This is my first posting for Frozen Hiker Photography blog so I should introduce myself which will, conveniently, lead me directly into the topic for today.   

After years of paying my dues,  I finally scored the exact job that I had dreamed of:  staff video news journalist for ABC News/WABC-TV in New York in 1980.  I spent the next 27 years shooting video of every conceivable type of story,  from city council meetings to dodging bricks and bullets.  From stories about homeless people living in a car to Princess Di at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.  Luckily, I can show you a glimpse of what the job was like.   In 1982, I was highlighted in part one of a five part series about the inner workings of WABC-TV.  The series was called “Scenes Behind The Screen.”

It took me two years to switch.  Two years of dealing with the frustration of a botched exposure or cruddy white balance.  I was so intimidated by it.  Looking back, it seems so silly, but I was comfortable with jpeg and I had confidence in it.  I felt I could shoot a successful session with it.  Here’s the thing though, I switched to RAW at the same time that I started shooting all the time in Manual mode.  So before that, I was having trouble with tricky light situations at sunset, and I would have to work for hours in photoshop just to try and fix it.  And I could, mostly.  But the things that happened are actually so easy to fix if you work with RAW files.

See, with jpeg, your camera is taking all the information from a shot and writing it to an image.  Any editing you do after, you are altering the image, basically destroying it in tiny ways.  The more you edit, the more processed it looks because you are distorting the original.  With RAW, your camera is writing all that information to a file of text.  Your camera shows you the image interpretation of it, but the file is still information.  When you upload, you get two files.  One is the raw image file (the interpretation that you can see), the other is the actual information.  When you adjust the exposure, white balance, or whatever, you are rewriting the file.  You can make much greater changes without destroying anything.  Really, it’s a no brainer.  But change is tough, and photography is all about confidence.  So my suggestion is to switch right now.  Read in your manual or online how to change this in your camera, and practice practice practice.

I’ve heard it said that great writers write every day.  It doesn’t matter what the subject matter is, they write.  The same thing should be applied to photography.  If you want to be great, take pictures every day.  Upload them, edit them.  It doesn’t matter what the subject is, it just matters that you are learning every single day.

Several years ago, I attended a workshop on the north shore of Lake Superior.  At the time, I had recently made the switch from film to digital photography.  One of the comments made by the person leading the workshop was that all photos taken with a digital camera require some sort of sharpening.  This makes sense since by it’s very nature, digital photos consist of pixels and if we zoom in far enough into a photo we see everything represented as tiny squares.

On Thursday, I ran out to what I like to call the local duck pond and took some photos of some of the locals to use for this blog entry.  I wanted to have something typical that could be adjusted.  This hen mallard seemed like a good candidate.

Like most photographers, I focused on her face in order to get the sharp eye, and hold the sharpness all the way through the beak.  Anyone who has photographed ducks on the water knows that they are constantly moving.  Getting the detail in the entire bird is tricky.

With wildlife photos, and birds in particular, the first thing I do is import the image into Lightroom.  Using the develop module, I experiment with the tone and presence adjustment categories.  In this case, I saw that there was some room on the histogram to increase the exposure.

At the same time, I wanted to add a little extra contrast, and some clarity.  Brightness and contrast help our eyes see the detail.  I adjusted the values as shown on the left.

The amount that was added was not a lot, but it was enough to bring out a little bit of the detail in the feathers.  I was happy with the whites and blacks in the image, so I left those values alone.  It might be tempting at this point to play with the vibrance and saturation values to bring out additional color in the beak, but this will do strange things to the feathers so it is best to leave those settings at zero.

The next step is to make any adjustments needed to luminance, and sharpening.  I am pretty happy with the saturation and luminance of the image but I will add a little bit of sharpening.  This is the last step I take in Lightroom before exporting the image as a tiff and working on it using the Nik software.  The sharpening settings are as follows:

The important and sometimes hardest thing to do is not go overboard.  I typically try to have the sharpening amount to be around 50.  Since it is difficult (at least for me) to hit 50 exactly, I just try to get close.  For the radius I always set it to .9 as this is close to the size of a pixel.  You can go with bigger numbers, but often times this makes the lines too crisp.  For detail and masking, I zoom into 1:1 hold down the alt key while I move the sliders.  As soon as I see the outline start to emerge, I stop.  Our duck now looks as follows:

The next step is to edit the image using Nik software’s Color Efex Pro 4.  This is a great application for nature photographers since it allows you to make the fine tuning adjustments needed to really bring out the details.  However, it is very important to not go overboard with these tools.

The two adjustments that can be used are either the Tonal Contrast adjustment, or the Detail Extractor.  Typically, I will use one or the other, but never both as this tends to result in an over processed look.

Adjusting the strength of the Detail Extractor brings out more of the detail.  I find that the adjustments I make using this tool, I want to restrict to specific areas of the photo.  In this case, I don’t want to add any more detail to the water, and I was very happy with the amount of detail in the head.  What I want is to add detail to the body of the bird.

Looking just at the body, move the sliders until that part of the photo looks correct.  Don’t worry about the rest of the image since the next step will localize the adjustments.  In fact, the water may start to look pretty bad, and the head perhaps a little bit mottled.

Now select the brush button at the bottom of the page.  The Nik window will close and the brush tool will be active in Photoshop.  Use the brush to paint only the part of the image where you want to bring out the additional details.  In this image it is just the body of the duck.  Once you are finished, then click on the apply button.  Alternatively, you could use control points, but given the tonal similarities between the head of the duck and body, the results may not have been quite the same.  The final result is as follows:

As you can see, this is quite an improvement over the original, and the number of adjustments was relatively minor.

Peter will be filling in for me in March writing the blog posts.  I just finished reading his entry for March 1st, and I think you will find it very interesting as he discusses the importance of pre-visualization.

Using the instructions below, this is our result! Pretty nice, no?

This post is a winner I think – Matt (my husband) and I worked really hard to compile a beginner’s guide to teaching yourself fashion photography.

Nothing is more satisfying than finishing a big sewing project and displaying it for all the world to see in a format that you’re proud of.  By following these steps, we hope that you will be able to take glamorous pictures that accurately represent the fabric and colours you chose and also be able to better understand your camera!

We have written this tutorial for people taking pictures with a camera on which you can manually adjust aperture, ISO and shutter speed.  Even if your camera doesn’t allow you to do these things, we think there are still some good tips and great inspiration in here, so read on!

Step 1 – Research:

Matt – engaging in research and snacks.

Find fashion photography resources so that you have them at your fingertips the moment you need them: websites, blogs, forums, mentors, books.

• Simple and accurate tips for outdoor photography at A Beautiful Mess. 
• Info on lens choices for fashion photography at Edgar Berg Photography.
• A very useful Depth of Field Calculator.

Step 2 – Inspiration:

Go to a gallery, scroll through your favorite photography websites, watch a photography documentary…whatever your style is, simply:

• Find existing fashion photography that you like.
• Make a list of what you like about each photo.
• Keep list in mind during next step.

Matt took these steps and found the following images which he discusses below:

Photo #1:

(Photo credit: Aleksandra)

What Matt Likes:

• Depth of Field (Aperture): Depth of field is perfect; just deep enough to get the entire subject in focus whilst keeping an amazing bokeh (bokeh is the soft blurring of everything that isn’t in focus)
• Framing:  There is no background distraction; the background is all the same color/shape and there is not a whole lot on either side of the model
• Post Processing: The colours are stunning and contrast very well. The post processing is tastefully done, accentuating the shadows and colors but not ruining the realism of the image.

Brainstorming how to create this look:

• Depth of field: Use a depth of field calculator!  Matt says, “The goal is to get about 4 feet of depth to be in focus and have the background be blurred.  I estimate the lens used to be around 100mm (short telephoto) based on the small amount of background around the subject. This puts the photographer around 30-40 feet away from the subject in order to get her whole body in the frame. Putting that information into the calculator, we end up with a aperture of f-2.8 giving a depth of field of 4.38 feet (close enough!). During the shoot, always try a few f-stops above and below to test out the results, especially if you’re using a digital camera.”

Here is what this information would look like entered into the depth of field calculator (click to read the fine print!):

• Setting: This photo is taken on a sunny day in a shady spot – often the ideal situation for getting an even exposure without any harsh shadows. Matt points out, “The other option to avoid shadows is shooting an hour after dawn or an hour before dusk, but you will often have to slow your shutter speed down as there isn’t as much light at that time.”

• Post Production: Matt says, to emulate this image, “I would definitely add a fair amount of vibrancy, contrast, and a little bit of saturation (not too much as this can make your photo look “painted”).”

Photo #2:

(Photo credit: Eugene Vernier)

What Matt Likes:

• The Pose: The simple profile pose with slightly tipped hat highlights the vertical stripes of the outfit and allows the thin scarf on the hat to catch the wind and sunlight to emphasize how gauzy and delicate it is.
• Low Contrast: Even though the photo is depicting a hot summer day by the water the model isn’t hidden in harsh shadows and the water doesn’t sparkle too much.
• Setting: Simple but it matches the style of the outfit.
• Film: As Matt says, “Black and white FTW!”

Brainstorming how to create this look:

• Depth of Field and Exposure: This photo has a deeper depth of field than the previous example but removes the background by adjusting the exposure; the sky is so washed out that it fades into the hills on the far shore. The only interest in the background are the boats and they are carefully framed around the model so as not to distract.

• Settings: Matt says, “I would estimate the lens to be around a 55mm (maybe a bit longer) and the aperture to be around f-11 and the subject to be about 15 feet away from the camera. According the the DOF calculator, this would give us a depth of field of ~12 feet – pretty close to my estimate!”

• Post Processing: Because the photo was taken in broad sunlight, there are some strong shadows present. The post production work (in this case, film processing) would be used to lower the contrast to avoid washing out the models body or having her face entirely hidden in dark shadows.  This could be quite tricky…

• Framing: The pose, like the last photograph, is quite simple, framing the model in the centre of the image. Matt notes, “An interesting commonality between the last two sample photos is that they are both framed for the clothing, not the model. If you look at where the red dress is relative to the top and bottom of the frame,  you’ll notice the striped dress in Vernier’s photo uses about the same space. The model’s legs are cut off, but it doesn’t matter because the clothes are what’s important here!”

Photo #3:

(Photo credit: Nigel Hamid of Toronto Verve)

What Matt Likes:

• The exposure: Black satin properly exposed so you can see the details!
• Setting: Neat background – lots of detail but the bokeh prevents the cityscape from overwhelming the fashion mode.  Awesome perspective.
• Pose/Framing: Simple pose with the subject looking into the “negative” space so that the subject first catches the eye and then the viewer looks at the rest of the picture in the direction that the subject is looking.
• Colours: Contrast of colours; subject and foreground are black, background is very colorful.

Brainstorming how to create this look:

• Lighting: To get the detail in the black velvet without completely overexposing the background, a flash (or reflector) would most likely be used to shine extra light on the model. If you don’t have a flash and can’t afford one, buy a big piece of white poster-board to use a reflector.

• Lens: This shot probably uses a slightly wider lens than the previous two (likely somewhere between a 35-55). This puts the photographer closer to the subject while still getting material in the background.

• Depth of Field: Matt notes, “The depth of field in this photograph isn’t super important; the model is in the foreground (with nothing in front of her) and the background is all very far away. Even with the wider angle lens and f-11, the background will be slightly blurry. However, if you wanted just the colours and less detail, open the aperture up to f-5.6 or lower and get some bokeh!”

• Post Processing: Post processing in the photo is very minimal. The photographer seemed to be going for the “as close to reality as possible” look. A bit of contrast, saturation, and sharpness make it look similar to real life, but with a tiny bit of “pop” without being too exaggerated.

Step 3 – Action:

Once you’ve gathered information, analyzed photography you loved, and sewn a garment that deserves a photo shoot, it’s time for action!

• Find photo shoot location, model, and garments.
• Plan out time of day and equipment needed.
• Take photos.

• Setting/Styling: I had sewn two shirts for my sister’s boyfriend, Jeremy using McCall’s  shirt pattern M6044.  We chose to photograph the shirts at the university setting that he wears them and Jeremy dressed as he would for an interview or meeting within his business department at the University of Victoria.  We wanted him to be comfortable for his first photo shoot so we didn’t go crazy with styling a used only minimal props.  (I had visions of fabulously layered outfits with a battered leather briefcase and bowler hat as props but for a start, I think simple is more fool-hardy).

• Time of Day: We shot an hour before dusk to reduce the risk of harsh shadows and catch the “sweet spot” for lighting.  In the end we struggled a little with lack of lighting and so our location was limited to the least shadowed areas of the school grounds.

• Equipment: Pentax K100D – a basic digital SLR (has removable lenses).  Matt chose his SMC Pentax DA – this is a telephoto lens that ranges from 55-300 mm so it provides a variety of shooting options.  Out of Matt’s selection, this lens was the best choice for fashion photography because, after analyzing the inspiration images we realized it would be best to have a long focal length (85-200 mm)

Examples of What NOT to do:

• Shoot with model very close to the background.  While framing is nice due to lens choice, little bokeh results so all the detail in the image distracts from the shirt.

• Shoot close to the model using a wide angle lense (50 mm).  First of all, the model tends to stiffen due to the invasive nature of the large lens in their face and even more importantly, the resulting image looks like a snap shot – no bokeh, too much background around the model and distortion around the edges of the image.

Step 4 – Polish:

Post process and publish!  Matt turns all automatic adjustments off within his camera so that he can edit the colour, contrast, and saturation of his photos himself to result the most realistic but also eye-catching image as possible.

• In a program such as Lightroom, Photoshop, or Gimp, adjust settings such as contrast, saturation and colour balance very minutely until the image accurately represents what your eye saw during the photo shoot.  Matt urges newer photographers to refrain from cropping or otherwise drastically altering an image because the best way to learn fashion photography is to practice until the photo is successful without any editing!

It’s easy to reach for Google when you need some suitable textures for your work, but armed with a little imagination and a camera it’s ridiculously easy to create your own. The following tutorial from the clever people over at Redbubble contains some tips for photographing textures and a whole bunch of textures you can find in and around your own home…

_Concrete

Getting Started: Camera Settings

1. Set your camera to Macro.

There are three simple key steps to optimising your digital camera to shoot textures. The first is an easy win; set your camera to it’s ‘Macro’ mode, for macro photography. The great thing about creating your own textures is that nearly all point and shoot cameras have a built in macro mode. Look for an oversized flower or bird symbol to signify ‘Macro’ settings.

2. Shoot in RAW or shoot big.

With your camera in Macro, the next step is to shoot in RAW mode, or with the largest megapixels possible. To get the greatest detail, shoot with the largest file size per photo possible. You’ll save yourself having to compromise or scramble for useable textures if you have a wealth of information when you’re done shooting. In this instance, more is more!

_{Paperbark Tree}

3. Ditch the flash.

Thirdly, turn your flash off completely, and shoot when the sun is highest in the sky (e.g. midday) to lessen shadows and glare. Natural, even lighting is optimal, and the hour or two straight after sunrise, particularly in the Summer months is also ideal. Avoid extremely sunny days, or particularly bright white sunlight – as this can dramatically wash out textural surfaces, such as boulders, metal sheets or grass.

Top Textural Tip: We learnt that getting the camera lens as close to the texture as your manual focus will allow leads to optimum captures of detail. Kneel down and take a moment to focus in perfectly.

4. Set your camera to Manual Focus.

This may be difficult if you have tired eyes, but it is much better to shoot in manual focus so that you can control exactly which parts of the surface you are very close to you’d like to focus on (ideally everything in the viewfinder). Furthering this, most lenses struggle focusing completely being very close to the subject – in fact most won’t focus and shoot on Automatic Focus.

_{Brown Paper}

Environmental Settings:

5. Be careful of shadows and reflections

Shoot straight on – do not shoot from a ‘side on’ angle, and ideally shooting from directly above looking downwards, or straight ahead of you is best. Be conscious that in bright sunlight your own body may make a shadow on your subject, and adjust yourself accordingly. Be aware of camera straps and lens caps dangling around to interrupt your otherwise uniform image. This is a matter of trial and error, continually check your own previews (and zoom in) to evaluate shadows and reflections.

_{Red Gum Tree}

6. Shoot many photos.

To increase the odds of developing a comprehensive library of textures for your own artistic practice, shoot many photos of the same texture (especially if manual focusing is challenging) experiment with different exposure times and weather conditions. Some photographers swear by shooting only in overcast ‘grey cover’ for textures, so find the right time for you.

Top Textural Tip: A Tripod is certainly not necessary, but could come in handy if you are shooting on unstable terrain such as parkland, rocky landscapes or gorges and require a slower shutter speed. If you do need to slow your shutter speed right down, a shutter release cable is also a wise addition.

_{White Sugar}

7. Use post-production to your advantage.

Shooting uniform, evenly lit images is just the beginning – when using textures it’s important to utilise Photoshop and other photo editing software to your advantage – once you’ve imported your photos, bump contrast, brightness, saturation and manipulate exposure levels to perfect your images.

8. Need Inspiration?

If you’re looking for inspiration, why not try: concrete, car parks, silos, hobby farms, dams, skate parks, kitchens, train stations, bench tops, curtains, car bonnets, wardrobes, peeling paint, old barns, skyscrapers, furry animals, sandpaper, canvas, firewood, gauze, flour, lace, pavers, 44 gallon drums, leather handbags, corrugated metals, cardboard or polycore. The possibilities are endless.

Some examples of textured work from talented Redbubble artists:

_{Click on the images above to see the original works}

So, have you layered textures as part of your post-processing work before? Were you pleased with the aesthetic? Which are your favourite textures? Share your experiences in the little box below… I’d love to hear them!