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Posts Tagged ‘Can’t’

iFixit discovers camera repairs for iPhone 12 models can’t be done by third-parties

03 Nov

Repair site iFixit has discovered that repairing the cameras inside Apple’s new iPhone 12 smartphones will not be able to be, at least easily, done by third parties, as removing the cameras requires access to a proprietary tool that only authorized Apple technicians will have access to.

While trying to swap the camera modules inside two iPhone 12 devices, iFixit suspected something was up. After ‘exhaustive testing, comparing notes with multiple repair technicians, and reviewing leaked Apple training documents,’ iFixit discovered ‘the iPhone 12 camera is entirely unreliable when swapped between iPhones.’

Image credit: iFixit

Below is a video from YouTuber Taylor Dixon, who also discovered this while attempting to swap cameras inside iPhone 12 devices:

This, of course, means any DIY fixes or even those by unauthorized third-party phone repair shops won’t be happening. The graphic below is a leaked chart from Apple that shows iPhone 12 models require an authorized technician to run ‘System Configuration’ to replace a camera module (or a display). Previously, these limitations were only in place for batteries.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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7 Mistakes Beginner Photographers Make The Camera Can’t Be Blamed For

10 Feb

The post 7 Mistakes Beginner Photographers Make The Camera Can’t Be Blamed For appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

7-mistakes-beginner-photographers-make

There are many mistakes beginner photographers make. It’s healthy to make mistakes so long as you learn from them. Be willing to understand why your photos are not turning out how you wanted them to. Don’t be quick to blame circumstances or your camera gear when you mess up.

Here are some common beginner photographer mistakes you can’t blame the camera for.

1. Poor composition

Poor composition is one of the main mistakes beginner photographers make. Not getting close enough to your subject, results in having too much unnecessary space in your pictures.

Sometimes being too close can ruin a composition too. Are you cutting off your subject’s feet?

Be mindful of what’s inside your frame. Ask yourself if everything you see is relevant to the picture you are taking? If it’s not, fix the mistake. Move closer, zoom or change your position.

Leaving excessive space above a person’s head is the most common compositional mistake I see beginner photographers make. Often what’s above a person’s head is not relevant to the photograph. Get closer or tilt your camera angle down to minimize this space.

mistakes beginner photographers make

© Kevin Landwer-Johan

2. Rushing your photography

Take your time, and you will take better photos. Being impatient will never make you a fabulous photographer. Whatever style of photography you engage in, being patient will benefit you.

Grabbed moments don’t often capture the best photographs. Of course, there are exceptions, but typically it pays to prepare yourself and anticipate action before it happens. Doing this, you can set your camera and line up your composition.

Using manual mode will help you slow down. You will visualize that you are photographing differently. This is because you are forced to think more about every aspect of taking your pictures.

During our photography workshops, I love to teach people how to slow down by using manual mode. Most people I teach develop their skills quickly. Their photos are well exposed and composed because they are working more slowly.

mistakes beginner photographers make

© Kevin Landwer-Johan

3. Distracting backgrounds

Having distracting backgrounds is another mistake beginner photographers make. It’s easy to concentrate on your main subject and not see what’s behind them until you look at your photos later.

When you do see that you have a distracting background, there are several options to avoid this.

  • Use a longer focal length lens.
  • Move your subject somewhere else.
  • Change your camera angle or location.
  • Use a wide aperture to blur the background.

A longer focal length lens will reduce the amount of background you see. Move back from your subject and use a longer focal length. You will see the background differently than using a wider lens.

Moving your subject or your camera location will change what’s behind your subject. Sometimes you will not be able to move your subject. When you can’t, you’ll have to move. This sometimes means you need to compromise with the lighting or composition.

Blurring a background can sometimes be the best way to avoid distractions. You’ll need to open your aperture wide to achieve this, except when you are using a long lens or focusing very close to your subject.

Young Woman in the Park mistakes beginner photographers make

© Kevin Landwer-Johan

4. Not looking for alternative angles

Taking a picture from the first angle you think of, is not always going to make the best photo. This is another common mistake beginner photographers make.

Move around – even a little. Shift your camera from side to side. Tilt it higher or lower. Pay attention to the relationships of elements in your composition as you do this. At times, even a very slight alteration of your camera angle will result in a more striking photograph.

Always consider taking both a vertical and a horizontal perspective with your camera. When you can’t make everything fit the way you want, use a Dutch Tilt. Turning your camera to an off-kilter angle to accommodate your subject can work very well.

When you find something interesting enough to photograph, take more than one or two frames. Looking at a subject from different angles will help you visualize it in fresh ways. I think one of the advantages of using prime lenses is that you are more likely to move about to change your composition. You cannot stand in the same spot and zoom, so you will be more inclined to seek out different points of view.

Image: © Kevin Landwer-Johan

© Kevin Landwer-Johan

5. Not giving people enough direction

How often do you avoid giving directions to the people and have them pose awkwardly? These are common mistakes beginner photographers often make.

Communicate well with the people you photograph. Talk to them about what you are doing and how you want them to look in the photo. Start with some easy, relaxed poses so they’ll be more confident with you.

If you leave them to come up with poses on their own, they may not be very interesting.

People will feel better when you give them direction, particularly if you do so with relaxed confidence. Be clear about what you want them to do and speak to them politely.

Image: © Kevin Landwer-Johan

© Kevin Landwer-Johan

6. Failing to relate to your subject, whatever you are photographing

When photographing people, it’s important to develop a rapport with them. Give them instructions so you can get the photos you want. Moreover, connecting with these people.

If you spend your time looking down fiddling with your camera settings, your subject will most likely feel awkward. You might want to adjust your camera settings, so they are technically perfect. But when you fail to relate to your subject, you will not capture the most interesting photo.

This is most important when you’re photographing people, but not exclusive. Whatever your subject, you’ll make more appealing photos when you include feeling.

Think about why you are photographing something.

What attracted you to take these pictures? How can you incorporate this feeling into the photos you take?

Many beginner photographers will find this challenging. However, as long as you are aware of how you relate to your subject and seek to develop this, you will become more skilled at it.

Muddy female Ceramic artist

© Kevin Landwer-Johan

7. Being fearful to take photos

Many beginner photographers will hesitate to go after the pictures they want because they are fearful.

If you want to photograph something dangerous, where there’s a high degree of risk, being fearful is natural and healthy. For example, it wouldn’t be wise to get close to a bear cub or a poisonous snake in the wild. These situations require fear to motivate us to keep our distance.

Not photographing people because you are fearful that you might impose is entirely different. You can’t know how someone will respond until you ask if you can take their photo. It’s taken me years to learn this, and still, at times, I hesitate.

Tame the negative, fearful thoughts in your head. When you see something you want to photograph, consider the reason why and how you can. Don’t be consumed by thoughts and excuses of why not and how not.

Being committed to the ideas you have about the photos you want to capture will help you develop your personal photography style.

Chiang Mai market porter

© Kevin Landwer-Johan

Conclusion

Mistakes beginner photographers make can be very frustrating. When you take your time and review the photos you take, you’ll see how to improve and not keep making the same mistakes.

Moreover, look over the photos you take each time you load them to your computer. This is most helpful when you have not deleted the ‘duds’ off your cards before uploading.

When you see your best and worst photos side by side, this can help you grow as a photographer.

mistakes beginner photographers make

© Kevin Landwer-Johan

Are there any other mistakes that you have made as a beginner photographer that you’d like to help others learn from? If so, please share them with us in the comments section.

The post 7 Mistakes Beginner Photographers Make The Camera Can’t Be Blamed For appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.


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5 Things You Can Do in Capture One You Can’t Do in Lightroom

22 Jan

The post 5 Things You Can Do in Capture One You Can’t Do in Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

capture-one-or-lightroom

If you’re a Lightroom user, you may be wondering:

Are there any Lightroom alternatives that can take your editing to the next level? Are there any editing programs that can offer you something more?

The answer is a resounding yes:

Capture One Pro.

capture-one-or-lightroom

You see, Capture One is a step above Lightroom in several key respects. While Capture One isn’t for everyone, if you’re looking to expand your post-processing capabilities, Capture One may be the way to go.

So in this article, you’re going to discover five things you can do in Capture One that you can’t do in Lightroom. It’s certainly not an exhaustive list, but it should give you a sense of Capture One’s power, and why you might consider it as a RAW editor.

Let’s get started.

1. You can create a session-based workflow for efficient organization

I’m a big fan of Lightroom’s catalog-based editor. I like Lightroom’s method of quickly organizing photos with Collections and Albums.

But Capture One’s session-based workflow option is well thought out and amazingly useful.

Here’s how it works:

First, you have a photography outing or a photo shoot of some kind, then you head into Capture One and create a session.

capture-one-or-lightroom

Now, every session involves a parent folder. And within that parent folder, Capture One creates four additional folders:

  • A Capture Folder
  • A Selects Folder
  • An Output Location folder
  • A Trash Folder

5 Things You Can Do in Capture One You Can't Do in Lightroom

So when you begin your session, you can import all of your photos from the day into the Capture Folder. This is where all of your photos can reside until you go through them. When you do, you can move the best shots into the Selects Folder and the worst shots into the Trash Folder.

Once you’ve edited all of your Selects Folder photos, you can create JPEG or TIFF files, which you export into the Output Location folder.

Note that you can create a new session whenever you do a new photoshoot. That way, you can use the same session-based process on every single photography outing.

And your photography workflow will stay quick and efficient.

Plus, you can access every session from within Capture One, as part of the Library.

Cool, right?

2. You can do layer-based editing for advanced post-processing control

One of the biggest things missing from Lightroom that you can find in other post-processing programs?

Layers.

Now, Adobe has found some nice workarounds; the Graduated Filter, Radial Filter, and Adjustment Brush tools are very powerful and give enough fine-tuned control to satisfy plenty of users.

However, if you really want to selectively edit your photos, layers (and the masking functions that go with them) can’t be beaten.

With Capture One’s layer options, you can apply masks using a brush, a gradient, and more. You can make any basic global Capture One adjustment via a layer, then quickly turn it into a local adjustment.

5 Things You Can Do in Capture One You Can't Do in Lightroom

Plus, layers are useful for compartmentalizing different edits. If you’d like to keep your exposure adjustments separate from your color adjustments, put them in separate layers. If you’re like to make multiple exposure adjustments, but aren’t sure which ones you’ll end up using, put them in separate layers. Then quickly toggle on and off layers to see how the adjustments affect the final image.

Of course, you don’t have to use layers in Capture One. If you’re more a fan of Lightroom’s sliders, then there are some options for more selective editing compared to Lightroom, including the enhanced color adjustments I talk about in the next section:

3. You can do enhanced color toning with Capture One’s Color Balance tool

Color toning is one of the most important adjustments I make to my own images, and it’s one of the simpler tweaks you can make to really improve your photos.

So it’s pretty important that you’re able to control color as much as possible.

And while Lightroom offers its (extremely useful) HSL sliders and split toning tool, the Color Balance tool is one of my favorite things about Capture One, from its interface to its control to its power:

capture-one-or-lightroom

You see, with the Capture One Color Balance tool, you can alter the Highlight, Midtone, and Shadow colors. You can do basic split toning by pushing blues into the shadows and golds into the highlights. Or you can go for a more advanced three-toned color grade using the Capture One color wheels.

Plus, color toning in Capture One is very intuitive!

Instead of doing toning while referencing an external color wheel, you can quickly select complementary colors off the wheel and see how they look. And if you don’t like those, well, you can switch to a different pair or harmonious colors, or a color triad, all within the Color Balance interface.

It’s a lot of power in a very simple tool.

4. You can create presets for individual editing tools

Lightroom is known for its preset-creation capabilities.

But did you know that Capture One lets you create presets for individual tools?

If you hit upon a set of values that you like, simply tap the hamburger icon in the right-hand corner of any tool:

capture-one-or-lightroom

And select Save User Preset:

5 Things You Can Do in Capture One You Can't Do in Lightroom

Then, the next time you get stuck using that tool, you can scroll through your saved presets and see if anything sticks out at you.

Capture One also provides you with a number of already-uploaded presets, so you’re free to check those out, as well:

5 Things You Can Do in Capture One You Can't Do in Lightroom

By the way:

While Capture One user presets are nice to use, they’re certainly not a substitute for broader preset editing. Which is why Capture One includes preset functions just like Lightroom (but called Styles).

5 Things You Can Do in Capture One You Can't Do in Lightroom

So you get the best of both worlds:

Tool-specific presets, and image-focused Capture One styles.

5. You can rearrange the interface for streamlined editing

Here’s one more great feature that Capture One offers:

You can arrange your editing interface – and I’m not talking about toggling on and off a few editing panels.

Instead, with Capture One, you can remove tools completely from the editing interface. You can bring them out so that they float in the main editing window, or you can stick them back into entirely different sections of Capture One.

capture-one-or-lightroom

This is especially useful if you have a particular editing workflow that you tend to follow. Instead of hunting around for each tool every time you edit a photo, you can arrange your editing tools in a neat stack. Then, when it’s time to edit your photos, you can go straight down the sequence, doing one edit after another until you’ve finished.

Being able to rearrange the editing interface is also nice if there are certain tools that you never use, and just want to get rid of.

Hate the Levels tool? You can remove it in seconds.

And you’re also free to remove entire tabs. If you never want to use a Capture One style, you can delete the whole Adjustments tab.

5 Things You Can Do in Capture One You Can't Do in Lightroom

Note that Capture One even has several tool tabs that you can add into the Capture One interface, such as a Composition tab and a Black and White tab.

Really, the options are endless!

5 things you can do in Capture One you can’t do in Lightroom: Conclusion

Now that you’ve finished this article, you know all about the power of Capture One, and what it offers compared to Lightroom.

Bottom line:

Capture One is an impressive RAW image editor and one that packs a lot of punch.

So if you’re looking to increase your editing power, testing out Capture One is a good decision!

For those of you who have tried Capture One, what are your thoughts? What did you like or dislike compared to Lightroom? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post 5 Things You Can Do in Capture One You Can’t Do in Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.


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The Pixel 4 can’t beat a compact camera, but that doesn’t matter

13 Nov

With its newly improved Super Resolution Zoom, the Pixel 4 makes a case for itself as a replacement for a compact camera with a 4-6x zoom range. The kind you might bring on vacation – something with a sensor that’s a little bigger and a modest zoom that won’t be too cumbersome while you explore your destination.

I took the Pixel 4 as my primary camera on a recent trip, but just to satisfy my curiosity, packed the Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II alongside it. The Pixel 4 fell short in a couple of ways, but overall it did the job well enough that I wouldn’t have regretted taking it as my only camera. Here’s what it did well, what the dedicated camera still does best, and why I think those differences don’t matter much to most people who take pictures.

A military fort-turned-prison is kind of a weird place to take someone for their birthday, but my fiancé is into that kind of thing. Plus, it was a great excuse to quote Sean Connery saying ‘Welcome to the Rock,’ for several weeks leading up to the trip. I’d been to Alcatraz before, so I was happy to spend a little more effort and concentration on taking photos.

As you might imagine, a jailhouse provides lots of low light photography opportunities – a task that the Pixel 4 is well equipped for. Night Sight does a little bit of computational magic to create surprisingly detailed images in low light (and good light for that matter). But even the default camera mode does a very nice job in dim conditions, thanks to its ability to capture multiple frames, analyze them and assemble the best bits into one final image on the fly. In fact, it out-performed the Canon G5 X II in the situations where I tested both.

The moderately low light images below show the Pixel 4 producing a slightly more detailed, less noise-smudged image in its standard camera mode versus the Canon G5 X II’s out-of-camera JPEG.

Zoom is another story. Google has improved the Super Resolution digital zoom in the Pixel 4, boosting image quality thanks to a combo of clever algorithms and the new telephoto lens. The company claims that the camera will produce decent results up to 6x zoom, but admit that zoom is a difficult problem to solve with the current technology.

Absolutely nobody is claiming that the phone’s 4-6x zoomed images can take on a traditional camera’s zoom pixel-for-pixel, but because I’m curious I checked it out anyway. Both cameras are at 5x zoom in the example below (about 135mm equiv. for the Pixel 4 and 122mm equiv. on the G5 X II).

The difference is obvious in the 100% crops above, and can be easily seen even at 50% – but then again how often will those photos be viewed on anything bigger than a computer screen? If I planned on making prints of these images, I’d still want a traditional optical zoom. But I rarely print images and I suspect I’m in the majority of the picture-taking public.

There was one more Pixel 4 camera feature that I found myself relying on that the G5 X II doesn’t offer: Dual Exposure Controls, which doesn’t mean what you think it means.

Dual Exposure Control puts a higher level of control over shadows and brightness, along with the ability to adjust them independently of each other, all before image capture

An advanced compact such as the G5 X II provides plenty of manual controls over exposure settings. What it doesn’t provide is the ability to finely tune shadows and brightness before you press the shutter: you can instead select low, medium or high levels of its Auto Lighting Optimizer.

The Pixel 4’s Dual Exposure Control gives you direct control over shadows and brightness, along with the ability to adjust them independently of each other, all before image capture. This phone and previous Google devices would do this automatically expose for backlit subjects and high-contrast scenes, but the dual controls allow you to increase or minimize the effect, depending on what you want.

The Pixel 4’s Dual Exposure Controls allowed me to slightly boost shadows in this image before pressing the shutter.

Of course the G5 X II offers plenty of editing flexibility with in-camera Raw processing, but control over settings is limited. For anything more advanced than some basic tweaks, you’ll need to take your Raw images into Lightroom or the like. On the Pixel 4, it all happens in-camera.

This potentially changes how you approach a high-contrast scene. Normally I’d expose for the highlights and bring up the shadows later, which works well but leaves me without an image to share now. This is annoying because social media has robbed me of any patience I once had. The Pixel 4 lets me make those adjustments before I take the photo – rather than having to wait until I can process the image later.

If I was keeping score, I could award a lot more points in favor of either device. Color science backed by decades of fine tuning, better picture-taking ergonomics, flip-out touchscreen for low angle shots: all points for the traditional camera. Integrated photo storage, seamless image sharing, always in your pocket: point, point, point for the Pixel 4.

What speaks louder than any arbitrary score-keeping though is the fact that I saw few, if any, compact cameras among my fellow tourists at Alcatraz. I saw mirrorless cameras, DSLRs, a few superzoom cameras and of course, lots of phones. To most of the photo-taking population though, the compact camera – even a really nice compact camera – is already history.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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What Your Camera Can’t See

20 Feb

The post What Your Camera Can’t See appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Herb Paynter.

For all the incredible technology packed into cameras, there is one missing element that will remain missing perhaps forever. The missing element? The combination of human eyesight and the brain’s image processor called the Visual Cortex.

1 - What Your Camera Can't See

The Visual Cortex

The Visual Cortex is located in the lower rear of your brain. It is here the real color perception magic happens – magic that goes way beyond the analysis capabilities of any camera on the planet. As you understand this human version of the camera’s image processor, your understanding of the photo process will come into clearer focus.

Medical experts tell us that more than 80% of what we experience enters our brain through our vision. Your eyes capture light’s amazing array of colors as the eye’s lens focuses light beams onto the panoramic viewing screen in the back of your eyeball called the retina.

2 - What Your Camera Can't See

Your brain is very forgiving. It focuses light entering through your eyes, and automatically color corrects almost every lighting condition and color cast en route to the Visual Cortex. Within seconds, your eyes and brain adjust to a wide range of lighting intensities and color influences and deliver very believable images to your mind. And it all happens without you even realizing it. No white balance to set, no color shifts to neutralize. Your brain’s magic intuition and forgiving nature do a crazy-good job of color correction for you.

Your camera records colors a bit more objectively. However, even when shooting RAW files, decisions about color still have to be made in the editing process. Your camera simply doesn’t have cognitive or reasoning skills and thus must be tutored to interpret what it “sees” accurately. You might say that your camera sees, but it doesn’t observe.

White balance and memory colors

When you visually observe a white sheet of paper in a daylight lighting (preferably outside, in natural light), the paper looks… white. Even when you observe that same white paper indoors under tungsten light, your brain recognizes that the paper is really white. This is because the human brain possesses what we call “memory colors;” a basic set of colors that are so familiar that even lighting variances cannot confuse.

Your camera cannot remember what color white is when it is captured under different types of lighting. It must be told every time. What your camera calls “memory” isn’t the same “memory” that your human brain possesses.

3- What Your Camera Can't See

When you set your camera’s White Balance to Daylight and take a picture of the white paper outside, it indeed appears white. That is merely the way the camera’s image sensor is biased to record light under daylight (6500° Kelvin) color conditions. However, when you move inside and shoot the same white paper under tungsten lighting (using the same Daylight WB), the paper appears to the camera to be somewhat yellow.

4- What Your Camera Can't See

Auto White Balance (left) and Tungsten (right)

Changing the camera’s WB setting to Auto White Balance (AWB) and shooting the paper under a typical table lamp light, the picture still appears slightly yellow.  Even when you set the camera’s WB to Tungsten, the paper still fails to appear perfectly neutral white, though it appears much closer to white.

5- What Your Camera Can't See

The truth is, there are colors in the visual spectrum that digital cameras record differently than film cameras did in the past. And neither technology captures and records the exact colors that the human eye sees or the mind perceives. This is why most captured images, for all their beauty, still lack the full sense of authenticity and depth that the human mind experiences from light observed in every scene.

Technically (and spectrally), in each case, the camera is telling the truth, just not the “truth” that we perceive with our eyes. This is, of course, a good example of why we shoot in raw format. When captured in raw format, all regimented color categories get ignored. Any color shifts can be corrected and lighting variances addressed in the post-processing stage.

As mentioned earlier, the can’t the camera see the white paper as white (the way our eyes do) regardless of the lighting situation because the camera doesn’t have an onboard reference registry of “memory colors” the way our brains do.

6- What Your Camera Can't See

The brain automatically remaps each scene’s color cast to your brain’s “memory colors.” Think of these memory colors as preference presets in your brain’s color interpreter. These memory colors automatically compensate for variable lighting situations. The infinite Look Up Table (LUT) variables that would be needed for a camera to replicate this basic, natural brain function would have to be both immense and incredibly complex. No matter how smart digital devices become, they’ll never replace the magic of human interpretation.

Conclusion

So what have we learned? Your camera, for all its sophistication, cannot automatically correct color casts. It simply isn’t human. That means that your camera ultimately benefits from and makes use of your understanding of the behavior of light and color. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll produce images that more closely replicate color as your mind perceived it. Photography is a two-part process that requires the camera to do its job and for you to do yours. What is defined by the clinical term as “post-processing” is merely finishing the job that your camera started.

Moreover, this is a good thing. Your judgment and interpretation of the colors your mind saw when you captured the image can guide you as you tweak and make minor adjustments to your images. Don’t think of this as a burden. Recognize this as a gift. You, the photographer, are the producer of the image. Your camera is merely a tool that provides all the “raw” materials you’ll need to share what your mind observed when you captured the scene.

This is why photography is an art, and why this art requires an artist. You are that artist.

Celebrate the partnership you have with your camera. Together, you produce visual beauty.

The post What Your Camera Can’t See appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Herb Paynter.


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Banding means Nikon Z7 can’t match D850 dynamic range

01 Oct

Testing and real-world shooting show slight banding and striping patterns in Nikon Z7 images, undermining its otherwise excellent dynamic range. We demonstrate when you’ll encounter the effect so you can assess its importance for your photography.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Study finds most people can’t spot manipulated photos, can you?

21 Jul

A new photography study from researchers at the University of Warwick has found that many people aren’t very good at determining whether an image has been digitally manipulated.

The study, which has an online test component that anyone can take, asks volunteers to look at 10 different images and guess whether each is altered or unaltered. Volunteers are also tasked with choosing the part of the image they think was altered, and rating their certainty about the alteration(s) or lack thereof.

After compiling the results, the researchers found that only 65% of altered images were correctly identified by volunteers; even less unaltered images were identified, at just 58%. Given that chance performance is 50%, the results show that the volunteers did little better than they would have with simple guessing. Furthermore, the team found that age and gender did not affect the results, with the difficulty being notable across all volunteers.

“In the digital age, where photo editing is easy and accessible to everyone, this research raises questions about how vigilant we must be before we can trust a picture’s authenticity,” said the university in a release. “It is crucial that images used as evidence in courts—and those used in journalism—are better monitored, to ensure they are accurate and truthful, as faked images in these contexts could lead to dire consequences and miscarriages of justice.”

The question is, can a bunch of photography nerds wreck the curve? Take the online component and let us know how you did in the comments.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Top 5 Essential Photography Tips I Can’t Live Without

29 May

These are my big five photography tips which I would take with me to a desert island, the ones I can’t live without. For those who have not had the pleasure, that is a reference to the BBC Radio Four program, Desert Island Discs, which has been running for more than 70 years. The simple premise of the program is that guests choose just eight pieces of music they’d want if they were going to be marooned on a desert island.

Desert island

I think that these lists are much easier to complete if given criteria. This is my Desert Island Big Five. They are chosen on the basis that if you could only apply five ideas to your photography for the rest of your shutter button pushing days, perhaps on a desert island, these would be the ones which I would recommend.

#1 – Follow guidelines not rules

Did you ever see the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie? Captain Barbossa (played with menace by Geoffrey Rush) chastised the main character Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), that he could not do something, because “It is not in the Pirate Rule Book”. With great, exaggerated, cheeky charm, and great comic timing, Jack Sparrow replied “I do not think of it as a RULE book … more as GUIDELINES …”

It is my strong belief that all articles and photography tips, such as this one, should be considered in the same way. The first rule is that there are NO rules, there are only guidelines. You should do just as you like. If you enjoy taking the photographs, processing them, and then you enjoy looking at the results, that is enough. Pleasing yourself and no one else is absolutely enough.

If you want to take photographs of people’s feet, go ahead! If you want to take a photograph of … well, what exactly do you think this might be (below)?

What is it? It is actually the bottom of a curtain, with the morning light streaming in. Not a common photographic topic, but it is an image of reasonable interest.

There are no rules, only guidelines, Do what you like! Do whatever turns you on! I could live with that suggestion alone on my desert island.

This next photograph follows the suggestion of having no rules. I think it is unlikely that any rule is going to tell you to photograph the bottom half of someone’s face, right? This photograph also leads on to the next guideline.

#2 – Fill the frame

A good photography tip and guideline to live by is that the subject of the photograph should not be in doubt, it should fill the frame.

This is an unusual school building in Al Ain, in the UAE.

The photograph above shows the scene well enough. However what is interesting in the scene? The subject of the photograph is really the arches. If they are allowed to fill the frame, don’t you think that it becomes a much better photograph (as below)?

Then, I think the framing of the following photograph is quite interesting. There is no need to include the entire opening of the front of the shop, nor much beyond the stretched out arm of the potential customer. The subject of the photograph is the colored lamps and they fill the frame here nicely.

I think I will take this one. The brightly colored lamps are the subject here and there is no need to include any more of the scene to tell the story.

Put another way, look at whatever you are photographing, get close, then get closer yet again.

New Delhi train station.

This very handsome man sitting on the platform of the train station in Delhi caught my eye. It is an okay scene and tells a bit of the story of India. But he is really the subject, so get closer.

Closer

Then get closer again.

Is a star born? Fill the frame with the subject. This potential Bollywood star is the subject, so he should fill the frame.

As I have already mentioned, advice such as this is best taken as a guideline, not a rule. To prove that point, I agree with most people who seem to prefer the middle shot, the second one, in the above series.

You might say there are two photography tips in one here. First, fill the frame; secondly, get closer. However, both usually result in the same thing. There are other considerations, however, such as the engagement with a portrait subject, or the choice of focal length.

You can fill the frame or get closer according to whatever works for you. For Mr. Bollywood, my memory is of zooming in and moving closer to the subject.

#3 – Ignore the subject

So now you have decided on your subject and gotten closer. It may then seem a little contradictory to tell you to ignore the subject for this next tip. But your photograph will be better if you do so.

You have already decided that the subject is interesting. The decision has already been made that the face, that flower, or the landscape is worth photographing. The face, the flower, or the lake are not going to change much, right? So really, you do not have to keep staring at it, you can now let your eye wander away.

I suggest that it is a really good idea to let your eye take at least a quick look around the edge of the frame. As a general guideline, it is best to have tidy edges in your frame.  That means there is nothing sticking in and distracting from the subject.

Distracting things on the edge of the frame take away from the subject, the blue smiley face.

Examples

Here is an example. A small girl in Cebu, in The Philippines.

I am not saying that it becomes a much better photograph once edited. However, with a slightly tighter crop, and a bit of Photoshop to dull of the distraction in the top left corner, the photograph is more concentrated on the subject, and it is a better image.

 

Please note that recognizable shapes, the triangle over the girl’s left shoulder, and bright colors, as in the top left, tend to be especially distracting.

The image below was taken for a client in Qatar when Doha’s new airport was being built.

Is it just me, or is that portion of a circle at the bottom, in the front of the frame really distracting? It is very much just a small detail, but it is surely attention to such details that is going to move your photography forward. Next time, when you take a similar shot, you might frame a little bit more precisely. I would like to think that I would. I certainly do not like fixing things in Photoshop, but this is better, isn’t it?

Again, you might say that this is two rules, sorry guidelines, in one. However, I think that it is a natural consequence of looking around the edges of the frame that you will also check the background. This is one I did not get quite right. These people are not flattered by the pole growing out of his head.

The well-known bird photographer Scott Bourne once said that he looked around for a good background then waited for a bird to fly past. You would have to ask him, but I do not think he was joking.

For showing off a cheeky little face, plain white works well. I wanted to photograph a number of the children who lived in a house and just plonked them in front of a plain wall. I found a good background, and waited for the children to fly past!

Cheeky!

But that does not mean that you must have a plain background. It is a question of checking out the edges and being aware of the background. Sometimes the background can even become an important part of the photograph.

Stairway from heaven?

Here is a contrasting background using complementary colors.

#4 – Atomic powered

You may well have heard that you should work the scene. I was only ever half sure what that meant. It might help you, as it helped me when I heard the simple advice, “move your feet”.

Then I later heard that idea expanded upon, and an image from my high school science class was revived. The image is of an atom, with the nucleus and electrons (have I got that right?).

By SVG by Indolences.Recoloring and ironing out some glitches done by Rainer Klute. – based off of Image:Stylised Lithium Atom.png by Halfdan., CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

 

The nucleus, the red and black middle, is the subject. You, the photographer, are the electrons, the blue dots. You are moving over, under, and around the subject. Standing tall, crouching low, walking left, walking right, and working that subject. Looking for the best way to show what you want to show, to tell the story you want to tell.

Created by working the scene and trying different camera angles.

It is not normal to take a photograph of the top of someone’s head. But I hope you agree that this makes an interesting image (above).

Nor is it normal to angle your camera at 45 degrees, tilted over from the horizontal, then point the camera up at an even steeper angle. But this image below seems to tell some of the stories of Singapore’s Clark Quay and the Central Business District. The situation has been worked by moving the camera out of its traditional position in the horizontal and vertical axes.

You must take the shot above, it is mandatory, but it has been taken quite enough times, hasn’t it?

Then, by walking round this very famous building, you can see it in a different way, one that tells a bit more of its glorious tale. The side of the Taj Mahal, as shown below, has its own beauty.

So, the fourth guideline is that you should move around your subject like electrons move around the nucleus of an atom.

There is a bonus to this guideline as well. There is a clear implication that if you have decided that a subject is worth taking one photograph of, you should take ten! If you ever shot with film, you’ll understand that the incremental cost was quite high. When David Bailey shot six rolls of Kodachrome, it probably cost $ 200. Now, in the digital age, the incremental cost is negligible. So do not be shy about taking more photographs.

#5 – Guideline of Thirds

This is the famous, Guideline of Thirds.

Have you heard of it before? Perhaps not, but you may well have heard of the Rule of Thirds. Like many other clichés, it has attained that status because it works! It is so well known but, even then, I have heard people get it wrong. Still, though, I think it is better thought of as the Guideline of Thirds in my opinion.

In your mind, divide the frame by drawing two equally spaced vertical lines, and similar horizontal lines. The image below tells the story easily. This guideline works well with a square frame too, and we would then be able to describe it and use it as a tic-tac-toe board.

You now have a frame divided into nine equal pieces. Three equal horizontal sections, three equal vertical sections, hence the name thirds.

Place your subject on those lines, and the most significant items on the intersections of those lines. Got a tree? Position it on one of the horizontal and vertical lines (where they intersect as seen below).

A river might be placed along one of the horizontal lines.

Place the most significant items, the sun, the human eye, or a cat walking across a street, on the intersections, where the vertical and horizontal lines cross. These are called the power points.

Combining all three, you will have this as your composition.

Very simply, the accepted wisdom is that this arrangement below.

Looks more interesting, more dynamic, than this.

Of course, you cannot move trees and rivers and other stationary objects. However, you can move around and practice the fourth guideline. Often you can find a position where the major elements of the shot are aligned with the thirds, or somewhere close.

If you consciously practice using the rule of thirds it will be a good step in the right direction to creating more interesting photos. Stick with it, practice, and you will soon find that you do not have to really think about it. It soon becomes instinctive. Later you might move on to other guidelines for composition. There are many others, but if I could choose only one to take and use on my desert island this would be it.

I can tell you that this was taken with no conscious application of the Rule of Thirds. I would suggest it has at least some interest. And, lo and behold.

Here is another example.

I know with absolute certainty that The Rule of Thirds was not in consideration when I took this street shot in Jakarta, Indonesia. I wanted one of the drawings to be fully in the frame and as he is the artist, I wanted his hands in the frame too. Again, I am not claiming that this is a great work of art, but I think I can claim that it has some harmony and cohesion. Throw the grid at it and we see . . .

His hands and face, sit pretty much on the intersections of the lines.

A modest realization along the way, with this aspect of my photographic journey, was in respect to the horizontal lines and the placement of the horizon. Still not a rule, only guideline, but it seemed to me that if the sky was interesting, and it was the major subject of the photograph, then you might want to put the horizon on the lower third line. That simply gives more of the frame over to that stormy, wispy cloud-filled, or deep sunset filled sky. Simply, it is consistent with the guideline of fill the frame with the subject.

Boracay sunset, Philippines.

If it is the land which offers the subject for a photo, it usually works if you place the horizon along the upper third.

Beautiful Philippines golf course.

As I have already suggested, there are other compositional guidelines, which you might move on to using at a later date. But the Rule of Thirds, or as you might be better thinking of it, Guidelines of Thirds, is a very good place to start.

In summary

Looking at and understanding light, using a frame, empty space, leading lines, symmetry, contrast, and so on – there are many good guidelines. But these are the five essential photography tips which I would choose to use if I could select no others.

  1. Follow guidelines not rules
  2. Fill the frame with the subject
  3. Check your frame edges and the background
  4. Move yourself
  5. Guideline of Thirds

I would recommend that you could survive very well with the above big five on a metaphorical or, indeed, literal desert island.

The post Top 5 Essential Photography Tips I Can’t Live Without by Richard Messsenger appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Can’t afford a Hasselblad? Win one instead in the 2018 Masters contest

26 Jan

Natalia Evelyn Bencicova
Hasselblad Masters 2016
Winner of the Portrait category

Hasselblad is giving away 11 medium-format cameras in what it’s describing as the biggest Masters competition it has ever held. The 2018 contest introduces a new category for aerial photography in tribute, Hasselblad says, to the company’s roots in aerial work – its first camera was an aerial camera. The inclusion may also have something to do with drone-manufacturing share-holder DJI.

Entrants need to be working professionals, with a specification that you should have been professional for three years, and any brand of film or digital camera can be used. The Project/21 category though is open to all photographers who have yet to reach the age of 22. Submissions should consist of three images which don’t have to be a set or related in any way so long as they fit the brief of the category.

Each category winner will receive a Hasselblad digital medium camera as a prize, but will also be loaned Hasselblad equipment to produce a set of images for the Hasselblad Masters commemorative book.

2018 Categories include:

  • Aerial (New for 2018)
  • Architecture
  • Fine Art
  • Fashion/Beauty
  • Landscape
  • Portrait
  • Product
  • Project/21 (Under 21)
  • Street/Urban
  • Wedding
  • Wildlife

The competition is open now and will close on June 10th 2017, and entry is free. For more information see the Hasselblad website. 

Press release

Hasselblad’s Prestigious Masters 2018 Competition Opens for Entries

Hasselblad is proud to officially open its renowned Masters competition for 2018. Photographers across the globe are invited to submit three images that best demonstrate their photographic ability for the chance to be named a Hasselblad Master. The Hasselblad Masters is one of the world’s most prestigious professional photographic competitions and gives acclaimed professionals, as well as aspiring newcomers, the chance to make their mark in the world of high-end photography.

Winners will not only receive the coveted accolade but will take home a state of the art medium format Hasselblad camera and have their work published in the Hasselblad Masters commemorative book, to be launched in 2018.

This year’s competition is bigger than ever with 11 categories, including the brand new ‘Aerial’ sector that pays tribute to Hasselblad’s history of aerial photography, with its technology used on several space missions including the first landing on the moon.
The 2016 Masters competition proved to be the most popular to date, with over 10,000 entries. The quality of entries was extremely high and the ten crowned Masters encompassed ambition, imagination and photographic skill. Each created truly outstanding work for Hasselblad Masters Volume 5 book, drawing on the theme of ‘Inspire’. Their images were displayed at photokina 2016 and across galleries and media publications around the world.

Previous Hasselblad Masters are some of the biggest names in photography; including Anton Corbijn (2001), Rodney Smith (2002), Charlie Waite (2002), Patrick Demarchelier (2003), Albert Watson (2004), Marco Grob (2007), Kevin Then (2008), and Hans Strand (2008).

Hasselblad Masters are judged on their photographic ability, creativity, compositional skills, conceptual strength and technique – and are acknowledged to have made a compelling contribution to the art of photography. Each entrant must submit three images per category, with the jury voting on the images rather than the photographer.

Entrants will first face an Internal Jury of Hasselblad staff, experts in the field of photography and supremely knowledgeable about Hasselblad cameras. The Internal Jury will select ten finalists in each category that showcase a high level of technical skill and creative flair. These finalists will then reach the professional Masters Jury, compiled of 24 of the best names in photography. Together with the public vote, which acts as a 25th jury member, the Hasselblad Masters are chosen.

The 2018 main Masters jury will be unveiled later in the year; past jury members have included world renowned photographers such as Marco Grob, Steve McCurry, and Tim Flach.

Hasselblad CMO, Johan Åhlen said “After the overwhelming response we received to the 2016 Hasselblad Masters, we’re excited to see what’s in store this year. The quality of entries in previous years has been simply outstanding and we’re immensely proud to continue to inspire and empower talented photographers across the globe. Our Masters become part of the Hasselblad family and we want to equip them with everything they need to make their mark on high-end photography.”

Open for entries 24th January – 10th June 2017. Entries are submitted via www.hasselblad.com. Winners will be announced in January 2018.
For full details on competition download Masters 2018 Rules & Regulations
Previous edition of Hasselblad Masters 2016 published in “Hasselblad Masters Vol. 5 – Inspire”: http://teneues-books.com/hasselblad-masters-vol-5-9815

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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SmugMug Films: Capturing what you can’t control

01 Apr

Screen_Shot_2014-03-31_at_11.15.37_AM.png

The latest video from SmugMug Films’ ongoing behind-the-lens series is a look at water photographer Sarah Lee. She uses the unpredictability of nature and creates art that captures the interplay of people, water and light. SmugMug’s videos aim to show people who follow their passions in photography. They plan to release a new clip every two weeks. See video

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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