InCamera « 360Photography

RSS

Posts Tagged ‘InCamera’

Cropping Your Photos In-Camera and in Post-Production: A Guide

25 Dec

The post Cropping Your Photos In-Camera and in Post-Production: A Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

Cropping your photos either in-camera or during post-production helps to create more interesting compositions. Capturing a strong composition as you take a photo is always satisfying, but can be difficult.

Learning to compose well takes time and practice. However, you can often create better compositions by carefully cropping your photos as you are editing them.

woman out standing in a field for cropping photos — © Kevin Landwer-Johan

What is cropping?

Cropping is cutting or trimming parts of your photo. This is most often done to improve the composition or to alter the aspect ratio.

In the past, cropping involved a straight edge and a blade. These days, cropping happens on the computer and is much less aggressive; you can always hit “Undo” and try again if you make a mistake.

Cropping in-camera is a common term that’s not particularly correct. Cropping means a part of a photo is cut off. This alters the aspect ratio. You cannot do this when you are composing your images; you can only do this after you’ve taken them.

In other words:

You can compose your photos to include or exclude whatever you like, but this is not really cropping.

Some purists believe cropping your photos is wrong. They maintain that the image you capture should not be altered by cutting part of it out.

Other photographers are quite happy to leave excessive space around their main subject and crop to compose a better image as they are post-processing.

I say, “Each to their own.” My preference is to compose well, then crop well when editing if I need to.

But only if I need to.

Cropping photos always reduces the number of pixels in an image. Cutting off a lot of a photo can affect its clarity and the ability to enlarge it (compared to an image that remains full and uncropped).

studio photo of a woman — © Kevin Landwer-Johan

When is it best to crop a photo?

Beginner photographers can benefit from cropping photos for two main reasons:

First, cropping your photos well can improve a poor composition. You can rescue a photo by reducing the amount of empty space or taking out distracting elements. When you have not taken the time to compose well, or are not yet sure how to create a good composition, cropping can help draw attention to your main subject.

Second, learning to crop well will help you better understand strong composition. It’s often easier to see how to improve a photo by cropping when you are sitting at your computer than when you’re trying to remember how to set an accurate exposure in the field.

As you sit and look at a photo you’re editing, think about how it can be improved by trimming off the top or bottom. Or maybe by bringing the left or right edges closer to your main subject.

farm landscape cropping your photos — © Kevin Landwer-Johan

When there’s no time pressure, you can experiment with how you want your compositions to look. You can make copies of a photo and try different crops to see which one you like best.

The main rule of composition I follow is to fill the frame. If I find that I have not done this well enough when I am taking a photo, it is my first consideration when I start to crop.

Maybe there’s something in the photo I had not noticed when I was taking it. Someone may have stepped into the edge of the frame as I pressed the shutter release. Sometimes, I’ll trim an edge so my main subject lines up with one of the rule of thirds gridlines, or sits at the intersection of these lines.

studio portrait of a man for cropping your photos — © Kevin Landwer-Johan

How do you know what to crop?

Will your photo look better if you crop it? That is the most important question to answer before trimming a photo. If you think your image will look better, go ahead and crop. But be purposeful about what you do.

Consider the lines in your photo. Often, lines in a composition will be affected if you crop. Part of the digital cropping process can include rotating your image. This allows you to straighten a crooked horizon or get vertical lines in your photo looking natural.

Think about the rule of thirds. Will cropping help your photo conform to this compositional standard? It can be much easier to apply this rule during post-processing than when you are taking a photo. You can often be much more precise when editing, depending on what your subject is.

Look for distracting elements. Does everything fill the frame and support the main subject of your photograph? If not, think about how you could crop these elements out. Sometimes, it might be power lines at the top of your photo. Or a power pole or a person at one edge.

Square framing will transform the composition into something completely different. For some subjects, this will be perfect. Not many of us use square format cameras, so to achieve this look we must crop during the editing process.

Think about cropping as you compose. Sometimes, you’ll see that a square will frame your subject better than a rectangle. Or that a wide, panoramic style will suit your subject better. I’ll often think about how I will crop an image as I am taking it if my subject does not fit the 3:2 ratio of my camera’s sensor.

white teapot square cropping photo — © Kevin Landwer-Johan

How do you crop your photo to fit a specific aspect ratio?

Sometimes, you may need to fit a photo to a specific aspect ratio, such as when you want to update your Facebook or website banner image.

Here’s how I do that:

First, I’ll do a quick search to find the current size requirements of the place I want to use the image.

Then I’ll make a new blank canvas in Photoshop or Affinity Photo, one that matches the aspect ratio I need.

Next, I’ll drag and drop the photo I want to use onto that blank canvas.

Then I’ll resize the image and position it to appear the way I want it to look.

When changing the aspect ratio of a photo, you need to consider how it will look and what you’ll be cropping out. Often, banner images are wider than a 3:2 camera-sensor ratio, so the top and/or bottom of the image will be sacrificed. Profile photos often need to fit a square format.

Placing your photo in a blank frame that fits the correct aspect ratio allows you to move it around within the space to see how it best fits, or if it doesn’t.

close-up of a woman with a chocolate ice cream — © Kevin Landwer-Johan

Cropping your photos: Conclusion

Cropping your photos can help you learn to create better compositions. When taking your time to ponder an image on your computer monitor, you can often see how you could have framed the shot better.

Aim to fill your frame. Experiment with copies of your photos. Crop each copy differently to see which composition you like best.

And by repeating this process with every image you edit, you’ll soon find that you’re cropping fewer of your photos.

The post Cropping Your Photos In-Camera and in Post-Production: A Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

Tips for Getting Your Portraits Right In-Camera

06 Sep

The post Tips for Getting Your Portraits Right In-Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

Getting your portraits right in-camera is a skill that every portrait photographer should strive to develop. Doing so will save you time and improve your photography across the board.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t post-process your images, and it doesn’t mean that Photoshop is cheating. But by putting in the extra time and effort at the capture stage, there will be less post-processing to do.

It’s also good if you have certain post-production techniques in mind. If you are able to shoot to the requirements of the technique (that is, if you’re able to get it right in-camera), then the whole process will be easier.

Getting Your Portraits Right In-Camera — Putting extra effort in at the capture stage will help you to get the best results possible straight out of the camera. If you take a lot of portraits, this will wind up saving you hours upon hours of time in the post processing stages.

This article will provide you with a series of tips to help you create better portrait images during the capture stage of the process. It should be noted that the points discussed here fall firmly on the technical side of things. Subjective things like composition, posing, expression, etc., won’t be discussed.

Also, nothing discussed here is a rule. I would hesitate to even call it a guideline. If you try something here that doesn’t get you the results you are after, that just means it’s the wrong tool for the job. By all means, do something else.

Aperture

One of the easiest things you can do in the pursuit of getting your portraits right in-camera is to prioritize sharpness. One of the easiest ways to do this is to choose the right aperture.

Shooting wide-open can be great in low-light conditions, and it can also provide a nice shallow depth of field for aesthetic purposes. The trade-off comes in terms of getting the focus right. The focal plane of a wide aperture lens (f/1.8, f/1.4, etc.) is very, very narrow, making it very easy to miss the focus on your subject’s eyes.

A good way to combat this is to choose a smaller aperture. By selecting an aperture around f/5.6 or f/8, ensuring the focus is where you want it to be becomes much easier. When you’re starting out, this can be the difference between a couple of sharp images (or even no sharp images) gained out of luck and a memory card full of them.

Again, this is not a rule, and shooting wide open is fun and has plenty of its own merits. But that doesn’t mean you should always shoot wide open.

Taking control of the light

You’ve probably heard the phrase “Photography is light.” It’s everywhere, but it cannot be repeated enough. If you want to take better photos, you need to learn to take control of the light. This is especially important for portraits.

Natural light

With natural light, you will want to learn how to find the light with the qualities best-suited to the portrait you want to create.

For the most part, you will want to avoid shooting in midday sun. Instead, learn to find patches of soft light. This can be an area of open shade, it can be window light, or it can be garage door lighting.

Studio lighting

In the studio, you will have a somewhat easier time of things.

After all, a studio should be designed from the ground up for you to alter the light at will. Use the right modifiers, learn some of the basic lighting patterns, and use modeling lights whenever possible. All of these will make it easier for you to take control of the lighting in your portraits.

Flattering light

Another thing about light that is important when getting your portraits right in-camera is whether or not the light is flattering. While this is quite a subjective topic, there are a few things for you to keep in mind that will help you to get more flattering light.

Light from above

In most natural circumstances, we humans are lit from above. This is how we generally see other people. Lighting your subject from other angles will result in oddly-placed shadows that won’t feel right to your viewer.

By placing the main light source above your subject, you are working to ensure that you are presenting your subjects in a way that people will recognize.

Soft light

As mentioned, using a soft light source will help you get more flattering results. This will reduce the overall contrast in your images, and help to reduce the appearance of skin textures in your portraits. It will also help to make the transitions from shadows to highlights smoother.

Lens choice

Selecting a focal length suitable for portraiture is another important thing that will help you get your portraits right in camera.

The focal length you choose will dictate how your images are distorted. At the extreme ends, wide-angle and long telephoto lenses cause significant distortion in your images. In order to avoid this, you will find that most portraits are taken at a focal length somewhere between 50mm and 135mm. As a general guide, you can’t go wrong by selecting a focal length in that range.

Now, that is, once again, not a rule. There are some amazing examples of portraits taken at extremely wide focal lengths, just as there are plenty of portrait examples taken with much longer focal lengths. If you think an extreme focal length is right for your portrait, go ahead and try it.

Perspective and viewpoint

Your viewpoint as the photographer has a huge impact on your portrait images, and there are a few things you can do and avoid to help you get better portraits.

Viewing angle

For the most part, try to keep your lens at the same level or below the level of your subject’s eyes. Shooting above and downward toward your subject has the effect of making your subject appear vulnerable and weak.

(This is my bias speaking. I really don’t like taking photos from above, but it is still not a rule.)

For stronger portraits, try to avoid that.

Distortion

Just like when you are photographing buildings, having your camera not level to the ground can cause distortion in your images.

Converging verticals on a human subject look even weirder than they do on buildings. If you are shooting from above your subject, this can lead to distorted facial features. If you are shooting from below, it can cause distortions of the legs, arms, and torso that just won’t look right to your viewer.

Some of this can be mitigated by selecting a longer focal length or stepping further away from your subject, but this won’t completely prevent distortion. To avoid any of this distortion in close-up portraits, shoot from eye-level or just below eye-level. To avoid it in half-length to full-length portraits, shoot from the level of your subject’s navel.

Exposure

For the most part, exposure is another subjective topic. There is often no right or wrong exposure, but if you’re starting out with portraits, there are a few things that will help you along the way.

Portraits can have a lot of contrast in them. Just imagine a subject with light-colored hair who’s wearing a black shirt. For the best outcome, you will want to ensure that the exposure retains details in both extremes.

To ensure that you have retained all the details in your images, you can refer to the histogram on the back of your camera. A simple way to use this is to make sure that the information depicted by the histogram does not go past either the left-hand or the right-hand sides of the graph.

If the histogram goes off the right-hand side, your image will be overexposed and you will be missing details in the highlights of your image. If the histogram goes off the left-hand side, your image will be underexposed and you will be missing details in the shadows.

Manipulate the exposure

Sometimes, you won’t be able to retain all the detail in a given scene, as the contrast will be too high. In order to keep your shadows and highlights from clipping, you will want to manipulate the scene. There are a lot of ways you can do this.

You can use a reflector to bounce light into areas of the scene that are too dark, thus reducing the overall contrast of the scene. You could do the same with flash as fill light.

You could also use a diffuser in front of your main light source to soften the light and reduce the overall contrast in the frame. This works with both natural light and studio strobes.

Of course, in a studio, you could always opt to use a bigger modifier, or move your light source closer to your subject. Both of these have the effect of softening the light and reducing the overall contrast in your scene.

If you are new to portraits but familiar with other aspects of photography, you can think of this as similar to using graduated neutral density filters in landscapes.

By placing a graduated neutral density filter in front of the lens, you are (usually) increasing the exposure time needed for one part of the image (usually the sky) so that it falls at a value closer to the foreground, reducing the contrast in the image by however many stops the filter represents.

You can think of these tools for portraits in the same way, except that they manipulate the actual light in the scene in front of you, rather than fitting onto the lens and manipulating the final exposure.

End

While this article is definitely not a complete and exhaustive guide to portrait techniques, these few basic tips should help you get your portraits right in camera. If you take your time to be mindful of your choices regarding camera settings, lighting, and exposure, you will start to find that you need to spend much less time in post-production.

Of course, if there are any tips that you use to get your portraits right in-camera, please feel free to leave them in a comment.

The post Tips for Getting Your Portraits Right In-Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

Video: 10 in-camera tricks for capturing unique images without Photoshop

01 Nov

Jordi.Koalitic, a creative photography project from photographers Jordi and Arnau Puig, has published a video detailing 10 ways photographers can add interesting effects to their images without using editing software. These in-camera tricks include spraypainting alphabet pasta to simulate letters falling on a book, gluing dirt inside a pot to imitate shooting through a hole in the ground and more.

Other effects detailed in the video include simulating action shots involving fruit, marbles, and a tennis ball, using a mirror to creatively capture a subject from a unique angle, using a slinky toy to create a swirly effect extending from the camera to subject and using glass to safety shoot water being thrown at the camera. The video includes sample images and the camera settings used to capture them.

Additional images can be viewed at the team’s Jordi.Koalitic Instagram account.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Tips for Creating Awesome Double Exposures In-Camera

13 Sep

The post Tips for Creating Awesome Double Exposures In-Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

Tips for Creating Awesome Double Exposures In-Camera

Techniques for creating double exposures have been around since the beginning of film photography. While the days of being able to expose the same frame of film multiple times are mostly gone, a great many digital cameras do offer that functionality. While the technique can be unpredictable and hard to get right, that’s part of the charm of it (in my opinion) and what makes it so fun. This article provides you with a few tips to help you create double exposures in-camera.

What about Photoshop?

Photoshop (and alternatives) offer an infinite number of ways to blend exposures, but doing it in-camera can lead to spontaneous and unpredictable results.

Of course, you don’t need to do it in-camera. The almighty powers of Photoshop absolutely give you a great deal of control over blending images. You didn’t need to do it in-camera in the film days either as you could sandwich negatives together in the darkroom before putting them in the enlarger. So yes, by all means, use Photoshop to your heart’s content, but if you want to inject a bit of unpredictability and spontaneity to the process, do think about trying to create a few in the camera.

Understand the functionality in your camera

This first step may seem obvious, but every camera that I’ve run across handles the settings for double exposures in different ways. Taking the time to learn and understand how to set up your camera for multiple exposures ensures that when you get out to start creating the images, you know exactly what’s going on. For example, unless I turn on the right setting, my camera will take a single sequence of images and then revert back to normal settings. This can be (and has been) frustrating when I’m lining up a second exposure of a moving subject and find that I’m back to taking a single image.

This is probably just a matter of reading your manual and then putting it into practice a few times in your backyard or somewhere where the results don’t matter.

Start simple

While getting to grips with the technique, you can start simple with just a few moving elements to help you understand the process better.

When getting started with a technique like multiple exposures, it is easy to start snapping away without putting too much thought into it. The results can be less than inspiring and may even make you second guess the technique.

Try to keep it simple in the beginning. Instead of many exposures layered together, try to keep it to a simple double exposure until you figure out how the exposures work with one another. Of course, the results are almost always going to be unpredictable, but once you start to take a lot, you will quickly learn how to judge what two frames might look like on top of one another.

Look for bold shapes and textures

Mixing silhouettes and textures is an effective way of creating bold double exposure images.

One of the easiest ways to get results with double exposures is to overlay a texture onto a recognizable shape. Silhouettes of people work great for this. If you start your sequence with a silhouette, you can then take a photo of something with a lot of texture and the shadows of the silhouette will reveal that texture in the final image.

Another simple one for you to try is to layer your main image on a background of clouds. The whole concept is simple and done a lot, but it is still effective. If you start with these simple processes, you will quickly start to see how you can use the technique for more complicated images.

Think in terms of design

Image: Finding things that match up together to make a cohesive image can be tricky, but when it hap...

Finding things that match up together to make a cohesive image can be tricky, but when it happens, the results speak for themselves.

Because you are layering your images, it can help if they work together with a theme or if the final image helps to convey a message. Keeping the various elements in your images (whether that be the subjects, colors, lighting, etc) in line with your intended end result can help for better images. It also helps to start with your final composition in mind. How will the various elements line up? How will they react and line up with one another? Is there a particular sort of framing that would help tie the whole thing together? Asking yourself these questions before your camera is even out of the bag can help your final images be the best they possibly can.

Go abstract

Image: The double-exposure effect can be weird and sometimes it’s best to embrace that weirdne...

The double-exposure effect can be weird and sometimes it’s best to embrace that weirdness.

Now, your images don’t have to be of anything at all. Don’t be afraid to go for the abstract (or non-objective if you prefer). You can layer a bunch of modern buildings (or the same building) together for some interesting effects where there is no real focal point.

You can do the same with multiple textures. Just roll with it and see what happens. You might find you have a bunch of images that don’t work, but you might also find that one that really, really does. Try looking for things with lines or shapes, without too much texture, that can overlap one another.

Block your lens

To manage your backgrounds while creating a double exposure in the studio, cover a portion of your lens with a black card to avoid the background being exposed twice. In the top middle of the frame, you can see where that has happened.

Block your lens if you want to photograph the same subject, human or inanimate, multiple times in one frame. You can use this trick for photographing fireworks to help control your exposure. When you’re lining up your first exposure, cover your lens with a piece of black card so that you are blocking the part of the frame that will contain the subject of your second exposure. In a double exposure, this will stop the background being exposed twice. Your backgrounds will be darker, but your subject will also be clearer where it appears in the frame.

Use grids

Turning on guides and grids in your camera can help you line up subjects between the multiple frames.

If your camera has the option for a grid overlay (rule of thirds) in the viewfinder, turning it on can help you to line up various elements throughout the multiple exposures.

It’s okay to post-process

Image: Not everything is going to go right all the time. If something doesn’t line up, like To...

Not everything is going to go right all the time. If something doesn’t line up, like Tower Bridge in this image, don’t be afraid to use Photoshop to help you get the results you were after.

Although this article is about creating double exposures in-camera, there is nothing wrong with taking your results and fine-tuning them afterward.

Did you overlay a silhouette with a texture but you don’t want the texture elsewhere in the frame? Photoshop can help. If it helps you to create what you had in your head, by all means, go for it.

That’s it

Creating double exposures in-camera is a finicky technique, but sometimes the results can be incredible. More important, it’s a technique that’s a lot of fun. I encourage you to go out and give it a try for yourself, and hopefully, some of these tips will make your results a bit more predictable.

Please share your results with us in the comments section – we’d love to see them!

The post Tips for Creating Awesome Double Exposures In-Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

Unreal Engine’s Project Spotlight uses LED walls for real-time in-camera visual effects

24 Aug

Epic Games has showcased Project Spotlight, an Unreal Engine-powered way to capture real-time visual effects in-camera. The company has detailed the work in a new video showing off the system, including its ability to track the camera’s position in space in real-time for a realistic and customizable background.

Rather than filming in front of a blue or green screen for post-production later on, the Project Spotlight system enables filmmakers to shoot in front of LED walls showing the virtual environment in real-time. Creators can digitally manipulate this 3D virtual scene when necessary and the LED walls adjust the on-set lighting for realistic ambient light.

‘No matter what the project is,’ Lux Machina chief technology officer Philip Galler said, ‘creatives always want to see the closest representation to the final product as early on in the creative process [as possible].’

Experts featured in the video explain that because the virtual environment can be adjusted in real-time, the project saves critical time that may otherwise be wasted waiting for changes. As well, people from different departments can work together to determine how the virtual world is portrayed.

The technology was demonstrated at SIGGRAPH 2019 by Epic Games in partnership with Magnopus, Lux Machina, Quixel, Profile Studios, DP Matt Workman and ARRI. Future plans for the system are unclear at this time.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Lensbaby OMNI Creative Filter System uses ‘Effect Wands’ to create in-camera image effects

19 Jun

Lensbaby has launched pre-orders for its new OMNI Creative Filter System, a kit featuring a screw-on Filter Ring for existing lenses, as well as Effect Wands that magnetically attach to the ring in front of the lens. Each Effect Wand is designed to create in-camera photo effects similar to app filters, but with a greater level of control and repeatability.

The OMNI Creative Filter System is available with 58mm and 77mm Filter Ring options, both of which include step-down rings for use with different existing lenses. The system currently features three Effect Wands: Crystal Seahorse, Rainbow Film, and Stretch Glass. Two magnetic mounts, each capable of holding two Effect Wands each, are included with the kit.

The magnetic mounts attach to the Filter Ring, then the Effect Wands attach to the magnetic mounts. The wands can be repositioned by sliding them around the Filter Ring. According to Lensbaby, the kit is designed to work with the majority of prime and zoom lenses, including both auto and manual focus models, plus the company’s own Velvet 56/85 and Burnside 35 lenses.

Below are a collection of sample images captured with in-camera effects from the wands:

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_1019466476″,”galleryId”:”1019466476″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) });

Each Effect Wand creates is own unique effects, including rainbows, light streaks, reflections and flares. The complete OMNI Creative Filter System is available to pre-order from Lensbaby for $ 99.95 USD. The product is currently listed as ‘backordered’ with no clear shipping dates.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Twitter wants you to tweet more photos, makes its in-camera app easier to access

16 Mar

Twitter has announced a change to its iOS app in an apparent move to encourage the tweeting of photos. The in-app camera has received a redesign and can now be opened by simply swiping left from your Twitter timeline screen.

Once the camera has opened you can tap on the virtual shutter button to capture a still image or hold down to record video. There is also quick access to Twitter’s livestreaming feature. Location information and captions are overlaid onto photos and videos captured within the app and you can choose from a range of overlay colors.

See it? Tweet it! Our updated camera is just a swipe away, so you get the shot fast. Rolling out to all of you over the next few days. pic.twitter.com/moOEFO2nQq

— Twitter (@Twitter) March 13, 2019

Overall the new feature isn’t a groundbreaking change but it shows that Twitter is aiming to compete more closely with Instagram and other image-focused social media apps, most of which offer equally direct access to the camera app.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

06 Sep

When you strive to get your images right in-camera at the moment you take them you’re going to reap many benefits that you might not even realize.

“Just Photoshop it” has become a recurring theme in photography when it comes to fixing image errors. Depending on who you talk to it can seem like Photoshop is a magic pill that will solve all manner of photographic problems. While it’s true that image-editing applications can help deal with a variety of issues, from correcting exposure to removing objects to swapping a cloudy sky for a sunny one, there’s a lot to be said for the philosophy of using as little editing as possible.

The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera - butterfly on a red flower

I didn’t need Photoshop to get this image. Instead, I needed to get up early, know where the light was coming from, and understand how to use my camera equipment.

This is a tricky subject to tackle because there is so much wiggle room when it comes to defining what the term in-camera really means. To some, it means allowing for no post-production at all, even simple cropping. Others define it as getting things mostly correct at the time you press the shutter button, even though some basic adjustments such as straightening or exposure correction might be needed later.

There are photographers for whom getting it right in-camera means looking out for background obstacles, stray hairs, or wayward arms and legs that might otherwise ruin a good picture.

I don’t like to get caught up in the minutia of what in-camera means. But I will say that if you can strive to have more aspects of a picture correct at the time you make the image, the end result will be that much better.

This holds true for most types of photography save for the outlier examples like extreme focus stacking in macro photography or the types of artistic creations and collages that require post-processing.

two kids with arms around each other - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

An ounce of prevention

There’s an old bit of wisdom you might have heard that goes like this:

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

It applies to many areas of life and the same holds true for photography as well. If you can take a few seconds to fix problematic areas at the time you take a picture it will save you untold minutes or even hours back at your computer. This took me a while to learn when I first got started with portrait photography. But the more I operate by this philosophy the more efficient my workflow becomes.

portrait of 3 ladies - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

Do you see the green recycle bin on the left side of the photo? It might not look like much, but if this is printed on a large canvas it would stick out like a sore thumb. Background distractions like that are much easier to fix by adjusting things during the session instead of spending time Photoshopping each image later.

Years ago the only things I knew to look for when taking pictures of clients were things like smiling faces and good posing. As such, I often found myself banging my head against my keyboard while going through my Lightroom catalog afterwards because of unwanted distractions in my photos.

Automobiles, pedestrians, trash cans, litter, animals, street lights, and a host of other imperfections can all be fixed in Photoshop but it’s so much easier to just make sure they don’t even show up in your photos in the first place.

portrait 3 ladies in trees - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

Eventually, I did see the recycle bin so I altered my point of view just slightly, which took a few seconds but saved me a lot of post-processing time.

This works for other things too like stray hairs, bits of dirt and debris that can get blown around and land on clients, or unwieldy shirts that like to get un-tucked. These problems can all be solved to some degree or another using computer software but it’s never going to be as fast or simple as just dealing with them when they occur.

The trick to doing this is to be looking out for such things at the time of the photo shoot. That is what took me so long to really learn, and to be honest I’m still learning even now! There are so many things to look out for when taking pictures. That background flotsam or bits of rubbish on the ground might be the last thing on your mind, but they can easily ruin a photo or at the very least cause you to spend much more time eliminating them afterwards than you would like.

My best advice to you in this regard is to simply train yourself to be aware. Look at your surroundings in addition to your subjects, and work on seeing background elements and other distractions that might normally escape your eye.

When you see things, take corrective action and even let your clients in on what’s going on. I have paused many photo sessions to say things like, “Oh no, there’s a street sign in the way behind you. Let’s all take a few steps this way…” and every time it has been appreciated by the people who are paying me to do a good job. It sends a message that you know what you are doing and care enough to get the shots right.

portrait of tweens - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

A more extreme version of this, but one that’s just as important, is to take note of problematic points that cannot be altered in Photoshop and deal with them at the time of the photo session.

Issues like sign posts sticking out of heads, heads turned in the wrong direction, hands in awkward places, or having people with complementary outfits in close proximity to one another can easily ruin an otherwise outstanding photo session and are all but impossible to fix in post-production. The more you look for these problems and fix them on the spot, the better your photography will be.

Lighting and exposure

Years ago with early digital cameras, it was crucial to get the exposure just right at the time you took a photo. But today’s digital cameras have such incredible dynamic range that you can clean up a great deal of exposure issues in post-production. However, this should be used as a last resort and not relied on as a general rule, almost like a safety net below a trapeze artist.

When shooting in RAW you can lower highlights, raise shadows, and adjust color all day long to get just the right look you are aiming for. This is a huge benefit if you are doing work for clients. It’s even useful if you just want to squeeze the most out of your shots as a casual photographer. This type of exposure correction has saved my bacon more times than I can count when doing work for clients.

expecting couple in silhouette - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

This couple was severely backlit which made for a very challenging photo situation.

Despite the flexibility of the RAW format and the editing possibilities offered by many photography applications such as Lightroom, Photoshop, and Luminar – you will find that it’s best to mitigate potential exposure and lighting issues at the time you take the photo instead of on your computer.

It’s not that you can’t fix exposure issues in post-production later, but that if simple exposure adjustments can make them disappear before you even take a picture then why would you want to spend time fixing it later?

The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

It took a lot of editing to wrangle a good result from the RAW file, but I could have just adjusted my exposure settings on the spot and saved myself a lot of time afterwards.

Your time is valuable

The more time I spend as a photographer the more valuable I realize my time really is. Even if you are a working professional who makes 100% of your income from photography, the less time you have to spend editing your images to fix exposure issues means more time doing other things that would help you hone your craft or grow your business. Or time you can spend with your family!

Even though you can fix a host of photographic issues ex post facto there’s no substitute for doing what you can to get it right in-camera and make sure those issues never even happen in the first place. Aside from saving yourself untold hours of time fiddling with sliders and layers on your computer, you will also be growing your skills as a photographer.

It will take some practice as you learn to reduce unwanted distractions and get accurate exposure settings when you press the shutter button. But you will reap rewards in terms of knowledge, confidence, and sheer experience. In the end, the result will be better photos taken by a better photographer, and that’s the kind of benefit you just can’t get by moving sliders around in Lightroom.

The post The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

Video: 6 in-camera video transitions in 120 seconds

06 Jul

Whether you’re filming a camera review or working on your latest vlog, one of the easiest ways to take your video to the next level is to have clever transitions. To help you do just that, Rachel and Daniel of Mango Street have created a video showcasing six in-camera video transitions you can do with little more than a bit of planning.

The video summarizes six different methods in just 120 seconds: through the door, back in shot, whip tilt up and down, below ground, strafe blocking and prism wipe. Each method is detailed with a how-to shot and and a final result shot to show both how to get it done and what the final result looks like.

At the end of the video, all of the techniques are put together to create a seamless flow of footage using all six methods. It’s a short, simple video that manages to pack a punch in just under two minutes.

As noted by Mango Street in the description of the video, don’t forget, ‘focus on the story first. Transitions should only serve to enhance your story.’

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

How to Customize Your Images With In-Camera Picture Styles

31 Mar

I’ve written before about how your images are being processed. This is true regardless of whether you shoot RAW and process in software such as Lightroom or Photoshop, or JPEG and allow the camera to make color and contrast decisions for you. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of the canned in-camera picture styles the camera manufacturers prepackage in their cameras. Some are too contrasty, while others don’t offer enough color saturation for my taste.

Customizing Your Images With In-Camera Picture Styles

A landscape image using a picture style I created in Canon Picture Style Editor.

While all of today’s digital cameras have some ability to adjust the processing decisions being made by selecting and adjusting Picture Styles (in Canon-speak) or Picture Controls (in Nikonian terms), many people aren’t aware that you can be even more creative and create your own styles using desktop software provided by Canon and Nikon.

There are two reasons why you would do this. First, if you do not like processing RAW files, or just prefer “getting it right in camera”, but would still like to be able to create your own look to your images, creating a custom picture style is an easy way to do so. Second, if you’re undertaking a project which would require processing large numbers of files, having the camera use a custom look for these images takes away a lot of processing grunt work.

Canon’s Picture Style Editor is available on the Canon EOS Solutions disc which is packaged with the camera and is also available for download via the various Canon websites, under Drivers and Downloads for your specific camera. Nikon’s Picture Control Utility 2 is available via Nikon’s Download Center.

Canon’s Picture Style Editor

Canon Picture Style Editor

Canon Picture Style Editor offers a tremendous amount of control over the final look of an image. Once inside the application, you’ll be prompted to open a Canon CR2 file you’ve taken. A popup will appear advising of the best way to adjust the picture style. First, make the basic adjustments. Next, you should make adjustments to the six color axis. Finally, make adjustments to specific colors.

Make the adjustments you want

In the Basic Adjustments, you select the Base Picture Style to start with, and then you can adjust Sharpness, Contrast, Color Saturation, and Color Tone using the labeled sliders. You can also create a custom tone curve here.

The three adjustment panels found in Canon Picture Style Editor

Once the Basic adjustments are done, you can move to the six color axis. Here you can adjust Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow values including Hue, Saturation, and Luminosity. For further color adjustments, you then click on the Specific Colors tab and again make adjustments there including Hue, Saturation, and Luminosity, as well as Tone Curve.

The number of adjustments available within the Canon software allows for a wide variety of styles for your images. Canon has several downloadable picture styles available so you can see what’s possible, but the ability to create your own really make this utility a great addition to your workflow, especially if you dislike post-processing. Effects such as selective color, muted color, highly saturated color, and more, can be created in-camera.

On the left is an image using Canon’s Portrait picture style. On the right, is a selective color picture style I created in Canon’s Picture Style Editor. You have to know which color you want to show through before the shot is taken, but conceivably, you could create several selective color styles and upload them to the camera.

Adding the styles to your camera

Custom Picture Styles - Canon

To upload your new custom picture style to your Canon EOS camera, you need to connect the camera to your computer with a USB cable. You also need Canon’s EOS Utility Software, which is provided on your EOS Solutions CD, or is available on Canon’s website.

Once inside EOS Utility, select Control Camera, then Camera Settings/Remote Shooting. You’ll see a window open up that displays the camera settings. Beneath that will be a shooting menu, where you’ll see the heading for Picture Styles. Click on Register User Defined style. A window will open up where you can select from three slots to register a user-defined style. Select one and then click on the Open Folder button to select the picture style file you created and upload it to your camera. Once it’s in the camera, you can select it the same way you would with the pre-loaded picture styles.

Nikon Picture Control Utility

The adjustment panel for Nikon Picture Control Utility

Nikon’s Picture Control Utility is a bit more limited in its adjustments than is the Canon application, but you still have a fair amount of control to create new image styles. When you open the application, you’ll see a listing of the Nikon Picture Controls on the left. These are the same as you see in-camera when you select the Picture Control menu on your Nikon. On the right hand side, you’ll see the adjustments you can make, which include Sharpening, Clarity, Contrast, Brightness, Saturation, and Hue. You also have the ability to create a custom tone curve if you prefer, rather than using the Brightness and Contrast sliders.

While I prefer the greater control over color that Canon provides, Nikon’s Picture Control Editor allows you good options to create your own look for your images.

Uploading to the camera

Uploading them into your camera is even easier than Canon’s method. Simply connect a Nikon formatted memory card to your computer, and at the bottom of the application window, click Use In Camera. You’ll want to use a descriptive name for your picture control so that you’ll know what you’re choosing when selecting it in camera. This will automatically save the picture style to your memory card. Insert the memory card into your Nikon camera and in the Camera menu, select Manage Picture Control. Select Load/Save and you’ll see any Picture Control files you’ve saved to the card and be prompted to add them to the camera.

That’s all there is to it. In addition to saving the picture control to a memory card, you can save it to a file on your computer, and also use it in Nikon’s Capture NX or View NX software.

Gritty Portrait Picture Control - Customizing Your Images With In-Camera Picture Styles

The image on the left is shown using Nikon’s Portrait Picture Control. On the right, is a custom Portrait Picture Control created in Nikon Picture Control Editor.

Summary

In the digital age, it’s sometimes difficult to differentiate your images from the millions of others out there. One way to do so is in post-processing. But that’s not something every photographer, be they professional or enthusiast, wants to deal with.

Creating custom picture styles takes a few minutes on the computer, but allows you to create a look that is distinctly yours. By uploading it to your camera you can then apply it to images you make from that point on. Have you created any custom picture styles for your work? Share samples in the comments below!

Custom Landscape Picture Control - Customizing Your Images With In-Camera Picture Styles

On the top is the image using Nikon’s Landscape picture control. On the bottom is the same image with a custom picture control I created. I adjusted to tone curve to reduce contrast and increased color saturation to provide better color in my landscape images.

On the left is Nikon’s Standard picture control, while on the right is a custom picture control I created.

Canon Muted Color Picture Style - Customizing Your Images With In-Camera Picture Styles

The left image was shot using Canon’s Portrait Picture Style. On the right is the same image where I created a more muted look.

Canon Picture Style - Customizing Your Images With In-Camera Picture Styles

On the left is Canon’s Landscape picture style, on the right is a custom picture style I created for landscape images.

The post How to Customize Your Images With In-Camera Picture Styles by Rick Berk appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography