Hi!
As photographers, we often agonize over our camera and lens decisions. Cameras and lenses are fundamental to photography, so this makes sense.
But while cameras and lenses are important, over time, you come across certain accessories that feel as essential as cameras and lenses: certain filters, lighting gear, support systems, remotes, and more.
In today’s newsletter, I share a few of our best articles dedicated to camera accessories; my hope is that, while reading, you’ll come across a piece of equipment that will revolutionize your photography!
I also share two more photo critiques as well as a new bi-weekly challenge for you to enjoy!
From Sime:
In previous photo challenges, we've captured various subjects focusing on specific themes or techniques. However, this week, we're blending everything together: technique, random objects, framing, backgrounds, and more. Introducing #dPSProductPhotography!
Your task is to select an object from around your home (or, if you're in a café like me, perhaps a jar of pickles!) and photograph it as if you were preparing to sell it.
Remember to tag your post with #dpsweeklychallenge and #dPSProductPhotography on our weekly challenge page or on social
media! You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.
The photography accessories you don’t want to miss
So…what accessories are essential for photographers? That depends on the type of images you like to shoot, but here are some recommendations and resources to help you
out:
First, we have an article featuring the 10 most popular photography accessories among our audience. (Number one, by the way, was this camera sling bag, while my personal favorite was this portable 4 TB drive.)
Then we have two articles on filters for you to check out:
- The Best Circular Polarizers for Photography
- The 8 Best ND Filters You Can Buy in 2024
It’s tough to overstate the value of circular polarizers and neutral density filters for landscape photography - and they’re also useful in a variety of other situations (cityscapes, architecture scenes, and even portraits).
And third,
for folks looking to capture more creative photos, take a look at this article: 10 Creative Photography Accessories and Tools Everyone Should Own. It goes beyond the standard photographic accessories and covers tools such as lensballs, prisms, and more!
Two more photo critiques
As always, thanks so much to everyone who sent photos for critique! This week, I have another two critiques to share - enjoy!
(Also, for anyone who would like to submit images for critique in a
future newsletter, just hit Reply to this message and send along a file or two! But make sure you mention that the images are indeed for critique in the email body or subject line, and please make sure the files are JPEGs and at least 1000 pixels on the long end!)
First, a misty landscape from Chris K:
What I like:
- Chris, you’ve captured such
a serene moment here; I love how the mist is rising off the water, and I like that you photographed when the trees are partially - but not completely - visible in the background. The distant outlines add interest but don’t take away from the peaceful feeling.
- I’m liking the simplicity of the color palette. You have the yellow mist surrounded by the blue sky and blue water. And the green vegetation provides a nice accent color, while the warmer tones of the boat and dock pair nicely with
the mist.
- Overall, I think you made some great compositional choices. I like how you included the boat and dock in the foreground; they provide an initial resting point for the viewer’s eye, and subtly guide the viewer toward the background. While the dock and boat do point more toward the back right of the frame, the chair, the slats on the dock, and the distant trees all keep the viewer moving toward the sun in the background, which is nice.
- Additionally, I like that you
left plenty of breathing room between the boat and the mist; it makes the composition feel more relaxed.
- That morning light is absolutely gorgeous - and I like how you’ve angled your camera so that the viewer can appreciate the kiss of the light on the side of the boat.
Ideas for improvement:
- Part of me likes the way you’ve included the vegetation on the left-hand side of the image, as it
creates a framing effect and counterbalances the boat and dock, which are very close to the right-hand side of the shot. On the other hand, there’s a lot of texture and detail in that vegetation, and it arguably takes away from the more peaceful rhythm created by the simpler elements of your composition. The edge of the vegetation also almost touches the halo around the sun, which is a bit close for my liking. One option would be to reframe to cut out the vegetation entirely, though you’d
probably also want to bring the boat and dock away from the right-hand edge somewhat in order to maintain a sense of balance…
- Another option might be to move to your left so that you include more vegetation (making it feel less cut off and intrusive) and so that the vegetation covers the sun. The sun looks very blown out, which takes away from the overall effect, so I think it could be a good idea to remove it from the composition regardless.
- I’m also noticing that the sky
is relatively empty, whereas the boat, mist, and distant trees offer a lot of interest. If you were to go closer and angle your camera downward, you could cut out more of the sky and emphasize the boat in the foreground.
- There does seem to be a fair amount of grain/noise in the scene, which is especially noticeable in the water on the back right - you might be able to improve this in post-processing or by reshooting with a lower ISO.
- One more thought: I do love the colors
in this shot, but I think it could also look great in black and white - the mist, the light-dark contrast, and the calm water would be beautiful in monochrome.
Second, a close-up flower photo from John T:
What I like:
- You’ve done a really nice job of isolating the flower here, John. While it looks like the background was somewhat busy, the
shallower depth of field ensures that the background flowers and vegetation turn into a non-distracting blur! There’s also a nice separation between the subject and the background, which helps keep things non-distracting…
- I like how you’ve angled the camera so that you’re nearly on a level with the flower - it makes the image feel more intimate - but you’ve also gone slightly higher to better show off the flower center.
- Relatedly, you’ve chosen to shoot in the area where
one petal is bent downward, which gives a perfect window into the flower center. And I also like the way the front petal points downward, which creates a sense of visual movement and reflects the petal pointing upward in the back.
- The colors here are lovely - on my monitor, they’re saturated but not too saturated, and the yellow center pops just the right amount.
- Also, I’m a fan of how you chose to position the flower within the frame. Since the flower
leans slightly to the left, a rule-of-thirds composition works great - the stem is roughly along a rule-of-thirds gridline and keeps the eye moving toward the main subject, while the flower itself is positioned at a rule-of-thirds power point that gives some breathing room on the left.
Ideas for improvement:
- I’m noticing some haloing in the center of the flower (around the anthers). Also, to my eye,
that whole center area looks unnaturally crisp; I love the detail there, but I’d back down on the sharpening a bit.
- A minor compositional nit: I think the background is very nice overall, but its uniformity is broken by the dark area on the upper right-hand side (where the petal extends) as well as the increased darkness/messiness in the bottom left-hand corner. I also think that the stem in the bottom right-hand corner is a tad distracting. As I said, these are relatively minor, but
they’re just items to keep in mind in the future!
- I don’t mind if the edges of the flower are slightly out of focus, but since they take up a large portion of the frame, I do wish that the front petal and flower stem were in focus. While I love shallow depth of field effects, since the center and back of the flower are so crisp, it would be fantastic if all these key elements (roughly) matched in terms of their sharpness.
Well, that’s it for now, but I hope you have a wonderful week ahead!
Talk to you next Saturday,
Jaymes Dempsey (and the dPS team)