Making The Most Out Of The Light

By Andy Biggs

When we think of dramatic photographs we often think of brilliant sunsets, saturated colors and a sun that hugs the horizon. Emotionally speaking I think many photographers are looking for those kinds of in-your-face lighting situations. Well, I have to say that much of the time we as nature photographers have to deal with lighting situations that are less than ideal. Ok, most of the time lighting is sub-par, or at least not what we are expecting. Here are some ideas on how to think about your photography in a different way, and how to come home with photographs that still stir the soul.

Let’s be honest. How many times have you gone outside with the intention of going to your favorite location, wait for a long while for sunset and then realize that the light didn’t meet your expectations? This happens to me when I am out on safari on a daily basis. It is something that I just have to deal with. What to do? The best approach is to accentuate the good things and try to eliminate the negative things.

Skip the Sky

Case in point. When the sky is overcast, grey or just not exciting, don’t include it in your photograph. As a wildlife photographer, that means that I might point my lens down more to include more of my subject and less of the sky. I also will use a longer lens that will include less of the environment. The photograph is more about the main subject than anything else, so I will go for a tighter shot than I would normally want.

As a general note, when I compose a scene I like to think of the potential photograph as a game: I attribute a plus, neutral or minus to various elements in a scene. My goal is to eliminate the minuses and accentuate the positives. The neutrals are just there because they have to be there. I use my shooting position, focal length and shooting angle as my variables to get all of the best pluses into the scene and to leave all of the negatives out.

Shoot Portraits

Because the sky is overcast, this means that the light that is falling on my subject is soft. Think of the light as if it is coming from the largest soft box on earth. There is a rule of thumb with lighting: the larger the light source, the softer the light. Well, a cloudy day will yield a very pleasing and flattering light, which will help accentuate colors.

Exploit Texture and Motion

Another approach that I use is to blow out the sky and turn my image into a black and white photograph. When a sky is mostly grey and has no definition in the clouds, it is very easy to overexpose and blow the skies out. This doesn’t always work for color photographs, but it is a great technique for B&W images. You end up with a high-key lighting situation, and it makes it easy to draw attention to what matters most: your subject.

I find that marginal lighting allows me to get creative with shots that have a very low success rate. When the sun has gone away for the day, or when it goes behind a cloud, I seek out pockets of soft light that work for blurred panning shots. I slow my shutter speed down and experiment with about any subject that can be found.

Harsh Light

Midday light can also be challenging, because the light that is directly overhead can create harsh shadows that have a distinct clue color cast to them. Rather than compete with the light, I find that by avoiding the direct light I can get some decent images. One type of example would be a leopard who is in a tree. I can end up with soft light on my subject’s face and body, due to the shade of a tree, and still get an image that I am happy with.

In Summary:

Spend your time thinking about how you are going to use marginal light to your benefit, as opposed to letting it take control over you. Photography literally means ‘writing with light’, and you will never be able to photograph without light. Use the lighting situation to your advantage and you will find yourself coming home with images that you are happy with, even though you had not though of those types of images before.

Remember to use what you have, and use it wisely. Be flexible with how you approach your photography, and don’t go out looking for only one kind of shot, because the light may not be what you want it to be.

Enter to Win a Kiboko 30L Bag Loaded with Photo Goodies

The Kiboko 30L is a magnificent bag, designed by photographers for photographers. It’s lightweight (only 4 lbs), durable, and features a butterfly opening, allowing for unique customizable configurations for long lenses and multiple SLR bodies. The newest incarnation features a removable waist belt and fewer zippers for snag-free travel. In fact, SmugMug’s very own In House Pro, Andy Williams, swears by it. What more could you possibly want?

Here’s how to get yours:

• Step one. Visit our sweepstakes page on Facebook.
• Step two. ‘Like’ the page.
• Step three. Answer the questions on the page.

That’s it! We’ll announce the winners on April 30, so stay tuned and come back.

Here’s the juicy prize list:

• Grand Prize: 1 Kiboko 30L backpack ($429.00 value); 2 free years of SmugMug Pro ($300 value); 1 Monocular ($349.99 value); 1 Really Right Stuff TVC-24 Versa Tripod ($910.00 value), 1 Really Right Stuff BH-55 ($375  value)
• 1st Runner Ups: 1 free year of SmugMug Pro and $75 Gift Certificate to Gura Gear
• 2nd Runner Up: 1 free year of SmugMug Pro and $50 Gift Certificate to Gura Gear

Have Bag, Will Travel

If you haven’t yet scheduled your mindblowing trips for summer 2012, Andy’s teaming up with SmugMug’s own Andy Williams and world-famous photographer Marc Muench to South Africa’s Singita Reserves. This safari has it all: leopards, lions, private game drive vehicles, private luxury camp, off road driving and one-on-one instruction.

Get details and dates on Andy’s site here.

You know you want to. (We sure do!)

"Gee whiz. Finding answers is easy!"

StackExchange is a free, community-driven Q&A where SmugMug customers can get questions like “Why would one pay for smugmug instead of use a free site?” and ”Which domain should I load users’ content (photos/videos) from?” answered quickly and easily.

Think of it as an easy-to-search sweetspot between DGrin (our community forum) and our world-class heroic support, with plenty of additional perks:

• The best answers to a question are on top. Say goodbye to wading through pages of replies.
• Searching is easy.
• You can quickly tell if the person answering your question knows what they’re talking about.

We’re in public beta, which is tech-speak for “we’re just getting started,” so check out our StackExchange page today to start asking and answering questions.

Big thanks to Chief Geek Don and everyone who helped get this awesome, new resource set up!

SmugMuggers can now offer pricing for prints, gifts and downloads in one of five international currencies.

That’s right! Your visitors now get to pick their own currency when they buy stuff from your site.

How does it work?

Run (don’t walk) to your galleries and click the Buy button to bring up the shopping cart. At the top you’ll see a fresh new drop-down menu that translates your pricing to the five following flavors:

• USD – $
• CAD – CA$
• AUD – AU$
• GBP – £
• EUR – €

You can click through each one to see pricing in the shopping cart change. We’ll remember the currency that’s chosen and display it consistently when you view our catalog, as well as throughout shopping and checkout.

I’m a Pro. Will I make less money when the exchange rate changes?

No, your profits are safe. We talked about this when we debuted Pricelists, and this is one reason why SmugMug’s custom pricing is centered around profits, not the final price.

Market crash? No prob… you’ll still earn that $100 on those MetalPrints (as long as you’ve priced them that way).

What currency will I get paid in?

We’ve been paying international SmugMug Pros in various currencies since last May. Look here to see how it works so you can get paid in whichever moolah you love best.

Anything else I should know?

Here’s the quick list:

• SmugMuggers of all account levels don’t have to do a thing to start showing the five currencies on your site. We do the conversion automatically for each and every visitor that buys from you.

• The price your customers see on your site will adjust along with the exchange rate. This could happen daily if the market’s feeling feisty.

• Pros: Your customers will see the currency they’ve chosen while shopping and during checkout, but for now you’ll still have to set your prices in USD. We’ll be adding currency support to features like Pro pricing, Coupons, Packages, etc., so please hang tight and we’ll tell you when those are ready.

Whoopee! Now, where can I sell?

In case you were just too shy to ask, you’ve always been able to sell to anyone, anywhere in the world. We hope the new currencies will help your fans get a better idea of how much things cost.

If you want to see the full list of countries we ship to, take a look at this page here and bookmark our handy shipping info page.

What if I have an order problem?

We stand loud and proud on our 100% guarantee on all orders, and, as you know, we’ll refund you – or your customer – if we can’t make it right.

But if your sale doesn’t work out and it was purchased in a foreign currency, please remember the refund may not be the same dollar amount due to the exchange rate differences at the time of checkout and return.

Now, it’s your turn to grade us.

Questions? Comments? Feedback? You’ve asked for this feature for such a long time, we wanna know how we did.

This addition is just Part 1 of this year’s international goodies. We know that SmugMug Pros are dying to set prices in other currencies, too, so stay tuned! We’re building that next.

Seriously, check it out: Their easy, intuitive website makes it so easy to get listed and help local brides-to-be find and book you.

They just made it super-easy to get started: Diamond Level members can now slurp photos from their SmugMug accounts into their SnapKnot profiles.

It’s your wedding portfolio seen by millions of eager brides. Clear your calendars!

Here’s How it Works:

Visit your SnapKnot Dashboard and click to edit your Profile. You’ll see a section for SmugMug Pro.

Click to “Link your SmugMug account with SnapKnot” and then login:

You’ll need to authorize the connection:

(Remember that you can reauthorize it at any time from your SmugMug Control Panel if you change your mind.)

Now just edit your profile page and choose which SmugMug galleries to link. They’ll pull in your photos and videos for you, making portfolio-publishing easier than ever.

Save 50% and Start Booking Brides

You can see what SnapKnot’s all about and how it works by visiting their site. And don’t forget that they’re part of our ClubSmug, meaning that SmugMuggers can enjoy an exclusive discount on their SnapKnot subscription.

Log in and look here for more details!

Calling all Adobe fans! We’ve heard that Lightroom’s built-in SmugMug uploader has been one of your favorite ways of getting photos into your sites. So we thought we’d let you know about our most recent update.

What’s New in the Latest Version

• Previously, syncing went in one direction only: from Lightroom over to SmugMug. Now it’s a two-way street. Lightroom will find any images you’ve previously uploaded to your SmugMug galleries and match them to existing images in your library. Synchronicity, baby!

• Pros who use Events will find that their clients’ Favorites get pulled into into a separate Collection in Lightroom.

• Movie shooters: You can now also upload video files in addition to still images.

• Finally, we’ve heard your cries about how your innovative, snappy image titles were getting left at the door. You now have the option to publish your Titles or Captions (or both) in the SmugMug image caption field for all to see.

No plugin? Get it now

If you’re coasting on an older version and want to upgrade to the shiniest version, look here.

Or, just click this link to start the download and follow the instructions on our help page to get started.

Enjoy!

We rock it in Vegas for WPPI and we know you do, too. As per Sin City’s traditions, we don’t talk about what happens in the booth, but we have pictures to prove that we love meeting Pros like you.

Come visit. Talk to us. Tell it to us straight.

Plus, the event gives you the chance to pick the brains of amazing greats like SmugMug Pros Bambi Cantrell, Scott Robert Lim and more.

Why should this year be any different?

Photo Courtesy of Fotocabina.net

"You better come party with us."

Photo Courtesy of Fotocabina.net

Snag a Discount

Option 1. If you’re not the chancy type, go ahead and grab a discounted pass for just $95. Use the coupon code: WFREGR

Option 2. Want to skip the lectures and just say hi? Click here to get a free pass to the trade show floor.

See you in Vegas, baby!

http://sorcery.smugmug.com/

From the comments you guys leave here, we know that there’s a lot of you who will find it interesting and, hopefully, useful.

Here’s to SmugMug’s Sorcerers!

In protest to SOPA and PIPA, we’re rallying for action on our homepage and shuttering ADVrider, one of the largest motorcycle hangouts on the web.

We, like so many sites on the web, feel very strongly about web censorship. Today’s blackout could be a taste of things to come if you don’t take action now.

Congress has the power to kill the internet and all of your favorite sites: places that we all swap ideas and share opinions every day. Read about the Stop Online Piracy Act here.

If you value free speech, the internet, ideas and entrepreneurship, please take ten minutes out of your day today to contact your local representative. Visit SOPAstrike.com to see the many ways how:

  >>>>> http://sopastrike.com/ <<<<<

Check out his exclusive, all-new photo beauty here. Twelve famous photos are printed on high-quality, thick glossy paper and saddled stitched for durability. It’s the perfect way to stay inspired and plan your own around-the-world adventure.

Win Yours on Facebook

He’s sharing the love with fellow Smuggers and offering 10 copies of this lucious wallhanger to 10 lucky fans.

To enter:

1. Like our Facebook Page HERE.
2. Share this blog link or contest FB post with your friends.
3. Post one of your best Travel photos and tell us the story behind the shot. You can post your photo on our FB Wall or in the comments below.

We’ll pick 10 winners on Thursday, January 19, to win a calendar, PLUS free Smuggy swag for themselves and a friend. That means you AND a friend have a chance to win, so spread the word and share the love

Happy travels!

___________________________

UPDATE: WINNERS!

Huge thanks to everyone who entered this contest. We loved seeing all of your photos and hearing your stories. Here are the randomly-selected winners, in no particular order. They will each win a 2012 Stuck In Customs calendar, PLUS cool Smuggy swag for themselves and a friend.

–Phaeton Place

–Suzanne Kammann

–Jonathan Wilson of JawSnap

–Knapp Hudson of Stone Coast Photography

–Bernardo Franco of Framing Colours

–Shirley Ann Dees

–Sheena Leazenby

–Ashley Curella

–Christian Mejia

–Kyla Ford

Congrats everyone! Katherine from our team will get in touch with you in the next few days with info on how to collect your prize.

Now you can!

Our new chat system is perfect for getting quick questions answered fast! Got something more involved like a gnarly customizing problem? Don’t be afraid to send us an email like usual.

To get started, visit our help portal and look for the little tab in the bottom corner. Then just sign in and start chatting away.

Just one tip: In order to prevent a log jam, be sure to have all of your info ready to go: order numbers, links to your homepage or problem images, anything that will help us help you faster.

It’s really easy to use, so give it a try and let us know what you think.

See you soon!