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What you need to know about the new Nikon Z5

23 Jul

What you need to know about the new Nikon Z5

The Nikon Z5 is an entry-level full-frame mirrorless camera that looks a lot like the Z6, handles a lot like the Z6, and offers a lot of the same features. So what makes it different, and why is it cheaper? Read on to find out more.

All images provided by Nikon USA and used with permission.

24MP CMOS sensor (not BSI)

The Nikon Z5 uses a 24MP CMOS sensor, paired with an Expeed 6 processor, but it is not the same BSI-CMOS chip that we’ve seen in the Z6 (and likely also the Sony a7 III). The Z5’s sensor is probably closely related to the last-generation sensors in the likes of the Nikon D750. For practical purposes, this means that image quality in a normal ISO sensitivity span is likely to be excellent, but the Z6 will probably have the edge at very high ISOs.

1/8000sec min shutter and ‘silent’ shooting

Despite its entry-level positioning, the Z5 offers a minimum exposure time of 1/8000sec, which enables wide-aperture shooting in bright conditions. As well as mechanical and electronic first-curtain modes, a ‘silent’ shooting mode is also available. In ‘silent’ mode the shutter is fully electronic and – literally – silent.

Because there is no mechanical action associated with fully-electronic exposures, this is potentially also a good option for highly critical macro and extreme telephoto work, where you need to minimize vibrations. The downside is an increased likelihood of distortion when shooting moving subjects.

273-point PDAF and 4.5fps continuous shooting

The Z5’s autofocus system appears at least very similar if not exactly the same as that found in the Z6 and Z7, and benefits from the feature additions that Nikon has made to those models via firmware. As such, you get human and animal eye-detection, and a tracking mode which operates a little more like 3D AF Tracking in Nikon’s DSLRs. Coverage from the Z5’s 273 autofocus points is 90% vertically and horizontally.

The Z5’s maximum continuous shooting rate of 4.5fps is OK for this class, but probably not fast enough for serious sports or action photography.

5-axis in-body stabilization

Unlike Nikon’s entry-level (and currently sole) DX-format Z-series model the Z50, the Z5 offers 5-axis in-body stabilization. This system is rated for up to five stops of correction, which (again) is comparable to the Z6 and Z7.

5-axis in-body stabilization

With a VR-enabled F-mount lens mounted via the FTZ adapter, or a Z-series lens like the forthcoming Z 70-200mm F2.8 S, the system becomes 3-axis, handing off pitch and yaw correction to the lens, with the body dealing with roll. The stabilization rating with a VR lens increases slightly, to 5.5EV (per CIPA) but as always with such things, you might get greater or less benefit depending on the situation (and focal length).

Same size and weight, similar ergonomics to Z6

The Z5 is an unusual entry-level model in being exactly the same size and weight as the model above it in the lineup. We’re told that this was a deliberate decision to make manufacturing more economical. The only major ergonomic change to the Z5, compared to the Z6, is the migration of an exposure mode dial to the right of the viewfinder, in place of the small status LCD which sits on top of the higher-end model.

Same size and weight, similar ergonomics to Z6

The 3.2″, 1.04M-dot LCD on the rear of the Z5 is the same size as that found in the Z6 and Z7 (but lower-resolution), and like those models it is also touch-sensitive and can be tilted for waist-level shooting and video work.

Whereas the Z6 and Z7 use an almost all magnesium-alloy body chassis, the Z5 economizes slightly with plastic on the back and the base of the camera. We’re told that despite the different construction, the Z5 is sealed to the same extent as the Z6/7 against dust and moisture. From what we know about the build quality of those models, this is really good news.

3.6M-dot Quad VGA EVF

Also good news is that the Z5 shares the same electronic viewfinder as the Z6/7. While we’ve seen the 3.6M-dot Quad VGA EVF out-resolved recently, it remains one of our favorite finders, offering fine, crisp detail and excellent contrast, without offering the 100fps+ feed of some competitive models. The EVF assembly features an automatic switch, to de/activate the viewfinder when your eye modes between finder and rear screen.

The image above shows an EVF module from the Z6/7 being inspected at Nikon’s factory in Sendai. Read the full factory tour here.

Dual UHS-II SD cards

Before the Z6 and Z7 were announced, whoever would have thought that card slots could cause such controversy? The Z5 splits from its higher-end stablemates by offering two card slots, both of which support the cheaper and more readily available SD format, up to UHS-II.

Video

When the Z5 is compared against the Z6 on specs, the main area of differentiation is in video. Nikon has moulded the Z6 into its current top-end video camera, but the Z5’s video feature set is much more pared-down. Although you can shoot 4K footage at up to 30p, there’s a 1.7X crop.

Overall the Z5 offers a solid feature set for its price, without being class-leading. Full HD video can be recorded without a crop (at up to 60p) but you won’t find a lot of the Z6’s more pro-oriented features, such as N-Log recording and output that can be encoded as Pro-Res Raw. The Z5 does offer focus peaking though, and zebra stripes. It also has sockets for a microphone and headphones.

New EN-EL15C battery

The Z5 ships with a new ‘c’ variant of the venerable EN-EL15 battery, but it remains compatible with previous versions, provided you don’t need in-camera charging (only offered by ‘b’ and ‘c’ variants). The new ‘c’ type battery offers a modest increase in capacity, giving an overall rating (per CIPA) of 470 shots using the rear monitor, and 390 shots using the EVF. It also supports USB power, via the optional optional UC-E25 cable.

New 24-50mm F4-6.3 kit lens

The Z5 might have basically the same body as the Z6 and Z7, but you can keep its overall size and weight down with the new 24-50mm kit zoom. The 24-50mm measures just 51mm (2″) long when retracted and weighs only 195g (0.43lb). The tradeoffs for such a small, lightweight lens are its relatively limited focal length range, and slow maximum aperture, but if it’s as sharp as previous Z-series zooms, this might be a worthwhile compromise for casual everyday photography.

New 24-50mm F4-6.3 kit lens

Nikon describes the lens as ‘dust and drip resistant,’ though not fully weather-sealed. The 24-50mm F4-6.3 will be available in a kit with the Z5 for $ 1699, or on its own for $ 399.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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What you need to know about the new Leica M10-R

18 Jul

What you need to know about the new Leica M10-R

Leica has just released a major update to the M10-series, with a big leap in resolution over the original M10 models. The new M10-R features a variant of the 40MP sensor found in the more recent ‘Monochrom’ version, and includes a couple of the nice extras introduced in the older ‘P’ model. Read on to learn more.

New 40MP CMOS sensor

Externally, the only difference between the M10 and M10-R is the addition of an ‘R’ to the engraving on the hotshoe.

Internally, it’s a different story. The M10-R offers a big jump in pixel count, from 24MP to 40MP. For anyone who was expecting the next-generation M to feature the 47MP sensor from the SL2 and Q2, we’re told that the reason Leica opted for a ‘color’ version of the M10 Monochrom’s 40MP sensor is simply size. The 40MP sensor is thinner, and better optimized for use in the compact body of the stills-only M10-series cameras.

Like the original M10, there’s no option to shoot video. There’s also no low-pass filter on the sensor, to really make the most out of all those pixels. The downside to that is that moiré can be an issue in some situations (especially when shooting fabrics).

Same processor, better high ISO and dynamic range

The M10-R’s processor is the same Leica Maestro II that we’ve seen in previous M10-series models, but Leica claims that thanks to the new sensor, dynamic range has been substantially improved in Raw mode. Despite the significant increase in the size of its files, the M10-R’s continuous shooting rate is 4.5 fps – barely slower than the original M10’s 4.8 fps.

Like the original M10/P, native ISO sensitivity spans 100-50,000 (everything above 6400 is accessed via the ‘M’ setting on the ISO dial shown here) and the maximum exposure time has been extended to 16 minutes (from 4 minutes on the M10/M10-P).

Raw files are recorded in the DNG format, in 14-bit, with lossless compression.

Rangefinder focus system

Leica aficionados can skip this section, but for the uninitiated, the Leica M10-R is a rangefinder-type camera. It has an optical viewfinder, offering a comfortable field-of-view of approximately 28mm.

A series of prisms and mirrors under the top-plate (linked to a cam which connects to the lens) project two overlapping images into a small patch in the middle of the finder which, when they line up, indicate accurate focus. This was considered high technology in the 1920s, and still works well 100 years later, once you’ve got the hang of it.

Focus accuracy

One of the first questions I asked Leica representatives when they showed us the M10-R was whether the focusing system had been revisited to increase its accuracy, given the demands of a new 40MP sensor.

The answer I received was ‘no’. The system was overhauled and improved for the original M10, and has not been tweaked since. From my shooting on the M10-R so far, focus accuracy is about what I’d expect from shooting with the original M10. When working wide-open, it’s sensible (if you can) to focus bracket a little bit, but with practice, it’s not too hard to get focus where you want it, in most situations – despite the higher pixel count. For critical work, the optional Typ 020 viewfinder (shown above on an M10) allows for precise manual focus.

Framelines

The approximate field of view your lens is indicated in the viewfinder using projected frame lines. You can preview the field-of-view provided different lenses (from 28mm to 135mm) by moving the lever below the viewfinder window (shown in the previous section of this article).

When you mount a different lens, the frame lines will automatically adjust accordingly. To accurately frame shots using lenses wider than 28mm, you’ll need to attach an optical finder to the M10-R’s hotshoe. This image shows how much the 75mm Summilux intrudes into the view, but it’s an exception: most M-mount lenses don’t take up this much visual real estate.

3″, 1.04M-dot touchscreen

The M10-R borrows from the M10-P in a couple of key respects, one being its touch-sensitive rear LCD. The touch functionality is well-implemented, to the extent that it doesn’t get out of the way of the shooting experience. It’s useful mostly for flipping through images in playback mode mode, and pinch-to-zoom to check focus. And you can tap as hard as you like – the screen is protected by Gorilla glass.

Touch-screen

It’s a bit disappointing that there’s no option to customize the touch function. It would be nice, for example, to be able to rate images by touch or use the screen as a focus point positioning pad with your eye to the (optional) EVF.

On the plus side, navigating through captured images and zooming in/out is very fast, with virtually no ‘lag’ despite the large file sizes. Please note that the image above shows the M10-P, and was taken at a time when we could still get friends to hold cameras for us from less than 6 feet away.

‘Silent’ shutter

The M10-R’s ‘silent’ shutter is actually nothing of the sort, but rather the nicely-damped, very discreet mechanical shutter from the M10-P. While not silent, it is less obtrusive than the shutter sound of the original M10. There is no truly silent, fully electronic shutter mode available, in either normal or ‘EVF’ (live view) shooting.

Same old battery and memory card bay

No surprise here – the M10-R’s battery and memory card are still accessed via a latched door on the base of the camera. Leica will tell you this is to help keep the camera sealed against dust and moisture (which is it, by the way) but we suspect that tradition plays a big part.

Having to remove the base of the camera to swap out a battery or SD card isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it does make using the M10-R on a tripod (or even just in a soft case) more awkward than it probably needs to be. We had hoped for USB charging on this model, via a more-accessible port somewhere on the body but alas, tradition won the day, yet again. There’s no official word on battery life, but we’d expect the M10-R to offer basically the same stamina as the M10 Monochrom (350-400 shots per charge).

The M10-R supports SD cards up to the SDXC standard. In other words, there’s no benefit from using UHS-II cards in this camera. You can do it (and they’re mechanically perfectly compatible), you just don’t gain anything.

Leica FOTOS app

The M10-R is fully compatible with the FOTOS app, allowing for remote capture, image review and file transfer to a smart device. A fully-featured ‘Pro’ version of FOTUS is also available for iPad, for an annual fee. The app is shown here running alongside the weird and wonderful M10-D (which as you can see, doesn’t have an LCD of its own).

The Leica M10-R is available in ‘black chrome’ and ‘silver chrome’, for an MSRP of $ 8,295 (the same price as the M10 Monochrom).

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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7 Surprising Photography Facts You Probably Didn’t Know

23 Jun

The post 7 Surprising Photography Facts You Probably Didn’t Know appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

Photography has a long and fascinating history full of interesting facts and stories. Here are 7 photography facts that may surprise you.

Fact #1 – All in the name

We use terms like photography and camera all the time, but where do these words actually come from? Photography fact number one hearkens back to the origins of many of the words we use today.

photography facts language — f/7.1 1/40 ISO 500

The phrase photography actually originates from the Greek words photos and graphé. Photos translates as “light” and graphé means “a representation by means of lines” or “drawing”. When used in conjunction, the two words come together to mean “drawing with light”. The coining of the word “photography” is generally attributed to Sir John Herschel in 1839.

The word camera, on the other hand, comes from the Latin term camera obscura, which means “dark chamber.” The term was originally used to describe a means of projecting an external scene onto a flat surface in a dark room. Sound familiar? The camera, as we know it today, evolved from the camera obscura configuration.

7 Surprising Photography Facts You Probably Didn't Know

Fact #2 The Kodak Moment

And speaking of words, did you know the term Kodak is simply made-up? Founder George Eastman favored the letter K because he believed it was a “strong, incisive sort of letter.”

Using an anagram set, Eastman and his mother came up with the Kodak name. They used three principals in devising the phrase. The word needed to be short, easy to say, and unlike any other name or association.

Kodak, or rather the term Kodak Moment, later entered the common lexicon to describe occurrences that seemed ideal for a photograph.

photography facts letter k — Eastman believed the letter K was a visually strong letter

Fact #3 – The first selfie

Self-portraits are commonplace today. But what you may not know is that the photographic selfie itself dates way back to 1839.

Robert Cornelius, a lamp manufacturer with a keen knowledge of chemistry and metallurgy, took on the task of perfecting the daguerreotype alongside chemist Paul Beck Goddard.

In 1839, Cornelius decided to turn the camera on himself, sitting for around a 10-15 minute exposure. The resulting daguerreotype depicted an off-center rendering of Cornelius – the oldest known intentionally-created photographic self-portrait.

Fact #4 – One small step

There are many earth-bound photography facts out there. But there are plenty of interesting factoids sourced from outside our planet too.

Taken in December 1972, Blue Marble was made by the crew of Apollo 17 on their way to the Moon. The first photograph that depicts the entirety of our planet from space, the picture was taken approximately 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers) from the surface of the Earth. The photograph subsequently became one of the most reproduced images in history.

Another interesting space-related photography fact is to do with the fate of many of the cameras that have accompanied astronauts to the Moon.

Hasselblad cameras have captured some of the most iconic images in history – including our first steps on the lunar surface. However, due to weight restrictions, not all the cameras that have embarked on Moon missions have made it back. Up to 12 Hasselblad cameras remain on our planet’s only natural satellite to this day.

Fact #5 – The first photo book

Number five on our list of photography facts is based around photobooks.

Photobooks have a rich history in photography, but Anna Atkins seems to be the one that started it all. Atkins, a British botanist, learned early photographic processes from Henry Fox Talbot. She is also one of history’s first female photographers.

photography facts macro dandelion puff — Some of the first examples of botanic photography were made by Anna Atkins. f/6.3 1/80 ISO 200

Atkins made a visual documentation of botanical specimens using the Cyanotype process. She then compiled her cyanotypes into the 1843 publication of Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions. Atkins produced three volumes of Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions between 1843 and 1853. Today, only 17 copies of the book are known to exist.

Fact #6 – The most viewed photograph

Photographed by former National Geographic photographer Charles O’Rear in 1996, Bliss is an image of rolling green hills and a semi-clouded blue sky in Sonoma County, California. Microsoft bought the rights to the image in 2000. The company then used the image as the default computer wallpaper for the Windows XP operating system.

The success of Windows XP and corresponding marketing material has led to a general consensus that Bliss is the most viewed photograph of all time. Even O’Rear himself conceded that he would probably be best known for the image saying, “anybody now from age 15 on for the rest of their life will remember this photograph.”

Fact #7 – Camera eye

The camera lens and the eye have a lot in common – leading us to the last of our photography facts.

Aperture can be defined as the opening in a lens through which light passes. A camera lens can either permit or restrict the amount of light that reaches the camera sensor with the aperture blades.

In our eyes, the iris does the same job, relaxing and constricting muscles to regulate the amount of light entering the eye. When you move between bright and dark environments, the iris in your eyes expands or shrinks to alter the size of the pupil.

Interestingly, the human pupil can expand to around 7 mm. This equates to our eyes operating from around f/8.3 in very bright light to around f/2.1 in the dark.

Conclusion

From the first selfie to the eye’s aperture equivalent, there is an abundance of fun photography facts to know. Do you have a favorite photography fact? Feel free to share in the comments below!

The post 7 Surprising Photography Facts You Probably Didn’t Know appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

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Back to Basics: Everything You Need to Know for Choosing the Right Tripod

22 Jun

The post Back to Basics: Everything You Need to Know for Choosing the Right Tripod appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Adam Welch.

Although they seem simple enough at first glance, tripods are tremendously important tools for photographers and videographers. Talking about camera support systems might not be the sexiest topic in photography, but there’s so much to know about tripods. So, allow me to do you a favor. I’m about to clue you in on a few things I wish I’d known about tripods when I first began making photographs nearly twenty years ago. These things will help you when it comes to choosing the right tripod for your needs.

Back to Basics: Everything You Need to Know for Choosing the Right Tripod — Choosing the right tripod may seem overwhelming – but not once you know these things.

Camera tripods come in all shapes and sizes. Materials and mechanisms vary a lot, as do the specific usages of the tripods themselves. This article will show you the basics of tripod anatomy and talk about the things you need to know about them, so choosing the right tripod for your needs will be easy.

Tripod legs: putting the “tri” in tripod

Conceptually, tripods are delightfully simple beasts. Three extendable (usually) legs offer three points of contact to the ground/floor, then terminate at an apex where your camera will hopefully be securely mounted. This is all deceptively simple and leaves a lot of room for many different types of legs made from many different materials with equally varied locking mechanisms.

choosing the right tripod – Legs of tripods.

Let’s break down some of the common tripod leg variants you’re likely to encounter when choosing the right tripod.

Materials

Tripod leg materials range from the oddly archaic to the weirdly space-aged. Fortunately, in most cases, you can make the best choice for which material will be best for your uses based on these three simple maxims:

Your tripod can be lightweight.
Your tripod can be strong.
Your tripod can be inexpensive.

The catch here is that you can only choose two of those when selecting a tripod. This is where tripod leg materials come into play and where you should be honest with yourself about what you need the most from your tripod.

1. Wood and Steel

As difficult as it might be to believe in this day and age, I still own and regularly use a wooden tripod; yes, really.

choosing the right tripod – Tripod with medium format camera.

It’s a beautifully made contraption of steel and ash wood, Berlebach Report 2042 (new version is 242). Primarily, I use it for large format and medium format work and any other time in the studio when I want to use a large setup or happen just to be feeling extra meta. It supports around 27lbs(12.25kg) and is absolutely rock solid. The drawback is my lovely Berlebach weights over 7lbs without a head, and it tips the scales at over 10lbs when fitted with one.

The point here is that yes, there are still tripod legs made using “old world” materials like wood and steel. Many of these are vintage tripods you can pick up for a wide range of prices.

If weight is not a concern for you, a heavier tripod is more ideal than a lighter one. If you do primarily static studio work, don’t overlook these wood or steel tripods.

2. Plastic

Yes, there are some plastic tripod legs out there. Most of these, thankfully, are relegated to smaller, desktop-type tripods for blogging – as they should be.

A plastic tripod. — A tiny little plastic tripod….

As a construction material for longer tripod legs, plastic and plastic derivatives aren’t ideal. Often the strength is far from adequate for the camera support system and flexes under the load.

While some plastic components on a tripod are perfectly fine, it’s advisable to steer clear of a large tripod with legs completely made from plastic.

3. Aluminum

Ahhhh yes, good ol’ aluminum. In the world of tripods, aluminum is the ultimate workhorse. It has an excellent strength-to-weight ratio, is relatively low in price (dropping lower all the time), and makes for a nice, healthy compromise between leg rigidity, compactness, and weight.

choosing the right tripod – Legs of an aluminum tripod. — Aluminum tripod legs.

For the last couple of decades, aluminum has been the tripod leg material of choice when it comes to camera support systems because it checks so many boxes in terms of performance.

However, in the last ten years or so, modern science has thrown a new material into the mix that has all but unseated aluminum as the ideal material for tripod leg construction.

I’m talking about…

4. Carbon Fiber

I’ve made photographs for over half my life now, with about ten of those years professionally. For as long as I’ve been slinging a camera, I only acquired my first carbon fiber tripod about three years ago. Carbon fiber is a lightweight, strong, and extremely corrosion-resistant material, making it perfect for tripod legs.

Carbon fiber legs of a camera support system. — Carbon fiber is strong, lightweight and becoming increasingly affordable.

Not to get all “sciency,” but carbon fiber is, in fact, more stiff than aluminum, being 181Gpa and 69Gpa, respectively. This means that a tripod leg made of carbon fiber flexes less than an aluminum leg of the same diameter. That’s a good thing for a tripod.

Of course, there are multiple carbon fiber species out there, and each has different characteristics.

Going back to our “big three” maxims for tripods, while carbon fiber tripods are strong and lightweight, they are often not cheap. Expect to pay around double for a set of carbon fiber tripod legs compared to aluminum.

However, this price gap is quickly closing as more and more manufacturers begin to bring carbon fiber tripods to the market. In most cases, the benefits of having an easy-to-carry tripod that is both strong and stable are often worth the investment.

5. Titanium

After an exhaustive internet search (okay, maybe about ten minutes), I couldn’t turn up any tripod legs made fully from titanium alloy. However, I did find some tripod sales pages using vague language and simply naming aluminum tripods as “titanium” models.

While titanium is making its way into the world of tripod legs, it is doing so in the form of hardware too. This is expected since titanium offers superb tensile strength and corrosion resistance. Yet, oddly enough, titanium isn’t the ultimate material for tripod legs and parts. It doesn’t wear well against other parts, and the strength-to-weight isn’t as good as some carbon fiber materials.

And the price? Words like “astronomical,” “insane” and “laughable” spring to mind.

Locking Mechanisms

To offer portability, tripod legs generally feature either folding or telescopic sections, with the vast majority being of the latter variety. This means that those leg sections sport some sort of locking mechanism. In general, you’re likely to encounter two main types of leg locks.

1. Flip locks

My very first tripod had flip-type leg locks. Then, my second tripod had flip-type leg locks…so it’s no surprise that I became accustomed to, and prefer, flip-type leg locks on my tripods. This, of course, is wholly subjective.

Flip locks are exactly how they sound: a locking mechanism that flips up to release the tripod leg section and flips down to secure it into place.

Flip locks on camera support system. — A flip-lock.

These locks make deploying the tripod fast and easy. Flip locks can be made of a variety of materials and vary in strength accordingly.

2. Twist locks

It seems as if twist locks are slowly becoming the more prevalent method for locking tripod legs into place. Much like their flip-lock cousins, a twist-type leg lock doesn’t function just as you might expect. Simply twist one direction to unlock and twist the opposite direction to secure.

choosing the right tripod – Twist-locks on a tripod. — A twist-lock style of locking mechanism.

Twist locks are generally less likely to fail due to dirt and sand over flip locks. However, not all twist locks are made equal. Some twist locks require a good deal of “throw” (twisting) to lock or loosen the mechanism resulting in slower deployment retraction.

Tripod Feet

Now that we’ve reached the bottom of our tripod, it’s time to talk about the silent hero of all tripod legs – the seldom applauded feet. No matter what, your tripod ultimately comes to rest on its feet…well…hopefully.

The feet of a tripod come in all shapes and sizes and are another important consideration when choosing the right tripod. In most cases, tripod feet are made from some sort of rubber or rubberized plastic.

choosing the right tripod – rubberized feet — Rubberized tripod feet.

This is where things get interesting.

Now, the shape and characteristics of tripod feet make them more or least apt to remain solid in different environments. The larger the feet of your tripod, the more “flotation” they will offer; meaning the load will be distributed over a wider surface area. The more flotation a tripod foot has, the less likely it is to sink into softer ground materials like sand and mud.

High flotation tripod feet on camera support system. — An example of large, high-flotation tripod feet. These kind are great for sandy environments.

Speaking of the ground, if you know you’ll be using your tripod in widely varying outdoor environments (looking at you landscape shooters), it would be a good idea to make certain your tripod feet feature some type of spike system.

Tripod foot spike. — Retractable foot spike.

Foot spikes are your best friend when you find yourself shooting in icy winter conditions or on exposed rock. However, they are also your worst enemy when shooting indoors and are the menace of wedding venues everywhere. So if you’re a photographer who shoots both outdoor and indoor scenes, make sure your leg spikes are retractable or removable.

It’s also worth mentioning that many major tripod manufacturers offer interchangeable feet for their products, which means you can change your tripod feet depending on the situation.

Center column or nah?

Let’s move a bit north and talk about a topic of contention when it comes to tripods – center columns. A center column allows the photographer to increase the tripod’s height after deploying the legs to their maximum extension.

choosing the right tripod - center columns. — A selection of tripods with center columns.

Center columns add wonderful versatility to a tripod’s capabilities simply because they facilitate the quick and tailored height adjustment. At the same time, center columns also introduce a point of movement into your shooting platform. Thus, causing the debate about whether or not using a center column hinders the overall quality of your photos.

Center columns are very much a double-edged sword in that they can add immense versatility to your shooting possibilities while also causing a few problems if poorly executed. As cliche’ as it might sound, the choice of whether or not you prefer a center column is entirely up to you.

Fortunately, the decision is becoming less and less of an issue, as many tripod makers now offer removable center columns for a large number of tripod models.

There’s so much more!

We’ve covered the main components of your tripod, but we haven’t even begun to talk about the wide world of ball heads, pan heads, and fluid heads! There are even base plates and plate clamps to talk about! So instead of reading about all of these cool little gadgets, why not see them in action?

Have a look at this video I made that covers all of the things we’ve already talked about plus the options that are currently available for mounting your camera to your particular camera support system.

As always, feel free to post your questions and comments about choosing the right tripod below. Have a favorite camera support system or setup you’d like to share with us? We would love to hear about them as well!

The post Back to Basics: Everything You Need to Know for Choosing the Right Tripod appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Adam Welch.

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Lensrentals wants to know if the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted your professional photography work

11 Apr

Our friends over at Lensrentals has created a survey to help determine what kind of impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the livelihood of professional photographers and to better learn how Lensrentals can assist the photography community.

We’re pleased to support Lensrentals in their effort to gather this information and if you’re a professional photographer, below is a link where you can participate:

Lensrentals Survey

As a disclaimer, the survey starts out by asking whether or not you’re a professional photographer; if you answer no, the survey will immediately end. In keep the integrity of the data intact, we ask that you refrain from taking the survey if you do not earn an income from photography.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Developing film at home: everything you need to know to get started

01 Apr

Introduction

If you’re lucky enough to have some free hours in these uncertain times, there are a lot of ways you could spend them. How about learning how to develop your own film? Or maybe developing film is an activity you tried long ago and one you’d like to jump back into. After all, the smell of fixer singeing the nostrils can be quite an intoxicating/nostalgic aroma (Please do not smell the fixer).

What follows is a quick and easy home developing guide that’ll cover everything from supplies, to chemistry dilutions, to proper cleanup. So turn down your record player and grab a good old fashioned pencil and paper to take notes [glances at the sun dial] – it’s developing time!

Reasons to develop at home

But first, if you still need convincing, here’s are some solid reasons to take the plunge into the wild DIY world of home developing:

1. It’s cheaper to set up a home developing kit than you may think. I was able to get everything I needed from a local brick and mortar store for ~$ 150. Obviously a lot of stores are closed right now, but you may pay even less sourcing items online, or second hand.

2. Home developing is a hands-on experience that makes you better appreciate both the magic of photography and the wonder of chemistry. There’s something really cool about seeing the image creation process from start to end. In short, you’ll feel a bit like a mad scientist.

3. If you are paying a lab to develop and scan your images right now, setting up a home lab can be a cheaper option in the long run. And even if labs are closed (as many are at the present time), you’ll still be able to process your own images.

4. It feels good to learn something new / do it yourself.

Best films to start with

For the sake of this article, we’ll concentrate on developing B&W film, as the process is easier to learn than it is for color. B&W film also tends to be more forgiving to exposure errors than color… not that you’ll make any!

Some good B&W films to start with include Kodak Tri-X, Kodak T-Max, Ilford HP-5 Plus and Ilford Delta 400. Be aware, there are B&W film stocks out there that are meant to be developed in color chemistry, like Ilford XP2. Avoid these.

Chemistry 101: The developing basics

The process of developing film is actually quite straightforward. We’ll go into more detail further into this article, but the basic steps go like this: Load your film into a lightproof tank and pour a series of chemicals in one after another, then wash, dry and scan.

The two main chemicals involved in the process are developer, which does exactly what it sounds like, and fixer, which stabilizes the film after development. A stop bath rinse is done between the developing and fixing stage and a water rinse is done at the end.

What you’ll need to assemble your home mini lab

Here’s what you’ll need to set up your home developing kit: Concentrated developer, fixer and stop bath (optional – plain old water also works). Liquid concentration is easier to work with than powder and is also safer as there’s no chance of particulate inhalation. You’ll also want a wetting agent like Kodak Photo-flo (this is also optional but I find it helps negatives dry without watermarks), a developing tank with reels*, several plastic bottles to mix your dilutions in, measuring beakers, a funnel, a thermometer, a stop-watch/timer and a film squeegee. Many photography stores carry all these items.

You’ll also want a light-proof bag to load your reels, as well as a bottle opener and a sharp pair of scissors. The former is to pry open the film canister the latter is to cut the film (both while in the bag). Film clips are great for drying, but clothespins work well too. You’ll also want plastic sleeves to store your negatives in once dried.

*For those wishing to avoid the developing tank, all-in-one options like the the Lab-Box, may be your cup of tea. We can’t vouch for its ease of use, but our pals over at Pop Photo seem to like it.

Loading film onto reels

There are a handful of companies that make film tanks and reels. In general though the plastic reels are MUCH easier to load than the metal ones. Of the popular plastic brands, I’ve found that Paterson Universal makes the easiest to load reels (avoid Omega brand reels).

Once you’ve got your tank, I recommend practicing loading your reel with the lights on. Yes you will need to sacrifice a roll of film to do this, but it’s worth it. Here are the basic steps/tips for loading:

1. Pop open your film canister from the bottom using a bottle opener. It should not take much to pry the bottom cap off.

2. Pull the film and spool out of the canister and trim off the film leader so that the roll ends in a straight cut line.

3. Insert the freshly-cut end of the film roll into the reel. On a Paterson Universal reel the side in which you load the film is flat and the side it feeds out of is rounded; this makes it easy to load correctly in the dark. Once inserted, hold each side of the reel in either hand and gently twist the opposite direction until the reel hits a stopping point, then twist back; this should advance the film onto your reel one frame at a time.

4. Count in your head how many times you do the above twisting action. When you get to 32 (assuming you’re loading a 36 roll frame) unroll the rest of the film from your spool and cut it free – there’s usually a small piece of tape attaching it.

5. Proceed to load the last of the film.

6. Insert the reel onto the tank’s center column. Remember if you’re only developing one reel to still use two reels in the tank with the loaded one on bottom.

The developing process – mixing up the chemistry

Mixing up photo chemistry requires very little knowledge of chemistry itself. If you can follow the directions required to bake a cake, you can certainly mix up these chemical dilutions with no trouble.

As mentioned, we recommend purchasing concentrated liquid chemicals and some plastic containers to store your dilution in (make sure the containers are photo chemical safe). Most chemistry comes with basic dilution guidelines printed on the bottle. For example I use Ilford Ilfotec DDX Developer, which requires a 1:4 dilution. Conveniently, this is the same dilution as the Ilford Rapid Fixer I use.

When mixing up chemistry I like to make 60 fl oz of diluted developer, fixer and stop bath. This is roughly 3x times the amount of each chemical I need to process two rolls in my Paterson tank. Because I don’t develop too often, I just pour the dilute chemistry back into its respective container after I’m done. The chemistry eventually expires, but it takes many rolls to get there. I also find it extremely helpful to write down the date and dilution of each chemical on its container.

Once you have all your chemicals mixed up and in separate jugs, it’s time to bust out the timer and get processing!

Developing, stopping, and fixing

Printed on the bottom of most film tanks is how much fluid is required, depending on the number and/or type of film you are processing. My tank requires about 22 fl oz for two 35mm rolls of film.

It’s also important to figure how long you’ll need to develop your film for. Many manufacturers include a list of developing agents and developing times on the inside of the film box. But if you tossed the box, worry not, the Massive Dev Chart is here to help. The temperature of the chemicals also affects developing time, so it’s good thing you got that thermometer!

Below are the basic steps for processing your roll:

1. Pre-wash: This isn’t completely necessary but there’s no harm in washing your film before moving on to the chemistry.

2. Developing time: Measure out your developer into a beaker and use the thermometer to find its temperature. The colder the developer, the longer the processing time. For instance if I’m processing a roll of Ilford HP-5 Plus in the aforementioned developer/dilution, I’m looking at nine minutes of developing time if the chemistry is 20 C / 68 F and closer to seven minutes if its 24 C / 75 F. Obviously if it’s warmer or colder than that range, you can estimate your development time accordingly.

3. Developing: Start your timer, pour in the developer, attach the tank’s cap and shake gently for 30 seconds. After the first 30 seconds let the tank sit on the table, then shake for ten seconds at the start of each minute of developing. Tap the tank on the table after shaking each time to ensure there are no air bubbles.

4. Stop-bath: Pour out your developer, pour in your stop bath dilution and replace the cap to the tank. Shake the tank for about ten seconds and then let it rest on the table for an additional 30 seconds (don’t forget to tap for air bubbles). Pour the stop bath out and pour in your fixer.

5. Fixer: Repeat the same shaking, tapping and resting process as you did with the developer for the fixer for 4-5 minutes. Then pour out the spent fixer and fill your tank with fresh water…

Washing, drying and storing negatives

6. Washing part 1: Once filled with fresh water, give the tank a good two minutes of shaking, then pour out the water. Repeat this process several times. Note: your film is fully-developed and light-safe at this point.

7. Washing part 2: Twist off the top of the tank and let water run into it for five to ten minutes.

8. Wetting agent: Dump out a little water, add a few drops of a wetting agent to the tank and screw the top back on (with cap attached). Shake for about five seconds and remove the screw top.

9. Removing the film and squeegeeing: Remove your reels from the center column of the tank and twist in the same way you did when loading them, but do so beyond the initial stopping point. This should allow you to pull either side apart. Grab one end of the film and run a wet squeegee over it once or twice.

10. Drying: Hang your film using clothespins or clips somewhere it won’t be disturbed. Give the negatives about 12 hours to dry before cutting and inserting it into plastic film sleeves.

Cleaning up

It probably goes without saying, but photo chemicals are toxic and you should avoid dumping them down the drain at all costs. Likewise, it’s important to keep your work space clean and tidy. I personally like to work on a piece of plywood on saw horses that I break down each time after I’m done processing. This avoids getting chemistry on my work desk or kitchen table.

Of the chemicals used for home developing, photo fixer presents the most environmental issues. Fortunately there are places happy to take it off your hands (for a small fee). Spent fixer contains valuable liquid silver which can be removed and recycled. Spent developer and stop bath can be taken to most household hazard waste processing locations. If you’re unsure of the best way to dispose of chemicals, contact a local photo lab and ask for their recommendations.

Scanning/digitizing

Once your negatives are dried it’s time to digitize them. There are numerous ways to scan film and varying opinions about which methods are best. I personally use an Epson V-series scanner that can do 12 frames of 35mm in one go. These scanners are reasonably-priced, fairly quick to scan and offer decent output – read our Epson V600 review.

Another fairly-easy scanning methods involves using a camera and macro lens, diffused light source and some sort of film holder like the Pixl-latr or Nikons’s ES-2.

Conclusion: Tips for success

As is the case with anything DIY, there’s going to be a large degree of trial and error involved in your process. I’ve tried my best to lay out all the basics that I’ve learned over the years, but it should got without saying that your mileage may vary.

That said, here’s a few final tips to help you succeed, based on my own trial and error:

1. Write down each step of the developing process as it pertains to your chemistry and the kinds of film you shoot. You’ll find yourself referencing this every time you go to develop.

2. Try your best to avoid getting finger prints on the film while loading and opt to load in a proper lightproof bag over a seemingly dark room.

3. Don’t be skimpy with the fixing time. If the film spends a little too much time in the fixer it won’t have any real negative impact, but too little will.

4. Give your film enough time to dry or it’ll get stuck in the plastic film sleeves.

5. Accept dust as a natural part of the life of a film shooter.

6. Consider wearing gloves unless you like the smell of fixer on your fingers for days (I do).

That pretty much sums up our home developing guide! If there’s something crucial you feel we’ve left out, or if you have any additional tips, feel free to mention them in the comments below. Happy developing!

Want more analog fun? Check out the DPReview Film Photography Forum.

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Everything a Beginner Should Know to Improve Their Street Photography

24 Mar

The post Everything a Beginner Should Know to Improve Their Street Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by James Maher.

Everything a Beginner Should Know to Improve Their Street Photography Featured Image

Street photography may seem simple on the surface, just a lot of waiting around looking for an interesting moment to happen. However, the reality is that it is one of the most difficult forms of photography. Particularly at the beginning, it can be very hard to improve in street photography.

The best moments don’t occur very often, and when they do, you have to be aware enough to see it quickly. You have to be brave enough to capture it, and your camera has to be set right.

A lot has to go right, but when it does, that’s when the magic happens. There is a specific set of tips that are important to learn early on that will make all of this much easier and, eventually, second nature.

Fear and timidness

Improve Street Photography — 1/150th at F8, ISO 1600

Fear and timidness are two of the toughest obstacles to overcome for new street photographers. If you don’t feel this way, then skip to the next tip! But most people have a lot of difficulty with this aspect at first. It takes time to overcome, but the less timid you can become, the faster you will be at capturing the best moments.

No matter how tasteful your photography is, street photography is a little creepy! We’re kind of stalking people on the street a bit. But it’s important to know that we’re doing this for a reason. We like people and we want to create interesting photos of our society.

The fear aspect will get better with time – the more you shoot, the easier it will get. But it can help early on to capture some street portraits to get you comfortable. You will quickly realize how many people will be flattered by what you are doing.

Another important thing to know is how to deal with a situation if you are caught.

I just like to smile and be honest. I tell the person that I was photographing the area and the people and culture, and I thought they looked great! Flattery can get you a long way.

If the person seems uncomfortable after you speak to them, offer to delete the shot. You don’t have to, of course, but it’s the right thing to do.

And always be careful about who you photograph. Sometimes, a photograph is just not worth the chance of getting yourself in trouble.

General camera settings

Street Photography Camera Settings — 1/350th at F5.6, ISO 1600

I typically prefer to shoot on Aperture or Shutter Priority settings. Since you are usually going back and forth between different levels of light, this allows you to focus on the scene itself instead of going back and forth on your camera settings. In steady lighting conditions, Manual Mode works very well, though.

Raise your ISO up! I typically use ISO 400 if I am in pure sunlight, ISO 800 in light shade, ISO 1600 in dark shade, and ISO 3200-6400 for dusk into night.

Raising the ISO allows you to have a faster shutter speed to freeze motion. It also gives you more depth of field to make sure you capture the focus correctly, or if you have multiple subjects at different depths.

On Aperture Priority, f/8 is usually my ideal setting whenever possible. It allows enough depth of field but also enough light to enter the camera. And as it gets darker, I will go down with the aperture.

Finally, I always try to keep my shutter speed above 1/250th of a second to freeze motion in people. The key on Aperture Priority is to pay attention to your shutter speed as the lighting gets darker, to make sure that it does not dip too far below 1/250th.

Prime lenses

Prime lenses are made for street photography. They are smaller, lighter, and less noticeable. Also, the act of using a single focal length will make you much faster and more intuitive with the camera. Using one is a key way to improve your street photography.

Zooming constantly will just slow you down and keep you off balance when a moment occurs. With a prime, you are ready when something happens.

I prefer a 35mm and 50mm focal length depending on what I am shooting. Both are wide enough to capture complicated shots that mix foreground and background, and they allow you to get close and intimate with your subjects.

Acting

When some people think of street photographers, they think of the photographers that jump out in people’s faces to take a photograph. It just does not have to be done in that way to get great, candid, close shots. I find the opposite approach to work much better.

I prefer to act like I am just looking around at something above or behind the subject I want to capture, and I carefully get myself in position. They just think I’m probably a tourist looking around, and while they notice me, they continue in their own world without realizing I’m photographing them.

I also take very quick shots where nobody notices. That way, you don’t have to do any acting in these situations. But, acting comes in handy very often.

Finally, you don’t always have to walk around while photographing. Pick an area with foot traffic and wait around. Doing this allows your subjects to enter your personal space instead of entering their space. It also allows you to get very close and nuanced photographs with much less chance of people noticing what you are doing.

Emotion and gesture

One of the keys to creating interesting street photography is showing emotion and feeling in your images. One of the best ways to do that is to capture those emotions and feelings in your subjects.

Pay attention to the looks in peoples’ eyes or the gestures in their bodies. Try to see who is walking around wearing their emotions on their sleeves, so to speak.

I would rather photograph a non-descript person with incredible emotion over the flashiest person just walking down the street emotionless.

Getting closer

This is a general tip for improving most photography, but it is especially difficult for street photography. The closer you get, the more intimate your moments will feel.

But you don’t have to put so much pressure on yourself at first. Start from further back and over time, work to get closer and closer. This is a process that can take a little time to get comfortable with.

Spontaneity and intuition

Everything a Beginner Should Know to Improve Their Street Photography — 1/250th at F9, ISO 3200

At some point, you need to become fast with your camera to capture some of those split-second moments. Embrace your intuition and work to become spontaneous and fast with the camera.

You will miss a lot of photographs this way and come back with a lot of bad ones (why editing is so important), but the special photographs will be special.

If you feel that there is the potential for a great photograph in your gut, just stop thinking and go for it. The worst that can happen is you will delete the photograph later on.

Imperfection

Unlike some other forms of photography, perfection is not celebrated as much in street photography. We’re looking for real and unplanned moments, and these moments are not perfect.

Sometimes the best way to improve your street photography is to just loosen up.

What matters is that the photograph is interesting and it looks good. Everything else is gravy. If the photograph has those qualities, who cares if it’s skewed, a little blurry, highlights are blown out, or if there’s an element in the way. That’s the real world.

Sometimes these aspects will ruin your photograph, of course, but just as often they’ll ground the moment in reality.

Photograph in busy and quiet places

As you are learning and getting comfortable, it’s very important to practice in busy places with a lot of foot traffic. This gives you many chances for great photographs and it’s easier to work in a candid way as well. This is how to work out the kinks and develop your technical skills and overall awareness.

But it is equally important to photograph in slower and quieter areas too.

These areas can be just as interesting and even more so than the busiest areas. It can take some time to get used to photographing here and figuring out what makes a good photograph, but you will be much better off for trying.

Conclusion – take photos for yourself

Street photography is about taking something that is internal, capturing it in the real world, and then showing those ideas in your work.

It’s not worth taking photographs that you think other people will find interesting. Ultimately, your work can only become so good that way.

Shoot what you think is the most interesting and forget about everyone else. Over time this is how you will develop a strong and distinct voice.

And most importantly, get out there and shoot as often as you can. That is the real way to improve your street photography.

Do you have any other tips to improve street photography that you’d like to share? Please do so in the comments, along with any street photos you’d like to share.

The post Everything a Beginner Should Know to Improve Their Street Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by James Maher.

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Helping You the Way We Know Best During These Trying Times

18 Mar

The post Helping You the Way We Know Best During These Trying Times appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

Let’s face it – we’ve all been stressed about the Coronavirus (covid-19).

For many people, they have had to self-isolate (including members of the dPS team). This can be anxiety-inducing and people can also start feeling isolated and down.

So we want to do what we do best. We want to give you all some photography exercises that you can do in and close to home. That way, you’ll get to focus on your creativity, keep the boredom at bay, and, hopefully, feel less stressed with life until this all starts to resolve itself.

How this will work is that each week over the next month (mid-week before our weekly newsletter goes out, starting tomorrow), we will publish a 7-day challenge. In this challenge, we will give you a challenge idea per day that you can do right within your own home or yard. We will also publish more articles on things you can photograph around the home, as well as some post-processing articles.

We care about our community and wish you all the best at this time. Please stay safe and keep in touch with us – whether by commenting on posts or heading over to our FB group where you can chat and share your photos.

Let us know if there is anything else you’d like to see here on dPS that will help you through these times too.

All the best,
Caz and the dPS team

The post Helping You the Way We Know Best During These Trying Times appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

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Tips for Retouching Skin in Photoshop That You Need to Know

16 Feb

The post Tips for Retouching Skin in Photoshop That You Need to Know appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

When it comes to retouching skin in Photoshop, there are a lot of tools and techniques available to you. Some of these are fairly easy and self-explanatory, like the Healing Brush. Others, like frequency separation, are complicated multi-step processes. They involve such obscure features of Photoshop that you would never be able to figure it out on your own. Many of the skin retouching techniques are useful and work well when used together with one another.

This article will provide you a set of tips to get the most out of some of the most common and most useful (read: my opinion) of these techniques. It assumes you have a basic understanding of how to use them. If you don’t, there are a myriad of good quality tutorials available.

Tips for retouching skin in Photoshop.

Tutorials

Here’s a short list of tutorials for all of the techniques listed in this article:

Healing Brush
Patch Tool
Clone Stamp
Frequency Separation
Dodging and Burning

Healing Brush

The Healing Brush is probably going to be the first thing you reach for when you are retouching skin in Photoshop. It’s a somewhat intuitive tool, that doesn’t take that long to figure out and it is very effective at what it does.

To get the very best results from using the healing brush:

1. Work on a new layer

When working with the healing brush, be sure to work on a new blank layer. That way, you can be sure that you are not altering your original image. This also allows you to make changes later.

To do this, press the New Layer button on the Layers palette or press Ctrl+Shift+n (Cmd+Shift+n Mac). With the new layer set up, be sure that the drop-down box for the Healing Brush labeled “sample” is set to Current and Below.

Using the healing brush for retouching skin in Photoshop.

Working on a blank layer will ensure you can undo any changes you make should you decide to later.

2. Use as small of a brush as possible

You can quickly change your brush size with the bracket keys ( { and } ). Try to keep the brush just big enough to cover only the blemish that you are trying to remove.

Image: For the best results, use a brush size that is just bigger than the blemish you are trying to...

For the best results, use a brush size that is just bigger than the blemish you are trying to remove. This ensures that you don’t make too many alterations to the natural pattern of the skin.

3. Sample often

Don’t make a sample selection just once – do it often. Do it between every blemish if you can. This may seem like a lot of effort, but with practice, it’s really not. Your images will be better for it too.

4. Zoom in

To make sure that you are only trying to heal blemishes, and not the area of skin around them, zoom in as far as you need to.

I understand some photographer’s reticence to zoom in to 400% to 500% for the sake of retouching, but doing so will make sure that you only affect the areas of your subject’s skin that need it.

This tip (and the next one) doesn’t just apply to the Healing Brush. Do this with every skin retouching technique listed here.

Image: Zooming in allows you to be more precise with your adjustments and leads to more natural-look...

Zooming in allows you to be more precise with your adjustments and leads to more natural-looking results.

5. Zoom back out

When you are very zoomed in on your subject, you can get lost in all of the details that you can now see. Make it a point to zoom back out frequently so you can make sure that the changes you are making are actually affecting what you can see on the image at 100%. This can save you hours.

6. Don’t paint

Instead of painting with the Healing Brush, just press once (or click with a mouse) over the blemish you are trying to remove. This will limit the alterations to the surrounding skin.

Using the healing brush for skin retouching in Photoshop.

Painting with the healing brush leads to weird artifacts. To avoid these, simply click on the blemish you want to remove and nothing more.

Patch tool

The patch tool is a powerful utility that allows you to select an area that you want to retouch with a lasso and then drag that over to a sample area that you want to use to fill that first area in. It’s fairly easy to use, but it can be tricky at first.

1. Work on a new layer

You can use a copy of your background layer.

If you’ve already created and worked on a few layers at this stage, you can press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E (Cmd+Alt+Shift+E – Mac) to create a new layer with all of those adjustments merged into it.

This will allow you to reduce the opacity of what you’ve done with the patch tool in case you go too far. It will also make it easy to delete the layer and start from scratch if need be.

Image: The patch tool can’t be used with an empty layer. Instead, duplicate your background la...

The patch tool can’t be used with an empty layer. Instead, duplicate your background layer and work on the copy. If you’re later on in your workflow, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+e (Cmd+Alt+Shift+e) to stamp all existing layers into a new one above the rest.

2. Avoid the content-aware fill

In terms of skin, the Content-Aware Patch Tool never seems to perform very well. Instead, leave the mode set to normal and use the Patch Tool that way. For things like backgrounds, by all means, use content-aware; just avoid it for skin retouching.

Image: Content-aware fill, as it works with the Patch Tool, is great for many things, but skin is no...

Content-aware fill, as it works with the Patch Tool, is great for many things, but skin is not one of them. Although this was sampled from a very similar part of his face, content-aware has made a mess of it.

3. Patch small areas

It’s tempting to just select a large area of skin and try to work that way. However, this will only serve to create a bunch of artifacts on your subject’s skin. Keeping your selections small allows you more control over the end result and will result in fewer problems down the line.

4. Use similar tonal areas

When possible, use a sample area that’s similar in tone to your selection area. This will reduce the chances of creating problematic artifacts and blur.

Using the patch tool for skin retouching in Photoshop.

Here, you can see the various areas of similar tonality circled in red. When using the Patch Tool, try to sample from similar areas of tonality.

5. Reduce opacity

Once you’ve done the work that you want to with the patch tool, feel free to reduce the opacity of the layer that you are working on. This can help to hide a heavy handed approach and help to give more natural looking results. This tip applies to pretty much every other skin retouching technique as well.

Clone stamp

When you are retouching skin in Photoshop, the clone stamp tool will probably be one of your least used tools. It’s tricky to use and it’s often easier and faster to get similar results with other techniques. The one notable exception is when you are using frequency separation (covered below).

1. Use a soft brush

This may be a preference, but the Clone Stamp is a heavy-handed tool that makes drastic changes with a single click. By using a soft-edged brush, you will reduce the impact of the area of skin around the blemish you are removing.

To get to your brush menu, just right-click.

Image: This may be preference, but for the most part, you will want to use the softest brush possibl...

This may be preference, but for the most part, you will want to use the softest brush possible when using the Clone Stamp. The Clone Stamp is a very aggressive tool that can affect skin patterns in an undesirable way if used without care.

2. Do not paint

As with the Healing Brush, do your best not to paint an area of skin with the Clone Stamp. Try to keep the affected area limited to an individual blemish, pore or other marks.

Using the clone stamp for retouching skin in Photoshop.

Even though the sampled area was identical in tone, you can see the results of painting with the clone stamp tool in one large stroke.

3. Use sparingly

Again this may be personal preference talking, but try to resort to the Clone Stamp when it’s the only tool left for the job, at least in terms of skin retouching. The problems this tool can create with odd aberrations in skin texture patterns are hardly worth the risk.

Frequency Separation

Frequency Separation is one of those techniques that appears as overcomplicated sorcery at first glance. Once you’ve learned the fundamentals of the technique and how to set it up, it’s actually quite easy. It’s also a very powerful technique that can transform your skin retouching workflow. It is; however, very easy to go overboard with this technique and a heavy hand will result in less than ideal results. Once you’ve got the implementation and the basics of frequency separation down, there are a few tips to help you get the best results.

1. Gaussian Blur settings

When setting up your frequency separation layers, keep the Gaussian Blur settings to the lowest possible number while it is still obscuring all of the detail in your subject’s skin.

“4” is a good number to start with, but it might vary depending on the resolution you’re working with and how much of the frame your subject’s face fills.

Image: When setting up your Low-Frequency layer, use just enough blur to remove all of the skin text...

When setting up your Low-Frequency layer, use just enough blur to remove all of the skin texture in that layer. Here, Gaussian Blur was set to 2.

2. Blur

When applying Gaussian Blur to your Low-Frequency layer, keep the amount of blur to either equal or less than the amount that you used when setting up the layer in the first place.

3. Blur – Tones

Only blur areas of skin that are a similar tone. Blurring midtones and highlights (or shadows and midtones, or any other combination) can result in muddied tones that often don’t look good. Keep your selections to areas of similar tonality to avoid these muddied tones.

Using frequency separation for skin retouching in Photoshop.

When applying blur to sections of your Low-Frequency layer, try to make your selections in areas of similar tones. This will still help to smooth the tonal transitions without muddying them.

4. Zoom in

Ensure that you are zooming in to at least 100% on your images to watch for any hard edges that may appear while applying blur.

This can happen as you get close to hard edges within your frames, such as lips and eyes. If they do start appearing, you can reduce the amount of blur you are using, or you can make a new selection farther away from the areas causing you trouble.

5. Clone Stamp

For the High-Frequency layer, you just need to be careful with how you use the Clone Stamp. As above, the Clone Stamp is best used on very small areas with a single click. Sample often and don’t paint with it and you should be fine.

Dodging and Burning

Probably the most powerful and versatile of the techniques listed in this article, Dodging and Burning might as well be considered an essential tool for anyone that expects to be doing a lot of skin retouching. There are a lot of ways to do dodging and burning, but for the sake of these tips, I am going to refer to the method that involves using a 50% gray layer set to Overlay that you then paint on with the brush tool with white to lighten the tones and with black to darken them.

1. Keep the brush flow at 1%

Like all skin retouching techniques, subtlety is the key, and with the brushes flow at 1%, you can slowly build up any alterations that you are making.

Dodging and burning for skin retouching in Photoshop.

When dodging and burning on a grey layer, set the flow of your brush to 1%. This will allow you to build strokes slowly for more natural results.

Using dodging and burning for skin retouching in Photoshop

Circled at the top: The flow for the brush was set to 10%. Circled at the bottom: The flow here was 1% You can see the drastic difference just 9% makes on the flow settings.

2. Try to avoid broad strokes

Instead of trying to alter large aspects of your image at one time (for example, lightening an entire forehead in one go), zoom in on the area you want to work on and work on areas of a similar tone. By working with smaller areas, you will get more natural results.

3. Use multiple layers

If you are using broad strokes and working on finer detail with dodging and burning in the same image, do both of these on separate layers. Dedicate one to each layer.

With the large brush strokes, you will likely be more concentrated on overall contrast. You will often want to use a Gaussian blur on your brush strokes to even them out too.

This is not the case with fine detail where your brushstrokes should only deal with tiny, precise areas.

For very fine control over your image, use a different layer for dodging and burning all of the sections of your image. This will allow you to alter, or get rid of any changes you might change your mind about later on without undoing all of your work elsewhere.

4. Use a small brush

Skin has a lot of fine detail in which the light in your scene passes over and creates contrast. It’s this contrast on the skin that creates the appearance of blemishes in your photos.

Because these blemishes are often small, you want to try and use a brush that is at least as small as the area you are working to lighten and darken with dodging and burning. This will ensure that you are lowering the contrast – therefore lowering the visibility of the blemishes – rather than adding it where you don’t want to.

5. Use Ctrl+z (Cmd+z) often

When you’re using a technique like dodging and burning for retouching skin in Photoshop, you are using a lot of little adjustments, maybe even thousands of them, to build up to a finished result. You will get some of these wrong. Don’t be afraid to undo anything you’ve done if it isn’t right.

6. Reduce the Layer Opacity

Once you’ve done any adjustments that you are going to make with dodging and burning, try reducing the opacity of the layer(s) to see if you can get a better result with less of an effect.

With a time-consuming technique like this, it is easy to get lost in it and go overboard. Sometimes reducing the effect at the end is just what is needed for a more natural result.

When you’re finished with your dodging and burning, you can always turn the opacity of the layer down to see if you might have gone too far. It’s a good idea to always at least look, even if you don’t decide to lower the opacity in the end.

7. Zoom way in

Unless your image will never be printed and only viewed in a small resolution, zoom as far into your images as you dare while retouching skin in Photoshop (this applies to all of the techniques here) to achieve the absolute best results.

Sometimes, you will find that you need to be zoomed in at 300-500% to see all of the detail that you need to work with. Sure, working this way takes a lot longer and is intimidating to think about, but putting that amount of effort in will help you to achieve better results.

The end

There are, of course, many other techniques available for retouching skin in Photoshop, but these are the ones that I use the most often.

If you’re new to these techniques, you now (hopefully) have a few tips to help you figure out how to make the very most out of them.

Of course, with techniques like these, there are always more ways to do things. If you have any tips of your own on retouching skin in Photoshop, please feel free to share them below.

The post Tips for Retouching Skin in Photoshop That You Need to Know appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

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Everything You Need To Know For a Fashion Shoot

13 Feb

Preparing for a fashion shoot sounds easy on paper, but in reality requires a lot of thought out planning – namely for the equipment you’ll need. There’s flexibility within this, but there are certain elements that are necessities (such as your camera and lighting). Luckily, we’ve written up the perfect guide to help you, and to make your own fashion Continue Reading

The post Everything You Need To Know For a Fashion Shoot appeared first on Photodoto.

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