Islands, washed by the sea from all sides, have long evoked a sense of romanticism in many of us. And what makes islands so special? It is, of course, their isolation. Thanks to this, islands have been the backdrop of many heroic tales, both real and fiction – from Robinson Crusoe to Charles Darwin. In this article, I’ll show you two truly remarkable birds of the islands of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. And since this is a photography website, I’ll also share my experience photographing these birds with two supertelephoto lenses of different pedigrees: the Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3, and the Nikon Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S.
Many photographers order prints from an outside source, either because they lack a high-quality printer or because the one they own doesn’t accommodate large-size paper. In this tutorial from the Remontheroad YouTube channel (think Remi on the Road) you’ll learn how to do everything right so the prints you receive do justice to your photographs.
Instructor Remi Bergougroux is a professional French landscape photographer and he explains everything you need to know—from selecting the best images, choosing the right vendor, selecting from the myriad of available paper options, preparing your screen, and adjusting the photo in a variety of ways.
Remi begins with a few tips for choosing an image that’s guaranteed to inspire. Sometimes that means images with beautiful colors, portraits of loved ones, or those with a special meaning to you or others within your circle. As he says, ordering large prints can be expensive, so it’s important to reflect on these and other key considerations.
You’ll want to pick a printing source with a solid reputation, reasonable prices, a variety of options, and strong recommendations from customers. All this requires is a bit of online research to find a company that you can use with confidence now and in the future. Remi explains his preference for getting things done locally depending on where you live.
Next on the list is selecting the type of paper that works best for the specific image in question. That’s because the characteristics of one image and the mood you want to convey may be best conveyed with a specific paper that may be a poor choice for photos of a different style. Even the frame you intend to use can factor into this equation.
A carefully calibrated monitor is essential for preparing images before sending them off. If you plan on ordering prints regularly and don’t own a calibration device it’s time to consider purchasing one. In this regard we recommend watching the tutorial we posted on how to accomplish this very important task.
At this point it’s time to prepare your file, and this is the topic of the last portion of the lesson. Remi explains several key variables that will guarantee great results. Most vendors offer a detailed instruction sheet that can be really helpful in making sure your image meets their standards when it’s received.
Exposing photos for the highlights can be a valuable technique for shooting during the day, and even more essential after the sun drops below the horizon. This tutorial provides two examples of the power of this technique and includes editing tips for quickly perfecting your results.
Instructor Jason Wong puts it like this: “Your camera isn’t dumb, it’s just doing its best like the rest of us” and often needs your help—especially when photographing under tricky light. He illustrates this point with a nighttime street scene full of bright lights and glaring electronic billboards.
Wong says, “In this situation your camera just wants to expose for the shadows.” As a result, whatever details and colors that exist in the highlights are quickly blown out and lost. Worse yet, this missing information is often impossible to recover during the editing process, even when shooting in Raw.
According to Wong the solution is simple: “We expose for the highlights, shooting for the details and color information in the super bright areas. He explains how easy this is to do, with or without a tripod, to get the job done to perfection.
Wong begins shooting in Aperture Priority mode at f/4, the widest aperture on his lens, with ISO 100. In this instance the resulting slow shutter speed isn’t a problem because his camera is mounted atop a tripod. He says this approach “ensures we get the least amount of noise in the shadows later.”
Take note because Wong’s next point is very important: With the Metering mode set to Multi, Wong dials in EV Compensation of -1 stop. After examining the result you may even want to go a bit lower depending upon the scene at hand. Because this results in long exposure, it’s helpful to use the camera’s self-timer to make sure there’s no camera movement when the image is captured.
The highlights now look great but, as you’d expect, the rest of the image is overly dark—with crushed shadows everywhere you look. But relax, because Wong demonstrates how easy it is to restore these areas in Lightroom. All this requires is moving a few sliders to achieve perfectly balanced tones.
But what about accomplishing this when shooting without a tripod? For this task Vong rotates the mode dial to Manual and walks you through all the steps that follow. His result is equally as impressive as the first, and not difficult to accomplish.
Some photographers avoid Layers in Photoshop because of a misconception that this style of editing is overly complicated, but the quick tutorial below demystifies the process in a way that make it possible for inexperienced users to understand and employ. And after barely 10 minutes your edits will be far better than ever before.
Instructor Barry Beckham’s instructional YouTube channel is full of straightforward tutorials on basic shooting and editing techniques designed to help beginners quickly improve their skills. By the time you’re done watching this 10-minute episode Layers will become a key aspect of your Photoshop workflow.
Beckham explains the concept like this: “Layers are like transparent sheets, stacked on top of each other—each of which can contain images, text, or any other graphics.” The point is that as you look through the stack in Photoshop’s Layers panel you can choose and manipulate elements in one layer without affecting the other Layers in the stack.
Layering is an extremely versatile feature because it involves a selective approach that offers significantly more control than when applying global enhancements to an entire image at once. As you’ll see, “it’s a very powerful method for image editing, composition, and the presentation of images.”
Layers can also be used to create composites, montages, and adding “vital” elements that make the original photo more compelling. Beckham uses a simple image of a wooden soldier, removed from the background, to demonstrates a myriad of ways that layering can be so effective.
The first example is super simple as Beckham selects the Layer with the soldier and uses Photoshop’s Move tool to reposition the subject anywhere on the canvas. As you’ll see, it’s also easy to make the soldier larger or smaller and make whatever other edits are necessary while restricting them to this particular layer. He also illustrates how Photoshop’s Smart Guides further simplifies the process.
Beckman then moves on to slightly more involved layers tasks, the first of which is to create a “parade of soldiers.” Here he duplicates his Layer by right-clicking in the panel and selecting Duplicate in a dropdown menu that appears. And you can do this as many times as you want before adjusting the positioning of the subject in each of the layers, and then merging them to create one final shot.
The foregoing is just a taste of the simple techniques you’ll learn in this basic and effective lesson, so pay close attention and then add Layers to your Photoshop bag of tricks. And be sure to visit Beckham’s YouTube channel for more practical tips and techniques.
