Photo Insights February 2025

Jim Zuckerman’s

PHOTO INSIGHTS February 2025

The Challenge of Midday Sunlight When You Really Needed a Zoom The Macro Flash Advantage Anatomy ofQuiz Natural Light Portraits Photography Upside Down Reflections Photo Tours Ask Jim toursVStudent showcase Photo Student Showcase Ask Jim Back issues

Subject index

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Table of Contents 4. The Challenge of Midday Sunlight 7. The Macro Flash Advantage 16. Photography quiz 17. Jim’s eBooks 20. What's wrong with this picture?

23. Short and Sweet 25. Ask Jim 26. Photography tours 29. Student Showcase 34. Past issues 42. Subject index

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On the cover: Giant snow sculptures in Harbin, China captured on Jim's China PhotoTour. This page: Also in China, a wild snub-nosed monkey.

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ging isn't fun, but it's a lot better than the alternative. With that in mind, there comes a point when traveling the world gets to be too much for people. Our age catches up with us. The same is true for photographing nature and wildlife. Physical limitations get in our way -- carrying heavy equipment, suffering heat and cold, long hikes -- and at some point a nap seems more enticing than expending a lot of energy in pursuit of picture taking.

I'm convinced that having passions in life, like photography, does help keep us young, at least in spirit. And just because aging is progressing, that doesn't mean you have to stop shooting. There are beautiful photographs you can take at home if you put your thinking cap on. I've taken wonderful images right in my kitchen, for example.

Today, you can buy pretty much anything online, and that includes objects of nature. I've purchased exotic bird feathers, rocks and gems, live butterfly and moth cocoons, dried flowers and leaves, and tropical sea shells, all quite inexpensive, and all great macro subjects. By setting up a simple background and using the lighting of your choice, from flash to window light to outdoor shade, you can take awardwinning photographs without ever leaving home. Your passion for photography doesn't have to come to a screeching halt just because time is taking its toll.

In the March issue of Photo Insights, I'll show you examples of beautiful nature pictures I've taken at home. Challenge yourself to do this. It's fun.

Jim Zuckerman photos@jimzuckerman.com www.jimzuckerman.com 3

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The Challenge of

Midday Sunlight

hooting in the harsh light of a clear sky during the middle of the day is an ever-present problem for photographers.

You can’t make a picture taken at noon look like it was taken at sunrise or sunset, and you certainly can't transform harsh light into soft, diffused illumination. Photoshop can do magic, but it has limits. It can’t change the angle of the light nor can it change the shape and placement of shadows in a 2D image.

Original --one frame

The biggest problem with midday light is contrast. Shadows tend to go too dark -- darker

than they appear to the eye -- and highlights become too light, often bordering on overexposure.

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7-frame HDR composite

At the very least, the overexposed highlights are distracting and visually annoying.

There are three ways to address this problem: 1) Wait for a another time of day when there is a cloud cover or you've got sunrise or sunset light.

During the middle of the day, if the sky is partly cloudy, you can wait for a cloud to obscure the sun. The soft light makes a huge difference.

2) If there are no clouds at all, the next option is to process the RAW file like I did with the shot of the old car on the previous page. A screen capture of the Adobe Camera Raw dialog box shown at right (Lightroom has a different interface but it does the same thing) shows all the adjustments I made.

The first thing to notice is the highlights slider was moved all the way to the left, and the shadows slider was moved all the way to the right. This immediately toned down the highlights and opened the shadows to show more detail in the dark areas. At this point the exposure wasn't correct, so I used the exposure slider to address the problem. In addition, I added vibrance to make the colors pop as well as clarity which sharpens the midtones.

These are the standard adjustments I use to deal with harsh contrast when working with a single picture.

3) If contrast is especially extreme, the best technique to use is HDR. I typically shoot 7 frames because this gives me a broad range of exposure values to work with. In other words, some of the frames are so overexposed that very dark shadows are lightened to show detail, and other frames are so underexposed that even very bright highlights are toned down enough to show good detail and texture.

Study the image at the top of the next page. I took 5

this image in Patagonia around 11am with harsh lighting. You can see how dark the shadows are. They have little to no detail. The peak of Mt. Fitzroy in the distance, on the other hand, is almost blown out . . . meaning it's so light that the detail and texture are close to being lost. This is an example of extreme contrast, and it's usually something photographers want to avoid.

The best way to lower the contrast to create more detail in the highlights and the shadows is to use HDR. In this case, I made 7 exposures, from very light to very dark. In Photoshop, I processed these shots and combined them such that the software extracts the best exposures from each frame and then assembles all that data into one perfect expo-

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sure as shown below. The shadows are dark as they should be and as they appeared to my eyes, but they have discernable detail. Similarly, the distant peak has all the texture and detail it should have.

If you don't have a tripod with you, HDR is still quite doable. Use a wide angle lens and a fast frame rate, and Photoshop aligns all 7 images perfectly. §

The AMacro Flash dvantage

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acro photography allows us to see and appreciate small subjects most people never pay attention to.

There are inherent challenges, though, that photographers have to deal with in filling the frame with minute detail.

Depth of field As the magnification increases, depth of field decreases. Out of focus backgrounds are at-

tractive behind subjects because they direct a viewer’s attention on the most important parts of the picture. But when the dof becomes so shallow that much of the subject itself is blurred, as in the picture below of the green tree frog, I feel that’s a problem. It seems to me the whole point of macro photography is to show intricate detail. If that detail is out of focus, what’s the point?

When extension tubes are used to increase magnification to 1:1 and beyond, the focus depth is so shallow that even at the smallest lens aperture

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Iceland Drone Tour

August 24 - September 2, 2026y 1322024

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like f/32, you still won’t be able to render most of the subject with tack sharp clarity.

Focus stacking is an option to create as much depth of field as needed, but that means the elements in the scene have to be perfectly still.

There can’t be any wind at all.

Wind Wind is the enemy of macro photographers.

Small apertures are needed to gain as much depth of field as possible, and that means the shutter speed needed for a good exposure must be slow enough to compensate for the light loss from the smaller aperture. The slightest breeze, though, will cause pictures to be less than sharp. This defeats the whole purpose of what you are trying to accomplish.

I took the shot below of two ladyslipper flowers on a forest floor in Michigan. The exposure time was one full second. The long shutter allowed me to shoot with a lens aperture of f/32.

The small f/stop enabled me to make the entirety of the flowers tack sharp. I never could have taken a sharp picture like this if there had been even the smallest hint of wind.

ISO In order to prevent blurred images when there is any kind of movement, you have to raise the ISO. This is a problem when you are trying to show fine detail; the increased noise degrades picture quality. Software programs used in post-processing to mitigate noise and increase sharpness, like Topaz DeNoise AI and Topaz Sharpen AI, are excellent, but ultimately a low

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ISO is better for maximum picture quality.

Macro flash Using a flash for macro photography addresses these problems. The brief flash duration (which is the actual length of time the light in the flash is on during the exposure) freezes movement. A typical flash duration is between 1/500th and 1/1000th of a second. Not only does this eliminate the issue of blur due to long shutter speeds, but if you don’t have a tripod, you can hand hold the camera and not worry about sharpness.

In addition, when doing macro photography, the working distance from the camera to the subject is usually just a few inches. At this range, the excessive amount of light from the flash allows you to use the lowest ISO possible and, at the same time, use f/f22 or f/32 for as much depth of field as you can have without focus stacking.

Soft and diffused lighting is my preference for macro work, and that’s why I prefer to use a ring flash, below left. The other option is a twin flash setup, below right, in which two small flash units are positioned on either side of the lens. The twin flashes

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allow you to create a light ratio where one side of the subject receives more light than the other. This is a useful tool, but I still prefer to use a ring flash which provides softer light. Diffused light makes every subject look good. The closer a light source is to a subject, the more diffused it becomes, and with a working distance of 4 or 5 inches, the light from the flash looks like the soft light from an overcast sky.

Black backgrounds When flash is used on macro subjects, by definition, those subjects are close to the camera. The light emanates from the flash, bounces off the subject, and lets the ETTL flash metering system know that no more light is needed. The light falloff, then, means elements behind the subject are so underexposed they appeare muted or, if far enough away behind the subject, they will look black.

Sometimes a black background behind a macro subject is perfectly appropriate such as when we photograph nocturnal crea-

tures like the cecropia moth, right. There are times when you’ll want a black background for artistic purposes because black is so stark and non-distracting. It makes the subject stand out dramatically. In these instances, the light falloff that creates the black background is exactly what you want.

In other scenarios, however, you’ll want to include what looks like a natural environment.

The caterpillar above is an example. However, given the light falloff which occurs with every light source, including flash units, how can you create a natural look when backgrounds more than a few inches behind the subjectt will become so underexposed?

The answer is to make a matte print of out of focus foliage in the 13x19 or 16x20 inch size.

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Switzerland Photo Tour Jan. 21 - Feb. 3, 2025

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Mount the print to a piece of foam core so it lays flat (or tape it to a piece of carboard), and when photographing the small subject, place the print about 12 inches behind it.

Even when using f/32, the print image remains out of focus while the subject is completely sharp. There is still light falloff, but the print is close enough to the light source that it is illuminated enough to see the detail in the image. You can vary the exposure on the print by adjusting its position behind the subject. Move it further from the flash by a few inches to reduce the exposure on it, or if you feel it's too dark, move it closer to the subject and the flash. For the picture of the Eastern common bumblebee below, I positioned the print of out of focus foliage 10

inches from the insect.

Using this technique, it's important to make sure the print you use is matte and not glossy.

In addition, I angle the mounted print at an oblique angle to the lens-subject axis to make sure the camera doesn't see any reflections off the the print from the flash. Also, don't use canvas as the print material because it's quite possible the texture of the canvas itself will show up in the background.

Plan on making at least 3 or 4 prints of out of focus foliage so you'll have a few backgrounds from which to choose. You don't want all the backgrounds in your macro images looking the same. §

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Exotic Birds of Colombia Sept. 23 to Oct. 3, 2026

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Pantanal Photo Tour, Brazil

Jaguars in the wild, birds in flight, caiman, otters and more Dec. 1 - 9, 2025

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Photography Quiz 1. As the focal length increases, a faster shutter is required to get a sharp picture? a. True b. False 2. Which f/stop has more bokeh? a. F/9 b. F/6.3 c. F/2.8 d. F/1.4 3. Which of the following causes the worst damage to a camera: a. Rain drops b. Salt water c. Blowing sand d. High humidity 4. The complementary color to red is: a. Purple b. Magenta c. Blue d. Cyan 5. The best exposure mode when shooting lightning is: a. Shutter priority b. Aperture priority c. Program mode d. Manual mode 6. The focal length that approximates what we see with our eyes is: a. 50mm b. 85mm c. 135mm d. 35mm e. None of the above 7. Sometimes unwanted dark vignetting will occur in an image. The likely cause of this is: a. A wide angle lens was used in conjunction with two filters and a small aperture b. A lens aperture smaller than f/32 was used c. A lens shade was used along with a small aperture 8. Color infra-red film produced wild, psychedelic colors. When used with an orange filter, the sky would become what color? a. Magenta b. Orange c. Mint green d. Cobalt blue 9. Which of the following image making processes do not involve a camera? a. Gum bichromate b. Photogram c. Selenium toning

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10. Drones are so stable now they can take pictures from aloft in the dark. a. True b False

Answers on page 46

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UPCOMING PHOTO WORKSHOPS TEXAS BIRD WORKSHOP Shooting from a blind, you'll get frame-filling shots of many species of birds in flight including red cardinals, crested caracara, green jays, greater kiskadees, and painted buntings. Jim shares with you the best camera settings for ultra sharp images. Based in south Texas.

May 14 - 17, 2025

FROG & REPTILE WORKSHOP in Kansas City This is an exciting macro workshop in which you will be able to photograph about 40 species of colorful dart frogs and exotic reptiles.

Held in a hotel conference room, Jim sets up natural backgrounds for outstanding photos.

The photo at left shows a Jackson chameleon with the background replaced in Photoshop.

June 14 - 15, 2025

Carnival in Venice Photograph amazing costumes in a Medieval environment. We shoot inside a 16th century palace, in an iconic gondola, in a stunning bedroom with traditional Venetian decor, and at other great locations. The photography as well as the experience is phenomenal.

February 23 - March 1, 2025

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Expand your photographic artistry with

eBooks

Click on any ebook to see inside

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eBooks continued Click on any ebook to see inside

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Abandoned in Georgia April 21 - 27, 2025

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What's Wrong with this Picture?

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indhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, New York, is a 19th century architectural masterpiece, and it's hard to take a bad picture of it.

There is really nothing wrong with this image except it was taken in mid-morning when the lighting was harsh and contrasty. When you travel, it's just not posible to have ideal lighting in every location. Besides, sometimes you want low angled sunlight, and other times diffused light is best. To coordinate ideal lighting with an itinerary is impossible, and it basically comes down to luck. Sometimes planning is part of the equation, but usually you simply have to deal with the weather on a daily basis.

Photography is an art form and, as such, photographers can and should use all the tools we have at our disposal to enhance, embellish, and even transform 21

our images to make them what we want, not necessarily how they appear in reality.

There are some people who only want to photograph what they see, and that's fine. I don't play by those rules. I want the most impressive and most artistic interpretation of any subject I capture.

So, to dramatize this mansion in Photoshop I first gave it a sepia look using Image > adjustments > black and white, and this was followed by adding yellow and red using Image > adjustments > color balance. I then darkened it for mood with Image > adjustments > levels.

Next, I chose a stormy sky and replaced the original blue sky for maximum drama using Edit > Sky Replacement. I'll explain how I created the streaks of light in an article in the March issue of Photo Insights. §

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On Safari: Kenya March 22 - 31, 2026

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SHORT AND SWEET 1. Simplicity often makes striking images. Simple, 2. When you have two subjects in a composition, graphic lines are the foundation of art and composition. This is a seaside home in The Cribbies, a photogenic area in Newfoundland, Canada. Telephoto lenses are the ideal tools to seek out and isolate design elements in any scene.

virtually without exception both must be sharp. That means you have to use at least f/8 to garner the kind of depth of field needed. I prefer to err on the side of enough depth of field, so I took this with f/16. What you don't want is one subject 'almost' sharp.

3. In black and white photography, it's all about con-

4. I'm finding that many of my favorite AI images

trast and detail in the highlights and shadows. In ACR and Lightroom, the one slider that really makes b & w images pop is 'clarity'. It's much better than simply using the 'contrast' slider. This is Belle Helene plantation in Louisiana pre-restoration.

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are the result of blending photographs together. Often completely unrelated images -- like a leopard and an abstract fractal design -- when combined produce beautiful, intriguing, and artistic images. The online software I'm using, Midjourney, is incredible. §

Vietnam Photo Tour October 13 - 23, 2025

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ASK JIM

Every month, Jim answers a question from his online students, from people who participate in his tours and workshops, or from subscribers to this magazine. If you have a question you’d like Jim to answer, please drop him a note at photos@jimzuckerman.com.

Q: Jim . . . What percentage of the time are you using a tripod now? We have the ability to shoot with

high ISO settings, and it seems like tripods have become almost irrelevant.

Bob Martinez, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

A:

For photography at twilight and night and when shooting with techniques like focus stacking, painting with light, and slow shutter speeds with moving water, a tripod is still essential. But for most of my work I now hand hold the camera. When I shot medium format (6x7cm transparencies), I virtually always used a tripod. With my Canon R5, I'd say I use a tripod about 5% of the time. As you said, we can raise the ISO so high now and that enables us to use hand-holdable shutter speeds in so many scenarios. §

Painting with light in the Palouse

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Partial List of Photography Tours 2024 - 2026 CARNIVAL in VENICE Feb/Mar 2025

ABANDONED in GEORGIA Apr 2025

INDONESIA Aug 2025

AUSTRIA Sept 2025

VIETNAM Oct 2025

MOROCCO Oct/Nov 2025

PANTANAL Dec 2025

SCOTLAND'S PAST May 2026

THE GREAT SPAIN ECLIPSE Aug 2026

ICELAND DRONE TOUR Aug/Sept 2026

EXOTIC COLOMBIA BIRDS Sept/Oct 2026

ARMENIA & GEORGIA Oct/Nov 2026

For a complete list of all the photo tours/workshops Jim conducts, go to his website: www.jimzuckerman.com.

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Armenia & Georgia October 26 - November 8, 2026

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Student Showcase

Each month, Jim features one student who took beautiful and inspiring images on one or more of his photography tours or workshops. It’s really fascinating how photographers see and compose such different images even though we may go to the same places. Everyone takes great photographs on Jim’s trips.

Shehla Khan, Chicago, Illinois Patagonia photo tour, Venice photo workshop, and the Balkans photo tour.

© Shehla Khan

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Student Showcase, continued

© Shehla Khan

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Student Showcase, continued

© Shehla Khan 37

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Student Showcase, continued

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© Shehla Khan 3331

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PHOTO TOUR to CHINA January 3 - 14, 2026

Harbin Snow & Ice Festival

Rainbow Moutains

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Indonesia Photo Tour August 6 - 19, 2025

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Subject index for past Photo Insight issues

1/3 focus law Jul. ‘15 3D sphere Mar. ‘16 90 degree finder Mar. ‘13 Abstracts in soap Feb. ‘15 Abstracts, Shooting Mar ‘19 Aerial photography Jun. ‘13 Aerial photography Jan. ‘21 African safari May ‘16 AI plus Photograpjhy Oct. ‘23 AI, Photos-to-AI Oct. '24 Airplane windows Mar. ‘16 Alien landscapes Jan. ‘13 Anatomy of 8 photographs Jan. ‘16 Anatomy of an Action Shot Feb. ‘24 Angled perspectives Jan. ‘19 Aperture vs. shutter speed May ‘14 Aperture priority Sept. ‘14 Aperture priority and other modes Jul. ‘24 Aurora Borealis Apr. ‘17 Auto white balance Dec. ‘13 Autofocus, when it fails Apr. ‘15 Autofocus failure Aug. ‘15 Autofocus failure Jan. ‘17 Autofocus challenges Apr. ‘18 Auto ISO Nov ‘17 Auto White Balance Mar’ ‘21 Autumn Foliage Sep. ‘18 Autumn Color Sep. ‘20 Autumn foliage photography Oct. ‘21 AWB versus Daylight WB May ‘24 t Back button focus Oct. ‘18 Backgrounds, wild Nov. ‘12 Backgrounds, busy Apr. ‘13 Backlighting Apr. ‘16 Backlighting Oct. ‘22 Birds in flight Aug. ‘13 Birds in flight Jan. ‘14 Birefringence May ‘18 Birefringence Dec. 24 Birds in flight Mar. ‘16 Birds in flight, camera settings Jan. ‘23 Birds in flight, camera settings Dec. '24 Bird Photography Jun ‘19 Black backgrounds Aug. ‘23 Blacklight photography Feb. ‘21 Black velvet Mar. ‘14 Black and white conversions Mar. ‘17 Black and white infrared Apr. ‘24 Black and white solarization Sep. ‘17 Black and white with color Jan. ‘20 Black and white plus color Mar. ‘23 Blown highlights Feb. ‘18 Blue monochromes Jan. ‘22 Black Plexy Aug. ‘22 Blur, field Nov. ‘18 Blur technique Oct. ‘17 Bokeh Jun. ‘15 Botanical gardens, shooting Apr. ‘22 Butterfly photography Jul. ‘14 Buying nature Jul. ‘24 Camera buying guidelines Camera settings for landscapes Camera setting priorities Canon R5

Dec. 21 Feb. ‘23 Jun. ‘17 Mar. ‘21

Capturing lightning Jun. ‘13 Capturing lightning Jun. ‘24 Capturing what you don’t see May ‘21 Catchlights Jul. ‘16 Changing perspective May ‘21 Cheap flash stand Apr. ‘13 Children photography Jun. ‘14 Choosing a telephoto lens Dec. ‘20 Chromatic aberration May ‘13 Chrome Dec. ‘18 Cityscapes Aug. ‘14 Cityscapes May ‘16 Clone tool, fixing an issue Sep. ‘17 Clone tool technique Jul. ‘20 Color theory Nov. ‘23 Composites and Light Dec. ‘17 Composites, Secrets to perfect Jun. ‘24 Compositing images Apr. ‘19 Compositing, 7 steps Jan. 22 Composition, different approach Jan. ‘15 Content-aware, New Aug. ‘20 Content aware move tool Jan. ‘23 Contrast vs. exposure Jul. ‘15 Contrast, When it is good Sep. '24 Converting to black and white Mar. ‘22 Correcting keystoning Jun. ‘21 Creating a star field Jan. ‘14 Creating Art out of Motion May ‘22 Creating a Sketch Dec. ‘17 Creative blurs Jan. ‘14 Custom functions Jul. ‘23t

Dark backgrounds Nov. ‘19 Dawn photography Jan. ‘17 Dawn photography Feb. ‘17 Dead center Jan. ‘13 Dead center Oct. ‘23 Dealing with smog Oct. ‘16 Decay photography Sep. ‘15 Define Pattern Sep. ‘18 Define Pattern Sep. '24 Depth of field Aug. ‘16 Depth of field confusion Jan. ‘20 Depth of field and distance Dec. ‘18 Depth of field and obliqueness May ‘21 Depth of field, shallow Apr. ‘20 Depth of field vs. sharpness Nov. ‘20 Double takes Apr. ‘20 Drone photography Mar. ‘23 Drone, Lessons from a tour Oct. '24 Drop shadows Apr. ‘19 Dust, Minimizing Aug. ‘19 eBook, how to make Elevated vantage points Eliminating people from photos Embedded in Ice Energy saving bulbs Equidistance and telephoto lenses Exploring the power visuals of AI Exposing for the sun Exposure, the sun Exposing for snow Exposure technique Exposure, snow Exposure triangle Exposure, to the right

Jan. ‘13 Aug. ‘23 Jun. ‘22 Oct. 17 Sep. ‘14 Apri. ‘23 Mar. ‘23 Sep. ‘16 Jul. ‘13 Dec. '24w Sep. ‘13 Jan. ‘14 Nov. ‘14 Apr. ‘15

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Subject index for past Photo Insight issues

Exposure compensation Sep. ‘16 Exposure compensation Mar. ‘21 Extension tubes Dec. ‘13 Extension tubes Jul. ‘23 Face sculpting Apr. ‘21 Face sculpting Feb. ‘22 Festival photography Sep. ‘20 Fill flash Sep. ‘13 Filter forge Feb. ‘13 Fireworks Jul. ‘13 Fireworks, Compositing Jun ‘20 Fisheye lenses May ‘13 Fisheye lenses Feb. ‘15 Fisheye fantasies Oct. 21 Fixing parallax Oct. '24 Flash backlighting May ‘15 Flash, balancing exposure Oct. ‘15 Flash, balancing off-camera Dec. ‘18 Flat art Sep. ‘16 Flexify 2 Mar. ‘20 Flood fixes problems Nov. ‘19 Floral Portraits, Indoors Aug. ‘21 Flowers May ‘15 Flower photography Apr ‘21 Flowers in harsh light Jul. ‘16 Focus on the eyes Dec. ‘20 Focus points Mar. ‘15 Focus points Sep. ‘20 Focus stacking Mar. ‘17 Focus stacking Aug. ‘19 Focusing in the dark Oct. ‘16 Foreign Dancers, Photographing Nov’ 17 Foreign models Jun. ‘13 Fractals, generating Sep. ‘13 Fractals Jul. ‘19 Framing May ‘17 Framing Jan. ‘24 Freezing ultra action May ‘17 From Terrible to Beautiful Aug. ‘19 Fun with paint Oct. ‘16 Fundamental ingredients Apr. ‘13 Fundamentals That Make Great Photos Jan. ‘19 Fun With Christmas Lights Jan. ‘21 Fun with Food

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Graphic Design Garish imagery Generative fill Getting money for used gear Getting the blues out Great subjects Great ceilings & HDR Panos Green screen Ground level shooting Grunge technique

Jul. ‘20 Dec. ‘15 Jun. ‘23 Jan.’ 22 Dec. ‘23 Apr. ‘15 Jul. ‘19 Mar. ‘13 Oct. ‘22 Feb. ‘13

Harsh light, the problem of Heavy Lens Debate, The HDR, one photo HDR at twilight HDR, realistic HDR, hand held HDR, hand held HDR, hand held HDR panoramas HDR, choosing the number of frames High wind

Apr. ‘24 Feb. ‘23 Apr. ‘13 May ‘13 Jun. ‘15 Dec. ‘16 Nov ‘17 Jul. ‘18 Jun. ‘16 Jun. ‘22 Apr. ‘17

Highlights Apr. ‘14 Highlights, overexposed Feb. ‘15 Histograms, Why I Don’t Use Jun ‘19 Histogram problems Apr. ‘20 Home nature projects Jun. ‘23 Hotels with a view Mar. ‘20 Humidity Oct. ‘13 Hummingbird photography Apr. ‘13 Hyperfocal distance Jul. ‘13

Image resizing Aug. ‘18 Implying motion Sept.‘14 Impossible DOF Feb. ‘16 Impossible DOF Jan. ‘17 Indestructible camera bag Dec. ‘14 Infrared photography Jul. ‘14 Insane ISO settings Dec. ‘22 Interiors Oct. ‘15 iPad: Loading photos Aug.‘17 iPhone photography, pros and cons Apr. ‘22 Jungle photography

Dec. ‘14

Kaleidoscopic images Jan. ‘15 Kaleidoscopis images Aug. ‘20 Keystoning Nov. ‘23t Keystoning, correcting Aug. ‘15 L Bracket Feb. ‘18 L Bracket Feb. ‘21 Landscape photography Dec. ‘12 Landscape photography Apr. ‘14 Landscape photography Nov. ‘16 Layer Masks, The Power of Feb. ‘22 Leading Lines Aug. '24 Lessons Learned from Extreme Cold Feb. ‘24 Light fall-off Feb. ‘14 Light painting Dec. ‘21 Lighting a face Oct. ‘13 Lightning photography May ‘20 Liquify Feb. ‘18 Liquify Distortions Sept/Oct. ‘19 Lenses, Essential Aug. ‘23 Long lens portraits Oct. ‘18 Long Lenses for Flowers Jul. ‘20 Low light photography May ‘15 Luminar 4 Jan. ‘20 Macro flash Nov. ‘12 Macro flash Sep. ‘14 Macro flash Aug. ‘15 Macro flash Aug. ‘22 Macro flash advantage Feb. '25 Macro photography and DOF Feb. ‘22 Macro trick May ‘19 Managing soft focus Jul. ‘21 Mannequin heads Apr. ‘16 Metering modes Nov. ‘16 Meters, How They Work Jul. ‘18 Meters, when they fail Dec. ‘16 Metering situations, Impossible Jul. ‘19 Middle gray Nov. ‘15 Midday sunlight, The Challenge of Feb. '25 Milky Way, Shooting the Minimizing dust on the sensor Nov. ‘21 Mirrors Jan. ‘19 Mirror images May ‘23

Subject index for past Photo Insight issues

Optical infinity Jun. ‘16 Model shoot Jan. ‘17 Moon glow Oct. ‘16 Mosaics Jun. ‘17 Mundane to Ideal Nov. ‘19 Museum photography Mar. ‘13 Natural Light Portraits Aug. ‘21 Negative space Jan. ‘16 Neon edges on black Aug. ‘14 Neutral Density filters Jun. ‘18 New depth of field preview Mar. ‘24 New shooting style Mar. ‘24 Neutral Density filters and water Mar. ‘22 Night photography Feb. ‘14 Night Safaris Jun. ‘18 Night to Twilight Dec. ‘17 Noise reduction Feb. ‘17 Off-camera flash Oil and water Organization of photos Out of focus foregrounds

Jan. ‘24 May ‘20 Mar. ‘18 Jan. ‘20

Paint abstracts May ‘13 Paint abstracts Aug. ‘21 Painting with light Sep. ‘15 Pan-blurs Sep. '24 Panning motion Dec. ‘16 Pano-Mirrors with a twist Jan. ‘18 Parades Sep. ‘13 Parallelism Nov. ‘19 Parallelism and DOF Feb. ‘21 Perspective, Super Exaggeration of Dec. ‘21 Photo shsaring Apr. ‘23 Photo terms Nov. ‘22 Photographing Christmas Dec. ‘23 Photography to Art Dec. ‘17 Photography solutions Jan. ‘18 Photoshop, content Aware Nov. ‘12 Photoshop, sketch technique Apr. ‘13 Photoshop, replace background Apr. ‘13 Photoshop, actions palette Dec. ‘13 Photoshop, layer masks Feb. ‘13 Photoshop, the clone tool May ‘13 Photoshop, soft foliage Oct. ‘13 Photoshop, mixer brush tool Sept. ‘14 Photoshop, b & w with color Jun. ‘14 Photoshop, drop shadows Jul. ‘14 Photoshop, creating texture Feb. ‘14 Photoshop, face mirrors Feb. ‘14 Photoshop, liquify Mar. ‘14 Photoshop, face mirrors Aug. ‘14 Photoshop, digital spotlight Sep. ‘14 Photoshop, enlarge eyes Nov. ‘14 Photoshop, darken the periphery Dec. ‘14 Photoshop, mirror images Dec. ‘14 Photoshop, beam of light Apr. ‘15 Photoshop, polar coordinates Mar. ‘15 Photoshop, chrome May ‘15 Photoshop, actions palette Nov. ‘15 Photoshop, cut and paste Nov. ‘15 Photoshop, geometrics Oct. ‘15 Photoshop, plugins Oct. ‘15 Photoshop, multiple selections Apr. ‘16

Photoshop, sharpening Apr. ‘16 Photoshop, Flood plugin Apr. ‘16 Photoshop, Desaturation Aug. ‘16 Photoshop, making a composite Aug. ‘16 Photoshop new tool May ‘20 Photoshop, place one element behind Aug. ‘18 Photoshop, the pen tool Feb. ‘16 Photoshop, canvas size Jan. ‘16 Photoshop, using the earth Jun. ‘16 Photoshop, define patterns May ‘16 Photoshop, paste into Nov. ‘16 Photoshop, b & w with color Feb. ‘17 Photoshop, open a closed door Apr. ‘17 Photoshop, palettes May ‘17 Photoshop, My favorite plugins Jan. ‘20 Portrait options Jan. ‘19 Portrait techniques Nov. ‘15 Portraits Mar. ‘13 Portraits, mixed lighting Aug. ‘14 Portrait Professional Nov. ‘19 Portraits, Lens choice Sept/Oct. ‘19 Portraits, side lighting Sep. ‘17 Portraits, window light Mar. ‘15 Portraits, outdoors May ‘17 Post-processing checklist Dec. ‘13 Post-processing: Contrast Aug. ’17 Practicing graphic design, Part I Dec. ‘22 Practicing graphic design, Park II Jan. ‘23 Practicing graphic design, Part III Feb. ‘23 Pre-capturing technology May ‘23 Predictive Focus Sep. ‘18 Problem/solution Apr. ‘17 Problem Solving in Photoshop May ‘22 Problem with cruises Jan. ‘18 Protecting extremeities from the cold Dec. ‘22 Protecting highlights Dec. ‘12 Puppies Jan. ‘15 Puppy photography Feb. ’18 Reflections Feb. ‘13 Reshaping faces Oct. ‘22 Restoring old photos Jun ‘20 Ring flash, advantages Jul. ‘21 Ring flash versatility Oct. ‘21 Rule of Odds May ‘22 S-curves Aug. '24 Safari May ‘13 Safari strategies Jul. ‘15 Seeing as the lens does Nov. ‘14 Seeking Cool Snow Photos Jan. ‘21 Selective filtering Mar. ‘18 Selective focus Jun. ‘15 Self-critiques Jul. ‘13 Self-critiques Oct. ‘13 Self-critiques Nov. ‘20 Sensor cleaning Jun. ‘18 Sepia and dark contrast Jun. ‘15 Sepia, Traditional look of Shade May ‘14 Shady side Jun. ‘18

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Subject index for past Photo Insight issues

Shadows define the shot Dec. ‘23 Shadows, Paying Attention to Mar. ‘18 Sharp, 6 reasons why photos are not Apr. ‘24 Sharpness problems Mar. ‘14 Shooting in Inclement Weather Nov. ‘22 Shooting thru glass May ‘24 Shooting through textured glass May ‘23 Shooting through wire mesh Sept. ‘14 Shooting into the light Jun ‘20 Side lighting Jan. ‘24 Silhouettes Jun. ‘13 Silhouettes, How to make Apr. ‘22 Silhouettes, Exposing for Sept/Oct. ‘19 Silvered landscapes Mar. ‘20 Sketch, How to Make Jun ‘19 Skies make or break a picture Aug. ‘21 Sky replacement Nov. ‘20 Sky replacement strategies Aug. ‘22 Snow exposure Nov ‘17 Snow exposure Nov. ‘19 Soap abstracts Aug. ‘23 Soft light Jan. ‘13 Smart phone photography May ‘19 Stained glass Mar. ‘17 Star photography and noise Jan. ‘18 Stock photography Sep. ‘14 Sunrise & sunset Jan. ‘19 Symmetry Aug. '24 Tamron 150-600mm Apr. ‘14 Ten reasons photos are not sharp Jan. ‘19 Texture, Adding Mar ‘19 Texture Mapping in 3D Jul. ‘21 Too much lens Jul. ‘24 Topaz AI Gigapixel Mar ‘19 Topaz glow Jan. ‘15 Topaz glow Sep. ‘17 Topaz Impression Sep. ‘15 Topaz Remask 5 Oct. ‘17 Topaz Simplify 4 Dec. ‘12 Topaz simplify 4 Jun. ‘14 Topaz Studio Apr. ‘18 Total solar eclipse, How to shoot Mar. ‘24 Translucency & backlighting Nov. ‘18 Travel photography Feb. ‘ 13 Travel portraits Mar. ‘14 Travel tips Apr. ‘14 Travel photographer’s guide Jun. ‘17 Tripods, not allowed Jun. ‘24 Tweaking exposure on the fly Apr. ‘23 Twilight photography in the rain Apr. ‘19 Twilight, Creating Oct. ‘23 Tripods Mar. ‘18 Two subject sharp rule May ‘14 Two subject focus rule Jan. ‘20 Two subject focus rule Jun. ‘21 Urban heights Ultra distortion Unusual Panos Upside Down Reflections

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Jun. ‘21 May ‘18 Nov. ‘22 Aug. ‘21

Quiz answers 1. b 2. d 3. d 4. a 5. c 6. a 7. b 8. d 9. a 10. c

Your score 90% - 100%: You could have been a pro 80% - 89%: Your glasses probably need a new prescription 70% - 79%: Just don’t quit your day job < 70%: You should really be using an iPhone

Subject index for past Photo Insight issues Warm fingers in winter Nov. ‘15 Water drop collisions May ‘18 What NOT to do in photography Apr. ‘18 When You Needed a Zoom Aug. ‘21 White on White Dec. ‘20 White on White Nov. ‘23 White vignette Aug. ‘15 White balance Feb. ‘15 White balance, custom Mar. ‘16 White balance, What Jun. ‘23 Wide angle conundrum May ‘19 Wide angle distortion, correcting May ‘24 Wide angle lenses Mar. ‘13 Wide angle portraits Nov. ‘14 Wide angle lenses Jun. ‘17 Wide angle lenses: Outside the Box Jun. ‘22w Wide angle keystoning Nov ‘17 Wildlife photos with wide angles Mar. ‘15 Window light Dec. ‘15 Window light portraits Aug. ‘18 Window light portraits Feb. ‘24 Window frames Feb. ‘16 Winter photography Dec. ‘12 Winter bones May ‘13 Winter photography Dec. ‘15 Winter photography Nov. ‘18 Wire Mesh, Shooting Through Jul. ‘18 Workflow May ‘13

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PHOTO INSIGHTS published monthly by Jim Zuckerman All rights reserved © Jim Zuckerman 2025 email: photos@jimzuckerman.com Edited by Donald Moore A jaguar's eyes reflecting the flash back into the lens, the Pantanal region of Brazil

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