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Higher ratio (~7:1)
sebastian.yepes.in

Guess what…I hate it too!

As a photographer, sooner or later someone is going to use the term “lighting ratio” with you in a conversation. Many hobbiests don’t even know what this term means. In fact, many seasoned photographers still don’t have much of a grasp of what a lighting ratio is.

A lighting ratio is simply the difference in light level between the key (main) light and the fill light. Lighting ratios really only take into account two lights: the key light and the fill light. Any other lights you use in the image are simply accent lights that aren’t taken into account.

Here’s the simple formula:

Power output of first light divided by the second light times 1.695. That's it! So as long as you always keep a calculator in your camera bag, you're all set.

Now if you’re still with me, just forget that last paragraph of horse poo.

Are you one of those photographers who has that one image that just completely defines you? The image you’re completely proud of and would die if anything ever happened to it? Sure, other images in your portfolio are great, but this one is special.

A great way to show off that photo is with a canvas gallery wrap. If you’ve never heard of these, here’s your chance to check out a great product. A gallery wrap is simply a photograph printed on canvas, then wrapped around a wooden frame. But rather than having the image stop at the edges like traditional canvas, the image wraps around the top, bottom, and sides and the staples are in the back.

When you display these, no frame is necessary, in fact you’d ruin the effect. Gallery wraps are a high class display that stand wonderfully all on their own.

Some of the coolest photography articles from around the web this week. Get ‘em while they’re hot!

• Digital Photography School breaks all the rules with “Experiment with Different Framings with Portraits“
• Photography Tip tells you the “Best Apertures for Sharpness“
• Strobist strikes near and dear to my portrait heart with “Using Specular Reflections as a Background Element“
• If you read the recent article here on Ethics and Best Practices in Photo Retouching, you’ll likely enjoy “Hollywood Glamour, Contemporary Style” from The Online Photographer. The article takes you to a professional photo retoucher that has an amazing collection of before and after shots of retouched celebrity photos.

Last Wednesday I put up a poll here on Sublime Light asking readers what kind of experience they have shooting portraits. This was my attempt to get to know you all a little bit better and determine what direction Sublime Light should go in the near future.

I’m happy to see that as of now, 93 people responded to the poll (though this is clearly far short of the 10,000 visitors since Wednesday). I have to admit, the results were a little different than I expected. I don’t really know what I expected to be honest. This site has grown in traffic so quickly I’m reeling to grasp what readers are really into.

The Results

• 43% of readers say they get by, but really want to know more.
• 27% say they’re serious photo freaks, but not quite at the pro level.
• 20% say they’re complete noobs, with the whole world of photography in front of them.
• Finally, only 10% of responders said they’re pros.

I’d say it’s pretty clear to me that I should keep the majority of the content aimed at the hobby photographer crowd. Most of the pro shooters must be spending their time some place else, at least until this site gets bigger.

Think I should make a different plan? What direction do you want to see Sublime Light go? Let me know in a comment and rest assured I read each and every one.

And if you haven’t responded to the poll yet, here it is again. Help me get better intel and cast your vote!

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We take a lot of pictures with our son, and he has really great skin color. The problem is, when my wife and I are in pictures with him, we always come out looking sunburned while he looks great. Luckily, there’s a quick and easy fix in Photoshop that just gets quicker with a little practice.

You can use this technique in all sorts of ways, but one of the most useful I’ve found is for correcting the skin tone of a portrait subject. For example, you can count on someone getting themselves actually sunburned while everyone else looks fine at least once in your photography days. Here’s how to fix it.

Step 1 – Create a Color Balance adjustment layer. After opening the file in Photoshop, go down to the layers palette and click the icon that’s a half black, half white circle. This pops up a menu for adjustment layers. Choose “Color Balance…”.