Jim Zuckerman’s
PH OTO I N S I G HTS January 2020
Depth of field confusion Two subject focus rule Luminar 4 Photo tours Student showcase Ask Jim Subject index
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4. 12. 14. 24. 26. 27. 28. 30. 36. 41.
Depth of field confusion Two subject focus rule Luminar 4 What’s wrong with this picture? Short and Sweet Ask Jim Photo tours Student showcase Back issues Subject index for Photo Insights
On the cover: A mountain liontaken during my winter wildlife workshop in Montana. On this page: Critically endangered black rhinos, Ongava, Namibia.
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I
had shoulder replacement surgery last November 26. Besides the pain I was having in my shoulder prior to the surgery and the limited range of movement, my Canon 1Dx Mark II, which admittedly is quite heavy, had become too much to hold comfortably. That was the last straw, so I had the operation. As we get older, our abilities, strength, and stamina diminish. This is why I am eagerly anticipating Canon’s predicted unveiling of a new, professional mirrorless camera next month. Several months ago, Canon’s CEO admitted that the company had fallen behind in technological advances and he promised his company was going to catch up to competitors. At this moment, without knowing what features this new mirrorless camera will have, I would go with Sony’s top end camera. But the advent of learning an entirely new camera with strange menus isn’t appealing, so I’ve been waiting for Canon’s announcement. Rumors of a 60 to 70 megapixel camera and a frame rate of 30 fps have circulated, and if these advanced features turn out to be true, I’ll be thrilled. But we’ll see. I hope I’m not disappointed. If this new model isn’t at least as good as Sony’s a9, then I won’t give Canon a second chance and I’ll get the Sony. I would hate to switch systems, but at this time in my life, weight is a serious consideration. Gone are the days when I can carry six lenses, just in case, as well as two medium format bodies. Forty five pounds on my back doesn’t work anymore. So many times, successful companies who’ve captured a huge share of the market become arrogant, complacent, and unwilling to innovate. These companies usually end up getting exactly what they deserve. Kodak comes to mind. As a Canon shooter since 1968, I hope this doesn’t happen to Canon. Jim Zuckerman photos@jimzuckerman.com www.jimzuckerman.com
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DEPTH OF FIELD CONFUSION I
nitially depth of field seems to be an easy concept to understand:
A small lens aperture increases the area in a picture that’s in focus in front of and behind the subject on which you’ve focused. The truth is, however, depth of field is complex and it requires years of experience to fully understand how it behaves. DOF is not just a function of lens aperture; it is also influenced by three other factors. Let me define these for you, and then I’ll relate this information to the real world. For most of you, this is review. But
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bear with me because you might pick up a tip or two that will be very relevant to your picture taking. 1. A large lens aperture (like f/2.8) means shallow depth of field, and a small aperture (like f/22) translates to extensive depth of field. 2. A telephoto lens produces shallow depth of field, while a wide angle lens gives you images with tremendous DOF. The longer the lens (like 400mm), the less DOF; the shorter the lens (like 16mm), the greater the focus throughout the photograph.
Said another way, the greater the magnification (such as when using a telephoto lens or a macro lens), the less depth of field. 3. The closer the camera is to the subject, the less depth of field you’ll have. Moving back from the subject with any lens increases DOF. This factor is often overlooked by photographers. 4. The distance from the subject to the background determines in large measure how much of the background is sharp. The complexity of depth of field is that all of these factors interact with each other every time you take a picture. Predicting the results comes from experience -- and even then your assessment can be inaccurate. Real world DOF scenario #1
The male honeycreeper from Costa Rica pictured on the previous page shows very sharp feathers on the wings and body, but if you look closely the eye, the top of the head, and the beak are not in focus. Why? Let’s analyze the settings. Lens: 500mm. This equals shallow DOF Distance to bird: Approximately 35 feet. For a super telephoto like a 500mm, this is still considered close. Therefore, DOF is lost. Lens aperture: f/5.6. This produces shallow DOF. The distance from the bird to the background was far -- perhaps 100 feet. That’s why it is so blurred. The reason the depth of field in this picture
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wasn’t enough to render the entire subject sharply was because: 1. The plane of the wing and body feathers was about two inches closer to the camera than the plane of the head. That was enough to require additional measures for depth of field. 2. The depth of field of a 500mm lens is extremely shallow, especially at a relatively close range. Had the bird been 75 feet away (and obviously smaller in the frame), the DOF wouldn’t have been a problem. 3. The lens aperture was too large given the critical loss of DOF due to the long lens and the distance from the bird to the camera. What should I have done? I didn’t want to change the lens, and I couldn’t change the subject--camera distance. Therefore, the only variable I had at my disposal was to use a smaller f/stop. How small? In this scenario, f/11 would have been very good, but f/16 would have been better. However, my ISO was already 2000. An aperture of f/11 -- two stops smaller than f/5.6 --would have necessitated an ISO of 8000. For f/16, the ISO would have been 16,000!
software to eliminate the noise. 3. If you have time, take two shots. First, focus on the feathers and shoot. Then refocus on the head and shoot again. In post-processing, put the sharp head on the sharp body. 4. Accept the shallow depth of field with the out of focus head. Real world DOF scenario #2 I took the picture of the Torres del Paine Massif in Patagonia on page 5 at sunset. Like the male honeycreeper photo I just discussed, I used a 500mm telephoto to create a tightly composed image of the dynamic peaks. Unlike the picture of the bird, though, where depth of field was very relevant, the landscape image could have been taken at any lens aperture -- from f/4 to f/22 -and the results would have been the same. Why? Because the mountains were so far away (I estimate 8 miles) that depth of field was completely irrelevant. All lens apertures would produce the identical picture you see here.
So, what to do?
In a situation like this, where the lens aperture doesn’t matter in terms of DOF, I choose the sharpest aperture which is typically one or two f/stops down from wide open. The largest aperture on the Canon 500mm telephoto is f/4, so I used f/8 for this shot.
Here are the options:
Real world DOF scenario #3
1. If you have time, move back and refocus. Then, in post-processing, crop the image. This will give you more DOF, but the image quality suffers.
The leopard shown on the next page was so close to my safari vehicle that I switched to a 24-105mm lens, and I took this composition at 70mm. This obviously gave me a lot more depth of field than a long lens. However, because I was so close (about 15 feet) from the cat, and my focal length was slightly in the telephoto range,
2. Raise the ISO so you could use f/11 or f/16, and then in post-processing use Neat Image 6
depth of field was an issue. This was especially true because the tall grasses were just a few feet away from the camera position.
had I zoomed back to a wider focal length, such as 24mm or even 35mm, would the grass in front of the cat be sharp.
There are two approaches to a picture like this. I could render the grass as sharp as possible with an emphasis on detail, or I could shoot wide open so the leopard would be sharp while the grasses were blurred. I decided to go for the detail. This was possible (with a relatively low ISO) because the sun brightly illuminated the scene. Therefore, I used a lens aperture of f/16. My other settings were: shutter speed 1/1250 and the ISO was set to 1000.
Notice also the background. It’s out of focus because, when I focused on the relatively close subject, the distant elements in the background were too far to be included in the field of focus.
Notice that the lower middle portion of the image shows the grasses somewhat out of focus. This occurred because those elements were simply too close to the camera to be rendered sharp, even at f/16. Had I used f/32, they also wouldn’t have been seen as tack sharp. Only
Real world DOF scenario #4 The picture on the next page of a tulip I photographed in spectacular Keukenhof Gardens in Holland is an example of where I specifically wanted depth of field as shallow as possible. I wanted the flower to stand out while being surrounded -- not by out of focus flowers -- but by a blur of color. In other words, I wanted the adjacent flowers to be so out of focus they would be virtually unidentifiable. My intension was the color blur would act as a frame for the sub7
ject and force all our attention on the sharp tulip.
a few inches from the lens became the blur of color I wanted.
So, what was the technique I used to accomplish this?
Fourth, I looked for a tulip that didn’t have another flower very close nearby. Had other flowers been behind the subject, even touching it, those elements would have been out of focus but too defined for what I wanted.
First, I used a telephoto lens for shallow depth of field. In this case, my lens of choice was a 100-400mm zoom so I could easily change the composition. For the flower picture, the focal length ended up being 248mm. Second, I chose a large lens aperture. The maximum aperture on the lens is f/4.5, and the photo was shot with f/5. Third, and critically important, my lens was extremely close to the foreground flowers on either side of the frame. The end of the lens was three to four inches from them. Therefore, when I focused on the subject flower, the tulips
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Real world DOF scenario #5 The photograph of the remarkable interior of the Church of the Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg, Russia (next page) presents an interesting depth of field problem. The base of the decorated column on the right side of the picture was close to the camera position -- I’d say about five feet away. Complete depth of field in this shot was essential to show all of the incredible detail with tack sharp clarity, but it was quite dark in this cavernous interior. And no tripods
were allowed. I was shooting with a Sigma 14mm f/1.8 lens. An aperture this large is a life saver in dark interiors where you are forced to handhold the camera, but obviously the depth of field from an f/1.8 lens aperture is super shallow. Therefore, I closed the lens down to f/5.6. On a telephoto lens, f/5.6 doesn’t provide much DOF at all, but on the ultra wide 14mm, it worked. Everything is in focus. Due to the dim environment, however, that forced the shutter speed to be 1/30th of a second, and the ISO had to be raised to 3200. I knew from experience that handholding a camera with a shutter this slow only works 1) when using an ultra wide lens, 2) when you brace yourself with a wide stance, and 3) when you gently squeeze the shutter button while holding your breath. So, that’s what I did and it worked.
Real world DOF scenario #6 Macro photography, virtually without exception, requires complete depth of field. In my frog and reptile workshop, the tiny poison dart frogs only have visual impact when they are totally sharp. We use macro lenses (either a 50mm or 100mm), and this means with greater magnification, DOF is lost. Therefore, I recommend participants in the workshop use f/22 or f/32 exclusively. The diminished light, though, would mean the shutter speed would be too slow and the ISO would have to be too high in the artificial light of the hotel conference room. The solution is to use a flash, and my flash of choice is a ring flash. Placed close to the tiny subjects, this provides enough light for an aperture of f/32 with an ISO setting of 400. The photo on the next page illustrates the results. §
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White Horses of the Camargue A photo workshop in France April 15 - 20, 2021
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I
The Two Subject FOCUS Rule
f the only subject in a photograph isn’t in focus, the picture is a failure. Similarly, if there are two subjects in a picture, and only one of them is sharp, I consider that a failure as well. The picture below of green bee eaters in Sri Lanka is a perfect example. The small birds were perched so close together that I thought -- even with a 450mm focal length (a 100400mm telephoto plus a 1.4x teleconverter) -an f/8 lens aperture would be enough to capture both of the birds in focus. I was wrong. The bird on the left is obviously not sharp, and that ruins an otherwise good shot.
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I know there are photographers, both professional and amateur, that disagree with this position, and that’s fine. But when one of two subjects isn’t sharp, I find that to be visually annoying, terribly distracting, and less than ideal. I photographed the black-tailed deer fawns on the next page with a telephoto lens. I was shooting with a large lens aperture of f/5.6, and unless the two deer were precisely equidistant to the camera, one of them wouldn’t be sharp. So, I waited until that occurred and then took the picture. Being aware of this issue enables you to take the ideal image.
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LUMINAR 4 Replacing the sky
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hen a friend of mine told me how good Luminar 4 was at replacing skies, I was dubious to say the least. I could understand a plugin might work well with adding a new sky behind a mountain range or a building because of the smooth edges and lack of minute detail. When it comes to tough subjects like Moydrum Castle in Ireland, right and below, which is covered in vegetation, I thought there is no way a software program can deal with this kind of subtlety and complexity. Fortunately, modern technology has addressed this issue.
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Luminar 4 is astonishing in how easy it is to replace most (but not all) skies. If you have been unwilling to delve into the challenging technique of replacing a sky in Photoshop,
MOROCCO PHOTO TOUR October 18 - 31, 2020 Exotic culture
Camel train at sunset
Blue City
Great portraits
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POST-PROCESSING online course by Jim Zuckerman
Learn how to process your images to give them visual impact. You will be introduced to Photoshop techniques that go beyond what you see and even beyond what you can imagine. This four-week course is invaluable to making your pictures look as good as the photographs you envy! You will receive detailed critiques on the images you submit for every lesson. The great thing about online courses is that they can fit into any schedule. Life gets in the way at times, and Jim puts no limit on the time you can submit your work for his critiques. CLICK ON THIS PHOTO to read more about the course.
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Luminar will open a remarkable creative outlet that will transform your photography. And, as I said, it’s very easy. The picture of Mt. Moran in the Grand Teton National Park shown on this page was the first image I did. Moydrum Castle on page 13 was the second composite I tried. Once the images were loaded into Luminar, the composite took about 5 seconds to complete. Really.
to open the plugin with this Photoshop pulldown command: Filter > Skylum Software > Luminar 4. For replacing the sky, Luminar has a library of stock skies you can use. However, I never use photographs other photographers have taken. If I don’t push the shutter button, the image isn’t mine. If you are of the same mindset, you
You can see promotional videos, download a trial version, or purchase Luminar 4 at this website: skylum.com. Luminar 4 should be loaded into Photoshop (or Lightroom) as a plugin. To do this, when Luminar 4 is open, go to the Luminar 4 pulldown tab in the upper left corner and scroll down to Install plugins. Once that is complete, you will be able
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UPCOMING PHOTO WORKSHOPS Carnival in Venice Workshop Outrageous costumes in a medieval environment! Venice is great to visit and photograph any time, but during Carnival it’s magical. There is nothing like it anywhere in the world. Exotic masks, stunning colors, classic images.
Feb. 14-20, 2020
Snowy owls workshop Stunning pictures of snowy owls in flight. Up close and personal encounters with owls in the wild. Based near Toronto, Canada.
January 20-23, 2020
Photoshop Workshop The setting is in my home, and in this two day workshop you’ll learn enough to be truly dangerous in Photoshop! How to replace a sky, how to fix all kinds of photographic problems in your pictures, how to handle blown highlights, how to be incredibly creative . . . and more.
April 11-12, 2020
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can load your own skies into Luminar. However, they must be tif or jpeg files. If most of your pictures are in the psd format (as mine are), the images you want to work on in Luminar 4 must be converted to tif or jpeg using the command: File > save as. In the dialog box, you can choose the file format. Luminar 4 has a lot of creative tools. Some are very similar to other plugins such as structure, clarity, color enhancement, etc. As you can see in the screen capture of Luminar’s dialog box below, there are also many presets to choose from. It’s great to have so many ways of tweaking images in one software package, but it is the sky replacement feature that is particularly brilliant. To replace a sky, first open an image in Photoshop. In the example below, the original picture shows two roseate spoonbills in flight against a bland and uninteresting sky. Then open Luminar 4 using the Filter pulldown menu. Choose the Creative submenu by clicking the icon indicated by the red arrow. The first item (green arrow be-
low) indicates AI Sky Replacement. When you click that, another dialog box opens (shown above). The Sky Selection (blue arrow) option only appears if there is a clearly
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delineated sky in your original shot. Click on Sky Selection and you will see that a list of skies becomes available. These are the stock images that come loaded with the software. If you want to upload your own sky, it should be the same size as the original capture, and as I mentioned previously, it needs to be saved as a tif or jpeg file. At the bottom of the list of pre-loaded skies, click Load Custom Sky Image. Browse on your computer for the tif or jpeg image you want for the background, and as soon as you make the selection, it automatically is imported into Luminar and composited behind the subject. In most cases, the conjoining of the two images is absolutely perfect. The edges where the two photos meet are believable and realistic even when the subject has feathers, vegetation, fur, and hair. Of course there will be images that require additional touch-up in Photoshop, but
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despite this, Luminar is the easiest way to replace a sky. I’ve seen nothing like it. With the composite complete, you can further tweak the image using the many tools in the plugin if you want. When finished, click Apply in the upper left corner of the main dialog box. The photo opens in Photoshop, and at this point you can save the picture using any file format you want. There are a number of tutorials on youtube.com that demonstrate and explain all of the nuances of Luminar 4. I suggest you go through these to gain a full understanding of the capabilities of this plugin. I know many of my clients have been unhappy with the composites they’ve tried, especially when it comes to replacing a sky. This software will be transformative for you, and it will enable you to look at subjects and scenes very differently. Now, literally, the sky is the limit. §
Expand your photographic artistry with
eBooks
Click on any ebook to see inside
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eBooks continued Click on any ebook to see inside
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CARNIVAL in VENICE February 14 - 20, 2020
Unbelievable costumes in a medieval environment!
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What’s wrong with this picture?
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like this picture of a two-toed sloth I captured a few years ago in Costa Rica . . . except for the background. The fact that the animal was in the tree meant at least some of the background was not going to be completely out of focus. That doesn’t bother me because sloths live in trees and this is their environment. The problem, though, is the highlights behind the sloth. They are distracting because our eyes are drawn to the lightest part of a picture first, and then our attention returns to those highlights again and again. That’s not how a successful picture is supposed to work. Our attention should be focused on the subject without other elements in the shot vying for attention. There was no way to avoid the bright background at the time of shooting, so the only
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solution was to use Photoshop in post-processing. In the photo above, you can see I eliminated the distracting elements. I replaced them with vegetation taken from areas throughout the picture, and I used a lowered opacity setting with the clone tool in an effort to blend the colors and tones with the surrounding areas. All the work I did on this image was done only with the clone tool. The reason this picture was salvagable was because I photographed the sloth in diffused light. Had the sun been out, the mottled lighting would have caused so much contrast along with blown out highlights on the leaves as well as on the sloth that the picture would have been unrepairable. ยง
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SHORT AND SWEET 1. To create a star burst, use a wide angle lens and a
2. Keep your camera available when moving through
small lens aperture like f/16 to f/32. If the sun is somewhat obscured by thin clouds, the star will be diminished a little. In a clear blue sky, the rays of light are sharper and better defined. Check the LCD monitor -- not the histogram --to determine the exposure.
airports. Sometimes the architecture is surprisingly dramatic. I took this picture in the airport in Detroit, Michigan -- it’s a corridor between terminals. Another amazing airport is O’Hare in Chicago. A wide angle lens is what’s best.
3. When doing outdoor portraits, don’t forget to use
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a wide angle lens to create environmental portraits. You get extensive depth of field and great context to the subjects. This is a family of Himba tribal people in Namibia. I used a 24mm focal length, and even though this isn’t super wide, it still has a great look.
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Notice how I didn’t include the sky in this composition of Venetian models during carnival. Even if the sky was overcast, the bright area in the top of the frame would have been distracting because it would be so light. I used a 16-35mm wide angle lens, so I had to angle the camera downward to avoid the sky. §
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 . . .I took this picture in the Valley of Fire State Park near Las Vegas last year, and I thought I did
everything right. It has complete depth of field, the light is from a low-angled sun, and I placed my tripod close to the foreground. However, I really don’t think it’s a great image. What are your thoughts, and can you tell me why this isn’t a really strong photograph? Adriana Peters, Helena, Montana
A:
You are correct that you did everything right. What this picture lacks, though, are land forms that are graphic and beautiful. Besides great lighting -- which you have -- the other ingredient that contributes to making nature images successful is beautiful shapes ... i.e. graphic design. That’s why landscape photographers love shooting the Grand Tetons, the slot canyons in Arizona, Torres del Paine in Patagonia, the Huangshan Mountains in China, and the massive icebergs in Antarctica and Greenland. It’s because of the incredible shapes these natural formations offer. That’s what this picture lacks.
© Adriana Peters
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Partial list of Photography Tours 2020 - 2021
SNOWY OWLS Jan. 2020
SPAIN/PORTUGAL Mar. 2020
PERU NATURE Sept. 2020
ETHIOPIA Mar. 2021
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CARNIVAL IN VENICE Feb. 2020
HOLLAND/BELGIUM Apr. 2020
INDIA & HOLI FESTIVAL Mar. 2020
NORWAY/DENMARK Sept. 2020
MOROCCO Oct. 2020
POLAR BEARS Nov. 2020
BIRDS & BATS Apr. 2021
WHITE HORSES Apr/May 2021
For a complete list of all the photo tours/workshops Jim conducts, go to his website: www.jimzuckerman.com.
Frog & Reptile Workshop June 12 - 13, 2020
At least 40 species of tiny, exotic poison dart frogs, reptiles, and more. This is a macro workshop.
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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 gets great photographs on Jim’s trips.
Bill Lindsley, Nashville, Tennessee Kenya photo tour, Photoshop workshop
© 2019 Bill Lindsley
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Student Showcase, continued
© 2019 Bill Lindsley
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Student Showcase, continued
© 2019 Bill Lindsley
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Student Showcase, continued
© 2019 Bill Lindsley
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POLAR BEARS from Ground Level! November 5 - 12, 2020
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PHOTOSHOP WORKSHOP in my home
Sat. & Sun., April 11-12, 2020
Photoshop is a photographer’s best friend, and the creative possibilities are absolutely endless. In a personal and ‘homey’ environment (I have a very cool classroom setup in my home), I start at the beginning -- assuming you know nothing -- but I quickly get into layers, cutting and pasting, plug-ins, using ‘grunge’ textures, replacing backgrounds, using layer masks, blend modes, adding a moon, and a lot more. I promise to fill your head with so many great techniques that you won’t believe what you’ll be able to do. I go over each technique several times to make sure you understand and can remember it. Photoshop instructors approach teaching this program from different points of view. My approach is to be as expansive in my thinking as possible in creating unique, artistic, and compelling images. In addition to showing you how to use the various tools, pulldown menus, layers, and so on, I spend a lot of time giving you
creative ideas that will inspire you to produce amazing images with the pictures you’ve already taken. I live in the Nashville, Tennessee area, and if you fly into the airport (airport code BNA) I will pick you up. If you drive, I’ll give you my address and you can find my home on Mapquest or with a GPS. For the $450 fee, I include one dinner in my home (prepared by my wife who is an amazing cook and hostess) and two lunches, plus shuttling you back and forth from my home to your nearby hotel. Contact me if you would like to participate in the workshop and I will tell you how to sign up (photos@jimzuckerman.com). All you need is a laptop and a lot of your pictures. If you don’t have a laptop, I have two Mac Book Pro laptops I can loan out for the duration of the workshop. §
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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 African safari May ‘16 Airplane windows Mar. ‘16 Alien landscapes Jan. ‘13 Anatomy of 8 photographs Jan. ‘16 Angled perspectives Jan. ‘19 Aperture vs. shutter speed May ‘14 Aperture priority Sept. ‘14 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 Autumn Foliage Sep. ‘18 Back button focus Oct. ‘18 Backgrounds, wild Nov. ‘12 Backgrounds, busy Apr. ‘13 Backlighting Apr. ‘16 Birds in flight Aug. ‘13 Birds in flight Jan. ‘14 Birefringence May ‘18 Birds in flight Mar. ‘16 Bird Photography Jun ‘19 Black velvet Mar. ‘14 Black and white conversions Mar. ‘17 Black and white solarization Sep. ‘17 Blown highlights Feb. ‘18 Blur, field Nov. ‘18 Blur technique Oct. ‘17 Bokeh Jun. ‘15 Butterfly photography Jul. ‘14 Camera setting priorities Jun. ‘17 Capturing lightning Jun. ‘13 Catchlights Jul. ‘16 Cheap flash stand Apr. ‘13 Children photography Jun. ‘14 Chromatic aberration May ‘13 Chrome Dec. ‘18 Cityscapes Aug. ‘14 Cityscapes May ‘16 Clone tool, fixing an issue Sep. ‘17 Composites and Light Dec. ‘17 Compositing images Apr. ‘19 Composition, different approach Jan. ‘15 Contrast vs. exposure Jul. ‘15 Creating a star field Jan. ‘14 Creating a Sketch Dec. ‘17 Creative blurs Jan. ‘14 Dark backgrounds Dawn photography Dawn photography Day for Night Dead center
Nov. ‘19 Jan. ‘17 Feb. ‘17 Oct. ‘18 Jan. ‘13
Dealing with smog Decay photography Define Pattern Depth of field Depth of field confusion Depth of field and distance Drop shadows Dust, Minimizing
Oct. ‘16 Sep. ‘15 Sep. ‘18 Aug. ‘16 Jan. ‘20 Dec. ‘18 Apr. ‘19 Aug. ‘19
eBook, how to make Jan. ‘13 Embedded in Ice Oct. 17 Energy saving bulbs Sep. ‘14 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 Extension tubes Dec. ‘13 Fill flash Sep. ‘13 Filter forge Feb. ‘13 Fireworks Jul. ‘13 Fisheye lenses May ‘13 Fisheye lenses Feb. ‘15 Flash backlighting May ‘15 Flash, balancing exposure Oct. ‘15 Flash, balancing off-camera Dec. ‘18 Flat art Sep. ‘16 Flood fixes problems Nov. ‘19 Flowers May ‘15 Flowers in harsh light Jul. ‘16 Focus points Mar. ‘15 Focus stacking Mar. ‘17 Focus stacking Aug. ‘19 Focusing in the dark Oct. ‘16 Foreign models Jun. ‘13 for Scale Fractals, generating Sep. ‘13 Fractals Jul. ‘19 Framing May ‘17 Freezing ultra action May ‘17 From Terrible to Beautiful Aug. ‘19 Fun with paint Oct. ‘16 Fundamental ingredients Apr. ‘13 Fundamentals That Make Great Photos Jan. ‘19 Garish imagery Great subjects Great ceilings & HDR Panos Green screen Grunge technique
Dec. ‘15 Apr. ‘15 Jul. ‘19 Mar. ‘13 Feb. ‘13
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 High wind Apr. ‘17 Highlights Apr. ‘14 Highlights, overexposed Feb. ‘15
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Subject index for past Photo Insight issues Histograms, Why I Don’t Use Jun ‘19 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 Interiors Oct. ‘15 iPad: Loading photos Aug.‘17 Jungle photography
Dec. ‘14
Kaleidoscopic images Jan. ‘15 Keystoning, correcting Aug. ‘15 L Bracket Feb. ‘18 Landscape photography Dec. ‘12 Landscape photography Apr. ‘14 Landscape photography Nov. ‘16 Light fall-off Feb. ‘14 Lighting a face Oct. ‘13 Liquify Feb. ‘18 Liquify Distortions Sept/Oct. ‘19 Long lens portraits Oct. ‘18 Low light photography May ‘15 Luminar 4 Jan. ‘20 Macro flash Nov. ‘12 Macro flash Sep. ‘14 Macro flash Aug. ‘15 Macro trick May ‘19 Mannequin heads Apr. ‘16 Metering modes Nov. ‘16 Meter, How They Work Jul. ‘18 Meters, when they fail Dec. ‘16 Metering situations, Impossible Jul. ‘19 Middle gray Nov. ‘15 Mirrors Jan. ‘19 Model shoot Jan. ‘17 Moon glow Oct. ‘16 Mosaics Jun. ‘17 Mundane to Ideal Nov. ‘19 Museum photography Mar. ‘13 Negative space Neon edges on black Neutral Density filters Night photography Night Safaris Night to Twilight Noise reduction
Jan. ‘16 Aug. ‘14 Jun. ‘18 Feb. ‘14 Jun. ‘18 Dec. ‘17 Feb. ‘17
Optical infinity Organization of photos
Jun. ‘16 Mar. ‘18
Paint abstracts May ‘13 Painting with light Sep. ‘15 Panning motion Dec. ‘16 Pano-Mirrors with a twist Jan. ‘18 Parades Sep. ‘13 Parallelism Nov. ‘19
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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, 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 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 Predictive Focus Sep. ‘18 Problem/solution Apr. ‘17 Problem with cruises Jan. ‘18 Protecting highlights Dec. ‘12 Puppies Jan. ‘15 Puppy photography Feb. ’18 Reflections Feb. ‘13
Subject index for past Photo Insight issues Safari May ‘13 Safari strategies Jul. ‘15 Seeing as the lens does Nov. ‘14 Selective filtering Mar. ‘18 Selective focus Jun. ‘15 Self-critiques Jul. ‘13 Self-critiques Oct. ‘13 Sensor cleaning Jun. ‘18 Sepia and dark contrast Jun. ‘15 Shade May ‘14 Shady side Jun. ‘18 Shadows, Paying Attention to Mar. ‘18 Sharpness problems Mar. ‘14 Shooting through wire mesh Sept. ‘14 Silhouettes Jun. ‘13 Silhouettes, Exposing for Sept/Oct. ‘19 Sketch, How to Make Jun ‘19 Snow exposure Nov ‘17 Snow exposure Nov. ‘19 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
Wide angle keystoning Nov ‘17 Wildlife photos with wide angles Mar. ‘15 Window light Dec. ‘15 Window light portraits Aug. ‘18 Window frames Feb. ‘16 Winter photography Dec. ‘12 Winter bones May ‘13 Winter photography Dec. ‘15 Winter photography Nov. ‘18 Wire Mesh, Shooting Through Jul. ‘18 Workflow May ‘13
Tamron 150-600mm Apr. ‘14 Ten reasons photos are not sharp Jan. ‘19 Texture, Adding Mar ‘19 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 Twilight photography in the rain Apr. ‘19 Tripods Mar. ‘18 Two subject sharp rule May ‘14 Two subject focus rule Jan. ‘20 Ultra distortion
May ‘18
Warm fingers in winter Water drop collisions What NOT to do in photography White vignette White balance White balance, custom Wide angle conundrum Wide angle lenses Wide angle portraits Wide angle lenses
Nov. ‘15 May ‘18 Apr. ‘18 Aug. ‘15 Feb. ‘15 Mar. ‘16 May ‘19 Mar. ‘13 Nov. ‘14 Jun. ‘17
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PHOTO INSIGHTS® published by Jim Zuckerman, all rights reserved © Jim Zuckerman 2019 email: photos@jimzuckerman.com snail mail address: P.O. Box 7, Arrington, TN 37014
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Raggiana bird of paradise, Papua New Guinea
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