IntroductionWelcome| 00:04 | Hi! I am Natalie Fobes, and welcome to
the Elements of Effective Photographs.
| | 00:10 | You have probably shot some
photographs that really stand out and others that
| | 00:14 | just didn't quite work.
| | 00:16 | You may have wondered, why?
| | 00:18 | In this course, we will explore the
essentials of composition, including the
| | 00:23 | rule of thirds, leading lines, depth of
field, and the use of foreground, middle
| | 00:29 | ground, and background.
| | 00:30 | We will kick off our study of color
by reviewing the color temperature of
| | 00:35 | different light sources and then learn
how to adjust white balance in the camera.
| | 00:40 | There's no better way to learn about
lighting than in the studio with a model,
| | 00:45 | and we will do just that, using
both one- and two-light setups.
| | 00:49 | We will study motion and peak action and
show how to freeze, blur, and pan to add impact.
| | 00:57 | We will explore the decisive moment
and discuss how to recognize these images
| | 01:03 | that sum up the action or event.
| | 01:05 | We will also get our RAW images
off the camera to create and correct
| | 01:10 | color, light, and motion.
| | 01:13 | So get your camera ready and let's
get started exploring the elements of
| | 01:18 | effective photographs.
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| What makes an effective photograph?| 00:00 | What makes an effective photograph?
| | 00:03 | For me, a successful photograph is
one where you achieve your intent in a
| | 00:07 | thoughtful skilled way.
| | 00:09 | These photographs combine intelligent
light and motion, skilled composition and
| | 00:14 | color, and ideally a message
that educates or moves the viewer.
| | 00:20 | Not all photographs live up to this
standard and yet they can be effective too--
| | 00:23 | and I am talking about
photos I call happy snaps.
| | 00:27 | By that, I mean the quick photographs
we take of family and friends and events
| | 00:33 | that we want to remember.
| | 00:35 | In fact, these photographs are
downright priceless, but when you show them to
| | 00:41 | other people, that's a different story.
| | 00:44 | When was the last time you really
enjoyed looking at someone else's
| | 00:48 | vacation snapshots?
| | 00:50 | It comes down to the decisions you
make before, during, and after the shoot.
| | 00:55 | Our cameras give us lots of technical choices:
| | 00:59 | what exposure, what ISO, what shooting
mode, and what lens? And then there are
| | 01:05 | the creative choices.
Where is the best vantage point?
| | 01:09 | How will you compose that
shot or pose your subject?
| | 01:13 | Will you try to capture peak
action or the decisive moment?
| | 01:17 | How much depth of field do you want?
| | 01:19 | Will you try to add special
effects in post? And if so, what?
| | 01:26 | As a photographer trying to create
photographs that really work, your job is to answer them.
| | 01:33 | Let me show you what I mean
with one of my recent assignments.
| | 01:37 | Riley is a very talented young musician who
needed professional portraits for promotion.
| | 01:43 | He plays in symphony halls as well as jazz
clubs, so the photographs had to work for both.
| | 01:49 | He needed two kinds of photos:
| | 01:51 | a standard headshot and
ones more like a CD cover.
| | 01:55 | The message we wanted the photographs
to send was that Riley is sophisticated,
| | 02:00 | cool, incredibly talented, and artistic.
| | 02:04 | I did the headshot series first,
because most people are more comfortable
| | 02:08 | posing for these and I wanted to get
it out of the way before we went to the
| | 02:13 | more creative stuff.
| | 02:15 | I shot it in my garage with a
concrete wall as a backdrop.
| | 02:19 | I opened my garage door to create a soft
sidelight that wrapped around his features.
| | 02:25 | I set the camera in the manual mode,
so I could have maximum control.
| | 02:30 | My focal length was 105
and the aperture was f/4.
| | 02:34 | This combination of telephoto
lens and wide aperture threw the
| | 02:39 | background out of focus.
| | 02:42 | I asked Riley to dip one shoulder
forward to create that nice diagonal
| | 02:46 | line through the composition.
| | 02:48 | Then we worked with his
expressions and his head positions.
| | 02:52 | This last shot is the winner.
| | 02:54 | It is the moment when it all came together.
| | 02:58 | His eyes, expression, the turn of his
head, the lighting, the composition, and
| | 03:05 | the selective focus make it the most
effective photograph of this series.
| | 03:11 | The portrait works well in color, in
black and white, in sepia, or in selenium tone.
| | 03:19 | Next, I wanted to create a feeling
of him being on stage. Still in the
| | 03:23 | garage, but now with the door closed, I set up
a single strobe to replicate a stage spotlight.
| | 03:32 | I wanted the light to give hard shadows,
and I wanted those shadows to be on the wall.
| | 03:38 | I wasn't sure at the beginning
what pose I would like the most,
| | 03:41 | so I took lots of
photographs with a lot of variations.
| | 03:46 | These photographs are my notes.
| | 03:48 | They are like the notes for a reporter.
| | 03:51 | I keep working the situation by
photographing until I can clearly see the best photo.
| | 03:58 | Many of these work well, but this one is
the one that I think is the most effective.
| | 04:04 | The message of the light is late night
and jazzy. The greater depth of field
| | 04:09 | shows the detail in the concrete.
| | 04:12 | Even though all of the horn isn't visible, there
is enough that you know he is a trumpet player.
| | 04:17 | His expression is thoughtful. He raised his
arm and it made it look like he was thinking.
| | 04:23 | And by tilting the camera,
the composition comes together.
| | 04:28 | This last shot was taken
outside on a cloudy day.
| | 04:33 | I wanted to emphasize Riley's
face while still including the horn.
| | 04:38 | I used 180 at 2.8 to give me
a very shallow depth of field.
| | 04:44 | The focus is on Riley's eyes and
the horn and vegetation is out.
| | 04:49 | I pushed Riley way over
to the side of the frame.
| | 04:53 | Now, to keep this from being awkward, I
positioned the horn on an angle so that
| | 04:57 | the line brings your eye right back to Riley.
| | 05:01 | It holds the composition together. And check out
how beautiful the texture of the background is.
| | 05:08 | This is called bokeh, and we'll
get into that later in the course.
| | 05:13 | The photograph works fine in color,
but in this case, it's much more
| | 05:17 | effective in black and white.
| | 05:19 | The background isn't distracting,
so your eye goes right back to Riley's.
| | 05:24 | Riley and I were both very
happy with the photographs.
| | 05:30 | So what sets these
photos apart from happy snaps?
| | 05:34 | Planning and forethought--
| | 05:36 | before I press the shutter I
thought about each photo and the message I
| | 05:40 | wanted it to convey.
| | 05:42 | After that, I chose the lens and the aperture
that would give me the right depth of field.
| | 05:47 | I created my lighting, and played
with the composition and pose to make sure I
| | 05:52 | achieved the message.
| | 05:54 | So yes, you are right;
| | 05:56 | that's a lot to think about! But with
practice and experience, this kind of
| | 06:01 | thought becomes second nature.
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1. The Essentials of CompositionThe rule of thirds| 00:00 | Great photography moves, intrigues,
informs, and sometimes challenges the viewer.
| | 00:06 | We as artists have a
message we want to communicate.
| | 00:10 | It may be as simple as the
emotional grandeur of the Grand Canyon or as
| | 00:14 | complicated as the impact of
culture on the environment.
| | 00:17 | But no matter what kind of photography
you enjoy, there are elements of design
| | 00:22 | that are common to all:
| | 00:24 | composition, movement, texture, depth
of field, light, and color, all weave
| | 00:30 | through the tapestry of a fine photograph.
| | 00:33 | How you use these in your
photographs is your eye.
| | 00:36 | So let's start with composition.
| | 00:39 | Composition is simply the art of
interpreting a three-dimensional scene and
| | 00:43 | creating a two-dimensional design,
and there are many rules that can help take
| | 00:48 | your photography from
snapshots to the next level.
| | 00:51 | The granddaddy of them
all is the Rule of Thirds.
| | 00:55 | This is the first rule taught in art classes.
| | 00:58 | In fact, I learned it way back in Mr.
| | 01:00 | John Schlechter's eighth
grade art class in Ottumwa, Iowa.
| | 01:04 | Divide the frame into thirds,
both vertically and horizontally.
| | 01:08 | Check out where the lines intersect.
| | 01:11 | One of these interactions is a great
place to put something of interest.
| | 01:14 | Let me show you what I mean.
| | 01:17 | I took lots of photographs
of this harbor in Vietnam.
| | 01:20 | They are all pretty but not nearly as
interesting as this one of the boy pulling anchor.
| | 01:25 | Now let's put the grid over that
photo and see how I positioned him where
| | 01:30 | the lines intersected?
| | 01:32 | Here's another one taken in
Vietnam about an hour later.
| | 01:35 | The fisherman is placed on the
intersection, and the boat and the horizon are
| | 01:40 | right on the horizontal lines.
| | 01:43 | After all these years, I didn't
even think about composing when I was
| | 01:47 | shooting this photograph.
| | 01:49 | Until I put the grid on this shot,
I didn't even realize how well I had
| | 01:54 | captured the rule of thirds.
| | 01:55 | A few years ago, I spent some time
photographing a family at their subsistence
| | 02:01 | fishing camp on the Yukon River in Alaska.
| | 02:03 | I took this shot as their
boy ran down to the river.
| | 02:07 | You can see how the rule of
thirds works in this photograph.
| | 02:10 | But you know what? There are times I
like to break the rule of thirds, and this
| | 02:15 | photograph allows for a
number of different crops.
| | 02:18 | This would be a good one for a
two-page spread in the magazine, and this one
| | 02:23 | would be great for a magazine cover
because there is room at the top for the
| | 02:27 | masthead and room on the side for the
story teasers. And this extreme crop pulls
| | 02:34 | your eye right to the child while
still giving information about the place.
| | 02:38 | These crops are very
popular with my portrait clients.
| | 02:42 | So learn how and when to compose using
the rule of thirds, but don't be afraid
| | 02:47 | of being a rule breaker too.
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| Creating movement and interest| 00:00 | Close relatives of the rule of
thirds include leading lines, mirroring,
| | 00:05 | and repeating shapes.
| | 00:07 | All are designed for one thing, and that is
to guide the viewer's eyes through the frame.
| | 00:13 | Remember that as artists, we choose
what is included in the photograph and we
| | 00:17 | want our viewer to see all of it.
| | 00:19 | So how is this for a leading line?
| | 00:22 | Route 50 in Nevada is known as
the loneliest road in America.
| | 00:27 | This line really helps get across that
feeling of the great expanse of this area.
| | 00:33 | Diagonal lines add a dynamic
element to the photographs.
| | 00:37 | Your eye probably landed on the
snorkeler and then went back on this nice
| | 00:44 | diagonal line of the creek to the forest behind.
| | 00:48 | This really helps you get to the
information in that photograph about the
| | 00:52 | habitat of the salmon, and I use that
diagonal line to help you move around the photograph.
| | 00:58 | Now, you can use
diagonal lines in portraits too--
| | 01:01 | I do it all the time; by simply tilting
my camera and the model's head I created
| | 01:08 | a beautiful diagonal with her eyes and her hand.
| | 01:12 | Another tool of composition is the S curve.
| | 01:14 | My eye normally lands here at the top,
and then I go down through the frame, and
| | 01:21 | exit out the bottom.
| | 01:23 | But some of my friends tell me that
they actually enter here and go this way.
| | 01:27 | Either way, it's okay because you see
everything I want you to see in the frame.
| | 01:33 | Now, this time the light formed the S
curve, and it lets your eye really enjoy
| | 01:40 | the texture of the forest in Canada.
| | 01:43 | I love those partly cloudy days, just love them.
| | 01:47 | Mirroring is another great technique
that you can use in your composition.
| | 01:52 | This is a bird that was taking a drink
in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Alaska,
| | 01:57 | and I love how the form of the bird is
actually repeated in a reflection in the water.
| | 02:03 | So remember, you want to help people
see everything in the frame and you do
| | 02:08 | that by guiding them through the image
with the rule of thirds, guiding lines,
| | 02:13 | and repetitive shapes.
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| Foreground, background, and in-between| 00:01 | A common mistake photographers make is
creating a flat photo, and what I mean
| | 00:06 | by this is that the image doesn't
explore the relationship between the
| | 00:09 | foreground and the background.
| | 00:11 | It doesn't have the depth.
| | 00:13 | So let's analyze this photograph
of a kayaker that I did in Alaska.
| | 00:17 | The kayak is on a diagonal--
| | 00:19 | remember, diagonals are our friends--
and there are repetitive shapes in the
| | 00:24 | mountains, and there is mirroring of
the sky and the mountains in the water.
| | 00:29 | So a lot of compositional
elements are already in play here.
| | 00:33 | Now, the foreground subject
feels really close to the camera.
| | 00:37 | When looking at the kayak, you can almost have
a feeling that you can reach out and touch it.
| | 00:43 | This perspective is created
by using a 20-millimeter lens.
| | 00:48 | Wide angles often make you feel
like you're part of the scene.
| | 00:51 | This feeling is really enhanced if you
are able to use a great depth of field to
| | 00:56 | make everything in focus from
the foreground to the horizon.
| | 01:01 | It's funny, because this is really how our
brains interpret what we see in this world.
| | 01:05 | Now, here's another example of using
wide-angle lenses and a diagonal line to
| | 01:12 | create a relationship between
the foreground and background.
| | 01:15 | You can almost feel the wind that is
making the tundra grass move on the
| | 01:20 | Yukon Kuskokwim Delta.
| | 01:22 | Here's an early morning shot that I did in
Russia at a reindeer herders camp. Yeah, it was cold.
| | 01:29 | It was really cold.
| | 01:30 | So your eye probably landed on the sun,
and traveled to the left through the
| | 01:35 | repetitive shapes of the Yaranga.
| | 01:37 | The wide angle really adds to the
sense of place in this photograph.
| | 01:43 | Now, when creating a foreground-and-
background relationship in a composition
| | 01:47 | don't forget about the rule of thirds.
| | 01:50 | This plant is exactly where you would
expect it to be if you were following the
| | 01:54 | rule of thirds, and what's more is the
diagonals of its leaves lead the eye back
| | 02:01 | into the mountains and throughout the frame.
| | 02:03 | Now, not only can you use this technique with
landscapes, but you can use it too with people.
| | 02:11 | You almost feel like you are riding off
into the hills with the ranchers as they
| | 02:16 | check on their cattle.
| | 02:18 | Don't think that you have to shoot
only wide angles to get this relationship.
| | 02:22 | You can also use telephotos too, like
this shot that I took in Prince William
| | 02:27 | Sound with a 200-millimeter
lens, and a great depth of field.
| | 02:32 | And speaking of depth of
field, we will cover that next.
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| Depth of field as a composing tool| 00:00 | You hear photographers talk all
the time about depth of field.
| | 00:05 | What they're talking about is simply
how much of the photograph is in focus in
| | 00:09 | front of, and behind their subject.
| | 00:11 | This is called the zone of acceptable focus.
| | 00:15 | Because of the physics of lenses, this
zone extends forward a short distance
| | 00:20 | from your point of focus and
twice that distance behind.
| | 00:24 | But in reality, it's not just a point
of focus, but rather a plane of focus that
| | 00:30 | is parallel with your camera's sensor.
| | 00:32 | If you're in focus in one point
on this plane, you will be in focus
| | 00:36 | throughout the entire plane.
| | 00:38 | Depth of field is controlled by the
aperture, lens, and the distance to the subject.
| | 00:44 | When just a little bit is sharp,
it's called a shallow depth of field,
| | 00:49 | or selective Focus.
| | 00:51 | When everything is sharp, it's
called a great depth of field.
| | 00:56 | Whether you have a shallow or great
depth of field will depend on what you're
| | 01:00 | shooting and the message of your photograph.
| | 01:03 | When I'm shooting landscapes I normally
choose to have a great depth of field.
| | 01:07 | I want everything to be sharp from the
foreground to the middle ground to the background.
| | 01:14 | This allows the viewer to enjoy the
fine details in the landscape as well as
| | 01:19 | seeing the broader composition of the scene.
| | 01:22 | In this photograph I set my aperture to f/16.
| | 01:27 | I didn't focus at infinity.
| | 01:29 | I focused in the foreground.
| | 01:31 | Remember that the zone of acceptable
focus will extend forward and twice as far
| | 01:37 | back from the point of focus.
| | 01:40 | I used a wide-angle lens.
| | 01:42 | Wide angles increase the
appearance of sharpness in photographs.
| | 01:46 | But when I shoot portraits, a wide
angle and great depth of field sometimes
| | 01:50 | gives me too much information,
and that distracts from the point of the
| | 01:55 | photograph: the person.
| | 01:57 | Instead, I want to emphasize the person
and isolate him or her from the background.
| | 02:03 | I do this by using a telephoto lens with
a wide aperture, like 2.8 or 4, and I'll
| | 02:10 | move in as close as the lens will focus,
| | 02:13 | like in this shot of my daughter.
| | 02:15 | My focal length was 160, my aperture f/4.
| | 02:19 | You can see that her eye and part of
the tattoo is tack sharp, but then the
| | 02:25 | focus falls off so that by the time
you get to her shoulder, it's just a nice
| | 02:29 | line in the composition.
| | 02:32 | I did this shot for a magazine
assignment about Apollo butterflies.
| | 02:35 | I used a macro lens at f/8, but I am so
close to the butterfly that my depth of
| | 02:41 | field is about a 16th of an inch.
| | 02:43 | I made sure the head of the butterfly
was sharp by checking it with the Depth
| | 02:48 | of Field Preview button that most SLRs have.
| | 02:52 | This, by the way, is a handy tool when
you're working with shallow depth of field.
| | 02:58 | In this one I needed to show the tiny
transmitter antenna that scientists put on
| | 03:04 | the butterfly so they could track it in the wild.
| | 03:07 | I wanted everything in
focus and it is. How come?
| | 03:12 | The aperture is the same as the meadow
shot. The distance is pretty close, too.
| | 03:17 | The only difference is the camera
sensor and the butterfly are now parallel.
| | 03:23 | Depth of field is all about controlling
what the viewer sees in your photographs.
| | 03:28 | It's the third dimension in
composition, not up or down, left or right, but
| | 03:33 | rather near and far.
| | 03:37 | In the next movie we will demonstrate
how depth of field can change the feeling
| | 03:41 | of a photo and answer the age old
question: what the heck is bokeh?
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| Depth of field and bokeh| 00:01 | As I have mentioned before, depth of
field is the third dimension of composition.
| | 00:05 | With it you guide your viewer
to what you think is important.
| | 00:09 | How you use it also affects
the message in your photograph.
| | 00:13 | To demonstrate, I've set up a
simple still life in the studio.
| | 00:16 | I have connected my camera to the
monitor, so that you can see in real time what
| | 00:22 | my camera is seeing.
| | 00:24 | Remember that focal length,
aperture, and distance to the subject
| | 00:28 | determines depth of field.
| | 00:31 | For the demonstration, I'll be using a
100 macro lens and varying the aperture
| | 00:35 | and distance to the subject.
| | 00:37 | I'll be taking several photos.
| | 00:40 | Now you'll see we have a rather unique
background here that will come into play
| | 00:45 | later in this movie when we talk about bokeh.
| | 00:48 | For our first shot, I want a great
depth of field, so I will be shooting an
| | 00:52 | f/22 from 10 feet away.
| | 00:59 | Everything is sharp in the frame,
including the flowers and the background.
| | 01:04 | Now my aperture is 2.8,
and I will take another shot.
| | 01:10 | You can see the background is a
little softer this time, but still you can
| | 01:14 | make out the shapes.
| | 01:16 | Here they are, side by side.
| | 01:18 | There is definitely a visible
difference, but nothing too significant.
| | 01:24 | Now I've repositioned the camera, so I can
show you how distance affects depth of field.
| | 01:29 | I am a foot away from the calla lilies.
| | 01:31 | I will shoot this at f/22.
| | 01:37 | The flower is in focus,
and the green fern is pretty sharp.
| | 01:42 | This time I've changed my aperture to 2.8.
| | 01:49 | This composition sings. All of the
soft creamy lines bring you right back to
| | 01:54 | the one thing that is in focus. Even the
fern has been reduced to a soft line of green.
| | 02:01 | Now let's compare all four of them.
| | 02:03 | The aperture made less difference in
the first set of pictures where the
| | 02:06 | distance between the
flowers and camera was 10 feet.
| | 02:10 | In the second series we are
much closer, only a foot away.
| | 02:15 | Because of this you can really see
the difference when I changed my
| | 02:18 | aperture from 22 to 2.8.
| | 02:21 | Now keep in mind, I was
using a prime lens for this demo.
| | 02:24 | Had I been using a zoom lens, I could
have remained in the original position,
| | 02:29 | zoomed in, and achieved a
shallower depth of field as well.
| | 02:34 | So remember, it's not just your
aperture that affects your depth of field;
| | 02:38 | your focal length and distance from
the subject also play a role. And now, the
| | 02:44 | moment you have been waiting for, bokeh.
| | 02:47 | Bokeh is simply the
quality of blur in your photos.
| | 02:50 | Out-of-focus shapes and lines can
actually help or hurt the photo.
| | 02:55 | Bokeh is affected by the mechanics of
your lens, the lighting, the aperture, and
| | 03:00 | the background and foreground shapes.
| | 03:03 | Let's check it out.
| | 03:09 | Even at 2.8 I can't get rid
of this distracting background.
| | 03:13 | Rigid patterns like this
play havoc with your bokeh.
| | 03:16 | This really doesn't work for me.
| | 03:18 | Now we will use this other
background and see what we get.
| | 03:26 | Broader shapes create pleasing
bokeh that add complexity to the image.
| | 03:31 | Look at the two, side by side.
| | 03:33 | Which one do you prefer?
| | 03:36 | Don't think that bokeh is used
only in still-life compositions;
| | 03:40 | look at the beautiful bokeh in this
shot of the bear standing in a field.
| | 03:43 | The texture of the grass gradually blurs
until it becomes a palette of soft colors.
| | 03:49 | That bank of color holds the
composition of the photograph together.
| | 03:54 | Or this portrait of a girl.
| | 03:56 | I wanted her face to be the center of attention,
| | 03:59 | so I shot with a 200-millimeter lens at f/4.
| | 04:02 | I moved until I was able to
place her face so it was surrounded by
| | 04:06 | beautiful creamy color.
| | 04:09 | And do you see the subtle
diagonal line that blurred grass makes?
| | 04:12 | It helps to lead you through the frame.
| | 04:15 | Through thoughtful manipulation of the
depth of field, I took a simple situation
| | 04:19 | and created a compelling
portrait, and you can too.
| | 04:24 | Just remember to look at all things
in front of and behind your subject.
| | 04:28 | Figure out if they help or hurt your
photograph. Decide if you want them sharp
| | 04:34 | or out of focus and then
adjust your camera accordingly.
| | 04:38 | Controlling your depth of field is yet
another powerful tool to help you create
| | 04:43 | more effective photographs.
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2. The Role of ColorSunrise and sunset: The Kelvin scale| 00:01 | We all know that beautiful use of
color can make or break a photograph.
| | 00:06 | In the next few movies we will
take a look at how to do that.
| | 00:09 | Let's start by talking about the
color of light and white balance.
| | 00:13 | Simply put, this means that the
whites in your photographs are white.
| | 00:16 | They don't have a colorcast
of blue or orange or green.
| | 00:20 | Your eye naturally ignores these
color shifts, but not your camera;
| | 00:24 | you have to tell it what is white.
| | 00:26 | The color of light changes all the time.
| | 00:29 | The time of day makes a big difference,
but also the time of year, weather
| | 00:33 | conditions, and smog levels.
| | 00:36 | The Kelvin scale measures
the temperature of light.
| | 00:39 | The lower the number, say around
2400, the warmer the light; the higher
| | 00:44 | the colder the light.
| | 00:46 | To show this, Luke Deming shot this
nifty series of well over a thousand images
| | 00:51 | taken from 6:00 in the
morning until 8:00 at night.
| | 00:55 | All of the photographs were taken at
5500 Kelvin, which is considered the
| | 00:59 | temperature of light at high noon in July.
| | 01:03 | Watch how the white surfboard, water,
and sand, all change color, and check
| | 01:08 | out the shadows too.
| | 01:11 | The sky has a beautiful shade of
blue/purple right before sunrise.
| | 01:16 | The surfboard has a magenta
cast and the shadows are soft.
| | 01:20 | This is a great time to photograph.
| | 01:22 | The surfboard is in shadow
when the sun first comes up,
| | 01:25 | but look at the warm colorcast of
the sand and the waves, and watch how the
| | 01:30 | board becomes whiter as the morning progresses.
| | 01:34 | Around noon, the shadows are short.
The sand and board are at their most neutral tone.
| | 01:40 | As we move into late afternoon, the
board is now backlit, but you can see how
| | 01:44 | the sand has started to warm up again.
And as the sun sets over the Pacific, the
| | 01:50 | sand and waves are golden. The shadow is long.
| | 01:54 | Photographers call the hour around sunrise
and sunset the golden hour, and for good reason.
| | 02:00 | It's a dramatic time to photograph.
| | 02:02 | Don't only shoot the sunset,
but remember to turn around and photograph the
| | 02:06 | scene that is bathed in
that beautiful warm light.
| | 02:10 | Stay around after sunset too.
| | 02:11 | You will often have that amazing warm
glow lingering for another half hour or
| | 02:16 | so, especially if there
are any clouds in the sky.
| | 02:20 | So what if you're shooting indoors?
| | 02:22 | You have got to be aware of
the color of light inside too.
| | 02:25 | We'll explore that in the next movie.
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| White balance: Beyond natural light| 00:00 | We introduced you to the Kelvin
scale in the last movie, but it's used in
| | 00:04 | artificial light too.
| | 00:06 | Different light sources give
off different colors of light.
| | 00:09 | Tungsten and daylight-balanced
bulbs are the two most common.
| | 00:13 | The house lights in the studio are
daylight balanced, or 5500 Kelvin.
| | 00:18 | The camera is set to the daylight setting.
| | 00:21 | Let's turn on the studio light
and turn down the house lights.
| | 00:25 | These bulbs are also daylight,
so their color still looks good.
| | 00:29 | Now this light has tungsten bulbs.
| | 00:32 | Tungsten is warmer light, about 2500.
| | 00:36 | Check out how orange my face looks.
| | 00:39 | It's not because the light is orange.
| | 00:41 | It's because the camera
is still set for daylight.
| | 00:44 | Now let's switch to a camera that is
set for tungsten, and notice that the
| | 00:48 | daylight-balanced bulbs now appear blue.
| | 00:51 | Let's turn this light off to get a
better look at how the light from the
| | 00:54 | tungsten bulbs appear.
| | 00:56 | Your camera has settings
for different light sources.
| | 00:59 | In the next video we will show you
more about what these settings do.
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| White balance in camera| 00:00 | No matter what you plan to do with an
image in post-production, it's always a
| | 00:05 | good idea to start with as
true a white balance as possible.
| | 00:09 | Almost all cameras nowadays give
you a number of ways to do this.
| | 00:13 | The first and easiest way is to set your
camera in the automatic white balance mode.
| | 00:18 | The camera figures out what color the
light is and how to compensate for it.
| | 00:23 | So why not use this all the time?
| | 00:24 | It's simple and you don't have to
worry about it. And I use it at times too,
| | 00:29 | usually when things are happening so
quickly that I don't want to be readjusting
| | 00:33 | as I go. But most of the time I
avoid using it, and here is why:
| | 00:39 | the camera measures reflected light.
| | 00:41 | If the light is reflected off of
something that changes, it will affect the color.
| | 00:47 | Two photographs under the same
lighting may have two different colorcasts.
| | 00:52 | This is a real drag if you're
shooting a series of photographs or an
| | 00:55 | event like a wedding.
| | 00:57 | Instead, I like to use
one of the camera presets.
| | 01:00 | It ensures that all of the photographs you
take will have the same white balance setting.
| | 01:05 | Now here's a tip:
| | 01:06 | when shooting people in sunny
conditions or when I'm using my flash, I like to
| | 01:11 | use the cloudy preset.
| | 01:13 | It adds just a little bit
of warmth to a person's skin.
| | 01:17 | We've set up a very simple still live
to show you the different settings, and
| | 01:21 | we've hooked my camera up to the
monitor, so you can actually see what my
| | 01:26 | viewfinder is seeing.
| | 01:27 | The lights in the room have been
balanced for 5500 Kelvin, or daylight.
| | 01:33 | So what you'll see is what the camera
does to compensate for the colorcast.
| | 01:38 | It pumps in warm or cool tones
depending on the reflected light it perceives.
| | 01:43 | Right now I'm in auto white balance,
and I'll switch it over to daylight, a
| | 01:50 | little bit of a difference.
| | 01:52 | Now shade has a blue cast to it.
The camera adds warm tones. And look what
| | 01:57 | happens when I change it to the cloudy setting.
| | 02:00 | Again, it's adding a little bit of warm
tones to bring it back to a neutral white.
| | 02:06 | Tungsten light is notoriously orange,
and in this case the camera is going to
| | 02:11 | add blue to compensate for it.
| | 02:15 | The florescent setting is designed to
pump in the right color, but look at how
| | 02:19 | it adds just a little bit of magenta.
And camera flash tends to be very
| | 02:25 | minimally blue, so the white balance setting,
again, adds just a little bit of a warm tone to it.
| | 02:32 | The best thing about using one of
these presets is that you know all your
| | 02:36 | exposures will have the same color of light;
| | 02:39 | you're starting at the same base temperature.
| | 02:42 | For even more control over colorcasts,
you can set your custom color balance or
| | 02:49 | go into Kelvin and actually
manually set the Kelvin temperature.
| | 02:54 | Now here's one of my favorite
pieces of equipment, a gray card.
| | 02:59 | This has saved my bacon so
many times, I can't count.
| | 03:03 | The way you use this is to take a shot
of it in the same light that you'll be
| | 03:07 | photographing in. Then just put it away.
| | 03:10 | You don't need it for every
situation--only when the lighting changes.
| | 03:14 | And with a few quick clicks in your
image processing software, you can adjust
| | 03:19 | the white balance for every photograph
taken under the same lighting conditions.
| | 03:24 | I'll show you how to do
this later in the chapter.
| | 03:28 | Okay, so now we've done what we can to
ensure accurate white balance in the camera.
| | 03:32 | That will make post-production a lot
easier--not only easier, but way faster.
| | 03:39 | Later on I'll show you some of my
techniques for adjusting color in post.
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| Using color according to color theory | 00:01 | Color is a dynamic tool,
no matter how you use it.
| | 00:04 | Artists have known this forever,
and photographers discovered it when color film
| | 00:08 | was invented in 1907.
| | 00:10 | In this video I'll go over how to use
color to create compositional movement and
| | 00:15 | mood in your photographs.
| | 00:18 | So let's start with a little color theory.
| | 00:20 | You're probably familiar with the color wheel.
| | 00:23 | The primary colors are red, blue,
and yellow. For reflective art, like paintings,
| | 00:28 | you use these colors to mix all others.
| | 00:31 | In photography, our computer monitors
mix color with red, green, and blue, but
| | 00:36 | don't worry--the theory is
the same for all of them.
| | 00:39 | Colors that are opposite of each other
on a color wheel work very well together.
| | 00:44 | These are called complementary colors.
| | 00:46 | Blue is opposite orange,
violet is opposite yellow.
| | 00:50 | Colors are not all equal when it
comes to how our mind interprets them.
| | 00:54 | Warm colors advance, while cool colors recede.
| | 00:57 | You can use this to create depth
and movement in your photographs.
| | 01:01 | Yellow and orange are much more
in-your-face than blue and purple.
| | 01:06 | And according to some theories,
the photograph will seem off balance if you have
| | 01:10 | more area in yellow than blue or purple.
| | 01:13 | These theories state that the yellow
should be no more than 33% of the photograph.
| | 01:18 | Colors that are next to each
other on the color wheel create unity.
| | 01:25 | Vibrant colors like these work well
together because they're the same intensity.
| | 01:30 | Composing a photograph in cooler
shade creates a sense of calmness.
| | 01:36 | Blues and greens work well together
to enhance this feeling of serenity.
| | 01:41 | Sometimes the absence of color can
communicate the message you want, or add a
| | 01:47 | splash of color for an
entirely different message.
| | 01:50 | If you're working with pastels,
don't put in a super-saturated color.
| | 01:55 | The intensity of the red just
overwhelms the rest of the tones.
| | 02:00 | Be aware of how colors work with each
other when they're touching each other.
| | 02:03 | Right now I'm blending into the background,
but now I really pop out from the background.
| | 02:12 | Just as you'd use repeating shapes to
move the eyes through your frame, you can
| | 02:16 | use repeating color to do the same thing.
| | 02:19 | Classic artists would often place the
swatches of color in three places in their
| | 02:23 | paintings, so that they formed a triangle.
| | 02:26 | No matter if you are composing for
black and white or color, brighter light
| | 02:31 | regions in your photographs will
be the first place people look.
| | 02:35 | I use these guidelines on
assignment all the time.
| | 02:39 | See how the area of orange light seems
to advance against the purple blue of the
| | 02:43 | sky, and your eye landed on
that area of brighter light first.
| | 02:48 | I didn't know this at the time I was
shooting this photograph, but the area of
| | 02:52 | the yellow is 31% of the frame,
almost exactly what the theory calls for.
| | 02:58 | The photo of these salmon smolts has a
calming feel to it because the entire
| | 03:02 | photograph is in shades of blue.
| | 03:05 | I moved your eye through this
composition of reflected light on a river by
| | 03:09 | repeating the colors in the rocks.
| | 03:12 | The many shades of tan, brown,
and yellow and the texture of the grass and the
| | 03:17 | bear's fur create a subtle, but a resting, image.
| | 03:22 | Now according to art theory
guidelines, this photograph shouldn't work.
| | 03:26 | The yellow area of the photograph is way out
of proportion to the blue, but it does work.
| | 03:33 | The lines in the sand push your eye to
the ocean at the top of the photograph.
| | 03:38 | The blue anchors the yellow and
adds another point of interest.
| | 03:42 | Try covering the blue with your finger.
| | 03:44 | The photograph is not nearly as intriguing.
| | 03:47 | So learn the rules.
Incorporate them in your work.
| | 03:50 | But remember to experiment, to create
photographs that truly embody your vision.
| | 03:57 | We've looked at color in theory and in
practice, and we've shown you some basic rules.
| | 04:02 | We've also shown you that you can break
those rules. But the main thing is that
| | 04:06 | you recognize and utilize color to
create movement and mood in your photography.
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| Color in post| 00:00 | In the last couple of videos we've
learned about the color of light and how to
| | 00:04 | correct your white balance in camera.
| | 00:06 | Now we've put our captures into our
editing software and we are ready to make
| | 00:10 | the final adjustments.
| | 00:12 | I'll be demonstrating in Adobe's
Lightroom, but the principles translate
| | 00:16 | for other software too.
| | 00:19 | So the first thing I do is
go into the Develop mode.
| | 00:22 | It gives you a lot more
ability to adjust the photograph.
| | 00:28 | The photograph is the one that we are using
to chart our color temperature for the day.
| | 00:35 | I'm having the model hold a gray card.
| | 00:38 | Now what's going to happen is I will
take the Eyedropper and come over here and
| | 00:43 | get a white balance that is correct.
| | 00:46 | So now that the white balance is correct,
I would be able to in just a couple of
| | 00:51 | clicks get a correct white balance for
all of these photographs, and there it is!
| | 00:58 | All of these photographs have the
correct white balance on them at this time.
| | 01:04 | Now, I would go in and individually
work on them a little bit, depending on what
| | 01:09 | the situation is like, to really finesse
them, or I could do a global adjustment
| | 01:14 | by adjusting the blacks and the
contrast and maybe the exposure too and again
| | 01:20 | sinking this across all of the photographs.
| | 01:25 | So let's take a look at another example.
| | 01:28 | This is a pretty nice looking photograph,
pretty straight on, but I want to see
| | 01:32 | what the color balance really is on
this, and I don't have a gray card.
| | 01:37 | So the way to do this is to grab onto
your Eyedropper tool and find a Neutral.
| | 01:43 | Look at the numbers on the bottom of the target.
| | 01:46 | You can see that they are very close.
| | 01:48 | That means that you have
got a good neutral going.
| | 01:51 | It looks a little bit blue.
| | 01:54 | Let's try that again.
| | 01:55 | I want to see if this girl's
pants will give us what we need.
| | 01:59 | No, that's definitely not
the look I am going for,
| | 02:02 | so we will go back and get a
nice clean neutral, and there it is.
| | 02:08 | At this point I can decide whether or
not I want to warm it up a little bit or
| | 02:11 | leave it correctly balanced, as it is now.
| | 02:14 | I think I am going to warm it up a
little bit to really bring out some of the
| | 02:18 | jewel tones in the vegetation. All right!
| | 02:23 | So that's looking pretty nice.
| | 02:24 | Now, I notice that the red of the
girl's top is a little bit too intense,
| | 02:31 | so I'm going to go down and take the
saturation down on just the reds. There it is!
| | 02:39 | And that will print nicely at this point.
| | 02:41 | Now, the other thing that I would
like to do is I would like to darken the
| | 02:46 | greens, so again in the Hue,
Saturation, and Luminance panel, I will go to
| | 02:51 | Luminance, click on that,
and click on the Target Adjustment tool.
| | 02:56 | This is a wonderful tool where if you
bring it out into the color that you want
| | 03:00 | to darken, mouse down,
and then drag your mouse down,
| | 03:06 | you'll darken those greens and only the greens.
| | 03:10 | Everything else is left okay.
| | 03:13 | Now, you may be noticing that
there is blue in the shadows.
| | 03:17 | This is simply a warning to me that
whatever is blue is not going to have any
| | 03:23 | detail in the blacks, and it's just a
nice way to let you know when you're
| | 03:28 | adjusting that you've lost the detail there.
| | 03:31 | I don't mind if the detail is lost in
those blacks because there's really not
| | 03:35 | that much detail that I want to see there.
| | 03:37 | So I am not going to
worry about it at this time.
| | 03:40 | Now this is looking pretty good,
but there is something I want to do to add a
| | 03:44 | little bit of a creative adjustment to it.
| | 03:48 | I want to darken down the stairway
and the steps, because I want all the
| | 03:52 | attention to be brought down this
beautiful diagonal line and into the girls.
| | 03:57 | So I'm going to go up into the Adjustment
Brush, click on that, and adjust my Exposure.
| | 04:05 | I think about that will work.
| | 04:07 | Come out with my brush and
darken down those stairs.
| | 04:13 | I want to also darken down a little bit
of here, around here, and in this area too.
| | 04:19 | It's just a little bright.
| | 04:20 | Now, if I want to increase the darkness,
I come back here and pull the Exposure
| | 04:28 | down until I like it, and I
think that works very nicely there.
| | 04:33 | So Lightroom has a lot of great tools
for you to adjust your RAWs in, but don't
| | 04:41 | think of them only as ways to adjust
something that went wrong, but think of
| | 04:46 | these tools as something that
you can do to be very creative.
| | 04:50 | Let's take a look at a shot that I did.
| | 04:54 | So you can see that I have the warning
on that I'm clipping some of the whites.
| | 05:01 | That is one thing I never ever want to do,
| | 05:03 | so I am going to come down here and
work with the Recovery mode, and that
| | 05:10 | takes it right away.
| | 05:11 | But the main thing about this
photograph is that I knew the color was not
| | 05:15 | going to look very good.
| | 05:17 | I knew what I wanted to do with it,
and what I wanted to do with it was to create
| | 05:21 | more of an artistic feel to it.
| | 05:23 | I love the texture in the grass and I
love the reflection of the sky in his
| | 05:28 | trumpet and his posture.
| | 05:30 | I loved everything about this, but I
did not like the color, and so what I did
| | 05:34 | was I went in and added some warm
temperature to it and pulled the Saturation back,
| | 05:40 | so I could create something that was
more on the fine arts side than the
| | 05:44 | photojournalistic side.
| | 05:46 | So that's what you should remember about
Lightroom, is not only can you use it to
| | 05:51 | make adjustments, to do corrections,
but you can also use it to really unleash
| | 05:56 | the creative artist within.
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| Black and white| 00:00 | I love black-and-white photography.
| | 00:03 | It's all I shot for years.
| | 00:05 | I learned to see in black and white
while watching an old black-and-white TV
| | 00:10 | set in my living room.
| | 00:12 | I discovered how different colors
translate into different shades of gray.
| | 00:17 | Do you remember the colors of these folders?
| | 00:20 | The conversion may not be quite what you expect.
| | 00:23 | The blues are lighter, the reds are
darker, and in the old days of film, we
| | 00:28 | adjusted for this with filters.
| | 00:29 | For example, to darken a blue sky,
we would use the yellow or red filter.
| | 00:35 | Now, this is still possible if you
choose to capture in a black-and-white mode
| | 00:39 | of your digital camera. But you know what?
| | 00:41 | With digital photography you can turn
any photograph into a black-and-white
| | 00:46 | image simply by adjusting the
saturation in your processing software.
| | 00:51 | So for this reason, I recommend that
you shoot RAW in color to have the maximum
| | 00:56 | flexibility when you process your images.
| | 00:59 | The question you should ask yourself
though is, why do you want your photo
| | 01:03 | in black and white?
| | 01:05 | Here are some of the
reasons I choose black-and-white.
| | 01:08 | The message in my photograph
will have much more impact.
| | 01:12 | This photograph is so striking that I
think color would've gotten in the way.
| | 01:18 | The lighting is so bad that
it distracts from the image.
| | 01:21 | Evenly lit florescent rooms are a killer.
| | 01:26 | The textures and shapes will
support the composition and add interest.
| | 01:30 | The texture of the ivy contrasts very
nicely with that of the doll's face.
| | 01:36 | Another reason is that the treatment
will add artistic value to the final print.
| | 01:41 | This looked, felt, and smelt
like a scene from the 1940s.
| | 01:48 | Now if you're going to convert your
images to black and white, there are some
| | 01:51 | things you should consider when you're shooting.
| | 01:53 | Black-and-white photos can be made
under any light, but you will probably be a
| | 01:58 | bit more successful if you shoot in
soft light without intense shadows, like on
| | 02:03 | a cloudy day or after sunset or before sunrise.
| | 02:08 | But please, don't get me wrong.
| | 02:10 | I'm not saying that high-contrast light
never produces great black and white--it does.
| | 02:16 | This shot was taken at 3 in the afternoon.
| | 02:19 | You just have to make sure that your
exposure gives you details in the shadows
| | 02:23 | without overexposing the highlights.
| | 02:26 | So now that we've talked about
the why, let's talk about the how.
| | 02:30 | In the next video I will show you
some ways to convert your RAWs to black
| | 02:34 | and white.
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| Black and white in post| 00:00 | Most imaging software programs
give you a couple ways to convert
| | 00:04 | to black and white.
| | 00:05 | I'll be demonstrating in Adobe Lightroom,
but the techniques will apply to others too.
| | 00:10 | The first thing I do is
go into the Develop Module.
| | 00:14 | I really like the control it gives you.
| | 00:16 | You have much more control than
when you're working in the Library alone.
| | 00:21 | One simple way is to go over here
and click on the Black & White, and you
| | 00:26 | immediately get a nice conversion.
| | 00:29 | Once you've done that, you can adjust
it a little bit by using the sliders.
| | 00:33 | Increase the Exposure, decrease it.
| | 00:37 | I like to add blacks.
| | 00:39 | I like a beefy print,
| | 00:41 | so I pull that over a little bit.
| | 00:44 | Another way is to go down to Saturation
and pull the slider all the way over to -100.
| | 00:51 | Again, at that point you can go back in
and adjust your Blacks, your Brightness,
| | 00:57 | whatever you want to do with
this particular photograph.
| | 01:01 | Now, Lightroom has all sorts of great presets.
| | 01:04 | Watch the preview up here
as I scroll through them.
| | 01:08 | It gives you an idea of
what that kind of technique is.
| | 01:12 | Which one you choose will
really depend on your preference.
| | 01:17 | Let's take a look at the High Contrast.
| | 01:19 | Now this one, to my mind,
is a little bit too contrasty.
| | 01:23 | So I am just going to go over here and
I am going to adjust it a little bit,
| | 01:26 | drop down the Contrast, and I will
brighten it up a little bit too.
| | 01:32 | But the best way for me to convert
is to go down to the Hue, Saturation,
| | 01:37 | and Luminance panel.
| | 01:40 | I go into Saturation and I pull
each of the colors down to -100.
| | 01:48 | The photograph is still in color, but I'm
just taking the saturation out of the colors.
| | 01:55 | After that's done, I go to the
Luminance. And this is a wonderful tool,
| | 02:00 | the Target Adjustment tool. Click on that,
go over to the area in the photograph
| | 02:06 | that you want to darken or lighten,
and it will catch only the color that is the
| | 02:11 | dominant color there.
| | 02:13 | So in this case I want to darken the
blue, so I am clicking and holding and
| | 02:17 | pulling down, and see how that's
darkening the blue up there in the sky?
| | 02:22 | If I want to lighten it, I can just
push it back up and it's lightened up.
| | 02:28 | So let's take that back down.
We'll pull it down, pull it down.
| | 02:33 | Yeah, that's where I want it.
| | 02:36 | Now I also want to darken this area.
| | 02:38 | This was a day where there was a
little bit of smog in the Seattle skyline,
| | 02:43 | so I'm pulling down this a little bit
to kind of bring that down in value.
| | 02:50 | Now, down here, the greens, I want to
raise them up just to give a little bit
| | 02:54 | more detail in them.
| | 02:55 | So I am clicking and holding and
pushing up, and it is just very subtle, what I
| | 03:02 | have done down here, but I
think it adds to the photograph.
| | 03:05 | Okay, that looks pretty good.
| | 03:08 | Now, I am going to go back up and take the
Adjustment brush and darken the sky even more.
| | 03:15 | So I will go in here.
| | 03:17 | I have got -.61. I'm going to bring the
Contrast back to 0, because I like to
| | 03:24 | adjust individual brushes.
| | 03:26 | That way I can mess with them a
little bit later, as far as the intensity.
| | 03:30 | I am going to do the right bracket to
increase my brush size and then start
| | 03:37 | painting the sky a little darker.
| | 03:41 | So I think that's just a little bit heavy.
| | 03:43 | I am going to pull it back up just a little bit.
| | 03:46 | Now I want to increase contrast.
| | 03:48 | So I am going to go to a new brush,
and I am going to increase that contrast.
| | 03:53 | Again, I'll put it up to 46,
51, see what it looks like.
| | 03:57 | Using the same big brush, I
will go in and paint the sky.
| | 04:03 | Increase the contrast a little more,
and the clouds are really popping out
| | 04:08 | from that nice blue sky. All right!
| | 04:11 | That looks pretty good.
| | 04:12 | At this point, I think that I'm going
to just go back and do a little bit more
| | 04:16 | adjustment on the Exposure.
| | 04:21 | That looks pretty good. I'm going to go in and
beef up the blacks a little bit. That looks good.
| | 04:28 | So I like what's happened here.
| | 04:30 | This is going to look really dynamic as a print.
| | 04:33 | Let's take a look at where I
started and where I finished.
| | 04:38 | This is the started. This is the finished.
Compare them side to side. Pretty nice!
| | 04:44 | I like the black and white a
lot better than I like the color.
| | 04:47 | There are a lot of ways to convert to
black and white, but in the end it really
| | 04:51 | boils down to what works for your creative eye.
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|
|
3. Light and LightingThe message of light| 00:00 | The scientific definition of light is
"electromagnetic radiation that has a
| | 00:07 | wavelength in a range from 4000 to
7700 angstroms and may be perceived by the
| | 00:13 | normal unaided human eye."
| | 00:17 | But does that really describe the
beauty and wonder of light we experience?
| | 00:22 | Does it take into account how
our moods are affected by light?
| | 00:25 | It tells us nothing of why we
sometimes describe light as sweet or caressing.
| | 00:31 | Photography is poetry with light.
| | 00:34 | Our cameras capture the light that
dances off the subject in front of us.
| | 00:39 | We can choose to leave
it natural or manipulate it.
| | 00:42 | We can even create it.
| | 00:44 | These choices are based on the mood
that you want to set with your lighting.
| | 00:48 | Here are few principles of light:
| | 00:51 | contrasty light creates a somber
serious mood; even lighting creates a happier
| | 00:56 | feel; flat lighting minimizes
features; and side lighting can add depth.
| | 01:03 | Sometimes the lighting is so
interesting that it just pulls you in.
| | 01:07 | It poses a question.
| | 01:09 | No matter if you're photographing people
or landscapes, think about what kind of
| | 01:13 | lighting message you want to send.
| | 01:17 | Take a look at this photograph I
did over in Russia. I love the light.
| | 01:22 | The message of her expression and
the message of the light is the same.
| | 01:27 | This one I took just a few seconds later.
| | 01:31 | She has a beautiful smile and
the light is still beautiful,
| | 01:35 | but does it work as well? I don't think so.
| | 01:38 | The message of her expression and
the message of the light conflicts.
| | 01:44 | Here are a few more examples.
| | 01:47 | I photographed this Native American
drummer in the longhouse before a ceremony.
| | 01:51 | The beautiful shaft of light in his
expression creates a thoughtful and
| | 01:56 | serious photograph.
| | 01:58 | The message is clean and this one is too.
| | 02:02 | This little six year old
is celebrating her birthday.
| | 02:05 | The even lighting accentuates
the happy expression on her face.
| | 02:10 | So the next time you're composing a
photograph, ask yourself if the message of
| | 02:15 | the lighting and the message
of the photograph is the same.
| | 02:18 | If it isn't, you need to adjust your lighting.
| | 02:22 | In the next few videos, we will show
you some basic lighting techniques that
| | 02:25 | will help you develop your lighting message.
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| One-light setup| 00:01 | We've talked about the message of light,
but now let's take a look at how to create it.
| | 00:05 | This is Margo, and she's
going to be helping us out today.
| | 00:09 | Thank you so much for coming in.
| | 00:12 | We'll start with a simple one-light setup.
| | 00:14 | This will be our main, or key, light.
| | 00:17 | To better illustrate this, let's bring down
the house lights and I'll fire this one up.
| | 00:24 | You can see, as I move this light around,
how the contours in her face really change.
| | 00:36 | Now this is what's known as a hair
light and you can see that it eliminates the
| | 00:40 | hair and separates her from the background.
| | 00:43 | This is more of a silhouette.
| | 00:46 | Now Margo, could you
please turn toward the right.
| | 00:48 | There we go, and see how
pretty that is on her face.
| | 00:52 | We've got kind of a room light.
| | 00:54 | I'll bring it a little bit
further. Very, very pretty!
| | 00:58 | Now this is the kind of light--
go ahead and look straight please--
| | 01:02 | this is the kind of light
that our flashes create--
| | 01:06 | not nearly as pretty. It's very flat.
| | 01:10 | You lose the depth and the contouring
around her face, and this was the glamour
| | 01:16 | light that often Hollywood
would use on their actresses.
| | 01:20 | Now one thing to look at, too, is the sharp
line between the highlights and the shadows.
| | 01:29 | As I move the light back, you can see how
that line kind of diffuses; it becomes softer.
| | 01:37 | The closer the light source to the
subject, the harder, more contrasty the light;
| | 01:41 | the further away, the softer the light.
| | 01:45 | So go ahead and smile for me,
| | 01:47 | a bigger smile, even bigger.
| | 01:51 | Now her smile is beautiful, but the lighting
message we're sending is a more serious one,
| | 01:57 | so go ahead and just kind of be a
little serious, a little somber.
| | 02:01 | So now her expression is fitting the
lighting message that we're trying to send.
| | 02:07 | With a softer and more even light,
you can have that big happy smile.
| | 02:13 | So far we've been using a direct light
source, but other examples of a direct
| | 02:17 | light source might be a flash or the sun.
| | 02:21 | You can also make your light source
indirect, meaning that the light bounces off
| | 02:25 | something before it hits the subject.
| | 02:27 | For this, you would use a reflector,
a white card, a concrete driveway;
| | 02:33 | basically anything that
reflects light will work.
| | 02:35 | So I'm going to have my assistant come
in here and lend me a hand of this demo.
| | 02:40 | I'm also going to increase her
light source, because we are bouncing it
| | 02:46 | a greater distance.
| | 02:49 | So check out this and how the light
really becomes softer on her face.
| | 02:59 | Look at how the line between the
highlights and the shadows really has become
| | 03:04 | softer and more diffused.
And see that beautiful triangle?
| | 03:09 | Turn your head just a little and now bring it
back this way please, even a little bit more.
| | 03:15 | See that beautiful triangle
that's highlighting her eye?
| | 03:18 | It creates all sorts of depths
in her face, and really is just a
| | 03:23 | lovely caressing light.
| | 03:26 | So give me a little bit
of a smile. There you go.
| | 03:30 | I love the smile still,
| | 03:32 | I love the light, but I'm still
thinking that the smile is not matching
| | 03:36 | our lighting message.
| | 03:38 | So go ahead and just a small smile though.
| | 03:42 | There you go, much better.
| | 03:46 | So you can achieve this same soft
light by adding a diffusion between your
| | 03:53 | light and the subject.
| | 03:55 | I'm going to point this back at you.
| | 04:00 | Again, look at how harsh those shadows are and
look at that triangle by her eye. Now watch this.
| | 04:08 | Oh, is that sweet?
| | 04:11 | So if you had a choice, which
kind of light would you like to be
| | 04:15 | photographed under: this or this?
| | 04:21 | Definitely this one.
| | 04:23 | Now this is a commercial product, but there
are a lots of other things that can work for you:
| | 04:28 | a bed sheet, a shower curtain, a window sheer.
| | 04:32 | Now that you've got a working
understanding of a single light source, let's take
| | 04:36 | a look at adding a second
light source in the next movie.
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| Two-light setup| 00:01 | So this is where we ended the
last movie, with a key, or main, light.
| | 00:05 | Now we're going to add a second light.
| | 00:07 | It will be filling in the shadows.
| | 00:10 | That's why we call it a fill light.
| | 00:15 | The exposure for both of them is
about F/11, and they're placed about three
| | 00:20 | feet away from Margo.
| | 00:21 | Now see how the shadows have
disappeared? Everything is evenly lit.
| | 00:25 | Now Margo, can you smile for me? Oh!
| | 00:27 | That's great! That's very nice.
| | 00:31 | Her smile really works with this lighting.
| | 00:34 | Now I'm going to move the second light,
the fill light, back to about twice the
| | 00:39 | distance, and we can see how the
shadows are starting to change.
| | 00:46 | They're a little bit deeper, but very beautiful,
very dimensional in their look on her face.
| | 00:54 | Now go ahead and smile again. There you go.
| | 00:57 | Big smile! There you go.
| | 00:58 | Okay, it works so well with her expression.
| | 01:05 | Now I'm going to move a little bit
back further, and you can see that the
| | 01:10 | shadows are starting to deepen and look at
the line between the highlights and the shadows.
| | 01:16 | It's really starting to get contrasty again.
| | 01:19 | Now give me another smile please, yeah.
| | 01:21 | The expression is still beautiful,
but with the lighting message that I'm
| | 01:28 | starting to give, it's not quite as good.
| | 01:30 | I'm really going to move back.
| | 01:36 | So now, you can really see how the
shadows have deepened and check out again
| | 01:41 | that line between highlight and shadow.
| | 01:43 | Okay, now give me a smile.
| | 01:46 | You know it's a little bit too
contrasty for that expression, and so with this
| | 01:50 | lightning, I think I want a more subtle look.
| | 01:53 | Can you just a little, and now let's
try a serious look. There you go.
| | 02:01 | So what is the right lighting for this portrait?
| | 02:04 | As with everything in lighting, it's
subjective, and it really depends on
| | 02:08 | your lighting message.
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| Seeing and enhancing natural light| 00:00 | Natural light comes in three ways:
| | 00:03 | amazing, okay-with-potential, and awful.
| | 00:06 | I'm a natural light junkie.
| | 00:08 | I love it when I walk into a
situation and the light is so wonderful I
| | 00:12 | just start shooting.
| | 00:13 | Unfortunately, that
happens about 10% of the time.
| | 00:17 | The rest of the time I have to
enhance it or create it, and that's the first
| | 00:21 | thing I determine when I
walk into any situation.
| | 00:24 | So let's take a look at this in action.
| | 00:27 | Here we have amazing, beautiful natural light.
| | 00:31 | I love the diagonals that come down
from the blinds, and I'm putting this in my
| | 00:35 | okay-with-potential category.
| | 00:38 | The problem is that the difference and
intensity between highlight and shadow is
| | 00:42 | just too great for our cameras to capture.
| | 00:44 | So if I expose for the highlights
then I have shadows without details;
| | 00:48 | if I expose for the shadows
I've blown out the highlights.
| | 00:52 | Our brains interpret the scene with
detail in the shadows, but our sensors can't.
| | 00:56 | The good news is that I can change
this without affecting the overall light
| | 01:02 | message of the portrait.
| | 01:03 | The easiest way is to bring in a
reflector to fill in the shadows.
| | 01:07 | I want to just kiss the light right in there.
| | 01:10 | So Josh, would you please bring that in please?
| | 01:14 | And look what's happening on her cheek:
it's just adding just a little bit more light.
| | 01:20 | Now you can change it by moving it
closer or bringing it further away,
| | 01:27 | or changing the angle.
Let me take a few shots here.
| | 01:30 | Okay, so tilt your head just a little bit
and a little bit of a smile.
| | 01:37 | Oh, that's nice. Thank you! Okay, see how that works?
| | 01:44 | When using a reflector, remember that
light bounces off a surface at the same
| | 01:48 | angle that it strikes it.
| | 01:50 | This knowledge will help you figure out
where to put the reflector, and now you
| | 01:54 | don't have to spend a
lot of money on reflectors;
| | 01:57 | white cardboard works just fine.
| | 02:00 | We've pulled the blinds and now we have
straight light coming in the window. It's very harsh.
| | 02:06 | Let me take a few shots here.
| | 02:08 | Can you go ahead and
tilt and look at the window?
| | 02:16 | Look how harsh the shadows are and how
deep the shadows are, and that separation
| | 02:21 | between highlight and shadow is very
sharp. But look what happens when we bring
| | 02:27 | a sheer white curtain across it.
| | 02:28 | See how the light is softened? The shadow
is less intense and the highlight shadow
| | 02:33 | edge is broader and softer.
| | 02:36 | Let me take another couple of
shots. Oh, I like this light.
| | 02:39 | Okay and go ahead and tilt your head.
| | 02:41 | All right, and now smile,
give me a smile. Oh, sweet!
| | 02:48 | Thank you!
| | 02:49 | See how the sheer has softened the
shadows and also note the contrast between
| | 02:56 | the highlight and the shadow is much softer.
| | 03:00 | Now we have lace across the window,
and it totally changes the whole message of
| | 03:04 | the lighting in this photograph.
| | 03:06 | Go ahead and look out the window this time.
| | 03:10 | Oh, that's beautiful.
| | 03:16 | I really love how the lace is on
her face and also on the tablecloth.
| | 03:20 | It gives it a beautiful message.
| | 03:22 | So get creative when you're working with
light, and remember, you have three choices:
| | 03:28 | leave it alone, enhance it, or create it.
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| Changing and replicating natural light| 00:01 | I'm from Seattle, where we
have consistent light year round:
| | 00:04 | three months of bright
sunshine and nine months of flat gray.
| | 00:09 | It's a challenge to get the beautiful
sunlight streaming through the window in
| | 00:13 | December, but with a little bit of light
know-how, you can create that dazzling sunshine.
| | 00:19 | Put your main light outside the window,
adjust your light, flash, or reflector to
| | 00:24 | fill the subject, and voila!
| | 00:26 | You have a sunny day.
| | 00:28 | Remember the photographs we took in the
last movie of Margo near a sunlit window?
| | 00:33 | Look how they compare to photographs
taken of her when using our artificial
| | 00:37 | sunlight setup, or maybe you want to
recreate the natural light of a lamp.
| | 00:42 | Most bulbs are pretty dim in our cameras.
| | 00:45 | You can increase your ISO, risking a
little bit of noise, or replace the bulbs
| | 00:49 | with brighter ones for
the duration of the shoot.
| | 00:52 | I often use a slaved flash in lamps.
| | 00:55 | I love this equipment.
| | 00:57 | It's a flash with a sensor that is
triggered when another flash is set off.
| | 01:01 | I simply put it in the lamp, take an
exposure reading, get my subject in position,
| | 01:06 | and trigger it with an on-camera flash
bounced off the ceiling. Check this out.
| | 01:16 | The settings on my on-camera flash are
determined by how much I want it to fill the scene.
| | 01:20 | When blending natural light in flash,
the natural light determines the
| | 01:24 | settings on your flash.
| | 01:27 | I used this piece of equipment to
illuminate a cross in a chapel in
| | 01:31 | Mexico's Copper Canyon.
| | 01:34 | I had beautiful light coming in from the window.
| | 01:36 | I had plenty of exposure for the room,
but the cross was lost in the shadows.
| | 01:41 | So I put my slave flash behind it and
popped on an on-camera flash to trigger it,
| | 01:47 | and the result was an image
where the cross dominated the scene.
| | 01:52 | In a thatched roof hut in Guatemala, I
wanted to recreate the glow of a cooking
| | 01:56 | fire as a woman made tortillas.
| | 01:59 | The hut was so dark I could hardly see to focus.
| | 02:02 | I put an orange gel over the slave and
triggered it with my on-camera flash.
| | 02:07 | Now the light looks like
it's coming from the fire.
| | 02:11 | My goal in almost all of my lighting is
to create beautiful and believable light
| | 02:16 | that enforces the message I
want to create in my photographs.
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|
|
4. MotionThe role of motion in photography| 00:00 | Our cameras are designed to give you the
choice of blurring or stopping the action,
| | 00:05 | but it's really up to us to decide
which one would be more effective to the
| | 00:08 | message and the subject of our photograph.
| | 00:11 | If the point of your photograph is to
show a bear lunging for a salmon, then you
| | 00:15 | may want to stop the action.
| | 00:17 | If you want to create a sense of
speed, then panning is the way to go.
| | 00:22 | But if you want a more poetic message,
then let the subject move through the
| | 00:26 | frame or jiggle the camera a little bit.
| | 00:28 | If you want to create interest and
use perceived motion as a tool of
| | 00:32 | composition, you can try zooming.
| | 00:35 | The point is that your use of motion is
yet one more of the decisions you make
| | 00:39 | when creating a photograph.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Camera settings for freezing or blurring motion| 00:01 | As you know, there are
three components to exposure:
| | 00:04 | one is aperture, one is ISO,
and one is shutter speed.
| | 00:08 | Before we talked about aperture and
how it affects your depth of field, today
| | 00:12 | we're going to talk about your shutter
speed and how that affects your motion
| | 00:15 | in your photograph.
| | 00:18 | We have a helper here, Margo, who is
going to help us with a series of
| | 00:21 | photographs at different shutter speeds,
to see exactly when we can stop the action.
| | 00:26 | The first one we're going to
do is that 1/2000th of a second.
| | 00:32 | That should stop just about anything.
| | 00:35 | The aperture will be probably around 2.8
to 4, and I'm working at an ISO of 100,
| | 00:42 | because it's such a beautiful day here.
| | 00:44 | So, let's see what happens here.
| | 00:46 | Okay Margo!
| | 00:56 | Yup, just as I expected.
| | 00:59 | The motion is completely frozen.
| | 01:01 | I think we will try it
again at 1/250th of a second.
| | 01:05 | I am still going to be in the
shutter priority mode, in automatic.
| | 01:09 | Okay Margo!
| | 01:19 | Oh yeah, now I am starting to
see a little bit of motion in the photograph,
| | 01:24 | just barely a little bit in her
hands and her feet in some of these.
| | 01:29 | So now we are going to drop
down to 1/60th of a second.
| | 01:32 | We are really going to
start to see the motion here.
| | 01:35 | Okay. Using a 60th of a second with a
runner who is so fast means that her
| | 01:50 | body is a blur as it goes through the
photograph, so think about what we've done today.
| | 01:56 | We started at 1/2000th of a second,
where we showed that the action
| | 02:01 | is completely stopped.
| | 02:03 | At 1/250th of a second, the action
is starting to be kind of blurry.
| | 02:08 | The motion is starting to get into
there, and then of course 1/60th of a
| | 02:12 | second, there is no stop action there at all.
| | 02:15 | So it's kind of subjective, when you
start thinking about which one is better.
| | 02:20 | For my taste, I like the one
where all the action is stopped.
| | 02:24 | I think that her gait is so
lovely and her face is so great.
| | 02:29 | I like that one a lot.
| | 02:31 | You know I could also go a little
bit with 1/250th of a second too.
| | 02:35 | It's got just a little bit of motion
in it that I think indicates speed.
| | 02:39 | What I do know is that I do not like
the 60th of a second for what I'm trying
| | 02:44 | to accomplish here, which is to
create a sense of speed, and showing this
| | 02:50 | young runner at her best.
| | 02:52 | So with a little bit of experience,
you'll start to figure out what shutter
| | 02:56 | speed really works best for the
topic that you're photographing and the
| | 03:01 | subject's power as they move through the frame.
| | 03:06 | It takes a little bit of time,
but with practice you'll get it.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Techniques for panning| 00:00 | There are times that you want to
stop action and yet still convey motion,
| | 00:05 | so the answer for you is to pan.
| | 00:08 | A pan is simply to follow the action
with your camera at a slow shutter speed.
| | 00:13 | There are lots of ways to mess up a pan,
and believe me, I haven't done them all.
| | 00:19 | But with a few tips it will help bring up
your percentage of success, with this technique.
| | 00:25 | So the first thing that we are going to
do is look for a background that has a
| | 00:29 | nice texture to it or gradations
of black and white or great color.
| | 00:34 | That will really add
interest to your background.
| | 00:37 | The next thing is to figure out how fast
the subject is actually going and
| | 00:43 | adjust your shutter speed accordingly.
| | 00:45 | I like to use between the 1/15th and
1/60th of a second for my shutter speeds
| | 00:50 | when I'm doing a pan.
| | 00:51 | And then the next thing to do is
to figure out your focus situation.
| | 00:57 | Now I've found that using a servo, the
automatic focus in servo mode, is really
| | 01:04 | all I need to do, and that is always
recalculating the focus as we go along.
| | 01:10 | And then the final tip, and probably
the most important tip that I can give
| | 01:14 | you, is to think about where the
action is going to start and where the
| | 01:18 | action is going to end.
| | 01:21 | Take your feet and point it at where
you think the action is going to end,
| | 01:26 | and then you can curve your body around and
look at where the action is going to start.
| | 01:33 | As these runners go by us, I will
be very smoothly photographing as my
| | 01:39 | body naturally unwinds.
| | 01:41 | Okay, so let's try it out.
| | 01:44 | I'm shooting at 1/60th of a
second, and I am at an ISO of 100.
| | 01:49 | I am on shutter priority,
and I think we are ready to go.
| | 01:54 | Are you guys ready?
All right, let's do it. Great!
| | 02:05 | Now did you see how smooth that was,
to just follow them as they came by me?
| | 02:11 | It works really well.
| | 02:12 | Oh yeah, okay, so I'm
seeing some of the pans in there.
| | 02:16 | I am seeing some of the
streaks from the background.
| | 02:19 | But I think that we can
try it a little bit slower.
| | 02:22 | I am going to move my camera back down to
1/30th of a second and see what we can get from that.
| | 02:28 | Okay, gentlemen, are you ready?
| | 02:38 | Okay. Oh yeah. Okay, that's working.
The streaks from the bleachers are really cool.
| | 02:46 | They are really nice and long, and yet I still
have the action stopped on one of the runners.
| | 02:53 | This is going to be fun.
| | 02:55 | I think I am going to take it down to 1/15th
of a second and just see what that will do.
| | 03:00 | All right, are you ready to roll?
| | 03:14 | Okay, yeah, I think maybe the 15th of
a second was a little bit slow for the
| | 03:19 | message that I'm trying to send.
| | 03:21 | It certainly was artistic,
but there was nothing in focus.
| | 03:24 | I'm not quite sure that gets across the
message of speed that I was hoping for.
| | 03:29 | Now remember the 30th of
a second was really nice.
| | 03:33 | The streaks of the bleachers were really
long and yet parts of the athletes were
| | 03:38 | sharp, and the action had been stopped.
| | 03:40 | So I am going to take a look at that again.
| | 03:42 | That one was the best one so far.
| | 03:45 | Now the thing with pans is, don't
expect to get it on your first try.
| | 03:51 | Just keep working at it. Keep trying.
| | 03:53 | Keep experimenting with
different shutter speeds.
| | 03:55 | I mean eventually, you'll get to a
point where your percentage of success goes
| | 04:00 | up, but nobody, no matter
how experienced they are, gets it on the
| | 04:05 | first try. Have fun with it.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Other ways to create motion| 00:00 | We have reviewed some of the more
common ways to handle motion on our shots,
| | 00:05 | but there are an endless number of other
possibilities for creating a sense of motion too.
| | 00:10 | Let your subject move through the photograph.
| | 00:13 | This can really send a cool, edgy message.
| | 00:16 | Have your subject stand still and let the
action move around your subject. Move your camera.
| | 00:23 | You can move it to create a zoom effect,
or sideways for a bit of motion blur,
| | 00:27 | or jiggle it for just that hint of edgy.
| | 00:31 | Zoom in or out while you're taking the shot.
| | 00:33 | It's a bit poetic in my mind.
| | 00:36 | As with all photo techniques, these
will eventually become easier to execute,
| | 00:41 | and you'll have yet another tool
for enhancing your compositions.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Creating blur in Photoshop| 00:01 | So you've tried the pan or zoom
techniques and you just can't get them to work
| | 00:04 | for you--at least not yet. Or you
might have an existing shot that you think
| | 00:09 | would look really good with motion added.
| | 00:11 | Well, there is another option.
| | 00:13 | You can recreate blur in
Photoshop using the blur filters.
| | 00:17 | I'll go over a couple techniques
that I find practical in my work.
| | 00:20 | But as you know, if you've ever used
the software, there are a million other
| | 00:24 | ways to do this too.
| | 00:26 | So let's head over to the
computer and check it out.
| | 00:28 | The very first thing I do is to
create a new layer in Photoshop.
| | 00:36 | I'm going to name this blur.
| | 00:38 | It's important to name your layers so
you can remember what you did with them.
| | 00:44 | Now let's go up to the Filter and go down
to the Blur and down to the Radial Blur.
| | 00:49 | Now you'll notice it's on the Spin Blur Method.
| | 00:54 | I want this to be Zoom, so I'll click that.
| | 00:57 | And I want to change the Amount
of zoom that I get in this effect,
| | 01:02 | so I will move the slider until I find one
area that I think will look kind of cool.
| | 01:08 | And I think it will be right there.
| | 01:10 | You can also move the center of the
zoom, that is, where the zoom starts.
| | 01:15 | And I think I'm going to try to make it
right where the main front flower is. All right!
| | 01:20 | That looks good, and there it is.
| | 01:23 | So I've got the effect.
| | 01:25 | But I want to have this
foreground flower to be in focus,
| | 01:29 | and so I'm going to make a mask.
| | 01:32 | And the purpose of this mask is that
everywhere I paint with black, I will let
| | 01:38 | the bottom layer show through.
| | 01:40 | So I'll go over and get a brush,
check to make sure the Opacity is at 100%.
| | 01:46 | I'm going to make the photograph a
little bit bigger by hitting Command+Plus so
| | 01:52 | that I can see a little bit better
where I'm working. Isn't that great?
| | 01:57 | You can see the flower is being revealed
underneath where I am brushing black on the mask.
| | 02:02 | Okay. So I did a little bit too much in one area.
| | 02:07 | It's easy to fix when you're working with masks.
| | 02:09 | I'm just going to change the foreground
color to white and go back in, and you
| | 02:16 | can see when I go back in that the
photograph becomes blurry again, that the
| | 02:22 | effect of the zoom blur is coming back.
| | 02:25 | Very easy to fix your mistakes
when you're working with a mask.
| | 02:29 | Okay, now I'm changing back
to a foreground color of black.
| | 02:34 | I'm going up here to the Opacity because
I want to pull back the opacity so that
| | 02:40 | the sharpness is not abrupt.
| | 02:43 | I want to create kind of a soft edge.
| | 02:46 | I'm increasing the size of the
photograph, so I can really see what I'm doing.
| | 02:51 | And I'm coming in here with an Opacity
of 58 and just pulling in some of the
| | 02:56 | detail around the edge of the
flower, something like that.
| | 03:03 | I'm going to lower my Opacity even
more and go out and make that transition a
| | 03:09 | little bit smoother out
in this area. All right!
| | 03:14 | Command+Minus to get it back to where
I can see the total effect, and I think
| | 03:19 | that looks pretty good.
| | 03:21 | So I'll go back up to the
layers and we'll flatten the Image.
| | 03:26 | I'm going to do a Save As and I'll
put an identifier on here saying radial.
| | 03:34 | Save it, and there you go.
| | 03:40 | Next up we're going to look at
motion blur on a photo of an athlete.
| | 03:44 | So here we are with a photo of Trishana running.
| | 03:47 | I made a pan shot by using a slow shutter speed.
| | 03:50 | I also shot ones where I stopped the action.
| | 03:54 | Now I'm going to demonstrate how to put
the motion into your photograph in Photoshop.
| | 03:59 | So the first thing you do is to make a layer.
| | 04:02 | I'm going to title that layer blur.
| | 04:05 | Then go up to Filter, go down
to Blur, and down to Motion Blur.
| | 04:14 | Now the Distance can be affected
depending on how much blur you want in there.
| | 04:19 | You can see the preview in both the
photo and the Preview box. And I think about
| | 04:24 | that is where I want to go today.
| | 04:27 | Now the Angle I'm going to
keep at 0 because it's a pan shot.
| | 04:31 | I want the motion to go across horizontally
and not any kind of up or down motion in it.
| | 04:38 | Click OK. I'm going to increase the size of the
photograph so I can see what I'm doing, and
| | 04:45 | I will make a mask out of this.
| | 04:47 | I'm going over to the brush.
| | 04:51 | I'm checking to make sure that the
Opacity is 100%, and I'm going to go down
| | 04:57 | and change the foreground color to black.
| | 05:00 | You can do that by clicking on the
arrow or hitting the X on the keyboard.
| | 05:05 | Still, I'm going to make it a little bit
bigger, and this is so I can really see
| | 05:10 | what my edges are doing.
| | 05:11 | I'm going to make my brush
smaller by hitting the left bracket key.
| | 05:17 | So I don't want to get too
far out into the background.
| | 05:24 | Just bring this down.
| | 05:26 | What you're seeing is the layer
below this one coming in nice and sharp.
| | 05:32 | That looks pretty good to me at this point.
| | 05:34 | Maybe a little arms, again make the
brush a little smaller by doing bracket,
| | 05:41 | and just bringing it in anywhere that I
want to kind of have the photograph sharp.
| | 05:47 | We'll go into her face and do that the last.
| | 05:53 | In a natural pan caught in camera, not
everything is sharp when you're in your subject.
| | 05:59 | And so I'm leaving a lot of it kind of
blurry just for that reason, just to make
| | 06:04 | it a little bit more believable.
| | 06:06 | Now I've lowered my Opacity to about
39%, and this will allow me to come in and
| | 06:11 | do a little bit less
intense sharpening of the image.
| | 06:16 | And with this, I can start
bringing in a little bit more of her arm.
| | 06:20 | What I'm trying to do is not going to
the background too much, because that
| | 06:26 | would really destroy the effect if
the background is sharp, like down here
| | 06:31 | where I made a mistake.
| | 06:32 | The nice thing about masks:
very easy to correct this mistake.
| | 06:36 | I'm just going to change the
foreground color to white by pressing the X. I'm
| | 06:41 | going in there and just restoring that area.
| | 06:45 | Now I'll press the X to bring it back
to black because I want to have some of
| | 06:49 | her shoes sharp, and little bit more
on this shoe on this side. There you go!
| | 06:57 | So let's see how we're looking now.
| | 07:01 | It's looking pretty good.
| | 07:02 | I'm going to go in and just
touch up a little bit more here.
| | 07:06 | But overall I think it's
getting there. All right!
| | 07:10 | So let's take a look at what
happens when I take off the blur layer.
| | 07:14 | We're totally sharp.
| | 07:15 | Put it back on and you really are
beginning to have that sense of motion.
| | 07:21 | Let's look at the original one that I
captured in camera and see how it compares.
| | 07:26 | Bring this up a little bit so you can see
it, and let's compare them side by side.
| | 07:31 | So you're getting to see a little bit
of that motion that replicates the real
| | 07:38 | motion in the photograph that I did in camera.
| | 07:40 | So I'm sure you're wondering why I
still do my pans and motion in camera, if I
| | 07:46 | can do them so easily in Photoshop.
| | 07:48 | The answer is simple:
| | 07:50 | I love the challenge of mastering these
techniques and getting it right in camera.
| | 07:55 | To me, photographing is the
fun part of being a photographer.
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5. The Decisive MomentPeak action| 00:00 | At first glance it may not seem like
photographing sports and photographing
| | 00:05 | wildlife have anything in common.
| | 00:08 | One takes place out in the wild and the
other usually takes place in a town or a city.
| | 00:13 | But there is an important similarity:
with both types of photography you
| | 00:18 | can't control the action.
| | 00:20 | You're relegated to the sidelines
where you wait for the action to happen,
| | 00:25 | and when it does, you've got to be ready to
capture it; you may not get a second chance.
| | 00:31 | In every active situation there
is a moment called peak action.
| | 00:36 | It's the one photograph from a series
that can stand alone, that tells the story.
| | 00:41 | It may be the longjumper at the
top of our arc, or your daughter as she
| | 00:46 | kicks the winning goal, or a bear just missing a
salmon, or the driver flying out of the hydroplane.
| | 00:54 | Let's take a closer look at peak action.
| | 00:57 | I spent a wonderful day at Oso Ranch
photographing Sue jumping on horse.
| | 01:02 | Before I even took a shot, I asked Sue
what I should look for in this peak action
| | 01:07 | photo. Then I watched her jump a couple
times, paying close attention to how the
| | 01:12 | horse approached the jump and Sue's posture.
| | 01:16 | The point of my research was to help me
know a bit more about the activity, so I
| | 01:20 | could anticipate the action.
| | 01:23 | Now the best tip I can give you when shooting
peak action is to take a lot of photographs.
| | 01:29 | It increases your chances
of getting everything right.
| | 01:32 | To show you what I mean, here's my
entire take from the horse jumping
| | 01:36 | assignment: a total of 54 images.
| | 01:40 | My exposure was at 1/2000th of a
second to make sure I stopped the action.
| | 01:44 | My aperture was f/4.5.
| | 01:47 | Using my Depth of Field preview button,
I knew that the jump would be in focus.
| | 01:52 | I put my camera shutter in Burst mode
so I could shoot continuously, and I set
| | 01:57 | my camera's Auto-focus feature to
Continuous mode so that the lens would
| | 02:01 | constantly keep the subject in focus.
| | 02:04 | On Canon cameras this feature is
called AI Servo; on Nikons it's
| | 02:09 | called Continuous focus.
| | 02:12 | As soon as the horse began its approach,
I pressed the shutter button and held it
| | 02:16 | down to shoot a burst of photos.
| | 02:19 | Let's check them out. No, no--Oh!
| | 02:22 | Here it is: of this series this
image is the peak action shot.
| | 02:28 | The horse's legs are up and
it's jumping over the rail.
| | 02:32 | It's okay, but based on what I
learned from Sue, this is not great form.
| | 02:37 | I want the horse's front legs
to be raised a little bit more.
| | 02:41 | I missed it by only a split second.
| | 02:45 | That can be a problem in Burst
mode: the best peak action sometimes
| | 02:49 | happens between shots.
| | 02:52 | This time I waited to start continuous shooting.
| | 02:55 | I figured that my
instincts would do a better job.
| | 02:58 | I kept the same settings as before
except that I pre-focused on the rail.
| | 03:05 | Now I still used auto-focus, but this gave
the camera a starting point close to the action.
| | 03:12 | This is helpful because not all cameras
and lenses are the same when it comes to
| | 03:16 | auto-focus speed or burst speed.
| | 03:19 | By holding the shutter button down part
way it makes a camera's job of focusing
| | 03:24 | a little bit faster.
| | 03:26 | Burst speed is affected by your camera,
| | 03:30 | your Flash card's write speed, the buffer,
and the size of the capture. Here we go.
| | 03:38 | The first one is
definitely the best peak action.
| | 03:41 | I was able to anticipate
the moment and catch it.
| | 03:45 | In this situation I know exactly
where the action was going to happen,
| | 03:48 | but what about shooting wildlife
or sports like football or soccer.
| | 03:54 | You've really got to do the research so
you can anticipate the action and then
| | 03:58 | be in position when it happens.
| | 04:01 | Before I shoot wildlife,
I learn about the animal behavior.
| | 04:04 | For example, where do bears fish for salmon?
| | 04:08 | With sports, too, knowing the behavior
of the athletes is important, but also
| | 04:13 | study the rules so you'll be able
to anticipate the plays of the game.
| | 04:19 | You get the idea. The more you
understand the action, the better chance you have
| | 04:24 | of capturing the peak action.
| | 04:27 | Here are some general tips to
remember when you're going for peak action.
| | 04:31 | Set your shutter speed to
1/500th of a second or faster.
| | 04:35 | If you're shooting in dim light, increase
your ISO to allow for the fast shutter speeds.
| | 04:40 | Follow the action with your
auto-focus set to continuous.
| | 04:45 | Shoot a little bit looser than you
normally would to allow for the animal
| | 04:49 | or athlete's movement.
| | 04:51 | Shoot in high speed burst mode.
| | 04:54 | You'll shoot a lot of images, but what
the heck. As photographers used to say
| | 05:00 | film is cheap, opportunity is expensive.
| | 05:03 | And keep your head in your game.
Don't be distracted by who is winning or losing.
| | 05:10 | So next time your kid's playing a soccer
match, head out and get some practice in.
| | 05:16 | If you can get great shots from the
unpredictable action of a junior soccer
| | 05:20 | game, you can shoot just about anything.
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| Capturing the decisive moment| 00:00 | In the last movie we talked
about peak action in sports and
| | 00:04 | wildlife photography.
| | 00:06 | Photojournalism has an equivalent.
| | 00:08 | It's called the decisive moment, and I
often refer to this as moments of life.
| | 00:14 | Like peak action the decisive moment
is the single image that captures the
| | 00:19 | action or essence of what you're photographing.
| | 00:22 | This photograph sums up the story and
can stand alone without supporting images
| | 00:27 | or words, but there's a difference
between peak action and decisive moment.
| | 00:32 | With peak action the photograph can be
judged by sharp focus, stopped action, or
| | 00:39 | whether the ball is in the frame.
| | 00:42 | With the decisive moment the standard
of success is more emotional and subtle,
| | 00:48 | and sometimes it depends on the
viewer's reaction to the photograph.
| | 00:52 | You might not know for sure what the
decisive moment is until after you've had a
| | 00:57 | chance to look at the images.
| | 00:59 | Here is an example.
| | 01:01 | I wanted to photograph the excitement of
horses when they were first let out to run.
| | 01:06 | I started shooting as
their handler released them.
| | 01:08 | The horses immediately raced to the far
end of the corral and never came back.
| | 01:14 | I was disappointed at the time,
but when I looked at the photographs from the
| | 01:19 | shoot I realized the decisive
moment was one of the first shots I took.
| | 01:25 | You can almost feel the intensity of the
horses as the handler scrambled out of the way.
| | 01:31 | It sums up the excitement and
danger that none of the other
| | 01:34 | photographs captured.
| | 01:37 | A reporter takes notes with a notepad.
| | 01:39 | I take notes with my camera.
| | 01:42 | When I'm in a situation with
potential I really work it until I'm confident
| | 01:47 | I've got it covered.
| | 01:49 | One day during the Exxon Valdez oil spill
I photographed workers cleaning up a
| | 01:54 | beach, and then went back
with them on their boat. Some sat,
| | 02:00 | some stood; all were physically
exhausted from the 12-hour day.
| | 02:06 | I tried several different angles
and watched for different expressions.
| | 02:10 | Out of the 10 shots I did before
we docked, this is the decisive moment.
| | 02:16 | It's subtle, but the downcast eyes
on this man and his coworker's slumping
| | 02:22 | shoulder really communicate their emotions.
| | 02:26 | My editor thought so too. The magazine
ran this photograph across two pages.
| | 02:32 | And you know if I had stopped taking
pictures after the first couple shots I'd
| | 02:36 | never have gotten an image with such power.
| | 02:40 | The bottom line is this, moments
happen all around you all the time.
| | 02:46 | The trick is to be looking for them, be
ready for them, and then capture them by
| | 02:52 | taking lots of notes with your camera.
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ConclusionThe importance of research| 00:00 | The success or failure of your photo
shoot is affected by the work you do before
| | 00:05 | you leave the house.
| | 00:07 | No matter if you're shooting landscapes,
wildlife, or people, you've just got to
| | 00:12 | know what you're getting into
and prepare for all possibilities.
| | 00:16 | For me, research is a joy.
| | 00:18 | I love to learn about new places or
animals or cultures, and I find out the
| | 00:24 | answers to any questions I
might have before I go shoot.
| | 00:28 | For example, when are the
fall colors at their peak?
| | 00:32 | What will access be like at
the time you want to photograph.
| | 00:36 | You certainly don't want to show
up and find out you can't get there.
| | 00:41 | What are the months when you're
most likely to get the great light?
| | 00:44 | I am from the Northwest.
| | 00:46 | We have basically about three months
in the summer when we have sunny days.
| | 00:51 | If I want to photograph in the bright
sun, then that's the best time to go--
| | 00:55 | that is the only time to go.
| | 00:59 | If my intention is to create a moody
shot of clouds or mist or storms, then I
| | 01:05 | can go any time between November and March.
| | 01:08 | Scope out your locations before hand,
walk the trails looking for the right scenes.
| | 01:15 | If you can, return when you
know the light will be better.
| | 01:19 | Check out the official viewpoints from the road.
| | 01:22 | They're always located in a beautiful spot.
| | 01:25 | Before I go, I often talk to
the people who live in the area.
| | 01:29 | They're full of great ideas.
| | 01:32 | Or talk to the experts who study the
area, like biologists and park rangers.
| | 01:37 | They are great sources of information too.
| | 01:40 | Do an Internet search to find out what
other photographers have shot. Look for
| | 01:45 | postcards and pamphlets of the area.
Don't copy the photographs, but use them as
| | 01:51 | a reference for possible locations.
| | 01:53 | I spend all the time researching,
because I want to know what's important to
| | 01:59 | the people I photograph;
| | 02:01 | this helps me tell their story.
| | 02:03 | Are there any ceremonies or traditions?
Where can I shoot? More importantly,
| | 02:09 | where shouldn't I shoot?
| | 02:12 | I learned this the hard way.
During a religious ceremony
| | 02:15 | I offended the local residents when I
sat in a place reserved for their Gods.
| | 02:22 | Fortunately, they forgave my
ignorance and allowed me to continue shooting.
| | 02:26 | So before you leave, think about what
can go wrong, think about what you want to
| | 02:32 | communicate, and do your
research. You'll be glad you did.
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| Planning for your shoot| 00:01 | Plan to fail, but be
prepared with a backup plan.
| | 00:05 | There is always a problem when you're shooting.
| | 00:08 | I can think of only one assignment
where there wasn't, and we're talking about
| | 00:12 | thousands of assignments.
| | 00:14 | The worst-case scenario happened to me
when I was in the middle of nowhere in
| | 00:18 | Alaska photographing salmon.
| | 00:20 | Both my underwater camera housing
and my dry suit started leaking.
| | 00:26 | Fortunately, I had a backup Nikonos that
I was able to use until the new housing
| | 00:30 | was flown in from Washington, D.C., a week later.
| | 00:34 | No luck with the dry suit though. I just
covered it with duct tape and got used to the cold.
| | 00:40 | Even above water I always shoot with two
cameras, and I often bring a third or a
| | 00:45 | fourth just in case.
| | 00:47 | The extra bodies came in really handy
in eastern Siberia when I was camping out
| | 00:53 | in a tent in the winter for
a story on reindeer herders.
| | 00:57 | Three of my cameras failed,
because of the extreme cold;
| | 01:01 | it was 30 below zero.
| | 01:03 | My fourth one kept on clicking.
| | 01:05 | Now I put a lot of thought in to packing my gear.
| | 01:09 | The first obvious question
is, what are the conditions?
| | 01:12 | But a really important consideration
is whether I'll have an assistant or a
| | 01:16 | guide to help carry the gear.
| | 01:17 | The reality is that I can't bring all
the gear I want to bring on my assignments.
| | 01:23 | It's always a balance between
weight and the essential equipment.
| | 01:27 | For example, I'd love to have an
extreme telephoto on every shoot, but it's
| | 01:34 | heavy and it's not
practical for the remote shots.
| | 01:37 | So a compromise is to
bring my 70 to 200 mm lens.
| | 01:41 | It's an F28, and also bring
along the 2X tele extender.
| | 01:46 | That way if I need a longer telephoto,
I can get it up to a 400 focal length.
| | 01:52 | With the 2X, I do lose two stops,
but I'll tell you, I gain a lot in flexibility.
| | 01:58 | When I'm shooting weddings, I use
my 70-200 f/4. It's even lighter.
| | 02:04 | Again, I lose a stop, but it's so
easy to hold that I can lower my shutter
| | 02:08 | speed to compensate.
| | 02:10 | So you've probably noticed that I
shoot Canon gear, but I'm an equal
| | 02:14 | opportunity photographer
when it comes to cameras.
| | 02:17 | I use the Canon above water and a Nikon
below, and there are lots of other great
| | 02:22 | manufacturers out there too.
| | 02:25 | The main thing to remember is that your
equipment is a tool. A carpenter needs a
| | 02:30 | hammer to build a house, and you
need a camera to make pictures.
| | 02:34 | So whatever system you use, just make
sure you know how to get the most out of it.
| | 02:40 | I am a just-in-case photographer.
| | 02:42 | I make three copies of every photograph
I take: two are on my hard drives in my
| | 02:47 | studio and one copy is
stored offsite, just in case.
| | 02:52 | I make a list of all the gear a need for
every assignment I shoot, and I double-
| | 02:57 | check it right before I leave, just in case.
| | 03:00 | I literally have nightmares about
showing up without flash cards, so I keep a
| | 03:07 | couple in my purse, just in case.
| | 03:11 | My gear list will change
depending on what I'm shooting.
| | 03:14 | For landscape and nature, it will
include long lenses, wide angles, a macro
| | 03:20 | and a close-up ring,
| | 03:21 | speed lights, a monopod, a
tripod, and a remote trigger.
| | 03:27 | Now it also will be essential for me to
bring lens tissue, a couple of towels,
| | 03:33 | boots, rain gear, a tarp, plastic
garbage bags, food, and water, and three or more
| | 03:40 | containers of mosquito
repellent, especially in Alaska.
| | 03:44 | You do not want to be caught without it.
| | 03:47 | Some of these lists might be kind
of short, like the one I used when I
| | 03:50 | photograph weddings.
| | 03:51 | I don't need the long telephoto lenses,
but I do need reflectors and a cloth
| | 03:56 | that I can use to protect
the dress from the grass.
| | 04:00 | So the bottom line is, the more thought
and research you put into it before you
| | 04:05 | leave the house, the better
your chance is for success.
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| Goodbye| 00:00 | In this course I've covered many of
the tools of composition, color, and light
| | 00:05 | that I've learned over my career.
| | 00:07 | While at first you may have trouble
remembering to incorporate them into your
| | 00:10 | photography, keep at it.
| | 00:13 | Each time you look at a
photograph, whether it's yours or someone
| | 00:16 | else's, analyze it.
| | 00:18 | Ask yourself, what rules of
composition are in a photograph?
| | 00:21 | Where is the light coming from?
| | 00:23 | What is the main subject?
| | 00:25 | And how did your eye travel through the image?
| | 00:27 | What is the lighting message?
| | 00:30 | You will train your eyes simply by
analyzing photographs, and while at first
| | 00:34 | it may feel really cumbersome to
implement some of the things you studied in
| | 00:38 | this tutorial, with practice
it'll become second nature.
| | 00:43 | So that's it for now.
| | 00:44 | Good luck and good shooting!
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