The images in this series were shot at Snoqualmie Falls in Washington state on a very blustery day.  The flow over the fall was moderate to heavy and that is an important factor in shooting any waterfall: if there flow is light (low volume) then the effect will be different. A moderate flow means the water has enough volume to pick up speed toward the bottom without fanning out and drifting off as mist. A very heavy flow often means a lack of definition for individual ribbons. Moderation, again, is typically the key, but not an absolute.

That being said, I ran a test at a moderate to heavy flow shooting at 1/8000, 1/3200, 1/1000, 1/250, 1/100, 1/30, 1/20, 1/10, 1/5, .5, 1 and 2.5 seconds. Not everyone has a chance to get out and shoot waterfalls as often as some of us can (evidently the middle of the USA is fairly flat) and this post is for them. It’s a chance to get an idea of what effect happens with which shutter speed. It’s a chance to practice mentally for that trip to Hawaii and its hundreds of waterfalls. Or Costa Rica. Or some place warm with ample rainfall.

If you already have your waterfall shooting data dialed in, great. There is no need for you to read any further. Might I suggest you check out the latest Dilbert cartoon?

For everyone curious about how these shutter speed show up in images of falling water, let’s take a look!

The first few shots are taken with a high ISO as the falls were in shade (the sun doesn’t get very high around here in the Winter). I have used a bit of noise reduction but not so much as to take away from the detail. All images were shot with a Canon 7D and 28-300mm L lens. Clicking on an image will bring up a 3000px tall version if you want to dig a bit closer. I apologize that the 2.5 second image is a bit less stable….it was hard to hold the camera steady with a constant 20MPH wind in my face. The shots at 1/5 and slower were shot using a variable neutral density filter to achieve the slower speed.

1/8000th of a second

1/3200th of a second

1/1000th of a second

1/250th of a second

1/100th of a second

1/30th of a second

1/20th of a second

1/10th of a second

1/5th of a second

.5 seconds

1 second

2.5 seconds

What do you see in the falling water at different speeds? I see an obvious change in the silkiness of the water but it takes a while to get started from 1/8000th (and is my main reason for not shooting every stop or 1/3 of a stop as the images in between have very little noticeable change). My normal favorite shooting speed of 1/10th of a second doesn’t cut it here, in my opinion. The water is blurred, but not enough for my liking. Again, that is just my opinion.

What’s your take on a ‘good’ speed to shoot this waterfall? How will the images help you see possibilities differently the next time you are shooting a waterfall?

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Picking A Waterfall Shutter Speed For The Best Look

I’ve started noticing a pattern in many of the images I have seen from new photography enthusiasts. It’s not absolute, but it is common enough that I write here today offering this bit of advice: Get closer.

Here’s the pattern I see when I ask new photographers to photograph something of interest. I’ll illustrate the flow with photos most students start out with.

First, they find something interesting, like this splotch of moss on a tree trunk. They think it’s different and those who haven’t visited Washington often remark at the different varieties of moss we have here. If only we could export it for gold.

The photo above is what I see a lot of. It’s not horrible, but it is not what the shooter really wanted to capture. They see the moss, they see the tree and they just take a shot, from about four feet away and zoomed out. But the image brings in the background and there is nothing special. They often frown at the camera at this point. Then turn to me with that frown, shrug their shoulders and look for advice. “Get closer.” They sigh again and take a step in.

The moss gets bigger but they complain about the distraction of the person on the sidewalk in the background. More frowning. “Get closer.” One more step straight forward (moss really is cool).

Straight on. They are a bit amazed their camera can take a picture so close, to be honest. Some, picking up on the theme, will take things even closer but most of the time, the lens and camera combination won’t allow focus at that range. At this point, they have a close image but everything is in focus and there is no depth to the image. They still aren’t happy, but getting there (at least the sidewalk isn’t visible!).

At this point we take another tack. I have them move to the side. To try another angle. By now they still aren’t sure I’m sane and this is par for the course. Perhaps there is a magic button on their camera that makes pretty pictures? “No,” I reply, “but that’s actually good news.”

Now the eyebrows raise up a bit. There’s interest in the image. A bit of angle has added in some depth (even at f/9) and the moss is starting to become interesting. They know what’s coming by now if they were to turn to me and ask, so they tentatively ask, “Closer?”  “Yep. And zoom in just a bit.”

“Oh wow,” is often heard at this point. They didn’t know their camera could take a photo with a clear subject and no distractions. They were able to get a bit closer than when straight on and they now have a focal point. But the aperture is still set to f/9 and bringing in a lot of the moss. So I have them lower the aperture as far as it will go (while still looking through the view finder as it is good practice to learn to adjust settings while looking through the viewfinder if you have one).

Now at f/5.6 in this case, the focal point is narrowed down and they have an interesting picture. Will it make the cover of National Geographic? Not likely. But I’ve come to understand people learn in baby steps and this is a big one for most; realizing there is more to shoot than the broad view, with a wide angle lens, four feet back.

If you’re starting out, repeat the mantra to yourself the next time you have a subject in front of you and are frowning at your camera’s display of an average image.

Get Closer.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Beginner’s Tip: Get Closer

As you say previous on the Q&A with Uncornered Market, creating panorama’s can create some amazing images. I took their methodologies and applied them to some of my own panoramas, which do not cover 360 degrees all around. This method is more practical for those of us without fisheye lenses. Take a look at this tutorial if you are curious for a step by step on creating your own immersion panoramas.

You will need to click over to my blog to view the immersion panorama described in this demo because DPS does not yet support embedding the SWF file type. The image can be found at this post and a static version is shown here:

Title: Nepal Himalaya Panorama Exploration

Location: Mong, Nepal

To answer the question, “How did you make that?” I offer this post as instruction. It’s not magic and it’s something you can accomplish. I had the aid of a number of computer programs:

• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
• Kolor AutoPano Giga
• Kolor PanoTour Pro

Additionally, the hardware I used included:

• Canon 7D camera
• Canon 28-300mm L lens
• Bogen 3021 tripod with ball head

Those are the basics. The other important piece of equipment was an alarm clock. I knew I needed to be up at least an hour before the sunrise in order to get dressed (it was a bit cold), grab a snack and find my location. I had scouted a likely spot the night before and I had taken nearly this same photo in 2008 while trekking. Scouting your location really helps when timing, as with a sunrise, is critical.

Get Ready

After getting myself out of bed and trudging up a small hill to the location, scaring a dzokyo with horns (it’s a cross between a cow and a yak) over a fence in the process, and after avoid his ‘cow pies’ (I’m not romanticizing this process enough, am I?), I set up my camera. Important in this step was to find a location with good visibility that would allow me to see over the roofs, but still capture the stupa in the middle of the village. Also important was good stability of the ground so I or my tripod would not slip.

My plan was to shoot the scene as a single swatch of panorama. I didn’t have the immersion viewer in mind when creating this, just a traditional super wide image for print. So I set up my tripod and made sure the base was level. I did this using the back of camera screen level that comes with the Canon 7D. If not, I would need a little level, like this one. This is an important step! If the camera is tilted, the longer your panorama, the less overall useable space you will have when it is leveled and cropped. Practice this at home so you don’t waste time in the field learning to get things level (and then become disappointed when back at home crying at your computer screen. Yes, I’ve done that).

Now with the base of the tripod level, I placed my camera onto it in a vertical orientation. I wanted a tall image and this would allow me to capture more scene. I also knew the timing would only allow for one pass. Once the sun was up, the lighting would change and I’d spend many aggravating hours on the computer trying to balance it all out if I didn’t get it in one pass.

Those steps in bullet form:

• Scout a location before
• Scare off large animals
• Set tripod on stable ground
• Level tripod
• Attach camera

Get Set

Camera on the tripod and the sky is getting brighter. I have a better idea where it will peek over the peaks. I start taking some meter readings and figuring out where I want to set my aperture and shutter speed. I already know I will set my ISO to 100 for the least amount of noise I can hope for. I then picked my focus point and locked it (turned off auto focus). Oh yeah, I also set my aperture at this point based on how much depth of field I wanted, doing this in conjunction with picking a focus point not completely to the horizon. I picked a point about 30 feet from me to focus on. This allowed me, at f/10, to have most of the scene in focus, which was going to include the fence, stupa and distant mountains. Plus my guest on this tour off to my side (who would later be begged, “Please don’t move!” when I shot frames with him in them). My closest object, besides some ground, was about 15’ away.

I did this in Manual mode so the exposure settings would not change. My settings ended up being 1/100th of a second and f/10. Going into the menus for my camera, I turned on the exposure bracketing and chose one step over exposed and one step under exposed. I locked my tripod’s ball head once all was level as I would be using the base swivel where the tripod met the head’s body to turn my panorama. I swung through the action a few times, making sure it was level in all spots. There are newer heads on the market, such as the Induro PHQ, which have levels built-in to help make this step easier.

Lastly in this step, I set my white balance (not required, but it makes post processing easier) and turned off my lens’ image stabilization because I was using a tripod. A couple more swings through to make sure I knew what I’d be doing. One more step was to turn my frame rate to high. This would allow the bracketing to shoot quickly and speed up the whole shoot. In these practice swings I timed myself to make sure I would have time to stop at each point, get my shots, and move while not causing blur from too fast a motion. I also wanted to complete my shot in less than a minute to make sure the lighting didn’t change too dramatically during the shoot.

Those steps in bullet form:

• Meter
• Switch to Manual mode
• Set Shutter Speed
• Set Aperture based on desired depth of field
• Turn off Image Stabilization
• Set focus and lock
• Check level throughout path of shoot
• Turn on high speed shooting mode
• Make sure camera is set to RAW (if desired. A note here: if you find your camera’s buffer can’t keep up with your rate of shooting, you may need to choose a smaller size RAW format if you can, or switch to JPEG)
• Breathe

GO!

I ratcheted my camera back to my start point on the far left side. I was on a hill and would not be making a full 360 degree sweep as the hill itself wasn’t exciting (and far too close). When the sun just started to top the left side of the peak, I started shooting, overlapping by about 30%, give or take. A robot like the Gigapan EPIC would have helped. Each stop produced three images as such:

Under exposed by a stop, at exposure and over exposed by a stop

Sweeping through my shot in just about one minute perfectly I checked the images on the back of my camera and breathed easy. The buffer had started to get full and I had to slow my shooting a half way through, but it wasn’t bad enough to effect the final image.

With the 117 shots secured (and later that night they were backed up to a second and third drive), I continued my tour while still contemplating how to merge them without spending hours on the computer when I returned home.

Those steps in bullet form:

• Wait for your moment to start
• Know your timing for the whole panorama if timing is critical
• Shoot!
• Breathe, again

Putting It All Together At Home

At first I attempted to use hugin to stack my images (each set of three shots makes a stack) and then create a panorama. The results were ok, but there was a LOT of manual work in aligning the images. I then was given a copy of AutoPano Giga to try out and it has created, for me, a boon in panorama processing. I will give a full review in the coming weeks, but for now I just want to show how I created this particular image and not get into all the nuts and bolts of the program.

My first step was to import the images into Adobe Lightroom and adjust the exposure settings. I did this for the middle shot, the one you see above. It has the widest range of light and I wanted to make sure I kept it looking realistic. I only adjusted the middle image, the one with the camera’s suggested exposure settings. After I did this and removed any spots, I also adjusted the image for clarity, saturation and the like, but not too much as I would perform more near the end of the process. This is a personal preference and your settings will vary.

With the one image edited to my liking, I then synced those settings with the rest of the images using Lightroom’s sync feature. Nice and easy. I then exported each image as a full sized JPEG. In later work, I will be using the DNG file type as AutoPano Giga can handle those and there will be less compression. All of those files went into one folder and it’s time to use AutoPano Giga.

This software is quite easy for basic shoots. After starting the program I imported all the photos by selecting “Select Images”. Once loaded the screen looks like this (click for larger version):

An important feature in this software is the simplicity with which I can create stacks. All it takes is a right click and then selection of the “Create stacks by N…”. This allows me to input that there are three (or any number) of images per stack. Now I don’t have to line them up or tell the program I was using bracketing for my shots. With the stacks created, I pressed the “Detect” button up top and AutpPano Giga does its best to align my images. Here’s the result, which appears on the right side of the screen.

Luckily there was not a lot of waste in this image because of taking the time to level the camera properly. AutoPano Giga aligns, color corrects, adjusts exposure and a few other items when performing this step. I will have more on the software in a full review later.

I output this as a PSD file to help preserve the image quality. This takes a while and makes a huge file (2GB). Patience is needed. I could also output to a JPEG to save time, but as I want to present my best work and make it highly zoomable, I chose the PSD format.

Opening the resulting file in Lightroom (in this case, Lightroom 4 Beta), I then crop the image and play with exposure to get it how I want it.

After adjusting the image, I exported the file as a .PSD file type, again to preserve as much detail as I can (and again, I will be using DNG files for the first compression in the future, but that also adds considerable time when processing multiple panoramas. At the very least, you will see the quality possible when using one of the faster methods given here). Opening the file in PanoTour Pro, I have a number of options to set.

On the right hand side are most of the important bits for this project (a review of PanoTour Pro will be forthcoming as well, after I have played with it more). The size is already set with the width of the image imported. I set the JPEG quality to 12 instead of 10. In the next tab, I set the projection to only be 300 degrees so it does not wrap around.

Lastly, I ticked the check box next to “Embed all data”. This enables the output to be a singular file, which can make for easier handling (and a higher file size).

All that was left was to upload the resulting .SWF file after I performed an export (the program has a facility to upload the resulting SWF file or files, but I wanted to check the results locally before spending the time to upload).

I encounter one small glitch while creating this file; my web service isn’t the fastest on the planet. The SWF file that resulted was about 125MB large. Normally not a problem but it slowed down the experience for many readers. So I went back in and cut the image size to 14,000 pixels wide in PanoTour Pro and decreased the compression to 10. This resulted in a file about 5.5MB large and much quicker to download. On that original post, I linked to the original file for those with patience, as the full detail is really incredible.

Those steps in bullet form:

• Import into Lightroom (or your editor of choice) and adjust as needed (but not too much)
• Export to DNG files, ideally
• Import into AutoPano Giga
• Create Panorama and export as PSD (Tiff would be another fine option, or JPEG if your space and resources are limited)
• Open in Photoshop or Lightroom or GIMP or … and crop. Make final adjustments. Export as PSD or simply save file
• Import into PanoTour Pro and set variables as needed
• Export as SWF file and upload to server (using the programs built-in FTP capabilities if desired)

On The Website

To make all this magic work on my blog, I had to install a plugin. The one I chose is called PanoPress and you can download it from their website. It’s an easy install and so far has not wreaked havoc on my site. Natively, WordPress, which is what powers my site, does not support SWF files in the sense of viewing panoramas like this. The best part of all this magic is the ability to choose fullscreen mode. Letting viewers fill their entire screen is something we photographers don’t often do and it can be intoxicating. PanoPress makes this magic work.

Conclusion

2000 words later…that’s it! I know it might seem like a lot, but with the choice of software this time around, I am very happy with the flow. I can also process multiple images in series (often setting my computer to pound through the large files while I sleep) and receive predictable results. I have more learning to do with the Kolor products to refine things and see if I can automate more of the mundane settings.

Also of note, I went through this process in both Lightroom 3 and Lightroom 4 Beta. I was far happier with the results in Lightroom 4 and they are what you see on the site.

I look forward to crafting more of these types of images (and have already started to, here) as I go back through old panoramas that I have taken and make them more presentable on the web. This process will not work for everyone out there (it can, though, be performed on a Mac or PC as listed and on a Linux machine without the Lightroom aspect) but it is my sincere hope that it helps more of you present your art in a dramatic way on the web.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

How I Shot And Edited It – Nepal Zoomable Panorama

It’s worth your while to click on the image above to be taken to the full sized 360 view of the Shah-é-Chéragh Mosque taken by Audrey Scott and Daniel Noll of Uncornered Market.com. As DPS evolves, we’ll be adding in the ability to see these immersion style Shockwave files on the blog, but for now, take a look at this example before diving into this post.

Daniel And Audrey have been creating these wonderful images for years. I’ve been a bit addicted to the far-flung locations they show and the amount of detail they can pack into a full spherical image (which looks fabulous in full screen mode). I recently contacted them to find out how they capture their images as I wanted to present my panoramas (not full 360) in the same manner. This post will explore how they capture what they do and will point you to some resources you can use to do the same.

In an upcoming post, I will dive a bit deeper into a slightly different style I currently use to create similar images.  But for now, on to the Q & A!

NOTE: I suggest subscribing to their blog as they post one of these images from around the world every week. Plus they have other great photography and travel stories on their site I think you will enjoy.

1 ) Starting with the photo shoot, list for us the equipment you use to capture your scenes.

Photo Shoot:

• Camera body (e.g., Nikon D300)
• Circular fisheye lens (e.g., Sigma 8mm f/3.5 EX DG Circular Fisheye Lens)
• Monopod Velbon RUP-43 (optional, we carry one)
• Panoramic tripod head (optional, we do not carry one)

 Post-processing:

• Your favorite photo editing software (e.g., Photoshop)
• Spherical panorama stitching software (e.g., Autopano Giga)
• Spherical panorama tour software (e.g., Panotour Pro)

2 ) You’ve captured hundreds of 360 panorama images while traveling almost full time. Can we get some technique tips that will help those learning the technique shorten their learning curve, please?

For the purposes of this Q&A, we’ll assume you are shooting with an 8mm circular fisheye lens.

 The shots: You will shoot in RAW format at least five images in portrait orientation – four images each at 90-degree angles to one another (think around a single axis), then a fifth shot overhead to be sure you’ve captured the entire sky or ceiling. If you are not shooting with a lens at least as wide as 8mm, you may need to take more images to be sure you’ve covered everything from a 360-degree perspective.

We take virtually all our panoramic photos without a monopod, tripod heads or other aids. After you’ve taken enough photos, you get a feel for properly aligning with the ground and horizon. An alignment trick: tie a string around a coin (or heavy item) and hang this from your lens so that you can be sure you are shooting at the same angle around the axis.

Exposure and focus: To ensure a consistent exposure, be sure you are in fully manual mode. As a general rule (there are exceptions), you’ll want to expose for the sky. Also make certain your lens is set to infinity focus. (There are exceptions to the infinity rule if the bulk of your subject and surroundings are close up, say inside a bus for example.)

 Subject area: Having some people or objects in the foreground can be useful to provide action or perspective. Because you are working with an 8mm lens, objects in the distance (e.g., mountain ranges) will appear especially far away, so they may not be as engaging in a spherical panorama as they might appear to the naked eye.

 3 ) After you have the images, run us through your workflow (on a high level as this isn’t a complete tutorial).

The workflow consists of two parts: 1) image stitching, and 2) creating the 360-degree tour.

 The stitch:

• Be sure that software settings are properly set at spherical panorama.
• Drop the five RAW images from the scene into a stitching software program in order to detect the control point (overlaps) between images.
• Examine the draft stitch. Adjust variables such as roll, pitch and yaw in order to correct for distortion and camera body angle.
• Render the stitched photos into a panorama. The output will be a flat .jpg file.
• Post-process the resulting .jpg file in your favorite photo editing software to tune exposure, contrast, saturation, etc.
• Use pixel clone/stamp to fill in the black/empty area at the bottom of the image.

Creating the tour:

• Take the post-processed flat panorama .jpg and drop the file into a 360-degree panorama “tour” software. We use Panotour Pro to create the flash-based tours you see on our website.
• Set your preferences, including logo/watermarks and button/user interface options (e.g., full screen) you’d like available on your tour.
• Render the flash tour. The resulting output will be a .swf file that you can upload to your website or blog’s media manager. More information on this Panotour wiki on how to format. WordPress users can also use PanoPress.

4 ) Which step is the hardest to master in this entire sequence?

Equally, subject selection and the actual shooting process. Not only are you concentrating to ensure that the photographs are properly exposed and aligned, but you must pay attention to people/cars/animals/etc. coming in and out of view. These can be wonderful in terms of showing action, but if they move too quickly, they may create “ghosts” (where heads, feet or body segments are missing) in the resulting stitched image.

5 ) Have you found any resources particularly useful while learning to create these shots?

We first became involved in 360-degree panoramas thanks to 360cities.net. The site has a tutorial for people getting started in panoramic photography, it offers inspiration in its collections, and it features the ability to host and serve panoramas.

6) What particular challenges have you had to face while creating these images while still on the road?

We have one camera body to shoot photos for panoramic photography (with our 8mm Sigma lens) and two-dimensional photos. Often, we’ll be in the midst of a scene that is wonderful for both types of shots, but we have to make a quick decision to shoot one over the other if the scene is quickly evolving. Many of our best panoramas have also been shot in less-than-ideal physical conditions including dust, snow, heat, moisture, so we have to continually mind the camera sensor as we swap out lenses.

7 ) Including shooting and editing time, how long would you say it takes you to produce one solid 360?

If all goes perfectly, the process can take as little as 20 minutes: 5 minutes for the shoot, 10 minutes for rendering/photo editing, and 5 minutes to create & test the stitched 360-degree panorama and .swf file tour.

8 ) For beginners who love to travel, which three areas of the world would you suggest as havens for producing 360 panoramas?

1) India – so much color, activity, wonderful markets and temples. Good for interiors and exteriors.

2) Andean South America – surreal landscapes (e.g., Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia), mountains, active indigenous markets

3) Middle East and Central Asia – for Islamic art interiors, bustling spice markets.

4 Favorite panoramas:

a) Disco Ball Mosque, Iran (awesome interior)

b) Petra By Night, Jordan (night, possibly our most popular panorama)

c) Udaipur Market (market action)

d) Crossing Thorong La Pass, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal (landscape)

Bonus Panorama in time for Valentine’s Day: Petronas Towers Fun (panoramic trickery)

Bio:

Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott are the husband-and-wife storytelling and photography team behind the around-the-world travel blog, Uncornered Market. More than five years and 70 countries later, they are still exploring the world, still taking panoramic photos…and still married. You can follow along with their adventures via Twitter, Facebook, Google + and by subscribing to their blog.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

How To Shoot 360 Degree Panoramas While On The Road – With Audrey Scott And Daniel Noll Of Uncornered Market

And, “Does it actually do anything?”

Not all flashes have these two items that cover the flash head and pull straight out, but if yours does and you’ve always wondered, here is your answer.

Those two items both serve different purposes. The one that flips over the flash itself is a diffuser. Its job is to spread out the light from the flash. You might have seen larger diffusers, such as a softbox over a flash. Those diffuse even more light than this piece of plastic. But it actually is better than nothing when it comes to spreading out light. At the same time you flip out this contraption, your flash will typically back up the light source inside of the flash unit (if it has zoom capabilities) to help project a wide swath of light.

These two actions work hand in hand to spread light and not make it so tight on your subject. The last piece of plastic, the more opaque one the at sticks out straight, helps bounce light that would have bounced away from the subject, get pointed back just a liiitttle bit more towards your target. This can be helpful when even more diffusion is wanted, or if the flash is being bounced off a ceiling and some catch light is wanted in the subject’s eyes.

Let me show you the difference a diffuser, coupled with the bounce plastic and a wide zoom in the flash, can make.

This first shot of a f-stop Gear Satori pack I was reviewing is taken at 85mm and a distance of about eight feet. This shot is taken with the flash pointed directly at the pack and coming in from the left side as I have tilted the camera, as I did not want to bounce the flash against a colored wall and couch.

Notice the harsh shadow to the side of the pack caused by the flash? This is because the flash is coming from the side and is relatively close. That shadow is caused by the pack being another eight feet from the wall behind it (as your subject gets further from the background, the shadow will increase).

Now let’s try it with the diffuser in place, the bounce in place and the flash zoomed back to 14mm (all of which happens automatically when I pull out the diffuser).

The exposure settings on the camera are exactly the same in both photos. The difference should be clear, that the second shot has much lighter shadows as well as a softer light on the pack itself.

The impact of this method is less pronounced when zoomed in further and the flash is now positioned above the camera in a horizontal orientation. Can you tell which shot is which in these two examples?

The clue is in the slight change in the quality of light. Because the diffuser’s light is not as intense as the straight flash, it allows in a bit more ambient light and this can be seen in the first image as a slight more orange is showing (from the overhead tungsten lights). The reflections on the buckle are also slightly less harsh.

Using this quick and easy diffuser which you will never leave at home can have its advantages. It’s not mean to replace a true softbox, but it will help when one is not around.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Does That Little Flip Up Diffuser Actually Help?

To help alleviate this problem, give your viewers some place to go. Not in every photo, but think of it from time to time when setting up a shot. There are a few ways you can give your viewers a place to go in your photo and I’ve listed some suggestions below.

Tight Focus and Blur

The first technique deals with a change in focus. It’s how our eyes naturally see the world, in thin, two dimensional slices at a time. This is in focus and that is out of focus. The screen you are reading this is in focus and the keyboard (or floor if you are reading this on a mobile device) is not. Couple that together with two eyes to give a three dimensional aspect to what we see and we now have a useful way to navigate our living room without smashing our shins on the coffee table.

The problem in photography comes when cameras are left to their own devices and choose for us. Many cameras will increase the aperture setting (closing down the aperture) to bring more things into focus. Most cameras ‘think’  you want a lot of things in focus. Surely the camera has it figured out for you!

But the truth is, interesting photos have few things in focus (hyperfocal techniques no withstanding) at one time. And it’s important to remember this when taking a photo. Pick one thing to be your focal point and try to make it stand out from the rest of the scene. This can be done by increasing your aperture (decreasing the f/stop number) to take advantage of a shallower depth of field. It also helps to get closer to your subject to also shallow up that depth of field.

Whether we know it or not, we are used to seeing something in focus and something not in focus. Looking at your screen, do actually notice your hands on the keyboard are not in focus? Typically, no. We know our hands are there and we don’t need them in focus by our focus should be on the screen. Do the same with your photos and give your viewers a focal point while letting the rest of the scene blur out of importance.

Leading Lines

Leading Lines are just that; lines in your image that bring viewers to a particular point. I also like to include paths in this example because a path, or road, while not always perfectly straight, can lead viewers as well. Playing with Leading Lines can be a lot of fun because you get to move around. Pay attention to the lines in a photo, such as this one taken on a Washington State Ferry.

They day was gray and boring and there wasn’t much to look at. But there were lines everywhere. The railings, the horizon, the deck chairs. They all lead to the pilot house and I mostly wanted them in focus. So I took a position that would allow them to converge. I moved around the deck a bit until I had a nice and easy spot where two of the lines for the Rule Of Thirds converge.

Lines can also be curved as in this shot of a trail leading into the unknown distance.

Space

One of the more simple tricks to leading your viewers is to give them space in the photo to move into. We take our periphery for granted and that plays out in photography (as well as other forms of art) in a way most of us don’t consciously understand. What I’m talking about here is the fact that as you move your head from left to right, or up and down, your brain is scanning ahead. It is why you also don’t bump into the coffee table even though it may not be in focus. Your eyes say it and your brain understood what was coming before it was in focus.

When a photo does not allow for this scan-ahead to occur, we tend to turn our nose up at the image. Not because it is horrible, but because ‘something’ isn’t quite right and we’re not sure what. Take these two images of the setting sun for instance.

The difference between the two is the position of the boat and where it is going. We all know a boat (typically) goes forward and we know which direction this one is facing. When it is just about out of the frame, we subconsciously want to know where it’s going and are slightly irked by not knowing. Mind you, this can be a good method for grabbing attention, but for making pleasing photos while you are learning photography, give some space in front of the subject for it to ‘move’ into the frame.

Conclusion

It’s important to remember these are only rules. And rules are made to be broken. But if you are just starting out in photography, learn to use these simple techniques first to add some instant attraction to your images, then venture out and let your artistic creativity take over your style.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Give Your Viewers Some Place To Go

Fast forward to last summer. I was hiking in the hills outside of Boulder, Colorado with fellow photographer Ben Fullerton and while we were both testing the same pack from LowePro, we started up a conversation about what we’d like to see in a larger backcountry pack. Something that could hold all our gear (and we both differed on what we wanted to carry on a shoot) as well as camping equipment. He wanted a spot of a water bladder, I wanted a spot of a water bottle. He would carry two bodies, five lenses and a couple of strobes. I only wished to carry one body, a couple of lenses and a single strobe. But I also would bring my laptop. And plenty of Very Cherry  Jelly Bellies.

Somehow this whole time f-stop had been off my radar.  f-stop makes serious packs specifically for photographers who take their gear far from the comforts of a studio. They have a number of pros in the business as advisers and they listen to customers about what they would like improved. They build packs for adventure photographers and I requested a review copy of the Satori EXP, their largest bag designed for extended trips abroad or in the backcountry.

What arrived at my house was a bag perfect for scratching my gear-loving itch. I love versatility and this bag is all about expandability and expansion. At 62 liters it is big, but still sized to fit in most airline overhead compartments, meaning your gear stays close and out of the maul of the checked baggage system. Let me dive right into the modular features that make this bag a must-have for any photographer serious about carrying their gear in comfort while bringing along camping or travel gear. It has four main systems to help carry gear inside and out.

Internal Storage

Inside is where this bag starts to handle your gear. The integrated pockets of this pack are not too numerous not too few. The main compartment is accessed two different directions; from on top and from the front panel. The front panel flap, which sits against a wearer’s back, opens fully to reveal four pockets lining its inside. The bottom two are ideal for a filter or two and there are two memory card pockets at the top to keep your storage available. The nice thing about the lower pockets is they can be used as a means of adjusting lumbar support in the bag. if you like more lower back support, just load that second with two filters in storage cases and you’re set (l prefer wearing my pack this way). If you want support higher up, just load that pocket. It is also comfortable without anything in the pockets.

The top flap has an outer pocket and an inner pocket and they can devour a large amount of odds and ends. I won’t list it all out, but the inside pocket can easily hold two 77mm filters side by side, two hard-case memory holders and a card reader. The outer pocket is designed for easy access and a small first aid kit works here, plus it has pockets for business card (when in town or working tradeshows), cell phone and a key chain so your keys don’t go missing. A mesh pocket in here further divides the space for small items.

Inside the main compartment is a spot for a laptop (a padded sleeve which does not extend all the way to the bottom, helping ensure the laptop is not excessively bumped when setting the bag down on hard surfaces) as well as a sleeve for important documents or a water bladder, complete with Velcro loops to route the bladder hose.

On the back of the back are four more zippered compartments integral to the bag design. Two are on the very back and one has a grommet at the bottom to allow for water to escape, making it ideal for wet items such as a bathing suit or ski skins. On the bottom is a trash compartment to keep your wrappers and peels away from the rest of your gear. On the bottom is a pouch for a rain cover (not included, but available as an option if you don’t have your own). While traveling I have been able fit flip flops in the back compartment while additionally shoving in a book, paperwork, my glasses case and snacks.

Modular Space For Your Camera Gear

The Internal Camera Unit (ICU) takes the standard camera bag practice of padded Velcro space and let’s you decide how much bag space is taken up by your camera in lenses. Where other packs are built around the camera storage, f-stop takes a different approach and has created five different sizes of ICUs to let you decide how to configure your bag. From the smallest size, built to hold a single camera and a couple of lenses, the largest which can muster enough space to tote a 500mm prime lens and more, the ICU approach will insure no space is wasted when you want to carry more or less equipment.

The units Velcro into the main compartment with two or four attachment points and will leave as much as 2/3rd of the internal 62L of space available for camping equipment or other gear. The largest ICU will fill the entire space. In between are bags perfect for one or two cameras and a variety of lenses. In the medium version, I was able to fit a Canon 7D with 28-500mm L lens (equivalent to most 70-200mm lenses) attached, as well as the battery grip. Around this was placed another five lenses. There is also a thin version of the ICU to save more space if you are not carrying thick gear.

Lastly, the ICUs are designed to work in a number of the f-stop packs in their Mountain series, such as the popular Loka. It takes about four minutes to move an ICU from one bag to another (assuming both are empty bags) and the Velcro loops are a bit stuffed behind the pack frame stays, necessarily so. The ICUs also have a handle to make them easy to stuff into any other bag you may be bringing and helps keep dust and rain off your gear while in transport.

MOLLE For Universal Expandability

The MOLLE system is an industry standard used by the military and police units to allow for easy attachment of any number of devices via, you guessed it, Velcro. There are loops for expanding your bag’s carrying capacity on the sides and waist belt. f-stop makes a number of accessory pouches to hold items you want close at hand and not buried inside your bag, such as cable releases or remote triggers and units for flashes. Further, they also have single unit bags for smaller cameras (the Navin version can hold a Nikon D7000 and 28-300mm lens attached) that will fit on the belt loops to keep a camera always at hand.

Because of their positioning on the side of the pack, other brands of pack accessories can be used as well, such as the Outdoor Research crampon bags or the Dana Design side pouches, one of which can easily carry a small stove, water purifier and first aid kit on the outside of the Satori.

GateKeeper Straps All Over

GateKeeper is f-stop’s system for adding attachment straps all over the top, back and bottom of the bag. There are 14 of these points on the outside of the pack and the straps come in a variety of lengths. This system is superior to the typical daisy chain method as it keeps the straps tight against the pack. The back section can be used to carry a snowboard or rails for a dolly setup. The top and bottom sections can hold a sleeping bag, sleeping pad or additional gear pouches.

The GateKeeper system also allows for attachment of the Navin camera bag on the front of the pack while the wearer hikes, keeping a camera always at the ready. Additionally the straps can all be removed to insure smooth travel if the pack does need to be sent as checked baggage.

Odds And Ends

The bag also sports side compression straps which will hold your tripod firmly, ice axe or trekking pole loops sewn into back of the bag and a few extra attachment points on the back for spare straps. On the shoulder straps are D-rings, a sleeve to help route a water bladder hose and two other loops on the left shoulder strap to hold fast a two way radio, GPS, knife or cell phone.

A full list of stats and sizes can be found at f-stop’s website.

Conclusion

I know this post is long and I was not attempting to explain every aspect of the Satori, but there is a lot of cover in this bag and the effort f-stop has put into making it the best it can be, while realizing they never stop trying to improve their equipment so it meets the needs of the photographers who rely on solid gear to help them capture the beauty of the outdoors. The MOLLE system, the GateKeeper system and the ICU system exist in a number of f-stop’s packs and worth a look, no matter what your torso size or the amount of gear you wish to carry.

More information specific to the Satori can be found here.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

The Ultimate, Expandable Expedition Camera Backpack: f-stop Satori EXP [REVIEW]

Enter the Sigma 4.5mm fisheye. This lens is built for cropped sensors, giving them a full 180° field of view withing a single frame. To achieve this field of view, the front element protrudes from the front metal of the lens, giving it the typical fisheye look. There is a focus ring and a distance scale, plus a small switch for manual or automatic focus. Because of the short focus distance and the overall size of the camera, the nearest in focus object can be as close as .75”/`19mm.

With a lens like this, a whole new world of images becomes possible. Shooting objects close is an easy subject as well as circles. Shooting converging lines takes on a new dimension as well as the night sky (which is one of the original intentions behind the development of the lens; atmospheric photography). I have some sample images later in the post to give you more ideas of how this lens can be used as well as the quality of the images.

I took this lens with me and my Canon 7D on a six week trip to Asia covering photo tours in Nepal and Bhutan as well as a personal week spent in India. I want to thank BorrowLenses.com for the lend of the lens.

Features

First, some stats from Sigma’s own site.

• Lens Construction 13 Elements in 9 Groups
• Angle of View 180º
• Number of Diaphragm Blades 6
• Minimum Aperture f22
• Minimum Focusing Distance 13.5 cm / 5.3 in
• Filter Size (mm) Insertion-type gelatin filter into rear of the lens
• Maximum Magnifications 1:6
• Dimensions (Diameter x Length) 76.2 x 77.8 mm/3.0 x 3.1 in
• Weight 470g / 16.6oz.

Use In Real Life

The biggest aspect of this lens to get used to is the field of view. More than once my feet were in the frame (even with fellow DPS writer Jim Goldstein warning me of this danger) and at times I could see my hand while manual focusing, or just holding the camera comfortably. There’s a mental extra to add before pressing the shutter release and that is to check the circle edge for any signs of the photographer behind the camera.

While in the field, I found the lens as comfortable as any other to hold and transport. It comes with a rear lens cap as well as a hood and lens cap for the front. Because of the bulging nature of the front lens, the lens hood (felted on the inside to create a firm attachment with the lens when in use) is needed to hold a cap. Additional filters can be used with this hood attached (72mm) if a narrowed version of the spherical world is okay. I did have an almost constant worry about scratching the front of the lens with it sticking out as far as it does (which is not much at all, but more than I am accustomed to). Therefor, the hood and lens cap remained on more than usual. A minor point.

Shooting with the lens is no different than shooting with any other lens. It opens to f/2.8 and can get seriously close to subjects. This helps as shooting with a fisheye point of view can be challenging. Getting close to the subject and helping it dominate the field of view, while still giving the viewer some place to ‘go’ in the picture, is even more exaggerated with this lens than with a standard wide angle.

Video with the lens can be interesting. Side moving objects go from small to large in the middle to small again and it can be a bit odd for some viewers. Images shot straight forward, backward or straight up give a good full view of the action. For some additional tips on shooting with this lens, I have written a post on Photo Tuts+ (and I’m sorry most of it is a Premium article, that wasn’t my choice) that describes 14 different scenarios when this lens would be useful.

You may be asking what that blue ring is around some of the images. It is flare caused by the extreme angle of the lens. It is normal and can be easily remedied which a circular crop.

Samples

Click on any sample to see a full sized view.

Shadows of Swayambanath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal

Tengboche Monastery and Mt. Everest, Tengboche, Nepal

Window To The World, Jaipur, India

Bath Room Floor, Amber Fort, Jaipur, India

Taj Mahal, Agra, India

The Milky Way From Phobjika Valley, Bhutan

Looking Up, Paro Dzong, Bhutan

So Much Stone, Red Fort, Delhi, India

Patterns, Amber Fort, Jaipur, India

Picture Of A Picture, Phobjika Valley, Bhutan

Kathmandu From Dharahara Tower, Nepal

Weavers In Thimphu, Bhutan

Weavers In Thimphu, Bhutan

Rice Field, Punakha, Bhutan

Prayer Wheels, Paro Dzong, Bhutan

Swayambanath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal

Dzokyos On A Himalayan Trail, Nepal

Khumbu Glacier, Lobuche, Nepal

Conclusion

The Simga 4.5mm Fisheye is a treat to use and produces some stunning images. While use of standard front mounted filters limits the overall coverage, the fact that the field of view is so large negates the effectiveness of most options (NOTE: Filters can be used in the rear area of the lens but this was not tested). This produces a freeing effect as the filter needs to be used, mostly, as is, greatly simplifying image captures and focusing the photographer on creative use.

The lens does take some learning before stunning images emerge, but that curve isn’t long. It’s important to give yourself some latitude when starting out with this lens as experimentation is key to finding out what works for you.

Get a price on the Sigma 4.5mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM Circular Fisheye Lens

Sigma 4.5mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM Circular Fisheye Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Cameras

Sigma 4.5mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM Circular Fisheye Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Sigma 4.5mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM Circular Fisheye Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Sigma 4.5mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM Circular Fisheye Lens for Pentax Digital SLR Cameras

Sigma 4.5mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM Circular Fisheye Lens for Sigma Digital SLR Cameras

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Sigma 4.5mm F2.8 EX DC HSM Circular Fisheye [REVIEW]

Highlights/Shadows

Wow, wonderful. Nice improvement in what each can do compared to the older Highlight Recovery and Fill Light. Also an improvement is the ability to go up or down (actually left or right) with both of these sliders. I see more solid colors in the shadows when the slider as used as compared to the Fill Light option. Adobe has also added in Whites alongside Blacks (both of which can now also be increased or decreased instead of just increased as in version 3).

Video Inline And Edits

It’s a nice touch to be able to watch video inside of Lightroom. Is it required? Nope. But it is smoother. What is nice is to have the ability to adjust exposure, blacks, whites, contrast and vibrance. It’s little stuff and I hope Adobe keeps it that way to not bloat the software. I have other software that can really handle video well and this subset is perfect for quick edits I might want to do on the road or with non-production pieces. I also like that the rendering of the preview seems to not hold up the rest of the thumbnail creation any more. What I mean by this is, when a bunch of images are loaded in and I view them in grid mode of the Library, it used to hold up on the videos, using another process to render a preview image for that thumbnail, before showing me all the other previews on the screen. Now it will put a black space holder there and continue to show the picture previews, which saves time.

Maps

Hell Yeah! It was nice that version 3 had a spot for GPS data but reliance on third party software seemed odd, especially when something like Flickr made it relatively easy to stamp images after the fact. So far, I enjoy the feature that lets me pull up a map via Google and drag and drop images, one at a time or in groups. It’s useful and appreciated.

Book

The book module gets a “meh” rating in my opinion. I won’t be using it a lot and that is part of my rating. For those who want to create their own books, it IS nice to have everything in one location, as in iPhoto, to create a book, rather than exporting to a folder, uploading to a site, etc… If you plan on making many scrapbooks or print books, this will certainly rate “Hell Yeah!” for you from the ease of use.

Email

It’s a little thing. Overlooked in the past maybe? We share images via email all the time. I’d love this to go a step further and be able to send a text to someone’s phone, but I’m crazy like that. To me, this feature is icing on the cake, not a reason to upgrade.

No Defaults When Importing

Ahhhh, just my photos without Lightroom’s choice of enhancements when importing. Nice. In the past, Lightroom jacked up some settings on import and, while I could make a Preset to counter this, it was annoying at time. Now things like the Tone Curve are left at “Linear” instead of “Medium Contrast”, something I often backed out. I really like this as a starting point now.

White Balance In Adjustment Brush….Kinda

This is a feature I’m happy to see added. The Adjustment Brush gets some more adjustments. It now can control Noise and Moire, but most useful for me is the ability to change the white balance of a particular area. This is great when shooting in two different light sources or with heavy shadows (and white snow). My beef with the current setup is the slider allows for color temperature control, but not as an absolute degrees Kelvin, only relative scale from yellow/orange to blue. It works, but I’d love to be able to set a shadow to 7500K rather than slide around trying to find the right sport. I hope that make that adjustment in the final release.

Spot removal

The improvements in Spot Removal mimic the improvements they made in the DNG fast loading technique. A step back…Adobe adjusted how they create the DNG files upon important to allow the vital image information to load first. In the past the whole file had to be loaded before you could start playing in the Develop module. Now, the image pops up very quickly and while it finishes loading, edits can be started more quickly than in version 3.

I noticed the Spot Removal feature was also tweaked to help those with slower machines. Even on my bogged down travel laptop, I can click from spot to spot and not have a significant delay. In the past, I would click a spot and Lightroom would then select a likely spot to heal or clone from for me. This was a nice update that came about in version 3. But on a slow machine, I had to wait for that process to complete with the current spot before clicking the next. If I had 20 spots on a screen, it was boggy and tedious.

In version 4, I can click away as if I’m playing Whack-A-Mole and Lightroom will catch up with those suggestions when it gets a chance, much the same as a camera buffering images before writing them to the card. This is awesome and speeds up spot removal significantly.

Conclusion

From what I’ve seen of the Beta (minus the occasional crash) I really enjoy the improvements Adobe has made and will gladly plop down money to upgrade. I believe the improvements will give me better results faster. The increased speed in processing and moving between images from Library to Develop alone is worth the expense to me as time is money for me when it comes to play with pictures.

Now, what about you? Have you had a chance to take a look at the Beta version? If photography is not your business, do you think the changes are worth the (likely amount of) $100 to upgrade?

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Will Lightroom 4 Be Worth The Upgrade Cost?

But one questions that does run through my mind, and is the closest I come to thinking before shooting, over and over again before pressing the shutter release is a question I deliver to those looking to improve their photography. That question is simply:

Why am I taking this picture?

The answer to this question often reveals a lot about not only what I’m looking at, but also whether or not I should take up the megabytes and time editing this scene later. Taking a look at some of the likely answers to this question, I want to stress that there is no ‘right or wrong’ in this method. It’s simply a technique to help you figure out what’s going on in your head. It is not a law, just a suggestion.

Because It Is Pretty

This is the most common reason for most images to be taken. The scene in front of us is pretty and we want to capture it, preserve it or share it. The problem here is not every pretty scene makes a great or even good photo. So often the scene in front of us is maybe out of the dynamic range of our camera (a problem solved by using HDR techniques and the march of progress in sensor development). Or maybe it’s a tremendous sunset partially covered by trees. The problem is our mind often interprets the scene in front of us in a way the camera never can.

These types of shots will often remain on your harddrive and not even make it to Facebook to be shared. You get home and look and sigh. “Meh” is often heard when looking at these shots on a computer screen when the magic of the moment has long passed.

It’s my assertion that a scene being labeled as ‘pretty’ alone is not sufficient reason to take a picture. It surely is reason enough to stop for a moment and enjoy the beauty of life. Just don’t forget that ‘beautiful scene’ doesn’t always equal ‘beautiful picture’.

Because It Evokes Emotion

Here now is a great reason to take a photo. If you feel stirred inside with any emotion, chances are the viewers of your image will be too. Emotion is something that connects us as humans and crosses language barriers. If the scene is emotion evoking, I would not hesitate to take a photo at the appropriate moment to try to convey that feeling on a computer screen later. It’s important to note you may not like the emotion being displayed, but that does not mean it won’t be a good photo.

Because It Tells A Story

Sometimes the space inside a frame has a whole story coming to life. Action, suspense, a life well lived. Any theme is fair game and the greatest photojournalists of our time have been masters at finding those stories. When they know just one image is going to be used in a newspaper article, it is important to make that image tell as much as it can. Look for these types of images especially while traveling.

Because It Is Instructional

Photography is a wonderful way to teach. Some of the ugliest photos teach the most important subjects. And not every Pulitzer Prize winning photo is perfectly lined up according to the Rule Of Thirds or with a histogram that is not a pixel overexposed. In fact, taking a photo of something that shows a technique or a different way of doing something will not make the cover of National Geographic, but it will serve a purpose and explain things 1000 times faster than writing about it can.

Because I Want To Remember This Moment

The beach. Hawaii. Umbrella drinks in hand. The love of your life beside you. Toes in the sand. A setting sun.

We’ve all seen this image shared by friends at one time or another. It’s a boring picture. The sun, looking Hawaiian orange, just before it sinks into the bluest ocean you have ever seen. And the sun is centered. So is the horizon. It’s boring for most of us.

But it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take that shot. It is a great memory for you and every time you look at that sunset image you will be instantly transported back to the warm beach. It also doesn’t mean you need to share the image. That’s the key for images like this. Blow it up and put it on the wall in your office, but don’t force your friends to look at a ho-hum image, because they don’t have that memory come to life when they see it. Share the spectacular images when the lava rolls into the sea while saving for yourself the special, private moments that make you smile.

Conclusion

There are any number of reasons to take a photo. I’m not here to say “Never take a picture because it is just pretty!” But I do think it helps one improve their technique and artistic eye if conscience thought is given as to why an image is taken.

I should also note that about a quarter of the time I simply shoot from a gut feeling and that gut feeling in any photographer should never be ignored.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

The One Question You Should Ask Yourself Before Taking Any Picture