How To Get Superb Colour In Your Photos

Colour accuracy is one of the most important aspects of photography. A big part of this is getting accurate white balance. White balance relates to the overall colour hue in your images. Even a minor modification of colour tone can mean a huge impact on all your photos.

White balance is important in portraiture because it means accurate skin tones. If you it is not set to an accurate setting then skin tones may seem slightly blue, greenish or pink. It does not matter whether or not skintone is light or dark. If your white balance is inappropriate for your shoot you will find dissatisfying results.

There are different white balance settings on your digital camera. These are called presets. These presets are designed to adjust your photos to a certain hue. For example, there is a preset called daylight. Daylight is designed to reproduce the colour temperature at noon. The light at midday looks very different from the light in the late hours of daylight. If you would like a colour temperature consistent with daylight hue then simply change the white balance preset to the daylight setting. If you like your images to look warm then you may select the cloudy or shade in your white balance presets.
Before I go on any further let me delve a little deeper. White balance is connected with colour temperature. Colour temperature is related to the certain type of hue in your photos. The light at various times of day will give you different hues. Some of these hues are appropriate for particular subjects and not others. That's why, when you select differences in your white balance presets, your whole photograph looks distinctive to the one before.

Colour temperature does not mean Celsius or Fahrenheit. Colour temperature relates to the colour of light. When the light seems to be fairly white you can say it is reminiscent of daylight colour temperature. Camera manufacturers created a white balance preset to mimic this daylight temperature. Colour temperature simply relates to the colour of the light you are shooting in.

To simplify this let's just say you are photographing a scene at 2.30 in the afternoon. There is a strong breeze that's pushing the clouds across the sky quite rapidly. As a result, the light changes every few minutes. One minute you are photographing in full sunlight. The next minute you are working in overcast light. The colour temperature of these two lighting conditions is very different. So how can you get precise colour in different light? The answer is to do a custom white balance.

Custom white balance is designed for the unique light you are photographing in. This will mean that even if you have varying light you can still have very accurate colour. Creating custom white balance is done using the colour checker reference tool such as a gray card. A grey card is simply a small card that communicates to the camera where mid grey is. Once the camera knows where mid grey is then it understands where all the other colours are. By photographing in this way you are telling it to locate all the other colours around this spot. The way to set white balance is to shoot your gray card.

Once you photograph the gray card you can then adjust your white balance setting to custom. The camera will then ask you if you want to use that image as a colour reference for all the photos from now on. Once you select yes the magic begins. You will see authentic colour in all your photos.

Changing your white balance may differ from camera to camera. It's crucial to check your camera instruction manual to see how to do this. I know where they are on the Canon 5D but I am unfamiliar with where they are on a Nikon. I trust that the process is quite alike from manufacturer to manufacturer.
Shooting with a grey card is an essential part of your colour management workflow. Colour management is one of the unsung heroes of photography. It is vital with all the photographing that you do. You will be able to get correct colour in your brighter areas, mid tones and shadows. No longer will your whites look off-white or your deep black look dark grey.

If you set white balance to suit the available light then you will find that white actually appears like a sharp and crisp white. Once you find that your colour management has been done properly achieving accurate, clear and beautiful colour will become as simple as pressing the shutter button.

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Commercial Photography Details - All You Wanted To Know About

Commercial photography is very popular in these days. In this profession, an impressive portfolio is more important than any certificate or academic qualification. A commercial photographer makes use of his or her skill in a professional way. This could be anything - a simple advertising photo for a real estate company to photo shoots for big advertising firms. A few other important niches are wedding albums, family and portrait photography.

While some commercial photographers concentrate on one field, others may offer a generalized service. Generally, these professionals engage by agencies like advertising firms and event organizers. On the other hand, freelance commercial photographers cover a diverse range of fields. Some of the most common subjects covered by them are - tourism, photojournalism shoots, weddings, school photos, pets, family pictures, football matches and even graduations. Shots taken by commercial photographers must look a lot more polished and stylized than pictures taken by amateur photographers. If you're considering stepping into the world of commercial photography, there's a range of things that you must do for enhancing your accuracy and skills. With commercial photography courses, you can easily master these skills and emerge successful. Even if it costs you a little, it'll surely reap you benefits in the long run.

Pay heed to the lighting Issue

When it comes to photography, you need to have the right kind of lighting. Poor lighting arrangements can create awful reflections and shadows that change your photo session into a nightmare. On the other hand, perfect lighting arrangements can make your subject look awesome. Commercial photographers make use of special lighting to get the best shot possible - bringing the subject in focus and giving it a neat look. While taking long-range shots, it's better to use strobe lighting. This gives any flat commodity a spectacular three-dimensional effect; they also use light boxes beneath the commodity for closer work.

For most light effect, you may even change the shutter in your camera. For deeper light and shadow effects, take snaps in black and white.

Set in your mood

Skilled commercial photographers use more than a mere white background for giving the commodity an attractive look. At times, the minimalist mode of shooting is not everything. As a thorough professional, you must create the right kind of setting for the product. For a better mood, consider using colored or dramatic light effects. It makes no sense to shoot a bike in a living room; so, put everything in the right place. Whether your shooting flowers or ornaments, make sure that it's shot in the right setting. Else, all your efforts may go in vain.

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How to Set Up a Simple Photography Studio

Sometimes, we just need better light. Not so much a larger amount, but something nicer, portable, something adjustable, and something that will just fill in the right places. As we get better at shooting, we start to notice where critical light is missing. But we don't always need the kind of Hollywood set that Tom Cruise is akin to. You can achieve some amazing light, using some of the most easily accessible tools that won't cost you big dollars and in some cases won't cost you anything. Firstly though, we need to understand that handling this equipment is the latter of two evils. The first is learning to identify light, where it's coming from, how soft is it, and how it interacts to highlight your subject.

Let's start with the most available light there is, daylight. It might seem silly, but using the natural daylight, will provide you with the best light there is. Studio lights, are built to try and mimic this light in it's various forms. Sitting your subject next to a window, will provide a very complimentary colour and softness to the light. The softer the light, the more it wraps around your subject.

If using the window method, try both direct sunlight and indirect shaded light for different effects, and the best part, it's free! To mimic this kind of light we use studio strobes or "flash" as they are commonly known. The easiest set up to get, is a single strobe and a large reflector and stand. Many places sell these as kits for as little as $600, sometimes including remote wireless triggers, so you don't even have to be anywhere near the lights when shooting. Compare that to an on-camera flash kit, which can cost $400 up for a good system, the extra few dollars are going to give you so much more creative freedom to experiment. Look for kits that include the light, stand, remote trigger and a softbox. You must get a softbox. No softbox, no soft complimenting light. If not included, they start relatively cheap anyway, at around $100, often less.

A system offering around 400 watts of power is plenty for a small studio, but make sure you can adjust the power up or down by at least 1/4 of a stop with each change. Good systems such as those from Elinchrom and ProFoto provide great control in 10th's of a stop. Small, but often needed for subtle improvements. Light with a basic reflector that offers gold, silver, white, black and translucent, will serve the best. These are known as 5 way reflectors. The gold offers a subtle, warm (orange) tone, whilst the silver cools the light down with a slight blue cast. White adds light to increase the exposure, and black subtracts light, adding a high contrast look. The final element is the translucent disc, acting like a small softbox or cloud. To explain, clouds make for the perfect softener of light, acting as a gigantic "diffuser". The larger the light source, the softer the light becomes, as the further it has to travel across a surface, before spilling into the subject below. As an example, shining a torch through a bed sheet will spread the light evenly, whilst the torch itself, will pinpoint the light. A good start for absolute beginners is to get a continuous light kit, instead of a flash kit. With the continuous kit, simply switch it on, look through the viewfinder, and what you see is what you get. Problem with continuous lighting is, it's often hot, tungsten lights are noisy, cast a yellow light, and become very hot to touch within a very short time of turning them on. New manufacturers are making this easier, with cold LED lights that mimic daylight, but have a big cheque ready if you want a set. A simple strobe kit is not hard to master.

Many studios use multiple lights, white cards, block boards, reflectors and all sorts of gear, but that kind of gear is reserved for very high end commercial and fashion shoots. To get started, a simple light kit with a 5 disc reflector will give you just as soft or dramatic a look, to wow your friends and family or even your client. Remember, the more gear you have, the more you need to use it, otherwise it's costly resource just sitting in storage.

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Creative Photography: 10 Things A Successful Photographer Will Never Do To Stay Creative

Introduction

Creative photography is a special type of photography that strives to discover new patterns, color, adventure and beauty among many other things. This makes creative photography very exciting. It awakens all the senses of a photographer adding a very artistic touch to their final work. Many amateur photographers dream of becoming creative photography pros. There are however very few who actually master it although creativity is an inborn aspect of life in everyone.

Successful photographers have already learned to keep their creative juices flowing which is why they enjoy tremendous success in their trade. They also know much more on every aspect of photography. Most importantly, they know what they shouldn't do as professional photographers. If you are interested in knowing what you shouldn't do as a professional photographer in order to stay creative, you are in the right place. Below are 10 things a successful photographer will never do to stay creative.

1. Waste time thinking about gear

This is one of the most important things a successful photographer will avoid at all costs. Photography gear may be important for enhancing shots however it's not as important as core photography when taking creative photos. Successful photographers know this especially in regards to creative photography which is why they don't waste too much time thinking about gear. In fact, most creative shots come out better when they are taken naturally without gear.

2. Leave the camera at home

Creative photography is all about capturing unrehearsed moments anywhere anytime. Successful photographers know the pain of missing great opportunities because of simple mistakes like leaving the camera at home. They therefore make a point of having a camera anywhere they go. This enables them to capture interesting moments regular photographers miss. This is part of what makes them stand out.

3. Use the same technique over and over again

There is nothing creative about using the same photography technique all the time. Successful photographers stay away from stagnant photography techniques which hinder them from growing their skill and experimenting. The best photographers offer variety which can only be offered by using many techniques and being open to new ideas. Successful photographers avoid monotony at all costs.

4. Ignore the importance of copyrighting work

Copyrighting original work is advisable for obvious reasons i.e. you get recognition among other benefits i.e. money from people interested in using your work. Any experienced photographer know the importance of protecting their valuable work especially if it falls under the creative photography docket. Photographers become successful by receiving recognition and financial returns from their work. Copyrighting safeguards a photographers future earnings on past work and also keeps a record of their creative efforts avoiding duplication. This is precisely why successful photographers don't ignore the importance of copyrighting.

5. Share technical problems with clients

This is another thing successful photographers will never do to stay focused, creative and maintain their reputation. Although it is important to be honest with your clients at all times, successful photographers know the dangers of sharing technical problems with their clients. Being honest when faced with technical problems does more harm than good from a professional photographer's point of view. For instance, clients can start viewing you as unprofessional which can hurt your reputation denying you referral business. Successful photographers have learned to stay mute about technical problems when dealing with clients. They go as far as planning ahead to avoid occurrences where they will be forced to share technical problems. Dealing with technical problems internally also helps to maintain focus which is important to stay creative.

6. Take each and every assignment they get

You can't jump at each and every photography opportunity and expect to be remain creative. Creative photography is about inspiration. Successful creative photographers know inspiration is hard to come by which is why they choose their assignments carefully. For instance, they never take assignments just to make money. This is because they understand the importance of being in the right mind frame when working. This explains why they successful photographers don't take assignments just to please clients. They have to feel inspired which doesn't happen all the time.

7. Create friction with event planners

Successful photographers also avoid creating friction with event planners at all cost. This has something to do with staying focused and being able to explore. Successful photographers understand the important role event planners play in their success. They provide photographers with the necessary support they need to do a great job. For instance, event planners obviously have a lot of influence in things like venue setup which can affect the final outcome of creative photography. In order to increase the chances of doing a perfect job, successful photographers will do everything they can to maintain good rapport with event planners.

8. Try to be the life of an event

This is another mistake successful photographers never make. Successful photographers understand exactly what their job is in any event. They know their work is simply capturing memorable times. This explains why they never go overboard trying to interact too much with guests. Amateur photographers always make this mistake which shifts their concentration affecting their creativity. Events are not held for photographers. You shouldn't therefore try to network, entertain guests or do anything outside your job description because you will end up losing focus and affecting your creativity.

9. Doing everything themselves

Successful photographers have also learned to concentrate on their core work which explains why they don't do everything themselves. As mentioned above, creative photography is all about concentration and focus. When these two ingredients are missing, it is very hard for a photographer to remain creative. Doing too much at once definitely shifts focus and concentration.

10. Ignore the internet

Finally, successful photographers never underestimate the power of the internet. Part of the reason successful photographers become so successful is recognizing what works and what doesn't. The internet can be very great source of inspiration for photographers looking for new creative ideas. Although creative photography is more about originality, successful photographers know how important the internet is in offering creative ideas which is why they never ignore it.

Conclusion

In summary, the above information should help aspiring photographers avoid common pitfalls that can easily stall their creative photography careers. Although there may be many other professional photography taboos, the above information is adequate enough to guide amateur photographer in the right direction.

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