It is really easy to get comfortable with your photography style. Our natural desire as human beings is to find comfort. Once we feel that we are capturing decent photos, we start to learn less. One of the most common statements made through the Ditch Auto – Start Shooting in Manual survey is that the course helped the student get out of their comfort zone. I am going to be the first to admit to this cardinal sin of getting too comfortable. It happens after you start to get photography work as a professional. You start to get busy and there just isn’t time left to learn new techniques when you know what’s “tried and true” works for you. On top of that, you are busy editing photos and doing other work that has become part of your process of being a photographer. My problem was that I jumped in too fast. My first year as a professional photographer was only my second year with a DSLR camera. I shot my first wedding within one year of owning my first DSLR. I was either that confident or that dumb. I was probably somewhere in between. At that time, I did the work to learn. I read books, went to workshops, watched Youtube videos, and I read blogs. This was 2005 so there was much less content than there is today. Photographing professionally for others will make you learn really fast. You can’t make mistakes, especially at weddings. You have to get it right the first time. …
025 – Protecting Your Glass with UV Protection Filters
Protecting your investment is important. Lenses are expensive and easily broken. Protection filters help protect the exposed glass of your lens against the elements of the world and accidental impact. In this episode I discuss using uv protection filters to protect your lens against damage and show you a broken filter that saved my $2,000 lens from impending doom. Products mentioned in this video: B+W UV Haze filters (various sizes) Tiffen UV filters (various sizes) B+W 77mm Graduated filter Products seen in this video: Canon EOS 5D Mk.III Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L Telephoto Tiffen Lens Filter Case Don’t have Photoshop? Get a Creative Cloud Photography subscription for $10 a month (Includes both Photoshop and Lightroom) Learn how to shoot in manual mode on your camera with my Free course Ditch Auto: Start Shooting in Manual Check out our YouTube channel with the full Ditch Auto course plus tons more Instagram Twitter Facebook Group
024 – Automatically Open JPG Images in Photoshop Camera RAW
Camera RAW is a powerful tool for editing photos. It is a much faster process for making overall adjustments to images than using adjustment layers. Before getting into selective layer adjustments, I process images in Camera RAW. To streamline this process, I have Photoshop automatically open JPG images in Camera RAW. Here is how to set that as a default in Photoshop. Don’t have Photoshop? Get a Creative Cloud Photography subscription for $10 a month (Includes both Photoshop and Lightroom) Learn how to shoot in manual mode on your camera with my Free course Ditch Auto: Start Shooting in Manual Check out our YouTube channel with the full Ditch Auto course plus tons more Instagram Twitter Facebook Group
023 – Best Practices for Changing Camera Lenses
Its easy to change your camera lens but its even easier to get dust on your sensor. This best practice will help you prevent getting dust and debris on your camera sensor as well as prevent potential damage to the mirror or sensor. Products seen in this video: Canon EOS 5D Mk.III Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L Telephoto Sony a7 II Sony FE 70-200mm F4 lens
022 – Adding Copyright Metadata to an Image in Lightroom
Copyrighting your photo can be useful in the event that someone uses your photo without your knowledge they’ll know who to credit the photo to. There are a couple of different ways to add copyright information to a photo, in this episode I’ll show you how. Don’t have Photoshop? Get a Creative Cloud Photography subscription for $10 a month (Includes both Photoshop and Lightroom) Learn how to shoot in manual mode on your camera with my Free course Ditch Auto: Start Shooting in Manual Check out our YouTube channel with the full Ditch Auto course plus tons more Instagram Twitter Facebook Group
021 – Checking Exposure with Internal Light Meter
Understanding how to use the lighting meter in your camera is key to using manual mode effectively. The light meter allows you to set proper exposure for your image. In this video, I discuss how to use the light meter and also some best practices for different situations. Understanding how to use the lighting meter in your camera is key to using manual mode effectively. The light meter allows you to set proper exposure for your image. In this video, I discuss how to use the light meter and also some best practices for different situations. Products seen in this video: Canon EOS 5D Mk.III Manfrotto 504HD Video Head Induro Tripod legs Atomos Ninja Blade Monitor & Recorder Manfrotto 244 Magic Arm Giottos Mini Ball Head Camera Mount Learn how to shoot in manual mode on your camera with my Free course Ditch Auto: Start Shooting in Manual Check out our YouTube channel with the full Ditch Auto course plus tons more Instagram Twitter Facebook Group
020 – Converting an Image to Black & White in Lightroom
There are several ways to convert an image to black and white, here is one simple way to convert an image to black and white in Adobe Lightroom. Don’t have Photoshop? Get a Creative Cloud Photography subscription for $10 a month (Includes both Photoshop and Lightroom) Learn how to shoot in manual mode on your camera with my Free course Ditch Auto: Start Shooting in Manual Check out our YouTube channel with the full Ditch Auto course plus tons more Instagram Twitter Facebook Group
019 – How to set a Custom White Balance
In situations where the lighting is controlled, setting your white balance will help you achieve consistency across your photos. In this episode we learn how to set a custom white balance in your camera. Products seen in this video: Lastolite TriGrip Reflector Canon EOS 5D Mk.III Manfrotto 504HD Video Head Induro Tripod legs Atomos Ninja Blade Monitor & Recorder Manfrotto 244 Magic Arm Giottos Mini Ball Head Camera Mount Learn how to shoot in manual mode on your camera with my Free course Ditch Auto: Start Shooting in Manual Check out our YouTube channel with the full Ditch Auto course plus tons more Instagram Twitter Facebook Group
018 – Christmas Light Bokeh – Depth of Field
Get that nice bokeh out of focus look in your Christmas photo background. In this special Christmas episode I show you how to drop your background out of focus so you can achieve that cool out of focus look with Christmas lights.
017 – How to Watermark an Image in Lightroom
Adobe Lightroom makes watermarking images easy. In this video we look at how to create a watermark on your image and have it automatically applied when you export your photos.