June 2025

Jim Zuckerman’s

PHOTO INSIGHTS

June 2025

What's the best White Balance Shooting from helicopters When You Really Needed a Zoom To Polarize or not to Polarize Anatomy of Natural Light Portraits Photography Quiz Upside Down Reflections Photo Tours Ask JimtoursVStudent showcase Photo Student Ask JimShowcase Back issues

Subject index

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Table of Contents 4. What's the best White Balance 8. Shooting from helicopters 13. To Polarize or not to Polarize 16. Photography quiz 18. Jim’s eBooks 21. What's wrong with this picture?

24. Short and Sweet 26. Ask Jim 27. Photography tours 29. Student Showcase 35. Past issues 43. Subject index

On the cover: The Painted Hall, Greenwich, England.

On the cover: Wild jaguar in the Pantanal The huge room is reflecting in a mirrored table. This region of Brazil; This page: A model in page: SpiralVietnam. staircase in the Hide Restaurant, London.

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any of my trips to Africa have been to South Africa. I've led quite a few tours there, and on every trip my clients and I have taken wonderful pictures and had a fabulous time. In 2000, a friend and I rented a car and we drove all over the country shooting landscapes, birds, wildlife, and several colorful tribes.

Unfortunately, in the last few years things have radically changed in South Africa. Crime has skyrocketed, infrastructure like roads and electrical grids have suffered, rolling blackouts are daily events, sanitation has declined, and government sponsored violence against white farmers has, as President Trump noted recently in the White House to South Africa's president Mr. Ramaphosa, left large cemeteries full of white victims. Ramaphosa has a Soviet-communist background, and combined with virulent anti-white and anti-Indian racism, this is no longer a place for Americans, Europeans or Indians. The country is imploding. Even South African Airways, the state owned airline and at one time the best airline in Africa, is bankrupt due to mismanagement and corruption.

I'm writing about this because I have now taken South Africa off the list of countries I will visit. Like Iran, Yemen, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Mexico, and Venezuela, I feel it is too dangerous to go there. I know many of the subscribers to this eMagazine travel, and many of you love Africa. I do, too, and I'm strongly suggeseting to you that you avoid South Africa in favor of the other countries on the continent known for great wildlife -- Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Uganda, Zambia, etc.

Remember the slogan during Covid, 'Better safe than sorry?' Don't forget it when it comes to traveling to Africa.

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

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WHAT'S THE BEST

WHITE BALANCE?

robably 80 to 90% of the people who travel with me on my photography tours have their cameras set on auto white balace virtually all the time.

They assume, incorrectly, that the auto aspect of AWB will choose the best colors in pretty much all situations. It doesn't.

Take for example the landscape shot below I took in the Alabama Hills in central California. This color balance is exactly what I saw.

The sunrise colors are golden, i.e. red and yellow, and this resulted from setting the camera

to daylight white balance. Some camera systems refer to this setting as direct sunlight or sunny.

The same composition on the next page shows the color scheme when using auto white balance.

The rich golden tones that photographers love when shooting early and late in the day were lost.

This is not what I saw. The auto white balance feature tried to 'correct' the golden light to be white. In other words, it tries to make the scene look like it was taken during the middle of the day, notwithstanding the shadows. Virtually no photographer wants this.

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Sure, you can adjust the colors in post-precessing to recover the original rich golden tones, but why do this with dozens or even hundreds of pictures?

This is why I set my camera to daylight white balance for all of my outdoor shooting. At midday, the colors are exactly as I see them, and at sunrise and sunset, the golden tones are reproduced, again, exactly as I saw them.

Can some shots appear too red and yellow when using daylight white balance? Yes. The cheetah I photographed at sunset, right, is too warm for my taste. But had I used AWB, the colors would have looked unattractive to my eye. In this case, I simply desaturate the red and the yellow in the hue/saturation dialog box in Photoshop, or sometimes I'll adjust colors in Adobe Camera Raw using the color mixer.

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Some photographers think if you leave the white balance on daylight all the time, as I do, the pictures will turn out bluish when shooting in overcast conditions and at dusk and dawn. That does happen, of course. You can see in the shot of the Grand Canyon, below, that an approaching storm darkened the sky significantly and raised the Kelvin temperature (the higher the temperature in degrees Kelvin, the bluer is the picture). In this situation, you can either use cloudy white balance, which will remove much of the blue tone, or continue to use daylight WB and accept the blue coloration. Sometimes you'll like it and sometimes you will want to remove the bluish cast in post-processing. Personally, I find often the blue color adds mood and atmosphere so I keep it.

The daylight white balance setting allows you

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to see and capture the full color spectrum from golden tones at sunrise and sunset to the 'moody blues' of a cloud cover and scenes with reduced illumination.

Kelvin temperatures are highest -- in other words, the pictures are more blue -- at dawn and twilight. The picture of a foggy forest in Italy on the next page shows this. I simply used daylight WB, and picture turned completely blue. This was 6am, well before the winter sunrise, and the mood of the scene was enhanced simply because I didn't use cloudy WB. If this kind of blue is not what you want, the best way to change it to a normal color palette is to use the color temperature slider in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom or to simply desaturate the blue color using the color mixer. In the image at upper right on page 7, you can see the original colors in the scene.

The only time I change the white balance is when I'm shooting under tungsten (incandescent) lighting when phtographing an interior. Using daylight white balance in this situation turns the images to supersaturated yellow, and it's not attractive at all.

One of the reasons I use the daylight white balance setting for most of my shooting is because this is one less thing to think about.

Everytime we take a picture, there are so many things to consider at the same time -exposure, depth of field, focus, composition, lighting, shutter speed, the subject, the background, shadows, and more -- that removing one thing from the equation helps a little in allowing me to focus on the more important things. If you use the wrong shutter speed, you can't correct that in post-processing. But if the white balance is too warm or too cool,

this is something that can be corrected perfectly if you shoot in RAW mode. Jpeg images can be corrected to a certain extent, but one of the advantages of shooting in RAW is that the color temperature can be tweaked in any direction without any hint of post-processing manipulation. §

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Shooting from

W

HELICOPTERS

ith the advent of drones, the need to shoot from helicopters or small planes to get that incredible aerial perspective has been reduced. Still, sometimes it's illegal to fly a drone, other times it might not be safe, and sometimes the subject you want to photograph is simply too far away. Or, flying the drone over large bodies of water or near an erupting volcano -- or if the wind is too strong -- could very well put your drone in jeopardy. Helicopters are expensive and not always availalbe even if you are willing to spend the money. I've taken a lot of wonder-

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ful images from them, though, and I wanted to share with you the techniques I use.

Mitigating movement The first consideration when shooting from a helicopter is shutter speed. There are two kinds of movement that will cause blurred pictures if your shutter isn't fast enough: turbulence and vibration from the aircraft itself. If you are shooting with a telephoto lens as I did in the shot below of an erupting volcano in Iceland, the movement is magnified. This requires an even faster shutter speed. You can probably

Iceland Drone Tour August 24 - September 2, 2026

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get away with between 1/500 and 1/1000th of a second, but since you've paid a lot of money for the helicopter and since your subject matter is fantastic, don't take a chance. I used 1/2000 for the volcano because there was no way I wanted 'almost' sharp images. And, in this particular case, not only was there turbulence and vibration but the spewing columns of lava were also moving.

Remember, depth of field is not relevant when you are photographing distant subjects. A landscape or cityscape will be sharp at any lens aperture when shooting from a significant distance. That means you can choose a large lens aperture to gather as much light as possible, and that in turn permits a fast shutter in conjunction with a low ISO. If turbulence is at a minimum, I would feel

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comfortable using a shutter speed of 1/500.

That's what I used for the picture of Corcovado Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, below. I took this years ago when we were forced to use low ISO settings due to excessive noise.

Mitigating reflections If you are sitting in the back seat of the helicopter, the windows are flat. Usually, the pilot will let you open them so you can shoot without degradating the quality of the pictures due to optically interior glass. Even if you do have to shoot through the glass, though, there shouldn't be any reflections back into the lens.

However, if you are sitting in the front of the aircraft, the Plexiglass bubble that forms the windscreen is curved. Taking pictures straight forward means there is a good chance you'll

have to contend with reflections or glare. The easiest solution is to ask the pilot to turn the helicopter so you can shoot out a side window.

But if you have to photograph through the Plexiglass bubble, lean forward put the lens up against the Plexiglass itself. Bring a rubber lens hood just for this possibility because the hood will protect the Plexiglass as well as your lens. Even slight turbulence will cause the lens to bump against the bubble. To prevent scratches on all the surfaces involved, the rubber lens hood is what you need to use.

Lens choice Don't shoot with any lens wider than 24mm.

Wide lenses encompass so much that the rotors on top of the helicopter will be in your pictures. Even angling the camera down toward the ground, which you will do for virtu-

ally all the pictures, won't be able to eliminate the rotors. When they are spinning at a high RPM rate during flight, you may not be able to see them. They appear as a faint blur. Using a fast shutter, though, will freeze them. Each picture you take will have a rotor blade in the frame.

Most of my shots from helicopters are done with focal lengths between 28mm and 200mm.

This depends on the altitude of the flight and how large an area you're photographing, of course. But you don't need to burden yourself with a wide range of lenses.

Both the volcano eruption in Iceland and Iguazu Falls in Argentina, below, were captured with a 200mm focal length, and both were exposed at 1/2000th of a second. §

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Switzerland Photo Tour Sept. 23 - Oct. 2, 2025

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To Polarize or Not to Polarize That is the question

used to travel with a polarizing filter all the time. Back in the day when we shot film, all photographers wanted to increase the color saturation in their images, and a polarizer was the way to do it. It is particularly effective with the sky as you can see in the picture below. This is the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado I shot with medium format film (6x7cm transparency) and a polarizing filter. I loved the effect at the time and still do.

Today, though, I no longer carry one of these filters. With the advent of Photoshop, it is so easy to embellish photographs in post-processing. The vibrance slider in Lightroom or

Adobe Camera Raw does what a polarizing filter does and more. Plus, you don't have to shoot through another piece of glass.

Polarizing filters reduce the light entering the camera by two full f/stops, and that has always been a disadvantage. When using a polarizer on a wide angle lens with a large front element, the filters get quite expensive.

Some photographers like polarizers because they eliminate reflections on glass and surfaces of water. That is a valid appliction, especially if your main interest in photography is landscapes. For my own work, though, I haven't felt a need for a polarizer in years. §

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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. If you see unwanted vignetting in the corners of an image, the likely cause is: a. A wide angle lens used with a filter and a small f/stop b. A flaw in the manufacture of the lens c. A small lens aperture used on a telephoto in conjunction with a lens hood d. A slow shutter speed used in conjunction with a small lens aperture 2. The Inverse Square Law refers to the fact that when a light source doubles its distance to a subject, the light falloff is exactly double. a. True b. False 3. If you use flash with a sync speed that's too fast, what happens? a. The flash won't fire b. Part of the image will be black c. The flash batteries deplete too quickly d. The pictures will be underexposed 4. Noise shows up most prominently in: a. The shadows b. The highlights c. The mid-tones 5. The best way to eliminate lens flare in Photoshop is with: a. The clone tool b. The spot removal tool c Generative fill d. Generative expand 6. Blown highlights can only be repaired in Photoshop by: a. Reducing the exposure of the image b. Reducing the exposure of the highlights in the image c. Using a layer mask d. Cloning from correctly exposed areas of the image into the blown out portion 7. A lightning trigger only works to capture bolts of lightning at night. a. True b. False 8. When shooting flat art like a mural, you will have complete depth of field over the surface of the artwork, even at f/2.8, if the back of the camera is parallel with the art. a. True b. False 9. Which of the following colors are considered 'complementary' in photography? a. Blue and magenta b. Green and yellow c. Red and orange d Red and cyan e. All of the above 10. A 25mm extension tube causes a one f/stop loss of light on a 300mm lens. a. True b False

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Answers on page 46

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UPCOMING PHOTO WORKSHOPS 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 7 - 13, 2026

TEXAS BIRDS 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.

May 12 -15, 2027

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19 1917

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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19 21 23 21 19 21 221 3 1921

India Tiger Safari May 20 - 30, 2026

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What's Wrong with this Picture?

A

t first glance, it's easy to see the problem with this picture of a crested caracara. The bird had flown too close to my shooting position given the focal length I was using, and the wing tips were cropped out. At second glance, I thought maybe this isn't that bad because the compelling face of the raptor and the spread of the tail feathers is the real focus, and the missing tips of the wings don't really matter.

In almost all cases of birds in flight, I think it's important to include the entire spread of the wings. For a moment, I was trying to think outside the box and convince myself this worked. In the end, though, I decided it didn't. With the new capability of 'generative expand' in Photoshop, it was easy to see why it was important to include the extremities of the wings.

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Generative expand allows you to expand the original area of an image. It also makes it possible to add to and extend the subject. If parts of a subject are missing -- wing tips, feet, a tail, the rear end of a car, part of building or a tree, etc. -- the AI aspect of Photoshop intelligently fills it in. And, you are given three choices. If you don't like the first three possibilities, you can ask for three more, and so on, until you are happy with the results. I used this ability to complete the wings of the caracara and then instantly I knew this was the better image.

Birds fly very quickly. When we zoom in tightly for full-frame closeups, it's easy to forget about how much space extended wings take up when birds fly. I have to constantly remind myself to zoom back and allow room in the frame for forward movement as well as space above the bird and to the right and left as well. If you've allowed too much space around the bird, simply crop the image later. § 22

On Safari: Kenya March 22 - 31, 2026

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SHORT AND SWEET 1. You can never go wrong with diffused light from 2. Patterns in nature are everywhere, and they make an overcast sky. While sunrise and sunset lighting are beautiful, sometimes contrasty shadows are a problem.

Diffused light is perfect for every type of subject from people to wildlife, and from architecture to macro work.

great pictures. This is eucalyptus bark, for example.

Rock faces, leaf designs, feathers, wood grain, frost and so many other types of patterns are all arund you Just make sure you use enough depth of field so the images are sharp from edge to edge.

3. If you like doing super creative things in AI, you

4. Don't be afraid to place a subject in the middle of

can then bring the images into Photoshop for further manipulation. I created this cat-like being with a blend of three of my photographs using Midjourney, and then I mirrored it in Photoshop. AI is simply an amazing tool for creativity.

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the frame even though that violates the Rule of Thirds.

Actually, this is not a rule at all, but a suggestion. Sometimes a central placement is exactly what's needed to underscore the beauty and symmetry of the subject. I shot this tree in the Palouse region of Washington. §

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 . . . I took this shot on the coast of California at sunset. I like the lighting a lot and the color, and

even the composition. Do you think it's a problem that the entire background isn't sharp. I used f/8, and I'm thinking it might have been better with f/22 for complete depth of field.

Angela Bissel, Tallahassee, Florida

A: I agree you needed more DOF. In my opinion, all landscapes need to be sharp from the immediate foreground to the distant background. There may be exceptions, but this is not one of them. §

©Angela Bissel

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Partial List of Photography Tours 2025 - 2026 INDONESIA Aug 2025

AUSTRIA Sept 2025

VIETNAM Oct 2025

MOROCCO Oct/Nov 2025

AUTUMN in JAPAN Nov 2025

PANTANAL, BRAZIL Dec 2025

SCOTLAND'S PAST May 2026

INDIA TIGER SAFARI May 2026

ICELAND DRONE TOUR Aug/Sept 2026

EXOTIC COLOMBIA BIRDS Sept/Oct 2026

INDONESIA WILDLIFE 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.

Jim Myers, Altoona, Pennsylvania Holland/Belgium photo tour, England/Scotland photo tour.

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Student Showcase, continued

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Student Showcase, continued

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Student Showcase, continued

© Hank House

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© Robert Dominis 3331

33 33 31 33 33

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 Dust specks May '25t eBook, how to make Jan. ‘13 Elevated vantage points Aug. ‘23 Eliminating people from photos Jun. ‘22 Embedded in Ice Oct. 17 Energy saving bulbs Sep. ‘14 Equidistance and telephoto lenses Apri. ‘23 Exploring the power visuals of AI Mar. ‘23 Exposing for the sun Sep. ‘16 Exposure, the sun Jul. ‘13 Exposing for snow Dec. '24w Exposure technique Sep. ‘13

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Subject index for past Photo Insight issues

Exposure, snow Jan. ‘14 Exposure triangle Nov. ‘14 Exposure, to the right Apr. ‘15 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 Helicopters, Shooting from HDR, one photo HDR at twilight HDR, realistic HDR, hand held

Apr. ‘24 Feb. ‘23 Mar. '25 Apr. ‘13 May ‘13 Jun. ‘15 Dec. ‘16

HDR, hand held Nov ‘17 HDR, hand held Jul. ‘18 HDR panoramas Jun. ‘16 HDR, choosing the number of frames Jun. ‘22 High wind 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 Macro flash Macro flash Macro flash Macro flash advantage Macro photography and DOF Macro trick Managing soft focus Mannequin heads Metering modes Meters, How They Work Meters, when they fail

Nov. ‘12 Sep. ‘14 Aug. ‘15 Aug. ‘22 Feb. '25 Feb. ‘22 May ‘19 Jul. ‘21 Apr. ‘16 Nov. ‘16 Jul. ‘18 Dec. ‘16

Subject index for past Photo Insight issues

Metering situations, Impossible Jul. ‘19 Middle gray Nov. ‘15 Midday sunlight, The Challenge of Feb. '25 Minimizing dust on the sensor Nov. ‘21 Optical infinity Jun. ‘16 Mirrors Jan. ‘19 Mirror images May ‘23 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 Online Nature Organization of photos Out of focus foregrounds

Jan. ‘24 May ‘20 Mar. '25 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 Parallax, Correctingt May '25 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 Rays of Light Mar. '25 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

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Subject index for past Photo Insight issues 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 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 from helicopters 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 Some people are clueless May '25 Stained glass Mar. ‘17 Star photography and noise Jan. ‘18 Stock photography Sep. ‘14 Sunrise & sunset Jan. ‘19 Symmetry Aug. '24 Tamron 150-600mm Ten reasons photos are not sharp Texture, Adding Texture Mapping in 3D To Polarize or not to Polarize Too much lens Topaz AI Gigapixel Topaz glow Topaz glow Topaz Impression Topaz Remask 5 Topaz Simplify 4 Topaz simplify 4 Topaz Studio Total solar eclipse, How to shoot Translucency & backlighting Travel photography Travel portraits Travel tips Travel photographer’s guide Tripods, not allowed Tweaking exposure on the fly Twilight photography in the rain

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Apr. ‘14 Jan. ‘19 Mar ‘19 Jul. ‘21 Jun. '25 Jul. ‘24 Mar ‘19 Jan. ‘15 Sep. ‘17 Sep. ‘15 Oct. ‘17 Dec. ‘12 Jun. ‘14 Apr. ‘18 Mar. ‘24 Nov. ‘18 Feb. ‘ 13 Mar. ‘14 Apr. ‘14 Jun. ‘17 Jun. ‘24 Apr. ‘23 Apr. ‘19

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

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

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 Jun. ‘21 Ultra distortion May ‘18 Unusual Panos Nov. ‘22 Upside Down Reflections Aug. ‘21

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, what's the best Jun. '25 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

Male cardinal, south Texas 4748