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How to Edit RAW Portraits in Lightroom

07 Jun

The post How to Edit RAW Portraits in Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

What’s the best way to edit RAW portraits in Lightroom? Is there one correct way to do this?

As with many aspects of photography, there is no right or wrong way. What is most important is being intentional with the edits you do make. Start with a clear idea of what you want the completed photo to look like.

You want to feel satisfied when you’re done. You’ll also want your subject to appreciate the portraits you’ve taken of them.

In this article, I’ll walk you through some Lightroom techniques to help you create well post-processed portraits from your RAW files.

Young Thai woman traditional dancer — © Kevin Landwer-Johan. Nikon D800, 105mm f/2.8, 1/400 sec, f/3, ISO 400, Manual Mode, Pattern Metering.

Know what you want – a realistic look or not

Whenever you start to edit RAW portraits you must decide first the style of photo you want to end up with. RAW files from modern cameras contain a huge amount of data. This data can be manipulated extensively in Lightroom to alter the appearance of the photo.

It’s up to you how you edit. You can aim to work on the RAW file to get the photo looking as realistic as possible. Or you can alter it in such a way it’s transformed into a very different-looking image from the unedited RAW file.

Your intention will guide you to achieve the look you want. If you’re not sure how you want the finished photo to look, you can waste a lot of time messing around.

Keeping in the style of how you lit and composed the portrait is the easiest approach to take.

To edit RAW portraits created with soft light and a warm feeling, you’ll often want to retain the feeling of the photo when you make your adjustments. It would the same for a portrait lit with hard lighting with a more dramatic look.

Editing in Lightroom, you have the opportunity to alter the image to achieve the look you want. Knowing what you want is a good first step – even before you open Lightroom.

To illustrate the process I use, I will aim to produce a natural-looking edit of this portrait.

RAW file image for article edit RAW portraits

White balance for correct skin tone

Most of the time, I have my camera’s white balance set to Auto. I find this setting produces photos with correct colors most of the time.

With RAW files, it’s easy to correct the white balance when it’s a little off. I will start with the eyedropper tool and click it in a neutral area. If there’s not suitable white in the photo, I’ll pick a grey area.

In this photo, I needed to adjust the Temp slider towards the left because the eyedropper overcompensated for the slightly cool tone of the original. I have made the adjustment so her skin tone looks as natural as possible.

Crop and straighten

Next, I crop and straighten the photo. I prefer to crop my portraits early in the editing process, so I only see what I want.

This portrait needed very little cropping. There was a bright area on the left that was distracting. I have cropped this out and, in doing so, the model’s right eye is closer to the one-third guideline on the right of the image.

When I crop, I am looking to eliminate parts of the photo that don’t add to it. I also look to improve the shape of the composition.

Crop image example for edit RAW portraits article

Correct highlights and shadows

Portraits taken outdoors in the shade, as this one is, often have a limited tone range. They do not contain much difference in tone value between the brightest and darkest areas. This makes them easier to work with than portraits made in hard light.

My model’s hair is very black, but it looks dull. Moving the black slider to the left darkens her hair a little too much. I then use the Shadows adjustment slider and move it to the right. This brings back some of the detail while retaining the blacks.

When you edit RAW portraits, you must consider how the brightest areas of the photo look as well. In this picture, I am happy with the look of the highlights, so I have not made any adjustments to them.

Highlights can be challenging to adjust and keep them looking clean. If you have very overexposed highlights and attempt to adjust them with the Highlights and/or Whites sliders, take care they do not end up looking grey. It’s best only to make adjustments when there is actually detail in those areas.

adjust the shadows for article on edit RAW portraits

Removing spots and blemishes

This young woman has beautiful skin and applies her make up very well. There’s not much post-processing required. Often this is not the case. People will often have small blemishes on their skin. Removing them will not change the feel of the portrait, but it will help your subject feel better about themselves.

When I edit RAW portraits in Lightroom, I use the Spot Removal tool and zoom into my photo to the area I want to work on. Adjust the size of the tool so it’s a little larger than the spot you want to remove. Simply click on the spot and Lightroom removes it.

Check to see the area you edit blends well. On smooth skin, Lightroom usually does a great job of this. Sometimes there will be some noticeable contrast in the area you apply the brush too. If it’s too obvious, undo that step, adjust the brush size a little, and try again.

Fine-tune with the adjustment brush

The Adjustment Brush is a powerful tool to use when you edit RAW portraits. You can use it to diminish or remove wrinkles, enhance eyes, whiten teeth and a whole lot more. Here I’ll show you how I use it in some of these ways.

Soften dark bags under eyes

As I begin to paint with the Adjustment Brush, I push the Exposure slider to the far left or right. This allows me to see clearly the area that I am painting over.

Adjustment brush example for edit RAW portraits article

Once I have the part of the image painted that I want to work on, it looks pretty terrible, as in this example.

Now, I’ll work with the various sliders to bring up the dark parts I’ve painted over so there’s not so much contrast. Doing this, be careful not to overcompensate and make these shadows look unnaturally light.

Whitening teeth

Paint over the teeth with the adjustment brush. Be as precise as possible and not cover any of the lips or gums.

To make the teeth look clean and white, I use a combination of sliders. I start with the Exposure Slider as it will often make the teeth look good. You can also make use of the Dehaze and Temp sliders. Dehaze will lighten and soften dark areas. Moving the Temp slider to the left will reduce yellowing.

Brightening eyes

It’s important to edit RAW portraits so your subject’s eyes look right. Too much editing, or not being careful enough when you do edit eyes, can ruin a portrait.

In my example portrait, I have made minimal changes. There are so many tutorials available about editing eyes that I will not go into detail for this article.

All I have done on this portrait is to brighten the whites of her eyes using the Adjustment Brush. I have painted the whites of her eyes and boosted the exposure slightly. This was enough.

Dark-colored eyes are more challenging to manipulate than lighter colored eyes. With light eyes, you can alter the color of the iris and control the way the eyes look more than with dark eyes.

Conclusion

The possibilities when you edit RAW portraits are almost limitless. Knowing the look you want helps you keep on track and saves you time.

Duplicating a file in Lightroom allows you to make copies to experiment with. Right-click the photo and choose Create Virtual Copy. Now you’re free to experiment with a completely different look and feel for your photo.

Being intentional as you edit and not pushing any slider to it’s extreme will help you create better-looking portraits in Lightroom.

Do you have any other tips for editing RAW portraits in Lightroom that you’d like to share? Perhaps you’d like to share your resulting images with us? Please do so in the comments!

The post How to Edit RAW Portraits in Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

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new site

07 Jun

New look for edzstudios… cleaner and more minimalistic… also galleries changed to a jquery based setup rather than flash (hey gotta be iPad compatible right?) If you are reading this through rss, click on through and check out the new site design. Will be going through a few tweaks in the next few days, but pretty happy with things overall.

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Is the Sony ZV-1 the best vlogging camera, and what’s it like for photography?

07 Jun

For vlogging, and beyond?

The Sony DC-ZV-1 is an interesting camera. It re-arranges some familiar components into a camera explicitly designed with vloggers in mind.

However, while it’s not part of the RX100 series (or even part of the Cyber-shot lineup), enough of its technology comes from those cameras that we think some people will at least consider it as a stills camera.

We’re going to look at how the ZV-1 stacks up against the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 V (specifically the ‘M5A’ variant), first as tools for vlogging and then as compact stills cameras.

For vlogging vs. Canon G7 X III

We’ve already detailed the vlogging-specific features that the ZV-1 offers, and many of these give it a clear advantage over the Canon G7 X III, when it comes to shooting facing-the-camera video.

Underpinning most of the ZV-1’s benefits over the G7 X III is its autofocus system. Part of this is the inclusion of phase detection elements, meaning the camera can assess depth before refocusing the lens (which is critical for keeping video in focus, without too much hunting), but also Sony’s AF algorithms, which have got very, very good at both subject tracking and face / body recognition. There are other features that distinguish between the two cameras but dependable autofocus is perhaps the most compelling.

Beyond that, the ZV-1’s other key benefit is its vlogging-friendly microphone setup. The three-capsule mic is designed specifically to pick up the sounds of someone addressing the camera. The results are much better than the G7 X III.

For vlogging vs. Canon G7 X III

The ZV-1’s fully articulated screen is also likely to be preferable to the G7 X III’s flip-up screen for most vloggers. The ZV-1’s screen doesn’t extend totally to be totally in-line with the camera body (it’s angled 4 degrees back, even when fully pulled forward), but that’s not a difference likely to have any real-world impact.

Both cameras shoot 4K in both 30p or 24p (or 25p in PAL regions), should you decide your vlog would benefit from a more cinematic look.

In terms of endurance, Canon says it expects the G7 X III to record 4K footage for up to 10 minutes per clip, whereas the ZV-1 by default stops after 5. However, disengaging the overheat warnings on the Sony removes this restriction.

For vlogging vs. Canon G7 X III

The G7 X III can broadcast straight to YouTube if it’s connected to a wireless network (including your phone, if it can operate as a hotspot). However, the utility of this feature is a little questionable. For a start, how often will you be trying to vlog from a situation where you have Wi-Fi but can’t connect your camera to a computer and use either camera? But, more pressingly for most of us, YouTube only allows live streaming from mobile devices (including the G7 X III) if you have 1000+ people following you on your account.

This isn’t a big hurdle if you’re already established to any degree, but it reduces the value of the feature if you’re trying to choose a camera to start vlogging with. If you’re looking for a device to start an empire from, both can livestream if you connect them to a computer (though the ZV-1 is only promising Microsoft Windows support at the moment).

Both can directly Wi-Fi their video footage to a smartphone, for anything you’ve pre-recorded, in FullHD or 4K.

For vlogging vs. the iPhone

Another rival device for vlogging is a good smartphone, not least because there’s a chance that most of us already have one.

In their recent video, DPRTV’s Chris and Jordan used an older iPhone XR to shoot some footage alongside the Sony. Its lens offers a similarly wide angle-of-view to the Sony, while the iPhone 11 goes wider. The selfie camera on the iPhone 11 has focus fixed in a way that covers vlogging distances, but has no way to imitate Sony’s ‘Product Showcase’ AF mode if you want to focus on something nearer to the camera.

As Chris discovered when testing the two side-by-side, the iPhone appears to be rather better at stabilizing its footage than the ZV-1. And, for all Sony’s talk about improved skintones, the iPhone version looks pretty good, to our eyes.

Ultimately, while Sony appears to have more money than most camera companies to develop technologies such as machine-learning-derived AF systems, it seems to be some way behind Apple, which has been working hard to apply processing power and extreme cleverness to the output of its phones for several generations. The iPhone’s exposure and processing, while perhaps edging towards over-tone-mapped ‘bad HDR’ territory, generally looks really good. You’d have to shoot Log or HLG and color grade the ZV-1’s footage to get a comparable result.

The larger sensor of the ZV-1 should give it an edge when it comes to indoor video and, of course, it can provide a shallower depth-of-field look (which phones don’t yet even attempt to simulate in video mode) but is that enough to counteract the convenience offered by an internet-connected smartphone?

For stills vs. RX100 VA

The ZV-1 isn’t supposed to be a stills camera, in the sense that Sony isn’t particularly promoting it that way. But it shares enough with the RX100-series that we’d expect at least some people to see it as a means of getting something like a viewfinderless RX100 V without having to forego multiple generations of improvements by opting for the RX100 II.

Instead, in many respects the ZV-1 could be seen as an RX100 V without a viewfinder but with all the updates of the RX100 VII (including things like a touchscreen, that weren’t added in the M5A revision to the RX100 V). These updates include what Sony calls ‘Real-time Tracking’ and ‘Real-time AF,’ which refer the the camera’s ability to track a subject, switch to face or eye AF if that subject is a person, and continue to track them even if they face away from the camera.

The RX100 VA’s AF system is recognizably older: Tracking isn’t as sophisticated, eye AF requires you hold down a custom button to activate it and there’s a separate (and even less good) tracking system in video mode.

So what else do you gain or lose?

For stills vs. RX100 VA

As you’d expect, the ZV-1 omits a number of features that we’d expect from an RX100-series camera. There’s no EVF, no built-in flash and no control ring around the lens. There’s also no exposure mode dial (it’s replaced by a Mode button).

But in their place you get a more prominent grip to hold the camera with and a flash hotshoe if you want to attach an external flash or other accessories. And, as we say, you get another feature that the RX100 V was missing: a touchscreen.

The more prominent [REC] button on the top of the ZV-1 allows the removal of the tiny version set into the thumb rest of the RX100 V. Neither camera lets you re-purpose this button if you’re really not interested in video.

The control ring around the lens, the built-in flash and the EVF all mean the RX100 V is a better stills camera if you’re an experienced photographer, want flexibility and some direct control, but with its touchscreen and superior AF system, the ZV-1 might be the better point-and-shoot.

For stills vs. Canon G7 X III

We’ve already seen that the ZV-1’s autofocus and mics give it a clear benefit over the Canon G7 X III as a vlogging camera. But given they’re similarly priced and are both 1″ sensor compacts with short, bright lenses and no viewfinder, it’s probably fair to see how they stack up on the stills side of things.

The ZV-1’s autofocus benefits continue to shine in this situation, as does its lens, which is significantly sharper, particularly at the wide-angle end. However, the G7 X III’s 24-100mm range is appreciably longer than the 24-70-ish equiv reach of the Sony.

The Canon also has a dedicated exposure compensation dial, a clicking control ring around the lens and a built-in flash, which help make it a more engaging camera to use, if you wish to take control over your photography. We also found the grip – designed solely for holding the camera facing away from you – more comfortable than the one on the ZV-1.

Overall

The ZV-1 promises to be a more capable vlogging camera than any other we’ve seen. Its generally excellent (and, crucially, dependable) autofocus is a huge part of this, and features such as product showcase mode have clearly been carefully developed to make this capability as easy to exploit as possible.

But building the ZV-1 primarily from existing RX100 components does appear to have limited the camera, somewhat. The 24mm-equiv wide-angle capability (26mm equiv by the time the slight crop of the 4K video mode has been factored-in), isn’t as wide as some users prefer for to-the-camera presenting, especially if you then need to engage the camera’s digital stabilization, which crops-in still further.

Similarly, while the G7 X III doesn’t offer any audio monitoring, either, it does seem odd that Sony hasn’t gone to the effort of providing a means to do so, either via USB or Bluetooth. Instead it’s limited to capabilities we’ve seen in existing RX100 models.

But, for all that, the Sony ZV-1 is the most overtly vlogging-focused camera on the market. In addition, although it’s not intended, we think it might also be a better point-and-shoot camera than the RX100 V. The more prominent grip, the touchscreen and the removal of the control ring may also make it a better (and less expensive) family camera.

For vlogging though, we suspect that the ZV-1’s biggest rival will be high-end smartphones, which offer a lot of capability without the need to buy a separate device.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Let it roll: why camera makers are going to keep adding video

07 Jun

A lot of the pre-launch hype around Canon’s EOS R5 has focused on its video prowess, but why do features like 8K keep getting added to stills cameras?

Some of the most dramatic improvements in recent cameras have been in the realm of video, leaving many stills photographers unimpressed. But there are some good reasons why cameras keep getting better video, some equally good reasons we’re unlikely to see many ‘pure photography’ cameras in future, and even if we did, there’s very little reason to think such a camera would be any cheaper.

Why the focus on video?

One of the main reasons it seems all the camera makers are focused video is because it’s an area where there’s clear room for improvement. Image sensors are now very, very good: efficiency is very high and read noise is very low, meaning we’re unlikely to see the big steps forward in generational image quality that we saw in the earlier days of digital photography.

Instead, most of the progress being made is in terms of readout speed and processing power. We’re seeing these manifest as better autofocus performance, multi-shot camera modes and improved video. This is also why we spend more time discussing AF and video in our reviews: because they’re areas of significant progress and difference between models.

Understandably, we see a lot of stills photographers saying they don’t want to have to pay for features they don’t need. But it’s not that simple:

You’re already paying for the hardware

Pitched as ‘The Ultimate Photo Shooting Camera’ at launch, the Panasonic G9 gained a major mid-life video upgrade, to broaden its appeal.

The faster readout and processing that help provide higher-res and better bitrate video are the same technologies that underpin the faster, more subject-aware autofocus improvements we’ve seen in the past few years. The same is broadly true of the multi-shot high res, focus stacking and re-focus modes that have been added: so you won’t lower the hardware costs by leaving video out.

You may not be paying for the development

On top of this, the very reason manufacturers are committing development resources to video is because they hope it will broaden a product’s appeal beyond the (declining) market for traditional stills cameras. YouTube and social media have made video sharable, which makes video capability more desirable. If adding video features means more cameras get sold, then each buyer shoulders a little less of the development cost.

Also, some realms of professional photography now demand high-end video capabilities, so much of the development work is being conducted for that audience, and is then trickling down.

A separate, still-only variant would cost more, not less

Don’t fall into the trap of assuming you could make a cheaper model with these extra features missed off. Designing and developing two versions of a product would cost more, even if they only differed in terms of firmware, since you’d have to conduct the testing and quality assurance on two versions of the firmware, then continue to develop them in parallel in the event of updates.

A camera with fewer features wouldn’t be cheaper. Even post-purchase firmware would add to costs: would you be willing to pay to have video removed?

Each additional camera model then incurs marketing expenses, to tell the world that it exists and to communicate the differences. It then adds to production planning and supply chain complexity: you need to balance production capacity between the two models, then make sure that the right number of stills-only and hybrid models end up going to each region and each retailer.

We’ll still see stills-only models

Not every new camera will have video, but those that don’t will be in the minority: Leica has some high-end video capability in models where it makes sense.

Despite all these factors, we’ll still see some stills-only cameras. For instance, Leica is likely to continue to offer stills-only rangefinder cameras (even though some models have featured video), and adding high quality video isn’t likely to be a priority for Phase One’s medium format backs.

There’s a mixture of factors at play. Adding video might reduce, rather than broaden, appeal for a product where focus – whether it’s photographic tradition or ultimate stills quality – is a selling point. And this goes beyond the question of whether a video-enabled version would be a satisfying (or even satisfactory) video camera.

Let it roll

But outside these rarefied niches, video is here to stay. Hence Leica’s SL cameras tout pretty impressive video specs and Panasonic’s more stills-focused G9 received a major boost to its video spec, mid-life, to expand its appeal.

If well implemented, video features need not get in your way, allowing a more streamlined stills experience than in recent generations of camera.

At which point, rather than rail against the (almost) inevitable, you may find it more productive to argue for better video implementation, so that the video features don’t get in your way. Or perhaps, you could give video a try. Who knows? You might enjoy it.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Helpful Tips for Creating Evergreen Content for your Photography Website

07 Jun

The post Helpful Tips for Creating Evergreen Content for your Photography Website appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Charlie Moss.

It’s always hard to know what to write on a photography blog, isn’t it? You start a blog on your photography website because you’ve been told it’s good for SEO, but then you get stuck on what content to create, and your blog gets neglected. So, I’m going to give you some ideas for creating evergreen content that you can put into practice right now to improve your website, help your readers, and start working on your SEO.

creating evergreen content — Writing blog posts is hard for many photographers because they don’t know where to start.

What is evergreen content?

In the same way that evergreen trees stay green all year round, evergreen blog posts stay relevant to readers for a long time. They should stay relevant to readers no matter the season, and, ideally, stay relevant for several years without any serious updating.

By creating evergreen content, you can create a website that pulls in visitors all year round and encourage search engines to rank you highly.

But what kind of evergreen content can photographers create? That really depends on the audience you’re looking to attract to your website! So once you’ve narrowed that down, you can start to come up with some ideas for evergreen content.

Articles to attract photographers

If you’re the kind of photographer who wants to attract other photographers to your website, then content about photography is the place to start. Just look around this site – Digital Photography Photography School is full of evergreen content that appeals to photographers all year round and for many years.

Helpful Tips for Creating Evergreen Content for your Photography Website — I write about photography techniques on my blog because I mostly want to attract photographers.

Every photographer knows something that they can teach others, even if they’re a beginner. So start by writing posts teaching other people what you know about taking photos.

You could also write reviews of all the photography equipment that you own. Most photographers love to spend hours researching what they’re buying and read lots of reviews before they spend their money.

By its very nature, evergreen content is often about the topics aimed at beginners to intermediates in the subject matter. It’s content that people will be searching for repeatedly, and that’s what makes beginner content a great place to start when you’re creating your first pieces of evergreen content.

And once you’ve created some engaging content that people are sharing, consider writing a second blog post on the same subject that your visitors might want to read next!

Articles to attract clients

Not everyone wants to attract photographers to their photography website. Some people want to attract more clients if they’re working as a photographer. By creating evergreen content, you can get potential clients to your website and looking at your portfolio.

Many photographers already blog about the shoots they do. It’s really common now for wedding photographers to blog about their client’s big day, or newborn photographers to blog about the cute baby they recently photographed. But those posts are not the ones most likely to get prospective new clients to your site.

When writing a blog the best place to start is almost always with a problem that someone has. So if you are a wedding photographer, think about what your clients might be looking for. They could be asking questions like:

What are the best clothes to wear for an engagement session and how do you pick a color scheme?
What do weddings at (your local venue) look like?
Are veils coming back in fashion for brides, and what unique photo opportunities do they present?

You can answer all of those questions in blogs on your website while filling them with pictures you’ve taken. And the best thing about these kinds of posts is they’ll be shared by more than just your clients, meaning that your images get in front of many new people.

Moreover, you can apply this to all kinds of photography. You can even go beyond photography, which I’ve seen work particularly well in the newborn and maternity niches.

If you photograph newborns and have children yourself, you might use your blog as a way to talk about your own experiences of being a parent, with helpful advice for your readers. And if you’re creating evergreen content that’s useful, you can bet it’ll end up being shared around social media.

What advantages does this bring?

Beyond the pure sharing of posts and getting them in front of new potential clients, evergreen content can bring benefits for the SEO of your website (that’s search engine optimization).

Google, and other search engines, love to see people linking to your content and talking about it. One of the strongest ways that Google determines if you’re a useful and interesting site (and therefore how high you appear in their search listings) is how many backlinks you have to your website.

By creating evergreen content that is interesting and useful, you’re giving people and businesses reasons to share it on their own social media, or include you in posts on their own blog.

A post about the best time to photograph a newborn baby, for example, is relevant content that lots of different people could share on their own page. It could be shared by other newborn photographers, by parenting websites, or even by small maternity clinics.

It doesn’t matter if these businesses aren’t in the same area as you either, because what’s important is the backlinks and the buzz around your content. But Google and other search engines don’t discriminate – if lots of people are sharing your site because it’s good content, then they’ll also show you higher in the search results when people look for your kind of photography locally.

Get started right now!

There’s no better time to start creating evergreen content for your blog than right now. Sit down and make a list of all the questions that people who you’d like to visit your blog might be asking. And then work out from that list the things that will stay relevant all year round, and that won’t go out of fashion.

Don’t forget, after you’ve spent time creating evergreen content for your blog, you should promote it on social media now and then again in the future. If you’ve created some great and long-lasting evergreen content, you’ll be able to promote it many times over. This means that you’ll always have something to say on social media during quieter times without having to constantly be writing new blog posts or shooting new work.

Do you have any other tips for creating evergreen content you’d like to share with our community? Please do so in the comments section!

The post Helpful Tips for Creating Evergreen Content for your Photography Website appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Charlie Moss.

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hand coloring in lightroom

06 Jun

I’ve always loved hand-colored photos. They have such a great look, very unique, very interesting. For those who don’t know, “hand coloring” refers to any process where a photographer uses pigment, dye or paint of some sort to manually add color to a black and white photo. Historically this was done in the 1800s by photographers using pigment and gum arabic on daguerreotypes! The technique persisted in one form or another throughout the years until it was supplanted by actual color photography. Of course, just because it is no longer necessary to get color in such a way doesn’t mean it can’t be used for asthetic effect.

I shoot a lot of black and white film, which I generally scan and process in lightroom rather than wet printing. Now if you’ve used lightroom, you are probably familiar with the brush tools for things like exposure, clarity or even skin smoothing. However, the oft overlooked “tint” option can be used to easily paint in color to a black and white image for a “hand colored” effect.

let’s take this image.

This was shot on film (with a holga!) during a vintage pin-up shoot. In other words, there is no actual color information in the file etc…

Now I’m going to hand color it to approximate the actual colors of the scene. First we start by going into the lightroom brush tools. Make sure all the adjustment sliders are set to zero (we are just painting on color here, not adjusting the photo itself) Click on the tint box at the bottom right to bring up the color picker.

A little trick with the color picker is that if you hold the mouse button down you can drag the eyedropper out of the little selection window and sample color from *anything* on screen. One useful trick with this is to have a “reference photo” open separately and sample your colors for hand coloring from that.

Since the couch in this shot was a green color, I grab a nice rich green and begin painting my mask. I find it more accurate to paint with the red overlay on (click “O” to toggle the overlay on or off). You’ll want to use a separate mask for each area of color. Here’s the green mask for the couch all done.

yeah, it’s not perfect, but close enough

I then do separate masks for her shirt (pink) and her skin. With hand coloring, I like to leave a portion of the image uncolored which gives it it’s signature b/w+color look, different from “selective coloring”

and the final result:

Now this may be kind of a “niche” technique, and certainly not suited for all photos but it’s quick and easy and yields a very unique effect. Overall it’s a nice trick to have in one’s toolbox.

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GoPro releases GoPro Labs, a beta update that adds experimental features to your HERO8 Black

06 Jun

GoPro has announced the release of GoPro Labs, a new program that allows GoPro HERO8 Black owners to sign up as beta testers to test out experimental features that haven’t yet made their way into final products. In GoPro’s own words, ‘Think of GoPro Labs as an insider look at innovative features our top engineers are playing with.’

The first release of GoPro Labs includes a pair of features that were first developed via internal [hackathons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackathons: ReelSteady GO optimization and QR Codes for camera control.

Earlier this year, GoPro acquired ReelSteady, a team of FPV drone operators and visual effects experts that have developed some of the most advanced stabilization and image correction software out there for GoPro cameras. Nothing has come from the acquisition as of this time, but the ReelSteady GO optimization in the GoPro Labs firmware update will allow GoPro HERO8 Black owners to optimize the in-camera rolling shutter correction to better work with ReelSteady’s post-production software.

Below is an example video from ReelSteady showing their image stabilization technology at work:

The QR Codes for camera control in the GoPro Labs firmware update is exactly what it sounds like. By creating custom QR codes with embedded commands, GoPro HERO8 Black owners can add new functions to their action cam without the need for Wi-Fi connectivity. Below are a few examples of features you can tweak via QR code:

Wake-up timer for remote start capture
Save favorite modes as a visual preset/QR code Motion detection start/stop — only capture video when something is happening
Speed detection start/stop — use GPS to determine your speed and automatically start capture at a defined speed
Camera scripting — e.g. shoot a time-lapse of a construction site but only during daylight hours (and many other detailed camera controls)
Personalize your GoPro with owner information Larger chapters for fewer files when taking long video captures — e.g. 4GB chapters will increase to 12GB.

GoPro has created and shared ten pre-built command QR codes with variables, but if you’re feeling adventurous, you can also create your own using GoPro’s list of action commands and settings commands. Additional support can be found on the GoPro Labs community within the GoPro forums.

To show off what’s capable with the new functionality, GoPro showed how the QR code camera control feature was used by GoPro Technical Fellow (and creator of the QR code feature), David Newman, worked alongside Northrup Grumman Corp. to capture the launch of a resupply mission to the International Space Station. Since the GoPro’s had to be set 72 hours in advance and not touched, he teamed up with his daughter to trigger each camera with a QR code before securing them to the launch pad. As the below video attests to, the results worked perfectly, despite none of the action cams having external power or displays.

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GoPro rocks. Raw video. Raw audio. Straight from the camera. Just some simple cuts. That’s a wrap! #gopro #antares #northropgrumman #iss #rocket #nofilter #okaymaybetherewasaNDfilter

A post shared by John + Sara (@reedpi) on May 20, 2020 at 10:18pm PDT

GoPro says these features could one day be unveiled alongside a new camera, but also notes there’s a chance ‘these features may never make it to a camera release.’

If you happen to have a GoPro HERO8 Black on hand, you can read through the installation instructions and download the GoPro Labs firmware update on GoPro’s website. Below is a great rundown of the new features from YouTuber DC Rainmaker:

If you end up creating anything interesting with the GoPro Labs firmware, let us know in the comments below or contact us via our feedback form!

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Fujifilm X-T4 sample gallery (DPReview TV)

06 Jun

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_2176369272″,”galleryId”:”2176369272″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) });

Our team from DPReview TV has been shooting a production Fujifilm X-T4 all week. Check out these new sample photos from the Canadian Rockies and the beautiful city of Calgary, Alberta.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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an ode to the normals

06 Jun

Ah, the humble normal lens… in a day and age where all the glory goes to the 70-200/2.8s and the ultrawides, it is easy to overlook the humble elegance of the unassuming normal. Traditionally the 50mm in 35mm terms, but may vary depending on format.

The normal is small, light, fast, sharp and versatile.

It does portraits, it does landscapes, it does street, event, low light…

Need to get in closer? take a step forward. Need to get wider? take a step back. Unlike many other focal lengths the normal is almost chameleon-like in it’s ability to adapt itself to different situations, rendering tightly framed shots as well as “wider” with equal aplomb. (yes I know the actual focal length and field of view don’t change, I refer only to it’s apparent versatility in framing).

In fact, I would estimate probably 75% of my shots overall are taken with a normal lens (50mm on my Nikon, 20mm on my gf1, 75mm on my Mamiya).

The normal lens has a long and influential life in the history of photography. Many of the seminal images of the 20th century were made with the 50mm.

There is a kind of “Zen Like” simplicity to shooting with a normal as well – maybe it has something to do with the fact that it approximates the normal human field of view, but previsualizing the shot becomes almost unconscious. As if one of the barriers between concept and image just falls away…

And then there’s the beautiful, beautiful depth of field. Opening up to f/1.4 (or more!) just creates a whole new world of depth of field effects.

Of course the normal is not a *replacement* for your zoom – especially a telephoto or ultrawide, but if you’re a zoom shooter primarily, give it a shot – spend a couple of weeks with just a normal on your camera. You might just find it addictive…

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The gear that got away: reader responses

06 Jun

Gear that got away: reader responses

After sharing our own stories of selling gear and later coming to regret it, we heard from our readers with their own tales of woe – and we weren’t quite prepared for the emotional rollercoaster ride it would be reading your comments! From an unlikely reunification, to a camera left behind in combat, to a sturdy lens that wouldn’t quit (until a spider moved in) your stories have all the excitement of a summer blockbuster. Take a look at a selection of our favorites.

Yashica Electro 35

CMCM: For purely nostalgic reasons, somehow and somewhere I lost track of my very first camera… a rangefinder Yashica Electro 35, bought in the Cu Chi, Vietnam PX in early 1967. This was apparently the first electronically controlled camera (hence the name “Electro), in which you selected the aperture and the camera automatically chose the shutter speed. It had an excellent fixed 45mm f1.7 lens, and my copy had a non-working light meter for most of its life. I used it sporadically until about 1979, when I got a Canon AE-1.

I’ve recently been digitizing old slides, and I’ve been amazed at how lovely the photos from the old Yashica could be. Wish I knew what happened to it! However, for fun I recently found an absolutely mint one that appears to have never been used, and even the light meter still works!

Panasonic LX100

The Jimmy 86: I’ll always somewhat regret selling my LX100. I was very much a fledgling photographer when I got (and arguably still am) but I took some of my favorite photos with it. The aspect ratio selection switch was just a dream and the camera was essentially good at everything.

I’ll likely never sell a camera when I upgrade again.

Olympus Trip 35

Photo by Marc Lacoste via Wikimedia Commons

BoborTwo: My 1st ‘proper’ camera, an Olympus Trip 35 (the David Bailey one, as my mum used to say).

It opened my camera eye, and led to me selling photos … but stupidly, I traded up to an OM10 on it, and it was gone forever. I tried to get it back some 2 years later, but it had been sold on to random customer in the Jessops in which I traded it.

I deeply miss it, I knew its limitations – there were many, but it took a long time for me to find something I loved as much – a Minox 35 GT – I will never let it go.

Nikon D700

philm5d: My Nikon D700. I had taken it to Scotland on Honeymoon however. Looking at the pics I wished I hadn’t got rid of it – lovely images and also a degree of sentimentality. A chap in Europe had bought it. Two years later I found his eBay name on an old email and offered to buy it back. He wrote back to say sorry he’d sold it on but if he came across the buyer’s details he’d tell me. Six months later he wrote to say he’d found owner two’s username details back in UK.

SO I messaged guy no.2. He said sorry he didn’t want to part with it. I put his eBay name in favourite sellers and two years later he’s selling a guitar. I offer to buy the guitar AND the camera and lo and behold he offers to list the camera at a crazy price (to dissuade others) + “offers” and tells me what he’s accept which was £450. So now I have my camera back after its travels. It’s slightly more worn with 45000 clicks but works perfectly. The serial number tallies with my honeymoon pics etc and I am happy. Beat that if you can!

Vintage photography magazines

valosade: Complete editions of Modern Photography and Popular Photography magazine from the 70s and 80s. When I moved I put them in a paper collection. I was insane, especially Modern I like to read every day …

felix from the suburbs: In my case, I had several decades worth of Modern Photography and Popular Photography nicely stored in cardboard boxes in the basement. We went up north one week-end and came back to a burst pipe in the basement right over where those boxes were kept. The magazines were turned to mush. Much heartbreak that day.

Leica M-2R

Leica M2 photographed by E. Wetzig via Wikimedia Commons

Rodger Kingston: It was 1973, and I was newly married and new to photography, still on my first “serious” camera, a Minolta SRT 101 SLR (which I eventually ruined by backing into a swimming pool at a wedding rehearsal, but that’s another story).

A friend offered me a new Leica M2-R with a Dual Range Summicron and Close-Focus Attachment for the ridiculous price – if I remember correctly – of $ 250, with the proviso that if I didn’t like the camera, I had to offer it back to him at the price he sold it to me for.

A complete newbie, I’d gotten used to the tunnel vision of an SLR, and found the inscribed frame of the Leica rangefinder unsettling to use, so after a short time I sold it back to him.

Now, a lifetime later, my favored cameras have been rangefinder/viewfinder style for many years (including a few Leicas), but none as sweet as that M2-R that I let slip away because I didn’t have the sense to learn how to see with it.

Olympus C-8080

Photo by photophile with Olympus C-8080

photophile: I purchased the huge, brick-like C-8080 it in early 2005 – and loved it straight away. THAT lens was astonishing at resolving detail. The supermacro mode was to die for, the flip-out LCD was really handy for shooting flowers & bugs at ground level and those direct on-body buttons to change metering mode and shooting mode etc – wow! BUT – it was slow to focus and RAW write speed was snail’s pace plus it was a bit noisy above ISO-200. So when the E500 came out, I thought it was time to ‘upgrade.’ As the SLR wasn’t cheap, I sold the C-8080.

The regret was immediate. Yes the new toy was great – but it seemed a bit sterile, too easy to use! Bizarrely, I actually MISSED having to fiddle and fidget with the C-8080, I especially missed the on-body buttons – hated having to trawl through menus on the E500.

Bought a used/abused unit in 2009. And I still have it. Love pressing buttons and turning dials, making it whirr and chirp as it struggles to lock focus. Bit like me!

Rollei 2.8

Photo by Sputniktilt via Wikimedia Commons

mikegc: I took my Rollei 2.8 to Vietnam in 1969. I was a combat photographer with the First Infantry Division. During an assault, the Rollei took a hit as I was running. The bullet passed through the body of the camera that shattered the viewfinder lens and the focusing control. I left it in the jungle and I’m very sorry I did that. It would make a great conversation piece.

Yashica Penta J

Photo by Rick Oleson

ikon44: In my student years in the mid 1960s I sold my UK-made Corfield Periflex 3a for a Yashica Penta J a 35mm film camera with selenium-gold clip on light meter (that was the good decision). The meter clipped on over the shutter speed dial, you chose a shutter speed and the meter gave you the ‘correct’ f stop. It was really easy to use and I found it very reliable.

I sold it in 1970 for an Olympus Pen F and have kicked myself ever since. Many of my friends had (and raved about) the half frame Olympus Pen F. I sold the Yashica for the Pen F and have never recovered from the mistake of thinking I could do better with ‘someone else’s’ idea of the right camera. I now have Nikon D750, and D610 and Fujifilm XT2 and am happy with them all… each for its own purpose.

Panasonic Lumix GF3

Wingsfan: Laugh if you want, but I traded a Lumix GF3 in on an Olympus E-M1 Mark II when they were offering $ 200 for any camera on trade on the E-M1 Mark II. I don’t regret it, because the Olympus is a much better camera, but I forgot how simple and fun it was to use the GF3. Plus, even though my daughter got to inherit my Lumix G5 out of the deal (she had been using the GF3), she still reminds me how much more she likes to GF3 to this day.

Canon PowerShot G12

davesurrey: A while ago I made a spur of the moment decision to reduce my camera collection and sold, amongst others, a Canon G12.

Then every time I saw the space on the shelves where that little fellow had sat I felt nostalgia over take me.

It was far from the best camera I possessed, even then, and it wasn’t even the one I instinctively grabbed when I went out. But there was something about it that I enjoyed.

So I solved the problem and now have a lovely G12 sitting on my shelves again which does get the occasional use.

Was it logical buying another again? Of course not, but what’s logic got to do with passion.

Canon EF 100mm F2 USM

Photo by Ashley Pomeroy via Wikimedia Commons

aceflibble: …For more technical reasons, my first copy of the Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM. That lens was absurdly sharp and well-corrected and had, by far, the fastest and most confident autofocus on the 1Ds cameras. I stupidly sold it when I got the EF 85mm f/1.2L II and immediately missed it. Tried the 70-200 f/2.8 IS as well but still wasn’t happy, so sold both the 70-200 and 85 and bought another copy of the 100. Sadly, that copy was nowhere near as good as my original. Sold it and got a third copy, a bit better but still not quite there. Somewhere out there is a world-class copy of the 100mm f/2 and I hope whoever has it appreciates what they have.

Nikon FM

Photo by Callum Lewis-Smith via Wikimedia Commons

tcab: Traded my Nikon FM film camera & 105mm lens for a film Pentax point and shoot before an overseas holiday. Walking out of the shop I happened to look around and saw the shop owner fondling the Nikon gear with a huge grin on his face. I thought maybe I had made a mistake, but left it at that and went on my holiday.

Twenty or more years later I look back and think – what was I thinking! I loved that camera – it was my first, too. Sure I have all sorts of better cameras now, but still regret selling that classic Nikon.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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