Lucy And The Lens

Tag: #7daycontentsprint

  • Studio Lighting: Tips

    I have my own studio lights and also access to a studio at UCLAN (University of Central Lancashire) as I do my freelance work from there. So, I’ve been reading books, blogs and googling techniques on how to light a subject.

    Here are some tips I have acquired about studio lighting from the book lighting for portrait photography by Steve Bavister:

    1. Persuading you’re subject to face the window adds detail to the face and creates a strong profile. (Shoot this at a shutter speed of 1/250 and an aperture of f5.6).
    2. Placing your subject facing out of a doorway gives strong illumination.
    3. A reflector beneath a subject and a tilted camera angle adds impact to a simply lit but powerful portrait. (Shot at 1/125 shutter speed)
    4. The clam shell set-up: this is where a subject is seated, and you place the light above her and maybe a reflector below her.
    5. The typical studio set-up is when you place one light to one side of the subject and one light behind her.
    6. Using a light and a jumbo umbrella gives lots of lighting control (Shoot at a shutter speed of 1/400 and an aperture of f11.)
    7. The further you take a light to one side the more moody and dramatic it becomes.
    8. Photographing people wearing glasses requires a high lighting position.

    Below are a few more tips from DIY Photography:

    1. Beauty Dishes add a natural catch light to your images.
    2. For a two light set-up use an octobox and fill light with a colour gel: an orange or yellow gel will add a warmer tone to your portrait. Try this on f1.8.
    3. Old guys with beards photograph better with no soft boxes.

    Below is a video tutorial from DIY Photography: Lighting By Elaine Torres

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOYTtxzJWqo&feature=youtu.be

    I hope you’ve enjoyed this post let me know in the comments. Read more for more tips and tricks.

  • 5 Photography Blogs Every Photographer Must Read

    DIY Photography shows you have to do a variety of photography related projects. At the moment its highlighting people who are finding clever ways to photograph in Isolation.

    Digital Photography School

    This is the blog where you can guarantee to find anything you need. There’s Camera and photography product reviews, tutorials and tips for a variety of things, challenges that you can take part in. Just be sure to read this blog for any kind of Advice.

    Picture Correct is my go-to blog for lighting and editing tips and tricks. My favourite posts are related to lighting tutorials. I’ve learned so much more about lighting from watching people try it over video.

    Here is the home of the Sunday Shutter which highlights the best photos there have seen that week which I think is really cool and good to see what other people have photographed in the last week.

    For me this is another one like digital photography school that has been around for so many years, it’s hard not to find a variety of useful things on here.

    Please be sure to check these out and if you enjoyed this posted stay tuned for more.

  • 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.