If you have a new-ish iPhone or DSLR, in-camera HDR is now at your fingertips.

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Put simply, it's a processing technique that combines an underexposed photo, overexposed photo and acceptably exposed photo into one image. This combined image has brighter brights and darker darks than could normally be captured in one exposure alone.

Back in the day, HDR photographers had to combine these images using software. With in-camera HDR, the work is done for you, instantly.

The photos below were not manipulated in any way. They are shown exactly as the camera produced them.

If you shoot in full sun a tripod isn't necessary. With less light, however, you'll need to keep the camera extremely still. Occasionally, you will be still but your subject is moving. This is not an ideal situation for HDR.

Have thoughts about in-camera HDR? Let us know in the comments below, or over on Facebook or Twitter! Stay tuned for more on HDR in an upcoming post.

Cheers,
-Dustin

Let's pretend for a moment that you're finally cashing in some of your vacation days this Summer. You have a great camera, but what lenses should you pack for your trip? The easiest way to narrow down your options is to focus on what you'll be shooting the most.

A People Lens: Even if you're traveling alone, you'll want a people-friendly lens that's lightweight, fast and effective in low light. The 50mm Prime f/1.4 is a great choice, regardless of which brand you're loyal to. With an aperture of f/1.4, you'll need little more than candlelight to capture impressive shallow depth of field images.
Note: Prime lenses don't zoom!

A Cityscape Lens: For those expansive landscapes, ancient cathedrals and beach sunsets, you'll want a wide-angle lens that performs well in low light. The 24-70mm f/2.8 is perfect for when you step into the Pantheon in Rome and want to photograph the incredible ceiling. The field of view is wide enough to capture your landscape shot, but not so wide that your image is overly stretched or distorted. An aperture of f/2.8 will also allow you to continue shooting long after the sun goes down.

Hey! Why No Telephoto Lens? Unless you are a wildlife photographer and your vacation will call for shooting beasts (with a camera!), a telephoto lens will probably not be your first choice. They tend to be big, bulky and have a long minimum focal distance, which means you have to be fairly far away from your subject in order to shoot it. If you know you'll be hunting animals with your lens and are cool with the extra heft, I would suggest a 70-200mm f/2.8 Telephoto Zoom Lens.

There are tons of options out there when it comes to lenses, but the one thing that all of these have in common is excellent low-light performance. If you have any suggestions for awesome travel gear, let us know in the comments below, or over on Facebook or Twitter!

Safe Travels,
-Dustin

People often ask, "How do I keep my subject in focus while allowing the rest of the image to be blurry?"

To answer this question, depth of field must first be explained. Depth of Field (DoF) is described as the area within an image where acceptable focus is found.

Here is a quick rule you can follow to control the depth of field in your photos: A wider aperture, or lower f-number, will yield a shallower depth of field.

If your lens doesn't have a wide aperture, you have a few other options. You can either be quite close to your subject with a wide angle lens or far away from it with a telephoto lens. Both options will result in a shallower depth of field. See the examples below for a visual explanation.

The opposite of shallow DoF is deep focus. Deep focus refers to an image that is completely in focus. To achieve deep focus, you'll need to use a much narrower aperture. Slower shutter speeds are also required due to the fact that less light is reaching your sensor. In situations where there is less light available, grab a dang tripod.

Look closely at the rock in the foreground of both images. The difference in sharpness between f/1.4 and f/22 is extremely noticeable. Every f-stop between these two extremes gradually effects DoF.

You can also see a bit of vignetting in the shallow DoF image. This can be corrected easily in post production or by increasing the f-number a few stops.

I hope this very simple overview has been helpful, and stay tuned for more fun techniques to beef up your photographic bag of tricks!

Cheers,
-Dustin

You should probably also play with this nifty DoF calculator from the folks over at Cambridge in Colour.

Your camera's autofocus is pretty smart, but it's not nearly as creative as you are. This post will show you how to manually select autofocus points for laser-specific creative control.

Why manually select your autofocus points? If you leave the focusing decision up to your camera, it's unlikely that it will choose the exact same subject that you would. Focusing more precisely also allows you to direct the viewer's eye via shallow depth of field. (more on depth of field this week)

See the examples below for the visual difference between full autofocus mode and choosing a custom autofocus point.

To frame the photo the same way as the full-on autofocus image at the top of the page, aim your manually-selected autofocus point at your desired subject and half-depress the shutter. Once the focal distance is locked-in, frame the image however you like but don't release the shutter. When the image is framed properly, fully depress the shutter and the focal distance will remain as you intended. Boom! Same image, but with much greater creative control.

Notice how your eye is drawn to the subject quickly in these examples?

Point & Shoot cameras, as well as DSLRs, offer the ability to choose a specific autofocus point. See the photos below for a few examples of what this looks like in-camera. If you're not sure how to go about this with your camera, consult your instruction book.

Depth of field, mentioned above, plays a large role in this technique. Stay tuned for more info about how that works later this week!

If you have any additional questions, feel free to post them in the comments on this blog, or over on Facebook or Twitter.

Cheers!
-Dustin

Ever taken a photo on a sunny day and been disappointed by how much the sun's glare washed out your image? Whether you're shooting with a smartphone, point and shoot or DSLR, these simple tricks will help you capture the image you're after.

1. The Sunglass Filter Method

Grab your smartphone or point and shoot and a pair of polarized sunglasses. Simply place one of the sunglass lenses in front of your camera's lens to significantly reduce glare. You might feel a bit silly doing this in public, but the results should speak for themselves.

Please Note: The tint of your sunglasses will effect the image. A pair of brown polarized sunglasses were used in this example and the photo on the right shows a noticeable tint.

2. The Circular Polarizer Method

If you own a camera with interchangeable lenses, a circular polarizer can do incredible things for your images. Unlike the sunglass option above, circular polarizers kick glare to the curb without profound color changes.

Circular polarizers screw onto the end of your lens and rotate to adjust the amount of light allowed through the filter. Check out the image below to see a mashup of all the different options you see when you rotate the polarizing filter.

Hopefully this post is enough to get you started, but if you have any questions feel free to post them in the comments below. I'll do my best to answer quickly!

If you're out this weekend and try either of these methods, we'd love to see the photos via this blog or on Facebook or Twitter!

Glare shmare,
-Dustin

If you're curious about how the filters actually work, check out this great article from photo tuts plus.