Shutter Release: Psychology & portraiture, astro shutter speed calculator & macro lenses

We hope you had a nice weekend. Let's get this week started with a new edition of Shutter Release, our regular roundup feature here at Imaging Resource. In today's Shutter Release, we will be looking at how to use psychology to capture better portraits, removing braces using Photoshop, a new advanced astrophotography shutter speed calculator, building your own cheap super macro rig and an opinion piece on why you should have a macro lens in your bag. Is your shutter release finger ready? Let's get shooting!

Using psychology to take better portraits - Fstoppers

Photographer Paul Adshead has long been interested in psychology, since well before he was a photographer. After becoming serious about photography, he realized that his two interests could intersect. He's used his understanding of body language and archetypes to help create narratives in his images. His recent article for Fstoppers is an interesting look at how angles and posing can affect the mood of a portrait.

Removing braces using Photoshop - Fstoppers

Aaron Nace of Phlearn has a new video showing how to remove braces using Photoshop. If you're taking portraits, particularly senior portraits, you're going to photograph a subject with braces at some point. Braces are a temporary part of a person's smile, so it makes sense that the subject would want them removed from important photographs. It's not as hard to do as you might think.

Advanced astrophotography shutter speed calculator - Lonely Speck

You may have read about the "500 rule" for astrophotography shutter speeds before. While it's a fine rule of thumb, you may want something more advanced that will more reliably give you great results. That's where Lonely Speck's new calculator comes in. This calculator factors in sensor pixel density, declination and allowable star trail tolerance. Declination is an interesting wrinkle, so for further reading on what it is and how to calculate it, click here. This new calculator looks excellent and I'll be sure to give it a try next time I do astrophotography of my own.

Building a 2.5x super macro rig for under $250 - DIY Photography

Super macro photography does not need to be super expensive. With reverse adapters and extension tubes, you can use a wide variety of lenses as part of a macro photography setup.

But maybe you do want a dedicated macro lens - SLR Lounge

While you can save money by going with a setup like the one above, there is something to be said for having a dedicated macro lens. A new opinion piece by SLR Lounge discusses the merits of a dedicated macro lens for a wide range of photographic needs.