The results are in for my fun–and certainly not scientific–poll asking photographers whether a subject in a photo should point toward the left or toward the right.
This survey was inspired by a question featured in my Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter, which focused on the recommendation that in bird photography it is best to have the bird facing left rather than right.
My answer in part explained that I personally find that I prefer the subject facing right rather than left, so I was a little amused to find that those who think the subject should face left were in the minority (less than 18%!). Or maybe I influenced the responses by stating my preference in my answer?
In any event, without further ado, here are the survey results:
There will be a total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024, visible to much of North America, and I have a free resource to help you prepare to observe and photograph this event.
The October 2023 issue of my Pixology magazine for photographers included an article with tips on preparing to photograph a total solar eclipse. I’m making that full issue of Pixology available free of charge, so that all photographers can make the most of the upcoming total solar eclipse if they’ll be in an area where it will be visible.
All lessons have been published for my “Adobe Bridge for Photographers” course, which is focused on helping photographers make the most of Adobe Bridge for organizing and sharing their photos.
The course covers the full workflow for organizing and sharing your photos using Adobe Bridge, including tips for creating and managing a folder structure, making use of collections and stacks, keywording photos efficiently, and much more.
You can get all the details about this new course on the GreyLearning website here:
One of the common issues photographers run into when printing their photos is a print that looks too dark. Sometimes the issue is simply a matter of not making use of proper color management techniques, such as calibrating the monitor display. However, another issue is a matter of compensating for the output behavior of your printer.
In particular, if your prints exhibit a lack of detail in shadow detail, a simple correction may help.
The first step is to test the behavior of your printer. Many printers are not able to reproduce the full range of tonal values, causing a loss of visible detail in dark areas of a photo. A similar issue can affect bright highlight areas, though that is less common.
I created a target image you can print in order to test the tonal range behavior of your printer. Print the image using your normal color-managed workflow, and then evaluate the print under a bright light source. You are looking for the darkest value of black where you can still see a difference between the next darker value.
More details about testing the black and white point capabilities for printing can be found in the article “Print Output Levels”, which is included in the February 2024 issue of Pixology magazine (https://www.greylearning.com/courses/pixology-magazine).
To download the Printer Tonal Range Target image, click on the image to open from a shared folder and click the download button toward the top-right of the image preview.
If you’re a photographer who also likes to capture or create videos, or even edit your photos into a video presentation such as a slideshow, you can learn more about video editing with the free Video Creators Virtual Summit that starts soon!
If you’re new to video editing, you can sign up for a Free Pass and get access to free mini-courses for beginners!
The Video Creators Virtual Summit is actually two events in one! There is the Premiere Pro Virtual Summit for those who want to focus on video editing, and the After Effects Virtual Summit for those who want to focus on special effects. And of course, you can sign up for both events!
The Video Creators Virtual Summit runs for five days from February 18th through the 22nd, and features 50 classes from 20 instructors.
Get your Free Pass (and learn about the benefits of a VIP Pass) here:
All lessons in my comprehensive new “Mastering Adobe Lightroom” video course have been published!
This course focuses on the cloud-focused version of Lightroom, not Lightroom Classic. With this version of Lightroom you don’t need a catalog and you can now manage photos both locally and in the cloud.
The lessons in this course provide lessons to help you better understand and configure Lightroom, organize your photos, make full use of the optimization features, and learn how you can share photos from Lightroom. You can get more details on the GreyLearning website here:
The “Mastering Adobe Lightroom” course is included at no additional charge in the GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle (http://timgrey.me/atg99bundle), but is also available as a standalone course at the link above.
Are you confused by having three applications from Adobe aimed at helping serious photographers manage their photos? I can help!
In my latest live online presentation as part of the “GreyLearning Live!” webinar series, I provided insights into the similarities and differences between Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Classic, and Adobe Bridge.
These three applications from Adobe all provide a workflow solution for organizing and optimizing your photos. This presentation will help you choose which is right for you, and how each impacts your workflow.
A recording of the full presentation is available on my “Tim Grey TV” channel on YouTube here:
The results are in for my fun–and certainly not scientific–poll asking photographers whether a subject in a photo should point toward the left or toward the right.
