“Crop my picture and you’re a dead man.” That’s what David Page, one of the contributors to my next book, said to me in an email when he submitted one of his pictures for publication. After his demand was a ☺.
Basically, David, a heck of a nice guy and former fine art photographer and teacher at Duke University, was asking, in a nice way, that his image not be cropped. I wrote back, “I’ll crop you later! Only kidding! Real men don’t crop. No worries.” ☺
David’s comment was the inspiration for this column because I agree 100% with his philosophy. To me, and to most of my photographer friends, cropping in-camera and in the digital darkroom is one of the keys to a good image—a good exposure and an interesting subject being among the other key ingredients that make a good photograph.
In fact, when I work with publishers, including my friends at Layers magazine, the only request I have is to please not crop my pictures. It’s a request that surely makes the art director’s job more difficult, and I appreciate their extra effort.
Cropping goes hand in hand with composition, because if you have an expertly composed photograph and then it’s cropped poorly, the composition goes down the tubes, or maybe to Davy Jones’ Locker, according to David Page.
So this issue’s column is all about what’s inside the four borders of a digital image. We’ll begin with image capture, and then move to onscreen cropping.

Basic rules of composition
Here are some things to keep in mind to help you get the best in-camera exposure.

Rule of Thirds: Perhaps the most basic rule of composition is to imagine a tic-tac-toe grid over the image in your viewfinder and to place the main subject where any of the lines intersect. Of course, like all so-called photography rules, this one is meant to be broken. However, it’s a good place to start when it comes to careful composition.
Check out this photograph of a cowgirl and imagine that tic-tac-toe grid over the image. Both the cowgirl and the shadow of a cowboy standing off-camera are placed where lines would intersect.

Place subject off-center: When we take a picture with the subject off-center, we give the viewer the opportunity to unconsciously scan the entire picture for other interesting elements. When we place the subject in the dead center of the frame, the viewer’s eyes get stuck on the subject.
An easy way to remember this rule is to think: Dead center is deadly. That’s what I was thinking about when I took this picture at sunset in Rajasthan, India.

Use a foreground element: Composing a landscape with a foreground element gives the viewer a reference point from which to view the main scene. No foreground element, no reference point. Composing a picture of a person with a foreground element (or surrounding element), which usually means shooting close to the person, makes the picture more personal and intimate.
This picture of a Huli Wigman, whom I photographed in Papua New Guinea, illustrates how using a foreground element, the leaves, can enhance a portrait.

Make the rounds: Before you press the shutter release button, make the rounds. That is, scan the edges of the viewfinder to see if any distracting objects are intruding into your carefully composed image.
Before I took this picture in Namibia, I carefully scanned the frame to make sure no distracting elements (people climbing on the dunes and their footprints) were in the frame.

Basic rules of computer cropping
And here are some things to keep in mind when you’re editing images on your computer.

Crop first: When you open an image on your monitor, there are two reasons why you want to crop first. One is that you can customize your image to exclude unwanted objects and boring areas of a scene, thereby focusing the viewer’s attention on the main subject.
The other is that when you adjust Levels and Curves, areas that are cropped out won’t affect your judgment as to the highlights and shadows in the scene—especially if those cropped-out areas were very dark or very light.
Here’s a before and after pair of images from Antarctica that illustrates creative cropping—along with a few creative enhancements.

Crop to find pictures within pictures: Here’s a fun and creative exercise. Open a picture, and then use creative cropping to find other pictures within a picture. If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. Keep in mind that in most cases, there’s a good picture within a picture.
I like my original horizontal photograph of this polar bear, which I took in the Subarctic. But after playing around with cropping, I discovered this nice vertical image, which I also like.

After you crop: If you plan to display a print that’s not a standard frame size, you’ll need a custom matte, which you can have cut at a framing store, or a custom frame. Another option is to have your print mounted on foamcore or other mounting material. Online labs such as Mpix.com can help you out in this area. Sure, you’ll have to pay a few more bucks for custom matting, mounting, and framing, but what would you rather have, a picture with impact or a picture with some boring dead space?
This picture of a momma polar bear and her cubs was carefully cropped from a full-frame image to the panorama format. I added the black border, brushed aluminum frame, and drop shadow in Photoshop to simulate a framed image hanging on a wall.

Okay, I’m outta here. I think I’ll start going through my tens of thousands of images to see how a better crop could result in an improved image. In between editing, I’ll check my email for other “dead man” notes.

…for once in my life I wanted to just walk around and totally enjoy the experience…

Guilty as charged. It’s true, I took most of the photographs in this article with my Canon PowerShot G10 compact camera, including the opening photograph of a rusting truck. The locations for my shoots were Socorro, New Mexico, and nearby Bosque del Apache, where I was co-leading a photography workshop with famed wildlife photographer Greg Downing for NatureScapes (www.naturescapes.net).

I use the word “confessions” in jest because I’m known for shooting with top-of-the-line digital SLR cameras that produce knockout images in all lighting conditions, indoors and out. In addition, these digital SLRs accept more than 50 lenses and dozens of accessories that expand the camera’s capabilities. So like some pros I know, I’d have to plead the Fifth (tongue in cheek) when asked about shooting with a less-than-the-best camera.

Why did I use a compact camera for taking important images in these totally cool locations—places I’d never been before? I wanted to see if I could get good shots with a basic camera. What’s more, for once in my life I wanted to just walk around and totally enjoy the experience without lugging around my 40-lb SLR backpack, although I did have it nearby in the trunk of my car at all times.

So friends, here are some compact-camera images, along with some important info about compact cameras. I promise to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Opening arguments
I love this shot. It’s clean, meaning that it has very little digital noise. I took it with my compact camera on the first day of the trip in Bosque del Apache. I put the camera on a tripod, set the ISO to 100, the exposure mode to Av (Aperture Priority), activated the self-timer, and took the shot.

At low ISO settings, compact cameras deliver relatively low-noise images as long as the light level isn’t too low. It’s in low light and at high ISO settings where noise increases, and it’s in low light and at high ISO settings where digital SLRs really shine when it comes to minimizing noise.

I also took this shot with my compact camera. Check out the detail and color before you read on. Take your time. Nice shot, don’t you think

Okay, I’m kidding. I actually took this shot earlier that morning with a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II and 24–105mm lens, using the same settings that I used on my compact camera. It’s also one of my favorite images from the shoot. It’s a beautifully clean image, and I challenge anyone to see, at least on the pages of this magazine, any difference in image quality between this and the previous image. That goes for making an 8×10″ print of each image, too.

Here’s a test shot taken earlier that morning with the compact camera. For this shot, I set the ISO to 800 and hand-held the camera to test the noise, which is evident in the image, but that was expected. So one of the key differences between the two types of cameras is noise.

Cross-examination
Another key difference, and the reason I will not get divorced from my digital SLRs, is that I can use dozens of lenses on my digital SLRs, whereas my compact camera has only a built-in zoom. For this photograph, I used a Canon 400mm DO IS lens on my Canon EOS-1D Mark III to get the shot.

Unlike my compact camera, my digital SLR focuses much faster; has no shutter lag (although it’s not bad in the G10); has more focusing points (allowing it to focus more accurately in more situations); has a higher frame rate, not to mention a much larger image sensor for higher-quality images and enlargements; and an on-sensor noise-reduction feature.

Perhaps what I miss most in compact cameras are very wide lens settings, such as 14mm, 15mm, and 17mm. I especially like those focal lengths for landscapes and when shooting in close quarters indoors. And, of course, I miss the telephoto zooms. But you know what, whenever possible I do what we did before we had zoom lenses: I zoom with my feet!

In the compact camera’s defense, it has many of the exposure modes (Av, Tv, P, M) that my digital SLR offers. It even has exposure compensation, offers a histogram, and features an overexposure warning. What’s more, it shoots movies—not high-def like my Canon 5D Mark II, but movies good enough for fun and for posting on YouTube. Speaking of YouTube, one of my Bosque del Apache movies is posted on YouTube (www.youtube.com). Type Rick Sammon in the Search field to check it out.

Witness tampering
This shot from a compact camera was taken in bright light with the ISO set to 100. Check out the color, detail, sharpness, and lack of noise. I took this picture so that I could compare it to the following picture.

Here’s another shot of the bus taken shortly before sunset. This time the bus was in the shade, and to get the depth-of-field and shutter speed I needed, I had to set my ISO to 400. You may not be able to see the grain in the image in this magazine, but it’s there in the shadow areas. Also, the picture looks a bit flat.

No problem. Photoshop to the rescue! With a few basic adjustments, some in Adobe Camera Raw, I was able to transform a lackluster shot into an image with vibrant colors.

A confession on the stand
Okay, now it’s time for another confession: All the compact-camera images you see here were created from JPEG files. That’s right! Rick “RAW Rules” Sammon shot JPEGs for the first time in nine years to test the camera’s capabilities. And guess what? Processing those images in Camera Raw (which you can do in Photoshop CS3 and CS4), combined with a few additional tweaks in Photoshop, yielded some very nice images, including this photo of a caboose.

The mug shot
I’ll end this article with a photograph of me that was taken with my G10 during the presentation at the NatureScapes event. Surely it’s a grab shot with a harsh shadow caused by the on-camera flash. But it’s a fun shot, and that’s what compact-camera photography is about—having fun without the bag-drag that’s associated with professional photography.

It’s also about knowing what the compact camera can and can’t do, and how to use the camera’s capabilities to get great shots—some, like the second photograph in this article, can’t be differentiated from a photo taken with a high-end digital SLR.

From now on, I’ll never leave home without my compact camera, and I’ll never stop shooting with SLRs for my serious work.

“I don’t think, I feel.” That’s what Keith Richards said about playing guitar onstage in Shine a Light, the Martin Scorsese film of the Rolling Stones’ performance at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. A must-see, in my book!

I like that philosophy and have thought about photography the same way for years. I feel that a photographer must know exactly what all the buttons, knobs, dials, and settings do on a camera so that when he or she sees a shot, the process becomes more about feeling than thinking about the technical side of photography (this must become second nature).

In this column, I’ll share a few of my favorite philosophies about feelings and photography that I’ve gathered over the years. So sit back and don’t think about RAW versus JPEG, white balance, ISO settings, etc. Instead, think about the feel of a photograph.

The camera looks both ways…
When it comes to photographing people, the most important photo tip I can share with you is this: “The camera looks both ways—in picturing the subject, we’re also picturing a part of ourselves.” “Every picture is a self-portrait” is another way of conveying that point. Let me explain:

When you’re looking through your camera’s viewfinder, viewing and framing a subject, if you realize that the feeling, emotion, attitude, and energy you project will be reflected in your subject’s face—and eyes—you’ll get a higher percentage of pictures that you like. That’s because, by your actions, you’re subconsciously directing the subject to mirror the way you feel.

I don’t have to tell you what I was feeling at the moment when I snapped the photo of the Buddhist monk that opens this column. Well, even though I don’t have to tell you, it was a feeling a great respect.

Make pictures, don’t just take pictures
Rather than simply taking pictures—pointing you camera, composing the scene, setting the exposure, and focusing—take your time and make pictures.

Making pictures is not only fun, it’s part of the creative photography process. When you take control, you become the director of the shoot, just as a movie director takes control of the scenes he or she shoots.

In this cowboy portrait, look closely and you’ll notice the reflection of a horse in the cowboy’s sunglasses. That, of course, was no accident. The horse and the cowboy were carefully placed in such a way as to capture the horse’s reflection. The relatively plain background was also no accident. I selected the side of the red barn so that the subject stood out prominently in the scene.

Be aware of body language
Sometimes we get so caught up in the technical aspects of photographing people and their facial expressions that we forget how body language affects how we feel about the subject. Compare these two photographs of a woman I photographed in Marrow Bone Springs, Texas. In the dressed-down photograph, the woman is gripping the post with “man hands.” In the other photograph, she’s holding it in a feminine manner. By the way, the woman is a model, and is actually the person who taught me about man hands.

Portrait vs. environmental portrait
Basically, when you take pictures of a person, you have two choices: You can choose to take a portrait (head or head-and-shoulders shot) or an environmental portrait (a picture that shows the subject in his or her environment). Both types of portraits can be effective, and I often photograph a subject both ways.

The first picture of Taraino women, taken in Amazonas, Brazil, is my favorite environmental portrait from my brief photo session in the village, which lasted only about an hour. Looking at the photograph, you can see the surrounding rainforest, and you also get an idea of the women’s clothing and body painting. Those elements help tell the viewer something about them, where they live, and what it might feel like to live in the location.

Check out this shot. It’s a nice portrait of the woman on the right in the first photograph; however, because we can’t see the environment, we don’t feel as though we’re “on location,” so to speak, with the photographer.

Convey the feeling
Compare these two pictures of some dancers at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, Florida. For one picture, I set my camera on the Program mode and used a flash. It’s not a very creative photograph. But more importantly, it doesn’t convey the beautiful movement of the dancers. Insert G2.jpg

Check out the other shot. Here, I set my camera on Manual, set the shutter speed to 1/6 (a relatively low shutter speed), turned on a flash, and shot. The combination of using a slow shutter speed and the flash helps the viewer to feel the emotion of the scene.

Be there and be aware
Most of the photographers I know agree with this expression: The hardest place to take pictures is in your own backyard. That’s why we travel to different locations around the country and the globe: to get inspired—to feel an affinity with the subject.

I took this picture in Kingdom of Bhutan, which sits on the right shoulder of India. How can you not get inspired and be driven to taking the best possible pictures when experiencing a scene like this one?

So being there in a new, interesting, and inspiring location is important for many photographers. If you can’t get to places like Bhutan, go someplace that’s new to you where something interesting is happening—something that will motivate you to take pictures.

Being aware of everything that’s going on around you is important, too. You must have your radar activated, not only looking for interesting subjects but for interesting scenes. What’s more, you need to anticipate what might happen.

This photograph of the Buddhist monks was the result of my anticipating what might happen. Moments before I took this picture, all the monks were praying inside the temple. I was observing quietly. A bell rang and they all jumped up quite quickly and put on their sandals. I anticipated that they would be outside in a flash, so I dashed outside and grabbed this shot. Being there and being aware will help you get good pictures.

Be yourself—enjoy the moment
I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “Stop and smell the roses.” When it comes to photography, we need to keep that expression in mind. We need to totally enjoy the moment; however, that usually comes when we have a total and complete understanding of our cameras, so we don’t have to think about the technical side of the creative process (as I mentioned and as Keith Richards suggests). This picture of school children in Lombok, Indonesia, helps convey that point, which is basically to have fun and to enjoy the moment.

Professional photographers who focus on people photography and portraits never leave home without a reflector, a handheld diffuser, and a flash diffuser. I’m in that crowd. I take these accessories with me to control the light both indoors and outdoors when it’s not right, and when I simply want more creative lighting.

In the studio, pros use reflectors and diffusers in combination with accessory flash units (the kind that fit in the hot-shoe of a camera) and wireless transmitters for professional studio lighting effects. Again, I’m one of ’em.

I’m going to cover all that stuff in this column. Let’s get started.

Reflecting and diffusing light
A reflector does exactly what its name implies: it reflects light. The opening photograph for this article was taken in Papua New Guinea during one of my 2008 photography workshops. Check out the catch light in the subject’s eyes. See how his face is nicely illuminated. And note the contrast and detail in the image.

Now compare the opening image to this one. It’s the same subject, same setting, but the only difference is that in the first photograph I asked our guide to hold a reflector so that the light from the sky was reflected onto the subject’s face. The reflector made all the difference in the world, turning a flat shot into a striking shot with more detail and contrast.

Our guide holds a reflector for one of the workshop participants, Bev Sanchez. The reflector collapses and fits neatly into the tote that the guide is carrying over his shoulder.

Let’s move on to diffusers. A diffuser is made out of a translucent material that softens harsh light as it passes through. Compare these two pictures of a woman I photographed in Mongolia. I know which one you like better! It’s the softer, more flattering portrait of the woman—the one where you can better see her eyes and in which her skin is softened. For that image, I had my friend, Jack Leggett, hold a diffuser between the sun and the subject.

CREDIT: JACK LEGGETT Here, I’m demonstrating the effect of a diffuser to workshop participants.

Many choices
Diffusers and reflectors are available in all sizes and shapes, and are sold separately and in kits. Many reflectors have a gold side to bounce a warm quality of light, and a silver side to bounce a cooler and stronger quality of light.

Some kits come with a zip-on cover with a black side and a white side. Use the black side to cut down on light falling on a subject, and the white side to bounce a very soft light onto the subject.

For photographers who do mostly head and head-and-shoulder shots, small reflectors and diffusers do the job. The kit you see here, actually the Rick Sammon Light Controller and Tote from Westcott www.fjwestcott.com, includes a handheld diffuser, a reflector, and a diffuser that attaches directly to a flash via supplied Velcro.

I use the diffuser attached to the flash all the time because I don’t want my flash pictures to look like harsh flash pictures, which was one of my goals when I photographed this “warrior” in Mongolia. Not only does the diffuser soften the light, but it increases the size of the light source, which is beneficial when taking group photographs. Compare these photos to see the big benefit of using a flash with a diffuser outdoors.

For professional jobs, larger reflectors and diffusers are available. As the size of the reflector increases, the size of the reflected light source increases. Large diffusers are used for full-length portraits and when two or more people are in the photograph. During this photo shoot at Lake Mead, Arizona, our team of photographers used a large reflector to illuminate this model.

Reflectors and diffusers can be used in the professional and home studio as well. I use stands and arms from Westcott to support my reflectors and diffusers, and stands and flash holders from Bogen (www.bogenimaging.com) to support my flash units.

Using flash with reflectors and diffusers
When you fire a flash into a reflector, you increase the size of the light source tremendously for more even lighting. Fire it through a diffuser, and again you increase the size of the light source—in this case for beautiful soft lighting.

To fire the flash units off-camera, you’ll need a wireless infrared (IR) transmitter, which fits into the hot-shoe of your camera. With an IR transmitter, you can fire several remote flashes at once, creating true professional-quality results.

When using a flash with a reflector or diffuser, keep the flash at least 3′ away from the reflector or diffuser. At that distance, the size of the light source is increased. Any closer and you’re not getting the full benefit of the reflector or diffuser because you’re not fully increasing the size of the light source. This is an important tip.

Portraits
Here’s a portrait of Emmy Award winner David Leveen taken with a three-flash, two-reflector set up triggered by a wireless transmitter. I positioned one flash and reflector setup to my left to illuminate his face, and placed another slightly behind him and to my right to create side lighting. Then I positioned a single flash unit (with no reflector) directly behind him for what’s called “Hollywood lighting.”

For this portrait of my friend Kristen, I used my accessory flash units as my light sources, firing them into and through my reflectors and diffusers. I also had her hold a gold reflector on her lap, which bounced light onto her face, filling in shadows that were created by overhead lighting.

Reflectors and diffusers can be used together, both indoors and out. And they can be positioned in many different locations around a subject. Experiment and have fun! Play with light.

ALL IMAGES BY RICK SAMMON UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

When my film came back, I examined each slide on a light table. If a slide, which has a narrow exposure latitude/tolerance, was overexposed, I tossed it immediately. There was no hope to save it. If it was slightly underexposed, there was hope! A company called Edwal offered a product called Correct-a-Chrome, which consisted of chemicals and trays in which you dipped a slide, held with tweezers, until the desired result was achieved.

For presentations, I used duplicate slides in glass mounts placed in carousel trays sitting atop a carousel projector. (I know I’m showing my age, but so are the programmers who develop Microsoft Word, because unlike the word Photoshop, Kodachrome isn’t showing up in Word’s dictionary.)
Today, it seems as though I have to know about 100 more things as a professional photographer if I want to keep up with my competition—and that includes my friends.

For those of you who are thinking about becoming full-time pro shooters, I thought I’d put together a list of must-know photo-pro info. (As illustrations for this article, I’ll use some of the RAW files I took during Venice Carnival 2008 in Italy with my Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III.)

Camera settings

Today, knowing how Quality settings, ISO, White Balance, Color Space (Adobe RGB vs. sRGB), and in-camera noise reduction (on-sensor and in-processor) can affect an image is key to getting a good image. For example, did you know that you get fewer pictures on a memory card when your camera is set at a high ISO than when it’s set at a lower ISO, and that as the detail in a scene increases, so does the file size? Here are some things you’ll need to know about your camera:
• You should be completely familiar with your camera’s menu, which can offer dozens and dozens of options that help you fine-tune your pictures—or ruin them if not set correctly.
• Research (on the Web) the sensor quality of different cameras—more pixels doesn’t necessarily mean a better quality image.
• You may even have to know how to print directly from your camera and shoot wirelessly, transmitting your files to a remote computer.
• Finally, research which memory cards are best for your particular needs when it comes to GB size and write speeds (maybe you need a write accelerated card, maybe you don’t).
• Hopefully, you won’t ever have to use image recovery software for any of your memory cards—but it never hurts to learn anyway. These programs were developed for a reason.

Image-processing programs

Today, photography is part image capture and part image processing—whether you use Photoshop, Camera Raw, Lightroom, Aperture, or the software that came on the CD that was packed with your digital camera. So here are some things to keep in mind when it comes to postprocessing:
• Shoot with the end result in mind, and know all the creative and corrective possibilities that are available to you in the digital darkroom with a few clicks of a mouse, or tap of a stylus on a tablet.
• Learn about Photoshop plug-ins that can help you take further advantage of Photoshop, expanding your photographic horizons and creative endeavors.
• Of course, make sure that Photoshop (or other image-processing program) can open your RAW files, which may not be the case unless you download the latest version of the Camera Raw plug-in from www.adobe.com for your brand-new camera.
• You need to know if it’s necessary to open an image in Photoshop as a 16-bit file, which limits the use of some filters and other features in Photoshop, verses an 8-bit file.
• If you publish books or magazine articles, you may have to learn about the Photoshop CMYK Color Settings (Edit>Color Settings) and how to convert your RGB files to CMYK files. You also may need to know about onscreen proofing (View>Proof Setup).

Computer system

While installing Leopard on my Mac a few months ago, I was reminded of just how much a photographer has to know about his or her computer—like how important it is to choose the Archive and Install option (which preserves all hard drive data) as opposed to just choosing the Clean Install option (which erases all hard drive data).
• Be prepared to repair a hard drive (using Disk Utility on a Mac or the Error Checking utility in Vista), which could help or, if not done correctly, could erase a drive. But more importantly, find out the best methods for backing up your data (now made easier for Mac users with Time Machine in Leopard) and hooking up accessory drives, memory card readers, and so on.
• It’s also critical to calibrate your monitor, which if not done correctly could make people in your pictures look as though they came from Mars (with green skin).
• If you give presentations using your laptop and are very serious about color and image quality, know which color profile and resolution to select in your System Preferences (explained to me once by Photoshop Hall of Fame inductee Eddie Tapp).
• If you’re using a projector for your presentations, you’ll also have to calibrate the projector (using X-Rite i1 products, for example). But first, you need to start with a knockout presentation, which involves putting together an interesting show with great photographs in Keynote or PowerPoint. Be sure to use images with the correct resolution. I import 7×9″ JPEGs into Keynote and they look pretty darn good onscreen.
• If you make inkjet prints, using the correct ICC profile, as well as choosing the appropriate option for image quality and paper in the printer’s driver, is key to getting a great print. You also have to do some basic maintenance on your printer, such as cleaning the nozzles via the printer’s software.
• If you upload pictures to an online lab, find out the lab’s image-quality and color-space settings, as well as cropping recommendations.

Keep current

Of utmost importance is that you keep current with what’s happing in the world of digital imaging. Thank goodness we have the Web to keep us informed about the latest and greatest technology—hardware, software, plug-ins, and techniques.

For example, do a Web search for “Jeff Schewe on Camera Raw 4.1,” and you’ll find some totally cool (and very important) stuff about processing your RAW files, including how to use two cool powerful features: Defringe (which helps with specular sensor flooding around hot specular highlights) and Clarity (which does exactly what the name implies).

We also have events such as Photoshop World (www.photoshopworld.com), where a wealth of information can be learned onsite, as well as in the show’s telephone book-size volume that contains tons of how-to articles by the show’s presenters.

So if you’re thinking of becoming a full-time pro, keep in mind that it really is a full-time job—because you’ll spend lots and lots of time learning about today’s technology in addition to taking pictures. And as you know or have guessed, you also need a lot of money to pay for all the digital photography tools and toys.

And speaking of taking pictures, there is one thing that hasn’t changed for me or other pros in all these years—getting the very best in-camera photograph is still the most important objective.

Technically speaking, every picture in this issue of Layers has the same main subject: light. Therefore, when we take a picture, all we’re doing is recording light. It may sound simple but in reality, it’s not that easy. Here’s why.

Our eyes have a dynamic range of about 11 f-stops, which is why in a high-contrast scene we can see details in shadow areas and highlight areas aren’t washed out. Our cameras, however, don’t “see” exactly what we see. Digital cameras have a dynamic range of about five f-stops. Sure, we can expand that range in Photoshop—and expand it greatly with high dynamic range (HDR) photos, as illustrated by my Photoshop buddy Ben Willmore in his lectures, books, and articles.

Expanding the dynamic range of an image is only one option to getting a good exposure: compressing the contrast range of the scene is another. Photographers basically have three techniques for compressing the contrast range of a scene: use a diffuser to soften shadows; use a reflector to fill in shadows; and use a flash or several flashes to fill in shadows.

In this issue, we’ll explore using a single flash for what’s called daylight fill-in flash photography. To illustrate the technique, I’ll share some photographs that I took on my recent photo workshop to Papua New Guinea. The photographs were taken with my Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, Canon 24–105mm IS zoom, Canon 580EX II flash, and Canon ST-E2 wireless transmitter.

Balancing light
Check out the picture of a Huli Wigman that opens this column. It doesn’t look like a flash picture because the light from the flash is balanced to the ambient (available) light. Actually, that’s my goal when I take flash pictures (indoors and out): I try to balance the light so my pictures don’t look like flash pictures—pictures with harsh shadows.

Following is the simple technique, illustrated with three pictures
I took of a woman who lives in a remote village on the Sepik River.

STEP ONE: Set your camera on Manual and adjust the shutter speed and f-stop for the correct exposure of the background or surrounding area. As illustrated in this backlit picture, the background will be correctly exposed but the subject will usually be too dark. Keep in mind that the brighter the background, the darker the subject.

Here, I set the shutter speed at 1/125 to prevent camera shake and subject movement. You’ll understand why I’m telling you this when you see the motion blur example later in this article.

STEP TWO: Turn on your flash and set it to TTL (through-the-lens, automatic exposure). Now, on your flash (or in-camera), reduce the flash output by –11/3. Take a shot and check your camera’s LCD monitor. If the subject is too dark, try setting the flash output at –1 or even –1/2. If the subject is overexposed, reduce the flash output until you get the correct exposure. For my daylight fill-in flash portrait, I had my flash reduced to –11/3.

Some newer digital SLRs provide darn good daylight fill-in flash pictures when the camera is set to the Aperture Priority mode; however, the aforementioned easy method offers more control over the scene’s lighting. If you want to darken the background, increase the shutter speed or f-stop so less available light reaches your camera’s sensor. The flash exposure of your subject will remain the same (as long as you’re within the flash’s range).

If you think that using daylight fill-in flash isn’t worth the effort, here’s an example of what happens when you don’t use a flash and simply set your camera to Program mode and point and shoot in a backlit situation.

Don’t forget the accessories
We can add to the natural look of our flash pictures by using a diffuser over the flash. For this portrait (of the security guard at the Ambua Lodge where our group stayed), I used the Micro Apollo flash diffuser from Westcott (www.fjwestcott.com) that attaches to the flash head with Velcro. A flash diffuser softens and spreads the light, which is useful when taking wide-angle photographs.
An essential accessory for the serious daylight fill-in flash shooter is a wireless transmitter. A transmitter fits in the hot-shoe of the camera and triggers a flash (or flashes) remotely. One advantage of wireless flash photography is that you have more control over where the light from the flash falls (i.e., the direction of the light). In this example, taken during a sing-sing (local festival), I positioned the flash high above my head so that the light from the flash didn’t overexpose the foreground elements (the shoulders of other Huli Wigmen).

We can also use daylight fill-in flash to add a sense of motion and drama to a still picture. In the sharp shot of the Huli Wigman warrior at the right (he’s actually a nice guy!), I used a shutter speed of 1/125 to ensure no subject blur. In the motion blur shot (honestly not created with the Motion Blur filter in Photoshop), I set the shutter speed to 1/15 and, just before I took the picture, started to move the camera from left to right.

Of course, the motion blur picture was not my first attempt to create this effect during the photo session. I had to experiment with different slow shutter speeds and moving the camera at different speeds to get the desired effect. If you like this technique, plan on taking more than a few shots to get just the effect you want.

As you can tell, I’m big fan of daylight fill-in flash. In fact, I never leave home without two flashes and two wireless transmitters because I always want backups.

I’m also a big fan of Papua New Guinea, mainly because the country offers unlimited on-location portrait opportunities. I’m not a big fan, however, of the travel time to and from Papua New Guinea: basically 2.5 days each way. What’s more, the malaria medicine (mefloquine) produces very strange dreams, and Imodium A-D kinda dries you out. It’s great fun being a travel photographer!

All of these factors came into play with the image of the red-eye tree frog (above left), photographed with a Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro lens and ring light. (The black background in this picture was created by holding a black T-shirt about two-feet behind the subject—far enough so that it wasn’t illuminated by the ring light).

For newcomers to the fascinating, fun, and rewarding aspects of close-up photography, this article introduces a few of the basic techniques.

The macro lens

For true macro photography, you need a macro lens, as opposed to the macro/close-up setting on a zoom lens. Macro lenses let you get much closer to a subject than zoom lenses. This picture of a newly hatched butterfly was taken with a Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 Macro lens, which offers tremendous magnification—much like a bellows system for SLR cameras. It’s a specially designed, manual focus macro lens that actually lets you fill the frame with subjects as small as a grain of rice.

The remaining photographs in this article were taken with more commonly used macro lenses: 50mm and 100mm. The main difference between these two lenses is that that 100mm lens provides a greater camera-to-subject distance so you don’t frighten skittish subjects, such as butterflies.

Getting close

Okay, let’s move on to some macro shooting tips and techniques.

Steady your shots: Macro lenses exaggerate camera shake, as do telephoto lenses. To reduce the chance of a blurry picture caused by camera shake, which is most noticeable in natural light pictures, you need to use a tripod. I used a tripod with a ball head (for easy positioning) when I took this natural light photograph of an Atlas moth with the 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens.

Compose carefully: The background can make or break a close-up picture. Try to compose a picture so the background complements the main subject and does not detract from it.

Add a background: If the background is too distracting, you can change it. Photograph a leaf, make an inkjet print, and use the print as a background. For more creative control, try blurring the leaf in the digital darkroom (using the Gaussian Blur filter in Photoshop) to simulate the effect of using different f-stops.

Add light: When adding light, a ring light is a good choice. A ring light attaches to the end of a lens and can provide ratio and even (“shadowless”) lighting. The light from a ring light also adds contrast to a picture, making it look sharper than a natural light photograph. A Canon Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX attached to the front of the 50mm macro lens was used for this picture of a cabbage white butterfly.

Focus carefully: In close-up photography, as with telephoto photography, focus is extremely critical. You need to focus on the most important element in a scene, such as the eye of an insect or small animal. It’s also important to shoot at a small aperture (f/11 or f/22) for good depth of field (unless you want the area in front of and behind your subject out of focus). I set the 50mm macro lens at f/22 for this photograph.

Set the white balance and image quality setting: When using a ring light as the main light source, set the white balance to Flash. When the light is mixed (daylight and flash), set the white balance to Auto.
For the very best quality image, set the image quality to RAW. The RAW setting gives you a little more exposure latitude (is more forgiving) than the Fine or High JPEG setting. What’s more, with a RAW file you’ll have less chance of getting banding in solid colors and dark areas, such as the black background in the opening image for this article.

Experiment: It’s important to be aware of how different angles and different shooting distances can greatly affect a picture. In close-up photography, moving just a few inches, or a faction of an inch for that matter, can provide a completely different view of the same subject, as illustrated by these two pictures of an orchid, which I took with the 50mm macro lens. Also play around with different color modes, including black and white.

Okay, now it’s your turn to have fun exploring your own close-up world!

This past November, eight students and I traveled with VSP Workshops to Namibia, where we had the unique opportunity to photograph the Himba, an ethnic group living in the northern part of the country. One of our goals, in addition to taking candid and lifestyle shots, was to take a series of on-location portraits. In this column, I’ll share with you some of the photographs from that shoot, along with some of the specific goals we set for ourselves.

Make pictures, don’t just take pictures
Anyone can take pictures, but not everyone can make pictures. Making pictures is creative, fun, and easy. Rather than simply pointing your camera at a subject and pressing the shutter release button, take the time to carefully position your subject or subjects in a scene, as I did when I photographed these two Himba women posed against a clear sky.

Work with a subject on his or her pose and expression. Create a balanced photograph. Watch the background. Choose the best f-stop for the appropriate depth-of-field, and the best shutter speed to either stop or blur action. Work—and play—at making pictures and you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment when you see the results of your effort.

Fall in love
For me, the key to getting a good on-location portrait is to fall in love—photographically—with the subject. That’s exactly what I did when I saw this young woman. Out of the 50 or so people who lived in this particular village, she caught my eye immediately. It was photographic love at first site.

So, the first tip is to find a subject that you absolutely must photograph, someone who moves you to say, “I’ll do anything to get that person’s picture for myself and to share with others.”

The camera looks both ways
One of my favorite photography adages is that the camera looks both ways—in picturing the subject, you’re also picturing a part of yourself. When you keep in mind that the energy, emotion, and feeling that you project will be reflected in your subject’s face, especially the eyes, and you’ll get a high percentage of pictures that you like. I’m sure you can tell how I was feeling when I took this photograph.

Take three
When taking headshots, take a head-on photograph, a profile, and a three-quarter’s view (as illustrated by the opening photo and the two previous photos). Photographing a subject from different angles gives you an assortment from which to choose your favorite.

Capture a natural moment
To capture a natural moment, you need to establish a sense of trust with your subject. That takes time—time you need to spend talking to subject, learning about her life, sharing information about your life, and why you’re there taking pictures.

Perhaps the most important part of establishing a sense of trust is to find a guide who has previously visited the location and who has already gained the trust of the people, as our group did with the Himbas.

Frame it
When you put a print in a frame, you basically dress up and enhance the picture so the frame complements the photograph. On site, you can frame a subject with a doorway, window frame, tree branches, or a fence. The frame must complement the subject. Framing a subject can also add depth to the scene, helping to create a 3D effect in a 2D image.

See and control the light
Seeing the light—the contrast, shadows, and highlights—in a scene is the first step in getting the best possible in-camera picture. The second step is knowing how to capture and control the light, either by using a flash, reflector, diffuser, or by moving the subject into the shade.

This little Himba girl’s face was partially shaded by her hair. To fill in the shadows, I used a flash for daylight fill-in flash photography. The picture doesn’t look like a flash picture (my goal with all my flash pictures) because I dialed down the output of the flash, which balanced the light from the flash to the ambient light.

For the trio of tight headshots of the beautiful young woman pictured earlier in the column, I had a student hold a gold reflector so the sunlight (which was over and behind the woman’s hut) was bounced back onto the subject. That’s why the pictures of the subject positioned in the dark shade look so bright and colorful. Without the reflector, the pictures would have looked dull and flat. So don’t leave home without a reflector, diffuser, or a flash. And keep an eye on the light.

Go interactive
When you share your pictures with your subjects, you make photo sessions more fun and interactive. After all, who doesn’t like seeing their pictures? That’s especially true for the Himba, who live in a relatively remote part of Namibia. Share your pictures, and you’ll see how easy it is to make new friends.

Here are two examples from my countless photo sessions around the planet, one from an adventure to Mongolia, and one from a photo workshop I led in Kenya.

Meanderings in Mongolia
I took the opening image for this article in Mongolia where I photographed the nomad in his ger (tent-like hut) on my first day there. It’s one of my favorite nomad pictures from the adventure and it was the last shot in the evolution of a photo shoot. Unlike the following pictures from that shoot, it’s a flash picture (I bounced the light off the ceiling of the ger for soft and even lighting), because I didn’t like the high-contrast range created by the light coming through an opening in the ger’s ceiling and through the open door. Read on to see how the session began.

Here’s my first shot. My friend, Jack, and I were welcomed into the ger by the man’s family and then invited to drink fermented camel’s milk (a local custom to which you can’t say “no”). I saw a potential picture but the light coming through the opening in the ger’s ceiling caused the table to be way overexposed…but I took my test shot anyway.

I never like to overstay my welcome because it can make the subject feel uncomfortable. So, rather than start right away photographing the man, I asked our guide to move into position for a test shot. I liked the composition, especially with the clock in the picture, but I could see that the contrast range was still too great.

Almost happy with my picture, I asked our host to move into position, and he gladly accommodated my request. I played around with exposures but I couldn’t get the man and the table evenly exposed, so I knew I needed to use a flash for even illumination.

The “keeper” you see at the beginning of this column is the result of this photo session (which lasted about 15 minutes, as you can tell from the clock). You may notice that the man is now wearing traditional nomad clothes and boots—changing his clothes was his idea. He thoroughly enjoyed the photo session, according to our guide, who also acted as our translator.

In case you’re wondering what a ger looks like from the outside, here you go. And if you were wondering what fermented camel’s milk tastes (and smells) like, try this: Take a cup of milk, leave it in the hot sun for two days, and then force yourself to drink it with a smile!

Let’s travel to Kenya
This is the picture I envisioned when I saw this young girl in a Massai village in Kenya. When I see a subject I want to photograph, that envisioning process helps me get the shot. I ask myself, “If I had room on my memory card for only one shot, what would it be?” In this situation, I wanted to picture the girl against a black background, which was easily created by posing her in front of the doorway to her hut.

But she and I were strangers and spoke difference languages. I couldn’t simply walk up to her and ask if I could take her picture. That would have been very awkward, especially because I wanted to work close and get a head-and-shoulder shot. So, working with my guide, through whom I asked the girl about her daily life, I started shooting from a distance—pictures that I knew would be outtakes. I showed the girl her pictures, thereby developing a relationship with her.

As I gained her confidence and she became more comfortable and relaxed, I moved in closer. I kept shooting and then showing her the pictures on my camera’s LCD monitor. She was thrilled to see the pictures just seconds after I’d taken them.

Here are two of the dozens of outtakes from that photo session. One is a full-length shot with bad lighting and a bad pose and the other shows the girl with her eyes closed— indicating that I missed the shot.

I’ll end this article with one of my photo philosophies that sums up the evolution of a photo-session process: There’s a big difference between taking a picture and making a picture. I made this picture by asking this young Massai boy to pose in the doorway of a hut (a different hut). I asked one of my friends to hold a gold reflector so that the light from the sun bounced onto my subject, who was positioned in the deep shade. The reflector illuminated the subject with a beautiful warm light and also added contrast to the photograph.

I share these images with you not only to illustrate the evolution of one of my photo sessions but also to encourage you to keep shooting, even if you think you’ve already taken a good photograph. If you keep in mind that a photo session is an evolving process, you’ll not only have a better chance of getting the shot you want, you won’t be frustrated if you don’t get your keeper with your first shot.

Every adventure begins with a first step and so it is with the creative world of digital infrared (IR) imaging. That first step is to have a basic understanding of infrared light.

Technically speaking, in IR digital photography, infrared light (invisible wavelengths to our eyes) is recorded, as opposed to visible light (the light that we normally see and the light our cameras normally record). The name infrared comes from the combination of the Latin word “infra,” which means below, and red (which has the longest wavelength visible to our eyes). The IR wavelength is below that of red.

In IR photography, some of the reality is removed from the scene, giving us a more creative and artistic image. Green grass, foliage, and trees look white—having an ethereal glow. An IR picture can also look like a dramatic black-and-white image, with a black sky punctuated by brilliant white clouds. We can even create an IR image that shows part of the image in black-and-white and part of it in color, as we see in the opening picture for this article, which I took at Bodie State Historic Park (a real ghost town) in California. What more could a creative digital photographer ask for?

Making the change

For creative digital photographers, there’s a very easy way to get into IR imaging. Life Pixel (www.lifepixel.com) and IRdigital (www.irdigital.net) convert compact and SLR Canon and Nikon digital cameras to IR-only cameras. They do this by removing the filter that’s normally over the image sensor and replacing it with a filter that filters out visible light, leaving only IR light to fall on the sensor.

Even with the original filter removed, however, IR images need some Photoshop help with color, contrast, and brightness. The opening image for this article is one of my favorite IR images. I shot it with my IR-converted Canon SD800 compact camera. As you can see, the sky is blue but the landscape is black-and-white—a popular IR effect that’s easy to create in Photoshop.

The technique

In landscape photography, my technique is to expose for the highlights so that they’re not washed out and overexposed. When shooting with my IR camera on automatic mode, that usually means setting the exposure compensation to –1. Then, in Photoshop, I use the Shadow/Highlight adjustment (Image>Adjustments>Shadow/Highlight) to open up the shadows. Those techniques make shooting into the sun relatively easy.

Okay, here’s how to create the popular blue-sky effect, no matter what camera you have converted. (Hey, it’s only one technique, one that works for me.)

STEP ONE:
Set the IR-converted camera to Manual and choose Custom as the white balance setting. Now, fill the frame with green grass and set the Custom white balance for the grass. Now all the green tones in your image will look white.

Out-of-the camera image with custom white balance

STEP TWO:
Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer (Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation). In the New Layer dialog, choose Color as the Mode, then in the Hue/Saturation dialog, move the Hue slider completely to the left and click OK.

At this point, the greens will look white, but the other parts of the image will have an ethereal blue tint. Now, flatten the layers (Layer>Flatten Image).

Image adjusted with Hue/Saturation

STEP THREE:
Create a duplicate layer (Layer>Duplicate Layer). You now have two identical layers, one on top of the other, both with a bluish tint. Click on the bottom layer in the Layers panel. Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and completely desaturate that layer (drag the Saturation slider to –100).

You’re almost done! Click on the top layer. Select the Eraser tool (E) from the Toolbox and erase the area you want to be black-and-white. As with most digital files, you can create a more dramatic image by adjusting Curves, Levels, or Brightness/Contrast. I’ve found this to be especially true with IR images. So play around with these adjustments to see how you can create more dramatic images.

Blue sky and black-and-white landscape

Variations on a theme

I share the following examples, illustrating different techniques and results, because different photographers like different IR effects.

Grayscale IR: Want an IR image with the look of IR film (basically a grayscale image) like this image that I took in Yosemite National Park? That’s easy with an IR-converted camera. Leave the white balance on Auto then when you open your image in Photoshop, simply desaturate it using a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. In Auto mode, however, the blue-sky effect will not be an option. What’s more, on your camera’s LCD monitor, your picture will have a reddish tint, as opposed to looking more like a black-and-white image when you manually set the white balance.

Yosemite National Park

Pseudo IR effect: Creating a pseudo IR effect from an RGB image in Photoshop is easy, which is what I did here from a color file of the church at Bodie. I admit it doesn’t look exactly like an IR photo. (That’s why I call it a pseudo effect.) First, convert your color file to a black-and-white image (Image>Mode>Grayscale). Next, apply the Diffuse Glow filter (Filter>Distort>Diffuse Glow). For different effects, play around with the fade filter command (Edit>Fade Diffuse Glow) and the contrast of the image (Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast).

Pseudo IR effect

Ethereal blue tint: As mentioned at the beginning of this article, IR images can look more artistic and creative than color images. Shooting in IR can also make you see and picture the world more creatively. These two images, taken at the same location—the ruins of a 1930s country club not far from my home in Croton-on-Hudson, NY—vividly illustrate that point.

The IR image has a blue tint, created using the technique described above. The unworldly image gave me the idea to use a “mirror” effect to create a pond (that isn’t there) for an even more creative image. (The frame was created using a Brush frame from PhotoFrame Pro 3 [www.ononesoftware.com].)

For this and all my IR images, I set the exposure compensation on my camera to –1 so as not to blow out (overexpose) the highlights in a scene. That’s because my camera only shoots JPEG files. If you shoot RAW files, you can rescue up to one stop of overexposed areas in Adobe Camera Raw. Still, be on the lookout for overexposed areas on your camera’s LCD monitor when you’re shooting, because sometimes with IR photography, the white subjects can be much brighter than the rest of the scene.

So, if you’re stuck creatively, try your hand at IR photography. I think you’ll enjoy the creative opportunity it offers. What’s more, once you get into IR photography, you may start to “see the world in IR,” as I now do when I travel with my IR camera.

P.S. I always like to give credit where credit is due, so I’d like to thank Deborah Sandidge (www.deborahsandidge.com) for inspiring me to work in IR photography. I’d known about IR imaging for years, but it wasn’t until I saw her work at a photography event that I decided to give it a whirl.

If I had to guess, I’d imagine that you didn’t get into digital photography because you were blown away by how light rays are bent and focused on a camera’s image sensor, or how digital noise can be reduced on a camera’s image sensor (as well as by the camera’s image processor), or how an analog image is translated into ones and zeros. In addition, my bet is that you didn’t dive into Adobe Photoshop because you were fascinated with image resolution, CMYK vs. RGB, scripts and actions, smart objects, LZW compression, or many of the other cool features and attributes of the world’s most powerful digital image-editing program.

My guess is that you were attracted to digital imaging for the same reason that I and many other photographers were: to have fun and be creative with your photography. Most of my photography workshop students have lots of fun taking pictures, but they take the Photoshop side of digital imaging too seriously—striving for the most technically perfect image, and forgetting why they got into digital imaging in the first place.

So this column is about—you guessed it—having fun in Photoshop. And that’s just what I was doing when I created the opening, fanciful image above.

We all make our own fun
To illustrate the joy that I was having one night while sitting at my computer listening to Santana on my iTunes, and to show you some of the techniques that you can use in Photoshop, let’s play with one of my favorite pictures of a group of tulips.

While you’re reading this article, think about the fun that you can have with your own images, using your own creative enhancements. The enhancements that I’ll share here are just a few of the endless creative options that await you—and all fun-loving Photoshop users. Okay, here’s how I created the intro art, using Photoshop CS3. [If you’d like to follow along with this tutorial, download the image used here]

STEP ONE:

After opening the image, go under the Filter menu and choose Distort>Polar Coordinates. In the dialog, click the Polar to Rectangular radio button and click OK. This creates one of the weirdest-looking images I’ve ever seen!

STEP TWO:

Next, go to Image>Rotate Canvas>180°, which creates yet another strange-looking image. However, if you now go back again to Filter>Distort>Polar Coordinates and this time choose Rectangular to Polar, the image takes on the totally cool look of the opening image!

There’s an old adage about working on a picture: A picture is never really finished; it’s only abandoned. In other words, you can go back again and again to an image and make additional enhancements until you’re pleased with a different version of that image. (Eric Clapton did that with “Layla,” as rock music fans know.) That adage rings true for traditional enhancements as well as for artistic creations. So, with the thought of additional enhancements in mind, I used the aforementioned technique after I created a mirror/reflection image of my original image.

Creating a reflection image is easy. Here’s how to do it (okay, one way to do it):

• Open your image and choose Select>All
• Edit>Copy
• File>New (Note: After you copy a file, the settings in the New dialog will match the exact size of your copied area)
• Edit>Paste (you’re now in the new file)
• Image>Rotate Canvas>Flip Canvas Vertical
• Click on your original image and go to Image>Canvas Size and double the height of the image (by clicking on the top center square in the Canvas Anchor area, then typing in the new size in the Height field). You now have an empty area below your original image.
• Click on the new file. Drag it to the empty space in your original image and line it up so that your images look like a perfect reflection. .

• Now flatten the layers of your original file (Layer>Flatten Image)
• Be sure to go back to Steps One and Two above to apply the Polar Coordinates filter and complete the effect
• When you’ve completed the effect, choose Image>Rotate Canvas>90° CW

Are we having fun yet?
I hope you’re feeling creative and artistic at this point. More importantly, I hope you’re having fun. The following creative technique takes a bit longer than the previous enhancement. When you’re finished, however, one of your straight photographs can be transformed into an image that looks like a one-of-a-kind painting.

The technique involves “painting” the entire image area with the Art History Brush tool, which is nested with the History Brush tool in the Toolbox. The key to making your image look like a painting is to select a brush that mimics the type of brush a painter would use, for example, a Dry Media, Natural, Faux Finish, or Wet Media brush.

You’re probably saying, “Where the heck do I find these cool brushes?” That’s easy in CS3. Simply select the Art History Brush, then click on the Brushes icon at the right-hand side of your desktop to open the Brushes panel. If you don’t see the icon, then turn on the Toggle the Brushes Palette icon at the right-hand side of the Options Bar. (You can also go to Window>Brushes or use the keyboard shortcut, F5.) To see a complete list of brushes, click on the little flyout arrow in the Brushes panel.

We chose Chalk 44 for this creative Photoshop effect (hold your cursor over the brush to learn its name). Click on the brush, set it to a small size (use the [ key on the keyboard to decrease the brush size), and begin to “paint” and create your one-of-a-kind image.

Tip: You’ll find that if you use a brush that’s too large, it will obscure the details in the image. So if we used a too-large brush in our example, the tulips might look like big blobs of color, not tulips.

Don’t stop now
Remember I said that an image is never really finished? Well, to dress up my “hand-painted image,” I added one of the Brush digital frames in PhotoFrame Pro 3, a Photoshop plug-in from onOne Software (www.ononesoftware.com). In PhotoFrame, you have literally endless creative possibilities because you can customize the color, shape, design, and size of each of the dozens of frames.

Using PhotoFrame Pro 3

And while we’re mentioning plug-ins, check out this effect. I had fun creating it using Nik Color Efex Pro from Nik Software, Inc. (www.niksoftware.com). First, I applied a Pastel filter from the Stylizing filter set and then I applied the Classical Soft Focus effect from the Traditional filter set.

Two Nik Software filters added

And to play with that image, I created a panorama effect in Photoshop: Go to Image>Image Size, then in the dialog, click off the Constrain Proportions checkbox, and double the image Width.

Okay. That’s it for now. Go have—and make—your own fun in Photoshop!

To download the images from this tutorial, click here

At the hotel, my challenges included:
• photographing clear ice against a snow background
• getting detailed pictures of the soft ice and snow
• dealing with strong contrast between the elements in the scene
• shooting in the tight conditions of the relatively small rooms
• getting colorful pictures of white subjects
• reducing reflections on the ice and snow, inside and outside of the hotel
• keeping my cameras warm so as not to lose battery power
• avoiding having people in my pictures, because I didn’t want to get model releases
• keeping myself warm.

Before we continue, I’m sure many of you have a question: “What was it like sleeping in the Ice Hotel?” Well, with no heat and a “mattress” placed over an ice slab, the rooms are extremely cold, especially at 2:30 a.m. when the outside temperature is below freezing. That’s why I stayed in the cozy lodge next door, unlike a young couple I met the next day that, indeed, braved the chilly conditions in their rooms.

At the hotel, I shot with my Canon EOS 5D, keeping my four extra batteries warm inside of my coat. Outside, I used my Canon 17–40mm lens with a polarizing filter, which helped reduce the glare on the snow and ice. Inside, I used my Canon 14mm lens, which let me get super-wide shots of the rooms.

After the shoot, in the comfort of my toasty lodge room, I downloaded the images and worked on, and played with, them in Photoshop. It was an enjoyable experience.

On these pages, I’ll share with you some of my before-and-after Photoshop CS3 images, as well as some of the most important techniques I used on each image, in the event that you find yourself in similar challenging conditions.

Create drama

Here’s the RAW file of the image that opens this article. Following are the techniques I used to create that more dramatic version of the image.

• In Adobe Camera Raw 4, under the Basic tab, I reduced the Exposure, increased the Contrast, and increased the Blacks.
• The new Vibrance control was then used to add, that’s right, more vibrance to the image.
• The next step was to open the image in Photoshop and sharpen only the sky using Unsharp Mask. That was easy, thanks to the new smart filter feature in Photoshop CS3, which works like an adjustment layer with a layer mask—letting you selectively apply an effect to any area of an image.
• To apply a filter as a smart filter, you have to first convert the layer to a smart object (Filter>Convert for Smart Filters). Then choose your filter (Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask in this example), make adjustments for whatever part of the image you want to affect (here, I sharpened the sky), and click OK.
• Next, click on the Smart Filters layer mask in the Layers panel, choose the Brush tool (B), make your Foreground color black, and paint away the effect where you want it removed from the image.

Speaking of dramatic, here’s a black-and-white version of the same image created with the new Camera Raw 4. To convert an image to black-and-white, go under the HSL/Grayscale tab, check Convert to Grayscale and play around with the sliders. If you’re into black-and-white images, you’ll definitely want to experiment with this new and improved CS3 feature.

High Dynamic Range images
This is one of my favorite images from my Ice Hotel shoot. It’s the result of combining five images using the High Dynamic Range feature (File>Automate>Merge to HDR). High Dynamic Range automatically combines various exposures—each one at a different brightness level in the scene—into an image with a much greater dynamic range (ratio between dark and bright regions). The merged image here shows both the interior and exterior of the hotel, as well as some detail in the flame. This shot would be impossible with a single exposure. Now that’s cool!

Here are some shooting tips for getting the best HDR results: mount your camera on a tripod; use a cable release or the camera’s self-timer to further help prevent camera shake; shoot at a low ISO setting; reduce noise (in camera or in Camera Raw or other noise-reduction program); take more exposures at different settings than you think you’ll need (at least three); keep the aperture constant and adjust the exposure via the shutter speed; and choose a nonmoving subject (although moving water may look nice).

Warmer and cooler
Looking at a picture of one of the Ice Hotel rooms, I decided to just have some fun—and take some artistic liberty. For the gold-tone image, a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer (Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue Saturation) was added and the Saturation was boosted to +44. For the more romantic blue-tone image, I went back to my original image, added a Color Balance adjustment layer, and boosted the blue and cyan in the midtones by moving the slider knobs all the way to Blue and Cyan.

original image above

warmer version above / cooler version below

A chilly experiment
For the final image in this pair of pictures of the Ice Hotel’s church, almost all of the adjustments and enhancements were made in Camera Raw, including using the Straighten tool to level out the image. I wasn’t interested in creating a true-to-color image; instead, I wanted to create a fantasy of what I thought the scene might look like had it been lit differently.

Under the Basic tab, the Contrast and Blacks were boosted, and then the Temperature (color temperature) was changed to 4300, which cooled off the image, color temperature-wise. While still under the Basic tab, the Saturation and Vibrance were increased just a bit. Under the Detail tab, the Sharpening was set to 100, and the Luminance and Color Noise Reductions sliders were both set to 30 (increasing them more can make a picture look mushy).

If you look closely, you’ll see that the enhanced image looks as though it were taken with a 15mm fisheye lens, instead of the 14mm lens that was actually used. The Warp feature in Photoshop CS3, was used to create this effect. To duplicate this technique, choose Select>All then choose Edit>Transform>Warp and pull out on the left and right anchor points.

It’s important to note that as a travel photographer, photography is a 50/50 deal: 50% image capture and 50% digital darkroom work. When you shoot, always keep the result that you want—and Photoshop—in mind.