Minute Photo Tips - Damon Yancy Photography

02/12/2024

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First headshot of 2024! Looking forward to many more!

04/03/2018

Waiting for the shot.
Many times we hate waiting. As a photographer, that may be the best thing to do. As my friend waited for her wedding ceremony to start, she unknowingly posed for a very nice portrait. The light across her face and dress adds drama to the image. As she waited for her big moment, I waited for her to be in her most natural state. Always be ready for that shot. It may take a little waiting to get it!

01/13/2018

Textures!
There is always something to shoot, especially around the house. We just bought a mattress pad and the way the light came through the window really brought out the texture in the strange shaped on the pad. Sometimes, textures aren't evident unless the light comes from an angle that produces deep shadows. If you see an interesting texture, try changing the light direction relative to the object and see how the shadows fill or deepen. It is a great exercise on a cold winter day!

04/16/2016

Cardholder Benefits!
This lady isn’t holding a “Place Your Ad Here” sign. She is holding a gray card. This card was used to calibrate my white balance during a recent photo shoot. When my white balance is calibrated, I know that the colors within the image are closer to reality. Your camera can easily be fooled by what the right colors should be in an image. A gray card can be used to reduce the chance of that error. I can calibrate my white balance by setting it within the camera or doing it in post production within my photo editing software. Some other cards have more functions, such as exposure verification and more advanced color control. Gray cards can be as cheap as a few dollars to much more advanced (i.e. expensive) systems costing over $100. They all help take the guesswork of knowing if your image has the right color. Enjoy!

02/11/2016

Getting Up Early
I spent a recent weekend in Cambridge Maryland at a beautiful resort. Even though it is mid-winter, the views of the Chesapeake Bay were quite stunning from the shore. I made a conscious effort to get up early and catch the sunrise. I didn’t quite make the sunrise, but I did salvage the situation by using a variable neutral-density filter! The great thing about shooting in the early hours is the lack of people ruining your shot. You can get similar light in the evening, but there will be many more people that can interfere with a peaceful landscape shot. I am still not an early riser, but getting shots like this are worth the trouble! Enjoy!

08/16/2015

Shooting in a Messy Environment

Being in a messy environment shouldn't deter you from bringing your camera.
I was asked to shoot images at an event aptly called, "Slopfest"! The potential camera damage would worry many a photographer. It you take a few simple precautions, you can minimize risk to your equipment.

Keep lens changes to a minimum!
Better yet, don't change your lens and carry zoom or a second body with a different focal length range.

Situational Awareness
Always be aware of your surroundings. It is too easy to walk right into the path of a paint bomb, or trip over a person or object. Look before you step and try to predict the path of people and moving objects.

Keep your distance!
You can stay clear of the fray by using a telephoto lens.
Be Conspicuous!

Many times, you don't want people to know that you are shooting. In a messy, chaotic environment, you should let people know that you have VERY EXPENSIVE equipment. Some people get caught
up in the moment and forget that you have fragile stuff to protect.

Carry Insurance
Because the unexpected can still happen. A few minutes after this shot, someone threw a bucket of water near me. It was a near miss!!!
Whew! ;)

11/24/2014

So…What is RAW? (Raw part III)
Does anybody remember these items? I had to dig them out of my archives. ;)
In short, a RAW file is the digital the equivalent of a film negative. It is the (nearly) unprocessed data from the image sensor. Just like film negatives, a raw file is not quite ready to be printed. The raw file must be processed before it is ready for printing. In the default capture mode for most cameras, the camera does the processing and produces a jpeg file which is ready for print. When processing film, the process (chemistry, time, temperature, etc.) can be manipulated to change the outcome of the final print. When the raw file is processed, it can also be manipulated prior to the creation of the final jpeg file. What can you do with a raw file? Stay tuned!

10/16/2014

Product Photography: Keep It Simple
While shooting product shots for my wife’s jewelry business, I saw a great opportunity to take an image of one of my favorite (if seldom used) tools, my Manfrotto Magic Arm. It is a support tool that can adjust in a myriad of ways and lock down with the turn of only one handle. Just like magic!
Anyway, the above image was purposely staged and lit. The plain background isolates the subject. The lighting accentuates the curvature of the rod. Also, I always have trouble shooting an object that is perfectly straight in the frame, so I purposely put it at an angle. Make sure the product is clean, with no obvious dust, dirt, or damage to it. Even after wiping it down with a cloth, I still had some cloning to do to eliminate some blemishes. So, for clean product shots, keep it simple with:
-Uncluttered Background
-Simple Lighting
-Attractive positioning
-Clean Product
Enjoy!

07/29/2014

What is JPEG, anyway? (RAW part II)
*Please pardon the strange color cast in this image. It is used for illustrative purposes only.
JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. They are the people that created the file format (You are welcome to use this info to impress your friends). These people got together to develop a convenient way of storing image data.
Basically, the JPEG format is a form of lossy compression that has benefits mentioned in my previous post. However, it has some characteristics that may be a problem for some users.
First, it is a form of lossy compression. “Lossy” means that little bits of data are thrown out to reduce the file size. This is okay for most purposes, but this form of image compression does not take full advantage of the imaging sensor or the optics. More details on that later. ;)
Secondly, JPEG files are already processed by the image processor. The image processor decided what to do with the image, and you can’t do much about it. You can’t un-bake the cake. For example, the white balance is applied permanently to a JPEG file. The above image was shot using the wrong white balance setting on the camera. You can do some color correction with photo editing software, but your options are limited. It is much harder to adjust an off-color JPEG file than a RAW file.
Hopefully, this post didn’t bore you to tears. The next posts will explain what RAW formats are, and why they work (for me).
As always, have fun and let me know if you have any questions about this post. Enjoy!

07/05/2014

I don’t eat raw meat, but I shoot RAW! (RAW part I)
I prefer my turkey burgers cooked well done. However, I prefer to take images in RAW mode. RAW is an image file format that can be used with advanced cameras. Some “point and shoot” and all DSLR’s have this feature. As far as I know, all digital cameras (and mobile devices) save images in JPEG format by default. JPEG is a great file format for the following reasons:
-Small image size
-Universal compatibility across different devices
-Minimal resource load on computers
RAW image formats have NONE of the above benefits. However, many pro and amateur photographers use RAW, anyway. It doesn’t make sense, at least on the surface!
The upcoming posts will explain the major differences between JPEG and RAW, and why I choose to go “RAW”.
Enjoy!

05/26/2014

Portraits
You don’t always have to include a person in their own portrait shoot!
During this holiday, I had the chance to capture engagement images for a beautiful young couple. The lucky man works for one of our Minor League Baseball leagues. They both expressed a need to incorporate baseball in the shoot. I had an idea to place the bride’s engagement ring in a baseball mitt to show that he caught someone special. You don’t always see a baseball mitt holding an engagement ring. I just checked Google Images, so it isn’t quite a cliché. The clients loved the image, so we both win! The main point is that you should look out of the box when shooting portraits. Always consider what they do and love. That will give you an extra creative spark when coming up with ideas. Enjoy!

05/10/2014

Shooting Through a Fence
If you are shooting a wolf, it is usually better with some sort of barrier between you and it. This image was taken at the Wolf Sanctuary of PA. For the safety of their guests, the owners decided to put the wolves inside fenced enclosures. Not only does this reduce the chances of action shots, it can also ruin a great shot of a beautiful animal.
Shooting through a fence is very difficult. The autofocus system of most cameras may attempt to focus on the fence and not the animal. You may also try the focus-recompose-shoot method, but that would work if the animal does not move. For me, I do two things: Shoot wide open and in manual focus mode. The images I took were at the widest possible aperture on my lens. That reduces the depth of field enough to only have the animal’s eyes in focus. Therefore, the fence would be blurry, in comparison to the animal. The further the animal is from the fence, the better the blur. Also manual focus will allow you to override the camera and get the image sharp on the subject.
I am generally not excited about the series of images that I shot today. The fencing is still a bit of distraction, no matter what I did. However, this technique can help get the best out of a difficult shooting situation.