100 Creative Photography Exercises

Nothing says “fun” more than a TODO list – especially if that list was put together by someone else. The mere fact that you are reading this means that you either clicked on the wrong link, or are intelligent, good-looking and interested in self-improvement – of course, I could be wrong.

Everyone gets into a rut sometimes. One day I was bored and decided to try to get a photo of a hummingbird drinking from a straw. Little did I know that getting the bird to drink from the straw would be the easy part. Getting the sugar water to the top of the straw, keeping it separate from the water in the glass, and keeping the straw from moving around were much more of a challenge.

I decided to put together a list of exercises while trying to take a nap today. I should have been doing something more productive, like watching television, but I had a migraine and was tired of playing games on my computer.

A couple of notes, before we get started. You are not required to do all 100 exercises – you probably do most things in a half-assed manner, so why should this be any different? Also, it’s best to ask permission before taking pictures of people, or someone’s property, and, it’s a very bad idea to take photos of minor children without their parent’s permission (and is even illegal in many places).

Most of these exercises take a fair amount of time. Unless you are willing to ignore your job and family, it could take the better part of a year to get through all 100 exercises. Of course, if you DO make the investment of time and effort, at the end of it all, you will be able to proudly say, “What the HELL was I thinking?” The first two items might better fall into the category of “taking better pictures” rather than unleashing your creative inner self, but I want to make sure you get off on the right foot. Let’s get started.

1. Spend a day shooting in “Manual.” If you don’t use manual mode, it’s time to start. It’s really not that difficult. In an hour or two, you should really have the hang of it. ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed – not all that complicated. Many serious photographers never progress past Aperture Priority. The problem is, in every mode other than manual, the camera makes decisions for you. It tries it’s hardest, but it makes a LOT of mistakes and can turn you potential masterpieces into second-rate snapshots. Remember, there is no law that you have to get the shot perfect the first time. Shoot, review and adjust. If you pick a sunny day where the lighting conditions aren’t changing much (as they do when the sun peeks in and out from behind clouds), manual is the way to go. Besides, it lets you sound snooty – “Oh, I shoot in manual.”

2. Turn on the Histogram. Oh, quit whining! Find the manual to your camera, or download it on the internet and learn how to turn the histogram on. While you’re at it, find the feature that makes the photo on the display blink if you have over-exposed anything. THIS IS THE SINGLE BEST WAY TO MAKE SURE YOU EXPOSE YOUR PHOTOS CORRECTLY. If you don’t know how to read a histogram, do a little research on the internet – there are lots of sites that explain histograms. Most people think that you want to make a histogram that looks like a bell-curve – WRONG!!!!!! If you take a photo of a black crow in snow, the histogram will look like the letter “U.” The goal is to push the photo to be as bright as possible without over-exposing anything. Too light, you get “blinkies” that tell you that you have blown out the whites and you can’t get them back. Too dark and you end up with a mediocre shot. If you have to brighten your photo on the computer, you will hurt the quality and introduce noise. If you haven’t used the histogram function before, take your time to learn it. It will improve the quality of your photos immeasurably! Take a test shot, check the histogram, and make adjustments.

3. Try to reproduce a photo you like. This can be fun at places where they sell postcards of the local sites. Copying a professional can give you some insight as to composition, lighting and such. In grade school, it was called “cheating” and you’d get expelled. In business, they call it “benchmarking” and reward you. Of course, you shouldn’t be afraid to add your own creative touches as well.

4. Find a lens that you never use. Better yet, borrow a lens that you’ve always wanted and spend an afternoon playing with it. Explore the strengths and weaknesses of an unfamiliar piece of equipment. When you load the photos on the camera, review them from last to first. Hopefully, you will notice the photos getting WORSE as you go back in time, meaning that you got better as you went along.

5. Get Low. Pretend that you are a puppy or a snake and take photos from THEIR perspective. I once watched a video taken by attaching a video camera to a cat and let it run around the neighborhood. It was amazing to see things from the perspective of the animal. Take photos of everyday items from the view of the animal. Trees, furniture and even people look very different from down there. From a practical standpoint, a ground level shot of a duck on a lake can be very dramatic. A picture of a duck taken from a boardwalk looking straight down on that same duck is just a picture of a duck.

 

6. Custom Modes. Time to get out the manual again. Many cameras have one or more custom modes that allow you to save settings. If your camera has these, they are worth their weight in gold! When I was in Yellowstone, I set C3 for birds in flight (multiple focus points and AI Servo focusing), C2 for more stationary subjects like elk (single focus point, single shot focusing), and C1 for HDR landscape shots (single point focusing and bracketed exposures). When I saw something I wanted to photograph, I would just turn the dial to the right mode and start shooting – no need to make any major adjustments. If a bear popped out on the road, or an Eagle flew overhead, I was ready to shoot in less than a second with exactly the settings I needed to get great shots. If your camera has these, learn to set them and spend a day exploring different situations that allow you to switch back and forth.

7. Black and White. You can always turn a color photo into black and white, but try setting the camera to B&W and have at it. Not having color to use forces you to look more at light and the impact it has on your photos. Besides, it can be fun.

8. HDR – High Dynamic Range. HDR photography combines multiple exposures of the same scene to make dramatic photos. Before trying this, you need to make sure that you have software that can create HDR photos and might want to look at some tutorials on the internet to learn a bit more about how to take HDR photos. Play around with HDR – it can be a lot of fun. More important – rather than making over-the-top HDR photos, you can use HDR to make subtle enhancements to your photos to improve the overall quality of a shot. I often use HDR to improve my shots of flying Bald Eagles by using multiple copies of a single photo processed overly bright, overly dark and right in the middle. This allows for the brown tones on the body to come through without over-exposing the white head and tail. The result is a photo the way your eye sees the bird rather than dark black and bright white.

9. Shoot at Night (without a flash). Mount your camera on a tripod and take long exposure shots. A remote shutter release is helpful. Exposures may be several minutes long. Oceans and moonlight can be spectacular! There is no rule of thumb for this. It’s all trial and error.

10. Time-lapse Photography. The idea is to take a series of photos to combine into a video to create a scene over time. Easy to do and very cool. There is a lot of info on the internet explaining how to make these. You will need to find some software that puts the photos together (you might already have it on your computer). The low tech way to take the photos is to place your camera on a tripod and take pictures at regular intervals. You can buy a device called an Intervalometer that hooks to the camera that does all the work for you. Beginners might want to start with clouds moving across the sky. More ambitious folks might like to try star trails.

11. Ugly Ducklings. As a wildlife photographer, there are certain species that are often overlooked as being “undesirable” such as Starlings, Pigeons and such. If you take the time to photograph these birds in flattering light they can really be quite handsome. Same goes for photographing people. Not everyone has the looks of a runway model, but think of how many stunning shots you’ve seen of old people. Think about the subjects that you might have overlooked due to your own prejudices and give it a whirl.

12. Slow Shutter Speed. Using a slow shutter speed (say 1/50^th of a second) on a moving subject can be used to show motion. Look for subjects like flowing water, cars, bike races, etc. A tripod is a must. Also, pretty girls jogging in tight shorts can usually hit harder than you might think. A bag of ice and a first aid kit might be helpful.

13. A Day In The Life. Follow someone around for a day and document what they do. This can make a great gift for how you spend a special day such as a birthday or anniversary and can be fun to look back on years later. Another option is to document the day in the life of a pet. How does Fluffy spend her day?

14. Video. Many cameras and cell phones have the ability to shoot really nice quality video, especially if mounted on a tripod. A still shot of a Hummingbird at a flower can be beautiful. Imagine the same bird on video with sound. Give it a try – you might just get hooked.

15. Fireworks. Get out the tripod and head to the fair. There are a lot of different ways to shoot fireworks, but most involve leaving the shutter open for several seconds. A remote shutter release is helpful.  You can open the shutter, wait for a rocket to explode, then close the shutter. Alternately, leave the shutter open, cover the front of the lens with a piece of black cardboard and remove the cardboard repeatedly to capture multiple explosions. Lots of trial and error and it may take a couple of events to get the hang of it. Hint – remote shutter releases can be bought on ebay for far less than the manufacture charges. Expect to pay about $10.

16. Moon Shots. There are lots of things to play with here. Full moon rising, crescent moon setting in the sunset, clouds crossing the moon. A long lens can make the moon look larger against the foreground. A full moon throws off a lot of light, but a crescent moon may require a fairly slow shutter speed. If you lens has image stabilization, you might want to turn it off when using a slow shutter speed to avoid the lens “hunting” and causing a blurry subject.

17. Self-portrait. These can be both fun and humbling. Set the camera on a tripod and hit the self-timer. Get creative. Go to the park and photograph yourself sitting on a bench wearing a tin-foil hat or explaining to the police that you are not a danger to yourself or anyone else. Use the video function to record yourself getting thrown out of the park and use it as evidence in your suit charging that your first amendment rights were violated and use the proceeds from the settlement to buy some really cool stuff.

18. Cars. Go to an antique car show and go wild. Try low-angle shots with a wide angle lens or close-ups of cool wheels, chromed engines or manufacturer emblems. Ask permission and/or offer to send the owner photos. I’ve never had anyone say “No.” They work hard on their cars and are usually flattered that you take an interest.

19. Flowers. Cloudy, windless days are best for flower shots. If you haven’t photographed flowers in a while, get out there and get creative. Find a lens combination that allows you to get close. Again, a tripod is a must. Play around with depth-of-field, different angles, etc. If the flowers are labeled with their names, take a shot of the labels too for future reference.

20. Insects. Again, you probably want to get close, so use the same combination as above. Insects can be very cool. Variations include dragonflies, butterflies, spiders and whatever you happen to find. Shoot them on flowers, white paper or a polished surface of a dark car. If you really want a challenge, try to get them in flight.

21. Join a Critique Group. This can be done through a local club, or on-line (Flickr has a number of these groups). Find somebody that will be brutally honest (probably someone that doesn’t know you). This can be humbling or sometimes aggravating. What you don’t want is for someone to stroke your ego here. You want someone to hit you between the eyes and tell you how to improve your photos. One person likened it to having someone tell you that your kids are ugly. What you want is to have someone say, “Your kids are ugly, and having met you, I know why.” My wife and I went to a class on taking travel photos, and every photo the woman put up on the screen sucked. It’s a shame she had to go all the way to Europe to take such lousy pictures.  

22. Volunteer to Shoot an Event. Many local groups hold fairs, picnics, or parades. Meet with the organizers and volunteer to photograph the event for them. Provide them with photos for their website, newsletter, etc. Going to the clean-up of a local park is more fun when you are holding a camera rather than a garbage bag. Be a cub reporter for the day and document the proceedings.

23. Go to a Sporting Event. It’s important to get permission first, especially if minor children are present. Many organized team sports require all participants to have signed releases in advance. The coaches can tell you. Ask them if you could take some shots and give them copies. Adult softball games might be a safer bet.

24. Traffic – Day time. Play with motion blurs, movement, etc. In a big city, you can show traffic and congestion.

25. Traffic – Night time. Play with blurred lights and motion. Be careful where you stand – drivers won’t be able to see you.

26. Body Parts. If you are taking photos at a sporting event, think about focusing on a player’s feet in a soccer game or the arm of a pitcher throwing a ball. Legs and feet can be some of the more interesting subjects. Maybe just the feet of a diver entering the water.

27. Visit one of your favorite photo locations, but take a step ladder. Shoot all the familiar scenes from a few feet higher. As long as you act with confidence, people will not think that it is too strange.

28. Macro Photography. Get your hands on a macro lens, grab the tripod and plan on getting dirty. Every-day objects can look very cool when you shoot with a macro lens. An alternative to a macro lens is to add an extension tube to a longer lens to allow for close focus.

29. Super Macro. If you already use a macro lens, try adding a teleconverter, maybe even two, for super close shots. 1 to 1 shots are for sissies! Think ginormous!

30. Take a photo outdoors of the exact same subject from the exact same position every hour for an entire day to see how it changes as light and weather change.

31. Shoot a magazine cover shot. Choose your subject and create a photo with space for titles, etc and make sure that your subject fits.

32. Rule of Thirds – read up on the rule of thirds, if you aren’t familiar with the concept and practice composing shots with this in mind.

33. Look for Great Light. Take a walk, looking for objects that are in great light. It doesn’t matter what the object is, only that the light is good and take a photo of these items.

34. Play with Depth of Field. Take numerous shots of the same subjects using progressively more or less depth of field by adjusting the aperture.

35. Shoot on an Angle. Forget about horizontal and vertical. Take photos at a 45 degree angle. Vary the angle as well.

36. Play with a Polarizer. Use a polarizer to see how it changes the look of the sky, water, reflections on glass, etc.

37. Spend a day with a friend shooting photos of that friend in artistic ways in different locations.

38. Photograph your Pet. Spend some time photographing a pet. Think about shots that might look good on a calendar or magazine. As an added bonus, you will have a lot of photos of your pet.

39. Photograph streets. City streets, country roads, highways, dirt roads – have at it.

40. Panorama – If you have a software package that will stitch together multiple shots into a panorama, get to it. If you are really ambitious, try a 360 degree view. BTW – it’s best not to use an extremely wide angle for this as the photos will be hard to fit together.

41. Zoom While Shooting. Using a long exposure, zoom in on an object while the shutter is open to cause a blurred photo. Subject you might want to try could include automobiles and lights.

42. Make a Softbox. Search on line for how to make a simple softbox/lightbox from a cardboard box, paper, plastic, etc. Make one and photograph some common objects.

43. Concert in the Park. Go to a local concert and photograph the performers.

44. Photograph Moving Water. Streams, rivers, waterfalls, sprinklers, faucets, whatever.

45. Reflections – Glass, Windows and Mirrors – take photos where the reflection is the main focus of the shot.

46. Reflections – Puddles – Photograph the reflections in puddles

47. Reflections – Sunglasses – you get the idea.

48. Abstract Patterns – look for patterns in object to make the focus of your shots.

49. Take photos where color is the main subject of the photo.

50. Water and Mirror Shots. Find an old mirror with a rim or frame, lay it on a flat surface so that it is parallel to the ground.  Pour water onto the mirror until the water is at least a quarter of an inch deep. Shoot photos of the reflections in the mirror. Flowering trees look fantastic!

51. Cloudy Days. Cloudy or hazy days when there is no wind are perfect for taking close-up shots of flowers.

52. Break The Rules – take a series of shots that completely break the “Rule of Thirds.”

53. Break The Rules – take a bunch of shots where the sun is behind your subject.

54. Flash It. Dig the flash out of the closet, or use the pop-up flash on the camera and play with it. Use the flash to fill in shadows in the sun. Go out at night and look for unusual things in the yard to shoot. You get the idea.

55. Continuous Focus Mode – Find a reason to use the continuous (or AI Servo) focus mode and start shooting. Moving people, cars, birds, animals – anything that stays in motion.

56. Old People. Find somebody old to photograph

57. Children. Find some children to photograph – make sure that it is OK with their parents first!

58. Models. Find someone willing to pose for you and act as a model. Direct them as to how and where to stand, what to do with their hands, etc.

59. Couples. Any two people will do. Take photos of them interacting.

60. Unusual Angles. Take photos from up high, down low – anywhere but the usual.

 

61. Shadows. Take photos where shadows are the main subject of the shot.

62. Frames and Borders. Find natural frames (trees, buildings, etc.) that serve to frame your photo.

63. Photograph Food – Not just apples, go for the GOOD stuff.

64. People Eating. Who looks good eating? Find out.

65. Photograph Trash. Not the garbage in the can, take a walk around and take photos of things that have discarded. Maybe even consider picking it up when you are done.

66. Doors. Find different doors and start shooting.

 

67. Rooms. Photograph different rooms and try to make them beautiful. When photographing rooms of a house, try to make photographs that would sell the house if they were in the real estate section.

68. Water. Look for all different kinds of water (lakes, rivers, streams, puddles, waterfalls, drops of water on cars, etc.)

69. Architecture. Take shots of buildings that show off something different.

70. Walk 100 paces and take pictures of 20 things from that spot.

71. Light. Take photos of anything that shows remarkable light.

72. Off Center. Take a series of photos where the subject is well off-center.

73. Using a zoom lens, take multiple photos of the same subject. Change YOUR distance from the subject and use the zoom to make the subject the same size in the photo. Note how this changes the background of the photo.

74. Shoot several photos of the same subject, but from the perspective of a giant, and adult, a toddler and a frog.

75. Take as many photos as you can of an object such that each photo is unique. Try to select an object that will give you additional flexibility.

76. Take 76 photos of objects that have something in common (same color, shape, size, begin with the same letter, etc.)

77. Pan with a moving object (bike, car, jogger) to show motion - the subject is in focus, the background is blurred.

78. Take photos that portray emotions (love, anger, happiness, etc.)

79. Photograph textures.

80. Take photos of weather – rain, snow, heat, cold, etc.

81. Do a photoshoot with a friend/model.

82. Light and Dark. Shoot a light subject on an almost totally dark background.

83. Dark and Light. Shoot a subject against a totally white background. Try to get the background as bright as possible without blowing out any highlights.

 

84. Go For A Walk. Every 100 steps, take a photo of something of interest.

85. Go For A Walk. Take a photo of an object that begins with each letter of the alphabet in order. If you can’t find something, take two shots of something beginning with the next letter.

86. Go For A Walk. Take a photo of every object you see that begins with the letter “B.”

87. Go For A Walk. Take a small stuffed animal and photograph it enjoying the area - seeing the sites, stopping for a rest, a drink, etc. If someone asks what you are doing, just pretend that you don’t speak their language.

88. Go To A Park. Sit on the toys (swings, slides, etc.) and take photos that are unique because of where you are sitting. Swing your legs and take photos of the sky, ground, etc. If you are clumsy, wear a helmet.

89. Produce. Take photos of produce in a farmer’s market (ask permission first)

90. Clouds. Figure it out.

91. Chamber Of Commerce. Take photos of a community that would draw tourists or business to the area.

92. Something Old. Take photos of old structures, cemeteries, cars, etc.

93. Something New. Take photos of new things (construction, seedlings, baby animals, etc.)

94. Fire. Take photos, don’t burn anything down or hurt anyone.

95. Stones. Find the beauty in a pile of rocks.

96. Leading Lines. Take photos with leading lines that draw your attention to a particular area or object in the photo.

97. Country Scenes. Go to farm country and capture photos that really should be in a calendar.

98. Come up with five exercises that are not on this list.

99. Make a list of ten exercises that you will actually try.

100. Buy yourself an ice cream cone and enjoy life for a couple of minutes.

 

Steve Byland is a wildlife photographer living in suburban New Jersey. His photos can be seen at www.stevebyland.com . You can email him at sbbyland@aol.com

An Alternative to Noise Reduction Software

Winter is here and some of my most memorable shots were taken during falling snow. The problem I often run into, however, is that, despite all the falling white stuff, it is often very DARK during a snow storm – even in the middle of the day. To compensate for the lack of light, most of us boost the ISO on our cameras, lower the shutter speed, open the aperture and cross our fingers. After a few bone-chilling hours in my blind, I take my precious (hopefully) treasure-filled memory card to the computer, plug it in and start reviewing my photos. Lots of birds, falling snow and NOISE!!!
Yes, noise. Those annoying little spots and flecks of computer-generated junk in the dark areas behind my subjects. Under snowy conditions, there is sometimes so much noise that it is difficult to remove with the noise reduction application that came with my photo processing software or even the expensive plug-in that I bought. RATS!!!

What to do? What to do? I COULD go back outside and shovel the sidewalk to make it safe for the neighborhood children, or I could try to save some of my better photos. No contest – fire up the software. Here is a shot of a Cardinal I took in a recent snow storm. I cranked up the ISO to a modest 640 and used a shutter speed of 1/320 with an aperture of f/6.3. I thought I was safe from noise, but, as you can see from the close-up, I was not. Noise and lots of it! Noise is especially apparent in the dark areas in the background.

Fortunately, the photo is not too dark. If it needed to be lightened, that would introduce even more noise. As it is, most shots taken under these conditions are a little flat and need a slight boost in saturation. Guess what that does? Yup, it puts in even MORE noise.   

For this photo I tried some of the standard Photoshop techniques, including using noise reduction software (it couldn’t get it all out) or blurring the background (I ended up with waves and ghosts). Then, I reverted to a simpler method. First, I made a duplicate layer in Photoshop and set to work adjusting the brightness and contrast of this new layer. I reduced the contrast A LOT – to minus 40 and reduced the brightness to minus 30. I know this is a huge adjustment, but it did get rid of the noise. If you want to get really aggressive, apply your noise reduction software to this layer. The result looks something like this:

Next, I want to get the main subject (the bird) and some of the detail on the larger branches back. I apply a mask and mask off the bird and the branches I want to keep:

 

As you can see in the close-up, there is far less noise in the dark areas of the background:

 

The overall photo is still a little dull (it was rather flat to start with). I fix this by putting BACK some of the brightness and contrast I took out before (about plus 15 for both brightness and contrast) – this introduces very little noise to the now-flat background. I also boosted the saturation a bit – maybe plus 15 to put some color into the bird. If this had been almost any bird other than a bright red Cardinal, I could have gone way up on the saturation. Finished product:

 

Close-up:

Side by side (click Here to see a larger version of this photo:

Close-up (click Here to see a larger version of this photo):

 

Total time – maybe 5 minutes.

Steve Byland is a wildlife photographer living in suburban New Jersey. His photos can be seen at www.stevebyland.com . You can email him at sbbyland@aol.com

Salvage A (Nearly) Great Shot Using Layers

Eventually it’s going to happen. You find yourself faced with the “perfect” shot and you reach down deep and blow it. The moment passes and you don’t get a second chance. Such was the case when I took the shot below. The subject was perfect, the light was just right and I managed to get the shot crooked. To be honest, I was lying on my back in a wet parking lot and I took this shot from underneath my truck. I was lucky to get anything at all, so a crooked shot was OK considering the circumstances. Here's my original shot:

 

I was so close and the owl in the picture filled the frame so well that simply straightening the picture in Photoshop was going to cut too much out. One option was to add a lot of canvas to the shot, clone in a bunch of stuff on the sides, then use the Straighten Tool. The problem is that this leaves a lot of evidence behind and takes a lot of work. There is another way to approach this problem using layers. I’ve choses a photo that is very busy (providing a lot of opportunities for mistakes). Shots with less going on are FAR easier, but even this shot is not that difficult. THIS is what happens when you use the "Straighten Tool" to try to fix the shot - my little owl is moving out of the frame:

 

 
So, we need to fix this photo using layers instead of the "Straighten Tool."

Step One – Create a new layer and drag the top layer so that the subject (the Owl) is positioned in approximately the right place – you can adjust this a bit later if necessary. If you look closely, you can see parts of the bottom (original) layer on the left and bottom edges of the photo.

 

Step Two – Rotate (straighten) just the top layer to get the subject where you want it. If necessary, you can move the top layer to reposition the subject. Using “Free Rotate” saves more canvas than “Straighten” and gives a little more flexibility, but either tool will work.

Now the subject is straight, but there are obvious lines around the edge of the top layer from rotating/straightening the photo. I have hidden the bottom layer so that you can clearly see this in the photo below.

 

Step Three –  What you want to do now is to blend the top (crooked) layer into the original layer below. With both layers showing, apply a mask to the top layer, choosing a mask that makes the top layer visible. Use a black paint brush on the mask to hide the edges of the top layer to blend the top layer into the layer below.

 

You can spend a lot of time blending with a small brush to make the photo perfect – I spent about 1 minute on this shot. The main evidence of my handiwork is a duplicate of the large blade of grass to the left of the owl, so I went back and cloned it out. All done and ready to move on to the next masterpiece.

 

Steve Byland is a wildlife photographer living in suburban New Jersey. His photos can be seen at www.stevebyland.com . You can email him at sbbyland@aol.com

Advanced Layering Techniques – Bring Back The Sky

If you shoot birds in flight, you’ve probably been frustrated by trying to get the exposure right. Either the bird is blown out, or, more often, the background sky looks perfect, but the bird is just a dark silhouette. Been there, done that, hit the “delete” button.  If you expose the bird perfectly (yay!) the sky is probably too light (boo!).

There are a number of ways to fix such shots. Making major adjustments usually cause some problems. Noise and artifacts appear whenever you lighten a photo, so starting with a photo where the sky looks good, but the bird is too dark probably won’t win you any awards. Let’s work on how to fix the best of the miserable shots you ended up with – the ones where the bird is exposed the way you want it but the sky is too light. Since the bird is the main subject, that’s the part of the picture that you will want to look best anyway.

The simple way to fix you photo is to make a separate layer, adjust the sky, then mask the bird. That’s fine if you aren’t going to print the shot or try to sell it, but it is VERY difficult and time-consuming to get the mask just right. There are places that you just can’t get right (teeny-tiny feather edges) and such. If you use the “Select” tool, there are often parts of the birds that aren’t selected properly, and if you zoom way in, there will be little jagged edges along the lines where one set of pixels were selected while others weren’t. Nothing is more disappointing that working forever on a single photo and, when you are done, it looks so bad that you just delete it.

While nothing beats getting the perfect shot in the first place, there is a way to fix these kinds of shots fairly quickly without showing a lot of boo-boos if you zoom way in or print the photo at a larger size. Yes, you can take a lot of time to go around and clean these things up, but it is time-consuming, and doesn’t always leave a great end product.

This technique will leave you with nicer edges

Let me also take a second to mention that I have to downsize these shots a lot to use on my blog page – there is WAY more detail in the full-sized shots. I’m also making the assumption here that you have a basic understanding of how to use layers and masks. If you DON’T know how to use these, LEARN!!!!! It will improve your processing a million percent and cut the time it takes by about the same amount. Photoshop and Corel Paint Shop Pro pretty much work the same way in the steps I’m going to explain.

Let’s look at a fairly quick and easy way to fix the shot below that is lacking sky detail:

First step, run a noise-reduction step – we’re going to darken the photo and that always adds a little noise. Second, remove the bird (WHAT???) using a large clone tool and save the file using a different name.

Next, make a duplicate layer and set the layer type to “Multiply.” Duplicate the multiplied layer a couple of times until you like the way the sky looks. In this case, I used three layers. Merge all the layers down. Now the sky looks better, but it seems to be missing a bird.

Next, go back to your ORIGINAL photo, copy the entire thing and post as a new layer. If you want to reposition the bird, you can select an area around the bird (instead of copying the entire photo) making sure to get a little of the background all around it and place it where you want. Make a duplicate copy of the layer you just copied in and click the “Visibility” button to make the top layer invisible. You now have 3 layers. The bottom layer is the adjusted sky without the bird, the second (middle) layer is the original photo, and the top layer is the original photo, but not visible. At this point, your photo will appear to look just like the original photo since it is on top of the adjusted sky photo. Now, set the middle layer type to “Darken.” This will put back most of your bird as shown below:

The problem is that the white/light areas of the bird will appear blue as they are not darker than the background. The nice thing is that the computer did all the hard work of putting in all the really fine details on the darker edges of the bird without leaving any harsh transitions.

Next, make the top layer visible again and select a mask that masks the entire photo. Using a white brush, carefully unmask the white/light areas of the bird. You may want to brush across the entire body of the bird to bring up white/light areas there as well. The only place you really have to be a little careful is where the white on the bird reaches the very edge of the body. Still, it is not very difficult to get nice results without much effort – now you only have to work on a few areas with the mask because the computer did the rest.

Before and after:

To see more detail, you can view a large version of the above photo at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_byland/7686943072/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Here’s the finished product:

Is it cheating? I'll let you make your own decision. Either way, this is the way it looked through my viewfinder when I took the photo and now I have a nice photo. Essentially, this isn't much different than just selecting the sky only and darkening it. The real difference is that this method only impacts the sky behind the bird and leaves the bird exactly as it was - which is the whole point of what you otherwise would have been trying to achieve by just selecting and working on the sky. The difference is that this method doesn't leave a bunch of lines or require a ton of work to make it look good.

I will admit that using photoshop too much can be thought of as turning a photo into art. The same can be said about using polarizers and colored filters - techniques used by photographers for decades. The same can be said about techniques old-timers used in the darkroom such as dodging and burning to give mist around moving water or even (gasp) trying to save a photo like the one I started with.

In this case, I didn't add or delete a single element of the photo. I was simply VERY selective about which components I darkened (which is what a "Multiply" layer does). I didn't even change the contrast, color or saturation. If someone said that they simply darkened a photo, most people would just shrug their shoulders and say, "So what?"

Decide for yourself what you want to do. There may be a gray line (or even a black line) between what you consider art and photography, but you can always fix that with Photoshop ;-)

Steve Byland is a wildlife photographer living in suburban New Jersey. His photos can be seen at www.stevebyland.com . You can email him at sbbyland@aol.com

Create Your Own Bird Sanctuary

If you love birds, you’ve probably visited a nature sanctuary near your home and marveled at the wildlife. The feeders at the visitor center are teeming with birds of all kinds. It may be only a 15 minute drive, but it might as well be an entire world away.

Apple trees are the perfect cover for birds year round. They have insects in spring and summer, apples through the fall, and thick masses of branches in the winter

So, what is the difference between YOUR back yard and THIS place? You have a feeder or two and get your share of Cardinals and Chickadees, especially in the winter. Still, your yard pales in comparison to the local nature center. They always seem to have something special.

Don’t you wish that your backyard was more like the nature center? It could be. You may not have 100 acres, a pond, open fields and wooded acres like they do, but there are things that you can learn from them to attract more birds into your own yard. I live less than 30 miles from New York City and sometimes feel like I’m directly in the flight path to the Newark Airport, but my yard is swarming with birds. While writing this article, I took a break to take care of the birds in my yard. It’s going to be over 100 degrees today, and they appreciate a little extra attention. I put out some dried meal worms for the Bluebirds and their newly fledged young. The Hummingbird feeders needed to be cleaned and refilled. The Catbirds and Woodpeckers have emptied the suet feeder again. I wiped the birdbaths clean and filled them with cool water. Some seed in the platform feeder, another handful sprinkled on the ground, a few peanuts for the Squirrels, and I was back inside in less than 10 minutes.  During that time, I encountered about 50 birds and close to 20 species. If I had stayed out an hour, I would have probably had closer to 35 species.

Even if birds that don’t come to your feeders may use butterfly bushes like this Common Yellowthroat. Hummingbirds and butterflies will visit in the summer for nectar and insects

Was my yard always like this? Certainly not. It took years to entice Bluebirds to nest here, but they are now fixtures in my neighborhood. The same is true for Hummingbirds. They can be difficult to attract to nest in my part of the country, but I have them visiting my feeders all summer long like clockwork – about every 10 minutes. How did I do it? More important, how can YOU do it too?

Think of creating a backyard bird sanctuary the same way you would think about planting a beautiful garden. Most new homeowners have had the experience of moving into a house, admiring the neighbor’s beautiful garden, then rushing to the garden center for a few flats of flowers. Once in the ground, most of the flowers died within a few weeks and we moaned “I just don’t have a green thumb.” It’s the same thing with birds. We bought a feeder and bag of seed at the hardware store and set it up. It either attracted nothing and the seed spoiled, or we got only Starlings and House Sparrows. “There just aren’t any good birds in my neighborhood,” we said. Why did the flowers die? Why no flock of pretty songbirds? The answer is pretty much the same. They didn’t get what they needed. Flowers need the right soil, the correct amount of light and the proper amount of water. Needs differ for each type of flower. Birds are no different.

Some feeders are designed to prevent “undesirable” birds such as Starlings like this suet feeder that can only be accessed from below 

Each species of bird has very specific needs. If you give them what they want, they will probably come to your yard. Okay, what do they need? 

• Safety from predators
• Food
• Water
• A place to nest and raise their young (assuming that they breed in your area)

ALL of these are important. Let’s look at each of them.

Safety From Predators – A bird’s eye view of the world is one filled with danger. Hawks above, cats and other predators below. The best shelters come from trees, bushes, brush piles and tall grass. Of course, predators use the same things for cover, so keep a little open space between sheltered areas so that the birds can use their keen eyesight to keep watch. Plan and manage the habitat – that’s what they do at the nature center.

 Hummingbird feeders need not be fancy. Red feeders with yellow flowers are recognized by most hummingbirds as a good source of food. This feeder is about the size of a roll of quarters and cost less than $5.00

Food – This is something that might take a little research. For optimum success, you need to know what birds are in your area at each time of year, what their favorite foods are, their preferred type of feeder, etc. You need to match the type of feeder and food to the species you want to attract. Cardinals, for instance, prefer platform feeders with black oil sunflower seeds. Hummingbirds want sugar water feeders. Woodpeckers, Catbirds and Titmice love suet. A visit to the local nature center can put you on the right track here. Don’t go crazy at first. Just get a few feeders with the appropriate food at first and work your way up slowly. Remember to place the feeders close to the safe places mentioned above. Make sure they are where you can see them as well so that you enjoy your new friends and remember to feed them. Keep the feeders clean, but you don’t need to fill them to the top until the birds are eating more. Having fresh food is important. Since the species of birds in your area changes with the seasons, so will the types of food you should offer.

 This birdbath is heated for year-round use and can accommodate the whole family

Water – Birds need water year-round. Birdbaths range from expensive heated affairs with cascading waterfalls to something homemade. Try turning over a large flower pot, placing the base on top and filling the base with water. The important thing is that the water be clean and available at all times. Not all birds come to feeders, but almost all come to water.

  Here is part of the same family bathing in a bath made from a large, broken flower pot and its base

Nesting – Some songbird species will nest in birdhouses and some will not. Bluebirds, Swallows, Chickadees and Wrens are among some of the more popular songbirds that use nest boxes. Each prefers a slightly different kind of box that will meet their needs while discouraging other species. You might want to buy birdhouses that target the species you want from a manufacturer such as Duncraft (www.duncraft.com) that has different birdhouses for different species. Other birds will probably nest in the sheltered areas listed earlier.

Birdhouses can be made from plans easily found on the internet and can be customized for different species. This box has a wide hole to let more than one baby Tree Swallow look out at a time.

If you are a photographer, like I am, think about lighting while you make your plans. I have a spot in my yard that gets fantastic light in the afternoon. Guess where I put the Bluebird house. Most of my feeders and birdhouses can be rotated to follow the sun provide different backgrounds. I do most of my photography from a blind that keeps me out of the sun and minimizes disturbance to the birds.

Smaller bird houses are perfect for smaller birds such as Wrens, Chickadees and Titmice

Like a beautiful garden, a backyard bird sanctuary grows and matures over time. Every year, you can make it a little better, a little safer and a little more attractive to you and the birds that will come to call your yard home.

Steve Byland is a wildlife photographer living in suburban New Jersey. His photos can be seen at www.stevebyland.com – many of which were taken in his own backyard. You can email him at sbbyland@aol.com

Ten Tips For Taking Bird Pictures Like A Pro In Your Own Backyard

Planning your photos in advance increases you odds of getting great photos. This male Bluebird often hovered over his mate during the mating season

I’ve been a professional wildlife photographer for years and travel all across the country to take pictures. It’s a great job, but somebody’s got to do it. I’ve crisscrossed the United States from north to south and east to west. Winter, spring, summer or fall, I’ve been there. Still, my favorite place to take photographs is my own backyard. I know it like the back of my hand. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of birds visit my bird feeders every year. I’ve spent so much time out there that I recognize a good number of them individually. Most of my best-selling shots are of birds that I’ve known for years.

Very few of my shots are random. When I walk out the back door, I usually have a plan for what I want to shoot that day. Certainly birds and animals are somewhat unpredictable, so I don’t know exactly what I’m going to get, but whatever is presented to me, I’m usually ready for it. Let me share with you the ten steps I use to get the shots I want.

Tip 1: Pick your subject

I select the camera/lens combination based on the species, or at least size of bird I want to photograph that day. I don’t use the same set-up for tiny Hummingbirds that I use for larger birds such as Blue Jays. I find that NOT concentrating on something specific leads to missed shots. The best way to get the once-in-a-lifetime photo is to be ready for it when the opportunity presents itself. 

Male Pine Warblers often visit my suet feeders in late March

Tip 2: Learn Behavior

If you know a bird’s behavior, you increase your chances of getting great shots. You don’t have to do a lot of studying – just observe the birds in your yard. How often do they come to the feeder? How long do they stay? What do they eat? How do they interact with other birds? I often find that individual Hummingbirds will come to a feeder on a set schedule that varies by less than a minute during the day. They often feed exactly the same each time they visit. Knowing this is all the advantage I need.

Tip 3: Anticipate Behavior

My reflexes are slow compared to those of birds. By the time I see the scene I want and communicate to my finger to press the shutter button, it’s usually too late. Often, though, there is something that will signal you that good things are about to happen. Baby Tree Swallows looking out of a birdhouse start squawking a few seconds before the parents show up with a meal which allows me to start shooting before they get to the nest.

The baby Tree Swallow would announce the anticipated arrival of the parent with food

Tip 4: Plan For Good Light

Study the light in your yard. Light is best in early morning and late afternoon, but often shadows from trees block the light. Look for places in your yard where the light is still present at these times. Pictures taken at high noon on sunny days will be harsh. If you can only shoot at mid-day because of trees, choose days that are overcast, but bright.  

Birds often get into habits like this Bluebird that likes to bathe in the afternoon

Tip 5: Watch Your Background

There’s an old saying that if something doesn’t add to the picture then it takes away from it. You don’t want the subject of you picture to get lost in the clutter. It should be prominent enough to make a statement.

Tip 6: Control Depth Of Field

Using a wide aperture gives a shallow depth of field (DOF) and allows for faster shutter speed. A shallow DOF blurs the background and allows you subject to stand out. Most lenses are sharpest about one stop smaller than the widest aperture.

Out of focus flowers and a shallow depth of field make this Hummingbird stand out against the background

Tip 7: Compose Your Shot

Before you start shooting, consider what you want the shot to look like. Do you want a tight head shot, or a wide shot of birds playing in a birdbath? Knowing this will help you decide where to set up and what length lens to use.

Tip 8: Focus on the Head

Another old saying is that nobody gives a rat’s ass about the ass. You can cut off any part of the body in a shot except the head. Focus on the head (especially the eyes). Try to get the bird looking at you or almost perpendicular to you with the beak ever so slightly towards you. You don’t want to get the shot from behind or with the bird looking away.

The use of a blind can allow you get close – especially if you let the bird come to you

Tip 9: Use a Tripod

Nobody really LIKES to use a tripod. They are heavy and limit your ability to move. They offer tremendous advantages, however. First, shots taken from a tripod will be significantly sharper. Also, if your camera is on a tripod, it will be ready to shoot and there will be less movement from getting the camera in position. The less you move the camera, the more likely the bird will remain where you want it.

Tip 10: Use a Blind

A blind doesn’t have to be fancy. There are commercial pop-up blinds available for less than $50, but even a simple sheet draped over a ladder or a fence will do the trick. You will get your best shots when the bird comes to you rather than the other way around. They will be far more comfortable if they feel in control. Also, some sort of covering will help keep you out of the sun. I have a large home-made blind on wheels that I keep out in my yard. The birds are so used to it that they often perch on it while I’m in it. I even have birds land on the lens of my camera and peek in at me.

This shot combines everything. This male Cardinal has a favorite perch near a sunflower seed feeder. I used the blue sky as a background. He came close because I was in a blind. His head is at the right angle. I focused on the eye. I caught a shot showing some behavior.

A Final Word

The most important thing that I have found about wildlife photography is to enjoy the time that I spend doing it. Learn to appreciate the wonderful things you see whether you get photos or not. If you follow my advice, by design there will be certain shots that you will miss because you just aren’t set up for them (too much or not enough lens, for instance). Think of those instances not as missed opportunities, but as scouting missions for the next photo session. Perhaps you will come to find that the family of Bluebirds comes to the birdbath every afternoon to cool off or there is a Grosbeak you didn’t know lived in your neighborhood that likes the safflower seeds in the feeder.

You may never know exactly what you are going to get, but with a little planning and observation, you might just get that once-in-a-lifetime shot in your own backyard. I get them all the time.

Steve Byland is a wildlife photographer living in suburban New Jersey. His photos can be seen at www.stevebyland.com – many of which were taken in his own backyard.