Hey, how’s it going? I’m Andy Jones and this is episode 81 of the Photography Side Hustle podcast.
This week I realized that I have a problem. I find it hard not to edit images people have posted on social media. I do it in the Facebook group to help people out, but I’m constantly doing it on Twitter. If a photo is crooked and needs straightening or the exposure needs a little tweak, I can’t help myself.
Anyway, my name is Andy and I have a photo editing problem.
This week’s episode is …
Common Mistakes 3
I haven’t done a common mistakes episode for a long time so here we go.
When you’ve used the wrong white balance your images will have a color cast. If you are shooting in JPG it can be challenging to fix. If you shoot in RAW you will be able to correct it easily.
Setting your camera to Auto White Balance will be fine in most situations.
To guarantee the White Balance is accurate you need to set a custom White Balance using an 18% Gray Card. You will need to set the Custom White Balance before every shoot. It’s simple to do, find the custom white balance setting in the menu, take a photo of the Gray Card and the camera uses it to set the White Balance.
The best thing you can do is shoot in RAW and use a custom white balance. The next best option is to shoot in RAW and use Auto White Balance.
These are parts of an image that are blown out with light. You can get this problem when shooting in the middle of a bright sunny day. If you take a portrait of your subject in the shade of a tree and behind them is the sky. There is a good chance the sky will be overexposed.
How do you avoid this problem?
The best method is to shoot at a different time of day, like the golden hour before the sun sets. Another option is to change your angle of attack. Move the subject so the sky isn’t in the frame.
If you can’t change the time of the shoot you can use exposure bracketing. If you are going to try this it is best to use a tripod. Exposure bracketing allows you to take three images, one exposed properly, one under-exposed, and one over-exposed. You can then merge them when editing, replacing the overexposed sky with the properly exposed sky from the underexposed image.
Or you can just take two images, one exposed properly with the sky blown out, and a second under-exposed but with the sky looking normal. Then again in editing, you can merge them together.
Whatever you are shooting, get down to their level. Children and pets look way better if your lens is down low. The backgrounds look totally different too. Give it a try, it doesn't need to be a baby or your dog, it could be a soccer ball. Take two photos, one looking down at it and one at ground level.
The one at ground level will be the best shot 9 times out of 10.
Every time you post examples of your work online, whether it’s on social media or on your website, they should be the best they could possibly be. If you post a quick photo with your phone, mention that you used your phone.
As a photographer, every image you put out in the world is going to be judged. So take the extra few minutes to edit your images so they pop and get attention. There really isn't a good excuse for not editing an image. Editing software is mind-blowingly good and you don’t need to spend more than 5 minutes on an image.
Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. You spend a few hours looking at local photographers’ websites, trying to find one to shoot your wedding. If there are two or three photos on a website or blog that are not edited, they’ll move on to the next photographer's site.
In fact, if you do take photos with your phone, edit them too, and still mention that you took the image with your phone. The potential customer will be amazed that you can take professional-looking photos even with your phone.
Next …
By orientation, I mean Portrait or Landscape. Landscape orientation is horizontal. Portrait orientation is vertical, you need to turn the camera 90 degrees.
So, the common mistake I’m talking about is taking a shot in portrait when landscape would be best, and vice versa.
I see lots of photos of vehicles, boats, and animals, taken in portrait orientation when landscape orientation was needed. The vehicle and foreground take up half the frame, and the sky fills the other half. I sometimes wonder if they were trying to get a photo of the sky and a car got in the way.
Think about the shape of your subject, a car or horse is horizontal so use landscape orientation. Your subject will fill the frame and be way more interesting to the viewer.
The funny thing about this is Portrait photographers don’t only use portrait orientation and the same goes for landscape photographers. Shoot horizontally or vertically, just fill the frame with interesting stuff.
Now, I’ve mentioned this in a previous episode, but it’s important so I’m going to repeat myself.
If you do a shoot for a customer, print out the best 2 or 3 images from the shoot just for you. 5x7 prints will do, get them printed as cheaply as possible. These are for you to look at. Being able to hold a photo in front of you, makes you look at it differently. You’ll see what needs improving and that can only make you a better photographer. It’ll also show how you have improved over time. Looking at your work on a computer screen won’t work like a printed photo.
Ok, I want to give a shout-out to Marvin Daly from the Greater Toronto area here in Ontario, Canada. He only found the podcast last week and has listened to all 80 episodes. He must be really sick of my voice about now.
Anyway, that’s it for episode 81, I’ll be back next week with more waffle. Talk to you soon, bye.