The first serious lens that I ever bought as a photographer was one of Nikon’s 105mm macro lenses. It might as well have been glued to my camera. Landscapes, cityscapes, and of course macro photos – 105mm was my go-to focal length for everything. Even though I’ve moved on from those days, it’s safe to say that 105mm macro lenses remain close to my heart. That’s why I was so excited to review the Nikon Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S Macro, one of two macro lenses so far for the Nikon Z mirrorless system, and a beauty of a lens.
There are a number of reasons that landscape and other outdoor photos may be underexposed. Perhaps you neglected to add the necessary EV compensation, or an overly bright sky biased the exposure.
And remember, the light meter in your camera is calibrated to deliver a proper exposure with “normal” subjects; i.e. those that are comparable to 18% gray. So if your shot contains a lot of bright snow, that white fluffy stuff will be rendered as a dirty gray.
As it turns out, both the aforementioned conditions were present in the demonstration shot for the tutorial below. As a result, the image is far too dark. But fear not, because you’ll see how easy it is to restore the muddy photo to its original splendor.
This episode from The Phlog Photography YouTube channel demonstrates how to make the remarkable transformation in barely nine minutes. And it’s a good example of why it pays to try fixing a disappointing image before tossing it in the trash.
Instructor Christian Mohrle is a German landscape pro, and a favorite among Shutterbug readers. As always, he provides a link to the demonstration shot in the description beneath the video so you can make the recommended adjustments yourself as he describes the process.
Also common to Mohrle’s tutorials is his penchant for making a few basic adjustments before getting to the meat of the task. Here that means changing the profile to Adobe landscape, adjusting color temperature, raising exposure, slightly dropping highlights, and a few other quick tweaks.
Now the image isn’t what he envisions but it’s much improved. The real magic begins with some masking, color grading, and sharpening. He walks you through these steps from beginning to end, and the final result is definitely a keeper!
Camera sensor sizes can be confusing for the uninitiated because of the various options available. Pros and enthusiasts typically use cameras with either full-frame, APS-C, or 4/3 sensors. But there are a number of smaller options too, usually found in compact cameras, super-zoom models, and even our phones.
If you’re contemplating purchasing your first “real” digital camera, or are about to upgrade one you already own, the quick tutorial below is a must see. And you may be surprised to learn that bigger isn’t always better, depending upon your needs and style of shooting.
There are a variety of important considerations to ponder before pulling the trigger. Do you typically shoot with wide-angle and “normal” lenses, or are long telephotos your thing? Is daytime when you usually shoot, or is low-light photography with high ISOs something you do often.
How about the speed of your computer and the volume of your storage capabilities? When upgrading it’s also important to take stock or your lens arsenal and determine whether they’re compatible with the next camera you buy. And because full-frame models tend to be more expensive than their APS-C cousins, cost may factor into the equation too.
While watching this quick explainer from the Photo Genius YouTube channel, you’ll find yourself addressing these questions and many more. Instructor Paul Farris is based in Brisbane, Australia, and he’s been teaching photo workshops for over 14 years.
In this episode he takes a look at the two most popular sensor sizes for avid photographers; namely, APS-C and Full frame. After watching the eight-minute lesson you’ll be well prepared for making an informed decision when purchasing your next camera.
There’s much more to see and learn on Farris’ YouTube channel, so pay a visit and subscribe.
One very common Photoshop task is making selections that are used for a variety of purposes during the editing process. We’ve featured tutorials on this several times in the past, but the video below is all about a specific refinement that’s easy to accomplish and will vastly improve your results.
One problem with the conventional method of making selections is that the final image often displays halos, jaggy edges, and other disappointing artifacts. In this tutorial from Photoshop Café, a great channel for straightforward editing techniques, you’ll learn how easy it is to achieve super clean selections without any ugly distractions.
Instructor Colin Smith, Founder of Photoshop Café, demonstrates his five favorite “secrets” in barely 10 minutes for getting the job done. He begins with a quick-and-imprecise selection by navigating to Photoshop’s Quick Selection tool and choosing the Select Subject option.
The next step is the Select and Mask tool using Object Aware. He demonstrates how to change the background color to make it easy to view both the light and dark edges. These rough edges are what Smith shows you how to repair in the process that follows.
Smith begins the transformation with Photoshop’s basic tools, like the Hair Brush, before moving on to those that are “more exotic.” As he explains, the Hair Brush tool works quite well, with the settings he provides, when repairing soft edges. But fixing hard edges requires a different approach.
After demonstrating a few basic improvements, Smith moves on to more powerful methods that refine a selection to perfection. These involve compressing the mask, Gaussian Blur, what he calls “split-pixel painting,” and a few combining techniques.
Even precise hair selections are made easy by using the five powerful tips Smith’s provides. After watching this lesson you’ll never have to settle for the jaggies again.
