Weekly Photo Tips
04/26/2010 Photo Tip
Using Photoshop Blending Modes to add Drama & Contrast
03/04/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Wide Angle Landscape Photo Tip
Here is an example of an extreme wide angle landscape. This image was captured in American Basin in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. American Basin is a high alpine basin and in the summer the area explodes with one of the best wildflower displays in the Rocky Mountains.
For this shot, ...I used my Nikon D700 and my 14-24mm lens set at its widest angle 914mm0 to create a vast space based composition. The use of the ultra wide angle set in close to the clump of wildflowers in the lower left side of the image made them appear much larger than in reality. it also minimized the size of the mountains in the background. Those are 14'ers, 3 to be exact. The use of the stream serves as a leading line that transports the viewers eye deep into the composition.
Also take note of the repetition in the shape of the clump of flowers in the foreground and the clump of clouds in the sky to the right. The repetition in shape create a balance in the image that would not have worked if the sky were devoid of clouds.
The light was extreme and in order to get good detail in the sky as well as the much darker and shaded basin, I shot 2 exposures. Each one was 3.5 stops apart. I then blended the images manually in Adobe Photoshop using layers and masks
02/09/10 Photo Tip of the Week
The Making of Trilliam Cascades: From the raw conversion of the image to my adjustments in Adobe Photoshop using layers, masks and blending modes
Part 1: Developing the raw file
Part 2: Basic Layers Adjustments in Adobe Photoshop
Part 3:Final Adjustments of dodging/burning, local contrast and sizing and display for the web
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1/27/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Processing for drama in Adobe Lightroom V2
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1/20/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Best of 2009 Inspirational Video
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1/20/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Double Processing a RAW file in Adobe Camera Raw
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1/11/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Gain greater depth-of-field when shooting Macro images
Depth-of-field or in laymen’s terms the focus in the image from near to far. When working in the macro world depth-of-field is limited at best and practically non exist under certain situations. For example, when using a 50mm macro lens at 1:1 it is by far much easier to get a deeper DOF than when using a 200mm macro lens with a 25mm extension tube where DOF will be a matter of millimeters even with the lens stopped down to F22 or F32.
What you need to decide as a photographer is how much DOF is important in the image you are creating. For me, the more limited the DOF in my macro work, the better! I like backgrounds that are soft and not distracting and often times the best way to achieve this is to limit your DOF to covering the focal point and letting the rest of the image fall quickly out of focus.
As you gain magnification, precise camera positioning becomes critical. When shooting a grand landscape moving a few feet in one direction or another is not enough to make a big difference and DOF at F16 is measured in yards or feet. When shooting a close up macro image, moving the camera just a ½ inch of axis can totally remove the subject from the frame and the DOF field at a 1:1 ratio at f16 is only 1/16 of an inch.
The best maximize the DOF in your image, you must align the image sensor (back of camera) with the most important part of the subject so they are parallel. By doing this and stopping the lens down to at least F16, you will get the most focus out of the scene as possible.
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1/05/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Blending two exposures in Adobe Photoshop to control shadow detail and highligh detail
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1/05/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Blending Mode Adjustment for Sky Drama
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12/29/09 Photo Tip of the Week
The Power of Perspective
Perspective not only will change what you see in an image, but will also change what we feel about the shot. Lets look at two images to examine the poser of perspective.
Both images were made with a D700, 17-35mm, Singh Ray LB Polarizer.
This is the first shot I made in the series from second falls of Shays Run. I climbed out onto a snow covered rock which put me about 10 feet above the small V shaped cascade in the bottom of the frame. The perspective was nice and it makes for a pretty good photo, but I knew that if I could get lower and put the V shaped cascade in the bottom of the frame and up close it would make for a much more dynamic image. Take note of the large rectangular rock in the lower area of the image.
Fort his shot, I climbed down into the water and stood on the rock that we mentioned in the above shot. I also changed the height of my tripod so the camera was about 3 feet above the V shaped cascade in the foreground. By getting in much closer to the foreground element and choosing a lower vantage point from which I shot, this changed the entire emotional impact of the image. On a technical note, because I was in much closer to the subject on the second shot I needed to stop the lens down from F11 (that is the aperture at which I shot the above image) to F18 in order to get enough DOF (depth of field) so the near cascade as well as the distant waterfall and hillside would both be sharp.
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12/22/09 Photo Tip of the Week
Proper Exposure for Snow & Ice
Hanging ice and Elekala Falls during a winter snow storm, Blackwater Falls State Park, West Virginia
When shooting winter scenes with snow and ice, it is important to make sure that the snow and ice are white. This may seem very obvious, but under exposure during these conditions is all to often the case. The metering system in cameras can be easily fooled into under exposing most winter shots by a full stop or more due to the bright conditions and the fact that a meter wants to render your subject as 18% grey.
The trick to overcoming this common problem is to over expose your winter images by 1 to 1.5 stops over the meter reading. This can be done two ways. If you are shooting in aperture priority, then go ahead and set your compensation dial to +1 or +1.7. If shooting in manual mode, simply increase exposure by +1 to +1.5 stops by adjusting the shutter speed to lengthen the exposure over the recommended setting of the meter.
If you really want to be precise, set your camera to spot metering and point the dot to something in a scene that is roughly 18% great like a neutral rock or blue sky. Take the reading, lock down the exposure, re-compose the image and shoot it.
Remember, one of the many benefits of shooting digital is the opportunity to check the histogram to verify proper exposure. I would recommend shooting "raw" and moving the histogram as far to the right as possible without clipping highlights. Make sure to turn on your "highlight clipping warning" option in the menu of the camera. This will show blinkies wherever you have clipped out highlights in the image.
Histogram of image above
This is the histogram of the above image. As you can see, it is properly exposed with great highlight detail and no clipping. There is aslo an abundant amount of mid tones and shadow detail as well. The exposure information does not clip on either side of the histogram, so there is good shadow detail as well as highlights.
Recomended areas to obtain a spot meter reading
Here are a few ares in the image where you could take a spot meter reading for proper exposure on an 18% grey area. Even so, after taking the image you would want to have a look at the histogram to see where the exposure values fall. You may still be able to increase exposure for the whites without clipping. On the other hand, it may be needed to decrease exposure to deal with some blown highlights.
Using Photoshop Blending Modes to add Drama & Contrast
Using Photoshop Blending Modes for Drama from joseph rossbach on Vimeo.
03/04/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Wide Angle Landscape Photo Tip
Here is an example of an extreme wide angle landscape. This image was captured in American Basin in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. American Basin is a high alpine basin and in the summer the area explodes with one of the best wildflower displays in the Rocky Mountains.
For this shot, ...I used my Nikon D700 and my 14-24mm lens set at its widest angle 914mm0 to create a vast space based composition. The use of the ultra wide angle set in close to the clump of wildflowers in the lower left side of the image made them appear much larger than in reality. it also minimized the size of the mountains in the background. Those are 14'ers, 3 to be exact. The use of the stream serves as a leading line that transports the viewers eye deep into the composition.
Also take note of the repetition in the shape of the clump of flowers in the foreground and the clump of clouds in the sky to the right. The repetition in shape create a balance in the image that would not have worked if the sky were devoid of clouds.
The light was extreme and in order to get good detail in the sky as well as the much darker and shaded basin, I shot 2 exposures. Each one was 3.5 stops apart. I then blended the images manually in Adobe Photoshop using layers and masks
02/09/10 Photo Tip of the Week
The Making of Trilliam Cascades: From the raw conversion of the image to my adjustments in Adobe Photoshop using layers, masks and blending modes
Part 1: Developing the raw file
Developing a RAW file using ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) from joseph rossbach on Vimeo.
Part 2: Basic Layers Adjustments in Adobe Photoshop
Part 2 of Making of Trilliam Cascades: Layers Adjustments in Adobe Photoshop from joseph rossbach on Vimeo.
Part 3:Final Adjustments of dodging/burning, local contrast and sizing and display for the web
Part 3 of Making of Trilliam Cascades. from joseph rossbach on Vimeo.
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1/27/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Processing for drama in Adobe Lightroom V2
Processing for drama in Adobe Lightroom V2 from joseph rossbach on Vimeo.
In this weeks video podcast, we will look at using the Develop panel in Lightroom Version 2 for creating contrast and drama in a landscape photo. In this weeks podcast, we also discuss using the adjustment brush and gradient tool for dodging and burning the photograph.
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1/20/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Best of 2009 Inspirational Video
_______________________________________________________________________
1/20/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Double Processing a RAW file in Adobe Camera Raw
_____________________________________________________________________
1/11/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Gain greater depth-of-field when shooting Macro images
Depth-of-field or in laymen’s terms the focus in the image from near to far. When working in the macro world depth-of-field is limited at best and practically non exist under certain situations. For example, when using a 50mm macro lens at 1:1 it is by far much easier to get a deeper DOF than when using a 200mm macro lens with a 25mm extension tube where DOF will be a matter of millimeters even with the lens stopped down to F22 or F32.
What you need to decide as a photographer is how much DOF is important in the image you are creating. For me, the more limited the DOF in my macro work, the better! I like backgrounds that are soft and not distracting and often times the best way to achieve this is to limit your DOF to covering the focal point and letting the rest of the image fall quickly out of focus.
As you gain magnification, precise camera positioning becomes critical. When shooting a grand landscape moving a few feet in one direction or another is not enough to make a big difference and DOF at F16 is measured in yards or feet. When shooting a close up macro image, moving the camera just a ½ inch of axis can totally remove the subject from the frame and the DOF field at a 1:1 ratio at f16 is only 1/16 of an inch.
The best maximize the DOF in your image, you must align the image sensor (back of camera) with the most important part of the subject so they are parallel. By doing this and stopping the lens down to at least F16, you will get the most focus out of the scene as possible.
_____________________________________________________________________
1/05/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Blending two exposures in Adobe Photoshop to control shadow detail and highligh detail
_____________________________________________________________________
1/05/10 Photo Tip of the Week
Blending Mode Adjustment for Sky Drama
_____________________________________________________________________
12/29/09 Photo Tip of the Week
The Power of Perspective
Perspective not only will change what you see in an image, but will also change what we feel about the shot. Lets look at two images to examine the poser of perspective.
Both images were made with a D700, 17-35mm, Singh Ray LB Polarizer.
This is the first shot I made in the series from second falls of Shays Run. I climbed out onto a snow covered rock which put me about 10 feet above the small V shaped cascade in the bottom of the frame. The perspective was nice and it makes for a pretty good photo, but I knew that if I could get lower and put the V shaped cascade in the bottom of the frame and up close it would make for a much more dynamic image. Take note of the large rectangular rock in the lower area of the image.
Fort his shot, I climbed down into the water and stood on the rock that we mentioned in the above shot. I also changed the height of my tripod so the camera was about 3 feet above the V shaped cascade in the foreground. By getting in much closer to the foreground element and choosing a lower vantage point from which I shot, this changed the entire emotional impact of the image. On a technical note, because I was in much closer to the subject on the second shot I needed to stop the lens down from F11 (that is the aperture at which I shot the above image) to F18 in order to get enough DOF (depth of field) so the near cascade as well as the distant waterfall and hillside would both be sharp.
_____________________________________________________________________
12/22/09 Photo Tip of the Week
Proper Exposure for Snow & Ice
Hanging ice and Elekala Falls during a winter snow storm, Blackwater Falls State Park, West Virginia
When shooting winter scenes with snow and ice, it is important to make sure that the snow and ice are white. This may seem very obvious, but under exposure during these conditions is all to often the case. The metering system in cameras can be easily fooled into under exposing most winter shots by a full stop or more due to the bright conditions and the fact that a meter wants to render your subject as 18% grey.
The trick to overcoming this common problem is to over expose your winter images by 1 to 1.5 stops over the meter reading. This can be done two ways. If you are shooting in aperture priority, then go ahead and set your compensation dial to +1 or +1.7. If shooting in manual mode, simply increase exposure by +1 to +1.5 stops by adjusting the shutter speed to lengthen the exposure over the recommended setting of the meter.
If you really want to be precise, set your camera to spot metering and point the dot to something in a scene that is roughly 18% great like a neutral rock or blue sky. Take the reading, lock down the exposure, re-compose the image and shoot it.
Remember, one of the many benefits of shooting digital is the opportunity to check the histogram to verify proper exposure. I would recommend shooting "raw" and moving the histogram as far to the right as possible without clipping highlights. Make sure to turn on your "highlight clipping warning" option in the menu of the camera. This will show blinkies wherever you have clipped out highlights in the image.
Histogram of image above
This is the histogram of the above image. As you can see, it is properly exposed with great highlight detail and no clipping. There is aslo an abundant amount of mid tones and shadow detail as well. The exposure information does not clip on either side of the histogram, so there is good shadow detail as well as highlights.
Recomended areas to obtain a spot meter reading
Here are a few ares in the image where you could take a spot meter reading for proper exposure on an 18% grey area. Even so, after taking the image you would want to have a look at the histogram to see where the exposure values fall. You may still be able to increase exposure for the whites without clipping. On the other hand, it may be needed to decrease exposure to deal with some blown highlights.
