How To Build Your Own Home StudioTECH TALK

 She's back! What's up,
beautiful people? It is your
homegirl Ms. Shameless back with another Tech Talk. Yes she is back,
it's been a minute, but this video is for you because a lot of you guys are
now creating videos for yourself and you're doing it on a budget,
and you're doing it at-home, and I'm here to show you
the ways on how to do that. There are two
options I'll share with you and this is more of a studio
backdrop setup, situation.

And then we also have an
environmental lifestyle setup. The first setup is the
set with the backdrop. Now a lot of you ask me how do I keep changing
the colors of my backdrop, especially with my
"May Favorites" video? Which you can click
over here to watch. So backdrop paper.

It
comes in four foot rolls, six foot and nine
foot rolls, I believe, and you can
unroll it vertically. And this is perfect if you
want to create look books, anything that is establishing
a look from head to toe, and what's nice is it can
roll all the way to the ground and then some. So it's like a psych wall where you don't see the seam
between the wall and the floor, and that like
dirty, dirty baseboard that you have going on. Backdrop paper is the easiest, but there's paint,
blankets, fabric, all of that.

Bretman Rock; he
uses like fabric, and he just pins it up,
and that's his backdrop. An example of fabric;
now this is my dress, but you can buy
rolls of fabric like this that a lot of beauty gurus use and you just buy like a couple
of yards, like three yards, and you pin it up and when you step away from
it, it throws it out of focus. So you've just got to get away. You could stand
right towards it, but you want to
create that depth of field which puts the focus on you and not on you
and the background.

Check out your local fabric
district and it's a lot of fun, you get to like source and look
for things that speak to you and it's not that expensive. Now this is a
four foot backdrop, so it's easy to
carry by yourself, you can fit it into a car or the
bus, if you're taking the bus. Now you could put it on a
stand, you don't need to. This is all tape.

For us we tape it up
and then we tack it. The safest thing
to do is use pins, if you don't mind little
tiny holes in your wall, otherwise you can
use tape, but be careful because the tape can peel
the paint off of your wall. But this is
perfect for home studios. And it comes in so
many different colors and it's fun and playful to buy
a few of them and switch it up.

And a little tip
that I used to do when I was doing
look books indoors, was turning my
camera vertically, so then you can get the entire
shot instead of zooming out and then you have whites
or the wall on either side, just change the
camera vertically. A little uh-oh, TD, look at me. And that's pretty
much it for your set that's taking place
in a studio setup. This is what it
looks like from my POV, I have my camera here, some
lights on either side of me, and a light in front of me, so it's like a nice
fill on every angle.

And if you don't have any lights you can make your
way to the window, go to the window, that
will be in this next setup.   And this is an example of an
environmental lifestyle shot. You can do this in your
own home, your bedroom, and all it is, is
getting yourself a chair, finding a window or
you can use lighting, I have an Amazon store
in the description box, you can buy really
cheap affordable lights. Behind me is out of focus and that's achieved
with depth of field, and I have a video that you
can watch if you click here.

All that means is
whatever is behind you, the further away you are from it
the more out of focus you are. Get objects that
have different colors, things that
compliment you and your brand. So I like lighter
colors with like pops
of like little accents. So we have some teal, I don't even know if
you can see the pink.

And then of
course every beauty guru has her IKEA
makeup filing system, and furniture, frames, shelving
can all add to your set. You don't have to
go that direction, but that's one option. And again, you're
only filming a corner. So this is just the
corner of my office, and this is what the
entire office looks like, but I only need this
little piece of office.

I just want to make
sure that everything in here is clutter free and organized. That's what it means to have
a set, you want it to be clean, everything is
intentional and deliberate. You choose to put it this there
because you want it there. And I encourage you
to have fun with this, you can always be
resourceful and creative, you don't have to spend money, just look throughout
your home for little pieces that will look good on
camera that aren't distracting from what your set is, that could be piggy
banks, cups, posters, painting, artwork, plants.

Just take that extra
little time to place it, look at the
viewfinder, see what works, and you're constantly adjusting, adding, subtracting, and it's all about finding
something that represents the story you're
trying to communicate. So this is an
opportunity to have fun; set decorating and
that's a real profession. Also, with the set you want to find yourself
some natural light, if you can. Windows are perfect.

So if you find a window just
film in front of the window, have the window light your face, and then have your background
further away from you. If you don't have
enough daylight you can always
use fill lights, I actually have
some fill lights here, and again these are
from my Amazon store; in the description box. So those are two
examples of sets, both a studio looking set
and an environmental set. Again have fun, be resourceful, and the less you have the
more creative you have to be.

Also, if you have
questions about any of this I have a playlist of
tech videos, the Tech Talk, I have a playlist, make
sure you guys watch them. Like this video if you like it. Comment below and let me
know what you found helpful or what videos that you
want that I could help address. The next video from this is
going to be audio and sound, I have some videos on that, but I'm going to have
an updated one on how to soundproof your
place for filming.

Remember to do you, be
you, and stay true, boo. Be shameless.
Subscribe. Subscribe. On how I take my photos on
Instagram and how I edit them, and how I achieve the beautiful
collage that is @mayasworld.

With the ring light you
can adjust the brightness, the temperature. So
let me turn it on for you. See that's warm....

12 Photography Hacks EVERYONE Must Know!

I feel that it's more important now than
ever to have great photography skills Hey it's your girl Ally, welcome back
to my channel. In today's video I'm going to share 12 Photography hacks,
whether you're a beginner or a professional photographer, I'm going to
show you some simple ways you can upgrade your phone pictures and cool props you can use with your DSLR camera. I personally love shooting
photos for my blog FashionbyAlly.Com. I recently updated my website by
transferring my domain to Squarespace.

Special thank you to my friends
Squarespace for sponsoring this video. If you're looking to build a website , domain, or  online store make it on Squarespace. If you guys like my photography hacks
and want me to make more videos like this Be sure and give me a big thumbs up.  Also if you're new to my channel, be sure to Subscribe.

Click the button here or
down below to join my YouTube squad So without further adieu, let's get started. For the first photography hack I'm going
to talk all about framing the shot so instead of putting your subject in the
middle of the picture try putting them off to the side or use the one-third
guideline. It helps guide you through an image and it tells a bigger story. So if you're a fan of taking overhead
shots of #food or flatlays you're really gonna love this new feature! So there's
this new cross that comes up on the Camera app, that will tell you if you're
directly aligned overhead of your photos.

Now you can perfect all of those
Foodie shots or flatlays For the 3rd photography hack I'm going to have my photographer friend Aditi show you guys a neat photo trick that you can use with
your iPhone with the panorama feature on your iPhone to create the illusion
that there are multiples of you in one photo. Start by panning right around as your model runs counter clockwise left. So you just have any creative way to ask
your friend to prom you can be like P R. O M with your hands, I make the signs for
them and then give me the whole photo Will you go to Prom with me? Instead of using the regular camera app
on your phone you can shoot RAW images directly from the Lightroom app on
mobile.

You can adjust the curves and lights directly from the app. I like to
use the Facetune App's teeth whitening tool to whiten the background of my pictures
for a clean crisp look Open Facetune and
open a photo. Click on the teeth whitening option down here just click it then go
to work on the background making it whiter Additional things that you might want to
invest in are iPhone accessories or tools.These tools can definitely up
your photography game. I have two things here, a ring light and an
attachable lens.

There are three different types of lenses a wide-angle lens,
fisheye lens, and a macro lens So you can get a variety of shots all from your phone and you don't need to carry around a big bulky camera. All my food bloggers
friends and beauty bloggers friends swear by this ring light. This ring light
is great at evening out of the different shadows in this shot so that the
cupcakes are evenly lit. Shh don't tell anyone I didn't actually make these
cupcakes I bought them from Trader Joe's but hey no one will know! The first prop is the sun catcher, so
this is a rainbow catcher you can attach to your window and it creates a
really cool circular rainbow light.

I don't know about you guys but I love
Christmas all year round so I like to pull out my string lights for my photos
because it adds a cool depth effect to any portrait. The end will be by the
models face and then you take the tail end and bring it by the camera so that
it flares out closer to the camera and you get this cool little string light
bokeh effect. You don't need a lot of money to create the rainbow effect. You can also use iridescent paper you can find at any craft store some of my
favorite props come from the kitchen so this is solid faint paper that's
iridescent you can also use saran wrap or the foil to create a cool bokeh
effect for the next photography hack we're
going to show you a really cool cinematic way to create a panning shot
without any equipment so I know when I.

First started with photography I didn't
have a big budget to spend on fancy tripods which was at the time and we
decided that Mull difficult on the carpet with the books but it might work
better with a blanket on top of the hardwood floor I give this hack of
thumbs down because it didn't really work press I know you guys love my
clothing hack videos so I decided why not throw in a clothing hack in this
video Bofur pillows can be super super
expensive but I really don't want to spend 80 to 90 dollars on a pillow for
instance this faux fur vest can also double as a faux fur pillow fold it a
few times and it instantly looks like a faux fur pillow one of my biggest struggles when it
comes to photography is traveling and trying to take photos at the same time
when you travel abroad it's really hard to trust the stranger with your
expensive equipment like DSLR camera or your phone my favorite website at the
moment is photographer they have a list of trusted photographers that you can
hire on the go it's really quick and super simple one of my pet peeves is
forgetting to charge my vlog camera with your battery pack you can actually
charge more than just your phone you can actually charge any mirrorless camera so
through the USB cord you can charge this whenever you're on the go the side
directly into the camera make sure to turn it on so that the light is on you
can actually shoot with this while it's plugged in too which is really awesome I
know this is a really weird hack but it totally works last but not least I
wanted to talk about my photography workflow so this is what I like to do
after I shoot all my photos and how I. Like to store and save my images a short
story time for you guys I actually had my car broken into last year and it was
so traumatizing because the person stole my harddrive with all of my memories I
felt incredibly sad but I'm really happy that I'm seeing but the worst part of it
all was I lost a lot of precious memories I'm going to share with you my
photography workflow so I can save you guys time and a lot of lost memories as
well straight from the camera I like to take out my memory card and I'll
directly upload it to my computer this is my mini portable hard drive I like to
save my images in a folder with the date the campaign name or the brand name next
I like to save it on an online storage solution so I use Dropbox or you can
also use google photo now that I have everything uploaded to Google photo and
Dropbox I can actually access all of that on my phone so whenever I want to
go I have all my images on my phone ready at a touch of a button and that
way I don't have to worry about ever losing any of my images or videos so
with all the Photography hacks I hope you learned
something new so be sure to tag me in any of your pictures on Instagram or any
of your social media websites at fashion met Ali so I can go liked your pictures
and stock your photos I'm really excited I updated my vlog fashion valley.Com I
recently transferred my domain to Squarespace Squarespace has a ton of
beautiful templates with all the customer support and make the transition
super simple and it's great if you need a website or if you're interested in
building an online store to save 10% you can go to Squarespace comma slash
fashion by Ali when you're ready to launch your website or domain be sure to
follow me on Instagram and my youtube reels Aakash in my alley
I love you guys so so much and I'll see you in my next video.

7 iPhone Photography Tips

Jay: Do you know what the best camera is when
you come on a great photograph? It's the one you have in your hand. And unfortunately, all of us have a camera
on our phone in our hand most of the time. So, it's crazy not to understand how to take
your phone and make it into a better tool, a better camera than just pointing and shooting. And we're gonna go through some principles
that will teach you how to do that, to give you some tools to make some better pictures
on your iPhone or your smartphone using an app VSCO or the portrait mode on your iPhone.

Here at "The Slanted Lens," we're really big
on business. So get over to theslantedlens.Com and buy
our business downloads. It's 16 segments that will help you shape
your business, plus it comes with a group call in once a month with me where you can
ask all your questions so get over to theslantedlens.Com today. Hi, this is Jay P.

Morgan. Today on "The Slanted Lens" we're downtown
here at the Disney Concert Hall. We shot down here a lot. I've got Jenny here with me.

She's fabulous. We're gonna take some pictures with her iPhone
on a new app called VSCO. I'm using VSCO because it's a free app, it's
a great place to start. It starts to give you a control of your phone.

It helps turn your phone into a camera not
just something you point-and-shoot. That's what you want, the ability to create
better color because you have white balance capabilities. You've got a shutter so you can change the
shutter so you can blur or you can freeze a shutter better. It gives you more control over your image.

Let's look at seven design principles that
will really help your images look so much better using leading lines. Using the rule of thirds. Look for natural light. Use strong negative space.

Use that frame within the frame, good for
great color contrast, and last of all, great texture. So, let's relate these seven design principles
to their app we have on our phone. I'll use a few shots also in the portrait
mode in the actual camera on the iPhone because I love that because it has a shallow depth
of field and I like that look as well. The reason we chose these seven principles
is not because they just relate to the iPhone, but because your iPhone you're shooting that
smaller format and most people shoot very busy pictures.

We want you to simplify your pictures, make
them more design-oriented. So, let's look at these seven design principles
using the app VSCO on our iPhone or your smartphone. Let's get started see what we can do. So, leading lines just give you that they
lead it into your subject matter or they can converge on your subject matter.

They just give you a strong design element
that makes your image a lot more interesting. These are simple leading lines we don't want
to be very busy we want just be a very simple line that leads us into our subject matter. So, I let those lines just kind of come right
across your head here so I'm gonna get in really tight let those lines gonna come right
and almost dissect your head. Even the sidewalk is working really well so
look past me here Jenna, like in there.

There you go. So, those lean lines are supposed to direct
the viewer to my subject matter. I like those leading lines to come in from
the camera left side and come up to my viewer because that's a natural kind of progression. You look from left to right so those lines
kind of sweep in from the left and come to my view, to my subject matter on the right.

I like that. You can push against that natural viewing
tendency, but I don't think it flows as nicely to go from right to left, but those leading
light should lead us into our subject matter. It's a strong design concept to get your subject
matter to the right or the left of the frame that's rule of thirds. Get them in one of those corners.

Don't center your subject matter all the time. Get them over in the corner. It's much more interesting. And those leading lines are gonna push people
right back to your subject matter.

That's the kind of thing we want. Okay. So, I've got Jenna right in the middle of
my frame here. I've got leading lines all over the place
but they're not leading us anywhere when I.

Center her like this. But if I push her over the left, I have her
look over her right shoulder just out a little bit. Not that much, Jenna. Come back just a little more to me there you
go right in there.

Now, I've got those leading lines I've got
to hurt my upper right hand corner. They lead into her face she looks back it
pushes us back to the beginning of the viewing experience once again. On the app, you can click on it to give you
the rule of thirds. It gives you the cross marks to could help
you understand where to put your subject matter, and to design the frame a little better.

I think that's a great thing to turn on and
to use. So, this is really pretty natural light. I mean, we got the sun. It's a little hard on her face but it's starting
to get just on that building there so starting to soften a little bit.

It's also bouncing out of that building the
background giving me a rim on her hair, which looks wonderful. So, I've got this big sky soft light here
natural light. I want my subject to be looking that direction. If I turn her around, she's gonna be completely
silhouetted in shadow.

I want her looking into that soft light because
right now it's soft enough that it gives me a really beautiful luminosity on her face,
but doesn't overpower her, doesn't create heavy shadows, just really, really pretty. So, a lot of this is time of day. The sun is low. It's just beautiful magic hour, but the reality
is, if you look around even at sun straight up in the sky ,you can find a beautiful pool
of light where it's bouncing off from a building, where in the shade and it's reflecting back
in.

You can find natural beautiful light everywhere
you go. So, you can work on that thought natural occurring
light is what we're after. So, we're gonna go on to our next spot. Negative space is such a strong design principle
because it gives you a way to isolate your subject, gives you a way to put them on a
field that makes them so important in the frame by giving them all this negative space
around them.

Or a huge negative space that points our viewer
to your single figure. People always look at people. So, you can use this large open empty space
and then you have a small figure on the horizon, people look right to that because it becomes
a strongest prevalent piece in the image. This is really a lot of negative space here.

I just learned this kind of...Foreground kind
of envelops the viewer in the front and then gives us a nice negative space payoff of her
in the background. They're looking out into that natural light. I love the focus on this app because I can
choose what's in focus and so I'm gonna put her in focus right at the top of the stairs
and it looks great. Fabulous negative space.

We got all of this great area, just see her
little silhouette in the bottom and that gives us just a wonderful look. So, it's kind of a frame in a frame in a frame. I mean I'm framing her in the doorway she's
looking at me in the doorway. So, we got that frame in a frame what that
does is it calls attention to the subject matter.

You create a frame around what you'd like
the person to look at. It's way to direct the viewer. This is what I want you to see. So, we're doing a frame in a frame.

It looks really pretty. So, our next principle is color contrast. Here, we got a great green carpet. We've got beautiful natural soft light so
it just gives everything I just a really even kind of look.

But she stands out against that green grass
because she's got that caramel sweater on. She got the orange and just gives her especially
her black hair against that green. Just gives great color contrast makes for
a startling image. Now, it's simple though because you got a
big field of green with her against that green, so it looks really nice.

Texture is really an interesting way to apply
a simple background in a complex way. So why do we use texture? Texture are patterns. Patterns that we find everyday in life that
are going to give us a contrast to our subject matter. Texture can be dangerous if it becomes too
overpowering, but if used correctly, it really gives it a lot of depth and interest of the
image and helps stand our subject out from the background.

So we just got great texture here. Texture of the whole broad in the background. It helps her she got the color contrast there
as well as the white texture in the background and she stands out two different ways here. You got the texture and you got the color
contrast.

It's just a beautiful setup here. And also I took the lines. I didn't square them up, I put them on an
angle so that they're looking off and it kind of leads out. You can combine many of these principles to
make a great image but our goal is to make simple images not complicated images.

So combining a lot of them that makes it complicated
it's probably the wrong thing to do. But combine simple principles to give us a
beautiful strong designed image as our goal. When you're using strong design principles,
it's pretty easy to tell if your image looks good, because in that small little thumbnail
that you're looking at in the VSCO app, it's gonna show up and look good in that because
strong design principles usually means simple clean images and you're going to see it almost
immediately. When you blow it up, you can look at them
a little further for...Or her eyes close or her eyes open.

But if they look strong and they look good
in that little thumbnail, it's probably a pretty strong image. So, next in this process is editing on the
iPhone. We're gonna do that as a separate lesson so
we can come back and really show you the process of getting in and editing each of these images,
using the presets that are already in the application or just getting in and in the
raw being it'll change the saturation. Do some of the things will help make your
images look stronger.

Editing becomes just about as strong a process
as shooting, and in the end, is gonna give you a much better result. So, there you have it with that free app from
VSCO and with the camera on your phone, there's no excuse why you can't take great pictures
if you apply some good design principles. So, when you take great pictures with your
iPhone, get on our Facebook group, post them so we can see them. See what you're doing.

See what apps your are using. See how they're turning out. We wanna know. Also, you can always hashtag us at The Slanted
Lens on Instagram.

We want to get those hashtags #Jaypsbananasocks,
#keeponclicking #theslantedlens, #hashtagshashtags, #hashbrownshashtags. Then we also have Jenna with us. Jenna: Hey. Yes, you can follow me on instagram @JennaWalasek.

Jay: So, keep those cameras rolling and keep
on clicking. It's March and we're giving away a camera
on 35-millimeter one point lens. This is an Instagram contest so you got to
get over to instagram. Follow us The Slanted Lens on Instagram and
Tamron and that enters you to win.

You could also in the comments tag a friend
that'll help you win as well. You can also do a story saying, "I'm about
to win this awesome lens." And tag Tamron and The Slanted Lens and that'll
entry to win as well. And last of all, you can go to theslantedlens.Com
and give us your email. That will help you win as well.

So, get out there tag, follow, email, tag,
follow, email, tag, follow, email, and win this lens. [00:09:51]
[Music] [00:10:07].

Guide to PhotographyLighting for Digital Photography

My name is Anthony Maddaloni and we're going
to talk about lighting for digital photography. Now, digital photography has made some pretty
amazing advances in the last couple of years in lighting and how a digital chip picks up
light. Now, one interesting aspect of lighting for digital photography is strobes or flash
and different type of flash is used for digital photography and film photography. So, you
really want to pay attention to the flash that you're using and make sure it is digital
compatible.

The other type of digital lighting that you can use again is natural lighting.
Now on your digital camera, there's a light balance setting. There's also might be modes
that you can control the way that lighting looks. To me, it's really interesting. They're
located on your menu on your digital camera.

There's also going to be on most digital cameras
type of lighting that you're going to dial in for that you're using that you're photographing
in. It could be florescent. It could be flash. It could be natural light.

Those are things
you really want to pay attention to when you're utilizing your lighting for your digital camera.
It's kind of interesting because you can see right away with that screen on the back of
your digital camera how the lighting looks. Now, with digital photography lighting, okay
I find that certain complexions of people tend to be a little bit more contrasting or
tend to be less true to life. That's one thing you really want to pay attention to and maybe
the mode that you're photographing in. If you're photographing in a raw mode or high
in JPEG, you're going to see certain ways to compensate for that when you edit those
images and that is really a direct result of some of the lighting.

So, those are some
ways that I will utilize digital lighting photography..

'All-in-one' Model PhotoVideo Studio StyleShoots Live Walkthrough

StyleShoots is a range of photo machines
designed for fashion product photography. StyleShoots Live is made for e-commerce
model photography and video production. Everything you need is built in including a 4K Canon DSLR camera three axis of motorized movement high color rendering LED lighting a powerful embedded computer
running custom software a stage for the model and a 12.9 Inch iPad Pro
to control everything. All this is packed inside an elegant steel structure that was designed for a busy studio environment.

To wake up StyleShoots Live
simply unlock the iPad. The lights turn on instantly and the
machine is ready to use To get started, create a new outfit. First, tap to capture an overview photo. Then mark each product you want to highlight.

You can name each product by typing
or by scanning its barcode. Then tell the system the model's
name. All this information is added as metadata to your files. The system generates a list of clips to record based on your selected presets.

Each clip is like an item on a to-do list. Select a clip for recording and the
camera moves into the right position. Tap record to begin. The model is guided with smooth
animations and audio cues.

After the clips are recorded the machine
automatically edits them into videos that can be reviewed within seconds. Simply tap the video thumbnail to
see a quick preview of the result. When you are done recording videos StyleShoots Live also lets you
capture all your still photos. Switch to photo mode, tap to focus and start capturing.

Use framing presets to quickly
move the camera between predefined positions. Each photo appears instantly in
the gallery ready for review. You can easily adjust the
lighting to create dramatically different looks for different types of
moods and products. Use the Light Controller on the iPad to easily
change light intensity and balance.

Use the reflector to either fill shadows or
create more contrast. You can save your light settings in presets
so you can easily switch between them. The Stage can be customized to
achieve dramatically different looks. Add any standard studio background
paper or get creative with props custom backgrounds, furniture
and your own set pieces for different seasons, campaigns or brands.

When you are done recording videos
and taking photos you can review everything on the iPad. Use multi-touch gestures to quickly
browse, compare and mark photos for export or deletion. StyleShoots Live can export
multiple versions of your videos and photos in different dimensions and file
formats to use for your online store, catalog, social media and digital signage. The files can be accessed directly
through your company network so your team can start working
with them right away.

When you are done for the day,
simply lock the iPad and StyleShoots Live shuts down ready for you again in the morning..

5 BEGINNER PHOTOGRAPHY MISTAKES + How to Solve Them!

What's up everyone welcome back to Tokyo Japan my name is Joe Allam and in this video, I'm gonna share five mistakes I commonly see beginner photographers make and my solutions on how to solve them I Should probably point out I am so stoked to be back in Tokyo by the way, I just I love this place so much Alright, so issue number one I see all of the time and that is wonky horizons, now it may not be obvious at first But when you review back your images afters and once you spot it You can't help but not spot anymore. So many people are taking pictures, and they're not aware of how wonky They may be taking those so first and foremost, make sure you have your horizon Dead straight across the center of your image if you have that Otherwise you can always fix it in your editing software so in Photoshop or in Lightroom. Wonkiness is really It's really easy to spot once you go looking for it. If you find yourself a notoriously bad with wonky horizons then maybe some extra tips you can take to improve that is to take your time with things use two hands on the camera and Steady yourself with a steady posture In fact, most cameras will actually have a gyroscope built in and you should be able to enable it On both the viewfinder and on the screen, so you can keep those steady Particularly if you're shooting with a tripod you've really got no excuse So my second mistake that I see quite commonly is a complete misunderstanding of white balance now white balance is the metering that you set in your camera to set the color temperature of your images Now the color temperature comes from your main light source now that could either be the sunlight or it could be a tungsten light or it could be a fluorescent bulb something like that so you need to set the white balance on your camera - the main source of light that way you'll get truly accurate whites and colors across the board with your images otherwise you may end up with very warm and Orangey images or very blue and sometimes greeny images If you shoot in RAW as well, you can also change this in your post-production But generally it's good to get a good in camera these days cameras are actually really good at setting auto white balance as well So that may even be your solution to solve things To change your white balance you can either go into the settings or look on The back of your camera on the top you may have a button that it's just labeled as WB.

And you'll go through there pretty much every camera will have an icon related to the light source so that you match them, too So if you really have no idea then just match it to the icon And if you really want to be accurate in your white balance then you can purchase a gray card And then you can match up to your images With the grey card in front and then that way everything is going to be accurate Okay, so if there's anything that could be the most important thing that you really don't wanna make a mistake on its this Having blurry or non-sharp images. I can't stress enough. How important it is to get your images pin sharp You know you can make a mistake on everything else, but honestly just get your images sharp to me Nothing stands out as amateur more than if your image isn't sharp in the first place now some ways to improve that you can either shoot with a faster shutter speed you can maintain a steadier posture you could use a tripod or You could use a higher ISO if you're in low-light situations so many people come to me with images and they say hey, can I get you feedback on this and beyond anything The one thing that really really stands out is when your images just aren't sharp another thing to take note of with that is the way that aperture plays into the depth of field and sharpness of images the larger your aperture the less you actually have in focus so you may actually find Some people take photos of people and the nose is perfectly in focus and the eyes are soft they're not in focus just use a slightly smaller aperture or set your focus correctly on the eye and That will really stand out differently, but when I say shakiness and bonus I'm usually talking about when people have taken an image, and they're clearly not Stood very steady whilst they're taking it. They just study your posture, and you'll get great results My next tip is related to composition now We all know that finding a great composition is really hard and quite troublesome sometimes however this particular aspect I'd say comes down to spatial awareness And I see it a lot and people maybe aren't aware of the scene that they're in and taking the photos And they don't realize it just a small adjustment can actually make a huge improvement on the image so a few things that are quite commonly seen taking pictures of people and things are uncomfortably cropped off so maybe someone's head is propped up a little bit uncomfortably or the bottom of their feet cropped off if it's a Full-body shot or maybe you're taking a picture of a building and you crop the top of it, and it just looks a bit odd Or perhaps, it's something.

That's maybe symmetrical, and you haven't taken it quite in the middle It's just ever so slightly off-center if you can just keep that spatial awareness Apparent in your images it makes a huge difference Okay, so my final tip on how to overcome the five mistakes that beginner photographers make and that is Setting your exposure correctly. Now this is incredibly common that people maybe Unaware of how to properly set the exposure on their camera and that is completely fine, however It is not big, and it is not clever to shoot in manual all of the time I mean, I feel like a few years ago I fell into that trap where I was always shooting manual and now quite often actually shooting aperture priority Or I'll shoot something else Just let something within the camera Do something automatic for you to maintain a correct exposure Because what you don't want to happen is go somewhere and miss a shot because it is poorly exposed or something happens and you've missed It because you're on old settings for when it was exposed to something else the other thing to bear in mind Is that on your camera itself in the viewfinder when you are shooting you will see a little light meter? If you can get that meter as close to the center as possible by adjusting your settings And that means you're gonna have a perfectly exposed image the meters within cameras are really really good these days another thing that a lot of people kind of make the mistake of Through reading old literature is they are afraid of high ISO s and I'm talking like anything above 600 which to me is not high at all If you have a camera that was bought within the last four or five years or something you could be pretty confident to shoot You know3200 ISO. Maybe even higher if you've got a high-end camera you could shoot anything up to maybe twenty thousand with your ISO and Still be able to get shots now there will be some noise involved. That's true across anything but What would you rather have? An image that's kind of noisy? Or, no image at all because it's poorly exposed? For me, I'd rather have an image That's correctly exposed if it comes with noise it comes with noise That's just down to the location and any other light you maybe can't control so yeah, be aware of your highlights.

Be aware of your shadows and your overall surroundings. If you can try not to clip either of those Generally you want to maintain your highlights You can always raise the shadows in your post-production So you don't want any blown out skies that are supposed to be blue, and they've come out completely white But pay attention to your light meter in the viewfinder and you'll be great So that concludes my top five tips on how to solve beginner problems with photography I hope you've enjoyed this video make sure you give it a thumbs up with the like button below leave a comment of your own tips or any of your own experiences of how you've improved your photography recently and Also, make sure you subscribe to this channel I'm creating loads of content about photography, and I am loving Japan from creating so much whilst I'm here I'm also posting loads on my Instagram, so you know and give me a little follow over there as well alright, so that's everything Thanks for watching, and I will catch you later. See ya You.

Get It All In Focus Exploring Photography with Mark Wallace

In this episode Ill show you how to
get everything in focus from the closest
object to the camera all the way to infinity. Adorama TV presents Exploring Photography with Mark Wallace. Hi everybody, welcome to this episode of
Exploring Photography I'm Mark Wallace. Well if your a scenic photographer or your
a photo journalist or your travel photographer sometimes
you want everything in focus and you can do that by understanding
what hyper focal distance is and what the hyper focal setting of your lens is.

Now that seems sorta technical and
confusing but actually it's pretty simple. First let me explain what hyper focal means. It's the setting on your lens that gives
you the most depth of field, the most in focus and we
do that with the combination of our lens, an aperture value and how
far away we are focusing. Now every lens focuses at a distance.

So you're focusing five feet
away or 10 feet away or forty feet away and you're using an
aperture value, the combination of those two can give
you different depth's of field. Now our hyper focal distance just means that half that
distance whatever it is, maybe your focusing at 10 feet, half that distance to infinity are gonna be in focus. So lets say you focus at ten feet. Well everything from five feet to
infinity will be in focus, it's the most focus you can get for the lens that
you're using.

Now to make this simple you need to understand 3 things and that is the right lens to
use, the right aperture value to use and
where to focus your lens. So let's start by talking about the lenses
that we want to use. If you want everything in focus you need
to start using a wide angle lens or use the wide angle part of your zoom lens. Now for this I highly recommend that you use a prime lens.

One of those lenses that is set, it
doesn't zoom in or zoom out. You want to use a wide prime lens if you
can. So something like a 35mm or 21mm or 28mm lens. Now I love my 35mm lens and I made a video all about that but for most in focus I really enjoy shooting with my
21mm lens and a 28mm is pretty good as well.

The point is use a wide angle lens and
the other thing that you need to have on your lens is a distance scale. So when you're
focusing your lens you need to be able to see how far
you're focusing. You need to be able to look on your lens and say, I'm focusing at 3ft or 6ft
or 10ft. Most prime lenses have that.

Some zoom
lenses have that but you need to have a distance scale and even better is if you have a depth
of field scale on your lens. Now this is a depth of field scale on my 21mm lens and it
will show me different aperture values, how much is in focus and
that makes the hyper focal stuff really easy but I'm getting ahead of
myself. So we want a wide angle lens preferrably a prime lens and we want one
at least a distance scale but at best a distance and depth of field scale. The next thing we
need to know is the aperture value to use.

Now I know many times I've said and many photographers will tell you that you want a really small
aperture to get everything in focus. That can be a mistake because if you go all the way to the smallest aperture of your lens like f/22 or something like that, well you
get this thing called diffraction. Where light is bouncing around in weird ways inside
your lens and that can actually make your pictures look less sharp then if you shoot at a wider aperture, something like f/8 or f/11. You want to use the aperture
value thats sort of in the middle.

So f/8 or f/11 are your best choices. I highly recommend using f/8 if
you're shooting at a 28mm or 21mm lens its gonna give you everything you
really want and it's gonna be really clear. Now the last thing you need to
know is where to focus your camera. How far you need to focus.

Well you need to know the first two things to figure out the third. You need to know which lens your using
and you need to know the aperture value and then you need to use something called a hyper
focal distance calculator. Ahh that sounds so
mathematical and horrible but actually it's really easy because you only have to do this calculation one time and everything is gonna stay the same
for ever so if you're using a 21mm lens and you're shooting in
f/8 then your hyper focal distance is going to be the same every single time. So once you know it
you set your lens that same way every time and its going to work.

Where do you find a hyper focal distance calculator? Well lucky for us there's this awesome
website it's called outsite.Com/hyperfocal.Html and there is a depth of field calculator there and all kinds of cool depth of field stuff so check that
out. You can put in your lens, your camera size
because your sensor size impacts depth of field the aperture value that you want
to use. I suggest f/8 or f/11. Click a little
button it will tell you exactly where to focus your lens.

So once
you know all of that stuff  and you've got your lens on then you can say, you know what I know it
f/8 at 21mm that my focus distance should be about six feet. So you would  just go and focus at 6ft, set your aperture to f/8 and then you're done. If you have a
depth of field guide on your lens like this one does
it's even easier. You dont have to go to that website and figure anything out.

All you have to do is look at your depth of
field guide, set your aperture. So Im gonna set mine at f/8 on this lens. If I had a different
lens maybe I would set my aperture value in the camera. It doesn't matter how you
set your aperture you just have to said it first and then you look on the depth of field
guide and you just move the Infiniti until it lines up with the aperture
value your using.

So for this instance its f/8 and you're set.
That you're hyper focal distance and then you can see that everything f/8 from infinity, all the way
over to about three feet is going to be in focus. Three-feet all
the way to infinity. If I change my aperture value to f/11, well then I would just shift this until my infinity is over the 11 and then everything it's gonna be in
focus from, oh gosh about two feet all the way over to infinity. That's all you have to do.

Shooting with hyper focal is awesome because you get everything in focus. In fact here's a
bunch of pictures Ive used using this technique and you can see
everything from in this picture the flowers all the way to the French Senate building is in focus. You
can see I've shot street photography, scenic photography, some journalistic
kinda stuff using a wide angle lens. The right aperture value and the right
focus distance and the good news is once you've done
all this you put in your lens you put in your aperture value f/8 and
then you've set your distance, don't focus again that's a very
important! Make sure you have your lens set to
manual focus.

If you're using a DSLR. Camera there's a gotcha because when you look
through the viewfinder of your DSLR camera the aperture is wide
open so you're not seeing that everything is in focus you're
seeing selective focus. If you wanna see everything that's in focus there is a little button at the bottom your
camera its a depth of field preview button. If you push that, it will close down the aperture and then you'll see that everything is in focus.

Don't be tempted to refocus because once
you have your focus set everything's gonna be in focus just
trust it and then you can focus on your composition and you can just shoot away. The last
thing, you want to set your camera to aperture priority mode so that your
aperture stays the same and your shutter changes based on the light or shoot in manual mode if you want to but
once you have things set just forget it and have a blast just
look at what you want to take pictures of. Take those pictures you'll see
everything's in focusing your gonna get those everything close to infinity pictures
that you love and that you want and its totally liberating because our just kind of pointing and shooting and focusing on composition and storytelling and all the things that
make it fun to take pictures. So do that.

That's all there is to
hyper focus shooting. Get the right lens, right aperture value, figure out the
distance that you need to shoot set your lens forget it and just get out
there and shoot. Well thank you so much for joining me
for this episode is a bunch more about hyper focal distance and depth of field on the
Adorama Learning Center and on AdoramaTV weve posted links to it in the description of this video, So check those out if depth of field and those types of things are new to you and we have a long video about
hyper focus distance and what it all means and funny graphics and things like that. So you can check that one out as.

Thank you so much for joining me in this episode of Exploring Photography.
Don't forget to subscribe, just click that subscribe button everything single video is absolutely free. Thanks again and i'll see you again next time. Do you want great-looking prints at low-cost? Be sure to visit our easy to use online printing service.
Adorama Pix's has professionals who treat your
images with the utmost care that you can count on. For a quick turnaround on photos, cards or
albums use adoramapix.Com.

A Simple 2 Light Portrait Set-Up photography tutorial with Karl Taylor

Hi! I'm Karl Taylor and this episode is
sponsored by Squarespace. Here's my commercial photography website,
it's the Squarespace one, and I. Absolutely love it.
They're easy to set up, they look amazing, there are hundreds of templates to
choose from and they have first-class customer support. If you want one too
then use this URL and the coupon code KARL to get a 10% discount.

Hi I'm Karl Taylor, this is our lovely model Sophie and today I'm going to show
you some really simple portrait lighting set-up, actually I'm going to show you one
portrait lighting set-up but I'm going to do it with some really basic equipment.
Okay admittedly you need some studio lights or at least some speedlites but
we often get a lot of emails from people saying to us "Oh you get fantastic images,
you've got all these lovely great photos but you know you're using all this
expensive equipment to capture these shots". Well actually we can still capture great shots on some really basic equipment. So
I'm using an Olympus OM-D camera, one of these little crossover cameras. It's got
its 14 - 42mm, I think it's the lens that comes with it, I'm just using it in
manual mode, I've got a flash trigger on here to trigger the lights.

Then for
my lighting I've got a Broncolor 75 octabox here just to put a little bit
of a gradient glow on my grey paper background. This softbox retails at about
135, which is about $210, $215. Remember these soft boxes
they don't have to go on Broncolor lights, you can put them on speedlites
you can put them on other brands of studio lights as well but they're
fantastically built softboxes. My main light source is coming from an octabox
150.

This is a lovely big light, great big soft diffuser, that retails at about 175, which is about $230, $240, somewhere around there. So if you had
just two lights you're going to be able to do this set-up. Two lights with these
softboxes any camera doesn't really matter. I'm going to shoot this on this
Olympus OM-D and then I'm going to take a shot on my Canon 5D and I'm going to
take the shot with just a standard 50mm lens, you know this is a 50mm 1.8
Lens, and we should be able to get a great result.

So obviously we're using a
very attractive model here but you can do this sort of portraiture with anyone.
The only other thing we're going to use is a simple piece of white foam board,
white card, to bounce a little bit of light into the shadow side of our model
and that's it. So you really will be able to see how easy it
is to get great shots even with a two light set-up. Okay if I can get you to
hold that please Fab. So Fabian is just holding that reflector in just for a
little bit of fill.

I'm just going to get into position here and I'm just getting
Sophie just to turn her head directly towards camera. Just look straight at a
lens for me Sophie, that's it lovely and I've already taken my meter reading
so I know what my exposure needs to be. Just going to zoom that in a little bit
there on Sophie, now wait for that focus that's beautiful Sophie, thank you that's
good. And again, let me reframe.

Okay so that's on that camera, let's switch over
to the Canon. I'm shooting this at ISO. 100 At f6.3 And shutter
speed doesn't matter as long as I'm within the flash sync speed so in this
case I'm one sixtieth of a second. Just going to go up a little bit higher with
this one.

Just turn your head round towards me a little bit, that's it, good
fantastic keep that there for me darling. That's great and again.
Lovely. I'm just going to go in a little bit closer on a couple of those because of our lens.
That's it, good, beautiful. That's it, and we should have some fantastic portraits
with a really simple light set-up.

Hope you enjoyed that, we'll see you next time,
thanks very much. So in this first result you can see I've
shot slightly wider and just so that we can see the softbox on the background
and you can see clearly the effect it's having that lovely gradient of light
that is adding. And then the main softbox giving that beautiful flattering light
on our model and this was shot with the 50mm 1.8 Lens. Then I moved in a
little bit closer for a better crop on the model, a better framing on the
subject.

Very simple, very easy to achieve, just done with the two softbox lighting
set-up. Then on the Olympus OM-D camera, much less expensive camera, another great result, so  just proving
that it's not always about the gear. This is a much less expensive camera, using it's standard lens, and again you can see it's the lighting that is key. Then we
move in a little bit closer for a better crop with the Olympus camera.

Beautiful result again, so not about the gear it's about knowledge of photography and
understanding lighting. For more great photography tips visit our website NOW at
KarlTaylorEducation.Com.

Film vs Digital Can You Tell the Difference

Morgan: Why in the world would a wedding photographer
which I consider combat photography shoot film? Kenneth: Let's find out. Morgan: Good? Kenneth: That was good. All right. Morgan: On February 13th, we're going to have
a free business coaching call.

You call into this free call, I'm going to
teach you my daily routine for success. It's a great principle, it's a way to change
your business life and change your perspective on how you work. So get over to theslantedlens.Com sign up
today, join us at 5 p.M., Learn that daily routine for success, it'll really help you
change your business. Morgan: Hi, this is Jay P.

Morgan. Kenneth: This is Kenneth Merrill. Morgan: And today on Slanted Lens we're going
to take a look at film versus digital. Why do people shoot film? Kenneth: A lot of people I know do, a lot
of wedding photographers.

My wife, she's a wedding photographer she
shoots digital and film at the same time. Morgan: So she's a hybrid shooter, she's shooting
both? Kenneth: Hybrid shooter, yeah. People love it. Morgan: That's a new term, hybrid shooting.

So, we're going to set up and we're going
to shoot on these three cameras. We've got an old Hasselblad which is a C/M
mechanical camera, nothing digital, nothing electrical about this thing. You can shoot black and white on that Tri-X. Kenneth: Yeah, Tri-X black and white, then
we have this Pentax 645 and Mac 2.

This camera came out in about 2003, it was
the last film body, medium format film body that Pentax made and it has all the bells
and whistles. Autofocus, it does two or three shots per
second with an autowinder so a far cry from the Hasselblad. And then we have the Nikon D850 which is probably
one of the best digital still cameras in the market today. Morgan: So can we get the same look by shooting
digital and going in on some of the presets and post processing, if we can give you the
same look in digital that you get shooting film? Kenneth: You will notice that there is a difference
obviously this is full frame and these are medium format and the reason we did that is
because of all the people I know who are shooting film professionally, none of them, not none
but most of them are not shooting full frame film.

And so we could have done that but I don't
feel like it would have been as useful compared to a lot of people who are shooting full frame
digital in a medium format film. A medium format film is going to give you
a much cleaner look than the full frame film will and honestly I think that's one of the
advantages that film still has is that you can shoot these really large formats. Even the medium format digital cameras are
not as large as these are so... Morgan: This is more the kind of what you're
going to get.

If somebody's out doing a wedding they're
more likely to have a 35 millimeter digital and a 2 1/4 for film. So we're going to look at dynamic range, and
then color Portra compared to digital and then Tri-X black and white compared to digital. Take a look at those three things so let's
get started see what we can do. Yeah, yeah, took a picture.

We got a frame, we got a frame, all right
here we go. Morgan: So we're back here at the extremely
scientific lab at The Slanted Lens where we'll analyze... Kenneth: The photo lab. Morgan: ...The photo lab, where we'll analyze
and evaluate and come up with conclusions with regards to what we just did out in the
field.

Kenneth: Strong, evidence-backed conclusions. Morgan: Absolutely. Kenneth: Completely objective. Morgan: CSI kinds of stuff.

Kenneth: There's nothing subjective about
this. Morgan: Nothing. Kenneth: All right, so let's get into this. So, what we did, we sent our film to Richard's
Photo Lab which is a really, really great developer and scanner in Santa Clarita.

Morgan: So all the color was scanned on a
Frontier scanner. Kenneth: And the black and white was on a
Noritsu. Morgan: Yeah. Kenneth: And then I took the digital images
from the Nikon and I ran them through what's called a VSCO film preset so there's a company
called VSCO Film and they do all these different presets that are basically stock emulations
and you can choose, you know? You have Kodak Tri-X, you have Portra...

Morgan: So a little choose your film stock. Kenneth: ...You have Fuji Velvia. Yeah. They have any film you can imagine you can
get from these guys, it's pretty awesome.

Morgan: Did you get up close when you did
them? Kenneth: I was actually surprised. I've been using VSCO film presets for years. My wife used them all the time for her photography,
but I was actually surprised at how close it got. I figured you know it'll be kind of close.

But it was like 80, 90% there most of the
time. But I did go in to each individual photo and
I did have to make extra adjustments to try and match it as close as possible and we'll
talk more about that later. Let's jump in. Morgan: So Kenneth asked me to, on my little
sheet here, to write down which I thought was which on each of these.

Some of these were hard, man. Kenneth: All right. So, for the first photo we have here, what
was your guess and why? Morgan: Film was on the right. The skin tone is a little bit red.

You see it especially in her arms and neck. Just this kind of blotchiness in her skin
and I think that feels more like film to me Kenneth: Okay. Which image do you like more? Which one would you pick if it was going to
go on your portfolio? Morgan: That's interesting. The one on the left feels so digitized to
me, just that perfect china doll face and all that kind of stuff.

Kenneth: In some ways, it feels like there's
more detail in the film image but pixel for pixel, I mean the film image had less resolution
you know because the scanner has less resolution than the 36 megapixel one on a Nikon so it's
funny because it's like there is more detail but in some ways there's less. It wasn't quite as sharp as the Nikon. Morgan: I don't think film renders skin as
pretty as digital does. I think the digital is a lot creamier looking
but that's also the preset you're putting on.

Kenneth: I will say just to keep this in mind
moving forward one of the biggest challenges I had with matching the digital was the skin
tone. So the Kodak has this really great way of
separating the skin from everything else in the image so the skin actually has a sort
of a magenta look to it but the greens in the background are still very green. But when I would try to adjust the Nikon if
I tried to pull more of the magenta out of the skin everything else in the image would
go magenta. I would have had to go in and like brush her
skin to kind of match the magenta so I had to make a choice between matching the overall
color or matching her skin.

Morgan: We also just look at the openness
of her eyes. There's definitely not near the dynamic range
in the film that you're getting in the digital. At least when you digitize the digital. Kenneth: This one is a great example of that.

I mean you get kind of locked in when you
scan the film in this way, straight out of the box the digital has less pull down on
the shadows. Morgan: The charm of the film, you would have
to say, is the fact that it isn't so perfect. Kenneth: I say that all the time. I love shooting film because I don't worry
about it, ironically.

I just say, "It's not going to be perfect." I think you can tell especially in this one
because the blown out highlights go a little magenta. Morgan: I said right on this one Kenneth: It's the left. Morgan: Is it? It doesn't seem consistent when I saw the
other ones. Yeah the film's more open and less contrasty Kenneth: I think again you can tell it's like,
it has more shadow on the legs on the digital.

You look at the highlights and there's way
more detail in her dress. This was the hardest one on the whole test. Morgan: I put right. Kenneth: You're right.

Morgan: It was a bit of a guess. It wasn't much a guess you think, if you look
at her forearm and her shoulder... Kenneth: It see more of the imperfection. Morgan: ...That just feels like film.

Kenneth: And also this is an instance where
you can tell that the Nikon has more pixels because you look at her eyelashes and there's
much more detail in her eyelashes. And also the lens just doesn't flare nearly
as well as the Nikon. Morgan: Now the black and white. I love the look of the black and white actually.

I feel like the film is just a little more
open on this one. I put the left, that's definitely wrong. Look at the depth, the feel. There's no way.

Kenneth: Yeah, that's wrong. Morgan: I can almost feel the grain, look
right there on those two. Look at the grain structure on the one on
the left that just feels like...Especially Tri-X Kenneth: Tri-X is kind of gritty. I'm the one that cut these and I can't even...

Morgan: You can just feel it. The grain pattern, look at the grain right
there. I've seen that so many times that is just
Tri-X, you know? Kenneth: I actually prefer because this one
turned out a little bit faded almost and I. Purposefully had to fade the digital so I
might have overdone it.

Morgan: There's kind of milky blacks. When you don't have much light her complexion
is much harsher in that image in the top. You see the imperfections much more there's
more detail in it. Kenneth: There's more detail in it.

Which is surprising, it's that weird thing
where the film has more sometimes it has less. You look at that and you're only wrong like
maybe two to three times out of what? 20 Images? 24 Images? Morgan: Twenty-four images, yeah. Kenneth: Something like that. That was the question it's like, does film
have a look worth you know, or I'm shooting film because it has that look I can't get
with digital.

It kind of does because you can tell which
one it is. Morgan: A guy who shot hundreds, hundreds
and hundreds of rolls of film can tell the difference. Kenneth: That's true. I think if you're going to shoot film professionally
it's more about your workflow and what you enjoy.

What makes you happy than it is about image
quality. Morgan: You're absolutely right. What makes you happy, what makes it interesting
and exciting to you and if it's a hook that gets your clientele to go, "Hey we love that
" you know? I mean if it's a hook that works, absolutely. Kenneth: I will say, if you're a beginning
photographer rather than going and spending $1000 on ADD or D5300 or something I actually
recommend going on eBay and buying some Canon AE-1 or something like that for 150 bucks
and buy 20 rolls of film.

And I think you'll learn the basics of photography
way faster than you will with your digital camera. Morgan: I think that's even cheating. Buy a Hasselblad that has no internal metering
in it so you have to learn to see exposure. You'd be surprised how much that'll teach
you actually.

Kenneth: All right so, dynamic range. I love doing dynamic range Morgan: This is a really interesting one to
me. Because I kind of know the outcome of this
one. Kenneth: All right, so I'm going to say first
of all I discovered that I did not take a properly exposed image on the Pentax.

Morgan: No? Kenneth: Somehow it just didn't happen. The digital is untouched. This is just straight raw, I didn't do any
[inaudible 00:11:02] just to see how it is. Morgan: We picked a nice setting for this,
I think.

It feels like... Kenneth: You have the white dress and the
[crosstalk]. Morgan: ...The dark black in the background
so for a dynamic range test it looks good. Kenneth: Plus one stops, they're all looking
pretty good.

Plus two stops, still don't see the difference. Nikon is holding up totally fine. At plus three stops, the Nikon just like,
abruptly falls apart. Morgan: It does.

Falls right off the cliff. Kenneth: It actually really surprised me because
I thought it would handle plus three. Plus four maybe not but I thought it'd be
okay with plus three. The film photos look normal they actually
look exactly the same as the other ones.

Morgan: They don't look different at all. Kenneth: Just crazy how much you can overexpose
it. Morgan: When we say film we're talking about
print film not transparency film. Kenneth: Right, not transparency.

Morgan: You cannot do this with transparency. Kenneth: Don't try this at home with transparency. Morgan: No, transparency film, you won't get
the same results. Kenneth: This is four stops over.

Morgan: Wow, look at the Nikon. Kenneth: The Nikon's gone. Morgan: That's a digital process, you know? Kenneth: Yeah, it's a different science. Morgan: But the color and the black and white,
it's starting to lose a little bit but it's not terrible.

Kenneth: So what I found is you look really
close at these...It's hard because I have them stacked next to each other...But you
look really close at these and the detail in the rock is the same across all the images,
details in the dress is the same across. What you do start to see though is the color
and the overall tonality start to wash out a tiny bit. Morgan: Which almost looks interesting. Kenneth: It opens up the shadows a little
bit.

Go to five stops, obviously Nikon's gone. The film I wish we'd gone to six stops because
I almost feel like maybe six stops would have been the limit. I don't know. Morgan: I wish we had gone to six.

Kenneth: I didn't expect film to make it to
five stops so we stopped there. Morgan: So five stops over, there are still
photos I would deliver to the client I would have no problem with it. It's just amazing. Morgan: Usually the problem though is that
with film, especially if you're doing anything inside, you don't have enough light.

You're not going to get a stopover. Kenneth: So let's go to underexposing. Now, minus one stop it seems fine. I mean they look great all across the board,
minus two stops I already see it with the film.

There isn't as much detail in the background. Morgan: No, you're starting to really block
up the blacks. Kenneth: The Nikon looks just the same. You got a nice three stops and now it's like,
a problem.

Morgan: Yeah. Kenneth: This is where I would say, " Okay,
shoot. What do I do now?" The Tri-X just gets like dark. It actually kind of looks like the portrait
has been sent through an airport X-ray and then minus four stops it's kind of gone.

Morgan: There's nothing there anymore. Kenneth: I wonder if they'd scan this to a
tiff. I wonder if I could massage it a little bit
but it's not really... Morgan: Look at the digital.

We're at minus four stops. As bad as a Nikon looked going in a plus it
holds up going under. Kenneth: It holds up. This would still work for you know like maybe
a six by eight photo print or something.

I wouldn't blow this image up but still, minus
four stops that's pretty incredible. Morgan: If you're shooting digital. If you're a hybrid shooter you should film
outside you shoot digital inside. Kenneth: That's a great way to look at it.

Because that film especially if you're shooting
like on a beach or something and I will say even on set I was shooting the film and I
wasn't worried about the exposure as much. I was like, "Oh yeah I think that's right. Got it." You know? With the Nikon I was freaking out because
I'd look at the screen on the back and it was too bright or whatever and I was really
worried about the tolerance with the highlights. So film can give you some peace of mind with
that but in terms of the shadows...

Morgan: When the dynamic range is on the bottom
like that it makes it so you shoot everywhere. With film it's on the top and you can't shoot
inside. Kenneth: It's true, it's true. Basically what you're saying is that signal
to noise ratio is lower with the digital.

So, what do you think? You're going to be shooting film from now
on? Morgan: You know, oddly enough I'm going to
start to shoot some film but here's my summation of it. I think that you can replicate the look enough
in digital that the bride's not going to be able to tell the difference. And the cost? We spent $150 on six rolls of film. That was just to process it.

We had to buy the six rolls of film too which
was another $30, $40 you know? So we're getting close to $200 to do six rolls
of film. If you're charging $2000 for a wedding, that's
a 10% investment. Kenneth: That's hard. Most hybrid shooters I know though are charging
4000 to 5000 for a wedding.

Morgan: Which makes sense. If you're in that category it's a cool thing
you've got this camera you pull out, do some shots. I mean, it becomes part of the show as much
as anything. So the cost is an issue I do think the film
has a really cool look and I didn't think I would say that but in looking at it I really
do and I love the look.

It just feels familiar, feels right to me
so I can see why people are doing it. I really can. Kenneth: I agree. I think in terms of flexibility obviously
digital has the advantage.

In terms of image, it depends on what you're
shooting. Honestly, I think film does have the advantage
in some ways but in most scenarios, digital probably still has the advantage so it really,
like we said before, comes down to workflow and what you like, what makes you happy. Morgan: So there you have it. We're going to upload all these images to
our website, theslantedlens.Com/filmcomparison.

Go there, download them, we're going to have
the raw Nikon images, we're going to have the ones that Kenneth corrected and then the
film images. Take that raw image go into other softwares,
correct them, try to get it as close to film as possible in other softwares and post those
to our Facebook group. We want to see what other softwares are doing,
how they compare, let our community kind of look and see if there's other software out
there that's even better. We'll give $50 worth of film to the one that
we think comes up with the best conversion.

So get over to theslantedfilms.Com/filmcomparison
and download those images and see what you can do so keep those cameras rolling. Kenneth: Keep on clicking. Morgan: It's February, we're giving away four
of these Platypod maxes. This is a plate that allows you to put your
camera in very difficult places.

It's a small simple plate but it gives you
hundreds of opportunities to put your camera in places that normally you can't get it into
so get over to theslantedlens.Com where you can possibly win one. Sign up, you might win one. All right. So it's probably been 11 years since I've
loaded one of these, but I used to load these things...You get so you're so fast at it,
you know, you just load 'em like crazy, but it's been a long time.

Kenneth: It's been about 24 hours. No, just kidding. I don't shoot film that often. Morgan: So here we go..

10 Tips to make Seamless Paper Backgrounds last longer & 2 DIY fixes for your photo studio backdrops

Seamless paper backgrounds are a staple item
for both amateur and professional photographers. They are versatile, reusable and affordable
and yet I find it surprising how many photographers dont take care of them and dispose of them
much sooner than needed. In this video, I am going to give you 10 tips
for making your backgrounds last and I am going to show you two awesome DIY projects. One will help you weigh down the bottom of
your background so it doesnt curl when you unroll it and the other is a super affordable
way to protect and store your backgrounds to keep them from buckling and to extend their
life.

Stay tuned! Hey gang! My name is Joe Edelman and my mission is to
help photographers like YOU to develop a solid understanding of the HOWS & WHYS behind great
photography so that you can achieve your goals as a photographer. Seamless paper backgrounds - I purchased my
first one in 1976. And let me tell you for a young 16 year old
photographer - it was the coolest background ever! In case you're wondering - it was a 107
#20 Black Savage backdrop. To this day more than 40 years later - I still
use Savage Paper Backdrops as my go to brand and choice for studio backgrounds.

Paper backdrops are a popular background solution
because they are available in a huge assortment of colors and with gels and lighting there
is an almost infinite number of possibilities. Another bonus to seamless paper backgrounds
is the price. They are more affordable than equivalent sized
cloth or painted backgrounds. That doesnt mean you should think of them
as cheap or disposable, in fact just the opposite.

Seamless paper backdrops are made to be used
over and over and with proper care and maintenance they can last for years. In case you havent already seen them - I
have shared videos in the past about some great DIY Background options for portraits
as well as an awesome DIY Background Holder. I also have a video explaining why GRAY is
my favorite background color - and thats not as boring as it sounds. You can find links to these videos in the
description below.

While the DIY solutions are great for simple
portraits, nothing beats a seamless paper backdrop for versatility. Also, full disclosure - I mention Savage Brand
Backgrounds because I really have used them for over 40 years. I have tried the cheaper brands and the paper
is thinner and wears much faster not to mention that the colors are not consistent and they
do fade. And to be clear - I am not being paid to say
that.

This first thing to consider is what is the
best size for your needs. This is going to depend on the type of photography
you are doing and the amount of space that you have to work in. You wouldnt just randomly pick a light
modifier before you shoot - you select the modifier that is going to give you the kind
of light you are looking for and hence the best outcome. Selecting a background should be no different.

On the smaller side of things you can get
very thin rolls that are great for tabletop and product photography. These rolls are 26 wide by 36 ft long. 36 Feet is a lot of background so if you are
only doing occasional product or tabletop shots, you may want to consider foam board
or poster board or even cloth background options. A great size for shooting portraits is the
53 by 36 ft roll.

This is just under 4.5 Ft wide and it's great
for shooting kids, headshots and 3/4 length shots. You do have to pay attention when you shoot
three quarter length shots. If you have your subject extend their arms
too far - they will be off the background. Also remember - the farther away from your
subject that you place the background - the smaller it becomes in relationship to your
subject.

So for my money - the 53 width is for headshots
or portraits only. The most common size found in studios is the
107in by 36 ft roll. This gives you a background that is just under
9 feet wide and long enough to roll out and have your subjects stand on it, lay down on
it or even jump on it. It works great for full-body shots and even
small groups.

Savage also sells rolls that are 107 x
150 ft. Yes  150 ft which is a monster roll and
wickedly heavy - but if you do a lot of work with seamless and find yourself replacing
your backgrounds often - this is a viable solution. Some Savage colors are also available in 86
x 36 ft and 140 x 105 ft. I prefer to hang my backdrops from the ceiling
in my studio.

Remember - my home studio that I showed you
in this video - only has 8 ft ceilings - so it is important to me to get the backdrops
as tight to the ceiling as possible If you have higher ceilings, you can easily mount
the backgrounds on a wall. I've included a link in the description below
the video to my blog article that lists my preferred mounting systems. If you need your set-up to be portable, you
can mount your background on stands and a crossbar. Unless you want to simply destroy you paper
backgrounds and always be fighting with the stands dont buy a cheap background stand
set.

A 107 x 36ft seamless roll weighs 15 lbs.
The 150 ft roll weighs 49 lbs If you are going to use these big rolls on a portable setup
you need to spend a few extra dollars and buy a heavy duty set-up. Dont think that using two light stands
and a homemade crossbar is a good idea for the big rolls. The 53 rolls only weigh 6 lbs, so you can
work with a much lighter setup and not run into problems. The DIY PVC stand that I mentioned earlier
works great for the short rolls.

These are tips that I have learned the hard
way by damaging backgrounds and I assure you - they are worth the little bit of effort
they require. The ability to roll out a seamless background
and have your subject stand on it is a big part of what makes these backdrops so useful. This works great on hard, even flooring. If your shooting space is carpeted, you need
to place a hard surface like a piece of plywood or plexiglass between the paper and the carpet
otherwise the paper will pucker and crease - not to mention that the heels of your models
shoes will poke right through the paper if its not on a hard surface.

Even if you have a roller system that prevents
the backgrounds from unrolling - A-Clamps are the most important accessory for your
backgrounds. Dont buy them from a photo supplier - these
are not real photography gear. Get the 6 A-Clamps at Home Depot or Amazon
and if you're smart - make it a habit to attach them to your crossbar - BEFORE you unravel
the seamless. I cant tell you how many times I have pulled
a seamless down only to realize that I forgot to grab the a-clamps and of course the weight
of the seamless just keeps pulling the roll off the bar.

Then you have to roll it back up - go and
get your A-Clamps and start all over again and by this time you have probably creased
part of the background. Avoid walking on the seamless. Your model can, but you and your assistants
should not! If you want your seamless to last, you cant
cut corners on this one. When I am setting up my seamless rolls and
need to place light stands or props on the seamless, I always remove my shoes and only
walk on the paper in my socks.

If you dont want to remove you shoes, you
can get removable shoe covers. These covers are disposable, but in most cases
you could use them many times over. You can purchase 50 pairs of them for less
than ten dollars on Amazon. When it comes to my models walking on my paper
backgrounds - I always take a minute and wipe down the soles of their shoes while they are
in the makeup chair and a place a small bathroom throw rug right at the edge of the paper and
ask them to wipe their feet before they step onto the background.

Do be sure to throw the rug in the washer
every so often so that it doesnt collect dirt and transfer it back to the shoes. This is something you should already have
in your studio but whatever you do - when you roll that seamless out for your model
to stand on it - tape down the edges. When a paper seamless background is rolled
out onto a smooth surface - it slides really easy. If you dont tape it - you better have some
really good liability insurance because you are placing your model at risk for a fall,
not to mention that Murphy's law pretty much guarantees that your models high heel shoe
will find the edge of the paper and tear it as she walks onto the set.

BTW - dont use duct tape! Gaffers tape has a blended resin and natural
rubber compound that allows you to remove it without leaving all the adhesive on the
paper. Duct tape is cheaper but it will destroy your
background and leave adhesive residue on your floor. A 4 ft by 8 ft piece of plexiglass or clear
acrylic is a great way to give your floor a reflective quality. The 4x8 sheet is a bit tough to store in smaller
studio spaces - but if you have the space - I highly recommend it.

I cant tell you how many times I have dropped
or damaged a roll because I was in a hurry and trying to handle it by myself. If you have to work solo - take your time
and dont rush. Ideally - get some help with hanging, changing
and rolling up your backdrops. They'll last longer and you'll curse much
less.

I already told you how to prevent smudges
and dirt on your backdrops but the reality is that it will still happen from time-to-time. White latex free plastic erasers are great
for removing a lot of smudges. These erasers are used for removing graphite
on paper and drafting film and they are very soft and wont damage the seamless paper. Just dont rub real hard.

Also helpful are simple Swiffer Duster cloths. I always wipe down the part of the seamless
that my model was standing on before I roll it up and store it. When you are ready to cut off some of the
roll because the end is worn beyond use, dont use scissors, use a straight edge like a box
cutter knife or a heavy-duty arts and crafts knife. Since the seamless paper is thick and has
a curl  cutting it with scissors will always give you an uneven and random edge.

I use two pieces of 1 by 4 by 10 ft
lumber that you can purchase at a hardware store for less than ten dollars each. I place one under the seamless while I use
the second one on top as a straightedge to guide my knife. This method also insures that you wont
scratch or cut the surface of your studio floor. This tip applies to pretty much everything
photography  cameras, lenses and backgrounds.

If you are a studio photographer it is important
to monitor and control the humidity in your studio space. Humidity is not your friend, it can cause
fungus on your lenses and sensors and it can cause your seamless backgrounds to buckle. You can purchase a simple humidity monitor
for less than ten dollars. The ideal relative humidity is between 40
and 50 percent to prevent fungus.

Dont go too low with your humidity because
you will run the risk of drying out the rubber and lubricants in your lenses. If you have a hard time with humidity in your
shooting or storage space, be sure to stay tuned for my DIY storage tip. Seamless paper backgrounds will always last
longer if you store them standing up  vertically. If you store them hanging or even laying down,
the cardboard cores will eventually begin to sag in the middle and then the paper buckles
and becomes uneven.

When you try to use them they will unroll
like this Whatever you do - don't just lean them against
the wall either. There are several inexpensive storage solutions
available including a super easy and very effective seamless paper storage clip by Savage. BTW storing them in the cardboard box that
they were shipped in is not a great plan unless you are in a very low humidity environment. That corrugated cardboard that the box is
made from will absorb moisture and cause more humidity inside the box.

I promised you two DIY tips. The first one is a counterweight solution
to stop the bottom of your seamless paper from curling when you hang it. Savage sells a Background Leader Bar which
retails for $75.00 And comes with a 107 x 36 ft roll of white paper or they also sell
a shorter version that is 4 8 and comes with a 53 roll of white seamless. Manfrotto also sells a Background Paper Counterweight
that is two pieces and works on 4 ft or 9 ft rolls - it retails for $32.95 My solution costs only $6.50 At your local
Home Depot.

Just purchase a 10 ft by 1 1/4 pvc pipe
and two 1 1/4 end caps. Then cut off 8 inches so that you have a pipe
that is 112 long. This will create a little overhang on each
side of the seamless. Then using a table saw with the blade set
very low - cut a line 109 long.

When I made my cuts I wiggled the pipe slightly
so that the opening would be a bit wider that the blade - this makes it easier to insert
the paper. Then all you need to do is place the end caps
on and your build is complete. You dont even need to glue the end caps
and if you want to paint it - go for it. To attach the counterweight - you first need
to make sure that you have a clean edge at the end of your seamless.

It is important to have the edge straight
and square with the sides otherwise your counterweight will hang crooked and cause the background
to buckle. If you are working with a brand new background
- it already is square. If you are cutting a worn or dirty end off
of an existing seamless, I have a very simple way to do it. Hang the background and make sure you have
it hanging level.

If you have ceiling mounts - that is easy. If you are using stand mounts - use a bubble
level to be sure the roll is level. Then unravel the background just past the
point where you wish to add the counterweight. Take a Sharpie Marker and just run it along
the underside of the roll all the way across.

Then go ahead and roll the background out
far enough that your line is on the floor or if you want, you can remove the background
and place it on the floor. Using a sharp blade - cut along the line that
was just drawn with the Sharpie. Fold back about one inch of seamless and press
the fold down tight to make a clean stiff edge. Then simply slide that edge into the groove
that you cut on the PVC pipe.

I use a few small pieces of gaffers tape to
keep it in place as I go and then run a strip of gaffers tape the entire length over the
groove where the paper has been inserted. Once you have done that - you are good to
go. Re-hang your background or roll it up and
you have a counterweight that is level and much less expensive than the machined metal
options that are available online. I also promised you an easy DIY Storage tip
for your seamless backgrounds.

If you are going to keep your rolls out in
the open - standing vertically of course - you should have a room with low humidity as I
already mentioned. If you cant control the humidity and if
you cant store your rolls vertically you can purchase 4 pipes to store them in. The common recommendation is 4 PVC pipes. I personally think this is a horrible solution.

A 10ft length of 4 PVC pipe will cost you
over $20.00 And that doesnt include the end caps - not to mention that it weighs just
over 20lbs. A better alternative is to purchase a 10 ft
by 4 length of corrugated drain pipe for $7.21. Purchase two 4 solid snap end caps for
$2.52 Each. Then use a simple box cutter knife - cut off
the bell end - it's the bigger end.

I measure my pipe to 109 and cut. Slide your seamless roll into the plastic
bag that it came with and then slide everything into the pipe. Add the snap caps on both ends and you have
a durable airtight storage tube that only cost you $12.25 Now you can stack the rolls
or stand them up and you have a protected and humidity free environment for your seamless. Btw.

- This solution weighs just 3lbs. So there you have it gang - 10 important and
helpful tips to make your seamless paper backgrounds last and two DIY projects to save you money
in the process. I hope you found this useful. Please hit that thumbs up and subscribe so
that you dont miss any videos and until next time go pick up that camera and shoot
something because your BEST shot - its your NEXT shot, so keep learning, keep thinking,
keep shooting.

Adios!.