Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Time Trap Portrait Instagram Photo - February 28, 2017 at 10:07PM

10:18:00 PM


Shared by Time Trap Photography Instagram page. I'm dedicated to freezing those special moments in life that can be revisited and admired for generations to come. - Shannon Bourque
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Today: Sony Photo Competition Finalists, Photographing Iceland, New Hasselblad Lens and More

6:15:00 PM

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A heap of cool photo stories are trending today with announcements from Leica about new lenses, Sony about the finalists for their major photo competition and several wonderful new tutorials from some of our photography blog friends.

Photographing Iceland Using Ultra Wide-Angle Lenses
It is no secret that I love using ultra wide-angle lenses for my landscape photography. I was especially excited when I received the new Sigma 12-24mm f/4 DG HSM Art lens just before I…
5 Confessions Photographers are Afraid to Admit, Even to...
Today I want to share five things that photographers don’t like to talk about (or even admit to themselves) that almost everyone struggles with. As I’ve worked with more and more…
Tips for Capturing Better Landscape Photos
Regardless if you’re new to photography or a seasoned pro, for many of us, our first love is landscape photography. There’s just something so magical about a perfectly crafted landscape…
Rabari - Encounters With the Nomadic Tribe by Mitchell...
Learn the strategies behind amazing travel portraiture from one of the masters of the genre.
Hint Of Noir Lightroom Presets
Elegant black and white presets to help with your workflow in Adobe Lightroom.
Shortlist revealed for the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
“There was a truly global reach to the Sony World Photography Awards judging this year – the images were more diverse and broad ranging than I have ever seen before,” said curator Zelda…
Hasselblad Introduces New Hasselblad 120mm f3.5 Macro Lens for...
Continuing on the excitement of the Hasselblad X1D, the company has introduced a brand new lens: the Hasselblad 120mm f3.5 macro. For most digital photographers, this won’t sound like a…
5 Pros and Cons: Honest Review After One Year with Sony...
After one full year using the Sony mirrorless system for my professional work, I believe I can give a very honest and helpful review of the system that can help others decide if it’s right…
Photographing Iceland Using Ultra Wide-Angle Lenses
It is no secret that I love using ultra wide-angle lenses for my landscape photography. I was especially excited when I received the new Sigma 12-24mm f/4 DG HSM Art lens just before I…
I Don
Where just last year the top trending tag post-Oscar® was #OscarsSoWhite (for its second year in a row without an African-American nominee for best picture or actor), this year the…
Smithsonian Announces Eye-Opening Finalists for Their 14th...
Smithsonian just released the 70 finalists for their 14th annual photo contest and is currently accepting votes for their Readers’ Choice award. This year Smithsonian received some 48,000…
Time Magazine Shines the Spotlight on 12 African-American...
In honor of Black History Month, Time Magazine has decided to honor 12 up-and-coming African-American artists. Hailing from across the country and across the creative spectrum, these…
6 Tips for Photographers Who Want to Try Shooting Video
Photographers, especially wedding photographers, might be tempted to start playing around with video or even offering some video services alongside their still work. This short tutorial…
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4 Important Post-Processing Steps That Are Often Overlooked

2:36:00 PM

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The aim of post-processing, broadly speaking, is to bring an image as close as possible to how you visualized it when taking the photo. A camera can only do so much in capturing a photograph but post-processing, when done correctly, can bring out the best in the photo.

While post-processing workflows vary from one photographer to another based on their requirements and preferences, there are some steps that are generally deemed essential to get the best results.

Most of us are aware, to some extent, of the common steps involved in post-processing like color correction, brightness adjustment, contrast and saturation enhancement, sharpening and the like. In this post, we are going to look at some essential steps that often get overlooked in a post-processing workflow.


1. Monitor Calibration

If you like to print your photos but the prints don’t look the same as the photos do on your computer screen, it is likely that your monitor isn’t properly calibrated.

Monitor calibration is an important step if you want the colors and shades in your photo to be reproduced correctly in prints and to be sure that your photos look their best when you post them online for others to see.


A monitor calibration device. Photo by FHKE on Flickr.

For best and most accurate results, a monitor calibration device like Datacolor Spyder or X-Rite ColorMunki is recommended and is definitely worth the price you pay for it. However, you can also calibrate your monitor by using the built-in Windows and Mac tools, using the steps outlined here, though they are not half as accurate as a dedicated calibration device.

This isn’t something that you do every time you post-process your photos, but is a key one-time step that prepares your monitor to correctly display colors. If you have a monitor calibration device, you may want to recalibrate your display every month or so for consistency, if you’re really serious about it.


2. Working in the Correct Color Space

A digital color space is similar to a painter’s palette – it governs the range of colors or shades that one can draw from. Technically, a color space is how colors are organized and quantified which allows for reproducible representations of color. Let’s take a look at the image below to understand it better.

color space 1 2Adobe RGB and sRGB color spaces.

The horseshoe shape encapsulates all the visible colors, while the outlined regions or ‘color spaces’ cover a portion of it. Many color spaces have been created, but the image shows two main types of color spaces in digital photography – Adobe RGB (Red-Green-Blue), and sRGB (standard RGB).

If you’ve dug through your camera settings, you would have encountered the Color Space setting where you have to choose one of the two. Or you might have also come across this option in your post-processing software. As you can see from the image above, Adobe RGB has more color range than sRGB, which would make you think that a bigger color space like Adobe RGB should be a logical choice while working on your photos. Not really.

sRGB came first, and is the most widely used color space. In fact, almost everything on a computer is built around sRGB – the internet, applications, mobile devices – everything has sRGB as their standard color space. You cannot go wrong with sRGB – it has a simplified workflow, displays correctly for web, and is suitable for prints.

If you’re a professional photographer and want more accurate colors for prints and know how to work with the more complicated workflow associated with Adobe RGB, you can choose it over sRGB. You can learn more about the differences here.


3. Keeping an Eye on the Histogram

A histogram is a great tool to help you assess the lighting and exposure in an image. It is a graph that represents how light is distributed through the image. You come across histograms in your digital camera settings as well in your photo editing software.

histogram 1 2 2A histogram of a digital photograph – shadows are represented on the left, midtones in the middle and highlights on the right.

It’s important to know how to read a histogram as it can help guide you not only when you’re taking a photograph but also during post-processing. Technically, a histogram represents the number of pixels in the photo distributed according to their brightness or luminosity, from shadows on the left to highlights on the right, with midtones in the middle.

A photograph with a histogram bunched to the left has a lot of shadows and can mean that the photo is underexposed, unless it’s of a dark subject or is a low key image. Similarly, a photo with a histogram bunched to the right has excess of highlights and can mean that the photo overexposed, unless it’s of a light subject or is a high key photo. A photo with a bell shaped histogram curve with the peak in the middle is usually considered a ‘well exposed’ image.

During post-processing, keeping an eye on the histogram can help you avoid clipping highlights and shadows, and retain details in those regions, especially when applying adjustments that change luminosity of the image like brightness, contrast, curves, etc. You can read more about histograms here.


4. Sharpening for Output

Almost all photos benefit from a certain amount of sharpening in post-processing, to eliminate those fuzzy edges and make the photos pop. Of course, it’s important to consider if and how much sharpening was applied in-camera when the photo was captured.


A properly sharpened image pops, like this one. Photo by Salva Barbera on Flickr.

Sharpening is often the last step in a post-processing workflow. And how much sharpening a photo will need depends on the intended output, which can be print or digital. When outputting for print, the amount of sharpening required varies with the type of paper used – a glossy paper requires less sharpening compared to that for matte paper.

When sharpening photographs, always look at the photo at 100% size and beware of creating halos due to excessive sharpening. You can learn more about sharpening here.


Get Awesome at Post-Processing

If you want to get the most out of your photos by utilizing the power of post-processing but do not know where to start and how to proceed, we have a solution for you – The Ultimate Guide to Fundamental Editing. Produced by our friends at Photzy, the bestselling guide gives you a step-by-step post-processing workflow to help you create great-looking photos efficiently and consistently, using popular programs like Lightroom, Elements and Photoshop. Click here now to check it out.

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Ritesh Saini

Ritesh has been photographing for about six years now and his photographic interests have varied from nature and landscapes to street photography. You can see his photography on Flickr or on his website.
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Sourced by Time Trap Photography sharing the best photography tips, news and tricks throughout the industry. Time Trap Photography is dedicated to freezing those special moments in life that can be revisited and admired for generations to come. - Shannon Bourque
Please visit our main site for booking availability and rates.



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6 Fun Photography Challenge Ideas that will Definitely Challenge You

6:01:00 AM

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This is Gonna be Lods of Fun…and Challenging

There are undoubtedly those who think that most talented photographers acquired their skills through years of tutelage under a demanding but conscientious instructor.

I’m quite unsure as to the validity of this idea in a historical context, but in modern times it’s unlikely to be the case.

Image by Gaetano Cessati

Image by Gaetano Cessati

FREE BONUS: There are two reasons you should grab our free Portrait Photography Cheat Sheet. 1) It’s totally 100% FREE and 2) It’s full of really helpful tips to get your portrait photography up where you want it to be. Looking spot on! Download it here.

The advent of the Information Age brought with it an ease of access to resources and sharing platforms that have paved the way for a generation of self-taught photographers.

Not to suggest that formal academic training in photography is entirely unwarranted, but it would appear that self-driven education is the wave of the future.

While learning photography on your own may require an additional measure of discipline and dedication, one of the many advantages to this approach is that it’s easier to keep things fun.

Understanding f-stops and shutter speed are vital skills, but it’s not enough to simply have a theoretical grasp of the fundamentals — photography happens when you put those skills to practical use.

And you’ve got to challenge yourself in order to develop and, eventually, master your skills.

Challenging yourself can actually be fun, and it doesn’t require you to run off to the Amazon rainforest to experience real growth. If you’re ready to strengthen and diversify your skill set, keep reading for 10 fun photography challenge ideas that will help you do just that.

1. Minimize Your Gear

Less really can be more. There’s freedom in minimalism and you can discover this for yourself by shooting with just one camera and one lens. Leave everything else in your bag.

Give yourself a predetermined time frame, pick your favorite camera/lens combo and go shoot. If you’ve gotten used to using a zoom lens or frequently changing lenses while out in the field, you’ll be forced to rethink the way you see and compose your photos.

It won’t take long before you notice that you are choosing more meaningful subjects and treating those subjects to stronger composition.

2. Turn Ordinary Subjects Extraordinary

Believe it or not, you don’t need to book a trip to another country to find interesting photography subjects; there are plenty of them right under your nose.

You may look at those things as being mundane, but therein lies the challenge: take common objects and find a way to make them beautiful.

Whether it’s how you light them, the angle at which you shoot them, the environment in which you place them — make it a point to be attentive to the ordinary objects around you and treat them as if they are special.

Ultimately, it’s an exercise in how to connect with your subjects, a skill every photographer needs.

3. Capture the Alphabet

Our third from our list of fun photography challenge ideas is deciding how you go about choosing what you shoot on any given day?

Is it something you decide on ahead of time or just figure it out as you go?

Is it a struggle?

Here’s an idea: choose a subject that corresponds with each letter of the alphabet. I know it probably sounds easy, but once you dig into it, you will see this is a task that tests your ability to find worthwhile subjects that also fit the criteria of the challenge, and some letters will surely prove to be more difficult to fulfill than others.

It’s a fun challenge with almost a month’s worth of variety built into it; the unique experiences you acquire will no doubt serve to expand your vision and sharpen your intuition.

4. Photograph Water

Water may not immediately come to mind when thinking of riveting subject matter, but rest assured it’s something you will want to spend some time with.

Two of the most common water-based projects are water droplet photography and oil-and-water photography. In addition to some basic photography gear (a flash, a tripod), both can be achieved by using items you likely have at home already.

Oh, you will also need a heavy dose of patience — rest assured there will be a lot of trial and error when it comes to lighting, camera settings and timing, but the takeaway is you’ll learn to make exposure adjustments quickly and learn some great lighting lessons.

Eventually, you’ll get some beautiful photos for all your effort.

Lightstalking Tutorials

Click here for an in-depth tutorial of how to set everything up for the water droplet challenge and here for a tutorial on oil and water photography.

FREE DOWNLOAD FOR READERS: There are two reasons you should grab our free Portrait Photography Cheat Sheet. 1) It’s totally 100% FREE and 2) It’s full of really helpful tips to get your portrait photography up where you want it to be. Looking spot on! Download it here.

5. Shoot in Low Light

If you really want to dive head first into the process of mastering ISO, shutter speed and aperture, then take on a low light challenge.

Whether it’s in a dimly lit theater or nighttime street photography, photo-worthy moments are happening all the time with no regard for lighting conditions.

Putting yourself through the paces of shooting in low light will help prepare you for those spur of the moment opportunities whenever and wherever they may occur.

You don’t actually have to leave your house for this challenge; using the ambient light filtering in from a window, for example, is an excellent way to practice low light photography.

What you learn here can be applied to a pretty wide variety of other situations where light is in short supply.

6. Shoot in Black and White

This is about more than converting your images to black and white in post processing.

It’s about learning to “see” in black and white.

You will need to look for textures, patterns, shapes; light and shadows. Each of these is important in color photos, but absolutely vital to good black and white photographs.

You might go so far as setting your camera to produce exclusively a black and white jpeg; if you’re using a mirrorless camera you can even set the LCD/EVF to display in black and white.

Spend a week or two seeing the world in black and white and you will begin to acquire an eye for detail that will carry over into all of your photographic efforts.

Final Thoughts

Photography challenges come in many different flavors, but the best ones exist to make you a better photographer by strengthening the skills you already possess and paving the way for you to develop new skills.

It’s serious business as far as the craft of photography is concerned, but there’s no reason why all of this shouldn’t be fun.

So, challenge yourself and enjoy!



READERS CAN DOWNLOAD THIS FOR FREE: There are two reasons you should grab our free Portrait Photography Cheat Sheet. 1) It’s totally 100% FREE and 2) It’s full of really helpful tips to get your portrait photography up where you want it to be. Looking spot on! Download it here.

Further Resources

Further Learning

We mentioned creating an assignment for yourself which focuses on creating Black and White photographs through “seeing in black and white” and this is where you can truly master the art that is “Black and White Photography.”

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Jason Little is a photographer (shooting macros, portraits, candids, and the occasional landscape), writer, and music lover. You can see Jason’s photography on Flickr, his Website or his Blog.
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Sourced by Time Trap Photography sharing the best photography tips, news and tricks throughout the industry. Time Trap Photography is dedicated to freezing those special moments in life that can be revisited and admired for generations to come. - Shannon Bourque
Please visit our main site for booking availability and rates.



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Monday, February 27, 2017

Time Trap Event Instagram Photo - February 27, 2017 at 07:09PM

7:13:00 PM


Sourced by Time Trap Photography sharing the best photography tips, news and tricks throughout the industry. Time Trap Photography is dedicated to freezing those special moments in life that can be revisited and admired for generations to come. - Shannon Bourque
Please visit our main site for booking availability and rates.



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Daily Wrap: These Photography Stories Are Trending Right Now

6:15:00 PM

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Out of the thousands of photography stories that have been published in the last 24 hours, we have picked out some of the more popular ones so you can stay up to date with the photo world.

Additional information on the new Sigma Art lenses (14mm f/1.8,...
The pricing and pre-order options for the new Sigma Art lenses that were announced last week will be announced at the end of March, here are the links: In addition to my coverage, Sigma has…
How to avoid glare when shooting portraits of people wearing glasses
Whenever I see people posting questions about how to photograph people wearing glasses, they usually receive the same response. “Don’t, have them take their glasses off”. This is usually…
Man Gets 30 Days in Jail for Knocking Woman Unconscious with drone
The Seattle man who lost control of his drone and knocked a woman unconscious in the process has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine for his transgression.
Carnival 2017 Around the World
Carnival season 2017 is underway across Europe and the Americas. These pre-Lent festivals, often a blend of local pagan and Catholic traditions, usher out the winter and welcome in spring….
Mom and daughter cosplay as Disney characters and create amazing photos
From my experience, a mom and her daughter are the best team there is. And mom-daugher duo from Canada proves me right. Photographer Camillia Courts and her seven-year-old daughter Layla…
The Pop Pack of Lightroom Presets
Don’t Miss the Secret of Editing Photos in Lightroom from Bleh to Wow with this discount on some of our most popular presets!
These are Nikon
In case you missed the slightly over-the-top announcement video, Nikon is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. And part of the celebrations involves putting out some seriously…
The New Imagely NextGEN Lightroom Plugin Will Rock Your World
The new Imagely NextGEN Lightroom Plugin will help you publish photos directly from Lightroom to your WordPress site. Check it out.
The Best Budget Lenses For Each Mirrorless System
Budget lenses are a necessity for amateur and semi-professional photographers. Not everyone can afford to drop $1,000+ on a brand new lens, so the budget oriented shoppers look for lenses…
Sony Put that Insane 960fps Sensor In Their New Xperia XZ Phones
Remember Sony’s crazy smartphone image sensor we told you about earlier this month? Well that sensor, which can shoot up to an insane 1,000fps in HD, is already making an appearance in…
How to Use a Rangefinder Camera For the Best Results
Fact: If you think you know how to use a rangefinder, you’re probably using a rangefinder camera completely wrong-or at least inefficiently. Lots of photographers think they can’t be…
3 Quick Instagram Photography Styling Tips
Working with static subjects can be surprisingly difficult. For photographers accustomed to working with live models, styling details by hand can be a challenging hurdle to overcome….
Fstoppers Interviews Dave Hill, Professional Commercial...
I started my journey in photography back in 2011. Since then, there are only a handful of photographers that I have really paid attention to in terms of actively keeping up with their work….
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Sourced by Time Trap Photography sharing the best photography tips, news and tricks throughout the industry. Time Trap Photography is dedicated to freezing those special moments in life that can be revisited and admired for generations to come. - Shannon Bourque
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About Us

Time Trap Photography is dedicated to freezing those special moments in life that can be revisited and admired for generations to come. - Shannon Bourque

The lens in focus

“Life is like a camera. Just focus on what’s important and capture the good times, develop from the negatives and if things don’t work out, just take another shot.” — Unknown

TIME TRAP PHOTOGRAPHY COPYRIGHT 2016