In video editing, my primary tool is DaVinci Resolve. While I do use Final Cut Pro X for some things, I have a real fondness for DaVinci. One thing to note is that it requires a more powerful graphics card than FCPX. The good news is you can try it for free to see if your computer can run it. The free version of Davinci Resolve 15, both Mac and Windows, can be found here — you will find it on the bottom of the linked page. It is really quite amazing what they give you in the free version! DaVinci Resolve 15 is broken down into pages. These … [Read more...] about Video editing basics in DaVinci Resolve 15: The Media page
tutorial
How to create an action portrait with venetian blinds
This action portrait was created using a three-light setup, a black background and, of course, a window blind. The light shining through the blinds was positioned low on a 45-degree angle with a honeycomb grid to control the direction of the light. A second light was placed high against the background, shooting straight down. We added a blue gel to give the black wall a little color. This light was wrapped with Cinefoil to ensure it only lit the background. The third light was positioned behind the subject, just above his shoulders — with a … [Read more...] about How to create an action portrait with venetian blinds
Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Setting up your DJI Drone camera for video using shutter priority
In this article, I'm going to show you the basics of setting up your camera in the DJI Go 4 App to shoot video in Shutter Priority Mode using h.264 in UHD 4k Resolution. While I will be demonstrating on an Inspire 2, it will be very similar on the other DJI drone models. Shutter Priority Mode is a good place to start exploring your video. It locks down the shutter speed which can result in better-looking videos. You can find articles on setting up your drone camera for shooting photographs here: Full Auto, Aperture Priority and Full … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Setting up your DJI Drone camera for video using shutter priority
Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Color correcting DJI D-Cinelike in FCPX
This is a follow-on article to Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Setting up your DJI Drone Camera for Video Using Manual Mode and D-Cinelike. This article assumes that you set up your camera based upon that article. In this video, I show you the basics of color correction of video shot in H.264 and D-Cinelike. I will be using Final Cut Pro 10.4 (FCPX). These basics can be applied to any other editing/grading software as well. The video also assumes that you know how to get your video into FCPX and onto the timeline. Its focus is on how … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Color correcting DJI D-Cinelike in FCPX
Google Clips: I don’t hate it, but I’m not sure I love it — yet!
I recently had the chance to try out the Google Clips camera. To be honest, I hadn't heard anything about it. However, I am not all that techie and don't stay up on all of the latest gadgets. I quickly jumped online to do some research and read some reviews to see what it was all about. It turned out to be a little camera that is supposed to take pictures of people it recognizes. Which sounds super, super creepy now that I am saying it out loud...in my head. :) It works by linking to your Google photos and a technology called "machine … [Read more...] about Google Clips: I don’t hate it, but I’m not sure I love it — yet!
Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Setting up your DJI Drone Camera for Video Using Manual Mode and D-Cinelike
In this article, I'm going to show you the basics of setting up your camera in DJI Go 4 App to shoot video using Manual mode and D-Cinelike. While I will be using an Inspire 2, this will be very similar to the other model DJI drones. In a future article, I will show you how to color correct them. You will find an article on using Shutter Priority with your videos here. Preparation I would suggest that you do your initial setup on the bench rather than in the field. Set your drone on a work table or bench and remove the propellers. … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Setting up your DJI Drone Camera for Video Using Manual Mode and D-Cinelike
Fast & Easy Tips for Photographing Fireworks this Fourth of July
The fourth of July is my favorite holiday because of fireworks! I grew up in Lousiville, Kentucky and they have this event called Thunder Over Lousiville. It's the kick-off event for the Kentucky Derby Festival. It is one of the nation’s largest annual fireworks extravaganzas. Since the first time seeing it, I have been obsessed with fireworks so learning to photograph them was a must for me. Here are are some easy tips to get you started before the big holiday arrives. Set your camera on a tripod. Turn your camera to manual. Set … [Read more...] about Fast & Easy Tips for Photographing Fireworks this Fourth of July
How to Make Light Painting Spirals the Easy Way
As a mom of two wild little ones, I am always looking for creative ways to express myself with my photography. One of those ways is with light painting. Light painting for me is a stress reliever and something I can do after the little ones have gone to sleep. It's a technique used in long exposure photography where you can use artificial light to illuminate a scene or to create new elements within the image. Basically, you are running around in the dark, waving a light around to create cool effects. Sometimes during those moments, you feel … [Read more...] about How to Make Light Painting Spirals the Easy Way
How to Enhance Your Photos With Textures – Part 2: Blending
When using textures to enhance your photos in Photoshop, blending is how you reveal your image below the texture layer or tell the texture layer how to combine with the layers below it. If you just import your texture image in over top of one of your photos, whichever image is at the top of your layer stack is the only one you will see. In this article you will learn the three main types of blending: transparency, blending modes, and masking, and how to use each of them to produce cool texture effects for your photos. Be sure you have read … [Read more...] about How to Enhance Your Photos With Textures – Part 2: Blending
Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Reducing Jitter in Your Drone Footage
One of the challenges in recording video with a drone can be to create footage without jitter or flicker in it. The places where it shows up the most for me are when I am panning or flying-by stationary subjects especially those with a lot of texture in them. A while back, when I was shooting a video in the Columbia River Gorge of Crown Point/Vista House and the massive cliffs below it, I was getting jitter/flicker in the cliff area, on the fly-by portion. At first, I thought it was a camera or gimbal problem and so I sent a clip to Travis … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Videographer: Reducing Jitter in Your Drone Footage
Becoming a Better Drone Pilot: Brother AirScouter WD-300C Head-mounted Display Review
In this article, I review the new Brother AirScouter WD-300C Head-mounted Display, that I have been using for the last 3 weeks. In much of my commercial drone work, I am a single operator drone pilot. That means I am having to control the drone and the camera simultaneously. That translate into looking down at my tablet and back up to the drone, so I can fly safely and still get the shot. I am finding that using a headset even helps me do a better job when I am piloting and have a second operator controlling the camera because I can see what … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Pilot: Brother AirScouter WD-300C Head-mounted Display Review
How to Enhance Your Photos With Textures – Part 1: Adding Textures
In photography a texture image or "texturing" is used to enhance or accent some part of the image in your digital darkroom. Although they can help you create eye-catching works of art, textures also can be very easy to overdo. In this article I'll explain my process for adding textures to my photography using Adobe Stock and Photoshop to create more impact, transform the mood of the image, or improve the composition. Origins Using textures originated in the days of film by using different techniques in the darkroom. Methods included … [Read more...] about How to Enhance Your Photos With Textures – Part 1: Adding Textures
Lights, Colors, Fractals
I shot this photograph at WPPI in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. I was at the ClickProps Studio Backdrops booth. This company makes over 500 backdrops in various designs and sizes, and we got to test out a number of them. This photograph was shot against the "Brick Natural" backdrop. Our shooting space that was only about 5 feet by 10 feet. A Collaboration Between Two Photographers The photograph was a collaboration between 2 photographers: the model, Kat Armendariz of Hush Hush Shoot Studio in Las Vegas and me. Kat is one of Las Vegas's … [Read more...] about Lights, Colors, Fractals
How to D.I.Y. a Snoot & Grid
What is a snoot? A snoot is just a funny name for a piece of equipment, generally a tube or similar objects such as a conical, cylindrical, or rectangular shape, that fits over a studio light or portable flash. It allows you to control the direction or area of coverage of the light. Basically, it makes the light more focused and concentrated by directing your light and focusing it. This makes the coverage very narrow and the light falls-off very sharply giving you a harsher or harder light. Adding a Grid Personally, I like the snoot and grid … [Read more...] about How to D.I.Y. a Snoot & Grid
Rediscovering a lens that I already owned
When packing for trips, I find myself seesawing between my Fuji X system and Nikon DSLRs. We do underwater, street, nature and landscape photography. Do I pack the Fuji X-Pro2, the crop sensor Nikon D500 and my old D800 or complicate things and buy the new Nikon D850? Earlier this winter, we were packing for street and winter nature and landscape photography in Japan. My wife and partner in Aperture Photo Arts is a die-hard Fuji shooter and between us, we have most of the Fuji X lenses and spare camera bodies. This was the logical … [Read more...] about Rediscovering a lens that I already owned
How to Make Your Photos Look Great with Curves Layers in Luminar
Curves layers are one of the most misunderstood, yet more powerful adjustments you can make. Our images are all made up of pixels, which each have values for color and luminosity. With Curves adjustments, we can remap the pixels' values for these, changing them to be brighter or darker, or changing their color. In Skylum Software's Luminar you can add multiple curves filters, and make each layer target very specific parts of your image. This will give your images more depth, dimension, and beautiful color. Add Luminosity and Color … [Read more...] about How to Make Your Photos Look Great with Curves Layers in Luminar
Becoming a Better Drone Pilot – The Preflight Checklist
There are a lot of things remember when you're flying a drone. If you're shooting video and/or photographs, then there are even more things to remember and set. Having a preflight checklist makes this much easier. Here are some of the things to check on the ground, prior to takeoff and immediately after takeoff, while in the air. Note that some of these options depend upon which drone you're flying. Remember that whether you are a recreational pilot or Part 107 commercial pilot, you are responsible for checking and setting up the drone so … [Read more...] about Becoming a Better Drone Pilot – The Preflight Checklist
Becoming A Better Drone Pilot – Learning To Fly With Precision & Confidence Part 4 – ATTI Mode
Welcome to part 4. If you haven’t read and practiced Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this article, I recommend you do that before proceeding. You can find Part 1 here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here. Warning! You could crash your drone when practicing these maneuvers. Note: the Mavic Pro does not have ATTI mode on the Flight Mode Switch. ATTI mode is the most challenging mode to fly in because you’re no longer using GPS to lock the drone’s position. and there’s also no obstacle avoidance systems active in ATTI mode. That means it isn’t going to warn … [Read more...] about Becoming A Better Drone Pilot – Learning To Fly With Precision & Confidence Part 4 – ATTI Mode
Becoming A Better Drone Pilot Part 3 – Learning To Fly With Precision & Confidence
Welcome to part 3. If you haven’t read and practiced Part 1 and Part 2 of this article, I recommend you do that before proceeding. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here. Warning! You could crash your drone when practicing these maneuvers. That being said, don’t go into this practice thinking you’ll crash. Go slowly. Take your time. Don’t push faster than you’re able. And don’t let others push you beyond what you know are your limits! Preparation We are going to use the same preparations as in Part 1. You can review that here. At … [Read more...] about Becoming A Better Drone Pilot Part 3 – Learning To Fly With Precision & Confidence
Live Webinar: Picture Perfect Retouching with Roberto Valenzuela
You gotta join us live for our next Live Webinar, totally free of charge. Not only will you learn terrific techniques, but if you tune in live, you can be entered to win excellent prizes to help you in your work. (Note: MUST BE TUNED IN LIVE TO WIN). We'll be giving away a copy of Perfectly Clear from Athentech. Plus you never know what else. We kick off Tuesday, December 5th at 1:00 pm Eastern, 12:00 pm Central, 11:00 am Mountain, and 10:00 am Pacific. 2 pm in the Virgin Islands. Check out the YouTube event here and it'll show your … [Read more...] about Live Webinar: Picture Perfect Retouching with Roberto Valenzuela
How to Finish Your Wild Animal Photos With Tone Mapping
Funny thing about animals is they move around, a lot. So a technique like HDR, which requires several images that are nearly identical in everything but exposure values, is usually not an option for wildlife photographers. Often thought of as mainly a tool for landscape and architecture photography, High Dynamic Range photography captures a series of shots at multiple exposures to provide detail in both highlights and shadows which a camera cannot capture in one frame. But, in the case of a running horse or flying bird, even at high shutter … [Read more...] about How to Finish Your Wild Animal Photos With Tone Mapping
Adventure in Color and Tone – Lightroom vs Photoshop
Editor's Note: This is an advanced tutorial. For a detailed explanation of these techniques, Lee is sharing see his post on LAB Masking. Everyone would agree that a great photo starts with a great capture—good composition, good light, good exposure, and a certain ineffable quality of magic that comes together at the moment the shutter is released. However, a great photo is not really finished at the moment of capture. That capture, however great it is, exists as pure potential until it is rendered viewable to an audience. Many times the full … [Read more...] about Adventure in Color and Tone – Lightroom vs Photoshop
How to Remove Noise with a Luminosity Layer in Aurora HDR 2018
HDR (High Dynamic Range) processing of your photos by its nature can result in a lot of noise or graininess in your final image. While Macphun's new Aurora HDR 2018 for PC's does a great job overall reducing noise, there are still times when noisy areas appear in your processed HDR. This can be caused by many reasons, but most commonly it's due to your settings in camera (such as shooting at too high of an ISO) or any image processing you have done to your images before merging them in Aurora (such as exposure adjustments). Regardless of the … [Read more...] about How to Remove Noise with a Luminosity Layer in Aurora HDR 2018
Lab Luminosity Masks
Editor's Note: Lee presents a very powerful way of enhancing color and sharpening an image in this post. The video that concludes this post is an excellent tutorial with step by step instructions and explanations. These are advanced techniques. Here I submit, for your consideration, this step-by-step video on using Lab channels as the source for luminosity masks. This type of masking is all the rage right now, and you can find many tutorials about the general procedure all over the internet. There are even action that automatically generate … [Read more...] about Lab Luminosity Masks
Avoid These Tripod Trip Ups!
Most photographers will tell you that a good tripod is one of the most important equipment investments you can make for your photography. But, just owning one isn't enough to give you better pictures. You have to have the right one to fit your photography, as well as know how to use it properly. For as much time as we spend discussing and dissecting our settings, we often don't think about the physical mechanics of how we take pictures. Over the years of running photo workshops and pursuing my own photos, I have seen many mistakes and … [Read more...] about Avoid These Tripod Trip Ups!
Review: The Impact Quikbalance 12″ Gray Panel for Correct White Balance in Camera
Many agree that one of the most vexing things about photography is getting your exposure and white balance correct in camera. Sure, you can fix it in the post-processing phase if you shoot in RAW (and I generally recommend that you shoot in RAW. It makes all the difference in the world). Still, if you could make your life easier, cut down on your workload, and make sure your photos look consistently great, then wouldn’t you go that route? Seems like a no-brainer to me. That’s why I’m going to review the Impact Quikbalance 12" Gray Panel. … [Read more...] about Review: The Impact Quikbalance 12″ Gray Panel for Correct White Balance in Camera
Breaking Away From Auto White Balance: Setting Custom White Balance in Mixed Lighting
Breaking away from the standard white balance settings in your camera can be intimidating, but so worth it. Once you learn how to set your own custom white balance, you will wonder why you never tried it before. It’s an effective way to streamline your workflow and ensure consistency with a given batch of photos. Today's tutorial will focus on doing just that. Setting Your Custom White Balance In order to get our white balance correct, we'll be using a handy compact tool called The Impact Quikbalance 12" Grey Panel. It's all of 12 inches, … [Read more...] about Breaking Away From Auto White Balance: Setting Custom White Balance in Mixed Lighting
Two Heads Are Better Than One – How to Deal with Bad Expressions
How to deal with the unfortunate facial expression in group portraits Ah... it's that time again! The time when we are challenged to capture the idealized family portrait to send out to friends and family. To help you along, I'd thought I'd share a technique for a common problem with group portraits. Most of the time, but especially with shots including babies, if you have more than one person in the shot, someone is not going to look as good as the others in the shot. The example below shows two images from a recent photo shoot I did of my … [Read more...] about Two Heads Are Better Than One – How to Deal with Bad Expressions
First Impressions of the New Aurora HDR 2018 for Windows
Until recently, I’ve felt a little left out when it comes to the Macphun line of photo editing and effects software. I’m a Windows guy, a sometimes lonely place to be in the oft Apple dominated world of graphic design and photography. Until this year Macphun software wasn’t available for us PC’s. I figured Macphun’s software would always remain out of reach until Macphun released Luminar for Windows earlier this year. So, I tried it. And liked it. A lot! Getting a chance to take the new Beta version of Aurora HDR for a spin, I was cautiously … [Read more...] about First Impressions of the New Aurora HDR 2018 for Windows
Mirrorless Camera Maniac: Tips For Shooting The Milky Way
Photographing the Milky Way is remarkable because what you see on your camera is magnitudes more intricate than what you can visualize with your eyes. I was teaching a workshop in Montana the other day, and we took advantage of the big, clear, dark skies and it was so much fun to see people ooh and ahh over the images appearing on their cameras. With Autumn around the corner, it's a terrific time to take advantage of earlier sunsets and cool clear skies before the winter makes it a lot more difficult to stay out at nighttime. Here are some tips … [Read more...] about Mirrorless Camera Maniac: Tips For Shooting The Milky Way
