June 2016 – Color Cast, Camera Features, Sunsets, Wide Angle, and more

Every once in a while we end up with a photograph with a color cast.  The image is usually a little too blue or green or magenta.  Here’s a simple trick using Curves in Photoshop that cleans it right up.  The article starts out as a written tutorial but at the very end there’s a video that goes through the whole thing in detail.  I was quite surprised at how simple it was.

http://www.psdbox.com/tutorials/remove-color-cast-automatically

One of the things I get asked about a lot is “what camera should I buy, Canon or Nikon”.  Those of you who have been shooting for a while know that’s about as simple a question as “who do you think I should marry”.  My favorite answer to that question is “What camera feels the best in your hand”.  Nikons have lots of angles like a stealth fighter or an expensive Italian Race car.  Canon’s have lots of curves like an expensive Italian super model.  Here’s an article that really address the non-technical aspect of camera selection titled “My Most Important Camera Feature is How It Makes Me Feel”.  If you love your camera and it makes you feel good about it and you like to carry it around you’ll use it more and you’ll get better.

http://petapixel.com/2016/05/09/important-camera-feature-makes-feel/

As summer arrives along with more comfortable weather, we’ll all be out a shooting lot more and one of the things we all like to shoot are sunsets.  Here’s a short article on PitureCorrect titled “Five Tips For Great Sunset Photos” by Andrew Goodall.

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/sunset-photos-tips-techniques/

One of the more popular techniques in photography recently is Long exposure photography, using shutter speeds of several seconds to smooth out water and clouds for that silky look.  Here’s another short article from PictureCorrect by Swee Shiong Chong (no idea how to pronounce that) titled Daytime Long Exposure Photography Tips.

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/daytime-long-exposure-photography-tips/

One of my favorite things to shoot is landscapes and it’s a passion shared by many.  One of the things we learn early in landscape shooting is that it’s usually done with a wide angle lens.  What’s a little less intuitive is what other subjects lend themselves well to a wide angle lens.  One of my fun things to shoot wide angle is my dog when he’s looking at me, his expressions become priceless.  One warning, don’t use this on your wife.  It has the effect of eliminating any semblance of a sense of humor she might have once had.  Here’s one by Jason D. Little titled How and When to Take Wide Angle Lenses Beyond Landscape Shots.

http://www.lightstalking.com/wide-angle-lenses-beyond-the-landscape-shots/

Every once in a while I sit and think about what I’m trying to do with my photography.  Am I just trying to take pretty pictures?  Am I trying to create art?  The conclusion I always come to is that I’m trying to convey the emotion that I felt when I first looked at the subject.  I guess that’s why some things work better for me than others.  An emotional attachment helps me make a better photograph.  Here’s an article I found useful from Tien Frogget titled How to Find Your Unique Voice as a Photographer.

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/how-to-find-your-unique-voice-as-a-photographer/