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Archive for July, 2018

Copper, Prisms, and Orbs, Oh My! – 3 Creative Techniques for People Photography

26 Jul

Have you ever wanted to shake things up a bit when it comes to people photography? Stretch your creative muscles? Try something new and different? Then this article is for you! We’ll explore three easy and relatively inexpensive creative techniques for people photography that will help you step outside the box and have a little fun.

3 Creative Techniques for People Photography - silhouette and a sun flare

One of my favorite techniques – shooting a silhouette with a piece of copper pipe for a little extra added shine.

1. Copper Pipe

A small piece of copper pipe can create a huge bang for your buck when it comes to people photography! My husband is a plumber, and I always ask him to save me spare pieces of copper pipe in different diameters to put to use in my photography.

If you don’t happen to be related to a plumber, head to your local home improvement store, and they’ll be able to cut a piece or two for you. I mostly use pieces that are 1-2″ long, and 1/2″-2″ in diameter.

3 Creative Techniques for People Photography - copper pipe flare two kids photo

From there, things are easy. Simply hold the piece of copper pipe in front of your camera lens as you’re shooting!

Depending on where you and your subject stand in relation to the sun, you’ll create all sorts of different effects ranging from a warm glow to semi-circles that look like they’re on fire. When I use this method I typically prefer to shoot in silhouette, which tends to produce a more defined glowing light.

I use manual focus coupled with Live View mode to more easily adjust the placement of the effect in interesting ways.

silhouette and flare - 3 Creative Techniques for People Photography

2. Glass Orbs

Another fun and unique tool for creating interesting photos of people, is to use a glass orb or crystal ball.

These orbs result in a kind of fish-eye effect that can be really fun in certain instances! I enjoy using these with kiddos, especially those who might need a little help warming up in front of the camera. Because you’re pointing your camera at the orb rather than directly at them, it can be a fun way to ease nervous kids into being in front of the camera.

3 Creative Techniques for People Photography - glass ball kids portrait

The final image is cropped and inverted as the image appearing in the glass orb is upside down.

Keep in mind that anything you photograph in an orb will be flipped upside down, so if you want the person to be right-side-up, you’ll need to adjust that in post-production. On the other hand, sometimes being upside down enhances the creative effect, so don’t be afraid to play around with the orientation to see which you prefer.

Some people prefer to keep the edges of the orb sharp and in focus, while other people prefer to shoot at a wider aperture to blow them out a bit. Again, when it comes to creative applications like this, there’s really no right or wrong way to do things, so feel free to play around and discover what you like.

3. Prisms

Yep, your favorite item from elementary science class can be a really fun tool to implement in photography too! Simply holding a prism directly in front of your lens and turning it as you’re shooting can create a whole variety of effects from subtle to intense.

3 Creative Techniques for People Photography - kid portrait and reflection from a prism

Once again, I typically use manual focus and Live View mode when shooting with prisms.

If you’re new to prisms, it can take a bit of time to learn how to achieve the different effects. Those can range from reflecting your subject to different places in the image (above), projecting small rainbows near your subject (below), to even showing your subject and what’s in front of them at the same time.

I’ve even seen people utilize prisms to show both a bride walking down the aisle and the groom waiting at the same time.

3 Creative Techniques for People Photography - girl laughing

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, copper pipe, glass orbs, and prisms are all really fun options for creative techniques and effects in people photography. All three require a bit of a learning curve, so don’t be afraid to play around and try different things.

You’ll discover what your aesthetic preferences are in no time! Have you tried any in-camera photo effects that you really enjoy? Please share your ideas in the comments section below.

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What would you want from a full frame Canon or Nikon mirrorless camera?

26 Jul

Nikon has finally confirmed the age-old rumor that its going to make a full frame mirrorless camera. It’s widely assumed Canon plans to do the same. But what are the things they need to get right?

We’re way beyond the point where the ‘mirrorless or DSLR’ question simply depends on whether size or autofocus is more important to you. But what are the other aspects of camera design and behavior that need to be in place for a camera to work for your photography?

We’d love to hear what you think, so please pick what would be the three most important factors for you. These needn’t be the things that would make you switch, just the things that they’d need to deliver, to make it even worth considering.

Or, if we’ve missed anything, mention it in the comments.

Have your say

$ (document).ready(function() { Poll({“pollId”:”5717924829″,”openForVoting”:true,”mainElementId”:”poll0″,”slot”:null,”isSingleChoicePoll”:false,”minNumberOfChoices”:1,”maxNumberOfChoices”:3}); })

What are the most important things you'd want from a Canon or Nikon mirrorless camera?
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High resolution sensor

High speed shooting

Good quality video

Sports-ready AF system

Easy-to-use AF system

Lifelike viewfinder

Responsive controls and menus

Configurable controls/interface

Pro video features such as waveforms / 10-bit capture

Small, affordable primes

Fast primes

Tele zooms

Full compatibility / full performance with existing lenses

Lightweight

Compact size

Substantial grip

Good battery life

16-bit Raw

Top plate settings display

Dual card slots

Effective weather sealing

In-body stabilization

Voting is easy – you pick your favorite products by dragging and dropping. You can pick up to three, and rank them in order of priority.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images

25 Jul

Post-processing is a particularly sensitive topic and there’s always a certain amount of processing versus non-processing discussions that take place after articles on the topic. It’s not hard to understand since how you choose to process your images is your artistic choice.

There’s not necessarily a right or wrong way to go about it but, that being said, there are certain “mistakes” that I notice quite regularly, especially amongst beginning photographers who aren’t quite able to achieve the looks they want.

Some of these mistakes are obvious while others, not so much. What they have in common, though, is that they are mistakes that most of us are guilty of making or have made at some point. Let’s dive in.

1. Not Considering Color

Let’s start with a mistake that the majority of us are or have been making, and one which isn’t necessarily that obvious to all of us: failing to understand color harmonies.

Color harmonies might be easier to control as portrait or studio photographers but as landscape photographers, we have to work with the conditions nature gives us. Sometimes, our job is to find order in the chaos and highlight the most interesting aspects of the landscape. Indeed, it’s not an easy task.

Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images - person in red jacket on a hill

In this image, I desaturated the blues to keep the focus on the person walking down the hill.

The discussions can quickly become controversial as we start talking about working with colors in nature. I’m not here to say what you should or shouldn’t do but I’ll give you a couple of ideas on how you can work with color in post-processing:

  1. Use the HSL sliders in Lightroom/Camera RAW to adjust the hues of certain colors to create a better color harmony in the image.
  2. Rhe HSL sliders can also be used to desaturate colors that are too dominant and take unnecessary attention away from the main subject.
  3. Use techniques such as Luminosity Masks or Saturation Masks in Photoshop to selectively work on the brightness, saturation and contrast of specific areas within an image.

The goal when working with colors should be to only highlight those that are in harmony with each other. I often bring out a color wheel to check that the colors in an image are in harmony and if I need to desaturate (or saturate) any of them.

Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images - photo with alpenglow mountain scene

Notice how all the colder tones are slightly desaturated and darkened to enhance the focus on the glowing mountain.

2. Only Making Global Adjustments

This brings us to mistake number two: you only make global adjustments. In other words, each adjustment you make is applied to the entire image.

Let’s say that you want to increase the green grass in one of your summer images. The traditional way of boosting the color is by using the Saturation slider. However, that will increase the saturation of the entire image and will in most cases lead to an oversaturated image; which results in visual chaos rather than a pleasant experience when viewing it.

In mistake number one, I briefly mentioned using the HSL sliders for making adjustments. By using this panel you’re able to affect only one specific color rather than the entire image. By using the Green Saturation slider you can target only the green colors and make an adjustment to only those hues.

Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images - lighthouse and green field or hill

It’s not only when adjusting the saturation that you should work selectively though. Personally, I make selective adjustments (often through Luminosity Masks in Photoshop) when working with color, contrast, brightness and pretty much any other adjustment you can think of.

3. Clarity at 100%

You might not want to hear this but increasing Lightroom’s Clarity slider to 100% is rarely a good idea, especially when it’s added globally. While I agree that adding clarity can often give an extra pop to the image as it brings out a lot of nice textures and details, it does more harm than good when it’s applied to the whole image. It also adds a significant amount of noise and lowers the overall quality of the file.

Let’s look at an example. In the image below I have increased the clarity to 100%. (Besides that, no other adjustments were made). I do like how it brought out a lot of texture in the mountain but the foreground now contains just as much texture and it’s competing with the mountain to grab your attention. In fact, the moss in the foreground is the natural place to look as it’s both bright and crisp.

mountain scene cloudy - Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images

If instead, I only add clarity to the mountain by using a Gradient Filter you’ll see that it makes a big difference compared to the image above. There’s still nice texture in the mountain but the foreground is now less crisp and working as a natural leading line.

Note: I prefer to rather use a mask in Photoshop and add it to only the mountain, as a gradient filter adds it to more places than what I want. But you can now use the brush tools to edit your gradient filter in LR as well.

Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images - same scene different edit

Clarity only applied to the mountain.

Keep in mind that you want the most important areas of the image to be the sharpest. Naturally, the viewer’s eyes are guided to the sharpest parts of the image. Also, there’s no point in adding clarity to soft surfaces such as a blue sky or silky water. These are often better left alone.

4. Leaving Dust Spots

Unless you’ve got a brand new camera or you’re a superstar when it comes to having clean equipment, it’s likely that you’re going to have at least a few dust spots on your images. This is especially true if you regularly photograph in rough conditions including wind, snow, rain, and sand.

Removing dust spots is super easy and takes no more than a few minutes, so really there is no excuse not to do so. You have to admit, it looks quite unprofessional if a beautiful image has a bunch of dust spots in the sky. Would you hang that on your wall?

Keep in mind that if you enlarge and print your images, even the smallest dust spots become visible. Therefore, it’s a good practice to zoom in 100% on the image to look for any possible dust spots. When you find one, simply use Lightroom’s Spot Removal Tool and move on to the next.

It can be tedious work if you’ve got an extremely dirt lens but it’s something that needs to be done.

Avoid These 4 Post-Processing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Images

Turn on “Visualize spots” to help you find dust.

Conclusion

To end this I want to say one final thing: the most important is that you’re happy with the images you capture and process. If you like highly saturated images, go for it. If you like tilted horizons, good for you.

Stay true to your style and vision and create the art you want – don’t let anyone decide what your images should look like.

Using selective adjustments I was able to darken only the brightest part of the image

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Nikon announces development of ‘industry-leading’ full-frame mirrorless system

25 Jul

Two days after publishing a teaser video, Nikon has officially announced the development of its long-awaited full-frame mirrorless system, which will use a new mount. Details are light at this point, with the only product mentioned being an F-mount adapter.

The company reaffirmed its commitment to DSLRs, saying that “Nikon will continue to lead imaging innovation with the launch of the new mirrorless camera and the continued development of Nikon Digital-SLR cameras as well as the impressive NIKKOR lens lineup. Soon, Nikon users will have two industry-leading camera systems to choose from, giving consumers the choice to enjoy the unique values that each system offers.”

More details on the new Nikon mirrorless system will be posted in the weeks to come on a dedicated website and, of course, here on DPReview.

What features are you hoping to see in Nikon’s new mirrorless system? Let us know in the comments below!

NIKON ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT OF NEXT GENERATION FULL-FRAME MIRRORLESS CAMERA AND NIKKOR LENSES—FEATURING A NEW MOUNT—THAT PURSUE A NEW DIMENSION IN OPTICAL PERFORMANCE

MELVILLE, NY (JULY 25, 2018 at 12:01 A.M. EDT) – Nikon Inc. is pleased to announce the development of a next-generation full-frame (Nikon FX-format) mirrorless camera and NIKKOR lenses featuring a new mount.

The new mirrorless camera and NIKKOR lenses that are in development will enable a new dimension in optical performance with the adoption of a new mount. The system is the result of Nikon’s unsurpassed optical and manufacturing capabilities gained through more than a century of imaging expertise. Proven reliability and trusted performance are core traits of Nikon Digital-SLRs, and decades of feedback from professional creators around the world has further contributed to the development of this system.

Through the development of this new mirrorless camera, Nikon reaffirms our commitment to providing photographers with the ability to capture images that are richer and more vivid than ever before.

Additionally, an F-Mount adapter is being developed that will enable the use of a wide variety of F-Mount NIKKOR lenses with the new camera.

Nikon will continue to lead imaging innovation with the launch of the new mirrorless camera and the continued development of Nikon Digital-SLR cameras as well as the impressive NIKKOR lens lineup. Soon, Nikon users will have two industry-leading camera systems to choose from, giving consumers the choice to enjoy the unique values that each system offers.

Content relating to this product is available for viewing at the following URL: http://www.nikonusa.com/mirrorlessiscoming. Please stay tuned for more information.

Details, including the release date and suggested retail prices, will be shared at a later date.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Simple Tips for Street Candid Portraits

25 Jul

Capturing candid portraits on the streets can be stressful. When you first go out with your camera and you decide to capture people’s reaction, you find yourself wondering how to approach this type of photography. First of all, candid portraits must show genuine expressions from the subjects. An inside look, an image, in the life of someone. Then, your best Continue Reading

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Fujifilm X-T100 review

25 Jul
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The Fujifilm X-T100 is the company’s least expensive X-series camera to include an electronic viewfinder. It shares most of its guts with the entry-level X-A5, including its hybrid autofocus system and 24MP APS-C CMOS sensor. Unlike that camera, and the X-T20 that sits above it, the X-T100 has a unique LCD design that allows it to both tilt and flip out to the side but not rotate.

Unfortunately, the X-T100 inherits more from the X-A5 than the X-T20, which means there are some compromises. Image quality is great, design and build quality are solid and battery life is excellent. Unfortunately, the camera’s overall performance is sluggish, its autofocus system cannot reliably track anything moving and its ‘4K’ video is more like an extended burst mode (quality is poor, as well).

For those who enjoy the Fujifilm shooting experience we recommend spending the extra $ 200 for the X-T20. If you want to stay in the same price range, competitive cameras from Canon, Olympus and Panasonic may be better choices in many respects.

Key Features:

  • 24MP APS-C CMOS sensor
  • ISO range of 100-51200 (fully expanded)
  • 91-point hybrid AF system
  • 2.36M-dot OLED electronic viewfinder
  • 3″ touchscreen LCD can both tilt up/down and flip outward 180°
  • 6 fps continuous shooting (up to 26 JPEGs)
  • Film Simulation modes
  • 4K/15p and 1080/60p video
  • 4K Burst and Multi Focus modes
  • Wi-Fi + Bluetooth connectivity
  • Interchangeable grip
  • 430 shots/charge battery life (per CIPA rating)

The X-T100’s feature set is impressive, as long as you’re not a serious videographer. The EVF is beautiful and the articulating LCD gives you the best of both worlds, being able to tilt and flip to the side. While the X-T100 has a larger buffer than the X-A5, it still fills up pretty quickly if you’re shooting Raw. Still, that’s more than enough for a camera that costs $ 600 (body only).

An important difference between the X-A5/X-T100 and the more expensive X-T20 is that the latter uses an X-Trans color filter on its sensor, rather than the traditional Bayer filter. Many would argue that X-Trans had an advantage over Bayer sensors when resolutions were lower, but with everything now at 24MP, we’re not convinced there’s much of a difference.

The X-T100 is sold as a body-only kit for $ 599 or with a 15-45mm equiv. F3.5-5.6 power zoom lens for $ 699. Black and ‘champagne gold’ bodies are available.

What’s new and how it compares

Find out what separates the X-T100 from the entry-level X-A5 and mid-range X-T20. Also, see how to compares with other inexpensive mirrorless cameras.

Read more

Body and controls

The X-T100 has an SLR-style body that’s well-built, along with a unique LCD design and high-res OLED viewfinder.

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What it’s like to use

We think the X-T100 is great for travel, landscape and portrait photography. If it’s video or fast action, you’ll want to steer clear.

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Image quality

The X-T100 produces excellent image quality, with beautiful out-of-camera JPEGs and a sensor with plenty of room for preserving highlights while brightening shadows.

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Autofocus

While adequate for static subjects, the X-T100 just can’t keep up with anything moving.

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Video

The biggest disappointment on the X-T100 are its video capabilities – or lack thereof.

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Conclusion

If you’re not planning on capturing action or video then the X-T100 is a good choice. If you are, then better choices exist.

Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Keep tabs on your Canon’s shutter count (and more) with EOS Inspector 2

24 Jul

Amazingly, there’s no built-in method to finding out how many shutter actuations your Canon DSLR has amassed. Thankfully though, there are third-party solutions to help get the job done.

One such solution is the recently-updated EOS Inspector 2, a MacOS app that’s improved upon the original version of EOS Inspector, which itself was a successor to the original ShutterCount app — all of which are created by independent Russian developer Konstantin Pavlikhin.

EOS Inspector 2 details the shutter actuations of 65 Canon cameras — a list of which you can find here — including Live View shots with supported cameras. The app also details the serial number, batter charge level, remaining shots estimate, and the installed firmware version.

To help you gauge how much longer you can expect your camera’s shutter to function, EOS Inspector 2 also shows the expected shutter life for your camera. It’s also possible to change the metadata fields the camera applies to images, including owners name, author, and copyright.

EOS Inspector 2 is currently available in the Mac App Store for an introductory price of $ 2.99. If you’re upgrading from the original EOS Inspector app, the update is free.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 shortlist revealed

24 Jul

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

AR 2665 and Quiescent Prominence. © ?ukasz Sujka (Poland)

The sunspot AR2665 was one of the most active regions in 2017 on the right you can see a phenomenal quiescent prominence extending from our star, the Sun. This type of prominence lasts for a very long time and its structure is quite stable. The photo is a composition of two images: one of the magnificent prominence and one of the Sun’s surface. The surface is much brighter than the prominence so it is a negative to reveal details of Sun chromosphere (spicules and filaments).

Budy Dlutowskie, Poland, 9 July 2017

TS Individual 102/1100 telescope, etalon from Lunt50ThaPT+B1200+BelOptik ERF+TV barlow x2, Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro mount, ZWO ASI 178 MM-C camera, 1100mm f/11 lens, 10ms exposure

Some of the best pictures of stars, planets and deep space have been revealed in the shortlist of the 2018 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. The annual contest is run by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich London, and is currently in its 10th year. Organizers say they received 4200 images from amateur, professional and young photographers in 91 countries.

Entrants compete across eight categories for the top prize of £10,000 (approx. $ 13,000) while the under 16s stand a chance of winning £1500. Shortlisted and winning entries form part of a book of the completion, and an exhibition is held at the National Maritime Museum, also in Greenwich, London.

The overall winner, and the winners of the Sir Patrick Moore prize for Best Newcomer and Robotic Scope Image of the Year, will be announced on 23rd October 2018.

For more information see the Royal Museum Greenwich website.

Press release

ROYAL OBSERVATORY GREENWICH’s “INSIGHT INVESTMENT ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2018” SHORTLISTED IMAGES TO THIS YEAR’S COMPETITION SELECTED

– WINNERS ANNOUNCED 23 OCTOBER 2018
– EXHIBITION OPENS 24 OCTOBER 2018

A mesmerising mosaic of the Great Orion and the Running Man Nebula, a magical scene of an Aurora Borealis exploding over the south coast of Iceland, a solar transit of the International Space Station between the massive sunspots AR 12674 and AR 12673; Royal Observatory’s Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 has received thousands of exceptional images once more. The competition, which is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich sponsored by Insight Investment and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine, is now in its tenth year and continues to go from strength to strength, receiving over 4,200 spectacular entries from enthusiastic amateurs and professional photographers, taken from 91 countries spanning the globe. This year has also seen a phenomenal increase in entries from our aspiring young astrophotographers.

Shortlisted images from this year’s entrants include a glorious Milky Way looming over a thunderstorm that lights up the sky, star trails sweeping over the extraordinary sacred altars in Inner Mongolia, a majestic image of deep space framed by the Breiðamerkurjökull, the glacial tongue that extends from the largest glacier in Europe, Vatnajökull.

The range of subjects is not just limited to our planet. Photographers have also captured sights from across our Solar System, galaxy and the wider universe; from the second largest planet, Jupiter, which lies 746 million miles away from Earth when the two are closest and over a billion miles apart at their most distant; the striking and often overlooked Nebula NGC 2023, at 4 light years in diameter it is one of the largest reflection nebulae ever discovered; to the bright IC 342 also known as the ‘Hidden Galaxy’ that sits near the galactic equator, an obscure area with thick cosmic gas, bright stars and dark dust.

The competition’s judges include renowned comedian and keen amateur astronomer, Jon Culshaw; Editor of BBC Sky at Night Magazine Chris Bramley; the Royal Observatory’s Public Astronomer, Dr Marek Kukula and a host of experts from the worlds of art and astronomy. The winners of the competition’s nine categories and two special prizes will be announced on Tuesday 23 October at a special award ceremony at the National Maritime Museum. This year’s and previous winning images will be displayed in a commemorative exhibition that will celebrate 10 years of outstanding astrophotography, at the National Maritime Museum from Wednesday 24 October. Winners and shortlisted entries will also be published in the competition’s official book, available on 24 October from bookstores and online. The awards ceremony can be followed live on Twitter #astrophoto2018.

Website: www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto
Twitter: @ROGAstronomers
Instagram: @royalmuseumsgreenwich
Facebook: Royal Museums Greenwich
Astrophotography Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/astrophotos

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

A Magnificent Saturn. © Avani Soares (Brazil)

In high resolution planetary photography having a good view of a planet is a key factor but also completely out of a photographer’s control. In this image the photographer was lucky to capture our second largest planet, Saturn, in all its glory. After stacking 4,000 out of 10,000 frames we can admire details such as the beautiful polar hexagon, the Encke Division and even the crepe ring.

Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 29 July 2017

Celestron C14HD Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, Powermate 2X + Filter Baader UV-IR cut Celestron CGE Pro mount, ZWO ASI 290 MC camera, 7820 mm f/22 lens, stacked from 4000 frames

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Andromeda galaxy. © Péter Feltóti (Hungary)

Andromeda Galaxy has always amazed the photographer. The dust lanes and bright star clusters in its arms, the emblematic galaxy shape of it, and the magnificent look of this great star city make it one of his most desired objects to photograph. This image was taken using a 200mm mirror and creating a three panel mosaic.

Mez?falva, Hungary, 20 October 2017

SkyWatcher 200/800 Newton astrograph telescope, SkyWatcher NEQ6 pro mount, Canon EOS 600D camera (modded), 800 mm f/4 lens, ISO 800, 3.79-second exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Aurorascape. © Mikkel Beiter (Denmark)

The conditions the night the image was taken were not ideal because of the bright moon lighting up the sky. The photographer managed to overcome this obstacle and capture the incredible Aurora Borealis above the fjord at Haukland in the gorgeous Lofoten archipelago, Northern Norway. The small pool of water with rocks made the perfect foreground and a natural leading line into the frame.

Haukland Beach, Norway, 26 February 2018

Canon EOS 5DS R camera, 17mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 2000, 8-second exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Cave Man. © Brandon Yoshizawa (USA)

Battling the light pollution in Malibu, California the photographer brilliantly framed our galaxy, the Milky Way, inside a sea cave, 25 miles away from the heart of downtown Los Angeles. In order to achieve this outstanding shot planning it ahead and waiting for the perfect conditions of low tide and clear skies was very important. The image required two exposures; one to capture the details of the dark cave and one for the Milky Way. Both exposures were taken back to back without moving the camera or changing the composition.

Malibu, USA, 28 March 2017

Nikon D750 camera, 14mm f/4 lens, ISO 1600, 119/1 exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Mosaic of the Great Orion & Running Man Nebula. © Miguel Angel García Borrella and Lluis Romero Ventura (Spain)

The Orion Nebula, also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976, is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, south of Orion’s Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae and is visible to the naked eye during a clear night sky. M42 is 1270 light years from our planet and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. It is estimated to be 24 light years across and it has a mass of about 2,000 times more than that of the Sun. This image is the result of the efforts of two astrophotographers using different equipment from their observatories. Located hundreds of kilometres away from each other, they chose the Orion Sword are as a common target to render.

The software suites used in this image are Maxim DL, Pixinsight and Photoshop CC 2017. Àger, Monfragüe, Spain, 2 January2017 Astrodon LRGB Gen2 I-Series True-Balance telescope, Astrodon LRGB Gen2 I-Series True-Balance, Titan 50 Losmandy & ASA DDM85 mount, SBIG & Moravian STL 11000 C2 & G3-11002 camera, 2720mm and 2840mm f/6.8 and f/8 lens, 42 hours exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Rigel and the Witch Head Nebula. © Mario Cogo (Italy)

The dark Namibian sky was the perfect location to capture the wonder of the Witch Head Nebula and Rigel. The Witch Head Nebula is a very faint molecular gas cloud which is illuminated by supergiant star Rigel, the seventh brightest star of the sky and the brightest star in the constellation of Orion.

Tivoli Southern Sky Guest Farm, Namibia, 20 August 2017

Takahashi FSQ 106 ED telescope, Astro-Physics 1200 GTO mount, Canon EOS 6D Cooling CDS Mod camera, 385mm f/3.6 lens, ISO 1600, 1, 3 and 6 mins total 5 hours exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

The Eagle nebula. © Marcel Drechsler (Germany)

The Eagle Nebula, also known as Messier 16, is a young open cluster of stars, surrounded by hot hydrogen gas in the constellation Serpens and lies at a distance of 7,000 light years from Earth. Taken at the Baerenstein Observatory in Germany, the photo is a RGB-Ha-OIII image and shows off the radiant red and blue colours of the nebula. In the centre you can spot the famous Pillars of Creation.

Baerenstein, Germany, 9 August 2017

Celestron RASA telescope, Baader narrow band filters, Celestron CGEpro mount, ZWO Asi1600mmc camera, 620mm f/2.2 lens, ISO 139, 10.5 hours exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Thunderstorm under milky way. © Tianyuan Xiao (Australia)

A glorious Milky Way looms over a thunderstorm that lights up the Florida sky. The photographer wanted to show the great contrast between stable (Milky Way) and moving (thunderstorm) objects in the sky.

Perry, USA, 21 August 2017

Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera, 25mm f/3.2 lens, 30/1 exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Aurora Borealis on the coast of the Barents sea. © Michael Zav’yalov (Russia)

From the city of Yaroslavl in Russia to the coast of the Barents Sea in the Arctic Circle, a party of three travelled 2000 kilometers to capture the magnificent Northern Lights. The photographer stayed in the village of Teriberka in the Murmansk Oblast district for five days. After four days of bad weather, with heavy snow and thick clouds the sky finally cleared on the last day and the Northern Lights appeared in all their glory.

Murmansk/Teriberka, Russia, 28 February 2017

Nikon D750 camera, 20mm f/4 lens, ISO 2000, 30/1 exposure

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Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 shortlist revealed

24 Jul

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

AR 2665 and Quiescent Prominence. © ?ukasz Sujka (Poland)

The sunspot AR2665 was one of the most active regions in 2017 on the right you can see a phenomenal quiescent prominence extending from our star, the Sun. This type of prominence lasts for a very long time and its structure is quite stable. The photo is a composition of two images: one of the magnificent prominence and one of the Sun’s surface. The surface is much brighter than the prominence so it is a negative to reveal details of Sun chromosphere (spicules and filaments).

Budy Dlutowskie, Poland, 9 July 2017

TS Individual 102/1100 telescope, etalon from Lunt50ThaPT+B1200+BelOptik ERF+TV barlow x2, Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro mount, ZWO ASI 178 MM-C camera, 1100mm f/11 lens, 10ms exposure

Some of the best pictures of stars, planets and deep space have been revealed in the shortlist of the 2018 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. The annual contest is run by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich London, and is currently in its 10th year. Organizers say they received 4200 images from amateur, professional and young photographers in 91 countries.

Entrants compete across eight categories for the top prize of £10,000 (approx. $ 13,000) while the under 16s stand a chance of winning £1500. Shortlisted and winning entries form part of a book of the completion, and an exhibition is held at the National Maritime Museum, also in Greenwich, London.

The overall winner, and the winners of the Sir Patrick Moore prize for Best Newcomer and Robotic Scope Image of the Year, will be announced on 23rd October 2018.

For more information see the Royal Museum Greenwich website.

Press release

ROYAL OBSERVATORY GREENWICH’s “INSIGHT INVESTMENT ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2018” SHORTLISTED IMAGES TO THIS YEAR’S COMPETITION SELECTED

– WINNERS ANNOUNCED 23 OCTOBER 2018
– EXHIBITION OPENS 24 OCTOBER 2018

A mesmerising mosaic of the Great Orion and the Running Man Nebula, a magical scene of an Aurora Borealis exploding over the south coast of Iceland, a solar transit of the International Space Station between the massive sunspots AR 12674 and AR 12673; Royal Observatory’s Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 has received thousands of exceptional images once more. The competition, which is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich sponsored by Insight Investment and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine, is now in its tenth year and continues to go from strength to strength, receiving over 4,200 spectacular entries from enthusiastic amateurs and professional photographers, taken from 91 countries spanning the globe. This year has also seen a phenomenal increase in entries from our aspiring young astrophotographers.

Shortlisted images from this year’s entrants include a glorious Milky Way looming over a thunderstorm that lights up the sky, star trails sweeping over the extraordinary sacred altars in Inner Mongolia, a majestic image of deep space framed by the Breiðamerkurjökull, the glacial tongue that extends from the largest glacier in Europe, Vatnajökull.

The range of subjects is not just limited to our planet. Photographers have also captured sights from across our Solar System, galaxy and the wider universe; from the second largest planet, Jupiter, which lies 746 million miles away from Earth when the two are closest and over a billion miles apart at their most distant; the striking and often overlooked Nebula NGC 2023, at 4 light years in diameter it is one of the largest reflection nebulae ever discovered; to the bright IC 342 also known as the ‘Hidden Galaxy’ that sits near the galactic equator, an obscure area with thick cosmic gas, bright stars and dark dust.

The competition’s judges include renowned comedian and keen amateur astronomer, Jon Culshaw; Editor of BBC Sky at Night Magazine Chris Bramley; the Royal Observatory’s Public Astronomer, Dr Marek Kukula and a host of experts from the worlds of art and astronomy. The winners of the competition’s nine categories and two special prizes will be announced on Tuesday 23 October at a special award ceremony at the National Maritime Museum. This year’s and previous winning images will be displayed in a commemorative exhibition that will celebrate 10 years of outstanding astrophotography, at the National Maritime Museum from Wednesday 24 October. Winners and shortlisted entries will also be published in the competition’s official book, available on 24 October from bookstores and online. The awards ceremony can be followed live on Twitter #astrophoto2018.

Website: www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto
Twitter: @ROGAstronomers
Instagram: @royalmuseumsgreenwich
Facebook: Royal Museums Greenwich
Astrophotography Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/astrophotos

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

A Magnificent Saturn. © Avani Soares (Brazil)

In high resolution planetary photography having a good view of a planet is a key factor but also completely out of a photographer’s control. In this image the photographer was lucky to capture our second largest planet, Saturn, in all its glory. After stacking 4,000 out of 10,000 frames we can admire details such as the beautiful polar hexagon, the Encke Division and even the crepe ring.

Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 29 July 2017

Celestron C14HD Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, Powermate 2X + Filter Baader UV-IR cut Celestron CGE Pro mount, ZWO ASI 290 MC camera, 7820 mm f/22 lens, stacked from 4000 frames

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Andromeda galaxy. © Péter Feltóti (Hungary)

Andromeda Galaxy has always amazed the photographer. The dust lanes and bright star clusters in its arms, the emblematic galaxy shape of it, and the magnificent look of this great star city make it one of his most desired objects to photograph. This image was taken using a 200mm mirror and creating a three panel mosaic.

Mez?falva, Hungary, 20 October 2017

SkyWatcher 200/800 Newton astrograph telescope, SkyWatcher NEQ6 pro mount, Canon EOS 600D camera (modded), 800 mm f/4 lens, ISO 800, 3.79-second exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Aurorascape. © Mikkel Beiter (Denmark)

The conditions the night the image was taken were not ideal because of the bright moon lighting up the sky. The photographer managed to overcome this obstacle and capture the incredible Aurora Borealis above the fjord at Haukland in the gorgeous Lofoten archipelago, Northern Norway. The small pool of water with rocks made the perfect foreground and a natural leading line into the frame.

Haukland Beach, Norway, 26 February 2018

Canon EOS 5DS R camera, 17mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 2000, 8-second exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Cave Man. © Brandon Yoshizawa (USA)

Battling the light pollution in Malibu, California the photographer brilliantly framed our galaxy, the Milky Way, inside a sea cave, 25 miles away from the heart of downtown Los Angeles. In order to achieve this outstanding shot planning it ahead and waiting for the perfect conditions of low tide and clear skies was very important. The image required two exposures; one to capture the details of the dark cave and one for the Milky Way. Both exposures were taken back to back without moving the camera or changing the composition.

Malibu, USA, 28 March 2017

Nikon D750 camera, 14mm f/4 lens, ISO 1600, 119/1 exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Mosaic of the Great Orion & Running Man Nebula. © Miguel Angel García Borrella and Lluis Romero Ventura (Spain)

The Orion Nebula, also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976, is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, south of Orion’s Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae and is visible to the naked eye during a clear night sky. M42 is 1270 light years from our planet and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. It is estimated to be 24 light years across and it has a mass of about 2,000 times more than that of the Sun. This image is the result of the efforts of two astrophotographers using different equipment from their observatories. Located hundreds of kilometres away from each other, they chose the Orion Sword are as a common target to render.

The software suites used in this image are Maxim DL, Pixinsight and Photoshop CC 2017. Àger, Monfragüe, Spain, 2 January2017 Astrodon LRGB Gen2 I-Series True-Balance telescope, Astrodon LRGB Gen2 I-Series True-Balance, Titan 50 Losmandy & ASA DDM85 mount, SBIG & Moravian STL 11000 C2 & G3-11002 camera, 2720mm and 2840mm f/6.8 and f/8 lens, 42 hours exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Rigel and the Witch Head Nebula. © Mario Cogo (Italy)

The dark Namibian sky was the perfect location to capture the wonder of the Witch Head Nebula and Rigel. The Witch Head Nebula is a very faint molecular gas cloud which is illuminated by supergiant star Rigel, the seventh brightest star of the sky and the brightest star in the constellation of Orion.

Tivoli Southern Sky Guest Farm, Namibia, 20 August 2017

Takahashi FSQ 106 ED telescope, Astro-Physics 1200 GTO mount, Canon EOS 6D Cooling CDS Mod camera, 385mm f/3.6 lens, ISO 1600, 1, 3 and 6 mins total 5 hours exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

The Eagle nebula. © Marcel Drechsler (Germany)

The Eagle Nebula, also known as Messier 16, is a young open cluster of stars, surrounded by hot hydrogen gas in the constellation Serpens and lies at a distance of 7,000 light years from Earth. Taken at the Baerenstein Observatory in Germany, the photo is a RGB-Ha-OIII image and shows off the radiant red and blue colours of the nebula. In the centre you can spot the famous Pillars of Creation.

Baerenstein, Germany, 9 August 2017

Celestron RASA telescope, Baader narrow band filters, Celestron CGEpro mount, ZWO Asi1600mmc camera, 620mm f/2.2 lens, ISO 139, 10.5 hours exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Thunderstorm under milky way. © Tianyuan Xiao (Australia)

A glorious Milky Way looms over a thunderstorm that lights up the Florida sky. The photographer wanted to show the great contrast between stable (Milky Way) and moving (thunderstorm) objects in the sky.

Perry, USA, 21 August 2017

Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera, 25mm f/3.2 lens, 30/1 exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Aurora Borealis on the coast of the Barents sea. © Michael Zav’yalov (Russia)

From the city of Yaroslavl in Russia to the coast of the Barents Sea in the Arctic Circle, a party of three travelled 2000 kilometers to capture the magnificent Northern Lights. The photographer stayed in the village of Teriberka in the Murmansk Oblast district for five days. After four days of bad weather, with heavy snow and thick clouds the sky finally cleared on the last day and the Northern Lights appeared in all their glory.

Murmansk/Teriberka, Russia, 28 February 2017

Nikon D750 camera, 20mm f/4 lens, ISO 2000, 30/1 exposure

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9 Recommended Accessories for Your New Sony a7R III or a7 III Camera

24 Jul

The Sony a7 III is arguably the hottest and most popular full-frame DSLR on the market right now. It packs much of the power of Sony’s other full-frame powerhouses, the a9 and a7R III, into a camera that’s significantly more affordable.

If you’ve added the Sony a7III (or the a7R III) to your camera kit recently, here are 10 accessories you might want to buy as well to help you capture better photos and/or videos.

Side note: This article excludes specific lenses, flashes, and camera bags as recommended accessories since they’re hot topics in their own rights, but make sure you get some of those as well.

Sony accessories 01

1. Screen Protector

Both the Sony a7R III and a7 III are certainly very solidly built. You probably won’t need to buy additional protective accessories to shoot in most conditions (unless, of course, you plan on shooting in extreme conditions).

However, it’s a good idea to invest in a screen protector for the rear LCD screen. They’re cheap, relatively easy to apply, and they let you use Sony’s limited touchscreen functions. Just make sure to buy a screen protector that fits your camera model.

2. SD cards

Make sure you invest in at least a couple of SD memory cards to store your images in-camera. If you have multiple memory cards, a memory card wallet or holder is also great to keep them organized.

Size-wise, bigger is better given the larger file sizes of these cameras, so consider getting 32GB or 64GB cards. If you plan to shoot 4K video or take advantage of your camera’s blazing fast frames per second shooting, make sure you choose memory cards with a high write speed, such as this SanDisk 64GB USH-II SD card.

9 Recommended Accessories for Your New Sony a7R III or a7 III Camera - SD cards

3. Camera strap

Both the Sony a7 III and a7R III come with dedicated Sony camera straps. They get the job done but can be difficult to remove in a situation where you don’t want a camera strap in your way (ie. shooting on a tripod). Thus, many photographers opt to purchase third-party camera straps.

The Peak Design Slide camera strap is especially popular right now since they have the ability to easily connect and disconnect from your camera as needed. Also worth checking out are Black Rapid camera straps, especially if you have two camera bodies and need a Double Camera Harness.

Photographers looking for a more fashionable alternative may also be drawn to the HoldFast Money Maker camera strap, which is handmade from genuine or vegan leather.

4. Lens filters

Both the Sony a7 III and a7R III require detachable camera lenses that you have to buy separately. This article won’t discuss specific lenses, but no matter which ones you end up with, you should definitely have a UV filter for each of your lenses.

Not only do UV filters minimize atmospheric haze, but they also protect the surface of the lens from scratches, dust, and most other external damage.

Other handy photography filters include a polarizer and neutral density filter. These are especially applicable if you plan to shoot outdoors.

9 Recommended Accessories for Your New Sony a7R III or a7 III Camera

5. External hard drive

Today’s cameras are packed with more megapixels and high-resolution video recording capabilities than ever before. While this can be a great thing for creatives, it can be a bane on your digital media storage. This is especially true if you have the Sony a7R III, which is capable of producing massive 42-megapixel images.

To avoid filling up your computer, you’ll want at least one external hard drive, or ideally three total to make backups of your images after shooting. When selecting an external hard drive, consider getting a “tough” or version such as the LaCie Rugged Portable Hard Drive that will give you some extra protection, since hard drives can be notoriously easy to damage.

9 Recommended Accessories for Your New Sony a7R III or a7 III Camera - computer and hard drives

6. Spare batteries and a battery charger

It’s somewhat arguable if these two accessories are needed. In case you haven’t heard, Sony drastically improved the battery life in the new Z-batteries that ship with the Sony a9, a7R III, and a7 III.

In my experience with the A7rIII, these new batteries last as long as the ones that power the Canon 5D Mark III. I find that I rarely bust through a whole battery in a full day of shooting still photography. However, it’s always wise to carry a spare battery or two, just in case.

As for the battery charger, you will probably need to buy one if you have the a7 III since that camera is reportedly not shipping with a battery charger in the box. Or, you can simply juice up your camera using the next recommended accessory.

7. External battery charger

One of the most refreshing parts about switching from a DSLR to a Sony mirrorless camera is the fact that you can charge your camera without removing the battery. Simply plug your camera into a wall outlet or external battery via the USB-C port to start charging.

Best of all, you can operate your camera while it’s being charged! As far as external battery packs go, Anker makes stellar options such as this one that is slim and capable of charging not only your camera but also your cell phone.

8. Tripod

Most photography articles include a tripod as a definite “must-have” in your camera kit, but I think this is a very arguable accessory, especially as camera technology improves. If you plan to shoot architecture, real estate, products, or in low-light scenarios, you definitely need a sturdy tripod such as this beastly Manfrotto tripod that is huge, but rock solid.

However, if you’re more of a run and gun shooter or looking for a more minimalist camera setup, you can get away with something like the Manfrotto BeFree travel tripod series, or even a GorillaPod.

In particular, I’ve found the GorillaPod to be ultra convenient. It’s compact and flexible enough to throw into your bag and have it as an option to quickly stabilize your camera as needed (if at all). If you do get a GorillaPod, be sure to get the 3K or 5K option, as any smaller models are often not strong enough to support Sony a7 cameras, or DSLRs in general.

Sony accessories - photographer with pack and tripod in the mountains

9. Timelapse trigger

If you’ve owned a previous model of Sony camera such as the a7R II or an a6000, you probably used the built-in Sony apps. These unlock a host of extra features such as built-in time-lapse.

Unfortunately, Sony removed those apps from both the a7R III and a7 III cameras. That means you can’t easily do built-in time-lapses anymore. Fortunately, there are other options such as the MIOPS Smart Trigger.

In Conclusion

There you have it, nine recommended accessories (besides lenses, flashes, and bags) that you should get for your Sony a7 III or a7R III camera. Would you add any accessories to this list? Please let us know in the comments below.

The post 9 Recommended Accessories for Your New Sony a7R III or a7 III Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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