Search results for: hard vs soft light
About 13 filtered results
by Steven Gladstone · Posted
Learning to speak and use the language of lighting can go a long way to creating images that move the audience, immersing them even further. It will also make working on set much more efficient, helping you create more powerful images in less time with your crew.
This article will cover basic lighting types, so you can become familiar with what is available.
by Mathew Malwitz · Posted
Through the cacophony of forest sounds, your ears home in on a buzzy, almost garbled ascending song. Perhaps you recognize it immediately, or maybe you need to confer with one of the trusty internet databases or apps. You train your eyes on the canopy, scanning for movement of any kind, when you see it: the cerulean warbler, a small rowdy songbird with wings slightly splayed from the body. Quickly, you lower your binoculars and train your camera on the little blue passerine before snapping a few frames.
The resulting photos clearly show the
by Mathew Malwitz · Posted
Who doesn’t want to capture fun and creative portraits of our four-legged friends? We know we love it. In fact, pet photography may just be the most popular form of photography there is. Think of all the smartphone snaps of yawns, big stretches, and funny moments we all take of our cats, dogs, chinchillas, and beyond.
Quick snaps aside, you know what really ups the quality of our pet portraits? Lighting. Just as with any form of portrait, lighting unlocks possibilities that can be impossible without it. But what lighting system should we use?
Posted
Photography is the process of capturing light to create an image. So, you guessed it, Part 3 is all about lighting. Derek covers natural vs. artificial light, how to use shadows and highlights creatively, and how to properly expose your camera.
0:00 - Intro
1:05 - Hard light vs. Soft light
16:07 - Light direction
40:13 - Light quantity
43:39 - Light exposure
1:04:01 - Image breakdown—camera settings
1:34:07 - TLDR
1:38:11 - Audience guesses the camera settings
1:58:16 - Closing
by Luke Rollins · Posted
Of the many decisions a wedding photographer makes, the choice between digital and film might be the most crucial of all, determining both how one shoots and the look of the final product.
The technology that turns an entire congregation into content creators also unlocks immense advantages, creative and logistical, for wedding photographers. And yet, twenty-plus years into the age of digital photography, the aura of film remains as strong as ever and is sought after
by Cory Rice · Posted
In the world of portraiture, a light is only as good as the tools used to shape it. The three most common types of modifiers used for portraits are umbrellas, softboxes, and beauty dishes. Each of these
by Todd Vorenkamp · Posted
Are optical designers designing (and re-designing) lenses today to create better bokeh at the expense of optical characteristics such as diffraction spikes (popularly known as star effects/sunstars/starbursts)? Is the trend toward creating “better” bokeh sending the lens-made diffraction spike the way of pay phones, SLR cameras, manual transmissions, and the internal combustion engine?
The photography world, especially on the Internet, is full of debates. Canon vs. Nikon.
by Todd Vorenkamp · Posted
Raw vs. JPEG. The debate has persisted since the early days of digital photography. With modern digital technology, in-camera JPEG processing has never been better. Across brands, some photographers claim to have switched their workflow to JPEG exclusively, forgoing the advantages (and disadvantages) of shooting raw files. Others shoot raw + JPEG simultaneously to enjoy the benefits of both. Of course, many shoot only raw images. With a week in Ireland to focus on photography, I decided to dive deeper into the raw vs. JPEG option and see if it
by Todd Vorenkamp · Posted
1. Shoot every day Like any skill, the more you do it, the better you can get. The best camera you have is the one in your hand, so if you aren’t out with your full DSLR kit, don’t be afraid to take great photos with your cell phone camera or a point-and-shoot. Photography is photography, make pictures with a camera. Any camera.
2. Always have your camera near Pull up a chair and I can describe two amazing scenes that have been indelibly embedded in my mind. Unfortunately, for the first, my camera was broken (I was at sea, far from
by Jason T. · Posted
I recently wrote an article about metering for landscape photography, in which I discussed some of the general guidelines I use for shooting high-contrast scenes. Among other things, I noted how it's better to underexpose a high-contrast landscape scene than to overexpose it, due to the fact that our cameras are so good at recovering shadows, and so bad at recovering highlights. But what if the dynamic range in the scene is too
by tom kirkman · Posted
A softbox is an enclosure designed to fit around an artificial light source, such as a flash tube or halogen lamp. Its reflective interior intensifies the light output and projects it through its only means of escape—the front diffusion screen. This creates a quality of light long appreciated by photographers and videographers, which resembles the softer light one might find streaming through a window. It also creates square or rectangular highlights in the reflective surfaces of your subjects. The "soft" name stuck because of the quality of
by John-Paul Pale… · Posted
There’s an old saying that goes, “the best camera is the one you have with you.” Just spend some time browsing the Internet and you can find beautiful photos taken with a wide variety of cameras, including DSLR and smartphone systems. Now, perhaps you’re a professional who sees a smartphone photo and can’t help but think, “Imagine how much better that would look if it’d been taken with a pro-level camera.” Consequently, maybe you’re a photo enthusiast who is perfectly happy with smartphone captures and can’t imagine why someone would not only
by Chad Johnson · Posted
Tripods legs and heads are not the most enthralling subject in the universe. At first glance, they can seem to be boring pieces of gear. They support the camera. Big deal. What you may not realize is that cheap tripod systems usually leave a lot of room for improvement. That’s not to say that you need to spend top dollar to get the absolute best system, but it's important to avoid compromising to the point that your work suffers. In this article, I’ll introduce you to a variety of tripod and fluid head systems for every budget, featuring