[Photography] Photoshop vs Luminar: Which Post-Processing Program Should You Buy?

The post Photoshop vs Luminar: Which Post-Processing Program Should You Buy? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

If you’re trying to decide whether to purchase Photoshop vs Luminar, then you’ve come to the right place.

In this article, we take a careful look at these two programs. We offer a breakdown of all the key features, including pricing, editing capabilities, and photo organization capabilities. And we explain why you might want to pick one over the other.

So to find out which program is right for you, then keep reading!

(Note: This comparison examines Luminar AI. To learn more about the just-released Luminar Neo, head over to Skylum’s website.)

Adobe Photoshop: Overview

Photoshop is a photo-editing program developed by Adobe, and with almost 35 years on the market, it’s the industry standard for photographers and visual creators.

In 2013, Photoshop became part of Adobe’s subscription-only Creative Cloud service. You can get a combined membership with other Adobe apps; for example, the Photography Plan includes both Lightroom and Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop is dedicated to professional visual creators, and in addition to extensive post-processing capabilities, it offers video editing, graphics editing, and even three-dimensional modeling.

Unfortunately, Photoshop does come with a steep learning curve, and the monthly fees add up over time. Plus, Photoshop lacks photo organization capabilities, so for a complete editing workflow, you must combine it with other Adobe apps (such as Bridge or Lightroom). Below, I elaborate more fully on the pros and cons of the program.

Skylum Luminar AI: Overview

Luminar AI is an editor developed by Skylum, which works as either a standalone program or a plugin.

Unlike Photoshop, Luminar AI is available as a one-time purchase. Note that Skylum offers several Luminar products, including Luminar Neo, though Luminar AI is not Luminar Neo’s predecessor.

Luminar AI offers a sleek, beginner-friendly interface; as the name suggests, it also packs plenty of artificial-intelligence features to help you get great results with limited editing experience.

The program is a dedicated photo editor, so it doesn’t support video or graphics, but it does include a file manager, which you can use to categorize and group your images.

Luminar AI is powerful, but it requires a lot of processing power. So if you work on an older or low-spec device, you may find the editing features a bit laggy.

Photoshop vs Luminar: In-depth comparison

Now that you have a broad understanding of both Photoshop and Luminar, let’s take a closer look, starting with:

Price and license

As I explained in a previous section, Adobe Photoshop is a subscription-based software. You pay a monthly or yearly fee to use the program – and once you cancel your subscription, you lose access to all Photoshop features.

The cost depends on the membership and payment plan you choose. The highly popular Photography Plan begins at $9.99 and includes both Photoshop and Lightroom. Alternatively, you can gain access to just Photoshop for $20.99. All plans include some volume of cloud storage space (which can be upgraded for a fee).

An Adobe subscription lets you install Photoshop on multiple computers, but you can stay signed in only on two and you can use only one at a time. If your needs exceed this capacity, you do have the option to subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud for teams.

Luminar AI, on the other hand, is available for a one-off payment. Therefore, once you buy it, you can use it for life – but once a new version comes out, you need to upgrade if you want access to the latest features.

Luminar AI’s price changes according to when and where you buy; it’s often on sale, and you can find promotions on third-party websites. At the time of writing, the program costs just $47.

Luminar has a two-computer version that lets you install and use the program on two computers, or you can go with the cheaper, one-version plan. If you want additional access, you’ll need to buy a second plan, as there is no team or business option.

Performance and system requirements

In this section, I share the minimum and recommended system requirements for both programs.

I have used the programs on a 2014 MacBook Air with just 4 GB of RAM, and both did function, though Luminar AI struggled more and took longer to perform each action. Of course, the more powerful your machine, the better the performance you can expect.

For a full list of minimum and recommended system requirements, you can go to the official Adobe and Skylum websites.

Photoshop for Windows: Minimum requirements

• Intel or AMD processor with 64-bit support
• Windows 10 (64-bit) operating system
• 8 GB RAM
• 4 GB of hard-disk space plus space for installation
• GPU with DirectX 12 support; 1.5 GB of GPU memory

Luminar AI for Windows: Minimum requirements

• Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 processor
• Windows 10 (64-bit) operating system
• 8 GB RAM
• 10 GB of hard-disk space
• Compatible with Open GL 3.3

Photoshop for MacOS: Minimum requirements

• Intel processor with 64-bit support
• macOS Catalina (version 10.5)
• 8 GB RAM
• 4 GB of hard-disk space plus space for installation
• GPU with Metal support; 1.5 GB of GPU memory

Luminar AI for MacOS: Minimum requirements

• Intel Core i5 processor or Apple M1 chip
• Mac Model: Early 2010, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac Air, iMac Pro, Mac Pro, Mac Mini
• macOS 10.13.6 operating system
• 8 GB Ram
• 10 GB of hard-disk space available

File organization

Adobe Photoshop does not include file management capabilities. To organize files within the Adobe system, you’ll need to pair Photoshop with Lightroom or Bridge. Otherwise, you can use third-party software such as Photo Mechanic, ACDSee, or Capture One.

Luminar AI includes a photo manager in its Catalog section. Here, you can import photos for editing and organization. Unlike Photoshop, Luminar edits are non-destructive; instead of altering the original image, edits are saved in a separate file.

In the Luminar Catalog, you can also label, rate, and geotag your images, which makes for easy organization and decent search functionality.

Editing tools

Now let’s take a careful look at Photoshop’s and Luminar’s editing features:

Photo editing

Photoshop and Luminar are designed as photo editors, and both pack plenty of high-quality tools, from exposure adjustments and color grading to selective editing and vignetting.

However, Photoshop offers a far more expansive set of editing tools than Luminar AI; Luminar’s toolset, while powerful, is limited in range and caters to beginners.

In Luminar, you can open a RAW file without difficulty. But Photoshop cannot handle RAW files, so your first set of edits must take place in Adobe Camera Raw (a plugin-style editor that is closely integrated with Photoshop). Personally, I don’t find this disruptive because the process is automatic. But if you prefer to apply quick edits while scrolling through an image feed, you may find Photoshop’s two-step RAW workflow unwieldy.

When it comes to selective editing, Photoshop has the clear edge over Luminar AI. Photoshop features an enormous number of selection tools and masks for astonishing precision. And while Luminar does include tools for selective adjustments, they just don’t offer the same amount of flexibility or precision as their Photoshop counterparts.

Batch editing

Luminar allows you to quickly apply the same adjustments to multiple photos. Simply select all the files you want edited, then choose the Sync Adjustments option. (If the images are in different folders, you can copy and paste the adjustments instead.)

Photoshop, on the other hand, doesn’t have a library – so the batch-editing process isn’t quite as smooth. You can do it via an Action (more on those in a moment), but creating one can be finnicky, so most photographers tend to edit images individually in Photoshop.

Presets

Luminar AI offers its own form of presets, called Templates. You can make your own Templates or download free and paid options from the Skylum website. LUTs are also available for color-grading purposes.

Photoshop also has presets, called Actions. You can create your own Actions, or you can download free or paid Actions online. LUTs are also available in Photoshop.

Video editing

While Adobe Photoshop isn’t really designed for video editing – Premiere is Adobe’s flagship video post-processor – you can still make plenty of adjustments in Photoshop. You can change the audio and video, add subtitles, apply filters, and even add motion effects to text and photos.

Luminar AI doesn’t support video; it’s purely designed for photography content.

Graphics

Photoshop boasts some serious graphic design features; you can work with placeholders, text, and many other designated graphics tools. Note, however, that Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign are made specifically for graphic designers.

Luminar AI doesn’t support graphics work.

Ease of use

Here is a small sample of Photoshop’s wide array of editing panels and tools. It takes significant time to learn how to use each and every option. Of course, you only need a few tools for basic editing, and it’s not as difficult as you might think.

Photoshop has a steep learning curve, and the interface isn’t beginner friendly, especially compared to Luminar AI. Although Adobe has made Photoshop more accessible in recent years, it is intended for professional work and comes with all of the required features.

Bottom line: If you really want to become a skilled Photoshop editor, it’ll take some time and effort.

These are the Luminar editing panels. They’re structured intuitively and mostly based around sliders.

Luminar AI is Photoshop’s opposite: It’s aimed at enthusiasts but is also capable of professional work. While Luminar is powerful, the interface is much friendlier, in part because it doesn’t support video or graphics editing.

Luminar is also more comprehensive than Photoshop; a photographer can complete an entire workflow within the program, from organizing and tagging to editing and exporting.

Photoshop vs Luminar: final words

Looking purely at editing capabilities, it’s difficult to choose between Photoshop vs Luminar. Photoshop offers more tools and is better for precise selections, but Luminar is easier to use and great for beginners.

On the other hand, Photoshop is the obvious choice if you need to do other types of work such as video editing or graphic design.

Also consider whether you prefer subscription pricing or a one-time purchase. You’ll pay less up front for Photoshop, but after a few months, Luminar AI will be cheaper.

Finally, the programs do have a free trial period, so if you’re on the fence, download them both and do some tests!

Now over to you:

Have you tried either of these editing programs? Which do you plan to use? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Photoshop vs Luminar: Which Post-Processing Program Should You Buy? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

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[Photography] A Guide to Octabox Lighting (+ 5 Easy Setups)

The post A Guide to Octabox Lighting (+ 5 Easy Setups) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sean McCormack.

Octaboxes are a great way to improve your portraits, still lifes, and product shots – but what exactly is an octabox, and how can you use one for beautiful results?

In this article, I share everything you need to know about octabox photography, from the absolute basics (how do you pick the right octabox for your needs?) to more advanced concepts (how does octabox size affect portrait quality?). I conclude with a handful of octabox lighting setups you can use to achieve consistently stunning effects.

So if you’re ready to become an octabox master, then let’s dive right in, starting with:

What is an octabox light?

An octabox is a lighting modifier with eight sides (hence the name!). It attaches to the front of a speedlight, studio strobe, or continuous light and creates a beautiful diffused (i.e., soft) effect.

Note that octaboxes come in many different sizes, from small, 12-inch options all the way up to huge 5-foot or greater models. Here’s one of my octaboxes, a medium-sized model from Rotalux:

Now, octaboxes are used by plenty of studio photographers, including portrait, product, and still life shooters. They’re a highly versatile type of lighting, and some photographers even call them “idiot proof” thanks to their flattering, diffused effect. While I wouldn’t go that far, I do agree that octaboxes are very simple to operate (which makes them a great modifier choice for beginners).

In fact, while I offer a handful of advanced octabox setups below, the simplest way to get started is to simply mount your octabox to a flash, put it on a light stand, point it at your subject, and start shooting. The result is bound to be decent – simply because octaboxes are so powerful!

Choosing the right octabox

If you’re getting started with octaboxes (or perhaps even studio photography in general), you’re likely struggling to pick a model. As I indicated above, octaboxes go from quite small to absolutely massive – with plenty of options in between. So which do you buy?

That depends on the result you’re after. You see, octabox size affects your photos in one key way:

The bigger the octabox, the softer the light.

So if you want very soft, diffused, flattering light that produces very gradual shadows, you should go for a big octabox (in the area of four to five feet). Here’s a softly lit shot taken with a large octabox:

But if you want harder, higher-contrast light, then you should go for a small octabox (e.g., two feet and under). Here’s an on-location shot that features harder octabox lighting:

While neither big nor small octaboxes are necessarily bad, if you’re not sure what kind of effect you’re after, I would recommend a model on the larger side. Diffused light is great for most portraits, products, and still lifes, whereas high-contrast light is more niche. Make sense?

It is worth remembering, however, that larger octaboxes do cost more, plus they’re less portable and they take up a lot of space.

Also, consider that octabox size isn’t absolute; it is measured relative to the subject. So if you move your octabox close to a portrait subject’s face, the light will get soft (even if you’re using a small octabox). And if you take a huge octabox and put it on the other side of a gymnasium, the light effect will be hard, even if it’s eight feet wide!

Of course, it’s best to get an octabox that most closely aligns with your needs – most of us don’t shoot regularly in gymnasiums, and it’s not always feasible to put an octabox right next to a person’s face when shooting – but just bear in mind that you do have some level of flexibility, even if you can’t afford a huge octabox right away.

How to do stunning octabox photography: five easy setups

In this section, I share five octabox lighting setups you can use to achieve beautiful results. Note that nearly all of these setups can be done with a single octabox, so no matter your gear, you should do just fine.

Also, while I do share portrait examples, you can also use these setups to capture product and still life shots.

Setup #1: Octabox in the 45-45 position

A great octabox setup for beginners is the simple 45-45 arrangement, where you position your light about 45 degrees from your subject, elevated slightly above eye level:

Your subject can look directly at the camera – or they can face in either direction for slightly different effects. The goal here is to position the subject near the background, so the octabox lights both the subject’s face and the backdrop:

Note the beautiful, soft falloff on my subject and the lovely backdrop vignette.

As for technical recommendations: Make sure you focus on the eye nearest the camera for the most pleasing look. And choose an aperture between f/4 and f/11; f/4 will give you a soft look, while f/11 will keep the subject completely in focus.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes image shot from the side:

Setup #2: Light slightly behind the subject

This lighting setup is similar to the one I shared in the previous section, except you’ll need to position the light 45 degrees behind the subject, as indicated by this diagram:

Note that you will need to be more careful about your subject position; make sure your subject is turned toward the light. You want at least half of their face illuminated by the octabox, as you can see in the photo below:

This effect is known as short lighting, and it looks wonderfully dramatic. Because the light is no longer aimed at the background, you may even get a beautiful low-key effect.

Setup #3: Light from behind

This octabox setup is a little more exotic, though it’s very easy to pull off and looks amazing:

Simply ask your subject to stand directly in front of your octabox (a large octabox is a big help, here!). Make sure they get very close:

Also, allow the light to wrap around the subject’s body. A make sure your subject’s face is well exposed (and that the octabox background is blown out).

By the way, you can modify this setup to create a brighter subject, like this:

Just ask your subject to move away from the octabox, then place a second light in front of the subject:

Here, I’ve used two lights and a single reflector.

Make sure the light from the back octabox isn’t flaring over the subject’s shoulders, and be sure to keep the back octabox at an equal or lower power level than the front light.

Setup #4: The tabletop

Here’s a setup that’s very popular in fashion and editorial circles. It’ll give you a glamorous effect with highly sculpted cheekbones:

You’ll need to position the octabox directly in front of your subject (so it’s perpendicular to the floor). Then raise it up high above your subject’s head:

Make sure the light wraps down and around the subject’s body, and position a reflector down below to aim light back into the face and fill in shadows.

Setup #5: Hard lighting from the front

If you’re after a much edgier look, then remove the front diffusion panel on your octabox. (Some octaboxes will be left with an inner diffusion panel, which is fine – while others will completely lack diffusion.)

Position the light directly in front of your subject. Then stand in front of the octabox and make sure your body or head is blocking the center of the light; this will minimize hotspots.

The result will be both contrasty and flattering:

Octabox photography: final words

Hopefully, you’re now inspired to capture some octabox photos of your very own!

Even if you’re working with a speedlight and a single octabox, you’ll still be able to capture gorgeous results.

So get out that flash, get out that softbox, and start shooting!

Now over to you:

What octabox do you plan to use for your photos? What do you plan to photograph? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post A Guide to Octabox Lighting (+ 5 Easy Setups) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sean McCormack.

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[Photography] 9 Cat Photography Tips for Beautiful Photos

The post 9 Cat Photography Tips for Beautiful Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.

How can you take stunning photos of cats?

I love to photograph cats, and over the years, I’ve developed techniques that produce beautiful results. Below, I share my favorite tips to improve your cat photography, including advice on:

• Composition
• Camera settings
• Lighting
• And more

By the time you’re done reading, you’ll know how to capture beautiful photos of your feline friends, and you’ll (hopefully!) have plenty of ideas for cat shots of your own.

Let’s dive right in.

1. For the best cat photos, be patient

First things first: When photographing cats, expect a high failure rate. Most of your shots won’t work; after all, cats don’t strike stunning poses for long periods of time!

(In my experience, they’re likely to walk up to you and sniff your lens just as you hit the shutter button.)

Instead, you must embrace the randomness and slow progress of a cat photoshoot. Enjoy watching the cat, be patient, and have your camera ready.

That way, when your cat strikes an interesting pose, you can simply fire off a few frames and get the shot.

Also, if you’re photographing a cat that lives with you (as opposed to conducting a scheduled photoshoot with a cat), then I highly recommend you always keep a camera handy, even if it’s just a phone. Cats tend to strike funny poses, especially when they’re half asleep, but you must have a camera nearby; otherwise, the cat will hear you digging around for your camera and change positions.

Similarly, if you’re outside with your cat, keep your camera at the ready for some outdoor action shots. If you need to fetch your gear from inside the house, then you’ll miss great opportunities.

2. Use sounds and toys to get the cat’s attention

As I emphasized in the previous tip, cats love to defy photographers. They’ll turn away just as you frame up your shot, they’ll lie down just as you’re ready to shoot some action, and they’ll sniff the lens right when you know you’ve found the perfect composition.

Fortunately, cats aren’t totally unpredictable. There are a few easy techniques you can use to get your cat’s attention.

First, cats are intrigued by rustling noises, so if you crunch a paper bag with one hand while keeping the camera up with the other, your cat will often look over and you’ll be able to nab a few frames.

An alternative is finger snapping, where you snap your fingers until the cat turns to investigate. In my experience, this usually works, but only for a time – after a few moments, the cat will recognize what’s going on and get bored.

Finally, if you prefer livelier photos, consider bringing out a toy. You can shoot with one hand while moving the toy with the other, and while your keeper rate will be pretty low, you’ll certainly get shots of your cat looking engaged.

Note that all of these methods do involve one-handed shooting (unless you’re working with an assistant). You’ll need to keep your shutter speed fast enough to prevent blur, and while I discuss settings in greater depth later on, Aperture Priority is a good mode to use (as it keeps the camera in charge but relinquishes control as needed).

3. Get down on your cat’s level

This cat photography tip is a big one, and it goes hand in hand with a mistake I see all the time from beginner cat shooters.

You see, most cat (and dog) photographers, when starting out, photograph their animal from human height. And this rarely works well, for two reasons:

1. It shows the pet from so high up that the shot loses intimacy.
2. It decreases the distance between the cat and the background. The result is generally a cat surrounded by a sharp floor, as opposed to (more ideally) a cat in front of a blurry wall or outdoor scene.

Instead, it’s important to get down on your cat’s level. Look them in the eye with the camera. This type of photo – where you are part of the cat’s world, not the other way around – tends to have more impact and better show off the animal’s personality.

If you struggle to get down in such low positions, consider using a camera with a tilting or fully articulating screen. That way, you can compose eye-level shots while remaining comfortably above your camera.

And by the way, you don’t always need to get on the ground for a good result. What’s important is that you stay on a level with the cat, which means that you can capture climbing shots from a standing height:

4. Frame your subject for the best compositions

Want to create stunning cat photography compositions? Then it pays to emphasize your main subject as much as possible.

And one easy way to do this is by framing your cat with other compositional elements.

For instance, you can shoot through long grass, shrubs, or tree foliage, which will give the cat a nice, natural frame:

Or you can shoot through human-made objects, such as chair legs, banister railings, towel cupboards, and even windows. It’s a fun technique, and one that comes with endless variations; the key is to get creative!

You should also experiment with different apertures as you work. For instance, a wide aperture – such as f/2.8 – is great for creating a blurry foreground frame, which works great for more natural elements. Whereas a narrower aperture – f/8, for example – will keep the foreground frame sharp and create a completely different effect.

(The more you test your different camera settings, the more familiar you get – and the more your creative horizons will expand!)

5. Nail focus on the eyes

Pet photos must include sharp eyes. This is true of cat photos, dog photos, bird photos, and even wildlife photos, because without sharp eyes, the whole image will feel off-kilter.

Unfortunately, keeping the eye in focus can be tough, especially if you’re shooting up close or your cat is very active. Here are a few simple tips:

• If your camera has Animal Eye AF, test it out and see whether you like the result.
• If your cat tends to be active for a few moments before becoming motionless, then consider using your camera’s AF-S mode. Wait until the cat is still, use a single AF point to lock focus on the eyes, then recompose and take your shot.
• If all else fails, switch over to manual focusing. It might seem unwieldy, but if you can learn to accurately focus manually, you’ll easily increase your keeper rate.

By the way, if you’re struggling to get an eye in focus, feel free to narrow the aperture (assuming you have sufficient light). Narrowing the aperture will increase the depth of field so that a larger portion of the image is sharp, which will in turn give greater leeway when focusing on the cat.

And one more thing: If you’re taking a cat photo from an angle, aim to keep the nearest eye in focus, as it looks unnatural to feature a blurry near eye and a sharp far eye. Whereas if you’re photographing the cat from the front, as I did for the photo below, make sure that both eyes are tack sharp:

6. Try an off-camera flash for the best lighting effects

Most beginner cat photographers shoot in natural light, and that’s completely fine. In fact, natural light – especially if it’s diffused by cloudy skies – can look incredible in cat shots.

But if you want to increase your flexibility as a cat photographer, I do recommend you learn how to use flash; it’ll let you take photos even when the light is low or isn’t cooperating, and the more flexible your approach, the better, right?

To get started with flash, I encourage you to purchase an adjustable speedlight. You can mount this to your camera or use it off-camera on a lighting stand, which makes for a versatile shooting setup. Plus, a speedlight lets you avoid the dread red-eye effect (just make sure you’re not shooting directly into the eyes of the cat but are instead working from an angle).

Once you get a speedlight, add a small softbox or diffuser, which will soften the light to avoid harsh shadows and that unpleasant deer-in-the-headlights look.

Then just play around with different angles and approaches. You might try to bounce the flash off walls to create interesting sidelighting, or you might mount the flash on a stand at a 45-degree angle to create a dramatic effect.

Of course, you’ll need to pay careful attention to the compositions of your photos, and good lighting doesn’t necessarily guarantee great shots – but if you can master flash cat photography, then you’ll be miles ahead of the game.

One more tip: Try photographing your cat outside when the sun is low in the sky. Make sure your cat sits between you and the sun so the sunlight catches the cat’s fur. And add a bit of fill flash to ensure the cat’s face pops. (Here, it’s okay to use flash directly; you won’t get unpleasant red-eye or reflective effects if the flash is diluted by significant daylight.)

7. Use plenty of focal lengths for a variety of shots

You can shoot cats with a single prime lens – but if you want to capture a variety of photos that really tell a story, then I highly recommend you work with multiple focal lengths.

Here, a handful of primes is a decent option, though a zoom – such as a 70-200mm – will give you lots of flexibility and won’t need to be swapped on and off your camera over the course of the photoshoot.

Personally, I’m a fan of portrait-type lenses in the 85mm to 130mm focal length for cat photos, as these lenses let you shoot without getting in the cat’s face, while also allowing you to get reasonably close (which is important if you plan to photograph indoors).

A good beginner cat photography lens is a macro option, like a Canon 100mm f/2.8 or a Nikon 105mm f/2.8. You can use it to capture beautiful portraits, then you can move in for some close-ups of the eyes and paws:

I’d also encourage you to invest in a wider lens, such as a 24-70mm zoom or a 35mm prime; a wide-angle lens is great for grabbing full-body and environmental shots of your cat, and while it probably won’t see as much use as a short telephoto lens, it’s still nice to have around.

You can also photograph a cat with a smartphone camera. No, it won’t offer the same level of image quality or settings flexibility as a dedicated DSLR or mirrorless body, but it’s an easy way to get started with the equipment you have. Use your wide-angle lens to get environmental cat shots, and use the telephoto lens for headshots and standard portraits.

8. Use the right cat photography settings

You can do cat photography with your camera set to Auto mode, but you’re bound to get frustrated pretty quickly. Auto mode doesn’t let you adjust exposure variables, which means that you’ll be unable to control the shutter speed (which affects sharpness), the aperture (which affects depth of field), and the ISO (which affects noise levels).

Instead, most cameras offer a several better options.

First, you might try Aperture Priority mode, which allows you to set the ISO and aperture, while your camera selects the shutter speed. I generally recommend you set the ISO to its lowest value, then select the aperture for the depth of field effect you’re after (remember, a wide aperture, such as f/2.8, will limit depth of field to create a very blurry background, while a narrow aperture, such as f/8, will increase depth of field to keep everything sharp). If your camera sets a too-slow shutter speed, you can always increase the ISO or widen the aperture further (this, in turn, will force the camera to increase the shutter speed).

If you’re familiar with basic camera settings or you want to dive straight into the deep end, then you can try shooting in Manual mode. Here, you pick your shutter speed, aperture, and ISO; the goal is to balance out the three settings so your exposure bar (generally present in the camera viewfinder) is balanced.

Personally, I think Manual mode is good for slower-paced photoshoots with consistent lighting, whereas Aperture Priority mode does well when the cat is moving and/or the light is changing rapidly. Both options are great, however, so I suggest you pick one, start learning, and stick with it!

I’d also encourage you to set your camera to its continuous shooting mode, also known as burst mode. When you hold down the shutter button, your camera will fire off a series of photos – and this will allow you to capture split-second moments that would normally be missed, such as your cat leaping or running around the yard or scurrying up a tree.

(You’ll need a fast shutter speed, too, if you want crisp shots of the action. I’d suggest a minimum 1/500s shutter speed, and you may want to increase it, depending on the cat’s speed.)

9. Pay attention to cat tones and exposure

Your camera meter evaluates the proper exposure (i.e., brightness) for each scene, and while it generally does a good job, it tends to struggle when faced with very bright or very dark cats.

You see, your camera’s meter believes that all scenes should average out to a nice middle gray. So if you meter off a white cat, the meter will often underexpose the scene (i.e., it’ll try to take a white cat and turn it gray). And if you meter off a black cat, the meter will often overexpose the scene (i.e., it’ll take the black cat and try to turn it gray).

Neither of these results looks very nice; the white cat will seem murky gray, while the black cat will lose its beautiful luster.

So what do you do?

That depends on your camera’s shooting mode. If you’re using Aperture Priority mode, you can dial in positive exposure compensation to brighten a white cat, and you can dial in negative exposure compensation to darken a black cat. (Many cameras include a dedicated exposure compensation button; check your camera manual if you’re not sure how this works!)

If you’re using Manual mode, however, you’ll need to make the relevant adjustments to your shutter speed, aperture, or ISO. Slow down the shutter speed, widen the aperture, or increase the ISO to brighten up a white cat; increase the shutter speed, narrow the aperture, or lower the ISO to darken a black cat. Make sense?

Cat photography tips: final words

Cat photography is so much fun. And if you can remember a few of these simple tips, your results will drastically improve.

So grab your camera, find a cat, and start practicing!

Now over to you:

Which of these tips do you plan to use in your own cat photography? Do you have any favorite techniques of your own? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Table of contents

Pet Photography

• GENERAL
  • 9 Pet Photography Tips
  • 9 Tips for Taking Better Photos of Cats

    • 1. For the best cat photos, be patient
    • 2. Use sounds and toys to get the cat’s attention
    • 3. Get down on your cat’s level
    • 4. Frame your subject for the best compositions
    • 5. Nail focus on the eyes
    • 6. Try an off-camera flash for the best lighting effects
    • 7. Use plenty of focal lengths for a variety of shots
    • 8. Use the right cat photography settings
    • 9. Pay attention to cat tones and exposure
    • Cat photography tips: final words
    • 1. For the best cat photos, be patient
    • 2. Use sounds and toys to get the cat’s attention
    • 3. Get down on your cat’s level
    • 4. Frame your subject for the best compositions
    • 5. Nail focus on the eyes
    • 6. Try an off-camera flash for the best lighting effects
    • 7. Use plenty of focal lengths for a variety of shots
    • 8. Use the right cat photography settings
    • 9. Pay attention to cat tones and exposure
    • Cat photography tips: final words
  • Beginner's Guide to Photographing Horses
  • Why Taking Pictures of Your Pets Will Help Make You a Better Photographer
  • How to get the Money Shot in Pet Photography
  • What Are Your Pet Photography Peeves?
• PREPARATION
  • 6 Tips for Working with Unruly Animals in Pet Photography
• LIGHTING
  • Tips for Great Lighting for Pet Photography
• GEAR
  • 4 of the Best Lenses for Creative Dog Photography
  • Pros and Cons of Photographing Dogs with a Prime Lens
• CREATIVE TECHNIQUES
  • Five Tips for Creative Pet Photography
  • 10 Amazing Camera Hacks for Better Dog Photography
• POST-PROCESSING
  • Fixing Animal Eyes in Lightroom
• BUSINESS
  • Five Things You Need to Know Before Starting a Pet Photography Business
• ADVANCED GUIDES
  • 6 Tips for Photographing Dogs in Action
  • How to Photograph Agility Events and Other Dog Sports
  • How to Shoot Animal Portraits [video]
• INSPIRATION
  • 29 Shots of Dogs Sticking Their Heads out of Car Windows [Humor]
  • 25 Inspirational Dog Portrait Photographs
  • 38 Pet Photos to Amaze and Inspire You
  • 5 Adorable Pet Photos [and How to Make your Shots even Cuter]
  • Today's Dose of Cuteness – a Collection of Cats in Windows and Doors

The post 9 Cat Photography Tips for Beautiful Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.

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