CAMERA MAN

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens, one of 160 active volcanoes in the United States’ Pacific Ring of Fire, blew its top—right after triggering a massive 5.1-level earthquake that caused the largest known debris avalanche in history. The eruption was catastrophic, killing 57 people, severely damaging or destroying over 15 miles of railway, 185 miles of highway, and over 200 homes in Washington state, and blanketing the entire Pacific Northwest in ash.

Now, more than thirty years after the disaster, the volcano still vents and shifts crankily, foreshadowing future tantrums to come. By contrast, however, the valleys and foothills around the mountain have regained much of their former majesty and tranquility. Landscape photographer Miles Morgan captures the beauty of it all beneath a blanket of stars in his image, “Heaven Can Wait”:

Morgan created the photograph with his Canon EOS 5D Mark II at 16mm, 1/30, f/2.8, and ISO 1600. From his home base in Portland, Oregon, Morgan works as an airline pilot and travels to make landscape photos during his free time. Despite having only been shooting landscapes since 2009, he has already created a truly beautiful portfolio, one that is well worth exploring.

“The greatest gift that photography has given me is the return to nature that I was definitely missing in my life,” Morgan writes on his website. “I have seen enough stunning scenes during my brief stint as a landscape photographer to last a lifetime.”

Go to full article: Interesting Photo of the Day: Mount Saint Helens Volcano Under a Blanket of Stars

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Article from: PictureCorrect

from PictureCorrect

While on a four-day road trip through the Scottish Highlands, on what began as a rainy day, Your Shot member Joana Bochecha took advantage of a break in the weather and snapped this image of a shaft of sunlight illuminating the hollow between peaks in the Glencoe Mountains. “It had rained all morning, and just before reaching this spot the sun had broken through the clouds,” she writes, “highlighting not only the vibrant green of the grass … but also creating a mist between the top of the mountains that gives a mystical appearance to this photo.”

This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our storytelling community where members can take part in photo assignments, get expert feedback, be published, and more. Join now >>

from National Geographic Photo of the Day

It’s time for the youngsters to go back to school, and you know what that means—annual school portraits. School portraits can be challenging for both the kids and the photographer. Here are a few tips to hopefully help school picture day run a bit more smoothly.

1. Talk to the Kids

Many of them will be frightened, and a conversation can make them feel more comfortable. I know this is obvious to most people, but it matters. Try to befriend them while you install your setup. Making friends with some of the kids can earn you a VIP card. Make jokes! (But only if you’re certain they will understand and like them.)

2. Don’t Neglect the Children Waiting in Line

Ask all of the kids to participate, show them the images, ask for their help.

Watch how they play when waiting, and catch some of their laughs. Even if those photos don’t make it into the graduation album, they will be successful and will boost their self-esteem. Small kids can have big egos, too, so be respectful.

3. Bring Your Favorite Lens, But Also Pack a Telephoto

The zoom will allow you to stay further away and get a glimpse of their play while being less intrusive.

4. Don’t Over-Polish Them

Make sure the kids brush their hair and clothes, but don’t overdo it.

You want to capture their essence and inner beauty.

5. Arrive Early

It will be a long day, so getting there early will be helpful, especially if it’s an outdoor session. Last time I had a school session, the temperature was upward of 100 degrees Fahrenheit, so we started at 8am.

6. Find a Comfortable Location

Unless a studio photo is a must, try to shoot in a spot familiar to them—perhaps outside or in their classroom.

Twenty years from now, the background will matter more than the photo itself. Try several places. Some kids will be happier in the classroom, and others will act natural on the school’s field.

7. Get Some Group Shots

Remember – the teacher is very important to primary school kids.

Don’t overdo it, though. If the teacher is omnipresent, some will feel intimidated.

8. Use Bursts

Facial expressions will change often, and you don’t want to miss the perfect shot.

9. Use a Higher ISO

Any movement can result in blurriness—fast shutter speed can also help.

10. Go for a Wide Aperture

Remember to always check your background.

Don’t rush to choose f/1.4 or f/2.8 if you have your models posing in a line. If one of the kids is moving along that line, his/her face will be blurry.

11. Make Sure Both Eyes Are in Focus

Experiment a bit.

Wide aperture is important if the background is unattractive. Choose f/8.0 if you want it partially visible. Experiment by moving further or closer to your model.

12. Choose Various Lenses and Angles

Go for a low angle if you want to increase height and make the kids look taller.

13. Shoot RAW

This is already old school and goes for any kind of photography. RAW format can improve quality and save you a lot of headache in post-processing (despite being slightly more time consuming overall and requiring more storage). P.S. You can also sell RAWs at higher prices on Dreamstime.

About the Author:
Serban Enache is the CEO and Founder of Dreamstime.

Go to full article: 13 Tips for Photographing School Portraits

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Article from: PictureCorrect

from PictureCorrect

Window light can be some of the prettiest light when shooting portraiture. It provides a nice, soft, natural light around the model, if used correctly. Photographer Daniel Norton explains that not all window light is the same. If you’re going for softness, you won’t get it on clear, sunny days with the sun shining directly into the window. Overcast days are best, but there are a few tricks if you don’t have the cloudy conditions:

When talking about window light, people usually think directional, but soft light coming in through a window. But, if your subject is south-facing and direct sunlight is pouring in, that’s not going to give you the nice, soft light you want. You need a day that’s overcast or to use a silk over the window to soften the light.

In this tutorial, Norton places his model beside and in front of two windows. The window behind her has a white curtain pulled over it so it allows natural light but so you can’t see outside. He begins with the side window shade open to allow the natural light in and since it’s overcast, the lighting falls across the model’s face nicely.

If it’s a bright, sunny day, you might want to consider more of a profile-type of shot, with the model facing the window to get wrap around light and eliminate harsh shadows.

You can also have the model back up a little so she’s not getting hit with direct window light. This will lower her exposure a little, but the light will wrap around her better. By moving just slightly out of the direct light, the model doesn’t need to turn so much toward the window. You can have a 3/4 turn profile shot.

If you do want to fill in the light more and give an even light across the model’s face, you can always use a reflector or even just a piece of white foam board. Have your helper bring the reflector in as close as they can to the model’s face, then back it up a little out of the shot; that way you will get the most light possible out of it.

If you want to make the shadows more dense, use the black side of the foam board in the same way.

On very sunny days, you can simply pull a white curtain over the window or use a screen to cut out the harshness. These are just a few tips to capture beautiful, soft natural light for portraits.

For this photo shoot, Norton uses a Fuji X-Pro 1 with a Voigtlander Heliar 75mm f/1.8L lens.

For help with post-processing: Topaz Clean for Portrait Retouching

Go to full article: How to Use Window Light for Portraits

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Article from: PictureCorrect

from PictureCorrect

Ringo Starr is best known as the rock star drummer of the Beatles, but he was also a passionate photographer who documented the life of one of history’s biggest bands first hand. The video above is a 9-minute short film titled “Ringo Starr: Photographer.” Made by portrait photographer Mark Seliger for Rolling Stone, it sheds light on Starr’s “other life’s work.”

“I think I really got more serious about it, more excited and interested in it, in the Beatle era,” Starr says about his work with a camera. “Photography became my passion alongside playing, really.” As we shared back in July, Starr just published a new book of his images titled “Photograph.”

(via Rolling Stone via ISO 1200)

from PetaPixel

Ringo Starr is best known as the rock star drummer of the Beatles, but he was also a passionate photographer who documented the life of one of history’s biggest bands first hand. The video above is a 9-minute short film titled “Ringo Starr: Photographer.” Made by portrait photographer Mark Seliger for Rolling Stone, it sheds […] from PetaPixel

Want to make some realistic fake blood for a creepy Halloween photo shoot? Here’s a short video tutorial by HouseholdHacker on how you can do so with household things in just a minute.

You’ll need some flour, red and blue food coloring, and corn syrup. “Stir up your mixture like crazy and in no time it will start looking like Dracula made a deposit in your mixing bowl,” writes HouseholdHacker. “Boom! That’s it! Realistic fake blood… and it’s edible too so don’t worry about getting it in your mouth.”

(via HouseholdHacker via Laughing Squid)

from PetaPixel

Want to make some realistic fake blood for a creepy Halloween photo shoot? Here’s a short video tutorial by HouseholdHacker on how you can do so with household things in just a minute. You’ll need some flour, red and blue food coloring, and corn syrup. “Stir up your mixture like crazy and in no time […] from PetaPixel

I’m going to ask you to put your camera down for now. I know it’s a lot to ask, but the secret I’ve discovered to better portrait photography has, in fact, very little to do with your camera.

One of the most common mistakes budding portrait photographers make is to be so focused on getting the technical aspects right, they completely forget about the most important feature of a portrait – the person standing in front of their lens.

I’m not saying that your camera and technique aren’t important, they absolutely are. But even when you have the best technique in the world, you will not have a good portrait if your subject feels, and looks, uncomfortable.

The secret to helping your subject be relaxed and look good in pictures is body language – both yours and their’s.

Body Language

Body language is how our bodies communicate our feelings and intentions, and it makes up for a majority of how we communicate. Some studies found that as much as 92% of our communication is nonverbal, and experts all agree that, as humans, we rely first on what we see and feel, before believing any spoken word.

Why is this important in portrait photography? Because body language is the language spoken in our portraits.

Within one second of seeing a photograph, we make a snap judgment about the person – or people – in the image, and what our brain relies on to make this judgment is their body language. Big cues like slouched shoulders or crossed arms are obvious, but it’s also the small cues like a fake smile, tense hands, slightly pursed lips, or squinting eyes, that tell our brains on an instinctive level, how that person is feeling. Furthermore, if the feelings are negative, it can ruin your portrait.

So, what can you do? Let’s look at three things you can start doing right now to help your subject settle into relaxed and positive body language.

1. Identify discomfort

It’s pretty uncomfortable for most people to have their portrait taken, even if they are really looking forward to it. This tension appears mainly through blocking and pacifying cues.

Blocking gestures occur when we put something between ourselves and an uncomfortable situation. Crossed or closed arms are the most obvious signs, but the person may also be holding something like a bag or a laptop in front of them, turning their bodies away from you, and even crossing their legs tightly when standing.

Rubbing or pressure movements are called pacifying gestures. You will observe this when she’s playing with her necklace, rubbing her arms or legs, or he’s playing with his clothes, or squeezing his fingers together. Another place to look for pacifying gestures is the mouth. Lip pressing and licking, and tongue movements pressing inside the cheeks or lips show high levels of stress.

When you see this happening before or during the shoot, your subject is feeling uncomfortable and it’s going to show up in your portraits. Let’s look at how you can help them relax.

2. Show, don’t tell

People feel uncomfortable during a photo shoot mostly because they don’t know what to do. It’s really stressful to be in front of a lens and be told to pose or act natural. They have no idea what you want from them, and telling them doesn’t help.

A client of mine shared this story with me;

At my last photo shoot, the photographer asked me to smile. So I smiled. “No! Not like that!” he said “you know, relax and smile!” All I could think is “Damn, I’m not relaxed, how do I relax?” which made me stress even more, and the more he was telling me to relax, the less I was! It was horrible! I look like I’m growling in all the photos. I hate them!

So if telling them what to do doesn’t help, what can you do? Show them! People can easily mirror what you want them to do. Ask them to mirror you, and show them exactly the pose you want them to take. Not only this will help them relax, it also allows you to get them into the right body language for the picture. When working with children, you can turn this into an imitation game, and they will be playing along with you in seconds.

Mirroring is a key bonding behavior in human body language. This interaction creates an immediate connection between you and your subject, and allows them to shift their attention away from the lens and focus on you instead.

3. Be in control -even when you’re not

From the minute you meet your subject, until they walk away from the session, it’s vital that you appear in control by using confident body language, keeping your energy up, using positive words, and never showing any signs of stress – even when you’re freaking out because the settings you’re trying aren’t working.

I know this one is tough when you’re starting out, and you have to think of a million things – camera settings, composition, lighting, backgrounds, etc., and now I’m asking you to also think about what your client’s body is saying! But let’s think about this for a minute. How do you think your subject feels when they are working with a silent, stressed out, and fidgety photographer who is focusing all their attention on the camera or the lights? Not so great right? Guess where that’s going to show up? In your pictures.

They need to know that you’re in control, even when you’re not! This is a, “fake it until you become it” moment in your life. Talk to them. Explain what you’re doing. You might be concerned that they won’t take you seriously, but really, they are just curious about what’s going on. If they feel that you’re in control, that you know what you’re doing, you will keep the connection with them and help them to relax.

The best part is that you’re also going to feel more in control. Recent studies on body language have found that by changing our posture and behavior, we actually change our feelings too. Not only will you appear more confident, you’re actually going to feel more confident.

What’s next

This is really just the very beginning of how body language can help you with your portrait photography. The choice of body language cues you’re going to use in your portraits will also have a huge impact on the feeling and quality of your images, and your relationships with your subjects.

Understanding body language is not just an option if you want to be a portrait photographer, it’s a vital skill; as vital as breathing is to a singer, or taste is to a chef. You will not be able to consistently create beautiful portraits of people, or create a fun experience for them if you ignore it.

The good news is that this is a skill you are born with, and have unconsciously practiced since your youngest age. However, most of us simply don’t pay attention to it because nonverbal communication is not part of our training curriculum, at school or later. Just like a musician will be more alert to sounds through practice, and a chef to taste through experience, I’m confident that you will soon become attuned to your subjects body language if you put in a little work.

Soon you will have mastered an amazing skill that will not only be useful in your work as a photographer, but also in everyday life.

Do you have another other tips about body language? Please share in the comments below along with any images demonstrating body language in your portraits.

The post 3 Body Language Hacks to Improve Your Portrait Photography by Dee Libine appeared first on Digital Photography School.

from Digital Photography School

I’m going to ask you to put your camera down for now. I know it’s a lot to ask, but the secret I’ve discovered to better portrait photography has, in fact, very little to do with your camera. One of the most common mistakes budding portrait photographers make is to be so focused on getting […]

The post 3 Body Language Hacks to Improve Your Portrait Photography by Dee Libine appeared first on Digital Photography School.

from Digital Photography School

Note: This comic contains some strong language.

Cartoonist Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal struck a chord with photographers and other creatives a couple of days ago by published a new comic titled “You’re Doing it for the Exposure.”

Here’s the comic (as you can see from the Likes and Shares, it has been quite popular):

Here's the tiny shareable version of yesterday's comic.

Posted by The Oatmeal on Friday, October 30, 2015

Inman has reportedly been dealing with many of the same copyright infringement issues as photographers these days. On Tuesday, the Huffington Post published an article with hotlinked comics from The Oatmeal without permission. Inman responded by replacing one hotlinked file on his server with a message telling HuffPo not to steal his work. Another one he replaced with drawings of a “butt and pee pee.”

A couple of days later, Inman published the comic above.

from PetaPixel