TECHNIQUE: Macro - quick and dirty.

So you want to shoot macro? But you don’t have a macro lens and can't justify the outlay? Get yourself some extension tubes.

What is an extension tube?
Essentially this is just a tube that fits between your camera and lens, thus extending the distance between your front element and the sensor.

This has the effect of enabling closer focus and greater magnification, but can cause a loss of light, which in turn will lengthen your required exposures (tripod suggested).

The further away from the sensor your lens is, the closer you will be able to focus.

Extension tubes come in a range of lengths and typically you can buy sets. Kenko do a set of 12mm, 20mm and 36mm that are handy and by stacking the tubes, you can get closer than you’d ever want!

Example:
The following shots show the effect on magnification and loss of light with the use of extension tubes of differing length. The lens used for this test is a Canon 50mm f1.8 lens and it was set at f2.8 throughout.


50mm, no extension @ f2.8, shutter speed 1/800 second


50mm w/12mm extension @ f2.8, shutter speed 1/640 second


50mm w/20mm extension @ f2.8, shutter speed 1/500 second


50mm w/36mm extension @ f2.8, shutter speed 1/400 second


50mm w/68mm extension (12mm + 20mm +36mm stacked) @ f2.8,
shutter speed 1/320 second

As you can see, the addition of even the 12mm extension tube has a huge effect on how close we can get and the larger the extension, the higher the magnification. What is also obvious here is that the more extension you use, the more light you lose, so be aware your exposures times. A tripod is a good addition to any macro setup.

Macro doesn't have to be expensive to start with, but be warned, it's a slippery slope!

TECHNIQUE: Creative off-camera lighting for product shots.

Off camera lighting is all the rage, and now you too can join the Strobist revolution with our easy to follow tutorial:

What you’ll need:
1. Standalone flash head (speedlite or similar).
2. Off camera flash cord or wireless transmitter/receiver set.
3. A product to shoot.
4. Somewhere to shoot the product.
5. An idea of the image you’d like to make.

Step 1:
Choose your product. I like shooting gadgets and for this I chose a black iPod nano.

Step 2:
Decide how you want to light it. Spend some time looking over what you’ve chosen and try and think about features you want to accentuate. As the iPod is black, I thought that it would be cool if it was shot on a black background. I also decided to light from one side (the left) so that the light fell off totally on the right hand side in the hope that

Step 3:
The set up. In my image I used PocketWizard wireless transceivers (you can just as easily get the same results with a simple off camera flash cord) and set my flash on the left hand side facing away from the subject into a home made white card reflector. The product sat on a piece of perspex (for reflection) and I used a seamless black card background / floor with black card on the right hand side to make sure there was no light reflected back into the right hand side of the product.

Step 4:
Adapt your setup. Take a test shot and figure out what you needed to change. In my case, I ended up moving the reflector further away and angling it so the light hit the product just right and adjusted the flash power and angle. I also added a card gobo* to stop any spill into the black foreground of my image. Remember lighting is all about trial and error and what you learn today will likely come in handy somewhere down the line.

*Terminology: Gobo: the word is derived from the phrase “go between” and describes something that is used to direct light to the desired location.



Step 5:
Marvel at the results.

Finally don’t be afraid to use your post-processing skills to make things just as you want them- it’s likely that not every tiny detail can be perfect, but try to get it as close as you can. In my image I removed a specular highlight from a chrome button on the top of the iPod and increase the contrast slightly.



That's it- a simple one flash off camera set up, the result of which was, well.. a result!

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Further reading: www.strobist.blogspot.com

PHOTOSHOP TECHNIQUE: Healing Brush and Clone Tool.

The Healing Brush and Clone Tools are among the easiest and most important tools you can learn in Photoshop. Whether you’re removing unsightly sensor dust spots or cleaning up unwanted details in your images, a little time fiddling with the either of these tools can benefit photographers of all levels.

So you’ve shot an image, and there’s something in the shot that you’d rather not be there. This might be a person, a piece of rubbish or simply some dust that is on your sensor.

Whatever the situation, if you’ve just got small areas to clean up and there’s enough detail around the spot you can sample, then you should use either the Healing Brush or Clone Tool.

The Clone Tool was one of the earliest Photoshop skills I picked up for primarily removing dust from images scanned from negatives. The simplicity of it and the results you can get are excellent for the time it will take you to clean up.

The Healing Brush is very similar to the Clone Tool in that both sample a ‘clean’ area of your image and cover the offending area with this sample. The Healing Brush however, rather than just covering the area with the sample, actually works to match texture and tone around your flaw, thus giving quicker and more accurate results in one swipe.

Take the following image:







As we can see there are some dust spots (circled) in the sky that need to be removed.

To remove these spots I will use the Healing Brush. (The method shown here is exactly the same as that of the Clone Tool).

Just for good measure I’ll remove the piece of rubbish in the foreground to show that textures and tones are matched pretty accurately.

Note: always carry out this procedure with the highest resolution image you have.

Step 1:
Locate the first area you want to clean up. Now select the Healing Brush tool and choose a brush size slightly smaller than your flawed area.


Step 2:
Now we need to take a sample with which to cover the offending mark.

To do this, hold your brush over the area you wish to sample and hold the Alt key. You will see crosshairs appear (as screenshot) in your brush shape. This shows the area you will be sampling. When you’re happy with the area to use as a sample, click your mouse while still holding the Alt key. You have now selected the area to sample.



Step 3:
The cover up. After selecting your sample area you need to start to cover up. Move your cursor over the flaw and click and drag your mouse over the area so you have covered the entire flaw. On releasing your mouse button, the Healing Brush will use it’s processing power to match texture as closely as it can and you should be left with a clean area where once there was a flaw.


before


after

Step 4:
Repeat step 3 until all your flaws are removed.

Result:
After sampling and covering all your areas, you should be left with an image that now looks clean and imperfection free.



A quick fix for those unsightly marks. The best thing is that this technique can be invaluable in clearing flaws and wrinkles in portraits, landscapes, product shots. The list goes on.

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Tip: start out simple. Once you've got the hang of the basics, then you can move on to more advanced editing.

BASICS: Understanding Exposure.

Getting a firm grip on exposure is vital for any new photographer. With the inception of fully automatic cameras however, many photographers simply do not take the time to learn about this integral part of photography.

In this brief summary we will discuss the basics of exposure.

Terminology: Exposure:
The amount of light which enters the camera, controlled by the aperture and shutter speed.

Terminology: Aperture:
The hole through which light enters the camera. Sometimes known as f-stop.

Terminology: Shutter speed:
The length of time the shutter is open, exposing the sensor (or film) to light.

If in an exposure not enough light enters the camera, the resulting image will be dull and dark. This image can be referred to as under-exposed.


under-exposed

If in an exposure too much light enters the camera, the resulting image will be excessively bright. This is known as over-exposed.


over-exposed

To get a good exposure, we need to find the correct balance between shutter speed and aperture.


well-exposed

This can be done using a light meter. You can use a separate light meter or the one that is built into your camera.

If using a separate light meter you will need to set your ISO and shutter speed and the meter will give the appropriate aperture for your exposure.

The light meter in your camera will work in exactly the same way, allowing you can set either aperture (in aperture priority mode (Av)), shutter speed (in shutter speed priority mode (Tv)) or both (in manual mode (M))

In aperture priority mode (Av) you will set the aperture to the desired setting, and the camera will calculate the appropriate shutter speed to give a good exposure.

In shutter speed priority mode (Tv) you set the shutter speed and the camera selects the appropriate aperture.

In Manual mode, you control both aperture and shutter speed and you will need to use the guide in your viewfinder to ensure that your exposure will be consistent.

The display:



The above image shows the LCD panel of your DSLR. The important parts to take notice of for this tutorial are highlighted in red.

Shutter speed: shows the shutter speed that either you have selected (Tv or M mode) or the shutter speed the camera has selected based on the aperture you have chosen (Av mode).

Aperture: shows the aperture that either you have selected (Av or M mode) or the aperture the camera has selected based on the shutter speed you have chosen (Tv mode).

ISO: the ISO you have chosen.

Exposure: this meter shows the exposure compensation you have chosen detailed below:

: the meter shows that the image will be under-exposed by 2-stops.

: the meter shows that the image will be under-exposed by 1-stop.

: the meter shows that the image will be correctly exposed.

: the meter shows that the image will be over-exposed by 1-stop.

: the meter shows that the image will be over-exposed by 1-stop.

In Av and Tv modes, the camera will automatically choose the setting for optimum exposure based on the lighting conditions. In these modes, you can override the exposure by turning your click wheel to choose either under or over exposures. Under exposure can be used to give a more even exposure if there is a strong light source that is affecting the camera's reading. Over exposure can be used to give a more even exposure if there is an area of extreme darkness that is affecting the camera's reading.

In Manual mode (M), you adjust your aperture and shutter speed and should use the exposure meter (on your LCD or in the viewfinder) as a guide to your exposure as per the above diagrams.

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So now we understand the principles of exposure. Let’s look at things in a bit more detail.

Now, if we have a consistent exposure at a given aperture, how will changing this aperture affect the shutter speed?

Reducing the size of the aperture will cause less light to enter the camera in a given time, meaning that the shutter speed will need to lengthen to ensure consistent exposure.

It is true that:
half the aperture size = double the shutter speed
and
double the aperture size = half the shutter speed.

Apertures are represented as numbers on your camera and typically range between around f2.8 and f22 (sometimes more). It is important to understand two points:
1. The lower the number, the bigger the aperture. So on a lens range of f4 to f22, the biggest aperture you have will be at 4 and the smallest at 22.
2. For every 3 increments in aperture size, you will have changed the size of the aperture by a factor of 2. Each increment of 3 is one f-stop.

Let us take an example the range f4 to f22:

Looking at the numbers on your camera between these limits you will see the following sequence:



Here, our full f-stops will lie at 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22. This means that f5.6 is half the size of f4 and will result in the shutter speed doubling. In turn, f8 is then half the size of f5.6 and so on. The same will be true for any increment of 3 in the range.

With this information we should now be able to calculate how a change in aperture will change the shutter speed.

Example:
Using the range f4 - f22 and given that our optimum exposure is at 1/60th second at f8.
What will be the optimum shutter speed at f16?

Solution:
f16 is a larger number that f8.

Therefore f16 is a smaller aperture than f8.

Shutter speed will be longer at f16, but by how much?

Number of increments between f8 and f16 = 6.

If 3 increments causes a change by a factor of 2, then 6 increments will create a change by a factor of 4.

Therefore the optimum shutter speed will need to lengthen by 4 times.

4 x 1/60 = 4/60

= 1/15th second.

So if optimum shutter speed at f8 is 1/60th second then our optimum exposure at f16 is 1/15th second.

Task:
Using the same principles, work out the optimum shutter speeds at each of the main f-stops in our range (i.e. f4, f5.6, f8, f11, f16 and f22).
scoll down to see solution

That's it. Hopefully this brief introduction gives you a better understanding of how exposures work.
















Solution:

f4 1/250th* (technically should be 1/240th)†
f5.6 1/125th** (technically this should be 1/120th)†
f8 1/60th
f11 1/30th
f16 1/15th
f22 1/8th*** (technically should be 1/7.5th)†

† These shutter speeds although technically slightly incorrect are close enough to give very accurate exposures and vary simply to allow the numbers to factor better. The numbers I have given will be mirrored by your camera’s settings.

PHOTOSHOP TECHNIQUE Simple atmospheric sky

There are a number of ways to make your images more atmospheric. In this example we will look at a simple example which should give you good results even with minimal Photoshop knowledge.

Note: for this article we will assume that you have shot in RAW format and will be using Adobe Photoshop CS4. There are a number of keyboard shortcuts you can use but I will not refer to these as they differ slightly depending on whether you use a PC or Mac.

Example:
Take one well exposed shot which has a fair amount of sky in it and a well defined horizon. (I have chosen a picture of a VW van):



This will form the base layer of our final image and as such should look the way you want it to so be sure to amend your settings accordingly.

When you select the image (RAW file) you want to open, Adobe Photoshop CS4 will open a preview pane in Camera Raw as below:



Working in this frame you can choose to amend your image to look the way you want. At this time you can ignore the sky to a certain extent as this will be sorted later on. Concentrate on getting a nice bright subject area.

As you can see, you can choose to amend the colour temperature, tint, exposure, recovery, fill light, blacks, brightness, contrast, clarity, vibrance and saturation. At this point you might want to take a few minutes to fiddle with each of the sliders to see what each one does.

Once you have chosen the settings for the main part of your image click Open Image and your image will open in a new Photoshop window.

The sky:

Our next step is to make the sky more moody. Understanding exposures you should already know that a sky being brighter will require a shorter exposure. Therefore to make our sky darker we will need to underexpose our image.

Go to File>Open and choose the same file as before.

Again the Camera Raw window will open.



This time we will amend our settings to make our sky look more atmospheric. In my image I have amended my exposure to -0.4 and kept all other vales the same.



The result is a dark, moody looking sky.

Click Open Image and this second image will again open in a new Photoshop Window.

You should now have two distinct versions of the same photo as below:




Go to version 2 of your image then click Select > All followed by Edit > Copy

Now go to version 1 of your image and click Edit > Paste.

This will paste the whole of the second image over the first so you will have an image that looks like the second but which actually consists of two layers as shown on the right hand side of your screen.



The next step is to create a mask over the layer which contains your darker exposure. To do this go to the layers window and ensure you have the correct layer selected. Now click the Add Layer Mask button.



You will see that your layer will now show a link to your mask (represented as a white rectangle). Making sure that the white rectangle is selected (represented by the outer corners as below) our next step is to create a gradient fill.



On your toolbar select Gradient Tool, ensure that your foreground is set as black and your background as white then in your Gradient dropdown menu at the top of the screen select the Foreground to Transparent option.



Our next job is to create the gradient mask.

Put your cursor over the image and click and drag a vertical line from your foreground into your sky. Here, the shorter the line, the harder your gradient will be and the longer the line the softer your gradient will be. As a general rule, you should start your line a little amount below your horizon and drag it to about half way up your sky. (The white line shows the an example of where to put your line)



The result can be altered by either undoing your previous action and dragging your line again or by super-imposing another gradient over the first. Have a play until you get the desired result and try lowering the opacity of the upper layer to give more of a "pop" from the lower layer.

There you have it- a simple but effective atmospheric sky.