Tutorial

Photography / Tutorial — 2 Comments
30
Aug 09

Make Sure Your Running Lightroom In 64-Bit

After installing Snow Leopard a few days ago I took the time to open Activity Monitor to see what programs were running in 64-bit and which ones were left in 32-bit. To my surprise I saw that my copy of Lightroom 2 was running in 32-bit still.

Lightroom running in 32-bit

Lightroom running in 32-bit

Now I was really disappointed to see this because I though Lightroom 2 was supposed to run in 64-bit. So I went into my applications folder, found the Lightroom 2 app, and pressed Command i to get more info on the program. There I found the culprit. There was a box that was checked for the app to run in 32-bit mode.

32-bit Mode

32-bit Mode

To fix this problem simply uncheck the box and open the app. When the application loads you should see that it now says 64-bit on the tittle screen. Running Lightroom in 64-bit now has given me a huge speed boost all over the application from load up time, to editing, and export.

64-bit

64-bit

Photography / Tutorial — 3 Comments
8
Jun 09

Balancing Backlighting With Flash

Have you been in a situation where the subject you wanted to shoot was in the shade or had a shadow cast on it, and the background was blown out in your attempt to properly expose your subject?

EXAMPLE

20090605_matt_grad_001

In this post we are going to cover how to make much better photos out of situations like this.

Equipment needed

Camera that allows for manual exposure

Flash (on camera or off camera)

Light Meter (optional)

Step 1. Camera Settings

First thing to do is make sure your camera is set on manual. We need total control over the cameras shutter speed and f-stop to make a proper exposure. Also make sure your shutter speed is at or under 1/250th of a second because most cameras flash sync speed won’t allow for faster shutter speed when shooting with flash. If you are getting a black band across the bottom of the photo this is because your shutter is closing before all the light can be captured and you need to lower your shutter speed.

Step 2. Background

The next thing we are going to do is set our cameras exposure for the background. If you are shooting digital take some test photos until your background is exposed correctly and you have it looking how you want.

If shooting film I would meter the light and underexpose between 1/3 to a full stop under the settings on the light meter.

For my photo I knew I wanted the background full of color from the green plants and trees in the background. To achieve that look I came up with a shutter speed of 1/90th and an f-stop of 9.5.

20090605_matt_grad_002

Step 3. Flash

Our next step is to set the flash so the subject can be properly exposed. If you do not have a light meter and are shooting digital start taking test photos and lower or power up your flash until the subjects exposure is correct.

If you have a light meter simply meter your light to your exposure settings.

matts-graduation-012

Step 4. Take the photo

Make sure your composition is correct and press the shutter button. If you have done everything right you will have a photo where the subject and background are both exposed correctly and will give you a much better photo then one we started off with.

20090605_matt_grad_003

If you enjoyed the post and would like to see more like this please let me know and I would love to see any work of anyone who was inspired to try a shot like this after reading this post.