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Equipment Versus Photographer – Which Matters More?

19 Sep

The post Equipment Versus Photographer – Which Matters More? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Flatlay image: Jeff Hopper. Photographer image: Alexander Andrews

Equipment versus photographer, which matters more?

It’s a common question without an easy answer. It’s one that pretty much every photographer has asked themselves at one time or another.

In this article, I’m going to start by identifying the ways in which the equipment matters. And then I’m going to cover the ways in which the photographer matters.

Finally, I’ll address the main question:

Which is more important?

So let’s dive right in.

equipment-versus-photographer

How does equipment change your photography?

Here’s the thing:

As much as photographers hate to admit it, equipment does matter.

If it didn’t, why would professional photographers spend $ 5000+ on a camera setup?

It’s not a question of whether equipment matters, it’s a question of how much it affects your photography.

So here’s a list of the key reasons equipment matters:

Why your equipment matters

Continuous shooting speeds

Cameras with high continuous shooting rates make it possible to capture amazing action photos without leaving much to chance. A camera that can shoot 12 frames-per-second is going to maximize your chances of getting a gorgeous image in the thick of the action.

Autofocus capabilities

Cameras with more autofocus points, greater autofocus coverage, better tracking, and better autofocus points (e.g., cross-type points) will make it easier to quickly lock focus on your subject and track them as they move. This is useful for any genre of photography that is fast-paced.

Equipment Versus Photographer – Which Matters More?

Ruggedness

Metal cameras with weather-sealing can handle much more difficult conditions than cameras made of non-weather sealed plastic. You can shoot for longer in the rain, snow, and freezing temperatures without your camera failing, which increases your chance of capturing a once-in-a-lifetime shot.

High-ISO capabilities

Cameras with the most advanced sensors are able to capture noise-free images when shooting at high ISOs. This makes shooting at night without a tripod a much more feasible option.

Resolution

The greater your camera’s megapixel count, the more you can crop your photos. This gives you additional flexibility in post-processing and helps you compensate for a shorter lens.

Equipment Versus Photographer – Which Matters More?

High dynamic range

Cameras with a high dynamic range maximize the amount of detail you capture in a scene. This gives you more latitude when selecting an exposure. It also allows you to photography high dynamic range scenes without resorting to HDR techniques.

Accurate previews

Mirrorless cameras with high-quality electronic viewfinders (EVFs) give you fairly accurate previews of your images before you press the shutter button. This allows you to get your exposure and depth of field correct, right from the beginning.

Size and weight

Smaller and lighter cameras are easier to carry on long treks and on travel expeditions. And the easier your camera is to carry, the more likely you are to have it with you when a once-in-a-lifetime scene happens right before your eyes.

Image stabilization

Cameras and lenses with some form of image stabilization make it possible to handhold at low shutter speeds. This increases your shooting opportunities in low light and allows you to increase your depth of field during the day.

Optical quality

Higher-quality lenses are sharper and have fewer problems (such as color fringing and distortion). This makes it possible to get tack-sharp shots that look great straight out of the camera.

Equipment Versus Photographer – Which Matters More?

Focal length

Lenses with different focal lengths allow you to capture different types of shots. If you want to capture sweeping landscape images, you’ll want an ultra-wide lens on hand. If you want to capture a detail shot of a perching eagle, you’ll want a 500mm or 600mm lens. Therefore, different lenses give you different photo opportunities.

How do you, the photographer, change your photography?

Now that we’ve covered the ways in which equipment affects your photography, it’s time to talk about you, the photographer.

What impact do you have in the photo-making process? How do you make a difference in your photography?

equipment-versus-photographer

Why you matter

Focusing skills

Even if you have the best autofocus system in the world, it won’t matter if you don’t have the capabilities to use it. It takes serious skill to track fast-moving subjects, and it’s something that takes lots of practice to master. If you want to capture gorgeous action shots, you can’t just press the shutter and hope for the best. The autofocus system is part of the equation, but so are you.

Handholding skills

Your ability to handhold is often the difference between a sharp photo and a blurry photo. You’ve often got to keep your hands steady while in the thick of the action, never an easy task. Image stabilization helps, but if your technique isn’t sound, you’ll end up with blurry photos anyway.

Exposure skills

Cameras are pretty good at identifying the right exposure for the scene. But there are plenty of times when the camera’s choice just doesn’t look good. That’s when you have to step in, as the photographer, and take control of your camera’s exposure.

equipment-versus-photographer

Working with light

As great as modern cameras are, they still can’t tell you how to find good light, and they definitely can’t tell you how to use the light for great shots. That’s all up to you, and it’s something that photographers spend their whole lives studying. Expertly used light can be the sole difference between an amazing photo and a mediocre photo.

Compositional skills

I’m putting this under a single header, but it’s a big one. Composition isn’t something that’s innate, and it’s definitely not something that your camera can control. It’s something that you learn through practice and hard work. And if you don’t bring composition skills to your photography, it’s going to look plain bad. There’s no way around it.

Working with aperture

Choosing a composition is a skill. It’s also a skill to be able to pull off that composition – to be able to use camera settings to your advantage. That’s where you have to leverage your knowledge to choose the aperture and shutter speed you need to capture the perfect shot.

Post-processing skills

This is another huge factor as post-processing skills allow you to take a shot and really turn it into something incredible. Post-processing is how you put the finishing touches on your photos, and it’s how you give your photos that professional flair.

Equipment Versus Photographer – Which Matters More?

Equipment versus photographer. And the winner is…?

Now that you’ve read this far, you and I can surely agree that both the equipment and the photographer matters.

However, if you look over the two lists, you’ll notice that there are certain aspects of photography that the gear can barely contribute to such as working with light, choosing a composition, putting the final touches on a photo in post-processing, and more.

These are huge aspects of being a photographer. If you can’t do these things, your images will be consistently poor. There’s no other way to say it.

equipment-versus-photographer

But if you can do these things well, you’ll get amazing photos. Yes, high-quality gear will help. It will increase your chances of getting beautiful shots – if you’re already very skilled. However, while the equipment is important, gear will never get you an amazing photo. At best, gear will get you ultra-sharp, well-exposed, in-focus snapshots – and that’s all. At worst, gear will get you blurry, poorly-exposed images.

In other words, you don’t need incredible gear to get incredible photos. But you do need to be an incredible photographer to get incredible photos.

Equipment Versus Photographer – Which Matters More?

So…

Which is more important, the equipment or the photographer?

The photographer.

No doubt about it.

What are your thoughts on equipment versus photographer? Do you agree that the photographer matters more than the equipment? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post Equipment Versus Photographer – Which Matters More? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

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5 Great Ways to Create Abstract Wave Photography

19 Sep

The post 5 Great Ways to Create Abstract Wave Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Erin Fitzgibbon.

In this article, you’ll learn how to use motion and long exposure photography to create abstract wave photography.

There’s something about water. It is mesmerizing. People flock to beaches and waterfalls to photograph water. We seem drawn to its fluid beauty.

5 Great Ways to Create Abstract Wave Photography

If you Google “waterfalls,” you’ll find millions of images. Beaches, sunsets and softly crashing waves also pepper Google searches. Given these two facts, why then do most of the images of water, waves, and waterfalls always look so similar? The same seems to be true of wave photography – all the photos seem to follow a particular recipe.

You find images either capture the violence and strength of water as the wave crashes or you see images of curling barrels of water, usually taken at sunset. Water has much versatility. Its fluidity makes it an intriguing subject matter.

Capturing the motion of water seems to be one of humanity’s favorite past times, but there’s more you can consider. How can playing with motion expand your efforts to capture waves and water? Perhaps by experimenting, you can find new angles and new ways to capture waves.

1. Using longer shutter speed to change the look and shape of waves

When photographing a waterfall there’s only one way that the water can flow, and that’s downward. Sure, the water may travel a little to the left or right over some rocks, but the reality is it’s headed in the direction gravity pulls it. So when we use a slow shutter speed, the look of the water is predictable. We know and love that white candy floss type of look.

When using a slow shutter speed with waves; however, the results are less predictable. The water may crash and spray against rocks and bubble. It may splash and break in endless patterns. Using a slow shutter speed to capture the breaking of a wave can yield some interesting effects and looks.

Let’s take a look at some of the following experiments.

Shot using 1/8s, f32, ISO 100.

In the above example, I used a longer shutter speed to capture these unusual looking wave shapes. The first wave was rolling back into the oncoming wave, and the collision created these upward sprays. With a longer shutter speed, you can capture the wave and some light trails. If you look closely, you’ll also notice that the longer shutter speed seems to create a ghost-like transparent look to parts of the splashing wave. You can see through some of the water.

Perhaps this look doesn’t appeal to you, but it does break the traditional view of a wave.

2. Study the way the waves break and look for patterns you can photograph

You can also play with motion and study the way the wave breaks. Despite their fluidity, waves do tend to break in the same places along a beach. Of course, they vary in intensity and size depending on the day, but you can watch a storm and know that waves will hit a rock and create a lot of splashing or spray. Watching the waves and then using these patterns along with a long shutter speed, can also create some different looking images. Let’s take a look at the following example.

1/8s, F32, ISO 100

While I used the exact same shutter speed in this image as the first image, the look of the image has changed. This is due to it being shot at a different location along the beach. In this spot, the waves were smaller, and they rolled in slowly with less turmoil. The light trails have stretched out more, and you can discern the rolling nature of the wave as it meets the beach. The sand below the surface is also visible. Also, the incoming waves behind are more abstracted in this photograph.

Some people have told me they look like they’ve been painted rather than photographed.

1/13s, F32, ISO 100

For this image, I used a slightly different shutter speed. I searched for patterns and used a longer focal length revealing a different look to the waves. In this image, the light trails are much more important to the composition of the photograph. Less defined by the white water, the shape of the wave is revealed by the smooth lines of the wave.

3. Move the camera horizontally as you capture the waves

Of course, waves are in motion, but we can change the look, feel, and our perceptions of waves by including the motion of the camera while capturing the movement of the wave. In the image below, I used intentional camera movement (ICM) – the waves were moving right to left, while I dragged the camera across the wave from left to right.

1/13s, F32, ISO 100

The light trails are still a part of the capture, but the wider angle and the motion of the camera turn the waves into something different. Here the shape is more abstracted and becomes a white oval against the water and the sand which now streaks of different shades of beige. The waves are no longer defined. Instead, the motion of the camera abstracts the water a little bit.

4. Move the camera in a bouncing motion

1/10s, F32, ISO 100

Pushing the experiment further, I moved the camera in a sort of bouncing motion. The look of the rocks on the beach becomes important in this photograph. Also, the light trails also take on a different shape. The effect of the motion on the water seems to have less of an effect too.

Once again, experiment to see what you can create and how you can take a typical subject matter and make it different. I rather like the bouncy, playful feel to the rocks on the beach.

5: Get very close

In the following images, I used a much faster shutter speed, and I moved closer and closer to the subject matter to take the images.

It was about capturing something as I moved to see what the camera grabbed. It’s a fairly impulsive way to use your camera. The autofocus is unpredictable in this scenario, but the results are surprising. It’s also fun to see what you can get. This is less about planning but more about enjoying the moment and options available to you as you move your camera.

1/800s, F2.4, ISO 400

In both of these photographs, I used a very shallow depth of field with a very low perspective. I chose to lie down on my belly and inch my way towards the waves while holding down the shutter speed. To me, the resulting images feel as if you are falling into the water. There’s very little to focus on, and the water seems to be all around. Some may find the view unsettling, but love it or hate it; this is another way of looking at and capturing waves.

In Conclusion

Playing with motion to create some new perspectives in wave photography can be a fun experiment. Some images will work very well, while others may be hard to look at. Either way, it’s about finding ways to get creative with your camera. It’s about studying a subject and showing the world how much variation there is in the world. Using motion to capture water is a fun experiment that’s easy to complete with almost any type of camera.

What’s my next experiment? Who knows? Maybe it’s using motion and underwater photography with waves. We’ll have to see.

If you’ve tried some interesting angles or techniques for photographing waves, share them with us. Let’s see what types of abstract wave photography you create!

The post 5 Great Ways to Create Abstract Wave Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Erin Fitzgibbon.

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How to do Creative Photography Montages with a Contact Sheet Template in Photoshop

19 Sep

The post How to do Creative Photography Montages with a Contact Sheet Template in Photoshop appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

Do you like adding borders to your digital photos? Apps and editing programs offer a wide variety of fun and creative ones for you to choose from. The sprockets from film photography have become very popular because of its vintage look. I’ve decided to bring this idea one step further and make creative photography montages with a contact sheet template in Photoshop. Read on to learn how you can too.

Creative-Photography-Montages-using-photoshop

Contact Sheet

Contact sheets come from film photography and are made by placing the film negative directly onto the light-sensitive paper and then exposing light onto it. Because of this, the resulting image was a positive image of the film on a 1:1 scale.

Creative-Photography-Montages-using-photoshop

Film comes in different formats: 35mm, medium and large. Furthermore, each brand puts the frame number, name and other information on the film. You can use all of these as different styles for your template. See how the same image can look so different just by changing the type of film border.

Creative-Photography-Montages-using-photoshop

Each different film will result in a different contact sheet, and you can use any of them for your montage. There are many styles available for sale on stock photography websites, and of course, you can scan an original one to use. However, if you want to create your own, I’ll show you how to easily design a basic 35mm contact sheet in Photoshop.

Digital 35mm contact sheet created in Photoshop

Film rolls of 35mm were available in 12, 24 or 36 frames. Because of this, it’s easier if the size of your document is a multiple of six on the longest side. For now, I’ll make the artboard 24 cm both in height and width so that I can create 36 frames. Later, I can add some extra space if I see it’s too tight.

Open a new document in Photoshop

To begin, turn on your rulers. If they’re not visible by going to Menu -> View -> Rulers. You can change the measurement units by right-clicking on them and then choosing centimeters. Now draw your guides by clicking on the ruler and dragging it to the place you need it. I’ll put them every 4 cm so that I can design six frames per row.

To put your guides on exact co-ordinates, go to Menu -> New Guide. In the New Guide window, choose Horizontal or Vertical, and then enter your exact position number, and press OK. Your guide will then appear in the exact position you want on your artboard. Repeat the process to have exact guidelines.

Use guides to distribute your canvas

Now you know where to draw your film.

From the toolbox, choose the Custom Shape Tool. Then go to the Options bar and open the shapes menu, where you’ll find the 35mm Film shape.

Photoshop Custom Shapes

You can choose the color in the same option bar. I’ll do a dark grey to simulate the original as close as possible, but you can do something more contrasting if you like.

Drag and drop at the start of each guide, and repeat until you fill your contact sheet.

Use the guides to draw your shape

Now determine the canvas size by going to Menu -> Image -> Canvas Size. Make it to your liking. I’ll only add some space on the sides.

You can turn off your guides now by pressing Cmd+; (mac), or Alt+; (windows).

Contact sheet template

To make your template more manageable, merge all your shapes together, and then rasterize them. You can find both commands by right-clicking on the selected layers to open the pop-up menu.

Merge and rasterize

Make a selection of the frames where the image will show to create your collage. Save it by going to Menu -> Selection -> Save Selection. When the pop-up window opens, leave all the settings as they are and just name it. Then click OK. This way, you won’t have to make the selection every time you add an image.

Make the selection and save it

Add the base image by going to the menu File -> Place and adjust to the right size. You can also do Copy and Paste but then your image won’t be a Smart Object and it can lose quality if you modify it many times. To learn more about this, check out Photoshop Smart Objects for Beginners.

Place the base image

Now the image is visible through the contact sheet, but it’s also coming through the sprockets and on the sides. This is where the saved selection from before comes in handy. You now load the selection by going to menu -> Selection -> Load Selection.

Then click the Create a Layer Mask button from the bottom of the Layers panel.

Use layer masks to shape the image

Add other images into the mix, or use the same one in different sizes and places to create your collage. Just repeat the process for each image you want to add and your montage is ready.

Place more images to compose the montage

If you are having any trouble with the visualization of certain images make sure the layers are in the right order.

Check out this Introduction to Photoshop Layers Possibilities and Properties for help if you need it.

Now let your creativity flow and have fun. Share the results of your creative photography montages with us in the comments section!

Additional reading

For more ideas on creative photography montages, check out these tutorials:

How to Make a Joiner Collage for a Retro Style Panorama

4 Concepts for Collages, Diptychs, Album Pages, etc.

How to Make a Photoshop Collage in 9 Simple Steps

The post How to do Creative Photography Montages with a Contact Sheet Template in Photoshop appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

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5 Reasons Why the Canon 10-18mm is a Must-Have Wide-Angle Lens

18 Sep

The post 5 Reasons Why the Canon 10-18mm is a Must-Have Wide-Angle Lens appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kunal Malhotra.

After buying a new camera we all start planning for our next lens, which can replace or complement the kit lens. This is when the real confusion starts, you have to choose one out of the so many options available in the market. If you are a Canon APS-C camera user and looking for a wide-angle lens, the Canon EF-S 10-18MM f/4.5-5.6 IS STM could be an ideal choice. I have been using this lens for almost a year now, so I thought of sharing my experience and views with you all. Let me share 5 reasons why I believe that Canon 10-18mm lens is a must-have wide-angle lens.

Canon-10-18mm-lens

1. Ultra-wide angle of view

If you are or have used the 18-55mm kit lens on your Canon APS-C body, there might have been situations when you wanted to go wider than 18mm. This is when having the Canon 10-18mm lens in your camera bag can help you click frames as wide as 10mm (P.S. do apply the crop factor).

Canon-10-18mm-lens

Imagine you are at a rock concert or an event and you wish to capture the entire stage in a frame. Or imagine yourself looking at a beautiful landscape with beautiful clouds and the sun is setting. This is when using the 10-18mm lens can help you capture ultra-wide angle shots even from a short distance.

2. Ideal for Vlogging

With companies such as Canon also focusing on video features, more and more people are adapting to the vlogging culture. Isn’t it fun to capture moments and experiences when you are traveling and at the same time show your surroundings in a single frame?

5 Reasons Why the Canon 10-18mm is a Must-Have Wide-Angle Lens

I have been personally using the Canon 10-18mm lens on my Canon M50 to record almost all my vlogs for the past year, and have never had a second thought about it. The only situation where this lens can struggle is in low light conditions as f/4.5 is the widest it can go, which might introduce noise. But then, at $ 300, you can hardly find such a wide focal length that matches your requirements.

3. Features Image Stabilization

There are very few lenses (as far as I am aware) that feature Image Stabilization, and are priced under $ 300. This lens is equipped with a 4-stop optical image stabilizer which comes in handy while clicking photos in low light conditions. In practical scenarios, I have managed to get a sharp and stable shot handheld at 1/2th sec using 10mm focal length. So even if it is an f/4.5-5.6 lens, you can let in more light using a slower shutter speed in low light situations.

5 Reasons Why the Canon 10-18mm is a Must-Have Wide-Angle Lens

But you must be careful while clicking images at such a slow shutter speed, especially when there are elements in motion in your frame. I usually use it while clicking photos of monuments/buildings or creative images like light trails.

4. Use it for close-up shots

You may be thinking, “why would I want to click macro shots using a 10-18mm focal length?”

Well, this is not the ideal focal length range for macro photography, but that is where the fun starts. If you wish to capture something different and with a unique perspective, you can get some amazing close-up shots.

Canon-10-18mm-lens

In the sample macro shot shared above, you can see that I was able to get close to the insect and at the same time capture wide frame with shallow depth of field. Isn’t that a unique perspective in itself?

5. Ideal for Street Photography

I believe there is no particular focal length that can be termed as perfect for street photography. Every photographer has their own way of capturing photos while traveling. Some may like ultra-wide, some may prefer a standard focal length, and some may go for a 50mm or 85mm lens.

Canon-10-18mm-lens

I tried clicking candid street photos while roaming in my city and to my interest, the 10-18mm focal length range impressed me for the sole reason that I could capture more elements in my frame. If I had shot this photo shared above at 24mm or 35mm focal length, I would either had to move a few steps back or capture only a part of this beautiful moment.

What are your views about the Canon EF-S 10-18MM f/4.5-5.6 IS STM lens? Feel free to comment below.

The post 5 Reasons Why the Canon 10-18mm is a Must-Have Wide-Angle Lens appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kunal Malhotra.

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How to Use Color in Your Photography to Give Your Photos the Wow Factor

17 Sep

The post How to Use Color in Your Photography to Give Your Photos the Wow Factor appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jeremy Flint.

Photography is a wonderful art form that is enjoyed by people all around the world. It is a popular medium of expression, a fine art, a way of documenting our journeys and memories, and even a way to change views. Originally, when photography started it was all black and white, and historic photographers learned their craft in this way. Whilst this can be a great way to bring out textures and shapes, the introduction of color is a great way to attract attention and add impact to your images. Here are 5 tips to show you how to use color in your photography to give your photos the wow factor:

1. Find a colorful scene

St Nectain’s Glen waterfall, Cornwall, England

The first thing to do is to find a colorful scene. The way the countryside unfolds in the summer, for example, can be a wonderful way to show color in a landscape. Purple hues of lavender or golden wheat fields are all examples of where color can be captured to help your images stand out.

You could focus on one dominant color in a scene such as green. Alternatively, seek out a variety of tones like a cool blue sky mixed with a red field which can give your photos some impact and evoke different emotions. Blue can provide feelings of cold, whilst red can give warmth, energy, and excitement.

You can also use complementary colors in captivating ways. They refer to colors on opposite sides of the color wheel. For example, red and green or blue and orange. Other colors that work particularly well together include yellow, red and orange; and pink, purple and blue.

2. Look for details with color

Poppy field, England

Another way to use color in your photography is to look for details with color. You can photograph individual flowers in bloom such as bluebells or plant crops. As a part of a broader scene, you can photograph flowers like vibrant red poppies swaying in a field.

Think about the different colors and details you could photograph near you and experiment with a variety of color palettes to see what works well. Try and find details to photograph with single colors and combinations of colors to see which you prefer. Red is a strong color that attracts the viewer’s eye whilst yellow and orange can also command attention.

3. Change your white balance setting

Stonehenge, England

One great advantage of the white balance setting is that your camera has the ability to change the color of your images simply by adjusting the white balance.

There are several different types of white balance which can be varied according to different lighting scenarios – auto white balance is the default setting for most cameras. Shade, cloudy and daylight can be selected for warmer and brighter colors, whilst tungsten and auto present cooler colors.

As the name suggests, a ‘shade’ white balance setting can work well in lighting conditions with shade and shadows, whilst ‘cloudy’ is a good choice when it is overcast. There is also an option to manually adjust your white balance to alter the color temperature to your taste.

4. Use a polariser to boost color and contrast

Oxford, England

One of the greatest accessories you can have in your photography kit is a polarizing filter. A polarizer is usually placed at the front of your camera lens and is a versatile piece of equipment that can be brilliant to help darken skies, minimize reflections and manage glare from water sources such as lakes or the sea.

Polarizing filters are also a fantastic way to improve your images by instantly enhancing the color and contrast in your images. They don’t take up much space in your kit bag and are useful for making your images more distinct. Polarizing filters particularly work well in landscape photography by bringing out colors and reducing haze.

5. Boost colors in post-production

Oxford, England

You can also add color to images in post-production. One way to boost the color of your photographs is to increase the saturation in post-production. You will find a saturation slider in most editing tools. Both photoshop and lightroom offer an adjustment slider where the color can be increased by moving it to the right. There is also the option to increase the saturation of individual colors to make certain parts of your images more vibrant.

Conclusion

Using color can be a great way to enhance your images. You can find colorful scenes, vibrant details, adjust your white balance, add a polariser or adjust the saturation in post-processing to give your photos more impact.

Try these techniques and share your images with us below. Also, if you have any other tips, feel free to share those too!

The post How to Use Color in Your Photography to Give Your Photos the Wow Factor appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jeremy Flint.

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Canon to Produce an 80-Megapixel Mirrorless Camera

17 Sep

The post Canon to Produce an 80-Megapixel Mirrorless Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

canon-80mp-camera If you’ve been hoping Canon will produce a high-resolution professional mirrorless camera, then you’re in luck.

Rumors that Canon has been working on a 70 or 80-megapixel mirrorless camera have been swirling for months, but several new pieces of information make it more likely than ever.

First, Canon has filed a patent for an 83-megapixel sensor, which may be at the heart of a new mirrorless camera body.

Second, someone claiming to have a prototype of the new camera has just revealed specs, including:

An 80-megapixel full-frame sensor
A larger viewfinder than the Canon EOS R
Dual SD card slots
A new joystick
A larger size than the Canon EOS R

If these details are accurate, then the new camera (dubbed the Canon EOS RS by Canon Rumors) will likely be a mirrorless replacement to the Canon 5DS/5DS R duo. The two DSLR cameras debuted in February of 2015, and Canon has failed to update them in the years since. Most notable about the two cameras are their sensors: 50.6 megapixels – the largest full-frame sensors in existence at the time.

The dual card slots will be a particularly welcome addition to the Canon EOS RS. Many professional photographers passed over the EOS R based on its single card slot, and it seems Canon got the message. So for photographers who require redundancy in their work, the Canon EOS RS will be a good choice.

And if the Canon EOS RS is truly 80+ megapixels, commercial photographers will appreciate the opportunity to push resolution to its limits.

Such a high-resolution sensor has its drawbacks, however. The larger the files, the faster you’ll fill up space. Plus, a sensor with 80 megapixels will have high pixel density, leading to small pixels. This can be a problem with regard to noise production: the smaller pixels are more likely to produce noise at high ISOs.

Let’s just hope that Canon puts out a high-quality sensor to complement the megapixel count! If you’re a Canon fan looking to make the change to mirrorless, then keep an eye out for news on the Canon EOS RS, which will likely be announced at the start of 2020.

Would you purchase the Canon EOS RS for its 80+ megapixels? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

The post Canon to Produce an 80-Megapixel Mirrorless Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

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SLC-2L-09: Google Maps as a Visa | BTS 360

17 Sep

Today in Lighting Cookbook, using Google Maps as an entré to meet new subjects, and improvising with a skeleton pack of lighting equipment. Read more »
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9 Great Lensball Perspectives for Creative Photography!

16 Sep

The post 9 Great Lensball Perspectives for Creative Photography! appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Bond.

One of the most effective ways of getting more out of your photography is to change the perspective. It’s a great way to explore your camera without needing to get additional equipment. The same concept can be applied to lensball photography, where a change in your lensball perspectives can lead to a burst of creativity with your work. It’s easy to think of lensball photography as a one-trick pony, rather like, say, a fish-eye lens. As any fish-eye lens owner will tell you though, there are plenty of ways to add creativity with that lens, and the same is true of refraction photography with a lensball.

In this article, you’ll learn about nine different lensball perspectives, and how you can go about using them in your photography.

1. The standard lensball perspective

Image: This shows a standard lensball perspective. It shows the tree as the main subject in the ball...

This shows a standard lensball perspective. It shows the tree as the main subject in the ball. There is also context provided by the area outside the ball.

The standard photo might vary from person to person. A lot of people choose the second item on this list, so this is of course subjective. In this type of photo, the lensball will be a significant part of the photo, it will absolutely be the main subject. Where you place the ball and the subject you choose to have within the ball are subjects covered in this article.

Typically the ball will be off-center within the frame, and will fill around forty percent of the photo. The remaining portion of the photo is likely to be the foreground the ball is sitting on, and the background that has been blurred out as part of this photo. This type of photo will be taken using a macro lens, or a lens with a long focal length.

2. The lens ball as part of the scene

The ball can also be used as part of the scene. Here, the interplay with the arch works well.

A popular alternative to the above photo involves bringing the background into play. This style of photo will need a wide-angle lens, so you can get reasonably close to the lensball, while taking a more standard landscape photo. In this photo, the lensball has become more of an accent in the photo, yet it’s still a focal point for the image. You’re looking at using repetition in your image, with the background of your photo appearing inside the ball as an upside-down image.

There are a number of strategies you can use to enhance this type of photo.

The tunnel – A classic in photography, this works very well with the lensball as well. Use the infinity point of the tunnel and place the ball at this point in the photo. The tunnel will then frame the photo, and there’s a good chance the image in the ball won’t be noticeably upside down.
Holding the ball – Holding the ball while photographing it is a popular form of lensball photography. Using a wide-angle lens will allow you to hold the ball, and include a lot of the background in your frame.
Flipping the image – As the background is prominent in your frame, you might want to use post-processing to flip the image within the ball. You can learn how to do this here.

3. Getting closer

In this photo, the lensball fills the frame, and you can barely see the edge of the ball.

Alternatively, you can get much closer to the ball, and use a macro lens for your photo. You will need to scout a good location for this type of image.

In this photo, you’re using the ball much more like an external lens. Through the use of the macro lens, you can get close enough to the ball that you’re only photographing a portion of it. This allows you to use the curve of the ball as a line coming through your frame, with the main subject photographed within the ball. The outside of the ball will be blurred, even with a smaller aperture. With this in mind, keep the aperture to around f/8. This will give you a sharper image inside the ball.

4. Splitting the horizon line

Lines that can be bisected by the ball work especially well.

A great technique to use with the lensball is splitting the horizon.

This works well because of the effect refraction produces. If you line the ball up with the horizon line, the inverted image in the ball will invert along this line. When aiming for this type of photo, it’s important to get the horizon line exactly lined up. Getting this wrong is as bad as not getting your horizon line straight on a regular landscape photo. The following are some ideas that will help you acheive this type of photo.

Holding the ball – Holding the ball up to the horizon line with your hand can be effective. It’s tricky to get the exact horizon line. Take multiple photos until you’re happy the horizon line within and outside the ball is lined up.
Minimal landscapes – In order to split the horizon line, you need to be able to see the horizon line. Look for coastal, desert or other locations that don’t have objects blocking this line.
Use the tripod – With the ball steady on a wall, or perhaps a rock you could use a tripod. With the camera on a tripod, you can make sure the horizon line is lined up. Once you’re ready to take the photo you’ll know this won’t shift as you take the photo.

5. Bending the horizon line

Image: This photo shows the fisheye-like effect of the ball. You can see the horizon line in the bal...

This photo shows the fisheye-like effect of the ball. You can see the horizon line in the ball is bent and distorted.

The lensball’s fisheye-like lens properties can, of course, be used in exactly the same way as a fish-eye lens. You can bend the horizon line in the lensball by raising or lowering it away from the horizon line. This can be used to creative effect with your photo.

If there is a lot of interest in the foreground, you could include more of these within the ball. Equally, if the sky is really dramatic, and you want to include more of that, you can. Simply lower the ball away from the horizon line, and watch the line bend towards the top of the ball, and more sky fill the bottom portion of the ball.

6. Distorting your main subject

This abstract portrait is the result of lensball distortion.

In addition to bending the horizon line, you can use the lensball to produce other distortions as well. Once again, think of the distortions a fisheye lens can make, and apply that to the lensball. You can use the ball to distort elements of your main subject, providing you can get close to your subject. This works well when the subject is smaller, so this won’t be effective with large architecture.

You can use this distortion to great effect with portrait photography. Here the aim is to distort part of the body, for instance, the eyes, to get a more creative portrait.

7. Photographing down onto the ball

Shooting directly down onto the ball can give interesting results.

A simple trick involves photographing down onto the ball.

Place the ball on the ground, and stand over the ball to photograph it. No inverted image will appear in the ball, but you will see a magnified version of what the ball is sat on.

This can work well for surfaces that have a texture. For instance, gritty sand or a pebble beach works well. Those photographers looking to create a series of lensball photos that have variety could attempt this style of photo.

8. A worm’s eye view

The worm’s eye view can work well. Note the ball is placed at the infinity point of the image.

The worm’s eye view means photographing below the ball and looking up. The only realistic way to do this is holding the ball above yourself, or better still, ask someone to hold the ball for you. This will mean a person’s hand will be in the photo, so look to incorporate this into your composition as best you can. Finally, you’ll need to find an interesting subject to photograph.

The following are some subjects that work well for this angle.

Tall buildings – When close together these can form a tunnel-like look when looking straight up. Place the ball at the infinity point of this, and take your photo.
Repetition – When you’re standing under something like a roof of repeating umbrella’s or lanterns, you can use the lensball to capture this.
Dramatic sky – Sky photos can work well if the sky is interesting enough. This type of photo will be more interesting with a strong subject.

9. Reflection

Reflection works very well in lensball photography.

Photos that involve reflection will give you a strong composition. Of course, you need to use the right angle to maximize this reflection. In this case, your perspective will be as low to the angle as you can get.

However, there are scenarios where you can get great reflection photos without the need to get on all fours. In both of these cases, use a circular polarizing filter to increase the strength of the reflection.

Ball on reflection surface – In this case, you’ll need to get a low angle, so you’ll be on the floor. Marble surfaces or a puddle will work well here. Your aim is to reflect the ball itself in the puddle.
Ball in front of reflection surface – In this case, you’ll see a reflection surface like a large pond. It’s obviously too large to place the ball into it, but you can still capture the reflection. The ball needs to be placed or held in a position near to the reflection surface. Now within the ball, you’ll see both the reflected and the actual image. These images will both be refracted, so the reflected image will be the one that appears the right way up.

Creativity is in your hands

A change of perspective is a great creative option for every photographer and can lead to some really compelling results. The lensball, when thought of as an external lens, is a great creative tool. When used properly, it is capable of creating a great series of photos under the one theme.

So if you have a lensball, you can go out and try some of these ideas. If you don’t have one, why not get hold of one?!

Finally, we love to see your photos at digital photography school, so why not share some in the comments section below?

lensball-perspectives-for-creative-photography

The post 9 Great Lensball Perspectives for Creative Photography! appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Bond.

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Useful Ways You Can Use the Olympus Live Composite Feature for Long Exposures

16 Sep

The post Useful Ways You Can Use the Olympus Live Composite Feature for Long Exposures appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Mark C Hughes.

Olympus has a number of unusual features for longer exposure photography. Aside from the classic bulb style photography, there are two other specific long exposure features available with Olympus cameras: Live Time and Live Composite. These two functions, although related, treat longer exposures quite differently and can produce quite interesting results. Both are really fascinating tools for photographers looking to experiment. Both use computational features of your camera to allow you to get an image in a different way. Although we will briefly discuss Live Time, this article primarily focuses on the Olympus Live Composite feature.

The Live Composite feature on Olympus Cameras lets you mix light sources for long exposure

Live Time

Live Time is like the bulb function on old film cameras that held the shutter open as long as the bulb was depressed but with a twist. With modern cameras, you open the shutter by pressing once and then close it by pressing it a second time. As with any bulb function, you end up holding the shutter open for as long as you want but without a set time on the camera.

In the film days, you would just guess how long you wanted (or use a light meter and a stopwatch). With most digital cameras, there is a function to allow you to hold the shutter open for an extended time. However, for many makes of cameras, you won’t see the image until the camera has closed the shutter, taken a noise reduction image, and then processed the image.

Live Time in Olympus cameras is a little different. It allows you to see the image on your display developing during the process while the shutter remains open. As the exposure lengthens, you see the image form as more and more light gets added to the entire image. The image gets brighter on the back panel, and it is really cool to see the image created live.

This process allows you to decide when you have held the shutter open long enough. Like the old bulb settings, you decide how long the image progresses. You press to start the exposure and press to stop.

Long Exposure images simply mean that light sources get brighter

Fundamentally, Live Time is just a manually extended exposure time that allows you to watch the image develop as you take it. It is still a pretty cool feature.

Problems with long exposure photography

The trouble with Live Time (and any long exposure image with any camera for that matter), is that bright things get brighter faster than the dark areas.

This means that dim, infrequent events in lower light environments with some point sources of light will be overwhelmed by the point sources. When you have enough light to expose the dark areas properly, this usually means that the lit areas have far too much accumulated light. Everything in the frame gets treated the same.

A still Image of a fire provides lots of detail and freezes the action of the flames.

Long Exposures tend to smear the light as the light sources persist.

Enter Live Composite

Live Composite is a particularly unique feature present in Olympus cameras that is not currently offered by other camera makers at this time.

Live Composite is similar to Live Time, in that you are taking a longer exposure image, but Live Composite is just light additive for new sources of light, not existing sources. What this means is that Live Composite takes a base image and then only adds new light to the image that was not present in the original base image. This means that light sources seen in the original reference image do not get brighter. Only new lighting or new light sources that move in the frame will appear in the final image.

Live Composite of a campfire shows that the entire image is not getting brighter

The mechanics of Live Composite

Using Live Composite is a two-step process; first, it requires you to take a base or reference image exposure. This image forms the base layer of the composite image. Then you take subsequent additional images at intervals with only new light in the field of view added.

This allows you to take a static image of a colorful background under low light conditions and add only new light sources.

Just like Live Time, you get to watch the image develop right before your eyes.

After the base image is taken, only new light sources (such as a lightning bolt) show up

How to use It

Turning on Live Composite on your Olympus camera is not the most prominent process. It is a bit hidden. Live Composite is a type of manual mode setting, so that is where you find it on the camera.

However, before you use Live Composite, you need to decide a few key parameters for your base composite image – specifically initial shutter duration, ISO and aperture.

You set the shutter time duration in the menu (out of the function itself) before setting the camera to shoot. However, you set the ISO and aperture as you go.

Useful Ways You Can Use the Olympus Live Composite Feature for Long Exposures

Turning on Live Composite varies a little between cameras (the EM1X does it slightly differently), but for most Olympus cameras, you simply set the mode selector dial to Manual (M) and adjust the time to beyond the 60-second shutter duration. At that point, you get a Bulb, LiveTime, and then LiveComp setting. LiveComp is the one you want for Live Composite. On the EM1X, you set the mode selector dial to B (bulb) and then turn to LiveComp. Everything else is the same.

At this point in time, you set your ISO and Aperture. This, combined with the shutter time duration you set in the menu system for cycling the images, will be used to set your base composite image. For instance, if you set the shutter timing to 4 seconds, plan on using an aperture of f/4 and ISO of 800. You will use those values for the base reference composite image.

To activate Live Composite, set up your composition, focus your lens, and then press the shutter for the reference image. The composite is now ready to start.

Next, when you press your shutter button again, the image creating process begins! The camera will open the shutter and add to the image as each time period compares to the base image. Any new light gets added to the composite at the end of each cycle. The image changes and grows on your display as Live Composite progresses.

It is very cool to watch as your image develops.

Does Live Composite mean you can take images that you couldn’t before?

Image: Lightning storms work incredibly well with Live Composite, especially if there is a lot of ne...

Lightning storms work incredibly well with Live Composite, especially if there is a lot of nearby light sources (such as streetlights)

Yes and no. You could take the images separately and combine them as a composite, but as a single image, you would not have been able to do it. Also, there are certain types of images that are way easier to take with the Live Composite function than would be possible to achieve in a single image.

Live Composite also forces you to change your approach to certain images. As part of that change, it may actually take longer to take some images (because you need to create a base/reference every time), but you get the benefit of seeing if it is doing what you want.

What kind of image works well with Live Composite?

Several specific types of images can get the full benefit of Live Composite. These include star trails, lightning flashes, fireworks, night photography with bright lights present, and light painting.

You can take all of these in other ways, but using live composite allows you to see if the image is turning out how you want.

Most of these images all require manual focus and manual settings for your exposures. All require some trial and error and pretty much all benefit from the use of a tripod. In theory, you might be able to take these images without one, but in reality, the requirement to be steady really limits those cases.

Star Trails

In astrophotography, taking an image of stars can be particularly daunting. This is because the earth is rotating and the stars are relatively dim. What this means is that you need a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the motion of the star but also need to leave the shutter open long enough for the start to appear on your image. If you leave the shutter open too long, you will see a streak or smear instead of a star. If you leave the shutter open even longer, the stars leave even longer trails that are circular. In the northern hemisphere, these star trails appear to rotate around the North Star.

Star trails occur when you take astrophotography shots and leave the shutter open for an extended period of time. The stars create a trail. This image was taken with the shutter open for 27 minutes

With conventional digital cameras (or film cameras for that matter), working at night can be a challenge. The shutter duration required to create star trails are long, and you can’t see what your image is like until you’ve completed the entire exposure duration. In addition, if you have made an error in focus or composition, you won’t see it until the entire process is complete. There are ways to combine star trails together in post-processing, but the Live Composite allows you to do it in a single exposure.

With Live Composite, you can see the image develop. Particularly with star trails, this allows you to quickly figure out if you want to have your image in a different setup or use a different point of interest so that the star trails work with your composition.

You also have the ability to have star trails show up when there is an illuminated object in the foreground.

Lightning

Another significant challenge for photography is capturing images of lightning, particularly in areas where there are light sources. As anyone who has attempted to take lightning images knows all too well, this is a difficult type of photography.

Lightning strike captured using the Olympus Live Composite Feature.

The main difficulties of capturing lightning images are fourfold. Lightning is difficult to schedule, so you have to wait to find a storm to photograph. Depending upon your position relative to the storm, you need to find a vantage point to capture images that are reasonably clear (you need to be able to see the lightning from a distance) and have a perspective that forms a reasonable composition. More common vantage points are across a field, across a valley or from highrise building.

Next, you need to hope the lightning is not blocked or shrouded by rain (a common companion to lightning). This will interfere with your sightlines. Lighting is often at leading and trailing edges of storms, but if you are at the wrong end, the lightning will simply light up the sky.

Finally, taking images at night always presents a problem for trying to achieve focus. Focusing in the dark means that you can’t see what you are focusing on and the light from the lightning hasn’t lit up your subject yet.

If you have the right conditions, you can take the base image and wait for the lightning strike and the image to develop. You just wait until lightning strikes in the field of view.

For a detailed guide on photographing lightning, see this Ultimate Guide to Photographing Lightning.

Fireworks

Fireworks is an interesting subject for live composite. It actually isn’t faster to take images, but I think it takes better images. Fireworks requires you to manually focus where you think the images are, set the time, aperture, and ISO for a darker setting than your camera will want, then wait.

Fireworks also work well, although it is a two-step process for every image.

Without Live Composite, you simply open the shutter and wait. The image gets brighter, and the duration is based upon a little trial and error.

With Live Composite, you take the reference image and then wait. When the fireworks start, you hold the shutter and watch the screen. You press the shutter when you have the image you want.

Unfortunately, you need to take a new reference image each time, so you end up with additional steps. However, the results are at least as good (and often better) as simply guessing an exposure time.

Night photography with bright lights and light painting

Capturing car tail lights and headlights will appear but the street lights don’t get overly bright

Night photography featuring bright lights, such as carnivals or street performers using fire at night, can turn out really well with Live Composite. So can images where lights are moving, but you don’t want the background to get brighter.

You can also use Live Composite for light painting. This is particularly useful if you have someone helping you when you are taking a light painting image.

Light painting is a technique for taking an image under low light conditions with a long exposure and lighting up the object with controlled use of flashes or light sources. The neat thing about using Live Composite for light painting is that you can have light in the image when you are taking the image with the light painting because only new light gets added. It also means that dark objects won’t show up, and the bright surfaces behind them will remain illuminated.

Image: Live composite allows you to do light painting with light sources present in the image (not t...

Live composite allows you to do light painting with light sources present in the image (not the greatest light painting image!)

Conclusion

Live Composite is a unique feature in Olympus cameras that allow you to make composite images in-camera that previously would only be able to be created with two separate images and a bunch of post-processing. It is another useful tool for your photography kit.

The Olympus Live Composite feature is a unique tool to allow you to be creative with low light images.

Have you used Olympus Live Composite Feature before? What are your thoughts? Share with us in the comments!

The post Useful Ways You Can Use the Olympus Live Composite Feature for Long Exposures appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Mark C Hughes.

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ACDSee Video Studio 4 Review – An Intuitive, Easy-to-Use Video Editing Software

16 Sep

The post ACDSee Video Studio 4 Review – An Intuitive, Easy-to-Use Video Editing Software appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Carl Spring.

In this review, we take a look at the new video-editing software – ACDSee Video Studio 4.

Video is something that, as photographers, we seem to be delving into more and more. Whether that be capturing behind the scenes of photoshoots to create marketing material or simply a video of your photo adventures with friends, video is something many of us are either doing or may want to do. However, it’s not always as easy as that.

Image: Video Studio 4 is great for editing short clips for social media or uploading to YouTube. It...

Video Studio 4 is great for editing short clips for social media or uploading to YouTube. It will not, however, enhance your skills in front of the camera, as you will see later in this review!

The main problem with video content isn’t necessarily shooting the video, but the editing process. I am sure some of you have lots of video footage that you always intend to make into a video (as I have), but it never gets made. You start with good intentions, but the editing always seems to be the sticking point. For those who don’t edit very often or are new to video, editing can be hard and so much software lacks user-friendliness.

Video software usually comes with a steep learning curve too. Those that many consider the standard, Premiere and Final Cut, aren’t particularly user-friendly to the novice user. You will end up spending hours of your time watching YouTube videos to simply understand the basics of how to create a simple edit for either of those pieces of software.

ACDSee has set out to change that. With their latest software, Video Studio 4, you get powerful video editing built into a software that is intuitive and simple to use.

Opening it up

When you launch the software, the layout you see may resemble others. However, with ACDSee Video Studio 4, this layout is streamlined, and the most useful stuff is there, ready and waiting.

On the left side, there are 10 different options for you to work with. They are laid out in a way that guides you through the process of editing from start to finish.

Let’s go through them to see how you can use each one.

The left panel

Media

Video Studio 4 accepts a wide variety of formats for audio, video, and images. These are:

Image formats: JPG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG, HEIC
Audio formats: WMA, MP3, AAC, WAV, AC3, OGG, M4A
Video formats: AVI, MP4, WMV, FLV, MOV, TS, MTS, M2TS, ASF, M4V, MPG, MPEG

As you can see, the software can handle pretty much any format you want to use. It is great to see such a wide range of options available. It means you don’t need to worry about converting files before editing.

Image: Here is a variety of a png, JPEGs and HEVC iPhone footage. ACDSee Video Studio 4 handled them...

Here is a variety of a png, JPEGs and HEVC iPhone footage. ACDSee Video Studio 4 handled them flawlessly.

Captions

Adding in titles and captions is simple and easy. A wide variety of fonts and placement options means you can create a title for your videos quickly.

There are several different styles to work with when it comes to adding titles and captions.

Audio Recorder

If you make videos, sooner or later you will find yourself in a situation where you need to record a voiceover. With ACDSee Video Studio 4, you can record audio directly into the software, thus, keeping everything together. This means you don’t have to move between programs to record extra audio. A really fantastic little tool that you may not think is useful – until you need it.

Transitions

With 30 different transitions to choose from, you can easily apply transitions between video clips. Tweaking these to your desired length is simply a matter of dragging them onto the timeline. Some are cheesy, some are incredibly cheesy, but you have options. I am a simple “fade” guy, but if you want something different, you will definitely find it here.

Image: Whilst there are several to choose from, I rarely tend to look past a “fade” or...

Whilst there are several to choose from, I rarely tend to look past a “fade” or “fade to black” transition. If you do, there are several options.

Audio Effects

Adding fade in and outs to your audio tracks is simple and easy too. You can do it manually, but by using the presets and then tweaking to get the desired effect, you can really save some time. You’ll also get your content created much quicker and easier than ever.

It is easy to add fade in and outs with audio in the program.

Animations

New in this version of ACDSee Video Studio 4 is the ability to use keyframes to make custom animations. This allows you to create bespoke animations for your clips, which is great when using a still image in your video.

There are also some great presets to use as starting points, which you can fine-tune to get your clips just how you want them.

You can start with one of the inbuilt animations or start from scratch.

Behavior

Behaviors are customizable entrance and exit effects. You can use these on a clip to really emphasize the clips’ start and end. Simply tweak each effect to customize it to your taste.

I really didn’t see where I would use this, and it feels a little gimmicky. This is a feature most people will not use too often, but in the right hands, I am sure you can do something cool with it.

Filters

ACDSee Video Studio 4 gives you many filter options to tweak the look of your clip. When applied, these filters tweak things like the clips color, and exposure. There are also several creative effects for quick and easy effects for your footage.

There are several options to explore here. Which ones you choose depends on your taste and preference, but there is something to please most people here. You will no doubt find your favorites when you have used the software a few times, and these will become your go-to filters.

You can add multiple filters should you need or want to. They stack on top of each other in the clip, and you can edit them individually.

Image: This shows the exposure filter in action. It worked well on a clip that was underexposed. The...

This shows the exposure filter in action. It worked well on a clip that was underexposed. There are many others – some good, some that you probably won’t use.

Overlays

Overlays are effects that sit on top of your clips. Some of these, such as the animated hearts and bubbles, are an acquired taste and most of you probably won’t touch them (but will no doubt serve a great purpose for the young generation). However, light leaks and film scratches can give a great effect, depending on the look you are going for with your project.

Image: You can add filters to give your footage a certain look. Some are a little cheesy IMHO, but t...

You can add filters to give your footage a certain look. Some are a little cheesy IMHO, but there are some really nice ones, such as old film, which I used here.

Advanced Effects

This is where the software gets seriously impressive. Here you will find some features most commonly found in high-end editing software, yet they come with the ease and simplicity of use that makes Video Studio 4 so user-friendly.

Starting with one of the new features in Video Studio 4 is Remove Color. This is most commonly used for green screen work. This allows you to shoot against a green screen (or other color backgrounds) and remove it from the clip. You can then add in a background of your choice. This is great for YouTube videos, where you can buy a cheap green screen (or even use a green sheet) and then add in a background you created in Photoshop or similar. It can give you a host of creative options, is incredibly simple to use, and really powerful.

A new cool feature is Color LUTS. These allow you to add a variety of different color grade options to your footage to enhance their look.

Another new addition allows you to adjust the speed of your footage. You can create time effects such as slow-motion, or speed up the timing of your clip.

The last new addition is Mosaic, which is great to blur out items in clips, such as car number plates. This can then be sized and tweaked to match your clip. Again this is one of those tools that you probably won’t use very often, but when you do need it, you will be glad the software includes this handy tool.

Image: You can add LUTS to color your footage. Start with a preset or upload your own. For the short...

You can add LUTS to color your footage. Start with a preset or upload your own. For the short video I created, I used Tinsel.

Using ACDSEE Video Studio 4

It’s one thing to list all the features of a software, but it is another thing entirely to put it in practice. With this in mind, I put a few things together in ACDSee Video Studio 4.

The first project involved taking a couple of clips from a photoshoot on my iPhone and making them into a quick clip for Instagram. I also wanted to try out the screen recording software that comes with Video Studio 4 so I used this to make a quick tutorial on creating custom animations in the software.

Lastly, I wanted to test one of the key new features, Remove Color.

Green screen test

As this was one of the new features of the software, I was keen to test it out. However, rather than test this with a perfectly lit green screen, I tested it in a more common situation. At first, I tried against a blue block wall, not expecting it to work at all.

Then I used a green screen I borrowed from a friend. Now, this is by no means a high-end green screen. In fact, one of the stands fell to pieces when we were putting it up and had to be held together with tape! I also didn’t iron the green material (as you can see in the clip). It was a very cheap eBay purchase, but it is the type of setup the most people will use when starting with a green screen, so I wanted to see the results.

I used no specialist lighting in the setup either. Again, with the right type of equipment, this is super easy, both for the editor and the software. But, I wanted to push it a little…

Here are the results:

As you can see, the software worked pretty well on the green screen (just a slight issue with the reflection in my glasses) and surprisingly well on the blue wall, even if it didn’t manage to get it quite perfect. I think that a simple, smooth painted wall, with decent natural light, would work perfectly well for this type of work. Moreover, with an ideal studio lighting setup, it would work great.

The tutorial video

ACDSee Video Studio 4 also comes with software that allows you to record your screen, which I wanted to test to create a simple instructional video. As I am reviewing the software, I decided to make a quick tutorial on creating a logo animation. I simply selected the inbuilt Mic and Webcam and hit the record button.

When you have finished recording your footage, it drops it directly into Video Studio 4 ready to edit. Editing is then simple.

Here is the result:

If you are looking to get into creating tutorial videos for your photography, or tutorials for any software, Video Studio 4 is great.

The Insta edit

What I see as the biggest possible use of this software is for quick, simple edits for Instagram. This software is perfect for that purpose –one of those situations where you just want to put a few clips together and make an edit as quickly as possible.

In this example, I had three phone clips I wanted to use. I also had my logo and background I created in Photoshop. With all I needed ready to go, I jumped into Video Studio 4 for the first time.

It is super simple to use, and within minutes I had a completed video.

The first thing I wanted to do was to create a quick intro using my logo. I saved my logo as a .png file so that I could keep the background transparent so it would work with layers. Then I placed both the background and the logo into the software. To add some animation, I used the custom animation feature in Video Studio 4. By dragging and dropping this onto the logo, I was able to quickly add two 360-degree motions to the logo to add interest.

It was easier than I imagined. Within 20 seconds, I had my animated logo.

Then I added transitions to the start and end of the clip as well as adding an old film overlay. That was it. One minute and I had a finished animated logo. If I wanted to, I could export this clip and use it in all future videos as an intro. That saves even more time when creating clips like this.

Next, I needed to insert my clips. Again, it was simply a matter of drag and dropping them to get them onto the timeline. To trim the clips to the required length, you have two options:

drag the ends of the clip to where you want them, or
split the clip where you want the edit and delete the part that you want to trim.

I found this splitting quicker, and this is what I did for the rest of the clip.

With my clips trimmed, I also needed to remove the audio. There are two ways you can do this: Method one is to adjust the sound level of the clip by right-clicking on it and selecting Edit Audio. This is great when you want to adjust the sound levels of a clip. In this case, however, I didn’t need the audio at all, so split the clip into separate audio and video tracks. This way, I was able to delete the audio from the clip quite simply.

Image: You can either edit the audio level of clips or split the audio, which is what I did here. As...

You can either edit the audio level of clips or split the audio, which is what I did here. As I didn’t need sound, I simply deleted the audio from the clips.

I then added transitions between clips. While there are loads to choose from, you will probably find yourself going back to a select few. In my case, I have always tended to use Fade to Black or Cross Fade (called Fade in Video Studio 4).

For the last stage, I easily added a LUT to the footage. There are several LUTs in Video Studio 4, or you can upload them into the software. I decided to use the Tinsel LUT, which adds a color grade to the footage.

Adding music

When I watched the footage back, I decided I wanted to add some music. I used a track by A Himitsu, the details of which are as follows:

Adventures by A Himitsu, Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0

Music released by Argofox Music provided by Audio Library

Once I had the music in, I wanted to move my edits a little to match the music. Even though I had LUTs applied and fades in place, this was easy, and there was no lag when dragging clips around. The software felt speedy throughout using it, which was reassuring. With the music added, and clips altered, I just needed to add an audio transition to fade the music out, which I then tweaked until I was happy with it.

All complete, it was time to export my project. You can see the final edit below.

Export

Exporting is quick and easy and helped by Video Studio 4 holding your hand through the process. You can export and save to a file, or you can upload directly to YouTube or Vimeo. Just log in to YouTube and follow the instructions. In terms of time, the software exported quickly, and I didn’t notice a difference in export times compared to using other editing software.

You can also export to an animated gif, which is ideal for things like action sports clips.

As you can probably guess, the theme of simple and easy continues here. Video Studio 4 guides you through things in the beginning while allowing you the ability to be more creative as your confidence grows.

Image: Video Studio 4 guides you through the export process. You can export to file or upload direct...

Video Studio 4 guides you through the export process. You can export to file or upload directly to YouTube, which is what I did. It was simple and worked perfectly.

Support

ACDSee has some great training videos for their software on their website. For those of you new to video editing, these are well worth a watch to get you started with Video Studio 4. I am sure that more will be added over time, but they have everything you need to get started. There is also great technical support should you have any other issues.

Below is an example of their training videos with Director of Photography, Alex Watson. Before anyone says it in the comments, I know his delivery is a little better than mine.

Who is this software for?

If you use Premiere or Final Cut, you will have more than likely not even made it this far. It is not as fully featured as these programs and is in no way a replacement, but that is not the purpose of this software.

ACDSee Video Studio 4 is for those who are new to video editing or who just want to create quality content without having to spend large amounts of time learning to use software.

While Video Studio 4 is incredibly user-friendly for the beginner, it also contains many features for those wanting to delve deeper and use more advanced features such as the green screen.

In a nutshell, the aim of Video Studio 4 is to create professional videos quickly and easily for those new to video. It does this impressively well.
It is really competitively priced, and for those who are new to video and use PC, I can’t think of a better alternative.

Final thoughts

ACDSee Video Studio 4 is a simple to use, yet surprisingly powerful video editor. It is not a replacement for Premiere, nor is it intended to be. There are some really powerful features in here, but it also contains some stuff that I would personally never use. For example, some of the fades and overlays feel cheesy and overdone. Then again, as a teen starting out with video editing, these will more than likely be fun, and I am sure they will get used in creative ways. Maybe it’s more me being an old stick in the mud for the classics?

If you have been thinking about adding video to what you do, I would recommend you try Video Studio 4. This is simple to do as ACDSee have a free trial, allowing you to try before you buy. When it comes to purchasing, you also have options. You can purchase the software outright, or you can get it as part of the ACDSee 365 plan, which also includes ACDSee’s Photo Studio software for a simple monthly payment.

ACDSee is known for offering alternative software that is feature-packed, simple to use, with a great price tag. With Video Studio 4, ACDSee has definitely cemented that reputation.

ACDSee is a paid partner of dPS.

The post ACDSee Video Studio 4 Review – An Intuitive, Easy-to-Use Video Editing Software appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Carl Spring.

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