Android Police is reporting that Google Photos has been asking its users to help improve its algorithms. While this is not Google’s first foray into crowdsourcing help in improving its recognition software, the latest survey, which is rolling out to users on Android, is asking for volunteers to label their images.
Last year, Google Photos asked users to identify faces in images to help improve its facial recognition technology. More recently, Google added a survey to the app, asking users to confirm the accuracy of search results. The latest addition to Google Photos takes it a step further. As Rita El Khoury at Android Police writes, ‘Basically, you’ll be doing some work for free, if you feel like it, and the end result is everyone gets better image and object recognition.’
Machine learning requires a large, accurate data set to help train algorithms. The more data, the better an algorithm can be tuned and trained. For Google Photos, the algorithm needs as many labeled images of as many subjects as possible. Further, not only do people have many different photos in their Google Photos library already, we all capture images differently. A proper training data set doesn’t just include many images, it includes variety of subjects, light, angle, color and more. Ideally, with the help of users, Google Photos will be able to produce more accurate search results.
Screenshots of the ‘Improve Google Photos’ option in the Google Photos app, used with permission from Dr. Rita El Khoury, Managing Editor at Android Police.
If you’d like to participate and help shape the future of Google Photos, you can find a dialog box at the bottom of the ‘Search’ tab in the Google Photos application. The text reads, ‘Help improve Google Photos’ and when you click on the box, you then ‘Get started’ by answering questions about your photos. Google Photos will present images to you and you type what you consider important in each of the selected images. The first batch includes 10 images, but you can skip images or do more if you’d like.
After the labeling exercise, you can participate in additional training exercises, including one in which you determine if certain photographs are worthy of being printed. This is an interesting task given that Google Photos recently began offering a monthly premium print subscription. This subscription sends users 10 photo prints per month for $ 6.99, shipping included. Another addition to Google Photos includes asking users to identify which photos show a certain holiday or event.
9to5Google links to a Google Photos Help document about the latest addition to the Google Photos app. In its document, Google states that ‘It may take time to see your contributions impact your account, but your input will help improve existing features and build new ones, like improved suggestions on which photos to print or higher quality creations that you would like.’ As of now, this feature is only available on Android devices.
The post Ways Creativity Can Help in Times of Uncertainty appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Anthony Epes.
When times are challenging for us, either individually or collectively, I find that my photography plays an important role in helping me get through intense life experiences like those we are all experiencing right now. So today I want to share some valuable ideas on ways creativity can help in times of uncertainty.
Life feels so strange when you are tootling along, maybe a bit bored or lethargic, and then something deeply unsettling happens, seemingly out of the blue.
And you are confronted with the big life questions: how to survive when you are faced with pandemics, mortality, aging, illness, financial problems, etc.
Often, when things get tough, we stop doing the things that make us relax and make us happy. We contract with fear or worry; we start focusing on the uncertainty, the pain, and the problems.
But what I would love to share with you today is that, instead of contracting when things get rocky, instead of making our lives less joyful and fun, we can actually use photography, and our love of being creative, to help us cope in tough times.
Using our creativity can help us to explore the world. It can help to take our minds away from obsessive worrying, to look beyond our challenges, to find beauty in unexpected places, and to connect with others.
There are so many opportunities to weave in moments of immense joy from this incredible medium of photography that we all love so much.
So here are my ideas on how creativity can help you in times of uncertainty.
The simple joy of making
One of my favorite writers, Neil Gaiman, is extraordinary when discussing the benefits of being creative. But a very simple idea of his is perhaps the most powerful here:
“The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.” –Neil Gaiman
I never, ever regret spending time shooting.
Even if I don’t get any shots I love, making the effort to explore and take photos makes my day better.
Of course, this is especially true when I hit those amazing moments when I capture something perfectly.
If I find some incredible light, a beautiful vista, or an interesting face, I feel fantastic when looking at those photos afterward.
Even if I get zero good shots, I know that every single time I make the effort to shoot, I am feeding my ideas, my imagination, and my creativity.
Even if I get things wrong, make something boring, or miss a shot, the effort of shooting, as well as the experience of shooting, always feels worthwhile to me.
It is a pretty basic but powerful idea to think that we humans just love to make things.
It’s part of what makes us human: to have ideas, to experience the world not just as a way to get our needs met, but as a way to add something to what is already here.
And, of course, I always regret not shooting.
Creativity can expand our vision beyond the here and now
When we are so wrapped up in our lives or the challenges we are facing, it can feel like our struggles are the only things we can think about.
This is especially true when we are fearful and worried. We see everything through the filter of our worries.
And so it is good, in fact, essential, to take our minds away into realms of other possibilities and see the world beyond what is freaking us out.
It’s important to contemplate and see the worlds other people are living, to explore the wilderness, to look at the stars and imagine their eternal timelessness.
To bring the focus of our lives away from the minutiae and worries and toward the vast incredible planet that we live in.
To remember that this is just a moment in time.
We know that life goes on. Every day is new. Challenges are overcome, eventually. Things continue to change. We can rely on that.
The photographer Diane Arbus said that being a photographer gives you a license to talk to people you wouldn’t usually approach. And this is the amazing thing that applies to all of photography, I believe.
Having a camera in hand is an incredible license (permission, even) to try and look at the world in a new way.
So use it.
Use photography to go beyond whatever is concerning you right now. Use photography to see things afresh, to look at new places, or to try and look at the same things in new ways.
Use limitation to stretch your creativity and imagination
During lockdown, I took some of the best photos I had in years. Because I didn’t have the chance to just go out and explore, I was confined to my apartment and had to squeeze my inspiration and imagination to come up with something awesome in this confining situation.
I had to dig deep and think beyond what was ordinarily possible; I had to look at the limited opportunities that I had and make the very best of them.
And I did! My creativity, because I used it daily, because I valued it and fed it, gave me some amazing ideas for great shots.
(It’s important to remember what the wonderful writer Maya Angelou said: “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”)
It’s amazing what the imagination can do when given very tight restrictions!
Creativity can help us share and connect with others in challenging times
We all face challenges. Life has times of darkness for us all.
It is not unique to hit a point in life that you believe will shatter your spirit or break you from worry.
And yet so often we hide these experiences and feelings from each other because they are strange and oddly embarrassing to share.
But we can use our craft and our creativity to bring light and to share our experiences with others. To show people that we are all human, facing many similar challenges.
This quote from the writer James Baldwin sums up the power that creative people have:
“The precise role of the artist, then, is to illuminate that darkness, blaze roads through that vast forest, so that we will not, in all our doing, lose sight of its purpose, which is, after all, to make the world a more human dwelling place.” –James Baldwin
Bringing calm to our minds and bodies
There are many studies that show being creative is good for our emotional health.
Being creative is often compared to meditation. This is because we get lost in creative tasks, and getting lost in something has a calming effect on our nervous systems.
It’s soothing to be focused on something that is concerned with something beyond the practical, which is about creating something beautiful or interesting or fun.
And, as I mentioned before, anything that moves us away from our worries, that brings us ideas and inspiration, is so valuable during times when it feels like life is sitting on quicksand.
Creativity is a way to work things out
I want to live for more than just getting by. I want to live in a way that is exciting and interesting and electrifying. And yet there is so much that brings us away from the joy.
It’s very easy as humans to get so embedded in our habits, both in how we live our lives and how we think, that it often feels like we are running on autopilot.
This can be especially true in times of uncertainty. We go over and over and over the things that are concerning us. We think of ways to help, what to change, and how to fix things. We talk about our concerns a lot and get lost in endless articles. We discuss, rationalize, and disagree.
But maybe there is no fix, and you can only live with whatever is on your path. The obsessive thinking and worrying is not going to help you at all.
I love this quote from Edward de Bono because, to me, it shows that we can use creativity to break out of old patterns and habits, and to go beyond how we see the world at the moment:
“Creativity involves breaking out of expected patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” –Edward de Bono
Creativity brings you into the present moment
This is ultimately all that we have: this present moment. We cannot escape back to the past nor rely on the future. This is what we have now. And to always be sucked into doing or planning or thinking is to miss the only real life that we have:
What is here, right now.
It is so easy to get lost in the moment. But somehow, when we are challenged with any of the things that are hard in life (grief, loss, or pain), the challenge can serve as an opportunity to wake us up.
It slams our attention into focus, and it can be a time when we break. But it can also be a time when we suddenly say: I am going to stop getting lost in the busyness of life. I am going to pay attention to what is actually here.
And by facing the feeling of uncertainty, by acknowledging that it can overtake our thoughts, can seep into our bodies, can overwhelm us, we can start to do something to transcend it.
We can use these times of uncertainty to allow all that is unnecessary and distracting to simply fall away.
And creativity can help us with the whole process. It can help us see what we aren’t seeing. It can open our eyes to all that is fascinating and meaningful and true for us.
Being creative isn’t something to save only for retirement or when you’ve got time. It isn’t to be saved for when your kids are older or for when you’ve completed all your tasks (tasks are never-ending, aren’t they?).
Creativity can help us move through dark times with more grace and understanding. It can comfort us at times when we struggle. It pays attention to that part of ourselves that is so uniquely human, that weirdly, magically, strangely, unnecessary, completely impractical side of who we are.
If we are to enjoy our lives, isn’t it because we are not just doing what is necessary, but reveling in the pleasures and beauty and joy of it all?
Otherwise, what is the point of all of our hard efforts, all of the work, all of the struggles and challenges we face?
What is the point if there isn’t a little bit of stardust to delight our spirits at least once every day?
I hope these ideas have been helpful to you and have ignited your imagination. I hope these ideas have shown you how creativity can help in these times of uncertainty. I would love to know if they have, so please share your thoughts in a comment below.
The post Ways Creativity Can Help in Times of Uncertainty appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Anthony Epes.
Autofocus has gotten very good. Scarily good, even. But some situations call for good old fashioned manual focus, whether you’re shooting macro, video or channeling your inner Cartier-Bresson on the street. For these occasions, Chris and Jordan have a few quick tips that will help you nail your manually focused shot every time.
Introduction
Punch in focus
Peaking
Hyperfocal distance
Focus marks
Focusing with camera movement
Snapping into focus
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The post How Expanding Curiosity and Knowledge in Photography Can Help You Improve appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
Maintaining curiosity and knowledge in photography is key to helping you improve your craft. Having a good grasp of your chosen subject material will keep you inspired and full of fresh ideas.
It’s easy to photograph what you find attractive. When you have a deeper understanding of what you enjoy, looking at your photos will have more depth and meaning.
In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the ways you can develop curiosity and knowledge in photography that will help viewers engage more with your photographs.
Start with what’s easy. Photograph what you love. When you do this, you’re already well on your way to creating more intimate photos.
Having feelings for your subject helps you see it differently than when you photograph something that looks nice but that you don’t care about. A snapshot made with feeling can be less technically correct but more engaging.
If you have more of a connection to, and concentration on, your camera, rather than your subject, you run the risk of taking technically-correct but otherwise dull photos. Curiosity and knowledge in photography must reach beyond cameras, lenses, and accessories.
Develop a curiosity for your subject. Learn more about it. You will learn to love what you photograph or you’ll grow indifferent. If you lose interest in your subject, find something else to photograph that captures your imagination.
When your imagination is captured, your photos are more likely to capture the imagination of those who see them.
Learning about a topic is easier than ever these days. We have millions of web pages, Youtube videos, forums, and podcasts online. These will teach you anything you desire to learn.
Then there are books, galleries, movies, and all manner of other visually stimulating ways to learn more about your favorite subject.
Open your imagination and you can learn anything you like. Combining your love of photography with becoming an expert on what you enjoy taking pictures of helps you improve.
With a more advanced understanding of the nuances of your subject, you’ll take more intimate, engaging photos of it. If you lack understanding, you’re more likely to miss seeing the subtle aspects that will make your pictures pop.
Even if you’ve been photographing the same subject for many years, I’m sure there’s something else you can learn about it. If you’re not sure that there is, start teaching someone. Once you start teaching about any subject you’re interested in, you’ll soon discover how much more you want to know about it.
Studying a subject until you’re an expert takes commitment. The best photographers know this by experience.
Look at portfolios of any truly successful photographers (not ones who’ve merely acquired large social media followings), and you’ll see what I mean. Their work displays the intimate connection that they have with their subjects.
This takes time and commitment to build. It does not happen quickly or frivolously.
For example, if you love the architecture of the city you live in and photograph it often, take some time to learn more about it. Study its history. Who designed it? Why does it have character? How has it evolved over time? Once you understand the answers to these and other questions, you’ll start to look at your neighborhood in a new light.
Use the internet. Visit your local library. Search out the work of other photographers who have a similar interest. Google is a great source of images. Type in any location and you’ll find others have photographed it and shared their images.
Find well-known photographers whose style and subject material you appreciate. Study how they compose their pictures. When do they take them? Look at the type of light that’s predominant in many of their photos.
You can research any subject you can think of. Taking time to do so on a regular basis will help you become a better photographer. You don’t always have to be out and about with your camera to learn to take better photos.
Taking photos frequently certainly does help you build camera skills, but photography is more than just about using your camera.
Maintain your curiosity and knowledge in photography
No matter how long or how often you’ve photographed a particular subject, it’s best to maintain a curiosity for it.
Explore new ways to photograph the same subject over and over. This should be a healthy challenge. If you find it repeatedly becoming a bit of a drag, consider starting to photograph something different.
The more curiosity you maintain, the more interesting your photos will be to others. Once you’ve covered all the more traditional approaches to taking pictures of a particular subject, a healthy curiosity will lead you further. Your creative journey can really come alive.
Push yourself out of your comfort zone. Think of ways to make new, fresh pictures that you normally would not take. Looking at the work of other photographers is one of the best ways to discover how you can do this.
Photograph your subject in light you normally wouldn’t use. If you typically work with a long lens, use a wide-angle lens next time. Explore alternative angles and different ways of seeing the same thing. You might surprise yourself with the results.
Be prolific. The more time you spend learning about your subject, the more you’ll want to get out and take photos of it. Frequently using your camera helps you remain immersed. This is also how to maintain healthy levels of inspiration.
Start with what you love. This makes learning easy and fun. Becoming immersed in a subject you are halfhearted about can lead to discouragement. Whatever subjects you photograph should be a pleasure to study and become an expert about.
Curiosity and knowledge in photography will improve the level of engagement viewers have with your art. Taking a serious approach to learning more and developing a more informed appreciation of your subject will elevate your photography experience.
The post How Expanding Curiosity and Knowledge in Photography Can Help You Improve appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
The post 12 Tips to Help You Capture Stunning Landscape Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kav Dadfar.
Whether you are an experienced photographer or just getting started, the amazing landscape photographs you see have all got a few things in common. The reality of landscape photography is that not only are you reliant on your own ability and skill of seeing and composing an image, but also on Mother Nature. But regardless of whatever weather you encounter, there are countless opportunities to be able to capture spectacular landscape photographs.
Here are 12 tips that you can follow if you want to capture stunning landscape photos.
1. Location, location, location
Landscape photography is as much about planning as it is about the actual process of photography. You should always have a clear idea of where you are planning to go, and at what time of the day you will be able to capture the best photograph. Learn how to read maps, and understand how you can utilize them to find the perfect location. By planning your exact location, you will be able to maximize your time there, and ensure not only that you get to your location safely and in plenty of time, but also that you find your way back (usually after sunset).
2. Be patient
It’s amazing the number of times that the elements conspire to ruin a perfectly composed photograph. Landscape photography requires patience, just in case that white cloudy sky disperses just long enough to allow the sun to break through for you to take your shot. The key is to always allow yourself enough time at a location so that you are able to wait if you need to. Forward planning can also help you hugely, so make sure to check weather forecasts before leaving, maximizing your opportunity for the weather you require.
3. Don’t be lazy
One of the reasons we are often stunned by impressive landscape photos is because it is a view taken in a way that we have never seen before. A photo taken from the top of a mountain which requires a huge amount of time and effort to get to is a view that most people won’t get to see for themselves. So don’t rely on easily accessible viewpoints that everyone else can just pull up to and see. Instead, look for those unique spots (provided they are safe to get to) that offer amazing scenes, even if they require determination to get there.
4. Use the best light
Light is one of the most important factors in any photograph, but even more so in landscape photography. It really doesn’t matter how great the location, is or how you compose your photo – if the light doesn’t do the scene justice, then the image will fail. The best light for landscape photography is early in the morning or late afternoon, with the midday sun offering the harshest light.
But part of the challenge of landscape photography is about being able to adapt and cope with different lighting conditions; for example, great landscape photos can be captured even on stormy or cloudy days. The key is to use the best light as much as possible, and be able to influence the look and feel of your photos with it.
5. Carry a tripod
Simply put, if you want to capture the best photographs, at the best time of the day, at the highest quality possible, then a tripod is an essential piece of equipment. Photography in low light conditions (e.g. early morning or early evening) without a tripod would require an increase in ISO to be able to avoid camera shake, which in turn means more noise in your images. If you want to capture a scene using a slow shutter speed or long exposure (for example, to capture the movement of clouds or water) then without a tripod you simply won’t be able to hold the camera steady enough to avoid blurred images from camera shake.
6. Maximize the depth of field
Choosing your depth of field is an important part of capturing stunning landscapes. Landscape photos usually require the vast majority of the photo to be sharp (the foreground and background) so you need a deeper depth of field than if you are taking a portrait of someone. But a shallower depth of field can also be a powerful creative tool if used correctly, as it can isolate the subject by keeping it sharp, while the rest of the image is blurred. As a starting point, if you are looking to keep the majority of the photo sharp, set your camera to Aperture Priority (A or Av) mode so you can take control of the aperture. Start at around f/8 and work up (f/11 or higher) until you get the desired effect.
7. Think about the composition
As much as possible you should always aim to get your composition right when taking the photo, rather than relying on post-production. If the scene doesn’t look right when you look at it through your viewfinder, then it won’t look good in the final output. There are several techniques that you can use to help your composition (such as the rule of thirds), but ultimately you need to train yourself to be able to see a scene, and analyze it in your mind. With practice this will become second nature, but the important thing is to take your time.
8. Use neutral density and polarizing filters
Neutral Density filters and polarizers are an essential piece of kit for any landscape photographer. Often you will need to manipulate the available light, or even try to enhance the natural elements. For example, if you are taking photos which include water, you may find you get unwanted reflections from the sun, which is where a polarizing filter can help by minimizing the reflections and also enhancing the colors (greens and blues). But remember, polarizing filters often have little or no effect on a scene if you’re directly facing the sun, or it’s behind you. For best results position yourself between 45° and 90° to the sun.
One of the other big challenges of landscape photography is getting a balanced exposure between the foreground, which is usually darker, and a bright sky. Graduated ND filters help to compensate for this by darkening the sky, while keeping the foreground brighter. This can be replicated in post-production, but it is always best to try and capture the photo as perfectly as possible in-camera.
9. Use the histogram
Histograms are an essential tool in photography, which you should aim to learn how to read and utilize the findings to improve your photos. A histogram is a simple graph that shows the different tonal distribution in your image. The left side of the graph is for dark tones and the right side of the graph represents bright tones.
For instance, if you find that the majority of the graph is shifted to one side, this is an indication that your photo is too light or dark (overexposed or underexposed). This isn’t always a bad thing, and some images work perfectly well either way. However, if you find that your graph extends beyond the left or right edge, this shows that you have parts of the photo with lost detail (pure black areas if the histogram extends beyond the left edge and pure white if it extends beyond the right edge). This is something you should avoid, so by seeing the evidence in the histogram, you are able to correct it by either recomposing the image or compensating for the exposure.
10. Never settle for a good photo
This is true of any photograph that you are taking. It doesn’t matter if it is a landscape or a portrait; if you can do it better, then you should. But often because of the time and effort that landscape photography requires, people settle for a good photo, rather than waiting or coming back to take a better one. You should always aim to photograph anything at the best possible time, in the best possible way, even if that means waiting or coming back later.
11. Shoot in RAW format
Simply put, if your camera is capable of capturing photos in RAW format, then I recommend that you always capture RAW files. They contain much more detail and information, and give far greater flexibility in post-production without losing quality. Remember, you can always save RAW files in whatever other formats you require, but you will not be able to save JPEGs as RAW files, so ultimately you are limited to the quality at which the JPEG was shot.
12. Experiment
For all the techniques and rules that exist to help aid composition and the process of taking the photo, there is always room to experiment. Digital photography means that taking a photo isn’t wasting a negative (and costing money), so there is ample opportunity to break the rules and your own style sometimes. Even if the majority of the time it doesn’t work and the image doesn’t look great, every now and again you might uncover a gem.
Landscape photography is one of the most common genres that amateur and professional photographers get into. With practice, hard work, and patience you can capture stunning landscape photos that will look great in your portfolio.
So come on, show us your great landscape shots, and don’t forget to share your tips and experiences below.
The post 12 Tips to Help You Capture Stunning Landscape Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kav Dadfar.
We’ve been putting together a 35mm SLR beginners’ guide, aimed at photographers who may be starting out in medium, whether on their own or through some sort of intro to darkroom photography course.
To be considered for this forthcoming guide, we felt cameras should meet the following criteria:
Offer both full-manual and some sort of auto exposure mode, to help beginners wet their feet
Be a manual focus camera
Use readily available batteries (no mercury cells)
Can easily be found in good working order, with lens, for under ~$ 200
After some research and much chatting with other fellow analog nerds, we’ve settled on the following list of cameras, all of which are shining examples of our criteria. Now it’s up to you to help us decide which of these cameras deserve to be featured in our final guide; we’ll lean on your opinions heavily as we whittle the contenders down further.
Please vote only once for your favorite beginner-friendly camera. We’ll share the results of our poll when it closes, and our final guide thereafter.
Is your beginner-friendly SLR choice not listed? Does it meet our criteria? If so, please mention it in the comments below and vote for the next closest model.
About Film Fridays: We recently launched an analog forum and in a continuing effort to promote the fun of the medium, we’ll be sharing film-related content on Fridays, including articles from our friends at KosmoFoto and 35mmc.
There are many ways to learn the basics of photography, such as classes, tutorials and simply capturing more images. However, there’s a neat new method using playing cards, Photography Deck.
Launched on Kickstarter, the campaign far exceeded its funding goal during its first day. At the time of writing, over 600 backers had contributed more than $ 20,000 USD, compared to the goal of just $ 1,122.
The unique and attractive deck of cards are designed to appeal to shutterbugs and photography newcomers alike. Each suit covers a different topic: Clubs cover technical details, diamonds showcase shooting styles, hearts offer composition tips and finally, spades teach camera basics.
The 3 of spades card features the exposure triangle. Image credit: Photography Deck on Kickstarter
The technical details on the clubs cards include manual shooting, white balance, color theory and more. For example, the 6 of clubs teaches the viewer about the histogram. The shooting style-themed diamonds cards illustrate styles of photography including flash photography, macro, portrait photography among others. The hearts cards feature composition topics such as negative space, symmetry, patterns, leading lines, the rule of thirds and more. Adorned with basic camera information, the spades cards illustrate camera topics such as aperture, shutter speed, focal length, depth of field and more. The 3 of spades illustrates the exposure triangle of shutter speed, ISO and aperture.
Via the Kickstarter page, creator Eric Bohring states that each card ‘illustrates the most important rules and techniques about photography’ while featuring unique camera artwork. ‘Think of them as pocket-sized cheat sheets that you can bring wherever you travel,’ the campaign continues. The product is designed as a unique gift for photography enthusiasts and as a useful and artistic addition to your own camera bag.
The deck of cards is a standard playing deck with 52 cards and a pair of jokers. Each card features a micro-linen texture and is a standard playing card size: 3.5 x 2.5 inches (89 x 64mm).
If you’d like to make a pledge to the Photography Deck project, it’s about $ 14 USD to receive a standard Photography Deck, with shipping expected in August. For about $ 17, you can receive a limited edition green deck. If you’d like both decks you can receive a standard and limited edition deck for $ 29.
Disclaimer: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.
London-based startup Playground has launched a new iOS app called Anonymous Camera that, as its name suggests, anonymizes images and videos to protect the subjects featured in them. The app leverages artificial intelligence to detect and remove or blur the subjects, a process that takes place locally on the user’s device if it’s running iOS 13.0 or higher.
Because facial recognition software makes it easier than ever to identify someone featured in a video or photo, anonymizing these images to protect innocent individuals, whistleblowers and more is vitally important. Anonymous Camera aims to make this process simple for iPhone users by using facial recognition to find subjects and hide them.
The process can include blurring a face, the most traditional way to anonymous subjects, or entirely removing their bodies in cases where enhanced steps are necessary. In addition to blurring the subjects, Anonymous Camera also supports putting a solid object over the subject’s face, which would prevent blur-reversal technologies from being used, plus there’s the option of using noise to hide the subject.
Playground claims that it uses ‘state of the art’ facial recognition technology to find and blur faces regardless of angles, including in videos where the subject is moving. There is a limitation, however: the full-body anonymization feature can only be used on the iPhone XS or newer models. Other features include distorting audio to mask the subject’s voice, removing metadata from the content and splitting the screen to anonymize only the subject in an interview.
Anonymous Camera doesn’t use the cloud, instead storing and processing images locally on the device; this is a key feature that decreases the odds of unmodified images being intercepted or otherwise acquired.
According to The Verge, Anonymous Camera was designed for anonymizing videos and images of single subjects and small groups of people; when tested at a large Black Lives Matter protest, the app wasn’t able to deal with the large number of subjects, but it was never intended to do so, according to Playground.
We are very excited to launch Anonymous Camera in the App Store today. Anonymise photos and videos in real time, locally on device. All proceeds from the in-app purchase will go towards @BlackVisionsMN and @UR_Ninja.https://t.co/s1llUoThOf https://t.co/8XeoTe68nH
— Playground (@playgroundAI) June 11, 2020
Though the app could be useful for anyone who wants to protect someone’s privacy, it is pitched specifically as a tool that could be used by journalists, activists, whistleblowers and other people who are providing sensitive information, operating in oppressive regions or anyone capturing content in places that require public individuals to be blurred.
Such privacy tools are becoming increasingly popular and important. Earlier this week, encrypted messaging app Signal introduced its own built-in face-blurring feature that enables users to blur the faces of subjects featured in shared images. The tool also allows users to draw over faces or hide them with stickers.
It’s important to note that blurring alone may not be enough to protect subjects featured in content. In addition to other potential identifiers like unique tattoos or piercings, there are also forensic software tools that use machine learning to reverse the blur applied to an image, revealing the content that was hidden. Hiding the subject behind solid color or stickers may be the safer option.
Anonymous Camera is available for free now from the iOS App Store with a ‘Pro’ in-app purchase that costs $ 1.99 and offers video recording without watermarks.
Fujifilm UK has announced it’s donated Instax instant cameras to 31 National Health Service (NHS) hospitals across the United Kingdom and 19 other hospitals across seven other countries to help hospital staff ‘share a smile’ with patients while still wearing their personal protective equipment (PPE).
With doctors, nurses and other hospital staff having to wear an extraordinary amount of PPE due to the COVID-19 pandemic, patients within the hospital are unable to have the more face-to-face interaction they’re more familiar with in less-chaotic times.
Left to right: [1-2] Healthcare workers at Florence Nightingale Group Hospitals, Turkey and [3] Azienda Socio-Sanitaria Territoriale (ASST) di Vimercate, Monza, Italy
‘Those working on the frontline in hospitals must put on gloves, gown, face mask, visor or air hoods before entering a hospital unit or caring for a patient – creating a full suit covering almost every feature,’ says Fujifilm in its press release announcing the initiative. It goes on to say:
‘This can make it difficult to reassure a patient, who cannot see a smile or a friendly face. PPE removes an important element of the personal connection that is usually so important between a clinician and patient. It can also heighten an already worrying and intimidating situation and make patients in ICU wards feel even more isolated.’
So, in its search to figure out how it can help NHS staff and patients alike throughout the COVId-19 pandemic, Fujifilm found a clever way to keep interactions a little more personal and friendly than otherwise possible while wrapped up in PPE. Through its donated Instax cameras, the staff is able to snap a photo of themselves and attach it to their gowns.
Fujifilm says roughly 120 Instax cameras and 7,500 Instax prints have been sent to hospitals in the U.K., Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, Russia, France and Denmark, with more expected to be shipped out to interested parties.
In addition to helping patients feel more connected with their caretakers, Fujifilm says it also has the added benefit of making inter-team communication easier and boosting morale, as it can be difficult to see who’s underneath all the PPE, especially considering hospitals have staff moving more frequently between floors and departments.
Fujifilm encourages any health teams interested in receiving a special Instax kit to contact them via email at comms_uk@fujifilm.com.
The post Black and White Photography Exercises to Help You Improve Your Skills appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
Black and white photography exercises can help you gain an understanding of how it differs from color photography. Concentrating on black and white images helps develop your photography in many ways.
“Color is descriptive. Black and white is interpretive.” ~ Eliott Erwitt
Loading a black and white film into your camera forced you to think in black and white. This is different with digital photography because it’s easy to convert a color image to monotones.
There are plenty of tools to help you do this. The Nik Software Silver Effects Pro is a superb Photoshop plug-in for converting color images to black and white.
Purposefully photographing in black and white is different than converting during post production. A photographer must think differently when their intention is to create photos without color. You see in color, so you must learn to disregard the color and think in black and white. Good black and white photography is not about taking the colors out of a photo.
Black and white photography relies on contrast and tone range and how these relate within your compositions. You must learn to look at the tones, not the colors, as you compose your photos.
Light has a huge influence on the tones in a photograph. The camera records reflected light to make photos. The amount and quality of the light used defines how a subject will appear when you take a photo of it. Hard light or soft light will produce very different results. This is the same with color, but it’s more pronounced in black and white photography.
One of the best ways you can learn to do this is by practicing black and white photography exercises.
Choose one subject for these black and white photography exercises
Find one or two interesting subjects to photograph for these exercises. You may even choose to set up a small still life scene with various objects you have around the house. This will allow you to make comparisons and see differences.
You need to find things you can move around and place in different locations.
Look for things that are not all black or all white. A mixture of tones will produce the most helpful results. If you photograph something(s) with white, black and mid-tones you’re going to be able to see the effects more clearly in your photos.
The main aim of these black and white photography exercises is to help you develop a better understanding of tone. Don’t try to make masterpiece photos that you’ll hang on your living room wall. If you do, that will be a bonus.
Soft light, outdoors on a cloudy day using Averaged light metering. Nikon D800, 55mm f/3.5, 1/800 sec, f/8, ISO 400, Manual Mode, Pattern Metering.
Lighting for black and white photography exercises
The reason you need to photograph something you can move is so you can photograph it in different locations and lighting conditions.
The type of light you photograph your subjects in, directly affects how they will look. Using hard light will produce very different-looking black and white photos than when you use soft light.
Strong light creates high contrast, no matter what tone your subject is. Soft light makes an even exposure much easier. Think about the quality of light and how it affects the look and feel of your photographs as you work.
Hard light
Place your subject in a location with hard light. Outside on a sunny day is ideal because you’ll be able to see where the shadows fall.
If you can’t manage that, using an on-camera flash with no diffuser will produce a hard light. You’ll need to take test images and study them to see where the shadows fall.
Take a series of photos from the first angle you think of. Expose some normally. Use averaged metering and set your exposure so the meter reads zero, or let your camera choose the setting if you use an auto mode.
Hard light, outdoors on a sunny day using spot metering from the highlight on the steel jug. Nikon D800, 55mm f/3.5, 1/800 sec, f/11, ISO 400, Manual Mode, Spot Metering.
Next, expose for the highlights.
Take a light meter reading from the brightest part of your composition.
To do this, set your camera’s meter to spot and point the spot at the bright area to take your reading. If you use live view, your camera may display the way your photo will look when you use manual mode. This way, you can adjust the exposure for the highlights based on what you see on your monitor. On many mirrorless cameras, the viewfinder will display the exposure the same as this when you are set to manual mode.
After taking a few photos with these settings, use the same technique to set your exposure so the shadow areas will be exposed well. Take another series of photos.
Hard light, outdoors on a sunny day using spot metering from the darkest area on the black jug. Nikon D800, 55mm f/3.5, 1/250 sec, f/11, ISO 400, Manual Mode, Spot Metering.
If you’re finding this exercise valuable and you have time, repeat this process.
Move around your subject and make compositions from different angles. Remember, the first angle you think to take a photo from is the most obvious, but not always the most interesting. Look at the way the light is falling on your subject and how the shadows look. Repeat the process and take photos at the three different exposure settings.
Soft light
If you’re photographing outdoors in the sun, move your subject into a shady area. Find somewhere outside where there’s still plenty of daylight.
If you’re inside and have been using your flash, take this next series of photos without using your flash. You may need a tripod if there’s not much light.
Soft light, outdoors on a cloudy day using spot metering from the highlight on the steel jug. Nikon D800, 55mm f/3.5, 1/2500 sec, f/8, ISO 400, Manual Mode, Spot Metering.
Repeat the same series of exposures as you did when you were photographing in hard light. Think about the tones in your composition when you are making your exposure readings and looking at the results.
If you’ve been photographing outdoors, move your subject inside and away from any windows or other strong light and repeat the whole process. This lower contrast situation will produce different results again. The variation will be subtle, but it’s interesting to see.
During this process, make notes about what you are doing and your thought process. You don’t need to record your camera settings as these are included in the EXIF data. Instead, write down what you are observing with the tones, light and shadows. Why did you take photos from these angles? How has the light and tone affected the way you’ve chosen to compose your photos?
Soft light, outdoors on a cloudy day using spot metering from the darkest area on the black jug. Nikon D800, 55mm f/3.5, 1/80 sec, f/8, ISO 400, Manual Mode, Spot Metering.
Make the most of shadows
Especially in hard light, shadows have a major impact on black and white photography exercises.
Think about where the light is coming from in relation to where you are with your camera. How does this change the way the composition looks when you move around your subject? How does it change when you move your subject?
This is easier to see when you are working with the sun as your light source. Using flash, you’ll need to refer back to your monitor often to see the variations. Look at the differences in the shadow areas in the different sets of photos. How different do they look when you exposed for the shadows and when you exposed for the highlights?
Once you’ve uploaded the photos to your computer. Select one image from each setup and each exposure setting. Simply desaturate all of these photos. This is not an ideal means for converting your photos to black and white, but it will suffice for this exercise.
Now look at these and compare them. Think about the way they look and the differences between the exposure settings. Consider how the various light has had an effect on the tone of your subjects.
Under hard light and soft light, you’ll notice the tone of your subjects looks different. Each set of photos taken at the various exposure settings will produce very different results. This is particularly noticeable with those taken under hard light.
Choose one photo from each set to make some further post-processing adjustments. Work with the sliders for:
contrast,
shadows,
blacks,
highlights
and whites.
Experiment with these various settings. Play with them. Discover how much impact post-processing has on these black and white photography exercises. What you can do with post-processing monotone images is beyond the scope of this article, so just have some fun with it.
I’d love to see some of your best results and know what you learned by doing this exercise. You can share your photos and thoughts in the comments section below.
The post Black and White Photography Exercises to Help You Improve Your Skills appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
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