Julie Powell is a photographer, writer and educator, offers unique photographic opportunities and inspirational ideas to help YOU become the photographer you wish to be.
Does noise really matter all that much in portraits? I think people are too hung up on having their images 100% noiseless, whereas the crisper and sharper, the better. And that’s just the point isn’t it?
There are times when the available light does NOT work in your favor. Perhaps you want a longer exposure of a waterfall to obtain that soft silky water effect, but there is too much light. Even when your exposures are set to their limits, that is when filters can come to the rescue.
Once you get over the first hurdle in actually calibrating your monitor for the first time (like me when I was a complete newbie), you have to remember how often you need to re-calibrate.
What you see is what you get, and it begins with a calibrated monitor. I recently found out just that when I was given a SpyderX Pro to try out.
Are you one of those portrait photographers who want to get in and get out real quick when it comes to editing? Not everyone wants to spend hours cleaning up blemishes in an image.
OK, I will admit it, I am a complete newbie when it comes to calibrating a monitor. I know I SHOULD be doing it, but I am sometimes a bit tech shy. I sometimes get a little frustrated that my printed images don’t always look exactly like my screen images.
While it is important, it is also something that frequently gets overlooked. So let’s take a look at metering modes for photography.
Going a bit stir crazy in self-isolation? Looking for some fun activities to burn through the hours? How about trying your hand at some of these, especially if they are out of your comfort zone.
Have you suddenly found yourself with some spare time on your hands? Looking for the silver lining, perhaps think of this as enforced creative project time.
As with food photography, I love hunting for props and backgrounds to put in my images for still life photography and I really like a variety of items. I still adore using colour, but I tend to tone down my colour palette for still life, using more soft muted colours.
I love my pets and I love getting creative. Nothing allows my creativity to escape and really capture painterly portraits like Topaz Labs Impressions 2. Being able to recreate the look and stokes of some of my favourite painters — Rembrandt, Cezanne and LaSala, just to name a few.
Want a fun project you can do right in your kitchen? How about exploring some minimalism with everyday stuff you have on hand. No need to leave the house, no need to leave the kitchen — you just need a little bench space and a window.
There is no escaping the current media storm — it is EVERYWHERE! And while many are out panic buying toilet paper and canned goods, what is the overall impact on your photography business?
I saw it in my own business fairly early. I’m no doctor or financial expert, but it appears that one is in higher demand than the other. It appeared at the start that people are more worried about a looming financial crisis caused by this outbreak than the outbreak itself. Now it is both.
Creating that soft dreamy almost hazy and ethereal look in Lightroom Classic and Luminar 4 isn’t as difficult as you might think. Sure, it is always best to capture in-camera, and I will look at a few fun ways to do that. But sometimes, we want to apply it to images AFTER the shoot, too.
Be your own superhero, and I am not talking about running around with our underwear over tights (let’s face it NO ONE wants to see that on the average photographer) and a shiny cape saving the world. To me, there are everyday superheroes, who seem to be able to achieve amazing feats that some of us can only dream of. Let’s face it, it’s all too easy to let someone else take the spotlight, right?
Brand new on the website, Model Packs with 20 hi-res images from some of my favourite studio shoots
Feeling a little caged in after spending the last few weeks in isolation? Now that the weather is a little bit nicer, maybe it’s time to grab your camera and macro lens and go exploring your own backyard (or front yard) a little. We may not be able to go far, but when you look at the world with a macro lens, you don’t have to.
It has never been easier to make eyes pop in portraits using Luminar 4. You can use it as standalone software, or as a plugin or Smart Object filter in Photoshop.
So what can you do in this downtime? None of us like it, none of us want it, but we can put this time to good use.
Fellow Photofocus author Lauri Novak recently wrote a post about asking for critique on images and it kind of got me thinking.
