This week, Andrew Ford walked us through removing a sunburn, while I looked at the new Epson SureColor printer lineup. Lauri Novak gave a few different ways to approach landscape photography, Michele Grenier gave five tips to edit awesome sports portraits, while Scott Wyden Kivowitz showed us six ways to build a photography portfolio that attracts clients.
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Removing a sunburn - We’ve probably all been guilty of not using sunblock, but there is no reason for a sunburn to ruin the subject of your photo. If you don’t fix the sunburn, you risk it becoming the unintended focal point of your photo and a potential blemish in an otherwise perfect shot. The severity of the sunburn dictates the editing tools and techniques that you’ll want to use. Most sunburns can be removed with a combination of hue, saturation and luminance adjustments. The color of the sunburn determines your first move. If it is a normal reddish sunburn, pulling out some of the reddish hue is a good start. Severe sunburns may be purplish, so you must focus on removing that hue. Minor sunburns can be very close to skin color, so be careful with altering orange or yellowish hues without masking as this may alter the entire facial tone. In these cases, luminance adjustments become especially important so that you have less variance between the lighter skin tones and darker sunburn areas. If I need to edit a photo with intense sunburn and severe suntan lines, I default to using Photoshop for a combination of feathered masks, clone stamps, and HSL adjustments. But for most cases, quick HSL adjustments can be done in Lightroom or Luminar 4. What I like best about Luminar 4 is being able to make powerful adjustments using the AI Skin and Portrait Enhancer tools. This allows speed and quality to coexist in my workflow. In this video tutorial, I show you how to use Luminar 4 to quickly remove a reddish sunburn on a face by masking the area, adjusting the red saturation in the color panel, and touching up the photo with AI Skin Enhancer and Portrait Enhancer. Be sure to check out Luminar 4. You can download the free trial from Skylum, or if you’re ready to buy, click here and get our Photofocus bundle of extras!
Epson announces long-awaited refresh to SureColor printer line - Overnight, Epson announced a major refresh to its SureColor printer line, with the SureColor P700 and SureColor P900 printers. Set to replace the P600 and P800 printers — released in 2014 and 2015, respectively — the new printers bring the latest technology to ensure the highest accuracy possible when printing. The P700 prints up to 13 inches wide, with the P900 printing up to 17 inches wide. They are the smallest professional 13 and 17-inch printers in their class, and feature a 30 percent size reduction from the previous generation. “Fifteen years ago, Epson stunned the industry with the Stylus Pro 3800 that provided unprecedented creative control for photographers, allowing them to print up to 17 inches wide without a darkroom,” said Reed Hecht, senior product manager. “With the introduction of the SureColor P700 and SureColor P900, a new generation of photographers will experience another breakthrough in printing technology — truly defining not only the photographic print but also the printing workflow.” The world of color Both printers has a new 10-channel MicroPiezo AMC printhead to increase productivity and reduce nozzle clog. But that’s not all — one of the biggest requests Epson received was about the switching of black ink types. With the P700 and P900, there are now dedicated channels for both Photo and Matte Black ink types, meaning there’s no switching necessary. It also helps to reduce ink consumption. The printers also feature a new UltraChrome PRO10 pigment ink, Violet, which increases the color gamut by six percent. The Violet ink channel helps to improve blues, violets and purples in images. Also new is a Carbon Black Driver mode, which dramatically increases Dmax by 11 percent for better black density, contrast and reduced bronzing when printing on glossy papers. The Chroma Optimizer and Gloss Optimizer ink channels have been removed, and will now use the existing Light Gray ink only when necessary. “We believe [the inks] will equal the ratings achieved by the current UltraChrome PRO12 inks of up to 200 years for color prints and up to 400 years for black and white prints,” said Henry Wilhelm, director of research at Wilhelm Imaging Research. The ink cartridge size has also been reduced, to 25 mL for the P700, and 50 mL for the P900. Epson states the reduced size will allow the company to sell ink at a more affordable price. Design changes As I mentioned above, the new SureColor printers feature a 30 percent reduction in physical size, making for a significantly smaller footprint on a desk or table. Dimensions for the P700 are 7.3″ tall and 20.8″ deep, which expands to 32.1″ when the paper tray is opened. The P900 is 8.4″ tall and 23.11″ deep, with that expanding to 37.6″ when opened. The P900 is the same size as the previous generation P600 printer. The P700 comes with an included rear roll media feed, while the P900 has an optional enclosed roll media adapter. Additionally, the secondary fine art feeding tray has been removed, making it easier for photographers to prepare their papers for printing. The top load tray has a maximum capacity of 10-30 sheets (depending on paper thickness). The single-sheet front fine art and poster board media slot has been improved, allowing for media up to 1.5 mm thick. New technology to make printing easier From the forefront, users will immediately see an updated touchscreen which is more customizable. It also gives you a live preview of the image you’re printing, with a metadata screen. The touchscreen also gives an option to print a job status sheet, so you can keep track of your settings for future use. Wireless connectivity has also been upgraded to include 5GHz connections, and an interior LED light has been added to watch the progress of a print. But that’s not all. Epson is in the process of developing a new iOS app exclusive to the new printers that lets you take advantage of the technology built into the company’s Print Layout software. This makes it easy to set your printer settings through your device without having to rely on a computer or the printer’s touchscreen. Included will be the ability to color manage your photos and adjust complex settings like width, height and margin, as well as Black and White mode settings. For those that do rely on computers, the Epson Media Installer will be included, allowing you to easily install ICC profiles and add the driver setting for any new media that is introduced. Initial thoughts Epson has been one of my favorite companies for a while. When I first got to review my Epson SureColor P800, I was simply blown away … and continue to be whenever I use it. While the focus today is so much on social media, having a reliable photo printer is a tool that any photographer can benefit from. I’m pretty excited to test out the SureColor P900, for three reasons. One, the black ink switching was a minor annoyance of mine, as it took up to five minutes to switch that ink out. With that process being gone, I can print much faster if I choose to print on multiple different types of paper at once. Two, I’m excited for the ease of installing new media. The process with the P800 was never super straightforward for me, and I often relied on guessing what paper was closest to the one I was using instead of going to the Epson website and downloading the new profile. And finally, the reduction in size. While this might not seem like a big deal to some, it definitely is for me. While the P800 fits on my shelf in my office, putting the paper roll adapter on was a bit of a challenge. With the 30 percent reduction in size, it should fit much easier. Pricing and availability The SureColor P700 ($799) and SureColor P900 ($1195) are now available for pre-order, and will be released beginning in May. Stay tuned
Five tips to edit badass sports portraits - Want to bring out the most of your action shots? Here are five tips to edit badass sports portraits to realize with any software.
Six ways to build a photography portfolio that attracts clients - A professional portfolio is a key to attracting new clients. As a freelance photographer, you are responsible for choosing what to include, how to present your images and how to get them in front of your ideal customers. Building your portfolio from scratch can seem daunting, but it does not have to be. By following a few tips and tricks, you can create a compelling and attractive collection of work that showcases your skills in their best light. In this article, I’ll look at six tips and tricks to help you build a winning portfolio from scratch. 1. Choose a clean website theme made for photographers Your WordPress theme has a more significant impact on the aesthetics of your portfolio than you might think. The right theme can transform a standard photography site into a visual masterpiece. While there are thousands of WordPress themes available, only a select few are designed with photographers in mind. Selecting one of these niche options for your portfolio will provide access to key features that can elevate the quality of your site. For instance, some themes — such as those designed for blogs or business sites — focus primarily on text-based content. A quality photography theme should offer various gallery display options and a clean, minimal interface that lets your images shine: This makes it easy for potential customers to see what you have to offer. A proper photography theme will also likely provide navigation menus and layouts that cater to your portfolio. 2. Use only your best work Putting every image you have ever taken in your portfolio is tempting, but not the best idea. Large volumes of content can make your site appear disorganized. Plus, your potential customers likely don’t have the time to scroll through hundreds of photos. Instead, take the time to curate your images and choose only the best to display on your site. If your work spans multiple niches, consider selecting a few top picks from each category and organizing them into galleries or albums, so they’re easy to navigate. If you’re struggling to pare down your images, consider having a friend or colleague take a look and offer their opinion. 3. Keep your portfolio updated You are constantly shooting new pictures, and your portfolio should reflect this. Updating your site gives you the chance to showcase new skills you’ve picked up, and to replace photos with higher-quality alternatives. While adding new photographs is important, there are other aspects of your portfolio you should update as well. Specifically, there are several important business details you should keep current, including: Contact information, including a phone number and email address Your availability for photo sessions and how long sessions will last The location of your studio and any venues you use for shoots Pricing information for shoots as well as prints or digital downloads This will ensure interested leads can get in touch, and that they have enough information to determine if you can meet their needs. 4. Accurately categorize your photographs Applying categories to your portfolio can make it significantly easier to navigate. Additionally, as we mentioned earlier in this post, dividing up examples of your work that appeal to different niches can help potential customers quickly find the type of photos that are most relevant to their interests: You might also create categories based on: Shooting location Subject matter Client (such as for wedding or event photography) The structure that works best for you will depend in part on the type of photography you practice, so use your best judgment. Remember, the primary goal of including categories is to make your site easier to navigate. In most cases, simpler is better. 5. Link to your social media profiles While your portfolio website is important, you should not neglect social media. You can use these platforms to showcase your work and expand your visibility. However, your profiles are only effective if you update them regularly. It’s also important that your portfolio and your social media accounts point back to one another. Linking between them makes it easier for your followers to find more information about your services. It can also help customers communicate with you: Linking your portfolio and social media is easy with the right tools. WordPress plugins such as NextGEN Pro can add social sharing links to your images so your customers can help spread the word about your business, too. Certain website themes also have this capability built-in. 6. Optimize your image files for performance and search engines Potential customers may leave your website if your images take too long to load. For this reason, it’s wise to optimize your media files for performance through compression and other techniques. Image compression involves reducing the size of your photographs by lowering their quality slightly. Visitors to your portfolio shouldn’t be able to tell the difference, but your website should load much faster. You can also automate this process with a plugin such as Imagify or ShortPixel: There are also strategies you can use to optimize your image files for search engines. This can help Google and similar platforms index them properly, so they appear in image search results. One way to do this is by changing the names of your images. By default, most JPEG files use “IMG” and a string of numbers as the file name. Instead, try using a few descriptive terms. The name should also be all lowercase and use dashes (-) instead of spaces or underscores. Finally, it’s also wise to include alternative or ‘alt’ text for your images when you add them to your site: This is a short description of your photo that will appear if it fails to load for some reason. Screen readers also use this data to describe images to visually impaired visitors. What to remember Building a stellar photography portfolio to attract clients is not always easy. However, you can overcome the challenge with a little help from some tried and true techniques. In this post, we
Different ways to approach landscape photography - There is more to landscape photography than just a sweeping epic photograph. What? You don’t agree? The definition of landscape is, “all the visible features of an area of countryside or land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.” I think we can apply that definition to more than just the big picture. The big picture landscape Mostly when we think of landscape photography, we think of the whole picture — the very wide, many times panoramic images that show us an incredible scene. Majestic mountains with beautiful flowers in the foreground. Natural monuments of stone arches. Forests and lakes. These are all included among the amazing landscape photographs we see on a regular basis. These images give us an overall view, they help us to feel like we’re standing right there looking at the same view as the photographer. But, there are other ways to look at landscape photography that can help you tell your story, in my opinion. The in-between or middle-range photos It’s so easy to get caught up in the big picture, where we are and trying to capture everything that is new to us. When we do this, we miss pieces of the story of the location. This is something I do when I travel. Take some time to look around, wander and put your camera down for a bit. What else do you see that will help you show others more than just the overall place? What catches your eye? Taking mid-range photographs will show parts of your overall landscape that help get across the idea of where you are and what you are seeing. Look for and shoot sections of the whole — parts of the landscape that are a bit closer to you but still contribute to what you’re seeing and feeling when you’re in that place. The landscape details To take it even further, don’t forget the smaller details. What else do you see when you look around where you are standing? Are there interesting plants, rocks or other natural formations? These are still landscapes. Small intimate landscapes. If you’re not used to seeing and photographing these smaller details it might take you a while to find interesting subjects and compositions. Practice. These smaller sections of a large scene sometimes become abstract in nature, or they can also appear to be something they’re not by playing with the perspective. All of these things together create the landscape you were drawn to in the first place so don’t forget to capture the entire story.
