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Posts Tagged ‘incident’

Swift action from FAA, US Navy follows Detroit Blue Angels drone incident

17 May

Earlier this week, the Blue Angels flew over Detroit, Michigan, to honor frontline workers. There wasn’t a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) in place but the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) always issues a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) whenever a major event involving manned aircraft is planned. One remote pilot decided to fly his drone dangerously close to the fleet and is now in trouble with the FAA, U.S. Navy, and local authorities.

The drone community was outraged, as well. One individual who felt their wrath, for simply re-posting footage that wasn’t his, is Vic Moss of Moss Photography. ‘My take is that those people who are so vitriolic to me did so out of passion for the industry. While I most certainly did not appreciate it, and its caused no end up exasperation to me, it was all done out of passion for the industry,’ Moss tells DPReview of the thousands of threats and complaints he received over the past few days.

Besides illegal activity, the author of the original footage used copyrighted music in his clip from the classic film “Top Gun.”

Even with the title ‘REPOST! THIS IS NOT MY VIDEO…,’ Moss was compelled to remove the clip, that was viewed over 133,000 times, not only to stop harassment but also for a Copyright claim over the soundtrack the original author chose for the footage – ‘Danger Zone’ by Kenny Loggins from the movie Top Gun.

This is how close the drone got to a fleet of Blue Angels flying over Detroit. Some experts are speculating that is was as close as 100 feet away from the nearest aircraft.

The original minute-long clip, where a drone propeller can be seen buzzing in the corner frame, and in close proximity to the planes, featured credits including the social handle @GIOLUCIA that syncs up with the name Giovanni Lucia on Instagram. The account has since been removed and Lucia has denied taking the footage. He claims he uploaded it for a friend. Regardless of who played what role, posting the footage in a public forum was almost as unwise as taking it.

Dean Greenblatt, who recently secured a victory for the Michigan Coalition of Drone Operators in an unrelated case, commented to DPReview about this incident: ‘FAA regulations mandate operators of sUAS comply with right-of-way limitations. Social media provides an excellent opportunity for individuals to incriminate themselves.’

‘I’ve handled several FAA enforcement actions against sUAS operators. Typically, the FAA becomes aware of violations through electronic publication. Videos can establish flight in restricted airspace, flight over people, or in proximity to emergency service providers. Such documentary evidence makes it difficult to mount a defense to FAA enforcement actions,’ Greenblatt concludes.

An investigation is already underway. Sources claim that even though it may be someone else besides Lucia who captured the footage, both parties face significant legal repercussions for their actions.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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What exactly is a car or truck Incident Law firm?

28 Mar

Just in case you are actually in a personal injury lawyer , you need to try to receive the counsel of the motor vehicle accident law firm. Far too normally, those people who’ve knowledgeable a vehicle incident will not notice the whole diploma in their accidents and do not have their rights represented. They will not find a lawyer but will settle along with the insurance plan provider for far under the things they are entitled to. It can be important to get a attorney when you’re harm within a motor vehicle incident to have the ability to attain the complete compensation for the accidents as well as your car.

Car accident attorneys choose on folks in motorcycle, car or truck mishaps. In addition they offer you representation and tips to pedestrians and persons involved in bicycle incidents, DUI accidents, and strike and operate instances. They assist persons suffering from accidents and supply advice regarding insurance claims, carelessness and legal responsibility. Additionally, they assist folks recognize their lawful rights. They assist their prospects determine what to expect in an auto incident lawsuit. They acquire many facts and proof from people, witnesses, and desired documents within the automobile accident which include accident reviews and clinical documents.

The gathering of evidences is a lot more structured and helpful if you get the assistance of a automobile incident legal professional. Should you now know of an attorney, call her or him and explain your scenario. He / she could be capable of refer you to a able motor vehicle accident law firm should your situation is outside the house the firm’s typical location of experience. Just in case you you should not possess an automobile accident lawyer however, you could Google it. The instant you discover some names and numbers, phone or e-mail them for what must be a cost-free session. Many automobile accident lawyers are effective at executing this around the phone, even though some might want to fulfill in person.

Automobile accident attorneys will give you restitution for the damage scenario. In all issues involving individual personal injury, it is crucial that measures be taken promptly to protect evidence, look into the incident in question, in addition to to file a law match right before the deadline imposed through the statute of limits. The preliminary session is offered for free, and when the law firm confirms to get your circumstance, he may get the job done with a contingency cost foundation, meaning he receives paid for providers only when there is certainly a financial award or recuperation of resources. It’s possible you’ll use a legitimate assert and be eligible for settlement for your injuries, but a scenario needs to be submitted right before the time restrict ends.

Following a motor vehicle accident where by there aren’t any serious accidents or big damage to anyone, there are actually nevertheless conditions whereby an auto accident lawyer may be used. A legal professional can take care of any and all insurances concerns including settling the insurance policies declare as well as the managing of negotiations with all the insurance provider. Negotiating is usually something which will take somewhat of your time and finesse, points which the lawyer has a ton of practical experience with. It is a great concept to contact around the car accident lawyer to ascertain precisely what can and should be completed by both equally sides.

The post What exactly is a car or truck Incident Law firm? appeared first on Photonovice.

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How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

14 Sep

Do you ever get under or overexposed photos when you use your camera’s light meter? Do you get frustrated that even in auto-mode you can’t get the correct exposure? That’s because there are two different type of light to deal with when taking a photo.

When you make a photograph the light is your raw material, which is why it’s important to understand how it works. It’s a very broad topic to cover, so for this article, we are just going to focus on the difference between incident and reflective light because that’s the key to getting your exposure right.

Incident versus reflective light


We all know this difference in a very intuitive way; let me give you an everyday example: when there is a sunny day, do you wear white clothes or black ones? Easy! You wear white or at least light colors, but why? If the sun will be the same, why wouldn’t you wear dark colors? Because you know that dark colors absorb light and therefore you’ll feel the heat more than wearing white which will reflect more light and keep you fresher. This is the same principle you need to apply when measuring the light for photography.

The difference explained

Diagram How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Incident light is that which is illuminating your scene. It falls on the subject before being altered (reflected) by it which is why it’s also a more accurate light reading.

When light hits objects it gets transformed by them and reflected out; this is what we perceive and what the camera captures and reads. This is called reflective light.

Light metering

Let’s see how these two concepts apply to light metering and exposure when you take a photo. In the next examples, I always used the same light for each.

In this first shot, I metered the light once I had framed the image I wanted, so it gave me a reading making an average of the reflective light.

General Reading - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

The settings were ISO 400, f/5.6, with a shutter speed of 1/80th.

And the resulting photograph looked like this:

General Reading Result - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Reflected light from a dark subject

However, like we said when talking about clothes, dark objects absorb light. So if I make the reading by measuring the black part of the photo, the settings that were “correct” before, now appear to be underexposed.

Black Reading - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Even if the lighting is always the same, your camera thinks there is less. As a result, your photos will be overexposed.

Black Reading Result - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Exposure: ISO 400, f/5.6, shutter speed 1/13th.

Reflected light from a light subject

On the other hand, light objects reflect most of the light, so your camera will receive the message that it needs to reduce the exposure if you meter off something light.

White Reading - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

And as a result, you will end up with underexposed images.

White Reading Result - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Exposure: ISO 400, f/5.6, shutter speed 1/200th.

None of these three readings gave you the correct exposure on your image because none of them were about the incident light. In order to get this accurate reading, you need to use a handheld external light meter, which can be very expensive. Fortunately, there are other ways to get the right exposure without having to spend a fortune.

Black and white… and gray

Back in the 1930s, a photographer called Ansel Adams developed a technique for the optimal exposure of photographs by dividing the degrees from light to dark into 11 zones, therefore it’s called the zone system. Everything in the world has a color and lightness that correspond to a zone. All light meters, including the one integrated into your camera, are designed to give you the middle zone: Gray V that reflects 18% of the light. So, what you need in order to have a correct exposure is to measure the light reflecting off of this tone.

Gray card Reading - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

You’ll find gray cards on the market which are used to calibrate your exposure and white balance. They are a very practical and economical way to turn the reading of your reflective light into an incident light accuracy.

It is also very easy to use, you just have to put one in front of your subject and frame it with your camera. Once that’s the only thing in your shot, press the shutter button halfway to see the light meter and adjust your exposure accordingly. With those settings, you can have the perfect exposure regardless of the tones in your image.

Grey cardReading Result - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Exposure: ISO 400, f/5.6, shutter speed 1/30th.

Real world examples

I know what you’re thinking, that was an unreal example because most of your photos will have much more colors than just black, white and gray V. That’s true, but the principle remains the same. Look at these real life examples:

Bridge Reflective - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Reflective reading with an exposure of ISO 400, f/5.6, shutter speed 1/80th.

Compared to the incident reading:

Bridge Incident - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Incident reading with an exposure of ISO 400, f/5.6, shutter speed 1/320th.


How to improvise!

What if you don’t want to be carrying around a gray card? Or did the perfect image catch you unprepared? No problem, everything in the visual world has its equivalent in the zone system.

For example, grass or wet cement correspond to the gray V zone so you can always look for elements like that in your photo and you will get a very accurate reading from them.

Take this composition of candle holders. When they are all white the photo is dark, sad and shows all the imperfections of the backdrop because it’s underexposed. However, when I add a gray candle holder and measure the light in it, the exposure is perfect.

Candleholders Reflective

Exposure: ISO 1250, f/11, shutter speed 1/125th.

Candleholders Incident

Exposure: ISO 1600, f/8, shutter speed 1/125th.

Tip: So that you are never caught off guard, you can measure the palm of your hand and figure out how much lighter or darker it is than the gray card, that way you will always have the perfect reading “at hand”.

Things to remember:

  • Get close enough to the gray object so that it’s the only thing you see through the lens, or at least the majority of it, and take that reading to set the exposure values.
  • The gray card or object needs to receive the same light as the rest of the scene. Be careful to not cast a shadow with your body or your camera when getting closer to measure the light.
  • Reflective light depends also on the material and shape of the object so a black car, for example, reflects more light than a black wool sweater.

There you go, understanding the difference between reflective and incident light can transform your photo from snapshots to pro shots!

The post How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures by Ana Mireles appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Balancing Flash and Ambient Light Using an Incident Light Meter

22 Nov

Contribution by Shiv Verma

Balancing Exposure

Ambient underexposed by two stops by changing the shutter speed to 1/40th of a second

Why is an incident meter important for flash photography?

How often have you struggled trying to capture a well-exposed portrait in a dimly lit room or hall. All you have is the ambient light and your speedlight. With an understanding of exposure and flash techniques you can learn to successfully balance ambient and flash exposures to create exceptional photographs. Ones that look natural, without the harsh appearance of flash, and without detracting from the ambient light.

For the most part, your camera’s meter and exposure evaluation will be just fine when you are capturing images in even light situations.  However, the onboard system will usually fail when you are trying to properly expose a subject in a dimly lit room.  In these situations, you must be in a position to balance the ambient light that is in the room ,and the light from the flash that will light your subject.  The same concept applies to photographing subjects in low light situations outdoors.

The camera’s metering system is not capable of evaluating the two light sources and establish the correct exposure for the scene, or in other words, balancing flash and ambient light.  The camera’s meter when set to evaluative (Canon) , matrix (Nikon), centre-weighted, or spot metering works great for a balanced scene, but not when the exposure of the environment is vastly different than the exposure of the flash lit subject.

Two examples of how in-camera metering systems fail

Choose a camera capable of using a hot shoe or off-camera flash to follow along.  The pop-up flash is not suitable for this exercise. Keep the aperture value at f/4 and the ISO at 400 for each scenario.

In the first image, below, the flash is set to ETTL (electronic through the lens meter system).  The camera is set on aperture priority and evaluative metering mode.

Notice that the subject is reasonably well lit but the background is under exposed.

Notice that the subject is reasonably well lit but the background is under exposed

For this next example, set the meter to the spot metering mode and take the reading for the background. All other settings remain the same and the flash is still on ETTL. Notice the overall image is now underexposed.  The metering system is unable to properly evaluate the scene and the primary subject. (image below)

flash-photography-lighting-metering-02b

For the third image in the sequence turned off your flash, and set your camera evaluative/matrix metering.  The idea is to try and get the best exposure for the background. Make note of your shutter speed and exposure settings.

Shutter speed 1/13th second and the background is reasonably well exposed, though not perfect

Shutter speed 1/13th second and the background is reasonably well exposed, though not perfect

Using a hand-held incident light meter to solve the problem

Good hand-held meters have multiple modes: a spot metering mode which is a reflective reading (usually 2 degrees or less), an incident mode using the meter’s light dome, and one or more flash modes.  It is imperative you learn the proper use of these modes in order to be successful at flash photography.

You want all your images to be good, not the occasional 1%.  You need to stop struggling and juggling settings to produce the image you want.  Experiments are good only if you know what you are doing and what your tools are.  Realize that there are infinite ways to light your subject with strobes, as there are infinite scenarios that your subject can be in. So learn how to expose correctly, learn how to balance ambient light and flash, but most of all, learn how to read light.

Set up the ambient exposure first

Let’s go back to the scene as we had above.  Set your camera to manual exposure mode. As before, keep your aperture at f/4. Next, to properly expose the room you measure the ambient light using the spot meter function of the hand held meter pointed at an area that is mid tone (approximately the same as medium grey) in the scene.  In this test case the meter indicated 1/10 sec at f/4.  Set your camera to these settings. Take a test shot to ensure your exposure is correct for the ambient light. See below:

Test exposure using ambient light only

Test exposure using ambient light only

Next set the flash exposure for the primary subject

You can experiment with off-camera flash if you do not have remote triggering capability, using an off-camera remote flash cord (for Canon, or Nikon). On-camera hot shoe flash use is not recommended as it produces harsh, flat lighting. But in order to simplify this exercise, you can use the hot shoe flash mounted on you camera.  It will be just slightly off center when you have your camera oriented in portrait mode.

To read the flash exposure, set the hand held meter to “incident” mode, and the exposure on the “flash non-cord” setting (do not use the corded or triggered setting). This will read the light falling on the subject when the flash is fired.  If you are using a remote trigger, then the next step is easy.  If not, then have someone assist you for the next reading.  Position the meter such that the dome points to the camera and fire the flash.  At full power, in this test case, the reading was f/19.  See the image below:

How to point your meter and measure the flash

How to point your meter and measure the flash, this is obviously too much power

An f/19 reading indicates overexposure, as your camera is set at f/4 for the depth of field you want. To resolve this, you need to dial down the output of the flash by five stops (f4 > f5.6 > f8 > f11 > f16 > f19>.  Set the flash to 1/32 power which is five stops below full power. It is always good to take another test reading and adjust the distance of the flash to subject to compensate for a half stop variance (to f/19).  Now you should get a reading of f/4 and you are ready to shoot.

Flash and ambient balanced successfully

Flash and ambient balanced successfully. The exposure on the subject is perfect and the room is properly exposed too.

Adjust shutter speed to feature the subject more

Basically, the settings on camera indicate equal exposure and you can see that both the subject and the room are exposed correctly at an aperture of f/4.  This is good. But, if you want to emphasize the subject more, you want to underexpose the room. With the way you have your exposure already set up, this is really easy. All you need to do is increase the shutter speed by a stop, two stops, or more. This under exposes all the areas lit by the ambient light but the exposure on the subject remains the same and is always correctly exposed.

Ambient underexposed by one stop by changing the shutter speed to

Ambient underexposed by one stop by changing the shutter speed to 1/20th of a second

Ambient underexposed by two stops by changing the shutter speed to 1/40th of a second

Ambient underexposed by two stops by changing the shutter speed to 1/40th of a second

The reason for this is that the meter reading for the background is based on the ambient light. The subject however, is lit using the flash, an instantaneous light source. Your flash exposure is controlled by its power output, increasing or decreasing the flash’s distance from the subject and by the aperture setting on your camera. Typically, flash exposure is not affected by shutter speeds as long as your camera’s shutter speed is set to the flash sync speed or slower. As a result, changing the shutter speed affects the ambient light exposure (the exposure of the room) without affecting the flash exposure (the exposure of the subject).

Summary and action plan

In conclusion, relying on your camera’s metering system, be it evaluative, spot or centre-weighted, never gives you the kind of exposure control that you can achieve when using a good hand-held incident light meter.

If you have additional tips or tricks please share them in the comments below, and if you haven’t tried your flash off the camera yet why not give it a go!? Grab yourself a light meter and try it!

shiv-smShiv Verma, is a photographer, educator and technologist and lives in Wrentham Massachusetts. He is an avid wildlife and commercial photographer and conducts photo workshops and tours worldwide. You can check out more of his work on his website at: www.shivverma.com. Follow him on:  Google+, Facebook  and Twitter  

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Balancing Flash and Ambient Light Using an Incident Light Meter

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28 September, 2013 – Capturing a Mysterious Incident

29 Sep

During their testing of the new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, Chris, Kevin, and Michael witnessed a strange occurance. A brief video, which they were able to capture shows what happened. You may view this on the site’s Home Page.

 

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The Luminous Landscape – What’s New

 
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Luxi turns smartphones into incident light meters

26 Feb

eb149a84f315143f44d62a0d2e3625e1_large.jpeg

Luxi is a diffusion dome accessory that aims to turns your smartphone into an affordable incident light meter. The accessory is currently gaining traction via a Kickstarter campaign, is designed to work as an incident light meter by measuring the light for an entire scene, rather than just reflected light. Luxi is expected to retail for $ 24.95, and its developers claim the accessory will work with existing light meter apps. See the Luxi in action at connect.dpreview.com.

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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