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10 Stage Photography Tips (for Beautiful Images)

09 Sep

The post 10 Stage Photography Tips (for Beautiful Images) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

10 stage photography tips for beautiful photos

Perhaps it’s time to enter a new stage in your photographic journey: stage photography, where you capture performers on the stage at concerts, plays, dance recitals, and more.

This genre combines some of the skills of studio photography, portraiture, and even sports photography. When light is often dim and the action fast, you will be challenged to make sharp shots and need to understand your camera controls well. Stage photography will test your skills, but when you nail a great shot, the results can be very rewarding.

Let’s cover ten tips to help you achieve that command performance.

1. Get permission

Here’s a key thing to remember when you are shooting a stage performance: The show is on the stage. You are not the show. If your presence disrupts the performers, distracts the audience, or otherwise draws attention to you, you are not only being a nuisance, you run the risk of being thrown out. And even if that doesn’t happen, it is unlikely you will be invited back and other photographers may then be prohibited from future shows.

Don’t be that guy.

dancers on the stage — If I had to shoot the whole performance from the vantage point of the first shot (above, top), my photos wouldn’t have turned out well. Even cropping in on the second version, I still didn’t have the full backdrop behind the dancers. Fortunately, I always attend the dress rehearsal (which I strongly advocate!) and can position myself pretty much wherever I like with no fear of being a distraction to the performers or the audience.

It is a bad idea to just show up at a performance with a professional-looking camera and long lenses without prior permission. You may not be permitted inside, and if you are, you could be asked to leave your expensive equipment behind. If you do somehow slip inside and get caught later, there will be an ugly scene. And if you somehow do shoot the whole show and later want to post your shots, you risk getting sued because you didn’t have rights to make photos…which is…well…let’s not go there.

Again, don’t be that guy – period.

2. Be a “photo ninja”

When you do stage photography, “minimal disruption” should be your motto. Here are a few things you can do to get your shots while staying invisible to the performers and audience.

Grease play — These shots date back to 2003, when I was shooting with my first digital camera, a Nikon Coolpix 950. It was a simple 1.92 MP point-and-shoot camera. I got there early, sat in the first row, and used the swivel-body LCD while holding the camera in my lap. There was minimal audience disruption and I captured some decent shots.

Dress in dark clothing. Because the house lights will generally be off during a stage performance, wearing dark clothing will help you hide in the shadows and be less noticeable.
Be stealthy and silent. Turn off all camera distractions, including beeping, lights, and perhaps even your rear LCD screen. If your camera has a silent shutter mode, then use it. If you must chimp your shots, do it between acts and in a way that your screen isn’t visible to the audience or performers. Do not stand between the audience and the performance, even if that gets you the best angle.
Never use flash unless you have obtained prior permission from the stage manager beforehand.
Shoot the dress rehearsal when possible. Assuming you can do it, this is the best option. Without an audience, you will have much more freedom to roam, find good angles, perhaps use flash if you check first, and sometimes get multiple “takes” of the same scene, dance, or musical number. Concerts might be the exception to this rule, as the dynamics of the performers and audience reaction to a live performance will be lacking at a dress rehearsal and that typically shows up in the shots. For the most part, however, shooting a dress rehearsal will greatly expand what you can do.

3. Know the show

As with any kind of action photography, knowing what is going to happen in advance will help you anticipate and get the best shots. Read the program, talk to the stage manager, know the plot of the play, and do whatever else you can to better know and plan your shots.

actors playing Cinderella — Know the show. If you’re familiar with the story and plot, you’ll know the key points to photograph. (I suspect you’ll know immediately what the story is here without me telling you.)

4. Do a “site survey”

If possible, go beforehand to the theater or venue when the event will take place. Take your camera and find the best vantage points.

Can you shoot from those spots and still be non-disruptive? Are there multiple places you can shoot from, and can you move from one to another without attracting attention? How long or wide a lens will you need to get good shots from those spots? Might there be someone there to show you the lighting before the show so you can gain an idea of what you’ll encounter?

If you can’t be at the location in advance, at least get there as early as you can on the day of the performance. Winging it while the show is already underway will almost always adversely impact the quality of your shots.

5. Take the right equipment

the magic lantern — A long lens can get you tight shots like this one (taken at 200mm). There have been many times when a 100-400mm lens would not have been overkill.

The two biggest challenges in stage photography typically are:

Getting close enough
Having enough light to work with

And taking the right gear can help. A camera featuring a strong low-light performance with minimal noise will be your best bet. A fast f/2.8 lens makes a difference, too.

I shoot Canon, and the two lenses I typically take when doing stage photography are the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS zoom. There have been many cases where I’ve wished for a 100-400mm zoom.

Your focal length needs will be dictated by your distance from the stage. Closer is almost always better, and if you can be stageside (and not violate the “minimal disruption” rule), that is almost always best.

dancer reaching out — Talk to the stage manager beforehand, and you might get permission to shoot backstage from the wings. You can sometimes get some unique angles the audience doesn’t see.

I should also address the readers who might be parents going to their child’s play, dance recital, or other stage performances. It’s likely you’ll be taking a point-and-shoot camera with no interchangeable lenses and shooting from wherever your seat might be in the theater. There’s nothing wrong with that. Hopefully, your camera has good optical zoom and not too much shutter lag. Get there early and sit in the front row if you can. If you don’t need to sit in your theater seat, maybe you can find a better spot to shoot from and be less noticeable.

kids on the stage — When little Johnny or Emma makes their stage appearance in their cute little costume, a parent will find it hard to not stand up and do what’s necessary to get the shot. Please don’t be *that* parent. Try to be as unobtrusive as possible while you make your photos.

Glean what you can from this article, and most importantly, be as unobtrusive as possible while capturing your photos. I know you’ll want to stand up when little Johnny takes the stage in his cute little character costume, and you may forget to turn off the flash and blind everyone with a burst of light in the darkened theater. My simple advice: Don’t be that parent. With luck, a pro will be shooting from the sidelines. Look for that person and give them your e-mail. If you’re nice to them, there’s a good chance they will send you a stellar shot of Johnny.

creative stage photography examples — Play with camera settings like a wide aperture and selective focus and look for reflections on the stage to make your shots more interesting. Don’t make the shot everyone would make. Work at it!

6. Use the right settings and technique

I already mentioned that one of the most challenging things in stage photography is working with low light (especially when action is involved). You’re also likely to be shooting handheld. Maintaining a fast enough shutter speed in low light will require you to either open up your aperture (while being mindful of depth of field), raise your ISO (while being mindful of noise levels), or both.

dancers running under a rug — Dark backgrounds and spotlighted subjects: sometimes the lighting will be dramatic with a wide dynamic range. Understand your metering modes and when you might want to use center-weighted or even spot metering.

The following camera settings work well for me in most cases, though you’ll need to make adjustments depending primarily on how much light you have to work with. It is not unusual to have the lights go from very bright to very dim as a scene changes, the actor walks to a different part of the stage, or (at a rock concert) the lights flash on and off while changing colors. So consider these stage photography settings as a starting point.

Aperture Priority mode – (Av on Canon, A on Nikon, varies on other cameras.) You will usually want your aperture as wide open as possible while still getting adequate depth of field.
Auto ISO – Let the ISO “float” to deal with various lighting changes. If you find your ISO pretty much stays the same through the performance, you could set it at that spot, but always trying to keep it as low as possible. Learn when your camera produces unacceptable noise and set the Auto ISO top limits just under that value. If you don’t do this, you could later find that the ISO went much higher (and that all your shots are very noisy!).
In Aperture Priority, your shutter speed will also float. The amount of action on stage, the focal length of the lens you’re using, and the speed needed to freeze action will dictate what is acceptable. In a play where the actors are standing still and speaking you might get away with 1/30s if you have an image-stabilized lens or in-body image stabilization in the camera. If you’re shooting ballet dancers spinning and leaping and want to freeze them, you might need 1/500s or more to get the job done. See if your camera lets you set a minimal shutter speed when using Aperture Priority.
Focus mode – This will again depend on the amount of action you’re dealing with. If the action is slow, single-shot focus is fine. (Remember to turn off the focus lock beep!). If you must track faster movement, continuous focusing can help a lot. Newer cameras may have eye-tracking focus, which can work really well – except when multiple people are performing and in close proximity. Then the autofocus may become confused about which person to lock in on. Learn your camera’s focusing modes so you can choose what is best for the given situation.
Metering – This will depend on the lighting you encounter. Usually, I stick to full Evaluative metering, and the camera does a pretty good job. Sometimes, however, when the performer might be brightly lit by a spotlight and the background is very dark, the camera can be fooled and the performer will be overexposed. In those cases, center-weighted metering or even spot metering can be a better choice.
Commit it to Memory – I often store different camera settings in each of my camera’s memory modes (C1, C2, C3), so I can quickly change complex settings with the turn of a dial when the situation changes.

7. Composition is always key

As with all photography, composition is king. Use good compositional practices; remember the rule of thirds, leading lines, the rule of odds, and so on. And remember to check your borders for distracting elements.

Shoot wide establishing shots that show the entire stage, then go in for mid and close shots that highlight one actor or performer. Get in tight on facial expressions to capture the emotions of the performer. Don’t overlook really tight shots of details like the shoes of a ballet dancer “on pointe,” or a rock guitarist’s hands really “shredding his ax.”

girls doing ballet — Sometimes you’ll need to go wide.

actors and dancers — Medium shots are great when two people are interacting.

actors with emotion — Tighter shots let you catch the drama and emotion on actors’ faces.

ballerina feet pointing — Detail shots can tell the story. Being “on pointe” is a hallmark of ballet, and these images of dancers on their toes make for iconic photos.

8. Work with the light

Stage lighting can be tricky, especially when you’re trying to photograph with good color accuracy. Various lighting types will have different Kelvin temperatures. Mood is often created with color gels and other lighting color control.

Sometimes you will want to try and correct for these color changes, sometimes you might want to capture the scene as close to the original color as possible (i.e., a deep blue cast designed to simulate a night scene). And other times, you might want to enhance the color or take it in a different direction.

Now, there is one key item that will give the creative control you need:

Shoot in RAW format! There are a lot of reasons you should be shooting in RAW, but stage photography might be right at the top of the list. During the shoot, you do not want to be adjusting white balance or trying to guess what might be best. Shooting in RAW means that the white balance adjustments can be saved for later in editing. I typically just leave the White Balance setting on Auto and disregard it while photographing. Later, when editing, I can adjust it however I like. If a series of shots were all made under the same lighting conditions, I can adjust the first shot, select all the subsequent shots, and sync the white balance to that first adjusted shot. Bazinga!

image with corrected white balance — White balance can be tricky given the different lighting types and colored gels used in the theater. Always shoot in RAW format and you can fine-tune the while balance when you edit.

Dancers in different styles — Left to right: Original white balance; Lightroom-corrected RAW image; black and white version. Which is correct? When shooting in RAW, you get to decide when editing!

There is one thing to keep in mind here: Don’t rely on the LCD screen to judge white balance. It will always show a JPEG image with the camera’s white balance pick, and since you’ll be shooting in RAW, you can make dramatic changes afterward.

For example, in one theater the stage lighting was very warm. I put the camera on Tungsten white balance so the playback on the LCD looked better, but I still shot in RAW. Later, when editing, the Tungsten setting did give better skin tones, so I used that as a starting point. Had it not worked out, however, I could’ve edited my white balance for a completely different result.

Artistic color gel — Sometimes the scene might start or end with creative lighting. Always be ready to take advantage of creative looks the lighting designer might serve up!

Once, a friend filled in for me at a graduation ceremony on a theater stage. Then they sent me the images for editing, and I saw they’d shot the whole ceremony in JPEG. Arghh! The theater had mixed lighting, some tungsten, some fluorescent. The JPEG images had very little potential for adjustment and the skin tones were awful. I even thought about converting the entire set to black and white.

9. Tell the story

I don’t know if every picture tells a story, but when photographing a play, a dance recital, a performance, or a concert, there is definitely a story on stage. It’s your job as the photographer to tell that story with your photos. Here are some tips that will help:

Know the story – If you’re attending a play, know the plot beforehand. The same is true of a dance. Almost all ballet is built around a story. Modern dance numbers usually are designed to evoke a meaning and a mood. A rock guitarist will evoke a mood with their music and the song lyrics may tell a story. How can you bring out those stories in your photos? By capturing expressions, movement, peak action?
To freeze or to blur? – Not all motion needs to be frozen. Letting moving people blur can add to the feeling of action in a scene.
The mood of the light – Good photographers learn to “see the light” and know how its color, direction, softness, harshness, and other properties affect the mood and story. Good theatrical lighting designers know this, too, and work hard to light scenes to evoke the right mood and enhance the story. Unlike a studio photo session where you as the photographer might set the lights, when photographing a stage performance you will work with someone else’s lighting choices. Pay close attention to what they’ve done and try to capture it in your images.

actors happily on stage — Capture the shots that tell the story. I’m guessing you can identify the story here with a glance!

frog leaping through the air — I wanted to freeze this leap. Even with an ISO of 2000, I had to shoot at 1/160s, though I could have opened the lens up to the full f/2.8 setting for a shorter shutter speed.

creative stage photography images with motion blur — Here, I wanted some motion blur; the hand motion in an image from Grease, the attack of the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz, and Don Quixote tilting at the windmills. For the bottom right photo, I wasn’t necessarily going for motion blur and was happy to make a fairly sharp shot at a slow 1/13s. Score one for the Canon R6 with both IBIS and lens stabilization.

10. Enhance with good editing

In the film days, after a shoot, all you had were the unprocessed negatives. There were many steps before you could look at your image as a finished print and many opportunities for creative adjustments along the way. Today, with digital cameras, we simply click the shutter and can immediately view the result on an LCD screen.

black and white glow images — So you don’t like to edit, huh? That’s the only way to get this kind of looks. The dancers in their flowing gowns and graceful movement made me think of angels, so when editing, I went for that feeling. How’d I do?

My opinion is that too many photographers are content with the straight-out-of-camera (SOOC) image; after that initial click, they believe their work is done. Many skilled photo instructors will preach the importance of “getting it right in camera” and express a distinct distaste for having to spend time behind a computer screen.

As you may have guessed, I scoff at these folks. Ansel Adams didn’t shoot digital, but I think his quote is worthy of consideration:

“The negative is the score, and the print is the performance.”

Ansel Adams

My personal belief is that you’re not done with an image until you’re done, and that includes editing. This might be especially true when taking photos of stage performances. You will not have control of the scene that plays out before you, you will have limited options for changing your vantage point or perspective, you will work with someone else’s often fast-changing lighting, the scene may be dimly lit and you will struggle to juggle shutter speed, depth of field, and camera noise. There are also no do-overs. If the shot isn’t everything it might be, editing can be the fix. Even if it is a very good SOOC shot, might some editing make it even better?

(You did shoot RAW, right? So don’t tell me you don’t edit; you have to do at least some editing with a Raw image.)

Okay, I will turn off the rant. Suffice it to say, I personally believe editing your stage photography images is almost mandatory if you want them to shine.

ballet posters — You’ll also need editing and design skills if you want to do these kinds of things with your images. I’ve been shooting this Boise, Idaho troupe for years. I make posters for them, they keep inviting me back. It’s a good relationship.

Stage photography tips: final words

How could I write an article on stage photography and not include a famous quote by this guy? You might have heard of him:

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.

William Shakespeare

In this play we call life, you’ve been cast in the role of the photographer. Now go expand your talents and abilities. Hold a mirror up to the other players with the medium of stage photography!

warm up routine — Honing your skills as a stage photographer will keep you on your toes.

Stage photography FAQs

If I only remember one thing about stage photography, what should it be?

The show is on stage. You are not the show. If you are a distraction to the performers or the audience, you are not welcome, may be thrown out, certainly won’t be invited back, and will probably prevent other photographers from being asked to photograph performances. Get good shots, but be unobtrusive.

What are the biggest challenges in doing stage photography?

Getting close enough. Working with dim and frequently changing light. A long lens or a good vantage point can help with the former. A fast lens (i.e., f/2.8 or faster) and a camera with a good low-light performance can help with the latter.

How can I make more compelling stage photos?

Know the story. Tell the story. Know what the play, dance, performance, song, or whatever you’re photographing is about. Work to capture that story in your images.

What should my camera settings be for stage photography?

This will vary depending on the lighting, type of show, amount of action on the stage, and other factors, but for starters: Aperture Priority (Av, A), Auto ISO (with an upper limit), Continuous/Servo Focus, Evaluative metering (though center-weighted or even spot works for certain situations).

How can I best deal with white balance issues when photographing under different lights and colored gels/lights?

Always shoot in RAW format and be prepared to edit your shots. A RAW file will allow you to adjust the white balance after the shoot, open your creative possibilities, allow some rescue of overexposed and underexposed images, and help you better deal with image noise.

The post 10 Stage Photography Tips (for Beautiful Images) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

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Nikon interview: “We’re at a transitional stage”

13 Feb

Keiji Oishi, Department Manager of Nikon’s UX Planning Dept, Imaging Business Unit.

We were at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas last month, and during our time on the floor we sat down with Keiji Oishi, Department Manager of Nikon’s UX Planning Dept, Imaging Business Unit.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Mr Oishi gave us an insight into Nikon’s strategy at all levels of its business, and shared some details of Nikon’s (then very much under wraps) new professional flagship, the D6.

Nikon recently released the D780 – some people might be surprised to see the launch of a new DSLR in 2020.

The development of the Z-series is our core focus, but we need to support the demands of our DSLR customers, for the latest technologies. The D780 represents a leap in terms of technology compared to the D750. The D780 has what we might call ‘over-class’ features for a DSLR of this type, such as the autofocus algorithm from the D5, and the shutter mechanism of the D850.

It also incorporates some of the advantages of mirrorless technology, such as live view autofocus performance and Eye-Detection AF. It’s all combined in one model.

The D750 continues to be competitive, long after its introduction. Why did you feel it needed updating?

The D750 is a very good camera, and its sales are good because of its well-balanced specifications and its price point. But some customers were starting to consider replacing [their D750] because their camera body is five years old.

We’re at a transitional stage at the moment, with our customers. They’re wondering which platform is better for their needs

Some people we’ve pointed towards the Z 6 or Z 7, because of the advantages of mirrorless, but some customers want to stick with DSLR because of the optical viewfinder, autofocus performance in some situations, and also the long battery life. For those customers looking to replace their D750, we wanted to prepare two options – the Z-series lineup, and also DSLR.

Does this indicate a deliberate strategy going forward of creating closely-related ‘companion’ models, across the Z-series and DSLR lineups? The Z 6 and D780, and the Z 7 and D850, for example?

I can’t say that we’ll do that forever, but we’re at a transitional stage at the moment, with our customers. They’re wondering which platform is better for their needs. And given the current state of our technologies we’ve concluded that we should prepare both options right now – Z-series, and DSLR, because of the [different] advantages of both platforms, for different customer needs.

The Nikon D780 is a significant upgrade over the D750, offering a lot of the same technologies as the mirrorless Z 6 in a solid, power-efficient DSLR form factor.

Do you have a sense of the timeframe over which you’ll transition customers away from DSLR, eventually?

We haven’t finalized our plan yet. At this time I can say that we will prioritize both DSLR and mirrorless. We also want to complete our Z system: that’s the first priority. At a certain point, we hope that all DSLR customers will [ultimately] be satisfied by the features provided by mirrorless, and will shift to the Z system. That’s the goal. But until then, we will continue to develop DSLRs.

In building out the Z system, what are you prioritizing? Lower-end or higher-end products?

We’re actually going in both directions. The Z 50 is a good entry-level body, using the DX format, but we also want to expand the FX lineup at both the high-end, and the more affordable level.

The Z 50 is still fairly new in the market – how do you see the DX Z lineup evolving over time? Or do you see it as a step-up model on the way to full-frame?

The Z 50 is a well-balanced body. The beauty of the Z 50 is that it uses the same mount as our FX cameras, so Z 50 customers can use DX and FX lenses. But if they require more, let’s say high image quality or more resolution, we can point them towards the Z 6 or Z 7..

Nikon’s DX format Z-mount lens lineup currently consists of only two ‘kit’ zooms but Nikon sees FX-format lens compatibility as a major advantage of the Z-mount compared to some competitive systems.

Traditionally, APS-C customers tend to buy fewer lenses. Do you expect your DX customers will purchase full-frame lenses for their camera?

Currently, our 16-50mm and 50-250mm [DX format Z-mount lenses] offer very good optical performance. So first of all, I would like Z 50 customers to explore those two lenses. And on our roadmap we have another lens, the 18-140mm, also for those customers. We want to make [DX lenses] affordable, and of the right size.

A lot of DPReview readers want to see something like a small, high-quality 35mm equivalent lens for DX.

Some of our FX customers also want more affordable, smaller lenses, for example pancake lenses. if we can make those kinds of lenses [for FX] they will provide a good solution for both DX and FX-format customers. We have a 28mm and a 40mm [already] on the roadmap [for full-frame].

Nikon is fully committed to the future of the Z system, and we will have 23 lenses by the end of 2021

We need to make these kinds of lenses. The roadmap is always evolving, year by year, which is why we don’t put any dates on it. Additionally, we understand that many potential customers are interested in teleconverters and we are thinking about it. Although [teleconverters] are not in the Lens Roadmap, we understand the necessity of those accessories. Nikon is fully committed to the future of the Z system, and we will have 23 lenses by the end of 2021.

There are almost no restrictions for the Z mount system, compared to F-mount. The approach to lens design is totally different than for the F-mount system. Our engineers get to enjoy lens design from scratch. They can aim for ultimate image quality.

The Nikon Z 50mm F1.8 S is one of the company’s first lenses designed from scratch for a wide diameter mirrorless lens mount. Without the physical restrictions imposed by the narrow F-mount, Nikon’s optical engineers were able to deliver excellent performance, even at maximum aperture,

Does that mean that the manufacturing techniques for Z mount lenses are different, too?

Yes, that’s true.

You’ve had 18 months or so to gather feedback from Z 6 and Z 7 users – what lenses do they really want to see?

Basically, they’re just saying “more lenses!” But we’re getting most requests for a pancake. The mirrorless camera bodies are smaller than DSLR, but the lenses are still the same size. A lot of our Z 6 and Z 7 customers want to make their system size much smaller, so this is a priority for us.

What feedback or requests have you had on the cameras themselves?

The number of card slots was one of the [most common] pieces of feedback. Also, we have received requests for a vertical control grip. Customers are used to the D850 or D750, with two slots. With the Z 6 and Z 7 we wanted to minimize the [body] size.

There is a grip available now, obviously functionally quite limited, has it done well in the marketplace?

It hasn’t been as popular as vertical grips for the DSLRs, but some customers really appreciate the additional battery capacity.

In developing the Z 6 and Z 7 Nikon placed priority on minimizing the size of the camera bodies. As such, the company opted for a single card slot, supporting high-speed XQD / CFexpress media. Apparently, one of the most-requested features from Z 6 and Z 7 owners for future models is another card slot.

Do you see your APS-C and full-frame customers as being different?

Actually, our APS-C customers are unique, I think. There are two kinds: one is the person who wants a second camera. They’re really [interested in] system size. For those people, APS-C makes sense because it makes the cameras smaller.

The other kind is first-time camera buyers. We want to promote [the Z 50] to these people as an affordable, small camera that creates good stills and video. Because these customers don’t just stick to stills, they also want to enjoy movie capture. We feel the Z 50 offers a good balance for both these kinds of customers.

Obviously there’s a lot of competition now in the mirrorless market. What is the most important customer demographic for Nikon, in the medium-term?

Nikon’s advantage is that we have a full lineup, for both DSLR and mirrorless, that satisfies the needs of many kinds of customers. This still isn’t offered by other manufacturers, so far.

We want to create a new group of customers. Of course we want to prioritize our existing users, but we also need to capture more new photographers, who are currently enjoying using their smartphones, but who want to move towards better image quality, to differentiate their work from others. For those customers we want to send the message that we can help them create good images with a small platform. With the wide diameter of the Z mount we can create very good optics.

The size difference between the Z-mount (left) and the legacy F-mount (right – obviously) is significant. The wider diameter and much shorter flange-back allow Nikon’s optical engineers a much greater degree of freedom when designing lenses for Nikon’s new Z system.

Those are the same people that every manufacturer, across the entire industry wants to attract. What is your strategy to actually get the message across to them?

We want to emphasize the benefits of the Z-mount diameter, and short flange-back distance, which differentiates the image quality from our cameras from others. So by introducing our technology to those customers we want them to understand the beauty of our system, and bring them into our world.

How will Nikon be competitive in the full-frame market in the future?

We understand that we need to keep on evolving, with the Z series as our first priority, and complete our lineup of Nikkor Z lenses and accessories.

Some of our customers still see an advantage to DSLRs, because of their particular usage needs

By having a full system lineup, the customer can easily enter the system and see the great advantages of the mount diameter and short flange back. This is our strategy.

Have you seen a drop in DSLR sales following the launch of the Z 6 and Z 7?

We have seen some impact, but much less than we anticipated. Some of our customers still see an advantage to DSLRs, because of their particular usage needs.

Looking forward, how important is video capture to your camera strategy?

We’ve really prioritized video customers, at both entry-level and high-end. The Z 50 is a good solution for an entry-level video customer, like a YouTuber. But for professional customers, we introduced new firmware for the Z 6 and Z 7 for RAW video output. That’s the kind of approach we want to take – step by step, and we want to keep those kinds of professional-level features in future products.

Do you have any sense of how many customers have opted for the Raw video firmware update?

I can’t share the exact number but it’s more than we expected. It was a real surprise.

We want to do regular scheduled firmware updates to keep the products up to date

The firmware update was promised a long time ago – why did it take so long to become available?

To be honest, it was just a question of resources. But after I took over product planning, we are planning to schedule firmware updates more frequently. We don’t want that kind of delay [again] between the announcement of firmware and its availability. We want to do regular scheduled firmware updates to keep the products up to date for a long time.

What are the most important differences from the D5 to the D6?

The D6 has two big advantages. The first is the performance of its new autofocus system, and also the interface for transmitting images. These two advantages are of major importance to professional photographers, who need more rapid data transfer and more focus accuracy. In these respects the D6 is a dramatic jump from the D5.

the forthcoming D6 is a powerful camera designed to satisfy the needs of Nikon’s most demanding customers, but it’s still a fairly traditional, stills-focused DSLRs.

The D6 obviously has a 4K video feature, but it appears to be primarily a stills camera. Is that fair?

Basically yes.

Was the decision not to load more video features into the D6 based on feedback from professional D5 users?

Yes, we had a lot of requests from D5 users around stills features, but fewer requests and opinions about movie enhancements. Most of the customers for the D5 don’t need things like 4K, 60p video for sports shooting. If they were shooting for commercial uses like weddings, maybe they would need it, but not for sports.

Do you think that this requirement is met, for example, by the Z 6?

The Z 6, yes, or the D850.

Editors’ note: Barnaby Britton

Mr Oishi is a candid and engaging interviewee, and a man who is clearly passionate about his company and its customers. Few other manufacturers have quite as much history behind their brand, and for this reason alone Nikon’s move into full-frame mirrorless was probably always going to be a little fraught.

Despite the fact that Nikon’s Z 6 and Z 7 are among the most well-rounded mirrorless ILCs on the market, and certainly among the nicest to use, the cameras have attracted some criticism from the company’s own customers over the past 18 months. Some people complained about their single card slots, some people complained about the limitations of their autofocus implementation, some people complained about the lack of a proper vertical grip, and some complained about their cost (because some people always complain about the cost).

It just goes to show that you can’t please all of the people all of the time. But you can try. I’m sure that a lot of our readers will be pleased to hear Mr Oishi’s comments about more regular firmware updates, for one thing, but the launch of the attractively well-featured D780 is another indication that Nikon is genuinely keen to keep its customers happy – whatever system they’re invested in. Mr Oishi all-but confirmed that during this ‘transitional stage’, Nikon will create both mirrorless and DSLR bodies which share common technology.

Nikon would like to transition its customers over to mirrorless at some point, en masse, but the company is in no rush

The Z 7 is already (almost) a D850 without a mirror, and the new D780 seems intended both to reassure Nikon’s wider DSLR customer base that the company hasn’t forgotten about them, and also to satisfy the immediate needs of D750 owners interested in an upgrade. Nikon is probably also hoping that the raft of ‘mirrorless’ technologies offered in the D780 will smooth an eventual transition to Z-mount, if and when buyers choose to make the ‘big’ switch.

It’s clear from talking to Mr. Oishi that Nikon would like to transition its customers over to mirrorless eventually, en masse, but the company is in no rush. Several things have to happen before a full transition to the Z-mount becomes realistic. One of those things is lenses. Mr Oishi mentioned that 21 lenses will be available for Z-mount by the end of next year, and repeatedly stressed that the roadmap is very flexible, based on requests from Nikon’s customers. As it stands right now, that roadmap includes a couple of vital professional-friendly telezooms, as well as a 105mm macro and more primes.

Another factor, of course, is that compared to beginners and enthusiasts, transitioning professional sports and photojournalism photographers (a vital demographic for Nikon) over to mirrorless will be a slow and gradual process. These people rely on their cameras to make a living, one split second at a time. Despite its impressive feature set, the new D6 is still a fairly traditional, stills-focused DSLR, because that’s the kind of camera that Nikon’s pro users are asking for.

For now.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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PIX 2015: Live stage demos & talks posted, mini film festival added

22 Sep

Hard to believe, but PIX 2015 is fast approaching! Whether you’re planning on tuning in live October 6th and 7th or joining us in person at Seattle Center, there are more reasons than ever to get excited about PIX – our expo and interactive photo playground. Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Give Your Photographs The Stage They Deserve – Make Sure Your Website is Mobile Ready

12 Oct

If you post amazing professional-quality photographs to your website and nobody can access them, are they really that amazing? Nobody will know. All that hard work, focus, determination, and artistic ability -POOF – all for nothing. This is exactly what is happening to many very talented photographers. They pour their heart and soul into their art form and then entrust it to outdated technology that doesn’t adequately display their work on mobile devices.

ResponsivePortfolioSite

How important is being mobile friendly?

With the proliferation of mobile devices, it’s no surprise that many people do most of their web browsing on the go. Consider the following eye-opening statistics found on visual.ly:

Mobile search queries have grown five times in the past two years.
Nine out of 10 mobile phone searches result in a purchase or visit.
Three out of every five searches are conducted on a mobile device.
99% of Smartphone owners use their mobile browsers at least once a day.
52% of all local searches are conducted on a mobile device.

Those are startling numbers, especially if you’re not keeping up with the changing face of the web. Unfortunately, it seems that there has been a lag in photographers adopting the appropriate web technology to showcase their work in a way that accommodates mobile users. To ensure that your site and your photography work are presented in an impactful way, it must be optimized specifically for mobile viewing.

Desktops and mobile devices don’t always play nice

Just building a site for the desktop doesn’t guarantee that the results will transfer to phones and tablets, or even the new smart watches. You do not want interested viewers to open your site on a mobile device and find a helter-skelter layout with distorted or inaccessible images. If this happens, it puts you in a difficult spot – you’re left hoping that they remember and desire to seek out your site for a second time when they’re back at a desktop computer. That’s wishful thinking considering the deluge of distractions we all encounter every day and the somewhat shrinking attention spans of the high-definition, high-speed digital generation. Here today, gone tomorrow, or maybe sooner in the case of your hard work and aspirations.

One of the worst-case scenarios you could be in is with a portfolio site that is completely based on Adobe Flash, leaving you to lose a whole group of mobile users who will rapidly look elsewhere when your site doesn’t load on their device. No one likes seeing a blank screen or a message saying, “This content cannot be displayed on your device.”

Mobile devices often will not play Flash websites

Making your work accessible

It’s vital to give your audience exactly what they want – fast, fluid access to your dazzling work anytime anywhere. If they can’t clearly navigate your web site, it raises questions in their minds about your professionalism and your commitment to viewers and to your art form. This is not a good place to be for a proud, ambitious photographer. The good news, however, is that there are readily available solutions that you could leverage whether you already have an existing site or are starting one from scratch.

The key to optimizing the mobile user’s experience is to have a site that uses responsive web design or adaptive web design. These are two types of site programming that ensure a seamless transition of your content from the desktop to all mobile devices, regardless of screen size. Anything less than that, and you’re severely limiting exposure for your work and jeopardizing your chance of making a significant first impression. Negative experiences can turn into negative reviews. These travel fast in the digital age, and it’s difficult to change those perceptions once they’re public.

Using an adaptive design, you get a site that is specifically designed for particular browser sizes found on most mobile devices. In a lot of cases, the mobile site almost looks like a native app. Problogger.net (also run by dPS owner Darren Rowse) is an example of such a site. With this type of design, the experience on a mobile device is a bit different than that of a desktop, but you could still access the content in a readable format. This results in a fast and easy to read site that is user-friendlier on small web browsers.

Example of an adaptive design

A Responsive site is even better in that it is flexible in displaying the same content across a large array of devices while keeping much of the same styles. It maintains a fluid layout by using elements that are automatically resizable and could be placed where they fit best on the screen. This even works great on desktops when you want to shrink the browser window.

A perfect example of a website with a responsive design is Digital Photography School’s own site. If you’re accessing the site from a desktop browser, notice how the site responds fluidly as you resize the window. If you’re reading this from a mobile device, you’re still able to read the content just fine without having to manipulate the browser by zooming in and out or doing a lot of horizontal scrolling.

dPS is a responsive site

Simple changes make a HUGE difference

Updating your site from a clunky old format is quite simple, and the tools are readily available. Most people who have a blog use a Content Management System (CMS) such as WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal. These systems allow you to change the overall look and feel of your site by offering different designs or themes. There are plenty of available themes that are already responsive or adaptive right out of the box. These range in cost from free up to $ 100. A simple web search will reveal many sites that specialize in offering a variety of this type of themes. I’ve had great success using Theme Forest.

In addition to themes that are optimized for mobile browsing, these CMSs also allow you to install plugins that display the same content in a mobile-only theme. In some cases, especially if you already have an existing site, this might be the easier route to take.

Rock the mobile web

At some point, we’ve all experienced the disconnect between the artistic or creative world and the technology world. But in the modern age, you really can’t draw a distinction without suffering the consequences. It’s much wiser to embrace the role of technology in displaying art – in this case photography – and use it to your advantage.

With just a bit of effort, you can make sure that you nail that vital first impression with your fans and give your work the digital stage that it deserves!

The post Give Your Photographs The Stage They Deserve – Make Sure Your Website is Mobile Ready by Jorge Hassan appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Exclusive 3D Music Video – Hologram Stage Show – Gloria (The Death of Me)

20 Jun

Unbelievable – this has to be seen to be believed! The most amazing 3d music video EVER! Watch this on your 3d TV or 3d Vision enabled PC by downloading the video from our website now. www.enhanced-dimensions.com Amazing Hologram Effect Stereoscopic Kiosk 3D Music Video – Gloria (The Death of Me) Red Blue 3D Glasses Needed. Scotland’s first 3d music video. This is a 3D music video created byEnhanced Dimensions for The Stereoscopic 3D Video Channel. The music is “Gloria (The Death of Me)” by Edinburgh indie band The Raw I’s. The video comprises a hologram version of the band performing in a holographic projection kiosk/ stereoscopic booth. The video was influenced by the arcade game “time traveller”. It’s like Princess Leia beaming from R2D2 – but not quite as sexy! The Stereoscopic 3D Video Channel is an online 3D TV channel dedicated to showing the best in creative stereoscopic 3D videos and 3d animations. Enhanced Dimensions presents some of the best stereoscopic 3d videos on YouTube. HOW TO MAKE 3D VIDEOS If you are interested in learning how to create Stereo 3-d videos, or how to convert 2d to 3d movies using Adobe After Effects please visit enhanced-dimensions.com/wordpress for comprehensive tutorials. FREE 3D GOODIES Get FREE 3d glasses, 3D Birthday Cards, 3D Videos, 3d desktops and other 3D goodies now from enhanced-dimensions.com/wordpress FREE 3D VIDEO DOWNLOADS Stereoscopic 3D Videos from Enhanced DImensions are available to download in TriDef Above Below format …

Untying the Unknot using the software KnotPlot. This is the anaglyph 3D version, view with red filter over left eye and blue filter over right eye. Non-anaglyph version of this video: youtube.com KnotPlot Site: knotplot.com

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