Lens Cap Tutorials

My name is Kristen and I love teaching others about photography and DSLR filmmaking. I believe that art starts with a passion, that visual media is invaluable in today's society, and that good work takes practice. I'm here to help you grow in your photo-takin' skills and develop as an artist (pun totally intended). Visit my main site to see my work and read more: www.goldenhopestudios.com

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"Home" by Sarah McCullough

Something I conquered

My grandma passed away recently and going to her house has been sort of difficult. We used to always run around on those fields and it was nice to capture a picture of the open space with snow because winter was her favorite. And it was nice to go there and finally be at peace with the situation. I took this on my iPhone and edited it with the VSCO app (because i noticed you used it  and wanted to try it out). my biggest challenge was taking the picture because i jumped around and took bursts of pictures to avoid being attacked by the many deer crowding around me (luckily not in the picture.)

Sarah, thank you so, so much for taking the time to submit a photo to this photo challenge! I really appreciate it. :)

Before I say anything about your photo, I want to make sure to say how impressed I am by your choice of subject matter. You chose something that was immensely important to you. You really made this challenge your own... Your photo is unique, inspiring, personal, and thought-provoking. Although I don't know you personally, I just want to commend you on your bravery. I know this was probably hard for you, but you were brave and decided it was worth more than your fear. And that benefitted your photo greatly. 

Your photo... Gah. It's beautiful. I really love it. I love that you used the Rule of Thirds to align your composition. The horizon line at the top of the frame drew my eyes upwards towards the house. I immediately felt a connection to it and began to wonder about who lived there and what their story was. 

I also love the use of negative space on the bottom of your photo (all the snow). Snow has a way of making a person feel new, whole, refreshed, and peaceful. And perhaps it symbolizes something for you too. Your grandma did love winter. 

I love that you used your phone to capture this image and used the VSCO app. Isn't it fun? When we realize we have a portable camera with us in our pockets, we can capture special moments as they happen. I'm glad you were able to do that.

How funny about about the deer! If that had happened to me I would be paralyzed with fear! I would have no idea what to do! Haha! I'm glad you survived!

Sarah, it was such a blessing to see this photo today. Your courage not only helped you to take this photograph, but it shone through your photograph as well. It made this photo so special and it impacted me personally. 

Your photograph is phenomenal. I am so proud of you. Well done.

-Kristen

Hey guys, school is a little busy for me this week so we will continue our next Weekly Photo Challenge on February 17th. Thank you for your patience!

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My picture is most definitely going to be late because in going somewhere tomorrow that relates really well to the topic.

Hey friend! Thanks for letting me know! I have had no submissions this week, so I would absolutely LOVE to see yours. Please drop it by soon! :)

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Weekly Photo Challenge - Week of February 4 - February 10

Happy Tuesday, photographers! You may have noticed there wasn't a new photo challenge released on Monday. Sorry for that!

So here's the official theme for the week:

SOMETHING YOU CONQUERED.

We had one submission from Traci last week (check out our page to see her amazing photo), but we didn’t have any other submissions. I hope we start getting some more! Please take some time to submit and learn with us. I’ll leave you this message that I gave to Lens Cap followers last week:

Please don’t be shy or nervous if that’s holding you back! I promise I’ll be kind in my feedback for your photos. 

If you struggle with knowing what to shoot or getting inspiration to shoot, the best way to combat that weird “don’t want to do anything” feeling is to—drumroll please—actually get out there and shoot. Didn’t get that perfect shot on Tuesday? Try again on Wednesday. The more you practice, the more you learn. The more you learn, the closer you are to finding your shooting style.

Practice is important, guys. 

And if your main issue is time… Let me ask you one question. How many hours did you spend on Facebook or Tumblr today? Yeah. That’s what I thought. 

Please get out there and keep shooting to improve your craft! It’s really important. 

For this challenge, please take a photo that represents something you conquered. Again, the cool thing about the past few challenges is that they are so open-ended and the meaning is unique to each person. 

There are no wrong answers and no bad photos. 

Please submit your photo here (less than 10 MB please) and write a short caption for it. Your caption should include:

"Title of Image" by First Name (and Last Name if you’re comfortable)

Explain your photo concept and what it means to you

Tell us about any difficulties you had while taking the photo

Any questions you’d like to ask me

PHOTOS DUE BY MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10TH AT 9:59AM (one minute before the next challenge goes out). 

To participate in this photo challenge, please follow these rules:

Follow Lens Cap Tutorials on Tumblr. 

Submit here and follow the terms of submission.

You are allowed to edit your images using your favorite photo editor (like Lightroom, PhotoShop, Adobe Bridge, online editors, etc.). 

Please choose ONE photo to submit so that others’ work can be seen, too. 

Reblog, tweet, and share the photo challenge with friends so more people can join the fun!

If you submit a photo challenge idea to the ask box, it will be added to the Jar of Awesome (the weekly photo challenge randomizer). Don’t be sad if your idea doesn’t get pulled! There are tons of ideas in there already and only one of them goes out a week. It could take some time.

Guidelines subject to change by Lens Cap Tutorials. 

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"I've Always Had A Thing For Dandelions", by Traci Hazzard

First I want to say that I hate long titles, but I didn't feel like being creative, and the title is true. I have always had a thing for dandelions, and that is why I chose to submit this photo for little things. When I see them, they just made me smile. I love blowing them in the wind and watching the little seeds (or whatever they're called) fly away.

On a funny note, I've always loved the scene in A Bug's Life when Flik flies on a dandelion, and if I was that small, that would be the first thing I would do!

Another thing is that dandelions are symbolic for me; when I see them, I think of letting go of things, and there are many things that I have let go of or had to let go of in my life, and things I still need to let go of today. I feel like dandelions, if they had a personality, would be free spirited, and that's how I want to live life. 

I wouldn't say I had difficulties with taking this photo because I've gotten used to laying down on the ground or being in just plain weird positions to get the shot I want. My only thing with this photo is I wish there had been at least one other dandelion close by so that I could focus in on one, and have the other be blurred out in the background. If I would have thought about it then, I would have changed the angle of this shot so that the grass could be seen. 

Hi Traci! Thank you for submitting again! I really appreciate you and your perspective when you shoot. You bring a lot of vision to the table. 

I LOVE this photo. Your focus is tack-sharp and I love the small depth of field you decided to shoot with. I am also a HUGE fan of the rule of thirds, and you accomplished it really well (I may have brought the dandelion a little higher in the frame, but that's it). 

I also love your thoughts about incorporating the grass or more dandelions. That is a great idea. I'd love to see it if you ever shoot it, and think it would make a great photo! 

Thanks for submitting!

Kristen

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i am new with photography and i am just wondering about like lighting and all that kind of stuff !!! how hard is it all to learn?

Hi societyinourhands! Nice to meet you! I went to your page to learn your name and I found that your Tumblr looks pretty new. If you’ve never tumblr-ed before, welcome! If you just started a new blog but have had tumblr for a while, haha… this is awkward! But regardless of that, congrats on your new camera!

While I was on your page, I noticed a photo of a guy and a drum set. I loved that photo! I loved that you chose to focus on the cymbals instead of on the boy’s face. It was a really interesting composition and the light reflecting off the drums was beautiful. Nice incorporation of Christmas lights! That’s an awesome trick to know and you took a risk (that totally paid off) by using them. 

In my opinion, there is no such thing as a bad photo. Sure, we all start somewhere and some photos are not as phenomenal and impactful as others. However, I believe it’s possible for anyone to learn photography as long as they practice.

There are some parts of photography that will be fairly easy to learn (take a look at this post on the Rule of Thirds, this post on Composition, and this post about the differences between cameras for some easy tutorials), but there will also be parts that are harder to learn (like ISO, setting the correct aperture, and using studio lights). Don’t be afraid of the hard stuff… it’ll come in time, after baby steps.

My tutorials start from scratch with beginners in mind, so I think this will help you get off on the right foot. 

I’m so glad you’re getting started with photography and reached out to me! Please know that no question is a silly question, so feel free to ask me anything at any time. 

You’re amazing! Have a wonderful day. :)

Kristen

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DIY + Life Hack | SD Card Stash

There's this fancy thing called an SD Card Case. They come in different sizes and they start around $10. But in this handy, 2-minute DIY, I'm going to show you how to make one for about $1.50. 

It's so simple it may not need a full how-to explanation, but I wanted to make one anyways! Haha. 

Step 1: Go to your local grocery store or gas station. 

Step 2: Purchase an Altoids tin. I have found that the Altoids Smalls tins are the perfect size.

Step 3: At home, take out the mints and give them to your friends. Or, you know, throw them away. 

Step 4: Wash out the tin, make sure it's completely dry, and pop in your cards!

You can easily fit 10 SD cards in here, it's small enough to stash in your pocket, the tin is sturdy and prevents damage (although you should probably not throw it into your swimming pool), and since it looks like a box of mints, it's probably theft deterrent! 

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I've been having some computer problems but I'm trying to submit my picture! Sorry of it doesn't work out, I really want to submit but my stupid computer doesn't like me

Totally understand! I hate when that happens! 

If you really wanna submit a “little thing” photo but your computer is just not letting you get anywhere, feel free to submit it whenever you can—even after Monday. I’d love to see what you shot. :)

You’re great, anon! Thanks for stopping by! :) 

Oh, and one of my mottos from all of my shooting experiences:

Embrace technical difficulties. 

Always expect something to go wrong and be prepared. For example, I carry an extra battery and a few camera cards with me whenever I'm out on a job. You never know when you're going to need them!

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Early spring, 1.31.14 by Kristen Achziger

This photo is of a fence near my school and a tree that's started to blossom early because of the strange California weather we're having. This is my favorite kind of tree because in early spring, (or an early-early Spring, haha) the tiny white blossoms are so delicate and rustle with the faintest sounds. Since they are so delicate, they often fall off the tree and float to the ground or get stuck in your hair. I was taking a photo walk when this "little thing" happened and I just felt so peaceful.

For this photo, I rented a 28mm f/1.8 lens and used it with my Canon 60D (which has a swivel screen). I was getting a lot of shots with a straight on perspective of the fence, but it didn't capture that peaceful feeling quite like I wanted it to. It felt kinda blah. 

So I took about twenty photos of this fence, as I kept moving around and adjusting my angle. Finally, I got this one when I popped open my swivel screen and turned on Live View and shot straight up from the bottom of the fence. I really love how it came out. 

For future shots like this, I want to actually lay on the ground and shoot up. I was in an iffy location (a narrow sidewalk with cyclers everywhere) so I couldn't really do that here, but I would love to get on the ground to shoot. It could make a world of difference. :)

Also, this lens is totally rad. It's on my wishlist. 

Submit your "little things" photos until Monday!

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Hi, I saw a selfie you posted, and I just wanted to say, I think you're really pretty :) I hope you have a wonderful day!

Haha, you're too kind anon! I hope you have a wonderful day too! :) 

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Hello new followers! 

If you're new to photography, already shoot as a hobby, or want to improve your craft, you're in the right place! 

Every week Lens Cap Tutorials puts out a weekly photo challenge (this week's theme is "It's the little things" (you can still submit until Monday), answers any photography questions you have, and puts out photography tutorials for beginners. 

I'm just getting started with this blog and I'm working out the kinks, but for now I just want to say hi!

Nice to meet you!

FAQs:

Ask a question here. No question is a silly question! If I don't have the answer, I'll research it for you.

Submit your photos here. Anyone who takes part in our Weekly Photo Challenges will be featured on the site!

Learn more about me and my dream of teaching teens photography and filmmaking, and producing documentaries here. 

I want to get to know you! In my ask, tell me your name, your general location (be as vague as you want), when you fell in love with photography, and what camera you use or dream of using!

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Ohhhhh shooot!

I am behind on my own photo challenge! Well, kinda.

I actually shot a ton this week--some for work but a lot for personal projects. I've got a lot of files in my Lightroom catalogue. I just need to edit them!

Are any of you ready to submit? I'm stoked to see the "little things" you found this week!

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Can you submit photos from an iPhone or do you have to go through a computer?

Hey anon! 

I didn't know the answer to this question, so I attempted it from my iPhone. I couldn't find a way to submit straight from the iPhone, so you will have to use a computer. 

But feel free to email an iPhone pic to yourself and enter that as a submission! I don't mind if photos come in hi-res or Instagram format. ;) 

Hope that helps!

Kristen

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Mini Lesson: Capturing the Little Things

Hey guys! 

This week's photo challenge theme is "It's the Little Things." This theme is very open-ended and has endless opportunities. All little things are different and personal and unique to their viewer. So in essence, this challenge is really all about you! 

Sometimes it's good to plan photos out in advance. Brilliant photos can be taken that way. But other times, your best image will be captured spontaneously. 

If you struggle with finding inspiration, this challenge is perfect for you. Don't look for it this week... let it happen to you. 

I love noticing the little things throughout my day. When I "see" one happening, I try to capture it right then. Obviously, this may pose a problem when it comes to my camera. I don't always want to carry my gear bag around when I'm not sure what I'll be doing. Of course, I make time for photo walks when I can and intentionally bring my 60D, but you know what I've found really helpful in capturing spontaneous "little-thing" moments?

My iPhone.

I LOVE my iPhone. I LOVE Instagram. 

Think about it. You have a portable camera and powerful editing software... in your pocket. At any moment in time, you can grab your phone and snap a photo or two or three or ten. Well, obviously you should try to keep it to a minimum... Trust me, I had a storage issue with my phone because I had 3,000+ images and never deleted any.

When you're out this week, whip out your phone and photograph the little things you notice that make you smile, inspire you, or teach you something valuable. The inspiration will naturally come to you and you'll be prepared to shoot on the fly. 

Here are a few images from my Insta that I've taken this week and last to show you the kinds of things you can find when you open your eyes to the things around you:

Dusk, 1.30.14 (I looked up, noticed the symmetry of this streetlamp, and took this in 5 seconds!)

Polka dots and cracks in the sidewalk, 1.30.14 (also today, taken on a coffee date with a friend)

Extra soft white, 1.9.14 (I took this shot upside down, into an exterior house lamp)

Just so you guys know, you can totally submit iPhone photos to the Weekly Photo Challenge submission box. I would love to see anything and everything you shoot! 

Good luck!

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Weekly Photo Challenge - Week of January 27-February 3

Hey, photographers! I'm so sorry that I forgot to post this morning. My bad! 

Last week, we had a stunning self portrait submission from Traci. I expected some cute selfies or some really intriguing but vague portraits, but this one blew me out of the water. It was deep and reflective, and I really appreciated the fact that Traci took the time to not only submit, but to come up with a concept that meant a lot to her. Kudos.

Above: Traci's submission. To read her full post, click here.

We didn't have any other submissions. I hope we start getting some more! Please take some time to submit and learn with us. I'll leave you this message that I gave to Lens Cap followers last week:

Please don’t be shy or nervous if that’s holding you back! I promise I’ll be kind in my feedback for your photos. 

If you struggle with knowing what to shoot or getting inspiration to shoot, the best way to combat that weird “don’t want to do anything” feeling is to—drumroll please—actually get out there and shoot. Didn’t get that perfect shot on Tuesday? Try again on Wednesday. The more you practice, the more you learn. The more you learn, the closer you are to finding your shooting style.

Practice is important, guys. 

And if your main issue is time… Let me ask you one question. How many hours did you spend on Facebook or Tumblr today? Yeah. That’s what I thought. 

Please get out there and keep shooting to improve your craft! It’s really important. 

This Week’s Challenge:

IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS

For this challenge, please take a photo of little things. They can be actual, small objects or items of course... but I'm really looking for you to photograph the little things that make life really great. You can get so creative with this one that it's not even funny. :)

Feeling out of ideas? Think about the following questions and you may find some inspiration.

What are you grateful for?

What's your favorite part of each morning?

What do you geek out over?

Who do you love?

What would make your day ridiculously awesome?

What reminds you about who you are when you seem to forget?

What's your favorite way to de-stress?

What do you look forward to on the weekends?

There are no wrong answers and no bad photos. 

Please submit your photo here (less than 10 MB please) and write a short caption for it. Your caption should include:

"Title of Image" by First Name (and Last Name if you’re comfortable)

Explain your photo concept and what it means to you

Tell us about any difficulties you had while taking the photo

Any questions you’d like to ask me

PHOTOS DUE BY MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD AT 9:59AM (one minute before the next challenge goes out). 

To participate in this photo challenge, please follow these rules:

Follow Lens Cap Tutorials on Tumblr. 

Submit here and follow the terms of submission.

You are allowed to edit your images using your favorite photo editor (like Lightroom, PhotoShop, Adobe Bridge, online editors, etc.). 

Please choose ONE photo to submit so that others’ work can be seen, too. 

Reblog, tweet, and share the photo challenge with friends so more people can join the fun!

If you submit a photo challenge idea to the ask box, it will be added to the Jar of Awesome (the weekly photo challenge randomizer). Don’t be sad if your idea doesn’t get pulled! There are tons of ideas in there already and only one of them goes out a week. It could take some time.

Guidelines subject to change by Lens Cap Tutorials. 

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"Rip Up the Lies" by Traci Hazzard

In the black and white photo on the left, I wrote multiple notecards that say things I've thought about myself, things society would say about me and things people have said to my face. The cards say bad skin, big nose, no style, you need longer hair, fat thighs, hair looks better straight, ugly, need to wear makeup, contacts would be better, and not skinny enough. Hearing and thinking all of these things can make any person insecure, and I have been insecure about myself for years, hence me hiding in the picture.  But you know what I realized? All of those things are lies. Lies. God makes beautiful things. 

You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of the dust.

Those lyrics are nothing but true. Those things I think about myself are lies. The labels society and our world puts on me are lies. The negative things that people have told me are lies. 

In the picture in color on the right, I did what the title of my photo says, I ripped up the lies. 

I don't have to be afraid to be myself. I can call myself beautiful because I am beautiful. The main difficulties I had while the taking these photos were getting good lighting, and getting my camera to focus on me and not the wall me behind me.But, 304 photos later, I was successful and I was able to narrow it down to the ones I used, edit them and create a piece of art.

Traci, thank you so much for taking the time to challenge yourself to take a self portrait and submit your work. I really appreciate it.

Now I have to say something else... I am SO so proud of you. 

I am really proud of this. It blew my mind. There are so many ways to take a self portrait, and this was by far one of the most creative, expressive, and redeeming self portraits I've ever seen. Extreme, massive kudos to you. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. 

I love that you blurred yourself out of the first photo. I think it was a really great artistic choice. I also love how you edited the "lies" side to be black and white and edited the "ripped" side to be color. I think that helps tell your story. 

I think this photo would also have been really great with really dramatic lighting. I definitely had the same problem with low light when I took my own portrait, so I get you! You can get great lighting with things you find at home: lamps, flashlights, DIY flood lights, candles, etc. There are so many great options and it's so fun to experiment.

To sum it up, this photo is fan-frickin-tastic. Just... GAH.

Guys, you can follow Traci right here. Remember to submit your self portraits by Monday! A new challenge is coming soon! 

Kristen

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Self Portrait, 1.23.14 by Kristen Achziger.

I have only one class on Thursdays and a large gap between that class and work, so Thursdays are my photography challenge days. At least that's how they work for now. 

A lot of people have classes all day on Thursdays, so my building's lounge is empty. That's where I decided to set up my camera and tripod. I sat it a foot or two away from me but kept a wide angle (I am using my Canon 60D and my 18-135mm here, zoomed all the way out to 18mm). Since I was close enough to the camera, I was able to manually adjust my focus. Thanks to the 60D's super cool swivel screen I could see what I was doing. Then I set my timer on 10 seconds and shot... and shot... and shot.

I took a lot of photographs, including some silhouettes by the window and some sun-dots dappling across my face from the blinds, but in the end, I think this one was my favorite--which was funny because I didn't expect it to be (in fact, it's one of the last images on my camera). I'd like to call this a photograph of "present me." 

My hair is messy, I don't look perfect... I look real. I look like me. Just as I am. I'm all about natural beauty so I'm really glad that I chose this over a super made-up, fancy photo where I looked perfect. That's not who I am. But this photo? This is Kristen.

The hardest part about this challenge was getting up the courage to do it because like I said on Monday, I don't like being in front of the camera. But after the first couple of shots the anxiety went away and I trusted myself with my techniques. Another thing that was kind of hilarious... a girl walked into my lounge as I was shooting and asked what I was doing. It was pretty embarrassing. But she left soon after that, so I continued. 

I'm glad I did. :) 

I haven't received any submissions for this week's challenge... Please send me some! I'd love to see your work. Submit here until Monday. 

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Tips for taking a self-portrait with your DSLR.

Hey everyone! Happy Thursday! For some of you, this week was really busy and jam-packed with school, work, and life. For others, you may have had an awesome week without a bunch of projects to work on. If you fall into the first category, know that I'm rooting for you and I hope you get some rest soon (with or without your camera). If you fall into the second category, congratulations! I'm glad you got some down time. :)

The purpose of this post is not to be a formal how-to, but rather a few quick tips that I use when I take self portraits. Again, these are the things that have worked for me. You may find you want to adjust certain settings or use another set of techniques. No biggie! Find your technique and start shooting. 

So without further ado, here's a non-comprehensive list of selfie tips:

GET FRIENDLY WITH YOUR TRIPOD. I really hate the "arm shots" that have become so predominant in today's self portraits. Since I don't want to see my own arms stretching out from the frame, I need to set my camera in a safe, stable place. That's why tripods were created! I usually forgo my tripod unless I'm using a very slow shutter speed and need extra stabilization, but this is one of the only other times I will make an exception. (I really prefer handheld photos and films. To me it feels more natural.) Set your camera on the tripod and make sure your tripod handle (or screw) is twisted to the lock position so your camera doesn't suddenly tilt back, throw off the tripod's balance, and come crashing down. Yes, I have done that. Shoot happens. Be prepared and respect your tools.

FIND YOUR FOCUS. There are two ways you can set up your focus--if you want your camera in focus, that is. It's up to you. Before you do anything, mark the place you want to stand by leaving an object on the ground or drawing on the cement with chalk so that when you are ready, you don't move off your focused spot. The first option to get your focus right is to grab a buddy and place them in your focus spot, then set the camera up. Remember, don't adjust for their height if you are shorter or taller than they are, just adjust for the focus of their face while they are standing on that marker. This option is obviously a good one because you can set up your shot with manual focus. However, self portraits may feel more private than other photos and you may not want a second person watching you. You could always tell your friend to "Go away!" but in case you want to do this entire project solo, here's your second option: use autofocus. To autofocus correctly, I tend to set the tripod close to me (I may use a wide lens so that I look farther away) and stretch my arm to depress the shutter until I hear the camera shift its focus to my face. When I'm ready, I click the shutter all the way and step back into position. This is not ideal if you're short like me (I'm 5'0") and have short arms, but you can make it work. Another way you can use autofocus and control shutter from farther away is by getting a camera shutter remote. Sometimes they are wireless and sometimes they aren't. If you want to build a portfolio of self portraits, you may consider investing in one. I really want to... they are awesome. 

SET THE TIMER. Since I stretch my arm out to focus the camera each time, I need a few minutes to step back into position and prepare for the photo. To do this, I set my camera on an automatic timer. Most cameras offer two timer settings, which usually include a 2-second timer and a 10-second timer. I personally think the 2-second timer is a little too fast, so I tend to use the 10-second timer. Pay attention to the blinking light on your cam as the seconds tick by... it will usually speed up and then stop flashing altogether when the shutter is about to click. For future reference, wouldn't it be great if there was a 5-second timer? I wish.

BE A LITTLE CONCEITED. Okay, now that I have your attention again... What I mean is, take a TON of photos. At the end of a 20 minute self portrait shoot, I usually have over a hundred photos. That's okay! I do want to work on cutting down the amount of photos I take and focus on taking a few really great ones instead of a hundred so-so ones, but in this instance I like taking a lot so I have more options to work with later. Sometimes I plan out a self portrait and it doesn't work as well as I wanted it to. Sometimes I find that a portrait I didn't plan on taking is better than all of the ones I did plan. Give yourself options. 

Those are the four basic steps I take when shooting self portraits. As always, I'm open to any questions or suggestions from other photographers out there! If anyone has some tips you'd like to share, ask away!