Telephotos and extension tubes 17. Jim’s eBooks 20. What's wrong with this picture?
Short and Sweet
Ask Jim 26. Photography tours
Student Showcase
Past issues
Subject index On the cover: A red fox running through the snow at Jim's Winter Wildlife Workshop. This page: A snow-covered cottonwood tree, Montana.
Many great photographs have less to do with the artistry and skill of the photographer and a lot to do with the fact that the photographer took the time, expended the energy, and spent the money to be in the right place at the right time. I often think as I stand before a spectacular landscape, look up at an amazing cathedral ceiling, or look through my camera at a beautiful model in some far away land that anyone could make a fabulous picture of these things. It's just a matter of being there.
Of course, you need a basic understanding of composition, light, exposure, the camera's menus, and the fundamentals of photography, but if you don't put yourself in situations where compelling photographic opportunities exist, you won't be able to take the pictures. If you now use a smart phone -- and we all know camera phones are vastly improved and they take beautiful pictures -- an artistic eye is still needed to capture compelling images. But . . . if you don't put yourself in special situations to experience great subjects, you won't reap the rewards.
My thinking on this comes from my reaction to the many compliments I get on my photography, especially the travel imagery I take. Recently a friend was praising an image I took of the spectacular Mt. Fitzroy in Argentinian Patagonia. I thought to myself, if you were there, you would have taken the exact same picture. I didn't use any special technique, not HDR, focus stacking, or used a long shutter speed with an ND filter. The camera determined the exposure and the focus, and all I did was basically point and push the shutter button with the appropriate focal length lens. I almost feel guilty accepting compliments on pictures when all I did, actually, was be there.
It is true that sometimes luck comes into play in photography. Dramatic cloud formations, awesome sunrise or sunset lighting, serendipitously coming upon a great festival -- these things can and do happen. I learned a long time ago, though, the more you go out in search of winning photographs, the luckier you get.
Happy New Year!
Jim Zuckerman photos@jimzuckerman.com
www.jimzuckerman.com
Architecture frames
An approach to compostion
The world is a compositional mess. Urban centers have all kinds of buildings, from mirrored skyscrapers to dilapidated ruins, plus traffic, trash, graffiti, pedestrians, and a million other elements. In nature, rocks, bushes, land forms, forests, and so many other elements challenge a photographer to find artistic compositions.
I've been teaching photography for a long time -- since the early 1970's -- and the number one difficulty so many people have in taking suc-
cessful pictures is composition. So, I've tried to tease apart the fundamental ingredients that make good compositions that would enable me to explain clearly how to make artistic sense of any subject or scene.
Good composition is really all about strong graphic design, and graphic design, at its essence, is all about artistic lines. With this in mind, one of the ways to photograph people and even pets is to use attractive architectural design to frame them. Surrounded and framed
by a nicely designed doorway or window, you instantly create an appealing composition. Of course, the success of the picture depends on the beauty or uniqueness of the architecture and the photo-worthiness of the subject, but this is a very simple way to create eye-catching compositions.
It also solves the problem of busy backgrounds especially when shooting in a city. For example, during carnival in Venice, thousands of tourists choke streets and alleys, and it can be hard to isolate a model wearing a striking costume. Placing them in front of a medieval door adorning a palace or cathedral, shown at right, instantly creates the perfect background while, at the same time, the subject is attractively framed. I did the same thing with a model in Jodhpur, India, below. The crowds and the clutter in the street disappeared.
In this type of composition, both elements must be sharp. If the person or animal is on the same plane as the doorway or window, as in the shot below which I captured in Cambodia at Angkor Wat, depth of field is not an issue. Both will be sharp at any lens aperture.
In the picture from Venice on the previous page, however, you can see that the costumed model was standing four or five feet in front of the wooden door. Using a medium telephoto lens, which is my preferred type of lens for portraits, means depth of field will be somewhat limited. It's likely you'll open the aperture wide to gather more light in this shaded environment, and in the process you may lose focus on the door. Even if the door is slightly soft, the picture will be compromised. This is not the time to experiment with bokeh.
There are three options to insure both the subject and the frame will be sharp: 1) Switch to a wider angle lens. This changes the composition, but wide angle lenses inherently have more depth of field than other focal lengths. 2) Use a smaller lens aperture. How much smaller? This will be a guestimte, so I err on the side of complete depth of field and use at least f/11. If the amount of light permits, I'll go to f/16 to be one hundred percent sure. Even if you have to raise the ISO to use the smaller aperture, it's worth the tradeoff. 3) Move further back from the subject. This increases dof, and when you refocus on the subject the frame comes into sharp focus.
There are so many types of compositions and an endless number of photographic circumstances, but when windows and doors are available, use them to artistic advantage. §
Post-Processing Moves
Baack in the far dim past (at least, it feels like that long ago) when we all shot film, the slides or the negatives we produced were the end products. If we didn't get it right in-camera, there was very little, if anything, that could be done about it.
Today the digital file that comes out of our cameras is not, in fact, the finished product. It almost always needs to be tweaked with respect to color, contrast, and exposure. And the tools we have today allow us to go well
beyond those basics to address problems in the images and to be truly creative.
A perfect example is the shot I took, below, of a birdwing butterfly (Ornithoptera priamus) in Indonesia. I was lucky to get the picture and I've liked this image for many years. The truth, though, is there are three problems with it. The biggest issue for me are the blown highlights in the background. The areas of solid white with no texture or detail resulted from sunny highlights in the bright sky behind the trees. They are distracting and visually annoying.
Iceland Drone Tour
August 24 - September 2, 2026y 1322024
s
Second, I clipped the tips of the wings as well as the antennae. I was using a fixed focal length lens and didn't have the zoom flexibility I really needed. Right after I took the shot, the butterfly flew away so I didn't have a chance to recompose.
Third, the black rectangular splotch on the tree trunk is distracting. Before Photoshop, that was impossible to remove. Now, it's basically a slam dunk.
The first thing I did to address these issues was use the clone tool to eliminate the white highlights in the background. To do this, I varied the opacity of the clone tool. Sometimes it was 100%, while in other areas it was about 70%. My rationale in doing this was to retain the nat-
ural differences with the highlights and shadows in the out of focus green foliage.
Next, I used the generative expand command to enlarge the picture area and to complete the areas of the insect I inadvertently cropped out. Here are the steps to do this:
1. Select the crop tool
2. In the tool bar, there is a submenu in which you can select the 'generative expand' option.
3. Drag the frame that surrounds the photograph outward. On the top of page 10, the
image shows the crop tool handles and the expanded blank space. In addressing the problem of the truncated wings and antennae, I dragged the left handle as well as the top middle handle outward to expand the picture area. Then I hit Enter/ Return twice. Photoshop fills in the expanded area brilliantly such that the wing tips are added and the tips of the annten-
nae are completed as well. Photoshop gives you three variations from which to choose.
Finally, I used the clone tool on 100% opacity to remove the black rectangular shape on the tree. Light and overexposed areas in an image can be distracting; similarly, very dark and black areas can also draw the eye away from the subject.
With tools like these, you can go through your photo library and address problem photographs that were unrepairable in the past. It's a great way to make good pictures into great ones with just a little bit of knowledge and artistry. §
TELEPHOTOS and EXTENSION TUBES
Most photographers use extension tubes for macro photography to increase magnification of subjects beyond what regular macro lenses can do on their own. For example, the extreme closeup of a gecko's eye, right, was made using two extension tubes and a 50mm macro lens.
Extension tubes can also be used on telephoto lenses to reduce their minimum focusing distance. A case in point is the picture at lower right of a mother baboon with a newborn baby. They were sitting on the ground about eight feet from my Land Rover in Kenya. I wanted a framefilling shot, but my Canon 500mm f/4 lens couldn't focus closer than 14.5 feet. If I switched to a 70-200mm lens, I could focus on the baboons but the composition wasn't tight enough. Too much dirt on the ground was included.
So, I put one extension tube between the 500mm telephoto lens and the camera body, and suddenly I was able to focus to eight feet. I lost focus at infinity, but temporarily that was fine because I was only interested in the primates. There was no light loss in using the tube, and no degradation of quality occurred because these tubes don't have any glass in them. They are simply hollow spacers.
Extension tubes come in sets of 3. I use the Kenko brand. §
Ethiopia Photo Tour
Jan. 21 - Feb. 3, 2025
Exotic Birds of Colombia
Sept. 23 to Oct. 3, 2026
Pantanal Photo Tour, Brazil
Jaguars in the wild, birds in flight, caiman, otters and more
Dec. 1 - 9, 2025
Photography Quiz
1. Which sensor has more megapixels, a full one inch or a 4/3 sensor?
a. One inch
b. 4/3 sensor
2. The Inverse Square Law refers to:
a. Depth of field
b. Hyperfocal distance
c. Resolution
d. Exposure
3. Which of these settings gives the same exposure as 1/125 at f/8?
a. 1/350 at f/11
b. 1/250 at f/4
c. 1/250 at f/16
d. 1/500 at f/4
4. Which of the following is the odd one out?
a. PDF
b. JPEG
c. PNG
d. TIFF
5. A snoot used in a photo studio is:
a. A filter used when shooting with fluorescent lights
b. A special type of tripod head
c. A light modifier
d. A light stand for heavy softboxes
6. In the early days of photography, which of these was used to create a bright flash?
a. Magnesium
b. Mercury
c. Phosphor
d. Hydrogen
7. Which one is the odd one out?
a. Diffusion
b. Gaussian blur
c. Soft focus
8. In aperture priority mode, what can you do if your pictures are too dark?
a. Turn the camera off and back on again
b. Make the lens aperture larger
c. Increase the ISO
d. Adjust exposure compensation by +1
9. Raising the center column of your tripod:
a. Increases the instability of it
b. Makes the tripod more stable
10. What size picture frame is exactly proportional to full frame digital files that come from Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Olympus cameras?
a. 8 x 10 inches
b 11 x 14 inches
c. 16 x 24 inches
d. 30 x 40 inches
UPCOMING PHOTO WORKSHOPS
Winter Wildlife Workshop
Close up encounters with North American mammals like fox, bobcat, wolves, mountain lion, and lynx plus a snow leopard in their full winter coats in a wintry environment. It doesn't get better than this!
February 6 - 11, 2025
FROG & REPTILE WORKSHOP in Kansas City
This is an exciting macro workshop in which you will be able to photograph about 40 species of colorful dart frogs and exotic reptiles. Held in a hotel conference room, Jim sets up natural backgrounds for outstanding photos.
June 14 - 15, 2025
Carnival in Venice
Photograph amazing costumes in a Medieval environment. We shoot inside a 16th century palace, in an iconic gondola, in a stunning bedroom with traditional Venetian decor, and at other great locations. The photography as well as the experience is phenomenal.
February 23 - March 1, 2025
eBooks
Click on any ebook to see inside
Abandoned in Georgia
April 21 - 27, 2025
What's Wrong with this Picture?
Enlarge this image on your computer, iPad or smart phone and you'll be able to see two catchlights in the eyes. This is not ideal. On this planet, we only have one sun; hence, every animal, bird, and person, when photographed outdoors, has only one catchlight in the eyes. If the sun is obscured by clouds, the catchlight changes such that the pupils reflect the bright sky. The two catchlights seen here don't look natural because, in fact, they aren't.
When my photo tour group spotted this leopard in Kenya at night, my guide had a bright hand held flashlight that accounted for one of the catchlights. The other one must have come from one of the headlights of the Land Rover. The vehicle was angled to the tree, so only one of the vehicle's lights reflected
in the eyes.
Many nature photographers overlook the multiple catchlight issue. I see this especially with hummingbird setups. If you can't get the type of lighting desired with only a single flash and you are using several flash units, then at least clone out all of the reflections in the eyes except one.
To eliminate multiple catchlights, use the clone tool and work, at least, with a 100% enlargement. This enables you to clone out the dots of light with precision and not adversely affect surrounding areas of the eye. Too often sloppy clone tool work degrades an otherwise superb image. When working in such small places, then, make sure you pay attention to every detail. §
On Safari: Kenya
March 22 - 31, 2026
SHORT AND SWEET
1. When doing macro photography, depth of field is extremely limited. Even f/32 may not be enough for complete depth of field. It helps to make the back of the camera, i.e. the plane of the digital sensor, as parallel as possible with the plane of the subject. This increases dof significantly.
3. The exaggeration of perspective is inherent in wide angle lenses. The closer the lens is placed to foreground elements, the more exaggerated they appear. The foreground seems disproportionately large compared to the background. This isn't what we see, but it's a dynamic and artistic treatment of the scene.
2. Reptiles remain completely motionless when they are at rest. This means you can use a tripod (or a bean bag in this case) and a slow shutter which, in turn, allows a small aperture for maximum depth of field. In this shot of a Nile crocodile in Kenya, the aperture was f/32 and the shutter was, amazingly, one full second.
4. Elevated perspectives in cities often produce the most beautiful and most compelling urban images. Search for rooftop restaurants, bars in highrises, public observation decks, and hotel rooms on upper floors with great views. This is Chicago as seen from the bar on the 21st floor of the London House Hotel. §
Vietnam Photo Tour
October 13 - 23, 2025
ASK JIM
Every month, Jim answers 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 . . . Do you use filters when taking pictures? I feel with all of the post-processing tools we have now, they aren't really necessary. What do you think?
Julie Fox, El Paso, Texas
A: I haven't used filters for years with one exception. I still use neutral density filters when shooting moving water. All of the color enhancing and color modifying filters aren't relevant any more. The only other filter some people still use is a polarizing filter, especially when shooting bodies of watert. It cuts through reflections and shows detail through the water. In an effort to lighten what I now carry, though, I don't even bring a polarizer.
Partial List of Photography Tours
2024 - 2026
SNOWY OWLS in CANADA
Jan 2025
Sept 2025
PANTANAL
Dec 2025
ICELAND DRONE TOUR
Aug/Sept 2026
WINTER WILDLIFE Feb 2025
Oct 2025
SCOTLAND'S PAST May 2026
EXOTIC COLOMBIA BIRDS
Sept/Oct 2026
CARNIVAL in VENICE Feb/Mar 2025
Oct/Nov 2025
THE GREAT SPAIN ECLIPSE Aug 2026
ARMENIA & GEORGIA Oct/Nov 2026
Armenia & Georgia
October 26 - November 8, 2026
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.
Bobbie Hefner, Grass Valley, California Michigan's Historic Lighthouses photo tour, China photo tour, Online Photoshop training, Winter Wildlife Workshop.
Student Showcase,
Student Showcase,
Student Showcase,
PHOTO TOUR to CHINA
January 3 - 14, 2026
Harbin Snow & Ice Festival
Indonesia Photo Tour
August 6 - 19, 2025
‘14
‘19 Jan. ‘20
Subject index for past Photo Insight issues
1/3 focus law Jul. ‘15
3D sphere Mar. ‘16
90 degree finder Mar. ‘13
Abstracts in soap Feb. ‘15
Abstracts, Shooting Mar ‘19
Aerial photography Jun. ‘13
Aerial photography Jan. ‘21
African safari May ‘16
AI plus Photograpjhy Oct. ‘23
AI, Photos-to-AI Oct. '24
Airplane windows Mar. ‘16
Alien landscapes Jan. ‘13
Anatomy of 8 photographs Jan. ‘16
Anatomy of an Action Shot Feb. ‘24
Angled perspectives Jan. ‘19
Aperture vs. shutter speed May ‘14
Aperture priority Sept. ‘14
Aperture priority and other modes Jul. ‘24
Aurora Borealis Apr. ‘17
Auto white balance Dec. ‘13
Autofocus, when it fails Apr. ‘15
Autofocus failure Aug. ‘15
Autofocus failure Jan. ‘17
Autofocus challenges Apr. ‘18
Auto ISO Nov ‘17
Auto White Balance Mar’ ‘21
Autumn Foliage Sep. ‘18
Autumn Color Sep. ‘20
Autumn foliage photography Oct. ‘21
AWB versus Daylight WB May ‘24
t Back button focus Oct. ‘18
Backgrounds, wild Nov. ‘12
Backgrounds, busy Apr. ‘13
Backlighting Apr. ‘16
Backlighting Oct. ‘22
Birds in flight Aug. ‘13
Birds in flight Jan. ‘14
Birefringence May ‘18
Birefringence Dec. 24
Birds in flight Mar. ‘16
Birds in flight, camera settings Jan. ‘23
Birds in flight, camera settings Dec. '24
Bird Photography Jun ‘19
Black backgrounds Aug. ‘23
Blacklight photography Feb. ‘21
Black velvet Mar. ‘14
Black and white conversions Mar. ‘17
Black and white infrared Apr. ‘24
Black and white solarization Sep. ‘17
Black and white with color Jan. ‘20
Black and white plus color Mar. ‘23
Blown highlights Feb. ‘18
Blue monochromes Jan. ‘22
Black Plexy Aug. ‘22
Blur, field Nov. ‘18
Blur technique Oct. ‘17
Bokeh Jun. ‘15
Botanical gardens, shooting Apr. ‘22
Butterfly photography Jul. ‘14
Buying nature Jul. ‘24
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 lightning Jun. ‘24
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
Color theory Nov. ‘23
Composites and Light Dec. ‘17
Composites, Secrets to perfect Jun. ‘24
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
Contrast, When it is good Sep. '24
Converting to black and white Mar. ‘22
Correcting keystoning Jun. ‘21
Creating a star field Jan. ‘14
Creating Art out of Motion May ‘22
Creating a Sketch Dec. ‘17
Creative blurs Jan. ‘14
Custom functions Jul. ‘23t
Dark backgrounds Nov. ‘19
Dawn photography Jan. ‘17
Dawn photography Feb. ‘17
Dead center Jan. ‘13
Dead center Oct. ‘23
Dealing with smog Oct. ‘16
Decay photography Sep. ‘15
Define Pattern Sep. ‘18
Define Pattern Sep. '24
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
Drone, Lessons from a tour Oct. '24
Drop shadows Apr. ‘19
Dust, Minimizing Aug. ‘19
eBook, how to make Jan. ‘13
Elevated vantage points Aug. ‘23
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
Exposing for snow Dec. '24w
Exposure technique Sep. ‘13
Exposure, snow Jan. ‘14
Exposure triangle Nov. ‘14
Exposure, to the right Apr. ‘15
Subject index for past Photo Insight issues
Exposure compensation
Exposure compensation
Extension tubes
Sep. ‘16
Mar. ‘21
Dec. ‘13
Extension tubes Jul. ‘23
Face sculpting
Face sculpting
Festival photography
Fill flash
Filter forge
Fireworks
Fireworks, Compositing
Fisheye lenses
Fisheye lenses
Fisheye fantasies
Fixing parallax
Flash backlighting
Apr. ‘21
Feb. ‘22
Sep. ‘20
Sep. ‘13
Feb. ‘13
Jul. ‘13
Jun ‘20
May ‘13
Feb. ‘15
Oct. 21
Oct. '24
May ‘15
Flash, balancing exposure Oct. ‘15
Flash, balancing off-camera Dec. ‘18
Flat art
Sep. ‘16
Flexify 2 Mar. ‘20
Flood fixes problems Nov. ‘19
Floral Portraits, Indoors Aug. ‘21
Flowers
May ‘15
Flower photography Apr ‘21
Flowers in harsh light
Focus on the eyes
Focus points
Focus points
Focus stacking
Jul. ‘16
Dec. ‘20
Mar. ‘15
Sep. ‘20
Mar. ‘17
Focus stacking Aug. ‘19
Focusing in the dark Oct. ‘16
Foreign Dancers, Photographing Nov’ 17
Foreign models Jun. ‘13
Fractals, generating Sep. ‘13
Fractals Jul. ‘19
Framing
Framing
Freezing ultra action
From Terrible to Beautiful
Fun with paint
May ‘17
Jan. ‘24
May ‘17
Aug. ‘19
Oct. ‘16
Fundamental ingredients Apr. ‘13
Fundamentals That Make Great Photos Jan. ‘19
Fun With Christmas Lights Jan. ‘21
Fun with Food
Graphic Design
Jul. ‘20
Garish imagery Dec. ‘15
Generative fill Jun. ‘23
Getting money for used gear Jan.’ 22
Getting the blues out Dec. ‘23
Great subjects Apr. ‘15
Great ceilings & HDR Panos Jul. ‘19
Green screen Mar. ‘13
Ground level shooting Oct. ‘22
Grunge technique Feb. ‘13
Harsh light, the problem of Apr. ‘24
Heavy Lens Debate, The Feb. ‘23
HDR, one photo Apr. ‘13
HDR at twilight May ‘13
HDR, realistic Jun. ‘15
HDR, hand held Dec. ‘16
HDR, hand held Nov ‘17
HDR, hand held Jul. ‘18
HDR panoramas Jun. ‘16
HDR, choosing the number of frames Jun. ‘22
High wind Apr. ‘17
Highlights Apr. ‘14
Highlights, overexposed Feb. ‘15
Histograms, Why I Don’t Use Jun ‘19
Histogram problems Apr. ‘20
Home nature projects Jun. ‘23
Hotels with a view Mar. ‘20
Humidity Oct. ‘13
Hummingbird photography Apr. ‘13
Hyperfocal distance Jul. ‘13
Image resizing Aug. ‘18
Implying motion Sept.‘14
Impossible DOF Feb. ‘16
Impossible DOF Jan. ‘17
Indestructible camera bag Dec. ‘14
Infrared photography Jul. ‘14
Insane ISO settings Dec. ‘22
Interiors Oct. ‘15
iPad: Loading photos Aug.‘17
iPhone photography, pros and cons Apr. ‘22
Jungle photography Dec. ‘14
Kaleidoscopic images Jan. ‘15
Kaleidoscopis images Aug. ‘20
Keystoning Nov. ‘23t
Keystoning, correcting Aug. ‘15
L Bracket Feb. ‘18
L Bracket Feb. ‘21
Landscape photography Dec. ‘12
Landscape photography Apr. ‘14
Landscape photography Nov. ‘16
Layer Masks, The Power of Feb. ‘22
Leading Lines Aug. '24
Lessons Learned from Extreme Cold Feb. ‘24
Light fall-off Feb. ‘14
Light painting Dec. ‘21
Lighting a face Oct. ‘13
Lightning photography May ‘20
Liquify Feb. ‘18
Liquify Distortions Sept/Oct. ‘19
Lenses, Essential Aug. ‘23
Long lens portraits Oct. ‘18
Long Lenses for Flowers Jul. ‘20
Low light photography May ‘15
Luminar 4 Jan. ‘20
Macro flash Nov. ‘12
Macro flash Sep. ‘14
Macro flash Aug. ‘15
Macro flash Aug. ‘22
Macro photography and DOF Feb. ‘22
Macro trick May ‘19
Managing soft focus Jul. ‘21
Mannequin heads Apr. ‘16
Metering modes Nov. ‘16
Meters, How They Work Jul. ‘18
Meters, when they fail Dec. ‘16
Metering situations, Impossible Jul. ‘19
Middle gray Nov. ‘15
Milky Way, Shooting thet
Minimizing dust on the sensor Nov. ‘21
Mirrors Jan. ‘19
Mirror images May ‘23
Model shoot Jan. ‘17
Optical infinity
Subject index for past Photo Insight issues
Moon glow
Mosaics
Mundane to Ideal
Museum photography
Natural Light Portraits
Negative space
Jun. ‘16
Oct. ‘16
Jun. ‘17
Nov. ‘19
Mar. ‘13
Aug. ‘21
Jan. ‘16
Neon edges on black Aug. ‘14
Neutral Density filters Jun. ‘18
New depth of field preview Mar. ‘24
New shooting style Mar. ‘24
Neutral Density filters and water Mar. ‘22
Night photography Feb. ‘14
Night Safaris Jun. ‘18
Night to Twilight Dec. ‘17
Noise reduction Feb. ‘17
Off-camera flash Jan. ‘24
Oil and water May ‘20
Organization of photos Mar. ‘18
Out of focus foregrounds Jan. ‘20
Paint abstracts May ‘13
Paint abstracts Aug. ‘21
Painting with light Sep. ‘15
Pan-blurs Sep. '24
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
Photographing Christmas Dec. ‘23
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 Sep. ‘18
Problem/solution 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
S-curves Aug. '24
Safari May ‘13
Safari strategies Jul. ‘15
Seeing as the lens does Nov. ‘14
Seeking Cool Snow Photos Jan. ‘21
Selective filtering Mar. ‘18
Selective focus Jun. ‘15
Self-critiques Jul. ‘13
Self-critiques Oct. ‘13
Self-critiques Nov. ‘20
Sensor cleaning Jun. ‘18
Sepia and dark contrast Jun. ‘15
Sepia, Traditional look of Shade May ‘14
Shady side Jun. ‘18
Subject index for past Photo Insight issues
Shadows define the shot Dec. ‘23
Shadows, Paying Attention to Mar. ‘18
Sharp, 6 reasons why photos are not Apr. ‘24
Sharpness problems Mar. ‘14
Shooting in Inclement Weather Nov. ‘22
Shooting thru glass May ‘24
Shooting through textured glass May ‘23
Shooting through wire mesh Sept. ‘14
Shooting into the light Jun ‘20
Side lighting Jan. ‘24
Silhouettes Jun. ‘13
Silhouettes, How to make Apr. ‘22
Silhouettes, Exposing for Sept/Oct. ‘19
Silvered landscapes Mar. ‘20
Sketch, How to Make Jun ‘19
Skies make or break a picture Aug. ‘21
Sky replacement Nov. ‘20
Sky replacement strategies Aug. ‘22
Snow exposure Nov ‘17
Snow exposure Nov. ‘19
Soap abstracts Aug. ‘23
Soft light Jan. ‘13
Smart phone photography May ‘19
Stained glass Mar. ‘17
Star photography and noise Jan. ‘18
Stock photography Sep. ‘14
Sunrise & sunset Jan. ‘19
Symmetry Aug. '24
Tamron 150-600mm Apr. ‘14
Ten reasons photos are not sharp Jan. ‘19
Texture, Adding Mar ‘19
Texture Mapping in 3D Jul. ‘21
Too much lens Jul. ‘24
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
Total solar eclipse, How to shoot Mar. ‘24
Translucency & backlighting Nov. ‘18
Travel photography Feb. ‘ 13
Travel portraits Mar. ‘14
Travel tips Apr. ‘14
Travel photographer’s guide Jun. ‘17
Tripods, not allowed Jun. ‘24
Tweaking exposure on the fly Apr. ‘23
Twilight photography in the rain Apr. ‘19
Twilight, Creating Oct. ‘23
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. ‘22
Upside Down Reflections Aug. ‘21
Quiz answers
1. b 2. d 3. d 4. a 5. c 6. a 7. b 8. d 9. a 10. c
Your score 90% - 100%: You could have been a pro
- 89%: Your glasses probably need a new prescription
-
Just don’t quit your day job < 70%: You should really be using an iPhone
