tips from the top floor

It’s the end of the second day of the 2010 Toronto Urban Photography Workshop, the group is having a blast (and a slice of pizza) and we’re about to leave to the roof of the building to take some spectacular night skyline pictures. Chris is joined live on this episode by Toronto photographer Sean Galbraith, Monika [...]

Chris says he takes pictures with the purpose of deleting them later. Often, he just does it to practice his style and shooting much like an athlete who practices his sport. This frees up Chris to experiment, make mistakes and try things he wouldn’t normally try when wanting to take a “keeper.” Then, when it [...]

This show was recorded via video chat before a live online audience, my guest is Ibarionex Perello of The Candid Frame. Among other things we discuss what triggers a photographer select a photo (or not select one) and some tea leaf reading around Photokina 2010. » Download the MP3 for this episode Show Links: Join the Live Chat [...]

This week’s subject is SCALE, and it’s hard to do with landscape photography. Some think that if it’s big, the more wide angle the better. But that’s contrary to what you really should do. Wide Angle distorts things making things that are close look closer and far things look even further away. The real key [...]

But how do you approach them? Leo says he’s too shy to go up and ask, especially when in another country. Chris says that asking is not only the nice thing to do, but also the legal thing to do. The easiest way is to signal and use gestures that explain what you are wanting [...]

Salton Seas Relentless Time is the first one. A time lapse shot which shows the stars moving along the night sky while an old, rusty trailer continues vigil. Leo also says the sepia color adds to the aged concept of the trailer. Well done. Unwanted, from Badokun, is a good shot of “junk,” that has been [...]

It’s an Autobahn show again! Chris is in the middle of finishing up workshops and preparing for new ones, coming up next: Dresden, Germany and Toronto, Canada. Latest news on the broken hard drive issue: everything is back to normal. Don’t forget to back up your photos! Today’s photo questions are about JPG vs. RAW [...]

Chris is back from Mount Everest and is here to talk about his trip and the high climbing photography he did. Chris says that Everest was wonderful. Physically exhausting, but refreshing to the soul. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - [...]

Chris wants to talk about the difference between flash times on a DSLR. A DSLR has a mirror that shows the image in the viewfinder and when you press the shutter, the mirror swings out of the way. There’s also a curtain which also flips up to clear the way for the light be cast [...]

Warning, extended format today - you might want to walk an extra round with the dog, iron some more clothes or drive a few additional times around the block. Chris reports on his recent US workshop tour, he’s be-mourning the crashed (and not backed up) hard drive in his MacBook Pro and Chris shares a few [...]

Chris is preparing to go back to Mount Everest for more high climbing photography. Leo’s Canon 5D Mk II got a firmware upgrade that allows for 24p recording. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - [...]

The first one is from Pixel Pusher and is called Spring. A very colorful shot of two ladybugs getting “randy.” Secondly, Mat Frazier’s Handoff. Lastly, “Planting Seeds” by Laura Joquist. Showing planting, which is always done in the Spring. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - [...]

First, always try and shoot images that are candid. Natural shots of people being themselves and don’t realize their being photographed. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - The Tech Guy » The TWiT netcast network » Tech [...]

A true macro is where the image is as big as the picture itself. With DSLRs, you can get a dedicated macro lens which gives you a LOT of depth of field, whereas shooting on a point and shoot macro setting gives you very little depth of field. There is a technique for Macro photography lovers [...]

Let’s try to find out how important that new lens really is. Chris talks about some of the behind-the-scenes things around PocketChris. Also, Chris will speak about his work at the San Francisco Apple store on Jul/26 at 6:30pm. The Trek Shirt Contest is over! The winning entries are: Adventure - it’s round Triptych from a Snowy Day Baja2005triptych001 Congratulations!! » [...]

Chris wants to talk about getting your colors right today. When you shoot images where color is important - like flowers - or if you don’t get the skin tone right, you need to balance out the white balance to get it right. It’s all about color temperature. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - [...]

How curious are you? Do you try out things? Put them to the test? Do you put one and one together and apply the results to photography? Also: Chris releases PocketChris, an interactive photography book in the form of a FREE iPhone app that lets you put things to the test and learn by experiencing [...]

Chris Marquardt joins us to talk about old school, analog photography. When did you shoot your last roll of film? The great impact of digital photography is that you take a lot more images and you have greater control of managing the image (called the digital darkroom). And because you’re taking more images and you [...]

kasperhor’s Shadow Heart - using a ring and a book, and showing shadow to reveal a heart. Bear Heart, uses an affect to create heart shaped lights floating thanks to a trick of the aperture and a tiny heart shaped hole. Our next assignment - “Spring” and “no flowers”. Take some shots and upload to flickr. Tag [...]

Chris talks about how to shoot from a helicopter without getting camera shake. Learn what a backside illuminated (or back-lit) camera sensor is. The Trek Shirt contest is over, winners will be announced next week. Introduce your camera club here on Tips from the Top Floor! Ask your question on the show! » Download the MP3 [...]

How to get through all the pictures you have, save the images you want. Chris marks bad images he wants to toss. Images that are out of focus, pointing to the floor, etc. Just blaze through them. It’s like photo triage looking for the obvious junk. Second pass, give your images ratings based on a [...]

Chris talks about the right moment, the inner impulse and how you can learn to listen more to your trigger finger and less to your inner critic. On the tech side he discusses Lightroom camera profiles and how they influence the image. » Download the MP3 for this episode Show Links: Chris’ blog Trek shirt contest [...]

Have you ever been asked to shoot a party, wedding, or some other event? Chris recommends going to the event area ahead of time to get the lay of the land, know where the light is falling at the time of the event, pre-do your light balance. Talk to the people to ask what they [...]

Chris is on the Autobahn on his way to Berlin in preparations for a photography weekend. » Download the MP3 for this episode Show Links: The Impossible Project Link 2 » Get the show for free in iTunes » Get the show for free using RSS

Macro is where you make small things really big. Closeup photography. Leo LOVES Macro photography. Point and shoot cameras have macro modes, but DSLRs really need a specialized Macro lens to get the best results. Chris likes the 100mm Macro lens so he can maintain a distance and still get closeup results. Show Links: » Leo Laporte [...]

[See post to watch Flash video] Watch in high quality (right click to save) Here is a look at Everest Trek 2010 - The Highest Photography Workshop In The World. This video will give you a preview on what is about to come, enjoy! Show Links: Everest Trek 2010 The Marquardt Scale explained » Get the show for free in iTunes » [...]

Our first photographer, MSCCOMP created this fun one. Note how you get all the directions of light showing at once. It’s gives a lot of texture, but you also see the cause and effect of the light coming from the window. Next comes this one from PGERHARDT62. Leo says it has some extreme depth of field. [...]

Chris talks about the Everest Trek experience, on how to manage without electricity for 10 days, on shooting video with the 5DMk2 and the Kodak zi8, and handling 150GB of image storage while hiking at almost 18,000ft elevation. Show Links: Everest Trek 2010 teaser video in 720p HD 6:30am - picture by Chris Everest Trek 2010 pictures on flickr Chris’ [...]

To start the New Year off right, we’re talking about what to do with all the photos you took last year? Managing pictures is important and there’s a workflow you can follow. Beyond the conventional folder system, which can make it fairly hard to find over time. Chris recommends Apple Aperture for the Mac or [...]

Chris Marquardt is back and talking about cold weather photography. Chris says that wintertime usually means it gets darker earlier. Don’t be afraid of higher ISOs. Also, the cold weather means the batteries will die faster. Lastly, shooting snow, means a lot of white snow which the camera will muddy your image making it “gray.” Show [...]

Chris returns to talk about the Ricoh GXR, which takes camera design modular and includes the processing sensor with the lens so you can swap it out as you change the lens. Intriguing. Leo says it makes sense because sometimes lenses aren’t entirely matched with the sensor in the camera. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - [...]

If you find yourself shooting the same stuff, and you’re in a rut, there’s a few things you can do. Collect shapes. Simple colors. Or shoot all day with a theme. Find things in other things. Shoot images with A-Z in mind and make a photobook out of it. Lastly, try taking three different images [...]

Chris is finally able to check in from the 2010 Everest Trek. Check out the first Everest Trek 2010 Update. » Download the MP3 for this episode Show Links: Everest Trek 2010 - LIVE coverage » Get the show for free in iTunes » Get the show for free using RSS

Photo composition and taking pictures of food. Chris says that photos getting out of today’s cameras are at 2×3? these days, but in the real old days, photographs used to be round! The Kodak Box cameras (Brownies) had round pictures. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - The Tech [...]

[See post to watch Flash video] Watch in high quality (right click to save) How to shoot photographs in fog. Win one of only 15 hand-embroidered t-shirts right from Kathmandu! The rules: Build a triptych that shows your personal interpretation of ADVENTURE (you can use Mosaic Maker to create it) Upload the file to the Trek Shirt Flickr group Add your preferred [...]

The first one that caught Chris’ eye is WAITING OR A LICK. Great example of Depth of field. And a title that tells a story. Iron Photographer. Three ingredients: natural light, something round, and texture. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - The Tech Guy » The TWiT netcast network » Tech Guy [...]

Halloween is coming and Chris has a cool gadget to use with your camera for Halloween … the Lens Baby! Chris wants to talk about “Tilt Shift” photography. Leo says there’s also an iPhone app called “Tilt Shift Gen” that does tilt shift on the iPhone camera. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - [...]

In this last episode before the Everest Trek 2010 we’ll look at the difference between different size panoramas and wide angle lenses, we’ll find out what’s better on a crop camera, 35mm or 50mm, and I’ve got some tips regarding low-light action sports photography. Download the MP3 for this episode Show Links: Everest Trek 2010 - LIVE coverage Focus [...]

Chris joins us to talk about Canon’s new 7D DSLR. And no, it doesn’t replace the 5D. In fact, it isn’t full frame like the 5D. It’s more an upgrade to the 50D. Don’t forget our assignment … PRESSURE. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - The Tech Guy » The TWiT netcast [...]

[See post to watch Flash video] Watch in high quality (right click to save) Win one of only 15 hand-embroidered t-shirts right from Kathmandu! The rules: Build a triptych that shows your personal interpretation of ADVENTURE (you can use Mosaic Maker to create it) Upload the file to the Trek Shirt Flickr group Add your preferred size in the description of [...]

Today, Chris is talking about a small button on your Camera that can help Depth of Field. Depth of field is the area in your image that is in focus. Shallow depth of field is a small, shallow area in focus, while landscapes tend to have rather wide depths of field. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - [...]

[See post to watch Flash video] Watch in high quality (right click to save) In this episode Chris and John Arnold talk about post processing your images and John shows you how to do it in Lightroom. Show Links: The 2010 workshops are here! Photowalkthrough with John Arnold » Get the show for free in iTunes » Get the [...]

The 5D Mark II firmware update just got an update, Lightroom 3 Beta 2 is out, do the Nikon D200 and D300 lock? And a few thoughts about HDR photography. » Download the MP3 for this episode Show Links: Kupilka Products Ask your question on the show Suggest a workshop for 2011 All about the workshops » Get the show for free [...]

Today, we’re taking a look at some of the pictures taken with this month’s assignment: ALTITUDE. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - The Tech Guy » The TWiT netcast network » Tech Guy flickr group » Download the MP3 for this episode » Get the show for free in iTunes » Get the show [...]

[See post to watch Flash video] Watch in high quality (right click to save) In this episode Chris and John Arnold talk about post processing your images and John shows you how to do it in Lightroom. Show Links: The 2010 workshops are here! Photowalkthrough with John Arnold » Get the show for free in iTunes » Get the show [...]

New 5D Mark II firmware 2.0.3 - what it is and what it isn’t. Are we going to rename the Brooklyn Cookin’ workshop into Base-camp Cookin’? Learn about good criteria to select your images by, and how to convert a regular lens to a macro lens if you’re on a budget. » Download the MP3 for [...]

Chris wants to talk about Geotagging. Leo brought a geotagger to China which automatically logs as you go. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - The Tech Guy » The TWiT netcast network » Tech Guy flickr group » Download the MP3 for this episode » Get the show for free in iTunes » Get the show [...]

[See post to watch Flash video] Watch in high quality (right click to save) How do you carry your camera in an exciting environment like the Himalayas where you want to be ready to shoot? Around your neck? Hanging off the backpack? Slung over your shoulder? Let’s talk to some of the trek participants and find out [...]

Most people seem to prefer 8 GB memory cards right now. Find out why Chris bought another ten 4GB cards, why a 50mm prime lens is a good idea even if you have a zoom lens that covers that focal length, how to carry your camera on a trek, more tips on portrait photography, why [...]

What do you do when your nice, expensive lens gets scratched?! Getting a 1A Skylight filter to protect your lens isn’t that great an idea. Anything in the light path will add reflections. The question you need to ask is, does a scratch really impact your photos? Show Links: » Leo Laporte - The Tech [...]

[See post to watch Flash video] Watch in high quality (right click to save) In this episode Chris and John Arnold talk about post processing your images and John shows you how to do it in Lightroom. Show Links: The 2010 workshops are here! Photowalkthrough with John Arnold » Get the show for free in iTunes » Get the show for [...]

Journalistic photography vs. art photography, the Canon 5D Mark II will get a new firmware soon, backup strategies for your images, focusing video with a DSLR, and how to tackle the photo backlog. » Download the MP3 for this episode Show Links: The Canon 5D Mark II firmware update World Press Photo disqualifies winner. Articles: petapixel.com New York Times blog Ask your [...]

Today, we’re talking about “foreground,” and “background” composition. It’s one of the key concepts when taking pictures and it’s very easy to get it wrong, even for professionals like Chris. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - The Tech Guy » The TWiT netcast network » Tech Guy flickr group » Download the MP3 for this episode » Get the [...]

[See post to watch Flash video] Watch in high quality (right click to save) Let’s have a look at some of the not so photographic gear that we had some issues with: the satellite phone and the satellite modem. Show Links: Join the Everest Trek and come with us to the Himalayas! The Rest of Everest video podcast The [...]

The dreaded CHA error on older Nikon D70s and what do to about it. What are your thoughts about extended warranties? Ever used a ROES? And some tips around macro photography. Community exercise: What are your experiences with online printing services in the US? Any ones that you love? Did you have disappointing experiences with any [...]

Leo’s calling out to Chris for help of what to pack for his trip to China. Leo’s bringing along his Canon 5D Mk. II for this once in a lifetime trip. Will he be with photographers? Only amateurs. How much can he comfortably carry all day? Leo has a backpack and the LowePro Slingshot. But [...]

What to do when you have too much light. Use a short shutter speed. Although, that tends to lead to “frozen” moments. The other thing you can do is make the aperture really small (called “stopping down”). The downside of that is everything is in focus - even the background. Show Links: » Leo Laporte - The [...]