Tips for Using Contrast in Photography |  |
- Tips for Using Contrast in Photography
- Car Photography Rig Tutorial
- Interesting Photo of the Day: Three Weary Wolves
- Interview with Saturday Night Live’s Celebrity Portrait Photographer
| Tips for Using Contrast in Photography Posted: 26 Jun 2013 04:31 PM PDT Final Reminder: Only 1 day left! in the popular deal on: Lightroom Made Easy Course at 30% Off Good photography depends far more on skill than it does gear. Good cameras don’t guarantee great photographs, and several professional photographers have been known to shoot with disposable cameras. The secret to great photography is rooted in having a solid understanding of the technical elements of photographs and how they interact with one another.  Photo captured by Kousis Konstantinos (Click Image to See More From Kousis Konstantinos) Composition, contrast, color balance, depth of field – all of these things combined are what make a photograph unique, and without an understanding of each you may find that your work suffers. With that in mind, here is a comprehensive breakdown of one of these elements – Contrast. What is Contrast?Contrast is the range of difference between different tones in a photograph. In black and white photography, contrast describes the difference between the darkest and lightest tones, but also defines the grayscale. In color photography, contrast applies to how sharply colors stand out from one another. How to Control ContrastThere are several ways to control the contrast of your images. The easiest way is to import your pictures into a digital photo editor and use the contrast button to adjust the level of contrast until you get the look you want. In the darkroom, you can use filters in your enlarger to increase the level of contrast in any image – as the number of the filter increases, so does the contrast. Controlling contrast is a bit trickier in-camera, and depends heavily on lighting conditions, lens filters, and your exposure time. It’s usually a good idea to shoot with a little caution and opt for less contrast than more since you can always increase the contrast later without losing quality. A Good Quality of ContrastAlthough there is much debate on what is “just right” in terms of contrast, you want your tones to go from dark to very bright with every color in between shown on the photograph. This can be best seen in black and white photographs as you want true black, true white and every shade in between. Essentially, good contrast is whatever level allows your colors to “pop” or your subjects to be well defined.  “Red Deer” captured by Catherine Read (Click Image to See More From Catherine Read) Fine-TuningDodging and burning photographs is a classic trick in the photographer’s toolbox. This is a method for adjusting the contrast of individual parts of an image, as opposed to the entire thing. This helps in modifying the composition (like darkening the background) and highlighting the subject (like lightening their eyes) or improving the overall appearance of the image. In the darkroom, photographers will often create complex stencils that are placed on top of their blank photo paper. Stencils will give you greater control over the contrast of your entire photograph by letting certain areas of your picture be exposed for different periods of time than others. Luckily enough, this process is much easier in most photo editors as different areas can be easily burned or dodged by using the mouse. Photos that are “dodged” have areas where they’re exposed to light for shorter periods of time, or when it comes to digital editing they’re areas that are lightened and lose contrast. Places in your picture that are “burned” will have higher contrast and the grain will be darker. It can be challenging to control the contrast of your picture but with a little practice of dodging and burning it will soon become a whole lot easier. A good amount of contrast helps add to the story of the photograph and makes the important things stand out.  “A view from above” captured by Amer (Click Image to See More From Amer) When shooting, always try and imagine what your contrast options will be before you take a shot, and go wild when you finally make it to the computer or darkroom. As with everything, practice makes perfect! About the Author For Further Training on Adjusting Contrast, Ending Soon:Adobe has just released Lightroom 5, and the changes have made this leading photo program even more powerful! But every time they change things up it means time re-learning the software and adapting its new features. Pro photographer Phil Steele has updated his popular training course to educate photographers on how to master all aspects of the program (including version 5) and we were able to negotiate for our readers a 30% discount which expires soon – only 1 day left! It can be found here: Lightroom Training Course Discount Go to full article: Tips for Using Contrast in Photography |
| Posted: 26 Jun 2013 02:54 PM PDT Take a look at the photograph below and ask yourself, “How was it created?” At first it looks like it’s a beautiful shot snapped from the sidelines on a racetrack, but then you notice the blurred background suggesting that the camera was actually moving with the car. But how is this possible? It seems that the camera might be attached to another vehicle in front of the racecar which is moving at the same speed. In fact, the camera is attached to the racecar and no one is even driving it. In this tutorial, photographer Nigel Harniman shows you how he created this amazing image (for those of you reading this by email, the video tutorial can be seen here): It’s hard to guess that an elaborate rig such as the one Harniman uses would be the way to capture an image such as this. Obviously the whole thing has to be photoshopped out, which seems like a big hassle. But it’s the only way to get a tack sharp image of the vehicle with such a blurred background. It’s also amazing that this exposure is 30 seconds long, as it looks like the racecar is speeding through the corner at 80mph. Harniman’s real trick is the 6-stop ND filter. Without this, the shot would not have been possible. There are many ways you can use an ND filter to your advantage. Here are a few:
 Despite what it might look like, this is actually a 30 second exposure Go to full article: Car Photography Rig Tutorial |
| Interesting Photo of the Day: Three Weary Wolves Posted: 26 Jun 2013 02:17 PM PDT On a foggy morning at Omega Park in Quebec, Cananda, photographer Daniel Parent was able to capture this shot of three arctic wolves cautiously listening to the sounds of the forest. Parent is an enthusiast photographer who boasts a very impressive and extensive profile of wildlife imagery. Strolling through the images makes you wonder if Parent lives with some of these animals:  Three arctic wolves on a foggy morning in Omega Park, Quebec, Canada (imgur) This photo begs the question of how the photographer was able to get so close to these wolves without them noticing him. His photographs are so close and personal, you’d think that he could talk to the animals. This spacing of the wolves in this photo is beautiful, and the look of the closest one sets a tone of majestic cautiousness for the whole image. Go to full article: Interesting Photo of the Day: Three Weary Wolves |
| Interview with Saturday Night Live’s Celebrity Portrait Photographer Posted: 26 Jun 2013 12:29 PM PDT Saturday Night Live has to be one of the most fun places to go behind the scenes, to observe how the cast and crew create the long-running weekly NBC spectacle. It is often hastily thrown together in a very reactionary and impromptu method as there is a mad rush to tie up all the little things that help the show come together – things such as the celebrity photographs that Mary Ellen Matthews is charged with making. In this video, she discusses the process that she has been honing for nearly two decades (for those of you reading this by email, the video interview can be seen here): With her set so rigidly and minimally defined – a simple white background with a one or two light setup – the style demands a great incarnation of the subject’s personality. This style teaches the essence of portrait photography – to treat the model as a living, feeling being and not lose their humanness in the background. Those of us who only photograph ordinary (non-famous) people can take that lesson from Matthews -to let the personality shine through; after all, a person is not a prop and ought not be used as one.
Part of what how she creates such expressive images is that very element of haste which defines her endeavour; however, it is also a skill to be honed. The ability to make your subject feel open and at ease is an integral part of photographing people. Getting to know the person is important – whether you research their background, as Matthews does, or whether you simply talk to them for a while and get acquainted, a personal connection between the photographer and the photographed has a way of coming right through the lens. A portrait is a social interaction.
Matthews has a distinct advantage of course, in that every person coming through the Saturday Night Live studio was essentially born to be there, with extroverted personalities and legendary senses of humour. Still, we can all take a page out of their book. The defining factors of a successful portrait shoot are fun and relaxation, which SNL holds no monopoly over. You can experiment in your own studio with costumes, props, poses, and anything else you can play around with to encourage that perfect picture to rise to the surface. Mary Ellen Matthews has been shooting SNL hosts since she came on as Edie Baskin’s assistant in 1993, before taking over for her in 1999. In 2010, Matthews began doing videography for the show in addition to her existing duties; she uses a Canon 5D MkII for both jobs. Go to full article: Interview with Saturday Night Live’s Celebrity Portrait Photographer |
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