This is The Digital Story Podcast #618, Jan. 16, 2018. Today's theme is "5 Photo Tips You May Not Have Thought Of." I'm Derrick Story.
Opening Monologue
Evolving as a photographer is a journey of many small steps. We start with the basics, then spend the rest of our lives perfecting our technique. And along the way, we may discover a small bit of information that results in a big improvement. Today, I have five tips that may help you take the next step.
5 Photo Tips You May Not Have Thought Of
I have this running joke with myself that any given photograph has dozen components. Things like composition, aperture setting, ISO, color, motion, highlights, shadows, expression, and so on. The joke is, that I can do 11 of those things wonderfully, but if I screw up the 12th, then the image will likely fall short of my expectations.
That's why tips pieces are so popular. Because they often address the one thing we overlooked. And when applied with the other 11 variables, could turn out to be the missing ingredient to success.
I'm not saying that any of today's tips may serve as a silver bullet for you. But you never know. So let's take a look and see what we think.
- Use Your Histogram in the Field - We have this amazing tool on the back of the camera that can help us capture the best range of tones for any given image, but it's often not used: the histogram.
- Embrace Natural Light Photography All Times of Day - All sorts of things get stuck in our heads, and a popular misconception is that our travel work should only be shot during the golden hours of the day. All light is good light. Match the lighting to the story that you're trying to tell. And when needed, use your bag of tricks, such as a polarizer and RAW files to help tame extreme tones.
- Backgrounds Are As Important as Subjects - It's so easy to become mesmerized by our primary subject that we overlook non-complementary backgrounds. Practice the 1-2 punch technique: first the subject then the background... every time.
- Ask Your Portrait Subjects if They Have a Good Side - This is so simple that it's hard to believe how often it's overlooked. Even non-models often know their best side. By starting there, you not only gain their respect, but get the shoot off to a good start.
- Weight on One Foot or the Other, Never Flatfooted - This is the most basic posing technique, and one that is so important. By shifting the weight to one foot or the other, the entire energy of the shot improves.
- Layers in Capture One Pro 11 - Feb. 10
- BUILD YOUR DIGITAL DARKROOM WITH PHOTOS - MARCH 10
- Digital Asset Mgmt with Luminar - April 21
- Tips for Importing Images into Photos for macOS
- Using Gradient Masks in Luminar
- Working with Light Adjustments in Capture One Pro
Beer Koozie Lens Pouch
I've been offered plenty of free, promotional beer koozies over the past few months, and I have accepted every one of them. Why? Because they make great on the go lens cases. You have to get the kind that fold for them to be truly nimble. I keep a couple of them in my suitcase, along with ultralight shoulder bag for on-the-fly urban exploration.
Starbucks Lens Hood
Next time you purchase your morning Americano, be sure to hang on to the cup sleeve that we use to keep our hands for burning. Why? They make a great on-the-fly lens hood, for practically any optic in your arsenal.
The San Francisco Street Photography Workshop
San Francisco Street Photography - April 26-28, 2018 - We'll work entirely on location in San Francisco. Our hotel in picturesque Union Square will serve as our headquarters during the event. No rental car will be necessary. We'll explore the City's hidden treasures and capture them through our lenses. As always, we're adding new shooting locations again this year, including twilight assignments. This is San Francisco like you've never seen it before. And as a bonus, Olympus Visionary Mike Boening will be joining the teaching staff and leading sessions on street shooting and night photography. Two instructors, three days, and all for just $695. (That's right, it's 3 full days in one of the most photogenic cities in the U.S.)
The 2018 Nimble Classroom Series
The 2018 Nimble Classroom Series begins in February. Here are the first three sessions:
You can sign up right now for each of these and reserve your spot. Only 6 participants per class.
Updates and Such
Three new training videos are now posted for our Patreon Inner Circle Members:
You can become a member of our Inner Circle by clicking on this link or by clicking on the Patreon tile that's on every page of The Digital Story.
B&H and Amazon tiles on www.thedigitalstory. If you click on them first, you're helping to support this podcast. And speaking of supporting this show, and big thanks to our Patreon Inner Circle members:
And finally, be sure to visit our friends at Red River Paper for all of your inkjet supply needs.
See you next week!
More Ways to Participate
Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. And from those images, I choose the TDS Member Photo of the Day.
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The Nimbleosity Report
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