Full Flash – Indoors & Out

Flash: Full Flash For candid photos where indoor light levels are low; flash can save the day.  Most interior lighting is quite dim and exhibits a strong color cast.  Simply set your camera to the required sync speed and flash quickly eliminates color casts and the quick pulse of light eliminates the need for a tripod, and freedom to react quickly for candid shots.  Indoors, flash is capable of freezing movement, such as active children!  By definition, full [...]

Using Flash – The Basics

Flash: The Basics Small portable flash units have revolutionized 35mm SLR photography, freeing us from the limitations of natural light.  Millions of amateurs own cameras with built in flash, yet flash is one of the least understood tools of photography.  Understanding just the basics of how flash works, will let you do some pretty amazing things with flash. Flash photography requires that you learn and work within the quirky characteristics of flash illumination.  Light from any single camera [...]

Creating Orbs

Now that spring is just arriving in our area, it might be fun to use some of our favorite flower images and Photoshop to create orbs. First select one of your favorite flower/garden images and crop it into a square with the flower fairly centered. Next, convert the image to 8 bits. In Photoshop:  Image > Mode > 8bits From the filter menu: Go to Distort > Polar Coordinates When the Polar Coordinates dialogue appears, choose Polar Rectangular [...]

Smoky Mountain Photo Tour on the Flipside

Once again we had a great photo workshop in the Great Smoky Mountains. We were blessed with great sunrise/sunset, one of the best wildflower displays ever, and a beautiful foggy morning in Cades Cove. Our group was really excited about exploring abstract water images, so I’m sharing one of mine. The trick is learning to see these reflections in shaded areas of the stream. The stream should be in shade while the trees on the far side are [...]

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