Photo Insights December 2021 by Jim Zuckerman photography

Jim Zuckerman’s

PH OTO I N S I G HTS

December 2021

Light painting Super exaggeration of perspective Camera buying guidelines Upcoming workshops Photo tours When You Really Needed a Zoom Ask Jim Anatomy ofShowcase Natural Light Portraits Student BackDown issues Reflections Upside

Photo toursVStudent showcase Ask Jim Subject index

Table of Contents 4. 8. 12. 18. 21. 23. 24. 25. 27. 33. 39.

Light painting Super exaggation of perspective Fun with food Jim’s eBooks What’s wrong with this picture? Short and sweet Ask Jim Photography tours Student Showcase Past issues Subject index

On the cover: Male polar bears sparing near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. This page: A bald cypress tree at sunset in Caddo Lake, Texas.

ocial media, like pretty much everything in life, has good things about it and bad. For people who love photography, it is a place where we can follow photographers we admire and be inspired by their work. I use Instagram, Flickr, 500pix, and Pinterest to learn about places in the world I’ve not been to. I get ideas of where I might want to develop a new photo tour, and I also use these venues for creative ideas in Photoshop. Social media’s negative side for photographers is that once a place is ‘discovered’, hordes of photographers descend on it. What used to be special is destroyed. This happened with Antelope Canyon in Arizona. The first time I visited the canyon in the late 80’s, there was no one there. No ticket takers, no other photographers, and no Chinese by the busload. I was able to drive right up to the entrance of Upper Antelope Canyon and walk in. Now, during the summer, about 2300 people go through Lower Antelope every day. No tripods are allowed because that slows the throngs of selfie-stick people who treat this natural wonder pretty much like a ride in Disneyland. Most are not interested in photographing the stunning sandstone contours of the canyon. Instead, they are intent on photographing themselves with the naturally sculpted walls as the backdrop. The latest occurance is with snowy owls. I’ve done a workshop for about 9 years to photograph these beautiful birds about an hour north of Toronto. In the beginning, my local guide asked me specifically not to tell people where we go, and I honored that. Only my workshop participants knew. Someone spilled the beans on social media, unfortunately, and now there are scores of photographers driving all over the area throwing out mice everywhere to intice the owls. They don’t understand the behavior of the owls, and they end up getting very few pictures. It’s chaos, the owls stay away, and serious photography in that area is over. I’ve had to move the snowy owl workshop two thousand miles away to avoid the craziness and to insure my groups get the pictures they want without harassing the birds and without being harassed by a mass of humanity. Jim Zuckerman photos@jimzuckerman.com www.jimzuckerman.com

Light Painting

lluminating a subject with a flashlight over time produces beautiful and visually compelling images. It is also experimental and somewhat unpredictable. It is difficult to consistently produce identical results over the course of several exposures, but with the immediate feedback on the camera’s LCD screen, it’s a fairly simple matter of adjusting the camera’s settings to make the exposure perfect. The technique Painting with light is strickly done at night, obviously, because the shutter must remain

open for an extended period of time. Too much ambient light overexposes the image. The length of the exposure will vary, depending on: 1. How long it takes you to move the light over the subject. Larger areas, such as the stand of trees in Lake Martin, Louisiana, below, take a longer period of time compared to the old truck, on the next page. 2. How bright your flashlight is. With fresh batteries and a high intensity flashlight, the exposure time will be reduced. Keep in mind,

though, that you don’t want the exposure time to be too short. You need time to move the light over the subject(s) while the shutter is open so you can create artistic lighting. Make sure you don’t hold the light on one part of the scene too long or it will appear overexposed. The exposure on the trees in Lake Martin was 8 seconds, and the shutter was open for 5 seconds when I photographed the old truck. 3. The distance from the subject to the flashlight. The Inverse Square Law comes into play in a big way here, and this means the light reduction that occurs is four times as the distance is doubled. In other words, if the distance between the light and the subject goes from 10 to 20 feet, the intensity of light reaching that subject is diminished by four times -- i.e. 2 f/stops.

All of this is to say that when light painting distant subjects, you’ll need a longer exposure time. 4. The lens aperture. If you need depth of field and choose a small aperture, this will obviously necessitate a longer exposure time. 5. The ISO setting. The lower the ISO, the longer your exposure time will be. Since you’re shooting in the dark, and because noise shows up readily in the shadows, it’s best to use a low ISO. I usually use 640 or lower for light painting. I recommend your shutter speed should not be faster than 5 seconds. The slower it is, the more area you can paint and the more control you have over placing highlights where you want them.

open for an extended

Some flashlights have the ability to focus the beam of light so it’s quite narrow. This is best because it gives you maximum creative control. All exposures are done from a tripod. Multiple-second timed exposures mean you really don’t need to use a cable release or a 2- or 10-second self-timer delay. If there is any vibration caused by depressing the shutter button, it occurs in the dark; no image is recorded until you start the light painting. Therefore, once the shutter is opened, don’t start illuminating the subject for a couple of seconds. If you make the exposure time long enough -like 20 or 30 seconds -- you’ll have the chance to walk up to the subject and use the flashlight at an oblique angle for sidelighting. This is very effective because it brings out the tex6

ture of the subject, and with the closer proxmity you can target areas you want to emphasize with light. That’s what I did with the dilapidated grain silo in the Palouse area of Washington State, above, and the abandoned, graffiti covered bus, below. With the bus, during the 30 second exposure, I was able to climb inside and illuminate the ceiling. My settings for this picture were 30 seconds, f2.8, and 250 ISO. §

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Super Exaggeration of Perspective T

he fundamental and underlying ingredient to good composition is a strong graphic design, meaning shapes, and what comprises strong graphic design are bold, artistic, and dramatic lines. One of the best ways to create strong graphic lines is to use an extreme wide angle lens. For example, in the shot below of the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, I used a 24mm focal length on a 16-35mm lens. For the shot of junker cars on the next page, to exaggerate the front end I shot with a 14mm wide angle lens.

The secret to seriously exaggerating perspective, and thereby accentuating the dynamic shapes and lines in the foreground, is to place the camera very close. Most of the time the camera-subject distance should be 2 to 4 feet to create the exaggeration of perspective shown below. With the cathedral interior image on page 9, I used a 14mm lens positioned about 5 inches from the foreground edge of the holy water. The exceptionally close proximity not only made the water appear to be disproportionately large compared to the background, but the

lines of the vessel are elongated and they add to the exaggeration of perspective. In my opinion, it is essential that pictures with exaggerated perspectives and bold leading lines have complete depth of field. You can’t make the background completely out of focus anyway because inherent to all wide angle lenses is extensive depth of field. Even if you shoot at f/2.8 and place the camera very close to foreground elements, the background will be defined. It won’t be sharp, but you’ll be able to recognize what’s behind the subject. And that won’t look good, at least to my sense of aesthetics. Instead, I’d recommend shooting pictures like this at f/22 or f/32. This will insure everything will be as sharp as possible notwithstanding focus stacking. If you have the time and the in-

clination to do focus stacking, you can shoot at f/8 (the sharpest aperture on the lens) and then in post-processing combine the series of images for maximum resolution. When you place foreground elements so close to the camera position, the question that always comes up is, “Where is the best place to focus?” Note the focal length you are using for the shot -- say 24mm. Divide that by 3, which is 8, and that’s how many feet from the camera you should focus. If you have a 14mm lens, then you’d focus about 5 feet from the camera. This distance doesn’t have to be ultra precise, but using this simple guideline will give you maximum sharpness given the focal length of the lens, the foreground-to-subject distance, and the lens aperture.

The image at right taken, at Deadvlei in Namibia, was made with Canon’s 11-24mm wide angle lens. The foreground branch was about 6 inches from the lens. Dividing 11 by 3 means I focused about 3 1/2 to 4 feet into the frame. I used f/22 and notice how the distant dunes are sharp. Improving your composition For photographers who struggle with composition, wide angle lenses can help. Given the extensive depth of field they offer, a wide angle shot usually consists of two parts: foreground and background. I think of it as two subjects. What you must look for, then, is first a compelling foreground and, second, a background that is either unobtrusive or complimentary. In the cathedral interior, below, the holy water is the foreground and the far side of the building is the background. Focusing

your attention on finding subjects that fit this formula can help you find strong compositions. Artistically isolating parts of a scene with a camera lens is what photography is all about. When using a wide angle lens, first search for anything that looks like it would be a strong foreground. Then look for a background that compliments the foreground. This is the mental exercise I use to help me find good compositions. §

PERU NATURE TOUR Sept. 24 - Oct 4, 2022

Camera Buying Guidelines A

t some point, you’ll be upgrading to a new camera. Even though the number of camera companies has dwindled (anybody still remember camera companies named Minolta, Topcon, Ricoh, Praktica, Asahi Pentax, Rollei, Kowa, or Voightlander?), the number of camera models is large. It can be a confusing experience to make a decision. Even if you’re committed to a particular manufacturer because of your investment in their lenses, it’s challenging to know what to get. I’m not going to recommend a particular camera, but I want to go over a number of fea-

tures that you should be looking at in making a decision. Depending on what you shoot and what you’ll be doing with the pictures, these guidelines should be helpful to you in narrowing down the choices. 1. Megapixel count. Most good cameras now offer between 21 and 24 megapixels. This is fine for most people and for most applications. You can make superb prints, you can sell the images, and of course this kind of resolution is more than what’s needed to post images in social media, email photographs, and enter contests. I recently bought the Canon R5, and one reason

is because it has 45 megapixels. The high megapixel count is particularly useful if you need to crop an image. For example, birds are often a little further away than we’d like and they appear small in the frame. With many megapixels in the image, you can crop the picture so the bird fills a significant part of the frame. I did this with the green jay on the previous page, and the subject remains sharp. A 45 megapixel image opens to 128 megs in Photoshop, and when this is cropped even 50%, the resolution of the photograph is still very impressive. 2. Frame rate. If you only shoot landscapes, still lifes, and architecture, a fast frame rate is irrelevant. However, for action photography where important elements like galloping legs or fluttering wings change shape every centisecond, the faster the frame rate, the better.

years ago when I led my first photo tour to the Pantanal region of Brazil, I was shooting with the Canon 5D Mark III. Its fastest frame rate was six frames per second. A client of mine in the group had the Canon 1Dx -- the first model in that line -- which had a frame rate of 12 fps. When I looked at his images of king fishers diving for fish, he had twice as many frames as I did of the sequence and, as a result, he was able to capture many more excellent images compared to what I was able to get. On my next trip to the Pantanal, I’d purchased the Canon 1Dx Mark II. This camera could shoot at 14 fps, and remarkably, I was able to capture all the nuances of the wing positions and the splashing of the water as the birds dove for fish. The picture on the next page shows the full wing extension during such an action sequence.

I know this from first hand experience. Several

3. Autofocus speed and accuracy. It is amus-

ing to look at the history of autofocus in light of modern cameras. Leica was the camera manufacturer that first invented autofocus in 1960 but, at the time, they didn’t see its value! The first mass produced autofocus camera was the Konica C35 AF point-and-shoot camera in 1977. Since then, autofocus is now considered essential, and with technological advances never dreamed of in the 1970’s it has evolved into a state-of-the-art tool. The latest innovation is an AF system that can lock onto the eye of a bird or animal and hold focus on it as it moves through the frame or as you pan with the subject. I tested this during my photo tour last month of the Mystical Swamps of Louisiana. Just after sunset, my group and I were in a boat heading back to the dock. We were moving slowly, then out of the corner of my eye, I spotted an egret flying 14

by. My camera was in my lap, and I quickly aimed it at the bird, pressed the button I’d assigned to eye-focus, and captured a sequence of flight shots at 12 fps. The camera’s AF system instantly locked onto the bird and gave me 5 sharp frames. Even in the dim light of dusk, the eye-focus technology enabled me to get useful shots that, to be honest, would have been impossible with the much more expen-

PANTANAL PHOTO TOUR Nov. 8 - 15, 2022

Jaguars in the wild Exotic birds in flight Caiman Giant river otters

sive 1Dx Mark II. In considering a new camera, read reviews about the autofocus system. Ascertain if it is fast enough for your kind of photography. 4. Two card slots. Most of the newer cameras have two card slots. This is important because it gives you the ability to backup your images as you shoot. Of course, you can always opt to double the number of frames you’ll be able to shoot, but SD and flash cards are large enough now to store hundreds and hundreds of hi res files. When a card gets filled up, it’s a simple matter to change cards and continue shooting. Instead of doubling your shooting capacity, I feel the better option is to backup your images in case one of the cards fails. 5. Weight and size. As we get older, the amount

of weight we’re willing and able to carry gets less. I used to carry 45 pounds of gear on my back as I traveled all over the world. I’d basically bring everything . . . just in case. I can’t do that now, and I’ve thus opted for the Canon R5 which is a mirrorless camera. It is about half the weight of my 1Dx Mark II, and that’s a big deal. Lower back problems and heavy camera equipment don’t go well together. In considering a new camera (and lenses as well), study the specifications. Lighter equipment makes photography more enjoyable. I recently traded my Canon 100-400mm telephoto for their new 100-500mm lens and ,even though I have more reach with the new addition, it is .61 pounds lighter. That makes it easier to hold over a long period of time and easier to carry. When I was younger, a few ex-

tra pounds here and there didn’t matter. Now it does.

frustration out of situations where tripods are prohibited

6. Image stabilzation. There are many places where the amount of light you have to work with is low and yet no tripods are allowed. The beautiful cathedral in Sienna, Italy, shown on the previous page is an example. To prevent using a high ISO, image stabilization is a life saver in allowing you to use a slow shutter speed and still end up with a sharp picture.

7. Custom functions. Most dSLRs and mirrorless cameras give you the option of setting up three custom functions, designated as C1, C2, and C3. You can use these functions to save camera settings for landscapes versus birds in flight, for example, or 5-frame HDR sequences versus 7-frame HDR shots. This can save a lot of time from messing around with menus and buttons when it’s so easy to forget what various commands do.

Some camera systems, like Sony and Canon, now feature IBIS -- in body image stabilization. Not only do their higher end cameras feature stabilization in the bodies, but in the lenses as well. The two communicate with each other and offer up to 8 stops of stabilization. This is revolutionary in the photographic industry. In choosing a new camera, I would definitely buy one with IBIS. It takes all the stress and

In my camera, I have the custom functions set to 5-frame HDR, 7-frame HDR, and birds in flight. The image below that I took in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, is a 5-frame HDR. There are many other features to consider when buying a camera, but to me these are the most important. §

UPCOMING PHOTO WORKSHOPS Carnival in Venice workshop Photograph outrageous costumes in a medieval environment! Incredible colors, design, and creativity in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Learn how to use off-camera flash, photograph models in sumptuous interiors, produce great images at night, and all the while enjoying Italian cuisine. This is a workshop not to be missed!

February 18-25, 2022

Frog & Reptile Workshop This is a macro workshop to photograph beautiful, colorful, and intriguing frogs and exotic reptiles. Learn how to use flash with closeup work, how to use extension tubes, and how to take perfect exposures. Held indoors in a hotel conference room in Kansas City, Kansas.

January 22 - 23, 2022

Winter Wildlife Workshop Stunning pictures of North American animals including wolves, red foxes, arctic foxes, mountain lions, Canada lynx, plus snow leopards. The animals will be in their winter coats and very beautiful. This is based in Kalispell, Montana.

February 1 - 5, 2022

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Expand your photographic artistry with

eBooks

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eBooks continued Click on any ebook to see inside

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W i n t e r W i l d l i f e Workshop February 1 - 5, 2022

Based in Kalispell, Montana

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What’s wrong with this picture?

othing is terribly wrong with this image, but I do find two things a bit problematic. I took this picture many years ago in China. A little girl was holding the hand of her farmer father, and I used a medium telephoto to make the shot. I assumed the out of focus background would be fine, but there are two areas that bother me. First, the very light, white-ish circles just to the right of the two hands are distracting. Second, the mint green band of color in the upper left portion of the image 22

isn’t good. Both the color and the graphic shape of the color draw the eye away from the subjects. I solved the problems by replacing the background. Now the out of focus foliage background is perfectly complimentary. Besides eliminating the two areas that bothered me, the fact that the background is more muted than the hands means all of our attention is now directed exactly where I wanted it -- on the endearing relationship between father and daughter. To replace the background, I used the quick selection tool in Photoshop to select the background. I then expanded the selection by two pixels (Select > modify > expand) and then feathered the selection by one pixel (Select > modify > feather). Finally, I pasted the background image (Edit > paste special > paste into) into the selection. 23

SHORT AND SWEET 2.

1. What you should be looking for in a shot like this

is how well the legs are spread. The position of the legs makes or breaks pictures of walking or running animals. When they are spread apart, the graphic design is more pleasing and the image has kinetic energy. If the legs are close together, the picture seems static.

When photographing white subjects on white backgrounds, it may be tough for the autofocus mechanism to lock onto the subject. Plan for that just in case. You may have to focus manually. In this shot of winter ptarmigan, the eye-focus technology in my Canon R5 locked onto the eye of the middle bird.

4. Fast moving subjects coming straight at the camera

When using daylight white balance, which I do for all my outdoor shooting, dawn and dusk images tend to go very blue. Some photographers remove the color, but I like it. It’s moody and even mysterious. If you shoot on AWB, the deep cobalt blue color will be mostly eliminated.

is a challenge for older autofocus mechanisms. If you think your camera can’t follow focus, even on a fairly large area like this little girl sliding on ice in Japan, prefocus on some point in front of her and then start shooting just before the subject reaches that spot. §

ASK JIM

Every month, Jim will answer 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 . . . This is a commonly photographed scene in Brugge, Belgium. I want to embellish this so it

doesn’t look like everyone else’s picture. Given that this image has a tree at the far right and vegetation just left of center, will the Sky Replacement command in Photoshop blend a new sky realistically with these elements?

A: Yes, it will. You may have to use the ‘Shift edge’ and/or ‘Fade edge’ sliders in the dialog box to make the

juncture between the new sky and the trees appear to be real, but this is very doable. I do this all the time. §

Partial list of Photography Tours 2022 - 2023

WINTER WILDLIFE Feb 2022

CARNIVAL in VENICE Feb 2022

ETHIOPIA Mar 2022

SPAIN/PORTUGAL Apr 2022

HOLLAND/BELGIUM Apr 2022

NAMIBIA May 2022

LOUISIANA SWAMPS May 2022

ICELAND Jul 2022

PERU Sep/Oct 2022

VERMONT AUTUMN Oct 2022

NORWAY/DENMARK Sep 2022

PATAGONIA PHOTO TOUR April/May 2023

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

Mystical Swamps of Louisiana j May 18 - 22, 2022 jPrimeval landscapes

Birds in flight Alligators Ante-bellum homes

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 gets great photographs on Jim’s trips.

Debbie DiCarlo, Richfield, Ohio Costa Rica photo tour, Birds and Bats workshop, Mystical Swamps

of Louisiana photo tour, Patagonia photo tour, Snowy owl workshop, White Horses of the Camargue workshop, and Photoshop seminar in my home.

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Student Showcase, continued

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Student Showcase, continued

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Carnival in Venice F e b r u a r y 18 - 25, 2 0 2 2

FROG & REPTILE WORKSHOP Based in Kansas City, Missouri

Sat. and Sun., January 22 - 23, 2022

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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 Airplane windows Mar. ‘16 Alien landscapes Jan. ‘13 Anatomy of 8 photographs Jan. ‘16 Angled perspectives Jan. ‘19 Aperture vs. shutter speed May ‘14 Aperture priority Sept. ‘14 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 Back button focus Oct. ‘18 Backgrounds, wild Nov. ‘12 Backgrounds, busy Apr. ‘13 Backlighting Apr. ‘16 Birds in flight Aug. ‘13 Birds in flight Jan. ‘14 Birefringence May ‘18 Birds in flight Mar. ‘16 Bird Photography Jun ‘19 Blacklight photography Feb. ‘21 Black velvet Mar. ‘14 Black and white conversions Mar. ‘17 Black and white solarization Sep. ‘17 Black and white with color Jan. ‘20 Blown highlights Feb. ‘18 Blur, field Nov. ‘18 Blur technique Oct. ‘17 Bokeh Jun. ‘15 Butterfly photography Jul. ‘14 Camera buying guidelines Dec. 21 Camera setting priorities Jun. ‘17 Canon R5 Mar. ‘21 Capturing lightning Jun. ‘13 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

Composites and Light Compositing images Composition, different approach Content-aware, New Contrast vs. exposure Correcting keystoning Creating a star field Creating a Sketch Creative blurs Dark backgrounds Dawn photography Dawn photography Dead center Dealing with smog Decay photography Define Pattern Depth of field Depth of field confusion Depth of field and distance Depth of field and obliqueness Depth of field, shallow Depth of field vs. sharpness Double takes Drop shadows Dust, Minimizing eBook, how to make Embedded in Ice Energy saving bulbs Exposing for the sun Exposure, the sun Exposure technique Exposure, snow Exposure triangle Exposure, to the right Exposure compensation Exposure compensation Extension tubes

Dec. ‘17 Apr. ‘19 Jan. ‘15 Aug. ‘20 Jul. ‘15 Jun. ‘21 Jan. ‘14 Dec. ‘17 Jan. ‘14 Nov. ‘19 Jan. ‘17 Feb. ‘17 Jan. ‘13 Oct. ‘16 Sep. ‘15 Sep. ‘18 Aug. ‘16 Jan. ‘20 Dec. ‘18 May ‘21 Apr. ‘20 Nov. ‘20 Apr. ‘20 Apr. ‘19 Aug. ‘19 Jan. ‘13 Oct. 17 Sep. ‘14 Sep. ‘16 Jul. ‘13 Sep. ‘13 Jan. ‘14 Nov. ‘14 Apr. ‘15 Sep. ‘16 Mar. ‘21 Dec. ‘13

Face sculpting Apr. ‘21 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 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

Subject index for past Photo Insight issues 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 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 Graphic Design Garish imagery Great subjects Great ceilings & HDR Panos Green screen Grunge technique

Jul. ‘20 Dec. ‘15 Apr. ‘15 Jul. ‘19 Mar. ‘13 Feb. ‘13

HDR, one photo Apr. ‘13 HDR at twilight May ‘13 HDR, realistic Jun. ‘15 HDR, hand held Dec. ‘16 HDR, hand held Nov ‘17 HDR, hand held Jul. ‘18 HDR panoramas Jun. ‘16 High wind Apr. ‘17 Highlights Apr. ‘14 Highlights, overexposed Feb. ‘15 Histograms, Why I Don’t Use Jun ‘19 Histogram problems Apr. ‘20 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 Interiors Oct. ‘15 iPad: Loading photos Aug.‘17 Jungle photography

Dec. ‘14

Kaleidoscopic images Kaleidoscopis images Keystoning, correcting

Jan. ‘15 Aug. ‘20 Aug. ‘15

L Bracket Feb. ‘18 L Bracket Feb. ‘21 Landscape photography Dec. ‘12 Landscape photography Apr. ‘14 Landscape photography Nov. ‘16 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 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 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 Minimizing dust on the sensor Nov. ‘21 Mirrors Jan. ‘19 Model shoot Jan. ‘17 Moon glow Oct. ‘16 Mosaics Jun. ‘17 Mundane to Ideal Nov. ‘19 Museum photography Mar. ‘13 Natural Light Portraits Negative space Neon edges on black Neutral Density filters Night photography Night Safaris Night to Twilight Noise reduction

Aug. ‘21 Jan. ‘16 Aug. ‘14 Jun. ‘18 Feb. ‘14 Jun. ‘18 Dec. ‘17 Feb. ‘17

Oil and water Optical infinity Organization of photos Out of focus foregrounds

May ‘20 Jun. ‘16 Mar. ‘18 Jan. ‘20

Paint abstracts May ‘13 Paint abstracts Aug. ‘21 Painting with light Sep. ‘15 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 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

Subject index for past Photo Insight issues 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 Predictive Focus Sep. ‘18 Problem/solution Apr. ‘17 Problem with cruises Jan. ‘18 Protecting highlights Dec. ‘12 Puppies Jan. ‘15 Puppy photography Feb. ’18 Reflections Feb. ‘13 Restoring old photos Jun ‘20 Ring flash, advantages Jul. ‘21 Ring flash versatility Oct. ‘21

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 Shade May ‘14 Shady side Jun. ‘18 Shadows, Paying Attention to Mar. ‘18 Sharpness problems Mar. ‘14 Shooting through wire mesh Sept. ‘14 Shooting into the light Jun ‘20 Silhouettes Jun. ‘13 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 Snow exposure Nov ‘17 Snow exposure Nov. ‘19 Soft light Jan. ‘13 Smart phone photography May ‘19 Stained glass Mar. ‘17 Star photography Jul. ‘16 Star photography and noise Jan. ‘18 Stock photography Sep. ‘14 Sunrise & sunset Jan. ‘19 Tamron 150-600mm Apr. ‘14 Ten reasons photos are not sharp Jan. ‘19 Texture, Adding Mar ‘19 Texture Mapping in 3D Jul. ‘21 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 Translucency & backlighting Nov. ‘18 Travel photography Feb. ‘13 Travel portraits Mar. ‘14 Travel tips Apr. ‘14 Travel photographer’s guide Jun. ‘17 Twilight photography in the rain Apr. ‘19 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 Upside Down Reflections

Jun. ‘21 May ‘18 Aug. ‘21

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 vignette Aug. ‘15 White balance Feb. ‘15 White balance, custom Mar. ‘16 Wide angle conundrum May ‘19 Wide angle lenses Mar. ‘13 Wide angle portraits Nov. ‘14 Wide angle lenses Jun. ‘17 Wide angle keystoning Nov ‘17 Wildlife photos with wide angles Mar. ‘15 Window light Dec. ‘15 Window light portraits Aug. ‘18 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

Red and green macaw, Peru 43

Photo Insights December 2021

Articles inside

Subject index

Jim’s eBooks

What’s wrong with this picture?

Ask Jim

Light painting

Super exaggation of perspective

Photography tours

Fun with food

Short and sweet