If you noticed any significant mood swings in a positive direction this week, it may have been because March 20th was the International Day of Happiness. Still, I preferred to leave nothing to chance – I traveled for a few days from a country ranked 18th in happiness to one ranked 14th. I can totally feel the change. Here you can see where your country stands in the happiness scale. Not so good? Well, hopefully the latest photography news will bring you some joy.

Done right, car camping can give you incredible flexibility when you travel. Imagine waking up to see the sunrise over a beautiful lake in the middle of nowhere, while having full amenities like power, hot meals, and your choice of camera gear. You can travel hundreds of miles in a day affordably, without worrying about booking hotels or campsite reservations – or even having concrete plans at all. For a landscape photographer like me, it can be a dream come true.

Photo Walks are in. As we welcome spring to our part of the world, photo walks should be on your radar. But he who hesitates is lost wandering the streets alone. For example, Ricoh Imaging recently announced a photo walk in Las Vegas via an email blast. Slated for April 6, the event sold out with lightning speed. Thankfully, Ricoh has more walks at other locations in the works. Similarly, Fujifilm and Luminar Neo recently shared plans for 50 photo walks throughout the US. If you hope to participate in a photo walk, you must monitor the schedules and act FAST. Let’s unpack this.

What a great idea—spend time with other avid photographers, learn from experts and visit parts of a city you may otherwise overlook. Photo walks sponsored by manufacturers are typically free, but hobbled by limited capacity and overall scarcity. And the locations may not be close enough for you to participate. Alternatively, you can schedule a private photo walk closer to home with a commercial provider—but they’re not free.

Free Photo Walks
Ricoh fans can potentially attend a GR Photo Walk in the future. Follow RICOH GR US on Instagram for updates on future GR Walks. The outings are not limited to Ricoh GR owners; all brands are welcome. If you want to learn why the Ricoh GR-series compacts are among the world’s best street cameras, Ricoh offers a limited number of samples available to sign out and use during the walk.

The Fujifilm-Luminar Neo series is ongoing across the country. Click here to find your city and view the schedule (registration required). Again, it’s not required to use Fujifilm or Skylum products. That said, participants have the opportunity to try out Fujifilm’s latest innovative cameras and lenses. They’ll also have the chance to interact with Luminar Neo and Fujifilm personnel in person to gain valuable photography tips and insight.

Not Free Photo Walks
Fee-based photo walks offer virtually unlimited flexibility, but at a price. Shoot New York City produces customized photo walks as well as prepackaged tours. For example, their Soho And Greenwich Village Tour expertly covers the nooks and crannies of this iconic area. Cost is $300 for a group up to 4 people. Larger groups can be accommodated.

Visiting the UK? Consider a photo walk led by Award-Winning Professional Photographer Rich Bunce. Check out Walking Photography.

Closer to home, Photo Walks Tours offers guided treks through historic Boston. Founder and Creative Director is Saba Alhadi, an instructor, educator and Boston tour guide with 20 years of experience.

Learn from Home
My friend and fellow former Hoosier, Jefferson Graham, has recently put the spotlight on photo walks and popularized them more than anyone—and surely has contributed significantly to their recent resurgence. Jeff’s YouTube channel is found here and his website here. Even if you can’t physically attend a photo walk, you’ll enjoy—and learn—vicariously. Subtitled, “Tips through the lens of an iPhone and Galaxy on PhotowalksTV,” the program is tailormade for smartphone aficionados.

Conclusion
Photo walks provide an organized, well-orchestrated introduction to photo opportunities within a prescribed area. Walk leaders are always accomplished, advanced photographers who are familiar with the venue, so you can count on improving your skills as you learn about the geography. When you attend a photo walk hosted by a manufacturer, you generally have a chance to try out some new equipment, too. Photo walks are win-win propositions under all circumstances (provided the weather cooperates).

The difficult part is registering before the project fills. That’s why we recommend opting in to manufacturers’ newsletters and promotional emails.

The next best thing to a photo walk, in my experience, is a farmers’ market or flea market. Although smaller, the typical marketplace provides a wide variety of candid people pics and a broad array of colorful miscellany. I always take at least two lenses plus a macro lens for closeup shots of the smaller stuff. I cover the entire area with one lens and then cover it again with a different lens. This approach forces me to shoot from different angles, and I always go home with an assortment of print-worthy images.

Become a Member of the Shutterbug Community
Register for a free account. Sign up for our newsletter. Spend five minutes (or less) uploading your best shots once every week or so. Potentially become a Shutterbug Photo of the Day winner. Enjoy viewing the fantastic work being done by thousands of photographers all over the world—and add your images to the enduring collection.

—Jon Sienkiewicz

 

 

You may be surprised to learn that many top models aren’t blessed with a perfect complexion. As a result, some of the gorgeous images you see owe their impact to both good shooting skills and a knowledge of basic skin-retouching techniques for their flattering and natural looking effect.

This tutorial from the In Your Fayes YouTube channel addresses the latter concern with several editing tips that anyone can master, as evidenced by the fact that they take barely four minutes to explain. You’ll want to pay close attention, even if portraiture isn’t a top priority, because sooner or later you’ll asked to shoot people pictures, so why not make them as eye-catching as possible?

Instructor Faye, the namesake of the channel, is a portrait pro who’s also worked as a model since she was 16 years old. As a result, she’s very experienced on both sides of the camera and very adept at processing her images. Her advice is particularly valuable for amateur photographers, those new to portraiture, and others who lack access to an experienced makeup artist.

Faye’s workflow may be basic, but what you’ll learn are the techniques she employs to enhance her stunning professional-quality portraits. She describes her post-capture approach like this: “it’s the cherry on the top because it makes my photos look very clean with minimal distractions.”

Today’s sample image was captured on a “magical” beach  in New Zealand, and her beautiful model Natalie has pretty good skin, but there’s a bit of work to do. This can easily be accomplished with Faye’s presets (there’s a link beneath the video), but you’ll learn how get the job done manually with minimum fuss.

Faye begins with a quick demonstration of how to use Photoshop’s Healing tool to eliminate flaws in Natalie’s complexion. Along the way she takes a quick detour to illustrate how a simple crop improves the overall impact in the shot.

With the blemishes repaired the next step is gently softening the skin while retaining sufficient detail for a realistic look. She employs the Soften Skin Lite preset, but by observing the sliders in the adjustment panel you’ll see how they can be moved to create the same effect. She also demonstrates how simple modifications to Texture and Clarity provide an appealing soft look to the skin.

Another trick at this point is using selective masking to make certain adjustments to one part of the face, and other enhancements to different areas that need work. Faye is what you might call a perfectionist, so there are a few more steps to complete the subtle but impressive transformation.

Be sure to visit the In Your Fayes YouTube channel where you’ll find many more tips for shooting and editing portrait photos. And on a related topic, don’t miss the tutorial we posted recently from another expert, with a basic guide to using off-camera flash to improve portrait photographs captured outdoors in challenging light. It’s much easier than you think.