September « 2020 « 360Photography

RSS

Archive for September, 2020

Pete Souza interview: ‘I have the right to speak out when I see wrong. And I see wrong’

14 Sep

Pete Souza is one of the best-known names in photography. An experienced photojournalist, he has the distinction of having served as White House photographer for two presidents: Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. Since leaving the White House in 2017, Pete has stepped out from behind the camera, and most recently he has been putting his images to work using Instagram to pointedly highlight the differences in style – and policy – between the last president and the current occupant of the White House.

‘The Way I See It’, a new documentary film based on Pete’s books ‘Obama: An Intimate Portrait’ and ‘Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents’ , opens soon. Ahead of its premier on September 18th, I had the chance to speak to Pete about his work in the White House, what makes a good presidential photographer and why he’s no longer content to let the pictures do the talking.

The following interview has been edited lightly for clarity and flow.

What kind of people make good White House photographers?

It’s helpful to have a background in photojournalism. And I think it’s also helpful to have the ability to disappear, if you will, in terms of going about the job with a small footprint. That’s things like not carrying loud cameras, not using motor-drive, remembering that you’re an observer, not a participant. Learning how to move about in those circumstances.

I think depending on the president, the [desired] qualities may vary a little bit, but that’s my approach anyway. It worked for me.

Do you think that photographs of an administration can help shape the way that history sees it?

For sure. To quote Michelle Obama, someone I respect a lot, she says that the presidency doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are. I think the same is true of the photographs. The behind the scenes photographs of a president reveal the character of that person. I think that’s pretty clear, and has been basically since we’ve had that position of White House photographer, since the Kennedy administration. We’ve had a pretty good idea of what presidents are like, and their true character, based on the behind the scenes photographs.

President Barack Obama walks along the West Colonnade of the White House with Chief White House Photographer Pete Souza Feb. 18, 2016. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

Photo by Lawrence Jackson / The White House

You mention LBJ’s photographer Yoichi Okamoto in the film – are there any other photographers who have been a major influence on your work?

Oh probably three or four dozen, from Bill Allard and David Allen Harvey at National Geographic, to Henri Cartier-Bresson, W. Eugene Smith, the old Life Magazine photographers, and tons of the newer-generation photographers, too. I still look at photography every day, and that’s one of the great things about Instagram for me.

I still look at photography every day, and that’s one of the great things about instagram for me

In terms of the White House photographers, David Hume Kennerly under President Ford, and Eric Draper with George W Bush. They both did a great job. One of my great memories of election night in 2008, in Grant Park, was of David Kennerly, in fact. The ultimate professional, he was in tears because he was able to witness that moment. I’ll never forget that.

Were there times in the White House where you put your camera down and opted not to take a photograph?

My job was to document what happened. But especially in family situations you certainly have to learn when you need to give the president some space. You’re trying to capture these family moments, but if he’s having a one-on-one talk with one of his daughters, you might take a few photographs and then back away. It’s just an intuitive sense of when the man needs a little space. And [with Obama] it usually involved his family.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wait in the Map Room before the State Arrival ceremony to welcome President Felipe Calderon of Mexico and his wife Mrs. Margarita Zavala on the South Lawn of the White House, May 19, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Photo by Pete Souza / The White House

You say in the film that the job took a lot out of you, mentally. Can you explain how?

Look at it this way – on day one you’re issued with a Blackberry. I kept my Blackberry all eight years. It was either attached to my belt or on my nightstand, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for eight years. That was the way I communicated with people in my office, it was how I communicated with people in the administration, and it was the way that those people communicated with me.

To have that device with you, at all times, is really mentally draining. Just the kind of ‘all-in’ reality of the job, after doing it for eight years it really does take a lot out of you.

Presumably you were also witness to some things that you had to keep confidential?

That’s the nature of the job. And some of that involves national security. There are some things I can never reveal unless they were to be declassified. But one of the things about classified information is that most of it is written down. It’s documents. And I wasn’t privy to those documents, I didn’t get copies of that material. But I was in the room when classified information was being talked about.

President Reagan meeting to receive the report of Special Review Board for the National Security Council, Tower Commission, with John Tower and Edmund Muskie in the Cabinet Room on February 26, 1987.(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Photo by Pete Souza / The White House

A good example would be when we opened relations with Cuba. I probably knew about that a year in advance, because the two main negotiators would report to the president every month or two, and I would be in those meetings. Those are the kinds of things you keep in confidence – negotiations which are going on which aren’t yet public.

From your perspective as someone who has worked under two administrations as White House photographer, who were you serving? Who were you doing it for?

The people of the United States. I made almost two million photographs in the eight years of the Obama administration. And I don’t know if people realize this but every single photograph ends up at the National Archive. There will be time when everything will be made public – every single frame. On the day of the Bin Laden raid I think I made more than a thousand pictures and eventually people will be able to see every single one of them, if they want to.

Right now in fact, because a certain number of years has passed, you can see every single picture I made during the Reagan administration. You can see the proof sheets, they’re all online.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011. Please note: a classified document seen in this photograph has been obscured. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Photo by Pete Souza / The White House

Ultimately, the job is to document the presidency for history. And I took that really seriously. We were talking about Okamoto earlier, and I remember I used to tell people that in fifty years time people will be able to go through all of my photographs and have a good idea of what the presidency was like, and what president Obama was like. And then I saw an old presentation by Okamoto, and he made the exact same point. Except he didn’t say fifty years he said “five hundred years”.

That really threw me, and made me realize how truly important this job is. It really is for history. Can you imagine the pictures that I made during the Obama administration, if we had a set of pictures like that taken during the Lincoln administration?

With America perhaps more divided now than ever before, what gives you hope?

The country is divided, but there have always been two sides. It’s young people that give me hope. It’s the younger generation, primarily, have been the ones out there protesting peacefully. And not just the Black Lives Matter [movement]. The fact that a bunch of high-school kids in Florida really brought the issue of gun safety to a nationwide audience – these are 16, 17-year-old kids – and one of the largest rallies ever – they did it. Young kids. That generation gives me hope. Being out there, speaking out and letting their views be known.

And even some of the congressmen and women who were elected in 2018. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gets a lot of attention, but I’m also thinking of people like Katie Porter (D-Calif) who has used her time in Congress in such an effective way.

President Barack Obama holds a meeting in the Oval Office to prep for a Quad Secure Video Teleconference (SVTC) in the Situation Room of the White House, Feb. 23, 2016. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Photo by Pete Souza / The White House

This may be viewed as quite a political film – how would you respond to people who say they wish you’d focused on the photography and kept the politics out of it?

I don’t think I’m bringing politics into it at all. I am not currently photographing the president of the United States. And I haven’t, other than on inauguration day [in 2017]. I’m just comparing and contrasting the two presidents that I have photographed from the inside, how they upheld the dignity of the office and comparing that to what we have today.

I have the right to speak out when I see wrong. And I see wrong, so I’m speaking out

It’s not a political thing. I wouldn’t be doing this if Jeb Bush, or John Kasich, or John McCain or Mitt Romney was president. I may still disagree with their policies, but they understand what it means to be empathetic and compassionate, and what it means to do the best job you can on behalf of all people – including the ones who didn’t vote for them.

It’s as simple as that. I’m an American citizen, and I have the right to speak out when I see wrong. And I see wrong, so I’m speaking out. I think Trump is damaging the country and its people, and to those who say I shouldn’t be speaking out, well, I think they’re wrong. I’m going to be on the right side of history and I believe in the institution of the presidency, and that the person in that office needs to uphold the dignity of the institution, and that [Trump] isn’t doing it.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Best video cameras for photographers

13 Sep

Most modern cameras will shoot video to one degree or another, but these are the ones we’d look at if you plan to shoot some video alongside your photos. We’ve chosen cameras that can take great photos and make it easy to get great looking video, rather than being the ones you’d choose as a committed videographer.

Focused on photos: Nikon Z6

The Nikon Z6 is an excellent stills camera that also does a good job of shooting video. The Sony a7 III is also a credible contender and has a bigger battery, but we tend to find the Nikon’s autofocus performs slightly better in video mode and that it offers better separation between stills and video settings, making it easier to jump back and forth between the two styles of shooting.

Another camera worth considering is the Canon EOS R6, which has great image and video quality, an excellent image stabilization system and very good ergonomics. Rolling shutter can be an issue though, and video record times can be unpredictable if you’re shooting stills as well.

A balance of both: Fujifilm X-T4

The Fujifilm X-T4 has a smaller sensor than the Nikon but offers a more extensive set of video features, if you’re equally interested in both disciplines. It can capture 10-bit video internally in a choice of modes including Log, HLG or the attractive and flexible ‘Eterna’ color profile. Built-in image stabilization and the option to totally de-couple stills and video settings make the X-T4 a great lightweight stills and video package.

We considered the cameras below when picking our winner, and even though we think the Nikon Z6 and Fujifilm X-T4 are the best choices overall, the cameras on our short list are also worth considering.

Focused on photos: Nikon Z6
A balance of both: Fujifilm X-T4

Also consider:

Canon EOS M6 II
Canon EOS R6
Olympus OM-D E-M5 III
Panasonic Lumix DC-G9
Sony a7 III
Sony a6600
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 IV
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 VII

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

5 Tips for Setting the Focus in Your Landscape Photography

13 Sep

The post 5 Tips for Setting the Focus in Your Landscape Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jim Hamel.

For many types of photography, the question of where you should set your focus is pretty simple. For example, in portrait photography, there is one simple rule: focus on the eyes. When the eyes aren’t on the same plane of focus, focus on the near eye. End of story.

It is pretty simple with other types of photography, as well. In wildlife photography, you focus on the animal. In fact, in any type of photography where there is a clear subject, you always focus on that subject. That’s not to say it is always easy, but at least it isn’t difficult to figure out.

Foreground sharpness is paramount in many landscape photos.

But what about landscape photography, where you are generally capturing more of a scene than a solitary subject? Where do you focus to ensure that everything in the scene is as sharp as possible? The answer isn’t always so clear.

Therefore, in this article, we’ll cover some tips for helping you know where to set the focus.

Tip 1: Don’t just set the focus at infinity

Again, oftentimes in landscape photography, you are trying to capture a scene rather than a solitary thing. Many times, the scene you are trying to capture is far away from you.

Most lenses have a range of focus values, and once you get beyond a certain distance (often 20-30 feet, or 8-10 meters) the focus is set at infinity. Everything beyond that point will just be infinity. Therefore, if you are taking a picture where most things in the frame are far away, it might seem that you should just set the focus at infinity. If you are using autofocus (and most of us are), you might be inclined to set the focus using something that is very far away from you.

If everything in the frame is truly at infinity, then setting the focus at its maximum distance is not a horrible idea. If there is nothing close to you, then there is just no need to do anything else; you don’t need to overly complicate things. But more commonly there are aspects of the scene that are closer to you than infinity. Where do you set the focus then?

Derryclare

You can get into hyperfocal distance (we’ll talk more about that in a minute) and make this as technical as you want. But often your time is precious when you’re out shooting. The light is changing and things are moving. You can get a pretty good sense of things without resorting to calculations.

As a result, consider this rule of thumb: Set the focus at infinity and then just turn it back a little bit. But there’s an obvious question: How do you define a little bit?

I’m afraid I don’t have a good answer for you. It will vary from lens to lens, but will usually be about a 5-10° turn or just to the highest distance number printed on the lens (if your lens has these numbers).

focus-ring-distance-600px

Why would you want to do that?

Because of the depth of field that will be in your picture (more on depth of field below). Since you are taking an outdoor photo, you will probably not be shooting wide open, or even with a large aperture. So there will likely be some depth depth of field involved. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a large depth of field, but the point is that it gives you some leeway. By pulling the focus forward, that leeway will still get everything out to infinity in focus. It will also get things a little closer in focus, as well.

Tip 2: Try focusing a third of the way into the picture

Many pictures are ruined because the foreground is not sharp. It happens all the time. Therefore, if you have something in your scene that is close to the camera, focus on it. If the ground is prominent in your picture, set your focus close to you. Make sure that foreground is in focus. Often you will set the focus only a few feet in front of you.

But wait a second, you might ask, what about my background? Won’t it be out of focus or blurry?

Probably not. If you’re using your wide-angle lens (and if you are taking an outdoor photo that has a discrete foreground, then you probably are) you will have a wide depth of field, even at moderate to large apertures.

A sharp foregound focus furthers the viewer’s sense that they can walk into the picture.

Tip 3: Focus on the subject matter

Let’s not lose sight of the obvious, though. When you have a definite subject or center of interest in your photo, just focus on that. It is the most important part of your picture, and you absolutely need it in focus.

Don’t worry about your foreground, and don’t worry about your background. Just make sure the subject is in focus. Frankly, if there is a little fall-off in sharpness from your subject, that will probably not be such a bad thing.

Sometimes you just want a definite subject in focus, and having the background start to blur out is just fine, as in this image of a sheep.

Tip 4: Watch the aperture

There are no free lunches in photography. You probably already know that by using a smaller aperture to get a larger depth of field, it will cost you light. The smaller aperture lets in less light, so you will have to use a longer shutter speed (risking blur if you aren’t using a tripod) or raise the ISO (risking digital noise in your picture).

But the smaller aperture will also lead to something called diffraction, particularly in cameras with smaller digital sensors. Therefore, just using the smallest aperture possible isn’t always the answer. You cannot just set your focus anywhere and rely on a super-wide depth of field to save you.

There are two ways around this issue though, which we’ll talk about next.

With everything in the shot at a distance of infinity (30 feet or more), I did not need a wide depth of field to keep everything in focus.

Tip 5: Know Your hyperfocal distance

Hyperfocal distance is just a fancy name for determining how close you can set your focus and still keep your background acceptably sharp. There are apps and calculators that will tell you this distance depending on your aperture, sensor size, and focal length.

For a full explanation of hyperfocal distance along with some charts and links to apps that will calculate it for you, check out this article: How to Find and Use Hyperfocal Distance for Sharp Backgrounds .

An example will illustrate the point made above about backgrounds tending to remain sharp when you are using wide-angle lenses. If you’re using a 16mm lens on a full frame camera and shooting at f/11, your hyperfocal distance is only 2.5 feet. That means you can set the focus on a point just in front of you, and keep everything behind that point sharp.

Knowing the hyperfocal distance will often liberate you to set the focus point quite close, in order to maintain sharp foregrounds in your picture. It also means you often don’t need to use the smallest aperture your lens offers, so you can avoid the effects of diffraction.

Ballintoy-Arch

Tip 6: Consider focus stacking

When the methods above won’t work for you, or you just need to make sure absolutely everything in the photo from front to back is tack-sharp, you may want to consider focus stacking. Here you take multiple pictures of the same scene using different focus points.

Start by setting the aperture of your lens where it is sharpest (also called the sweet spot; if you don’t know, that is usually in the range of f/5.6 – f/8). Take a shot with the focus set close to you, then repeat the process, gradually setting the focus point farther and farther away with each shot. Later you blend your pictures in Photoshop (for more about how to do that check out this article: Maximizing Depth of Field Without Diffraction).

This method is not a cure-all. It obviously won’t work with moving subject matter. In addition, it can be tedious, and you risk slightly moving the camera since you have to twist the focus ring between shots. Still it can be a powerful tool for maintaining focus and sharpness throughout your entire picture.

Setting the focus in landscape photography: Summary

No rule is going to cover every situation when it comes to focus. As with many aspects of photography, you’ll just have to use your own judgment in the field. Hopefully, as you do so, these tips will help you nail the focus and keep the picture tack sharp where it matters.

This week we are doing a series of articles to help you do better nature photography. See previous articles here:

3 Habits Every Outdoor Photographer Should Develop to Avoid Missing Shots
5 Tips for Better Nature Photography
27 Serene Images of the Natural World
Weekly Photography Challenge – Nature
10 Ideas for Photographing Nature in your Backyard
6 Tips for Capturing Character and Personality in Wildlife Photography

The post 5 Tips for Setting the Focus in Your Landscape Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jim Hamel.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

Slideshow: Finalists for the 2020 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

12 Sep

Finalists for the 2020 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards recently announced its 44 top images for 2020. Finalists include a smiley fish, a fox in negotiations with a mouse, and a photobombing giraffe. Founded by photographers and conservationists Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, the global competition is free to enter and aims to showcase the funniest takes on animals in the wild.

The top prize includes a week-long safari in Kenya. There is also a People’s Choice Award that anyone can vote for by clicking on their favorite image. Category and Overall Winners, chosen by a panel of judges including the competition founders, along with the Telegraph’s online travel editor, Oliver Smith, will be announced October 22nd.

Finalist: ‘Smiley’ by Arthur Telle Thiemenn

Animal: Sparisoma cretense

Location of Shot: El Hierro, Canary Islands

Finalist: ‘Tough Negotiations’ by Ayala Fishaimer

Animal: Fox

Location of Shot: Israel

Finalist: ‘Spreading the Wildlife Gossip’ by Bernhard Esterer

Animal: Lions

Location of Shot: Kalahari Desert

Finalist: ‘Crashing into the Picture’ by Brigitte Alcalay Marcon

Animal: Giraffe

Location of Shot: Etosha National Park, Nambia

Finalist: ‘I Could Puke’ by Christina Holfelder

Animal: Gentoo penguin

Location of Shot: Falkland Islands

Finalist: ‘The Inside Joke’ by Femke van Willigen

Animal: Eurasian red squirrel

Location of Shot: Espelo, the Netherlands

Finalist: ‘Lamentation!’ by Jacques Poulard

Animal: Polar bear

Location of Shot: Spitzberg, Germany

Finalist: ‘Like Mother, Like Daughter’ by Jagdeep Rajput

Animal: Asian elephant

Location of Shot: Corbett National Park, India

Finalist: ‘Just Chillin” by Jill Neff

Animal: Racoon

Location of Shot: Jackson, Ohio, USA

Finalist: ‘I Think this Tyre’s Gonna be Flat’ by Kay Kotzian

Animal: Grizzly bears

Location of Shot: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA

Finalist: ‘Having a Laugh’ by Ken Crossan

Animal: Common seal

Location of Shot: Caithness, Scotland

Finalist: ‘Wait up Mommy, Look What I Got for You!’ by Kunal Gupta

Animal: Elephant

Location of Shot: Kaziranga, India

Finalist: ‘Terry the Turtle Flipping the Bird’ by Mark Fitzpatrick

Animal: Turtle

Location of Shot: Lady Elliot Island, Queensland Australia

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

DPReview TV: We compare two dedicated vlogging cameras to an iPhone, find out which is best

12 Sep

Vlogging is more popular than ever. In response, manufacturers have introduced specialty cameras for vloggers. But do you really need a dedicated camera to vlog? We compared the Sony ZV-1 and Panasonic G100 to an iPhone to find out.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.

Introduction
Audio quality
Video quality
Autofocus
Lenses
Stabilization
Who wins?

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Film Fridays: How to get started developing B&W film on a tight budget

12 Sep

Photo: Sroyon Mukherjee

The two responses we most often hear when citing the virtues of developing B&W film at home are ‘Isn’t it hard?’ and ‘Isn’t expensive?’. We’ve covered the first question extensively in our guide Developing film at home: everything you need to know to get started (the answer is a resounding, ‘No!’).

As for the second, our friends over at 35mmc have proof that with just a little bit of cash and by making use of common household items, you too can begin your journey into home development without breaking the bank. For around $ 30, you can pick up the core equipment you’ll need, plus around another $ 25 to get set up with chemistry. That’s about the cost of lab developing 4 rolls so… you do the math.

Read: How to get started developing B&W film at home for £25 (or less)

About Film Fridays: We recently launched an analog forum and in a continuing effort to promote the fun of the medium, we’ll be sharing film-related content on Fridays, including articles from our friends at KosmoFoto and 35mmc.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

KUVRD’s new Universal Lens Hoods claim to fit 99% of lenses

12 Sep

Photography accessory manufacturer KUVRD has announced a crowdfunding campaign for its latest product, the Universal Lens Hood. As its name suggests, the new product is a collapsible silicone lens hood that KUVRD says will fit 99% of lenses.

The Universal Lens Hood is the result of more than seven iterations, with the final version being put through ‘rigorous field testing in varying temperatures’ to ensure it’s ready to take on the elements. The product, which comes in two sizes — Small (54mm) and Medium (72mm) — is made of a ‘hyper-elastic silicone polymer,’ not unlike the material used to make the company’s stretchable lens caps released back in 2017.

The Universal Lens Hood can be expanded forward and collapsed backwards to precisely fit your needs without getting in the way and the lint-resistant coating should ensure you’re not left with dirt and fuzzies stuck all over it as tends to happen with silicone products.

An illustration showing what size filter will fit inside the Small and Medium Universal Lens Hoods.

Beyond near-universal lens compatibility, the hoods also serve as a way to hold nearly any size of circular filter on the market by squeezing them between the inner-walls of the hood. This can further save space in your bag by reducing the need for step down rings and ensures you can by a single, large VND, ND, CPL or UV filter for use with even your smallest lenses.

Although it might be a stretch (see what I did there) the Universal Lens Hoods can also be used as a placemats of sorts to keep your gear safe and off rough terrain when you need to switch out a lens or replace the batteries.

The Universal Lens Hood has already far surpassed its humble $ 5,000 funding goal with nearly $ 180,000 in pledges as of publishing this article. You can purchase the Small and Medium Universal Lens Hoods in packs of one, two, three and four for $ 30, $ 50, $ 75 and $ 100, respectively. To find out more and to secure your pledge, head on over to the Kickstarter campaign.

Disclaimer: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Loupedeck Live is a smaller, livestream-focused Loupedeck console

12 Sep

Loupedeck has announced a new product, Loupedeck Live. The new product looks a lot like the top half of the Loupedeck CT. The result is that the Loupedeck Live offers fewer total controls to the user but is more compact and more affordable than the Loupedeck CT.

Loupedeck Live is a customizable console designed to give you quick and easy access to numerous tools and functions. It acts as an additional input method beyond your keyboard and mouse. Loupedeck Live is aimed at streamers and content creators, but like Loupedeck CT, it is fully compatible with the software many photographers and videographers use daily, such as Photoshop, Lightroom and Premiere Pro. In total, Loupedeck Live supports 11 applications: Adobe Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC, Premiere Pro CC, After Effects CC, Audition CC, Illustrator CC, Final Cut Pro X, OBS Studio, Streamlabs OBS, Spotify and Twitch. The native plugins for Loupedeck are regularly updated to support the latest version of the above applications.

Of its new Live model, Loupedeck says, ‘Loupedeck Live puts all of [the] tools you need right at your fingertips, making creative work faster, easier and most of all – more enjoyable!’ The company continues, ‘Loupedeck Live helps you streamline your workflow, with custom macros and shortcuts – putting you in complete control over your creativity.’ You can read more about how Loupedeck Live helps creatives here.

Image credit: Loupedeck

The Loupedeck Live is housed within an aluminum cover and has a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 pixel LCD with a capacitive touch panel. The console includes eight round push-buttons with RGB backlight and six endless rotation encoders with detents and push-button functionality. Loupedeck Live’s dimensions are 150 x 110 x 30mm and it weighs 230g. Loupedeck Live comes with a stand and with cables (USB-C cable and USB-C to USB-A adapter are included). You can see the Loupedeck Live in action in the video below. Loupedeck Live requires a computer running either Windows 10 or macOS 10.13 or higher.

In addition to the native plugin support, you can use Loupedeck’s software to create custom profiles for any application. These profiles are a combination of user actions and adjustments mapped to selected actions and adjustments. You can share these profiles and browse profiles other users have created. To learn more about how this functionality works, click here.

Image credit: Loupedeck

The ability to create custom profiles is perhaps even more important with Loupedeck Live than it is with its larger sibling, the Loupedeck CT. Loupedeck Live users will be able to select two creative plugins to unlock permanently at the beginning of 2021 and must purchase additional native plugins. You can learn more about this change in this article from Loupedeck. Additional plugins will be available on a monthly basis or as a lifetime license. This change does not impact Loupedeck CT owners, who have lifetime access to all native plugins.

For photographers interested in Loupedeck Live, some of the functions you can map to the console include putting cropping, undo, auto white balance and before/after comparisons on the screen and using the haptic dials to make precise adjustments to hue, saturation and luminance or other slider-based adjustments. You can learn more about how a Loupedeck Live console could fit into your photography workflow by watching the video below by Ted Forbes at The Art of Photography. He discusses a Loupedeck CT model, but the Loupedeck Live is a smaller, more affordable alternative that offers much of the same functionality, minus some keys and the large dial on the bottom half of the CT.

Loupedeck Live is available to order now for $ 269 USD. Shipping begins at the end of this month.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Weekly Photography Challenge – Self Portrait

12 Sep

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Self Portrait appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.

It’s been a long time since we pushed a ‘Self Portrait’ challenge in your general direction! These can be very confronting for many reasons, how we see ourselves, confidence, or something as simple as the lack of a tripod (You can put your tripod on a bench, or the floor, or in a tree!) but it’d be great to get as many of us to try this out as possible – it’s not about anything other than learning to photograph people, and who is your most readily available subject? YOU.

One of our resources on self portraiture

I’m one of those crazy (or not?) people that have participated in a 365, got the t-shirt, made a small book, it was fun! But it really goes a long way to showing you a lot about portrait photography, lighting (I used a desk lamp for the longest time!) and how your gear works… But we don’t want to see 365 of these, just one.

A self-portrait doesn’t need to JUST be of you, you can disguise yourself behind a coffee machine, or across a workbench. But set your scene and think about your lighting, and see what you come up with! Here are a couple of helpful resources on portraits for you to have a look at, grab a cup of tea and your camera and get started!
Self Portrait Tips & Examples and A Mirror Self-Portrait challenge from a few years back!

A little shout out to ‘Moncat‘ who submitted this photograph to last week’s ‘Spring’ challenge!

Weekly Photography Challenge – Self Portrait

Great! Where do I upload my photos?

Simply upload your shot into the comments field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see. Or, if you’d prefer, upload them to your favourite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them.

Weekly Photography Challenge – Looking Up

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites – tag them as #DPSSelfPortrait to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.

Follow us on Instagram?

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Self Portrait appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

Sony to Announce New Line of Compact Cameras Next Week

11 Sep

The post Sony to Announce New Line of Compact Cameras Next Week appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Sony’s is famous for its full-frame mirrorless lineup, which offers stellar image quality, lightning-fast autofocus, and more.

Sony is also famous for its APS-C mirrorless lineup, which offers similarly fast autofocus but in a compact package.

Yet Sony is about to take their mirrorless system a step further.

Earlier this week, Sony unveiled this graphic on their Sony Japan website:

And while the announcement hasn’t officially been followed by additional details, Sony Alpha Rumors has reported that Sony will be announcing a brand-new type of mirrorless camera, one that combines the compactness of the Sony a6000 series with the image quality of the a7 and a9 series.

According to Sony Alpha Rumors, the first of these cameras will be labeled the Sony a7C, where the ‘C’ will likely stand for either Concept or Compact.

So what can we expect from this new mirrorless body?

The a7 III’s 24 MP sensor
A fully-articulating screen in the style of the a7S III
Autofocus from the a7S III
A design close to that of the Sony a6600 (though a hair larger)
4K/30p video recording capabilities
In-body image stabilization
One SD card slot
A headphone jack as well as a mic input
A higher price tag than the a7 III (which currently sits around $ 2000 USD)

Sony Alpha Rumors also reports that the a7C “will be marketed for vloggers and YouTubers,” and will debut alongside a new set of compact lenses.

If all this information is accurate (and I suspect that it is!), we’re going to be in for quite a treat. The a7C will offer some of Sony’s best goods, and future a7C cameras should be similarly impressive.

Really, this camera seems like a powerful hybrid; while it may be aimed at YouTubers and vloggers, it should also appeal to travel photographers, street photographers, and even more casual, walkaround photographers.

Plus, the new compact lens lineup will hopefully address a common frustration among Sony mirrorless photographers: that the cameras are compact, but the lenses aren’t.

So if you’re looking to grab a compact camera that can handle video and stills on the go, keep an eye out for the announcement!

Now over to you:

Are you excited about the upcoming Sony a7C announcement? Is it a camera you’ll be interested in purchasing? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post Sony to Announce New Line of Compact Cameras Next Week appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.