Tag

tips

Lightroom Quick Tip: Lights Out Mode

This simple little tip will make a big impact on how you view your images. Above: When working in the Develop Module in Lightroom tap “L” on your keyboard once to dim the filmstrip and tool panels around your image. Above: Lights out mode (Dimmed) removes distractions but still lets you view filmstrip and tools. Above: Tap on “L” again to completely black out the area around your image. Blacking out the area around your image removes distractions and makes it much easier to judge brightness, contrast and colour tones.

A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there

Above: Vasto, Italy photographed on my Canon 5DMK111 and 24-105mm lens ISO 100,F8 @1/1000th sec You’ve heard the saying “location, location” right? Well, did you know the place you spend the most time in is going to impact how successful you will become as a photographer? I believe the place you spend the majority of your time will have more of an impact on your ability to succeed than your technical ability. You can be the most technically gifted photographer in the world but if you spend the majority of your time living in this place then it’s highly likely your work will continue to suffer and will struggle to improve or evolve. I know this because I’ve lived in this place and getting out wasn’t easy. It’s difficult to leave a place that feels so familiar. Life here is predictable and comfortable. In fact, the place is called Comfort...

Here’s a quick and easy way to correct perspective distortion using Lightroom

In this tutorial I’m going to show you a really quick and easy way to correct perspective distortion in photographs of buildings. Perspective distortion is caused when you point your camera at an extreme angle to a building or when using a wide angle lens very close to your subject. The wider the lens and the closer you are to the subject, the more extreme the distortion. This type of distortion can be minimised by using a tilt shift lens which enables the lens to be tilted so it is parallel to your subject. Positioning yourself farther away from the subject will also minimise distortion. For those of us who don’t own a tilt shift lens or can’t get back from far enough from the subject, Lightroom offers a fantastic and relatively easy solution.

Why every great photo needs a hero

“I need a hero, I’m holding out for a hero ’til the end of the night” – Bonnie Tyler Back in the 80s when we wore our hair BIG and our jeans acid washed, Bonnie Tyler had a hit single called Hero. I know every word off by heart because I used to sing it into my hairbrush and pretend I was an 80s pop star. The word “hero” applies to many different things. The fireman that rescues the kitty stuck in a tree is a hero. The footballer who kicks the winning goal in overtime is a hero. And late at night after a long hard day, vanilla ice cream with Nutella is my hero (the ice cream’s organic – don’t judge me). In the photography world, the word “hero” is used to describe the shot, it could be the cover image of a magazine or the opening shot...

Lightroom Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Using Lightroom keyboard shortcuts are a great way to speed up your workflow and give you more time to spend on other important things like taking photos! Download your cheat sheet via the link and either print it out and display it near your computer or store it on your smartphone and access it anytime. Download it here.

Great composition is a numbers game and understanding the bunny rule.

I love binge watching cooking competitions. One of my favourites is The Great British Bake Off. I love watching contestants battle it out to create the perfect chocolate mud cake or custard tart. The best part about the show is that all the contestants are given the same ingredients to work with and their final creations are judged on technique and presentation. I’m amazed at how many different variations of custard tarts can be created using the exact same ingredients. A few extra minutes whisking or a few moments longer in the oven can be the difference between success and failure. I would love to see a photography version of Bake Off called “Snap Off”, where enthusiast photographers from around the world compete against each other to create the perfect image. The format would be similar to Bake Off, there would be timed challenges and each photographer would be given...

How to create a custom brush from your signature or logo using Photoshop.

Here’s a really quick and easy way to create a custom brush of your signature using Photoshop. This technique works with text logos and images and the uses are not just limited to watermarks. You might want to create a custom brush made from a hand drawn image of flowers or love hearts or dog paws – whatever you like. You can make the brush preset bigger or smaller using the bracket keys. [ ] You can change the colour and opacity of your custom brush to suit the image you are working with.

How to take photos that stand out from the crowd

I just read a frightening statistic. There are approximately 1.8 billion images shared on social media every day. If you take out the 4 million selfies uploaded by the Kardashians, that still leaves a staggering 1.4 billion images. In 2008 this figure was around 3 million. So, with so many photos being uploaded every second, how the hell does a photographer get their work noticed these days? Before you start freaking out, open a fresh jar of Nutella and curl up on the couch to binge watch One Tree Hill – let’s break this down. By the law of averages, of the 1.8 billion images uploaded, 50% are mostly bad photos that Jan from accounts took of her lunch at Sizzlers, guys posing in front of their cars for their latest Tinder profile pic, pets wearing sunglasses and out of focus images of babies. Of the remaining 50%, selfies make up...

How to direct and pose like a pro

About Gina

About Gina

Gina Milicia is one of the most widely known and respected photographers in Australia. She is the master of capturing that ‘magical moment’... READ MORE

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