There are several different ways to change scenes in your videos, cutscenes can work great but a well-placed transition can give off a more professional cinematic vibe in your work. I believe that there are certain transitions work well under very particular circumstances, and the Luma Fade transition is one of them. Within a few minutes, you can apply the Luma Fade transition pretty easily.
I have heard several photographers complain about how slow Adobe Lightroom is. While I agree that Adobe needs to make some improvements to their photo processor and image organizer, there are a few things we can do on our machines to help Lightroom run a little more smoothly.
Whether you like it or not, Instagram has become a big part of our life. And not just for seeing what our friends are up to, but also networking and showcasing our work as photographers, models, and other industry people. Using hashtags can help your photo come across new eyes as they search the countless numbers of photos on the social media platform, but which ones should you use?
When creating videos, sometimes finding that perfect song, music score, or track takes a while. Then when you place it together and the music isn’t long enough, manually cutting and extending the track can take some time. What if I told you there’s an easy and automated way to extend your selected track to any length.
For the past few years, the popular Nik Collection has had an interesting journey starting back in 2012 when Google originally acquired the photo editing plugin. Over the course, the collection has gone through a price drop and ultimately landed as a free download which made several photographers happy. Who doesn't like free stuff, and for free it was a pretty solid collection of plugins.
As our phones get better with taking videos, it makes sense why there's an explosion of filmmakers hitting the industry and more and more YouTubers starting off in their new journeys into creating film every day. Hundreds of videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and it's only getting bigger. With more people using their phones, GoPros, and mirrorless cameras, the need for gear to make smoother, more professional looking gear has increased. Enter InMotion digital slider.
Sexual harassment and abuse are real within the industry; there's no denying that. By now, I am sure you have heard about the Hollywood news and all the allegations against Producer Harvey Weinstein coming out, spanning over decades where he used his power and influence on models and actresses to get away with sexual misconduct. Weinstein isn’t the only one in the industry facing these accusations, and it seems like more allegations are coming out, including ones against Terry Richardson.
Unless you are buying an older digital camera, most of the ones on the market today are all over 10 megapixels which is large enough for the casual shooter. Even most cell phones come in at over 12 megapixels. Some people do get hung up on the number of megapixels the camera has to determine quality while having more available is great, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the most important thing you should be looking for in a camera. What is more important than megapixels?
There are tonnes of tips and hacks you can use to get new and creative shots for your portfolio. How many tips are you aware of where you are using simple objects most people probably have just lying around? If you are like me and shop online, you probably have a few cardboard boxes lying around right now which could be perfect for some photo hacks for creative work.
There are several brands and different models of microphones on the market which is constantly growing. Trying to pick one out of the masses can be a tough decision, especially if you are not familiar with them. What is the best mic to get if you are just starting out, or possibly looking to get a better one?
A smile can make or break your portrait. While shooting the person who is forcing a fake smile, it can be obvious in a lot of people who aren't used to "smiling for the camera" and ruin the shot, while a genuine natural smile can make your photo that much better. So how do you get your subject to give you a better, more natural smile?
Creating video content is becoming more readily available as the quality of our smartphones are constantly getting better. The number of people creating their own videos with iPhones is increasing. There are 200 times more iPhones being used over SLR cameras, but the market for camera sliders designed for iPhones isn’t quite there yet. Rhino Camera Gear plans to change that by introducing the ROV.
Photographers and digital artists alike have been using image editing software like Photoshop to enhance their work for years. There are several ways to add creative enhancements and filters to your work within Photoshop, but there are ways to add them without using the program or even in conjunction via other software and plugins. Auto FX Software has been around for more than 20 years with their customized creative photo software solutions which work as a stand-alone program or as a plugin for Photoshop or Lightroom. Right now you can get two of their modules for FREE along with support from Auto FX Software.
Different projects may require different things in the background to help sell the story we are trying to tell with our photos. Sometimes they can be as simple as using a window in the frame. What happens when you are shooting and there aren’t any windows that fit your vision, or any windows at all?
There are several different products out on the market for us to use aiming to help us with all of our different needs. Microphones are no exception and choosing the right one that fits you can be a daunting task, especially if you are looking for a great quality mic that is small and easy to use. Enter the Instamic, which claims to be the smartest, smallest, and most affordable microphone and audio recorder on the market… but how does fare?
Time-lapse photography isn’t anything new, but it is a process that takes a lot of time to produce a cinematography effect showing subtle motion speed up to make it pronounced. Many motion films and television shows use it to show when a storm is forming, day shifts into night and vice versa, or even showing a busy street or freeway over time. Not only is it used there, many photographers produce their own clips for various projects. So how do you shoot and process a day to night time-lapse?
The Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, or commonly referred to as the nifty fifty, is a great lens that comes in with an amazing price tag of only $125 as I write this. For many, especially those on a budget, this is one of the first and most often recommended lens to pick up for any photographer of any genre.
By now most of you have probably watched the Matrix movies and seen how the bullet time effects were created, and if not where have you been? In a nutshell, the effect was used in the films too slow down or freeze a moment while adding a rotation around the subject using multiple cameras to capture that moment. Why did I bring that up?
In many of the photography groups I am part of, I constantly come across the question of which lens should someone get as a portrait photographer. We all have different styles, and depending on what type of portraits and what other genres of photography we usually shoot in, we could all recommend you a different lens or pair of lenses.
Sometimes our creations behind the camera simply cannot be taken with just one frame, or perhaps you cannot travel to the destinations that would work perfectly with your concept. This is why some photographers choose to composite their images. Antti Karppinen shows off his most used composite image technique from his latest project "Kuopio Inspiration is a Force of Nature."
Looking for an easier way to light up your subject in a variety of different ways? The creative duo from Bitbanger Labs that launched the pixelstick is back with a new invention, colorspike. It’s an animation-driven light that with photographers and video shooters alike.
In my camera bag, there are two lenses I use the most and it all comes down to what I am shooting that decides which of the two I am using. For a majority of my event coverages, I pull out my standard zoom lens as my go-to weapon of choice. Occasionally, I do find myself yearning for extra reach, especially when I am stuck at a certain distance and can’t walk any closer to the subjects. Looking for a telephoto lens, I tested out the Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary telephoto lens, aka the “light-bazooka,” which is considered highly compact and lightweight to the other contenders on the market. This lens sounds like the perfect fit for me.
To capture those memorable moments at wedding parties and other events where lighting isn’t always optimal, many of us bring off-camera lights to help light up the scene. In the past, popular choices have been speedlights due to size, portability, and being able to run off batteries. The game has changed in the off-camera flash market with studio strobes and other flashes increasingly getting better across those three concerns.
There are many debates over gear in the photography world, one of them coming down to the size of the sensor in your camera. Does it make a real difference? Are you thinking of upgrading your crop sensor camera to a full frame beast? You might want to check this out before doing so.
Are you looking for different ways to add some creativity to your work? There are several different methods to add special effects to your photos, both in-camera and in postproduction later with Photoshop or other photo manipulation software. Depending on what effects you are trying to achieve, some of them can be done really easily in-camera and won’t take up too much time extra time.
Do you know and understand the different options of color spaces you can use for photography? Did you know you could set up to the camera to shoot in one mode versus the other? Why does this matter to you as a photographer? Well, if you are not familiar with color space and how it pertains to you, you should watch this video.
Over the years, I have come across several different ways to give your photo a dreamy look. When I first started my journey into photography I came across a lens filter with the sole purpose of creating the dreamy look, but I found that too much detail was lost so I never used it again. So what is a good way to add the dreamy look to your photos?
Do you have a great shot but wish you were able to get a little more depth of field background blur in the photo? It is always better to get it naturally in camera with a fast lens, but what if you are not able to? Well, if you want to spend the extra time post-processing your photos, you can add some extra background blur to your shot. Colin Smith from PhotoshopCAFE demonstrates how he added background blur to simulate the lovely blur without adding halos to your photo.
With all the destruction hurricane Harvey left behind from its rampage against the Texas coast, we have a tremendous number of people who affected with enormous lost. While most things can be replaced over time, there are some things that can’t be which many might overlook, like family photos for example.
There are several different ways to light up your subject for portraits, sometimes we can get caught up in needing more lights for our sets while forgetting there are other tools that can help. Reflectors can very beneficial in bouncing additional light in a cost-effective way. Whether it’s the sun, available light, or your own artificial light, reflectors can help you control the light. Aaron Nace over at Phlearn shows several ways to use a reflector, or a few, on-set to improve your portraits.
When it comes to off-camera lighting with strobes, there are three main ways to sync your camera so the lights fire when you click the shutter. In this week’s video with Jay P. Morgan from the Slanted Lens, he goes over the three ways to sync your strobes.
There are several debates over which type of lighting is better between natural light and off-camera flash lighting. Some photographers build their style on one over the other, while some find themselves using both. I believe that it comes down to your personal preference in which you like over the other.
There are tons of different ways and several products on the market that people buy to reduce the appearance of bags under their eyes. So it shouldn't be a shock when a client asks you to help them out and reduce or remove the bags under their eyes in the photo. Just as there are many ways to reduce the appearance in real life, there are many ways to do it in Photoshop as well.
We have all come across a beautiful or interesting building in our life, it’s another subject of art. There are many architects that spend a lot of their time designing these amazing structures, and there’s even a whole genre of photography to capture and share the beauty in these buildings.
A few weeks ago, I came across a post on social media from the Jônt about a shoot out contest inside a staged multi-million dollar estate which piqued my interest. Reading more about the shootout, it would be geared toward several different genres of photographers, as they would have vendors on site providing food, drinks, cars, and models at our disposal for the shoot out. First, you had to submit your info along with your portfolio to be one of the selected photographers to join the contest, I figured I would go ahead and throw my name into the hat and see what would happen.
