Christmas Lights, iPhone Photo
The photo abilities of smart phones have improved dramatically in the last few years, especially in low light situations. Just point your camera phone at the lights and click the shutter. Exposure can be a bit iffy. If the photo looks too light or too dark and your phone will allow you to alter the exposure, take advantage of that feature.
Screen capture from Facebook.
Ah yes, “The Big Thrill of Montana”. Except for one, teeny, tiny detail. Do you know what is wrong with this Facebook post by Travel and Leisure?
Looking for an extra special gift for a photographer? Sign them for a total immersion nature photography workshop in Ohio, Michigan, or Colorado in 2017. Workshops are one day to four days in length and cost $90 to $400. Send no money now. This is a no risk gift.
I get lots of photo questions this time of year, and many of them begin with “What is the best . . . .” They usually come from photographers or someone shopping for a photographer.
Here is my list of “best of the best” of articles recommending the best photo gear, software, books, DVDs, calendars, online photo labs, and a whole lot more.
Posted Nov. 19, 2016. Re-posted Dec. 17, 2016 and updated Dec. 28, 2016.
Tennessee-Titans-Minnesota-Vikings-game. Photo by Sports Illustrated photographer David E. Klutho.
Sometimes when I see an interesting photo online I am curious what information is included in the photo’s metadata. Some photos get posted and re-posted by people other than the photographer so you don’t know who took the photo, or where, or with what equipment. If that information isn’t posted with the photo, I check the metadata to look for it.
Sandy Hook Elementary, Newtown Connecticut, December 14, 2012.
Image and Pop-Up Window
PhotoME used to be my preferred online metadata viewer but it is no longer being updated. So I went looking for an alternative add-on for Firefox.
This laptop burned in a house fire. DriveSavers recovered the data.
So your hard drive crashes or is damaged in some other way. Where should you send it? The choice is important. If you don’t send it to one of the first rate data-recovery services (expensive as they are), a cut rate company could mess up your drive and make it impossible for a first rate company to retrieve your data.
Lela Rae, Columbus Ohio. December 13, 2007
Lela Rae is a stunning model to work with so it was a special treat for her to make the drive from Detroit to Ohio of us to spend some time working together.
Temple Image with GPS coordinates. Click for a larger version.
The GPS system is increasingly important to photography. It will help you figure out where you took some of your more obscure photos, and more and more photo editors want GPS information for the photos they publish. The GPS system inside your smart phone can put your family at risk. A GPS communicator could save your life. This series will help you learn the ins and outs of GPS, plus keep you and your family safe.
Updated and reposted Dec. 29, 2016.
Snowy Owl Looking for Prey
One of the great things about winter is the return of the Snowy Owls. They are now back in the far northern U.S.
Sarah, Professional Fitness Trainer
When using studio flash units, usually the best way to check your exposures is to use an incident light meter which is capable of metering flash exposures. But what if you don’t have an incident flash meter? Or what if you have a subject that absorbs a lot of light? Or a subject that reflects a lot more light than your typical photographic subject? You can double check your exposure settings by using the histogram on your camera. FYI: Do not trust the LCD image on the back of your camera to judge your exposures.
Can a world class, National Geographic photographer lose his passion? Yes! How does he get it back?
I finally found an excellent series of photography lessons on video to complement my book, Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies, and it is by Joel Sartore, a first class photographer who does a lot of work for National Geographic. He does stunning photography in amazing situations all over the world. You can see some of his work in the galleries at his web site.
Photography DVDs
Photography DVDs can inspire your photography, give you new ideas, and teach you new skills and techniques. These are my favorites.
My Favorite Photography Magazines
There are a ton of photography magazines out there and it seems like there are new ones every time I go to my favorite newsstand. But some are clearly better, more accurate, more useful, and with better images. The magazines that follow are, from my point of view, the best of the best photo magazines.
Photoshop Masking and Compositing (2nd edition)
Two essential and challenging Photoshop skills are Masking and Compositing. Fortunately for all of us out in Photoshop land, Katrin Eismann (along with Sean Duggan and James Porto) have written a masterful book on developing these skills, Photoshop Masking & Compositing (2nd edition).
Adobe Photoshop Restoration and Retouching (4th edition)
Katrin Eismann is a world class expert on photo retouching. She is one of the best of the best. In 2005 she was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame. Anything she writes should be high on your reading list if you are serious about making the most of your Photoshop skills.
Photoshop Lab Color (2nd edition)
Everything you need to know about Dan Margulis is in Mastering Photoshop: Advanced Color Correction, Part One. After you have devoured the book I recommend in that article, you will know why you need to get Photoshop LAB Color: The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures in the Most Powerful Colorspace (2nd edition).
If you want to master color in Photoshop, Dan Margulis is the best of the best. He is one of the first three persons to be named as a member of the Photoshop Hall of Fame. And the book to get is Professional Photoshop: The Classic Guide to Color Correction (5th Edition). It is well worth finding on the used market (which you can do via my photography store). What Margulis teaches you to do with color is amazing. The before and after images will make your jaw drop.
The Digital Negative, 2nd edition
If you shoot RAW camera files (and you should), this essential book should be at the top of your list. It is far and away the best of the best. You will be amazed at what you can get out of your RAW files. Your images will thank you.
A lot of the quality of your final image will be determined by what you do with your RAW files when you open them in Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) which comes with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, and Adobe Lightroom.
Article posted Nov. 30, 2016. Revised and expanded Dec. 17, 2016.
If you want to master Photoshop, a complete course can be found in the books recommended below. Think of this as a multi-book master class.
Scott Kelby has written some of the best, most readable introductions to Elements, Lightroom, and Photoshop. If you are new to this software, this is a great place to start.
Lightroom & Photoshop: The Essentials
If you are serious about digital photography and you use Lightroom and/or Photoshop, these books are “The Essentials”.
Some of the Best Digital Photography Books
Some well chosen books can make a world of difference in your digital photography. Some of the best books are about the camera side of digital photography, some are about the digital darkroom side, and some are about both. Out of hundreds of books in my photo library, I picked out the best.
Orion’s Belt and Sword Scabbard and the Orion Nebula
Interested in getting into astrophotography? The simple stuff is simple to do (like the photos below) and all you need are a camera, lens, and tripod. For some astrophotography you will need specialized but not very expensive equipment like the $300 sky tracker used for the photo above. The challenging stuff is hard, complicated, and expensive to do if you want eye popping photos like you see in Astronomy and Sky and Telescope magazines. No matter what you want to do, the books below will get you started. And if you just like to look at the night sky, I recommend some books for that too.
Pika
If creating stunning wildlife images was easy, everyone would be doing it. Fortunately for all of us, some of the very best wildlife photographers have shared their secrets in some excellent books that will dramatically improve your wildlife photography.
Wildlife Photography Guides
The first step to photographing wildlife is finding wildlife and one of the best ways to find wildlife is to look at wildlife location books. They will save you hours of frustration by sending you to the best locations to find wildlife.
Can a world class, National Geographic photographer lose his passion? Yes! How does he get it back?
This article was updated and re-posted here.