Wednesday Photo News

Here’s a little of what’s going on around the photography industry:

• Energizer Ultimate Lithium and National Geographic have created their second annual Ultimate Photo contest which invites the photographer enthusiast to share photos for a chance to be judged by world-renowned photojournalist, Jim Richardson, and win a trip to the Galapagos Islands along with a spread in National Geographic Magazine. Click on the slideshow above for more details and good luck! Thanks again to Nicole over at M80 in LA for letting me know about the contest!
• Chase Jarvis has recently updated his iPhone Portfolio on his website. All the images in this particular portfolio were shot with his iPhone and processed only with native apps for the iPhone. This further proves that you don’t need an expensive camera to take great photos… it’s all about seeing.
• I’ve recently jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. Better late than never right? You can view my updates right here on the blog or you can follow me (@sjzeller) if you Twitter.
• I’m working on my full review of how Nik Software’s plugins work with Lightroom. I hope to have it up on Friday, and by Saturday at the latest.
• Last but not least, I put my 50mm f1.8 on my D90 yesterday afternoon and went out and shot for a bit. Below are a couple of images from my short time walking around out in front of my house. Hope you enjoy ‘em! Let me know what you think in the comments!

More Powerful Lightroom Workflow with Nik Software

If you don’t already know, I’m a big fan of Nik Software and use several of their Photoshop plugins. But did you also know that there are some of those same plugins that are now available for Lightroom? YES!

Now, I don’t have to go to Photoshop to use Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, or Color Efex Pro! That means a more streamlined and expedient workflow for me (or anyone else who wants to use Nik Software with Lightroom)! And from what I heard from PhotoshopWorld, it won’t be too long before Sharpener 3.0 is added to the list of plugins that are Lightroom compatible! That’s killer news!

For more info, be sure to check out Nik Software’s website for all the details and to purchase their great plugins. And don’t forget that if you’re a NAPP member you’re entitled to a discount as well! (Details are available on the NAPP member website.)

The folks at Nik are really great and they are all about photography first, which is awesome for photographers. Although, I may be a little partial because they’re a San Diego company and that’s where my home is.

Nik Software offers a 15-day trial period for all of their plugins so what do you have to lose?! If you’re using Lightroom and not already using Nik’s products be sure to check them out because a faster workflow awaits!

New Look for the Blog – Again

Yep, you heard it right. I’ve changed the look of the blog again. My biggest frustration with the previous design was that it was just too narrow. I’ve gone back to a little more minimalist-type style that still allows page navigation and provides a wider body area for content. I’m always evolving and changing and so is my blog.

Let me know what you think!

Thanks!

Stephen

Nikon D90 Video: SeaWorld Video/Photo Montage

Here’s another short clip that I put together with my handy D90. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not much of a video guy but I’m having a lot more fun as I gain mow knowledge of Apple’s Final Cut Express. Now that I’m actually working in an HD workspace, my results are a lot more desirable… unlike my last video.

Hope you’re weekend is going well! Get out and shoot and don’t forget to backup your images!!!!

Stephen

Why A Prime Lens Will Beat A Zoom Lens Any Day

These days I’m becoming more and more of a fan of prime lenses. There are a lot of reasons why, but what is the one thing that ALL photographers seek? TACK SHARP images! And when it comes to tack sharp, a prime lens will be a zoom any day of the week.

I won’t dive into the weeds of the technical differences between primes and zooms because you would all be asleep by the time I was done. But in short, primes have fewer moving parts and less glass which presents a smaller window for error in the optics. Zoom lenses also tend to be more susceptible to front or rear focusing, which requires the lens to be sent back to the manufacturer for adjustment (unless your camera body is capable of fine focus adjust).

I did a quick comparison while shooting my daughter’s 6th birthday photos. I compared my Nikon 16-85mm VR lens @ 50mm against my Nikon 50mm f1.8 prime lens. I shot at f8 because that’s the tell-all aperture between all lenses. Most lenses are somewhat soft when shooting wide open anyway.

Click on the shots below and view them at 100 percent. Look at the eyes and you will see exactly what I mean. The first image was shot with the 16-85mm VR and the second with the 50mm f1.8. (If you’re new to Flickr, click on the image and then at the menu bar at the top of the image click “All Sizes” and then click “Original”.)

It’s pretty evident when you look at the images at 100 percent. I can definitely tell a difference and that means a lot to me. Especially if you plan on making big prints, a sharp image is critical. Not to mention that we should all strive for the sharpest shots we can get.

Speaking of which, I didn’t apply ANY sharpening in Lightroom to these images either. They are just as they were imported from my camera. I only made adjustments to color and tone.

I could go on an on about why I am favoring prime lenses to zoom lenses, but that would make for a really long post. I only own one prime lens currently (my Nikon 50mm f1.8), but I plan on adding at least 3 more to my camera bag and possibly a 4th too!

Have a great weekend and happy shooting!

SlideshowPro for Lightroom Mini-Review

If you’re looking for a cool slideshow application for Lightroom, then you have to check out SlideshowPro for Lightroom! I had heard lots of good things about this app, but I wasn’t fully aware of just how powerful it was until I installed it and tried it out myself!

Now, I know a bit about HTML, CSS, JavaScript and the like but I’m no web guru by any stretch of the means. Sure, I designed and coded my own website but I’m not near anywhere as good as some of these guys out there. I was searching for a cool flash plugin that I could use to display images on my website. When I really started looking into SlideshowPro for Lightroom I realized that it would work perfectly because I could customize it to look and behave exactly the way that I wanted it to. Not only that, I could do it ALL from Lightroom!!! Hell yeah!

Not only did the developer get the software right, but the price is right too! You can pick up this little gem for $35.00 which is a steal based on what you can do with it. Top that with the fact that you don’t have to know HTML, Flash, or any other language to be able to design and create your own custom web slideshows and you have an application that will be tough to beat.

Image above courtesy of SlideshowPro.com.

People Photography 101: Interacting With Your Subjects

I am often asked how it is that I get such great candid shots and portraits. So today I’m going to spill the beans and give you my secret to getting those great shots. Ok, it’s not really a secret but it’s something that many don’t think about. If we want want the people we’re photographing to look natural they have to feel it too.

So how to we do that as photographers? Simple. Act naturally. Interact with your subject and carry on a conversation. It will put them at ease and it will bring out their true personality. Not everyone likes to be photographed, but they will like it a whole lot more if they are comfortable with you. Keep your subject involved with what you’re doing and show them a few shots from time to time. It will help them feel connected to you.

Now for the “what not to do” part of this post. Don’t ever, under any circumstances do the “1… 2… 3… snap” trick. That’s the shortest route to a boring and stiff photo. I can’t stress enough that you should never ever use this technique.

So there you have it, a simple yet effective way to make your people shots better.

D90 Rocks at High ISOs!

Nikon did an incredible thing when they put the same Expeed image processing technology into the D90. It’s the same technology that makes the D3 and D700 cameras the leader in high ISO performance. The D90 shoots very usable images up to ISO 3200, with a max ISO of 6400.

With tough economic times in front of us, it’s hard for most of us to spend money on gear unless we are making a living with it. Everyone is chasing fast glass with constant f2.8 or lower apertures. While there’s nothing wrong with that, if you’re shooting a D90 you may not need it for most situations. If you’re shooting dance, sports, or other subjects where you need to be able to stop motion with shutter speed then you will need those really fast lenses.

I shot the image above this weekend at my daughter’s birthday party with her friends. I wanted to get the candlelight on her face so I shut off the flash and cranked the ISO up. I shot this in Manual mode, f5.6, 1/40th, ISO 1600 with a Nikon 16-85mm VR lens.

I didn’t apply any noise reduction to this shot in post because I wanted you to see exactly how well the D90 performs at high ISOs. In print, you probably won’t notice the noise unless you were going to blow it up to 24×36 and even then it wouldn’t be all that bad. If you view the image digitally at 100% you will see the noise, but it gives a nice grainy feel just like film. I kind of like it actually.

So if you’re shooting one of these new cameras from Nikon like the D90, D300, D700, or D3/D3x you probably don’t need that super fast glass to get you by. (If you’ve got a D700 or D3/D3x then money probably isn’t an issue.) If you shoot Canon, you’re simply out of luck because Canon’s technology isn’t close to where Nikon’s is at when it comes to high ISO performance.

Using Flash to Knock Down the Sun

Good morning everybody! I hope you’ve had a great week and are read to head into the weekend. I’m going to wrap up the week with some info on how to knock down the sun with your flash and get good exposure with both your subject and background.

First off, this is an impossible task without some kind of flash. If you’ve read my blog for any length of time you know that I HATE on-camera pop-up flash. In this case, if it’s all you have you have to use it. I used an SB800 on camera and I highly recommend a hot shoe flash in any case.

Here’s what has to happen: you have to get a proper background exposure and bring up our subject with flash. Seems simple, right? In the shot above, the sun was behind my subject which means that if I had shot it with no flash one of two things would have happened. Either my subject would have been properly exposed and my background would be blown out (overexposed) or my background would have been properly exposed and my subject would have been very dark and underexposed.

Because my D90’s max flash sync speed is 1/200th of a second, that’s what I set my shutter speed at in Manual mode. I set my aperture at f11, which gave me a proper background exposure with my ISO at 200.

I set my SB800 to TTL-BL mode (TTL Balanced) which lets the flash get exposure information from the camera and when the flash fires, it pops in just enough light to properly expose your subject while keeping your background exposure where it’s at. Basically it tries not to overpower the ambient light in the scene. I use this technique on the street when I’m grabbing quick shots and I don’t have time to mess with manual power settings on my flash.

So there you have it, a quick and easy way to knock down the power of the sun with flash. Remember that on bright sunny days like it was yesterday, you won’t be able to get shots like this at wide apertures like f2.8, f4, f5.6 and so on. At least not with using the method I described above. There’s another method you can use, but that’s another post for another day!

Have a great weekend!

Digital WakeUp Call Reminder – You Just Gotta Go!

David Ziser’s Digital WakeUp Call 2009 Tour is off and running and has been a huge success. The reviews he is receiving are incredible! If you are only able to attend one photography workshop this year, I wouldn’t miss this one!

For those of you out there who don’t know David Ziser, he is an amazing instructor and photographer with the accolades to back it up. He teaches each year at Photoshop World and is a world-renowned wedding and portrait photographer.

“Wait, but I don’t shoot weddings!” Hold on, don’t click away yet! Even if you don’t shoot weddings there is no doubt in my mind that you will benefit from this workshop. Athletes cross-train right? Well, so can photographers! And you won’t believe what a difference it can make in your images, lighting, and work in general! If I haven’t sold you yet, keep reading because I’m going to show you a way to save $20.00 on your registration fee!

David is teaching DWC in 58 cities across the country. More than likely he’ll be heading somewhere close to you too. Here’s the schedule and registration page. I’ll be at the San Diego event on May 21st. If you happen to see me there, come up and say hello.

David made a special offer for Stephen Zeller Photography readers. Enter code ZSZDWC09 to get in for $59 – a savings of $20. That’s an incredible deal considering that you’ll go home with materials worth $250 more than you paid to get in:

* Tour Handbook: includes program notes, photography, marketing & more
* 2 Hour DVD with extended program content
* $100 Rebate from American Color Imaging
* 1 year membership to WPPI and Rangefinder magazine, a $99 value
* FREE 3 month membership to DigitalProTalkPlus.com, a $45 value
* FREE 3 month subscription to PPA Magazine, a $15 value
* FREE PPA Indemnification (no-fault) insurance for all new PPA members
* Over $2,500 in door prizes awarded each evening
* And a chance to win 1 of 4 Grand Prizes worth over $5,000

Bonus For Canon Shooters: David is a Canon shooter too. His demos are based on Canon gear.

I just wanted to give all my readers a friendly reminder about this awesome seminar! I really can’t express enough how much you will gain by attending. Again, if you’re attending the San Diego seminar I’ll see you there!