We’ve all seen it in our images: that uneven grainy look that makes even otherwise outstanding photos look unappealing. But how can you avoid noise? And, in cases where it’s unavoidable, how do you reduce noise in photos?

Fortunately, dealing with noise is easier than you might realize, even if you don’t own a $5000+ camera with breathtaking low-light capabilities. In this article, I’m going to share plenty of tips and tricks for both preventing and removing noise, including:

• What causes image noise
• Five simple ways to stop noise from ever appearing in your images
• A noise reduction workflow you can use to reduce noise in Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw

Sound good? Let’s dive right in, starting with the important first question:

What is noise?

In the context of digital photography, noise is aberrant pixels that appear in your image files.

In other words, noise is made up of pixels not correctly representing the color or exposure of the scene. If you photograph a dark blue wall, and in certain portions of the file, you can see speckles of white, red, or green, noise is probably the culprit!

You’re likely familiar with another type of noise: the static that you sometimes hear when you’re tuning a radio or watching TV. That static is caused by signal distortion or interference; it’s not deliberately included as part of the broadcast but is instead a result of the broadcasting process.

Technically, almost every image file contains some level of noise, even if it’s invisible to the naked eye. If you open an apparently noise-free photo and zoom in to 400%, for instance, you’ll probably start to see aberrations in the pixels, even if they’re slight. However, in this article, I’ve focused my discussion on significant noise (i.e., noise that’s visible or that threatens to become visible with small adjustments in post-processing).

Why does noise happen?

Noise is introduced when you shoot a long-exposure image or use a high ISO setting on your camera.

(What counts as a high ISO setting? That depends on your camera model, but these days, most cameras start producing noisy files around ISO 1600 or 3200.)

Does that mean you should never do long exposures or go over ISO 100? No! There are times you may need – or even want – to use long exposures or raise the ISO. Landscape photographers, event photographers, and wildlife photographers shoot in low light all the time, which requires long exposures and/or a high ISO.

At the same time, there are simple ways to avoid too much noise in your photos, even when using the above techniques, which I’ll discuss in the next section:

5 ways to reduce noise in-camera

Below, I share the five methods for minimizing noise while out shooting.

Not every method will apply to every situation, which is why it pays to be familiar with all of them – and to carefully choose the right method for your particular shot.

1. Shoot at lower ISO settings

Yes, we’re starting with the most obvious method. But photographers often push their ISO too high, too fast, leading to bad image quality.

Now, if your camera includes relatively new sensor technology, the ISO functionality will be great. You shouldn’t see too much noise creeping into your images, even up to ISO 3200. However, there might still be some noise at the higher ISO numbers, such as ISO 6400, ISO 12800, and beyond.

So don’t raise your ISO with abandon. Instead, be aware of your exposure, and recognize that shooting at a high ISO will produce more noise in your images. Boost your ISO if necessary, but consider other options before dialing in ISO 12800.

Here are a few items to think about before increasing the ISO:

• Open your aperture to its widest setting (e.g., f/2.8)
• If you are shooting in low light, use a tripod and drop your shutter speed
• If you are shooting a smaller subject (e.g., a person), use a flash

Each of these strategies will help you get a nice, bright exposure – without unnecessarily raising the ISO.

Of course, if your shots are still turning out dark, then you will need to push the ISO up higher. I’d recommend doing some test shots to find out your camera’s ISO capabilities and at what point the ISO settings start to really degrade image quality.

For many years, I shot on a Nikon D80, and I knew that anything above ISO 500 was really difficult to use. Noise at ISO 640 and beyond became difficult to remove. And if I was able to successfully remove it, the whole image looked like a watercolor painting thanks to the noise reduction process. So I worked within my constraints.

2. Shoot in RAW format

Does the idea of shooting in RAW intimidate you? It shouldn’t! RAW is a great way to get the best out of your images, so be sure to use it.

You don’t have to shoot RAW all the time. But when you notice that the light is becoming a little too dark, switch over to RAW.

Why is this so important?

JPEGs come with compression – a process during which noise becomes baked into your images. So removing noise in post-production becomes really tough (as does increasing exposure, which is often important in high-ISO situations).

3. Expose correctly from the start

Boosting a too-dark exposure will reveal noise – which is why it’s essential that you get your exposures right from the very beginning.

When out shooting, I highly recommend checking your camera’s LCD – including the histogram – to make sure you’ve nailed the exposure.

And don’t be afraid to take several shots at different exposures, especially if you’re dealing with a tricky scene; better to be safe than sorry!

Also, the higher your ISO, the more unforgiving the file. In other words: If you’re using a high ISO, you had better get the exposure right, because boosting an underexposed high-ISO image will result in a noisy mess.

(Of course, don’t overexpose, either. While overexposure won’t cause problems with noise, it will obliterate detail, which is never a good thing.)

4. Be careful when doing long exposures

Long exposures produce some of the most dramatic images.

But if the exposure is too long, the camera sensor may heat up, causing unwanted noise.

Don’t let this stop you from doing long exposures – if you love long exposures, then do long exposures – just be aware of how your camera handles the long exposure time.

In fact, you might consider shooting a series of long exposures, then checking each file on your computer for noise.

Then, once you’ve determined your camera’s limitations, make sure you don’t set your shutter speed for longer than your camera can handle.

The key point here is to know the limits of your gear and to shoot within those limits. You’ll end up with great images and have an easy time when editing.

5. Use in-camera noise reduction

Most cameras offer a function called Long Exposure Noise Reduction, and if you’re doing long exposures, it’s a good idea to turn it on.

Why?

Well, as discussed above, long exposure photos are especially prone to noise. A long exposure noise reduction option is designed to counteract this issue – by taking a second shot after the first, then using the noise profile of the second image to subtract noise from the first.

Long exposure noise reduction comes with a serious drawback, though: it takes time, usually as long as the original exposure. So if you use a 30-second shutter speed, the camera will take an additional 30 seconds to get rid of the noise. And if you shoot for an hour, you’ll need another hour to reduce the noise, which is an annoyingly long time to wait!

So yes, it may be impractical if you are doing 10-minute shots. But for medium-length long exposures, it’s often worth doing.

(And if you do have the timed, do it on the very long exposures too, as it can dramatically improve the image quality.)

Reducing noise in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw

Even with the best techniques, you’ll still end up with noise in your photos – at least on occasion.

This is where post-processing noise reduction techniques come in handy!

Different software offers different noise reduction options, and I’m going to focus on two popular (and near-identical) programs from Adobe: Lightroom Classic and Adobe Camera Raw.

Below, I share my recommended workflow, but as you follow along, note that you’ll be able to use very similar methods in other programs!

Also note that you’ll generally want to complete all your other edits before reducing noise. This is because exposure adjustments, as well as sharpening adjustments, can make noise more visible. If you start by reducing noise and then apply a series of edits that amplify any existing noise, you’ll be forced to reduce noise a second time. This is inefficient, and it can also degrade image quality (since the noise reduction process does involve some loss of detail). So once you’ve done your basic edits, here’s how to proceed:

Step 1: Open your image and view it at 100 percent

Start by opening your image in Lightroom or Photoshop.

Note that RAW images opened in Photoshop will first go through Adobe Camera Raw, which is what you want. Again, remember that the controls in Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom are almost identical, so most of the instructions are applicable to both ACR and Lightroom users.

I recommend viewing your image full screen, then zooming into 100 percent. The goal is to look for noise; after all, not all images require noise reduction.

If you don’t see any noise, then there’s no need to apply any noise reduction. However, if you do notice some noise, and you feel it’s harming the image quality, proceed with the next step:

Step 1.5: Try the Denoise button (optional)

Adobe recently added an AI-powered denoise feature to Lightroom. It works by analyzing your selected image for noise; then it creates a DNG copy of your file that has been tweaked to remove noise while retaining detail.

Importantly, the Denoise button is only available in Lightroom, not Adobe Camera Raw. So if you’re an ACR user, you’ll want to skip straight to the next step. If you’re a Lightroom user, however, you’ll find the AI Denoise option in the Detail panel:

If you’re looking to reduce noise in your photos and you don’t mind waiting around, hitting the Denoise button can often do the trick. Once you press the button, you’ll see this dialog box, which includes a few basic settings:

I like to leave the Denoise Amount slider at its default value, though if the zoomed-in preview on the left looks either too noisy or too smooth, I’ll adjust the slider accordingly.

In Lightroom, I also recommend making sure the Create Stack option is checked. This tells the program to group the noise-reduced file with the original file for easy reference later.

Finally, hit Enhance, and wait for Lightroom’s AI to process your file.

In my experience, this approach does a reasonably good job of reducing noise, but it comes with a huge downside:

It takes forever to run (unless you own a state-of-the-art computer, at least).

If you look carefully at the screenshot I included above, Lightroom estimates that the noise reduction process will take a whopping 13 minutes to complete. For some folks, that won’t be a problem, but for others – such as those who edit high volumes of photos for clients – it’s just not worth the wait.

Regardless, you can always proceed with the manual noise reduction steps I discuss below:

Step 2: Adjust the Luminance slider

The Luminance slider reduces luminance noise (i.e., noise resulting from over- or underexposed pixels).

And many, many high-ISO images suffer from excessive luminance noise.

So zoom in to 100 percent, then boost the Luminance slider until the noise starts to disappear.

Don’t go too far, however,

Step 3: Fine-tune your result with the Luminance Detail and Luminance Contrast sliders

The Luminance Detail and Luminance Contrast sliders control the amount of detail and contrast preserved in your photos following luminance noise reduction.

You see, noise reduction smooths out noisy pixels, which automatically reduces detail and contrast. But by boosting these sliders, you’ll retain detail and contrast.

As you’d expect, the sliders do come with a drawback:

When you increase the values, you decrease the strength of the noise reduction. So while you’ll end up with a sharper image, you’ll also see more noise.

Step 4: Adjust the Color slider

The Color slider reduces color noise – which is the second type of noise you’ll find in your photos (often in the underexposed shadow areas).

So boost the Color noise slider, and zoom into 100 percent to see its effects.

Step 5: Fine-tune your result with the Color Detail and Color Smoothness sliders

As with luminance noise reduction (above), you can further adjust your image with the Color Detail and Color Smoothness sliders.

Want more detail in your photo? Boost the Color Detail slider. Higher values will protect thin, detailed color edges, but can also result in color speckles. Lower values remove color speckles but can result in color bleeding.

Want to keep colors nice and smooth? Boost the Color Smoothness slider.

And you’re done!

A final note on noise reduction

While I wish I could give you standard, one-size-fits-all settings for noise reduction, it just doesn’t work that way. Every image is different, so you’ll need to slide each adjustment around until you get your desired result.

I tend to increase Luminance and Color to about 50, then work from there. I slide each option up and down, carefully watching how it affects the image while zoomed in to 100 percent.

Then, after each adjustment, I zoom out to see the effect it has on the overall image. And if I’m happy with an adjustment, I move onto the next slider.

Is the process a little tedious? Sure. But if done properly, you’ll eliminate most of the unsightly noise in just about any image.

Practice is also important here, so try this on as many images as you can. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to predict the effect of each change.

How to avoid and reduce noise in your photos: final words

Now that you’ve finished this article, you know that avoiding and reducing noise shouldn’t be too complicated. Just follow the steps I’ve given, and your images will turn out great!

While it’s best to avoid noise from the get-go, reducing noise during post-processing is definitely a solid option. So focus on a two-pronged approach: do your best to avoid noise, and then clean up any remaining noise with software.

Now over to you:

Do you have any other tips for noise reduction and removal? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post How to Avoid and Reduce Noise in Your Photos (A Practical Guide) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Barry J Brady.

A few winters back, I was photographing on a high mountain pass. Low clouds and scattered sun danced across the snow-covered slopes, blown by a chill wind from the north. The view below came and went as fog blew past, opening and closing the scene like curtains. Enthralled, I snapped photos of the stark mountains, the pale sun, the glowing patches of light on the snow.

These shots are going to be awesome, I thought to myself.

A few hours later, I opened my computer and downloaded the images. I could see right away that they were indeed awesome! I sat and stared, certain that these were some of the best shots of the trip. The way the light played across the mountains, the storm light on the rock and snow slopes; yeah, it was great.

But a week later, as I was putting together images from the trip, I revisited those photos. Huh, I thought, I could have sworn those shots were better. I mean, they’re decent, but they’re not extraordinary. What happened?

I soon realized that the difference had to do with emotional distance. My initial assessment of the photos was clouded by the intensity of my feelings – but after spending time away from the files, I could separate myself emotionally from the experience of making them.

In other words, after a week, I could view those shots almost as though someone else had made them. As a result, many more of the photos ended up in the “delete” pile than I would have originally expected.

What I’m getting at here is that culling your photos is hard. Getting that emotional distance, thinking about what makes one photo great and another photo lackluster, determining how to reject some of your hard-won images – it’s a struggle for practically all photographers, including seasoned professionals.

Fortunately, there are certain steps you can take while reviewing your images to ensure that you keep (and reject) the relevant photos, which is what I discuss in this article. So without further ado, here are the five steps to follow as you cull and assess your images.

Step 1: Check the technical details

After importing the photos of a recent shoot into my Lightroom Catalog, I like to look at each image quickly – at full-screen size – and assess each for any technical faults.

I ask myself a series of questions:

Is the image out of focus (I check this at 100% or 1:1 view)? Is the composition obviously wonky? What about exposure; is the exposure so wrong that I can’t correct it?

If the answer is “Yes” to any of these questions, I immediately delete the image (or flag it as a reject by hitting X) and move on to the next file.

I encourage you to do the same here. Give each file a full-screen look, and do a technical assessment.

The trick in this first step is not to go beyond the technical details. This is not the time to try and gauge overall image quality. It’s just about deleting the obvious screw-ups.

Step 2: Do a second pass

If I’m eager to spend some time with my photos or I’ve got a deadline, I’ll do a quick second pass, where I go through the shots again soon after completing Step 1. Lightroom and many other image-organization programs offer the ability to flag images with different colors and/or rating codes, and I like to use this to give my files a more detailed evaluation.

Scrolling through my images, I color-code the good and bad standouts. Images that I like get coded green, purple, or blue (the color relates to my personal filing system). Images that I don’t particularly like, for one reason or another, get flagged red.

Some images do not get flagged at all. These are usually images about which I’m ambivalent. They are good enough not to get the dreaded red flag but not so good that I want to highlight them immediately.

At this point, I’ll start post-processing my favorite shots, but I won’t delete anything – that comes later!

I think this second pass is important for identifying the really solid photos from the mediocre and unimpressive shots, but I’ll also note that you can push this step until after Step 3 or Step 4, depending on the scenario and what works for you.

(One more tip: The color coding I do doesn’t need to match your own color coding! You can use a red-green-uncoded system if you like, or you can add in additional colors for more nuanced coding, or you can work with a flag/no flag/reject flag approach. The important thing is that you’re evaluating your images a second time and identifying files based on more than basic technical quality.)

Step 3: Let your photos rest

As I mentioned in the introduction, immediately following a shoot, we get emotionally caught up in our images, for better or for worse. If a shoot goes well – like my experience on the mountain – you may have the feeling that your images are better than they actually are. If a shoot goes poorly, on the other hand, you may feel like all your images suck (when, in fact, they may not!).

The solution is to give the images some space. Pull back for a few days, don’t look at them, don’t edit them. Put your new photos out of sight, and give yourself some emotional distance from the experience of making your images.

After a few days, a week, or even longer, you can continue with Step 4 (or Step 2, if you haven’t yet done your second pass).

Step 4: Consider how your images will be used

Now it’s time for your next pass. You’ve had some time away from your photos, and you’re ready to look at them with fresh eyes.

As you dive back into your collection, review each shot – but with a focus on how the image will be put to use. If you are shooting for a client, then you may already have a good idea of the kind of images you need to deliver.

For example, the conservation groups I work for usually provide me with a brief on the project. In that document, they will note specific types of images or video they need. As I’m pulling selections for them, I’ll consider their requirements and put special effort into finding and editing images that match.

Usually, however, I don’t have clients telling me which images are best, or which images I need to deliber. Without anyone guiding me, I lean toward variety.

When I first started shooting seriously, I saved almost every image. I was too attached to each one. Later, as my image catalog and hard drives began to swell, I became heartless with images, deleting all but one or two from a series, even good alternatives to my selects. Now I’ve settled somewhere in between because I don’t always know how an image will be put to use, so I like to have some variety available.

Magazine editors will often be looking for images with big areas of negative space that can accommodate text. Big wall prints require images that are immaculately sharp and high resolution. Illustrative shots, often sold for stock or for small use in publications, need to be tight with only the bare minimum of room around the subject.

While editing, I plan for these eventualities. I like to select four or five images featuring a variety of compositions from any given scene, but not more.

As an example, below are my five selects from an encounter with a brown bear in Southeast Alaska. Each of the five images has been published in national magazines, and each time, the editor wanted the image for a different layout – some involving text, some as a simple stamp-size illustration.

The bottom line is you never know what is going to appeal to different viewers, so it’s important to keep a group of images with some diversity. Don’t just pick the one photo you think is best and then reject the rest.

Again, don’t get caught up on what you see as the best image from a series. Rather, give thought to how you might want to use images from the shoot in the future. Red code (or however you tag your images) the faulty ones, or near-duplicates, but retain some variety in the greens/selects pile.

Step 5: Do one final check

By this time, your collection of images will be a checkerboard of red and green. The red images are flagged for deletion, and the greens (and other colors) are set aside as keepers.

If you are like me, you’ve created enough duplicate, failure, and screw-up files that the reds wildly outnumber the greens and unlabeled images.

Before I hit “delete,” I give each image one more look – just to make sure I’m not cutting something that I might want to keep. Sometimes if an image is unique, even if it’s not what I think of as “good,” I’ll hold onto it.

More than once, I’ve scrolled back through my Lightroom catalog and stumbled on an image that, for one reason or another, I never gave a close look. At the time I created it, I must have considered it unremarkable but didn’t consider it bad enough to delete. Years later, I’ve found some gems in those un-flagged images.

How to cull your photos: final words

Selecting keepers from a series of images is not always as straightforward as it seems!

What is “good” and what is “bad” is subjective, and it can change depending on your emotional distance and the purposes for which an image might be put to use. Consider each image carefully and use your delete key as needed, but don’t get too enthusiastic pushing that button. Deleted images can never be recovered, after all!

Now over to you:

How do you approach image culling? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post How to (Effectively) Cull Your Photos: 5 Steps to Follow Before You Hit “Delete” appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by David Shaw.

Vintage fades and washes have recently become quite popular. Perhaps since modern DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, and even smartphones can capture such high-quality, color-neutral images, there’s more of a desire to reach toward the past with these vintage effects. Or perhaps vintage effects offer viewers a sense of nostalgia, which is very much in vogue.

Regardless of the reason you want to add a vintage effect to your images, I’m happy to report that it’s a relatively easy look to achieve. In Photoshop, I like to create vintage washes by cross-processing with Curves, and that’s what I’ll explain today. It’s also important to realize that you can get similar results using Curves in other post-processing programs (such as Lightroom); plus, there’s more than one way to get the look you’re after, so once you understand the basics, feel free to experiment with other post-processing tools!

Oh, and the best part? This technique will take you less than one minute to do manually, and only seconds if you turn it into a Photoshop Action.

Let’s dive right in!

What is a vintage look?

Before we get into creating the effect, I want to briefly discuss what we are trying to achieve. In vintage photos, colors fade over time. The first color to typically begin fading is usually the blues in the highlights of the image. Because of this, the reds and greens of an image become more prevalent in the highlights.

However, the reds and greens fade in the shadows, thus revealing more of the blues in the darker portions of vintage photos.

In other words, for a vintage effect, you want to remove blues in the highlights, while removing the reds and greens in the shadows (and vice versa).

This process is exactly what we are going to mimic in Photoshop using Curves. What’s cool about Photoshop’s Curves tool is that it lets you target different color channels individually by tweaking the relevant graph; not only does this allow for a lot of precision, but it also helps you visualize the necessary adjustments.

Below is our standard color-corrected image to which we will apply our effect:

By the end of the tutorial, the image will look far less modern and give off those nostalgic, vintage vibes!

How to apply the vintage look in Photoshop

As I explained above, adding a vintage look is easy, and you can do it in under a minute. Here’s my step-by-step approach (and I encourage you to follow along with an image of your own):

Step 1: Open your image and create a Curves adjustment layer

To start, you’ll want to pick an image that will look nice when given the vintage treatment. This is somewhat subjective, but it might make sense to work with a photo that contains relatively timeless subjects. In other words, it’s perhaps a good idea to vintage-edit a photo of a classic car rather than a photo of last year’s Chevy SUV. (On the other hand, it can be interesting to contrast a vintage look with a modern subject…so don’t take my thoughts here too seriously!)

Make sure that your image is already color-corrected (you can do this in Adobe Camera Raw or Adobe Lightroom Classic) so it’s ready for the vintage treatment.

And finally, with the image open in Photoshop, add a Curves adjustment layer:

You can click on the Adjustment Layer icon, as shown above; alternatively, you can select Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves in the main Photoshop menu.

You’ll then see a box like this one:

Step 2: Adjust the Red channel

As we mentioned, vintage photos fade so the reds are pumped up in the highlights and dropped in the shadows to reveal the blues.

We are going to do just that by selecting the Red Channel in our Curves dialog box:

Next, add a point on the line near the highlights (around three-fourths of the way into the graph) and drag the curve upward. Then add a point near the shadows (around one-fourth of the way into the graph) and drag downward. You should see an S shape like this:

Just bear in mind that the amount you drag the curve will depend on the intensity of the effect you want. The more you push and pull the curve, the more intense the vintage look will ultimately appear. Fortunately, since we’re using adjustment layers, we can always go back and make further tweaks later on!

Step 3: Adjust the Green channel

Now we are going to do the exact same thing with the Green channel.

Select the Green Channel and create the exact same effect by pulling up in the highlights and down in the shadows:

Just a quick tip: I usually like to inflate the reds slightly more than the greens, as you’ll see if you compare the graph displayed in the previous step to the graph displayed in this step. That way, the image gets slightly warmer highlights and slightly cooler shadows.

Once this step is complete, it’s time to work on the final channel:

Step 4: Adjust the Blue Channel

Earlier in this article, I talked about how vintage images typically lose blues in the highlights while the blues become more revealed in the shadows because of the loss of greens/reds. We’ve already pushed our image in that direction by tweaking the Red and Green channels; now let’s do it with the Blue channel.

This time, instead of creating a conventional S-curve, we’re going to produce an inverted S by pulling down the highlights and pulling up the shadows, like so:

And that’s basically it! By pulling up the shadows, we’ve increased the intensity of the blues in the darker parts of the image – and by pulling down the highlights, we’ve effectively made them warmer (i.e., more yellow).

Add finishing touches, then share your vintage-style photo!

Look over your edited image and see what you think. It can also be helpful to compare the edited version to the original by turning on and off the Curves layer in the Layers panel (just click the Eye icon next to the relevant layer).

If you feel like the effect is too strong or doesn’t look quite right, you have a few options. You can simply drop the opacity on your Curves adjustment layer, which will reduce the vintage look across the board. Or you can double-click on your Curves layer to open the Curves dialog box, then tweak the channel graphs until you get a better result.

Once you’re done, you should see something like this:

Which you should then share on social media, or at least in the comments below!

The post How to Create a Vintage Effect in Photoshop (1-Minute Tutorial) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Post Production Pye.

This article was updated in July 2024 with contributions from Megan Kennedy and Jaymes Dempsey.

Once upon a time, in the not-so-distant past, phone cameras were practically useless. They suffered from a slew of problems: low resolutions, poor low-light performance, blurry lenses…Basically, if you were a serious photographer, you used an interchangeable lens camera, and if you were a beginner, you might work with a point-and-shoot model, but you would never even consider taking “quality” photos with your smartphone.

That is no longer the case.

In fact, smartphone cameras have improved so spectacularly that some professional photographers today only shoot with their phones. (The same is true for certain videographers.) Even fine-art photographers who built their reputation on laborious, large-format film processes have completed entire projects using nothing but a smartphone.

The landscape has changed, nearly all smartphones boast high-quality cameras, and it’s possible for anyone to use their phone to create great images.

But here’s the problem: Every camera comes with connotations and stereotypes. Even if you’re a seasoned photographer, it can be tough to break away from a “snapshot” mindset and start taking images that are truly creative.

So in this article, we’ll take a look at some tips to help you capture creative phone photography. Specifically, I’ll share:

• Key settings to make the most of your phone’s camera
• Several tips to get you creating unique, artistic compositions
• A simple secret for surreal-looking phone photos
• Much more!

So if you’re ready to shoot some creative images, then let’s get started!

1. Shoot in RAW

Familiarizing yourself with the ins and outs of your phone camera is an important way to expand your creative options. Modern camera phones have a surprising range of capabilities that you can use for better photos.

For example, it’s a good idea to shoot in a RAW file format, an option now offered by many native camera apps. While JPEGs (or HEICs, if you’re an iPhone user) are the default format on many phones, they experience a loss in image quality thanks to compression – whereas RAW files are uncompressed and therefore tend to look better.

RAW files also offer greater post-processing versatility. You can adjust colors and tones and recover lost details in a natural, realistic way.

I’ll also note that if you shoot in JPEG or HEIC, your phone will generally apply some edits by default. Sometimes, this works – but other times, it results in files that are very plasticky (due to an overuse of noise reduction).

So if you’re after high-quality photos – which allow for extensive enhancement during post-production and avoid the default edits I mentioned above – then switch to RAW. (Even if your mobile phone doesn’t offer RAW in its native camera app, you should still be able to find a third-party app that produces high-quality RAW files.)

Of course, compressed files do have their uses – they can be displayed and shared right away, for instance – and for some smartphone photographers, they’re the better choice. But I encourage you to at least try the RAW format and see what you think!

2. Make the most of Manual mode

As with a conventional camera, Manual mode allows you to take control of your phone’s camera’s settings when capturing a photo. In Manual mode, you can adjust shutter speed, ISO, and white balance – and this additional control allows for greater creative input.

To activate Manual mode (also known as Pro mode) on some devices, open your Camera app and look at the camera mode tray. You should see settings like Timelapse and Panorama, and if you’re lucky, you’ll also have a Pro option.

Tap the Pro mode icon, and you’ll be good to go; you’ll gain access to numerous options for adjusting your phone camera’s functionality.

If your phone doesn’t offer a Pro mode, don’t worry. Simply download a third-party app such as ProCamera or Camera+. These apps feature a Manual mode of sorts, and you can use it to harness your phone camera’s creative potential.

3. Don’t forget about composition!

Over time, plenty of guidelines have been developed to help photographers compose effective images. While none of these guides are inflexible laws, if you’re familiar with some basic compositional concepts, your photos will come a long way.

Of course, compositional knowledge translates to creative phone photography, too! For example, by activating your phone camera’s grid function, you’ll get a useful visual overlay, perfect for positioning key points of interest.

Learn about the rule of thirds, leading lines, the rule of space, triangular composition, and more; each of these will be helpful tools that’ll aid in your creative phone photography.

4. Make use of editing apps

I’ve already mentioned how third-party camera apps can give you increased control over your phone camera. But did you know that editing apps offer a whole other world of creativity?

For instance, Snapseed (Android and iOS) is a (free!) Google-owned application with plenty of tools for tweaking images and applying filters. VSCO (Android and iOS) offers some editing functions for free, including artistic, film-like filters. Adobe Lightroom (Android and iOS) supplies image editing tools similar to its desktop counterpart for free, and it can also be upgraded to a paid premium version for additional functionality.

(Unlike VSCO and Snapseed, only the paid version of Lightroom will edit RAW files.)

There are plenty of fun, creative apps available for both iOS and Android devices. Need a retro aesthetic? Afterlight (above, left) provides users with an advanced toolkit to add light leak effects to an image. Want to combine two images into a single photograph? Snapseed (above, right) allows you to quickly and easily merge image layers to create a double-exposure effect.

There are a multitude of apps that suit a huge variety of purposes and capabilities. The fun part is trying them all out!

5. Try different perspectives

One of the great things about creative phone photography is the mobility of a small photographic device. A camera phone isn’t just an accessory; it’s a pocket-sized machine capable of capturing stunning photos.

So take advantage of the size and portability of a phone camera by physically experimenting to create intriguing perspectives. Place your phone close to the ground, try a high angle, or shoot from off to the side. Just make sure to get a non-conventional perspective, and you’re bound to end up with interesting results.

6. Go abstract

Also known as experimental, non-objective, or conceptual photography, abstract photography avoids depicting immediately identifiable subject matter.

In fact, creative phone photography and abstraction are a good mix. The accessibility of the phone camera allows you to snap abstract images anywhere, anytime. For instance, when you’re out in a city, you might capture abstract images of puddles on the ground, posters torn off a wall, or reflections in a glass building.

And thanks to readily available editing apps, unique abstract perspectives can be rapidly captured, edited, and shared – or even saved as inspiration for a later shoot with a dedicated camera.

7. Photograph details

If you have your phone in your pocket all the time – and let’s face it, most of us do! – you’ll be ready to capture even the smallest occurrences at a moment’s notice.

Even when it’s tough to find inspiration, focusing on the details that shape an everyday environment can make for beautiful photos. Try activating your phone’s close-up or macro function, then get close to a subject. You can even purchase little lenses that attach to your phone for close-up photography. A small tripod or a sturdy surface can help keep the camera phone steady.

8. Experiment!

It may sound obvious, but doing great phone photography can take a little experimentation. Many people assume (due to the advanced and accessible nature of phone camera technology) that every shot will be successful.

But in reality, practice and experimentation are the keys to effective creative phone camera photography. Familiarize yourself with your phone camera’s capabilities and make time to shoot. The more you experiment, the better your images will turn out.

Capture beautiful photos with your phone!

Phone photography is a great way to create stunning photos, especially if you want to be artistic without investing in a heavy camera.

Plus, with such a huge variety of apps available, doing creative phone photography has become a much more streamlined process.

There is an old saying: “The best camera is the one you have with you.” And while this might not always be the case, if you take advantage of your phone camera, you can create some truly outstanding images!

Now over to you:

Have you done a lot of phone photography? How do you like it? Which of these tips do you plan to use first? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Creative Phone Photography: 8 Tips for Artistic Mobile Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

If you enjoy photographing landscapes, you may have heard the term “fine art landscape photography,” which gets thrown around a lot in certain circles.

But is fine art landscape photography something you should aspire to make? Is it relevant to your work? And what distinguishes a fine art photograph from a snapshot?

In this article, I’m going to explain everything you need to know about fine art landscape shooting. I’ll start with an attempt to define it – and I’ll go on to give you plenty of tips you can use to improve your own fine art landscape images.

Let’s get started.

What is fine art landscape photography?

Some terms are hard to define, and fine art photography falls into that category. As Ansel Adams pointed out, “There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.”

But as I understand it, fine art photography is less about the subject and more about the photographer. The goal in fine art landscape photography is not to simply show the viewer what you saw; it’s to communicate how it felt to be there and how the scene made you feel.

“Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.”

— Don McCullin

Some landscape photographers are more concerned with looking than feeling. If that’s you, then perhaps the “fine art” label isn’t something you should aspire to.

But if communicating feelings through your landscape photographs is important to you, or if it’s something you want to try, then understanding the approach behind fine art shooting is surely worth your time.

How to capture fine art landscape images: 11 essential tips

So how do you communicate feelings through landscape photos? Here’s my best advice to help you out:

1. Think about what would make your image unique

Have you ever been making a landscape photo at a location where other photographers are lined up next to you also working the scene?

Most of us have. When you’re faced with such a scenario, however, the question to be asked is:

How will your photo be different, unique, special? What is it about your image that will stand out? How can you put your unique signature on the shot?

The choices you make to create an image that is uniquely yours matter. Any cook can follow a recipe, and if a dozen cooks all work from that same recipe, the dishes will be essentially indistinguishable. The gourmet chef making their signature dish, however, will strive to make the meal unique.

And as a fine art landscape photographer, your objective ought to be the same!

“Great photography is about depth of feeling, not depth of field.”

— Peter Adams

2. Be intentional and deliberate

Most landscape photography can be done at a slow and thoughtful pace. (The exception is when the light is rapidly changing – but even then, if you arrive early and/or plan carefully, you’ll still have time for thoughtful image-making.)

Rather than simply seeing a scene, positioning your tripod, shooting first, and asking questions later, do the opposite. Before even touching your camera, thoughtfully observe the scene. Slow down.

Ask yourself what first attracted you to the scene. How does it make you feel? How can you best compose the shot? What if you moved higher, lower, to a different vantage point, used a different lens? What can you do to best capture your feelings in the frame?

Never be a one-and-done shooter. Take advantage of the instant playback capability of your camera, evaluate your image, and decide what might be better.

Then make a few more shots.

While he’s not a photographer and not talking about fine art landscape photography, famed hockey player Wayne Gretsky still offers advice photographers would do well to remember:

You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.

— Wayne Gretsky

3. Practice previsualization

You will know your skills are growing as a photographer when you can see your photograph before you even put your eye to the viewfinder.

Eventually, you should previsualize your finished image, have the vision, and then simply use the camera as an instrument to capture that vision.

It’s a beautiful loop:

The more you photograph, the better you become at seeing – and the better you become at seeing, the better your photographs will become.

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”

— Dorothea Lange

But while previsualization is important, fine art landscape photography should always be open to serendipity: those unexpected moments when the light changes, the angels sing, and the miraculous appears for a brief moment for you to capture.

There have often been times when I’ve previsualized a shot, got set up, and waited for the light, only to have something amazing appear behind me out of the blue.

Practice working with your camera controls so that, when such a moment occurs, you can respond quickly and get the shot.

4. Fine art landscapes aren’t just in monochrome

Google “fine art photography,” and you will mostly see black and white (monochrome) images. Due, perhaps, to its long existence, as well as a good number of early photographers for whom black and white was the only option, monochrome photographs may outnumber color images in the world of fine art.

But that’s not to say that color images can’t also be considered fine art photographs.

Circle back to our definition: Fine art photography is more about the artist/photographer and their vision than the content of the photograph. Whether color or monochrome, the best way to portray a vision will depend on the maker’s intent.

“What I love about black and white photographs is that they’re more like reading the book than seeing the movie.”

— Jennifer Price

Now, bear in mind the strengths of black and white photography. Without the addition of color, monochrome images rely more on the basics, the “bones” of a good photo: line, shape, form, tone, and texture.

Black and white images are typically simpler, with greater attention paid to the subject. Sometimes, a monochrome image can convey a look or mood better than its color counterpart.

When deciding whether an image might be best in color or black and white, the fine art photographer needs to come back to the objective, and ask themselves:

Which version best conveys the feelings and vision I had when making the image?

That, and not some notion that fine art photographs are always monochrome, should dictate the direction the photographer takes.

5. Don’t be afraid to alter reality

We talked about fine art photography being less about an accurate interpretation of a subject and more about the photographer’s feelings and vision.

So who says you can’t completely change your image to better convey those things?

Techniques like long shutter speeds to blur moving objects and very fast shutter speeds to totally freeze rapidly moving objects are right at home in fine art photography.

So is purposely blurring scenes with intentional camera movement (ICM) and using special digital tools to give an image a “painterly” look.

Infrared photography or other techniques that shift colors? Sure!

Art is totally subjective, and so is fine art landscape photography.

How you choose to portray a scene is your prerogative, where the “right way” is whatever best communicates your feelings and message.

“I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.”

— Diane Arbus

6. Experiment with interpretive editing

I’ve read much about the phrase “getting it right in camera,” something with which I both agree and disagree. I do believe one should master their camera controls to get the best possible exposure of an image while in the field.

And yes, making the best possible image in the field is important. Never should an editing session be a rescue mission where you try to overcome mistakes made when shooting. Fixing an image in Photoshop can be done, but it’s usually a bad option.

However, enhancing an image with dodging, burning, or any of dozens of other editing techniques is the mark of a skilled fine art photographer. Using editing skills to further interpret an image – to convey feelings and intent – is part of the craft.

People who like to brag that their images are unedited and straight-out-of-camera have likely never studied the work of perhaps the most renowned landscape photographer of all time, Ansel Adams. He didn’t have the advantage of digital editing software to edit his images, yet that didn’t deter him.

Take a look at some of his before and after images, and you will marvel at how much change there was between the camera-captured negative and the final print.

7. Put in the time

Fine art landscape photography isn’t done in a hurry.

I’ve seen software makers claiming their programs will allow you to work faster using artificial intelligence. While these programs have come a long way, I’m not convinced that they can yet equal the quality of old-school human intelligence and a more careful, though slower, style of editing.

You might be able to get some interesting results with a one-click preset, but will it result in an image that communicates your unique vision? If you replace a sky with something “canned,” it might be more dramatic, but is it still your photograph?

I also have to ask: What’s the hurry?

I enjoy photo editing, seeing where I can take an image with some thoughtful work. I know there are those that don’t care for editing, and I guess that’s okay. I just believe that most carefully crafted art takes time.

I have used such software on occasion, and so can you. But rather than just learn the tricks of the trade, how about putting in the time and effort to learn the trade itself?

If fine art landscape photography that has your own personal style and signature look is your objective, there are no shortcuts. One-click presets will only make your work look like everyone else’s!

“Once you learn to care, you can record images with your mind or on film. There is no difference between the two.”

— Anonymous

8. See(k)ing the light

I enjoy various kinds of photography, from table-top still life and macro photography to flash-lit work and especially landscapes. What differentiates landscape photography from many of these other genres is the lighting, the degree of control the photographer has over the scene, and the ease of creating the desired look.

I can previsualize the look I want for a tabletop still life shot, set it up on the kitchen counter, light it, make adjustments, and tweak until I get the shot I like.

Not so for landscape photography.

Instead, I must travel to the area I want to photograph, be there when the weather is cooperative, the light is right, the foliage is in season, and everything else (none of it in my control) all comes together. If it ever does.

But this is also the joy of fine art landscape photography.

It might mean sitting patiently in the pre-dawn chill, hoping the clouds come in just right and the sunrise hits just so. You might hike miles to get to that overlook for a sunset that never comes, or get lucky and have a sudden thunderstorm come in over the canyon with dramatic clouds and lightning.

The lack of control is part of the attraction of landscape photography, the knowledge that luck really is when preparation meets opportunity.

“My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport.”

— Steve McCurry

So if you want to be a great fine art landscape photographer, then you’ll have to work at it. You’ll need to sacrifice a bit, get up before sunrise, stay well after the sun has set, hike into difficult spots, seek places drive-by photographers will never see, and strive to be different with your images, capturing not just what you see, but what you feel.

9. Shoot to a theme

Sometimes, a good way to stimulate your creative juices is to shoot to a theme. Rather than simply grabbing your gear and going to a location to do some landscape photography with whatever you see, decide that you’re going to make all of your images fit a theme.

Visually describe a concept or maybe make photos as if you were doing an article on a place or a single subject. Then, use the visual vocabulary that is your photographs to describe and define that subject.

Add your own style as a fine art landscape photographer to determine what you want your viewer to know and feel about your subject.

“The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.”

— Elliott Erwitt

10. The print is the performance

Today, most photos that are made are probably never printed. Instead, they’re viewed only on monitors or LCD screens, and sometimes projected. In the film days, photographers had no such options. After shooting and developing their film, they were only halfway to being able to show their photograph to viewers. Prints were mandatory.

Ansel Adams viewed it this way: “The negative is the equivalent of the composer’s score, and the print the performance.”

When discussing fine art landscape photography, I must raise the question:

Can a photograph be considered fine art if it is only viewed on a monitor and never printed?

If you’ve spent any time at all in a photo gallery and closely looked at printed photographs, you will know there is no comparison between seeing a printed photograph and seeing that same image on a monitor. Prints can render so much more detail, color, and tone.

Even the type and texture of the paper or other substrate on which a photograph is printed can make a huge difference.

Finally, when viewing photographs on a screen, the light is produced by the screen itself, whereas when you view a print, the light is reflected. It changes the way you view the shot.

So to repeat my question in a different way:

Must a photograph be printed to be considered fine art?

I could argue either side, but I must confess that I’m a big proponent of printing. Yes, learning to make good prints yourself is a whole other skill and not an easy one to learn. Simply getting the color and brightness of a printed image to approximately match what you see on your monitor is a challenge.

But I would argue that learning to print is part of the photographic craft.

You might also choose to hand off your photos to a professional printer whose specialty is knowing how to get the most from your image. That’s okay, too. I guess my point is that the difference between a printed fine art landscape photograph and the same image viewed on a monitor is almost as great as the difference between going to a concert and just watching one on TV.

“Fine art prints created by the artist, or the artist’s collaborator, are important because they best represent the artist’s vision. Images displayed on digital devices are subject to the non-uniform nature of different displays and they may appear radically different than the artist intended.”

— Mac Holbert

11. Your photos are about you

What you see, what attracts your eye and your camera, and how you choose to interpret a subject says a lot about you.

Even if you haven’t consciously defined a “photographic vision” for yourself, chances are good that, if you review your archives, you will be able to identify commonalities in your work.

Hopefully, you will have developed a rating system (perhaps color coding or star rating as can be done in Lightroom) so you can determine which photos you consider to be your favorites. Take some time to look through your best shots and perhaps make some notes about defining styles, features, or techniques.

What are you consistently doing that works, and what signature style do you have?

“Only photograph what you love.”

— Tim Walker

Focus specifically on your landscape images and look for commonalities. What has worked well? What hasn’t worked? How can you find ways to build on your successes and also further define and develop your personal style so that your images communicate with your viewer?

“We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us.”

— Ralph Hattersley

When considering the subject of fine art landscape photography, you may be asking, “Does my work measure up? Am I good enough that my photographs could be considered fine art? Do I belong in the elite club of fine art photographers?”

I would suggest that what constitutes a fine art photograph is less about the quality of the image, and much more about the photographer’s success communicating something to the viewer.

“Good photographs are like good jokes. If you have to explain them, they aren’t very good.”

Anonymous

If you want to be successful in fine art landscape photography, or any other genre of photography, for that matter, teach your photos to speak for themselves. If they were displayed in a gallery without you there to say a word, what would they say to a viewer? What would a person feel when viewing them?

Yes, a photo can be worth 1000 words, maybe more. But it has to speak for itself!

Create beautiful fine art landscape photos

Now that you’ve finished this article, you know all about fine art landscape photography.

And you know how to create some beautiful fine art landscape shots of your own!

So get out and get shooting. Best wishes in your photographic endeavors!

Fine art landscape photography FAQs

The post Fine Art Landscape Photography: The Complete Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

Have you ever felt fed up with photography? Disillusioned? Frustrated? Uninspired? Burnt out? If so, you are not alone in your feelings. Take it from me: Most of us feel that way at some point or another, often on multiple occasions. Fortunately, there is a lot of sound advice for when you feel that way.

(For instance, you might try new techniques for a different perspective and a fresh outlook, or you might spend time looking at photobooks in search of inspiration…)

In this article, I discuss one particularly common piece of advice for photographers; even if you haven’t received it directly, you will have probably heard it (or read it) being given to someone else at some point.

Here’s the advice: When you feel burnt out (or fed up, or uninspired, or down), take a break from photography.

On the surface, this can seem like a great idea and a great piece of advice. However, once you dig a bit deeper and dissect the possible outcomes, you should see that a break from photography has significant consequences.

I’m not saying that a break can’t do you good. However, it’s important to recognize both the benefits and drawbacks, and how they’ll affect you (and, if you have one, your business) before you make the decision to step away.

I took a break, and the consequences were real

This topic is quite personal. I followed this advice several years ago after struggling with severe burnout. Because of this, the topics discussed in this article are based on some of the things I experienced after taking a break.

That said, even though this is quite personal, I try to keep that aspect out of this article as much as possible. My goal is to keep things analytical and leave the anecdotes to a minimum.

And I want to emphasize that your situation and experiences won’t be the same as mine. I may have experienced negative consequences when taking a break from photography, but that doesn’t mean you will. If you’re on the fence about it, I encourage you to have a good, hard think about whether any of this applies to you.

Photographic breaks come with benefits

As mentioned, the advice photographers often get is to take a break from photography. This does have some benefits (and I did experience those).

By taking a step back, you can gain both space and time to give things an honest appraisal and discover exactly what is causing the feelings of frustration that led you to the point of wanting to take a break in the first place. This a huge advantage, and if used well, you can take that insight and fix, or cut out, whatever was causing your frustrations.

Some of the things that are easier to evaluate from a safe distance include: what you like and don’t like, the direction your photography is heading in, your working habits, and your personal values and how they apply to your photography.

That time can also give you the opportunity to let some information sink in. If there’s a concept or a technique that you just can’t wrap your head around, stepping away from actively pursuing it gives your brain the opportunity to work on the problem in the background.

Why taking a break can be a problem

While the benefits of taking a break are clear, some of the potential negative consequences are less obvious. Here are points to keep in mind as you make your decision:

1. Your habits may degrade

If you’ve been involved with photography for any amount of time, you have gradually built a series of habits and systems that you go through every time you take photos. This could be your post-processing workflow, it could be the way you research locations, or it could be the way you conduct yourself on social media.

The thing is, these habits and processes were built step by step. You didn’t just wake up one day and have a complete post-processing workflow in place.

When you decide to take a break, you’re taking a break from your habits and routines. If these were developed over years of practice and daily ritual, what happens when your break is over? Chances are, when you come back, you may very well struggle to jump back into those complex habits. Instead of building things up gradually, you are trying to get back into a routine all at once. This can be extremely difficult at the best of times.

If you think about this just in the context of social media, posting content every day (or at least regularly) can be a significant job with plenty of work going into each post. Stopping that routine and then trying to come back to it months later could be overwhelming, and it might take significant effort to overcome a challenge like that.

There’s also the possibility that once you step away from social media, you may very well recognize just how toxic it can be. This makes it even more difficult to willingly step back into that arena – even though it’s often a necessary part of building a photographic business or brand.

2. Tools and techniques can change

Depending on how long your break lasts, things that you take for granted can change dramatically. My break lasted a couple of years. During that time, Photoshop transformed into something only slightly recognizable. Lightroom became the go-to image manager and editor for photographers, and Instagram went from iOS users only to taking over the world.

You can probably see the disadvantages here. In this technological world, everything changes at a ridiculous pace. By taking time out, you are removing yourself from a position where you can adjust to these changes as they happen. When you decide to come back, you now have an enormous workload of stuff that you have to learn or relearn just to put yourself at the same level you were before.

3. People can change

If you’re a portrait photographer or any sort of client-based photographer, this is probably the most applicable point to you.

Much as the tools of the trade change over time, so will your network. Once you’re on a break, any previous contacts or clients will move on and find another photographer. Models, make-up artists, and other collaborators may move on or change focus themselves.

This applies equally to social media and real-life networking.

If you weren’t on a break, this isn’t avoidable – but your network would still be growing naturally. However, if you’re not there to grow that network, the holes that these people leave will be empty once your break is over. If your break lasts a couple of years, you may come back to find that the network that you put a significant amount of time and effort into building is decimated.

4. Piecing it back together can be hard

All of these things on their own may not seem insurmountable, but once you add them all together, they can become an enormous challenge that will set you back in both time and effort.

Having to refocus on these things also means that once you’ve decided that you’re ready to come back to photography, you have to put a great deal of time into the things that aren’t photography.

For a lot of people who are frustrated and disillusioned with their shooting, it is often these ancillary administrative tasks that cause feelings of frustration and disillusionment in the first place.

Weigh your choices!

If you are in a position where you are considering taking a break, I understand and I empathize. A lot of photographers have been there before.

But before you make a decision, please, please take the time to consider all of the possible consequences.

Again, my circumstances will be different from yours and your consequences may not look remotely like mine – but there will likely be consequences that you aren’t yet able to see. Please dig deep, think about your scenario, and try to take them into account.

Have you taken a break from photography before? Are you considering taking a break now? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below!

The post The Problem With Taking a Break From Photography: Advice From a Pro appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

The moon is a beautiful, breathtaking, captivating subject – but if you’ve ever tried to photograph the moon, you’ve probably discovered that it’s frustratingly tricky to get right.

For one, most moon photography must be done at night, when the light is limited, which often results in blurry, poorly exposed images. Additionally, while the moon is a large object, it’s very far away, so you’ll need a lot of reach if you want a shot at capturing decent detail.

Fortunately, these problems are far from insurmountable. Photographing the moon may be hard, but it’s certainly possible – and in this article, I share all the essential dos and don’ts to take your moon images from snapshots to stunning art.

1. Always use a tripod

One of the most important pieces of equipment for shooting the moon is a good tripod.

Since the moon is so small, it is very important to have a sturdy foundation, because even the most minute movement of the camera will cause your image to blur. 

You might think that, if you use a fast enough shutter speed, you can handhold the camera. But since your subject is so small in the frame, even small movements will be exaggerated, and you’ll often end up with blurry photos regardless.

2. Don’t use a slow shutter speed

While it’s a good idea to use a tripod, and you should certainly keep the shutter speed slow enough to ensure a well-exposed photo, you must avoid using a slow shutter speed.

This is because the moon is actually moving very quickly around the Earth. The moon is so distant, it doesn’t appear to be traveling very fast. But if you let your shutter speed relax too much, you’ll end up with all sorts of unwanted motion blur.

A good rule of thumb for tack-sharp moon photography is to shoot at 1/125s or faster.

3. Photograph with a telephoto lens

To successfully capture any kind of detail on the moon, you need at least a 300mm telephoto lens.

If you want the moon to take up the entire frame, you will need around an 800mm lens.

4. Don’t use any filters on your lens

To prevent any chance of a blurry image, don’t use any filters.

Yes, even remove the UV filter. This may sound scary if you never remove the UV filter from your lens, but in this case, it’s best to set it aside.

Some may suggest using a neutral density (ND) filter for moon photography to cut back on the bright light of the moon. But all this will do is require a slower shutter speed, and you want to use the fastest shutter speed possible to get that crisp, tack-sharp image.

5. Try the Looney 11 Rule

The Looney 11 Rule is similar to the Sunny 16 Rule. It’s designed to help you exposure properly when shooting the moon, while also ensuring you get a fast-enough shutter speed for sharp shots.

Here’s how it works:

Set your f-stop to f/11.

Then match the shutter speed to your ISO. 

For example, if your ISO is set at 200, set your shutter speed to 1/200s.

(This is not an exact science, but it should give you a good starting point.)

6. Don’t use the shutter button to start your exposure

Do not manually press the shutter button or even touch your tripod when initiating your moon shot.

Remember that even the slightest touch could add enough vibration to blur the image.

Instead, use a cable release or remote trigger to start your exposure. If you don’t have either of these gadgets, use the self-timer feature on your camera.

7. Use mirror lock-up

If you’re working with a DSLR and it has the option, lock up your mirror. This can greatly increase your chances of getting a tack-sharp moon image.

You see, even the slightest shake of your camera’s mirror can be enough to blur the shot. So if your camera has this option, use it!

Lock the mirror up and wait a few seconds to allow any vibrations to settle before beginning your exposure.

(If your camera doesn’t have a mirror lock-up option, you can always shoot in Live View, which will have the same effect!)

8. Don’t use image stabilization

Your lens’s (and camera’s) image stabilization technology must be turned off as soon as you put your camera on a tripod.

Turning on an image stabilization feature with your camera mounted on a tripod will actually create blur in your image!

9. Know the cycles of the moon

There are 29.5 days between full moons.

And by learning when the full moon will come, you can ensure you get the best-looking moon in your shots!

There are many online and smartphone applications that can help you track the phases of the moon. One must-have app is The Photographer’s Ephemeris, which will give you the phases of the moon, and also show you when and where the moon will appear in the sky.

This is especially useful when planning your moon shoots. The full moon is very popular and photogenic, but it’s also the brightest and the most difficult to expose correctly.

The side lighting of a gibbous moon produces some interesting shadows which may allow you to capture craters and mountains. The crescent moon is, of course, the darkest stage, but one that may offer some interesting effects when added to a nighttime landscape.

10. Don’t always place the moon in the center of the frame

Putting the moon in the center of the frame – especially if there’s nothing else in the shot – can be nice, as (hopefully) demonstrated by several of the photos in this article.

However, after a while, it gets boring. It’s been done a million times before. So try to put the moon off-center.

Oh, and make sure to include other interesting objects in the frame!

That’s how you’ll end up with a truly impressive moon photo.

11. Switch to manual focus

There are a couple of different methods you can use to focus on the moon.

First, try using your camera’s autofocus to make the moon tack sharp. Then, once you have a desirable point of focus, turn off the autofocus and switch to manual focus.

Alternatively, you can start by setting your lens to manual focus. With your camera’s Live View feature turned on, zoom in on the moon and turn the manual focus ring until the moon becomes sharp. Then do not touch the ring again.

12. Don’t just shoot the moon at night

The best time to photograph the moon is just after it rises or just before it sets, when it’s low in the sky.

Why is this important?

For one, when the moon is near the horizon, it will appear larger in your images (due to a trick of the eye).

Also, as the full moon rises, the sun will be setting, and as the full moon sets, the sun will be rising. This can give you great lighting to accentuate foreground objects.

Note that shooting the moon in the daytime (e.g., in the late afternoon) will give you the opportunity to include foreground objects, and you may also be able to capture some craters on the moon’s surface.

13. Do use exposure bracketing

Once you have found an exposure that you’re happy with, it’s best to bracket around that setting.

You see, the view of your images in the dark, on the back of your camera, can often be deceiving. In the dark, images always appear brighter on the camera LCD than they are when opened on your computer.

So after you’re satisfied with the exposure you have dialed in, bracket two stops under and two stops over, just to ensure that you get a result you’ll be happy with later.

14. Don’t use Auto White Balance

Using Auto White Balance will give you very inconsistent results.

Instead, I recommend you try the daylight white balance preset. And if you’re looking for a different effect, try the tungsten or cloudy presets.

Don’t be afraid to experiment.

And remember:

If you are shooting in RAW, you can change the white balance in post-production.

15. Don’t depend on your meter

In general, your camera’s light meter will be fooled by the amount of light reflecting off the moon.

So make sure you constantly check your LCD and histogram to ensure you’ve nailed the exposure.

Also, it is important to note that, as the moon rises, the exposure will change. The moon gets brighter as it rises, so you’ll need to keep adjusting your shutter speed to compensate.

16. Do shoot the moon in RAW

Shooting in RAW will allow you to capture more details of the moon’s surface, and also give you more latitude for adjustments in Lightroom and Photoshop.

So, unless you are not at all comfortable with using camera RAW software, always shoot the moon in RAW.

17. Don’t be afraid to crop your images

Unless you are shooting with a very large telephoto lens, you will want to crop your image to display the moon at a decent size.

But remember:

The more you crop, the more you reduce your ability to print at a high resolution.

18. Do tweak and sharpen

Most moon photography is going to require some post-processing in Photoshop or other photo editing software. Adding clarity and contrast will help bring out details, and this will enhance the craters and mountains of the moon.

As mentioned above, the white balance and exposure may also be adjusted to achieve a nice result, as both are somewhat difficult to perfect in-camera.

19. Don’t be afraid to get creative

Here’s the truth:

Most great moon photography has been manipulated in post-production, because of the difficulty of capturing a great moon shot in one image.

So don’t be afraid to get creative.

For instance, you might create a composite, as I did for this image:

A popular method used by many photographers is to combine two exposures: one set to bring out the best of the foreground landscape, and a second exposed for the moon. 

When combining these two images, try enlarging the moon slightly to achieve a more dramatic effect, but don’t overdo it to the point that it looks fake. The moon needs to look believable, unless you are going for a science fiction effect (which isn’t always a bad idea, creatively speaking!).

Capture some amazing moon photos!

You now know everything you need to get started with moon photography.

So get out there and shoot the moon!

Remember that moon photography is not as easy as it looks, so if your first results are not as dramatic as you expected, then keep trying!

Now I’d like to see some of your moon images! Please share any moon shots in the comments below.

The post How to Photograph the Moon: 19 Dos and Don’ts for Beautiful Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Bruce Wunderlich.

This article was updated in July 2024 with contributions from Ana Mireles and Jaymes Dempsey.

I use Lightroom presets for a huge percentage of my photo editing, and I know that many other photographers do the same.

In fact, if you’re a Lightroom user and you’re not yet taking advantage of presets, then you’re missing out. Presets come with so many benefits: they save time, they’re ridiculously easy to use, and they can make your photos look amazing.

But if you’ve ever tried editing with presets, you’ll know that your results can vary dramatically depending on the quality of the presets themselves. That’s why it’s important that you choose the right presets to use!

Fortunately, if you’re looking for the best Lightroom presets, you’ve come to the right place. Given the number of available options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed – or even worse, buy a pack of presets that you’ll never use.

To help you navigate the wide market of Lightroom presets, we’ve put together a selection of the best quality packs (to fit many different needs). So read on to discover our favorite presets, including both free and paid options.

Here we go!

1. Landscape and Travel Photography Presets

If you’re a landscape or nature shooter, then this preset bundle should be at the top of your list. Fine art photographer Jan Erik Waider offers a set of eight Lightroom preset packs, designed for different shooting scenarios. Some target physical locations, such as polar or forest landscapes. Others offer a specific aesthetic, such as cinematic or dark and dramatic.

In my experience, it’s important to exercise restraint when editing nature scenes, but I think these presets do a great job of keeping things natural while also adding some extra pop to your photos. And since the package includes so many presets, it gives you an opportunity to experiment with different looks until you find what works best for your images. As Waider notes, these professional presets allow customization so you can “develop a repeatable personal style.”

In addition to the eight preset packs, the bundle includes a surprise pack and will give you access to all future preset releases. Of course, if you’re not interested in the entire bundle, you can also purchase the packs individually – though the bundle does offer great value!

2. Clean Edit Portrait Workflow Presets

There are literally thousands of portrait preset packs available, but we think that the Clean Edit Portrait Workflow presets, created by Pretty Presets, rise to the top. With a collection of 35 presets and some fantastic bonuses like portrait brushes, this package goes beyond your basic paid preset pack to offer an entire workflow system that guarantees professional-looking results.

And for those who are looking for straightforward presets to enhance your portrait images, you’ll enjoy the Clean Edit Portrait Workflow pack, too. No matter what type of portrait you’re working with, these presets can help. They bring out vibrant colors while maintaining a natural and realistic look. Whether you’re shooting on a cloudy day or during golden hour, the Clean Edit Portrait Workflow presets will make your portraits look amazing!

3. Dark & Moody

Instagram is full of dark and moody images, many of which rely heavily on Lightroom edits. But recreating a refined moody look can be difficult, even for more experienced photographers, and that’s where the Dark & Moody pack – created by Flourish Presets – comes in handy.

The pack only comes with 7 presets, but each one packs a serious punch, creating that cinematic moody vibe that adds depth and emotion to your images. I like these presets for all kinds of images, including portraits, weddings, landscapes, or even street photography, but they’re especially stunning when applied to travel shots (to my eye, anyway!).

I’ll also note that Flourish Presets sells a handful of additional moody-style presets, so if this pack doesn’t fit your tastes, you can always try a different pack, such as this warmer, portrait-focused option, instead.

4. Golden Hour Presets

These Golden Hour Lightroom presets are perfect for portrait photographers who organize outdoor sessions. We all know that golden hour offers beautiful light for your photos. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to schedule your clients around that time.

KatherineDream offers 15 Lightroom presets for mobile and desktop that will give your photos those beautiful, warm, golden-hour tones. And on her Etsy shop, KatherineDream offers multiple other packs (and often puts her presets on sale!).

5. Zion Presets

I’m a fan of warm-toned edits, myself, which is why I absolutely love the Zion Presets pack by Meridian. Each preset effortlessly adds a touch of warmth and faded tones to your photos – and while the price is on the higher side, you do get 16 stunning presets that will instantly elevate the look of your portrait and wedding shots.

What sets the Zion Presets apart is their ability to create a sense of instant refinement. The warm colors and faded tones they produce give your images a cinematic quality, making them look like stills from a movie.

Whether you’re a professional photographer or an avid enthusiast, the Zion Presets will take your photos to new heights. With just a few clicks, you can transform your ordinary shots into breathtaking masterpieces that evoke a sense of nostalgia and charm!

6. All-In-One Lightroom Preset Bundle

In general, I like to recommend themed preset packs. All-in-one bundles tend to offer a lot of breadth without much depth, and that can result in a lot of wasted money. Fortunately, the All-In-One Lightroom Preset Bundle bucks the trend, and I think it’s perfect for beginner photographers. If you don’t have a field of specialization and you’re still figuring out your style, you’ll find 90 helpful presets to choose from.

The Bundle includes presets for everything: beach shooting, indoor photography, food photos, portrait photos, black and white photos, and moody photos. In other words, the All In One Bundle offers everything a beginner could need – and it even comes with a handy how-to guide!

7. Adventure Everyday Lightroom Desktop Presets

If you’re craving that warm, nostalgic feel in your photos, look no further than the Adventure Everyday presets by Mastin Labs. While this pack may seem small – it only includes three presets – trust me when I say that they pack a punch.

These presets are designed to give your portraits, landscapes, and travel shots a captivating, filmic look. They effortlessly transform your images into inviting and cozy scenes that you won’t be able to resist. Once you start using these presets, you’ll find yourself constantly reaching for them to enhance your everyday adventures.

8. Boho Style

If you’re a professional portrait photographer, then you know how important it is to have an automated workflow that delivers consistent results.

This Boho Style preset bundle offers 20 one-click presets; they’re easy to adjust, and they look amazing on a variety of portraits, from wedding candids to engagement sessions to family photos and more.

Each preset creates a creamy warm tone that improves the overall ambiance of your pictures. Plus, the price is outstanding (and the pack is often on sale, so if you buy at the right time, you can get the pack for just over a dollar).

9. Winter Wonderland Preset Collection

Most winter presets only add a cool tone to your images – but the Winter Wonderland Preset Collection offers a uniquely well-rounded solution for a winter look.

This bundle offers 32 presets and 5 brushes to create snowy and winter images, no matter the weather forecast. All the presets are customizable, and an instruction guide and video tutorial are included in the download.

10. The Crush Pack

Unlike other presets that are based on subject matter or mood, the Crush Pack is designed for light. Each preset is tailored to a specific lighting scenario so that you always know which to apply.

Whether for soft or hard light, backlight or flash, there’s a preset to improve your picture, delivering a “bold and vivid style that maintains the skin tone.” You can buy the Crush Pack on its own, or bundled with the Retouching Toolkit for a special discounted price.

11. The Free Lightroom Presets pack

If you’re looking for a nice free starter preset pack, this bundle from BeArt Presets is a great choice. It includes 5 presets that can be applied to all types of photographs, from food to portraits, and it’ll certainly help you get a sense of whether presets will fit nicely into your workflow.

The download includes two sets of presets: one set for mobile and one set for desktop. And once you determine which preset styles you’re after, there’s a shop with more specialized presets for sale.

12. Color Pop

If you’re looking for a pack of Lightroom presets to make your images stand out, the Color Pop presets are exactly what you need. You get 20 different presets designed to boost the color of any photograph and make your images look vibrant and fresh.

The files come in three different formats for maximum compatibility. And if you’re impressed and you want more, PhotographyPla.net also offers a bundle with all 1000 of their presets.

13. Portra 400 Preset Collection

Looking to add a touch of nostalgia and timeless beauty to your photos? The Portra 400 Preset Collection, created by Lou & Marks, is here to make your images shine. With 10 high-quality presets – designed to emulate the look of Portra 400 color film – your photos will exude warmth and a hint of summer in the 1980s.

These presets are perfect for enhancing portrait shots, giving them a touch of vintage elegance. But don’t limit yourself! Feel free to experiment and apply these presets to your travel images for a nostalgic effect. And if you like the Portra 400 pack, you should definitely check out other film-style presets by Lou & Marks, such as this fantastic collection of Fujifilm presets!

14. Nathan Elson’s Lightroom Presets

Nathan Elson is a professional photographer who specializes in portrait, fashion, commercial, and architecture photography; his very defined style inspired this preset collection. (As he notes on the sales page, “These are the same styles that I use to grade my photographs for both client as well as personal work.”)

While we previously recommended Elson’s 2020 preset pack, it’s been replaced by the 2022 collection, which is even better than before. It includes 12 presets – 5 for color edits and 7 for black and white – and the range is impressive. We’re also impressed by the modern look of the edits, and the monochromatic effects are absolutely beautiful. If you’re a portrait or fashion photographer in search of a refined yet modern look, this pack is a must-have.

15. Prolost Graduated Presets

Designed for complete beginners, the Prolost preset pack includes over 600 presets for you to choose from.

Each effect comes in different intensities; that way, you only need to hover over each preset to preview different results. If you like an effect, you click to apply. And because the pack already comes with plenty of variations, no customization is required.

16. Artisan B&W Lightroom Presets

If you’re passionate about black and white photography, you’ll be thrilled with the Artisan B&W Lightroom presets from Mastin Labs. These presets are a game-changer when it comes to creating stunning monochrome images that stand the test of time.

With just three carefully crafted presets, you’ll be able to transform your black-and-white photos into masterpieces. The presets work their magic on portraits, landscapes, and even street photos, giving each image a timeless and captivating appeal.

Whether you want to add depth and drama to your subjects or bring out the intricate details in your landscapes, the Artisan B&W presets have got you covered. They’re designed to enhance contrast, highlight textures, and bring out the essence of black-and-white photography.

How do you pick the right presets?

There isn’t one perfect preset that will fit every photograph. There are, however, presets that will be more fitting for your workflow. So given the many choices available on the market, how do you choose?

First of all, look at the quality of the work from the creator and what they’re offering. Any adjustment can technically be turned into a preset, so you’ll run into a lot of useless downloads. Some websites or blogs offer a freebie to get you on their mailing list or make you subscribe, but all you receive is a single preset that moves a slider slightly to one side.

So make sure you get your presets from a professional and check that they offer something more complex than what would be achievable by a beginner.

Another thing that you should consider is the type of photography you do. Make sure it matches the “before” image from the preset preview. This will ensure you get results similar to what you’re expecting. Otherwise, the effect might look great on the sample picture but won’t work on your own shots.

Finally, try to find presets that are customizable. This will allow you to create your own style instead of just replicating someone else’s. It will also make your presets more versatile, so you can use them on a wider variety of pictures.

Are presets worth it?

In my opinion, yes. Because they automate a part of your work, presets will save you a lot of time. Also, presets are a good way to keep your style consistent. This is very important for gaining followers, and it lets your clients know what they can expect from you far in advance.

Also, remember: If you want the benefits of presets but feel like none of the presets I’ve suggested fit your vision, you don’t have to use third-party presets. You can always make presets of your own!

The best Lightroom presets: final words

Now you know some of the best Lightroom presets available in 2024! These powerful tools can take your images from ordinary to extraordinary with just a few clicks, giving them that extra pop, mood, and timeless charm.

Whether you’re a portrait aficionado, a wedding wizard, or a landscape lover, there’s a preset pack for you. From the Clean Edit Portrait Workflow presets, which bring out colors while keeping things looking natural, to the Dark & Moody presets that add atmosphere and mood to any shot, these presets offer endless possibilities.

Make sure you get the presets that will fit your type of photography and style – and have fun!

Now over to you:

Have you tried presets in the past? Do you have a favorite preset or preset pack? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Best Lightroom presets FAQ

The post The Best Lightroom Presets in 2024 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

There’s an adage I learned over a decade ago when I did construction work in the summer that I still try to live by: measure twice, cut once. It’s a fantastic rule of thumb for carpentry, but thankfully when it comes to photography, you have a bit more leeway.

While there is certainly something to be said for getting your photos just right in the camera, one of the wonders of modern digital photography is that you have a myriad of tools at your disposal if you want to fix things later on as well. Things like exposure, contrast, color saturation, black-and-white conversion, and even adding and removing elements can all be done with the magic of Lightroom and Photoshop.

But there is another tool available in every image editor that can have a powerful impact on your images, and it’s quite easy to use. Sometimes all it takes to give your pictures the added punch you’re looking for is a few clicks of the humble crop tool – and in this article, I explain how you can crop your photos effectively!

Why cropping is okay

Before getting too deep into the art of cropping, it’s important to know what your goals are for your photography and look at the math behind those megapixels. Most modern digital cameras have anywhere from 20 and 60 megapixels. Many smartphones offer less resolution than this, but I’m going to use 20 megapixels as a nice round baseline here.

Printing size

If you’re going to print your photos, it’s a good idea to have them be at least 200 DPI (dots per inch). This means you could take an uncropped image from a 20-megapixel camera and print a pristine picture 27 inches wide!

If you’re making standard 4×6″ prints, the math is even more favorable. A 200 dpi print at that size contains about 1 million pixels or five percent of what the 20-megapixel camera has to offer. Suffice it to say that, unless you are turning your pictures into wall-sized posters, there is clearly a lot of room within those megapixels to crop to your heart’s content.

Online size

There’s also the issue of posting and sharing your pictures online. A good rule of thumb for that is to keep the maximum dimension, either width or height, to no more than 2048 pixels. This means that of the pixels available to you from a 20-megapixel camera, you could trim away 16 million of them (almost 80 percent!) and still get a sharp picture for sharing online.

Of course, there are always exceptions to this, and some sites might want your pictures to be larger than 2048 pixels, but if you’re posting them on Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, or other popular sites, that size is more than big enough.

You have some room to crop

I know all this might seem a bit off the beaten path when it comes to learning how to crop. The moral of the story is that you should, of course, do whatever you can to get your pictures composed in camera. But you should also know that you have a massive amount of wiggle room to crop them down afterward, and you needn’t worry about losing quality. As an example, here’s a picture of a rabbit that I shot with a 50mm lens on my Nikon D7100:

You might be wondering how I got close enough to take this picture with just a 50mm lens, but in truth, I was quite far away and just cropped the image. A lot!

The 24-megapixel sensor on a D7100 allows for a huge amount of cropping, especially when the images are exported for web display. The original, I assure you, did not look like this at all. Here it is:

The actual dimensions of the cropped image are 1982×1321 pixels, which means it’s plenty large enough to make a 4×6″ print at 300 DPI. All this goes to illustrate my point that no matter what camera you use, you probably have plenty of room to crop your images if you really want to do so.

The art of cropping: tips for cropping your images effectively

When deciding what to crop out of your images, there’s no hard-and-fast rule that will guarantee perfection every time. However, there are a few guidelines that are likely to improve your images in most scenarios.

1. Crop to focus your viewer’s attention on the subject

As I go through my photos in Lightroom, I often find that in addition to my main subject, I have included other elements in the frame that might distract the viewers or detract from the impact of the subject. Of course, these details can add a sense of texture, context, and emotion to a scene. But if your goal is to get your viewers to focus on something specific, then you might want to utilize the cropping tool to make that happen.

The family photo below contains a lot of elements that, while certainly serving to add a sense of context and texture to the picture as a whole, lessen the overall impact of the image:

Cropping in on the family results in a picture that is much more visually pleasing. It still contains some of the background elements of the original, but the subjects are clearly emphasized. Details such as the ring on the woman’s finger are more noticeable as well. I shot this on my Nikon D200 camera, which is only 10 megapixels, and the resulting image is a paltry 6 megapixels (3030×2028) but could easily be printed as an 8×10″ or even 11×14″ image.

Would it be better to get this picture right in the camera with no cropping at all? Absolutely! But sometimes that’s just not an option, and if that happens to you, don’t be afraid to crop.

This technique can work in situations beyond portraits, such as the following picture of a construction site. As you look at it, ask yourself: what is the subject of the photo that I, the photographer, want the viewer to focus their attention on?

Before I show you the cropped version, I need to include a caveat: there’s no accounting for taste. It’s possible that some people like the uncropped original precisely because it shows so much activity. But I really wanted to call attention to the steelworker sitting on a beam on the right-hand side. In the original version, he is just one small part of the whole. However, a bit of cropping fixes the matter entirely:

Voilà! A significantly better image, and at 2125×1422 pixels, it could easily be printed as an 8×10, framed, and hung in an office lobby. (Now if only the crop tool could eliminate the vertical fence lines in the foreground, but that’s a subject for another article.)

If you find that your initial pictures contain elements that distract your viewers from what you want them to see, the crop tool can go a long way toward remedying the situation. And though it reduces image resolution, it still results in pictures that are plenty big enough to print, share, or email to your friends, family, and fans.

2. Crop to reframe your subject

Cropping can help immensely when you are looking for ways to portray your subject in an interesting or more compelling light. Many people go with the simple method of putting their subject in the center of the frame, but that’s not always the best method to create the most pleasing images.

When I shot the picture below, I put the boy in the middle of the composition, which resulted in a decent image but isn’t nearly as compelling as it could be. The space around him distances the viewer from the subject, and it also doesn’t work to have so much empty space on the right side when he is looking to the left:

Notice how much the emotional impact of the image changes by simply cropping the photo so that the boy is on the right-hand side:

Re-cropping, in this case, does a couple of things. First, it gets rid of much of the empty space on the right side of the photo, and in doing so, leaves a large portion of the left side open and empty. It works within the context of the photo because the boy is looking in that direction, leaving our minds to wonder what is so interesting just out of frame. The empty space on the left feels intentional and helps draw you in, leaving your imagination open to the possibilities that are just out of view. The picture is more interesting and impactful as a result, and all it took was a bit of cropping!

3. Crop carefully around moving subjects

Cropping is especially useful when your subject is moving, as it helps create the impression that the car, plane, child, or turtle you have photographed is about to fill the empty space that is currently unoccupied. The first image below is straight out of the camera and has several problems that could easily be handled with a bit of cropping:

While the boy and tortoise above are obviously subjects of the picture, there’s a lot of empty space around the pair that could be used more effectively, especially since they are in motion. Now look at the cropped image below and notice how much better it is:

Cropping the picture eliminated the ugly PVC pipe on the left side, but it also created a stronger overall composition by emphasizing the empty space on the right. The subjects appear to be moving from left to right, and leaving empty space on that side helps you imagine that the PQRST (Perambulating Quadrupedal Reptilian Service Transport) will soon be occupying that space. The result is a more visually engaging image that draws viewers in much more effectively than the uncropped original.

4. Work with leading lines

One more example of this involves a concept called leading lines. If you don’t get your shot perfectly composed when you initially take it, you can simply crop it to your liking for maximum visual impact. To illustrate, here’s a picture of a humble acorn sitting on a ledge:

There’s not a lot going on in this picture, and I wouldn’t exactly put it up for any awards, but I’m using it to illustrate a point. This original image can be cropped to make a much stronger composition by taking advantage of the fact that viewers are drawn to the diagonal leading line going from the top right to the bottom left:

Cropping down a bit but putting the acorn on the left side results in an image that is jarring and uncomfortable because the leading lines are used entirely inappropriately:

If your brain is hurting right now from looking at this photographic monstrosity, fear not. I have cropped it in a different way to properly use leading lines, making the picture far more pleasing:

When you look at this photo, your mind naturally follows the curved path of the acorn, and the empty space on the left side feels natural and intentional compared to the previous image, which felt frustrating and off-balance.

5. Crop just for the fun of it

When it comes to artistic pursuits such as photography, there are a million guidelines but very few hard-and-fast rules. Even those are sometimes just begging to be broken. When cropping a picture, don’t be afraid to eliminate portions you simply don’t like, or even play around with aspect ratios to get a picture you just happen to enjoy more.

When I took the picture below, I thought it turned out fairly well in the camera, but the circular nature of the subject looked kind of strange in a rectangular photo:

A couple of clicks with the crop tool in Lightroom resulted in a picture that, in my opinion, just looks more interesting:

There might be some kind of artistic theory or explanation behind using a square-shaped crop of the original rectangular image, but if so, I don’t know what it is. All I know is I like the second picture better, and in the end, that’s what really matters to me.

You can apply the same reasoning to your photography as well and clip away with that cropping tool to your heart’s content if for no other reason than you happen to enjoy the results. As a bonus, when you crop in a program like Lightroom, your edits are non-destructive, so you can always go back and recover the original image if you want.

Crop – but if you can, get it right the first time!

I need to close this article with a rather important cropping caveat: it’s always best to get the photo right at the time you shoot it. Cropping is fine and can certainly be used to great effect. But really, the best solution is to make sure you are shooting intentionally and using things like leading lines and eliminating distractions when you actually take the photos.

However, if you find that your images just aren’t quite as appealing as they could be, then by all means, start cropping!

Now over to you:

Are you the kind of photographer who only uses what your camera records, or do you prefer to crop your images to get the effect you are looking for? Do you have any other thoughts or tips regarding cropping? Leave your responses in the comments section below!

The post How (and When) to Crop Your Photos for Better Compositions appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

We all know that dust on a DSLR or mirrorless camera sensor can range from mildly annoying to downright problematic. You can try avoiding it, but the unfortunate truth about digital photography is that, regardless of how careful you are, dust will eventually find its way onto your sensor.

I suppose you could prevent any sensor dust by putting a prime lens on your camera when it’s brand new and never, ever taking it off. But since that’s almost certainly not going to happen, dealing with dust is a critical part of regular camera maintenance.

Which leads to a question: How do you know if your camera sensor does indeed have dust? How can you tell the difference between dust on the mirror, dust on the viewfinder, or dust on the sensor? In this article, I share several strategies to help you check for sensor dust – so that you can keep your camera sensor (and your photos!) dust-free!

Where does sensor dust come from?

Eradicating any pest requires knowledge of where it’s hiding and how it got there, so I want to start by explaining why sensor dust is such a common problem.

While it might not seem like it, the world in which we live is full of dust. Regardless of how clean your studio is or how lint-free your camera bags are, microscopic dust particles will settle on your camera at some point.

And that’s before considering outdoor use or changing lenses. When using budget zoom lenses, the simple act of repeatedly zooming in and out can “inhale” dust particles into the lens, which can then work their way into your camera over time. Once inside, they can settle on the mirror or sensor.

Additionally, changing lenses significantly increases the likelihood of dust finding its way to your sensor. (And if you change lenses in a dirty environment, the problem is compounded!)

So while there are steps you can take to minimize dust (holding the camera with the lens mount facing down while changing lenses, not changing lenses outside, etc), it’s inevitable that dust will find your camera sensor eventually. That’s why, in addition to minimizing dust exposure, it’s important that you regularly check for dust!

Identifying dust: Is it on the mirror, the viewfinder, or the sensor?

When dust gets into your camera system, it can settle in three distinct places:

1. The mirror. Mirrors are only present in DSLR cameras; they sit in front of the sensor and reflect an image preview to the optical viewfinder.
2. The viewfinder. Many cameras, especially high-end cameras, have viewfinders. This is the part of the camera that you put against your eye, and dust can land on the outer viewfinder window or get trapped between the inner viewfinder screen and the outer viewfinder window.
3. The sensor. This is where the magic happens; it’s the light-sensing chip that converts photons into electrical signals.

It’s important to recognize that while dust can be visible if it lands on the mirror or the viewfinder, neither of these areas has any effect on your photos. While the viewfinder and the mirror are important for viewing the scene and taking the photo, mirror and viewfinder dust will have absolutely no impact on your images. You can often see these types of dust with the naked eye when you look through the viewfinder. They can be annoying, but they’re often fixed with an air blower.

On DSLRs, sensor dust won’t show itself until it leaves dark spots of varying sizes on your photos. If you can see dust when looking through your DSLR viewfinder, it’s not on the sensor.

On mirrorless cameras, sensor dust can show itself in the electronic viewfinder. However, it’s generally easier to see when reviewing your images on a computer monitor, as I explain in the next section:

Identify sensor dust by reviewing your photos

The first effective way to identify sensor dust spots is when reviewing your images. You can do this on your camera LCD, but it’s generally better to review for dust on a large monitor.

You can recognize a dust spot if it appears in the same place in multiple images, particularly in those taken at apertures such as f/8 or smaller. Dust spots are especially visible when positioned against the sky.

However, if you don’t see any dust spots when reviewing your images, they may still be present – just hidden. If you typically shoot at wide apertures, most dust particles will not show up, even against bright backgrounds. Dust may also be less noticeable in images with a lot of detail, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone.

If a dust spot is visible upon a quick glance at the image, you’re likely looking at a pretty bad spot on your sensor – one that won’t leave just because you squeeze a little air at it. You may need a thorough sensor cleaning to get rid of your worst offenders.

Whether you pay to have your sensor professionally cleaned or you are comfortable enough doing it yourself, it’s possible to overdo it. Sensors have a delicate coating that can be damaged by over-cleaning, and frequent cleaning increases the odds of damaging your sensor. So how do you do a quick and easy evaluation to see if your sensor really needs cleaning?

Identify dust spots with a test shot

Say that you’re worried about dust, but you’re not sure whether your sensor has a significant dust problem. That’s when I recommend doing a simple test.

You can run this against a clear sky, a white sheet of paper, or even your computer screen. Start by switching your camera into Aperture Priority mode. Make sure you use Matrix or Evaluative metering and the lowest possible ISO.

Turn off autofocus and dial in the smallest aperture possible (remember, a higher number equals a smaller aperture).

Fill the frame with your blank target area, manually dial the lens completely out of focus, and snap off a frame. When you open the image on your computer, look for dark spots. See any? Those are your culprits.

Confirm in post-processing

No test is perfect, and this one is no different. However, there is a neat trick you can run in Photoshop as an added layer of detection. By holding down Ctrl/Cmd + I, you will invert the image, creating a negative. The dark spots (if any) will now appear white against a dark background, making them easier to see.

In the example below, certain spots were visible in the original photo. By inverting the image, several additional trouble spots on my sensor became apparent:

Lightroom also offers a handy way to look for dust spots. Simply open your test image in the Develop module, then select the Remove tool in the upper right-hand corner (under the histogram). Check the Visualize Spots box, and Lightroom will create a high-contrast monochrome mask, which you can use to quickly identify any problematic areas!

Keep your photos pristine!

Sensor dust can generally be fixed in Lightroom or Photoshop without too much hassle, but why spend extra time in front of the computer when you don’t have to? If you strive to get things right in the camera (and you should), this is absolutely something to keep on a semi-regular checklist.

If you do find dust spots that you want to remove, there are many do-it-yourself sensor-cleaning options available. If you are comfortable doing this task on your own, great. If not – and if you aren’t, I don’t blame you – local camera shops provide sensor-cleaning services for a nominal fee.

Either way, by knowing how to quickly identify the problem, you’re in a much better position to address it and get back to taking clean, crisp, dust-free photos.

Now over to you:

Have you experienced problems with sensor dust? Do you have a good way of dealing with it? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post How to Check for Sensor Dust: A Quick Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jeff Guyer.