The Canon EOS R5 is a powerful stills and video camera, designed for enthusiast and professional users. With a high-resolution full-frame sensor and advanced human and animal face and eye-detection, the EOS R5 is a versatile option for travel and portraiture. As well as stills, the R5 can also capture HD, 4K and 8K video.
Join Seattle-based photographer Sam Horine as he uses the EOS R5 to explore the ghost town of Monte Cristo, in Washington State. Wildflowers, campfires and the cosmos – oh my!
Sony’s current range of Alpha and RX-series cameras are packed with the company’s latest autofocus technologies. These include highly advanced face and eye-detection for both human and animal subjects.
Photographer and Rancher Alyssa Henry lives with her family on her ranch in Montana. A perfect location – and perfect subject-matter – to put Sony’s latest autofocus technologies to the test.
The DJI Mavic Air 2 offers 48MP stills and 4K/60p video recording in an ultra-compact, folding body. A significant update to the original Mavic Air, the Air 2 is DJI’s smartest drone to date, and includes HDR capture, scene recognition to optimize the look of footage depending on your subject, as well as a suite of safety features, including front, rear and underside object avoidance sensors.
Join filmmaker Andy Maser and drone pilot Alex Emberlin as they use the new DJI Mavic Air 2 to explore the beautiful Alvord Desert in Oregon.
This is sponsored content, created with the support of Amazon and DJI. What does this mean?
The post Exploring Your Home with Close-Up Filters appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.
Macro photography is all about exploring the wonders of the world around you from a very close distance. Macro lenses let you see the tiniest parts of the world in extreme detail, often exposing an array of colors and patterns hidden right before our eyes. Macro lenses are also expensive! However, if you find yourself stuck at home for a while, you can start exploring your home with close-up filters instead. They’re a cheap alternative to macro lenses and can transform the mundane into the magnificent!
The first thing to do is actually get yourself a set of close-up filters.
These are basically just magnifying glasses that you screw on to the end of your camera lens. They’re absurdly cheap, ranging in price from $ 10 to $ 30 for a set of four. Just make sure you buy a set that fits your lens! The front of your lens will have a thread size listed in millimeters; for most kit lenses it’s usually 52mm or 58mm.
Close-up filters are not a substitute for a true macro lens. But they do let you get up close and personal with everyday subjects in a way that will blow your mind. It’s amazing how simple everyday objects, even just normal items in your house, take on a whole new appearance when viewed at extremely close distances.
A normal puzzle piece looks like a work of art when shot with a close-up filter. Every detail, from the texture on the flat surface to subtle scratches in the table, becomes clear and crisp.
Nothing to see here. Just an unfinished puzzle…until you see it through a close-up filter.
What makes this sort of photography any different than just putting your camera close to your subjects? All lenses have a minimum focusing distance, which is based on how the glass elements inside the lens bend and shape incoming light. Most camera lenses are physically incapable of shooting objects closer than about 250mm. You simply can’t get very close to objects and still maintain focus
Close-up filters change all that.
All you do is screw one of them on to the front of your lens and everything gets magnified right before your very eyes. Exploring your home with close-up filters is a great way to see everyday objects in a whole new light. Suddenly you can take pictures like you never imagined, or thought you couldn’t get without spending hundreds of dollars on a macro lens.
Fun for the whole family
One of the best parts about using close-up filters is exploring your home with your kids. All their toys and games suddenly take on new life when viewed up close. Blocks, crayons, action figures, toy cars, stuffed animals, even their shoes can all make great photography subjects.
This behemoth monster truck scaled a mountain and did it without a scratch! Luckily, I was there to capture the moment of glory with my camera. Or perhaps my oldest son and I were just playing around with some close-up filters.
That’s one of the most enjoyable parts about exploring your home with close-up filters: sharing the experience with kids. They can find fun ways to look at familiar objects and see photographic opportunities where you might have never thought to look.
When my son and I were looking throughout the house with a close-up filter on the camera, it was amazing how even the most mundane objects took on new life. Even simple things like a video game controller took on a new life of color and perspective.
The important thing to remember is that it’s about creativity, not high art. You might not find the next wall hanging for the Smithsonian in your house just by taking pictures with close-up filters. But you will see an amazing world of photography open up before your very eyes that you never knew existed.
Tips and tricks
If you’re going to give this exercise a try, here are a few things to keep in mind for good results.
1. Use a Tripod
While you may take great shots with close-up filters when shooting handheld, a tripod will almost always yield the best results. Even the smallest movements are magnified many times over, so it helps to have your camera as steady as possible. You’re also working with razor-thin depth of field, so unless you’re a neurosurgeon, it’s unlikely you will be able to keep your hands still enough to get the shot you are going for.
This was my setup for shooting the picture at the top of this article. There’s almost no way I could have gotten the shot in focus without a tripod.
2. Focus manually (using live view)
If you have never tried manual focus before, exploring your home with close-up filters might be a good time to give it a try.
Autofocus is very difficult when working with extremely close subjects because depth of field is so incredibly shallow. Manual focus gives you more control over your photos and helps make sure the results are exactly what you want.
Nikon D7100, 50mm, f/5.6, 1/30 second, ISO 1600. Is it a pile of laundry, or is it high art?
Live View is a great option if you are not used to focusing manually. Many cameras, especially mirrorless, have a feature called focus peaking that lets you know exactly what part of your picture is in focus.
DSLRs don’t usually have focus peaking, but you can often use Live View to zoom in on a selected portion of your image. This is great for making sure your close-up photos are tack-sharp right where you want them.
It’s just laundry! But shooting with close-up filters transforms normal objects into works of art.
3. Use smaller apertures
Normally when you want nice-looking, out-of-focus areas on your pictures, you use a wide aperture. The same is true when using close-up filters. But, you’ll quickly find that shooting wide open results in a depth of field that is basically unusable. Stop your lens down to f/5.6 or f/8 to get good results.
In the above image, which is just a normal washroom soap dispenser, the depth of field is so insanely shallow that just the very tip of the pump is in focus. And that’s with using a small aperture of f/5.6! Shooting at f/4, f/2.8, or f/1.8 would be a muddy, blurry mess.
4. Shoot in Manual Mode
Working with close-up filters is a great way to experiment with manual mode on your camera. Not manual focus, but manual exposure control where you set the values for aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
Each of these parameters has a specific effect on your image, and when shooting close-up, you can easily see the effects that these parameters have. The stakes are low, the creativity is high, and if you’re stuck at home, you probably have some spare time to learn something new.
If you’re not sure where to start, just keep your eye on the light meter. Adjust aperture, shutter, and ISO until the meter shows that your image is properly exposed. Take a shot, and then change the aperture so it’s smaller. You’ll need to compensate by making the shutter speed longer, but that’s okay since you’re using a tripod.
Notice how the depth of field is different on the photo with a smaller aperture.
Keep experimenting with these, and pretty soon you’ll start to develop a good understanding of how to master your camera’s manual mode.
Nikon D7100, 50mm, f/8, 1/15 second, ISO 1600, +10 close-up filter. Why did my son want to take a picture of a piece of cereal? I have no idea. He liked the final image though, and that’s what really matters to me.
Conclusion
Exploring your home with close-up filters is a great way to pass the time. Moreover, it’s also an outstanding opportunity to see the world around you in a whole new way. The possibilities really are endless. If you have ever wanted to try macro-style photography, this is a great way to do it without breaking the bank.
If you have any close-up shots you would like to share, or any tips I forgot to include, leave them in the comments below!
The post Exploring Your Home with Close-Up Filters appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.
Fine art photographer Eirik Johnson is a big believer in the daily practice of photography, whether that be casual photographs of his surroundings, or longer-term creative projects. Eirik’s work has taken him all over the United States, but his latest project, exploring Seattle’s Duwamish River, is closer to home.
Once a focus of life for indigenous tribes of the area, the modern-day Duwamish is a bustling waterway, central to the industries of the modern Pacific Northwest. At one time heavily polluted, efforts have been made in recent years to clean up the river, and to recognize its importance to the local ecosystem and to the Duwamish people.
Join Eirik as he travels the Duwamish, documenting the sights and scenes of the river with the Fujifilm X-Pro3.
The post Along These Roads – A Film Exploring the Realities of Being a Travel Photographer appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
Are you a travel photographer or long to be one?
In this film by, Mitchell Kanashkevich, author of the dPS books, Transcending Travel, Natural Light, and Captivating Color, explores what life is like as a travel photographer.
Beautifully shot, with incredible imagery of some epic, and often isolated landscapes, Mitchell explores the inner struggle he has with the need to be on the road doing what he loves and his commitment to family life.
He also explores the effects that being alone in isolated places has on him mentally and his need to revisit the chaos of cities to escape the loneliness of those very isolated landscapes he is drawn to.
Watch this thought-provoking film by talented landscape photographer and filmmaker, Mitchell Kanashevich, and let him take you on a visual and emotional journey.
If you are interested in becoming a travel photographer, be sure to check out Mitchell’s dPS e-book, Transcending Travel.
Also, share your thoughts on the film, or your travel photography adventures in the comments below.
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The post Along These Roads – A Film Exploring the Realities of Being a Travel Photographer appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
The GoPro Fusion is a small, tough camera designed to make it easy to capture 360-degree video and stills with minimal editing. We took the Fusion out recently on a typically hot Seattle summer day to see what it can do.
Joining DPReview’s Carey Rose was adventure photographer Aly Nicklas on a day that took in everything from a hottub boat to Seattle’s famous ‘gum wall’.
This is sponsored content, created with the support of Amazon and GoPro. What does this mean?
Let me point out from the start, it doesn’t matter what camera you use. From a fancy DSLR to your phone you can use these lighting tools to improve your photographs.
Photography and light go hand in hand. Simply put; if there is no light, there is no photograph.
Light is so important to great photography I’m going to ask you to put your camera down for a moment and observe. Really look at the light. The color of it, the way it’s falling on people and things. What shadows are being created?
Try looking at these different times of the day:
1. Early morning before the sun rises and while it rises
You’ll see the light change from a cool blue to red, orange, and yellow light in the early morning. It will shift from a soft shadowless light to one that gives shape and texture to everything it touches. If the weather is right, you’ll witness the same in reverse, going from warm to cool at the other end of the day (sunset)!
Budding photographers tend to photograph the actual sunrise or sunset. It is beautiful to be sure. Instead, try looking at what the sun is doing to the trees or the plants or a person’s face and clothing. When the sun is low in the sky it creates gorgeous shapes and textures. On a beach, look at the texture of the sand or the shape of rocks and shells scattered here and there.
2. High noon
High noon is a time better left to gunslingers! This can be the worst time for photography. It is the same light you see in office spaces with overhead lighting. It will give your portraits unflattering raccoon eyes like the image above.
What are you to do then? There are two easy solutions. Turn on your flash is one possibility. The second is head into the shade outside and use window light indoors.
3. Window light
Window light is beautiful directional light. What’s directional? This means the light is coming from one direction, one source.
What we too often see is a person standing with their back to a bank of windows with their faces dark or the outdoors completely white. Instead, place your subject perpendicular to the window using the light to illuminate one side of their face. You can use window light with equally effective results whether photographing a person or an object.
You’ll want to try using this kind of light when the sun is not shining directly through the window. Pick a cloudy day, use a north-facing window, or shoot after the sun has moved overhead away from the window.
4. Stormy weather
The light changes as you move into and out of a storm. Watch how the color of flowers, leaves, and even cars comes to life during these times of shifting weather. You can add saturation in Photoshop to images today, but you will find it far more realistic if you can capture the saturated color you enjoy at the end of a rainfall.
And don’t be shy about heading out into a snowfall or rainstorm with your camera in tow. You will discover a whole new world most folks hideaway from. You will bear witness to people and scenes not normally seen. I guarantee people will exclaim, “Wow, how did you get that shot?!”
5. The Seasons
Your observations of light will inform you of many things. I imagine you will start to see things I don’t see as well. That’s my hope. One other thing you might observe is that light changes over the course of the year too.
For example, the sun’s position in the sky changes. During the summer here in southern Ontario the sun rises directly out my back door facing east. Come November, that same ball of fire is rising about 45 degrees further south or to my right. So, it is now lighting things from a very different angle than it was in June, creating different shapes and textures on objects in the same space. How cool is that!
Another piece of the lighting puzzle I’ve discovered is the light becomes clearer and sharper almost overnight moving from August to September. The muggy air of August creates a softer light because it is filled with particulate scattering the light around. As the air cools in September the air is fresher and cleaner giving us a sharper light. This is in southern Ontario, but I guarantee the same effects will occur at some time in your neck of the woods.
Brave the weather
People in these parts complain when it hits -20 Celsius. That’s the time to grab your camera and head out into the world. We get a lot of gray weather during our winters. Ninety percent of the time when it’s very cold we get crisp, clean, beautiful light with these gorgeous blue skies.
I recognize I’m talking about my home, but I ask you to start observing what effect the seasons and the weather have on the light in your area. Which times excite you visually? When does the color jump out at you? Perhaps you like the softer light?
Conclusion
I encourage you to observe and then explore different light to discover your preferences. If you’re excited, you will start creating stronger images you want to share.
Let’s finish with a challenge to share. It’s hard to put your photographs out there. The thing is, with whatever medium you choose to express yourself, you bring a unique vision to the world.
What is truly fantastic about photography is that seven or 70 of us can photograph the same scene, and we will typically all come up with a different perspective. When we share, we learn. My recommendation? Be yourself and share. Start by posting an image in the comments below and tell us about the light you used to create it.
The post Exploring the Fundamentals of Light to Improve Your Photos by David McCammon appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Modern-day children move through a decidedly un-fairytale-like world with unlikely gangs of friendly wild animals to protect them in this series of paintings so realistic, it takes a moment to realize they’re not photographs. Artist Kevin Peterson creates these incredible scenes in oil paint on panel, highlighting the inner strength it can take to survive in places beset with violence and poverty.
Princesses regally make their way through rubble in abandoned industrial districts with crowned polar bears at their heels, point the way for the fierce lions acting as their champions and saunter down sidewalks with raccoons and foxes. The contrast of wild creatures and worn, neglected urban environments is a startlingly effective one most often utilized for post-apocalyptic scenes, but the addition of the little girls suggests a hope of human resilience.
“My work is about the varied journeys we take through life,” says Peterson in his artist statement. “It’s about growing up and living in a world that is broken. These paintings are about trauma, fear and loneliness and the strength that it takes to survive and thrive. They each contain the contrast of the untainted, young and innocent against a backdrop of a worn, ragged, and defiled world. Support versus restraint, bondage versus freedom, and tension versus slack are all themes that I often visit.”
A look through Peterson’s history of work reveals an interesting progression from fairly straightforward (albeit stunningly realistic) portraits of women and little girls in urban environments to these fairytale scenes. Some of these paintings are also going large-scale as public murals. Check out details and stay on top of Peterson’s current work on Instagram.
Intoxication, Captured: Frantic Head-Spinning Oil Paintings …
Madcap Murals: Playful Urban Paintings Interact with 3D Elements …
Faux Photography: 55 (More!) Amazingly Realistic Paintings …
How do you as an artist express an emotion, an idea or a concept without referring back to something already loaded with meaning? How can you explore new visual territory hidden within old subjects you know well? Or what can you do to find some new inspiration and break out of your photographic rut? Abstract photography has the potential to be Continue Reading
The post Exploring Abstract Photography: History, Philosophy, Inspiration appeared first on Photodoto.
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