It’s been a long time since I’ve posted an iTunes tip here, so I thought I would share something that recently came up for me.

As I’ve said many times before, I listen to lots of photography related podcasts, and I usually listen to them on my iPod Touch. But I was recently trying to catch up on a series of video shows so I had the iTunes Mini Player up on my computer (it’s really not a great idea to watch them while driving your vehicle!).

As always I was trying to get other some work done at the same time and the iTunes Video window kept disappearing behind the window I was working in. This made it very difficult to see the show I was watching! No problem, I’ll just go into the preferences menu and click the box to keep the video window on top. But I couldn’t find it!

I knew that this option had to be there, so I kept looking for it. After searching for way too long, I finally figured out that the option was available, but it was not in the “Playback” tab of the preferences window; instead it was on the “Advanced” tab.

If you want to set iTunes to keep the Video or Mini Player playback window on top of all your other windows, try changing your Advanced Preferences as follows:

1. Click “Edit“, “Preferences…“
2. Choose the “Advanced” tab
3. Ensure the checkbox for the “Keep Mini Player on top of all other windows” is checked
4. Ensure the checkbox for the “Keep Movie Window on top of all other windows” is checked

Keep iTunes Playback Window on Top

This one really is going to be short and sweet.

Every single person that ever uses a camera, from the top professionals to the rank amateurs, makes bad images. In fact, the dirty little secret is that the best photographers make a lot more bad images than new photographers. Of course that’s because they shoot a lot more frames than beginners, but the one big thing that sets them apart from all the others is that they know which images to show people and which ones to delete.

So if you make an image that is out of focus, badly composed, or just plain ugly, then delete it. You’ll feel better about yourself, your portfolio will be stronger, and everyone that sees your work will think that you’re a better shooter too because they will only ever see good images from you.

The hard drive in your computer, and your entire backup system, will also thank you because you will have far fewer images to store and to backup. You do backup your image files don’t you?

A friend of mine recently asked for some advice on how to make some great images of his newborn baby.

“We’re having our first child in a couple of weeks and I just started a photography course. I’m looking for some tips on getting some decent shots. You being a Dad AND an accomplished shutterbug, I thought I might pick your brain a bit. It was suggested to me to pick up a 50mm 1.8 lens. I have a 40D which puts the lens at approx 80mm after crop factor. Obviously flash probably shouldn’t be used, so I was wondering if you could please toss a little guidance my way.”

I quickly came up with a few great tips that I wanted to share here too:

1. Consider Black and White, and use Tight Depth of Field - Brand new Babies are often blotchy and scaly and if you photograph them in color then they tend to look funny. Black and White images can hide lots of that stuff. So does a really large aperture and tight cropping. This is where a lens like the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 comes in. It is very inexpensive (around $100) and has a very wide maximum aperture that allows you to highlight a sweet spot of the scene, such as the eyes or the face of the baby. (I wouldn’t actually shoot it at 1.8 because the depth of field would be so narrow that much of the image would look blurry. If you use something like f/2.8 then you can really bring the attention to the part of the image that you want, while still giving yourself a chance of making the image in focus).
2. 
   Move Closer - When you think you’re close enough, take another step closer! A series of tightly cropped shots are often much better than trying to show everything in one image. And portrait where the subject almost completely fill the frame are almost always better than images where the subject is small in the frame. Having said that, make sure you shoot a little bit of everything, from really wide to very tight just to make sure you capture everything that you might want to remember later.
3. Shoot the Details – Baby hands and feet are really cute, so don’t forget to make some nice images of them. Make sure you also get a few shots of the hospital details that you will only see in the first few days. The birth announcement, the name card on the bassinet, the wrist band (security ID) on Baby’s arm or leg, etc. You might also want get a few images of the doctors, nurses, and any other people in the hospital that make your life better while you’re there. The key is to have a camera with you at all times for the first few days.
4. Use Window Light on a Cloudy Day - After the initial excitement of Baby’s arrival drops off, you’ll want to make some great portraits while the baby is still tiny. It’s still winter in our neck of the woods and we’ve had lots of those foggy days lately where the light coming in the window is extremely soft and bright white. This is fantastic light for portraits. Set baby up in a blanky (or in mom’s arms) near the window and use that light to your advantage. This is much easier than trying to make light from a flash look good because you can see what you’ve got before actually taking the picture. Try it, you’ll like it!

These are all great ways to make sure you get some great images of your baby and some of the details of her arrival.You’ll look back on these images many many times over the coming years, so you really should try to do it right!

A few more thoughts about 50mm lenses:

I love mine and I use it all the time. In fact I have two of them; an older 50 f/1.8 and a brand new Canon 50mm f/1.4. I really love the 1.4 version because it focuses extremely quickly and it’s incredibly sharp. The 1.8 is also very good (especially for the price), and I happily used it for years before upgrading, but it focuses really slowly, especially in low light. The good news is that really little babies don’t move very quickly so you can set up every shot very carefully and get your focus bang on! Either one of them make fantastic portrait lenses because the focal length is just right for making images that look pretty natural to the human eye (ie. it is very similar to what we see with our own eyes). But they also allow very tight DOF which lets you to blur out the distractions in the background. I definitely recommend buying one if you have the cash.

I’d love to hear what has worked well for you when making portraits of your children (or your clients children). Hit me in the comments below!

You’ve probably heard this advice before, and I’m sure you know that it’s true, but if you’re like most people you ignore it anyway… The single best way to get sharper images is to use a tripod. This is especially true for shooting video with dSLR’s where camera shake is a constant annoyance!

So use your tripod. It’s just that easy. Take your tripod with you, and actually use it. Even an inexpensive, simple, lightweight tripod that has no extra features (other than supporting your camera) will net you far better images on average than not using one at all. You can probably buy one of these at Wal-Mart for $20 or less.

It’s so simple that I don’t think I even need to explain it further.

What Tripod Should I Buy?

I was going to stop there, but because I get asked about it all the time, I’m going to provide a list of 3 really great tripods that you should consider buying. Note that you won’t find a $20 tripod from Wal-Mart on this list, but if that’s really all you can afford you really should go get one. Note also that you actually need 2 things: a tripod and a ball head. The ball head sits on top of the tripod and is the actual part that attaches to the camera. It allows you to quickly and easily point the camera in the direction, angle, and orientation that you want. I like Manfrotto tripods and ball heads, so that’s what I’m going to recommend here:

Tripods for Small Cameras: The Manfrotto 190xProB with a 496RC2 ball head is a great combination for the vast majority of photographers. This will be good for people with entry-level dSLR’s (or even for those bigger point and shoots). It is a relatively small and lightweight tripod that is easy to use and to carry, and you can get this combination for around $250. The max load rating is about 8 pounds, so if you have a big camera and/or lenses (or if you think you will be getting bigger stuff soon) then you might consider stepping up to the next level.

Tripods for Big Cameras: The Manfrotto 055xProB with a 498RC2 ball head is an excellent system for advanced shooters with bigger cameras or lenses. I bought this tripod (with the now discontinued 488RC2 ballhead) when I got my Canon 40D because I knew that I would be using it with some pretty heavy lenses for shooting birds and wildlife. It still works great with my Canon 1D Mark IV, but if I use any really heavy lenses then I’m starting to push its limits. This ballhead is much stronger than the 486RC2m (it supports up to 17 pounds) and the tripod is much heavier and stronger than the 190xProB too. The combination is also taller. I’m 6′ 2″ and I only have to bend slightly while using my tripod with the legs fully extended. I’ve been using this combination extensively (multiple times a week) for over 2 years now and it is still in great condition. This combination goes for around $300.

Lightweight Tripods (that you might actually use): The major problem with tripods is that they are big and heavy, and most people end up not using them because of that. If you want one that’s small enough and light enough that you will actually take it with you then you should consider getting Carbon Fiber. I can highly recommend the Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 or 190CXPRO4 for small cameras, or the 055CXPRO3 or 055CXPRO4for bigger cameras, or. These are essentially the same tripods as I described above, but they come in a couple of different options. The difference between the Pro3 and the Pro4 versions is in how many leg sections (3 vs 4) they have, and therefore the minimum length that they will be when folded down. More sections allows them to get smaller (for carrying in a hiking pack or a suitcase), but also makes them more time consuming to set up. They also get progressively more expensive (in the order I listed them) as you go up the chain, starting at around $400 for the legs alone. The choice is yours. I would use these with the same 496RC2 or 498RC2 ball heads I suggested above depending on the weight of your gear.

In the last installment of Quick Tips for Photographers we talked about Shooting the Moon. Well I’ve got another great tip for you to make even better images of the moon.

Make the Moon Look Really Big

Most people automatically shoot images of the moon with really wide angle lenses. The natural assumption is that a great Landscape image will look even better if it includes the moon. This is true, but the thing is, the moon is really far away and if you shoot it with a wide lens, it’s going to look really small. You’re far better to use the longest lens you’ve got. This will allow you to take advantage of a principle called Telephoto Compression; this is where distant objects appear to be closer, and larger, than they really are when they are magnified

So how do you make this work with the moon?

1. Figure out when you need to be at your chosen destination so that you see the Full Moon when it is near the horizon. I prefer to do this at sunrise or sunset so that the light of the moon is nicely balanced with the landscape around it. Note that for every Full Moon there will be at least 2, and sometimes 3, opportunities when the rising or setting moon coincides with the rising or setting sun. You can use TimeandDate.com to figure out when the next one will be.
2. Find a really scenic vista that you can see unobstructed from a long way away.
3. Back up a long way so that you can fill the frame appropriately with the main subject (other than the moon), and still have room to include the moon.
4. Arrive plenty early so you have time to get your gear set up in advance of the rising or setting moon, and so that you can change positions if you don’t have the moon perfectly aligned with your main subject.
5. Make plenty of images as the sun and the moon rise and set. The light will be perfect for only a few minutes for each opportunity.
6. Be prepared for the weather to totally bust you more often than not. I honestly try to make moon images almost every month, and in the last year I’ve only been successful 3 times. That’s just how it goes as a landscape shooter. Sometimes the weather cooperates, sometimes it doesn’t.