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Photo Answers
Turning 50
Q
I bought a second-
hand 50mm lens
on a whim. The focal
length is already covered by
my 18-70mm zoom, so how
should I use the 50mm to
get shots that are different?
Don NolandA
Your purchase on a whim may
turn out to be the best thing
you ever did, Dan, as you can
use it to start getting more
creative with your photography. A 50mm
is a gateway to discovering the joys of
limited-depth-of-field photography.
While your 50mm has a fixed focal length
so perhaps doesn’t feel as flexible as your
18-70mm, its fast maximum aperture
means that it has lots of great advantages.
For a start, it’s useful in low light, because
you can open up the aperture to let more
light in; rather than needing higher ISOs,
which might introduce more digital noise,
you can keep the ISO setting down.
On your Nikon D300S, the 50mm focal
length is effectively 75mm due to the
camera’s crop factor of 1.5x. That’s a good
focal length for portraits; coupled with
the wide apertures you typically getwith a 50mm, you are going to get a lens
that gives you exactly what you need
for great shots of people.
To get the best from your prime lens,
you need to start taking control of your
settings. I recommend you switch to
Aperture Priority, where you choose
the aperture and the camera selects
the corresponding shutter speed. Take
a few portraits of friends and family with
the aperture at its maximum, which will
probably be f/1.8 or f/1.4. Make sure you
focus carefully on the eyes, so they are the
sharpest point in the frame, and you’ll see
some lovely diffusion in the background.
This doesn’t mean that your 50mm –
effectively 75mm on your D300S – is
only good for portraits. You can use it
for anything – and as you get the hang
of the different effects you can get by
changing aperture, you’ll wonder how
you ever managed without it.Grid it
Q
How do I create a
grid of images in
Photoshop so I can
display a set of images?
Paul EntwhistleA
Open a new document the size
you want, and go to View > New
Guide Layout. In the resulting
dialog box, you can create a
layout by selecting the number of columns
and rows. For example, three columns
and four rows (with a small gutter between
each image) will give you spaces for 12
rectangular images on an A4 document.
Select the Frame Tool (press K) and
draw a frame into each image area.
To place images, click on each frame
and go to File > Place Embedded, then
select the image you want. Repeat until
all the frame holders are filled.The wider aperture typically offered in
a prime lens unlocks a range of creative
options you can use in your photos.Import a Preset
Q
Can I apply a Preset
I’ve created in
Lightroom Classic
when I import my images,
so the look is automatically
added in before I do
anything else?
Saul GreenA
This is really easy to set up,
Saul. First, create and name
your Preset so it’s visible in
the User Presets area of the
Presets Tab, on the left of the screen in the
Develop Module. Highlight it, then right-
click to open the dropdown menu. Select
the option called Apply On Import.
When done, the Preset’s name will have
a small + symbol added on the end.
Now, whenever you import images into
Lightroom, this Preset will show in the
Apply During Import Panel, and will be
automatically applied to whatever you
are importing to the Lightroom library.Apply On ImportApply During ImportCreating a grid is a great way to showcase
images from a successful photoshoot.