Photography questions.

Lots of photography questions in the last few weeks that I've been wanting to address.

1. I work in Photoshop CS3, which is the most current version of Adobe Photoshop.  The program costs $649.00, although I already had Photoshop 7, so I just had to pay to upgrade to CS3, which I think was about $200.00.

2. I don't think that basic photo editing really requires Photoshop CS3.  I use CS3 for my artwork for Creative Imaginations and since I have it, I use it for my photo editing too.  But to be honest, after using it for over 5 years now, I bet I still know less than 5% of it's capabilities.  CS3 would be overkill for most photographers.  That said, it's a staple for most professional photographers.

3. Adobe Elements 5 is probably a great photo editing program for most photographers and you can pick it up for about $150 through Adobe.

4. I often use something called "actions" on my photos in CS3 to enhance their color, change them to black & white or add other cool effects.  An action is just a prerecorded set of photo editing steps that you can purchase online.  There might be 25+ steps in a single action, but all I have to do is decide which action (or combination of actions) that I want to use and then press the "play" button and in a matter of seconds, it it preforms all of the steps.  The benefit for me is that I don't necessarily know how to do all of the individual steps in CS3 to get the results that I want and even if I did know how to do all of it, doing each step individually might take 15+ minutes per photo, rather than the 3 seconds it takes to use the action (I hope that makes sense).  So it's a huge time-saver and the results are really cool.

5. That said, most actions that you can purchase online are not compatible with Adobe Elements (you have to have Adobe Photoshop or CS).  I do think that this will change in the future.  I think that the people who are designing the action sets will realize that they are missing a big target audience by not making it available to Adobe Elements users.  I did find this article about using Photoshop actions in Adobe Elements, so perhaps it is possible (but I don't know a lot about it).  Even without actions though, you can still do a lot to color edit your photos with "hue & saturation", "levels", "contrast" and some sharpening with the "unsharp mask".  If you go to the comments section under this post and go to the 5th comment by Diane (thanks Diane), she talked a bit about actions for Photoshop Elements users.

6. I am currently using actions from ittybittyactions, totallyradactions and kubota.

7. It takes some time to figure out how to use actions correctly, so plan on investing a fair amount of time in the initial learning curve.

8. The vignetting (darkness around the perimeter of the photo) that I had on a lot of the soccer pictures that I took the other day is a vignette action from totallyradactions.  You can create your own vignetting in Photoshop (but again, why would I take the time, when I can just do it with an action?).

9. You can also create your own actions once you have a good understanding of how actions work.

10. Photo editing is really just a preference thing.  Right now, blow-out highlights, heavily popped color and tilted camera angulation is huge (and I'm loving it), but in a year, it could be something entirely different.  I've looked at pictures that I edited 3 months ago and went "What were you thinking?", but that's never a problem because I always keep an unedited original of every photo.

11. You can take a great photo and make it look amazing in Photoshop or you can take a mediocre photo and make it look good.  But if you're starting with a bad photo, no amount of editing will ever make it amazing.  The goal then of course, is to get it as the best image possible straight out of the camera.

12. Here's a link to a bunch of before/after edits from Joe Photo (a really great wedding photographer).  Some of the edits are more dramatic than others - but it's really cool to see the "out of camera" images vs. the edited images.

13. And a recent edit of mine.

14. I recently invested a bunch of money in new camera equipment, with the intentions of starting to shoot weddings professionally (a back-up plan for when my scrapbooking career takes a dive).  I picked up some really great equipment:

- Canon 5D

- Canon 24mm f1.4 lens (great for wide-angle shots)

- Canon 50mm f1.2 lens (great for everyday candids/portraits)

- Canon 85mm f1.8 lens (perfect for still portraits)

- Canon 200mm f2.8 lens (great telephoto)

My old Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 lens broke while I was in Germany (although I am looking into getting it repaired),  I ended up selling my 50mm f1.4 and decided to keep my Canon 20D body as a back-up camera.

It's all great equipment, but again, I think it's overkill unless you have plans of shooting professionally.

15. My recommendations for someone who is serious about learning photography and wants to make an investment without breaking the bank would be this:  Get a Canon Digital Rebel Xti (body only - don't buy it in a kit with a lens) for a little over 600 bucks.  If you want to spend the extra money, you can pick up a Canon 30D (body only) for $1000.00.  Prices on the 30D are going down since the Canon 40D just released (I shot with the Canon 10D before it was stolen and shot with the 20D until recently).  But quite honestly, I think the difference in cost between the Rebel and the 30D would be better spent on lenses.

16. Once you have a good camera body, the quality of your images is mostly dependant upon the quality of the lenses you put on it (that's why I tell people who have a Rebel and are thinking of upgrading to a 30D, that I think their money is better spent on lenses).

17. I don't recommend kit lenses because they typically don't have low enough aperture settings to allow you to work in low light situations or to get nice blurred backgrounds and it's sometime hard to get really tack sharp focus with kit lenses.

18.  Unfortunately, there is not one lens that meets everyone's needs, so I recommend lenses based on what you most frequently shoot.  Here's my recommendations:

- If you are primarily shooting portrait style stuff and candids of your kids/family, oftentimes indoors under low light situations (but it works great outdoors too), then I think the best lens for the money is either the Canon 50mm f1.8 for about 80 bucks (that's the deal of the century as far as lenses go) or the Canon 50mm f1.4 for about $300.  Big price difference and of course if you can swing the more expensive of the two, it's worth it.  You'll be able to work in lower light situations with the f1.4 and it produces sharper images and creamier skin tones, but if you want to stay within a certain budget, I just don't think you can go wrong with the 50mm f1.8 for $80.  You can get some incredible portraits and candids with this lens and even if you used if for a year and then decided to upgrade, you can still sell it online and recoup some of your money (and it will still be the best $80.00 you ever spent).  Ali Edwards shoots with the 50mm f1.8.   These are both prime/fixed lenses (meaning that they doesn't zoom...so you are the zoom...walk forward to zoom in...walk backwards to zoom out).

- If you are wanting something with a zoom, you'll have to invest a bit more money to get a good quality one.  The only lens I had for 3 years was a Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 for $379.00.  It's a great lens.  You can pick up the Canon equivalent for about $1200.00 (but there's a lot of reviews that say that the Tamron is nearly as good in quality and doesn't have as many focusing problems...so I'd say, go for the cheaper Tamron).  It's an investment, but if you can swing it, it's a good one.  It will still let you work in moderately low light situations, but not as well the 50mm that I discussed above.  Zoom lenses in general are never quite as good in quality as prime/fixed lenses and they don't come with apertures that go below f2.8 (which limits how low of light situations you can work in).  My good friend Tanya is selling her Tamron 28-75, you can email her at kentwebee@comcast.net.

- If you can financially swing both of the lenses I mentioned above, you'll have a really good set-up that will allow you to work in a variety of situations.  This combo won't meet every single shooting situation out there, but I'd venture to say it could cover 90% of what I shoot (minus far away sports shots).  There are plenty of pros who shoot with this combination or upgraded versions of this combination.

19.  I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the perfect lenses for me, given what I shoot on a regular basis (portraits/candids/sports) and what I want to shoot professionally (weddings) and that is how I came up with the group of lenses I am working with now.  I gave up some of the flexibility/convenience of working with zoom lenses in favor of the lower apertures/better focusing that you get with primes/fixed lenses.  But it also means that I have to swap out lenses while I'm shooting which can be inconvenient sometimes (a lot of wedding photographers shoot with two camera bodies so they don't have to switch out lenses as frequently).

20. Don't use your new lens until you've got a UV filter on it though (helps protect the lens from being scratched/damaged/broken and also improves color quality and prevents hazy looking photos).

21. And a bit more info. on Scrapbookpictures.com: They have a lab tech. who does general color correction on all of the photos that are being processed, rather than color correction done by a computer, which typically results in better color correction.  If you edit/color correct your photos yourself, you can leave a note in the comments section to ask that they not preform any color correction on your photos.  But you have to keep in mind, that if your computer monitor at home is not color calibrated, that they color you see on your computer screen may not be accurate in the first place.  On the opposite end of that, if you don't do any color editing at home, it's a nice option to be able to leave a note in the comments section that says something along the lines of "please increase contrast all all photos" or "please increase color saturation on all photos".  Good to have options.  Also, I don't resize my photos before downloading them to Scrapbookpictures.com, which means that yes, it does take hours to download a big group of photos.  I just start the download before I go to bed at night and when I wake up in the morning, it's done.  Also, if you would rather mail a CD of your images to them, they will download it for you (I think it's 5 bucks per CD).

22. I am not currently working on any fine art textures for Scrapbookpictures.com, but it's something I'd like to offer in the future (when I find some time)!

23. Someone had asked why their pictures are looking blow-out when they have their 85mm set at f1.8...and I can't find the comment to respond directly to them.  I'd have to have more info. to help trouble-shoot this, like what mode you're shooting in (aperture priority, shutter speed priority, etc.).  So just leave another comment under this post with some more details.

24. Unrelated to photography...Annie's dress from my 8/6 post was from Gymboree (I buy stuff from them when it's on clearance/out of season, so I always buy it a size or two too big...which unfortunately means that it's not available through Gymboree anymore).  Her dress from 8/7 was from Target.  The Joss Stone concert was great (man, that girl can sing) and Summer Jo's is off of "G" Street (if you follow G Street out of town, you'll see signs for it - but the signs are easy to miss).

Hope this is a help.

Comments

[Miz Booshay]

Ya know, when you share these photo tips, I just want to hug you!
Thank you so much!
I appreciate your knowledge and willingness to help others!!!!

((hugs))

Love,
Donna

Nikon D80
50mm 1.8

I have been asked to take graduatin portraits lately and am learning on the fly :o)
I have an order in to Scrapbookpictures and am looking forward to the results.

[Tanya Webster]

dang girl....that is a TON of typing!! you are a sweetie pie to share all that info!! If anyone contacts you about the Tamron 28-75 mm lens I am selling mine so send them my way k??? I have barely used mine at all so it is practically brand new!!!

and you are totally kickin' some serious butt with the actions...seriously...LOVING what you are doing!!! :)

[Laura]

hmmmm....thank you just doesn't seem to cut it..... you are so amazingly generous to explain and share all of this....i appreciate it so much!!!!!!
your photography is gorgeous!!!!

[amy]

Thanks for all that info.

[Diane DiTullio]

Great info Karen! I'm so jealous you have a 200mm! I just rented the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L from rentglass.com which is now next on my list. I can wait another 2 years for a telephoto since I don't have sports photos to worry about quite yet. I have Photoshop Elements and just wanted to post to let people know that there are a TON of great actions available now for PSE users. Mostly PSE4 and PSE5, but you can get some great effects. The 2peas photography board is a great resource for PSE actions and check out Lady Ren's actions at http://reneeoakenfull.typepad.com/ which are fantastic!

[Miz Booshay]

By the way...
Best wishes with your new wedding photography business!
You will do so well!
You have a great style and skillz to match :o)

[Penny]

This is wonderful!

Thanks so much for answering my scrapbookpictures.com color processing question. I'm looking forwarding to giving the company a try.

The very best of luck on the wedding photography biz too.

[Mary]

Thanks so much Karen! I just got a XTI like 3 weeks ago. I haven't even read the manual yet. BUtits good to know with Christmas coming what lens to ask for :)

[tracy c]

thank you thank you thank you for posting this. i am in the market to jump in the world of slr's and was deciding between the xti and the nikon d40. you have really boiled it down to nice easy to understand simple terms~! what a great resource your blog is =) best of luck on your new photography business~!

[tracy c]

oh, sorry, forgot to ask my question...any suggestions on what kind of uv filter to buy? does it matter? I was thinking of getting the xti with the 50mm f1.4 lens...and how come some sites (when googling) offer xti body only for around $300? are those places legit? thanks so much~!!!

[Valerie, in OH]

To #22 - yippee! Thanks for all the juicy tidbits you've shared! If you're switching to wedding photography, then you'll definitely be into the fine art textures. I can't wait for you to have the time to add them to scrapbookpictures.com! I wish I knew how to help you get it done. :)

[Jen]

Wow Karen, how generous of you to share your knowledge! Thank you! Your photographs are always captivating and most enjoyable--along with the stories that you share with them!
Oh, and I just switched my Rebel XT from "P" to "Av", going to try it out tomorrow

[Mary]

Karen, thanks for posting all of this info. You are so generous with your knowledge! You touched on a lot of good stuff!

[Debra]

I've learned more about photography from you over any book I've ever read. You put things in a way that I can actually understand. Me, my camera,my family and the people that sell lenses thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge!

[michelle]

Karen,

You are so so awesome! Thank you for sharing the wealth in a way that is understandable. If you're ever in Nashville, I'll be the first one to sign up! Heck make that anywhere in Tennessee!

[Ginger]

Karen - please write a book about photography for scrapbookers. I would definitely buy it. Thank you for all the great information to taking better pictures.

[Abby]

Thank you so much for sharing all your experience! You can't imagine how invaluable your knowledge it. Just for the record, when I shoot with my Canon Digital XT Rebel with my 85mm set at 1.8 my pics get totally blown out too - I'm usually in AV priority - any suggestions? I'm new to AV mode and loving the yummy blurry images!

[Brooke]

Hi there, I have found another site with actions that I am loving. A bit easier on the budget especially for those of us just starting to learn about actions.

http://www.digitalscrapbooking.co.za/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=10&zenid=b2681a11210047f45b33870aa11cf34b

[heidi larsen]

hi karen~

you are so wonderful to share all of this information! thank you so much! i bet you are sick of answering questions, but i have one. where did you buy cs3? that seems like such a great deal! i have been wanting to get it as well. thanks for being so great! i love your blog and i love your photography!

heidi larsen

[heidi larsen]

never mind karen! i actually saw that you had a link to it. i want to get illustrator as well, so i guess that is why i was thinking that $649 was so good.

[Mary Ann]

can I just say thanks!!!
With a little help, I think I might figure out this photography thing.

[Suzanne Hart]

Just have to say I love ya! Thanks for ALL of your oh so helpful information!

[Paola Norman]

Karen, thanks so much, you summary was great, I've printed it out and i'm keeping it on file for purchasing, you saved me a lot of work and frustration
by your advice and experience.
Much appreciated!
Paola

[Melissa B.]

If you were going to Disney, which lens would you take?

[Shelley Haganman]

THanks for all your help. I have a Canon Xti and LOVE it. I have the 50mm 1.4. I love it but need something with some zoom. I have looking at the Tamron 28-75 f2.8 that you mentioned. Do I need some type of adapter for it or will it fit right on my Canon? Thank you! Shelley