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Sony’s US-only ‘Step up to Sony’ sales event is offering up to $1K off cameras, kits and lenses

03 Jun

Sony is currently running its ‘Step Up To Sony’ sales event, a summer sales event for U.S. customers that’s heavily discounting some of Sony’s most popular cameras, lenses and kits. The ‘Step Up To Sony’ event runs through Jun 22, 2019. We’ve rounded up some of the best deals from the sales event and have listed them below.

Cameras and kits

Sony a7R III (Adorama, B&H): $ 2,598 ($ 600 instant rebate)

Sony a9 (Adorama, B&H): $ 3,498 ($ 1000 instant rebate)

Sony a7R II (Adorama, B&H): $ 1,498 ($ 500 instant rebate)

Sony A7 II (Adorama, B&H): Body only for $ 898 ($ 500 instant rebate), kit for $ 1000 ($ 600 instant rebate)

Sony RX100 V (B&H): $ 898 ($ 100 instant rebate)

Sony RX10 IV (Adorama, B&H): $ 1,598.00 ($ 100 instant rebate)

Lenses

Sony FE 12-24mm F4 G (Adorama, B&H): $ 1,598 ($ 100 instant rebate)

Sony FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS (Adorama, B&H): $ 1,398 ($ 100 instant rebate)

Sony Planar T* FE 50mm F1.4 ZA (Adorama, B&H): $ 1,398 ($ 100 instant rebate)

Sony Distagon T FE 35mm F1.4 ZA (Adorama, B&H): $ 1,498 ($ 100 instant rebate)

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How to Use a Photography Ring Light in Unconventional Ways

03 Jun

The post How to Use a Photography Ring Light in Unconventional Ways appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

With a ton of options on the market, adding a ring light to your kit has never been cheaper.

Continuous photography ring lights seem to be everywhere nowadays. There are dozens of offerings from dozens of companies that you can choose from, and they are popular with photographers, make-up artists, and videographers. The main use of a ring light is on-axis lighting for an even, somewhat flat exposure.

However, what do you do if you don’t like that effect or the distinctive ring-shaped catchlight for that matter? Because these lights are continuous, and because of their size, they have more uses than ring flashes of the past. If you don’t like the straight-on effect, you don’t have to use a ring light in that way.

In normal use, you would place the light directly in front of your subject and shoot through the aperture of the light.

This article demonstrates six uses of a continuous ring light that isn’t their intended use. It will also (hopefully) show you that these relatively cheap and effective lights are useful to have for any photographer in the studio.

Normal use

While not to the taste of many photographers, ring lights can be used to create bold and vibrant images.

If you’re unfamiliar, a ring light is a circular, ring-shaped light with a large aperture designed to be placed directly in front of a subject. You then take your images by positioning your camera through the aperture of the ring.

Traditional ring flashes had the light attached to the camera. This front (on-axis) lighting provides an evenly lit image. This is one of those things that you either love or hate, but photographers who love it tend to really love it.

Versatility

With the continuous versions of these lights, you have a wealth of options with how to use a ring light. Because the light is always on, you can position it anywhere you want. With a lot of the options on the market, this gives you a high-powered, lightweight and versatile continuous light for around $ 100.

Because of the brightness of a continuous ring light, your subject’s pupils will be constricted, allowing you to see more of the color in their eyes.

Here’s a bonus if you’ve never used continuous lights before. Because the output is constant, your portrait subject’s pupils get constricted. This means you will see more of the color of their eyes in your photos.

Options

Below are five examples of ways you can use a continuous ring light to great effect without ever using it as a ring light.

1. As a normal light

Placed at a 45-degree angle and angled downwards, these ring lights work well as normal light source.

Despite its circular shape, ring lights are great when used as a normal light. Raise the light and angle it towards your subject to distort the effect the shape of the light has, and you can use it as a small softbox. You’re not limited to how you can light your subject this way, but I’ve found that all of the basic lighting patterns work well.

You are not limited to the shape of the ring. Use flags to block off portions of the light to shape it however you want.

If you have more than one ring light, you can use them together to create just about any two-light setup that you can imagine. If the ones you have have an adjustable output, managing your key to fill ratios should be pretty easy.

2. As a prop

Having your subject pose with the light itself can create some interesting and fun portraits. It can also help to lighten the mood during a session.

If you have an LED ring light, they don’t get very hot. Feel free to have your subject pose with the light itself for some very different images. The results will vary with ring lights of different sizes, and you have to worry about the plug and the cables, but it’s still a fun technique. Though you probably won’t use it very often thanks to its tendency towards uplighting.

3. As ambient fill

Modern ring lights are getting quite powerful and it is more than possible to use them as fill lighting in conjunction with studio flash.

You can mix any continuous light with studio flashes for some interesting effects. By using a strobe as your key light, you can then bring a ring light in for some gentle fill.

A couple of things that you will want to keep in mind is that your strobes are probably way more powerful than your ring light, so set the power accordingly. Also, you will probably want to have a ring light with an adjustable color temperature if you are going to be mixing light sources.

You could also reverse this and use the ring light as key and flash as fill. As before, make sure the power on your strobes goes down that far before committing to this.

4. As a compositional device

Putting the light behind your subject creates an interesting tool for composition. Also, it may just be me, but I love that rim light that it is producing.

In its normal use, I am a fan of creating a composition with the actual ring light framing the subject. I just like it for whatever reason. However, you are not limited to that. You can place the ring light anywhere in your frame for some cool effects. Try placing one behind your subject for a halo effect, or placing one at an angle just inside your frame for a curved band of light running through the composition.

5. Dragging the shutter

When you’re mixing a ring light with studio flash, it opens the door to some interesting techniques like dragging the shutter. Here, flash is acting as fill and the shutter speed is set to 1/15th of a second.

This is similar to using the ring light as ambient fill, but if you use your strobe normally, you can expose for the high-powered strobe and the low-powered ring light by dragging the shutter.

This technique is not for everyone, but it can produce some interesting results.

A little warning: if you’re a technically-minded photographer, you’re probably going to hate this technique, as the results tend to be a little soft. However, it can be used for some striking results. If you do like it, you still have to be careful with controlling the movement of your camera.

You do have to manage any movement in your camera while using this technique. If in doubt, use a tripod.

Because the power output on your flash is not in any way controlled by shutter speed, you can set your shutter speed as slow as you need to make this work. However, you may want to use a tripod for really slow shutter speeds. This technique can provide some cool effects in its own right, but no two attempts are going to be the same.

That’s it

There you have it. That’s six ways that you can use a continuous ring light without ever having to use it as a ring light. Considering how cheap these things are, they are a very useful tool for any photographer who wants to get into off-camera lighting but for some reason is put off by flash.

Do you have other ways that you use a ring light? Please share with us in the comments below.

The post How to Use a Photography Ring Light in Unconventional Ways appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

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8 Rules for the Creative Life

03 Jun

The post 8 Rules for the Creative Life appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Mat Coker.

The biggest stumbling block for many photographers is not knowing how to be creative. You have some natural talent but never seem to break out and become a satisfied creative person. Thankfully, some rules govern a happy and productive creative life. These rules help you to get control and live out your creativity – even with a busy work schedule, and without sacrificing valuable time with your family.

Here are eight of those rules that will help you thrive as a creative photographer.

Kids have creativity mastered. They may not be very good yet, but they do it all the time. Their life is ordered around exploration and little creative projects. Between the new skills they learn, and the volume of their output, their natural ability increases quickly.

1. Don’t rely on your natural talent

Maybe you’ve got a natural eye for photography, but that’s not enough. You’ll hit a wall some day and not know how to overcome it.

Even with a good eye already, you should keep learning more about what makes for a good photograph. Go ahead and put your own creative spin on what you’re learning. When you work hard and understand what makes your photography good, you’ll always have ideas and principles to pull from, even when you’re completely uninspired. At the very least, you’ll be able to keep working until truly creative ideas strike you.

Don’t rely on natural talent. Understand how photography works, and exercise your creativity so that you can turn it on whenever you need it.

Practice your creativity

2. Successful creative people never stop

Successful creative people never stop working. They are not lazy. They rise to the top because of how hard they work.

But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t sleep or never step back from your creative endeavors. Successful creative people rest in order to recharge and come back to their work even stronger.

When you think about it, you’re always doing something with your time (even if it’s just scrolling social media). But the best creative people are intentional and constructive with their time. If you’re always doing something anyway, then why not prioritize something creative?

Many people think they lack time to devote to their photography. You have time, but you’re choosing to spend it on other things. Write down exactly what you do all day. You’ll be shocked at how much time you waste. Don’t waste your time, do photography instead.

Get up one hour earlier. Study and practice photography before your day even begins. You’ll be cheating time by using what you usually would have slept away.

Think about where you could be in a year if you devote one hour to photography every day. Henri Cartier-Bresson says that your first 10,000 photos are your worst. If that’s true, then hurry up and get them behind you. You only need to take about 28 pictures a day over a year.

But working hard does not mean that you need to neglect your family in the process. A workaholic career can destroy your family, and this is not healthy for them or you. Many traveling photographers abandon their families in the name of doing something meaningful with their work. However, what good is their work to the world if their own family suffers for it?

Work, work, work. Get up one hour earlier to do it, but guard your family from abuse of work.

I know this photo is grainy and a little soft. It’s okay with me because I’ve acquired a taste for imperfect black and white photos (and Rembrandt lighting).

3. Creativity generator

Exploration is a creativity generator. So explore your craft, other peoples craft, and the whole world around you.

If your craft is portraiture then you need to explore portraiture. But you should also explore other types of photography (photojournalism, macro, wildlife, etc.). You’ll discover interesting ways to improve your portraiture as you study other forms of photography.

Take your learning beyond photography. Study all sorts of creative disciplines (writing, painting, sculpting, or architecture). You don’t have to learn to do these things, just learn about them.

Read memoirs and biographies of creative people too. See what a successful creative life looks like. And learn from the mistakes of tragic lives.

Part of creativity is bringing familiar things together in new ways. The more you explore, the more you have to bring together.

Exploration leads to endless creative possibilities.

4. Capture your ideas before they disappear

As you learn, work and explore, you’re going to need a way to capture the creative ideas that keep coming into your mind. They light up brightly but disappear quickly. You need to capture those ideas like fireflies in a jar.

Rather than jumping from idea to idea without ever completing anything, carry a notepad or recording device to capture your ideas. Record your idea and then get back to the project you’re working on. Being single-minded is far better than scattering your mind across many half-finished projects. Those half-finished projects will likely become never-finished projects.

Sift through your ideas later when you need something new to work on. You’ll find that many of those ideas weren’t worth pursuing. Moreover, you’ll realize that there were some gems that you had completely forgotten about.

You’ll end up with a lot of ideas, let the best ones rise to the top over time.

While watching my son build Lego, I noticed the gesture expressed in his toes. Part of exploration is just watching what is going on around you.

5. Build bridges

Some people prefer to work as a team, others prefer to work on their own. Even if you prefer to pursue your craft on your own, you should still gather with other photographers.

You should especially gather with ones who photograph different subject matter than you. The friendship and feedback will encourage you and help you to avoid becoming narrow and stagnant.

It can get very lonely being the only creative person you know, especially if your spouse doesn’t share your drive for creativity. Before you know it, you’re like an isolated island.

Build bridges to the other creative people around you.

6. One explosion can ruin everything

It’s better to build bridges than it is to burn them.

All it takes is one big emotional outburst to ruin your career as a creative person. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or work in a team, nobody wants to put up with your anger or dramatic outbursts. Treat everyone around you with respect. Even go as far as to treat them as more important than yourself. Everyone will love working with you.

If you do let your emotions get the best of you, be quick to make amends.

Excessive negative emotion stifles your creativity. Be kind to yourself as well and get help dealing with your stress.

In a world of difficult people, be the easy person to work with.

Gathering with other creative people.

7. Help other creative people be better than you

It would be natural to assume that if you’re generous with your talent, time and resources that people will just take advantage of you. That might happen. But soon enough your generosity will align with people who will be forever grateful for it.

I still remember those who went out of their way to help me when I first started out. They could have protected themselves from the new photographer, wishing that he would fail and disappear. Instead, they helped me. Now, I help other photographers, even if they seem like my direct competitors.

It seems counter-intuitive, but you’ll help yourself more when you help others first. At times, focusing on another person’s creativity may help you more than focusing on your own.

Be the first in a fellowship of creative people helping each other to get better, and better, and better.

My daughter wanted to make her own birthday cake. We let her.

8. Turn off your phone

You need to have periods of time when you are uninterrupted. The last thing you need when you’re brainstorming ways to complete a creative project is a phone constantly alerting you to something else.

Practice turning your phone off for a couple of hours at a time – maybe even a whole day. It’s liberating to think, play, and be creative without the distraction.

While I was driving back from a 3-hour creative session this morning, I saw a person checking their phone while they waited at a red light. I had a lot on my mind and couldn’t fathom adding a phone to the mix. Now I know that looking at my phone means that whatever creative ideas were on my mind will vanish. So I only look at it a couple of times a day.

We easily become addicted to our digital technology, and a “fear of missing out” keeps us constantly checking in. I’ve developed a greater satisfaction in my creativity and a greater fear of losing my creative drive in the moment. My phone is off most of the time.

You don’t want to trade your creativity for endless digital chatter. Phones, tablets, and computers are useful. But they have a way of talking over.

Turn your phone off and switch your creative mind on.

The creative life

When you follow these eight rules, your creativity will be able to thrive.

You’ll have distraction-free time to learn, work, and explore.

You’ll find yourself encouraged by the other creative people in your life.

Moreover, you’ll always be growing and so will your creativity.

Do you have other tips for your creative life? Please share them with us in the comments below.

The post 8 Rules for the Creative Life appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Mat Coker.

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Samsung Galaxy S10+ sample gallery

02 Jun

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Samsung’s Galaxy S10+ is one of a few flagship phones to offer a triple-camera array, providing a wide-angle lens in addition to the usual standard and telephoto lenses. It may not be the lens you’ll want to use for most of your shooting, but it sure came in handy a few times as we were out shooting with the device. See for yourself how the phone handles a variety of scenes (and a couple of furry creatures for good measure).

See our Samsung Galaxy S10+
sample gallery

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How I Found Inspiration Using a Telezoom

02 Jun

The post How I Found Inspiration Using a Telezoom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Christian Hoiberg.

I’ll admit something to you – something that I haven’t really talked about with too many. Something that might sound strange coming from someone who makes a living from photography…

I’ve had close to zero inspiration for doing landscape photography for several months – despite being out in the field most of the winter season.

There are many reasons why I’ve lacked inspiration, but most of them come back to the urge to creating something different, which I keep asking myself is possible at all. Has it all been done already? Aren’t we all in one way or another influenced by the photographers we admire? For years, my work has focused on wide-angle landscape photography. While I still enjoy it, I’ve become more fascinated with the intimate views offered through the use of a telezoom. This is how my inspiration blossomed again.

Zooming in forces you to slow down

One of the great things about using ultra wide-angle lenses is that it’s relatively easy to get a decent shot. Find a foreground, get close to it, smack on a filter or two and, hello, nice image. It might not be portfolio-worthy right out of the box, but it will certainly impress your friends and family.

Working with a telezoom is quite different, though. Simply zooming in on something isn’t going to create an interesting shot. You need to find that special something hiding within the grand landscape. Also, you’re even more dependent on having the right light and weather conditions.

When I first picked up a telezoom many years ago, the fact that it forced me to slow down was one of the best benefits. It changed my approach to photography and the world in many ways. Prior to that moment, I’d go out photographing but not really do much observing.

That’s different now.

In fact, I often do more observing than photographing.

I quite often return home from outings without the camera leaving my backpack.

It’s not just about being out there taking as many images as possible. It’s about enjoying the time you spend out there. This is something that came back to me again when, late last year, I started playing more with my Fuji 100-400mm again.

Create more unique work

Well, I’m not sure if simply zooming in is going to help create more unique work, but I think that, in many cases, it’s possible to show well-known scenes in an entirely new light. Up until now, “trophy hunting” has typically taken place in wide-angle landscapes. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that the overall landscape doesn’t need to be stunning when working with a telezoom. You can get stunning images anywhere you look.

The type of images captured at a focal length of, for example, 400mm are often what I call “no-name landscapes.” What I mean by this is that it doesn’t matter exactly where you take that shot; it’s simply beautiful, and you can just enjoy the image.

Challenge your creativity

When I’m guiding photography workshops, I often notice that many of the participants tend to stick with one lens, regardless of what we’re photographing and what the weather is like. This is despite the fact that they often have a wide selection of lenses to choose from in their backpack.

Now, I’ve been there, and I’m willing to bet that you’ve been there too. The reason is that we tend to have a favorite lens and quickly forget about all the others. My go-to lens for many years was the Nikon 16-35mm. Looking back at it now, I know that I missed a lot of great shots because I had taught myself to view the world within that focal length.

Conclusion

Mixing it up and taking out the telezoom forces you to break that bad habit and view the world at an unfixed focal length. When I’m standing at a location today, I’m continually analyzing my surroundings looking for both wide-angle and telezoom images.

Maybe I’m just rambling and making no sense. I ultimately believe that any artist is free to do whatever they want with their work. Who am I to tell someone what to do or not to do? The only thing I know for sure is that focusing more on working with a long focal length gave me a much-needed boost of inspiration and has led to me now enjoying working on several new and interesting projects.

Have you been getting into taking photos with a telezoom? We’d love you to share them with the dPS community in the comments section below.

The post How I Found Inspiration Using a Telezoom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Christian Hoiberg.

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Sony releases promotional videos to highlight Xperia 1 pro-oriented video features

02 Jun

The Sony Xperia 1 was announced back in February but has become available to buy in the shops only this week. It’s Sony’s first triple-camera phone and comes with a range of enticing imaging features, including a 21:9 OLED display with 4K resolution, 4K HDR video as well as ultra-wide and tele-cameras.

In order to highlight the camera’s video capabilities Sony has now released several promotional videos, explaining some of the more advanced new features.

Cinema Pro is a set of features aimed at mobile videographers. Users can choose from a range of color presets and footage can be recorded at a cine-compatible 24 frames per second and 21:9 aspect ratio. You can also shoot with any of three lenses and select manual shutter speeds.

Optical Steady Shot is another highlighted video feature. It combines electronic and optical image stabilization for smooth and shake-free footage. The results in the sample clip below look pretty impressive but we have seen similar results on other high-end devices. That said, Sony claims the Xperia 1 comes closest to ‘cinema-grade’ results.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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1.4x and 2x teleconverters on the way for Panasonic S-series

02 Jun

Two teleconverters will be making their way into Panasonic’s full-frame S-system this July. The 1.4x and 2x teleconverters will be compatible with the current S Pro 70-200mm F4 OIS, as well as the 70-200mm F2.8 arriving later this year. The 1.4x converter will give each lens approximately a 100-280mm range, and the 2x converter will likewise extend the zoom range to 140-400mm.

The 1.4x converter comprises 7 lenses in 4 groups, and includes 2 Ultra High Refractive Index Lenses (UHR). The 2x converter is composed of 8 lenses (2 UHR) in 4 groups. Both teleconverters are dust and splash-resistant, and will go on sale in July, priced at $ 499 and $ 599, respectively.

Press release:

Panasonic Announces New Teleconverters for LUMIX S Series Telephoto Zoom Lenses

1.4x Teleconverter DMW-STC14 and 2x Teleconverter DMW-STC20

Newark, NJ (May 31, 2019) – Panasonic today announced new teleconverters for the LUMIX S Series telephoto zoom lenses – a 1.4x Teleconverter DMW-STC14 and a 2x Teleconverter DMW-STC20– available in July . The latest teleconverters can be attached to the LUMIX S PRO 70-200mm F4 O.I.S. (S-R70200)*1, turning the lens into a super telephoto lens with extended zoom range of maximum 400mm with high-speed and high-precision AF. The rugged and dust/splash-resistant*2 design withstands use under harsh conditions, even in -10 degrees Centigrade for high mobility.

Both teleconverters DMW-STC14 and DMW-STC20 will also be compatible with the new 70-200mm / F2.8 S Series lens, to be introduced later in 2019.

Specifications:
DMW-STC14
Lens Composition 7 lenses including 2 UHR (Ultra High Refractive Index Lens) lenses in 4 groups

DMW-STC20
Lens Composition 8 lenses including 2 UHR (Ultra High Refractive Index Lens) lenses in 4 groups

*1 The firmware needs to be updated to its latest version.
*2 Dust and Splash Resistant does not guarantee that damage will not occur if this lens is subjected to direct contact with dust and water.

?Design and specifications are subject to change without notice.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Man accused of flying drone over NFL football games charged

02 Jun

On Wednesday, authorities announced that a man had been officially charged on May 14th with violating two separate Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) areas during NFL football matches. Sacramento resident Tracy Michael Mapes, 56, is accused of flying his drone over a San Francisco 49ers game at Levi’s Stadium and dropping anti-media leaflets into the crowd on November 26, 2017. He is also accused of the same violation during a Raiders game at Oakland Stadium later that day.

Knowingly violating a TFR can result in serious legal and financial consequences. In this case, Mapes could face up to a year in prison and a $ 100,000 fine if convicted. TFRs are used by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to restrict aircraft operations within designated areas. The restrictions help facilitate national security measures. Natural disasters, presidential and other high-ranking official visits, and professional sporting events that are typically congested with people warrant TFRs.

Mapes has not publicly commented on the matter. According to police, his drone released leaflets containing content about free speech and personal views on television being corrupt. Most of the leaflets didn’t make it into the stadium or crowd at the 49ers game, due to high winds and rain. No one was injured.

Surveillance cameras were able to identify the operator and record his license plate number as he drove away from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Detectives alerted their counterparts in Oakland ahead of the Raiders game. Mapes released leaflets into Oakland Coliseum and, once again, no one was affected. Officers located his vehicle as he was leaving, cited him with misdemeanor charges, and released him.

Checking a service such as SkyVector is highly recommended before embarking on a drone flight. Flying in any TFR can result in severe consequences.

TFRs begin several hours before the start of a professional game or other major event and continue for hours after it concludes. It is important for remote pilots to check Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) or SkyVector before embarking on a flight. Some prefer to use an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) application such as Kittyhawk, Skyward, or AirMap.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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An Easy Hack for Shooting into the Sun and Processing the Images

02 Jun

The post An Easy Hack for Shooting into the Sun and Processing the Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Adam Welch.

Whether you’re shooting landscapes, street photography, outdoor portraits, or just making a photo of your cat lounging in the window, a great many photos have one thing in common – sunlight. Yes, that big burning ball of fire in the sky can either ruin your photos or make them memorable. Some photographers enjoy the look of the sun shining brightly in the sky with radiant starbursts and flare while others do not. However you happen to feel about it, you will often find it necessary to shoot directly into bright sunlight.

shooting-into-the-sun-digital-photography-school-adam-welch-1

I’m going to show you an easy way to deal with the invasive (yet often rewarding) circumstances of making a photograph when the sun is burning bright directly towards your camera. All this is done without the need for filters and is easily accomplished with some simple work in Photoshop.

Warning: Remember friends, the techniques shown here are intended to help you work in conditions faced when shooting into the sun as it relates to commonly encountered photographic conditions. Prolonged exposures aimed at the sun may damage your camera and purposefully staring directly into the sun will permanently damage your eyes.

Shooting your images

First things first. You will need at least two photos of the same scene but shot with different exposures. Keep in mind that two photos are the MINIMUM required; one for the foreground elements and one for the desired brightness of the sun. Depending on the complexity and contrast of your scene, it is a good idea (as I’ve done here) to have additional exposures to help your final image look realistic.

Lightroom-Photoshop-shooting-into-the-sun-digital-photography-school-adam-welch-3

If you prefer a prominent “starburst” effect for the sun, it’s a good idea to use a relatively small aperture (large f-number) for at least one of your images. Since we’ll be blending multiple photos together, it is crucial that each of them align as closely as possible. So, of course, using a stable tripod is integral to the outcome of your photograph. I know, I know…you’ve heard it a thousand times.

Try this cool trick

Before we move on to how to actually blend our images together, I want to tell you about an incredibly neat trick to help you reduce lens flare and get a much cleaner result when shooting directly towards the sun. You might have noticed one of my images has a big fat thumb right in the middle of the frame? This is not by accident.

Lightroom-Photoshop-shooting-into-the-sun-digital-photography-school-adam-welch

What this allows us to do is block out the most direct light rays so that we have a good spot to blend in the sun from our drastically underexposed photo. Not only that, but it helps to greatly reduce (not always eliminate) the lens flare artifacts which commonly rear their head in these types of photos. It will all make sense in just a second.

Combining the images

As I’m sure you’ve already noticed, the actual acquisition of the photos you need is a very simple operation. The magic lies in how we handle those images in Photoshop. We can bring our images directly into Photoshop, or as I prefer, work with them first in Lightroom and then kick them over to Photoshop as layers. This saves time and makes things much easier, especially if working in Photoshop is new to you. Make sure you don’t crop any of the photos!

Open images as Layers in Photoshop

To open up your images as layers in Photoshop from Lightroom, make sure all of your photos are selected and then right-click on any images. Select ‘Edit In’ and then choose ‘Open as Layers in Photoshop.’

Lightroom-Photoshop-shooting-into-the-sun-digital-photography-school-adam-welch-3

Once Photoshop launches, you will see all of your photos presented as layers in the Layers Panel.

Arrange the layers by dragging and dropping them into place. Sort the layers where the sun blocked with your thumb at the top. Proceed downward by order of decreased brightness with the darkest image at the very bottom.

Lightroom-Photoshop-shooting-into-the-sun-digital-photography-school-adam-welch-3

Auto-Align Layers

Even though we’ve done our best to make sure all of our photos are composed identically, it’s a good practice to allow Photoshop to help out with aligning the layers. That way, they fit as closely as possible to avoid misalignment. Doing this is a snap (Photoshop humor) using ‘Auto-Align Layers.’ Make sure all of your layers are selected either by Ctl+click or Cmd+click (Mac).

If you have a large number of layers, a quicker way to select them all would be to highlight the top layer and then Shift+click the bottom layer (or vice versa). Once all your layers are selected, select ‘Edit’ and then ‘Auto-Align Layers.’

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Leave the alignment projection set to ‘Auto.’

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After Photoshop is finished cooking up those layers into better alignment, you might notice a small perimeter border around your image. This is due to Photoshop aligning the layers. Don’t worry; you can crop it out later.

Add Layer Masks

You’ll need to incorporate layer masks so that you can paint in and out our layers as you go. Select each layer and add a mask by clicking the layer mask icon. There’s no need to apply a mask to the bottom-most layer in the stack.

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For a refresher course on working with layer masks check out this article by Jim Hamel.

Blend the Layers

Now that we have masks added to all of our layers, it’s time to start blending. We’ll start with the sky and remove the obvious digit from the photo. Since the layer mask is set to white, make sure you are painting with black. If you get confused, remember the old adage “black conceals, white reveals.”

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Even working with this small number of layer masks can get somewhat unwieldy. I recommend you merge each layer with the next after you’ve finished blending each portion of your photo.

To merge your completed layers, simply highlight them and use keyboard shortcut Ctl+E (Cmd+E for Mac). This helps avoid any conflicts with your masking. Blend your layers as needed based on your particular photos.

After each layer merge, be sure to add a layer mask to the resulting layer.

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Eventually, you should have two layers remaining.

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It’s here where things can get a little tricky because you will likely be dealing with blending your starbursts with a darker surrounding sky. Just take your time. It’s a good idea to set your brush to a low flow rate of 10-15 and your opacity to around 15 to start. Then gradually build up the effect. A soft brush is definitely required here.

And ta-dah!

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With just a little bit of blending, we’ve successfully combined our four images of the sunset. Before leaving Photoshop, I went ahead and removed those few flakes of dust as well as the remaining lens flare artifacts that managed to escape my thumb. After you save your changes and close Photoshop, the newly blended photo will be thrown back to Lightroom for cropping and some final tweaking.

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Some final words on overcoming the sun…

There are multiple ways to work around shooting directly into the sun to get great photos. Most involve various filters and careful positioning.

With a little basic knowledge of Photoshop, you can forgo the extra equipment and achieve results which are arguably as good or better than more traditional photographic methods.

This is especially helpful if you happen to be using a camera that sports less than spectacular dynamic range. Sure, you shouldn’t view this technique as a replacement for practicing solid photography techniques, but instead, it provides a way for us to easily bring home the photo we want at the end of the day.

Not too comfortable with Photoshop? We’ve got you covered!

Make sure to check out some of the great resources here at Digital Photography School which will teach you all you could ever wish to know about working with layers, blend modes and masking in Photoshop.

We’d love to see the images you create from this tutorial. Please share with us and the dPS community in the comments below!

The post An Easy Hack for Shooting into the Sun and Processing the Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Adam Welch.

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Panasonic S1 firmware update delivers advanced video features

01 Jun

Panasonic has announced an upcoming firmware upgrade for its Lumix DC-S1 full-frame mirrorless camera. Officially referred to as DMW-SFU2, the upgrade adds a number of high-end video features and capabilities, many of which are similar to those found in the company’s GH5 series of cameras, which have often been class-leading when it comes to video.

Most prominent is the addition of Panasonic’s V-Log gamma profile, which promises to deliver 14+ stops of dynamic range. Notably, this is not the truncated V-Log L profile found on the GH-series, which capture a bit less dynamic range due to their smaller sensors. Rather, it’s the same gamma profile used by the company’s VariCam cinema cameras, which should allow the S1 to deliver the same look as VariCam models using the same V-Gamut color space.

Additionally, the upgrade adds 4:2:2 10-bit 4K/30p internal recording, 4:2:2 10-bit 4K/60p recording using an external recorder via HDMI, and 48 kHz/24-bit or 96 kHz/24-bit audio when used with Panasonic’s DMW-XLR1 adapter.

Videographers will be excited to hear that Panasonic is also adding very useful tools like a waveform monitor and in-camera LUTs, which can be used when shooting in V-Log to approximate the look of graded output.

Who should consider this upgrade? If you’re primarily a stills-shooter, or even a video-shooter who mostly shoots casually, it’s possible that none of these new features will be important to you. However, if you’re a serious video shooter who understands the advantages of Log video, or who needs to match footage with other pro video cameras from Panasonic, this is probably an upgrade you’ll want to consider.

The DMW-SFU2 software key will be available in July at a cost of $ 199 in the US, €199 in Europe and £179 in the UK. Panasonic US says the update will be made available free to any existing S1 owners that have registered their camera, and for anyone who buys an S1 before July 31st. In Europe (including the UK) the offer runs until the end of September.

Panasonic to Release the Upgrade Firmware Key DMW-SFU2 for LUMIX S1 in July 2019 to Expand Its Video Performance

Newark, NJ (May 31, 2019) – Panasonic has announced that the company will release an Upgrade Firmware Key DMW-SFU2 for the full-frame mirrorless camera LUMIX S1 in July 2019. This paid software program will further expand the video performance of the LUMIX S1 for advanced video recording. As announced separately, the new LUMIX S1H features 14+ stops of full V-Log, which is equivalent to the V-Log of high-end cinema cameras such as the Cinema VariCam. The user can experience the 14+ stops of V-Log on the LUMIX S1 with the firmware update program provided by the Upgrade Software Key DMW-SFU2, prior to the release of the LUMIX S1H.

Functions available with the upgrade program are as follows.

14+ stops of V-Log recording
World’s first 4:2:2 10-bit 4K MOV 30p/25p*1 internal video recording*2
World’s first 4:2:2 10-bit 4K 60p/50p*1 HDMI output*2
V-Log and V-Gamut compatible with Cinema VariCam Look
In-camera LUT (Look Up Table) application enabling playback of V-Log while or after recording (LUT Display with Custom Function)
A WFM (Waveform Monitor) displays brightness level while recording
High-res 48-kHz/24-bit or 96-kHz/24-bit sound can be recorded in MOV using the XLR Microphone Adaptor DMW-XLR1

The Upgrade Software Key DMW-SFU2 will go on sale in July 2019.

*1 PAL area only

*2 For a full-frame digital still camera as of May 31, 2019.

Design and specifications are subject to change without notice.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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