Q&A #23 | PPN | How to deal with mixed light situations and the impact of lens diffraction on image quality

---

---

---

USE OUR PPN DISCOUNT CODE "PPN10" TO SAVE 10% ON THE FASTEST CAMERA BAG IN THE WORLD

---

USE THE DISCOUNT CODE "PHOTOPODCASTS" AT CHECKOUT FOR EXTRA SAVINGS

---

Episode summary: How can you deal with mixed lighting situations in a location and avoid different color casts in your images? What is lens diffraction, when does it occur, and should you even worry about it? And an alternative to Photomechanics for quickly sorting through your images. 

Please submit your photography related questions to us here: http://www.photopodcasts.com/contact.html 


This episode is sponsored by:

COSYSPEED - The fastest camera bags in the world.
http://bit.ly/STREETOMATIC

Skylum Luminar - The cutting edge photo editor
http://bit.ly/PPN-Luminar3 


Here are the questions that Marco answers in this episode:

1. Hi Marco, I have been shooting my first events and weddings this year. I shoot in color and often with a flash. Most of the time the color and white balance on the subject is pretty spot on, but the background with artificial room light is sometimes completely off and looks distracting. How can I get more consistent results throughout the frame?
Question from: Helen, Portland, Oregon

Gear and apps discussed in this question:

Rogue Gels Filter Kit (Set of 20):
B&H: https://bhpho.to/2ZuHmnv 
Amazon Germany: https://amzn.to/2T5A5bs

MagMod Professional Flash Kit:
B&H: https://bhpho.to/2ZISYUd  
Amazon Germany: https://amzn.to/2MF2unx

App with info for Gel Color Filters: 
Lee Swatch for iPhone: http://itunes.apple.com/app/id882232668
Lee Swatch for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.leefilters.com


2. Hi Marco, when shooting landscapes in bright conditions, I usually step down my 
wide-angle lenses really far for a maximum depth of field. For example, 
the Fujifilm wide-angle lenses go down to f/22. However, I've heard of a 
quality impairing effect called diffraction which sets in at small 
apertures. What is this? Should I use f/22 at all? If not, what is your 
recommendation for landscapes and what is the purpose of f/22 on a lens?
Question from: Peter, near Koblenz, Germany

Links for this question:
Lens Diffraction & Photography explained by Cambridge Color: https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/diffraction-photography.htm
What is Lens Diffraction by Expert Photography: https://expertphotography.com/lens-diffraction/ 


Update regarding PPN Q&A #14 - Topic: Photomechanic
Hi Marco. I very much enjoyed this episode, which was full of good, real-life advice on interesting topics. I have an additional suggestion for the question on workflow from Victor, in Dayton, Ohio. I do a lot of amateur wildlife and sports event photography, and even a full day’s street shooting can generate hundreds of images to review. I have tried Photo Mechanic on a month’s free offer, but I also tried the Faststone Image Viewer, which is free for amateur or educational use.
Photo Mechanic does a range of extra things as you described in the show, but Faststone works in the same way by showing just the embedded jpeg extremely quickly and letting you move or copy the good images for later ingestion by your raw processor, and for my purposes this meant I could save the £170 cost of Photo Mechanic. One tip common to both programs: the embedded jpegs aren’t very large files, so although they are both great for a quick scan to weed out poorly composed and exposed shots, I find critical sharpness needs checking in the full raw file, so only use them to chuck out obviously unsharp images. I hope that’s useful, especially for non-professional listeners.
Update from: Mark, UK

Link to Faststone Image Viewer (only for Windows): https://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm 


Please support our show by using our B&H affiliate link (click here) or Amazon Germany link (click here) that will not cost you a penny more than when you are buying at B&H or Amazon without our link.

Check out the Skylum LUMINAR 3 software:
Link: http://bit.ly/PPN-Luminar3 (use the discount code “PHOTOPODCASTS” at checkout for extra savings)

And please share this podcast with your friends and subscribe via Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts, or search for “PPN” in your favorite podcast app. We would also love to get your feedback. Is there anything that you want us to cover on the show in the future? And we would appreciate if you could take a short moment to rate or post a quick review for our shows on iTunes.


Links to Marco Larousse:
Web: www.MarcoLarousse.com 
Twitter: @HamburgCam
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marco.larousse/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarcoLarousse1 

Links to PPN:
Web: www.PhotoPodcasts.com or PPN.fm
Twitter: @Photopodcasts
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photopodcasts/ 
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/c/PPNPhotoPodcastNetwork
Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/ppn-apple-podcasts 
Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/PPN-GooglePodcast

---

Author

Marco Larousse is a journalist and a fine art, street and documentary photographer, a educator, speaker, and podcast producer of photography related topics - MarcoLarousse.com. Marco has a background in photography of 30+ years.

Marco's approach to photography is "reduce to the basics and focus on the story and the subject." Growing up with the limitations that film photography has taught him, he still enjoys the basic approach to photography today. For Marco the camera is a tool and a mere extension of his instincts.

Marco is Co-Founder, Host and the Producer at Photo Podcast Network.

Contact Marco on: Twitter @HamburgCam​   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarcoLarousse1   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marco.larousse/