May « 2019 « 360Photography

RSS

Archive for May, 2019

On the trail of the best Texas BBQ with the Sony a7R III

07 May

Sony’s a7R III is a high-resolution flagship camera, and a showcase for some of the company’s most innovative imaging technologies. In addition to 42MP resolution and advanced on-sensor autofocus with face and eye tracking, the a7R III also offers 4K and high-speed HD video capture.

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_3448927577″,”galleryId”:”3448927577″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) });

Photographer Chad Wadsworth has been working with the a7R III and Sony’s FE 24mm F1.4 GM in Texas, on the hunt for the best barbecue in the state. From traditional family-run joints in Lockhart, to the trendy new generation pit-masters of Austin, Chad captured the experience every step of the way. Watch our video for a flavor of the experience, and check out a gallery of his images, above.

This is sponsored content, created with the support of Amazon and Sony. What does this mean?

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Nissin MG80 Pro flash announced with command/slave modes, modeling light and more

07 May

On May 1, Nissin Digital unveiled its new MG80 Pro hot shoe flash with integrated Nissin Air System (NAS) radio commander and slave modes, support for multiple battery types, and a built-in color LCD. The GN60/83Ws flash packs a Quartz flash tube, heat-resistant head, 8W LED modelling light, removable Fresnel lens, and compatibility with both standard AA NiMH and Lithium-ion (Type 14500) batteries.

When used with four Li-ion Type 14500 batteries, the flash offers a 1.5s recycling time, which increases to 3.8s when used with four rechargeable AA batteries. Users can expect around 280 flashes when using four 650mAh Li-ion batteries, or around 320 flashes when using four 2450mAh rechargeable batteries.

The MG80 Pro supports TTL, manual control, and HSS, has a transmission range up to 100m (328ft), and a zoom mode covering focal length options from 24mm to 200mm. Other specs include a metal shoe with ring lock, tilt/swivel head, support for micro SD and SDHC cards for firmware updates, and a weight, without batteries, of 520g (18oz).

The flash will be available for Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic and Olympus cameras. According to Flash Havoc, Nissin plans to release the MG80 Pro in ‘late May,’ but a price has not been revealed.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

How to Make Interesting Abstract Smoke Photos

07 May

The post How to Make Interesting Abstract Smoke Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

How would you like to learn a little “photo magic?” A magician not wanting to reveal his secrets might tell you his trick was all done with “smoke and mirrors.” The expression speaks of a kind of deception used to fool the viewer. No fooling here though, as you’ll learn the technique. You really will photograph smoke and later, mirror your image to add even more interest. So it really is smoke and mirrors. Shall we begin?

Can you see the Firebird? How was this done? Read on for the tricks to this abstract magic.

Tools for the trick

Here’s what you will need to create your photo:

Camera

Most cameras will work for this kind of photography. Being able to use manual control and manual focus will make things easier. You will also need to be able to fire a flash mounted off-camera using either a wired or wireless method. A lens which will allow you to focus on an object a few feet away will be best. The shots shown here were done with the Canon “nifty fifty”, a 50mm f/1.8 prime lens mounted on a Canon 50D camera. For a relatively inexpensive lens, it is very sharp.

Abstract Smoke Photography - Use stick Incense

A package of 40 incense sticks from the dollar store is probably enough for a lifetime of smoke photography.

Flash

You will want an external flash you can mount off-camera. The pop-up flash on the camera won’t work for this. You will be mounting the flash off to the side of your shot so it illuminates the column of smoke pointing perpendicular to the direction you’re pointing the camera. Having a light stand on which you can mount it will be helpful. You also don’t want any of the light to hit the background or flare into the camera, so a snoot which will direct the beam of the flash at the smoke column works well. You may also be able to fashion a “barn-door” arrangement with cardboard (or even tape). Whatever works to keep the light only on what you want – the smoke column.

Tripod

The flash will provide plenty of light and also freeze the action, so you really aren’t concerned about motion blur. The advantage of a tripod is simply to help you compose and frame the shot and provide some consistency. If you don’t have a tripod or simply prefer to handhold your camera, that’s okay too.

To better see the smoke and also give you more flexibility later in editing, a black or very dark background will work best. Black posterboard, black cloth, the black side of a reflector, or whatever you have should work. Because the column of smoke you’ll be photographing will be relatively small, you won’t need anything very large.

Smoke-producing object

Incense, the kind that comes in stick form, works very well for this kind of smoke photography. It’s cheap, burns for a long time, and produces just the kind of smoke needed.

Location

Unless you have an absolutely calm day with no wind, shooting outdoors probably isn’t going to work. Even the slightest air currents will affect your smoke pattern. Shooting indoors, particularly in a modern home, might be a good way to test your smoke detectors but having the alarm go off just as you’re getting started with your work is rather disruptive. I found shooting in the garage to be a good option. It was dark, the air was still, and after the session, it was easy to open the door and clear the smoke. Just be aware of the requirements needed; still air, no smoke detectors, (or at least temporarily disarmed ones), the ability to make the room dark, and a door or window you can open afterward to clear the smoke afterward, and you’ll be set.

Setting up

The diagram above shows a basic setup. Put your camera on a tripod a couple of feet from where you will place the incense stick. Taping the stick to light stand may allow you more flexibility in positioning it in the frame, but whatever you use, you will want to frame the shot so you put just the tip of the stick at the bottom of the frame, leaving a couple of feet above for the column of smoke. Whether you use a portrait or landscape orientation with your camera is up to you, just remember the smoke will drift around. Being a little loose with the framing isn’t a bad idea, you can always crop later.

The background should be a couple of feet behind the incense stick. If you light properly, it won’t show anyway so this isn’t crucial.

Position the flash on a light stand so it’s to the side of the camera and points perpendicularly to the camera angle. You will be side-lighting the smoke. Some photographers also put a reflector on the opposite side to bounce a little light on the other side of the smoke. You can experiment and see if you like that. The shots here use only the one flash. As mentioned above, what is crucial is that no light fall on the background nor flare into the camera lens. A snoot is the easiest means of achieving this.

Abstract Smoke Photography - smoke photo straight out of camera

The smoke patterns are constantly changing and no two will be alike.

Camera and flash settings

In the darkened room where you’re working, use a flashlight or other dim lighting so you can still see the incense stick and do your framing. Focus on the tip of the stick, then turn off the autofocus so the focus stays locked. Leaving on autofocus will almost guarantee frustration, as while shooting, the camera lens may hunt, trying to find and focus on the drifting smoke.

Shoot in Raw mode, (which you usually do, yes?) Doing so will allow greater editing flexibility later.

Set your camera around ISO 200, f/8 and about 1/60th of a second for starters.

Leave the flash off.

Make a shot before lighting the incense in the darkened room.

You should get a totally black frame and that’s what you want with no flash.

Now put the flash in manual mode and set it to about half power. You should have already connected it to the camera with a cord or perhaps set up a radio trigger so it will fire when the shutter is tripped.

Make a shot with the flash on and you should be able to just see the tip incense stick. If so, you’re now ready to get smokin’.

Abstract Smoke Photography - The Seahorse

This image is straight out of the camera. Note the tip of the incense stick at the bottom right.

Making your photos

Light the incense stick, blow out the flame and a thin column of smoke will rise from the tip.

Make a shot and check it. Is it focused?

Be sure, as you don’t want to make a whole series only to later find out they aren’t sharp. If you need to adjust your focus or perhaps go to a smaller f/stop for more depth of field, do so now.

Also, check the exposure. If things are too bright, drop the flash power or reduce the ISO. If the smoke is too dim, do the opposite. You want to clearly see the smoke, but nothing else.

If all looks good, keep making shots. Occasionally wave your hand near the smoke column or gently blow on it to vary the smoke pattern. You will want some variety so you can later choose your favorite shots.

Abstract Smoke Photography - Smoke photo mirrored and colored with a gradient

This is the same image as the one before it, but horizontally mirrored and colored with a gradient.

Basic editing

What program you want to edit with is up to you. You will want to adjust the blacks so as to leave only the white smoke details. Then adjust the whites, highlights, shadows, exposure, and contrast by eye, tuning the shot to your liking.

If there are elements you wish to eliminate, paint them out with a black adjustment brush or use layers and masks in Photoshop if that is your preferred technique.

Abstract Smoke Photography - horizontal and vertical mirroring

The Gordian Knot – This image was mirrored both horizontally and vertically and then colored with a gradient.

Mirrors and colors and abstracts, oh my!

You got the smoke, now what about the mirrors? Yes, the white smoke patterns on a black background are interesting but you can take this much further. I used Corel Paintshop Pro, but Photoshop would work too. Or for that matter, any photo editor that supports layers will work. (Keep in mind Lightroom does not support layers so while you can edit, colorize, and do other things with it, the mirroring part is beyond its capabilities).

Here are the basic steps:

Open in your basic edited smoke image. Select the entire image and copy it.
Paste the copied image on top of itself as a new layer.
Mirror (flip) the upper layer horizontally or vertically. (In Photoshop, Edit, Transform, and Flip Horizontally or Vertically).
Change the blending mode on the upper layer to Lighten. You will now see the upper layer mirrored and superimposed over the lower layer and some interesting patterns will be created.

Alien Gas – A straight smoke shot later colored green.

Abstract Smoke Photography - Negative version of smoke photograph - Purple Haze

Purple Haze – Now, take the image above, reverse it so it’s a negative, (the black becomes white and the green becomes purple), then mirror it both horizontally and vertically.

You can move the layers so they overlap each other in various ways and change the pattern. You might want to make the canvas larger and put the mirrored image next to itself or even have multiple layers with the image flipped both horizontally and vertically.

You’ve now entered the realm of abstract art and anything goes.

Maybe you’d like to add some color?

Create another layer at the top of the stack and fill it with a gradient. Now use the Overlay or Soft Light blending mode and watch your smoke take on the colors of the gradient.

If you’d like to hand-paint the smoke, create a blank layer at the top. Turn the blending mode to Overlay, and using the Brush tool (and a color of your choice) to paint the smoke, watching the white smoke take on that color while the black is left untouched.

Try putting a photo on the upper layer and switching the blending mode on that layer to Overlay.

Abstract Smoke Photography - The Witch Doctor

Like Rorschach inkblots, what you see is very individual. I call this one – The Witch Doctor

Something I find fascinating with these abstract smoke compositions is that they resemble Rorschach InkBlots. Everyone interprets them differently and can see different images in what are, after all, just random patterns of drifting smoke. The titles on these shots are what I interpret.

What do you see?

Smoke in other photos

You may have reasons to want to include smoke in your photos that is not an abstract interpretation. The same basic technique can work with side lighting.

The “Smokin’ Hot Peppers” was lit with two flashes, one on either side of the vase and an incense stick placed in and behind the peppers in the vase.

Abstract Smoke Photography - Smokin Hot Peppers

A flash on either side of the subject was the only difference here, otherwise, this image uses the same technique.

Pseudo-Smoke

Here’s one last trick that could work for you when you want something that looks like smoke but you’re in a no-smoking workspace.

Get some dental floss, fray it a bit, and tie it to a penlight or small flashlight letting the light shine down the length of the floss and onto your subject.

Now make a long exposure during which you keep the floss constantly moving. Smokeless smoke, just another option to have in your bag of photo tricks.

Abstract Smoke Photography - Pseudo Smoke Effect - Simulated Smoke

Looks like smoke, but it isn’t.

Conclusion

You’ll find that photographing smoke is all about the lighting. Side or backlighting will work best and a dark background helps the smoke show up better. Beyond that, it’s simply a matter of experimenting.

Give it a try and make a little photo magic. And share with us in the comments below!

The post How to Make Interesting Abstract Smoke Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

This background removal tool just got a fancy new Photoshop plug-in

07 May

The online background removal utility Remove.bg has now made its way directly into Adobe Photoshop in the form of a plug-in.

Until now, the only way to use Remove.bg was to open up the web app in your browser and upload an image. Now, after downloading the plugin through Adobe Exchange, you can easily remove the background from a portrait, product photo or any other image with the click of a button or two.

Based on a past experience with the web-based version, Remove.bg isn’t perfect by any means, but it’s impressive considering how quickly it removes the background and it serves as a nice starting point at the very least, as it can create a layer mask of the cutout.

The Remove.bg plugin relies on the Remove.bg API, meaning pricing and usability is anything but simple. Even with the free plan, you’ll need to sign up for a Remove.bg account, which in turns provides you with an API key. With the free account, you’ll be limited to 50 background removals with images no larger than 625 x 400 pixels (0.25MP) and a single 2500 x 1600 (4MP) ‘HD’ image per month with the plug-in.

You’re still free to use the web app version of Remove.bg free of charge, but the convenience of the plug-in is going to cost you if you’re planning on working with larger images. Remove.bg offers monthly subscription plans, as well as pay-as-you-go plans, each of which have different tiers depending on how many images you plan on processing and how large the files are.

A screenshot of the pay-as-you-go pricing options for Remove.bg

Below are a few example images provided by and processed via Remove.bg:

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_3469250141″,”galleryId”:”3469250141″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) });

You can find more information regarding pricing on the Remove.bg pricing page and download the Photoshop plug-in via Adobe Exchange.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Easy Beginners Tips for Long Exposure Photography

07 May

The post Easy Beginners Tips for Long Exposure Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Christian Hoiberg.

Learning about Neutral Density Filters and how you can use them to slow down the shutter speed was a big turning point in my landscape photography. I instantly fell in love with the soft and dream-like feeling I was able to achieve – it was like giving life to my not-so-interesting images.

I’ve learned a lot since that day, and while I don’t only do Long Exposure Photography anymore, it’s still an important part of my work and it’s something my students often like learning about. After all, it has the power to instantly transform an otherwise standard image into something more fascinating.

As with anything else, it takes a lot of practice to master a subject but I want to help you on the way by sharing some crucial tips that will make life just a little easier.

1. Prefocus when using Neutral Density Filters

There weren’t a whole lot of articles and tutorials to study when I started exploring with Neutral Density filters. This meant that it took a bit of struggle to find a solution to some of the mistakes I made. One of the things I simply couldn’t figure out was why all my images with a 10-stop filter were blurry…

After some back and forth I understood that it was because I used autofocus.

Remember that a 10-Stop ND Filter is essentially a piece of black glass. Try looking through it with your eyes when the sun is low on the sky and I’ll bet you can barely see anything. This is the case for the camera as well. Most cameras aren’t able to properly set the focus when dark ND Filters are used – just as they aren’t able to automatically focus at night.

The solution is to switch over to manual focus. I know this sounds tedious to some of you but here’s an easy workaround if you prefer autofocus:

Mount the camera on a tripod and find your desired composition
Focus roughly one third into the image (depends on the scene and desired look)
Change to Manual Focus (read your owners manual to figure out how it’s done with your camera/lens)
Place the Neutral Density filter in front of the lens
Calculate the shutter speed and take the picture!

Since you switched to manual focus, the camera isn’t going to try to focus after you attach the ND filter; instead, it’s keeping the focus you set.

Note: Remember to repeat the process when you’re changing compositions and to switch back to autofocus when you’re done using the filters.

2. Avoid light leaks by covering the viewfinder

The biggest frustration I’ve ever had when working with long exposures was the mysterious purple glow that appeared in the center of my images.

It turned out that this is caused by light leaking through the viewfinder and the solution is quite simple: cover it up!

Some professional DSLR cameras have a built-in ‘curtain’ that you can close by flipping a small switch next to the viewfinder. If your camera doesn’t have this, I recommend using a piece of cardboard to place in front of the viewfinder.

It’s also possible to purchase covers custom made for your camera.

Now it should be said that these light leaks don’t always occur. It’s most common when:

You’ve got a light source directly behind you (such as the sun or a streetlamp)
You’re using a shutter speed of 1 minute or longer

I’d still make it a habit to cover the viewfinder whenever you’re using a shutter speed of 20 seconds or more.

3. Remote Shutter + Bulb Mode = Sharp Images

One of the biggest challenges you’re going to experience when experimenting with Neutral Density filters and slow shutter speeds are getting razor sharp images. There are many factors that can result in the images being unsharp; one of the most common is camera shake.

The maximum shutter speed of most DSLR cameras is 30 seconds. In order to use a shutter speed longer than this, you need to use a function called ‘Bulb’. In Bulb mode, the image is being captured for as long as the shutter button is pressed.

You can imagine (and try if you don’t believe me!) that manually pressing the shutter button for one or two minutes is going to cause a significant amount of vibration to the camera. What does that lead to? Blurry images.

A remote shutter is absolutely essential in this case. You can find a cheap version but I recommend a remote shutter that has:

the possibility to ‘lockup’ the button
an LCD display that shows time

Conclusion

Long Exposure Photography is a lot of fun and it’s a great way to improve your understanding of how the camera fundamentals (ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed) work together. Since we’re working with shutter speeds of up to several minutes there are many factors that might result in failure but the results can be mesmerizing.

The tips I’ve shared in this article gives the solution to some of the most common obstacles and I hope they will remove some frustration for you. If you’d like to learn everything you need to know in order to capture beautiful images using slow shutter speed, be sure to take a look at my eBook ‘The Ultimate Guide to Long Exposure Photography‘.

The post Easy Beginners Tips for Long Exposure Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Christian Hoiberg.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

Polaroid Originals launches ‘Upside Down’ Stranger Things OneStep 2 camera, I-Type film

06 May

In honor of Season 3, Stranger Things has teamed up with Polaroid Originals to release an ‘Upside Down’ Polaroid OneStep 2 and accompanying Stranger Things-branded film.

Officially named the ‘Polaroid Originals OneStep 2: Stranger Things Edition,’ there’s nothing notably unique about the OneStep 2, aside from its unique colorway and upside down branding, a nod to the ‘Upside Down’ realm in the Stranger Things universe.

Polaroid Originals says the camera features a fixed-focus lens, a built-in flash, USB charging and a self-timer. The battery life is rated for up to 60 days and the lens has a focusing range from two feet to infinity. It works with Polaroid Originals i-Type film as well as 600 instant films.

Speaking of films, Polaroid Originals is also selling a special edition film. The color I-Type film comes in packs of 8 and features 16 different designs inspired by various locations throughout Hawkins, the town where Stranger Things takes place.

The Color I-Type Film Stranger Things Edition is sold individually or in packs of three for $ 16.99 and $ 48.00, respectively. The Polaroid Originals OneStep 2: Stranger Things Edition is sold on its own for $ 109.99 or with a three-pack of film as a ‘Starter Set’ for $ 157.99.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Field Test: Could the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 be the Most Versatile Wildlife Lens?

06 May

The post Field Test: Could the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 be the Most Versatile Wildlife Lens? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Shreyas Yadav.

Wildlife photography is exciting as well as challenging. Imagine you are photographing a Tiger at a distance and suddenly the Tiger attacks a deer! Alternatively, imagine you are in an African savanna where you are photographing a grazing herd of Elephants at a distance, and right after that, you see a beautiful Eagle on the nearby tree. To photograph these type of objects, you need to have a wide range of zoom lenses. You may have experienced this while on a Jungle Safari. Changing a lens while in the field can be difficult.

Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 lens mounted on a camera, zoomed to 500mm

It looks like Nikon has considered the needs of Wildlife photographers and produced a versatile, fixed-aperture telephoto lens at a quite reasonable price; the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6.

The Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 lens, priced at around US$ 1400, weighs about 2300g (81.02oz). The best part is the lens has a fixed maximum aperture of f/5.6. In addition to a fixed aperture, there are three extra-low dispersion glass elements (ED), powerful vibration reduction (VR) – making this lens optically superb – and it also comes with a tripod collar. The lens is stable when mounted on a tripod, and it comes with HB-71 lens hood. The lens also works great with both full-frame (FX) and crop-sensor (DX) Nikon cameras. The telephoto zoom range and beautiful optics make this lens perfect for birds, nature and wildlife photography.

This field review of the Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 lens, looks at how the lens performs from the perspective of a nature and wildlife photographer. It examines how this lens performs in the wild, as well as looking at the lens controls and ergonomics. This is important, especially if the lens has to be used from dawn to dusk in the wilderness.

This lens is versatile for photographing wildlife, mainly because of it’s:

Capability to photograph small and large objects
Convenience to capture both nearest and farthest objects, thanks to the zoom range!
Excellent compatibility with full-frame (FX) and crop-sensor (D) cameras, which means you can use the same lens on either of your camera bodies
Compatibility with the latest Mirrorless cameras (requires an FTZ lens adapter)
Travel-friendly size
Excellent vibration reduction
Convenient grip when you hold the lens collar

Specifications

Focal Length

The focal length of the lens is from 200mm to 500mm. Being FX lens, effective focal length on FX bodies is 200mm to 500mm. On DX Nikon bodies, the effective focal length is approximately 300mm to 750mm.

The lens is capable of photographing small objects such as this Ground orchid (at focal length of 310mm)

Image of large-sized Elephant approaching from a distance of around 300ft (110 yards) at a focal length of 200mm.

Image of large Elephant approached closer at a focal length of 500mm.

Small sized Oriental white-eye bird photographed at a close distance of 8ft at a focal length of 500mm.

Aperture

The maximum aperture is f/5.6, and the minimum aperture is f/32. The Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 is an E-type lens (Electromagnetic diaphragm mechanism). It provides better control on the aperture blade as compared to mechanical linkages. This feature is compatible with newer cameras; however, with older DSLR cameras, an aperture is fixed to f/5.6.

Extra-low dispersion glass elements

The lens has 3 ED glass elements. ED glass element helps in reducing chromatic aberrations and offers overall better image quality.

Minimum focusing distance

This is the minimum distance between the lens and an object at which the lens focuses. The Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 has a minimum focusing distance of 2.2m (7.2ft). For wildlife and bird photography, this is a perfect minimum distance. With a minimum focusing distance of 7.2ft, the lens acquires perfect focus in most cases.

Autofocus

Thanks to Silent Wave Motors (SWM), the lens focuses quietly and with accuracy. The lens indicates this feature as AF-S. While you autofocus, you can instantly override autofocus by manual focus and vice versa (M/A). The lens can be focussed manually (M) as well.

Teleconverter support

The Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 is compatible with TC-14E III (1.4X) series teleconverters when used with DSLR cameras which can autofocus up to f/8. During low-light conditions, autofocus performance of the lens along with TC-14E III is satisfactory and usable. With the TC-17E (1.7X) and TC-20E (2X), aperture goes beyond f/8, hence autofocus is not possible. For this reason, it is not recommended you use the Nikon 200-500 lens with TC-17E and TC-20E teleconverters.

Camera compatibility

Full-frame (FX) cameras, crop-sensor ( DX ) DSLR cameras and Nikon mirrorless cameras (Optional FTZ mount adapter required) are compatible with the lens. This E-type lens (Electronic diaphragm) will work with the following cameras (you can change the lens aperture on these camera bodies): D5,D500, D4,D4S, D3, D3s , Df, D850, D810, D810A, D800, D750, D700, D610, D600, D300, D7500, D7200, D7100, D7000, D5600, D5500, D5300, D5200, D5100, D5000, D3400, D3300, D3200, D3100.

On older versions of cameras, such as Nikon D200, you cannot change the aperture. The aperture will be fixed to f/5.6.

Filters (Optional)

The Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 accepts 95mm screw-on filters. When carrying this lens into the wilderness, I recommend you have a filter. It protects the front glass element from dust, mild drizzle and minor scratches. I use the filter while photographing and do not see any significant loss in image quality. However, make sure you use a high-quality lens filter to ensure minimal loss in quality.

Vibration reduction

This lens has excellent vibration reduction performance. I have achieved sharp images at 1/30th during low light conditions. Nikon claims to have the benefit of 4½ stops. I always keep the VR “ON.”

There are two VR Modes – Normal and Sports. Normal mode works fine for me while hand-holding the lens on the ground, and also in the safari vehicle. I tend to keep it set to Normal mode.

Image of Warbler bird with Vibration Reduction OFF. Feathers are not clearly visible Exif: 500mm f/5.6 1/400s ISO 2000, VR OFF

Image as it is from a camera with Vibration Reduction ON. Feathers are sharp. The lens is a handheld. Exif: 500mm f/5.6 1/400th ISO 2000, VR ON

Weight

Weighing in at approximately 2300g (81.2 oz), the lens initially feels somewhat heavy. However, as you start hand-holding this lens regularly, you get used to the weight. I am now able to handhold this lens for two to three hours without any issue.

Lens Hood (included)

The HB-71 Lens hood is a plastic hood. It is a decent hood but slightly big to fit in the bag. However, I do use a hood on the lens mainly to protect the front glass element of the lens from minor bumps, tree twigs, and rain.

Lens Size

The lens Diameter is 4.2inches (108 mm), and the length is 10.5 inches (267.5 mm) at 200 mm zoom. The lens fits perfectly in mid-sized camera bags such as Lowepro Flipside 400 with the body attached. You can invert and fit the lens hood as well.

Controls and ergonomics

Controls

Lens controls

The Nikon 200-500mm f/4.5 has five controls:

M/A – M

M/A means while autofocusing you can override it with manual focus if required.

M is a full-manual focus.

Full/Infinity – 6m

Full allows the lens to focus on the entire focusing range. I use Full all the time and have never missed the focus.

Infinity – 6m option limits the focusing range of the lens. The lens will focus from 6m to infinity. Any object which is closer than 6m won’t be in focus. I recommend using the Full option.

VR ON – OFF

Vibration reduction(VR) ON-OFF. Set this to ON. I set it to ON even when mounted on a tripod.

NORMAL-SPORTS

Set the VR type to NORMAL. For wildlife and birds, NORMAL mode works great. NORMAL mode works great while I am hand holding the lens and even in the safari jeep.

LOCK 200

The Lock 200 button locks the lens to 200mm. You cannot zoom the lens if it is locked. The lock switch is perfect for when you are traveling, and your lens is packed. It avoids unintended zooming during travel.

Ergonomics

The lens is a bit heavy, but as you continue to use it, you will be able to easily handhold it. I found when hand holding the lens, removing the lens collar or rotating it upwards made it easier to hand hold. However, hiking with this lens can be hard due to its weight, especially carrying it up the mountains.

The zoom ring is smooth with an excellent rubber grip. The zooming feels smooth and is precise. However, the manual focus ring feels slightly loose. But, I do find the quality of manual focus to be excellent.

The Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 fits in a mid-sized camera bag. However, to accommodate the lens and camera, a larger bag is required. The only awkward part is the lens hood. Either you can invert the lens hood and keep in the bag or use a slightly bigger bag. I use this lens with Lowepro Flipside 300 (only lens), and the Lowepro Flipside 400 when the camera is attached.

Weather sealing

The weather sealing of this lens is quite decent, and I have used this lens in a moderately dusty forest and some drizzle. The lens offered good weather sealing. Make sure you clean the lens after using in dust and drizzle. I clean the front element, outer lens barrel, and mount. I use a Nikon Lenspen Pro kit for cleaning which is easy to use and travel-friendly.

The overall construction of the lens is good. It can handle minor bumps. However, some parts are made up of plastic, making the lens construction not as rock-solid as pro-grade lenses.

Qualities of the lens from the perspective of nature and wildlife photographer

Focusing speed

Wildlife actions happen in a few seconds. Focusing speed is most critical for wildlife photography. The speed of focus with Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 is good. When the light conditions are good – such as morning and early evening – this lens focuses fast and accurately. I use back button autofocus. I have used this lens in forest, safari, grasslands, and drizzle. Here is how this lens exactly performs in the field –

The lens focuses superbly in the following light conditions and scenarios:

Bright light such as morning and evening light
Drizzle and normal dusty environment
Birds in flight (moving at a pace of slow to medium and not fast)
Animals and birds behind a tree or grass (behind clutter)
Animals in action (moving at a pace of slow, medium and fast)
Smaller birds and wildlife such as sunbirds, frogs, and grasshoppers (when they are slow moving or stationary)

Hawk cuckoo bird in the rain. Low light image and photographed from a safari vehicle.

Flight of fast-diving paradise flycatcher. Lens focussed on this fast-moving bird in good light conditions.

This bird was behind the grass. There was significant clutter in front of it and the lens focussed accurately on the bird.

Focus performance of the lens is average in following light conditions and scenarios:

Early morning or late evening light – this is the time when action happens for leopards, tigers, owls and nocturnal creatures. You may need an external light such as flashlights or headlights (not camera flash)
When the weather is rainy or dusty the lens focus performance is satisfactory
If the wildlife action is very fast, such as a Kingfisher bird diving for fish or a swallow bird flying over water
If wildlife is very small in sizes such as sunbird, crab or bees and moving

Average focus performance when photographing small objects such as a flying kingfisher at a distance.

A Peacock photographed when it was raining. The lens managed to autofocus decently during low light and rainy conditions.

Focus performance of the lens is poor in following light conditions and scenarios:

When the light conditions are poor such as night and heavy rain.
When birds in flight are at a very long distance against the plain and cluttered background – Lens struggles to focus in this case. This type of focus hunt I have experienced while photographing birds in flight against blue sky at longer distances.

Crested Hawk Eagle chasing Heron. The birds were at a longer distance and photographed during very low light conditions. Lens focus performance is a bit on the poor side.

The River Tern was flying at a long distance against a plain blue background. In this type of scenario, the lens struggles to focus on the main object.

Low light performance

This is a tricky one! As it depends also on how your camera performs in low light and how you photograph. Many of the latest cameras by Nikon are good enough to shoot in low light. Hence there are only two things which have an impact on the final image: lens low light performance and your shooting style.

All-in-all, lens performance is somewhere between good to average in low light. But if you follow the below techniques, you will be stunned with your images. It is so good! I have followed these techniques and achieved awesome images in low light :

Use a bean bag or tripod
Use aperture f/5.6
Since there is no external light source (such as flash) use shutter speeds from 1/30th to 1/60th of a second
If the lens is struggling to autofocus quickly, focus manually
Shoot in raw so that you can recover and process images effectively
Shoot at a reasonably high ISO (depends on your camera) but generally ISO 2000 to 4000 can provide a great balance between image quality and noise.

Here is an image I shot in almost darkness during a late winter evening. I used a bean bag, the aperture was set to f/5.6 and shutter speed 1/30s. The ISO was around 2500.

A Leopard during a late winter evening. Focus performance was decent during low light. Exif: 480mm f/5.6 1/30th ISO 2500

This type of performance I was able to repeat multiple times.

In short, in very low light scenarios the lens performance is average. But if you master it using the above-mentioned techniques, you can achieve stunning images.

A range of focal lengths

The Nikon 200-500mm captured the market aggressively in a short time. Its focal length is one of the prime reasons. This range is optimum for wildlife photography and is also a great focal length range on both full-frame and crop-sensor cameras. 500mm is a great range for birds, while the 200 to 400 focal length is great for large and smaller size wildlife.

If you are using a full-frame camera, you will get a focal length of 200mm to 500mm. If you are DX shooter, the effective focal length you will be getting is around 300mm to 750mm. 750mm is superb for bird photography. 300mm is great for animals and other wildlife. I use Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 on crop-sensor ( DX format ) body. When I am on a safari with the effective focal length of 300mm to 750mm, I can easily photograph eagles, woodpeckers, small forest birds, tigers, elephants, and snakes.

A Rat snake appeared in the bushes which were very close to me. I zoomed out the lens to capture this beautiful snake. Focal length: 200mm.

Flamingos are very sensitive to a boat. Hence, I have to keep a good amount of distance from them. I captured this image from a long distance while I was in a boat. The long zoom range helped to photograph this distant yet beautiful scene. Focal length: 480mm

The one caveat is you can’t capture wildlife when they approach close to your safari gypsy or boat. I needed to switch to the smaller telephoto lens such as Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 in this scenario.

Tigress in the dusty grassland. Lens managed to focus in a dusty environment. This image is captured with Nikon 200-500 f/5.6

As the Tigress approached very close, I switched to the 80-200 f/2.8 lens, as it was a close encounter.

Best aperture, image sharpness, and colors

When the lens is wide open, the aperture is f/5.6 from 200mm to 500mm. At 200mm, the f/5.6 aperture is a bit slow, but at 500mm f/5.6 is excellent. This is where you are going to use it the most.

I use the lens wide open 70% of the time. I use the lens wide open for slow-moving birds and wildlife. If the objects are relatively close, I get sharp images using f/5.6.

In some of the instances, such as birds in flight, fast-moving wildlife, and wildlife at distance, I stop down the lens to f/7.1 or f/8. This is mainly to extend the depth of field.

Shoveler in flight photographed at f/8 – sharp flight.

Shoveler bird captured at f/5.6, sharpness at this aperture is great

If the objects are at a shorter distance and not moving very fast, aperture f/5.6 produces nice colors and sharpness. If the objects are moving fast, use f/8 to achieve sharp images. While you adjust your aperture for image sharpness also ensure you have enough shutter speed to freeze the action.

Here are the techniques to get sharp images with this lens every time. I have used these techniques in the wild and repeatedly produced a sharp image:

Set lens aperture to f/5.6 or f/8 depending on the subject
Set the shutter speed to at least 2x times the focal length (for example, if you are at 500mm, use a shutter speed at least as a 1/1000s )
In case you are not able to use a high shutter speed because of low light, either use Vibration Reduction along with stable support such as a tripod or bean bag (shutter speeds can be as low as 1/30th)
Use continuous autofocus with focus areas as a d9 (AF-C + d9) or Single autofocus with focus area as S (center point) ( AF-S )
In case required to increase the ISO values. ISO values ranging from ISO 2000 to ISO 4000 (This depends on how well your camera can handle the noise). But for most of the latest Nikon cameras, this is a sweet spot

These are the main aperture values useful in wildlife and nature photography. I have found f/5.6 to f/11 the most versatile. But don’t limit yourself to these numbers. Try different aperture values based on the creative signature you want to make with your image.

Manual focus override

Manual focus override (M/A button) is useful when the lens struggles to autofocus. Usually, this happens if there is clutter in front of the main object. Examples are grass or leaves in front of birds and animals. In this case, use the manual focus ring to focus. The manual focus ring feels a bit loose, but the quality and precision of manual focus are good.

Manual focus override is also useful in low light conditions. In fact, I highly recommend when there is low light or if wildlife is in clutter, use manual focus override. You will end up getting perfectly focussed images every time.

Place Image 26: Image of a jackal. Initially, I tried using autofocus. Since there was much clutter in front of Jackal, I used the manual focus override. The transition was smooth, and the precision of the manual focus worked well.

Vibration reduction

The Vibration Reduction on the Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 is great. I achieved great results when handholding this lens at a shutter speed of 1/30th in low light. When you are in a safari or hiking, this type of great VR is good to have so you can make sharp images while hand holding the lens.

Place Image 27: Barking deer photographed at 1/30 s shutter speed from the safari vehicle. (Exif: at 360 mm, f/5.6, 1/30s, ISO 1600 )

Recommendations

Pros:

Maximum aperture of f/5.6 for entire zoom range
Excellent Vibration reduction performance
Focal length is perfect for wildlife and nature photography
Good focusing speed and image quality
Most affordable price for a super telephoto lens

Cons:

Hood size is big to fit in the small bag
Some people may find this lens a bit heavy
Bigger filter (95mm) – it adds some price. If you don’t want to use a filter, then you can skip it.

Conclusion

The Nikon 200-500 f/5.6E VR is a beautiful all-around lens. It is perfect for animals and birds. If you are looking for the most versatile lens for wildlife and nature, the Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 E VR is for you! Especially with the price of $ 1400, no other lens comes close.

It is compatible with all current Nikon DSLR and mirrorless cameras. Nikon 200-500 f/5.6E VR is your best friend in the wilderness. You will purely enjoy photographing the wildlife with Nikon 200-500 f/5.6E VR. Good luck!

Which telephoto lens do you use? What do you think about Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 lens? Please do let us know in the comments below.

The post Field Test: Could the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 be the Most Versatile Wildlife Lens? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Shreyas Yadav.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

Should You Do Photography Work For Free?

06 May

The post Should You Do Photography Work For Free? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Carl Spring.

Sharon McCutcheon

There are normally two points of view that come up when you bring up this topic:

Version 1: Never, Oh my god, you are ruining the industry, NOOB! Exposure doesn’t pay the bills. You wouldn’t expect a doctor to work for free. You are the reason photographers can’t earn a decent living.
Version 2: Yes. You need to gain experience and you can’t expect people to pay for it. You are not the reason that people can’t make money at photography. If you don’t need the money, then why should you charge people? Do what you want to do and ignore everybody else.

Well, as with all things, it is a bit more nuanced than the arguments you hear on internet forums. Free is happening at all levels of photography all the time. From those of you just starting out, taking photos of your friends kids, all the way through to superstar photographers doing a favour for a friend at an advertising agency. Sometimes it pays to shoot for free. Sometimes you just want to shoot for free, and no matter what some might say, there is not always an issue with this.

Chase Jarvis wrote a great blog post about this years ago that always stuck with me. If it doesn’t give you two out of the following three things, then it is probably not worth shooting:

MONEY
PORTFOLIO
RELATIONSHIPS

It is a simple approach that really makes it simple to help you figure out whether you should shoot for free. Now, as much as I wish I were at a Chase Jarvis point in my career, I am not. Therefore I changed it; does it pay me, build me contacts or build my portfolio? It has done me pretty well so far. So with this fresh in your mind, let’s look at how you can use free to your advantage.

Pay to play

I will be honest here; if somebody is willing to pay me my rates to photograph paint drying, I will do it.

As much as social media floods our feeds with photographers “living their best life” (god I hate that phrase) and choosing only jobs that feed their soul, most of them will at one point or another (and many still have to) take whatever job pays them. They just conveniently forget to add it to their Insta story. Sure, you only put work in your portfolio that you want to shoot, but if they pay and you need the money, you take the job.

I have been paid to photograph things that will never make my portfolio, but they meant I get to pay my mortgage. The old saying goes that money can’t buy you happiness, but it can give you freedom. If by doing boring jobs it means you can travel to shoot the project you always wanted to, then you get your creativity out of the job, just in other ways. However, this article is about when you should shoot for free, so let’s move on to the most obvious reason to work for free – to build your portfolio.

Headshots are something I always charge for now. I have a solid portfolio and there is no reason for me to do them for free any more.

Building your portfolio

You need to build a portfolio to get clients to pay you for your work, yet you need clients to get a portfolio. It is the classic chicken and egg scenario. When you are starting out and thinking that you might want to have people pay you for your services, you need to be able to show you can do the work you want to do. The simple solution is to offer photography in return for portfolio material.

This option also means you may be able to get into situations with specific people and locations that you may not have ever been able to get to on your own or paid to shoot with your current portfolio. In the music world, I shot for free a lot. I kept all rights to the images and sent them to a picture agency to make money that way. Whilst the website I shot for did not pay; they got me access.

Shooting for an agency is unlikely to get you stage-side access at a music festival. Shooting for the right publication, for free, can. The ability to get five minutes with a person that would look great in your portfolio is priceless. Unless there is similar work in your portfolio, you will struggle to get paid for this. This is the kind of free work that leads to more paid work and builds you a kick-ass portfolio.

Shooting for an agency would never have got me here. Shooting for free for a “cool” blog though, did.

The thrill

Let’s not forget, that being published is a major buzz, especially when you start out. Unfortunately, many photographers used to being paid for assignments can forget this. You should never underestimate this type of boost to your self-confidence.

My photography started in Skateboarding. It was the reason I picked up a camera. I shot everyone who came into my area and sent photos to magazines all the time. Then, something amazing happened – the magazine published one!

Very little replaces the thrill of being published for the first time. A photo I shot was in the magazine I had loved since childhood. That was the best feeling ever! Who cares if I got paid? I was young, and I had done the one thing I always wanted to do – get featured in a magazine. This one thing was a signal I could actually do something with my camera. I was good enough to get featured alongside photographers I looked up to. I still have that magazine in a box somewhere, and I will never, ever get rid of it.

However, this type of free shoot treads a very fine line. When you shoot for free, you are always the right price. Try not to get into making this a habit, especially for the same publication.

Testing, 1, 2, 3

Even more established photographers sometimes need free shoots. It could be as simple as testing a new camera or trying a new technique. I am planning on hiring a couple of cameras soon and I will time it for when I have a couple of jobs on a weekend. However, I will also offer a free shoot for someone during my time with the camera.

When someone has paid for your services, asking them to bare with you whilst you scratch your head and try to figure out which menu setting you need is not a way to build their confidence or your profile. That means I can only really experiment with the camera later in the shoot when I know I have some great images for the client.

By organizing a free shoot, however, I can spend all of the shoot experimenting with the camera, testing it how I want. The person who receives the free shoot will not mind (or will simply have to grin and bare) the time I spend working out which menu setting I need.

After a quick play, this little guy captured my attention. Next step is to hire one and arrange a free shot so I can put it through its paces.

Time for print/gym membership/whatever

Bartering has been around since the dawn of time. The exchange of modeling in exchange for the final images has been around almost as long. You get great images for your portfolio, and the model also gets the same great images for theirs.

However, there are more creative ways in which you can trade your photography for services. As in the portfolio building, this can again be a way to build a portfolio but also get something for your time, albeit not money.

I really need to get back in shape and haven’t been to a gym in years. I am getting older and feel I need to get a level of fitness back. Now, I could simply go out and pay for a gym membership. Instead, I am going to approach gyms in my local area and attempt to trade a photoshoot in exchange for a yearly gym membership.

Why do this? Well, I’ll save money by not paying for a membership for starters. I have my camera gear, and if I book them in for a time when I have no other work on, all I am losing is the time for the shoot (plus processing). It also helps me build a portfolio in this area of photography, which like my fitness, is lacking.

The gym may be interested as they will get some shiny new photos for their website/social media and it costs them nothing apart from letting someone use the already open gym (plus a 30-minute induction session).

Now, yes, I could get paid more for a promotional shoot. However, how many companies respond to a cold call from someone with no portfolio in this area, asking them if they want to pay hundreds of pounds for a photo shoot? In my experience, very few. Then, if other gyms see my great work and the response it gets, then they will be in touch. This is when I can use that shoot to leverage getting paid.

Networking

Depending on what photography you do, there will be people you need to impress. This could be business owners, record companies, or chairpersons. By doing work for these people, it can be a way to get where you want to be faster.

As an example, you could shoot family portraits. One family you shoot are wearing clothes from the local children’s clothing boutique. The shop asks if you would mind them using one of your images on their social media accounts. How should you go forward?

The most important thing is that you must get written permission from the family to use the images in this way. But, assuming you have done this, why would you give them the image for free?

There are two ways of looking at this, and neither is wrong. You could let them know your commercial rates and let them decide whether they want to use it. Alternatively, you could allow them to use it for free, but make sure they tag you in the posts. You could even get them to include your photography flyer in the bags of their customers. This means you get great, targeted advertising for your photography. Also, when the company does want to arrange a photo shoot, you will be the first name that comes to mind.

Charity

Photograph things you believe in. If I can help out a charity I believe in, then I will do it for free. This is the karma side of photography. If your talent can help people, then you should do it. As much as it won’t pay the bills, working for a charity will give you a feeling that money can’t replace.

So that gives you some good reasons to shoot for free. Do you have any more? Or am I completely mad for ever suggesting people should shoot for free? Post a comment and lets see what people think.

The post Should You Do Photography Work For Free? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Carl Spring.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

DPReview TV: Drone photography in the Faroe Islands

05 May

We’re excited to announce that UK landscape photographer Nigel Danson has become a regular contributor to DPReview TV, producing a monthly show. Widely respected for his landscape work, Nigel runs one of our favorite YouTube channels, where he shares his expertise with the photography community while taking viewers to some of the most beautiful places on Earth.

In this episode, Nigel takes us to the remote and rugged Faroe Islands, using a DJI Mavic 2 Pro to shoot unique landscape images from the air. If you’d like to learn even more, watch Nigel’s other videos from the Faroe Islands or his video on drone photography tips.

In addition to his YouTube channel you can see his stunning work on Instagram.

Get new episodes of DPReview TV every week by subscribing to our YouTube channel!

Introduction
Being safe and considerate with a drone
Finding your composition
Camera settings
Shooting vertical panoramas
Back in the studio
Merging panoramas and post processing
Wrap-up

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

How to Use the New Enhance Details Feature in Lightroom

05 May

The post How to Use the New Enhance Details Feature in Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

One benefit of subscribing to Adobe Creative Cloud is that the software you use is updated regularly throughout the year. Some of these updates might not add much to your workflow, while others result in dramatic improvements to how you edit your images.

In February 2019, Adobe rolled out a powerful new option in Lightroom called Enhance Details. You may not have noticed since there’s nothing new in the interface that even indicates the feature is available.

However, this can dramatically increase the quality of your RAW files, particularly if you shoot with Fuji cameras, and it is certainly worth investigating to see if it could benefit you.

In order to understand what Enhance Details does, it’s important to know how RAW files work. When you shoot in RAW you aren’t storing images on your memory card or computer like when you shoot in JPEG. Instead you are storing a set of instructions for how your editing software should create an image when it’s exported from Lightroom, Capture One, or any other image-editing program.

What’s weird to wrap your head around, though, is the notion that when you browse through your image library in Lightroom you aren’t looking at the RAW files at all. You’re seeing previews that the software has generated which give you a good idea of what the RAW files will look when they are exported.

This is why RAW files look slightly different when you open them in different software. Capture One, Lightroom, Luminar…they all use different methods to interpret the data in a RAW file. This results in previews (what you see when you edit an image or browse your image library) that look different, as well as your final exported final images.

This isn’t a RAW file. It’s a JPG file generated from RAW data, as interpreted by Lightroom.

Understanding RAW Files

So what does all this have to do with Enhance Details? It all goes back to how your RAW files are interpreted in Lightroom. Digital cameras collect Red, Blue, and Green data on their image sensors using an array of pixels that correspond to each color. When Lightroom loads a RAW file, it looks at the color data for each pixel and guesses what the resulting image should look like. This is what you see when you look at your images before exporting them.

This also means that Lightroom has to essentially fill in the details throughout each image since you don’t see individual Red, Blue, and Green pixels when you zoom in on an image. You see pixels of all colors that Lightroom has created based on what it thinks they should look like based on the Red, Blue, and Green color data in the RAW file.

Unfortunately, this means that some elements of the scene that you photographed, particularly the very fine details, get lost in the transition from RAW file to Lightroom.

Different camera sensors contain different types of RGB patterns. When saving RAW images, all of the color information for each pixel is stored without the camera deciding how to interpret the data as an actual image.

Enhance Details is a way for you to recover some of the finer aspects of your images that get lost along the way when interpreting RAW files.

It works by using Adobe’s artificial intelligence technology, called Sensei, to fill in some of the missing gaps when pixels are rendered from RAW data.

The results can be quite impressive, depending on the type of image you are working with. It can also mitigate some of the issues that Fuji users have traditionally had when rendering RAW data from Fuji’s X-Trans sensors. Traditionally, these result in wavy, worm-like artifacts with an overall loss of sharpness.

Bringing out the details

To use Enhance Details, select an image in your Lightroom Library and choose Photo -> Enhance Details.

This brings up a Preview window which lets you see what will happen after the Enhance Details procedure finishes.

It shows a zoomed-in view of the photo you are working with, and you can click and drag around to see what different parts of the image will look like after the operation is complete.

When you click on the image preview it reverts to its un-enhanced state, allowing you to compare the original and Enhanced versions with a single click. There are no parameters to configure, sliders to adjust, or options to customize with the operation which I find refreshing. It’s a take-it-or-leave-it approach, at least in its current state, which makes it a little less of a hassle from an end-user perspective.

When you are satisfied that you want to undergo the Enhance operation, click Enhance and wait for Lightroom to finish the operation.

When it’s done you will still have the original RAW file, but in addition you will now have a new Adobe DNG file that contains the Enhanced image. This file is, as you might expect, the same image as the original but with several additional megabytes of new data where Adobe has attempted to improve things.

Original on the left, Enhanced on the right.

More details, larger files

One important point to note in this process relates to file size and storage space. When I converted several RAW files that were originally about 22 megabytes, the resulting Enhanced DNG files were about five times larger. Since each new file easily takes up well over 100 megabytes you might want to be somewhat selective in choosing the images you want to Enhance. Either that, or start looking into more storage solutions!

So what’s different about the enhanced RAW pictures other than massive file sizes? It varies depending on the scene you photographed, the camera and lens you used, and other parameters. If you shoot Nikon, Canon, or Sony, you might not see that much of an improvement since Adobe already does a pretty good job interpreting those RAW files. However, if you use Fuji you might notice significant improvements. The image below is the original RAW file, shot with an X100F, that I edited in Lightroom.

Original Fuji RAW image. It seems fine, until you zoom in for a closer look.

At first glance, and sized down for on-screen resolution, it looks fine. But upon closer inspection you can see some significant issues particularly among the leaves and ground.

Some of the issues are now apparent, and they can’t be corrected simply by adjusting sliders in Lightroom.

When I first saw this up close, I thought there was something wrong with my computer! Either that or I had a broken camera. The edges of the leaves, particularly where the sun is shining through in the top-right corner, have a wavy, worm-like appearance that’s rather strange and almost a little disconcerting. This is due to how Lightroom renders Fuji RAW files and can be corrected quite easily using Enhance Images.

Original on the left, Enhanced on the right.

Notice the way the edges of the leaves are much smoother in the right-hand image. The gold light coming through the dark leaves is also crisper.

This isn’t just an issue of adjusting the Sharpening slider in Lightroom. Instead, it’s an entirely new RAW file built from the ground-up using Adobe’s artificial intelligence algorithms.

The new image really is enhanced – as the name of the process implies. While it might not be entirely obvious when viewed on a computer screen, there is a clear difference when files are shown at full resolution or as large prints.

Enhanced image. You can’t see a noticeable difference on a small screen, but when viewed full-size the details are much improved.

Your results may vary

While the process works wonders for Fuji RAW files, it’s somewhat hit-or-miss for major names like Nikon and Canon. For instance, below is a RAW file from a Nikon 7100 as rendered by Lightroom.

Original image, shot from the Columbia Center skyscraper in downtown Seattle.

The Seattle skyline looks crisp and clear, with no noticeable issues in the finer details even when zoomed in to 100%. When processed through the Enhance Image feature the improvements are discernible, but you really have to look for them. It’s a marginal improvement, and nowhere approaching the fixes to Fuji RAW files.

Original image on the left. Enhanced on the right. If you look at the roofline of the building in the middle, you can see a more accurate rendering in the Enhanced image…barely. The Enhanced version doesn’t have oddly-colored pixels where Lightroom didn’t quite get the original RAW file rendered properly.

Conclusion

In my opinion, Enhance Images isn’t worth the file size tradeoff on Nikon and Canon cameras. Lightroom already does such a good job of rendering them already. However, I encourage you to try it out and see for yourself. The amount of improvement depends greatly on a variety of factors including your camera, lens, and the subject in the photograph.

You might find that you prefer the Enhanced Images as a general rule, or you might only use this feature now and then. Either way, it’s nice to know it’s there.

Enhanced image, without a lot of truly noticeable improvements even enlarged to full size.

I like to think of Enhance Images as a useful tool to have in your back pocket for those times when you really need it and not something I use on an everyday basis.

The really exciting part is where this technology might end up in the future. Right now the process is done for one photo at a time and takes several seconds even on newer computers. I can easily see a time when it’s applied as easily as a filter or adjustment slider, with dramatic improvements to every image.

Until that happens, it’s fun to see technologies like this take shape and mature. As photographers, we live in an incredible time with technology like this that were unthinkable only a few years ago.

It’s amazing to ponder what the future might hold, and think about the tools we will have at our disposal to let our creative freedom loose.

Have you use this feature? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The post How to Use the New Enhance Details Feature in Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography