something I’ve always wanted to try, but living in the UK (which is much densely populated than the US), it’s hard to find a night sky which isn’t ruined by light polution.

Slow Sync Flash

Slow sync flash is when you fire your flash either at the beginning or end of an exposure that’s slower than normal, for example 1/8 of a second. Anyone with experience behind a camera knows that it’s very hard to hold the camera steady enough for a sharp exposure at this sort of speed, and that’s where the flash comes in. By firing the flash, you freeze the motion and collect light trails in the remaining time, creating this rather cool effect, like in the photos below.

Infrared Photography

Infrared, or “IR” photography, offers photographers of all abilities and budgets the opportunity to explore a new world – the world of the unseen. Why “unseen”? Because our eyes literally cannot see IR light, as it lies just beyond what is classified as the “visible” spectrum – that which human eyesight can detect. When we take photographs using infrared-equipped film or cameras, we are exposed to the world that can often look very different from that we are accustomed to seeing. Colors, textures, leaves and plants, human skin, and all other manner of objects can reflect IR light in unique and interesting ways, ones that cannot be mimicked with tools such as Photoshop.

This is also covered in the Trick Photography & Special Effects Ebook – $47.

Tilt Shift Processing

A true tilt-shift photo is done using a tilt-shift lens, and they’re typically used for architecture photography, to fix the perspective of buildings when you look up. Recently though, the effect has been used in photoshop to create ‘model village’ style photos, making the whole scene look miniature.

Colorize a B&W Photo

The process of turning a black and white photo into color can be tricky, depending on the photo you’re working with. Adding color is simple. The tricky bit is the selection process. Without any color, objects have a tendency to blend with each other. This tutorial is meant to demonstrate the process of adding color to a black and white photo.

Black & White Photography

Black and white is nothing new when it comes to art, it’s been going on since the beginning of time and art photography is similar in that it started out as black and white due to technical limitations, way before the dawn of colour film. Even though the majority of photography in done automatically on digital cameras, black and white photography still lives on today.

ND Filter Long Exposure

Neutral density (ND) filters reduce the amount of light entering the camera, enabling a longer exposure time than otherwise possible. This can emphasize motion, or make an otherwise tumultuous scene appear surreal and quiescent. Alternatively, an ND filter also enables larger apertures, which can produce a shallower depth of field, or achieve a sharper photo. Either way, this is a useful and often under-appreciated filter that deserves a deeper look.

Droste Effect

The Droste effect is an image effect named after a Dutch cocoa company called Droste. In 1904 it produced packaging for its cocoa product showing a woman carrying a tray with a box of cocoa and a cup on it. A small version of the package appeared on the cocoa box on the tray and so on – each version of the image being successively smaller than the last.

This can also be found here: Trick Photography & Special Effects Ebook – $47.

Light Painting

In short, it’s a fun, easy way of getting some really cool photos. You don’t need to spend hours looking for a cool location, light painting can be done just about anywhere, so just follow my step by step, insightful, thought process about taking great light painting photos and you’ll be well on your way.

Again, this is a chapter in: Trick Photography & Special Effects Ebook – $47.

Mini-Planet Polar Coordinates

To make a long story short: The “Polar Panorama Effect” is one of my favorite ways to process photos into unique pieces of art. It takes a panoramic (or landscape) photo and uses the Polar Coordinates filter of Photoshop CS or The Gimp to create a circular image that seems to wrap the panorama around a planet.

Guess what? You can also find it here: Trick Photography & Special Effects Ebook – $47.

How to Scout Photography Locations

In the past, I found it quite hard to Scout Photography Locations, but fortunately technology has helped to change that for me.

I can now use my computer and my smartphone to do most of the work for me, without having to rely on expensive (although very good) location scouts.

This post is going to walk you through a bunch of different methods I use to find cool locations for my photography.

The Photographer’s Ephemeris

This app is awesomely powerful, especially if you have an idea of where abouts you want to shoot. What it does is give you the lay of the land for locations around the world. You can see the elevation of the ground, as well as the terrain, Google Earth, and other map options.

When you’ve found a location you like the look of, you can then see how the sun will appear on the day that you’re planning on going. It gives you the sun and moon rise times (as well as the weather), and you can input the time of day that you’re going to be there, and it will give you the exact angle of the sun and moon for that time.

When you couple this with the elevation view, you can see areas that are going to be sunny, and areas that are going to be in the shade. This will help you to fine-tune your location scouting, which will save you time, and produce better photos. At $8.99, it’s not a cheap app, but worth it in my opinion.

Panoramio

This website was purchased by Google in 2007 and it’s available as a layer in Google Maps and Google Earth. The site’s goal is to allow Google Earth users to learn more about a given area by viewing the photos that other users have taken at that place.

When you search a photo in Panoramio, you will see a scattering of photos across the map. These can all be enlarged to see the full sized image. You can also see the most popular photos in the left hand side of the page, like here when you search my hometown.

The joy of Panoramio is that not only do you get to find new locations, but you can find out which of the images are the most popular, which is useful when you’re trying to create a new image. Whether you’re shooting landscapes, or simply using the location as a backdrop for a portrait, there’s plenty of uses for Panoramio.

Shoot Local App

This is an exciting new app for photographers who want to combine their efforts and index interesting photography locations.

The premise is pretty simple really. The app is meant to simplify and enhance the process of finding and sharing new locations: connecting creatives to the world around them. In ShootLocal’s world, everyone is a location scout adding wonderful scenes and picturesque backdrops for you to capture in your next project.

Here are some of the features:

Create location databases for projects
Send or review locations across the country
Reduce resourcing costs for shoots
Set up a hunt for a particular element or location
Meet like-minded individuals
Share your favorite locations with friends
Follow popular scouts and see through their lens
Know where to shoot and explore when you travel
Plan a photo shoot like a pro
Find nearby photo enthusiasts

I’ve found that the app produces the best results if you’re in a densely populated area, otherwise you can be left wanting more. Still a great app to watch out for too. And it’s free.

Flickr

Flickr is a fantastic resource for photographers for many reasons, and not just for those who want to share their photos. If you know roughly where you want to take a photo, then simply searching your town is going to provide you with hundreds of thousands of results, taken by photographers who have come before you.

When I searched Brighton for this experiment, I found this image taken from Brighton Pier. It’s a fantastic angle of Brighton beach, and would be a good backdrop for a contextual portrait.

I know Brighton really well, but I recently took photos of a local DJ, and I still used Flickr to find locations that were suitable to my subject. I used keywords like dj, venue, brighton, music, and iconic, to find the location that’s in the photo below. It might mean nothing to you, but the coloured railings and benches, and the building in the distance, are very famous to people from Brighton.

Hyponik Donga Ashley Marlowe 215 1024x682 How to Scout Photography Locations

Google Earth

Google has done a great job of indexing the world with photos, and Google Earth is no exception. If you’re looking to scout locations, I would recommend downloading the desktop app though, rather than using the website.

When you’ve chosen an area you like, you can zoom in a little bit closer, and have a look for areas that look interesting from above. If you’re shooting landscapes, this can be really useful, as you will be able to see the shape of the landscape. The same is true if you’re looking to find a more industrial part of town, as that will stand out on a map quite easily.

Have a look at this video below to see Google Earth location scouting in action.

Street View

The final step of scounting the world using your computer is to use Google Street View. If you’ve seen an area you like the look of, you can come back to it when you’re at your computer, and then explore the local area, and see how it looks in the sun (useful if you’re from the UK!).

Thanks to Google, pretty much every road I want to see in Street View is available, and it allows me to not only see what an area looks like, but the view from different angles. If I’m looking to take a photo on a street corner, I might be able to find a photo of that corner somewhere online, but if I use Street View, I know that I’m going to be able to see what ever is behind the corner, in the distance too.

Get Lost

The best results I’ve had so far with location scouting, is to get in my car, go for a drive, and get lost. Turn down roads you’ve driven past before, but never down, and see what’s there.

If you live near the countryside like I do, this will often result in long and windy roads, up hills, and down dead ends. Some of the best locations I’ve found have been by simply taking a wrong turn, and seeing what’s up there.

Once I ended up on a golf course I’d never been to before, and I captured the photo on the left. This was taken after we were surprised by a sprinkler, so make sure you watch where you’re walking!

10 Photography Lessons From Ansel Adams

Over the weekend I visited an Ansel Adams exhibition in London, and having found his work to be even more breathtaking in print, I purchased a documentary about the man himself, in an effort to learn more about the artist I admire so much.

What I learned has helped me to see his creative process much more clearly, and understand his thought process while taking photos.

It’s this which I hope to be able to share with you today.

You can read my 10 favourite Ansel Adams quotes here.

50% of the Creative Process Occurred in the Dark Room

Ansel Adams is well known for spending a whole day in the darkroom, just to produce one print. He pioneered the zone system, which we all loosely know today as burning and dodging. He would paint onto the enlarger the areas of the photo he thought should be darker or lighter than others.

His ability to find perfection in the darkroom coupled his work behind a camera, has produced some of the greatest landscape photography ever made.

“Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.”

The lesson here is that processing is just as important as the photo taking process, and shouldn’t be looked down upon as a lesser art form.

His Best Work uses a Dropped Horizon

During his earlier work in the 1920′s and 30′s, Adams would place the horizon very high in the frame, giving favour to the landscape below. It’s widely regarded that his best work game in the decades to come, would often favour a much higher horizon.

Placing the horizon so high in the frame helped the viewer to realise the scale of the image, in comparison to the sky that surrounded it.

He Was so Intuned with His Equipment, Taking Photos Became Instinctive

Arguably his most famous photograph, Moonrise Over Hernandez was taken within a few seconds of pulling his car over to the side of the road he was driving along.

With the sunlight rapidly moving away, and not enough time to find his light reader, Ansel Adams very quickly calculated the exposure for the photo, without any tools but his mind.

He was so intuned with his equipment, that the process became instinctive to him when it mattered the most.

As he went to capture a second ‘safety’ photo after the first, the sun had gone from the gravestones in the foreground, and the moment had gone with it.

If you understand your camera and your exposure, taking photos becomes instinctive.

Ansel Adams Went to Great Length to Capture his Photos

A good photograph is knowing where to stand.

For Ansel Adams, this meant climbing mountains, trekking for hours at a time. He would often leave before dawn, and arrive home after dusk, because he knew the importance of finding the right place to stand.

A common problem that many of us face, is that we simply don’t have the same kind of commitment to taking photos.

He Was a Very Small Part of The Frame

The first thing most people notice about Adam’s photography is the sheer scale of the images. The fact that man seems so insignificant in comparison They’re often of the great outdoors, which puts man into perspective.

He wanted people to understand of the world, through his images. That we live in a world that exists in a larger world.

His images seem to have almost completely detach a human attachment, and I think that’s part of the reason that they’re so great. It’s encouraged our focus onto the parts of the image that he wants us to see.

He Always Knew Before He Took The Photo

Ansel Adams often only took two of the same photo, one extra for safety, incase of scratches or marks in the dark room. Ask yourself, how many photos do you take of the same scene?

Lots, right?

He always knew the shutter speed and aperture for the photo he was going to take. He could tell just be looking at the frame, what settings he would have to user to make certain areas stand out more than others, and whether he needed a filter or not.

If you think more before you shoot, you can probably work this out too.

Ansel Adams Communicated Feelings, not Images

When Adams took a photo, he didn’t just capture a scene, he captured a feeling.

I challenge anyone interested in photography to view the works on Ansel Adams and not feel something.

It was this thought process behind him images which make them so powerful. Whether you felt the same as he did, or even understood his message, is not the important factor here. He created these images knowing exactly what he wanted to portray, before he pressed the shutter.

That’s something I think we can all learn from, because how many of us just pick up the camera and shoot without thinking? We live in a digital world with instant gratification, and I think that’s caused us to think less as photographers.

His Purpose for Taking Photos Was Much Greater than for Art

The great French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson made the well-known comment that:

“The world is falling to pieces and all Adams and Weston photograph is rocks and trees”.

This was a criticism to the fact that Adams focused so much on capturing images of the world, when there were arguably more important factors at stake.

Adams didn’t see it this way though, as a very strong conservationist. He fought hard to lobby congress to create more national parks and was successful with Kings Canyon National Park. After his death in 1984, an area of national park was named The Ansel Adams Wilderness, and a mount was even named after him, Mount Ansel Adams.

His purpose is clear in his photos and his legacy. You can see the drive behind his images. What’s your purpose?

Ansel Adams Didn’t Find Financial Success Until his 60′s

It wasn’t until Adams was in his 60′s that he finally reached commercial success as a fine art photographer. Up until then, he would work as a commercial photographer when he had to, as a means to earn money to support his family. While still focusing on fine art photography, and incorporating it into commercial photography where possible.

Shooting fine art photography was the passion, but as a creative, the multi-million dollar business didn’t come naturally. It was only when he met his business partner that things started to change.

He had always been a phenomenally successful fine art photographer, with wide critical acclaim, but the lesson here is that we shouldn’t try to manage every aspect of photography. If you need help transforming your business, by changing your position in the market, then should seek it.

Adam’s highest value print sold at auction is Moonrise Over Hernandez, which sold at at Sotheby’s for $609,600 in 2006.

Ansel Adams Never Followed ‘Rules’ of Photography

I feel this is a nice quote from Ansel Adams to end on.

“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.”

For Adams, there was a clear purpose behind his photography. You can see the hours of work he put in to find the right location and time to capture the perfect photo. Then the hours he spend meticulously developing his photos in the darkroom.

Ansel Adams was a man who instinctively knew good photography, from decades of practice and a life in the art world.

If you ever wish to produce a standard of work, even remotely close to his, you need to step away from your computer, get out there, and start taking photos.

What’s In My Camera Bag

This is an insight into the equipment I use to take photos, and although I rarely use it all at once, it’s almost always in my camera bag. I don’t pack light!

But first, it’s important to understand the kinds of photos I take, and what effect that has on what I carry.

I remember reading that Eric Kim, the street photographer, doesn’t even own a tripod. While that suits him just fine, that wouldn’t do me much good.

You could break down the kinds of photos I take into two sections: people and places.

Whether I’m taking photos of a model, or a man on the street, I spend a lot of taking photos of people. And I spend an equally long time taking photos of places, whether it’s an old building, or a landscape.

So while we have a look at the list below, bear this in mind, because everyone’s bag is going to be different.

Please note, I don’t carry everything with me at once, I leave my telephoto lens, back up camera, etc. at home if I’m just taking photos for the fun of it.

The Bag

The bag I use is a Gura Gear Kibobo 22L+.

It’s a fantastic bag, but I won’t bore you with the details, as you can read my review of it here.

Main Camera and Lenses

My main camera is a Canon 50D.

It’s a perfectly good camera, and has done me proud. Never failed, and I would argue that a full frame camera isn’t as necessary as some photographers would like to make out. Just so long as you buy lenses that cover your desired range, you should be fine. That being said, I will be upgrading to either a Canon 5D MKIII or a Canon 6D fairly soon. Ideally both, with the 6D as a backup.

My workhorse lens is a Canon 24-70 f/2.8L.

This lens spends more time on my camera than any other. It’s a very popular shooting range and the wide aperture is great for shooting in low light situations. It’s not a cheap lens, and the MK II is over $2,000, but I don’t regret buying it one bit.

My favourite prime lens is a Canon 35mm f/1.4L.

Not only is this lens incredibly good in low light, but it’s also very sharp, even when you open the aperture all the way to f/1.4. 35mm is a great focal length if you’re using a crop sensor, and it’s equally good on full frame, such as when I shoot with my EOS film bodies.

My wide angle lens is a Canon 17-40mm f/4L.

Ideally, I would have bought the 16-35mm f/2.8L and had twice as much light to play with it, but with twice the light comes twice the price. Still though, it’s a pretty sturdy lens, and very versatile. My critique would be that when you compare it to a prime lens like the 35mm f/1.4L, you’re not getting anywhere near the sharpness. But that’s to be expected from a lens which is both half the price, and a zoom lens.

My main film camera body is a Canon EOS 10.

I have probably upwards of 10 different film cameras, but this one definitely gets the most attention, purely because I can put of my full-frame EOS lenses onto it. That’s all three of the lenses above. It allows me to keep the same level of quality throughout my images.

My video camera is a GoPro Hero 2.

I don’t film a lot of video, but when I do, I use my GoPro. I’ve got it mounted so that it can go on top of all my cameras with ease. This gives a really cool POV shot. You can see it in use in the video below. It’s a really great camera.

Lighting

I carry two flashes with me, as well as some accessories for them.

My main flash is a Canon 580EX II.

This is a great flash, because not only can I use it as a flash, but as a commander for my other flash too. That means that I don’t need to get the radio triggers out if I don’t want to, or they’re out of battery. A real workhorse flash. Very solid.

My secondary flash is a Canon 430EX II.

Still a very good flash, only less powerful, and it can’t be used as a commander for other flashes, only as a receiver. The menu is also harder to navigate, which is part of the reason I bought a 580EX II too. A great beginner’s flash though if you’re looking to learn.

My radio triggers are Phottix Odin.

I’m not a big fan of on-camera flash as any light that comes from the same angle as the lens is going to seriously flatten the image. That’s why I use Phottix Odin to take my flashes off-camera. The commander screen is really useful for setting the strength of each flash with ease, and they’re TTL as well. You can check out my review of them here. I love them!

I also carry diffusor cups to fit each flash.

The light that comes straight out of a flash can be really harsh, so I find it’s best to diffuse the light any way I can, and these low cost diffusors work great. I particularly like to use them when I’m outside at night, because I can point the flash upwards and use them as a small softbox.

Tripod

The legs I use are Manfrotto 055XPROB.

These are extremely versatile tripod legs, and they’re on the best things I’ve ever bought. They’re very tall, but can be equally short when I need them to be. They’re also very strong. The reason I bought these over carbon fibre legs is because these are heavier. I need a tripod that isn’t going to blow around in the wind when I’m taking long exposures, and these do the job just fine.

The head I use is a Manfrotto 327RC2.

There are quite a few varieties of tripod heads, but I opted for a joystick head. It’s really handy because I can make adjustments without having to unscrew anything. I just squeeze the handle and reposition. It’s worth noting that I originally bought the smaller version on this head, but it couldn’t handle the weight of my camera and lens so I returned it for this.

Filters

I use a Hoya Pro 1 UV filter on every lens I own.

The great thing about filters is not that they remove UV light, because I’m not worried about that, but it’s because the protect my lens from scratches. It’s a small investment, for a great protection, and when you consider that I’ve smashed a UV filter while it was on my camera before, it has saved me a lot of money.

Hoya polarizing filter.

Polarizing filters are really useful for removing glare and haze from your scene, so they’re essential for anyone who like taking photos outdoors, in daylight. So most people. Particularly landscape photographers.

Accessories

Duracell rechargeable batteries and charger.

I can’t even begin to work out how much money I’ve saved by using rechargeable batteries, rather than buying new ones every time I need them. Just so long as you stay on top of keeping them charged, and carry backup batteries just in case, you can’t really go too wrong with rechargeable batteries. Must have!

Spare Camera batteries.

This is a must really. The last thing you want is to run out of battery, just before you capture the perfect photo. The brand name ones are expensive, but you can pick up cheap ones online too. Just don’t expect them to last forever, because they won’t.

Transcend 16GB CF cards.

You can get faster cards, and larger capacity cards, but I’m pretty happy with how these have worked out for me, so I’ve never upgraded. 16GB is plenty of space (about 500 RAW photos), and it’s good to spread your photos over multiple cards, incase one of them corrupts. So long as you use a card reader, the transfer speed is very fast.

Lens and body caps.

Dust is a digital camera’s worst enemy, so whenever you take a lens off your body, it’s important to cover it up to protect it from the elements. These caps are cheap, barely take up any space, and are completely essential.

35mm film.

As I mentioned above, I still shoot on film, so I usually carry a large selection on film with me when I shoot. I use many different speeds, brands, and colors, but Kodak Ektar 100 is probably one of my favourites.

Rogue Gels Universal Lighting Filter Kit.

These small color flash filters are used to create interesting lighting effects, but more importantly, to help balance the color of a fill flash. If I use a flash outdoors, I know that it’s going to have a different white balance to the rest of the scene, and this looks bad. That’s why I use color correction filters to help correct this.

Cable release.

On final thing I always like to carry with me is a cable release for my camera. It will allow me to take photos without actually having to touch the camera. This minimises camera shake, and allows me to step away from the camera.

So what have you got hiding in your camera bag?

Do you pack light, or do you break your back like me?

Leave me a comment and let me know!

Lightroom 4 Presets by SLR Lounge- Pros & Cons Review

Lightroom has become more and more powerful with every version released. What started out as a basic tool for managing images and making quick, minor edits has evolved into a powerful, feature-rich tool for all types of photographers with Lightroom 4.

A couple weeks back, SLR Lounge sent over their Lightroom 4 Presets for me to review and below are my thoughts.

I’d like to preface this review by saying that I’ve had many presets and photoshop actions sent to me in the past, and none of them have been worth my time to write about. I’m actually pretty pleasantly surprised by the structure and range of Lightroom 4 Presets that SLR Lounge have put together though.

Introduction

Would you rather take a photo, than sit behind a computer and edit one?

Do you find post-processing to be complicated and time consuming, and difficult to make look professional?

But, do you understand that post processing is a necessary aspect of photography, only you wish there was an easier way to get through all your photos?

Well, this is where Lightroom presets come in, because they take the leg work out of editing, and leave you with professional looking photos, in just a few clicks.

The Basics

Where to buy: Click Here
Cost: $99
10% Discount Code: expertphotog
Included: Over 189 develop presets, 27 brush presets, 28 mixologies and 44 high definition tutorials.

And what exactly is it?

It’s a Lightroom preset system (examples below) and digital DVD training, which will allow you to make professional looking adjustments to your photos, with just a click of the mouse.

There’s 189 develop presets, which is the core processing. Then there’s 27 brush presets, where you can make more minor adjustments to your photos, ranging from retouching to special effects. Finally, there’s also over 6 hours of digital DVD training, which walks you through the whole process, to help you get the most from the system.

Why I Recommend These Lightroom 4 Presets

If you’ve been following Expert Photography for any real length of time, you’ll know that I really don’t like spending my time processing photos.

For me, it’s not what photography is about, but unfortunately for me, it’s a necessary process for every photographer, especially when it comes to shooting in RAW.

The result is that I process my photos to a minimal extent, and sometimes I’m left feeling like I could maybe do a better job if I took the time it required.

The great thing about these presets is that they take the leg work out of processing my photos and I can focus instead on the aspects of photography I enjoy, such as taking photos.

I approached this product with skepticism of presets in general, as I’ve had a lot of mixed results when dealing with them. However, after playing around with the SLR Lounge Lightroom 4 Presets, I realized that they were actually very good and a huge time saver. Here are a few things I like about them:

The Pros

Good Structure & Sensible Names!

The first thing I notice with most preset systems is that they’re laid out poorly, and have ridiculous names. After all, who knows what things like “ruby red” or “ocean freeze” is going to do until you actually click it.

These types of systems encourage trial and error, with hundreds of clicks before you actually get what you want. And as we’ve discovered, I’m an impatient editor. However, the SLR Lounge presets simply make sense.

As you can see from the screenshot below, the presets are well organized, with intuitive and clear naming structure.

presets 850x5001 Lightroom 4 Presets by SLR Lounge Pros & Cons Review

‘Mixologies’ and Tutorials

Another cool aspect about these is that they include a full set of videos (7GBs worth) as well as additional videos that they put out every couple of weeks or so that they call “mixologies.” This will be particularly useful for those who do not have much Lightroom experience and enjoy the online learning process.

These videos serve as a guide, from installation and getting started to the basics of using the presets and the brushes. The “mixologies” teach you how to combine different presets and different brushes to achieve your advanced effects.

This extra step is what distinguishes the product from the other presets and Photoshop actions I’ve been sent in the past.

Preset Brushes

You’ll have to forgive my ignorance, but I wasn’t even are that I could create custom brushes in Lightroom 4. When I was sent these presets, I thought that they were all going to be on the lefthand side of the develop screen. I didn’t realise that there were brushes too.

The brushes that Lightroom provide you are pretty good, but the ones that you get with these presets are fine tuned, and more useful. Here’s some of my favourite brushes:

Detail Enhancer- Sky | Cloud | Ocean
Detail Enhancer- Hair | Lashes
Skin Softener
Eye Brightener
Iris Enhancer
Lip Enhancer
Teeth Whitener
Color / Temperature- Desaturate

Powerful Features

As you’ll see from the examples below, these presets can do some pretty powerful things. You can get faux HDRs, vintage fades, and even tilt-shift effects. Need more pop in the colors of the clouds? There’s a brush for that. Need to smooth out the skin? There’s a brush for that too.

It’s important to note that all of these looks and effects can be achieved without the SLR Lounge Lightroom presets if you have the proper knowledge of Lightroom and the time to make every minor adjustment. However, I would say that most photographers are not at that level and those that are can still benefit from the time these presets will save.

Speed

The effects applied in the images in this article are achieved with one click of a button + minor adjustments. Each took about 3-5 minutes to process (but part of that time was spent playing around with the image and learning the process).

If efficiency were important to your type of photography, i.e. wedding photography or event photography, these will really save you a lot of time over the thousands of images that you have to process.

Sit me at a computer with an internet connection and I’m very easily distracted, so speed is very important to my workflow.

Portrait Example

The first image I chose was a portrait that I took of a gorgeous model in a field. I thought this would be the perfect scene to test out some of the vintage fades offered in the presets, as sunset lighting and scenes of nature generally go well with the vintage look. See the results below.

RAW Image:
01 raw Lightroom 4 Presets by SLR Lounge Pros & Cons Review

Faded Black and White Vintage Fade (Love the grain): 01 faded bw vintage1 Lightroom 4 Presets by SLR Lounge Pros & Cons Review

Vintage Fade: 01 faded vintage1 Lightroom 4 Presets by SLR Lounge Pros & Cons Review

Vintage Fade with Pop:
01 poppy vintage1 Lightroom 4 Presets by SLR Lounge Pros & Cons Review

Landscape Example

I wanted to show this example because of two interesting elements in this scene 1) rocks and 2) clouds. As I was playing around with the presets, I really liked how the HDR Boost brought out all of the detail in the rocks and clouds. It has the effect of a subtle actual HDR.

Raw Image:
03 raw Lightroom 4 Presets by SLR Lounge Pros & Cons Review

HDR Boost:
03 hdr boost Lightroom 4 Presets by SLR Lounge Pros & Cons Review

Black and White Film Preset:
03 bw film Lightroom 4 Presets by SLR Lounge Pros & Cons Review

Architecture Example

I thought this was a fitting demonstration of the capabilities of these presets during a sunset. As you can see from the original raw below, there are a lot of highlights (near the sun) and shadows (in the ocean) in this image of the San Francisco Bridge.

My original process included three photos, which I turned into an HDR photo in Photoshop. This has done just as good of a job.

Working with the RAW file in Lightroom, I was able to bring back a lot of the detail in both the highlights and the shadows within a few clicks. See the results below.

RAW Image:
02 raw Lightroom 4 Presets by SLR Lounge Pros & Cons Review

HDR Boost:
02 hdr boost Lightroom 4 Presets by SLR Lounge Pros & Cons Review

Black and White Film:
02 black and white Lightroom 4 Presets by SLR Lounge Pros & Cons Review

The Cons

There’s not much about these Lightroom 4 Presets that I don’t like, but there are is one thing that stand out to me.

Relevance

As I like my photos to accurately represent what I captured, some of the presets are a bit lost on me. There’s a few that just do not suit my style, as they look too drastic and I can’t turn them down, so be aware that even though you’re purchasing 200+ presets, they’re not all going to be to your liking. Some of them are just a little bit too intense, but to each their own.

I’ve spent the last half an hour looking for more possible cons to these presets, in an effort to make this review more balanced, but I just seem to find any.

I didn’t expect to like using presets, as I use NIK software a lot, but to be honest, I don’t think I’ll be using it as much anymore.

Conclusion

Long story short, these presets are the real deal.

Not only do you get hundreds of presets, but 7GB worth of video training too (which proved to be very useful). If 7GB is too much for you to download, you can purchase the DVD for an additional $10 (it’s shipped worldwide).

After trying many different presets in the past, I would say that they are the new industry standard.

I’ve tried a lot of other presets, but after a few minutes of use, then end up getting deleted, because the free presets I’ve found in the past just aren’t up to scratch.

These are.

Not only are they powerful and effective, but their organization structure makes them very user friendly and useful as part of your workflow.

Lastly, the videos and continuing education show that the creators are continually providing support and education around the product, helping their users achieve the most out of the tools.

If you’re interested, please click here for more information.

A Beginner’s Guide to Adobe Lightroom 4

Adobe Lightroom 4 is post processing and file management software for photographers, and it’s currently the best alternative to Apple’s Aperture. I made the switch from Aperture to Lightroom six months ago, and I’m very happy with my decision.

As with any new software, there’s always a bit of a learning curve, so I’ve put this beginner’s guide together, to help you to understand how to best use the software.

You may be surprised at how simple and easy it can be, once you’ve got your head around it.

I use Adobe Lightroom 4 for about 90% of my post processing, occasionally opening up the file in Photoshop if I want to create an HDR, or perhaps in Color Efex Pro 4 if I want to edit my photo more drastically.

Whether I edit my photo in any other software or not, the first port of call is always Lightroom 4.

I hope you enjoy my beginner’s guide to Adobe Lightroom 4…

Importing to Library

When you import files to Adobe Lightroom 4, the files move from the left of the screen, to the right of the screen.

On the left, you can select the source of your files, whether it’s your memory stick, or an external hard drive, or some other form of storage.

Then, all of the available images for import will appear in the center of the screen, and you select the ones you want. Note that if you’ve already imported some of the files, those files will not be automatically selectable here (unless you uncheck the box marked ‘Don’t import duplicates’).

Then before you hit import, there are some additional options, which I will cover in the next three headings.

Renaming Files

The very first thing I do is rename my files.

Because I work with so many photos, and they’re stored on multiple computers, I like to be able to search my computer and find my photos instantly. If I kept all the names as ‘IMG_5216′, it’s unlikely that I’d find what I was looking for.

I rename my to resemble something similar to this:

RELEVANT NAME_MONTH/YEAR_SEQUENCE

You can always rename the photos when you export them if you’re not happy with your initial naming.

Develop, Keywords, Copyright

Under the ‘Apply During Import’ section, you have the option to develop your photos, add keywords, and copyright information.

Under develop settings, this is where you can process the photos, using Lightroom presets (see image), which will save time later on if you already know what you want to do to your photos.

You can use Lightroom’s own presets (which aren’t great), you can create your own, or you can purchase other presets on the market.

Under keywords, you can add any keywords that you may want to use later on. This is great if you want to organise groups of albums later on, by who’s in the photos, or where they were taken.

Finally, under Metadata, you can add in your own copyright information here. © Joshua Dunlop MY NUMBER is what I add to all of my photos, so that people know who took the photo, and how to contact me.

Destination

Finally, when you’re happy with all the steps you’ve taken so far, you can select where your files are going to end up.

If you’re a Mac user, your Lightroom library is in your pictures folder. I’m not sure, but I should imagine it’s pretty similar for Windows users too. Simply navigate to this folder, and create a subfolder, using a sensible name.

When you’re all done, hit import, and you will soon be ready to develop your photos.

NOTE: You can save your import settings as a preset by going to Import Preset > Save Current Settings As New Preset at the bottom of the import window.

Auto Import

This is a function that I really like about Adobe Lightroom 4. You can assign a folder, somewhere in your computer, which will automatically import photos to Lightroom. This makes the import process really easy, especially if you only have one photo you want to edit.

To set this up, go to File>Auto Import.

I have the folder set up on my desktop, to the left of the dock, so I can quickly and easily drag photos into Lightroom.

Develop Mode

This is where I do 90% of my editing, and Lightroom makes it pretty easy for me to get through my photos quickly.

You’ll notice on the left you have your presets, and on the right, you have the develop options. I’m going to start by talking about the develop options.

It’s worth noting that these options are in a specific order for a reason. This is how you’re supposed to process your photos, so don’t jump ahead of yourself, as you may find you have to go back and change it later on.

Initial Fine Tuning – Crop, Red Eye, Etc.

In this first tab, you can make all of your initial major adjustments such as crop, spot removal, red eye reduction, graduated filter, and use the adjustment brush.

These all come before the rest of the processing, because they will dramatically change what you see in the photo, by changing the size of the photo, and fixing any imperfections. It’s important that you get this step out of the way first.

Basic Developing

Once you’re done, you can move onto basic developing. The very first thing you can do is turn your photo into black and white, or keep it in colour. If you choose to keep the photo in colour, the next step is the white balance.

Then you have all the settings you would expect to see here, such as exposure, contrast, highlights and lowlights, clarity, vibrance and saturation.

For me, unless I end up using an external image editor, by the time I’ve finished with these two sections, that’s 80% of my editing is done.

There are more settings which follow, such as curves, color saturation, and split toning, but these adjustments are usually much more subtle, so you can have a play with them yourselves.

Detail Editing- Sharping, Noise Reduction

If you want to clean up your photo, and make them sharper, then this is the section you will need.

The sharpening controls are really good in Lightroom 4, but be careful to not overdo it. You can pretty easily make your photos very harsh to look at.

Underneath sharpening, is noise reduction. These two work against each other. When you sharpen an image, the noise is going to stand out more, and when you reduce the noise, you’re softening the photo.

I almost always add some form of sharpening to my photos, but I don’t tend to use the noise reduction too much.

Lens Correction

This is one of my favourite functions of Lightroom 4, because it allows me to remove chromatic aberration with just a single click. Check out the photo below to see what I mean.

On the left is the image before I removed the Chromatic Aberration. You can see lots of blue/purple on the outline of the trees.

If it doesn’t quite get it right with the first try, you can use the defringe dropper tool to perfect the process.

The reason chromatic aberration occurs is because of a small fault within the lens. It’s nothing to worry about though, because you can easily fix it here.

Effects

This is where you can add a vignette (black or white), and add grain to your images. The effects aren’t too drastic, but I usually end up adding at least a very small black vignette to my photos.

Unless the photo is very light at the edges, I see absolutely no excuse for using a white vignette. Leave this to the fauxtographers.

External Image Editor

If you want to edit your photos further, you can always use external software to do so. Go to Photo>Edit In, and then select the editor you wish to use. This may be some NIK software, or perhaps Photoshop.

I sometime use NIK’s Color Efex Pro 4, but recently, I’ve taken to using Lightroom presets instead.

Handy Lightroom 4 Presets

You’ll see that Lightroom has a selection of presets for you to use, which will help make the processing of your images much faster.

The presets they have aren’t bad, but I prefer to make my own, or purchase presets which have been professionally made by someone who has a lot more time to focus on getting them exactly right.

I recommend SLR Lounge’s Lightroom 4 Presets.

Exporting

When you’re finally happy with your photos, it’s time to export them from Lightroom.

You can’t just go and find the photos in your computer, because they will be the wrong size, and will still be RAW files, without the adjustments made.

To export, go to File>Export

Export Location

This is step number 1. Select where you want the photos to go, and create a new subfolder if you need to.

File Naming

Hopefully you’re happy with how you named your photos as you imported them, but if you’re not, you can always rename them here.

File Settings

Here you can select your image format, and color space. If you’re exporting your images for the web, this should be set to sRGB. You can also change the quality, but this isn’t something I’ve ever found a use for.

Image Sizing

The is my most used export setting, as I constantly need different sized images for Facebook and this website. I simply select the image to be resized to the long edge at a maximum of X amount of pixels. That was I know it’s going to fit.

You can also change the resolution, but 300 pixels per inch is pretty standard.

Output Sharpening

This is something that Aperture was really missing. Whenever you export a photo, you usually change the size, and when you do so, you end up losing some of the image’s sharpness.

By simply selecting where you’re going to be displaying your image, Adobe Lightroom 4 will automatically add some post-export sharpening to your images.

Metadata

In this section, you can choose which metadata you want to be attached to your photo when you export it. If you’re putting your photo somewhere where you would like to remain anonymous, then I would suggest removing all of the information, because otherwise you give away quite a bit of information.

I don’t typically bother removing information anymore, because if I don’t tell you what settings I used to take a photo, you can always use an exif reader to find out for yourself.

Watermarking

One of the final steps is to add a watermark to your image. You can use the drop down menu to set up a simple watermark, using your own image. You can set the watermark to be proportional to your image, as well as set a location and opacity. This is much simpler in Lightroom than it is in Aperture.

Post Processing

Finally, when you’re happy with all of your settings, you can choose what you want the image to do after it’s been exported. I have mine set to do nothing, but you can have it automatically opened up in some other software.

10 Ways to Get Your Photos Noticed

Do you want to gain recognition for your photography and get your photos noticed?

If the answer is yes, then you’re in the right place. However, it’s becoming increasingly hard to make your photography stand out as photography has become much more accessible to the masses.

So you need to do things that will make your photos stand out from the crowd (or even break into the crowd in the first place).

This post is all about the techniques you can try, to get your photos noticed, in an effort to help build a profile for yourself as a photographer.

First though, I need to get something out of the way…

Be Good at Photography

This kind of goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway, just to get it out of the way.

You want to get noticed for the right reasons so the better you are at photography, the more likely you are to get noticed. That being said though, even if your photography is average, there ways to get noticed, so long as you…

Create Something Unique

If you think outside of the box with your photography, and create something that’s both impressive and interesting, then there’s a good chance that you will gain a good amount of exposure.

There’s a lot of photography and tech websites such as PetaPixel, Gizmondo, and SLRLounge, which (along with providing excellent content) aggregate news and interesting blog articles, and then share them with their following.

These articles are ultimately picked up because the photographer has produced interesting work, where they’ve thought outside the box. That can range anywhere from the time I taught everyone how to create a hidden camera mirror photo, or the time Ian Ruhter turned his truck into a tintype camera.

The photos he created were awesome, but had they been shot on a digital camera, they simply would not have received as much attention. It was the process and results that everyone was talking about. The reason they’re famous is because he turned a whole truck into a camera, and then used it to take wet-plate photos. The results were astounding.

I’ve seen countless examples of interesting photography, shared because of their methods, or subject.

Think outside the box more, and you will soon start to become noticed too.

Run a Photography Blog

My photos, whether you like them or not, have been seen by millions of people through this blog. This is the kind of exposure you could get for your photos, if you run a successful photography blog.

I’m not expecting you to all go out and create photography blogs which take over your life, but it’s become really easy to add a blog to your own portfolio website, and I show you how to do it here.

This will help you to earn more exposure for your work, and if you post anything particularly interesting/excellent, then people have a way of finding you/linking to you.

Enter Photography Contests

There are countless photo competitions to be found on the internet, and this is a really easy way to both get noticed for your photography, and potentially win prizes.

You can see a whole range of competitons here, and receive an update every time a new one starts.

I will say that you should be careful to read the terms and conditions before entering though, as the competition may state that they have the right to use your photo, without payment to yourself.

Get Your Photos Published

Talk with your local newspapers and magazines. Even talk to your local promoters. They all need photos, and if you can provide them for them, you can get paid, and get your name out there.

You’d be surprised how easy it is to get a press pass for local events, I’ve done it before and people haven’t even asked to see a portfolio, or who I work for.

You can then take these photos to local papers and start to earn money (always charge them, they have a budget for this sort of thing), and get published. Pick up the phone and call your local paper today. In my experience, a phone call is a lot harder to ignore than an email.

Photography Forums

If you’re just getting started, then forums are a great place to get noticed. I remember reading about what Eric Kim said about getting started in street photography. He posted some of his photos in a street photography forum and that got him a lot of attention. He knew to pursue it, and went onto greater things.

There’s a forum on this website if you would like to share some of your photos.

Social Networks

Simply sharing your own photos on your social network is a great way to build a small following. And it’s even better if you have your own fan page.

I remember really early on with ExpertPhotography when pages like Adobe Lightroom would share something I had written, and my website crashed because it couldn’t handle the amount of visitors they were sending me. This was all down to posting on Facebook.

Photo Sharing Networks

Websites like Flickr and 500px are great for getting yourself noticed as a photographer, but this is also where a large amount of skill is going to be required. Photos of flowers in your back garden aren’t going to send any real recognition your way, or get your photos noticed.

If you like sharing your photos, receiving feedback (sometime unsolicited), networking with other photographers, and potentially being seen by thousands, then you should really join a photo sharing website like this.

I personally don’t use them anymore because I have enough social networks on my plate, but if I did, I would use 500px. I think Flickr is on it’s way out.

Reddit is a fantastic example of how a regular person can gain a huge amount of exposure with just a single photo.

One of EP’s Top 20 Young Photographers 2012, Mark Jaworski recently posted the photo below to Reddit, in the pics section. With over 1500 upvotes, it would have been seen by tens of thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands.

With a very active comment section on Reddit, linking to both his website, and another online portfolio, this proved to be a great way for Mark to get his photos noticed.

IMG 9389 10 Ways to Get Your Photos Noticed

Mark Jaworski – www.markjstudios.com

Photography Galleries

In my personal experience, it’s not that hard to get your photos hung in small, local galleries. I’m not talking about exhibitions here, just local galleries, selling local photos.

The standard of photos tend to be lower than most galleries, so they’re not that hard to get into. You will find that you may have to rent wall space, or put in some time, but if your photos sell, then it will more than pay for itself.

Galleries are a really easy way to earn a little bit more money and get your photos noticed. If you’ll excuse the pun, it’s all about exposure.

How to Respond to Requests for Free Photos

For a lot of amateur photographers, it’s usually only a matter of time before you’re approached by someone looking to use your photos for free. But how do you respond to these requests for free photos?

While it’s great that you’re getting their attention, there’s something inherently wrong about allowing someone to use your photos, without getting paid.

I don’t need to explain to you why you shouldn’t be giving your photos away for free.

This post is all about how to respond to these requests.

First, lets have a look at some common reasons why people will ask to use your photos for free.

“We will offer you photo credit, and link to your website.”

This is something you will see a lot, and the truth is, it’s basically worthless.

Photo credit is never going to pay the bills, and it’s something you should receive if you’re paid for your photos any way.

“Your photo will be seen by hundreds of thousands of people.”

Again, exposure is great, but it’s not going to pay the bills. Basically all of the photos on this website are my own, and they’re seen by millions of people, but the photos alone don’t make me any money.

“It’s for charity.”

If there is a charity requesting use of your photos, and it’s one in particular that you wish to support, then I see no problem in allowing them to use your photos.

This is one of the few times that I will allow my photos to go out for free. It’s a way in which I can give back, that others can’t, so I’m happy to do it.

“There’s no budget for photography.”

Although this is sometimes true, I often find it to be false. You shouldn’t be the only person not getting paid.

Publications have a budget for photography, and if they don’t, then they’re not going to be providing you with the level of exposure that would make it worth your while to give up a photo for free.

Outlook 2011 13010 How to Respond to Requests for Free Photos

I charged £80 for this photo to be used once on a small production company’s website.

So these are some common pleas of people looking to use your photos for free. Now, how do you respond?

How to Respond to Requests for Free Photos

I can tell you the first thing you don’t want to do, and that’s launch into a rant. It’s really not worth your time, or theirs.

I’ve seen articles like this, which people link to when they’re approached for free photography, and I have to say, I wouldn’t read it.

If someone sent me to that page, I think I’d find them to be a little bit bitter, and I would maybe read about three sentences before seeing that their answer is ‘no’.

Whether the point is valid or not, this is not the approach to take, because if they’re not going to read it, you’re not going to educate them. And it basically ends any possible negotiation over the price they would be willing to pay.

Before we move any further, it’s important to understand the mindset of someone asking to use your photos for free. The majority of the time, they are not willing to pay for your photo. That’s why they’ve not tried licensing a similar photo from Getty, or a stock photography website.

So knowing this, and knowing that you don’t want to give your photo away for nothing, what do you say, without wasting your time?

Well, I get straight to the point. Here is what a typical response will look like:

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your interest in my photo.

I regret to inform you that I do not allow my photos to be used without receiving payment. I appreciate that you may be able to provide me with exposure, but I hope you can understand that this is simply not a good business model for me, as the costs associated with taking photos can be considerably high.

However, I do allow my photos to be licensed at a very reasonable rate of $X per photo, for a one-time, non-exclusive use. If you are still interested in using my photos, please let me know which ones you wish to use so that I can prepare a licensing agreement for you.

Regards,

Josh Dunlop

This way I don’t simply ignore their request. I conduct myself professionally, allowing them to see how much they would have to pay if they were still interested.

How to Price Your Photos

The price per photo is dependant on who’s asking, and the size of photo they want to use. If it’s a large national publisher, and they want to the photo to cover the front page of a magazine, I’m going to charge a lot more than I would for a blog who’s looking for a small photo to use as a featured image.

If you’re unsure on how much to charge, these pricing guides are very useful: Price, Size.

The price I charge comes down to these factors:

Print vs. digital.
Commercial vs. editorial.
Circulation of the publication.
The size of the image.
The amount of time it’s going to be used.
Whether they want exclusive rights or not.
The number of photos they want to use (price per image comes down when they want multiples).

So you can see, there’s a lot to take into account, which is why I’ve simply listed it as $X in my example.

Conclusion on How to Respond to Requests for Free Photos

The fact of the matter is that the majority of people who are looking for free photos, aren’t looking to pay for a photo. That’s why it’s best not to waste too much time with them.

But on a rare occasion, you will find someone who is trying their luck first, before they offer payment. That’s why it’s always worth replying to them, detailing your pricing for their publication.

Don’t get lost in a rant of how it’s important to get paid for every photo, because as much as it’s important to you, they likely don’t care.

Remember, major publications have a budget for photography. Don’t be pushed around by them; they’re lying if they say that there’s no money for photos.