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Program Mode: Everything You Need to Know (Ultimate Guide)

31 Aug

The post Program Mode: Everything You Need to Know (Ultimate Guide) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

Program mode: everything you need to know (ultimate guide)

What is Program mode on your camera, and when should you use it?

Program mode is one of those “odd one out” camera settings – one that most folks never try because they simply don’t understand how it can help their photography.

Yet once you get the hang of it, Program mode is actually pretty darn useful. That’s why, in this article, I aim to share everything you need to know about this mode, including:

What it actually is
How it works
How to use it for great results

So if you’re ready to become a Program mode master, then let’s get started.

people sitting at a table in a restaurant; photographed with Program mode

What is Program mode?

The camera mode dial operates on something of a continuum. On one end, you have Manual mode, which gives you complete control over the three elements of exposure: shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. On the other end, you have Auto mode, which gives you almost no control over exposure.

camera mode continuum Program mode Auto mode Manual mode

As you can see in the diagram above, other modes exist in the middle of the spectrum. These modes – Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Program mode – give you some degree of control, but your camera does significant work, as well. For instance, Aperture Priority lets you control the aperture and ISO while the camera determines the proper shutter speed for a good exposure.

So what about Program mode? What does it do?

Program mode exists somewhere between Aperture/Shutter Priority and Auto mode, and it works like this:

You set the ISO, while your camera sets the aperture and shutter speed.

(Remember: The ISO refers to the sensitivity of your camera sensor, the aperture refers to the lens diaphragm size, and the shutter speed refers to the length of time the shutter captures light.)

Program mode also gives you control over other camera features, such as exposure compensation, but I’ll discuss that in a later section. For now, just remember that Program mode gives you ISO control, but leaves the aperture and shutter speed up to your camera.

(In fact, Program mode is sometimes referred to as “ISO Priority.”)

When is Program mode useful?

While Program mode isn’t nearly as popular as Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority, it can make a big difference to your photography – you just have to know when to use it.

In essence, Program mode works best when you care about the ISO, but you don’t care about the shutter speed and the aperture. This is either because you know that your camera will automatically give sufficient shutter speed and aperture values or because these settings won’t affect the final result in a meaningful way.

So if you’re shooting outdoors and you want to produce minimal noise in your photos, you might select Program mode, dial in a low ISO, and then let your camera do the rest.

I shot this using Program mode, which let me tweak my exposure settings on the fly.

Or if you’re photographing under powerful artificial lights, you might tell your camera to keep the ISO low, then trust it to nail the remaining exposure variables.

Bottom line:

If all you want to do is adjust the ISO, you’re set. Put your camera in Program mode, change the ISO, and focus on composing and framing your shots rather than thinking about the aperture, shutter speed, and overall exposure.

But that’s not Program mode’s only use. You see, Program mode is also a great transition mode. If you’re aiming to improve your photography skills but you’re still stuck on Auto mode, you might try leveling up to Program mode; you can then use it as a stepping stone to Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and beyond.

Program mode: beyond the basics

At this point, you should be comfortable with the Program mode basics: You set the ISO, and your camera does the rest.

But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find more useful features to unlock. Many of these can help you get the shot you want, instead of the shot your camera thinks you want. In this way, Program mode is like the late-night infomercial version of Auto; it handles all the nitty-gritty complicated stuff for you, but ends with a, “Wait, there’s more!”

First, Program mode allows you to use exposure compensation to correct any exposure mistakes. By adjusting the exposure compensation in one direction, you can force your camera to take brighter images, and by adjusting it in the other direction, you’ll get the reverse.

Say you take a photo of snow and it turns out too dark. With a little exposure compensation, you can bring back the snow’s natural brightness (note that you can’t do that in Auto mode).

And you can adjust plenty of other camera settings while in Program mode, including white balance, metering mode (full/center/spot), point of focus, and whether your camera should use its flash.

(Contrast this with Auto mode, and you should start to see the usefulness of the humble little “P” marker on your camera’s mode dial.)

Of course, Program mode isn’t always the way to go. Sometimes, you’ll want to independently adjust your shutter speed or your aperture, in which case one of the Priority options, or even Manual mode, is the right choice.

But when ISO is all that matters, give Program mode a try.

Shooting in Program mode gave me a good overall exposure, but I didn’t like how the microphone was so dark.

I switched to spot metering, retook the shot, and got what I wanted. Program allows for this flexibility, whereas Auto does not!

Program mode: final words

Program mode is a handy little option, even if it’s often eclipsed by Manual, Aperture Priority, and Shutter Priority.

So the next time you don’t want to give up all control over your camera but also don’t want to do everything yourself, consider Program mode. You might ask yourself, “Do I need to adjust the aperture? And do I need to adjust the shutter speed?”

If the answer is “No,” then Program mode is probably your best option!

Now over to you:

Do you use Program mode? Do you plan to start using it? Why or why not? What do you think of it? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Program mode person with camera

The post Program Mode: Everything You Need to Know (Ultimate Guide) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

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Review: DJI’s Air 2S is the ultimate consumer drone

17 Apr

Introduction

Arriving just one year after its predecessor, the Mavic Air 2, the Air 2S is DJI’s newest mid-range consumer drone. The new model sheds the familiar Mavic branding in favor of a shorter naming scheme, following the lead of DJI’s Mini 2 model, but receives some significant upgrades in return. Most notably, the Air 2S features a camera with a 1″-type sensor – something that was previously exclusive to DJI models costing over $ 1,500.

Whereas the Mavic Air 2 emphasized resolution over sensor size, with features like 48MP stills and 8K hyperlapse modes, the Air 2S pivots in the direction of image quality; its larger 20MP sensor easily outperforms the camera on the Mavic Air 2 and addresses one of the most frequent requests from users.

The downside is that the retail price of the Air 2S is $ 200 more than the Mavic Air 2, coming in at $ 999. The good news is that the Mavic Air 2 will continue to sell alongside the new Air 2S, so consumers can choose the option that best fits their needs – not to mention their budget.

There’s also a Fly More combo that includes two additional batteries, a charging hub, a set of three ND filters, and a shoulder bag for $ 1299. The addition of ND filters to the Fly More combo should please a lot of users as they’re a common add-on purchase.

Jump to:

Key Features

20MP, 1″-type CMOS sensor
22mm (equiv.) lens with 88º FOV and fixed F2.8 aperture
5.4K/30p, 4K/60p, and 1080p/120p video
H.264 and H.265 recording at 150 Mbps
10-bit D-Log and HDR video capture
Raw and JPEG image capture
OcuSync 3.0 (O3) image transmission (12 km range)
Four-way obstacle avoidance
APAS 4.0
‘MasterShots’ cinematic capture mode
‘RockSteady’ electronic image stabilization
31-minute flight time
595g (1.3 pounds) total weight

Compared to…

On paper, the Air 2S compares favorably to both the Mavic Air 2 as well as the more expensive Mavic 2 Pro.

	DJI Air 2S	Mavic Air 2	Mavic 2 Pro
Price	$ 999	$ 799	$ 1599
Camera	20MP, 1″-type sensor 22mm equiv. F2.8 (fixed)	48MP, 1/2-inch sensor 24mm equiv. F2.8 (fixed)	20MP, 1″-type sensor 28mm equiv. F2.8-11
Video transmission	OcuSync 3.0 (O3), 4 antennas, 12 km, 1080p	OcuSync 2.0, dual antenna, 10 km, 1080p	OcuSync 2.0, dual antenna, 10 km, 1080p
Video resolution	5.4K/30p, 4K/60fps	4K/60p	4K/30p
Video bit-rate	150 Mbps	120 Mbps	100 Mbps
Log video	10-bit D-Log, HDR video (10-bit)	HDR video (8-bit)	10-bit D-Log, HDR video (10-bit)
APAS version (Advanced Pilot Assistance System)	APAS 4.0	APAS 3.0	APAS 1.0
Obstacle avoidance	Forward, Backward, Downward, Upward	Forward, Backward, Downward	Forward, Backward, Downward, Left, and Right
Flight time	31 minutes	34 minutes	31 minutes
Dimensions	180×97×80 mm	180x97x84 mm	214×91×84 mm
Weight	595g	570g	907g

There’s no question the improved camera alone warrants an upgrade. In fact, the Air 2S one-ups the Mavic 2 Pro in an important area. The Mavic 2 Pro could record 4K video using the full width of its sensor, but it did so using pixel binning. As a result, the best 4K footage was obtained by shooting from a native crop of the sensor, which also narrowed the camera’s field of view.

In contrast, the Air 2S captures 5.4K video using the full width of the sensor – with no pixel binning – resulting in more detailed video capture. The upgraded sensor appears to put the Air 2S on par with the prosumer Mavic 2 Pro. Or does it? Let’s take a look at what the Air 2S has to offer and determine if it’s a must-have for hobbyists and professionals alike.

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Aircraft and controller

At 180x97x80 mm folded down, the DJI Air 2S has a frame that’s almost identical to the Mavic Air 2 and can fit in the palm of your hand. What’s noticeably different is that the 2S has obstacle avoidance sensors placed on top of the drone.

The Air 2S (L) and Mavic Air 2 (R) side-by-side. The Air 2S boasts a camera with a larger 1″-type sensor plus upward obstacle avoidance sensors.

In fact, DJI has equipped the Air 2S with four-way obstacle avoidance detection and APAS 4.0 – the latest iteration of an autopilot system that automatically avoids, and will fly around, obstacles it encounters, when recording up to 4K/30p footage. There is also an auxiliary light on the bottom of the aircraft to aid in takeoff and landing during low-light situations.

The Air 2S uses the same remote as the Mavic Air 2.

DJI has opted to use the same remote that powers the Mavic Air 2 and Mini 2. It doesn’t have external antennas, and it can still be a challenge to attach a smartphone. However, it’s comfortable to hold and includes everything you need to operate, including a gimbal wheel plus buttons to instantly start and stop taking photos and video. It’s easy to switch between Cine, Normal, and Sport Modes while the Return to Home feature is instantly accessible.

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Photos and video

The camera on the Air 2S has a 20MP, 1”-type CMOS sensor, mounted on a 3-axis gimbal stabilized with the ‘RockSteady’ EIS system introduced on DJI’s FPV drone. It has a 22mm (equiv.) fixed-aperture F2.8 lens with an 88º FOV.

Until now, getting a 1″-type sensor on a DJI drone required you to purchase a much more expensive model like the Mavic 2 Pro or Phantom 4 series. So the fact that it’s now available on a model costing under $ 1,000 is notable. Where the camera on the Air 2S differs from the Mavic 2 Pro is that the Hasselblad color profile is not included.

The camera on the Air 2S uses a 1″-type CMOS sensor capable of 20MP photos and up to 5.4K/30p video.

Like its predecessor, the Air 2S is powered by the DJI Fly app. The pared down, intuitive menu showcases all the photo modes on the same screen. Single, SmartPhoto, AEB (in brackets of 3 and 5 images), and Burst mode can be easily accessed. The shutter allows up to an 8-second exposure, and together with DJI’s RockSteady EIS, make’s low-light, night time, and motion blur photos possible.

The shutter allows up to an 8-second exposure, and together with DJI’s RockSteady EIS, make’s low-light, night time, and motion blur photos possible.

SmartPhoto mode, which uses computational photography technology similar to smartphones, automatically gives you an ideal image using one of the following methods, depending on lighting conditions:

HDR photos: The camera automatically captures seven different exposures and combines them for greater dynamic image.
Hyperlight: Images taken in low-light conditions tend to be grainy and contain noise. Hyperlight takes multiple photos and merges them for a clearer image.
Scene recognition: This mode allows the drone to recognize five major components of a photo – sunsets, blue skies, grass, snow, and trees. It will analyze these objects and maximize tone, clarity, and colors.

DJI’s RockSteady EIS makes it possible to capture night shots with long exposure and motion blur.
ISO 200 | 6 sec | F2.8

The Air 2S allows you to record video at resolutions up to 5.4K/30p, 4K/60p, and 1080p/120p at 150Mbps with either the H.264 or H.265 codec. You can also zoom up to 4X at 4K/30p, 6X at 2.7K/30p, 4X at 2.7K/60p, 6X at 1080p/60p and 8X at 1080p/30p. That’s an upgrade from the Mavic Air 2, which maxed out at 4K/60p and 120 Mbps (which is still impressive in its own right).

This video shows an example of 5K/30p video captured on the Air 2S.

One area where the there’s a big difference between the Air 2S and Mavic Air 2 is support for HDR and Log video. The Mavic Air 2 could capture HDR video but was limited to 8-bit, and it didn’t include a Log gamma profile. In contrast, the Air 2S includes 10-bit D-Log and 10-bit HLG capture in addition to the Normal (8-bit) color profile for video. That’s a substantial upgrade for serious video shooters.

Also, as noted above, the Air 2S captures 5.4K video using the full width of its sensor, with no pixel binning, for detailed video capture. That’s a step up from the Mavic 2 Pro which could record 4K video using the full width of its sensor, but did so using pixel binning. As a result, the best 4K footage on that model was obtained by shooting from a native crop of the sensor, which also narrowed the camera’s field of view.

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The DJI Fly app and flight modes

The Air 2S uses the DJI Fly app, which was first introduced with the Mavic Mini. Unlike the DJI GO 4 app, which is more fully-featured and suitable for prosumer drones, they Fly app was created with newer pilots in mind. It’s easy to navigate and basically every photo and video setting you need is right on the same screen.

When switching out of Auto mode and into Manual, or Pro mode, in this case, the bottom-right-hand corner gives you sliders that allow you to adjust white balance, ISO, shutter speed, and choose JPG or Raw+JPG imagery. Resolution can be adjusted on the video end.

DJI’s Fly app is pared down, simple, intuitive, and easy to navigate.

Three dots on the upper-right-hand corner of the app will allow you go deeper into the main settings. This is where you can select which video color profile you’d like, whether you wish to brake in front of or bypass obstacles, which codec you prefer, and how high an altitude or far a distance you’d prefer the drone to fly.

A new feature called MasterShots has been introduced as a way for pilots to generate professional-grade footage that’s ready to share on social by simply selecting a few parameters, such as proximity and portrait or landscape orientation. DJI has equipped the Air 2S with ActiveTrack 4.0 and Point of Interest 3.0 for increased accuracy in tracking subjects during automated flights. The usual QuickShots, including Dronie, Circle, Helix, Rocket Asteroid and Boomerang are included.

This is an example of a completed MasterShots sequence, complete with title and music, that was automatically edited together using the DJI Fly app.

I tried the MasterShots feature and have mixed feelings about it. Upon launching it, a notification to ‘watch out for obstacles’ immediately appears. The drone then autonomously launches into a series of pre-programmed shots including Dronie, Rocket, and Boomerang along with some other sweeping movements. It’s best to focus on a static object versus a moving one as the Air 2S will lose track of the latter.

I paused the flight two separate times while a MasterShot was in progress because I was afraid it was going to fly into the side of a mountain I was close to, and over moving traffic in another location. Anyone wanting to test out this feature should make sure they’re at a high enough altitude that the drone won’t encounter a tree or building as the Air 2S tends to pitch down at one point during the recording.

I aborted this MasterShots sequence to avoid having the drone fly over a highway with vehicles, but it it illustrates how MasterShots runs the drone through a series of pre-programmed shots.

MasterShots was made with the casual consumer and beginning pilot in mind. Select shots are stitched into a final clip and music is automatically added in for something that can be instantly shareable on social channels from the DJI Fly app. This is not likely to be something a professional with access to Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, or similar software will be interested in using, but they’re also not the market DJI is targeting with this new feature. Finally, it only works in Auto mode which makes for some potentially awkward lighting switches.

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What’s it like to fly?

The first thing anyone will notice when operating the Air 2S is that the drone is incredibly quiet. It’s clear that DJI has updated the electronic speed controllers and continues to create more aerodynamic propellers for a noticeably more pleasant experience. It maneuvers well too. Unfortunately, it doesn’t hold up in moderate to high winds. In low winds, however, it’s steady. RockSteady EIS image stabilization makes low-light imagery especially easy to capture.

What impressed me most was the improved APAS 4.0, the latest version of DJI’s Advanced Pilot Assistance System, which maneuvers the drone above, below, or to the side of an obstacle. With the Mavic Air 2, I felt that APAS was a bit lacking. This version of the technology worked seamlessly. In the example below, it flew above a tree and then to the side, missing every branch. Keep in mind, this feature works on 4K/30p video and below.

This clip shows APAS 4.0, DJI’s Advanced Pilot Assistance System, in action as the drone navigates around the tree. APAS 4.0 is noticeably improved over previous versions.

Overall, everything feels vastly improved and more more reliable. Hyperlapse, especially, looks much cleaner and more stable on a 1″-type sensor coupled with RockSteady EIS. I was impressed with how easy it was to get smooth footage on a mildly windy day.

Hyperlapse sequence captured on the Air 2S.

Odds and ends

Equipped with OcuSync 3.0 (O3) transmission technology, the Air 2S can fly at a distance up to 12 km (7.45 miles) when free of obstacles or interference. Like its predecessor, it supports both 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz frequency bands. The maximum flight time clocks in at 31 minutes in ideal conditions, on par with the Mavic 2 Pro but less than the 34 minutes the Mavic Air 2 offers. It can travel up to 68.4 km/h (42.5 mph) in Sport mode.

The Air 2S supports memory cards up to 256GB and also has 8GB of onboard internal storage should you forget a card or run out of space. Equipped with ADS-B, pilots are warned when manned aircraft are nearby. One feature I appreciated was the fact that the Air 2S automatically returned to home after losing its connection, even as the remote screen remained dark.

The Air 2S Fly More combo includes a set of ND filters that help create better videos and hyperlapses. A simple twist attaches them to the camera.

I would also recommend considering the Fly More combo – particularly since it now includes ND filters, which are very helpful for shooting video and hyperlapses.

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Who’s it for?

DJI has created a top-of-the-line consumer-grade drone with the Air 2S. To have access to a camera with a 1″-type sensor that is capable of capturing 20MP imagery and video up to 5.4K/30p, for under $ 1,000, is truly remarkable. While the camera doesn’t include the vibrant Hasselblad color profile of the Mavic 2 Pro, it still produces decent color. Imagery feels cleaner and crisper compared to past models, overall.

The Mavic 2 Pro (right) is slightly larger and heavier than the Air 2S. It can fly in more turbulent conditions, and at higher altitudes, but costs significantly more as well.

With that context, what does it mean for the Mavic 2 Pro, DJI’s other foldable drone with a 1″-type sensor? Professionals shouldn’t write off the Mavic 2 Pro just yet. Slightly larger, heavier, and sturdier, it can withstand high winds like its larger peer, the Phantom 4 Pro. It also has obstacle avoidance sensors on each side making it more suitable for inspections and other high risk gigs that require maneuvering in tight or treacherous areas. Let’s not forget the adjustable aperture either.

The Air 2S would be a terrific drone for a professional to take to a wedding, for example, particularly with its quieter props. However I wouldn’t dream of taking it with me to shoot around a high rise building, where winds get stronger the higher you ascend, or to a boat race where it would be whipped around. The Air 2S is built for more casual situations.

The Air 2S would be a terrific drone for a professional to take to a wedding, for example, particularly with its quieter props.

With its fixed aperture and user-friendly features, the Air 2S is still targeted more towards everyday consumers and those who want a solid option to get into drone imaging. DJI isn’t going to cannibalize its professional and prosumer lines of drones by allowing it to operate in the same manner. MasterShots and some of the QuickShots features were created for travelers and content creators who want to capture impressive imagery and share it instantly. The Fly app has even been updated to make adding a soundtrack and subtitles easy for anyone.

Final thoughts

The release of the Air 2S is a strong indication that next Mavic Pro (or even Phantom or Inspire) will see significant bumps in features and capabilities. Also, with Remote ID finalized, DJI has a lot of incentive to start rolling out some new models that both hobbyists and professionals have been wanting for the past few years.

I tested DJI’s Fly More combo, which includes two additional batteries plus a set of ND filters, and was thrilled to be able to carry the entire set around in a bag the size of a small purse. I can imagine a professional commercial pilot wanting one of these for fun or impromptu shoots, especially now that it includes a 1″-type sensor. This really is an ideal solution for travel and on-the-go content creation.

What we like

1″-type CMOS censor
5.4K/30p video with 10-bit D-Log and HLG support
Quiet flight
Improved APAS 4.0 performance
Ability to shoot long exposures

What we don’t

Fixed aperture lens
Can be unsteady in windy conditions
1080p recording in Quick and MasterShots modes

Sample gallery

Please do not reproduce any of these images without prior permission (see our copyright page).

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Ultimate Guide to Using Lightroom Presets in Photoshop

27 Mar

Ansel Adams once said, “you don’t take a photograph, you make it.” Fortunately, with tools like Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, producing that perfect image is a much less daunting task nowadays. Still, it can be hard to keep up with all the updates and changes. Have you ever fallen in love with a preset that you want to use in Continue Reading
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Backlighting in Photography: The Ultimate Guide to Beautiful Backlit Images

21 Jan

The post Backlighting in Photography: The Ultimate Guide to Beautiful Backlit Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

When used creatively and intentionally, backlighting can be an incredible tool to take your photography to the next level.

However, the concept of backlighting seems somewhat counterintuitive.

After all, when your subject is backlit, the main source of light is coming from behind, not from the front – and conventional photography wisdom generally says that your subject should be well-lit from the front.

So how can you create backlighting that looks good? How can you capture backlit images that really stun the viewer?

That’s what this article is all about.

Let’s dive right in.

Backlighting spider — Nikon D750 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/250s | f/4 | ISO 1100

What is backlighting?

In order to understand how to use backlighting, you should know what the term means.

So what actually is backlighting?

The following diagram depicts a standard photography scenario with the main source of light behind the camera.

Using this type of setup, the subject is well-lit, and there is a shadow cast on the wall directly behind the subject. The result is a detailed, evenly-exposed image that conforms to the basic principles of photography.

In contrast, backlighting reverses the subject and the light source.

The light goes behind the subject (and points toward the camera), which causes the shadow behind the subject to vanish. Backlighting results in a photograph where the subject is usually much darker than normal.

Also, placing the light behind the subject often results in a silhouette or glow effect. This makes the final image look different from a normal photograph and can be jarring, at least at first.

But with a little practice, you can use this technique to create images that are unique and stand out from the crowd.

Backlighting in portraits

Backlighting is a tried-and-true portrait photography technique – one that can get you some stunning photos.

How does this work?

It helps to see some actual portrait photos that illustrate the concept of backlighting versus frontlighting. This first image is a fairly standard portrait shot:

maternity frontlit — Nikon D750 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 122mm | 1/350s | f/4 | ISO 800

The subjects are lit from the front, and the image is evenly exposed without any harsh shadows. It’s a great photograph, and it meets all the normal criteria for a maternity shot someone would want to put in a frame or a photo book.

Now, let’s look at another photo of this couple, this time shot using backlighting:

Backlighting maternity couple — Nikon D750 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 180mm | 1/3000s | f/2.8 | ISO 400

The parents-to-be are shrouded in shadow (which I was able to boost in Lightroom, thanks to the RAW file format), and the woman’s hair is glowing with a brilliant golden halo. The man has a glowing outline around his head, and the entire scene has a slightly mystical quality to it.

This is all due to the creative use of backlighting.

When you light your subjects from behind, you can get images like this, which pack glowing hair, brilliant outlines, and a beautiful background. This type of photo does take practice, but with a little trial and error, you can use backlighting to get similar results.

Here’s a head and shoulders portrait of a young man:

Backlighting senior portrait frontlit — Nikon D750 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 200mm | 1/250s | f/2.8 | ISO 100

The sunlight is coming from the front, his face is evenly lit, and the background is colorful and easy to see.

Now compare that image to its backlit counterpart:

Backlighting senior portrait — Nikon D750 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 200mm | 1/180s | f/2.8 | ISO 320

His hair suddenly looks like it’s on fire, and his ears have a bit of a glow. The right side of the background is lush and green, whereas the left side, where the sun is positioned, is almost entirely blown out. Even the man’s shoulders are outlined in gold, and the photo has an energy to it that the frontlit photo just can’t match.

As you can see, knowing how to use backlighting to your advantage can result in portraits that stand out from the pack. It may be a little tricky at first, especially if you’re using natural light instead of studio light.

But with a little practice, you’ll get the hang of backlighting – and you’ll get the type of pleasing reactions from your clients you never knew you were missing.

Backlighting isn’t just for portraits, though! It can be used in a variety of situations for creative, inspiring images, including nature photography:

Backlighting in nature

To illustrate the power of backlighting for nature photography, check out this backlit landscape image:

Backlighting sunrise pine trees — Nikon D7100 | Nikon 35mm f/1.8G | 35mm | 1/3000s | f/4 | ISO 200

Once you start looking for the light, you’ll notice shots like this everywhere. In fact, one of the best ways to learn backlighting is to go out in nature and simply experiment by putting your subjects between the camera and the sun.

Sunrise and sunset are great times to try out backlighting. Look for situations where your subjects are at a bit of a distance; it also helps to have a general idea of where the sun will be at dawn and dusk. Metering with backlight is tricky, so I like to use Aperture Priority to control the depth of field and then dial in exposure compensation to get my shots as light or as dark as I want.

A rule of thumb I like to use in these situations:

Expose for the highlights, then bring up the shadows in Lightroom. Basically, try not to make your photo too bright, because you may end up with clipped highlights (i.e., white, informationless areas that cannot be darkened).

Backlighting sunset wind turbines — Nikon D750 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 200mm | 1/4000s | f/22 | ISO 100

You can also look for more mundane subjects on which you can practice, like interesting leaves:

backlit leaves — Nikon D7100 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/1500s | f/2.8 | ISO 100

Remember:

When shooting in nature, the main source of light is the sun, but you don’t have to use direct sunlight. In the image above, the mid-afternoon sun made these leaves glow. The sun isn’t in the frame, but it still lit the leaves from the back and gave me a fun photo opportunity.

I used a similar technique for the image below. You can see how my use of backlighting made this large blade of grass appear almost translucent. The shot was not an accident, and I was only able to capture it by looking for new ways to shoot familiar subjects. In this case, I was only photographing a simple piece of grass!

Backlit grass — Nikon D7100 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/500s | f/4.8 | ISO 100

Most people would pass by this scene without a second thought, but it just goes to show how backlighting can give new life to even mundane subjects.

Silhouette backlighting

One interesting way to use backlighting is to obscure your subject altogether. This technique is known as silhouette backlighting, and it can be a fun and creative way to showcase people, animals, and other objects.

How does this work?

You create silhouette images by shooting directly into the light source – which completely darkens your subject. The result is a photo that shows a shape or outline instead of a well-exposed subject.

To get the image below, I pointed the camera at my main source of light, then waited for someone to walk by. The fountain itself doesn’t emit light, but instead reflects what comes from the sun – and it was so bright that it completely darkened my subject. The image tells a story, even without seeing any details of the person.

silhouette person fountain — Nikon D7100 | Nikon 85mm f/1.8G | 85mm | 1/1000s| f/4 | ISO 200

I used a similar backlighting technique to get this shot of a young woman in the early morning:

silhouette person sunrise — Nikon D200 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/6000s | f/4 | ISO 200

I knew where the sun was positioned, so I waited patiently until a person walked into the frame. By putting my subject directly between the camera and the main source of light, I was able to capture a silhouette. The end result is much more interesting than a normal, properly-exposed image taken in broad daylight.

Silhouettes aren’t just for people. You can use silhouette backlighting for a variety of subjects; all it takes is a little creativity and a willingness to try something different.

Some type of Manual mode (either full Manual or Aperture Priority with exposure compensation) is best for these shots. It’ll give you better control over the final image, and you won’t need your camera to make exposure decisions in tricky lighting conditions.

goose fountain — Nikon D750 | Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR II | 200mm | 1/4000s| f/2.8 | ISO 100

One of my favorite ways to use silhouette backlighting is to create sun stars, like this:

Backlighting sun flare — Nikon D200 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/400s | f/16 | ISO 200

I start by putting a large building between my camera and the sun.

Then I move around until the sun is poking out from behind a corner of the building. I shoot with a small aperture, usually f/8 to f/11, and I shift the camera position until I get the shot just right.

This technique takes practice, but you can easily get the hang of it in under 15 minutes.

Use Aperture Priority and exposure compensation, and look for ways to use the light that might not have occurred to you before.

Backlighting in photography: Conclusion

If you’ve never experimented with backlighting, then I encourage you to give it a try and see what happens.

You might think shots like the ones in this article are beyond your skills, but all it takes is a bit of practice, a dash of patience, and a willingness to try something different.

Backlighting is a fun, creative technique, and you might just find yourself using it far more than you expected!

Have you ever tried backlighting? What did you think of it? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Backlighting in Photography: The Ultimate Guide to Beautiful Backlit Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

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Happy New Year from the dPS Team (Plus Our Ultimate Guides)

01 Jan

The post Happy New Year from the dPS Team (Plus Our Ultimate Guides) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

On behalf of the entire dPS team, I’d like to extend the warmest of New Year’s greetings!

2020 hasn’t been easy, but it’s over – which means it’s time to think about 2021.

Here at dPS, we’ll continue to bring you photography tips, tutorials, and techniques of all kinds, so make sure you check back regularly for our best new content.

And for those of you looking to get a head start on your photography education, I’ve shared our dPS Ultimate Guides below – which offer a quick way to master new photography topics. You can even download the guides as PDFs; that way, you can take them with you wherever you go.

Simply click on the links below to view the Ultimate Guides:

The dPS Ultimate Guide to Photography for Beginners
The dPS Ultimate Guide to Landscape Photography
The Ultimate Guide to Learning How to Use Your First DSLR
The Ultimate Guide to Street Photography
The dPS Ultimate Guide to Getting Started in Lightroom for Beginners
The dPS Ultimate Guide to Taking Portraits and Photographing People
The dPS Ultimate Guide to Photography Terms
The Ultimate Guide to Nature and Outdoor Photography
The Ultimate Guide to Night Photography
The dPS Ultimate Guide to Food Photography
The dPS Ultimate Guide to Fine Art Photography

And if you feel these ultimate guides are valuable, make sure you share them with your friends!

The post Happy New Year from the dPS Team (Plus Our Ultimate Guides) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

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How to Use Photo Studio Ultimate 2021’s Color and Tone Wheels for Amazing Results

04 Dec

The post How to Use Photo Studio Ultimate 2021’s Color and Tone Wheels for Amazing Results appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate Color and Tone Wheels

Color editing is an essential part of nearly every great photo.

Unfortunately, adjusting the colors in most post-processing programs is difficult – or downright impossible.

One impressive exception to this, however, is ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021, which offers two powerful tools for color editing:

The Color Wheel
The Tone Wheels

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 Tone Wheels

And that’s what this article is all about. I’m going to show you how to use the Color Wheel and Tone Wheels to apply gorgeous color adjustments to your photos. You’ll discover how the Wheels work, what they can do, and how to get a professional look in your own images.

Let’s dive right in.

The Color and Tone Wheels: overview

The Color and Tone Wheels come as part of Photo Studio Ultimate 2021, a recently updated, all-in-one photo editor that you can grab on ACDSee’s website for $ 8.90/month (you also have the option to purchase a lifetime license for $ 149.99).

While Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 offers a lot of upgrades over its predecessor (including some major speed improvements that you’ll want to see for yourself), one of the biggest features for amateur and professional photographers is the set of color editing tools: the Color Wheel and the Tone Wheels.

Here’s a quick peek at the Color Wheel:

And here is the Tone Wheels panel:

Together, these two tools can revolutionize your photo editing workflow.

And here’s why:

With the Color and Tone Wheels, you can make both broad and targeted adjustments to the colors in your images. You can shift, brighten, and saturate colors selectively, you can push colors into the shadows, highlights, and midtones separately, and so much more – all with a few easy-to-use wheels and sliders.

As someone who’s a bit color-obsessed, I’ve used quite a few color adjustment tools in many different post-processing programs. But I can honestly say that Photo Studio Ultimate’s version is one of the best implementations I’ve ever seen (if not the best). Yes, the wheels are amazingly powerful, and they should offer any amateur or professional all the color adjustment power they need. But they’re also just so fun and intuitive to work with, which is what’s really sold me on this program.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 sample

Now let’s take a look at how you can actually use the Color and Tone Wheels for great results (and if you’re feeling intimidated, don’t be – I’ll give you simple, easy-to-follow instructions!).

How to use the Color Wheel to selectively adjust colors in your photos

You’ll find the Color Wheel in Photo Studio Ultimate 2021’s Develop mode, which you can select in the top-right corner of the screen:

the Develop mode in ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021

Then open the Color Wheel panel on the left-hand side, and you’ll see a color wheel with a series of sliders below it:

Here’s what you need to know:

The color wheel itself lets you select the colors you’re targeting in the photo.

And the sliders below it allow you to adjust the targeted colors.

So once you have your Color Wheel panel open, here’s what I recommend you do:

Step 1: Select the colors you want to adjust

Selecting the colors you’d like to adjust pretty easy, and there are a couple of methods you can use.

First, you can simply hover your cursor over different parts of your photo, and watch as it turns into a dropper icon:

Then, by clicking once on the photo, you’ll select that color for adjustment.

So if you click on a pinkish-purple part of your photo, you’ll select all the pink-purple colors:

And if you click on a yellow part of your photo, you’ll select all the yellow colors:

Now, as soon as you click on a part of your photo, you’ll see the color wheel change. This is to show you the color range you’ve selected.

You can also use the display on the color wheel to either select colors (instead of the eyedropper), or to refine your color selection.

To select colors, just click on the relevant part of the wheel:

And to fine-tune the color selection, just narrow the range of colors on the color wheel – by dragging the edges of the selection inward or outward. That way, the adjustments you make via the sliders will affect a narrower or broader range of colors in your photo.

Here, I’ve narrowed the color selection:

And here I’ve broadened it:

Also, if you want to get really picky with your selection, you can drag your color range upward from the center of the wheel:

And this will ensure you only select the more saturated colors.

You can also drag downward from the rim of the wheel to select only the less-saturated colors:

By the way, if you want to see the areas you’ve selected displayed on your photo, just hit the Auto preview the selected range checkbox:

Your selected colors will be highlighted on the image, while everything else will be grayed out:

Cool, right?

Step 2: Adjust the colors using the sliders

Now comes the fun part:

Actually adjusting the colors.

While there are a number of sliders, I recommend you focus on three key options:

Hue.

Saturation.

And Brightness.

These are the main adjustments you’ll want to make (I use them on almost every photo I edit).

By shifting the Hue slider, you shift the hue of your selected color range. So if I select the pink colors in this flower photo and want to make them more purple, I can just push the Hue slider to the left:

I can also make them more red by pushing the Hue slider to the right:

Speaking more generally, the Hue slider is useful for situations where you want to separate colors to create contrast, or where you want to make colors more similar to add harmony.

(How do you know what creates contrast and what creates harmony? Look at the color wheel! Colors that are opposite one another are contrasting/complementary colors, whereas colors next to one another are analogous colors.)

While color contrast will generally create a more powerful, in-your-face photo, analogous colors can result in a more peaceful final image.

Anyway, once you’ve adjusted the hue, I recommend turning to the Saturation slider. This works the way it sounds: It lets you selectively boost or reduce the saturation of your selected color range.

So by selecting the yellows in the image below, then adjusting the Saturation slider, you can boost the yellow intensity:

Or you can dial it back:

In general, boosting the saturation of your main colors looks pretty good, as long as you don’t overdo it. That way, a few colors in your photo will stand out and keep the viewer interested.

However, it can also be helpful to reduce the saturation of colors that distract from the main subject. So if your photo includes a red “Exit” sign in the background, you might reduce the saturation of those reds to keep the viewer focused on the foreground.

Finally, I recommend experimenting with the Brightness slider. This allows you to adjust the brightness of your selected color range. So you can brighten up your selection to make it pop:

Or you can darken the selection down to make it less impactful:

Step 3: Create additional color wheels for further adjustments

While one color adjustment may sometimes be enough, you also have the option to create more.

Simply click the Plus icon:

Then follow the previous steps all over again!

Also, to toggle the effects of the color wheels on and off, you can just check and uncheck the box above each color wheel icon:

How to use the Tone Wheels to produce beautiful color grading

The Tone Wheels panel is located just below the Color Wheel panel in the Develop mode of Photo Studio Ultimate 2021:

using the tone wheels in ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021

Now, unlike the Color Wheel panel, you cannot select individual colors to adjust.

Instead, each of the three wheels corresponds to a different tonal range of your photo:

The top wheel corresponds to the highlights (the brightest tones)
The middle wheel corresponds to the midtones (the middle tones)
The bottom wheel corresponds to the shadows (the darkest tones)

And by adjusting the tone wheels, you change the color in the corresponding area of the image.

So by setting the Highlights wheel to yellow, your photo’s highlights will be tinted yellow:

And by setting the Shadows wheel to green, your photo’s shadows will be tinted green:

This is a fantastic way to add different looks to your images. For instance, you can create blue shadows and yellow highlights, which is a popular look on Instagram. Or you can make the highlights orange and the shadows teal, for a cinematic, movie-type result.

Now, the tone wheels themselves only allow you to select the hue and saturation of the color you’d like to add.

But by shifting the Brightness slider – found to the right of each wheel – you can also make the highlights, midtones, and shadows brighter or darker.

So how do you get great results using the Color Wheel panel? How should you approach this color adjustment tool?

Here’s what I recommend:

Step 1: Adjust the shadows

I like to start by adjusting the shadows in my images.

Now, you can choose your shadow color a few different ways:

One method is to select the Shadows eyedropper:

Then you can click on a part of your photo and the Shadows wheel will select its hue:

Alternatively, you can click around the wheel to select different colors:

And you can further fine-tune the saturation with the left-hand slider:

Plus you can change the brightness of the shadows with the right-hand slider:

Personally, my favorite way to select colors is to use the wheel, but start by pushing the Saturation slider all the way up:

saturation pushed all the way to its maximum

That way, you can clearly see the effects of your color grade – and once you’ve chosen the right color, you can dial it back.

Also, while it’s always a good idea to experiment, the best shadow colors are generally cool – blues, greens, and purples.

I’d also recommend paying careful attention to the colors already present in your shadows – by matching the shadow color with already-existing colors, you can unify the darker parts of your photo and make it even stronger.

For this flower photo, I like blue-green shadows:

Step 2: Adjust the highlights

Selecting a color for the Highlights wheel is just like selecting a color for the Shadows wheel.

You can use the eyedropper tool:

Or you can click on the wheel directly.

Of course, you can also fine-tune with the Saturation slider and the Brightness slider:

Generally, you’ll want a warmer color for the highlights: an orange, yellow, or red.

It’s also a good idea to pay attention to your existing highlight colors. For instance, if your photo has a lot of warm sunlight, such as in the shot of the Black-eyed Susan flowers, you might want to accentuate the yellows with some nice golden highlights:

I’d also recommend looking at your shadow colors even when adjusting the Highlights wheel. For a nice result, you might choose a color that contrasts with the shadows to create a complementary color pair (as I discussed in the Color Wheel section, above).

Step 3: Adjust the midtones

Adjusting the midtones is a bit less common than adjusting the highlights and the shadows.

For one, if you adjust the midtones, your photo will often take on a more obvious tinted look, because we humans expect midtones to be more neutral compared to colder shadows and warmer highlights.

Plus, the midtones can correspond to skin tones, which you (generally) want to keep as natural as possible.

So I recommend you be careful when experimenting with the Midtones color wheel. If you do decide you want to make changes, I’d recommend keeping things closely aligned with the highlights, because too many colors in your scene will start to look messy.

Make sense?

As you’d expect, adjusting the midtones is just like adjusting the highlights and shadows. You have the Midtone color wheel that you can click on:

Plus your eyedropper:

Which you can use to give your midtones a slight color grade!

ACDSee’s Color and Tone Wheels: the next steps

Now that you’ve finished this article, you know how to make pro-level color adjustments.

And with Photo Studio Ultimate 2021’s Color Wheel and Tone Wheels tools, you have everything you need to take your color editing to the next level.

So make sure you grab ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021. It’s currently available for just $ 8.90 per month, or you can get a lifetime license for $ 149.99. And if you’re just interested in trying out the software, you can get a free trial right here.

ACDSee is a paid partner of dPS.

The post How to Use Photo Studio Ultimate 2021’s Color and Tone Wheels for Amazing Results appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

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Treat yourself 2020: The ultimate photographers’ gift guide

27 Nov

A gift guide just for you

It’s been a doozy of a year but thankfully, it wasn’t all sour grapes. While many aspects of society ground to a halt, manufacturers still had cool and exciting products in their pipelines that they managed to bring to market.

And while opportunities to get and out shoot may be limited at the moment, we can still dream big. And what better way to do that than by ‘browser window shopping’. What follows is a rundown of the headiest products of 2020, the ones photographers really want. So pour a tall cold one and get ready to treat yourself!

Canon EOS R5

There’s no two ways about it, the gold award-winning Canon EOS R5 is our favorite mirrorless camera over $ 3000 and perhaps Canon’s most impactful full-framer since the 5D Mark II. And while the RF mount is still relatively new, there’s no shortage of fast aperture primes and F2.8 zooms available, including ‘the holy trinity’ of the 15-35mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm.

Well-suited to enthusiasts and professionals alike, the R5 offers outstanding image quality, excellent ergonomics, fast burst shooting and fabulous autofocus performance, not to mention lovely oversampled 4K. In short, if you really want to treat yourself to the best of the best, it’s the camera to get.

View our Canon EOS R5 sample gallery

Fujifilm X100V

Of course, not everyone wants or needs an interchangeable lens camera, for some of us, the simplicity and GAS-reducing nature of a fixed lens camera offers greater appeal. Lucky for folks in this camp, two new large-sensor, fixed lens cameras are featured on this year’s list including the glorious Fujifilm X100V.

Which begs the question: What do you get when you take a wonderfully designed camera and tweak it over the course of four generations based on user feedback, without straying from the original ethos? Why, the X100V of course. Building on its legacy, the ‘V’ bring all sorts of lovely refinements to the series including a newly designed lens with better corner/close-up sharpness, an updated sensor and AF system, better build-quality, a tilting touchscreen and more!

View our Fujifilm X100V sample gallery

Leica Q2 Monochrom

Another fixed-lens, large-sensor camera launched this year is a ‘Monochrom’ version of the Leica Q2, a staff favorite here at DPR. The camera’s B&W-only sensor offers improved dynamic range and noise performance over its color sensor counterpart. Plus, the super sharp 28mm F1.7 lens and moody monochrome output make it the perfect all-in-one option for street photographers, live music shooters and/or anyone who loves shooting after the sun goes down.

And while some may find 28mm a tad too wide, the camera’s 47MP full-frame sensor provides ample resolution for cropping. Plus the Q2 Monochrom handles just like the standard Q2, which is to say it’s built like a tank and both straightforward and immensely gratifying to shoot with. And immense gratification is what ‘treat yourself’ is all about.

View our Leica Q2 Monochrom
sample gallery

GoPro Hero9 Black

GoPro’s latest flagship, the Hero9 Black, is a seriously impressive piece of kit and easily the most compelling action camera to come out in quite some time. For filmmakers, it can shoot up to 5K/30p, offering room to crop in post, assuming you’re outputting 4K, or 4K/60p. And GoPro’s Hypersmooth video image stabilization is jaw-droppingly good. On the stills side, resolution has jumped from 12MP on previous models to 20MP on Hero9 Black.

The camera isn’t just capable though, it’s also well-designed: control/menus are accessed via the rear touchscreen and the whole unit is water/freeze/dust-proof without the need for a case. It also provides improved battery life over predecessors, a front-facing ‘live’ screen and even the option to attach an accessory wide angle lens. In short, it’s the perfect companion for anyone’s extreme lifestyle, whether that means leisurely bike rides to the park or free-climbing rock faces. Treat yourself!

iPhone 12 Pro & 12 Pro Max

iPhones, like GoPros, tend to see iterative yearly updates, but occasionally a new model drops with enough advancements that it’s impossible to ignore. The iPhone 12 Pro is that model and the ultimate ‘treat yourself’ device, not just from a photo/video shooting perspective but also when it comes to displaying and viewing your work.

Apple devices have been able to shoot HDR photos and videos for some time, but this new model (like all iPhone 12 models) can now display 10-bit Dolby Vision HDR on a beautiful OLED screen, right from within the photo app: an industry first!

The camera is also impressive. It consists of three 12MP modules, including standard wide-angle (with a 47% larger sensor than its predecessor), an ultra-wide and telephoto options. Additionally, the phone will make use of Apple’s new Raw format, ProRaw, in beta now and coming soon. And, as if that’s not enough, Apple claims the device has enough processing power to make it 50% faster than any phone currently on the market (not to mention, it’s 5G-enabled). Now that’s a treat!

View our iPhone 12 sample gallery

Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN Art

Everyone needs a good 85mm portrait lens and Sigma’s latest 85mm offering for mirrorless full-frame E-mount and L-mount makes a strong case for inclusion in your kit.

One thing that truly sets it apart from others like it, including 2016’s Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM Art, is its compact and lightweight design. However, despite a comparatively smaller footprint, this lens remains optically outstanding, offering really good sharpness at all apertures (including in the corners), minimal chromatic aberrations and well-controlled ghosting and flare.

It’s also ‘dust and splash proof’ and impressively well-built. And at $ 1200, the Sigma is priced more affordably than the competition, too. Which is to say, it checks all the boxes for what make an outstanding F1.4 portrait lens – a difficult feat and a major treat.

Watch our video review of the Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN Art

DJI Mavic Air 2

Have you been holding out for the right moment to spread your wings and treat yourself to a drone? Well my friends, the moment is now. DJI’s new Mavic Air 2 represents the most lust-worthy enthusiast drone to launch in some time.

The perfect balance of size and capability, Air 2 fits in the palm of your hand but can deliver great stills image quality from its 1/2″ 48MP CMOS sensor, including both Raw and JPEGs formats. It can also shoot up to 4K/60p video and offers a variety of accident avoidance technologies as well features like subject tracking, HDR video and a panorama mode. Battery life is a useful 34 minutes and perhaps most importantly, the Mavic Air 2 is easy and enjoyable to fly.

Read our DJI Mavic Air 2 review

Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC1.25x

I’ve tried my best to keep this year’s ‘Treat Yourself’ guide somewhat mount-agnostic, but certain new glass is just too darn difficult to ignore. Take, for instance, the new Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC1.25x for Micro Four Thirds bodies. It’s not for everyone, but for a certain type of photographer, this is the the ultimate optical treat!

I’m talking of course about nature and wildlife photographers. Olympus’ king of tele-s packs a whopping 300-800mm equiv. focal range into a surprisingly well-sized, well-weighted body. But that’s not all! A 1.25x built-in teleconverter bumps that reach to an impressive 1000mm (at the cost of 2/3 EV of light). And, as is the case with most high-end Olympus gear, this lens is sealed against dust and moisture, and built to take some punishment – just be sure to protect that big, beautiful 95mm front element!

View our Olympus 150-40mm F4.5 TC1.25x sample gallery

DJI Pocket 2

The second iteration of DJI’s pocket-friendly vlogging machine is a real winner. This little unit is easy-to-use, offers a nice wide 20mm field-of-view (wider than its predecessor) and shoots high quality, super-smooth 4K video. It also features an updated four-way directional in-camera microphone, capable of recording good quality audio without the need for an accessory mic. And did we mention it’s pocketable?

Basically, the Pocket 2 is the perfect no-fuss, all-in-one vlogging machine and the right piece of kit for sharing your adventures with the world. And while now might not be a great time to leave your house and embark on any adventures, the Pocket 2 will be waiting for you when it’s safe to travel again. So go on and treat yourself to this tiny wonder.

Watch our DJI Pocket 2 video review

There you have it, our favorite lust-worthy gear of the year. Here’s hoping 2021 has even more treats in store. Until next time, Treat yourself!

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Color Management in Affinity Photo: The Ultimate Guide

28 Oct

The post Color Management in Affinity Photo: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.

In terms of color management, no photo software is more complete than Adobe Photoshop. It’s easy to take this for granted until you switch programs (which you might do to escape subscription costs).

That’s why this article looks at color management in Affinity Photo, a popular standalone alternative to Photoshop.

Affinity Photo welcome screen color management in Affinity Photo — Affinity Photo welcome screen.

Choosing a working color space in Affinity (Photo Persona)

The working color space you use in an editing program is a bit like a box of crayons. You are defining how big a box you use to describe your photos. Even if you can’t see all the colors inside that “box” on your screen, sometimes there is good reason to use them.

Choose your working space based on the likely output for your images. For example:

sRGB = publishing and printing online
Adobe RGB = CMYK/inkjet printing
ProPhoto RGB = archiving and top-quality workflows

Each choice has its own pros and cons.

The ability to make this choice seems mundane until it’s taken away. Some programs force you to use sRGB as the working space, for instance, which means you forfeit many of the colors digital cameras can capture.

So what does Affinity give us here?

Setting the working color space in Affinity is simple, though it’s not labeled a “working space” as such. You simply go to Preferences>Color>RGB Color Profile. By default, this is set to sRGB. You can change it to suit your photography and the purpose of your photos, as detailed above. Do the same with the 32bit RGB Color Profile setting.

Color management in Affinity photo - color preferences — Color preferences in Affinity Photo.

Other color preferences

For most of us, the color preference settings in Affinity can be left alone, except perhaps for the RGB Color Profile option at the top.

That said, you’ll generally want black point compensation switched on. You also won’t want the software to convert all open files to the working color space. And it’s better to be warned if a photo without an embedded profile is being assigned the working profile. This gives you a heads-up that the color may display incorrectly.

Note that each of the above options can be ticked on and off in the Color Preferences window.

Monitor profile

Affinity Photo accesses the default monitor profile assigned in your operating system. Unlike Photoshop CC (but like Lightroom), I don’t believe you can confirm the prevailing profile via Affinity itself. Past and present monitor profiles appear in drop-down menus, but you should never select these; the monitor profile is automatically applied.

Your monitor profile is a key component of color management in Affinity Photo.

Windows color management display settings. (You wouldn’t want to use sRGB as a display profile except for diagnostic purposes.)

Soft proofing (Photo Persona)

Soft proofing lets you preview the output color of your photos, whether the output is an inkjet printer, an RGB printer like those often used in minilabs, or even a specific audience (e.g., color-blind individuals). Soft proofing is available in Photoshop CC and Lightroom, but isn’t offered by many other programs. What about Affinity Photo?

In Affinity Photo, soft proofing comes in the form of an adjustment layer. You won’t find it among the menus at the top of the screen like in Photoshop. This is quite handy, because it’s so easy to flick layers on and off to see the effect of soft proofing and edits.

Color management in Affinity photo - soft proofing — Soft proofing using a photo lab’s profile.

Color blindness settings in Affinity are located among the built-in LUT adjustment layers. The LUTs help you visualize colors as seen by three types of dichromats: protanopes, deuteranopes, and tritanopes.

Affinity Photo color blindness LUTs color management in Affinity Photo — Tritanope LUT for visualizing a type of color blindness.

Simulating dynamic range

The simulate paper color option you get in Photoshop is already applied in Affinity. You can’t switch it off.

But you do have the option of switching on black point compensation. This reduces the dynamic range of your screen image to mimic the look of paper and ink. It makes the on-screen photo look duller. That’s why professional photographers sometimes avoid showing clients the comparison.

Affinity photo black point compensation color management in Affinity Photo — Blocked shadows caused by a lack of black point compensation (BPC). Usually, the effect is less drastic than with this Newsprint profile. Note that BPC has more effect with a relative colorimetric rendering intent. It has less of an effect or no effect with other rendering intents.

Gamut differences

The Gamut Check option in Affinity Photo shows you which colors are not reproducible with any given output. You can fiddle with the color of the photo until all color is in gamut, but you’ll often do more harm than good.

It’s better to rely on the rendering intent setting if you want colors to be as close as possible to the original. The relative colorimetric rendering intent keeps colors looking relatively accurate and shifts non-reproducible colors back into gamut, but you’re free to pick the rendering intent that looks best to you.

Affinity Photo gamut warning color management in Affinity Photo — The gray area tells me which area of red will be out of gamut (i.e., not reproducible on output). This is the *Gamut Check* option in Affinity soft proofing. Its practical use is somewhat limited, since you’ll often do more harm than good by trying to edit colors into gamut.

Creating a duplicate

When soft proofing, you may want to work on duplicate images side by side, so you can reference the original color and tone. In that case, create a duplicate image in Affinity by hitting Select All>Copy>New from Clipboard.

You can make adjustments to the soft-proofed image by adding extra adjustment layers to the background layer.

Duplicate images in Affinity photo side by side — Having a duplicate image is useful if you want to get your output looking similar. A relative colorimetric rendering intent does most of this work for you.

Convert and assign ICC profile settings

As with Photoshop, color management in Affinity Photo includes the ability to assign or convert ICC profiles. The distinction between these two is important. You’d assign a profile if the photo you open has no embedded profile; you give it one that looks okay. This only becomes permanent if you save changes to the image.

By assigning the wrong profile to this image, I’ve oversaturated the color and started to lose textural detail.

When you convert from one profile to the other and know what color space the image is in, use Convert ICC Profile. One way of confirming the current profile is to look for it in the drop-down list. It should be highlighted:

The highlighted profile in the Convert ICC Profile window is the one currently embedded in the image.

The choice of rendering intents when converting between ProPhoto RGB, Adobe RGB, and sRGB working color spaces is usually moot. By default, these matrix profiles use a relative colorimetric rendering intent. The same situation exists in Photoshop.

Embedding profiles

The process of embedding ICC profiles is uncomplicated: You just check a checkbox. This is true whether you’re using Save As in Photoshop or exporting files from Affinity. In Affinity Photo, the Embed ICC Profile option is under the More heading when exporting. It’s checked by default.

There aren’t many instances when you’d deliberately leave the ICC profile out of images. Ironically, photo libraries and gallery websites might do this because the profile adds a couple of kilobytes to each file. In those instances, it’s an economical choice. In the past, photographers removed profiles to avoid confusing minilab printer drivers.

Embedding ICC profiles into images color management in Affinity Photo — Photos in large color spaces generally look okay in browsers as long as the profile is embedded. In Affinity, just as in Photoshop, embedding a profile is merely a matter of checking a box. Or not unchecking it.

Many people’s color woes when publishing photos online stem from not embedding the profile. This is less critical when publishing sRGB images, but photos in larger color spaces will often look dull unless the profile is present.

Simple features, such as the ability to embed or remove ICC profiles, are often absent in photo-editing programs. But here, Affinity keeps pace with Adobe.

Affinity RAW processing color (Develop Persona)

The Affinity Photo Develop Persona assigns the ROMM RGB color space to RAW files. ROMM RGB is the original name for ProPhoto RGB. This color space encompasses the output of a digital sensor, whereas smaller spaces such as Adobe RGB and sRGB do not.

Histogram comparison

In Lightroom, the histogram is in Adobe’s proprietary “Melissa RGB” space. This is the same as the Affinity histogram, but with an sRGB tone response curve applied, which adds slightly more editing headroom in the shadows. Extra marks to Adobe for cleverness.

The Affinity RAW histogram is more akin to that of Adobe Camera RAW. If you convert to ProPhoto RGB or ROMM RGB in Affinity, the histogram should stay the same.

Affinity histogram - Develop Persona — The sRGB profile here has pushed magenta hues off the left side of the RAW histogram. This is one reason to use larger color spaces when creating inkjet prints.

Recent versions of Lightroom enable users to preview the output histogram by turning on soft proofing. In other words, you’ll see which colors will be clipped, if any, in your destination color space. This might influence the edits you make prior to converting the file or even the color space you select. Does Affinity allow this?

If you select an output profile in Affinity Photo’s Basic panel, the histogram changes accordingly. With certain colors, you’ll see sRGB pixels move to the edges of the histogram. This tells you they are nearly or completely clipped. Running the cursor along the histogram shows you how many pixels are present at any level. ROMM or ProPhoto RGB is especially useful for preserving detail in bright yellows.

color management in Affinity Photo — Neither sRGB nor Adobe RGB can contain the yellows in a photo like this.

A common misconception

You needn’t convert RAW files to the same profile as your working RGB space in the Photo Persona. This is a common misconception. Affinity can open and handle images in any color space, just like Photoshop. The working space only represents your most commonly-used color container.

Color management in Affinity Photo: Conclusion

I’ve used many photo-editing programs, and some are more frustrating than others in terms of their color preferences and controls.

Color management in Affinity Photo differs from that in Photoshop, but it doesn’t cut any major corners that I’ve found. So use it with confidence!

And if you have any questions at all, be sure to leave them in the comments section!

The post Color Management in Affinity Photo: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.

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News: ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 Released

28 Sep

The post News: ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 Released appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

ACDSee has just launched its latest software:

Photo Studio Ultimate 2021, which improves upon ACDSee’s Photo Studio Ultimate 2020 and continues to compete with programs such as ON1 Photo RAW and Luminar as one of the best all-in-one photo editors on the market.

ACDSee’s software is consistently impressive; Photo Studio Ultimate 2020 contained an excellent mix of digital asset management capabilities, basic adjustments, and more advanced, layer-based edits.

So what does Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 offer over its predecessor?

Quite a lot, as it turns out.

For one, Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 features increased performance. ACDSee promises “up to 100% faster start up, up to 50% faster mode-switching, up to 100% faster working with keywords & categories, and more.”

After trying Photo Studio Ultimate 2021, it’s clear that this is true. While I wouldn’t refer to the program as fast, it’s certainly speedier than Lightroom, Photoshop, or Luminar.

Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 also offers a brand-new color wheel, which allows you to make precise adjustments to colors in your images. Using an eye-dropper tool, you can select specific colors in your image. And you can modify the selection by way of an intuitive color wheel graphic:

Honestly, this has to be one of my favorite implementations of selective color adjustments, and should give photographers plenty to have fun with.

But ACDSee didn’t stop there. In addition to the Color Wheel feature, you get a set of handy tone wheels. Here, with a few simple clicks, you can selectively tone the highlights, the midtones, and the shadows. This makes it easy to color grade your images and to create a stylistic look that’s truly your own.

Plus, Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 offers a nifty little Refine Selection feature. While previous versions of the software allowed for selections while editing, you can now contract, expand, and feather your selection for a more precise result.

Additional new features include:

A modified batch rename option
Improved user experience and layout
Enhanced crop capabilities
Enhanced watermark capabilities
Much more!

So if you’re looking for a photo editor that includes complex digital asset management capabilities, powerful layer-based editing, and a whole host of new processing tools, check out Photo Studio Ultimate 2021.

You can grab it on ACDSee’s website for just $ 8.90 USD per month, $ 89 USD per year, or (if you’d prefer to make a one-time purchase), $ 149.99 USD.

Now over to you:

What do you think of ACDSee’s Photo Studio Ultimate series? And which of the new features are you most excited about? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post News: ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 Released appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

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ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 announced, promising faster performance and new features

23 Sep

ACD Systems International has launched ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021. This is the newest version of the company’s flagship photo editing software. The new version is focused on providing improved performance. ACD Systems International states that Photo Studio Ultimate 2021’s performance enhancements are up to 100 percent faster and RAW decoding is up to 20 percent faster.

Frank Lin, CTO & COO of ACD Systems International, says, ‘This product is everything you need to optimize your digital asset management, your photography workflow, your editing process and your work as a photographer. We’re pleased to have focused on responding to customer feedback to make this the best product for today’s photographers.’

New features in ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 include:

New Color Wheels and Tone Wheels – These wheels allow users to more precisely adjust colors, highlights, midtones and shadows.
Text on paths and text in a frame – You can now customize your text, including its path.
Refine Selection – In the new version, you can shift or soften edges, allowing for better use of included tools such as Smart Erase.
New and improved batch rename and resize functionality – You can now create your own templates and presets to speed up batch processes.
New optimized user interface and panes – New UI and panes are designed to streamline the editing process, allow the user to capture snapshots and view a full edit history for a file.
Improved Quick Search – Finding images in large databases is much faster.
Improved crop and watermarking – You can crop multiple images to custom sizes and add watermarks using anchor points.
Easier migration from Lightroom and Picasa – You can import face data in three clicks.

This screenshot shows the new Color Wheel in ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021. Image credit: ACDSee

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 is available now. You can purchase a perpetual license for $ 149.99 or purchase the software via subscription for $ 69 per year. You can learn more about ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 and evaluate your purchasing options by clicking here. Photo Studio is also available in Professional and Home versions as well for $ 100 and $ 60 respectively. These versions have fewer features than Ultimate in exchange for a lower price.

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