With summer winding down and the kids going back to school, the team at Photofocus brought some really unique articles this week to get your creativity juices flowing!
We hope you had a great week! This week at Photofocus, Julie Powell told us about 10 alternatives to photographing on a white background, Jason Hahn discussed which aspect ratios work best for wildlife photography and Serge Ramelli took us behind his journey in editing landscapes in Lightroom Classic. Also this week, Giulio Sciorio concluded his two-part series on Lightroom tips and Levi Sim talked to us about the mindset behind family portraits. It was a great week for us, and we can’t wait to show you what we have in store next week!
On Nature: Wildlife photography and aspect ratios - With wildlife, many photographers try to get closer and closer to completely fill the frame with whatever animal they are photographing. Beyond the potential dangers to yourself and stress to the creature, it also limits how you can display your image. While the welfare of yourself and your subject are the primary concern, the desire to get “up close and personal” can also keep you from making your best images of that creature. Aspect ratios Every image capture device or display can be described as having an “aspect ratio;” cameras, monitors, prints, etc. This is a comparison of image width to the height, written in ratio form. So think of our most common one, the 3:2 ratio, the standard used by 35mm film cameras and most DSLRs on the market. The width of the camera’s sensor is 1.5 times larger than its height. For simplification, if it the sensor was an inch tall it would be 1.5 inches wide. So all the images created and displayed use this ratio as well. Prints, without cropping, will be 4×6, 8×12, 20×30, etc. As cameras have evolved, smartphones have appeared, and our monitors have gotten bigger and better, a number of other aspect ratios have become more common — 4:3, 16:9, etc. All of these describe the same thing — a ratio of width to height. Why this matters? Think of an 8×10″ print. If the image coming out of your camera is in a 3:2 ratio, it naturally prints as an 8×12″ image. So printing an 8″ means you have to cut an inch off each side. If you have shot too tight, you can’t do this crop without “clipping” the animal, possibly losing some of the most important parts of your image. I’m not suggesting you sacrifice your composition or that you should rely on crops instead of getting it right in the camera. However, shooting a little looser will allow you to use your image in more ways while still giving your wild animals room to be alive in the frame. 
I wish I knew this when I started editing landscapes in Lightroom Classic - (Editor’s Note: Photofocus is proud to welcome Serge Ramelli to Photofocus. Be sure to check out his free master class and bonus toolkit.) Want to follow along? Click here to get the RAW files Here is a series of tips and tricks I wish I knew when I started editing my landscape photos in Lightroom. These will work on most landscape photos. Shoot panorama in landscape mode Use the perspective and Boundary Wrap option Shoot raw for better colors with white balance Sun = highlights not too low Use a little minus clarity for landscapes Magenta to kill the green Add lights and colors with Radial Filter or Brush Use Camera Calibration for even better colors Check out Serge’s free class and toolkit
10 Lightroom tips you MUST know — desktop and mobile, part two - (Editor’s Note: We’d like to welcome this guest post from Giulio Sciorio. Giulio is one of the first professional photographers to move from DSLR’s to mirrorless in 2010 choosing micro four-thirds as his preferred camera system and has worked with both Olympus and Panasonic to inspire thousands of photographers worldwide. Additionally, while Giulio’s vision for the future of photography has earned him praise as “Ahead of the Curve” by Shutterbug Magazine and featured in the Motion Arts Pro Master Series, his work was recognized by SPD as a top 10 cover shot and has been awarded an addy and press award for photography. Learn more about Giulio at smallcamerabigpicture.com.) In part one of this article, you learned about workflow within the family of Lightroom apps. In the second part, you will learn how to use Lightroom to share with clients and socials. Lightroom optimizes each photo for social media If you ever got lost trying to figure out what size and compression your photos need to be for social media networks, stop it right now. Lightroom will resize and optimize your work for social media automatically so you don’t have to think about it. A quick search on YouTube about optimizing photos for socials will give you 147,000 results which are enough to make a sane person crazy so let Lightroom do the work for you and spend some time in Shavasana. If you are using a social media management app like Later, you can share directly from Lightroom into Later and know that your content is optimized. You’re welcome. Post from Lightroom directly to Adobe Portfolio Adobe Portfolio is a service from Adobe that you use to build beautiful portfolio sites. If you have any Creative Cloud plan, you have Adobe Portfolio. Social media is important for photographers looking to build their brand awareness and grow their business but social media is not a home base for your business. When social media changes, if you put all your eggs into the social basket, you will get burned. As visual communicators, we need a place online to show our work and communicate our message without restrictions and that’s what your Portfolio site does. Besides, I know you want that fancy new high megapixel camera so you can be a boss player but showing your work socials, you’ll lose most every advantage your camera (and skills) have. Sure, any photo online is compressed and data is lost but you want to control as much of that as possible. Making the photo is half of job and that job is not done until the presentation is finished. For me, my work is finished when I hand it off to the client and any keepers worthy of representing my brand go to my Adobe Portfolio site and into a printed portfolio in addition to socials. From within Lightroom: Navigate to an album you want to share to Portfolio, then right-click on the Album name. Select Share To… > Adobe Portfolio. As an added bonus when you publish to Adobe Portfolio, you can post to Behance at the same time. View my Adobe Portfolio at GiulioSciorio.com. Additionally, with your account, you can publish up to five Adobe Portfolio sites. This is handy if you’re wanting to separate your different types of photography into their own brands. One last thing, if you are interested in selling stock, you can sync the work you have for sale on Adobe Stock with your Portfolio. Share to Adobe Spark to create video stories, social posts and webpages in minutes Adobe Spark is a series of apps that help you quickly make branded content such as Instagram Stories, simple webpages, and videos. Adobe Spark apps are designed for speed which I like since I’m always in a hurry but the quality of what you can make quickly is what’s impressive. Of the three apps, I use Adobe Spark Post more than any to build video thumbnails, animate title graphics and design logos like what I did for Dynapak MKI. Because Adobe Spark uses Creative Cloud for Syncing, what you start on your smartphone you can finish in the browser. Interactive tutorials built in the app At first, I was annoyed to see the interactive tutorials when I launch Lightroom but after I got over being grumpy I got to appreciate the tutorials. What’s different about the tutorials in Lightroom is that they’re interactive meaning sometimes you’re doing the work while other times you’re watching someone from Adobe take control of Lightroom and work on their images. Like Photoshop and Lightroom Classic, Lightroom is powered by Adobe Camera Raw This might seem obvious to you but it needs to be addressed and that is all versions of Lightroom use Adobe Camera Raw. What this means to you is that regardless of what device you use to edit your raw files, the quality is the same. It’s impressive to think that you can be in line getting a coffee and crush out some sweet edits in the palm of your hand knowing that the quality is the best that Adobe can deliver. Some things you should know You do need an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription to get the most out of Lightroom. But if you don’t have one, a free 30-day trial is available. Make sure you have enough hard drive space to store your backups locally. Lightroom Mobile does not store files locally as the desktop does. Don’t rely on Creative Cloud to be your only backup. I use Backblaze to backup everything safely and it’s cost-effective. You don’t need the latest devices but it helps. Using Lightroom for mobile can impact your data plan. If you want a deeper dive into any of the Lightroom tips or have one to share drop us a comment below. Photography is changing rapidly and what might seem strange at first can become a fun way to explore creativity when inspiration strikes you. Have fun and don’t forget to carry less, create
Portrait Tips: “It’s not about you!” - This is about mindset. Somehow, late in the last century, folks became worried about how they looked in photos. People my grandparents’ and parents’ ages were very concerned about how they looked. It trickled down into my generation, too. Kids this century have less issue with the minutiae of pictures — maybe it’s because they are in so many photos shared on social media all the time. Whatever it is, we are missing pictures of certain people because they feel un-photogenic. Some are so concerned with it that they get panic attacks thinking about being in a family portrait. I wish I could say something inspiring and have these people instantly change their minds, but it’s harder than that. You and I need to respect their feelings. If you can empathize with those feelings, then you can share some stories about how you’re overcoming your aversion to being in pictures. And you’d better be overcoming it! How can you ask your clients to do something you won’t do yourself? Here’s one thing I’m working on, and I think it’d be helpful for you, too. “Family portraits aren’t about you” We make family portraits so that our kids and grandkids can see what we all looked like together. We’ll look back and laugh at fashions, but we’ll also look back and see similarities. I’d love to see pictures of my grandfather at my age — people say I look just like him, but I’d like to see it for myself. In fact, photos of my grandparents and great grandparents would be very valuable to me and to my clients. I’d show an aged photo to my client and say: “I don’t know what my grandmother thought of this picture — I don’t know if she loved that dress, or if she was having a bad hair day. I do know that seeing her now, and seeing my father standing next to her as a child, is priceless to me. I’m glad she made the effort to be photographed, despite the stresses it involves. I look at photos of myself and I see the ‘flaws’ first of all. But I now know that the pictures aren’t about me, but they are about giving the next generation a touchstone for memories. I’m glad you’re making the effort to be photographed, and I know your kids and grandkids will appreciate it, too.” I hope this kind of dialogue can help you with your clients, and I hope it can help you, too. You owe it to your friends and family to be in at least as many photos as you make of others. I promise it’ll be worth it. Portrait Tips come out each week, and you can see them all right here.
10 alternatives to a white background - When it comes to still life and even portrait photography, the temptation to use a plain white (or even plain black) background is there. It is simple, effective and uncluttered. But what about looking at some alternatives? Below I look at 10 alternatives to a white background. Doors Doors aren’t just for keeping you out of a room. A great door, something with a little interest or age, can make an incredible background to your images. Timber doors, glass-paneled doors, peeling paint, marks, scratches, aged by time and worn by human hands. Old windows and shutters can be incredible as well. Material Painters canvas, cotton, velvet in all different colors, shades and hues can be fabulous backgrounds too. Don’t be too tempted to flatten it out — keep it messy and scrunched up for added height and interest. Draped material over boxes, chairs and tables help to add flow and color to an otherwise simple image. Consider complementary colors or analogous color schemes for added interest. Blue and orange, red and green, different shades of blue, etc. Acrylic and mirrored surfaces You can use black or white acrylic and these can create a wonderful visual effect with reflections, but it comes in a myriad of colors — red, blue and more. What about mirrors? True you need to be careful to not get yourself or the camera in the shot (unless that is the look you are going for), but a little experimentation you can get it all to work with the right angles. Wallpaper as a background I am a big fan of wallpaper discards and have quite a collection, especially ones that resemble timber. They are lightweight and easily transportable, easy to store and work with. You can adhere them to thin ply boards or roll them up and weigh them down when in use. Timber I love old timber, worn soft by hands, tables, floorboards and new timber floors. Getting some timber flooring samples to make backboards can be really interesting, too. Even factory wooden timber pallets can make for an interesting background. These can be painted or left natural. Don’t forget for smaller objects and scene timber cutting boards. Old fence palings If you have a neighbor building a new timber fence, ask if you can have some of the old fences. These can make wonderful backdrops, left as is or pulled apart and made into smaller timber boards. Paper or vinyl as a background Using wrapping paper can be wonderful for backgrounds, as can high resolution printed paper, such as Tyvek or even vinyl. You can purchase from a large range of available pre-printed vinyl backgrounds these days, or print your own images. I have a selection of both vinyl and Tyvek and they are wonderful. I have a collection of wallpaper samples, stucco or concrete walls, wood paneling and so much more which can be used to add interest. Slate and stone Slate tiles, slate pieces as well as slabs of stone and even concrete can make incredible backgrounds, albeit rather heavy and cumbersome, but there is nothing quite like a raw and rustic natural background. High-resolution images printed on Tyvek or vinyl can be a way around that. But if you have access to stone floors and such it is wonderful to make use of that. Shiplap or V-board backgrounds Painted shiplap or V-board (depending on where you live) is wonderful, painted in an array of colors and can add color and interest to still life images. Especially if painted with vintage colors like mint or mustard, pale blue, lime-washed or waxed can give a lovely soft feel. Hand-painted artist’s canvas These are so much fun to create! Grab a pre-stretched artist’s canvas and some paint from an art supply store and make your own background. It does not really require painting skills, just a sense of fun and adventure. Stick with a simple pallet of a few colors — perhaps a raw umber, moss green and yellow ochre — and randomly pick up each color on a brush and add to the canvas. Once you get bored with that canvas, you can repaint it with different colors.
