The Basics #2} Understanding Shutter Speed

So we talked about the importance of Aperture in exposing a photos but just to recap the smaller your F stop number, the smaller area of your photo will be in focus like F 1.2.  The bigger your number like F 22 the more of your photo will be in focus.  So now shutter speed.  Your shutter speed you choose can also decide what may or may not be blurry or in focus.

BLUR

F22

1/15

ISO 100

These pictures are taken at midday so it's super bright outside.  Because I wanted motion blur I made my shutter speed slow.  The 1/15 means the shutter open and closed 1/15th of a second.  That is slow considering that my camera can take a picture 1/8000 fast.  So a lot of light came through to the sensor but again it's midday so to compensate for all that light from my shutter being open so long I had to make my aperture smaller, bigger number, less light.  Are you guys getting the aperture concept of bigger number smaller aperture?  Let me know if I need to explain that better!  Then I told my subjects to run and I focused behind them.  I was hand holding the camera so I still have blur in the background.  If I had rested my camera on something or used a tripod the background would be completely in focus but you do not move your camera with your subject.  Keep your camera as still as possible letting your subjects move in front of you.

F 11

1/80

ISO 100

With the shutter faster my aperture getting wider, my subjects are still blurry but not one big blur and my hand held shakes are pretty good.

FREEZE

F 6.3

1/400

ISO 100

So now my shutter speed is a lot faster and still not hugely fast like 1,8000 but doesn't necessarily need to be.  My aperture is now at 6.3.

PANNING

F13

1/30

ISO100

Panning is where you follow your subjects as they run or move and you get them in focus while in movement and the background is blurred to give your subjects that action feel.  To get the big blur in the background start with a slower shutter speed again causing a smaller aperture and focus on your subject, and follow them as they move.  So I focused and kept my camera trained on my subject as she ran by.  If I wanted less of a blurry background I would make my shutter speed faster however you still are moving your camera so there will always be motion.

Again I hope another explanation helped you understand shutter speed a little better and suggestions and comments are always appreciated.

How to Batch Process in Photoshop

Sometimes batch processing can be very useful! For example, today I needed to covert about a dozen images to black and white using the same action (it was soft & silky from Lolly's Playground - Ultimate Black & White). Here is how I batch processed my images using CS4.

1. First thing to know. You have to create a folder with only the images you want affected by the batch. I wanted to run a batch B&W action on a dozen images, so I created a new folder on my desktop and dragged those 12 images into my new folder. 

2. Now go into Photoshop... Go to FILE ----> AUTOMATE ---> BATCH... 

and a menu box will appear! 

3. Time to tell it what to do! In my case I wanted it to run out of my Favorite B&W file with in my actions palate, from there I wanted to run Lollys Soft & Silky (top left arrow). Now I need to choose the source. I already created the folder (named Batch BW) on my desk top so it was easy to find for me! Select the folder... 

4. It can take a while to process all the images, so now I highly suggest stepping away from the computer and making yourself a treat cause you did it! When I get back with my chocolate milkshake, I know I'll have a dozen beautiful B&W's! Did you know it could be that easy?

So when might you use batch processing? Watermarking, Converting to B&W, Resizing for Web, Base Sharpening and minor color adjustments. What have you used Batch Processing for? I actually very very rarely use batch processing, I just prefer to work on each image individually, and I sort of forget about it - however every once in a while it comes in very handy!

Newborn Shoot in Action - by Emily Weaver Brown

I know you all have enjoyed watching sessions in action so here is a new video by a new (only to Go{4}Pro ) photographer, Emily Weaver Brown is a Seattle based photographer who shows just how much patience and waiting is involved in newborn photography.

I really love that Emily mentions that it's a lot more about rocking and waiting then it is shooting and playing, oh so true!! Newborn sessions take the longest (PERIOD). I have had a newborn session take up to 4 hours, and if it's the first baby, mom and dad are very cautious and nervous and you really need to respect that and take your time! I wrote a post  HERE for newborn tips and tricks that you might enjoy.

I love shooting newborns. It's a lot of work, but the end result is so worth it! Thank you to Emily for sharing this video with us!

Urban Shoot in Action - Children

Just because it can be really fun to watch how another photographer does things (and all the things I'm working on for you just aren't ready yet) ...

Apple Blossom Portraits

It is what it is. (And a tutorial for using textures)

Just wanted to say thank you for the comments and the emails. You bolstered me, I'm better and now I'm past it. I may rant rave and cry but I also get over it as fast as I'm fired up about it. (Usually ;) It's all just part of being a passionate person I guess?! I said what I wanted to say and felt proud to have done so. Each of us has our something that can open up an old wound. This (apparently) was one of those for me. No,  you don't have to fret that I'm going to quit writing. Errors and all it's still coming at ya' - it's just not it me to quit!  I seriously don't seem to know how! And honestly, I really love to share!! 

I understand that sometimes you forget when you're reading a computer screen or watching TV or maybe yelling at the car that just cut you off that it's a real person inside that box. A heart that beats with genuine feelings, troubles, anxieties and joy is sitting behind that screen. We all deserve respect. It's a great reminder for all of us. You have done it, I have done it - we've all lodged our foot right into our mouthes. Two days ago I mentioned how I feel that you can learn from anything, here is a prime example. Even the negative (may it be a small blog comment or a huge ache in the soul) can turn out to be a good thing!


Okay. moving on...



After the Free Texture Post from last week, I got a few emails asking how to use textures. Here is a great tutorial to show you just that. Thanks to Jodi of MCP Actions! 

PHOTOGRAPHERS CUSTOM MARKETING & LOGO DESIGN

 Custom Marketing Kit 

The kit will be customized to the The Paysen Theme using your color scheme, paper choice, and logo design. 

An instant download will not be given at the time of purchase. 

After payment is received you will be directed to Sassy-Designs to choose your paper kit. 

Once you have chosen your paper kit purchase one for yourself and let me know your choice and I will purchase one as well to use in your kit.

 A link for your Customized Kit will then be ready within 2 weeks! 

(that time frame may change, and will be updated accordingly if necessary)

If you have questions, please email me before purchase. 

There will be no refunds do to the nature of the work. 

Custom Marketing Kit: $275.00

- OR -

If you need a whole new look there is the option of a

 Custom Logo & Marketing Kit 

The Logo: After you have chosen your Sassy Paper Kit Together we do some pre planning and you let me know what inspires you (i.e personally, I wanted gap meets anthro meets high society), show me what type of logos your drawn to. Then based on that, your color & branding and the style of your work I come up with 3 different logos and from there we fine tune it. After that I customize your marketing kit with your new papers and logo. Once you have chosen your logo, your full download will be available within 2 weeks! The download file has your cutom marketing kit, psd logo version, pgn logo version and watermark.

Custom Logo & Marketing Kit: $450.00

10 Tips for Sharper Images by Amy Wenzel

Amy is one of my favorite photographers. When I say favorite - what I actually mean is when my daughters pretend they are Cinderella and Aurora and they ask who I am, I'm dreaming of being Princess Amy Wenzel! ;) No, but she really is that great!! Her work is always drool worthy, combine that with a gift for writing and she has one of my favorite blogs to follow! This awesome post was written for her blog a while back and with her permission I'm reposting it here! And this isn't the last will be seeing of Amy on Go{4}Pro - we have some exciting things in store for you (and me just cause I {heart} her so much!)

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Okay, so you know when you capture that stellar shot, and then you get home to your computer screen and the eyes just aren’t sharp and you want to crawl out of your skin?  Getting consistently sharp images (especially around the eyes) takes practice, patience, and sometimes just better equipment.  Speaking as a true perfectionist, eye sharpness was one of those annoying technical issues that made me wail, rent my garments and pour ashes on my head.  In the beginning of my career I just couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong, and I had some serious frustration going on!  So if any of you reading this right now are picking up what I’m throwing down, allow me to throw some tips your way that now help me to get a sharp image almost every time!

1.  Focus on the eye
When shooting a portrait, make sure your focal point is directly centered on your subject’s iris.  If their head is turned or tilted at an angle away from you, always grab the eye closest to the camera.  Simply pointing your focus at the subject’s head or at the space between their eyes is not going to yield a tack sharp image.  I set my AF point to a single point of focus rather than allowing my camera to auto detect my focal point for me.  This gives me absolute control.  Between every single shot I grab the focus on the eye, and holding down my shutter button half way, I recompose the shot for composition. This takes a lot of practice when shooting kids because they are always on the go.  But stay diligent, and in time you will become “quick on the draw” so to speak, if you don’t get discouraged.

2.  Toggle your focus points
When I shoot a horizontal photo I generally set my focus to the center AF point.  However, when I rotate my camera to shoot a vertical portrait I change my focal point to the AF point that is now at the very top of my viewfinder since I always use the focal point closest to my subject’s eyes.  This is a good practice because I generally shoot at wide apertures such as 1.8.  Shooting with a shallow depth of field gives you very little leeway when you grab your focal point and then move your camera to recompose the shot artistically.  The further you shift your camera from the original point of focus on the eye, the more chance you have of losing the tack sharpness.  Therefore, I have learned to quickly toggle my focus point back and forth without even taking my camera down from my face, which has helped greatly with getting a sharper image every time.

3.  Light your subject properly
Lighting plays a drastic role in the end result sharpness of the eyes.  Lighting is an entirely in depth topic in and of itself, but in general,  your subject should face the light source unless you are intentionally back lighting or creating a dramatic portrait.  So when you are shooting in open shade think about where the sun is located.  The same is true when you are shooting with window light. I prefer that my subject’s face is almost completely directed at the window itself so that the light is glamorously illuminating their skin and eyes.  To see the difference proper lighting makes, raise your ISO to 800 and shoot a portrait in a dim room, then shoot another portrait at 100 ISO with your subject directly facing a south facing window (within 5 feet of the light).  Having bright, even light falling on the face allows your camera to grab the focus of the eyes to a greater degree.

4.  Use fixed lenses
I find that fixed lenses are always sharper than zooms. I sold my 24-70 2.8 L because it just didn’t compare in sharpness.  Nuff said.

5. Avoid motion blur & camera shake
With kids I like to stay at 160 shutter speed or higher to avoid motion blur.  Camera shake can also blur your image simply from your breathing or failing to hold your camera steady.When taking a still portrait I tend to hold my breath while clicking the shutter, and I brace my elbow into my body to stabilize my camera.  You can also lean against door frames, walls, etc to brace yourself.

6.  Sharpen the eyes in post processing
I like to defog/sharpen every image I work on.  One of my favorite techniques for sharpening is the high pass filter and I use it on almost every image, however I do take the time to grab my erase tool and erase it off the skin areas.   To try it out, watch this quick Photoshop tutorial video I found on Youtube.

7.  Don’t shoot at maximum lens aperture
Most lenses perform at premium sharpness one or two stops above their maximum aperture.  So for instance, on a lens that opens up to 1.2, try shooting at 1.8 instead of maxing it all the way out.

8.  Don’t recompose the shot at f 1.6 or wide
I have a hard time getting an image tack sharp if I have recomposed when shooting that wide.  It may look sharp on the web, but it won’t be sharp if your client wants to print a 16×20 for the wall.  So if you are a daring individual who likes to shoot at 1.6 or wider, I recommend that you don’t recompose the shot after you grab the focal point on the eye.  Instead, take the time to position your camera and your composition so that the focal point still lines up with the eye when you are ready to take the shot.

9.  Shoot at a low ISO
Although ISO doesn’t technically affect sharpness, the added noise of shooting at higher ISO can contribute to an image looking hazy. As a portrait photographer who can choose and control my locations, I always shoot at 100 ISO unless absolutely forced by lack of light.

10.  Invest in a sharper lens & better camera
I hate to say it, but equipment makes a big difference in image sharpness.  Buying new equipment is never going to make you a better photographer, but it certainly can increase your image integrity and save you time correcting the shortcomings of your lens in Photoshop.  I’ve personally experienced this myself.  If you are doing everything right and still aren’t happy with the sharpness of the eyes, it’s time to upgrade your equipment.  =)  You can read here about what’s in my bag and why upgrading my equipment was a hallelujah! moment.

Happy Sharpening!

Organizing Actions Tutorial

I don't know about you, but I have quite the actions collections. I don't want to waste time scrolling through hundreds of actions to find the one I want. Plus I have about 30 that I use regularly and I want those organized at the top so they are easy to access. Getting my Actions Organized has been helpful. If you have been needing to tidy up your actions here is a tutorial from our friend Jodi at MPC Actions.

Make sure you're entered in the giveaway!! Good Luck!

Inspire me Friday! - Food Photography From Lolo of Vegan Yum Yum

I absolutely LOVE to cook. I'm not into "simple" - although cooking w/ fresh is a lot more simple then most people think. I love fresh herbs, pan sauces and garnishing everything!! My kids breakfast, lunch and dinner often comes beautifully plated with garnish. I'm just odd like that. Often I make something that is absolutely beautiful (if I do say so myself) and so I make everyone wait till it's pretty much cold while I run off tp snatch my camera. The unfortunate part is that I'm usually less then thrilled with the outcome. For being a solitary object, I've been very surprised to find that food photography is very challenging for me! That where this post comes in! Recently I came across a fantastic blog called Vegan Yum Yum. The author Lolo says, " I’m not a chef, I’ve never been to culinary school, and I’m certainly not a professional photographer. I have a lot of fun pretending, though!" Well she is a master pretender, because her food photography and her creations are just fabulous. Whether your strict vegan or a hardy carnivore - she makes these dishes look so tasty you'll be dying to try one yourself!

I took some of my personal favorite ideas and posted them below, to read the entire post go HERE.

Plating

The right dish really sets the overall look for the photo. Everytime I’m in a store that sells dishes, I pick up one or two of something I find interesting. You don’t need a full set.

Some general tips:

1. White will always, always work.
2. Square dishes always look classy.3. Smaller is better — small dishes are easier to fill up with food, which prevents your plate from looking bare.

Plan Ahead

Do as much as you possibly can ahead of time. Food should be photographed as soon as possible after preparing, which means you’ll need a space for

photographing ready to go, an uncluttered kitchen, etc. Here’s what I do before I start cooking:

1. Clean up, do all the dishes, clear countertops
2. Pick out dishes3. Set camera up on tripod, pick out background
4. Clear your photography space
5. Think about the dish: do you need a garnish? Special utensils? Placemat?

Prepping all your ingredients neatly will keep your kitchen more organized, cut down on cooking time, and allow you to focus on the task at hand. And mise en place photographs make for killer filler photos, as well!

Simple Setups, Natural Light

You don’t need to invest in lots of studio equipment to get great images. The very best lighting you can get is free, and it’s coming through your windows every day. Here’s a shot of my “studio”: A table, next to a window. Done! Well, almost. Since I shoot with natural light only, a lot of times it’s slightly too dark to hand-hold my camera and get a clear image. Use a tripod and you’ll be amazed at how much better your photos get, especially with PnS

cameras. Even balancing your camera on a can of tomatoes or a pile of books can save a shot. Tripods very drastically in price, but I have a cheap $30 that has done the trick for well over a year now.

Behind the Scenes

There are lots of ways you can make backgrounds for your food shots. My favorite backgrounds are just simple 20×30″ foam-core boards that I spray painted on my porch, a different color on each side.

I love these because they’re cheap, easy to make and customize, easy to store, and fairly durable. I once bought this kit that comes with colored paper, but soon realized the paper gets destroyed after a few uses: it tears, it gets ugly creases in it, and if you spill anything on it at all it’s ruined. The big foam-core boards, on the other hand, wipe clean and don’t bend, and if you do ruin them they’re easy to replace.

As you can see in the photo to the left, they’re easy to swap in and out during a shoot. You can try all different colors before picking the right one for the dish you’re photographing.

One tip: buy matte finish spray paint – glossy paint will cause unsightly glares in your photos.

I start out photographing the process of the recipe–chopping, special techniques, assembly, etc. Once the dish is done and plated, I’ll take some “basic” shots which help me establish the lighting, background, what props/garnishes are needed, positioning of the food, etc. I gradually work my way towards a photograph that feels complete to me, making sure to get all different angles. I try overhead, straight on, close up, environment shots, and many different angles. My photographs start out boring and move towards interesting as I shoot. It’s hard to explain how I plate or frame, but it involves a lot of photos and looking at each photo and saying, “Hmm, the image looks too bare” or “I need to figure out how to emphasize this particular quality of the dish.” As I said before, the more photos you take, the better chance you have of getting that perfect shot.

Here are two answers I found on her blog that I know you will be wondering about:

What kind of camera do you use?

I use a Canon EOS 30D; any photos taken after June 2007 use the 30D. Before that, I used a Canon Rebel XTi, and way back when I first started I useda point-and-shoot Sony cybershot. With the Canon cameras, I use two lenses: Canon EFS 60mm/2.8F Macro and Canon USM 50mm/1.4f. If you’re really curious as to what camera/lens combination I used for a particular photo, click on the photo. You’ll be taken to my flickr page. If you click the “more properties” link on the bottom right of the screen you can see all the juicy technical data for that picture.

How do you get such nice photos? Any tips?
Practice, forethought, and a few easy tricks. I use colored backgrounds (spray painted foam boards or large sheets of construction paper), and take care to use natural light. I buy a fun dish or two whenever I go to Target. I think about what the setting should look like, how I’ll plate the food, and what colors would go nicely with it before I even start cooking. I don’t have a studio, so all the food you see is made by me in my kitchen, placed next to the window, photographed, then eaten. I use a tripod (never a flash!) and shoot a LOT of photos. I’d say that I take over 100 for every blog post you see, and then I delete the vast majority during the editing process. I use Adobe Lightroom for corrections (cropping, color boots, contrast, white balance, etc). I have a simple rule: if I don’t have a good photo of it, it doesn’t go on the blog. Period.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

So helpful, right!!? I want to go whip something up right now just to photograph it! Once again, to read the entire post from Vegan Yum Yum go HERE. So yesterday we talked about filler food for your blog to keep people coming back and today we've been inspired by Lolo's incredible, edible art.

Here's a hint for Monday's Homework assignment: Go use it! Food, decorations, landscapes - whatever it may be. We want to see your filler food posts!

Show me your Bokeh!

Here are our bokeh submissions!! Thank you!

...................

From Claire...

From Leah...

From Noelle...

From Heather...

Sent from Kalli...

Thank you SO much for submitting images! This crew has got bokeh down! It's really appreciated. Our next one is going to be all about colour!! I will do a few tutorials in the next 2 weeks to help with really popping color, so start looking for color and thinking about what YOU want to submit!! We may even make our next one a contest with a PRIZE!!!

FREE ACTIONS, TUTORIALS, TEXTURES, STORYBOARDS and more

You have one more day if you were thinking of showing off an image with Bokeh! Thanks to me not getting the images sized down and having to much on the plate today. Instead... I'm sending you off to another FANTASTIC blog, and if you have not found this one yet, ooooh. You are going to love me for it!!! It's called CoffeeShop, and it is a sinfully delightful little place to explore, so get some hot chocolate (I don't drink coffee) and enjoy!

It's ALL FREE textures, actions and more. It's awesome. I have so many actions lots paid for, lots free... The one action I use the very most is Coffee Shop Powder Room. Just a side note with powder room, I often use it (and ALL my actions for that matter) in completely different ways than intended. For example, I might use the soften skin layer just to blur my background a little more (hint, hint for Bokeh), or the eye pop to bling out the jewelry! What I'm saying is don't be afraid to play!!

Adding a little style to your blogger blog.

When it comes to photography blogs and websites, I have to say that I prefer to read and look at someone's blog compared to their website. I personally believe that you get more of a feel for someone's personality and style when reading their blog. So while a website is great for showing off the photographers best work and capturing peoples attention, a blog is there to keep their attention and perhaps seal the deal in choosing a photographer. So what I'm trying to say in a round about way is that you, as a photographer, need a good blog. And because everybody's budget's are different, Blogger may be the right fit for you. FREE is always great! I'm going to give you some tips and share some websites that helped me when I first started blogging. This post is all about blogger, but I have to say, for photography quality I highly recommend WORDPRESS. That account is free too, you can get a domain name for under $100 for the year and a free template to really spice it up, I wrote about it a while back here. For $100 you can have a very professionally styled blogsite!

Okay, sorry, if I were trying to plan my blog I would have wanted to know about wordpress, so I had to add that in. Of course blogger is not bad ;) after all this blog post you are reading is up because of blogger.., so thanks Blogspot. Now back to blogger...

This first little tip I had no idea I could do until my sister told me about it. Did you know that you can read other people's HTML? There was a background that somebody had on their blog that I loved and I wanted to know where they got it from. You click View on your tool bar and then View Source. Their whole blog's HTML will come up. DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT copy anything from somebody's HTML unless they give you permission. I only use this method to help me find out where that person has downloaded a certain template, button or something else.

To be able to really understand what you are reading to get the information that you want from that persons blog you kinda need to know and understand HTML. Ourblogtemplates.com is a great site to help you learn to read your HTML. Plus they have over 170 wonderful pre made templates to choose from that will make your blog look more professional in an instant.

Blogbulk.com is another blogger savvy site that can help you from downloading pictures to changing the layout of your blog. I'm a very visual person and if these tutorials helped me, they can help you!

For a great blog you want big pictures! Did you know that blogger has added some features to make it easier to post pictures? Got to Settings>Basic and scroll down to Global Settings. Select Updated Editor and save your settings. It won't change your blog at all just, how you use it for the better. Now when you upload a picture, after you've uploaded you can change the size from small to X Large. Even after you've selected the size you can still size it down by double clicking on the picture. There's an 'undo' and 'redo' button. At first I actually thought it was a rotate button. :) So don't make the same mistake I did. Play around with it and you'll quickly get used to how user friendly it is.

My last tip is to Google. I LOVE googling. It's a big world out there with billions of people. Chances are somebody has had the same question as you and has found the answer.

I'm leaving you again with saying that Blogger is FREE. We can all save a little money but we don't have to sacrifice style. I hope these tips help. Now go out and supe up your blog!

How to work your Canon Flash and which CANON Flash I don't like.

First comes the {camera} body, than comes the lens, next comes the flash so you can make some dividends. Being a Canon girl, I had esentially 2 choices the 430 vs. the 580. With about a $200 price difference I went with the 430. I really wish I hadn't. My number one problem has been battery life. Last Saturday I shot an event, I was shooting for about 6 hours straight, I needed a flash and was using my Gary Fong WhaleTail diffuser the whole night (I'll talk about the Gary Fong diffusers in another post). Before the event I sent my assistant (aka my hubby) out to buy really good batteries from the camera shop - he bought 3 sets (each $15) thinking this would be more than enough. I was changing out batteries about every hour because they got to hot in the flash, slowing the flash WAY down in between shots. I had thought it was because I was using Kirkland Signature brand batteries that I was changing them out so fast but after installing these high quality ones I realized it was the flash. Leaving me either missing the shot when I was shooting candid's or asking people to wait for it to power up when I was shooting portraits, both ways it was maddening to say the least. As far as I have found there is no external battery for the 430 like there is for the 580. If I'm wrong someone PLEASE tell me. Other than that I'm happy with my flash but this battery thing is a real deal breaker! Please way in your thoughts and let us know what you have and how you feel about it or if your in the market feel free to ask a question in the comment box!

Below are videos for the very basics of getting started with your flash.

And for my Nikon Friends... (I don't know anything about them but I didn't leave you hanging, so here is a video for you!)

If you happen to be a Sony user... Here is a link for your flash!

More Videos for Photoshop - Way Cool Background Fix

OK - I'm obsessed with these right now. They help me SOOO much! So I was watching all these videos a couple nights ago and today I was editing a picture and realized !!I need that tutorial!!! Hope it helps you too! Here is my before and after, and below you will find the how to.

Happy Edits!

Skin Tricks - Part 1 by mcp actions

Oh lucky day! More tutorials!!! And an FYI - at the end of the video you will find links for so many more video tutorials by Jodi!

 Jodi at mcp actions has been generous enough to share a video tutorial with us at GoforPro! Jodi, thank you so much for your willingness to share. Jodi is a photoshop genius who offers web based workshops, actions and much more. If your not familiar with mcp actions yet, make sure you go spend some time on the site and blog! 

Okay... Here is the fist video tutorial: Skin - Part 1

I hope you have enjoyed the tutorial, become a fan and be the first to know when new posts are up! I have a lot more in the works, more tutorials AND a post dedicated to free photography stuff available to anyone, I have gotten some great stuff and you will be too! 

WANT A FREEBIE TASTE TESTER? Go to mcp actions and click TRY ME! You will find several FREE actions for your enjoyment! Have fun! 

Silhouette Portrait Tutorial by Heather Ward

I'm lucky enough to call the very talented Heather Ward a friend and was so excited when she agreed to write a tutorial on Silhouette Photography for this blog! Heather's Silhouettes are some of my absolute favorite of her images and the fact that she's sharing her little secrets with us, it just awesome! Just look at that first image! It's breath taking! It's not even me and I want to blow it up into a life size canvas and hang it on my wall! So with no further ado. . .

Silhouettes
by Heather Ward

I love silhouettes because they can be some of the most moving and dramatic shots. And, if you get your settings right – they require little to no processing after the fact depending on your vision. 

If you are at all familiar with metering, than silhouettes can be a walk in the park. Learning to expose for the light source (i.e. the sky) so the foreground is underexposed is the basis of it, but I’ve noted a few tips to help walk you through the process if this is a new concept for you. 

• Choose a strong subject, something well defined and recognizable with little clutter. This can be a person, an object, or anything you want really.  Your subject is the object/person that will be underexposed/blacked out in your silhouette photo.
• Place your subject in front of a light source (i.e. a sun set). Set your exposure for the brightest part of your photo and not for the subject of the image.. To meter accurately for this, point your camera at the light source, hold your shutter half way down and adjust your settings so that the meter line is in the center. This now means that your exposure is correctly set for the light source/sky and for your silhouette.
• Turn your flash OFF! Do not illuminate your subject
• Get the light right. Once you have exposed for the sky and take a few shots to ensure your settings are such that you can capture the detail (i.e. for a sunset, make sure you can see light, color, clouds or whatever detail fills the sky). 
• Set up/frame your image. Get the setting right, place your subject where you want them and look through your view finder to make sure the shot looks good and your subject is standing/placed where you want it.
• Make the shape clear and uncluttered. Ensure there aren’t branches standing up directly behind your subject  (if it’s a person) or that people’s heads aren’t touching together to the point where you won’t be able to tell WHAT your subject is. 
• Take the shot. Don’t be afraid to take several at slightly different exposures to make sure you have the shot just how you want it. 
• Process it if necessary. Usually with my silhouette shots, I use my Clarify Action and my Lab Color Pop at a mid-level opacity to give it the boost it needs. Then, if my subject isn’t quite as blacked out as I want, I will use levels or the burn tool to give it the touch it needs.

My Example Photo:
As you can see from the photo taken by my friend, it’s bright enough outside that I would have had no problem getting a properly exposed shot of my kids. But, by metering/exposing for the sky, which was my light source, the children were underexposed, therefore blacking them out. 

Final Note from Heather: I want to recommend to EVERYONE that they read 'Understanding Exposure' by Bryan Peterson. That book really helped me when I was first starting out - and it was key for me in learning how to meter and expose properly. I'd also like to give full credit to the photography community for the tips provided in this tutorial. Many of these tips for creating beautiful Silhouettes were given to me by fellow photographers through forums, chit chats, and tutorials just like these.

As I've mentioned before, Heather has awesome actions and textures for 

purchase through her site Lolly's Playground. If you are not using actions you should! I know they can help bring your photography to the next level - so go play! I have the entire Lolly's Playground collection, and it was worth it! I use them on every session I edit!