Category Archives: Photography Tips

Object removal made easy!

Sometimes, when you take a photo, you see objects or imperfections you want to have removed easily and quickly. Maybe you have a beach photo and want to remove an unsightly person or object, you broke up with your ex and want him/her removed from the photo. Most if not all photo editing software tools have the healing option that comes as standard. But what if you don’t have any of these sometimes expensive photo editing programs/apps? What options do you have? I came across an online photo editor years ago, but have not used all the options to date, until the developer of this tool introduced me to their Smart Object Removal tool. At first, I thought it would be one of the healing tools that basically replace one area of your image with another area of your photo. This doesn’t work all the times as the area you want to match doesn’t fit into the area you want to remove.

This article shows you on how to remove objects easily using the ‘Smart Object Removal’ option in Lunapic. A few weeks ago I took a photo of a street sign at a local Antique store and did not pay attention to the price tag attached to the object. I didn’t care too much about it, but thought: “Well, this might be a perfect image to try out how ‘smart’ this Object Removal tool is”

Here we go:

Visit the Lunapic website and upload your image. Select ‘Edit -> Smart Object Removal’ and with your mouse or finger (if you use a tablet, smart phone), select the area you would like to have removed – click the ‘Remove’ option to have it removed completely.

After the removal, the object is gone and you don’t notice anything that would suggest, that there was something there. A picture perfect result. You can then save the image in many formats, such as PNG, GIF, JPG and more and can also define the size of your image. These options will be outlined in a future post.

Below, the ‘before and after’ results side by side. Now you can easily remove watermarks, objects, people and other imperfections from your photos with a few mouse clicks.

 

 

Imagery Theft on Social Media

Being on social media and publishing and sharing your work  helps to get you noticed and sometimes become famous. Having a lot of followers with lots of likes and sharing your images makes you feel good. However, there is also a downside sharing your work. It doesn’t matter if you put a watermark as there are people with bad intentions out there. I came across an issue where a photographer started a discussion on sharing photos without giving credit to the photographer on Twitter. The perpetrator in question not only misappropriated images, but also  cropped photos so that AI Image search services would not find the photos and also removed watermarks. After doing a deep dive into this, I noticed that the Twitter profile in question stole many photos, telling these were all the thief’s own photos, taken in Vancouver, Canada. The problem was, that some of the birds probably don’t even exist in Canada (one photo apparently taken in Canada was actually taken in Scotland by a well known Wildlife photographer. You cannot make this s#it up!

In this particular case, someone wanted to cause damage to a photographer by impersonating them. This is a very bad thing to do. I am not sure if the perpetrator was identified and caught, but as you can see, we live in a clown world today.

Once you call the individuals out, they will most likely block you and continue their shenanigans with the same account or setup another social media account. Oftentimes they also use the name of well established photographers and impersonate them. They may even want to defraud innocent people into buying the stolen photos to make a quick buck or two. Never purchase anything from unknown people until you did a thorough background check and also talked with the artist personally over the phone (Zoom / Google meet).

Fortunately, you are not alone and your fellow photographers will most likely give you a heads up if they see your work being ‘stolen’ by others. You may be able to hire a lawyer and submit a Cease and Desist Letter to the person committing a Copyright Infringement, but with Twitter allowing anonymous accounts, may be difficult and costly to do. Probably best to report the infringement to the Social Media operator and have the account committing the Copyright infringement terminated. The perpetrators will most likely setup another account and start the scheme all over again.

One thing you can do is to be vigilant and use tools like images.google.com and/or TinEye.com To be honest, TinEye doesn’t work great for me and I had more luck finding copyright infringement cases via images.google.com

I hope this article was somehow helpful and gives you some insight on the issues that can arise when you upload your photos on social media. In some cases, your photos can be used for nefarious causes and get you into troubles as you are the copyright owner of the photo, especially if you share photos with recognizable people and/or property. Just be vigilant and careful with what you share. For covering you from a legal side, you can see if the “Contracts & Forms Bundle for Photographers” works for you. (sponsored link).

Fortunately, this episode had a happy ending as of the writing of this article, the account of the perpetrator has been deleted.

 

 

 

In addition to my 5 cents, you can read the below article found on contrastly.

Here is a detailed article talking about this topic:

 

 

Getting Rid Of Sensor Dust Once And For All

What is sensor dust? It is dust that settles on your camera’s sensor. Your sensor can get dust on it when you’re changing lenses or anytime your camera’s insides are exposed to air. Sometimes even new cameras have sensor dust!

If you’ve ever seen those tiny spots in your pictures, usually noticeable on blue sky, you’ve seen sensor dust. You know it can be quite annoying and distracting and can ruin good pictures.

I have personally used the “Altura Photo Professional Full Frame Sensor Cleaning Kit – Camera Cleaning Kit for FF DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras – w/Sensor Cleaning Swabs & Case, Works as Camera Lens Cleaning Kit, Sensor Cleaner ” and have obtained excellent results (Product link by Amazon.com). It comes with all the sensor swabs etc. you need. Just make sure you order the kit that fits your DSLR Sensor size!

 

Why is sensor dust bad?

Sensor dust is not something you want in your camera. Like I mentioned above, it can ruin your images. You can Photoshop it out, but this is incredibly monotonous and time-consuming.

If dust stays on your sensor, it can become thicker, more noticeable, and harder to remove. If you notice sensor dust in your camera you should get rid of it as soon as possible.

Read more:

RETRAIN Your Photography Brain with 3 PRO Tips

If you’re a Shutterbug regular you’ve undoubtedly heard us stress the importance of “trying something different” when you find yourself in a creative rut. Doing so will expand your vision, improve your skills, and increase your enjoyment of photography.

One of our favorite outdoor photographers expounds on this topic in the tutorial below by illustrating three pro skills he says will “take your photography to the next level.” This episode from Canadian pro Simon d’Entremont isn’t about camera settings and other technical matters, but rather involves “disrupting what you’re doing and putting you in a whole new headspace.”

Read more on Shutterbug:

 

 

Photography Contracts Bundle

Many peer photographers asked me if I could provide them with some guidance on contracts every photographer needs at some point in time, especially when it comes to photograph people. I have found a Forms Bundle for Photographers that might just be what you were looking for.

Running a full-time photography business is tough. Being the creative head, photographer, editor, and marketer yourself, photography contracts & forms take a backseat. You definitely don’t have the time to create them yourself. And hiring a lawyer to do it for you is expensive.

Is it then wise to proceed without a contract? No way!

You are literally putting yourself out there without a security blanket. Everyone wants to work with good clients. It’s hard to imagine that sweet couple you photographed at their wedding taking advantage of you.

But the truth is that any client [even friends and family] will look out for their own interests!

From copyright disputes, payment issues, and unrealistic expectations, a lot can go wrong. Not to mention you also need to set your terms and conditions.

Result? misunderstandings, fights, delayed payments, and eventually loss of a client. Sounds incredibly ugly, doesn’t it? This is where photography contracts and forms come into play.

Contracts not only sustain your clients but also helps you gain new ones.