Have you ever wondered how to use the graduated filter in Lightroom? Although we have covered it in depth in our Workflow and Post-Processing course, I thought it would be a good idea to share some detail about the specifics of the graduated filter in a video. If you are just starting out in Lightroom, […]
The post How to Use the Graduated Filter in Lightroom (Video) appeared first on Photography Life.
Have you ever been to Italy? Yeah, me neither.
Well… maybe that’s not entirely true.
I did go. Once. But I missed the whole trip.
About a year after my husband and I got married, we took a trip with my parents to Italy. Beautiful-beyond-description, Italy. So beautiful, in fact, that I obsessively photographed every dog, child, flower, and street sign in the whole country.
I was going to change the world with the beauty captured inside my new digital camera. My days were full of snapping and checking the back of my camera while I toiled away my nights editing, adjusting, and obsessing, waiting for the world’s slowest dial-up to post my photos to Facebook. (Because if it wasn’t on Facebook, it didn’t happen. Right?)
I was on cloud nine, camera-obsessed and certainly obnoxious. There I was in the most beautiful place on earth with the people I loved the most, and I couldn’t sleep I was so excited to photograph every solitary moment. My joy was matched only by the height of my husband’s eye-roll as he watched me edit away our Italian adventure, unable to rescue me from the photo vortex I’d discovered.
And like a blink, the trip was over.
I’m sad when I think about it now. In my effort to record every moment, I didn’t let myself soak up any of them. I had this once-in-a-lifetime experience to bond my new husband and my family, and I was too preoccupied with a screen to be present in the moment.
Fast-forward a few years, and I’m on a trip to Colorado with my husband’s family, our little boy, and an entirely different perspective. This time, I decide to bring just one film camera and a handful of rolls of film.
Life and love dance across the lenses of my eyes, and when I want to make sure I preserve a certain special one, I slowly pick up my film camera and take one or two photos, and then, get this: I put it down. That’s it. There’s no screen on the back of the camera, begging me to review my work. There’s no hard drive full of images to distract me. There’s just my most beloved people and me, on vacation. I cull and post the photos weeks after the vacation, and we get to relive the magical moments and laugh at the experiences we shared together. Imagine that!
Photography is such a gift, and the photos we take of our children will bless us forever. But if we let taking photos get in the way of making actual memories, then we miss the point.
Will you take on my challenge? On your next vacation, instead of taking your work camera along, or taking a million phone photos, try shooting on just three rolls of film. Let it change the way you document the world. Let it allow you to be present with your family. And just watch, because I bet you will love each one of those precious few photos you took, much more than the hundreds you usually do.
You don’t need to be a professional film shooter to do this! You can buy a small film camera (Canon AE-1 is great and only about $ 30) and try shooting 2-3 rolls on your vacation! See if you enjoy the freedom of being able to put the camera down. Developing the film and looking back at the photos a week later will give you a chance to relive those magic memories all over again!
Digital shooters, you can do this, too! Try taping a piece of black paper over your back screen and just relying on your camera meter when taking photos. Take the picture, and then put the camera away. Make the choice to spend time connecting with your family and not flipping back through the photos you’ve taken or editing them while you’re traveling!
The post Why I minimize my photography on vacation and you should, too appeared first on Clickin Moms.
Ah, Valentine’s Day. The Hallmark holiday. While February 14th is just a commercial holiday, it is still a romantic one, especially if you are in New York City. So with the help of some well-known romantic movies, we compiled a list of some of the most romantic places to take that special someone today.
In our opinion, there is no place more romantic than along the water in Brooklyn’s DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), especially at night. As blue hour descends upon the city, the looming Manhattan skyline lights up, giving everyone butterflies, no matter how many times you witness it. The most well-known vantage point is next to Jane’s Carousel just to the east of the bridge, but if you go west to the other side of the bridge, look for the wood beams in the water behind the Brooklyn Bridge Garden Bar for a quiet place to enjoy the view.
Photo by Michael Bonocore
Photo by Michael Bonocore
Photo by Michael Bonocore
If quiet is necessary for your romantic night with your significant other, than this is not the place for you. If you walk onto the Manhattan Bridge, you will find a wide section of walkway that holds one of the best views of the skyline with the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground. There are even holes cut in the chain link fence to make sure you get the photo you want, without barriers. Unfortunately, standing on a double-decker bridge which also has a subway track makes this a very loud romantic loud, but the view at sunset more than makes up for it.
The newly opened World Trade Center Transportation Hub serves 250,000 commuters a day, but the real draw here is the Oculus, a 78,000 jaw-dropping dining and shopping hub. With a futuristic look, the room takes in a ton of natural light from the giant windows, and being that it’s still new, it could be a romantic first for both of you.
Photo by
Billy Murray
In the movie an Affair to Remember, this famous piece of architecture served as the perfect setting for a dramatic scene in the film when a two people who are currently dating someone else fall in love and agree to meet back here in six months once they have their affairs in order. Sleepless in Seattle was inspired by the classic film when character Maggie writes to a man she only knows from the radio, proposing they meet atop the Empire State Building.
Photo by Slgckgc via Flickr, CC Attribution
Get away from the hustle of the city and take your date to Central Park, which somehow trancends lovers into a quiet fairy tail setting, even in the middle of the busiest city in the world. In the sweet and cynical Woody Allen film, Annie Hall, both Allen and actress Diane Keaton go to central park to people watch. If you and your lover have a sarcastic, yet curious personality, perhaps this would be the perfect date for the two of you.
Photo by M01229 via Flickr, CC Attribution
In the 1984 film Splash a mermaid is fresh off the boat in New York City when she arrives stark naked at the State of Liberty in search of the man she saved from drowning. Awww. Too bad she was later arrested for indecent exposure. Maybe bring a swimsuit if you want to live out this rom-com fantasy.
Photo by
Alex M. Hayward via Flickr, CC Attribution
This gorgeous library has served as the setting for older films such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s and newer films like the wedding in the Sex and the City movie. Check it out for yourself to see why the insides of this colossal marble building will make anyone swoon.
Photo by Rach via Flickr, CC Attribution
Freddie Prinze Jr. surprises actress Monica Parker in this dreamy early 2000s film Head Over Heels with a late night tour of the New York Aquarium. What’s more romantic than watching beluga whales swim behind plexiglass?
Screengrab
Harry Met Sally in this Brooklyn deli and people have been faking orgasms there ever since. Okay, not really, but that’s what Sally did in the provocative scene that took place here. In may not be the late eighties, but you might still get away with doing the same if public displays of affection are your thing.
Photo by
Alley Maherr, CC Attribution
If the film title Autumn in New York doesn’t sound romantic enough to you, then perhaps ice skating in Rockefeller Center like Will Keane (Richard Gere) and Charlotte Fielding (Winona Ryder) did in the movie will.
Photo by Jeff Pearce via Flickr, CC Attribution
Though a number of movies have now made this grand train station more than just a hub for public transit, no movie quite did it like Friends With Benefits did when Dylan (Justin Timberlake) surprised Jamie (Mila Kunis) with a flash mob singing and dancing to “Closing Time.” What song would you choose to declare your love to someone here?
Photo by Jens Fricke via Flickr, CC Attribution
And how about wrapping up your day with a cosy nighttime walk through New York City’s only elevated outdoor park? The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long linear park in West Manhattan. It was inspired by a similar 3-mile park in Paris—exactly, the city of love. The High Line is an ocean of green amid a concrete jungle and you and your partner will find it surprisingly relaxing. There’s more than enough plantation and hidden corners to help you finally score that kiss you were aiming for all day.
Photo by Lauri Väin via Flickr, CC Attribution
Photo by Ian Dolphin via Flickr, CC Attribution
Photo by JR P via Flickr, CC Attribution
Arc de Triomphe in Place de l’Etoile seen from the” is an art print by Alfred Eisenstaedt from The Life Picture Collection. Get photo prints of “Arc de Triomphe in Place de l’Etoile seen from the” in a variety of frames, styles, and materials. Photographer Bio Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995), or Eisie to those who knew him, received his first camera as a gift from his uncle at 14, a few years after moving to Berlin from Poland with his family. At 17, he was drafted to the German army. His interest in photography blossomed while recovering from a shrapnel wound. He became a regular at museums, studying light and composition. By 31, he was a full-time photographer. In 1933 he was sent to Italy where he shot the first meeting between Hitler and Mussolini. Two years later, when Hitler came to power, Eisie immigrated to America. Soon after arriving in New York, he was hired along with three other photographers-Margaret Bourke-White, Thomas McAvoy and Peter Stackpole-by Time Inc. founder Henry Luce for a secret start-up venture known as “Project X.” Six months later, Life magazine premiered on November 23, 1936. The first issue sold for 10 cents and featured five pages of Eisie’s pictures. His most famous photo was the kiss in Times Square on V-J day, about which he said, “I was running along the street grabbing any and every girl in sight. Whether she was a grandmother, stout, thin, old, didn’t make any difference. None of the pictures that were possible pleased me. Then, suddenly in a flash I saw something white being grabbed. I turned and clicked the moment the sailor kissed the nurse.” Over his career, Eisie shot a total of nearly 100 covers for Life magazine and some 10,000 prints. The Life Picture Collection From one of the most iconic magazines ever to hit the shelves comes The Life Collection – an archive of some of the most recognizable imagery of the 20th Century. Documenting events in politics, culture, celebrity, the arts and the American experience, these compelling and provocative photographs include the works of some of the greatest photographers capturing some of the greatest moments in history.
Price: $
Sold by Photos.com by Getty Images
I think we all have times when we are in a rut or feeling uninspired.
Sometimes we feel like we shoot the same thing in the same way, over and over.
We can not always feel excited by the things we are photographing, but sometimes we have to shoot anyway and push through it.
Winter is a wonderful time to practice macro photography since it can be easily done inside at any time of day. If you’re feeling bored with shooting macro, here are some of my favorite ways to add interest to my images, even for simple subjects that I’ve shot a million times before.
I have become obsessed with reverse freelensing. Freelensing is when you detach the lens from your camera and then ever so slightly tilt the lens to create blur similar to a tilt-shift and even let light leaks in the frame. Reversing the lens so that the front of it is facing your camera instead of your subject lets you achieve a closer focusing distance so you can shoot macro with a non-macro lens.
For me, reverse freelensing adds new interest to subjects I have shot before. I absolutely love the creative blur and gorgeous light leaks that can be achieved.
Related: The art of freelensing: a step-by-step guide
Lensbaby lenses are great for adding a little creativity to any type of photography and they work for macro, too! I love my Velvet 56 and, like with freelensing, the blur and bokeh is so unique that it creates interest in my images. With a magnification of 1:2, the Velvet 56 may not be a “true” macro lens to some but it lets you get pretty close – much closer than a non-macro lens.
If you have a Lensbaby Composer with optic(s) you can use the Lensbaby macro accessories or regular extension tubes to create creative macro images. You can also try freelensing with a Lensbaby!
Lensbabies are manual focus lenses so you will need to take a little extra time with focus. Since macro subjects are typically still subjects, a great cheat to ensure focus is to use the liveview screen, zoom in on your subject, and then fine tune your focus.
This is another way to add visual interest to your image. You can try shooting through a copper pipe, bubble wrap, tulle, tissue paper, a prism… the possibilities are endless!
To achieve this I typically cover one side of my lens (e.g., the left side) with the object I’m “shooting through” and then put the focal point of my subject on the other side, so that it gives the appearance that I am peeking through to see my subject.
Related: 12 macro photography tips you need to know
I LOVE spraying flowers, leaves, spiderwebs or pretty much anything with water to make it more interesting. Droplets can help you when you are struggling to find a focal point that looks intentional.
When I find myself in that predicament, I will spray with water and then look for a drop that is larger than the others, teetering on a petal edge, or unique in some other way. I then use that drop as my focal point for my image.
If water alone isn’t cutting it and you want even larger droplets, mix some organic dish soap or glycerin in with the water. Since glycerin makes the water particles stick together, the result is much larger drops. Next time you’re on Amazon, drop some glycerin in your shopping cart and give it a try!
Freezing flowers is a lot of fun and you can get images that look like watercolor paintings.
I get a plastic container or bowl and put the flowers in the bottom and cover with water and place in my freezer. When the water is frozen like a giant ice cube and I’m ready to shoot, I take my bowl outside and carefully slide the frozen block of flowers out and shoot away. The layers of ice on top of the submerged flowers will give a beautiful and unique perspective on an ordinary flower.
Try lighting your macro image differently than how you normally do.
If you usually use window light, try out a continuous artificial light like the Ice Light. If you usually use flat light, try backlighting like you would in portraiture. Even direct, harsh light can be fun and create a unique look from the rest of your macro photography.
Lighting can change the appearance of your subject, so it can be really fun to experiment with various forms of lighting.
Related: When and how to use these 8 types of photography lighting
Out of focus photography can be tricky to master but can be so beautiful once you do. I love the look of the blur and bokeh from an OOF image and with macro you can achieve a gorgeous, painterly image.
The key here is to focus on shape and color when shooting intentionally OOF. A big blob of red isn’t interesting to look at but when you start to see shapes and swirls of color in an out of focus image, the interest increases. Use the colors and shapes to provide a way for the viewer’s eye to find their way through your image.
Related: 5 macro photography mistakes you’re making
If you’re feeling bored, try experimenting with new editing techniques, like using textures or overlays in Photoshop. You can also be creative with your white balance choice. The possibilities for editing are endless and don’t be afraid to try something totally new!
I shoot macro frequently and I photograph a LOT of flowers, and some are harder to capture than others. These ideas are the ones I try out when I’m having a hard time making an interesting image of an uninspiring subject.
Are you interested in learning more about macro photography? My workshop, The Art of Macro Photography, starts soon and I’d love to have you join me!
The post 8 ways to spice up a boring macro photograph appeared first on Clickin Moms.
