Lucy And The Lens

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  • Photoshop Quick Fixes for Beginners: Sharpening Images and Black And White Conversion

    Typically when taking photos on my mobile I use the mobile version of photoshop (photoshop express) when editing.

    The first thing I do when editing quickly is a quick 35% sharpen of my image as this amount is what I find pushes the image just enough. Then I auto expose my image but usually change the auto exposure to fit the mood I want the image to have. As sometimes I find auto exposure to be too bright or to dark for what I was going for when I took the image. For me these mobile quick fixes are easier for IPhone photography.

    Normally I shoot from a camera so when I first started I’d upload my images to my computer and import them into photoshop to do a more complex edit, without ever using lightroom, now that’s my go to. My processing started in a similar way to my IPhone photography as I started by sharpening the image. My sharpen is slightly different to on the phone as I start by duplicating the original layer and using an unsharp mask filter to sharpen my image to 35%, with a radius of 5.0 pixels and a threshold of 3 levels.

    Next I would duplicate my sharpen layer and then I adjust the levels so the light to dark ratio of my image is perfectly balanced. Then I’d use auto curves on my image to further improve the light to dark ratio.

    Finally, not all images lend themselves to colour and thanks to the Google Nik collection as there are now better ways to make an image black and white without using the standard photoshop desaturation or black and white filter. So, before Lightroom Pre-sets and still on occasion if I think an image shouldn’t be in colour, I use the silver efex pro filter from the Nik Collection as the tool which contains pre-sets. My favourite pre-set is high structure harsh because it makes the original boring background stand out against a subject and I typically used this for street photography and any portrait where I think the original background was dull.

    If you enjoyed this look out for more tips and tricks in further reading on my blog.

  • Photocrafty by Sue Venables : A Review

    Last Week I spent lots of time reading Photocrafty: 75 Challenges for you and your DSLR. The reason I chose this book to read at this point was because most of the population are self-isolating at home due to the Corona Virus Pandemic. I was hoping to find some challenges that you can do at home and luckily there are some exciting ones.

    Sue Venables is a Lecturer in video and photography at city of Westminster college. Sue says “we should look for magic moments everyday” which is an analogy I really resonate with because I feel as a photographer you should always be looking for an image and these moments will jump out at you when you don’t expect it. Take your camera everywhere and just snap what you see and capture those moments. Remember “The best camera is always the one you have with you” don’t think you need to have all the expensive kit.

    Hope you’re ready as Sue has set 75 challenges for us to do in Photocrafty. I will be doing these challenges on Fridays on my Photo Challenge Friday posts and ticking them off when I’ve done them. You can also join in if you’re interested as I post the next challenge on my blog the week before.

    The book starts off with the very simple techniques in the challenges and as you go through the book the challenges get more and more complex. In fact, some might require me to rope in a glamourous assistant like they do in magic shows.

    I thought I’d discuss the top 5 challenges that intrigue me most in this book rather than listing all 75. So, here are my top 5:

    • Photo Message

    I chose this challenge because I feel that this is one most of us need right now to keep each other in a creative mindset and to encourage each other in this difficult time. For me this one will work best for Instagram and should be next week’s challenge to start on Saturday using a whiteboard or pieces of white card.

    • Shoot 50 Shots

    I absolutely love the idea of this challenge in that you simply pick one subject and photograph it in 50 ways. I’d hope this one helps me think more creatively and out of the box.

    • Photojourno

    Taking photos and capturing a story through image and text is something I love, and I can’t wait to do this on the street again when I’m able to spend time doing street photography. Id love to photograph and make notes on the story.

    • Your Bubble

    In my opinion this is the coolest one, you go out photographing with a glass dome or Crystal Ball. The idea is about how we all exist in our own little world (Our Bubble). I’ve done this before here’s a link to my related post: Crystal Ball Photography

    • Bring History Alive

    The Idea is to take an old photo you already have or from the internet and go back to the same place and photograph what’s there now or recreate an old photo. During My MA I did this for my how do we use public space project as I was showing how the space had changed over time. What we used to use it for and what it used for now.

    To conclude my review, I found this book to be extremely informative on each challenge and I’m so excited to try them out. Sue mentions what some challenges mean in their original languages., she gives us a deep insight into what settings you should use for some of their challenges and gives a list of kit you might need.

    I hope you enjoyed this review stay tuned for more blog posts and reviews.

  • Photo Challenge Friday Week 11: See Things Differently

    It’s Friday and I’m back to show you how this weeks challenge went.

    So Last week I set my week 11 challenge which is See Things Differently from Be A Super Awesome Photographer by Henry Carroll. This challenge is about taking ordinary things and seeing them in a new light. For Example, a vacuum could be a twisting python or pancakes could be planets or you could find the alphabet in your photographs. Just use your imagination and see what you come up with.

    This week I really struggled with this challenge because I’m sure i was overthinking It. Then I started to relax a little and photograph objects In my house and garden and I noticed things I wouldn’t normally discover. This week I only used my 50mm Prime Lens and Apertures between F1.8 and F5.6. So here is how I saw things differently this week:

    • The Letter A
    • The Letter A
    • Cloud 9: Getting More Done In Isolation
    • Cupids Arrow
    • The Fan
    • Monkey In A Boat
    • The Chair With A Face
    • Patterns The Coffee Leaves Behind
    • Ladder Looks Like a Shelf or Rack
    • UFO Light
    • UFO Light
    • Lamp Becomes an ornament

    For next week in Week 12 I am going to be doing another challenge from be a Super Awesome Photographer called Use Colourful Language. This challenge Is about taking pictures using colour as the main element. Literally anthing that catches your eye because of is Colour. See what complimentary colours you can find in the confines of your own house and garden.

    If you enjoyed this weeks challenge why not have a go at next weeks Use Colourful Language challenge and tweet or Instagram to @lucyandthelens and don’t forget to #usecolourfullanguage.

  • Share Your Best Ever Shot: Part 2

    Two weeks ago, I asked you to share your best ever shot. My best ever shot is this image below of Stacey because I remember it as the first shot, I won a photography competition with back in 2016 and I think that stays with you. It was one of my first portrait night at Preston Photographic Society Also. It was shot with my 55-200m Telephoto zoom lens. This image was lit with soft boxes and a reflector.

    Lucy And The Lens: Stacey

    The second image is from Button Photographic. Button Photographic Says: “Here is a shot I took when I went camping last September, we spent a few hours walking in pretty rough rain before getting to the campsite but when we got there and started pitching our tent we were greeted with this gorgeous rainbow.

    It was a lovely surprise considering I expected the weather to be atrocious the whole time and I was overjoyed to get a shot of it.

    I shot it on my Nikon D3300 with my Sigma 10-20mm lens.

    I can’t really decide whether this is my “best shot” but it’s up there for sure!”

    Button Photographic: Rainbow

    The third image here is from Simon Garner Photography. Simon Garner Says: “I really love the shot, and it was one of my first dance shoots. It Taken with Nikon D3x, 50mm lens, two soft box flashes. Taken as part of a dance shoot.”

    Simon Garner Photography: Dancer Upside Down On Chair

    If you enjoyed this post and want to share your best ever shot with me please email lucy@lucyandthelens.com or share on my facebook page www.facebook.com/lucyandthelensphotography.

  • Photo Challenge Friday: Week 9 and 10: Organic Shapes And Pretend You’re A Dog

    Welcome back to my first new post for the Photo Challenge Friday Segment.

    Today I’m bringing back Photo Challenge Friday where every Friday I will be setting myself a new photography challenge which I have a week to complete.

    You may or may not remember that my week 9 challenge was to photograph Organic Shapes, however, I got rather busy and didn’t post the results and forgot about the segment. So here are my images from that challenge where I decided to photograph Pumpkins:

    This week I decided to start up the challenges all over again after reading two books called Be A Super Awesome Photographer by Henry Carroll (Aimed at Kids but good for Adults too) and Photocrafty: 75 Creative Camera Projects For You And Your Digital SLR by Sue Venables.

    Over the coming weeks, I am going to be doing challenges you can do with just a short walk to the park or staying at home due to The Coronavirus.

    Week 10’s Challenge was to Pretend You’re a Dog. This is about taking images from a dog’s eye view so think low angle images and think about what a dog would do. What unusual angles would the dog shot from if the dog was a photographer. For this shoot, I decided to go to the park with only my 55-200 mm telephoto zoom lens because I wanted to be able to shoot from a distance so I didn’t trample on anything and stayed respectful of my surroundings. Most of the images here were shot at 200mm. Back in the house, I decided that dogs would jump on armchairs or lie on the floor so I photographed what would be seen if they did this with a 50mm Prime.

    For week 11 I am going to be doing another challenge from be a Super Awesome Photographer called See Things Differently. This challenge is about taking ordinary things and seeing them in a new light. For Example, a vacuum could be a twisting python or pancakes could be planets or you could find the alphabet in your photographs. Just use your imagination and see what you come up with.

    If you enjoyed this weeks challenge why not have a go at next weeks See Things Differently challenge and tweet or Instagram to @lucyandthelens and don’t forget to #seethingsdifferently.

  • Is Coronavirus Affecting You As A Small Business?

    Having seen countries on lockdown already. I think that it is immnent that the uk will follow suit.

    We’ve already seen people panic buying toilet rolls, hand sannitiser and pasta.etc.

    At the moment I’m just starting out as a freelance photographer so I’m still doing a lot of marketing so I’m doing the majority of my work from home but I think the virus could delay client bookings for the forseeable future.

    Currently my cancellations include shifts for my part-time ad hoc job and workshops for me to learn new skills.

    This week I have a planned campaign to work on as I’m trying to work as normal until we can’t work. The reality is this campaign is related to an upcoming event which may not even happen if we are stuck at home.

    If we are on lockdown I won’t be able to go out and shoot so I will have to focus on more marketing and plan some personal projects I can do around the house. I feel this might be all we can do once all the photographs we have already taken have been edited.

    So is coronavirus affecting you as a small business? Let me know what’s been happening to you in a comment below.

  • Portrait Nights At PPS

    I think the first step to learn things you didn’t already know about photography is to join a society to meet other photographers like mine. It’s my fifth year at Preston Photographic society and I’d like to talk about one of the aspects of the society that I really enjoy which is the Portrait Nights.

    Originally you had to sign up to this and the coordinator booked a model for the evenings which is hosted once a month and invited 5 or 6 people on the list to join him or her on a rota system. Now you buy the £10 ticket in advance which is a system I much prefer, and these are allocated on a first come first served basis.

    Each evening starts with setting up the studio lights in a makeshift studio setting. Initially on the portrait nights I used them mostly to learn about how to light a subject as this wasn’t something, I knew much about until I started going to these evenings. In a later post I will discuss my tips on this. Since then I’ve done a master’s in photography, set up as a Freelance photographer and spent hours on end in the studio by myself with models and my own lighting set-ups.

    So, for me a lot has changed from my early natural light only portraits up until now with my studio and location work, but I think today could be very different if I didn’t step into these portrait nights.

    Portrait nights for me now are about meeting and interacting with brand new models that I haven’t previously encountered. Yes, I do have repeat work with models, but I feel that working with new models gives you challenges because its like starting all over again. What I mean by this is that every person reacts differently to the camera.

    I’ve been to early nights where the host did a 10 minute masterclass on shooting models and then we all shoot the models by ourselves in 10 minute slots in there first and second outfits, with our own ideas of poses and directions, based on what you want to get out of the shoot. Then the final setup was to create headshots in short 3-5-minute slots.

    Now instead of a master class you take your portraits where if needed you can have input from the other more experienced photographers than you, and the host.  I think this is great because I believe that you learn by doing sometimes rather than watching.

    I then go home and spend time editing my images in lightroom and some of these have gone fantastically in the internal portrait competitions that we have at Preston photographic society. Try and guess which images below are from my first ever portrait evening and which ones are from the newer ones and you should see a difference in the images. If you enjoy this post, please comment below.

  • What Should You Photograph With A Wide-Angle Lens?

    As you may know from my previous posts or my FAQ page, I have seven lenses. Today I am going to write about the wide-angle lens and after this post throughout a long period of time, I am hoping to do a series of these for each of my lenses.

    There is no right or wrong answer as to what to use a lens for its all about your own self-expression but here I am going to tell you what I use it for.

    When I thought about buying the Sigma 10-20mm I wanted to have a better landscape lens as before this I only had the 18-55mm kit lens and the 55-200mm telephoto zoom lens which didn’t provide me with the depth of field I wanted for my landscapes.

    So, what is a wide-angle lens? A wide-angle lens is any lens that can view more than the human eye sees. Wide-angle lenses distort the subject and enhance perspective. This means whatever is in front of the frame will appear larger than anything that is further away.

    I soon realised that you can also create creative portraits with a wide-angle lens. In my opinion, by positioning yourself at a lower angle than your subject you open up your surroundings to a whole new point of view.

    In architectural shots, you want to use this lens to capture the entirety of a building so you can see all the detail and not just glimpses of it.

    In one of my university projects during my master’s I used the wide-angle lens to take images I wanted to create a perspective where I had the full person and aspects of a building behind to convey the way in which we use public spaces to this day.

    A great use I’d say is these lenses are great for events as they allow you to photograph much larger groups of people.

    The final thing I have used this lens for is when I photograph fencing charity events. The reason is that I want to get every one of the participants in the frame which I can’t do with a zoom lens maybe I’d need a zoom lens in a larger venue where I need to be further away from the action.

    I feel the wide-angle lens provides you with new perspectives that you didn’t even consider before. You can see a lot more with a wide-angle lens than a fixed perspective. Below is a gallery of some of my work using this lens:

    If you liked this post and want to read more please go through my previous posts, subscribe or check out my best of page here: Best Of .

  • Share Your Best Ever Shot

    Calling all photographers today I am inviting you to share your best ever shot.

    • What makes it your best ever ?
    • Is there a story behind it?
    • What camera and settings did you use?
    • How did you light your shot?

    At the end of the week I will share these all on another post with full credits.

    Comment with your photo and the Information on my facebook page: www.facebook.com/lucyandthelensphotography, or email me at lucy@lucyandthelens.com to be included.

  • 5 Tips to Name your Photography business

    1. Brainstorm some ideas by creating a mind map and asking other people for inspiration.
    2. Check no-one else is using the name you want.
    3. Do you have a unique first name or surname. If you do try and include it into the business name.
    4. Make a list of photographic terms and see if one jumps out at you.
    5. Don’t Do what everybody else is doing. Try to make your name stand out.

    When choosing my name Lucy and the Lens step 1 and 4 were the ones I used the most then I got a logo and cartoon me designed by @emiliaclarecreates check out her Instagram.