After a week full of Black Friday and other holiday deals, we kicked off December with some great content to enhance your photography this winter!
With the holiday season officially underway, Julie Powell kicked off this week by showing us how to add bokeh to our Christmas images. Bryan Esler told us about how to get around the storage limits of photos on your iPhone, while Michele Grenier told us about a conceptual photoshoot with fellow photographer Daniel Mallard. Levi Sim walked us through a solution to going through and editing hundreds of photographs, and finally, Nate Torres gave us some great professional Instagram tips.
Throughout the next week, we have a TON of holiday-centric content for you, so stay tuned!
Photos taking up too much space on your iPhone? - As iPhone users, we’ve had it pretty good over the years. Watching Steve Jobs take that stage to announce the very first iPhone was a mind-blowing experience. But as good as the iPhone is, 12 years later, we’re still dealing with some nagging usability issues. One of those is the lack of storage. While I was at home for Thanksgiving, I dealt with this first hand with my mom, who has an older iPhone 6S with just 16GB of storage. Her iPhone is her primary camera, and 16GB is not a lot in today’s world. While she had iCloud Photo Library turned on, the photos were still being downloaded to her device. It prevented her from running the most recent iOS update. Sure enough, looking at her iPhone Storage, most of it was utilized by photos. While Apple was optimizing the photos that it was downloading to her phone, there still wasn’t enough space for the update to occur. So what was she to do? Luckily, there was a much simpler solution by an unlikely party. Going to the dark side Believe it or not, Google Photos is the solution here. While it’s similar to Apple’s Photos app, offering a “For You” section, photo albums, sharing and the like, there’s one major advantage. Free, unlimited backup that even Apple users can take advantage of. By downloading the free Google Photos app, you can back up all of the photos in your Apple Photos library, in high quality. Note this isn’t at the original quality — you can select that, but you’re limited to your Google account’s storage space — it’s a high quality compressed image. For phone photos, this is probably OK for most of us. For me personally, I really only use my phone for behind-the-scenes photos, as well as a quick camera when I’m not able to take my Olympus with me. So how does this all work? Getting started The process to getting your iPhone photos into Google Photos is easy. First, download Google Photos on your devices (in this case, an iPhone) from the App Store. Once the app has downloaded, you’ll be prompted to give Google Photos access to your photos. Click OK. Then login to your Google account and click Back up as [your name]. From there your backup settings will default to High quality (free unlimited storage). Keep this selected unless you have a plethora of Google account storage accessible to you. Click Confirm. This will take you to the Photos screen. Here, you’ll see the backup progress at the top. As photos are backed up from your phone to Google Photos, you’ll also see an option to free up space on your device. If you click this, you’ll be presented with a prompt asking if you want to delete those items. Note these photos have already been backed up to Google Photos — you’re just deleting them from your phone. Note that when you click Delete, your photos will remain accessible in the Apple Photos app for 30 days unless you manually delete the photos from the Recently Deleted album. Going forward After your initial backup, your photos will automatically be backed up any time you open Google Photos. If you don’t have the option on the Photos screen to free up space, you can access that by clicking the top left menu, and choosing Free up space. You’ll be able to view these on any devices you have the Google Photos app on. You can also view your photos on the web at photos.google.com. A few notes When you bring your photos into Google Photos, you will lose some functionality. Namely, any albums you’ve made in Apple Photos won’t exist in Google Photos without you recreating them. When you hit Delete after clicking Free up space, your photos will not automatically be deleted from your iPhone. Instead, they’ll be put in a Recently Deleted album in the Apple Photos app, which you can then go in and manually delete from. If you don’t, the photos will be deleted automatically after 30 days. Finally, if you have photos on your computer that you wish to upload to Google Photos, you can do that too through the web interface. Be aware that these will not be put in your Apple Photos library. Lead photo by Jordan McQueen on Unsplash
Portrait Tips: The solution to the Cuteness Zone - “1200 pictures??? How is that even possible …?” You’ve said that to yourself after a shoot, right? There’s a certain sense of dread associated with it. “She’s a newborn; she didn’t even change poses!” But it happens to all of us. You get into that cuteness zone where you can’t make a bad picture and you just find yourself making them over and over. It’s common with kids and weddings, and it’s totally normal. But you can’t afford it You can’t afford to get into that Cuteness Zone, though, because now you’ll have to edit all those pictures. You’ll have to do the global adjustments like white balance and tone, but you’ll also have to do local adjustments like eyes and lips. Get comfy, because you’ll be at your computer for the next three years. The solution Editing tools have ways of copying the adjustments from one photo and applying them to others. I’ve done this with Lightroom for years. This works really well for global adjustments when the exposure and white balance didn’t change from shot to shot. But it doesn’t work at all for the local stuff, nor if the exposure changed. Fortunately, Luminar’s artificial intelligence tools can solve both the local and global adjustment problems. Even if the exposure changes, and even if the person moves from shot to shot, the AI tools recognize the changes and apply the right amount of adjustment based on what is in the picture. It’s amazing that it finds faces in every shot and adjusts the skin and eyes and things without any input. Make adjustments to one … Start by making changes to one photo. In this case, I’ve got this cute kid hamming it up in front of the camera. I adjusted the white balance and contrast and camera profile. Then I used the Portrait tools to enhance the eyes and skin, which are the things that would take forever using other apps. I also added a little vignette. Just make all the changes you normally would for a portrait. … Sync to the rest Now, select all the pictures you to which you want to apply these changes. Make sure the one that has the changes is highlighted in yellow by clicking on it. Then right-click and choose Adjustments > Sync Adjustments. That’s it. Luminar just applied those changes. And it did it while recognizing her face in all the pictures and making improvements. Enabler? Yeah, Luminar makes you a worse photographer because instead of waiting for the decisive moment, you can just keep shooting all the moments and not worry about finishing the pictures. Syncing adjustments across hundreds of pictures at once is the greatest time saver in the universe. You might feel like Luminar is an enabler, letting you get away with bad habits … so be it. At least you got to enjoy the Cuteness Zone. Portrait Tips come out each week, and you can see them all right here.
How to take good Instagram photos: Secret professional tips - In this post, I will be showing you how to take good Instagram photos. In fact, these are the same tips I follow that have helped me grow my Instagram account in just a few months. I think you’ll agree with me when I say that a nice-looking photo on Instagram can instantly capture your attention. The question is, how can you take good Instagram photos that will capture the attention of your followers? While I am a professional photographer, these tips were crafted with the common phone photographer in mind. Taking good Instagram photos can be broken down into lighting, simplicity and basic rules of photography composition It doesn’t matter so much about the camera although having a professional camera for Instagram helps. Let’s dive right in: 1. Lighting Lighting is one of the most important factors when it comes to taking a good Instagram photo. It can be broken down into source light and time of day. Source light The source light refers to your main source of light. This can be either daylight or artificial studio lighting. The location of the source light, in relation to the subject, plays a major role in how well your photograph will turn out. For example, take a look at this image: This example illustrates how the position of a source light can affect the shadows and lines in your face, completely altering the mood and feel of an image. Briefly take note of your light source and where it is coming from. If you are taking a selfie or a photo of a person, it is usually best to have the subject facing the light source. For example, if you are in a house, stand in front of a window to get nice lighting. If it is nighttime, stand in front of a shopping store window. Take note of the source light and be aware of how different angles of the light can either create harsh or flattering shadows on your subject. Pro Tip: A little technique I love to do when I want to take a good Instagram photo and I am unsure of the lighting, is to stick my hand out in front of me so my palm is facing me. I then do a 360-degree rotation of my body while taking note of how the light and shadows change on my hand. This lets me know how the shadows will look on my subject. Try it out! Time of day The time of day you choose to take your Instagram photo has a strong influence on whether it will be a good Instagram photo or just an average-looking Instagram photo. Some important times of the day to remember are both Golden Hour and Blue Hour. The approximate one-hour period before sunset/after sunrise is called Golden Hour. During Golden Hour, the sun creates warm, golden tones that are coupled with a warmer color temperature that creates a beautiful “golden” effect. The approximate one-hour period before sunrise/after sunset is called Blue Hour. During Blue Hour, there is a deep blue hue that is coupled with a cooler color temperature. This can create a softer, moodier look. There is a reason photographers love Golden and Blue Hour — it is a natural Instagram filter. If you understand the basics of how to use light to your advantage, you will be taking Instagram photos that stand out from the rest. 2. Simplicity One common thing that all “good” Instagram photos have in common, is that there is a sort of minimalistic aspect to them. In other words, they keep it simple. It has been shown that it takes users about 0.05 seconds to form an opinion about a website. With all the photos popping up on Instagram, imagine how quickly users on Instagram form an opinion of an Instagram post. In the frame of a photo, there should only be about 3-4 subjects/focal points within the photograph. Simplicity within an Instagram photo can prevent clutter and allow the viewer to better understand what is going on within the image. By shifting the angle of a shot or zooming in more and only capturing 3-4 focal points, the photo can be drastically improved. Now that we have discussed simplicity, let’s dive into some basic rules of photography that can instantly up your Instagram game. 3. Basic rules of photography If you know some basic rules of photography you will be taking good Instagram photos in no time. Some rules/basics of photography I will be touching on are a frame within a frame, leading lines and the rule of thirds. Let’s take a closer look at each technique: Frame within a frame This technique is exactly as it sounds. To accomplish this, you create a frame within a frame. When taking a photograph, whatever is showing in your phone or camera screen is what is within your frame. Well, you want to have another frame within your main camera/phone frame. The palm trees and the woman are within my camera frame, but I am also framing the woman within the two palm trees. Using a frame within a frame is a very easy way to bring the viewer into your image and add a sense of depth. Leading lines Leading lines is a photography composition rule in which the photographer uses lines to direct the viewers’ attention to a certain point or subject within the image. Leading lines are effective tools of composition because it creates a path for the viewers’ eyes to easily follow. Next time you want to take a good Instagram photo, take a step back and look at your surroundings to see if you can utilize any leading lines. Rule of thirds To picture the rule of thirds, imagine breaking an image into thirds horizontally and vertically to create nine parts within the frame. The goal is to have your subject on one of these intersecting points in order to create balance within your image: You can turn
Conceptual Creativity with Dan: A bed of roses - This new Conceptual Creativity series is a collaboration with my friend Daniel Mallard. Dan has been a photojournalist for a major Canadian daily newspaper for over 35 years. In this “Bed of Roses” edition, he is teaching (me and you) valuable tips and techniques on how to unleash our creativity to create state of the art images. The concept For this assignment, Dan has been asked for an upcoming spreadsheet to photograph Joannie Rochette, a bronze medalist Olympic figure skater. The sport made him immediately think about flowers people throw on the ice to congratulate athletes after their performance. As a great cinephile, that remembered him the famous scene from the “American Beauty” movie: The one where the actress is lying naked, covered with roses. He thought this concept would be meaningful for this image. Communicating the concept with Joannie As Joannie didn’t have an agent at the time, he’s been given her phone number and has been able to speak directly to her. He presented himself and asked her jokingly if a man ever offered her 12 dozen roses — to what she replied “No!” He then declared “Well, I’m about to do it, but you’ll have to be naked, wearing only your ice skates!” She already did something similar, so she felt confident knowing it would be a respectful experience. She asked if she could bring her boyfriend and he was glad she did, knowing it would be best if both of them were accompanied (he was too). Preparation As soon as the concept has been accepted, he contacted a flower supplier. That got him a phone call from his newspaper bosses … asking why they had to pay a bill for twelve dozens roses! They agreed to do the photoshoot at his home since he had a very high ceiling room with lots of natural light. He got a futon which he covered with a white sheet. They first practiced fully dressed to decide angle, posing and lighting. This is Sylvie — Daniel’s wife — who was in charge of carefully placing the roses on Joannie’s body. Technique A mix of different techniques has been used to add dimension to the image like reflectors, flashes and ambient light. He kept on moving the reflector to the angles that brought the best effect. Daniel used a handheld Nikon D3 with 24-70mm lens at 42mm, 1/80s, ISO 200. He assured himself he was very stable with the slower shutter speed. That allowed him to have a more narrow aperture to make sure most of the image — including the roses — was as sharp as possible. Editing Dan used Photoshop to lightly crop and enhance red saturation and dodged some roses to make them a little brighter in order to add some more dimension. He hasn’t touched her skin at all — either on her body or face. This picture was to be used as a two-page spread so he also cropped it very lightly to make it fit perfectly. It’s a wrap! Both Joannie and Daniel were very happy with the final result. This image even became a “signature shot” for him. When he had to take pictures of reluctant athletes, he presented them this photo and — as they all saw it on the journal — immediately had confidence in Daniel’s abilities and creativity. When you do a great job paired with great creativity and great professionalism, remember that it can always open doors and lead to new projects! More about Daniel His impressive professional career required him to travel internationally on a regular basis. From covering Haïti earthquake aftermath photos essay to the Vancouver Olympics to being embedded in Afghanistan with the Canadian troop, Daniel proved himself being a master in his field. Every time I sit down with him, I always learn something new — he’s like a walking encyclopedia. Even though he is now retired from his career at the Journal de Québec, Dan keeps on reinventing himself with new concepts and creative projects to fuel his eternal passion for photography. I decided to write and share what he taught me through this text so you too could benefit from his knowledge. Of course, all the images and ideas in this article are Daniel’s. I hope this will spark your inspiration and creativity. Until next time! :)
Creating bokeh to add a Christmas feel to your images - Creating bokeh to add a Christmas feel to your images is a great way to add interest and bring the holiday spirit to life! It can be done in-camera with some simple LED lights held in front of the lens. In-camera bokeh There are a few different ways to achieve a similar result. Set your scene; it could be food, still life or even a portrait. Set your camera up on a tripod to free your hands. I like to place some LEDs lights on a copper wire around my scene while leaving enough free to play with. I generally hold the battery pack in my hand and bring the copper wire up in front of the lens. By moving it around, close in and then slighter further away you can create some lovely bokeh effects. Creating soft bokeh images If you want to add some pretty soft bokeh in post-production, that is fun to create as well. Again set your scene and your camera on a tripod. I still like to use LEDs on copper wire and place them randomly around your scene. Now intentionally make your images blurry. Try for a few different amounts of blur to create the look you wish to achieve. The colors in your scene can make a big difference to the bokeh you create. Think Christmas colors; red and green, silver and blue, green and gold, etc. Adding bokeh images in post-processing Open an image in Adobe Photoshop and then drag over a previously created bokeh image as a new layer. Set the blending mode to Screen (or try any of the other modes). You can add a layer mask to remove over areas not required and drop the opacity if required. This is a great effect on just about anything, whether it is still life or portraits. Add a little sparkle to Christmas decoration images as well!
