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Posts Tagged ‘Found’

Some of the oldest American photographs were found in a workshop in New York

16 Oct

You never know where or when significant historical artifacts will turn up. Some very early photographic portraits were recently found in an unheated shed on Long Island in New York. The found photographs may be some of the very first portraits captured in the United States.

In 1839, the daguerreotype process was introduced by its namesake, Louis Daguerre, in France. It was the first publicly available and commercially viable photographic process. Although eventually replaced by more affordable, easier processes, many daguerreotypes were made in the 1840s and 1850s. In the US, the race was on to turn Daguerre’s process into a money-making venture.

‘Henry Fitz Jr. (1808-1863). The ‘Profile View’ taken with the Wolcott mirror camera, January-February 1840. Housed in a heavy brass frame identified in pencil on verso “Henry Fitz Jr. of New York and Baltimore. 1808-1863.’ Image and caption credit: Hindman Auctions

Henry Fitz Jr., Alexander Wolcott and John Johnson pulled it off. Fitz Jr. patented the first American camera and opened the first photographic portrait studio in the country. Fitz Jr. was a telescope maker in New York City. His understanding of optics gave him a significant advantage over would-be competitors.

The trio began collaborating on their photographic venture in late 1839. In early 1840, Fitz was the subject of some of the earliest successful photographic portraits ever taken. In June of 1840, Fitz opened a portrait studio in Baltimore, Maryland, cornering the market, at least for a time.

‘The ‘Eyes Closed’ Portrait of Henry Fitz Jr. (NMAH Cat No. 4114A). Probably taken in JanuaryFebruary, 1840 with the Wolcott mirror camera.’ Image and caption credit: Hindman Auctions

Some of the earliest photos taken by Fitz, Wolcott and Johnson were housed in that shed on Long Island. The photos will be going up for sale by Hindman Auctions. The auction house says, ‘The cache of daguerreotypes offered here – along with the existing Fitz group at the National Museum of American History – is the largest group of images produced by a single photographer from the pioneering era of photography in America (1839-1842). In this regard it is unique. While single images from this period exist, most are anonymous, undated and orphans floating in the historical ether. By contrast, the Fitz archive can be quite tightly dated to have been produced between about January 1840 and the fall of 1842. It was during these 36 months that photography in America sprang to existence and emerged as a commercial enterprise.’

‘Julia Wells Fitz (1814-1892), wife of Henry Fitz. Ninth plate daguerreotype, housed in red leather side opening case, with heavy brass mat. With delicate tinting of cheeks and lips; dress with fugitive blue tinting. Not removed from case. The identification of this image is based on the similarity between the sitter and the oil painting of Julia Wells Fitz included in this archive.’ Image and caption credit: Hindman Auctions

The collection holds immense historical and cultural significance. While Fitz, Wolcott and Johnson were not the creators of the daguerreotype process, of course, they were at the forefront of its adoption and growth. It’s also one of the more complete collections of photographs from that time frame.

You can read the full details about the auction listing by visiting Hindman. A digital catalog about the listing is available for viewing here. In-person bidding will begin on November 15 by appointment only.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Google shares a deep dive into its new HDR+ with Bracketing technology found in its latest Pixel devices

26 Apr

Google has shared an article on its AI Blog that dives into the intricacies of the HDR capabilities of its most recent Pixel devices. In it, Google explains how its HDR+ with Bracketing technology works to capture the best image quality possible through clever capture and computational editing techniques.

To kick off the article, Google explains how its new ‘under the hood’ HDR+ with Bracketing technology — first launched on the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 back in October — ‘works by merging images taken with different exposure times to improve image quality (especially in shadows), resulting in more natural colors, improved details and texture, and reduced noise.’

Using bursts to improve image quality. HDR+ starts from a burst of full-resolution raw images (left). Depending on conditions, between 2 and 15 images are aligned and merged into a computational raw image (middle). The merged image has reduced noise and increased dynamic range, leading to a higher quality final result (right). Caption and image via Google.

Before diving into how the behind-the-scenes work is done to capture the HDR+ with Bracketing images, Google explains why high dynamic range (HDR) scenes are difficult to capture, particularly on mobile devices. ‘Because of the physical constraints of image sensors combined with limited signal in the shadows […] We can correctly expose either the shadows or the highlights, but not both at the same time.’

Left: The result of merging 12 short-exposure frames in Night Sight mode. Right: A single frame whose exposure time is 12 times longer than an individual short exposure. The longer exposure has significantly less noise in the shadows but sacrifices the highlights. Caption and image via Google.

Google says one way to combat this is to capture two different exposures and combine them — something ‘Photographers sometimes [do to] work around these limitations.’ While this works fairly well with cameras with larger sensors and more capable processors inside tablets and laptops to merge the images, Google says it’s a challenge to do on mobile devices because it requires ‘Capturing additional long exposure frames while maintaining the fast, predictable capture experience of the Pixel camera’ and ‘Taking advantage of long exposure frames while avoiding ghosting artifacts caused by motion between frames.’

Google was able to mitigate these issues with its original HDR+ technology through prioritizing the highlights in an image and using burst photography to reduce noise in the shadows. Google explains the HDR+ method ‘works well for scenes with moderate dynamic range, but breaks down for HDR scenes.’ As for why, Google breaks down the two different types of noise that get into an image when capturing bursts of photos: shot noise and read noise.

Google explains the differences in detail:

‘One important type of noise is called shot noise, which depends only on the total amount of light captured — the sum of N frames, each with E seconds of exposure time has the same amount of shot noise as a single frame exposed for N × E seconds. If this were the only type of noise present in captured images, burst photography would be as efficient as taking longer exposures. Unfortunately, a second type of noise, read noise, is introduced by the sensor every time a frame is captured. Read noise doesn’t depend on the amount of light captured but instead depends on the number of frames taken — that is, with each frame taken, an additional fixed amount of read noise is added.’

Left: The result of merging 12 short-exposure frames in Night Sight mode. Right: A single frame whose exposure time is 12 times longer than an individual short exposure. The longer exposure has significantly less noise in the shadows but sacrifices the highlights. Caption and image via Google.

As visible in the above image, Google highlights ‘why using burst photography to reduce total noise isn’t as efficient as simply taking longer exposures: taking multiple frames can reduce the effect of shot noise, but will also increase read noise.’

To address this shortcoming, Google explains how it’s managed to use a ‘concentrated effort’ to make the most of recent ‘incremental improvements’ in exposure bracketing to combined the burst photography component of HDR+ with the more traditional HDR method of exposure bracketing to get the best result possible in extreme high dynamic range scenes:

‘To start, adding bracketing to HDR+ required redesigning the capture strategy. Capturing is complicated by zero shutter lag (ZSL), which underpins the fast capture experience on Pixel. With ZSL, the frames displayed in the viewfinder before the shutter press are the frames we use for HDR+ burst merging. For bracketing, we capture an additional long exposure frame after the shutter press, which is not shown in the viewfinder. Note that holding the camera still for half a second after the shutter press to accommodate the long exposure can help improve image quality, even with a typical amount of handshake.’

Google explains how its Night Sight technology has also been improved through the use of its advanced bracketing technology. As visible in the illustration below, the original Night Sight mode captured 15 short exposure frames, which it merged to create the final image. Now, Night Sight with bracketing will capture 12 short and 3 long exposures before merging them, resulting in greater detail in the shadows.

Capture strategy for Night Sight. Top: The original Night Sight captured 15 short exposure frames. Bottom: Night Sight with bracketing captures 12 short and 3 long exposures. Caption and image via Google.

As for the merging process, Google says its technology chooses ‘one of the short frames as the reference frame to avoid potentially clipped highlights and motion blur.’ The remaining frames are then aligned with the reference frame before being merged.

To reduce ghosting artifacts caused by motion, Google says it’s designed a new spatial merge algorithm, similar to that used in its Super Res Zoom technology, ‘that decides per pixel whether image content should be merged or not.’ Unlike Super Res Zoom though, this new algorithm faces additional challenges due to the long exposure shots, which are more difficult to align with the reference frame due to blown out highlights, motion blur and different noise characteristics.

Left: Ghosting artifacts are visible around the silhouette of a moving person, when deghosting is disabled. Right: Robust merging produces a clean image. Caption and image via Google.

Google is confident it’s been able to overcome those challenges though, all while merging images even faster than before:

‘Despite those challenges, our algorithm is as robust to these issues as the original HDR+ and Super Res Zoom and doesn’t produce ghosting artifacts. At the same time, it merges images 40% faster than its predecessors. Because it merges RAW images early in the photographic pipeline, we were able to achieve all of those benefits while keeping the rest of processing and the signature HDR+ look unchanged. Furthermore, users who prefer to use computational RAW images can take advantage of those image quality and performance improvements.’

All of this is done behind the scenes without any need for the user to change settings. Google notes ‘depending on the dynamic range of the scene, and the presence of motion, HDR+ with bracketing chooses the best exposures to maximize image quality.’

Google’s HDR+ with Bracketing technology is found on its Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 devices with the default camera app, Night Sight and Portrait modes. Pixel 4 and 4a devices also have it, but it’s limited to Night Sight mode. It’s also safe to assume this and further improvements will be available on Pixel devices going forward.

You can read Google’s entire blog post in detail on its AI blog at the link below:

HDR+ with Bracketing on Pixel Phones

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Opinion: Film photography has found its feet again

04 Mar
Photo: Hamish Gill

Film photography is not what it used to be. It’s changed – or more, it’s evolved. For the better, too. But I bet there are a lot of people who haven’t even noticed!

Photography just seems to be one of those pastimes that has the potential to get under people’s skin. There are so many ways to take part that it’s no wonder we find ourselves in camps, adopting one or a couple of methodologies, approaches, processes or even brands, and taking ownership of them as if they belong to us.

In doing so though, it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of forgetting that our approaches and whims are just a product of our own choices, and therefore simply right for us. Instead, it appears to me that a large majority of photographers get into the habit of thinking they have made the ‘best’ choices and that everyone else who doesn’t follow suit is somehow wrong, deficient or missing out.

Film photography in 2020 is what it is – not because of a battle with digital, but because of how it has integrated with and into it

Unfortunately, in our world of social media and websites and forums and blogs and YouTube and ‘influencers’, it feels a little bit like the views and opinions held by the majority can leave little room for the views and opinions held by everyone else.

So what’s all this got to do with my opening gambit?

Well, it’s my view that because of all this, many photographers who have committed wholly to digital photography might not have noticed a real change in the film photography landscape.

The pixl-latr is a product I launched on Kickstarter as a low cost and effective solution for digitizing negatives.
Photo: Joe Handley

Now, please don’t think I’m about to start waffling on about growth in film sales and increased interest in more traditional photography mediums as a whole. It is true that there has been quite significant growth, but to my mind, the growth is at least in part a byproduct of a change in attitudes toward film photography. Attitudes that I have seen perpetuated through some of the hundreds of thousands of words I’ve published by the many photographers who have written for my website, 35mmc.

It’s true that I still see the occasional ‘film vs. digital – which is better?’ YouTube video pop up, but it has long been my view that these conversations are behind the curve. It actually strikes me that this argument is dead, and this seems to be an opinion shared by an increasing amount of people. Not because one side won or lost, but because the sides have joined forces.

Film photography in 2020 is what it is – not because of a battle with digital, but because of how it has integrated with and into it. Digital has changed film photography for the better, and I feel quite strongly that the opposite is true too.

The FIlmomat is an updated automatic film processor, launching soon!
Photo: Lukas Fritz

To begin with, the simple way people are using digital cameras and the advancements in both software and hardware for the digitization of film are examples of how the technology has advanced in favor or supporting film photography. But digital has also helped democratize film photography. The barriers to entry are less, and not just when it comes to amateur-level kit.

Film photography has influenced digital technology too. As most readers here will be aware, some of the bigger brands have taken inspiration from film cameras. Fujifilm is probably the most notable with their retro-aesthetic digital cameras and built-in film simulations. The way film looks, or at least the way people think film looks has – for better or worse – influenced digital photographic styles.

The ways photographers approach image creation seems to have been cross-fertilized between the worlds of film and digital

And that’s all even before we consider people’s workflows and attitudes toward creating images. The creative ways photographers approach image creation as a whole seems to have been cross-fertilized between the worlds of film and digital. So for example, in the last few years, we’ve seen a huge increase in the use of ‘vintage’ lenses – something that I’m pretty certain is attributable to an increase in photographers seeking something of a more film-era-like ‘feel’ to their work. And then there’s how digital workflows such as the use of Lightroom has for some people sped up or aided in the process of using film and other traditional mediums as a starting point to a final image.

The Cameradactyl OG is an affordable 3D-printed 4×5 camera.
by John Whitmore

In short, film and digital workflows, technologies and creative approaches have merged. The narratives around which is ‘better’ have – for many at least – fallen by the wayside. The questions of how they can be combined for the benefit of an increased range of possibility and potential have come to the surface instead.

But, while all this is true, there’s no drama in a draw – neither side won the battle, so the story has had few attention-grabbing headlines. There’s less of an angle to hang opinion off in the gray area. Nuanced opinions, fence-sitting and happy mediums don’t get clicks, views, upvotes, likes or shares so readily.

Film and digital workflows, technologies and creative approaches have merged

I had to pose a combative opening gambit just to get a lot of you to read this article, I’m sure. But really, I didn’t want to… well, if I’m honest, I sort of did, because I quite enjoy the argument. But my argument is not one of trying to convince people to think one way or another about how to create or take part in photography. I prefer instead to try and highlight the fact that the arguments themselves are often quite pointless.

In short, there is no one true path! In fact, one of the most beautiful things about photography is in the wealth of choices it provides us with.

Which is ultimately why film photography has found its feet again. Not as I say because it’s won any battles, but instead, that for all the objective differences and subjective reasons why people might choose to shoot it; despite what the majority might think and say about it, it’s still an option that’s available to people. And moreover, in 2020 it’s an option that quite readily fits into our modern digital world if and when required or desired.

Hamish Gill is the publisher of 35mmc.com and a moderator in our Film Photography forum.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Video: Making cyanotype prints from 120-year-old glass negatives found inside a time capsule

26 Feb

Photographer, YouTuber and self-proclaimed weird lens aficionado Mathieu Stern is back at it again, this time with an interesting new video showing how he developed a number of 120-year-old photographs he found hidden within a time capsule in a family home.

In speaking with DPReview, Mathieu says he ‘found a box dating from around 1900 judging by the objects and the technic of the photos found inside.’ To help bring the negatives to life, Mathieu decided to develop the images using a time-appropriate method of making prints, cyanotype.

The six-minute video first walks through the discovery process of the time capsule and the items within. From there, Mathieu shows the process he used to create the cyanotype prints and concludes the video with an overview of all the images he found.

It’s an unassumingly touching video that shows how seemingly simple snapshots can oftentimes have some of the most profound emotions behind them.

You can find more of Mathieu’s work on his YouTube channel.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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You can now search for images in Google Photos using text found within the image

24 Aug

Google has confirmed Google Photos is adding the ability to search for images using the text featured in the content. This is different than searching for images based on their filename, instead using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to identify words featured in photographs, such as from an image of a menu or sign.

The feature was first spied by Hunter Walk, who shared the above screenshots of the new capability. The official Google Photos account responded to the tweet, confirming it’s rolling out the new search capability.

Though apps that use OCR to copy text aren’t anything new, the ability to search through albums of uploaded photos for text located within the images will come in handy for many users, particularly those who use Google Photos for storing scanned copies of invoices and other business documents.

According to The Verge, the new OCR-based search option is available on some Android devices at this time. Google indicated in its tweet that the feature is rolling out over the course of this month, so it may take a number of days or weeks to arrive for everyone.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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How I Found Inspiration Using a Telezoom

02 Jun

The post How I Found Inspiration Using a Telezoom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Christian Hoiberg.

I’ll admit something to you – something that I haven’t really talked about with too many. Something that might sound strange coming from someone who makes a living from photography…

I’ve had close to zero inspiration for doing landscape photography for several months – despite being out in the field most of the winter season.

There are many reasons why I’ve lacked inspiration, but most of them come back to the urge to creating something different, which I keep asking myself is possible at all. Has it all been done already? Aren’t we all in one way or another influenced by the photographers we admire? For years, my work has focused on wide-angle landscape photography. While I still enjoy it, I’ve become more fascinated with the intimate views offered through the use of a telezoom. This is how my inspiration blossomed again.

Zooming in forces you to slow down

One of the great things about using ultra wide-angle lenses is that it’s relatively easy to get a decent shot. Find a foreground, get close to it, smack on a filter or two and, hello, nice image. It might not be portfolio-worthy right out of the box, but it will certainly impress your friends and family.

Working with a telezoom is quite different, though. Simply zooming in on something isn’t going to create an interesting shot. You need to find that special something hiding within the grand landscape. Also, you’re even more dependent on having the right light and weather conditions.

When I first picked up a telezoom many years ago, the fact that it forced me to slow down was one of the best benefits. It changed my approach to photography and the world in many ways. Prior to that moment, I’d go out photographing but not really do much observing.

That’s different now.

In fact, I often do more observing than photographing.

I quite often return home from outings without the camera leaving my backpack.

It’s not just about being out there taking as many images as possible. It’s about enjoying the time you spend out there. This is something that came back to me again when, late last year, I started playing more with my Fuji 100-400mm again.

Create more unique work

Well, I’m not sure if simply zooming in is going to help create more unique work, but I think that, in many cases, it’s possible to show well-known scenes in an entirely new light. Up until now, “trophy hunting” has typically taken place in wide-angle landscapes. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that the overall landscape doesn’t need to be stunning when working with a telezoom. You can get stunning images anywhere you look.

The type of images captured at a focal length of, for example, 400mm are often what I call “no-name landscapes.” What I mean by this is that it doesn’t matter exactly where you take that shot; it’s simply beautiful, and you can just enjoy the image.

Challenge your creativity

When I’m guiding photography workshops, I often notice that many of the participants tend to stick with one lens, regardless of what we’re photographing and what the weather is like. This is despite the fact that they often have a wide selection of lenses to choose from in their backpack.

Now, I’ve been there, and I’m willing to bet that you’ve been there too. The reason is that we tend to have a favorite lens and quickly forget about all the others. My go-to lens for many years was the Nikon 16-35mm. Looking back at it now, I know that I missed a lot of great shots because I had taught myself to view the world within that focal length.

Conclusion

Mixing it up and taking out the telezoom forces you to break that bad habit and view the world at an unfixed focal length. When I’m standing at a location today, I’m continually analyzing my surroundings looking for both wide-angle and telezoom images.

Maybe I’m just rambling and making no sense. I ultimately believe that any artist is free to do whatever they want with their work. Who am I to tell someone what to do or not to do? The only thing I know for sure is that focusing more on working with a long focal length gave me a much-needed boost of inspiration and has led to me now enjoying working on several new and interesting projects.

Have you been getting into taking photos with a telezoom? We’d love you to share them with the dPS community in the comments section below.

The post How I Found Inspiration Using a Telezoom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Christian Hoiberg.


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Lensrentals found a dead fly inside a Canon 70-200mm, tested how it affects image quality

12 Apr
A backlit photo of a dead fly trapped inside the inner elements of a Canon 70-200mm F2.8 lens, photos kindly provided by Lensrentals.

Thanks to ever-increasing reliance on firmware, the latest lenses can sometimes have bugs, but the bug Roger Cicala and his team at Lensrentals recently came across inside a 70-200mm F2.8L IS II lens wasn’t about to be fixed with the latest firmware update from Canon. That’s because it wasn’t a bug in the programming they encountered, it was a fly that managed to trap itself inside the optical elements of the lens.

Time for its close-up!

Somehow, a sneaky fly found its way into the deepest parts of a 70-200mm F2.8 lens, where it remained until its untimely demise. Naturally, Roger and his team wanted to remove the little critter, but not before they used it as an opportunity to see just how much a fly in the lens affected the performance of a lens and share the results (and process) with the world. In Roger’s own words, the blog post was written up for two reasons:

‘1) [To shot that] this big-ass fly had almost no effect on image quality, so that little dust speck you’re frantic about sure doesn’t, and 2) getting flies (or dust) out of a lens is a lengthy and difficult process that takes a long time.’

Just how well did the lens perform with the fly stuck inside of it? ‘Pretty well, actually,’ according to Roger. The Lensrentals team took the time to run a complete set of MTF tests and stopped down the lens across all focal lengths.

What the fly looked like stopped down to F13.

As noted in the blog post, there was no sign of the fly until the lens was stopped down to F13, but even then all that was visible was a shadow in the image. Stopped down to F22 and zoomed out to 70mm showed a much more prominent black spot, but even then it only took up a fraction of the frame.

What the fly looked like when stopped down to F22 at 70mm.

The remainder of the post details the teardown process and shows just how much effort goes into thoroughly cleaning out the inner-elements of a lens, especially a zoom lens as intricate as a 70-200mm IS lens. For all of the nitty-gritty details of the teardown process and more photos, head over to Lensrentals’ blog post.

Finally, the fly is discovered.

Roger’s takeaway message from the image tests with the fly-laden lens is ‘if your dust spec is smaller than a fly (about 4mm by 1.5mm) it’s not showing up in your images.’ He goes on to say in the ‘Final Thoughts’ section:

I think this does serve as a good demonstration of how little effect even a very large object inside the lens has. It would have a more dramatic effect, probably, if it had been located closer to the rear element. It’s also a really good demonstration on why we (nor anyone else who’s qualified) won’t clean the dust out of your lens for $ 50. Sure, a lot of lenses are easier to do than this one, but it’s still time-consuming and often technically difficult.

As for how the fly got into the lens, Roger deduces that it likely made its way into the lens through the small gap that’s made in the rear of the lens that can open up during the zooming process. The lens had been in Lensrentals’ rotation for 15 months, so he believes it found its way inside the lens after it left the factory. However, Roger admits he’s not a bug expert, so he’s not against hearing other possibilities.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Photographer asks for help finding owners of a destroyed camera found at Zion National Park

21 Feb

Photographer Ben Horne has shared a video on his YouTube channel imploring the photography community to help him find the owner of a Fujifilm point-and-shoot camera that a friend of his found while on a hike in Zion National Park in Southwest Utah.

As explained in the three minute video, Horne’s friend Luke Riding was hiking along the base of Angels Landing — a tall rock formation with a narrow trail at the top where hikers are free to walk along — when he came across a Fujifilm camera that had clearly taken a tumble down the side of the 1,500-foot rock formation.

The camera itself is clearly battered from its treacherous journey down the side of Angels Landing, but the SD card inside remained intact, complete with a collection of date-stamped images captured before the Fujifilm’s free-fall. The images Horne has shared include a number of portraits with two younger females posing in various areas of Zion National Park in September 2015, according to the metadata.

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_1537654159″,”galleryId”:”1537654159″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) });

Horne has asked to help spread the word in an effort to return the camera and images back to their rightful owner(s). If you happen to know the individuals in the photos or know of anyone who happened to lose their Fujifilm camera while at the top of Angels Landing, you can contact Horne by email (listed in the YouTube video description) or via Instagram.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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New Sony sensor specs resemble chips found inside Fujifilm X-T3, Panasonic GH5S, others

21 Oct

Sony has updated its sensor page and shared the details of a number of new image sensors it’s made. Sure enough, a few of them bear a striking resemblance to sensors inside other manufacturers cameras.

One sensor in particular, a 26-megapixel backside-illuminated (BSI) APS-C chip nicknamed IMX571, bears an uncanny resemblance to the sensor used inside Fujifilm’s X-T3 camera. While Fujifilm hasn’t confirmed it’s a Sony sensor inside the X-T3, General Manager of Fujifilm UK, Theo Georgiades, did say it wasn’t a Samsung sensor used inside the camera, as some believed to be the case, leaving little doubt that it was Sony who manufactured the sensor. The specs listed under this image sensor on Sony’s website all but confirm that speculation.

It’s also worth noting that there’s a good chance we’ll see Sony build something around this sensor as well. The a6300 and a6500 both use the same sensor as Fujifilm’s X-T2, so it’s not a stretch to imagine Sony will be releasing one or two A600-series cameras using the 26-megapixel BSI image sensor found inside the X-T3.

The BSI IMX461 sensor has been in the works for a long time and based on Fujifilm’s announcement that it is currently developing a 100-megapixel medium format camera, it’s likely this is the sensor that will be inside of it. The sensor has 3.76 micron pixels and features a maximum frame-rate of up to six frames per second.

The IMX299 is a bit harder to hit on the head, but based on it being 11-megapixls, having 4.63 micron pixels, and a 60 frames per second readout, it’s almost certainly the sensor found inside the Panasonic GH5S.

Last but not least is the IMX272. This 20-megapixel Four Thirds-type sensor has 3.3 micron pixels and a maximum readout of 60 frames per second. We don’t have any reason to believe this is currently in any camera, but it seems like an incredibly capable sensor that could show up in a very high-performing Four Thirds camera in the future.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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How to Make a Dramatic Portrait with Light Painting Using Items Found in Your Home

28 Feb

In this article, I’ll show you how to do a fun project you can do with friends and a little light painting. You can do this, using things you likely already have in the house.

It’s always fun to experiment with different and creative ways of using light in photographs. It’s also a lot of fun to take some risks and experiment with a technique that may or may not produce good results. The reality is you can learn from every photographic experience. It doesn’t matter if the results are perfect or not. Each time you pull out a camera you create something that adds to your knowledge base and helps you to grow as a photographer.

Learning lessons

In the case of a project I did recently with light painting and live models, several lessons were learned. The first was the importance of finding enthusiastic people to assist with my projects. The second was the importance of a reflector in adding light to a photograph.

Lastly, the third lesson involved pushing the limits of human abilities. I asked my friends to hold very still for these images, sometimes in some slightly awkward poses. How much was too much for my models?

How to Make Dramatic Light Painting Effects with Items Found in Your Home

This was our final image of the evening. It took a lot of trial and error to reach this point.

 

The light painting project

The whole concept for the photo project was inspired by the light painting of Eric Pare. He creates dramatic images in stunning locations with the help of dancer Kim Henry. Eric uses an easily created light tube and a strong flashlight. It’s winter here in Canada, and at -30c it’s not reasonable to ask a friend to pose outside in a landscape while wearing skimpy clothing.

So using his idea of long shutter speeds, it was time to craft a different project. The goal was to create dramatic images that you could easily reproduce within your home at a fairly low cost.

The following images were created in my kitchen using a large piece of black velvet (a black sheet will also work) draped across my portable backdrop stand, a reflector, an extension cord, and a string of Christmas lights. Of course, three friends were also recruited to assist with the project. They were more than willing to participate in the fun. In the end, there were a lot of laughs, and everyone was quite dedicated to the effort to get the images correct.

How to Make Dramatic Light Painting Effects with Items Found in Your Home

A terrible grainy image but my friend was having so much fun she needed to take a quick selfie.

The Setup

Setting up was very easy. A backdrop was attached to the narrow walls of my kitchen. Black velvet is a lovely fabric for absorbing light and creating true black in photographs. I love black velvet and I’ve used it to create some very dramatic still life images and portraits in the past.

Wait until the fabric is on sale or pick remnants. The only trick to black velvet is to use a lint brush to remove white fuzzy bits. These show up quite easily in images, and it’s a pain to clone out all those little white spots.

How to Make Dramatic Light Painting Effects with Items Found in Your Home

Here we set the lights and the background. The kitchen is pretty narrow so it was a challenge to set up the backdrop. In the end, part of the backdrop was taped to the wall.

How to Make Dramatic Light Painting Effects with Items Found in Your Home

A shot from above. My friend stood on the countertop to spin the lights. As you can see they were loosely draped over the fan.

How to Make Dramatic Light Painting Effects with Items Found in Your Home

The reflector was placed just below the model’s belly button and the light was directed up towards the face.

After setting up the backdrop using tape and the cross piece from my backdrop kit, we then hung the Christmas lights from the ceiling fan.

In the original plan, we intended to turn on the fan and let it spin. It’s a good thing we realized that the lights would tangle around the fan and cause an issue. So it then became the job of one person to spin the fan 340 degrees during the exposure manually.

The Camera Gear

We used a Canon 5D Mark III mounted on a tripod and the 2-second self-timer. That allowed the person manning the fan to begin spinning the lights.

How to Make Dramatic Light Painting Effects with Items Found in Your Home

This image is getting better. It’s still soft. My exposure time wasn’t quite correct yet here.

The Procedure

It was time to establish the proper exposure for the whole project.  The trick here was to balance the exposure so that there was a long enough shutter speed (exposure time) to blur the lights but we also needed to keep the models in focus.

It’s awfully hard to stay still for even just a few seconds. In fact, it’s almost impossible. After several experiments and through trial and error the final exposure used was 0.8 of a second at f/3.2 with an ISO of 100. We also used a large reflector to bounce the light back up towards the models face.

How to Make Dramatic Light Painting Effects with Items Found in Your Home

This one is a little better. I ran it through a sharpening editor to help. It’s not perfect but I love the way the lights curved around their hair.

The whole experiment required us to use two people to create the photo and one or two people as models in each shot. The photographer triggered the camera timer as well as held the reflector, while the fan operator stood on the countertop and spun the fan at the proper moment.

How to Make Dramatic Light Painting Effects with Items Found in Your Home

This image didn’t turn out as planned. You can see how important timing and communication are to this kind of project.

The Keys to Success

The keys to a successful photograph were quite simply communication and timing. The lights had to be spun at exactly the right moment, and the photographer needed to communicate timing to everyone else.

It took a lot of tries to get the whole thing correct, but in the end, we were able to produce the desired images.

How to Make Dramatic Light Painting Effects with Items Found in Your Home

The creative person in me is able to ignore the slight ghosting from motion because I love how the lights spin above and below her eyes.

The goal was to create dramatic images with a neat light painting effect. I wanted to encircle the model with light, almost as if she were standing within a light tube. There were many failed attempts.

Sometimes our timing was off, and the lights did not spin around the model or got caught in her hair. Other times the lights moved too slowly and didn’t make it all the way through the image. Other times the issue was the lights themselves. Sometimes the lights spun right across the model’s eyes. I like a few of these images, but at the same time, some ran across the face in a way that was not attractive.

Have fun with it

The whole experiment was a lot of fun. It made for a great night out and some fun pics to post on social media. My friends were happy to post the pics to show their friends. As an artist and a professional photographer I also wanted to see if I could use the technique for other purposes.

Is it possible to use this technique to create some interesting fine art images or perhaps for some interesting portraits? The answer is yes! There’s a lot that can be done with this technique. It’s well worth experimenting with and seeing what kind of results can be created.

How to Make Dramatic Light Painting Effects with Items Found in Your Home

In this one, we achieved exactly what I was hoping to do. She is standing in a circle of lights.

The post How to Make a Dramatic Portrait with Light Painting Using Items Found in Your Home by Erin Fitzgibbon appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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