lovelifey: May 2024

May 19, 2024

[Photography] How to Use Juxtaposition to Improve Your Landscape Photos

The post How to Use Juxtaposition to Improve Your Landscape Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by David Shaw.

Improve your landscapes with juxtaposition

Juxtaposition. It’s one of my favorite words, and it’s also one of the most important aspects of successful photography. Juxtaposition is consciously used in portraiture, outdoor adventure photography, and travel shooting. In landscape photography, however, juxtaposition is often overlooked.

I say “overlooked” because many landscape shooters do in fact use juxtaposition in their landscape images. They simply use it without being aware of it! You see, juxtaposition – which refers to the act of bringing together conflicting or contrasting elements – is a key feature in most good landscape photographs. I’m not claiming that landscape photographers who don’t consciously work juxtapositions into their photos are bad; rather, I think that many great landscape shooters do this without even thinking about it.

Now, if you enjoy landscape photography, you might already use juxtaposition intuitively. But once you become aware of how juxtaposition can improve your images and of various elements that you can frequently juxtapose, your landscape shots will get even better.

And that’s where I come in. Today, I’m going to share three essential ways that you can create juxtaposition: through color, through texture, and through subject matter. This isn’t an exhaustive list of possibilities – in fact, I can list around a dozen ways to apply this technique to your photos – but it’s a great starting point!

Juxtaposition: Color

Using Juxtaposition for More Compelling Landscapes — Many landscape images will have multiple juxtapositions. In this case, color is foremost; there’s a strong juxtaposition from the warm tones on the salt mounds against the deeper blues of the water and sky. But the shape and texture also stand out! (Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia)

You are probably familiar with the color wheel; you were likely introduced to the concept in grade school when you learned the difference between primary and secondary colors. More recently, if you’ve used an editing program such as Lightroom, Capture One, or ACDSee Photo Studio, you will have seen the color wheel in various color grading panels.

A color wheel shows the three primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) occupying three slices of the circle. It also shows all the color mixes blending together between them. The result is a continuous blur of colors, encompassing just about everything on the visible spectrum.

Colors that are opposite one another on the color wheel – such as blue and yellow, red and green, and orange and purple – will contrast, or juxtapose, when they appear in the same photo. That is, they will stand out from one another, sometimes in a pleasing way, sometimes in a conflicting way. You can also create juxtaposition with colors close to one another on the color wheel: red and orange, green and blue, blue and purple.

Any type of color juxtaposition can work in landscape photography, but different types of juxtaposition will get you different results, and you need to be aware of the way colors interact in an image to ensure your final result is what you intend.

Reds and blues, for example, are very commonly blended in landscape photography: blue water with a sunset sky, red flowers with a blue sky, autumn colors against a dark backdrop, etc.

Color plays an important role in landscape photography, and we recognize pleasing color combinations as soon as we see them. But recognizing why they are pleasing is different from noticing that they are indeed nice.

So look for those relationships in your compositions and concentrate on their placement. A color like red is extremely effective at drawing the eye. But to be most effective, red generally needs to be counteracted by cooler tones, balancing the image. Mind how the colors are distributed in your image. It matters.

Juxtaposition: Texture

Juxtaposed textures are abundant in any landscape: spiky bushes against a smooth landscape, water flowing over rough rock, a jagged boulder in the middle of an otherwise grassy meadow, etc. Contrasting textures, like contrasting colors, are easy to observe in the field. But it’s important to think about how you combine different textures for the best results.

Like bright and intense colors, aggressive textures need to be used in moderation. Sharp, rough textures will dominate a landscape image if used too liberally, the same way that reds and oranges will dominate a landscape photo if they occur in abundance.

That said, overwhelming textures, just like overwhelming colors, might be exactly what you want. Just be aware of that decision when you make the image. If you do decide to fill a landscape shot with aggressive textures, make the harsh textures the point of your image. Otherwise, the wrong balance, or aggressive textures placed too dominantly by accident, can ruin the balance of an image.

As you approach each new landscape scene, consider how different textures relate, as well as the story you want to tell. Then place them in the frame accordingly.

And I’ll be honest: Juxtaposing textures effectively can be tough to figure out. Color juxtaposition can be guided by color theory, but as far as I know, there are no clear rules about texture! That said, while you may not always realize when you’ve gotten the texture balance right, you’ll definitely know when it’s wrong.

Juxtaposition: Subject

My first two types of juxtaposition – color and texture – are somewhat nebulous and can be tougher to consciously apply in the field. But in this section, I want to talk about subject juxtaposition. In landscape photography, juxtaposition created by the subject matter is easier to apply and will almost always add interest to your images.

As I sat down to write this article, the first thing that came to mind was the weather. Storm light, that rare sunlight that appears despite the dark clouds, is a perfect example of subject juxtaposition. Few things contrast as much as a stormy day and sunlight.

Tying weather to elements of the landscape is another way to create juxtapositions. A few years ago, I was hiking in the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park, Texas when I was treated to a rare thunderstorm. As the very brief storm cleared the mountains, a rainbow appeared. The desert landscape, topped by a rainbow against a blue sky, leads to an undeniable juxtaposition:

Similarly, I was once leading a wilderness photo tour in the Brooks Range of northern Alaska. On the summer solstice, it snowed four inches. The following morning, the blooming flowers were covered in snow. Summer flowers and fresh snow juxtapose nicely:

Capture powerful landscape shots with juxtaposition!

Juxtaposition is as important in landscape photography as it is in any other discipline of the art, even if it is more difficult to use. Pay attention to the way color, texture, and your subjects interact within your landscape images, and you’re bound to find great success!

Of course, you don’t need to give up the intuitive side of juxtaposition. If certain elements create an interesting contrast, combine them in the frame, whether or not you know exactly why they seem to work together so well. Once you’re back home and reviewing your images, see if you can figure out why the juxtaposition was so effective. Eventually, you’ll be able to create some juxtaposition techniques and guidelines of your own!

Now over to you:

Have you explored juxtapositions in your landscape photographs? Tell me about it in the comments, and share some of your successes!

Landscape Photography

The post How to Use Juxtaposition to Improve Your Landscape Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by David Shaw.

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[Photography] How to Make An Inexpensive DIY Light Tent

The post How to Make An Inexpensive DIY Light Tent appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darren Rowse.

Note: This is a great DIY light tent tutorial that we originally published in 2008. Since then, thousands of our readers have used it to build their own DIY tents (with outstanding results!). It’s worth mentioning, however, that in the last 15+ years, light tents have become substantially cheaper. You can now purchase an inexpensive light tent on Amazon for around $30. Of course, DIY models do come with plenty of benefits, and if that’s your preferred approach, then read on!

Light tents are a great way to capture images lit by soft, flattering light, and they’re used by a wide variety of photographers: product shooters, macro snappers, flower photographers, and more. If you need to photograph (relatively) small subjects and you want to create a consistent white-background effect, then a light tent (also known as a light box) is the perfect tool for the job.

When I was looking to delve into product photography, I was browsing my local photography store, and I came across a pop-up light tent. It consisted – as most light boxes do! – of a collapsible white fabric box with a hole in the front. It also had three lights, which were designed to be positioned around the outside of the box.

I was going to purchase the light tent, but then I saw the $100 price tag. No way was I going to spend $100 on some fabric and three lights when I could do it myself for far less! So I left the store and designed a DIY light tent of my own:

Step8Light — My DIY light tent (with a light shining from overhead).

It might not look quite as polished as a store-bought model, but it does a very nice job, and it cost very little.

If you’re like me, and you don’t want to shell out cash for a light tent that you can build yourself, then this article should help you out. I explain the step-by-step process for constructing your own DIY light tent (and I also offer a few tips so you can make the most of it while shooting!).

Building a DIY light tent: the materials

You don’t need to spend much to make your own light tent. Most – or all – of the materials below are probably lying somewhere around your house. Here’s what you need:

A box

The box can be any size, though if it’s too big, you may have trouble positioning your lights around it. I prefer the box to be as square as possible.

You can purchase boxes, but these days, it’s easy to find them for free. I got mine from work – the office was going to throw it out – but you can always repurpose a box from a package delivery.

Fabric

A light tent should have fabric over all but one of its sides, so make sure you sure you buy enough fabric to cover most of your box.

You want it to be somewhat translucent and neutral in color. For my DIY light tent, I used white muslin fabric, which you can grab from most arts and crafts stores.

Other folks have suggested fabrics such as white nylon and white fleece. If you don’t want to spend on fabric and you have some white undershirts lying around, you can even use those; cut up the sides to split each shirt in two. (If you use multiple shirts, be sure that the colors are identical, or your end result may not turn out so nice!)

Tape

I used tape to secure the fabric to the sides of the box. This is especially useful if you want to try out different fabrics. I used regular masking tape, which keeps the fabric in place but is fairly easy to remove and adjust.

White board

This will line the inside of the box and will also serve as a background for your photos. For this, I like to use Bristol board, a heavyweight paper (.006″ thick) designed for drawing/art. White board is ideal for high-key backgrounds, but if you want a different look, you can go for different colors.

I would suggest buying two or three sheets of board as you will be cutting up two to line your box (or more, depending on the size!), and you’ll also need one for the background.

Glue

This is to stick the lining in the box. You can use a glue stick for this. Another option is spray adhesive.

Lights

A light tent won’t work so well without lights. If you don’t already have the right type of lights lying around, this will be the most expensive part of your DIY setup.

In my opinion, lighting is the most important part of this box. Without it, you won’t get the picture you desire. When building my box, I went to my local hardware store and picked up some daylight bulbs. I don’t recommend using more conventional light bulbs – these will create a yellow color cast. I purchased 90-watt compact fluorescent bulbs, which didn’t cost a lot and did the job well. Basically, any full-spectrum light bulbs will do.

You’ll also want to obtain a lighting fixture. If you have one of those desk lamps, it’ll work fine. If you don’t have a light fixture that you can use, I’d suggest getting a clamp-on work light.

Miscellaneous tools

Last, you’ll want to make sure you have a few standard household tools on hand: a sharpie marker, a tape measure, a straight-edge ruler, scissors, and a knife.

The step-by-step process for building a light tent

Now that you have your materials, it’s time to build your tent! The process is fairly easy, so you shouldn’t have much trouble, even if you’re not much of a DIY person. When you’re done, you’ll be able to take clean and crisp shots, like this:

Step 1: Mark your box

Place the box face up, so the open flaps are at the top. You’ll need to mark a two-inch border along the edges of the four box faces (i.e., all but the top and the bottom).

So using your tape measure and sharpie, mark several points 2 inches from the side of the box along every edge. When you’re done, you should see a spotted border:

Then use your straight-edge ruler to connect all the points. That should give you a nice-looking square/rectangle in the middle of the box with a two-inch border around it.

(Again, leave the top and the bottom of the box alone!)

Step 2: Cut out the boxes

Next, cut out the boxes that you’ve drawn. Do this on all four main sides of the box, avoiding the top and the bottom.

When you’re done, cut off the flaps on the top of the box. Leave the bottom intact.

Step 3: Line the box with Bristol board

We want to create liners for all of the exposed cardboard inside the box. Therefore, you’ll want to cut 16 strips from your Bristol board. The length of the strips will need to match the box dimensions.

Take your strips of Bristol board, then glue them into the box. If you applied marker to the Bristol board before cutting, make sure the marks are against the cardboard so they can’t be seen. Here’s what you should have at this point in the process:

Step 4: Add the background

Now it’s time to give the box a backdrop. Take another piece of Bristol board and cut it so the width is the same as the inside of the box. The length should be much longer than the box, however!

Place the long piece of Bristol board into the box so that the piece curves to the bottom, like so:

Avoid creasing the board as this will show up in your photo. Cut off any excess paper that is sticking out the top.

Step 5: Add the fabric

All that’s left is to prepare the fabric and secure it to your light tent! First, cut the fabric into squares/rectangles to cover three of the open sides. Next, cut a big piece that’s capable of completely covering the top of the box.

Finally, tape the fabric so all the holes in the box are covered, except the front hole (i.e., the hole that faces the background). Tape the top piece on, too.

Here’s the result:

And you’re done! Now all you have to do is light the box, place a subject inside, and start snapping away! The most basic one-light setup that I recommend involves placing your light above the box so it’s pointed down:

But there are many variations you can do to get the photo you want. If you light your subject from above but are noticing strong shadows, try positioning additional lights on the other sides of the box.

Don’t be afraid to get very close to your subject, even if that means putting your camera partially inside the box:

If you’re interested in creating those ultra-bright, high-key backdrops that are popular in product photography, post-processing programs can be a big help. You may need to brighten the whites and/or the highlights until you get the look you want.

Here’s my DIY light tent in action:

And here’s another example image:

Capture some top-notch product photos!

Well, there you have it! As you should now be aware, creating a nice light box is pretty darn easy.

So go make your light box. Test it out on some fun subjects. Pretty soon, you’ll be creating the kind of product photos that belong on a website!

Now over to you:

Will you create a DIY light box? Do you have any additional advice? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

This tutorial was submitted by Jeffrey Bail. See Jeffrey’s Flickr account here.

The post How to Make An Inexpensive DIY Light Tent appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darren Rowse.

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[Photography] A Practical Review of the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro Lens

The post A Practical Review of the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro Lens appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Stacey Hill.

A review of the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro

This article was updated in May 2024 with contributions from Stacey Hill and Jaymes Dempsey.

For the longest time, the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro lens was on my “want” list. Oddly, when I finally did buy it, I didn’t use it all that frequently, and it sat in the cupboard, just gathering dust, for a couple of years.

But that didn’t last. These days, the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro is my absolute favorite lens. It’s my go-to model for doing still life, food, and, of course, macro photography.

Below, I share my practical, hands-on review of the Canon 100mm Macro. I don’t spend time on specifications and studio tests; instead, I focus on what the lens is like to work with in the field. I explain why I think it’s so special, I discuss how I personally use it, and I share a lot of example photos (all taken with the lens). I also delve into its pros and cons. That way, if you’re thinking of purchasing the 100mm f/2.8L Macro but you’re not quite sure whether it’s worth the (somewhat steep) price, you’ll be able to make an informed decision.

Let’s get started!

What’s so great about the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro?

Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro review — The Canon 100mm f/2.8L captures sharp photos with beautiful colors!

Sharpness, image quality, color, and versatility – the Canon 100mm Macro has it all!

When I use this lens, I know that it’ll pick up absolutely every detail, assuming I use a sufficiently fast shutter speed and I nail the focus exactly. In other words, when this lens is sharp, it’s crystal clear.

Unfortunately, due to the combined weight of the lens (625 g) on my Canon 7D Mark II, I find it difficult to handhold and get crisp shots. So I use the 100mm f/2.8L Macro on a tripod to maintain stability and to guarantee the focus is bang on.

This lens has a richness to the colors that I appreciate – it gives the best color reproduction of any of my lenses. Also when I shoot at its widest maximum aperture of f/2.8, the soft background blur is wonderfully creamy!

Finally, the Canon 100mm f/2.8L is designed as a macro lens (and it offers a 1:1 magnification ratio). Given the macro focus, its versatility is impressive. I use the lens for an array of genres: macro photography, food photography, flower photography, and still-life photography. I don’t do a lot of portrait shooting, myself, but it’s also a favorite lens for portrait photographers due to the telephoto focal length, beautiful background bokeh, wide maximum aperture, and incredible sharpness.

This lens is quiet, it’s fast, and it’s a lovely lens to use. Once I mastered the art of precise focusing with a really tiny depth of field and was able to consistently get sharp shots, the quality of the images impressed me more and more.

How I use my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L lens

In this section, I focus on my personal use of the 100mm Macro lens, and I do my best to explain how I work with it to get nice photos.

1. Food photography

Working with natural light in my home studio sometimes means the light is not always abundant. And even when the light is bright, I often need to filter it quite heavily so I don’t blow out the highlights on parts of the food I’m photographing (such as whipped cream or icing). I’ve found that working in slightly less-than-ideal light conditions is where this lens really comes into its own.

The 100mm f/2.8L’s maximum aperture captures a lot of light, and I’m able to maintain a reasonable shutter speed even in these low-light conditions. While I do sometimes bump up the ISO a small amount, it’s not enough to affect the quality of the image.

Additionally, given this lens’s incredible optics combined with the excellent magnification capabilities, I can capture the finest small details, which really add character to food shots taken with this lens. Water droplets on fruit or the tiny hairs on a raspberry become things of wonder, brought into view by this lens’s impressive clarity!

2. Flower photography

Earlier in this article, I mentioned how, after purchasing the Canon 100mm Macro, I didn’t use it right away. Well, flower photography is what finally forced me to get my Canon 100mm lens out of storage and onto my camera! I had become interested in still-life photography, and I was basing my compositions around flowers as main subjects.

As it turned out, this lens is spectacular for photographing flowers. Since you can focus so close, flowers offer many opportunities to be creative with this lens. You can shoot the whole flower, move in to shoot just a few petals, or highlight ultra-tiny details.

The 100mm Macro’s lovely color and soft background bokeh are perfect for flower photography, and I enjoy using the lens with a wide maximum aperture. It is a lot of fun to experiment with areas of selective focus and use the shallow depth of field in unexpected ways.

3. Macro photography

There is a whole world of things too small for our eyes to see naturally that suddenly become revealed when we shoot with a macro lens. It is fascinating to uncover tiny details in everyday objects, and that’s yet another area where the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro performs beautifully.

Creating abstracts using textures or just exploring the details on small items is possible with this 100mm Macro lens. The ordinary becomes extraordinary when you can get up close and personal.

The toughest part of using macro lenses at high magnifications is the technical side of things; even with narrower apertures, you’ll have an ultra-thin depth of field, and at such high magnifications, you’ll also struggle with blur to camera shake.

I don’t like to handhold this lens for those exact reasons. When I use this lens, my camera is mounted on my tripod – and I know that I can get sharp focus with a very narrow depth of field on a small subject.

4. Other genres

I am not a portrait photographer, but I do have cats, and they are fun to shoot with this lens as it picks up so much detail.

Again, I personally struggle to successfully handhold my DSLR with this lens and get sharp images, so I don’t shoot with it off my tripod very often. But you don’t have to use this lens at high magnifications, and when you take several steps back for a wider perspective, handholding the 100mm Macro is a lot easier.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro specifications

This is a practical review, so I don’t want to focus on technical specifications. However, here’s a quick list of specs to keep in mind:

EF mount for Canon full-frame DSLRs
100mm focal length
f/2.8 maximum aperture
Weight: 625 g
1:1 maximum magnification ratio
0.99 ft/300mm closest focusing distance
Image stabilization for handheld shooting

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro review: final words

After using this lens extensively, here’s my breakdown of pros and cons:

Pros

Extremely sharp
Ultra-shallow depth of field
Bokeh is smooth
Beautiful color reproduction
Decent image stabilization
Compatible with Canon full-frame and APS-C DSLRs; can be used with Canon RF-mount cameras via an adapter
1:1 maximum magnification
Comes with a lens hood and carry bag

Cons

Heavy and can be difficult to handhold
Expensive
300mm minimum focus distance means you have to get reasonably close to your subject for a life-size reproduction

I love the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro, and for me, the pros of shooting with this lens far outweigh the cons. Yes, it can be difficult to handhold effectively, especially at high magnifications, but that’s where a tripod saves the day.

For photographers looking to get high-quality photos of small subjects – whether that’s food items, flowers, jewelry, tiny products, or something else – this lens is a great choice. And since the optics are so incredible and the bokeh is so creamy, you can also use it for more conventional subjects, such as portraits and landscapes.

Now over to you:

Will you get the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro? Why or why not? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post A Practical Review of the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro Lens appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Stacey Hill.

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May 19, 2024

[Photography] How to Use Juxtaposition to Improve Your Landscape Photos

Juxtaposition: Color

Juxtaposition: Texture

Juxtaposition: Subject

Capture powerful landscape shots with juxtaposition!

Table of contents

Landscape Photography

[Photography] How to Make An Inexpensive DIY Light Tent

Building a DIY light tent: the materials

A box

Fabric

Tape

White board

Glue

Lights

Miscellaneous tools

The step-by-step process for building a light tent

Step 1: Mark your box

Step 2: Cut out the boxes

Step 3: Line the box with Bristol board

Step 4: Add the background

Step 5: Add the fabric

Capture some top-notch product photos!

[Photography] A Practical Review of the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro Lens

What’s so great about the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro?

How I use my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L lens

1. Food photography

2. Flower photography

3. Macro photography

4. Other genres

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro specifications

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro review: final words

Pros

Cons