Review Digital Camera World 01-24-2014

Digital Camera World

Ready to move beyond the basics? Enroll in this advanced DSLR course to explore more creative scenarios, image editing, and videography. From our sponsors

Make an Ansel Adams landscape: try this workflow for classic black & white images Jan 24th 2014, 00:01, by jmeyer Ansel Adams has had a tremendous lasting effect on photography. In this tutorial we’ll show you how recreate the classic look and feel of an Ansel Adams landscape in Photoshop. When we talk about great landscape photographers, Ansel Adams has to be the first name on the list. His starkly beautiful images of the American wilderness displayed flawless technique and a uniquely crafted vision. Most of his work made use of monochrome film; lens-mounted filters (usually yellow or red) to emphasise skies; and darkroom techniques that added contrast and controlled detail. All of these great effects are simple to recreate. The first step is to convert our image to mono. Some methods for this are better than others. The best tools give you control over the brightness of individual colour ranges in the image during the mono conversion. One such tool is the HSL panel in Camera Raw. Just as Adams used filters, we can use HSL to control colour brightness for a dramatic sky. Our technique differs slightly from the normal approach to Camera Raw mono, in that we'll use HSL's saturation sliders for greater control. In the zone Adams' prints were painstakingly crafted using his Zone System to ensure the best gradation of tones. Similarly, we can use Photoshop tonal tools to ensure we have rich shadows and delicately detailed highlights. Adams wasn't adverse to a little dodging and burning, despite his emphasis on 'pure' photography, so we'll follow suit. SEE MORE: The 55 best photographers of all time. In the history of the world. Definitely. How to make an Ansel Adams landscape in Photoshop: steps 1-9 01 Fix the fringing Download our start image and follow along! Navigate to our tutorial image in Bridge, right-click and choose Open in Camera Raw. We'll start by quickly fixing the fringing you find in areas of high contrast, such as where the mountain meets the sky. Click the Lens Correction panel on the right, then go to the Colour tab and tick Remove Chromatic Aberration.   02 Remove the colour Click on the HSL Panel, then go to the Saturation tab. Drag all eight sliders back to -100. The reason we're removing colour like this rather than ticking Convert to Grayscale is that this way we can use the Temp, Tint, Saturation and Vibrance sliders to fine-tune the look of the black and white later.   03 Darken the blues Click the Luminance tab, then use the sliders to change the brightness. We want to darken the sky and lighten the foliage, so set Oranges to +84, Yellows to +65, Greens to +54, Aquas to -65, Blues to -58 and Purples to -58. Use the Targeted Adjustment tool to drag over the image to change colours.   04 Add a grad Grab the Graduated Filter tool from the Toolbar, then click and drag down from near the top of the image towards the middle. Hold Shift as you drag to keep the line vertical. Next, go to the Graduated Filter sliders on the right and set Exposure to -2.30. Make sure all the other sliders are set to their default values.  SEE MORE: Photoshop black and white conversion tips: the best ways to make mono images 05 Set white and black Click the Basic panel. Set Contrast to +18, Shadows to +24 and Clarity to +18. Hold Alt and drag the Whites slider right until you see areas appear in the image. Set the Whites to a point just before the areas appear, at about +17. Do the same for the Black slider by dragging until the areas disappear at about +10. 06 Play with temperature Now we can use the Temperature and Tint sliders to fine-tune the black and white conversion. By dragging the Temperature slider to the left, we can shift the colours, which results in a different black-and-white look. Next, set Temperature to 5900 and Tint to +22.   07 Increase the saturation We can also use the Saturation and Vibrance sliders to vary the contrast and intensity of the mono effect. Set Vibrance to +18 and Saturation to +58. The changes are quite subtle, but add to the control you have over the look and punch of the black-and-white effect. SEE MORE: 101 Photoshop tips you really have to know 08 Add more punch Click the Tone Curve panel and go to the Point tab. Click to add one point near the top right of the diagonal curve line, and drag up to lighten the image. Add a second point near the bottom left of the line and drag it down to darken the shadow tones, increasing contrast.   09 Paint an adjustment Grab the Adjustment brush from the Toolbar. Paint roughly over the mountains and the foreground. Use ] and [ to resize your brush as you paint and press Y to toggle the mask overlay on and off. Set Exposure to +25 and Clarity to +42 to change the area covered by the mask. PAGE 1 – How to make an Ansel Adams landscape in Photoshop: steps 1-9 PAGE 2 – How to make an Ansel Adams landscape in Photoshop: steps 10-18 READ MORE Raw Images: 10 tips every photographer must know before ditching JPEG Photoshop Levels Tool: 6 tricks all the pros use Make a composite image in Photoshop Elements: how to use Layers to add depth Professional photo editing tricks: how to get perfect skies in ALL your raw photos Photoshop reflection effect: how to add water to your landscapes What is the best aperture and focal length for portraits? Jan 23rd 2014, 11:14, by jmeyer If you’re just getting started in portrait photography you’ve probably asked yourself what is the best aperture and focal length? In our cheat sheets below we help answer this question by showing you how changing the aperture and focal length can produce very different effects with your subjects. We’ll help you decide if you want your subjects to be separated from, or part of, their surroundings and then get the appropriate focal length for the style of portrait you’re planning to take. SEE MORE: 10 common portrait photography mistakes (and how to avoid them) The lens plays a vital role in the creation of a beautiful portrait. There's not necessarily a right or wrong lens to use, but rather the most appropriate for the subject and location. Sometimes you might want to show more of the background around your subject for an environmental portrait, while at others you might want to compress it and blur it to make your subject the supreme focus of attention. In addition to affecting how much of the background is visible in your shots, different focal lengths will affect the shape and proportions of your subject's face, and can even give a caricature effect. While using nice fast, prime lenses is desirable they do come at a cost and it's important to remember that you can achieve stunning results with kit lenses and standard zooms. Some specialist and toy lenses can be fun too, such as a Lensbaby, tilt/shift lenses or even a pinhole. It's not just a matter of focal length: which aperture you select is important too. See below for how you can use depth of field to control which parts of an image appear in focus. SEE MORE: 10 family portrait photography mistakes every photographer makes (and how to avoid them) What is the best aperture for portraits? Click on the infographic to see the larger version, or drag and drop to your desktop. 01 Blurred backgrounds A wide aperture such as f/4 or f/2.8 will create a shallow depth of field. This means that the areas before and beyond the point of focus that also appear sharp will be very small. This is ideal if you want to blur the background, keeping only your subject sharp. However you'll need to make sure your focusing is tack-sharp as it's unforgiving. Focus on the eyes. 02 Best of both worlds An aperture of f/8 (or something fairly close to that) can give you the best of both worlds. There's usually a narrow enough depth of field to create a sense of separation from the background, and focus is more forgiving, while you're less likely to have to compromise on shutter speed or ISO. If you're using a setup with studio lights, this medium aperture is a good starting point 03 Everything sharp A very small aperture, such as f/22, is great if you want other objects in your frame to also appear in focus, for example the model in the background of this shot. However, shooting at small apertures means you'll need either to use a slower shutter speed, which might necessitate the use of a tripod in order to avoid blur, or to increase your ISO, which will introduce noise (grain). SEE MORE: 10 classic posing mistakes every photographer makes (and how to avoid them) What is the best focal length for portraits? Click on the infographic to see the larger version, or drag and drop to your desktop. 01 20mm wide-angle lens A wide-angle is not normally the 'go to' lens for portrait photographers. Even the best wide-angle lenses can be less than flattering to your subject, as if you're too close, noses and foreheads appear larger. Wide-angle lenses do have their uses in portrait photography. While not great for headshots, they're perfect for environmental portraits where you want to show someone in their surroundings, and can keep them relatively small in the centre of the frame. 02 105mm portrait lens A short telephoto is typically the portrait photographer's favourite focal length – with a 70mm on a DX camera or a 105mm on a full-frame model being ideal. It's as much about how close you end up being to your subject, as the perspective you get. A 105mm usually gives a comfortable working distance from subject to photographer. 03 200mm telephoto lens A long focal length can be a great choice for portrait photographers as it compresses the perspective. This can often be more flattering for your subject. It's also to easier to create a blurred background with a telephoto lens, so if you're also using a wide aperture such as f/2.8 you can get stunning results, as the blurred part of the image can often also look lovely. READ MORE Studio Lighting: 4 seriously simple lighting techniques to try at home Annoying problems at common aperture settings (and how to avoid them) Best camera flash for portrait photography – 6 models tested and rated Master your home photo studio: setup, settings, accessories explained

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions