A firm understanding of how to blur portions of an image is essential if you want to create nature photos with maximum impact in which the key subject really stands out from other areas within the frame. This seven-minute tutorial from the Birdman Photography YouTube channel explains an easy Lightroom technique for getting the job done.
Instructor Sean Leahy is an accomplished pro based in North Carolina whose shooting and editing videos involve simple techniques for creating stunning images of our feathered friends. But many of his lessons, including this one, also work wonders for other form of wildlife photos, and even when environmental portraiture is the name of the game.
Like most serious shooters Leahy isn’t afraid to switch things up when a better methods comes along, and in this episode he explains why “it’s a lot easier to blur images in Lightroom than with Photoshop.” Today you’ll learn the step-by-step Lightroom process he developed after giving up on Photoshop for this particular task.
Leahy’s sample image is a nice photo of a White Crowned Sparrow near the middle of the frame that he greatly improves by blurring sharply focused branches and foliage surrounding the bird. He also deals with other distracting areas that are neither what you’d call sharp or acceptably blurred. The idea, just like when photographing flowers, macro subjects, or people, is to accentuate the main subject while making other areas recede into the background.
The first step is clicking on the Develop tab atop the Lightroom workspace, and then selecting the Lens Blur option in the panel—making sure to click the box that says Apply.” Then turn your attention to the Blur Amount Slider that’s directly beneath the box you just checked. This becomes super important once you’ve identified the areas you want to blur.
As you’ll see, there are a couple more easy-to-use sliders for perfecting the effect, and Leahy explains how they work for selectively blurring various types of images. You’ll also learn how to add an overly to the image when using Lightroom’s Focus Range slider to help you determine specific areas that need to be pulled out of focus.
Then you can use a simple brush to paint over the portions of your shot that require softening. There’s a cool trick for using the wheel on a mouse to quickly modify brush size—either smaller or larger—as you move around the frame. Leahy illustrates how the technique works by saying this: “When you take areas out of focus it literally makes them look further back in the scene.”
Be sure to visit Leahy’s instructional YouTube channel, especially if you love photographing birds, where there are many more straightforward shooting and editing tips to help you out.
We also recommend watching the recent tutorial we posted with a South African pro who reveals “the best” camera settings for beginning wildlife photographers.
Buds are blooming just about everywhere you look, and it’s time to get out in nature and capture fantastic flower photos. This tutorial from the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel explains everything you need to know for this annual rite of spring.
The instructional videos we post from German landscape pro Christian Mohrle typically involve Photoshop and Lightroom techniques for enhancing images shot in the great outdoors. This episode does that as expected, but it begins with some expert advice for capturing the best flower photos in the camera.
Mohrle provides a comprehensive discussion on a variety of key topics, including choosing the best camera settings, selecting the proper focal length, framing up the shot, and more. In the Photoshop workflow that follows you’ll learn everything from basic global adjustments, a simple focusing stacking technique, and selective enhancements that provide a stunning final touch.
One appeal of this type of photography is that it isn’t too dependent on weather or prevailing light, so you can capture impressive images under all sorts of conditions. Another plus is that you can often find excellent subjects in the backyard, at a nearby park, or at a local arboretum.
Of course all flowers aren’t created equal, which is why Mohrle kicks off the lesson by explaining how to choose the optimum types of subjects for this approach to nature photography. As he says, “one thing that’s very, very, important is a background without distracting details so the blossom really stands out.”
The vantage point and camera angle are also key considerations when framing a shot, and one method that Mohrle prefers is setting the camera close to the ground when photographing low-lying wildflowers. Taller flowers, of course, require a totally different approach to composition.
Mohrle moves on to selecting the best lenses and focal lengths for the job, and there’s a full list of the equipment he uses in the description beneath the video. He also discusses how to configure your camera to boost the odds of success.
Once you’ve captured the images it’s time to move on to the computer and Mohrle covers it all, from setting up a focus stack, preliminary basic edits, and then masking, color grading, sharpening, and other selective enhancements for achieving a truly spectacular result.
Be sure to visit Mohrle’s popular YouTube channel after watching this lesson so you can take advantage of his other powerful tips and techniques.
Then take a look at the tutorial we posted from another expert, explaining how to fix shooting and editing color mistakes that spoil the impact of your photographs.
Less than one month after announcing their plans to acquire US cinema camera manufacturer RED.com, LLC, Nikon stunned the photographic industry by declaring that they’ve consummated the acquisition of Konica-Minolta, a leading manufacturer of business technology and office products.
A Nikon official, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, revealed that the new entity will be reorganized into two divisions.
The MINOLTA division will be responsible for the reestablishment of the Minolta Maxxum, XD and SR-T 35mm film camera lines, along with Rokkor lenses and limited edition Color Enlarger II products for darkroom enthusiasts and Boomers.
The KONICA division will continue to manufacture category-leading office automation equipment and MFPs.
The deal, which become final as of April 1, nearly collapsed when Nikon executives in Japan discovered more than 300,000 units of APS cameras and lenses hidden in a secret closet at a now-closed factory in Sakai, Japan. Complicating the negotiations further, it was subsequently disclosed that there are dozens of stockpiles of Minolta Vectis APS cameras scattered around the Osaka countryside, waiting to be refurbished and returned to the US.
In a related story, NASA announced that it plans to supply all future astronauts with Minolta-branded cameras exclusively. “If Minolta was good enough for John Glenn,” said one thrift-minded NASA engineer, “they’re probably okay for everybody else, too. And they’re a lot cheaper than Nikons or Hasselblads.”
It’s satire, folks. An April Fools’ Day joke. The Minolta 110 Zoom pictured above is a real thing. Sadly, none of the rest is true, except maybe the part about the secret closet in Sakai. And John Glenn did carry a camera manufactured by Minolta into space; however, it bore the Ansco brand name.
—Jon Sienkiewicz
