The Hidden Benefits of Panorama Photography

Since the early days of film, panoramic photography has been synonymous with landscape and architectural images, and sometimes with other genres like street and wildlife photography. By combining two horizontal frames of film, typically 120 medium format, some film cameras actually shot panorama photographs by design. Most of these cameras emerged in the latter half of the twentieth century, bringing the panoramic format to the public eye. The panorama had existed long before this time, of course, but its popularity has only grown — and with good reason. Panoramas are fun and dramatic, and their subtleties are just as important in today’s mostly-digital age as they were during the heyday of film. In this article, I will discuss some of the important but less-common benefits of taking panorama images, as well as sharing a set of my photographs from Iceland in the classic 6×17 aspect ratio.

Some of the positives of panoramic photography are obvious. By stitching several frames into a panorama, you can take wider-angle photos than your lenses typically allow. For landscape and architectural photographers especially, an ultra-ultra-wide perspective is always useful. Of course, many photographers simply like the extra resolution that comes from stitching several frames together — it allows for larger, more detailed prints, along with more cropping ability in post-processing. Even the relative uniqueness of a panoramic frame has some appeal, since most photographs are taken without switching from the camera’s native 2×3 or 3×4 format (or perhaps the Instagram-famous square aspect ratio). However, there are more benefits to panoramic photography than what may first meet the eye.

NIKON D800E + 105mm f/2.8 @ 105mm, ISO 100, 1/6, f/9.0

1) Composition

I briefly discussed the compositional benefits of panoramas in my article on balance, but it is worth going into more detail here. For starters, consider the image below.

Brief Note: One of the many benefits of writing for Photography Life is that I get to show my abstract circle art to thousands of unsuspecting viewers whenever I write an article about composition. I’m bad at Photoshop and I’m even worse at abstract art, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy this.

In the sample above, you can see that this image is poorly-composed. Ignore the fact that I can only draw circles in Photoshop, and notice how crowded the frame is along its edges. If this were a real landscape, the logical decision might be to zoom out slightly to give more breathing room on either side of the image. Unfortunately, zooming out is not always an option. In this abstract example, the boring white space continues indefinitely above the frame, and the foreground is ruined because — of course — someone littered. The best way to fix your abstract composition, then, is to photograph this frame as a panorama.

Here’s the panorama, just for kicks.

A real-world example is shown below. In this image, the sky and ground were entirely featureless — foggy and silhouetted respectively. Although I could have used a 2×3 aspect ratio and zoomed in a bit more, I would have had to crop out the sides of the mountain to do so, and the image would not be as strong.

NIKON D800E + 105mm f/2.8 @ 105mm, ISO 100, 1/2, f/11.0

Along with the extra room for composition, the panoramic format makes it easy to balance the items in your frame. A panorama is inherently so wide that it is very difficult to tip off-balance, which certainly is not the case with traditional rectangles. Even bright, attention-seeking items in your frame are not nearly as important when they take up a small percentage of the image. In the panorama below, for example, the largest bright area is directly along the right-hand side of the photograph. Normally, this would be a textbook example of imbalance. However, the sheer number of other items in the frame — most of which would not be visible in a 2×3 or 3×4 photograph — render this bright spot of sky almost inconsequential to the image’s overall balance.

NIKON D800E + 105mm f/2.8 @ 105mm, ISO 100, 1/6, f/11.0

The compositional side of panoramic photography certainly is not the only reason for its popularity, but panoramas are useful for images that cannot be composed in more typical ways. Often, I use the panorama format simply because the spaces above and below my subject would boring with a 2×3 frame — other times, I do so to make my image easier to balance. Panoramas are not ideal for every composition, but they are crucial tools in more situations than you may think.

2) Large Prints

I briefly mentioned the increased detail that comes from stitching several images together — and such detail certainly is welcome — but it is not the only reason that you can print larger images from the panoramic format. Consider a typical (high-end) photo printer: the width of the print is set at a certain size (since, say, a 24-inch printer simply cannot fit anything larger), but the length of the print is essentially unlimited. The reason is that, past a certain size (typically 13×17), photo paper tends to come in rolls rather than sheets. These rolls can be tremendously long, often more than fifty feet (15 meters).

The implications for panoramic photography are clear. If your roll-paper printer works up to 24 inches (60cm), the size of your frames is only limited to your photo’s aspect ratio. If your file has a 3×4 ratio, for example, you can print no larger than 24×32 inches. A 2×3 frame gets you to 24×36 inches, whereas a 1×2 image can print up to 24×48 inches in size. If your roll isn’t out of paper yet, a 1×3 panorama can be printed at a massive 24×72 inches in size. The numbers themselves are not particularly important here, but the size differences are — once you hit your printer’s limit, a 1×3 panorama can be exhibited twice as large as a 2×3 image.

Even third-party printing companies work the same way. At Bay Photo, for example, the maximum size for a 2×3 ratio print is 30×45 inches (75×115 cm). But, if your image has a 1×4 aspect ratio, you can get a 30×120 inch print — that’s ten feet wide (three meters) on the long side. For most photographers, a print of this size is never going to be a practical option. However, even smaller prints benefit from a panoramic aspect ratio.

Above most sofas and beds, for example, the wall is wider than it is tall. Quite often, the difference is significant. And, for landscape photographers who want to sell their work, home decoration is one of the largest markets. It makes sense to cater to people’s needs, then, and panoramic art is disproportionately popular for bedrooms and living spaces.

NIKON D800E + 50mm f/1.4 @ 50mm, ISO 100, 1/6, f/16.0

For other photographers — those who exhibit at shows and galleries — panoramas help to stand out against other prints on the same wall. Although it is not true in every case, many galleries want a consistent height for their images rather than a consistent length. This means that panoramas are displayed quite large, and thus are more likely to attract attention than typical images.

Not all photographers print their images, of course, so this comparison is not always valid. Still, you never know if one of your images will be in a gallery show at some point, and it is worth the effort to take images with a wide aspect ratio if this occasion arises. I recently visited a gallery of this sort, where the panoramas were far larger than the other prints. They were also, it seemed, among the most popular photographs on display. And, being stitched images, they were just as detailed — if not more so — than most of the other prints in the gallery. If your end goal is a print, keep the panoramic format in mind; panoramas lend themselves to large display more than any other aspect ratio.

3) Extracting Multiple Images

When I visited Iceland over this past summer, I saw some of the most magnificent landscapes of my life. Some locations actually were too beautiful for me to choose a subject quickly — they were almost overwhelming. In a few instances, I took massive, multi-row panoramas for my composition, rather than singling out specific subjects in the field.

NIKON D800E + 105mm f/2.8 @ 105mm, ISO 100, 1/10, f/16.0

This is not my typical method of composition, but it is worth noting Iceland is so beautiful that I rarely needed to crop my vast panoramas at all — everything in the photo was interesting enough to keep. It also is worth mentioning that the photograph above, a prime example of this technique, is more than 230 megapixels in size — detail that is readily visible in a print. I can print this image about seven feet wide (over two meters) at more than 300 dpi, for example, and at least twice that size without a dramatic loss in quality. The “hidden benefit” is that I can extract ordinary 2×3 photographs from this massive panorama, and the insane number of pixels means that I don’t sacrifice image quality along the way. Consider the image below.

NIKON D800E + 105mm f/2.8 @ 105mm, ISO 100, 1/10, f/16.0

If I were making a set of 2×3 images from Iceland, I would be able to use this photograph without any issue. The perspective it brings is entirely different from the main panorama, and it stands on its own as an interesting scene. Plus, it is still more than 24 megapixels in size — more than enough to print at any reasonable size.

What if I wanted a 9×16 image for my desktop background? I can focus on another part of this panorama and get an equally interesting shot:

NIKON D800E + 105mm f/2.8 @ 105mm, ISO 100, 1/10, f/16.0

This image is, again, a crop from the original panorama. This time, I chose to focus on the mountains on the left-hand side of the frame, which look beautiful in the morning light. Again, this image works well as a crop, and it is not missing much from the original photograph. Plus, it’s more than 100 megapixels — large enough for a print of any size.

Although I do not recommend this approach for everyday photography, there is something to be said for extracting several individual images from a panorama. At the very least, it forces you to consider the large image as a combination of individual compositions, a different thought process that can help you decide what deserves inclusion in the frame. Plus, with the massive detail inherent in stitching photographs together, there is no significant loss in quality if you do choose to crop several versions of the image in post-processing.

These three extra benefits of panoramas, then — composing with more freedom, printing with a larger size limit, and extracting several images per frame — are not definitionally hidden, but they certainly aren’t as obvious as the other benefits of panoramic photography. No matter your preferred genre, panoramas can be a versatile tool in your arsenal — perhaps for more cases than may be clear at first.

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ZTE Spro 2 Review and Giveaway

A couple of weeks back, AT&T sent me a ZTE Spro 2 Smart Projector to review and give away to one of our readers. I loved the idea of doing this, not only because it is a neat little smart device that you can use as a mobile hotspot and as a projector, but also because with the holiday spirit, why not gift one of these away to one of PL’s readers? After-all, our site is all about giving! Speaking of gifts, hope you’ll get what you need this holiday season, because it does not always happen. What do you do with those unwanted gifts then? I find regifting to work the best. For example, on my birthday earlier this year I received a gift card to a store I never shop from, so I decided to regift it to a friend who does. Worked out nicely and I did not even have to think much about buying a present! Now the question is, if you win this giveaway, will it be a keeper? Anyway, before I go into the giveaway details, let’s take a closer look at what the ZTE Spro 2 is capable of and what you can use it for.

ZTE Spro 2 Overview

In a nutshell, the ZTE Spro 2 is an Android-powered portable projector that can be also used as a mobile hotspot for connecting up to 10 devices via WiFi to a 4G LTE network (the particular unit that I am reviewing and giving away is specifically for the AT&T network). It is a smart device with a 5″ touchscreen, which means that you can use it just like an Android-based tablet to check email, browse the web, watch movies, play games, etc. Although ZTE describes the Spro 2 as a “2-in-1 projector and mobile hotspot”, I would instead call it a “3-in-1 projector, mobile hotspot and tablet”, since the latter is an integral part of this portable device. So when not using it as a hotspot or a projector, you can still connect to the Internet via a mobile connection (requires a data plan) or WiFi, which is really neat. The only downside on the “smart device” side is that the unit ships with the older Android 4.4 “KitKat” OS and not the current “Lollipop” version, so you might miss some of the apps specifically designed for Lollipop on the ZTE Spro 2. Featuring a fairly powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, the device should be able to technically run Lollipop, but there might be technical challenges to get all the components, including the projector working on the new OS. I might be a matter of time until folks at ZTE can get the Spro 2 working with the latest and greatest Android OS, but even if that never happens, I don’t think I would be very disappointed, as the highlight of the device is definitely the projector + the hotspot and not the tablet features…

As you will see further down in this review, the ZTE Spro 2 has a wonderful and compact built-in projector capable of outputting up to 720p video in 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio, which given its compact size (5.3″ H x 5.2″ W x 1.2″ D) and light weight construction (only 19.4 oz / 0.55 kg) is pretty darn impressive. That makes the device a nice travel companion – you can carry one in your camera bag when traveling! And when you are ready to project, all you have to do is press the power button, then touch the “Project” button on the touchscreen and voila – you are projecting. With a lamp life rated at 20,000 hours, the projector should last quite a while.

The ZTE Spro 2 can be purchased either in a WiFi-only or LTE + WiFi package. The LTE + WiFi package is the way to go in my opinion, because you can use it as a hotspot to connect all of your devices (like your smartphone, tablet and laptop) and share the Internet connection, which is particularly useful on the road. You will need to activate a SIM card with the carrier and once you do that, all you have to do is enable the hotspot feature through the Settings menu to be ready to accept connections from other devices.

So what would you use the ZTE Spro 2 for? If you are a videographer, the device could be used for video presentations. Being able to fire up a projector and show a video to your friends, family or co-workers on a huge wall is really cool. You don’t have to worry about finding a huge TV and you can sit back together with the audience to present the material. Although the video resolution is limited to 720p, which means that you can only output at a maximum resolution of 1280×720, you can still use the ZTE Spro 2 for showcasing your photos as well. The colors and the details might not look the best, but at the right viewing distance, it actually does not look bad at all, as you will see below.

Construction and Build Quality

The ZTE Spro 2 for AT&T has a high-quality exterior plastic shell colored in dark blue, with the exception of the glass touchscreen area. All corners are nicely rounded and there is nothing sharp on the unit that could potentially scratch other devices. Although the 5″ touchscreen seems to be made out of tough glass, I would recommend to keep it away from sand and other sharp objects that might scratch the screen. Store it in the provided ZTE case when not in use and if you want to avoid any potential of scratching, it might be best to use a screen protector. The same goes for taking care of the front of the unit where the projector sits. The projector front lens is protected by a single piece of glass and if you manage to heavily scratch that glass or make it extremely dirty, it will affect the projecting performance of the unit.

On the left side of the unit you will find two buttons for adjusting volume, while the right side only has a small venting area. The bottom of the unit has a well-vented black plastic shell where you will find four soft rubber feet, a small kickstand and a tripod socket for mounting the unit. The rear of the device has all the connection ports, which includes power input, HDMI input, a USB 3.0 port and a headphone / speaker output plug. Right below those ports you will find two additional ports – one for inserting a SIM card and one for a MicroSD card (the device supports MicroSD cards up to 64 GB in size):

The 5″ touchscreen has a resolution of 1280×720 at 294 PPI (921,600 dots), which can be set to be quite bright. Fonts, imaged and videos look great and the touchscreen is very responsive, having a very similar feel as what you get on a high quality smartphone.

Overall, the ZTE Spro 2 feels like a quality device that is built very well. Without serious abuse, the device should last a while.

Battery Life and Memory

The ZTE Spro 2 comes with a large capacity 6300 mAh battery, which according to ZTE should provide up to 2.5 hours of continuous projection. That’s plenty of time to watch a full-feature movie and still have some time left to project. In fact, on a fully charged battery, I was able to squeeze over 3 hours of projection, which is really nice! And if you utilize the device itself without using the projector, say for the hotspot or tablet functionality, you can expect to get much more running time – up to 16 hours!

The device comes with 2 GB of internal memory (RAM) and 16 GB of storage space (ROM). While 16 GB does not sound like a lot for storing music and movies, keep in mind that you can easily expand the storage with a 64 GB MicroSD card. And if you find that limiting, no problem – just use an external USB drive! I connected my Samsung T1 Portable SSD drive and after a couple of seconds, the Spro 2 showed the drive contents to me. I was able to browse the folders and play back photos and videos I had on the device. The SSD drive was NTFS-formatted, but if you have Macs in your environment, the device will be able to read HFS+ formatted drive contents as well. So you don’t have to worry about constantly fiddling with the MicroSD port to copy / access your media – just use an external hard drive and you are all set.

LTE, WiFi and Bluetooth

The ZTE Spro 2 ships with LTE-capable antenna, so you will be able to access the network at very fast speeds (Frequencies: 850/1900/2100MHz, LTE bands 2/4/5/17). So if you are near LTE towers, you should not have to worry about network speed issues, particularly when sharing data across multiple devices. As for WiFi, the device supports 802.11 b/g/n networks at 2.4Ghz and 5 Ghz, which is more than plenty. And lastly, you can connect your devices to the Spro 2 via Bluetooth 4.0.

Projector Output

When using the Spro 2 on battery, you can project up to 10 feet with 100 lumens. Not super bright, but if you do it in a dark environment, it actually looks pretty decent. If you have a power outlet, you can double the brightness to 200 lumens, which is more than enough to bring small theater-like experience to a room. I was actually quite surprised by the brightness and quality of the projector output when using it in my home environment. At first, I thought 720p would look pretty average on a large projection, but after I fired it up, I was pleasantly surprised by how good 720p actually looks when properly focused. Here is the main screen of the device that I output on a large bedroom shade (which worked out great, by the way!):

ZTE Spro 2 Main Screen

There is a bit of pixellation seen at very close distances, but come on – projectors are not meant to be seen with a loupe! At the right viewing distance, the image looks quite detailed and nice.

So what did I view next? I fired up the YouTube app and launched the Star Wars Episode 7 trailer of course! I am super excited about the premiere on the 17th and although I was not able to get tickets for the first day, I have the tickets for the morning of the 18th – my boys are pumped up and are counting days :) Not bad at all:

Projecting Episode 7 Trailer

Next, I opened one of my images to see how it would display:

Projecting a JPEG photo

The image was obviously downscaled to fit and it actually looked pretty decent. You can definitely use a projector like this for presenting images, but keep in mind that the colors and the tones are not going to be very accurate. Plus, if you move the device too far back and the room is not completely dark, brightness might not be sufficient to bring out all the shadows in images. Still, I expected a lot worse from this small of a projector, so I was very happy to see the results.

Focusing with the projector is very easy and there is no manual focus ring to fiddle with – everything is done electronically. Under the Settings menu, you will find a “Projector” icon. From there, you can select your video source (Screen, HDMI or Miracast), Brightness Level, Focus and Keystone. By default, Brightness is set to Medium and when on battery, you cannot move it to “High” – for that, as I have already mentioned above, you need to be plugged in to a power outlet. On my unit focusing was set to Auto, which worked out pretty well, but every once in a while the image would refocus, so I switched to Manual focus. Adjusting focus position is super simple: there is a plus and a minus sign and you move focus whichever way to make the image sharper. The Keystone feature can also be set to “Auto”, which is what I left mine at – it automatically corrects angular distortion to make the output look nicely rectangular. This is great, because you are not expected to always project at a particular angle. You could set the unit fairly low and project higher up or vice-versa and the projection always looks rectangular thanks to this feature. Another great feature I did not expect to see from such a compact and relatively inexpensive unit.

In addition to all of the above, you have all kinds of other tweaks in the Projector settings menu. You can lower power consumption by maintaining constant image brightness, brighten darker image areas to improve overall picture quality, adjust color correction options and even stabilize the projected image with an “anti-shake” option.

In summary, the projection capabilities of the ZTE Spro 2 are very impressive!

HDMI Input and Sound

If you enjoy playing games or watching movies, there is nothing like hooking up a laptop or a game console like Xbox, PlayStation or Wii via HDMI and entertaining yourself or your guests on a giant screen. I am not a gamer anymore, but I did watch some video clips with my family, which they enjoyed a lot! Now I am looking forward to watching a movie. If you have a Roku, or a Chromcast device for video streaming, you can attach those devices easily. You don’t even need to mess with extra power cables for hooking up a Chromcast unit or even a Raspberry Pi – the device provides enough USB power to power those up. To make the projection look brighter, I hooked up the unit to an outlet, which made a huge difference. My only gripe is the fan noise – to keep the projector cool, the unit fires up a pretty loud fan, so make sure that your speakers are louder than the fan noise, or you might get a bit annoyed.

Connecting a Surface Pro 3 or the newer Surface Pro 4 to the Spro 2 is a piece of cake, but you will need a special adapter to convert Mini DisplayPort to HDMI. You can get the accessory from your local electronics store like Best Buy or purchase one directly from Microsoft.

Speaking of the sound output, the built-in speakers on the Spro 2 are pretty loud, but if you are watching a movie, I would recommend to hook up external speakers. That’s what the rear 3.5mm audio jack is for – you can use headphones to go completely silent for your own enjoyment, or you can hook up more powerful speakers when watching with a group of people.

ZTE Spro 2 Giveaway

Now that you are hopefully pumped up about this device, it is time to discuss the giveaway! Yes, we will be giving away a brand new ZTE Spro 2 Smart Projector ($500 value) to one lucky reader. To participate, all you have to do is leave a comment in the comments section below with an answer to the question “How would you use the ZTE Spro 2 if you were to win it?“. We will randomly select 5 readers and choose a single winner among them based on their comment. So don’t just leave one or two words!

Please see the following giveaway rules:

1. Giveaway is only open to US and Canada residents
2. Participant must be 18 years and older
3. Only one comment per participant

The winner will be announced shortly, on December 15th, 2015!

AT&T’s 12 Days of Giving

In addition to our giveaway, AT&T is currently hosting its “12 Days of Giving” program, where the company is promoting special deals every day for 12 days straight. The program started on November 30th and will stop in 4 days, on December 11th. Check out the link above to see the details. In addition to this program, AT&T is also hosting its #ATTGiftSweeps Holiday Sweepstakes, giving away all kinds of great prizes for 12 days straight between December 1st and 12th. To see the prizes and to participate in these sweepstakes, head over here. AT&T is giving away way more stuff than we are!

Good luck and happy holidays everyone!

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Fireworks Photography Tips

Getting Ready

When you are going to photograph fireworks, be prepared. Make sure you have enough memory cards and extra batteries. You will need to take a tripod, a wide-angle or a telephoto zoom lens, and remember to arrive early. Place the camera on a tripod, and turn the mode dial to M (manual) mode; we want f/8 - f/16 for a greater DOF (depth of field) and a long exposure anywhere between 1-10 seconds. Use your camera’s self-timer or a cable release to take the photo with absolutely no blurring. For dramatic effect, try to capture multiple fireworks trails across the sky.

Include People

Position yourself in a good spot at the center of the action. It’s a great idea to include the heads of other visitors, as it gives a sense of perspective and dimension. Place you camera on a tripod and choose a large aperture to keep things fairly sharp. Set your ISO at 100 to keep the digital noise at a minimum. Wait for multiple fireworks to go off, and use a cable release to take the photo. Don’t use flash because it could ruin the effect in the image, and take a longer exposure to catch various stages of breathtaking fireworks.

Use a Slow Shutter Speed

When it comes to shutter speed, you should pick a slow exposure, anywhere between 1 - 15 seconds in order to capture the light trails. The longer the exposure, the more lines will appear and the longer they will look. Any faster would not catch the extended moment of the fireworks exploding. You should take the image using the camera’s self timer or a cable release so that you avoid touching and jiggling the camera. If you don't have anything to hold your camera steady, increase your camera's sensitivity to light by increasing the ISO. This will give you shorter exposures without blurs, but be prepared for more grain or ‘noise’ in your fireworks pictures.

Click Away

Snap up the action, but avoid shutter lag (the time it takes between pressing the trigger and the camera taking the picture) by keeping the shutter button pressed halfway. When the right moment comes, press all the way down to instantly capture the desired image. Let the smoke clear away before taking your next shot, so as to reduce the need to edit the fireworks photos with software later.

Shoot from a Distance

Mount the camera on a sturdy tripod and position it so that the bridge, the water and buildings can be seen; we want interest in the foreground and background. Set the mode dial to AV (Aperture Priority) mode, set the ISO at the range of 100 to 400 and choose an aperture of f/16 or more. Ideally we want a long exposure anywhere between 1-30 seconds for a silky water effect. Use a wide-angle lens (10mm - 42mm) for a broad perspective. You’ll want to disengage the autofocus on your lens, and set it to Infinity (the sideways 8 on the lens barrel); this isn’t always apparent on some digital lens, so you have to figure this out for your given lens. Use your camera’s self-timer or a cable release to take the photo with absolutely no blurring.

Recommended Settings

Use the lowest ISO possible to keep the image high quality, and a slow shutter speed to capture the light trails. You don’t want to be any faster than 1/15s, though some shots may require even longer shutter speeds if you use a small aperture. If you are finding that the camera is not recording enough light for the fireworks, reduce the ISO down to 50 and choose the smallest aperture, at around f/32. This will force the camera to give you a slower shutter speed, while giving you a very high quality image.

Recommended Equipment

Always take a tripod – there’s no other way to use a long shutter speed without getting camera shake. Use a telephoto zoom lens if the fireworks display is far away from you or a wide-angle lens if you want to capture the surroundings or the people at the event too. Remember to use a low ISO for a high quality image and you can also choose a small aperture for a sharp picture, although your camera must be on a tripod for this. Use a shutter release cable or a remote to take the picture – you can’t use self timer as you can’t predict exactly when the firework will go off.

Conclusion

One of the most important things when it comes to shooting fireworks is timing. Always keep an eye out and get used to predicting when a firework will burst - you don’t want to capture it taking off or when it has finished. You want to photograph a firework as it makes its colorful burst. W

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Night Sky Photography Tips

1.Star Trails

Due to the Earth’s rotation about its axis, it seems that the light from stars moves in circles around the celestial pole. These movements are detectable after about 5 to 10 minutes, and can be traced by your camera in the form of a streak. To photograph this magical effect, you need a sturdy tripod and lots of patience. Focus the lens to infinity and set the camera’s mode at Manual or Bulb shooting mode. With the use of a cable release you will capture the stars moving across the sky. These exposures can be a few minutes to several hours long. If you keep few things in mind, such as the timing, composition, and power of the battery, you can make photographing star trails simpler for you.

 

2.Find the Right Location

The best place to view and photograph the night sky is in the rural countryside because cities have artificial lights which cause a phenomenon known as light pollution. You need to get away from artificial lights in order to see the stars well. A truly dark sky is preferred, but artificial lights keep the night sky from being truly dark. Many beginners aim at capturing the longest star trails by keeping the shutter open for long periods of time. However, they tend to underestimate the impact generated by ambient light in the sky, which can be hard to notice at times. In addition, residual light (such as moonlight) can have a devastating impact on long shutter speed photos. This is because when you keep the shutter open for say, nearly 20 minutes, an hour after the sunset, the camera may perceive it as a day shot. Similarly, a full moon night photo with an exposure time of around 10 minutes could also look like a day shot. Therefore, it is best to attempt such a picture with either a new moon, or well before the moonrise or after the moonset. The light emerging from the stars would be more evident at this time and the picture would be perfect.

3.Use Long Shutter Speeds

 

When photographing the night sky with a long exposure, exposures of 15 minutes or longer will show the rotation of the Earth. You’ll need a wide-angle lens and a sturdy tripod, of course. You’ll want to use a cable release to eliminate camera shake of any kind, as it will RUIN your photo. Focus the lens to infinity and set the camera to B "Bulb" shooting mode. Set your aperture between f/2.8 and f/4 for optimal results, and depress the remote to open the shutter. You should keep your ISO at 100 to keep the digital noise at a minimum, because the sky is so dark and less prone to producing digital noise when the exposure is above 15 seconds. To complete the photo after your desired elapsed time, depress the remote again, and release the shutter.

 

4.Auroras and Polar Lights

Photographing the atmospheric phenomenon of aurora borealis is a challenge for photographers. This difficulty is due to frequent spectacular changes in the brightness of the light. The charged solar particles move very fast and sometimes get hidden making it impossible to shoot them. However, if you follow these tips, you will be able to get the best aurora borealis photos. Anchor your camera on a strong tripod to keep it steady for longer exposures. Set the ISO at the range of 100 to 400. Shutter speed can be as long as 30 seconds depending on the amount of light available. Do not rely on the built-in light meter, which is better left for day time use. Although any kind of lens will do for aurora borealis photography, you should choose a wide-angle and faster lens.

 

5.Cloudy Skies

As the light begins to fall, look at the cloudy skies. Watch the colors and how they merge though the cloud. Even though it is dark, you should try using an 80A blue cooling filter to enhance the blue cast of the sky and to reduce the yellow cast from the artifical lights. Use a wide-angle lens and opt for longer exposures. You can first try a few test shots, and then assess them carefully on your digital camera. You should be able to decide on the best range of exposures to capture some good photographs of an overcast sky.

Recommended Settings

Metering after dark can be a problem, so make sure you choose the best option for your particular situation. If the conditions are both light and dark you need to use spot metering for an accurate reading. If the darkness is even you can use center weighted or evaluative metering. Don’t use flash if you can help it as this can affect the resulting image, creating an area of the photograph that is over-lit. Manual and Bulb modes are the best shooting modes for this kind of photography.

Recommended Equipment

Night skies should always be photographed with the assistance of a tripod. Don’t forget to buy a cable release or a remote control for taking the picture – this is important because some shots will take up to 30 seconds or even more. Your lens ideally should have an infinity focusing mode and your camera should have the ability to do a mirror lock up - a feature in which the mirror in the camera moves out of the way before the shutter is released. This feature eliminates the vibration that occurs when the mirror slaps up into the camera housing. A wide-angle lens is the best choice for night skies, and a zoom makes it even more versatile.

Conclusion

When taking pictures of the night sky, remember that patience is as important as is the ability to look at an image’s composition critically and decide what you need to change next time to make it better. As we stated earlier, the process of finding the right exposure length for the image you want is going to be a process of trial and error (in terms of lens length, shutter speed, aperture setting, as all three allow for different effects). With long exposures of over 30 seconds, a cable release is necessary to ensure tack sharp final images. For additional variety and perhaps better photographs of stars in the sky, you might want to try a few B&W shots. Dress warmly if the weather is cold, because sitting still on a cold night is much colder than walking in the cold, so extra layers may be needed. Remember to take a flashlight with you so you can adjust your camera in the dark.

 

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Layer Styles are nothing new. They’ve been used and abused again and again. Despite their ubiquity, or perhaps because of it, many designers do not yet realize the full potential of this handy menu. Its beauty lies in our ability to create an effect and then copy, modify, export, hide or trash it, without degrading the content of the layer.

Below we present, step by step, several practical techniques to help you refine your designs, increase productivity and reduce layer clutter. You will find more useful Photoshop techniques and tutorials in our hand-picked selection.

The Bump Map Effect Link

“Wait, what?” you exclaim, “There’s no bump map effect in the Layer Styles menu!” That’s true, but by combining Pattern Overlay and Bevel and Emboss, we can achieve a textured, bump-mapped surface with a controllable light source.

This technique requires two images: one for texture and color, and the other to serve as a depth map. The depth map needn’t have any hue because it determines depth based on a composite value, black being the lowest, white the highest. In some cases, you may be able to use the same image for both, but in our example we’ll use completely different ones.

STEP BY STEP LINK

1. We’ll start by creating our bump map pattern. Open the diamond-plate.psd file.
2. Inside you’ll find a number of white shapes on a black background. Create a patternfrom this document: Select All (Cmd/Ctrl + A), then “Edit” → “Define Pattern.” Name it “diamond plate bump map” and click okay.
   
   Creating the diamond plate pattern.
3. Now, open the start.psd file.
4. Repeat step 2 to create a pattern from the “patchy gray” layer. This will be used later to add texture to our background.
   
   Defining the texture pattern.
5. After creating the pattern, delete the “patchy gray” layer. It’s no longer needed.
6. Use the Rectangular Shape tool to create a shape layer about 20 pixels wider and 20 pixels higher than the canvas. Change the color of this layer to a dark, brownish, chromatic gray.
   
   Creating the shape layer for our background.
7. Be sure that the shape layer doesn’t have any Layer Styles already applied to it (Photoshop will often apply the most recent Layer Style automatically). Then, begin the new Layer Style by adding a Pattern Overlay.
   
   Adding a Pattern Overlay effect.
8. Choose the “patchy gray” pattern from the pattern picker, and change the Blend Mode to Soft Light. This will add the texture to our background layer.
   
   
   Adding a pattern overlay effect.
9. Next, add a Bevel and Emboss, along with the Texture effect. This time, change the Texture effect’s Pattern to the “diamond plate bump map” pattern created in step 2. We now have a grungy diamond plate background.
   
   
   Applying the Bevel and Emboss texture effect.
10. As with most Layer Style effects, the default values are rarely ideal. By tweaking the Bevel Type and Size, Gloss Contour, Highlights, Shadows and Light settings you can achieve some dramatic results.
    
    
    Tweaking the Bevel and Emboss settings.
11. With a few extra effects, you can shape the background layer even more. The example has a Gradient Overlay to simulate reflected light by darkening certain regions of the image.
    
    
    Using the Gradient Overlay to darken some regions.
12. You may notice that the highlights from the Bevel and Emboss filter all seem to have the same value. This is because the Bevel and Emboss effects are very high on the Layer Style’s stacking order. To darken the highlights that lie outside our main light source, simply paint a Layer Mask using the Brush tool.
    
    Painting a mask to increase the appearance of light in the background.

We now have a textured, bump-mapped background that is completely dynamic; everything about it can be modified easily from within the Layer Styles menu. Consolidating complex imagery into one dynamic layer like this can reduce layer clutter dramatically and allows you (and whoever else may be using the file) to easily find and modify things. Now, let’s move on to creating our icon.

3-D Modeling Link

By combining some interior effects, we can use the Layer Styles menu to create simulated 3-D objects: great for icons, buttons and other interface objects. We’ll now model the base of the round icon in the example image using a single layer.

STEP BY STEP LINK

1. Begin by creating a circular shape layer with a rich red fill.
   
   Creating the shape layer for the icon’s base.
2. As is often the case when modeling a 3-D shape, let’s begin by adding a Gradient Overlay to our Layer Style. A white-to-black Radial-styled gradient set to Linear Burn works best for our implementation. Be sure the white area of the gradient is at the origin.
   
   Adding Gradient Overlay set to Linear Burn.
3. We now have a dramatically shaded sphere with a head-on light source. By decreasing the opacity of the gradient, we can flatten the shape to a more concave button.
   
   Reducing the Opacity for a subtler effect.
4. Let’s also move the direction of the light to the upper-left. While leaving the Layer Style menu open, move the mouse over the image itself (the Move Tool icon should appear). Simply click and drag the epicenter of the gradient to the upper-left of the shape layer.
   
   Repositioning the gradient within the Layer Styles menu.
5. While Bevel and Emboss may seem like more logical tools, you can often get a cleaner, more customizable beveled look by using a combination of other effects. First, add a black Inner Glow, set to Multiply. Adjust the Choke, Size, Opacity and Contour until you have a softened edge inside the shape.
   
   
   Adding a Glow to darken the edge of the base.
6. Like for any well-rendered spherical surface, we have to add some reflected light in our shadow region. This is easily achieved with the Inner Shadow effect. Change the color to white and the Blend Mode to Linear Dodge. Adjust the angle so that it appears in the lower-right of our shape. Tweak the Contour, Distance, Size and Opacity to create a subtler effect.
   
   
   Adding subtle reflected light using Inner Shadow.
7. To enhance the feeling that the shape is part of the document’s “environment,” we can add some effects to interact with the background. Drop Shadow is usually the easiest tool to use for this. Massage the settings until everything feels right.
   
   
   A simple Drop Shadow goes a long way.
8. Using the Outer Glow effect, we can simulate the reflected red light that our background image would absorb if this were an actual setting. Change the glow’s color to a darker red, and change the Blend Mode to darken. Again, work with the Size and Opacity settings to create the desired effect. This is one of those effects that, when used correctly, no one should notice because it just looks natural.
   
   
   A red Glow to add more “environment.”

Please notice that Layer Style gradients can’t be dithered, which can make them lower quality than their Gradient Layer and Gradient Tool counterparts (— Marc Edwards).

Diffuse vs. Specular Light Link

Now, our icon reflects a simulated diffuse light, which gives it the look of a matte-finished surface. If you prefer a glossier appearance, you can easily create a specular highlight using (what else?) Layer Styles.

STEP BY STEP LINK

1. Duplicate the current shape layer (Cmd/Ctrl + J).
2. Clear the new layer’s Layer Styles: right-click the layer in the Layers palette and select “Clear Layer Style.”
3. We also need to modify the shape of the layer to give the reflected light a sharper edge. Using the Direct Selection Tool (A), select the shape path in the layer’s vector mask. Copy it (Cmd/Ctrl + C) and paste it (Cmd/Ctrl + V) above the current path. Change this path’s mode to Subtract from shape area (-). Then move the shape down and to the right to create a crescent shape. You may also want to make the negative shape larger to create a more natural inside curve: simply Free Transform (Cmd/Ctrl + T) and then scale the shape up.
   
   Modifying the shape of the specular highlight.
4. Because we need this layer only for its Layer Styles, we can set its Fill Opacity to 0%.
   
   Dropping the layer’s fill to 0%.
5. We also want this layer to inherit the Layer Styles of the underlying layer, so create a Clipping Mask on the new layer (Cmd/Ctrl + Option + G).
   
   Creating a Clipping Mask to inherit effects.
6. Now, begin the Layer Style with a Gradient Overlay. Use the default black-to-white gradient, and set the Blend Mode to Screen. Knock the Opacity down to about 50%, and change the angle to about 115°. You may need to change the positioning of the gradient, which you can do by clicking and dragging inside the document window, just as you did in the 3-D modeling section.
   
   
   Setting the Gradient Overlay to Screen.
7. This is a good start for the highlight, but it still looks somewhat unnatural. Using a transparent inside stroke, we can shrink the perimeter of the interior effects. Add a Stroke effect to the layer and drop its opacity to 0%. Change the position to Inside, and work with the size slider until the highlight begins about where the darker inner glow ends on the underlying layer (the example image uses 5 pixels).
   
   
   Using a 0% Inside Stroke to shrink the perimeter of interior effects.
8. To add a more dynamic look to your highlight, you can add a white Inner Shadow set to Screen with a custom contour. Tweak the distance and size settings to finish off the effect.
   
   
   The Inner Shadow creates a more dynamic specular reflection.

X-Ray Vision Link

STEP BY STEP LINK

To create the die-cut type inside our icon, we could turn the text layer into a shape layer and use the paths to mask away areas from the base. However, this would result in degenerated content; we would no longer be able to modify the type. Instead, we’ll simulate a mask using the Knockout Blending Option. This will also allow us to apply custom effects to the cut-out area.

1. Create a new Type Layer with the text “fx”, and position it within the circular base. The example uses 120 point Garamond Bold Italic.
2. Drop the Fill Opacity to 100%.
3. Begin your Layer Style by adding an Inner Shadow. Increase the size, and increase the opacity to about 90%. You may also want to modify the distance and contour to your liking.
   
   The beginnings of the die-cut effect.
4. We now have the beginnings of a die-cut effect, except that the text still shows the base below it. To fix this, go to the Blending Options section in the Layer Styles menu. Change the Knockout from None to Shallow (this setting samples pixels from the layer directly beneath the current layer’s group). Because our text layer doesn’t belong to a layer group, it samples instead from the Background layer. (Using a Deep Knockout would always sample from the Background layer, regardless of the layer’s group.)
   
   
   Shallow Knockout samples pixels from the layer directly beneath the current layer’s group.
5. To get the text layer to sample from our diamond plate layer, start by clicking “Okay” to close the Layer Style menu. Select the text layer and both of the buttons that make up the base, and group the layers (Cmd/Ctrl + G). As you can see, the “fx” shapes are now drawing pixels from the textured layer directly below the new layer group.
   
   Grouping the icon so that the Knockout samples from the diamond plate layer.
6. The knockout effect is very convincing, but the type still feels detached from the base. Let’s add a beveled effect to simulate the surface quality of the base. Start by adding an outside Stroke with a size of 2; then drop the opacity to 0%. This doesn’t achieve anything but is necessary for the next step.
7. Now add a Bevel and Emboss effect. Change the Style to Stroke Emboss and Technique to Chisel Hard. This will apply the bevel’s lighting effects within the stroke area created in the step above. Modify the settings to achieve a subtle and smooth edge.
   
   
   Adding a Stroke Emboss.
8. Let’s take the bevel one step further by adding a thin specular highlight to the bottom-right edges of the shape. We can use a white Drop Shadow effect, set to Screen, to add a bright highlight just at the edge of the bevel. You’ll want to modify the distance and size to give the highlight a sharp edge.
   
   
   Adding a thin specular highlight using a Drop Shadow.
9. Finish off the Layer Style with more shading within the die-cut letters by adding a simple black-to-white Gradient Overlay, set to Multiply.
   
   Finishing off the die-cut.

Quick Tips Link

Despite frequent misuse, the Layer Styles menu really is a powerful tool that every designer should learn to work with. Not only does it provide a level of speed and control not easily found through other means, but it provides invaluable flexibility. Our example shows how a multi-dimensional icon and a completely dynamic background can be consolidated within four simple Shape layers, allowing them to be easily modified, reused and repurposed throughout your designs. Below are a few extra tips to remember when working on your next project.

EFFECTS STACKING ORDER LINK

You may have noticed sometimes that an effect isn’t visible when another effect is being used. For example, a Color Overlay seems to override a Gradient Overlay. This is because of the Layer Styles Stacking Order. Just as with the Layer’s Palette, one layer will cover another that is lower down in the stacking order. Unfortunately, the Layer Styles menu doesn’t allow you to rearrange the order of effects. One way around this (even if you sacrifice the ability to edit) is to use Create Layers, which turns all of your Layer Style effects into actual layers that you can move.

Interior Effects Stacking Order:

• Stroke
• Bevel and Emboss
• Inner Shadow
• Innger Glow
• Satin
• Color Overlay
• Gradient Overlay
• Pattern Overlay

Exterior Effects Stacking Order:

• Stroke
• Outer Glow
• Drop Shadow

NON-COLOR-SPECIFIC STYLES LINK

Though not always possible, you may want to use black, white and grays for your effects. Using monochromatic colors in conjunction with the proper Blend Mode allows you to create styles that are non-color-specific, meaning you can modify the color of the actual layer, and your Layer Style will update appropriately.

SCALING EFFECTS LINK

There may be times when you’ve created a Layer Style that looks great at the original size, but when the shape is increased or decreased, your beautiful style is destroyed. Fortunately, Photoshop provides a method to adjust styles that are out of whack. Simply choose Layer → Layer Style → Scale Effects, and then input the percentage you need.

INCONSPICUOUS MENU OPTIONS LINK

A number of hidden commands are available to you from within the Layer Styles menu. Depending on the effect, you will have access to either the Hand tool or the Move tool by simply mousing over the document window. The Hand tool allows you to move the document around just as you would outside the Layer Styles menu, and the Move tool repositions the current effect and updates the settings automatically. When using the Move tool, you can still access the Hand tool by holding the space bar. While using either of the tools, you can zoom in and out by holding Space + Cmd or Space + Option respectively. Don’t forget, as with most other menus in Photoshop, holding “Option” will change the “Cancel” button to a “Reset” button, allowing you to undo any changes.

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