This week, Kevin Ames kicked things off by telling us how and when to slim faces in portraits, while Susan Kanfer gave us insight on how to best sell stock photographs. Jeremy Gray told us where the Nikon Z system is headed, Lauri Novak told us how to catch up on our photo editing and finally, Bryan Esler gave us insight into the best ways to capture history.
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Slimming faces: When and why - Slimming faces starts at the camera by lighting the thin side of the subject while letting the thicker side slip into shadow. For jowls, a high camera angle with the subject’s chin up works wonders. After using these techniques, slimming, when absolutely necessary, happens at the computer. Faces aren’t the same on both sides We photographers want the 2-dimensional photograph of our subject to represent them as they are seen in real life. Few of us notice that the face of almost everyone has a thin and thick side of their face when we are talking with them. We concentrated on their eyes, lips, expressions and gestures. I find the thin side of my subject’s face before I place the lights. I ask the person to look directly at me for a moment so I can see which side is which. It takes some practice. Which side in the photo below is the thin side and which side is thick? Which side is thin? It’s not easy to tell at first just by looking. I taught myself to recognize thin from thick with Photoshop. I used the Rectangular Marquee tool and selected the left side of the portrait above. I duplicated the selection to a new layer then used the Free Transform to flip it horizontally. I did the same for the right side of it as well. The two photos — one with two lefts sides and one with two right sides make it easy to see which side of his face is thin. This is a great way to easily see the difference. The right side of this gentleman’s face is his slim side. The style guide for this company’s associate portraits calls for lighting from above that evenly lights both sides. If I were making a dramatic portrait of him, the light would have been positioned to his right. I learned the technique when I was shooting film. I’d shoot a Polaroid test then hold a mirror to each side of the face. That told me the difference. Do this exercise two or three times and you’ll become an expert at thin face detection. The “why” of face slimming A standard lighting style for a company like the one above is a perfect example of when and why to slim a face. The gentleman’s company portrait is below with the original on the left. I slimmed the side of his neck on his right. It really doesn’t take much. I used Liquify in Photoshop for this one. Slimming makes a difference Photographs are a moment that’s frozen forever and there is no limit to how long someone can look at it. That is the main reason for slimming faces. No one sees the extra jowls or necks that overflow a tight color in person. That weight is only noticed in a still photo. Once a client picks their favorite, I handle the post-production and almost always slim them just a little. Consider this before and after … Slimming tools Photoshop, Perfectly Clear and Luminar 4 all have slimming tools. Since I started with Photoshop, it’s my go-to for most of my retouching workflow. Perfectly Clear has some good skin smoothing and shaping tools but more and more, after I do Photoshop work, I finish in Luminar 4. When I have a client that is very concerned about their size, I process all of the proofs through Luminar 4 where it’s artificial intelligence for faces slims each one even when the subject turns his or her head. Slimming faces the AI way Artificial Intelligence is everywhere helping us in many ways. One of my favorites is the AI Portrait Enhancer in Luminar 4. I love that when I slim one face in a take, the AI engine analyzes each face and slims them just the right way for each pose. It uses my settings and applies them to the rest of the set. It does not change the size of her hand or her shoulder. The AI knows where her face is in the frame and only works on it. This is a huge time saver. Here are some before and afters of a model. Notice that having her hand up to her face does not affect the slimming in the set where she is looking at the camera passed her shoulder. Don’t have Luminar 4 yet? Click here to get our bundle of free Looks, skies and online training — and save 42% off the retail price!
Stock photography best practices - Success as a stock photographer takes hard work, strategy and patience. Understanding how to create marketable imagery with appropriate metadata is key. Metadata helps buyers find you. Marketable images consistently resell, improving overall revenues. My stock photography experiences I have a relatively small stock photography portfolio of about 1,500 images, and haven’t added to the portfolio for a couple of years. Occasionally I check it for earnings and that is about it. Still, I receive a monthly check, which isn’t bad for doing nothing. My stock images have sold nearly 12,500 times. I have paid for camera gear, computers and software from my earnings. Even in today’s crazy world images are selling. When I first built my portfolio, I did my homework and then developed and implemented a game plan, just like I would for any business venture. If I have tapped your interest, and you have decided to give stock photography a try, here are ten tips to improve your sales, based upon my experiences: Ten tips to get started 1. Really know your craft Be able to consistently and efficiently create high quality imagery. Buyers do know the difference in images, as I have learned from my sales. Limit noise, balance lighting and use good composition and technique. Clearly define the subject. Be creative, and develop original, fresh perspectives for your subject matter. Work at improving your skills and learning new ones. 2. Diversify your imagery, and develop your own style or niche With diversification you will appeal to lots of different buyers. If you find a niche, diversify within your niche. Many stock photographers have learned to illustrate and have included illustrations as part of their portfolio, or they have combined photographs and illustrations into one image. 3. Understand the difference between stock photographs and fine art Stock photographs are conceptual, not necessarily artistic. A travel writer describing a beach resort may prefer a boring image portraying blue skies and ocean with luminous beaches rather than a creative colorful sunset with stormy clouds. This is because travelers imagine themselves sitting on beautiful beaches in perfect weather. Conceptual photographs can also be interpretive. For example, the concept of “hope” can be depicted with a photograph of a rainbow, a sunrise or a child. 4. Study the popular images on stock agency websites Learn what buyers are buying and carefully consider how the images were made by the photographer. Use what you learn in creating your imagery. 5. Understand how image metadata is interpreted within the search algorithms developed by each stock agency you affiliate with By metadata, I mean the keywords as well as the titles and descriptions you attach to your images when you upload them to a stock site. Some algorithms give greater weight to the words used in titles and descriptions rather than words you have listed as “keywords,” when a buyer does an image search. Blogs and message boards on stock agency websites may help you understand the search algorithms used on that site. Learn by reading the titles, keywords and descriptions of bestselling photographs. Review and decide whether or not to adjust the metadata of images that are not selling and which have poor placement after keyword searches. 6. Participate in the community of each site you have a stock portfolio on, if participation is available to you I learned so much from the blogs and message boards, and became friends with photographers all over the world. It seemed that my sales increased when I participated more actively. I also recommend joining in on agency sponsored competitions. My exposure definitely improved when I placed well in agency contests. I even made extra money when chosen as one of three winners. 7. Make your image stand out as a thumbnail Buyers will see lots of images, lined up as thumbnails, during an image search. Your image will be buried among many. Try using bold colors or striking composition. 8. Do not compete against yourself In your stock portfolio on one site, consider uploading a single strong image — rather than five similar images — of the same subject. One image with numerous sales is better than five with much fewer sales. Sales per image may affect pricing and/or placement during keyword searches. Depending on the agency, more sales may mean higher prices or improved placement. Declutter your portfolio by deleting images that do not sell. Your portfolio will look more successful to buyers, and your ratio of sales to images will improve. Sales per image ratios may affect the algorithms used for keyword searches, depending on the sites you sell on. 9. Carefully research the agencies before you decide where to sell your photographs Compare pricing. There are many pricing schemes out there. Also see if there is a “fit” between the types of images you like to take and the type of images that have significant sales. Determine if the contributing photographers are helpful to “newbies.” In addition, you should consider exclusivity. Exclusive photographers make more money per image, and should have better placement in keyword searches. I am an exclusive photographer with Dreamstime. It is not a household word like Adobe Stock or Shutterstock, but it is a community I am proud to be a part of with an impressive array of diverse buyers. 10. Be patient The first sale typically takes a painfully long time. In addition, stock photography works on volume of sales, since prices per image are low. Unfortunately, you have to wait for sales to multiply considerably to see real revenue. I experienced a nice bump in sales once I uploaded 1,000 images into my portfolio. Final thoughts After your photographs sell, look for them online. Have fun seeing how they are being used. The biggest thrill of my stock photography career was when I was buying a book on Amazon for a trip to Italy. When I looked carefully at the front cover of the book on my computer monitor, I saw my photograph. OMG!
The state of the Nikon Z system, part four: Where the system is headed - In my first two articles discussing the Nikon Z system, I focused first on the three available cameras and then gave brief overviews of each available native Nikkor Z lens (prime lenses overview and zoom lenses overview). With that said, for customers looking to buy a Nikon Z mirrorless camera, what matters is not only what is available now, but what they can expect to see in the future. To investigate the rest of 2020 and beyond, I will be referring to Nikon’s official lens roadmaps. As far as future cameras are concerned, this is more difficult to consider, but I will be considering which features and improvements are most needed for the Nikon Z system to thrive. Nikon Z lens roadmap As of February 11, 2020, Nikon has identified an additional 10 lenses to be announced and fully revealed, including 9 full frame lenses. Of these nine full frame lenses, five of them are S-Line lenses. S-Line lenses Nikon plans to release 50mm f/1.2 portrait prime, 105mm macro, 14-24mm f/2.8 wide-angle zoom, 24-105mm zoom and 100-400mm telephoto S-Line lenses. The 105mm macro and 14-24mm f/2.8 zoom lenses currently exist as Nikon F mount lenses and both are quite long in the tooth as well. It’ll be interesting to see how the Nikkor Z lenses compare to their F mount counterparts. Considering the 14-24mm f/2.8 zoom lens, it will be fascinating to see if Nikon can produce the lens to accept front filters, like its 14-30mm f/4 S lens for Nikon Z mount. Technically, Nikon does produce a 50mm f/1.2 lens as well, but it’s not an F mount lens. Instead, it is a manual focus lens that was originally released in the late 1970s. Interestingly, you can still purchase this lens new for around $700 USD. It’s a safe bet that the new Nikon 50mm f/1.2 S lens will be quite a bit larger, heavier and more expensive than the existing Nikon 50mm f/1.8 S lens. The f/1.8 version weighs just under a pound (415g) and costs $600 USD. While there is a Sigma 24-105mm f/4 Art lens for Nikon F mount, Nikon has not produced this specific lens. The 24-105mm f/4 lens has proven popular for other camera systems, so the native Z mount lens should prove popular as well, particularly for landscape and travel photography. The upcoming 100-400mm telephoto zoom lens will be the longest S-Line lens in Nikon’s lineup. It will be Nikon’s first 100-400mm lens and it will fill a distinct role in the Z system. It will be interesting to see what the maximum aperture range will be. A reasonable guess would be something like the f/4.5-5.6 range in Sony’s G Master 100-400mm lens. Non S-Line lenses The remaining four FX lenses are 28mm and 40mm compact prime lenses, a Micro 60mm macro lens and a 200-600mm telephoto zoom lens. Nikon makes a 28mm f/1.8G lens for F mount. It is not a large lens, but it’s worth noting that Nikon specifically created a new “compact prime lens” category in its Z lens roadmap. Perhaps the new 28mm and 40mm S lenses will be pancake primes. The existing 60mm f/2.8 macro lens for F mount is a solid all-around performer at a reasonable cost. I’d expect the new Micro 60mm lens in the Z system to fill a similar role. The 200-600mm telephoto zoom lens is an altogether different beast. Nikon offers a 200-500mm f/5.6 lens for their DSLR cameras, but it is a large, heavy lens that doesn’t seem as well-suited for a mirrorless system. However, you don’t want a telephoto lens to be much slower than f/5.6. Plus, Nikon plans to add another 100mm of telephoto reach. Considering this, it’s hard to imagine a lightweight zoom lens at this focal length. That said, as someone who enjoys wildlife photography, I’m very excited to see what Nikon does. The final lens on the latest Nikon Z lens roadmap is a DX zoom. The upcoming 18-140mm zoom will essentially fill the “all-in-one” zoom role for the Nikon Z50 camera. What do I want in future Nikon Z cameras? For still photography The Nikon Z6 and Z7 cameras do a lot incredibly well, especially when considering still photography. Each camera has its own advantages, and I think that future Z cameras should aim to double down on these strengths. The Z6 is a quick, agile all-around camera. However, it is not as fast as something like the upcoming Nikon D6 DSLR camera. The Z system is still young, and it doesn’t have the same suite of excellent telephoto lenses as the Nikon F mount. There’s certainly room for a pro-oriented speed demon. Think something like the Sony A9 camera, except a Nikon mirrorless camera instead. We can look to Sony for more ideas about a future Z7 successor. It’s likely hard for Nikon Z users to not look at the new Sony A7R IV’s sensor without some jealousy. The 61-megapixel backside-illuminated CMOS sensor delivers excellent detail and image quality. I’d expect Nikon to try to best it down the road. Face detect, eye detect and subject tracking performance could all be improved. Given Nikon’s excellent autofocus track record, I expect we’ll see gains. It’s worth noting that eye-detect and animal detection AF features were added to the Z6 and Z7 via firmware updates. For video The Nikon Z6 and Z7 are Nikon’s best video cameras. They represent a massive improvement over Nikon’s DSLR cameras for video. The inclusion of in-body image stabilization and much-improved continuous autofocus for video are key features. If Nikon wants to compete against the best full-frame mirrorless cameras in the video arena, there’s room to improve. I hope to see 4K/60p video in a future Nikon Z camera and 6K/30p video is not out of the realm of possibility. I also want to see improved high framerate video recording, especially at 4K resolutions. Design improvements The Z6 and Z7 camera bodies are great, but they could be improved. I’d like to
Effective ways to capture history - Businesses are shut down, restaurants are only available for takeout and it seems like the world has hit the pause button. People are staying at home, and for good reason. But as a photographer who specializes in capturing the moment — namely corporate and community events — I thought it was important to capture what was happening around me. So how can you go about photographing your city or town’s vibe during this unprecedented time? Finding a vision I knew once Michigan’s shelter-in-place order hit, I had to do something to document the effects that Coronavirus was having on our community. Restaurants and businesses were closing, which were at the core of our downtown infrastructure. I knew I had to get out and photograph what was happening around me in my hometown of Grand Rapids. Before I dive in too deep, I want to caution everyone to take precautions as necessary. When I was out photographing, I made sure to keep several feet away from anyone else. I’m not just talking the recommended six feet — I’m talking 24 feet or more. I waited my turn to cross the street if there were people on the corner, and in a sense, made a “bubble” around every person that was in my view. Michigan’s governor had encouraged residents — despite the shelter-in-place order — to get outdoors and get some exercise. For me, it was natural to bring my camera along on a walk around town. So that’s what I did. I drove downtown, parked my car and walked several miles. Embracing the wide view I knew that for documentary purposes, I would have to showcase the empty streets. But that didn’t mean they had to be boring, straight-on photographs. Instead, I got down low — in the middle of a usually busy street — and pointed my camera up. The two photos below were taken with the Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens. Doing this allowed me to create a street-level view that was unique and added some dimension. By showing the road markings, I was able to have a foreground element that most didn’t think to add. The nice thing about these photographs is, after things open up again, you can compare photos. And don’t feel limited to your city center, either. If you have a bridge overlooking a highway, check that out, too! Getting up close I also wanted to highlight some of the businesses around town — whether they were open or closed. To do this, I focused on signs they may have had on their doors or windows. I shot some straight-on, but the most powerful shot of this type was angling myself to show the sidewalk disappear into the distance. By creating a different angle, I was able to capture the business, but also the atmosphere around it. Depending on what you’re trying to capture, a telephoto zoom lens might be your best bet, as it helps you keep your distance. For these, I used the Olympus 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens. Stay creative, no matter where you are! Even if you decide to stay at home, there are still several opportunities for you to get out and photograph. If you don’t feel comfortable going downtown, roam your neighborhood street, and even your backyard. Find interesting subjects and take the time to look and wander. If you do decide to go out, be sure you’re keeping yourself safe, and that you’re abiding by any state and local orders. As I said earlier, I was out taking a walk and was carrying my camera with me. I didn’t have a tripod or a lot of gear on my back. I also have an exemption letter for being a part of a news organization (I photograph for a local magazine), which is helpful in case I’m ever questioned why I’m out and about. What should you do with the photographs you take? Consider donating them to your city. Personally, the photos I take will end up in the City Archives to remember this time throughout history. Be sure to share your Coronavirus photos in our Flickr group!
Taking time to catch up on your photo editing - I don’t know about you but I have quite a large backlog of images I’ve never really culled and/or edited. I get home from a trip or other photo outing and do a quick scan through, pick out a few images that jump out at me, edit those, post on social or upload to my website and then move on. What about the images left behind? Meanwhile, there are plenty of decent, editable shots sitting on my hard drives that have yet to see the light of day. What happens to those? Do you just forget about them and move on? Lately, I’ve been taking the time to go back through them, cull and edit the keepers. Doing this has made me realize that there are days (months/years?) worth of shots I never even really went through the first time. How to make the editing process more pleasurable Some of you love the editing process and it’s how you completely create your art. For others of us, it’s something that feels more like a chore, we don’t always enjoy the editing process and the time it can take. What are some ways that can help us to enjoy the process more? Go back to images that you love in the first place Remember that amazing trip you were on or really fun event you attended? Editing images from these will bring back great memories and won’t feel like such a trudge to edit. Eliminate distractions while you edit photos How many of you edit while doing something else like watching TV or listening to music? My guess is most of us are doing at least one other thing while we are working on images. Are you sitting on your computer with 30 other tabs open in your browser? Is your phone pinging with notifications while you’re trying to edit? Remove distractions and you’ll be more productive. Quit checking your phone, your email and what the score is of the game you have on. That said, I do believe that music can enhance your editing process as long as it helps you focus and doesn’t distract. I love listening to instrumental movie soundtracks or calm, Zen-like music when I’m trying to focus. Create a space for yourself Where do you edit? Making space for yourself is a great way to also help you eliminate the distractions mentioned above. If you’re lucky enough to have your own office space make sure that it can double as a creative space as well as a workspace. Pay attention to the lighting. While it might be fine to have bright office lights for your job/work, they’re not always so conducive to making your images be true to exposure and color. Decorate with the things that help you create, images you’ve created, photography from those who inspire you, music posters, plants and whatever it may be that helps stoke your creativity. Set aside the time to do the editing This is likely the hardest one of all but I’ve learned over the years to put this in my calendar. Schedule it. Make and take the time to spend on culling and editing your images. We’re all busy but we spend the time creating images, we should also make sure we take the time we need to go back and look at what we created. Have the house to yourself for a day? Perfect! No plans this weekend? Take half a day or the whole day on a Saturday or Sunday and dedicate it to editing images. Obviously, if you are shooting for clients you’re not letting their images sit on your hard drive for years — at least I hope you’re not. This project is more for those of us who get back from a day out and find that one wow shot, edit it and then forget about the rest. Or, we’ve been traveling for a couple of weeks and we’re completely overwhelmed by how many images we have to go through, so we just don’t. So, are you the “edit right away” type or do you, like me have years of images that you really need to and want to go through to cull and edit? Make it a project, be a hermit for a weekend or more and work your way through your catalog. Oh, and FYI, the images in this article were found and edited from my archives, 2010-2017. I have not even touched the surface.
