Improve Photography Podcast

The Ultimate Photography FAQ [Podcast]

Christine Larsen — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:37:50 +0000

Ready for pinterest!

This is a mashup episode of the Improve Photography Podcast, the Digital Photo Experience, and The Digital Story Podcasts. In this episode, the joint group talk about some of the most common questions photographers ask and give answers for these questions.

If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can come to the website where the free audio download of this show is available.

If you’re new to the podcast, you can see all the previous episodes of the Improve Photography Podcast here.

How to Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Phone or MP3 Player (free!)

For iPhone/iPad/iPod listeners – Grab your phone or device and go to the iTunes store and search “Improve Photography Podcast.” This will help you to download the free Podcasts App (produced by Apple) and then subscribe to the show from within that app. Every time I produce a new episode, you’ll get it downloaded right on your iDevice.

For Android listeners – Download the Stitcher Radio app (free) and search for “Improve Photography Podcast.” Or, if you have already downloaded a podcasting client, follow the directions in the next sentence.

For podcast enthusiasts – If you already listen to podcasts and have a podcatcher that you prefer, the feed you’ll need to add is http://improvephotography.com/feed/podcast

For those who don’t have a mobile device – You can always listen to the show by clicking the audio file at the top of this episode.

Guide to Episode 23

[2:24] What gets you inspired to go out and shoot?

Jim Harmer: When I have a specific vision of a photo I want to take, this is what inspires me. What helps me to become passionate about photography again is to look at photos for hours until I see one that I like and want to do my way, in my place. It really takes a vision of a photo in my head before I can get the creative juices flowing again.

Dustin Olsen: Sometimes I struggle with always being in the same place. I like to challenge myself. I’ll go back to a place I’ve shot a hundred times and try to get something new based on inspiration I’ve found online.

Derrick Story: The kind of photography you create is connected to your personality. The sooner you make that connection, the better your photography will be. Just get out there. Go somewhere – anywhere – and just start. You will begin to see shots (not right away). Get out of “work mode” and leave the world behind so you can be in “photography mode”. I have a saying: “Fatigue is the enemy of creativity.”

Juan Pons: I do a lot of research ahead of time and create a “shot list” – things I want to create while I’m out taking photos. Then I’ll go out and see what I can create. I also like to look at the work of the photography masters to try and rekindle my passion.

[13:13] Who inspires your photography?

Jim Harmer: James Neeley (a photographer in Eastern Idaho).

Dustin Olsen: Dave Black – his black and white and that he can take his photos in one shot.

Derrick Story: Galen Rowell – amazing creativity, and freely giving of his time to other photographers.

Juan Pons: Eliot Porter – one of the first wildlife/nature photographers. He is one of the masters of color in nature photography.

[20:30] Gear vs. Craft

Jim Harmer: Sometimes an extra piece of gear can help you make really important progress (in the case of a flash and learning how to use light). But a lot of the time, a new piece of gear isn’t going to help you if you don’t understand the basics of what you’re doing.

Dustin Olsen: You don’t always need the latest gear. It’s time to upgrade your gear when you have mastered your current equipment and it’s now holding you back.

Derrick Story: If a new lens or a new reflector or something like that inspires you to go out and get more creative or to go out and do a shoot, there’s a great benefit to buying it for that purpose.

Juan Pons: While new gear can be fun and give you a reason to go out and shoot, a new piece of gear is not going to do much for you. Instead, take a trip to a location you’ve never been to and see how that gets your creative juices going.

[27:40] What is one essential piece of equipment you recommend to improve someone’s photography?

Jim Harmer: Yongnuo YN-560 Speedlight Flash. Very easy to use, really inexpensive, and can really open up some creative possibilities in flash photography.

Dustin Olsen: The Rogue FlashBender with the diffusing panel. It’s great for impromptu flash photography.

Derrick Story: The collapsible reflector. 32″ diameter is a great size. Light from a reflector is the most flattering, beautiful light.

Juan Pons: A high quality (something in the $300+ range), easy-to-use tripod. It slows you down and makes you more deliberate. It also ensures that you have a sharper image.

[39:10] How did you get started in photography?

Jim Harmer: I started to get serious about photography during law school – it was my creative release, and my hobby. I didn’t have a lot of mentors. I was mostly just learning on my own, trial and error, trying things I’d read in a book, etc. Once I decided to do this for a living, I started doing events (weddings, etc). I worked on my SEO and got myself to the top of Google for a lot of keywords in my area, and then the phone started ringing. Once I got tired of the event photography, I moved to landscape photography and then on to teaching photography.

Dustin Olsen: I started in the school newspaper, and would take the nice camera every now and then. I had a class in college as part of the program I was studying, and then I started teaching.

Derrick Story: I started in the newspaper business as a junior high kid. My first photo in the paper was taken during a heat wave and my friend’s dad asked me to print some photos for his article in the paper.

Juan Pons: A teacher in high school was very inspiring to me. She was very open to anything new that was out there for photography and we would try new processes. I’ve always had a passion for nature and wildlife. I decided a few years ago I’d shoot for myself and if people like what I do, then great. It’s about being fulfilled in what I do.

[47:50] How did you find your niche, or your voice, and how did you develop it?

Jim Harmer: Ask someone (a non-photographer and someone not close to you) to order your photos. This helps you see where you’re strong and where you’re weak. The things you might love the most might not be where your strengths are.

Dustin Olsen: I was exposed to a lot of different styles but I really came to love flash photography. I love being in control of the scene and being the artist. I love automobile photography and do a lot of that.

Derrick Story: You have to forget about the camera and figure out what you like to do. Do you love watching people, sunsets, bugs, animals? What really excites you? Let that lead your photography and see where it takes you.

Juan Pons: I love to study the behavior of animals. Photography has given me a chance to do that, and helped me develop my own niche.

[53:45] What’s your advice for people who want to become professional photographers?

Jim Harmer: Go one step at a time. Really focus on one thing at a time instead of trying to do a little of everything all at once. Right now, I think the best direction to go is commercial photography. But whatever you choose, master a specific market, and then see if you can pivot if you don’t love where you’re at.

Dustin Olsen: Don’t quit your day job. You still need to pay the bills day-to-day. When people are coming after you all the time, that’s the time to start thinking about doing it full-time. In the meantime, do your photography on the side.

Derrick Story: Get close to photography in your everyday life. Don’t try to become a professional photographer all at once. Work your way into it, and you will meet people along the way. Networking is really important.

Juan Pons: What does your photography mean to you? If it’s an outlet, think hard about whether you want to take the one thing that provides you an outlet and put pressure into it to provide for yourself and your family.

[1:03:05] What’s your best photography tip?

Jim Harmer: Sit down with your camera in a dark room and see if you can do all the functions in your camera. Figure out how to use all your buttons.

Dustin Olsen: Night photography. It requires you to use a tripod (it slows you down) and you really have to understand how ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed work together.

Derrick Story: Learn how to see the world the way your camera sees the world so you’re not disappointed when you see the LCD. Learn how to use your flash so that it creates the type of light that you want.

Juan Pons: Make an imagine instead of taking an image. All the little changes you make create such a difference in your photographs.
Further Reading:

Tools or Toys? Micro-Four Thirds Cameras vs. DSLRs [Podcast]

Dustin Olsen — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:08:19 +0000

Ready for pinterest!

This is a mashup episode of the Improve Photography Podcast, the Digital Photo Experience, and The Digital Story Podcasts. In this episode, the joint group discusses micro four-thirds and other compact cameras and whether or not they are a viable alternative for photographers.

If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can come to the website where the free audio download of this show is available.

If you’re new to the podcast, you can see all the previous episodes of the Improve Photography Podcast here.

How to Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Phone or MP3 Player (free!)

For podcast enthusiasts – If you already listen to podcasts and have a podcatcher that you prefer, the feed you’ll need to add is http://improvephotography.com/feed/podcast

For those who don’t have a mobile device – You can always listen to the show by clicking the audio file at the top of this episode.

Guide to Episode 22

[5:10] Rick Sammon Rick says that he is really impressed by the new compact camera options. He mentions the Canon Powershot SX30is as an amazing example of a compact camera with fantastic functionality. He even wrote a book about compact cameras.

[7:30] Jim Harmer Jim says that the compact cameras are a great innovation for when they fit a certain need, but that he does roll his eyes when he hears other photographers online famously saying that they are dumping DSLRs just to get a headline. He says that compact cameras are a valuable innovation, but that it makes little sense to dump the DSLR when it is the best tool for the job.

[13:00] Juan Pons Juan says he has owned many compact cameras over the years, but most of them are collecting dust on his shelf because he either uses his iPhone when it is convenient or a DSLR when he wants the best image quality. Juan says that he really enjoys the GoPro Hero 3 camera, though. He is amazed at the image quality and uses it for an action cam, for underwater photography, and other specialized situations.

[13:10] Derrick Story Derrick mentions that he recently wrote a book called iPad for Digital Photographers. NOTE FROM JIM: You guys gotta go check out his book. Derrick has worked out a very nice workflow for the iPad in digital photography.

[14:10] Dustin Olsen Dustin mentioned that he enjoys using his iPhone for behind the scenes photos during a photoshoot that he can share on Facebook, but doesn’t find much use for the micro four-thirds cameras since they aren’t pocketable.

[16:30] Jim Harmer Jim mentions that sometimes compact cameras are a BETTER tool than a DSLR. One example is when we were in Oregon shooting waterfalls and we could take quick behind the scenes panoramas with the iPhone’s new sweep panorama feature.

[19:10] Juan Pons Juan says that photographers have become extreme pixel peepers. If we would all step back just slightly from image quality, we would have a lot of new tools like compact cameras available to us.

[21:00] Rick Sammon Rick mentions a quote from his father, “If you notice the noise in a photo, it’s a boring photo.”

[27:00] Tool or Toy?

Jim says one compact camera that he has NOT been impressed with is the Canon SL1.

Juan says he thinks the GoPro Hero 3 is definitely a tool and not a toy.

Dustin nominates the photo editing apps as being toys. He hasn’t yet seen one that is anything close to a replacement to Photoshop.

Derrick says that his nomination is the Toshiba Flashair card. It is an SD card that is used to connect the iPad to a DSLR camera. Jim mentions that he uses the Eye-fi card for the same thing and uses it so he can get a full-screen preview of his photos on the iPad.

Thanks everyone for listening to the podcast today. We’ll be showing the last of the three photography mashup episodes later this week and then will get right back to our normal podcasting schedule next week.Further Reading:

Three Photography Mistakes [Podcast]

Jim Harmer — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:00:51 +0000

Ready for pinterest!

In Episode 21 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim Harmer, Dustin Olsen, Juan Pons (from http://dpexperience.com/), and Derrick Story (from http://www.thedigitalstory.com/) talk about mistakes to avoid and answer listener questions about lenses and time-lapse photography.

If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can come to the website where the free audio download of this show is available.

If you’re new to the podcast, you can see all the previous episodes of the Improve Photography Podcast here.

How to Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Phone or MP3 Player (free!)

For podcast enthusiasts – If you already listen to podcasts and have a podcatcher that you prefer, the feed you’ll need to add is http://improvephotography.com/feed/podcast

For those who don’t have a mobile device – You can always listen to the show by clicking the audio file at the top of this episode.

Guide to Episode 21

[1:00] Business Mistakes to Avoid

The guys talk about some business mistakes they have made and hope you can learn from.

Jim: Pricing. He wasn’t very confident starting out, so he would charge WAY too little. He was just happy to get the work – anything at all to build his portfolio. His advice? Start by asking people their budget. You might find that they have a budget much higher than you were expecting to charge.

Juan: Marketing. He doesn’t enjoy it, and feels he is not particularly good at promoting/marketing himself. His advice? Be bolder with the way that you talk about your own work. Toot your own horn more than you normally do!

Derrick: Being too narrow in your view of what it is to be a photographer for a living. If you categorize yourself as “only an event photographer” this closes you off to other opportunities. His advice? Broaden your view early on. Listen to what people want so you can maneuver your career to get to where you want. Keep an open mind about what being a photographer is, and let it come to you.

Dustin: Not identifying the needs of your clients. Often you will do a shoot and then find out (or not find out!) later that the client wanted something specific that you didn’t give. His advice? Find out what kind of photos they are looking for, and identify the things that matter to them so that you can tailor your photography and pricing to what the client needs.

[12:11] General Photography Mistakes to Avoid

The guys talk about some general photography mistakes they have made, specifically things that held them back as they were learning.

Dustin: Not learning how shutter speed, aperture, and ISO work together early on. Once you learn how the technology works, you can really improve your skills, confidence, and ability. His advice? Learn the basic concepts right away. A few hours dedicated to learning the fundamentals can save you a lot of frustration and grief in your photography.

Juan: Looking at other people’s work and finding fault with it, or comparing it to your own. When you realize that you can learn from *anyone* you are more able to expand your skills. His advice? Remember that everyone has something to give, even the most inexperienced photographer. Your attitude makes a huge impact.

Derrick: Not learning to look at the world the way the camera is looking at the world. We have a fantastic dynamic range but our cameras have a much more limited dynamic range. When you as a person become overwhelmed by a scene, that’s very dangerous for you as a photographer. You are no longer a technician – instead you are emotional. His advice? You have to learn to see the world the way that the camera sees the world. Sometimes the second day at a location is better than the first because you are now less emotionally overwhelmed by the beauty of the scene.

Jim: Not being as calculated when shooting a portrait as you are when you are shooting a landscape or a night scene. It is sometimes easy to get caught up in taking a ton of pictures, instead of worrying about making sure the photos you are taking are good quality. His advice? Slow down, and take the time between the photos to make sure you are setting everything up correctly. Don’t just churn out photos – take a picture, fix the problems, and then go forward. But you do have to be careful that you’re not going too slow during a portrait shoot, and remember to talk during your photo session to keep the people you are shooting comfortable.

Tips for Portrait or wildlife photography:

Derrick: Once you get a shot that you like from the shoot, show it to the model and it will give them some confidence which will improve the shoot for everyone.

Juan: Work at a speed that is comfortable for your subject. Read body language and cues to help you know what tempo you should be shooting at.

[30:52] Workflow or Post Processing Mistakes to Avoid

Jim: Waiting too long to learn masking. His advice? You can save yourself a lot of headache if you just take the time to learn how to use masking properly.

Dustin: Doing too much to the photos. His advice? Avoid overprocessing your photo; you don’t want it to look like it’s been dipped in radiation.

Juan: Not taking a break during post-processing. Once you look at it for too long, your eyes become adjusted and you will begin to miss a lot of the details, especially with regards to color. His advice? Get up, walk away, look at a blank sheet of white paper, and let your eyes adjust. Then go back and work on your images again.

Derrick: Working on your bad images. Nobody has time to be editing all their poor or average shots. His advice? Rate your images first, so you are only spending your image editing time on good shots. You can always come back to the lower quality images later if you want or need to.

[41:45] I have a Canon 3Ti, and I already have 70-200 f/2.8 lens. I’m looking for more zoom, and considering the 100-400 push-pull zoom, the 300mm f/4 prime, and the 400 mm f/5.6 prime. I’m doing this on a budget, and would like to be able to shoot landscapes as well as birds. Which lens should I get?

The most flexible of the three lenses is the 100-400. This lens has a nice range, and is compact for its reach. However, it is a push-pull design so it has to be cleaned quite often. Its maximum aperture is 5.6-6.3 and it doesn’t work well with a teleconverter. But, because of the zoom, it is very versatile. Juan’s favorite of the three is the 300mm f/4 because it is very lightweight, incredibly sharp, and can take a teleconverter very well. The 400mm f/5.6 is a great lens, but again doesn’t accept a teleconverter well. The 300 f/4 lens is Juan’s recommendation in this situation. Derrick also recommends the Canon 70-300 f/4 – 5.6.

[52:40] Time-lapse photography: What suggestions do you have for a first timer?

Jim says you need to figure out how you’re going to keep the flicker out of the time-lapse. If you grab a little piece of paper and roll it up tight, and take your lens off, you can see the ring that controlls the aperture – it flips back on a spring. Put a toothpick-sized piece of paper in there and it will force the aperture to stay there. This will make the aperture stay the same throughout all your photos and you won’t get the flicker. Just beware that you won’t see any aperture information in your photo’s metadata.

Juan suggests doing post-processing on your time-lapse photos as well. Shoot them in mRAW to save a little space. LRTimelapse is a great option to use with Lightroom to save a lot of time and create some really incredible time-lapses.

[58:13] Doodads of the Week

Jim’s doodad of the week is for people who are getting started in lighting. Lighting supplies can really be very expensive, but a very inexpensive trigger is the Yongnuo RF-603 radio trigger.

Dustin’s pick of the week is pixlr.com – this is amost like an online version of Photoshop Elements, and could be a great option for some people.

Juan’s pick of the week is the MTX from Really Right Stuff. This is a really handy tool to keep with you on the field for fixing just about anything on your camera.

Derrick’s pick of the week is the Frio Hot Shoe Mount. You can put any type of hot shoe device in there and connect it to a tripod or a light stand. It has a lock on the back to keep whatever you’ve put in it from sliding out.Further Reading:

Episode 20: Battery grips, photography safety, computers for photo editing, and more!

Christine Larsen — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 23:34:23 +0000

Ready for pinterest!

In Episode 20 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim and Dustin answer listener questions about battery grips, safety on photography shoots, what computer to get for editing photos in Photoshop, and advice for spontaneous photography.

If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can come to the website where the free audio download of this show is available.

If you’re new to the podcast, you can see all the previous episodes of the Improve Photography Podcast here.

How to Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Phone or MP3 Player (free!)

For podcast enthusiasts – If you already listen to podcasts and have a podcatcher that you prefer, the feed you’ll need to add is http://improvephotography.com/feed/podcast

For those who don’t have a mobile device – You can always listen to the show by clicking the audio file at the top of this episode.

Guide to Episode 20

[0:50] What kind of computer do you need for photo editing?

Photoshop and Lightroom aren’t that resource-intensive – it’s nothing compared to gamers or video editing. Often you can even run Photoshop on a laptop. Most computers will handle Photoshop and Lightroom just fine. If you notice it taking a long time to open Photoshop, you might consider installing an SSD hard drive – this cut our Photoshop opening time from about 1 minute to 25 seconds. Don’t be afraid to install this drive yourself – it’s really not very hard at all. But before you switch, make sure you back up your hard drive first!! You can get a small SSD for about $200.

Some things about Photoshop that slow the computer down: Photoshop allocates 2 GB of RAM just to run; having multiple images open and trying to edit them; if you’ve changed the number of history states significantly higher than the 20 it comes with by default; your photos from the camera are huge.

Some PC specific suggestions: i7 (Intel) processor if at all possible; i5 is also good; but don’t go for the i3. If you could move to an SSD, that’s even better, but an i7 will be good. Jim says it’s nice to have your photos on a separate drive. Photoshop is really processor-intensive. RAM will help you a lot with your reliability (things like programs crashing all the time). Don’t go for less than 8 GB of RAM. A lot of people get frustrated with Lightroom because it can be so slow. If you can go to Thunderbolt (Mac) or use usb-3, that will help with speed issues for Lightroom.

Some Mac specific suggestions: i7 processor; laptops are very mobile, but Dustin wouldn’t do anything lower than an i7 in a laptop and get the biggest solid state drive. MacBook Air is awesome, but it needed more hard drive space and more RAM to keep up. You are going to need something else to keep your photos on because you’ll fill a laptop drive in a single photo shoot. Alternatively, for the same amount of money you can get an iMac and blow the laptop out of the water. Fusion drive combines spinning drive and solid state – these are fantastic. Dustin suggests the 27″ iMac with the i7 processor (this costs about 3k – you could get a laptop i7 for around 2.5k depending on the size).

We recently got an iMac here at the office. We decided on that instead of building a PC because you always have issues with hardware compatability when you build your own machine.

[16:00] Can you give me some suggestions for using a Neutral Density Filter?

Neutral density filter just darkens the photo. It is a dark piece of glass you screw on the end of your lens. This allows you to use a longer shutter speed (this can be great for making water look silky during the day when the sun is bright).

A graduated neutral density filter is dark on the top and clear on the bottom. This allows you to darken the bright sunset but still let in enough light to keep the ground properly exposed.

[18:30] Digital Photo Professional (Canon software) – what do you think of it?

Jim and Dustin prefer to pass everything straight through to Photoshop. Little programs like DPP are nice because they are made by the manufacturer, but they aren’t a replacement for Photoshop or Lightroom. If it’s working for you, don’t change anything, but do go give the 30-day trial of Photoshop and Lightroom a try and see if that changes your mind. Additionally, it’s really nice to use all the Adobe products because they are compatable with each other so you don’t have to worry about saving your photos as different file types to make sure you can open it in the next program you’re planning to use.

[21:30] Do you have any advice or suggestions for unplanned photography with less-than-ideal conditions? (Farmers vs. Hunters)

The “farmer” photographer is the planner – really takes time to plan the shoot, plan the place, time of day, etc. The “hunter” photographer is more spontaneous and just takes pictures on a whim. Dustin feels he is a mixture of farmer and hunter, while Jim is definitely a farmer.

Jim’s advice to the hunter photographers: have your camera with you ALL THE TIME. You never know when you might see something you’d just LOVE to have a picture of. Also, make sure there’s something there before you click the shutter button. Three things to think about before you click the shutter button: 1. Is this subject interesting? 2. Is the lighting interesting or is it just ok? (If you think the lighting is just ok it’s probably bad lighting.) 3. Is this an interesting composition?

Dustin’s advice to the hunter photographers: know well enough where you’re going to be so that you can be prepared. Make sure your photo is going to stand out, or else your photos will just look like a tourist shot that anyone could take. You should consider coming back to a location if you find something great but the lighting isn’t fabulous, because lighting really makes a huge difference. Don’t take the shot if you know the lighting is going to be bad. Look for great shots to take, but wait for it to be the right time.

Jim has an app called “Footprints” – he will use his phone to take a picture so it will add the GPS info in the app, and then he knows the place and can go back when he has time to do the photo right.

[34:00] How do you feel safe or what precautions do you take when taking your gear out in public alone? What do you do when you’re asked to shoot an event in a not-so-great area?

It’s not a good idea to go out on your own with all your expensive gear, especially at night. Jim carries a canister of bear spray (pepper spray) in his bag for safety. A nice heavy tripod works as a great weapon too. Always try to find a friend – go on meetup.com and make a few photo buddies. It will be a lot more fun and it’s always safer to travel in numbers. If you see a great place but you’re alone, come back with a friend.

[38:05] I have a 3rd party battery grip with a connection cable. Is that normal or do the name brand ones have some kind of internal connector?

A battery grip goes underneath the camera and screws on to the bottom. This gives you an extra battery for the camera and it also gives you an extra shutter button on the side for easy shooting when you’ve turned the camera. There are a lot of off-brands that make inexpensive battery grips, and we absolutely recommend 3rd party battery grips. You really won’t notice much difference between that and the name brand battery grips expect in the shutter button. But no – you shouldn’t have to use a cable to connect it! That’s a *really* cheap battery grip.

[42:00] Doodads of the Week

Jim’s doodad of the week is the Rode VideoMic Pro. It’s a shotgun microphone, and works well in place of the internal microphone on your camera, especially for outdoor shooting (when you would hear all the noise of the wind).

Dustin’s pick of the week is the Canon ELPH, a point-n-shoot camera. Sometimes when you need your camera with you all the time, it’s nice to have a point-n-shoot. They have really improved over the last few years, and you can really get something pretty decent for not too much money. Additionally, a good quality point-n-shoot is great for travelling.

[46:00] Prizes for reviews!

The winner is dam70. If that’s your username on iTunes, email Jim at prize@improvephotography.com to get your free online photography class.

To be entered to win the online photography class each week, simply go to this podcast on iTunes and write a one or two sentence review. While they appreciate a a 5-star review, any review will get you entered to win a class for free (a $98 value).Further Reading:

Photography

Jim Harmer — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 18:32:58 +0000

Ready for pinterest!

How you can get more creative in your photography even when you feel like you’re in a rut is one thing we discuss this week. Also, Jim discusses his photography trip down to southern Utah where he learned a lot of new photography tips.

If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can come to the website where the free audio download of this show is available.

If you’re new to the podcast, you can see all the previous episodes of the Improve Photography Podcast here.

How to Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Phone or MP3 Player (free!)

For podcast enthusiasts – If you already listen to podcasts and have a podcatcher that you prefer, the feed you’ll need to add is http://improvephotography.com/feed/podcast

For those who don’t have a mobile device – You can always listen to the show by clicking the audio file at the top of this episode.

Guide to Episode 19

[:30] Registration is now open for online photography classes

The Beginner and Intermediate Online Photography Classes start on Wednesday! Registration is still open for the classes by clicking this link.

Jim and Dustin have done a lot of work in moving the online classes over to their new site at PhotoClasses.com. The classes have not increased in price, but there are now a TON of new features added to the classes.

Jim and Dustin are really excited to announce that they are now offering online classes in Photoshop! They’ve been working on this project for a long time, so they are thrilled. You can register for these classes at Photoclasses.com.

[4:30] Do you need a watermark to copyright your photo?

First of all, the watermark is completely different than copyrighting your photo. In most countries, merely taking the picture automatically attaches copyright to the creator. The purpose of a watermark is merely to remind people of this fact and to encourage them NOT to take it.

Most of the time, watermarks take away from the photo and distract the viewer, but it can be done well.

[8:45] The weather in the U.K. is often gray and overcast. How can I get good photos even with gray skies?

Landscape photographers LOVE having clouds in the sky because they add more interest to the sky. However, if the clouds aren’t spotty but are just a sheet of gray, it isn’t as interesting for a photo. However, a sheet of gray clouds is the PERFECT situation for shooting portraits because it diffuses the sunlight.

If you are shooting landscapes, you might consider using Photoshop to switch out the sky from a different photo, or put the sky at the top of the frame to cut most of it out and focus on the foreground.

[16:00] What’s the best way to sell used gear?

Jim likes selling on Amazon because then you don’t have to worry as much about security or meeting a random person and dealing with a lot of money. He’s had bad experience selling on Craigslist, so he likes selling online.

Dustin likes using eBay and reminds people to take the money in cash instead of check.

[18:40] I’m bored with learning the technical side of photography. How can I get inspired?

Dustin points the listener to this article that he wrote about how to get out of a creative rut in photography.

Jim says that the camera duel has been something that has really helped him to be inspired and try new photographic techniques.

Last week he shot with Jeremiah Barber (click to see his portfolio), a really amazing landscape photographer, who got him inspired to learn more about time lapse photography. Jeremiah is shooting timelapse videos on a long rail system with a motor which moves the camera an inch between each shot so that it looks like a smooth pan when the stills are put together in a video.

[25:02] What softbox kit do you recommend?

Jim recommends this affordable continuous lighting kit that includes a softbox, but reminds the listener that continuous lights generally aren’t bright enough for shooting outdoors or in bright rooms.

If you’re looking for a softbox for your speedlight, they recommend getting this softbox for basic on-location flash photography.

[29:35] What full-frame Canon camera would you recommend for shooting motocross?

There are three current full-frame Canon cameras.

The Canon 1DX costs about $8,000 but is probably the best sports camera on planet earth right now. But…. it’s expensive!

The Canon 5D III costs about $3,500 and is a nice sports option because it has a decent frame per second rate.

The Canon 6D is less expensive at $2,300 but the frames per second is a bit low for shooting sports.

[34:00] Prizes for reviews!

The winner is chaovizua. If that’s your username on iTunes, email Jim at prize@improvephotography.com to get your free online photography class.

Episode 18: Wireless Tethered Shooting, White Balance, Filters, Photoshop, and more!

Christine Larsen — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 22:39:18 +0000

Ready for pinterest!

In Episode 18 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim and Dustin answer listener questions about white balance, how to know when it’s time to start charging for your photos, what to do as the second shooter at a wedding, wireless tethered shooting, and more!

If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can come to the website where the free audio download of this show is available.

If you’re new to the podcast, you can see all the previous episodes of the Improve Photography Podcast here.

How to Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Phone or MP3 Player (free!)

For podcast enthusiasts – If you already listen to podcasts and have a podcatcher that you prefer, the feed you’ll need to add is http://improvephotography.com/feed/podcast

For those who don’t have a mobile device – You can always listen to the show by clicking the audio file at the top of this episode.

Guide to Episode 18

[0:53] Wireless tethered shooting: do you have any experience with this technology?

This technology allows you to take pictures from the camera, and have it wirelessly send the pictures to an iPad or other device. Jim and Dustin love this technology. There are a lot of ways to do this, but the way we usually use in the studio is the Eye-Fi Card (improvephotography.com/wirelesscard – this is the specific card you will need to be able to do this). You put it in your SD slot and it will create a wiFi network so that your iPad or cell phone can receive the images. It takes about 2 seconds to send the picture from the camera over to the iPad or phone. Click here for video tutorial explaining how to do this.

Other ways to accomplish this same thing: Nikon has WU-1a that works with a few of the newer Nikon cameras, Canon has started to build this technology in to their cameras (Dustin has been using it a lot lately and just loves it), you can get battery grips that have the wiFi built in as well (but it will cost you – around $350), and you can plug USB right into a laptop and Lightroom will take care of it for you. Additionally, on The Digital Story, Derrick Story recommends the Toshiba FlashAir Card, saying it is quite a bit easier to set up than the Eye-Fi Card.

Just remember that this is newer technology, so older cameras won’t support it. If your camera was made in the last 2 years, you can pretty safely assume it will work fine.

[5:48] Advice for a second shooter at a wedding?

When you are hired (or asked) as a second shooter for an event like a wedding, there are some things to keep in mind. First, remember that the primary photographer was the photographer hired for this job – not you. The primary photographer will be the one taking all the formal shots, posing people, adjusting the lighting, etc. When something is happening (the actual ceremony, first dance, cutting the cake, etc.) both photographers should be taking pictures and you’ll want to be shooting as many as you can. But when things are moving more slowly (such as when it’s time for the formal shots), this is the time for the second to hold the flash or the diffuser and otherwise be helpful or stand back and stay out of the way.

As the second, you should take photos of all the little things: the cake topper, all the little girls with matching bows in their hair, and all the other small little details of the wedding. Someone has put a lot of effort into all these small details to make the wedding beautiful, and you want to capture that. The main photographer is going to be focusing on the bride and groom, making sure they get all the pictures with the people they want, so the second needs to be working on taking shots of all the extra details that the photographer might not have time to notice.

Finally, remember that as the second shooter, your photos belong to the primary photographer – don’t use these images without their permission, even for your own portfolio.

[10:14] I’m trying to get into landscape photography and I just bought the new Canon 6D . I’m looking to buy a couple of filters for it, and wondering about circular polarizing filters specifically.

You need to know the filter thread size of your lens. (Most pro lenses are 77mm filter thread.) Then you can use any filter as long as the filter thread is the correct size for your lens. It usually says really tiny on the front of the lens what the thread size is.

Dustin suggests a circular polarizing filter, a graduated neutral density filter, and a neutral density filter. Read here to learn about what a circular polarizing filter can do for your photography as well as what to look for when you buy. Dustin recommends checking out eBay for filters – see if you can get a package deal or save on shipping by ordering through them.

[17:35] I’m currently using some free editing programs for my photos, but I’d like to have magazine-quality pictures and text. I’m not sure what Photoshop program I should use. What do you suggest?

When you are looking at purchasing photo edition software, there are 4 photo editing programs you should consider: Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop, and Photoshop Elements.

If you want to work with text, you don’t want to use Lightroom or Aperture. Though Lightroom allows text, it really is pretty terrible quality. Lightroom and Aperture are great for managing photos, but terrible for text.

So the choice comes down to Photoshop ($600) or Photoshop Elements ($70). The price difference is huge! Though Photoshop Elements is quite powerful (it includes a rudimentary organizer for photos and includes a lot of the tools that the full-blown Photoshop does), the tools just work differently. The tools are easier to learn and more intuitive to use, but they just don’t have quite the quality or capability of the full-blown Photoshop tools. Additionally, Photoshop Elements is a little slower.

If you don’t want to pay for the full Photoshop, you can join Creative Cloud where you pay a monthly fee to access the entire Adobe suite of products.

If you’re wanting to do a lot of text (such as a magazine), don’t use Photoshop. Instead, get Adobe InDesign – the layout engine for Adobe. Edit your photos in Photoshop, then send them over to InDesign for layout.

[22:48] If I take silhouettes or pictures from the back of people who don’t know I’m taking a shot of them, but there’s no feature of their face that you could recognize on the internet, can I post these pictures on the internet, even if the person would recognize themselves if they saw the photo?

IMPORTANT!!! Remember that Jim and Dustin only know about the laws in the US and we can’t comment for sure on the laws of other countries. Additionally, remember that while Jim did go to law school, Jim is NOT your attorney, and you need to find an attorney licensed to your jurisdiction to apply the law to your situation.

Having said that, this is NOT a gray area. When people are in a public place, the laws state that they have no expectation of privacy. You can take pictures of them that show their faces, features, pictures that are recognizable, etc. You can take a picture of a person in a public place and post it on Flickr, Facebook, etc. However, if you are going to use this photo for any sponsorship or advertisement purposes or any professional commercial use, then this completely changes the situation. In these cases, you absolutely need to have a model release before you can use these photos commercially.

While it is perfectly legal here in the US to take pictures of random people in public places, do please use your common sense. Don’t go shooting pictures of kids in a playground with a telephoto lens – it’s simply just a bad idea.

To put it simply, don’t annoy people, don’t impede their way, be polite, but go ahead and take all the pictures you want. Just be careful – if you’re going to use them for professional use, then you’d better know what you’re doing!

[29:08] Do you guys use any proprietary software for sharpening images or reducing noise in Photoshop?

Photoshop allows third-party companies to develop additional functionality that plugs in to Photoshop and does specific things. A lot of these plugins are very popular, especially because they advertise a lot to photographers. Jim doesn’t use any, but Dustin uses a lot of the Nik Software master collection (color effects, silver effects, sharpening, noise reduction). Photoshop can accomplish anything that Nik Software can do, but Nik Software is often faster at those specific functions. Additionally, if you don’t have the skill in Photoshop to create the effect you want, that’s another reason for using a plugin. Dustin uses this plugin for finishing effects because it cuts down his workflow quite a bit. This can be the difference between spending an afternoon on an entire shoot or on one single photo. Additionally, a lot of plugins have a huge number of presets that you can use – this can be cool to see ideas of things you might not have thought to try on your photo.

[32:31] Can you please explain what white balance is, how it works, and why it is useful?

White balance means that the camera is trying to determine what the neutral color is and which color balance to apply to the photo. If you’re in a department store, you’ll see kind of a green, sickly light due to the bulbs they use. In most houses, the light is a yellowish color unless you’re using daylight balanced light bulbs in which case they will be more of a white color. The light changes everywhere you go – shade is different than the sunlight, etc. There are some presets for white balance in your camera so you can use these and it will get you pretty close to where you need to be. You can also set a custom white balance.

But we don’t usually change ours. Why? Because we feel like the camera is pretty accurate. If we feel it needs to be different, we will change the white balance later when the photo is on a large calibrated screen. But if you’re in a situation where you’d need to change a lot of photos, it might be worth changing the white balance so you don’t have a lot of extra work to do later. A good example for when you should adjust the white balance is if you are a product photographer, because the color of the product needs to be precise. If you feel having the white balance perfect is vital to your photography, you might be tempted to go buy a gray card. Don’t. You will find that even though it is scientifically correct, you won’t like the color it produces. Generally, unless you are doing product photography, just use the white balance on auto and you can correct it in Photoshop later. It won’t be a big deal.

[38:19] How do I know when my photography is good enough to start looking for paying clients?

When you’re ready to do professional photography is as soon as someone is ready to pay you as long as: 1. You’re not taking a one-time shoot (like a wedding or a baby’s birth when it can’t be re-shot), and 2. You’re straight with people: tell them this is your first job, let them look at your previous work, and if they’re happy with it, go ahead and take the job.

You don’t have to wait for any specific thing to happen, and nobody needs to give you permission. We teach a 30 day class about starting up a professional photography business and our students often ask us at the end of the course if it is “ok” if they start their business now. Absolutely! When people start asking you to take their photos for different events, that’s a good indication that you should start charging for your photo shoots. Remember that you can start the prices on par with other professional photographers but then offer an introductory discount until you feel confident enough in your photography to charge full price.

[43:15] Doodads of the Week

Jim’s doodad of the week is the Streamlight Stylus Penlight, a small LED flashlight (very low power) that has a little rubber nub on the end of it that allows you to control how wide or how narrow a beam of light it puts out. Jim used this light when he was taking his picture for our new feature, the weekly photo duel, this past week. (And he’s only a little bit bitter that Dustin beat him.)

Dustin’s pick of the week is that Canon announced a new lightweight camera that will be available in April called the Rebel SL1. It is 25% smaller and 25% lighter than the Canon T3i, which was already a pretty small camera! The only thing it doesn’t have is built-in wireless for flash control and it is a little bit slower. These cameras are on presale right now for $800.

Jim mentioned that Canon also announced the T5i and, unfortunately, they still appear to be using the same image sensor as in previous cameras.

[49:53] Prizes for reviews!

The winner is Speaking of Amethyst. If that’s your username on iTunes, email Jim at prize@improvephotography.com to get your free online photography class.

Episode 17: Light Meters, How to Price a Wedding, Canon 60D Image Sensor, and more!

Christine Larsen — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:00:15 +0000

Ready for pinterest!

In Episode 17 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim and Dustin answer listener questions about Highlight Tone Priority, pricing a wedding, light meters, going from a crop sensor to a full-frame camera, and more.

If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can come to the website where the free audio download of this show is available.

If you’re new to the podcast, you can see all the previous episodes of the Improve Photography Podcast here.

How to Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Phone or MP3 Player (free!)

For podcast enthusiasts – If you already listen to podcasts and have a podcatcher that you prefer, the feed you’ll need to add is http://improvephotography.com/feed/podcast

For those who don’t have a mobile device – You can always listen to the show by clicking the audio file at the top of this episode.

Guide to Episode 17

[0:54] Jim – what was the case you posted a picture of on Facebook before you went out of town last weekend?

We use the Pelican 1510 case whenever we travel. We have soft-sided bags, but when we’re travelling we always put our gear in a Pelican case – it’s waterproof, dust-proof, drop-proof, Jim even claims it is tank-proof! (Ok – probably not, but really, it’s amazing.) If you have to check your gear on a flight, this is a great option. The dividers are a little strange, but the bag is great and it does hold quite a bit of gear. It is worth the investment because your photography gear is expensive and you want to take good care of it.

Additionally, Jim found a picture he’d taken a long time ago and marked at a two-star rating, and was glad he didn’t delete it because when he saw it he loved it! So be cautious about deleting your pictures – maybe give it a low star rating, but maybe you don’t want to delete it unless it really is trash because you may come back to it and decide you really do like it after all. Go back and look at your old photos occasionally – you might be surprised.

[3:53] If I‘m shooting in RAW, will Active D-Lighting (Highlight Tone Priority) have any impact or will it only have an affect when I’m shooting in JPEG?

Active D-Lighting is technology in cameras when your camera takes the highest highlights in the scene and pulls them back a little bit so that it doesn’t overexpose those highlights.

This is a tough question because the answer isn’t obvious. It will absolutely have an effect when shooting in JPEG, but when it comes to RAW it gets a little tricky. Conventional wisdom says the exposure triangle (shutter speed, aperture, and ISO) are the only things that affect your picture when you are shooting in RAW. But technically, the camera does do some things to the photo between the image sensor and producing the RAW file. The photo comes off the image sensor and then goes through a process where the tones in the image are amplified, and then a tone curve is applied to it. So when you have Highlight Tone Priority turned on, less amplification is given to the photo (which would normally just make your photo dark), but then they apply a different tone curve than they normally would which makes it look more “normal”.

Short answer: it doesn’t affect your RAW file very much – you will possibly notice a small change but this isn’t something revolutionary for your photography. If you’re shooting in JPEG, you might want to turn this mode on so you don’t over-expose the background but if you’re shooting in raw, it’s probably not worth worrying about.

[7:42] I recently purchased a Canon 60D and I’m frustrated, because you had mentioned recently that this camera isn’t as sharp as others.

See this article where we talk about the image sensor on the 60D. Yes, it is the same image sensor as the T2i, T3i, T4i, and 7D.

While that is perhaps a little frustrating and disheartening to hear, it’s still very possible to take sharp photos with the 60D. A lot of really great photographers use the 60D and take great pictures. The things that you do as the photographer are what will make your photo sharp. Now, if you do everything perfectly correct and if all settings and situations are equal shooting a 60D vs a different camera, maybe there will be a little reduction in the sharpness. But generally speaking, the 60D is a great camera and we don’t mean to make it sound like it is seriously flawed – perhaps we were a bit overzealous in our comments and made it sound like this is a bigger deal than it really is.

[10:11] I’m looking to go to full-frame from crop sensor. What are your thoughts comparing the Canon 6D or Nikon D600 and an older model of a higher line of full-frame camera?

Let’s generalize this a bit: do you get the older model of a higher line or do you get the current model of a lower line?

Dustin says he loves new technology, and so he wouldn’t recommend getting an older camera simply because it will be phased out soon. Jim says “Nothing quite matches the smell of a new Canon.”

There are a few things to consider: if you haven’t updated your photo editing software lately then this might be a reason to go with an older camera. If you buy a camera that was announced after the version of photo editing software you are using, then you would need to update this software so it will be compatible with your new camera (and you’ll have to factor the price of the software update into the cost of upgrading your camera). However, DSLR cameras are in very high demand right now. Several years ago, Jim bought a Canon Rebel camera, used it for 2.5 years, and then sold it for $50 less than he bought it for. A lot of photographers do this. Jim says it is a good idea to stay with the newer cameras, because you really don’t lose too much money by doing that. If you always buy the newer stuff, and keep upgrading as the newer cameras come up, then you can pretty much stay on top of the new stuff by selling your old equipment before the new model comes out.

[16:50] Is the Nikon D800 a good camera for landscape photography? I currently use a Canon but I’m thinking of switching over.

Jim says the D800 is the best landscape camera out there right now. Having the 36 megapixels allows you to really do a lot of post processing without affecting the quality of the image.

There are good reasons to choose Canon and good reasons to choose Nikon. Nikons are not necessarily better for landscape photography, but they do allow for a lot of post processing. If you like punishing pixels, then Nikons are winning the megapixel race. Canon cameras have a more intuitive menu system. Remember that going from Canon to Nikon will incur a lot of expenses in buying new lenses, flash equipment, etc. Additionally, when you are used to one brand, remember that it will be a little bit of a challenge to switch over to a different brand – you will have a learning curve and it may take you twice as long to do something with your new camera than it did with your old one. It’s not necessarily that one is better than another; rather that it will take time to get used to it.

[23:50] There are different types of light meters out there. Which one do you recommend for portraits?

The kind this listener is asking about is a hand-held meter. Our short answer to this question is NONE. Read here to find out why.

[30:33] I’m shooting my first wedding as a professional photographer, and I need to know how to price it. What advice do you have?

Important: It is illegal for us to set or suggest an industry price. Prices change between different markets.

If you don’t know what you should charge, go look at full-time professional photographers in your area. You know that this price is what the going rate is, and that these photographers can feed their families by charging what they do. Once you know the going rate, you need to decide how your business is going to differ: if you want to have a wedding every single weekend, then you may need to have a little lower price than most of the photographers in your area. Jim does say that $1000 should be the very bottom of whatever you charge no matter what the market – you are going to be doing so much work for this that you need to charge appropriately. A general range in most markets is $1000-$4000, but some can go as high as $8000.

Additionally, as a new photographer, you can offer an “introductory rate”. This will help lower client expectations a little and will help make you more comfortable until you’re feeling more confident in your abilities as a photographer. Then once your skills have improved and your confidence is high, you can phase out your “introductory rate”. Be sure that your “introductory rate” isn’t so low that it will be a huge shock to your clients once you begin to charge market prices – you don’t want to build up a clientele only to scare them off with your jumping prices.

One last thing: Be VERY careful to take a wedding as a new professional photographer – it’s a very important day for people and you want to make sure you do it right. You don’t want to put yourself in a position of liability should your memory card have problems, or your camera go on the fritz. If you’re a new professional photographer, double up with someone else who has wedding experience so you will have a backup in case something goes wrong.

[36:43] Prizes for reviews!

The winner is Laterdays710. If that’s your username on iTunes, email Jim at prize@improvephotography.com to get your free online photography class.

[37:15] Doodads of the Week

Dustin’s pick of the week is a new Monoprice 27 inch display. The supplier is the same one as Apple (Apple Cinema Display costs $1000) but this Monoprice comes in at $400!!! It is going to be released in a few weeks.

Jim’s doodad of the week is the DJI Phantom: a $690 remote control helicopter that is great for aerial photography. It is made to go with the GoPro Hero 3 camera. We bought a DJI Phantom for the office and we’re super excited for it to arrive!!!Further Reading:

Choosing a Lens for Your Photography, Buying a Used Camera, and More! [Episode 16]

Christine Larsen — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 23:01:26 +0000

Ready for pinterest!

In Episode 16 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim and Dustin answer listener questions about getting started in flash photography, choosing a good lens, and buying a used camera.

If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can come to the website where the free audio download of this show is available.

If you’re new to the podcast, you can see all the previous episodes of the Improve Photography Podcast here.

How to Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Phone or MP3 Player (free!)

For Android listeners – Download the Stitcher Radio app (free) and search for “Improve Photography Podcast.” Or, if you have already downloaded a podcasting client, the feed you’ll need to add is http://improvephotography.com/feed/podcast

Guide to Episode 16

[:45] Should I go with the Tamron 70-200mm with VC, or the Canon 70-200mm without IS?

Once you decide you’re going to shoot professionally, a 70-200mm lens is very versatile. It makes a big difference in sharpness of pictures if you’re shooting in low light. Wedding receptions, etc, go for the Tamaron. If you’ll be on a tripod then go with the Canon.

Dustin isn’t thrilled with third party lenses, simply because they don’t seem to put nearly as good quality into the lens. Jim says that the durability of third party lenses is often questionable.

Jim says a lot of the times you really should look at the third party lenses, however. They are much less money in some instances, and many of them offer excellent quality.

[8:00] When buying a used camera how much does the number of shutter actuations matter?

A shutter actuation is simply a click of the camera’s shutter. Each picture is an actuation.

When buying a used camera, you want to check to see how many shutter actuations it has, because you’ll know how long the shutter will last. You can find out how many shutter actuations your camera has by reading this article.

Each camera’s shutter is rated to a different number of actuations, so compare how many actuations have been used on the used camera to how many actuations the camera manufacturer rates the shutter for on that camera.

If the shutter goes out, it costs $200-500 to get it replaced (more for a nicer camera).

[13:00] What’s the problem? I calibrated my monitor, but the prints are still turning out dark?

Possible that it could be the quality of the monitor itself, not calibrations. If it’s an older monitor, it’s just not going to produce the same brightness as a newer one. Also, if ambient light changes it makes a big difference too – maybe you have a big window that the light changes.

Depending on whether or not it is light outside, can make a very big difference on how the photo looks on your screen, even if the screen is technically correct.

Make sure you have a good monitor. Make sure the room is set correctly, and then make sure you’re using a really good quality printer – there are huge differences in photo results from different labs.

If you’re a mac user or using a laptop, most of those have the auto dimming feature to save power. Keep brightness at 50% (if it’s a newer monitor out there).

[15:00] Should I buy a faster lens, or flash gear?

No matter what lens you have, adding flash photography or any type of light into your photos will give better quality images. But between the two, always go for flash gear first. It will make a big difference. Once you get started with flash, the quality of your images improves hugely. Once you get better at manipulating the light with a flash, then you become better at handling the natural lighting.

At some point, your lens will be what holds you back. So at that point, it’s time to get a new lens, but first go for the flash gear. Read here for recommendations.

[22:00] My SB400 speedlight is giving “Error: Flash not set properly forward” What’s the deal?

Very uncommon error. Flash that she’s using is the lowest cost Nikon flash brand you can get. Error caused by auto-focus assist beam (tiny light at top of camera – sends out a tiny beam of light so that the camera can find focus). Jim suspects that this beam is heading up into the stratasphere and it can’t get a focus.

Possible that this could be solved by switching to manual and see if that fixes it.

[23:05] Closeness of umbrella, speed light, and subject: how far apart should these be?

Flash and umbrella as far apart as possible. Click here for a video. When the flash is further away, the light has more room to fill out the umbrella and spread out the light. When it is really close together, it is diffused (so it is softer) but it’s still a very narrow beam of light.

Why does this even matter? We often think the softness of light means how dark or bright it is. “Softness” = how long it takes to transition from a highlight to a shadow. The larger the light source, the harder the transition is.

White shoot-through umbrella that goes between the flash and the subject, or there is a silver reflective umbrella

What should be the zoom on my flash? Most flashes will allow you to have a more constricted beam (zoomed in) but you’ll want it to be zoomed out in general. Usually we want softer light, but you can’t say always. If you’re just starting out, go for the softer light and then once you’re good at that, you can be more creative with the light.

First stage flash photographers: Beginners use too many lights, and they also place their lights too low which makes pictures look scary. Light is too bright in comparison to the ambient light.

Next stage: good nice, soft light, but you’re shooting for even light instead of good light. Without the interest of highlights and shadows, you can’t show off the contours of people’s faces. Also try different colored flashes.

Final stage: settle down, embrace shadows, only use creative techniques when they’re necessary etc. This is when your results will become quality.

Go through the stages – get it out of your system and learn new techniques.

Layer your flashes, ONE AT A TIME. It’s important to have an interesting subject: highlight exactly where you want the viewer to look.

[28:40] I would like to invest $500-$700 more in a new lens. Do I go for a wide angle or telephoto zoom?

Low budget, new lens, that will shoot landscapes and groups.18-135, ready to start getting a little more serious about landscape photography and want to go wide: 10mm on a crop sensor. Sigma has 8-10, and 10-22. Canon makes 10-22, Nikon makes 10-24. Haven’t seen a landscape lens for a crop sensor camera that I’m happy with. Best bet may be Tokina 11-16.

Full frame you’re out of price range.

Telephoto: very expensive if you want to get a fast aperture. 70-300 is a perfectly good idea for a medium telephoto lens. Usually not quite enough for shooting wildlife. Nikon and Canon both make something around $5-700 range.

[32:00] Prizes for reviews!

The winner is kellyF69. If that’s your username on iTunes, email Jim at prize@improvephotography.com to get your free online photography class.

[48:30] Doodads of the Week

Jim’s doodad of the week is a technology I haven’t used yet – the Olympus OMD micro 4/3s camera. Smaller sensor size, but you lose the mirror. Smaller, pocketable camera. The feature Jim loves about it: live bulb mode. When shooting night photography, often want to go into “bulb mode”. It can take 30 minutes to get one shot in night photography, but with this you just press until you like it and then let go. Around $800, lenses aren’t quite as expensive as DSLR lenses, but still up there. Read here to see why smaller sensor size can give you a better field of view.

Dustin’s pick of the week is a website called fluidr.com (supported by flicker) – a great resource to be able to search based on the lens used to take a picture.

Jim and Dustin plug their flash photography workshop.Further Reading:

Episode 15: Courses, Workshops, Photography Apps, Workflow, and Ethics!

Christine Larsen — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:00:15 +0000

Ready for pinterest!

In Episode 15 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim and Dustin answer listener questions about photography apps, workflow, ethics, and also give some info about our courses and the flash photography workshop coming soon in Boise!

If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can come to the website where the free audio download of this show is available.

If you’re new to the podcast, you can see all the previous episodes of the Improve Photography Podcast here.

How to Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Phone or MP3 Player (free!)

For podcast enthusiasts – If you already listen to podcasts and have a podcatcher that you prefer, the feed you’ll need to add is http://improvephotography.com/feed/podcast

For those who don’t have a mobile device – You can always listen to the show by clicking the audio file at the top of this episode.

Guide to Episode 15

[0:34] Dustin bought a new camera – the Canon 6D.

This camera is Canon’s entry-to-full-frame camera. At roughly $2100, this is an amazing camera for the full-frame price. Traditionally cheapest full-frame camera was well over $3000, but now Canon, Nikon, and Sony have released some less expensive full-frame cameras.

Dustin’s favorite feature is the built-in wifi and the app that goes on his phone for this, which allows him to view the photos on the phone or take photos with it and see the live view, etc.

Jim asks why Dustin chose the Canon 6D over the Nikon D600, since here in the office they use Nikon cameras. Dustin’s reasons? He really likes the Canon menu system, and ease of using the settings; the Nikon menu system is not as intuitive as the Canon menu system. He also bought it because he had some old accessories that would fit the Canon camera (extension tubes, flash gear, etc).

[3:19] Online photography classes (30-Day Beginner Photography Course and 30-Day Intermediate Photography Course) are starting March 6th!

If you’ve been thinking about signing up for our beginner or intermediate classes, use coupon code PODCAST5 to get $5 off the cost of class registration.

In these online photography classes, you get a 10 minute video lesson from Jim and Dustin every day for 30 days. This allows you to learn one new technique every day, which adds up to a lot of learning by the end of the course! These videos are there for you forever, even after the class ends, even years down the road. Additionally, Jim and Dustin are totally available to class students – you get their cell phone numbers, email addresses, and we encourage our students to send in their photos to ask for feedback and advice! Find out more about these classes by going here.

[5:02] I just bought my first smartphone and would like to know your favorite apps for the business side of photography.

Great apps for the business side of photography:

Expensify In almost every country, you have to keep track of different things throughout the year to send in at tax time. It allows you to take a picture of your receipt with your phone, and fills in the fields from this picture (or you can enter them manually). You can add expenses to your account no matter where you are, whether you’re purchasing from the store or online. Additionally, it does a great job tracking mileage (which is great because in most countries you can deduct mileage from your taxes if you’re running a business). You can turn Expensify on when you start driving and it will use the GPS in your phone to track your mileage expenses.
Square This is a tiny little device that plugs in to the audio jack on your phone (works with iOS and Android devices) and allows you to slide a credit card and charge your customers right on the spot! You don’t have to send invoices, hound your customers for payments, etc.
Billings This is a desktop and phone app that helps you generate invoices for your clients and then lets you email or print out these invoices.

Great apps for the photography side of your photography business:

Instagram This is a great app for quickly sharing photos with friends and family.
Snapseed A great app for easily enhancing, editing, and sharing photos (for iOS and Android devices).
TPE: The Photographer’s Ephemeris This app helps you plan outdoor photography shoots.
Google Star Tracker This app is great for night photography and tracking locations of stars, the moon, and other objects in the night sky. (Android)

[9:05] What type of settings are best for photography in the winter time, specifically when it snows?

If you want to take pictures of snowflakes, you will need a good macro lens, close focus filter, or an extension tube so you can focus on things really close to the camera. Additionally, if you’re interested in snowflake photography, search for Don Komarechka on Google+. He takes amazing pictures of a snowflake every single day and uploads it, documenting his process.

For general wintertime photography, it is very important to understand the concept of metering in highlights and shadows. With snow, the camera thinks you are looking right at the sun. The camera will try and do all it can to compensate for that in aperture priority or shutter priority mode. But if you’re in manual mode, then you should have a pretty good idea of what you’re doing.

[11:36] I’m going to Yellowstone National Park to photograph wildlife. I don’t have very expensive equipment or a professional telephoto lens. Any tips on how I can get the most out of the experience?

Photographing wildlife can be really tough for most photographers, because a serious wildlife photographer will use a lens that costs about $10,000 USD. Most of us don’t have that kind of budget, but we all love to shoot wildlife. To help you get the best photos with the gear you have when you want more focal length than you have, first be sure to shoot a subject that’s reasonable for you to shoot. Don’t shoot tiny little birds – you’re better off shooting bison, bears, elk, or large animals and you will be less frustrated trying to get good pictures of them than you would be trying to get tiny birds landing on berries.

To get more focal length, you can use a teleconverter. This device sounds enticing because it promises to make a 300 mm lens into a 600 mm lens. But when you put on a 2x teleconverter, you’re also losing two stops of light which is enough that your camera probably won’t be able to focus (and certainly won’t be able to in low light). So for most consumer lenses, using a teleconverter is a poor choice.

Instead, you should consider renting a lens from borrowlenses.com or LensRentals. Renting a lens is not terribly expensive, especially when you’re taking a big trip. Once you’ve spent the money to take the big trip, a little more for a decent lens really isn’t that hard to swallow.

Finally, if buying a $10,000 lens or renting a lens is not an option, you should take a look at the new micro 4/3s cameras – these give you a ton of magnification, but the drawback is that you lose phase detection focus (which means your focus is going to be a little bit slower).

[17:47] What is your workflow from getting your pictures into Lightroom through the end of processing them for your customer? What is a good streamlined process?

Workflow can be different, depending on the person or the type of photographer. Read more about this topic here.

[28:16] A discussion of the ethics of photo editing.

One thing we hear a lot of is that people feel very apprehensive about photoshopping their own photos. We love editing our photos, but when we do that we hear a lot from other photographers that this is “cheating” or “unethical”. When is it appropriate to photoshop a picture?

This discussion differs between landscape and portrait photography. It is common to hear people complain about blemish removal or digital liposuction. However, with landscape photography, there is a lot more forgiveness for photo editing.

We feel there is nothing ethically wrong with editing a landscape photograph. Some people call you a “digital artist” if you edit your landscape photography, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re trying to create something beautiful, similar to the way a painter would paint the landscape on a canvass. Remember that other people work differently than you do – this is art, and art is about expression, not precision. (Of course, if you are taking a landscape photo to use for the news, it is obvious that you shouldn’t change the photo.)

With portraits, it can be different. Photoshopping can produce positive and negative effects on people. It can make people feel terrible because they will feel a need to try to look like something they can’t ever become (think teenagers and magazines), but it can also make people feel great about themselves – clearing up a little acne or removing a scratch can help someone feel much better about the way they look in photos.

A lot of photographers feel that Photoshop is cheating or not “real” photography. Photoshop requires just as much skill as being a quality photographer behind the camera. Everyone will approach the computer and photography differently, and that is ok. Be true to what you think is the best art that you can create, but don’t be so narrow-minded to think that your way of doing art is the only way out there. We cheapen ourselves when we fail to recognize and accept the uniqueness of our individual photography.

[41:24] Workshop in Boise!!!

Jim and Dustin will be teaching a two day workshop about flash photography in Boise, Idaho. We want you to feel really confident about flash photography, and we want you to walk away with a ton of really good quality photos. There will be plenty of models, we will be throwing a mock wedding, and you will get some great experience and learn some really great stuff from the guys here at ImprovePhotography.com!!! To learn about this workshop and to sign up, please go to improvePhotography.com/workshops/.

[43:48] Prizes for reviews!

The winner is mrschelle68. If that’s your username on iTunes, email Jim at prize@improvephotography.com to get your free online photography class.

[44:35] Doodads of the Week

Dustin’s pick of the week is for his iPhone. ioShutter is a cable release which plugs into the audio jack on the phone and connects to your camera. With the app that comes with this for your phone, you can do awesome time lapse photography.

Jim’s doodad of the week is a 3rd party battery grip (a big chunk of plastic that goes under your camera that holds an additional battery for your camera). This gives you an additional shutter button, which puts the button in the right area for turning the camera on its side. Battery grips are usually very expensive if you buy them from the camera manufacturer, but you can buy a third party battery grip on Amazon.com for $40-$80, depending on the camera.

Further Reading:

Episode 14: Upgrading cameras, Lightroom and Photoshop, memory cards, and more!

Christine Larsen — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:00:45 +0000

Ready for pinterest!

In Episode 14 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim and Dustin answer listener questions about when to upgrade your camera or lens, the benefits of Lightroom and Photoshop, shooting in an alley, buying memory cards, and more!

If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can come to the website where the free audio download of this show is available.

If you’re new to the podcast, you can see all the previous episodes of the Improve Photography Podcast here.

How to Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Phone or MP3 Player (free!)

For podcast enthusiasts – If you already listen to podcasts and have a podcatcher that you prefer, the feed you’ll need to add is http://improvephotography.com/feed/podcast

For those who don’t have a mobile device – You can always listen to the show by clicking the audio file at the top of this episode.

Guide to Episode 14

[0:45] Jim and Dustin discuss Canon image sensor similarities among several Canon cameras.

Canon has had the same sensor in some of its cameras for so long – the Canon T2i, Canon T3i, Canon T4i, Canon 60D, and Canon 7D all have similar specs, and Jim suspects that the same sensors are being rotated into each of these cameras. There are lots of differences between the cameras, but as far as the image sensor is concerned, it appears that they are all the same.

Episode 13: Camera settings, full frame shooting, rear curtain sync, and more!

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 23:21:15 +0000

In Episode 13 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim and Dustin answer listener questions about camera settings, full frame shooting, rear curtain sync, and more. If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can come to the website where the free [...]

Improve Photography Podcast – Episode 12

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:44:48 +0000

In Episode 12 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim and Dustin interview the owners of Pro DPI, how to do photography in extremely cold (or hot) temperatures, if a UV filter affects image quality, and much more! If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of [...]

Episode 11: How to Get the Most Out of the Camera You Already Own

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:52:45 +0000

In Episode 11 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim and Dustin answer listener questions about choosing an online photo printing lab, getting started with portrait lighting, choosing a lens, and how not to feel stuck with your current gear. If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue [...]

Episode 10: Lens recommendations, backing up your photography

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:40:30 +0000

In Episode 10 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim and Dustin answer listener questions about rain sleeves for your DSLR, working with multiple bodies, and their desert island lens recommendation. If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can come [...]

Episode 9: The Big Photography Gift Guide

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 20:10:45 +0000

In Episode 9 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim and Dustin answer listener questions about using multiple camera bodies, and the big photography gift guide. If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can come to the website where the [...]

Episode 8: Posing inspiration, Model Releases, and Matte/Glossy Screens

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 21:52:02 +0000

In Episode 8 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim and Dustin answer listener questions about choosing a tripod, getting together a portfolio, model releases, and how to get inspiration for posing. If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you can [...]

Episode 7: Chimps Eating Carrots (I promise it’s about photography)

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 23:57:05 +0000

In Episode 7 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim and Dustin answer listener questions about undue reliance on the LCD screen on your camera, getting started in stock photography, and much more If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the blue title of this post so that you [...]

Episode 6: Interview with Pro Photographer Jeff Cable

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 23:21:34 +0000

In Episode 6 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim interviews Jeff Cable. Jeff is a sports photographer who shot the recent London Olympics. He also runs a photography business where he caters mostly to shooting Bar-Mitzvahs, and works at Lexar. You can check out Jeff’s blog here, and his facebook page here. If you are [...]

Episode 5: How Jim Made Dustin’s Portrait, Gear needed for Pro Photography, and Action Photography

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:55:07 +0000

In Episode 5 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim answers photography questions from people around the world, teaches about compositing, and reviews the Tripad. If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the title of this post so that you can come to the website where the free audio [...]

Episode 4: Winter photography, overpowering ambient with flash, and Zen DPI

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 23:29:06 +0000

The fourth episode of the Improve Photography Podcast, listeners ask several questions about winter photography, and a VERY common question is asked–what DPI is needed for printing! If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the title of this post so that you can come to the website where [...]

Episode 3: Photography Clients are Like Dogs

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:34:05 +0000

The third episode of the Improve Photography Podcast takes on photography questions from listeners around the world–and Dustin calls his photography clients “dogs.” You’ll learn how to photograph people with glasses without getting glare, how to make your subject feel more comfortable, and all about flash brackets. If you are reading this post via email [...]

Episode 2: Compositing, Marketing Your Business, and the TriPAD [FREE AUDIO DOWNLOAD]

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 20:06:51 +0000

In Episode 2 of the Improve Photography Podcast, Jim answers photography questions from people around the world, teaches about compositing, and reviews the Tripad. If you are reading this post via email or RSS, be sure to click the title of this post so that you can come to the website where the free audio [...]

Photoshop v. Lightroom, Flash Photography Setups, and Picking a Portrait Photography Lens

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 21:18:40 +0000

The Improve Photography Podcast is a free audio recording, published once per week, where Jim answers photography questions that are sent in by the Improve Photography community. NOTE: If you read my posts via email or RSS, click the title of this post to come to the website, where you can use the audio player to [...]