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Digital Photography Lessons – Are Shadows Ruining Your Photos?

Terrific photographs can be ruined by distracting shadows.

Unfortunately, shadows are a constant challenge for photographers. Fortunately, there are quite a few easy but effective fixes.

First, what causes the shadow? Well, obviously it is caused by the light hitting your subject and not hitting the background behind them.

So, if you’ve got a problem with shadows falling on the background, one way to remove the shadow is to remove the background. Obviously, if there is nothing for the shadow to fall on, voila! No shadow.

So, the first fix in our shadow removal arsenal is to remove the backdrop – if possible.

When your photo shoot is being done outside, all you have to do is move your model so that there is no backdrop behind them. Pretty simple.

If your photo session is being done indoors, you obviously can’t take down or remove the walls, so move your model into the center of the room. They’ll be posing far enough away from the walls so that the shadows will magically disappear. Usually makes for a more unique and better shot too!

The second way to approach the problem is to position a light to illuminate the background.

If you are using a “studio” lighting setup, once you get your subject lit the way you want them, add an additional light that strikes only the background and not the subject.

Adding the extra light can be more than just a shadow remover. By adding in scrims, cookies and colored gels to modify the light, it becomes a part of the design of the photo. The modifiers will throw colors, patterns and shapes on your backdrop.

Think of light like a ball on a billiards table. It will hit the subject at a certain angle and reflect off at that same angle – like the billiards ball striking the cushion and bouncing off. (This is important to remember when trying to eliminate glare from eyeglasses.)

The shadow on the other hand, is ALWAYS directly in line with the light. So, you can minimize the shadow problem by changing the angle of the lights so that the shadow falls into an area that won’t show in the final photo.

Indoors, with a studio light setup, just move the lights around until you find the optimal angle. Outside, you have to move your model around until the light is coming from the right direction. Reflectors can help too! you can change the angle of light when using an on camera flash by bouncing it off a wall or the ceiling. Just be sure the wall or ceiling are not painted a color that will throw an odd color cast on your model.

The size and strength of the light source – as related to your model – is what will control the harshness and intensity of your shadows.

If you lower the intensity of the light, that will also lower the intensity of the associated shadow. It will still be there, but you may be able to minimize its’ distracting effect.

Moving the light further from the model or reducing the lights’ power are two simple ways to lower the intensity of light hitting your subject.

You can wrap light around a model – and minimize the shadows – by making the light bigger. This is done with reflectors, softboxes and umbrellas.

These modifiers can be thought of as being like a cloud. A cloud that moves between your model and the sun is nothing more than a giant diffuser. It makes the entire cloud a light source (bigger) instead of just the sun (smaller). This wraps the light around your model minimizing shadow intensity. Go outside and check out the difference in shadows when the light is coming from the sun and from a cloud. You’ll notice some astounding differences.

There are entire books written about this subject and this message is by no means an exhaustive solution, but it should give you something to consider.

Happy shooting.

Tags: camera, Digital Photography, freelance photography, make money, photo, photo jobs, photo marketing, photo studio, photographer, photographers, Photography, photos, professional photography   Posted in Photography

How to pick a quality digital camera

If you are looking for a good design digital camera, consider purchasing a Canon. This business is known to deliver good quality advanced cameras that stand the test of time. Once you decide on the brand name of your camera, you need to find out alot more about the functions as well as the price that comes with them. Canon produces alot of different models for different levels of use. You need to think about what functions you want to have in your camera and how much you can afford to pay. The first question to ask yourself is What are all the things I want to do with my camera?

The more you know about the different types of cameras, the simpler it will be to decide which one you want to purchase. Canon has different makes with their own set of features according to which series you buy. Here is a summary at the different features Canon has to offer.

If you shoot pictures professionally or plan to, the SX and G designs is a great line of cams to select from. These are SLR cameras. They all have over eight megapixels with a big variety of shooting modes and features. For around $250, you can acquire an SLR camera with alot of the functions found on both medium and high price models, the SX110 IS. The best quality and most expensive in this series is the G10. It can take pics underwater if placed in a waterproof case

Those who rather tiny and fancy looks combined with advanced functions should think about getting ELPH (Electronic Physics) cams. There are currently 7 active makes in the classes and the most popular out of the bunch is the affordable PowerShot SD1100IS because of the different colors it comes in. Some of the higher end SD model cameras (like the SD 770) have the advanced DIGIC 4 image processor, which can automatically enhance image quality along with some automatic corrections even for novice photographers. Price points range from $180 to $400.

An cheap and simple cam to use as the name implies, these cameras are perfect for people who does not go out a lot and wants an cheap camera. They do not have numerous features, but are still more advanced than most cellular phone cams. They also have the DIGICIII image processor with auto-correct white balance. It will also correct skin tone and bring out the face with its face detection funcion. The number of MP these cameras have will vary on which class you choose. The most affordable A camera is the A470, it sells for about $100.

The E series is the newest class of the Canon digital camera family and it comes out looking very unique from the rest. So far, the E1 is the only camera of this class and it comes in 3 pastel colors and has a curvy profile with a different layout of controls that is both eye-catching and intuitive while incorporating some mid-range features.

The Canon website has more information about their different models of cameras. This will help you decide which camera you want to buy.

Tags: Canon SD, consumer electronics, digital camera, Digital Cameras, electronics, entertainment, Photography, photos, powershot, Powershot SD, product reviews, professional photography, shopping   Posted in Digital Cameras

Improving Your Portrait Photography – Eliminate Wrinkles!

Your job as a photographer (whether you’re an amateur or professional) is simple. You have to make your subjects look as good as they’ve EVER looked without your tricks and techniques being obvious. That’s a task easier said than done.

Unless you are a master retoucher or spend countless hours in Photoshop (or both), it’s hard to change too much in a portrait without ruining it. To get seamless retouches, You need to do most of your fixes “in camera”.

This first tip concerns acne and wrinkles.

It won’t take long in your photo career to realize that teens are plagued with acne and adults have wrinkles. They may or may not actually say anything to you about it, but both age groups want to eliminate or at least lessen their respective problems.

Let’s face it, as we get older our wrinkles become more pronounced and actually deeper. Wrinkles are the first photographic signs of our age but they’re a problem that is actually fairly easy to fix.

What defines a wrinkle? It’s the shadows filling in the crevices. As we get older and those crevices get deeper, the shadows become darker and darker. How to get rid of wrinkles and take years off your photographic model?

Lighten the shadow! (There’s a blinding flash of the obvious.)

What creates shadows? It’s light skimming across the face from the sides or the top. The side light is not able to get into the wrinkle crevices and creates a shadow. The deeper the wrinkle, the darker the shadow. This can (and does) add a lot of visual years to our subject.

So, going in reverse, avoid hard side lighting! Pretty simple. By having the light aimed directly into the face, it will penetrate to the bottom of the wrinkles’ crevice and either lighten or totally eliminate the shadow. Obviously giving your model a younger appearance and saving you a lot of time in Photoshop.

Acne? Use the same cure. Acne scars, pimples and other facial blemishes are at least partially defined by the shadows they cast on the face. Again, light skimming the face from the side will cast longer and harder shadows thus making the acne scars more pronounced and pimples appear larger. Shine your light directly into the face and they will be minimized or disappear altogether.

Use a reflector of some sort or even your on camera flash in addition to the sun to fill in the shadows. Your smooth faced teens and wrinkle free adults will thank you.

You now know as much as most professionals! Now it’s time to make some money with YOUR camera! to see how easy this is, follow one of the links to my site…

Tags: camera, Digital Photography, freelance photography, hobby, home-business, make money, photo, photo jobs, photo marketing, photo studio, photographer, photographers, Photography, photos, professional photography   Posted in Photography