Photo Insights, August 2023

Jim Zuckerman’s

P H O T O I N S I G H T S

August 2023

Essential lenses

The traditional look of sepia

Soap abstracts

Photography quiz

Photo tours

Ask Jim

Student Showcase

Back issues

On the cover: A little girl and a Great Pyrenees dog created in AI -- artificial intelligence. This page: Two costumed models in a gondola on the Grand Canal during Carnival, Venice, Italy.

The way people interact with photography is really interesting. I’ve observed this over the course of many decades. For example, some people love the process of taking pictures and they are less interested in the results than in the experience of traveling, working a camera, and shooting. I used to travel with a friend who was passionate about photography, and when we’d visit some distant country she wouldn’t even look at her developed film when she returned home for months or years!

Other people are totally into photo contests. Every picture they take is analyzed, in their minds, with respect to pleasing judges. The rest of the photographic experience is a byproduct of earning recognition for their work.

Some photographers are totally consumed by equipment. They can talk endlessly about the latest gear, compare lenses and all things technical. They even assess a person’s skill as a photographer by the equipment they have.

Then there are the artist types who love creating beautiful, compelling images. That’s me. I don’t really care how I get an image, I just want to get it. If I could use only mental telepathy to make cool images, I’d do it. That’s why I’ve embraced AI so much. It’s image making without a camera, but it still requires previsualization, imagination, creative thinking and a love of art. With traditional picture taking using a camera, there have always been limitations: depth of field, shooting action in low light, the cost and weight of gear, the cost of travel, too much contrast, etc. With artificial intelligence, there are no limits at all. And that’s a serious game changer.

Jim Zuckerman photos@jimzuckerman.com www.jimzuckerman.com

Lenses Essential

For every photography tour I lead, I send out a color eBooklet with pictures and text describing what participants can expect during the trip. I always include a list of recommended equipment and, of course, I itemize the ideal lenses I feel would produce the best images based on where the tour goes and the subjects we’ll encounter. Invariably, clients write me asking if they can ‘get away with’ carrying a lens or two less than my recommendations.

As we age, weight becomes an important issue. At some point, it’s just not possible, without a lot of back, neck, shoulder, or hip pain, to carry a lot of gear. Therefore, I certainly understand

the questions I get about how to minimize the lenses we carry without, hopefully, compromising our picture taking ability.

If I were writing this article 10 years ago, the conclusions I would draw from what’s available to photographers would be different than today. As technology gives us more and better options, we have to re-examine how we approach photography.

Option 1: The easy approach

When smart phones were first released with a built-in camera, serious photographers recognized that the quality of the images just

wouldn’t measure up to the standards we’ve grown accustomed to with Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Fuji. If you wanted to make an enlargement for home decor, there was no way smart phone images looked good beyond, perhaps, an 11 x 14 inch print. But times and technology have changed.

Smart phones that are scheduled to be released in the last quarter of 2023, like the iPhone 15 and the new Tesla Pi, are truly remarkable. Even though I’ve been using Apple’s iPhones for years, I am particularly interested in the Tesla Pi. It is rumored to have a camera that boasts an astonishing 108 megapixels, it will be able to connect to Starlink so you can have an Internet connection anywhere in the world while bypassing local networks, and it

will have a longer optical telephoto that should be quite impressive.

The phenominal resolution and quality of Pi’s images plus it’s range of focal lengths from ultra wide to telephoto make a compelling argument for a lot of people to only use a smartphone like this when traveling, photographing the family, and shooting nature. For special circumstances such as capturing birds in flight, smartphones aren’t going to work. The Tesla Pi is supposed to have a continuous shooting mode, but since the camera phone hasn’t been released yet, no one knows the frame rate. The phone probably won’t have a super fast shutter speed required when photographing birds in flight, but aside from this one aspect of picture taking, I think a smartphone like the Tesla Pi may make the

burden of carrying a lot of gear unnecessary.

The two photographs on pages 4 and 5 were taken with my iPhone 13. They look really good, but imagine if I had used the Pi. They would be exponentially better.

Option 2: The traditional approach

If you are married to the traditonal way of taking pictures with a 35mm digital format camera, and using a smartphone for serious photography just doesn’t work for you, I’d recommend carrying two lenses: A wide angle zoom plus a telephoto zoom. One lens stays on the camera, so you will essentially carry a camera and one extra lens. The question is, of course, what focal lengths are ideal to cover as much of the focal length range as possible.

I find that a 24-105mm lens (or 24-120mm)

plus a telephoto zoom in the 100-400mm range covers pretty much everything except for an extreme wide angle and an extreme telephoto. For my photography tour to Venice, Italy during carnival, for example, where subjects vary from individual portraits to group portraits, and from architecture to nightscapes, these two lenses work out great. The photo above was taken with a 27mm focal length.

Alternatively, you can substitute the 24-105mm range with a 16-35mm wide angle zoom. This forgoes the middle range -- from 35mm to 100mm -- but the tradeoff is that a 16mm focal length offers a lot of creative possibilities. The picture on page 8 of Mabry Mill in Virginia was taken with a 16mm focal length. You can see how disproportionately large the foreground is compared to the background. This wide angle exaggeration of perspective enables you to take

Costa Rica Birds

May 13 - 23, 2024

a lot of creative images, particularly architecture and landscapes.

Option 3: Bring everything just in case

If you are so dedicated to ‘getting the shot’ no matter how much gear you have to carry, and physical issues aren’t part of the equation, you still don’t want to burden yourself to such an extent that photography isn’t fun anymore. The range of focal lengths, though, that I feel are imporant are 14mm to 500mm, and with a 1.4x teleconverter, the 500mm focal length (on a full frame sensor camera) becomes 700mm.

To give you an idea of what I own and carry when I’m in ‘Option 3’ mode are:

14mm Sigma f/1.8. This is a heavy lens, but the super fast maximum aperture is ideal for shooting in dark environments like cavernous cathe-

drals, palaces, theaters, and museums. It’s also great for exaggerating perspective like I did in the landscape of Bryce Canyon, below, in which I placed the lens about 18 inches from the root in the foreground in such a manner that it seems unusually large in contrast with the distant canyon.

16-35mm. If I choose not to carry the 14mm

Sigma, this wide angle zoom is great for most situations.

24-105mm. This is my favorite all-around lens. When I travel, I use this lens about 75% of the time because it’s so versatile and light.

100-500mm. For many years I carried a 70200mm f/2.8 telephoto zoom everywhere I went. In the Canon lineup, the 100-500mm lens is only 4.3 ounces (1/4 pound or 122 grams) heavier than the 70-200mm, and it’s focal length range is incredible. So, I sold the 70-200mm and replaced it with this relatively new Canon lens. I use it for wildlife, portraits, architectual details, and much more. At 3 pounds, it is not a super light lens, but given the 500mm focal length capability, it’s not that heavy, either.

1.4x teleconverter. This small lens is worth

its weight in gold. It multiplies the focal length of a lens by 1.4, thus 500mm becomes 700mm. For wildlife and birds, this is a great way to go.

The downside of using a zoom telephoto along with a teleconverter is the loss of light. At 500mm, the maximum aperture of the Canon 100-500mm is f/7.1. Nikon, Sony, and Fuji lenses are comparable. The 1.4x teleconverter causes a one f/stop loss of light, so at 700mm the maximum aperture I’m working with is f/10. In bright sun, this isn’t a problem, but in low light the reduced light entering the camera forces the ISO to be raised, often too high for my comfort zone.

So, for wildlife and bird photography where long lenses are essential, there are three types of lens choices:

Choice one: Use a lens combination like I just described. This is what I do. I shoot with a 100-500mm f/4.5 - f/7.1 telephoto with a 1.4x teleconverter (and sometimes a 2x teleconverter). I went this route because 1) it is affordable, not super heavy, and the volume of the lens allows it to easily fit into a small backpack. When I have to raise the ISO, I know with software like Topaz DeNoise AI and/or Neat Image, I can eliminate the noise while maintaining excellent resolution.

Choice two: Spend a lot of money and buy a super telephoto. A typical 500mm f/4 or 600mm f/4 costs between $13,000 and $15,000, and they are very, very heavy. If you’ve been body building for years and you’re under 30, you can probably hand hold lenses like this and, with a fast shutter speed, get sharp pictures. But it won’t be fun. A tripod (or bean bag) is essential. Carrying this kind of gear means your

photo backpack has to be huge and therefore very heavy, or you need a separate case just for the lens. When I was younger, I carried the Canon 500mm f/f4 telephoto to Africa and Brazil many times. It’s doable. But you pay a big price in joint pain (shoulders, neck, and back) and, of course, money.

Having said that, these are incredible lenses with large apertures and superior glass. If your focus is right-on, the images turn out to be breathtakingly tack sharp.

Choice three: You can buy a third party telephoto from Tamron or Sigma, such as a 150600mm. These are much lighter and significantly less expensive. For example, the Sigma 150-600mm is $1089 at B & H. The reason why these lenses are so much less expensive, as well as much lighter, is because their maximum aperture is smaller than their expensive counter-

parts. The Sigma’s maximum aperture at full extension (i.e. when used at the 600mm focal length) is f/6.3, or 1 1/3 f/stops less light than an f/4 lens. That’s the compromise you have to make to save a great deal of money and to carry a much lighter lens. To give you a sense of scale, the Nikon 600mm f/4 telephoto weighs 11.2 pounds, while the Sigma 150-600mm lens weighs 4 pounds.

The Tamron and Sigma lenses are not as tack sharp as the Canon, Nikon, and Sony telephotos. I prefer Sigma optics over Tamron, but both companies produce fine images that will satisfy most photographers.

In the last few years, Canon users have been given another possibility. The new 600mm f/11 and the 800mm f/11 lenses are truly remarkable. These are fixed aperture telephotos, meaning f/11 is both the maximum and

minimum lens aperture. They are exceptionally inexpensive and hand-holdably light. The 600mm f/11 telephoto costs $799 while the 800mm f/11 is $999. They are made to be used on any camera body with the R mount.

To give you a sense of scale again, the 800mm f/11 lens weighs only 2.77 pounds! The small aperture is, indeed, problematic in low light conditions, so raising the ISO for most situations is a given.

I used the Canon 800mm for the polar bear shot below, and in the dim light of a snowfall and an overcast sky, my settings were 1/1250, f/11, and 3200 ISO. With modern cameras, this kind of ISO isn’t nearly the problem it was in the past. Noise has been reduced in the original files, and with Topaz DeNoise AI and then Topaz Sharpen AI, images look quite good. §

Ethiopia Photo Tour

Jan, 21 - Feb. 3, 2025

Sepia

When I first bought Photoshop 2.0 in 1991, I had no idea how to use it. I had extensive experience in the darkroom, so the first thing I did in learning the new software was to try and convert my knowledge from one medium to another. I thought, I know how to make sepia prints in the darkroom, so how do I do that in Photoshop?

If you like black and white photography, sepia toning is simply an adjunct to what you already appreciate. In the darkroom, a sepia print was made by emersing a black and white

print into a chemical bath until the silver halide particles that made up the image were replaced by the toning solution.

In Photoshop, it’s a three step process that takes a fraction of the time, and it’s devoid of dealing with toxic chemicals. First, though, you have to understand what color sepia really is based on the familiar color wheel. Sepia is a shade of brown, and brown is dark orange. Orange, of course, is comprised of red and yellow. Therefore, sepia is a dark rendition of red and yellow.

Our digital cameras shoot only in color, so the first thing we have to do is convert the color files to black and white. The best way to do that is by using the pulldown menu command, Image > adjustments > black and white. In the open dialog boxt shown at right, you can see the various color channels are isolated with sliders. Here you can manipulate the tones in your image, per each color, to replace the contrast that was lost in the color-to-blackand-white transition. Plus you can tweak the various areas of the image to darken or lighten them to taste as I did in the photo below of the Roman ruins in Volubilis, Morocco.

Once you’ve tweaked the black and white image using the sliders, choose Image > adjustments > color balance. Here is where you add the sepia color. See the dialog box on the next page. Move the cyan/red slider a little to the right to introduce red into the image, and

then move the yellow/blue slider to the left to add yellow. The image should now look sepia.

To embellish the final result, I bring the photograph back into camera RAW with the pulldown menu command, Filter > camera raw filter. Using the clarity slider, I add life to the image by sharpening the midtones.

The pictures you select for conversion to sepia contribute to the success of the effect you’re trying to achieve. Historic and nostalgic images, ancient ruins, portraits in period costumes, etc., seem to lend themselves to a sepia look because, before color photography, the only kinds of photos people ever saw were black and white and sepia.

The image below is an example. I took this in 2004 with a medium format film camera, the Mamiya RZ67. It’s an historically accurate

reinactment commemorating the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin (Tennessee), which was the last major battle of the American Civil War. I liked the shot in color, but in sepia it looks a lot more authentic. It looks like it had really been taken in 1864. I softened the image a bit and added some noise to suggest poor quality, as compared to our images today, again to suggest this was taken on a glass plate in the 19th century. §

Soap Abstracts

Remarkable abstracts can be created in your kitchen using nothing more than soap. The image below is a film of soap suspended within a plastic frame. Here is how to do it.

Make a soap solution in a bowl consisting of dish detergent, like Dawn, in water. The amount of soap you use isn’t critical. Cut out the center of a Tupperware container lid so you are left with only the thick rim. Dip this plastic rim into the soap for a couple of seconds and then lift it out of the solution and you’ll see a sheet of soap film swirling with color. The colors won’t be as brilliant and saturated as exhibited by the image below, but wait. I’ll get to that.

Set up a solid black background. Black velvet

or velvetine fabric is the best. Off to the side of the camera set up a piece of white translucent fabric, such as a bedsheet or softbox, and place a flash behind it. This is the light source, The soap film only lasts 20 seconds or so before it bursts. Have a friend hold the plane of soap film in front of the black background angled so from the camera’s point of view, you can only see the white fabric reflecting in the soap. The surface of the soap film is highly reflective, and it’s entire surface must reflect only the white material.

Set the lens aperture to f/22 or f/32 for maximum depth of field, and when the camera is triggered you’ll see the brilliant colors of the soap film. After it bursts, dip the frame into the soap solution again and repeat. §

AI ONLINE WORKSHOP

Learn how to produce stunning images with Artificial Intelligence

Starts August 5, 2023

Photography Quiz

1. Drones are so stable now that we can shoot 5-frame HDR sequences from the air.

a. True

b. False

2. ‘Cool tones’ in photography mean an image has a bluish cast.

a. True

b. False

3. When a speck of dust is seen in the viewfinder of the camera, the dust is sitting:

a. On the front of the lens

b. On the ground glass inside the camera

c. On the digital sensor

d. None of the above

e. It could be all of the above

4. Continuous LED ring lights are not good for macro work because:

a. Their light is the wrong Kelvin temperature

b. They don’t produce lighting that is evenly balanced

c. Their light output isn’t sufficient for small lens apertures

d. All of the above

e. None of the above

5. A skylight filter reduces light entering a lens such that compensation is needed.

a. True

b. False

6. A photogram is a print made by laying an object onto photographic paper in the darkroom without using a negative or slide.

a. True

b. False

7. Raising the center column in a tripod does not increase instability.

a. True

b. False

8. Compact flash cards and SD cards capture the same quality of digital images.

a. True

b. False

9. Noise is most noticeable:

a. In the highlights

b. In the shadows

c. In the midtones

d. In black and white images

10. The inverse square law refers to:

a. The best point to focus on for maximum depth of field

b. The angle of the dispersion of light from a central source

c. How the Kelvin temperature changes over distance

d. The fact that light diminishes by four times as the distance it travels is doubled

UPCOMING PHOTO WORKSHOPS

Frog and Reptile Workshop

This is a macro workshop where you will have up close and personal encounters with exotic poison dart frogs and primitive looking reptiles. Jim will explain how to use a ring flash to simulate difused daylight, and he will talk a lot about depth of field as it relates to macro work. This workshop takes place in Kansas city.

August 19 - 20, 2023

Winter Wildlife Workshop

Photograph beautiful North American mammals plus a snow leopard in natural environments. Mountain lions, red foxes, arctic foxes, bobcats, lynx, wolves and more are in their full winter coats. This is a very special workshop.

January 5 - 10, 2024

Carnival in Venice

Photograph amazing costumes in a Medieval environment, inside a 16th century palace and in an iconic gondola. The photography as well as the experience is amazing.

February 4 - 10, 2024

Click on any ebook to see inside

WINTER WILDLIFE WORKSHOP

January 5 -10, 2024

What’s wrong with this picture?

Snow leopards are at the top of my list of wildlife I find utterly compelling. I photographed this leopard during my annual Winter Wildlife Workshop in Montana. At 20 frames per second, I capture lots of great images, but these cats move very quickly. As the camera-subject distance shrinks and they fill a large part of the frame, it can be very difficult to prevent parts of their bodies from getting cropped. I didn’t have time to zoom back, so in this shot a forepaw and the tip of the tail were cut off. Not acceptable.

Until recently, this would have been a challenge to fix. With Photoshop’s new Beta version, I was able to repair the problem in less than a minute. Here’s how I did it.

I opened the image in Photoshop Beta and then, using the pulldown menu command Image > canvas size, I expanded the picture area downward. I then selected this expanded area with the rectangular marquee tool and included a little of the image itself -- the snow, rocks, and a small amount of the extended forepaw. When a selection is made in the Beta version, a small bar appears giving a new option in Photoshop: I then clicked ‘generative fill’, and then I hit ‘generate’.

Within a few seconds, the entire bottom extended portion of the image filled in with snow and rocks, and the completion of the cat’s foot took place. I then repeated that for the top of the image which created the tip of the tail.

With this kind of technology now at our finger tips, we can revisit old images that were cropped too tightly and make those images perfect. What a great time to be a photographer!

SHORT AND SWEET

1. I recommended creating a folder in your photo library for clouds. It’s amazing how a great sky can save a landscape, cityscape, a wildlife image, and more. Shoot all kinds of skies: sunsets, puffy white clouds on a blue background, storm clouds, rainbows, etc. You can salvage a lot of images this way.

2. Language barrierts don’t mean you can’t take good pictures. Except in the most primitive areas where people have had virtually no contact with the outside world, everyone understands a camera and a smile. By pointing at your camera and then at a potential subject, and smiling, most of the time you’ll get an OK.

3. Autofocus has been vastly improved in the last few years, but there are many times when it just can’t keep up with a fast moving subject heading toward the camera. If I have time, I’ll prefocus on a point between the subject and myself and use the 20 fps get one or two sharp images -- hopefully.

4. When photographing flat surfaces like this ancient petroglyph panel at Newspaper Rock, Utah, you can increase depth of field so the entire area of the image is sharp by making the back of the camera, i.e., the plane of the digital sensor as parallel as possible with the subject matter. §

Coast of France

April 4 - 13, 2024

ASK JIM

Every month, Jim will answer a question from his online students, from people who participate in his tours and workshops, or from subscribers to this magazine. If you have a question you’d like Jim to answer, please drop him a note at photos@jimzuckerman.com.

Q: Jim . . . Many of my photographer friends use UV or skylight filters on their lenses. I don’t. Do you think they are necessary, and if so, why?

Matt Hatcher, Farmington, Michigan

A: In terms of image quality, color cast (such as a bluish haze), and contrast, I’ve never been able to see a difference between images that have been filtered with this kind of glass and those that weren’t. If a scene has enough haze so it’s noticeable, these filters won’t get rid of it. In my opinion, the only reason to use any of these filters is to protect the front glass element of the lens from some kind of mishap. For example, years ago a friend of mine picked up his camera backpack from the ground and he’d forgotten to zip it closed. A 70200mm fell out of the pack and onto a concrete sidewalk, breaking the skylight filter. The lens, miraculously, was unharmed, obviously protected by the filter. I used to have skylight filters on all my lenses, but I don’t anymore. In 55 years of photography, I’ve never dropped a lens or camera, so without the filters I save a little weight, save money, and don’t have to be psychologically concerned that I’m degrading image quality with another piece of glass. UV and skylight filters don’t really degrade image quality, but psychologically it still bothers me to use them. But that’s just me. §

Partial List of Photography Tours 2022 - 2024

ENGLAND and WALES

Sep 2023

HUDSON RIVER VALLEY

Oct 2023

WINTER WILDLIFE

Jan 2024

SNOWY OWLS

Jan 2024

CARNIVAL in VENICE

Feb. 2024

ABANDONED in GEORGIA

March 2024

HOLLAND & BELGIUM

Apr/May 2024

WHITE HORSES, FRANCE

May 2024

LAVENDER FIELDS, FRANCE

Jul 2024

INDONESIA

Jul/Aug 2024

ICELAND DRONE TOUR

Aug 2024

PATAGONIA

Oct 2024

For a complete list of all the photo tours/workshops Jim conducts, go to his website: www.jimzuckerman.com.

Online Course in AI

Starts August 5, 2023

Produce brilliant images right out of the starting gate!

Student Showcase

Each month, Jim features one student who took beautiful and inspiring images on one or more of his photography tours or workshops. It’s really fascinating how photographers see and compose such different images even though we may go to the same places. Everyone takes great photographs on Jim’s trips.

Ramona Farrelly, Greystones, Ireland AI online course

© Ramona Farrelly

© Ramona Farrelly

Student Showcase, continued

© Ramona Farrelly

© Ramona Farrelly

ENGLAND & WALES PHOTO TOUR

Medieval ruins Quaint villages

Awesome architecture

September 12 - 22, 2023

HOLLAND & BELGIUM

April 24 to May 2, 2024

1/3 focus law

Subject index for past Photo Insight issues

‘15

3D sphere Mar. ‘16

90 degree finder Mar. ‘13

Abstracts in soap Feb. ‘15

Abstracts, Shooting Mar ‘19

Aerial photography

Aerial photography

‘13

‘21

African safari May ‘16

Airplane windows

Alien landscapes

Anatomy of 8 photographs

Angled perspectives

Aperture vs. shutter speed

Aperture priority

Aurora Borealis

Auto white balance

Autofocus, when it fails

Autofocus failure

Autofocus failure

Autofocus challenges

Auto ISO

Auto White Balance

Autumn Foliage

Autumn Color

Autumn foliage photography

Back button focus

Backgrounds, wild

Backgrounds, busy

Backlighting

Backlighting

Birds in flight

Birds in flight

‘16

‘13

‘16

‘19

‘14

‘17

‘13

‘15

‘17

‘18

‘18

‘20

‘21

‘18

‘16

‘22

‘14

Birefringence May ‘18

Birds in flight

Birds in flight, camera settings

Bird Photography

Blacklight photography

Black velvet

Black and white conversions

Black and white solarization

Black and white with color

Black and white plus color

Blown highlights

Blue monochromes

‘16

‘23

‘19

‘21

‘14

Mar. ‘17

Sep. ‘17

Jan. ‘20

Mar. ‘23

Feb. ‘18

Jan. ‘22

Black Plexy Aug. ‘22

Blur, field

Blur technique

Bokeh

Nov. ‘18

Oct. ‘17

Jun. ‘15

Botanical gardens, shooting Apr. ‘22

Butterfly photography Jul. ‘14

Camera buying guidelines

Dec. 21

Camera settings for landscapes Feb. ‘23

Camera setting priorities Jun. ‘17

Canon R5 Mar. ‘21

Capturing lightning Jun. ‘13

Capturing what you don’t see May ‘21

Catchlights Jul. ‘16

Changing perspective May ‘21

Cheap flash stand Apr. ‘13

Children photography Jun. ‘14

Choosing a telephoto lens Dec. ‘20

Chromatic aberration May ‘13

Chrome Dec. ‘18

Cityscapes Aug. ‘14

Cityscapes May ‘16

Clone tool, fixing an issue Sep. ‘17

Clone tool technique Jul. ‘20

Composites and Light Dec. ‘17

Compositing images Apr. ‘19

Compositing, 7 steps Jan. 22

Composition, different approach Jan. ‘15

Content-aware, New Aug. ‘20

Content aware move tool Jan. ‘23

Contrast vs. exposure Jul. ‘15

Converting to black and white Mar. ‘22

Correcting keystoning Jun. ‘21

Creating a star field Jan. ‘14

Creating Art out of Motion

Creating a Sketch

Creative blurs

May ‘22

Dec. ‘17

Jan. ‘14

Custom functions Jul. ‘23t

Dark backgrounds Nov. ‘19

Dawn photography Jan. ‘17

Dawn photography Feb. ‘17

Dead center Jan. ‘13

Dealing with smog

Oct. ‘16

Decay photography Sep. ‘15

Define Pattern Sep. ‘18

Depth of field Aug. ‘16

Depth of field confusion Jan. ‘20

Depth of field and distance Dec. ‘18

Depth of field and obliqueness May ‘21

Depth of field, shallow Apr. ‘20

Depth of field vs. sharpness Nov. ‘20

Double takes Apr. ‘20

Drone photography Mar. ‘23

Drop shadows Apr. ‘19

Dust, Minimizing Aug. ‘19

eBook, how to make Jan. ‘13

Eliminating people from photos Jun. ‘22

Embedded in Ice

Oct. 17

Energy saving bulbs Sep. ‘14

Equidistance and telephoto lenses Apri. ‘23

Exploring the power visuals of AI Mar. ‘23

Exposing for the sun Sep. ‘16

Exposure, the sun Jul. ‘13

Exposure technique Sep. ‘13

Exposure, snow Jan. ‘14

Exposure triangle Nov. ‘14

Exposure, to the right Apr. ‘15

Exposure compensation Sep. ‘16

Exposure compensation Mar. ‘21

Extension tubes Dec. ‘13

Extension tubes

Face sculpting

Face sculpting

Festival photography

Jul. ‘23

Apr. ‘21

Feb. ‘22

Sep. ‘20

Fill flash Sep. ‘13

Filter forge

Feb. ‘13

Fireworks Jul. ‘13

Fireworks, Compositing Jun ‘20

Fisheye lenses May ‘13

Fisheye lenses Feb. ‘15

Fisheye fantasies Oct. 21

Flash backlighting May ‘15

Flash, balancing exposure Oct. ‘15

Flash, balancing off-camera Dec. ‘18

Subject index for past Photo Insight issues

Interiors Oct. ‘15

iPad: Loading photos

Aug.‘17

iPhone photography, pros and cons Apr. ‘22

Jungle photography Dec. ‘14

Kaleidoscopic images

Kaleidoscopis images

Jan. ‘15

Aug. ‘20

Keystoning, correcting Aug. ‘15

L Bracket

L Bracket

Landscape photography

Landscape photography

Landscape photography

Feb. ‘18

Feb. ‘21

Dec. ‘12

Apr. ‘14

Nov. ‘16

Layer Masks, The Power of Feb. ‘22

Light fall-off

Light painting

Lighting a face

Lightning photography

Liquify

Liquify Distortions

Lenses, Essential

Long lens portraits

Feb. ‘14

Dec. ‘21

Oct. ‘13

May ‘20

Feb. ‘18

Sept/Oct. ‘19

Aug. ‘23

Oct. ‘18

Long Lenses for Flowers Jul. ‘20

Low light photography

Luminar 4

May ‘15

Jan. ‘20

Macro flash Nov. ‘12

Macro flash

Macro flash

Macro flash

Macro photography and DOF

Macro trick

Managing soft focus

Mannequin heads

Metering modes

Meters, How They Work

Meters, when they fail

Sep. ‘14

Aug. ‘15

Aug. ‘22

Feb. ‘22

May ‘19

Jul. ‘21

Apr. ‘16

Nov. ‘16

Jul. ‘18

Dec. ‘16

Metering situations, Impossible Jul. ‘19

‘16 HDR, hand held

‘17 HDR, hand held

‘18 HDR panoramas

‘16 HDR, choosing the number of frames

wind

Highlights, overexposed

Histograms, Why I Don’t Use

Histogram problems

Home nature projects

Hotels with a view

Humidity

Hummingbird photography

Hyperfocal distance

Image resizing

Implying motion

Impossible DOF

Impossible DOF

Indestructible camera bag

Infrared photography

Insane ISO settings

‘20

‘13

‘13

‘13

‘18

‘16

‘17

‘14

‘14

‘22

Middle gray

Milky Way, Shooting thet

Minimizing dust on the sensor

Mirrors

Mirror images

Model shoot

Moon glow

Mosaics

Mundane to Ideal

Museum photography

Nov. ‘15

Nov. ‘21

Jan. ‘19

May ‘23

Jan. ‘17

Oct. ‘16

Jun. ‘17

Nov. ‘19

Mar. ‘13

Natural Light Portraits Aug. ‘21

Negative space

Jan. ‘16

Neon edges on black Aug. ‘14

Neutral Density filters

Jun. ‘18

Neutral Density filters and water Mar. ‘22

Night photography

Night Safaris

Feb. ‘14

Jun. ‘18

Night to Twilight Dec. ‘17

Noise reduction

Oil and water

Optical infinity

Feb. ‘17

May ‘20

Jun. ‘16

Organization of photos Mar. ‘18

Out of focus foregrounds

Jan. ‘20

Subject index for past Photo Insight issues

Paint abstracts May ‘13

Paint abstracts

Aug. ‘21

Painting with light Sep. ‘15

Panning motion Dec. ‘16

Pano-Mirrors with a twist Jan. ‘18

Parades Sep. ‘13

Parallelism Nov. ‘19

Parallelism and DOF Feb. ‘21

Perspective, Super Exaggeration of Dec. ‘21

Photo shsaring Apr. ‘23

Photo terms Nov. ‘22

Photography to Art Dec. ‘17

Photography solutions Jan. ‘18

Photoshop, content Aware Nov. ‘12

Photoshop, sketch technique Apr. ‘13

Photoshop, replace background Apr. ‘13

Photoshop, actions palette Dec. ‘13

Photoshop, layer masks Feb. ‘13

Photoshop, the clone tool May ‘13

Photoshop, soft foliage Oct. ‘13

Photoshop, mixer brush tool Sept. ‘14

Photoshop, b & w with color Jun. ‘14

Photoshop, drop shadows Jul. ‘14

Photoshop, creating texture Feb. ‘14

Photoshop, face mirrors Feb. ‘14

Photoshop, liquify Mar. ‘14

Photoshop, face mirrors Aug. ‘14

Photoshop, digital spotlight Sep. ‘14

Photoshop, enlarge eyes Nov. ‘14

Photoshop, darken the periphery Dec. ‘14

Photoshop, mirror images Dec. ‘14

Photoshop, beam of light Apr. ‘15

Photoshop, polar coordinates Mar. ‘15

Photoshop, chrome May ‘15

Photoshop, actions palette Nov. ‘15

Photoshop, cut and paste Nov. ‘15

Photoshop, geometrics Oct. ‘15

Photoshop, plugins Oct. ‘15

Photoshop, multiple selections Apr. ‘16

Photoshop, sharpening Apr. ‘16

Photoshop, Flood plugin Apr. ‘16

Photoshop, Desaturation Aug. ‘16

Photoshop, making a composite Aug. ‘16

Photoshop new tool May ‘20

Photoshop, place one element behind Aug. ‘18

Photoshop, the pen tool Feb. ‘16

Photoshop, canvas size Jan. ‘16

Photoshop, using the earth Jun. ‘16

Photoshop, define patterns May ‘16

Photoshop, paste into Nov. ‘16

Photoshop, b & w with color Feb. ‘17

Photoshop, open a closed door Apr. ‘17

Photoshop, palettes May ‘17

Photoshop, My favorite plugins Jan. ‘20

Portrait options Jan. ‘19

Portrait techniques Nov. ‘15

Portraits Mar. ‘13

Portraits, mixed lighting Aug. ‘14

Portrait Professional Nov. ‘19

Portraits, Lens choice Sept/Oct. ‘19

Portraits, side lighting Sep. ‘17

Portraits, window light Mar. ‘15

Portraits, outdoors May ‘17

Post-processing checklist Dec. ‘13

Post-processing: Contrast Aug. ’17

Practicing graphic design, Part I Dec. ‘22

Practicing graphic design, Park II Jan. ‘23

Practicing graphic design, Part III Feb. ‘23

Pre-capturing technology May ‘23

Predictive Focus

Problem/solution

Sep. ‘18

Apr. ‘17

Problem Solving in Photoshop May ‘22

Problem with cruises Jan. ‘18

Protecting extremeities from the cold Dec. ‘22

Protecting highlights Dec. ‘12

Puppies Jan. ‘15

Puppy photography

Feb. ’18

Reflections Feb. ‘13

Reshaping faces

Oct. ‘22

Restoring old photos Jun ‘20

Ring flash, advantages Jul. ‘21

Ring flash versatility Oct. ‘21

Rule of Odds May ‘22

Safari May ‘13

Safari strategies Jul. ‘15

Seeing as the lens does Nov. ‘14

Seeking Cool Snow Photos Jan. ‘21

Selective filtering

Selective focus

Mar. ‘18

Jun. ‘15

Self-critiques Jul. ‘13

Self-critiques

Self-critiques

Oct. ‘13

Nov. ‘20

Sensor cleaning Jun. ‘18

Sepia and dark contrast Jun. ‘15

Sepia, Traditional look of Shade

Shady side

May ‘14

Jun. ‘18

Shadows, Paying Attention to Mar. ‘18

Sharpness problems

Mar. ‘14

Shooting in Inclement Weather Nov. ‘22

Shooting through textured glass May ‘23

Shooting through wire mesh Sept. ‘14

Shooting into the light Jun ‘20

Silhouettes

Jun. ‘13

Silhouettes, How to make Apr. ‘22

Silhouettes, Exposing for Sept/Oct. ‘19

Silvered landscapes Mar. ‘20

Sketch, How to Make

Skies make or break a picture

Sky replacement

Jun ‘19

Aug. ‘21

Nov. ‘20

Sky replacement strategies Aug. ‘22

Snow exposure

Snow exposure

Nov ‘17

Nov. ‘19

Soap abstracts Aug. ‘23

Soft light

Jan. ‘13

Smart phone photography May ‘19

Stained glass Mar. ‘17

Star photography

Jul. ‘16

Star photography and noise Jan. ‘18

Stock photography Sep. ‘14

Sunrise & sunset Jan. ‘19

Subject index for past Photo Insight issues

Tamron 150-600mm Apr. ‘14

Ten reasons photos are not sharp Jan. ‘19

Texture, Adding Mar ‘19

Texture Mapping in 3D Jul. ‘21

Topaz AI Gigapixel Mar ‘19

Topaz glow Jan. ‘15

Topaz glow Sep. ‘17

Topaz Impression Sep. ‘15

Topaz Remask 5 Oct. ‘17

Topaz Simplify 4 Dec. ‘12

Topaz simplify 4 Jun. ‘14

Topaz Studio Apr. ‘18

Translucency & backlighting Nov. ‘18

Travel photography Feb. ‘13

Travel portraits Mar. ‘14

Travel tips Apr. ‘14

Travel photographer’s guide Jun. ‘17

Tweaking exposure on the fly Apr. ‘23

Twilight photography in the rain Apr. ‘19

Tripods Mar. ‘18

Two subject sharp rule May ‘14

Two subject focus rule Jan. ‘20

Two subject focus rule Jun. ‘21

Urban heights Jun. ‘21

Ultra distortion May ‘18

Unusual Panos Nov. ‘22w

Upside Down Reflections Aug. ‘21

Quiz answers

Warm fingers in winter Nov. ‘15

Water drop collisions May ‘18

What NOT to do in photography Apr. ‘18

When You Needed a Zoom Aug. ‘21

White on White Dec. ‘20

White vignette Aug. ‘15

White balance Feb. ‘15

White balance, custom Mar. ‘16

White balance, What

Wide angle conundrum

Wide angle lenses

Wide angle portraits

Wide angle lenses

Wide angle lenses: Outside the Box

Wide angle keystoning

Wildlife photos with wide angles

Window light

Window light portraits

Window frames

Winter photography

Winter bones

Winter photography

Winter photography

‘23

‘19

‘13

‘14

‘17

‘22w

‘17

‘15

‘15

‘18

‘16

‘12

‘13

‘15

‘18

Wire Mesh, Shooting Through Jul. ‘18

Workflow

‘13

Your score

90% - 100%: You could have been a pro

80% - 89%: Your glasses probably need a new prescription

70% - 79%: Don’t quit your day job

< 70%: You should really be using an iPhone

Edited by: Donald Moore