PopPhoto Flash

Your Photo: Our Critique

This photo of a park bench was submitted by Matthew Nasholm. The photo was taken with a Canon 40D, exposure of 1/125sec at f/7.1, ISO 400.  This is a great shot with wonderful composition.  The colors pop realistically and textures are great.  Using a low perspective also makes the photo work.
—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets five stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

Tip of the Day: Exposure for Shooting Indoors

With Artificial Lighting:

• Use Presets with Fine-Tuning. If Auto White Balance doesn’t give good results, try using different presets, or fine-tuning the WB in the right direction.
• Custom WB. If you are close to your subject, you can easily set custom WB. If you are far away, try using a lens with a longer focal length to isolate a neutral area in the distant scene as a custom WB sample.

With Mixed Lighting:

• Remove Secondary Sources. Try closing blinds or curtains or changing position and shooting from another direction.
• Set WB for Dominant Source.
• Set WB to Average. If the lighting from the different source is even, you can set WB to average the effects of the combined lighting.
• Use Flash. If your flash is strong enough, you can use it to overpower artificial lighting.

Adapted from 40 Digital SLR Techniques by Darrell Tan (youngjin, 2006, $17)

Your Photo: Our Critique

Warren LaFever used an Olympus E-500 and a 50mm f/2 lens with an ISO of 100. This photo was cropped to include the piano just behind the trumpet player. Unfortunately it’s too dark and the details are lost. Using the f/2 lens is a good idea in low light but don’t forget to make the most of your ISO. Using a higher ISO will introduce digital noise but in this case it would be better than the underexposure.  Using the wider crop gives you a sense of place, consider cropping some off of the top and the left of the frame. 
—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets two stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

Tip of the Day: Reading Photos

People in Western cultures read from left to right. One compositional trick, then, is to place the focal point of your photo on the left cross points. This exploits a viewer’s natural tendency to scan an image from left to right, enabling him to immediately hone in one your photo’s area of interest.

Adapted from Composition Photo Workshop by Blue Fier (Wiley, 2007, $30)

Your Photo: Our Critique

Jeff Lynch submitted this photo of Bosco taken with a Nikon D80, at 1/200sec, f/20, ISO 200. Jeff did not leave this image to chance, he took the time to consider the light and used his Nikon SB600 speed light allowing the background to disappear. There is a perfect combination of light and flash to capture a wonderful image.  I wouldn’t change a thing.
—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets five stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

Tip of the Day: Double Processing with Lightroom 2.0 Beta

Step-by-step tutorial on Youtube  from Photowalk.com on how to use Adobe Lightroom 2.0 Beta to double process an image before using Photoshop to complete the process. 

Your Photo: Our Critique

Douglas George has submitted this photo.  No data came with the image but the exposure is off and the colors are washed out.  The real picture is the blue heron and its reflection, cropping in the top would be something to consider.  Overall this photo lacks punch but with a few simple adjustments in post processing it can be improved. 
—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets two and a half stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

Tip of the Day: Top Spring Photo Ops

TakeGreatPictures.com's Top Spring Photo Ops

May 11 - 12, 2008
Gardens for Connoisseurs - Atlanta, GA
The annual Gardens for Connoisseurs Tour on Mother's Day weekend is sure to impress connoisseurs and novices alike, as some of Atlanta's most beautiful private gardens are open to the public. The Tour puts on display great design and planting ideas from Atlanta's most talented gardeners and landscape architects. Tickets are $20 in advance until May 9 or $30 on Tour Days. Tickets are available in advance at the Garden's Gift Shop and area garden centers. Tickets will also available at individual gardens on the days of the Tour.
http://www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org/home.do

May 15, 2008
World Championship BBQ-Cooking Contest - Memphis, TN
Drawing over 90,000 food enthusiasts this weekend cook-off in Memphis, TN features teams of BBQ experts competing for over $60,000 in prize money! Each cleverly named team dresses their stands with elaborate decorations, previous trophies and, of course, the best of their down-south BBQ cuisine. Dubbed the "Superbowl of Swine," the cookoff is just one of the Memphis in May festivals. Vegetarians beware, this contest is for serious meat-lovers!
http://memphisinmay.org/home.html

May 17, 2008
Mike the Headless Chicken Days - Fruita, CO
One of the oddest events ever featured on the Top Ten List, the Mike The Headless Chicken Days commemorate a freak accident in 1945 which left Mike the rooster headless yet alive for a full 18 months! Since 1999, the town of Fruita, CO, has held a festival for Mike the Headless Chicken where locals and visitors alike partake in festivities such as a 5K "Run Like A Headless Chicken" race, the "Good Egg" awards, a chicken dance contest and of course an astounding assortment of chicken dishes.
http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/

May 18, 2008
Bay to Breakers Foot Race - San Francisco, CA
Whether you prefer to run in a spandex bodysuit or a spanish bullfighter's uniform, this race is right for you! Last year's troops consisted of professional runners (vying for cash and prizes) alongside... running picnic tables? You've got to see it to believe it. The Bay to Breakers Foot Race is 12K (from San Francisco Bay to the breakers of the Pacific Ocean) and the onlookers always have as much fun (if not more) than the runners... you don't have to race to dress up!
http://www.ingbaytobreakers.com/main.html

May 21, 2008
Zoopolis 500 - Indianapolis, IN
The Indianapolis Zoo hosts the annual tortoise race, which is modeled after the Indianapolis 500 motor race. The tortoises are lured to the finish line with fresh fruits and vegetables. The event is presented by the American Dairy Association of Indiana, and marks the move of the Aldabra tortoises from their winter area to their summer home.
http://www.indianapoliszoo.com/

June 5 - 8, 2008
25th Annual Chicago Blues Festival - Chicago, IL
With six stages and turn-outs of over 750,000, the Chicago Blues Festival is the largest free-admission blues festival in the world. Showcasing local, national and international artists this year is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in years! The festival will celebrate its 25th year featuring a quarter of a century of Chicago Blues Festival highlights. It will also mark the centennials of Louis Jordan, Tommy McLennan and Blind John Davis. Performance headliners include legendary artists Koko Taylor, Johnny Winter, Buckwheat Taylor and blues icon B.B. King.
http://chicagobluesfestival.org/

Your Photo: Our Critique

This image submitted by Cara Greeno was captured with a Nikon D80, shutter speed of 1/80 sec at f/5.6. Cara process it with Picture Project. It is a nice sunset shot with a colorful sky but is lacking some real punch.  The lines from the pier and the clouds work nicely but the pier is lacking detail and is just there.  Bracketing your exposure would give you more information to work with in post processing. 
—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets three and a half stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

The Master of Photoshop Perfection

Photo of Pascal Dangin by Josef Astor from The New Yorker

The ethics of digital retouching, especially when it comes to celebrities is always a sticky subject (We’ve even covered it a few times in the past).

But whether or not images of impossibly perfect women benefit society or not, there certainly is a demand for them. Pascal Dangin has perfected the art of making women look perfect, and he’s making a mint doing so. Advertisers, magazines, and even celebrities themselves call on his expertise to smooth winkles, erase zits, and plump breasts, as well as make much more subtle adjustments.

But it’s not just his technical ability that has gotten him so far; it’s his photographer’s eye, and ability to see the untapped potential in images.

To read more about Dangin and how he works his magic, check out the full article in this week’s New Yorker magazine here.
—Kathleen Davis
Assistant Editor