Mar 30
With just a few minutes and Photoshop’s clone stamp tool, you can quickly edit out almost anything from your digital photos.
Tags: airbrush, post-production, retouch, tutorials
Mar 30
Photography has always been a fascinating subject to many people. Nowadays, you don’t just see pictures taken on land. You can also see pictures taken from space, air and underwater. So, for those divers who have the interest, underwater photography has become another perfect reason for them to do more diving.
Here are some tips for you if you are interested in this new hobby… Continue reading »
Tags: Nature, scuba, Underwater Photography Tips
Mar 29
Tutorial on how to cut out an image in Photoshop and stack layers to create image effects.
Tags: Image Effects, Photoshop Effects, Photoshop Tutorial, Stack
Mar 26
Alex Don asked:
One of the most appealing areas of photography is travel photography. When visiting a new place, every photographer wants to find a way to catch its feel, its uniqueness and bring it home with him. Travel photography can a very appealing and rewarding, yet very complex task. Just walking around and getting random shots is not the way to do it. You need to spend some time thinking about what you want to express and how.
When you think of a particular place, all the different elements that cross your mind are melt together to form its unique character or personality, that je-ne-sais-quoi that makes it different from any other place in the world. Whether it’s an old village or an exotic travel destination, a good photographer can capture its uniqueness and present it to the audience. This article is aimed to share some ideas on how to capture the character of a place through photography.
Basic Elements
A location has certain specifics that make it what it is. In most cases, these can be broken down into landscape, culture and people. Let’s take each of them separately to go into more details.
Landscape. Every little town, mountain or city looks different from any other place in the world. The architecture may be exclusive to that specific region or the natural surroundings may be unique. Think of the Gaudi area in Barcelona or the steep cliffs and rough seas of the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. Think of how the place looks like at night or early in the morning. A location takes on different personalities throughout a day and it’s important to capture each of them.
Culture. An important aspect of a destination’s character is its culture. A photographer can capture elements of culture in foods, drinks, local festivals and other things that are specific to that place. Local dishes, an yearly parade with traditional costumes or a street party are good examples.
People. People from different parts of the world look, dress and behave differently. Try to take as many photos as you can, both posed and candid, and catch people in activities the place is known for. If they are famous for being happy and lively you should take photos at parties to express this lifestyle. If they are hard working, photograph them while at work.
Creating the whole picture. To put all these elements together, zoom in on the subject. You can start with the landscape, photographing surroundings, interesting buildings and anything else to help the audience recognize the location. Then you can zoom in to people, capturing their attitudes and lifestyle. Finally you can start exploring culture. Apart from local food and festivals, photograph shop signs that can show the languages spoken there, as well as products that are a tradition for the area.
Travel photography is a very complex job because you need to be good at portrait photography, still life photography, nature photography and still life photography. Learning all these will put you on the right track of becoming a good photographer.
Mar 21
michael wong asked:
Imagine that you are looking at picture of a scrumptious pork fillet, mouth watering steak and a glass of iced cold grape juice. How do you feel? Hungry?
That is what successful food photographers can do. They can trigger your hunger by just looking at their pictures. Isn’t it amazing when you can do the same? Let’s start by looking at the tips below:
1. Lighting
Lighting is very important in food photography. When you have the right lighting, it will seem like the dish is asking the viewers to feast on it. So, it is very important that you look at the surrounding and experiment your picture with as much natural light as possible.
There will be time that the surrounding light can’t really illuminate the dish. When that happens, you will want to consider using a flash. Then, you need to control the intensity of the flash. Remember that you want to highlight the essence of the dish and get your viewers hungry instead of disgust them with an all brighten up dish.
2. Presentation
Imagine a plate of pork chop with its broccoli scattered around and the sauce flooding the plate. Do you still have the intention to dig into it? Most likely you will wonder how a chef can present that for dining.
So, take your time to arrange your dish. It must be visually attracting before someone will actually have the desire to eat it. When you are photographing a burger, you will want to get the stuffing out of the bun and that is how the fast food chains advertise and get you to visit them.
And when you are photographing a dish, experiment your picture with and without the cutlery. How does that feel? Sometime, the cutlery will enhance your picture and sometime not.
3. Out of focus
Creating shallow depth of field on your dish will keep your food in focus while the background blurred. Your viewers will automatically pay attention to the food and it would trigger their urge to eat.
However, the compact digital cameras in the market now are unable to adjust the depth of field. It is true that you can create the effect with photo editing software later. Still, the picture will not look as natural as when you are using a DSLR camera to capture the picture.
As much fun as talking about food photography, you will start to feel hungry. Unfortunately, that is the side effect of looking into this interesting topic.
Nikon DSLR Bargains
Mar 21
Whether you are on a professional assignment or just planning to take some photos on your annual holiday, by putting some effort into planning your trip properly you will be able to maximize your time and produce better results. It all comes down to research and knowing what to expect once you get there. Continue reading »
Tags: Stock Photos, Travel
Mar 20
Although photography largely involve an eye for beauty and a natural instinct for clicking the camera, it is still important for photographers especially those that are just starting in the field to gather some experience in actual photography. Some practice on their spare time and learn the techniques on their own but this will take a lot of clicking time and magazine reading. Continue reading »
Tags: Education
Mar 17
Alex Don asked:
e most appealing areas of photography is travel photography. When visiting a new place, every photographer wants to find a way to catch its feel, its uniqueness and bring it home with him. Travel photography can a very appealing and rewarding, yet very complex task. Just walking around and getting random shots is not the way to do it. You need to spend some time thinking about what you want to express and how.
When you think of a particular place, all the different elements that cross your mind are melt together to form its unique character or personality, that je-ne-sais-quoi that makes it different from any other place in the world. Whether it’s an old village or an exotic travel destination, a good photographer can capture its uniqueness and present it to the audience. This article is aimed to share some ideas on how to capture the character of a place through photography.
Basic Elements
A location has certain specifics that make it what it is. In most cases, these can be broken down into landscape, culture and people. Let’s take each of them separately to go into more details.
Landscape. Every little town, mountain or city looks different from any other place in the world. The architecture may be exclusive to that specific region or the natural surroundings may be unique. Think of the Gaudi area in Barcelona or the steep cliffs and rough seas of the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. Think of how the place looks like at night or early in the morning. A location takes on different personalities throughout a day and it’s important to capture each of them.
Culture. An important aspect of a destination’s character is its culture. A photographer can capture elements of culture in foods, drinks, local festivals and other things that are specific to that place. Local dishes, an yearly parade with traditional costumes or a street party are good examples.
People. People from different parts of the world look, dress and behave differently. Try to take as many photos as you can, both posed and candid, and catch people in activities the place is known for. If they are famous for being happy and lively you should take photos at parties to express this lifestyle. If they are hard working, photograph them while at work.
Creating the whole picture. To put all these elements together, zoom in on the subject. You can start with the landscape, photographing surroundings, interesting buildings and anything else to help the audience recognize the location. Then you can zoom in to people, capturing their attitudes and lifestyle. Finally you can start exploring culture. Apart from local food and festivals, photograph shop signs that can show the languages spoken there, as well as products that are a tradition for the area.
Travel photography is a very complex job because you need to be good at portrait photography, still life photography, nature photography and still life photography. Learning all these will put you on the right track of becoming a good photographer.
Improve your photography leaps and bounds!
Mar 16
The Canon EOS 5D 12.8MP Digital SLR Camera offers advanced photographers a lightweight, robust digital SLR that uses Canon’s superlative EF lenses without a conversion factor. Its full-frame 12.8 megapixel CMOS sensor combines with Canon’s DIGIC II Image Processor, a high-precision 9-point AF system with 6 assist points. The DIGIC II also features “Picture Style” color control to deliver images of superior quality with enough resolution for any application. With its wide-angle Continue reading »
Tags: Canon, DSLR, Eos System
Mar 13
When it comes to commercial product photography, people often ask, “Why do professional photographs look better than non-professional?” The answer is complex and the process requires a great deal of skill and practical experience, but it is a skill that can be learned. If you’ve got products to photograph, investing the time and resources into learning how to correctly shoot commercial product photography – or hiring a professional product photographer is a choice that can drastically increase your return on investment.
The Importance of Lighting
In commercial product photography, professionals use special lighting techniques to bring dramatic effects and crystal clarity to the images. By using lighting correctly, you can bring a three-dimensional feel to a two-dimensional product image; making it seem more tangible to the viewer – as if they could pick it up in their hand and actually feel it.
Typical lighting used in commercial product photography includes powerful strobe lights to gain depth of field, special soft lighting boxes, reflectors, and macro lenses for close-up work.
Creating a Mood
Anyone can throw a product on a white background, but a professional creates a mood in commercial product photography instead of simply documenting a product. Creating an atmosphere that makes the customer want to buy the product is vital.
Lighting and staging play a huge part in creating mood. Modern lighting, home lighting, colored spot lighting, and dramatic lighting are well suited for producing a mood or feeling. For example, a commercial product photography shot of caramel covered apples in front of a plain white background is not very appetizing. It would not create the mood necessary to motivate people to want a caramel apple. A makeover of this shot includes creating a homey look.
An old wooden table in front of a window with special bright outdoor lighting coming through highlighting the apple uses light to create a cheery feeling. Additional staging for this shot could include the apple sitting on an old-fashioned plate positioned on top of a crocheted doily like the one Grandma used to make. An antique white vase full of daisies adds to the homespun photograph, making the apple seem homemade and more appetizing than with a plain white background.
Evaluating a Commercial Product Photography Professional
If you choose not to invest the time to learn how to accomplish high quality commercial product photography yourself, you’ll still want to invest some of that time in evaluating a professional product photographer. Finding the right product photographer can be the difference between average online or catalog sales and record-breaking sales.
A great commercial product photographer not only has a keen sense of marketing, but should also take the time to learn about your product specifically. The photographer should ask questions about your target audience, your competitors, and the formats in which the image will be displayed.
Hiring a commercial product photographer is an investment, and you’ll want to make sure you get results that absolutely thrill you. With the computer equipment available today, a great commercial product photography professional should be able to show you the images before the shoot is over so that you can be certain that you love the quality. Steer clear of any commercial product photographer that refuses to offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
With these three tips under your belt, you can achieve professional commercial photography that works overtime to sell your products. Whether you choose to master the art of commercial product photography yourself or hire a professional, refusing to settle for less than professional product images is a decision that will pay off dramatically in both sales and the way in which shoppers perceive the quality of your company.
Tags: Commercial Photography, product photography, studio lighting
Mar 10
Photoshop CS4 is a very powerful tool, learning it is fairly difficult but with these tutorials and with a little practice, anyone can become an expert. Adobe CS4 is the latest version of this industry standard photo manipulation software and has many new features.
Mar 08
In the field of commercial photography, be it in motion or static, every category presents a challenge of its own. With jewelry photography, an object of highly reflective surface (HRS), the challenge is amplified due to its relatively small size captured mostly in close-up environment with shallow depth of field, surface complexity (specular), and limited ways of lighting due to space restriction between the lens and the object. Jewelry photography demands knowledge and experience to overcome the compounded difficulty of controlling reflections and limited depth-of-field (perceived sharpness) in close-up jewelry photography. Continue reading »
Tags: jewellery, product photography
Mar 03
Don’t you feel a little jealous when you look at photos taken by someone else and they look incredibly good, while yours are almost always bad? Some amateur photographers feel that everyone can take a great picture except for them. The fact is that taking good photos is not something you just have, but something you learn. Even a basic digital camera can take beautiful portraits if you learn a few simple techniques and keep them in mind each time you take a new photo. Here are some of the most common techniques you can use. Continue reading »
Tags: Portrait