RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘Images’

Tips for Using Negative Space in Photography to Create Stunning Images

01 Jul

The post Tips for Using Negative Space in Photography to Create Stunning Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sandra Roussy.

negative space in photography 1

“I’m filling in all the negative spaces with positively everything.”
– Edie Brickell

Negative space may tend to suggest something that is not good. But negative space in photography is also often referred to as white space or minimalism photography. There’s nothing bad about it. It’s truly a unique technique to try out in your photography practice.

We sometimes tend to fill our compositions with lots of objects and color. When we talk about negative space, it’s the opposite that rules. The final image is mostly composed of blank or neutral space, and a small portion of the composition has an actual object in it.

This type of composition emphasizes the subject in the photo and also adds a unique value to it. This type of composition is powerful and, when done correctly, can take your photography from ordinary to truly impressive.

It can be a little daunting at first when you begin to do negative space photography. Not all attempts will be successful. There are opportunities to create negative space photography practically everywhere around you. You have to know how to observe and apply a few techniques to achieve amazing negative space masterpieces.

Positive and negative space explained

Positive space

This is the area in the photo that attracts the viewer’s eye. It’s the main subject that commands attention in the composition. This is usually where the eye goes first.

negative space in photography 2

Negative space

This is the space in the composition that is typically the background. It usually doesn’t attract very much attention and is, in most cases, the intention of the photographer. It is used to define or contour the positive space.

In negative space photography, the photographer uses the space that is usually not the primary focus and uses it to fill in most of the composition. The negative space commands more attention than the positive space and creates a unique perspective. It also adds definition and can create strong emotions.

negative space in photography 3

Negative space and emotions

Negative space photography can evoke a sense of wonder, mysteriousness, and peacefulness. The viewer will have a greater connection to the object if the photo has no clutter, visual distractions, and a multitude of colors.

negative space in photography 4

You may be presented with opportunities to create negative space photography more times than you think. It’s all in how you visualize or train your eye to look at things.

For example, a few years ago, I stood at a popular lookout overlooking an iconic rock sitting in the Atlantic Ocean in Eastern Canada. It was early morning, and some fog had rolled in, covering most of the impressive structure. The woman standing next to me at the lookout observing the same landscape turned to me and said, “It’s so sad, we’re driving by today, and I wanted to get a photo of the Percé Rock, but it seems like it won’t be possible.”

She left disappointed that she didn’t get her shot.

I stood there for a long time afterward examining the fog and the way it draped the rock like a heavy blanket. I thought that this was one of the most amazing things to happen that day. I felt so lucky to be there at that exact moment to capture the wonder unfolding.

negative space in photography 5

Sometimes a small shift in perspective can make a huge difference.

Balancing the shot

Negative space is absolutely not blank space. If you think of it this way, you will have difficulty seeing the opportunities that you will be presented with. You want the negative space to be the main focus of your photograph, and it will hopefully evoke strong feelings.

We are trained to follow some basic composition rules, like the rule of thirds, for example. However, with negative space photography, these rules mostly don’t apply. Your imagination is what rules the composition in negative space photography.

negative space in photography 6

© José Velasco

However, there are a few things to remember and consider if you want to achieve this type of photography.

Less is more

Fill your composition with the negative space. Try to put minimal distracting objects in your composition. Texture or solid colors are great elements to use in negative space photography. Use the texture or color to fill in most of the composition.

negative space in photography 7

Position

The object should be secondary and placed somewhere that is usually not primarily capturing the eye of the viewer. Placing the subject somewhere in the corner of your frame will frequently provide you with a good result. Try to balance the negative space with the white space so that it flows.

negative space in photography 8

Twice the amount

A good rule of thumb is to put twice as much negative space than positive space in the composition.

negative space in photography 9

Aperture

Try to avoid shallow depth of field when doing negative space photography. This is so that neither the object nor the negative space in the photograph is blurry.

Go out and explore the possibilities

When you look at things differently and step outside of the traditional rules, you will find many great opportunities to create some unique shots. Look at a scene and try to create your own story.

© José Velasco

Negative space photography is an excellent way to expand your skills and your photographic eye. So remember, less is sometimes more.

Have any negative space photographs that you are proud of? Don’t hesitate to show us in the comments section below.

The post Tips for Using Negative Space in Photography to Create Stunning Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sandra Roussy.


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on Tips for Using Negative Space in Photography to Create Stunning Images

Posted in Photography

 

Make Easy Panoramic Images with Microsoft ICE

18 Jun

The post Make Easy Panoramic Images with Microsoft ICE appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

Vista at Dead Horse State Park, Utah. Fourteen images stitched in Microsoft ICE.

You’ve no doubt seen panoramic images and perhaps even know how to make them. Whether using the tools built into programs like Lightroom and Photoshop, or perhaps another dedicated panoramic creation program, or even the sweep-panoramic capability of many cellphone cameras, you’ve used this technique to make images larger than you could make them in a single shot.

In the past, the choice was not as great, and the main stitching programs not as diversified in their capabilities. The programs that did exist to create panoramas were complex, sometimes expensive, and didn’t always work well.

When the first version of Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor), a program from the Microsoft Research Division of the software giant came out, it had all the things I sought in software utilities. It was simple, it worked well, and it was free – bingo! Although other options have come along for photo stitching, I still find ICE, (now at version 2.0.3.0), a favorite.

Panorama images are not new nor a product of the digital age. This image was made from Rincon Point in San Francisco in 1851 using multiple photo plates seamed together.

Image stitching – What is it?

When working with panoramic programs you will read the term “image stitching.” It is an apt phrase for the process by which a series of photos are composited together to make a larger image, much like scraps of fabric stitched together to make a quilt. The mark of a good photo-stitching program is how well it can piece the separate images together without showing the “seams.” Check another box for Microsoft ICE – it does that job extremely well.

The Mars Rover uses robotic cameras and panoramic stitching techniques to make high-resolution images.  NASA Photo

Considerations when photographing a panorama

The quality of a finished product is usually dependent on the raw materials that go into it. The same is true of creating a panorama photo. The better your technique in making the individual images, the better your finished panorama will be.  I will not be doing a deep-dive into panorama photography techniques, as that is a whole subject itself, but instead, I’ll list some of those things you’ll want to consider when making your shots.

One real benefit of ICE is that even with less than perfectly created images, it will still do a respectable job in creating a panorama. Of course, with better images, the result will be better too.

Here are some techniques to help you when shooting your images for a panorama:

Camera settings

As you sweep across your scene, making multiple shots, there will be variations in the light. If you leave your camera in an automatic mode, each frame will be slightly different too. ICE has what is called Exposure Blending and uses an advanced algorithm to compensate for this. Thus, it smooths the seams between individual images. However, if you give it better images to work with the result will be better too.

The best practice is to put your camera in full manual mode, find and set an exposure that is a good average for the scene, and lock that in.  Try to pick an aperture for maximum depth of field as well.

The same goes for focus. Find a point where as much of the image will be in focus, (the “hyperfocal distance,” typically a third of the way into the scene), focus there and turn off autofocus.

Lens selection

There is no “just right” lens focal length to use when making panoramic images. The field of view that represented in your stitched image will be dictated by how many photos you make and the sweep of your pan, not the lens focal length.

One might think a wide-angle lens would be a good choice, as fewer shots would be required. But that’s not necessarily true. The best choice is a lens with the least distortion as any lens distortion will be magnified as you stitch images together. Thus, a good, basic 50mm prime lens could be a great choice.

Sometimes, depending on the scene you want to capture, a longer telephoto might work well. Lens quality and minimal distortion trump wide focal lengths here.

A panoramic tripod head allows you to mount the camera so that the lens nodal point is centered over the pivot point of the pan. Thus, minimizing parallax errors.

Nodal point and parallax issues

Wazzat!!?? Yes, you can get complex very quickly and encounter cryptic terms if you want to when making panoramic photos.  Attention to detail results in higher quality panoramas. And, if you decide to pursue this technique, you will want to learn about these things in time.

Very briefly, the nodal point is the spot within a lens where the light rays converge.  Setting up your camera such that the pivot point of your pan is at that spot will produce an image with the least distortion.  This is most important in images where objects in the shot are both close and far in your scene.

Parallax is the difference in the apparent position of an object when viewed along two different lines of sight.

To see a quick example, hold your hand out at arm’s length with your thumb up.  Close one eye and put your thumb over a distant object.  Now close that eye and open the other. You will see your thumb “jump” off the object to a different position.  This is parallax.

When setting up your camera, pivoting around the nodal point will reduce or even eliminate this. And serious panorama photographers will purchase special panorama tripod heads to get this exact spot for any given lens they might use.

Highly serious gigapixel panorama photographers making images with hundreds of composite images might even use motorized computer-controlled heads like the Gigapan to make their shots.

Check out some of the Gigapan images like this made from some 12,000 individual shots. Alternatively, look at this taken from a similar setup on the Mars Rover.

Bringing it back down to Earth, you need not get nearly that sophisticated if you don’t want to.  There are less expensive heads for panoramic photography if you choose to try that and many Youtube videos and instructional articles on setting nodal points.

For starters, you needn’t even worry about all of that to give panoramic photography a try. The beauty of ICE is that even with something as simple as handheld images shot with a cellphone camera, it does a very nice job of assembling a panorama image.

Step-by-Step

Here are some things to do when making your images for use in a panorama:

  • Consider your composition – Good composition is just as important in making a panorama image as any other photo.  If your cellphone supports the sweep panorama feature, you can sometimes make a shot with it to help pre-visualize what you want to do with your DSLR.
  • Level the tripod – You will know your tripod wasn’t level if you get an “arched” looking composite panorama.
  • Mount your camera in a vertical (portrait) orientation – You will get a taller aspect ratio in your final shot and an image less “ribbon-like” when you assemble your panorama.
  • Hand-marker – Shoot a photo of your hand in front of the camera as the first and last in your panorama sequence. This will make it much easier to determine which images belong to a panorama “group.”
  • Camera Settings – Use full manual exposure and focus for the reasons outlined above.
  • Overlap – As you pan making each shot, overlap each image about a third so ICE will more easily find the match points when making the composite.

This is the screen you will see when first opening Microsoft ICE.

Bringing it into ICE

Bringing your images into ICE and letting it assemble your panorama is the easiest part and a big reason to like this program. ICE accepts most Raw photos, .jpg of course, and even layered Photoshop files.  You will need to know this is a Windows-only program and won’t work on your Mac. However, there are plenty of iOS alternatives. One which is also free and well-regarded is Hugin.  I can’t say I have any personal experience with it, however, being a PC guy.

Here’s where you will find the download for ICE. Be sure you get the proper version, 32 or 64-bit for your particular PC. The program will work in Windows 10, 8, 7 or even Vista SP2. There is a lot of good information as well as an interesting overview video on the page.  The installation usually goes quite smoothly.

After you have the program installed, there are various ways to bring your images in for compositing into a panorama:

  • Running ICE as a stand-alone – ICE can be run just fine as a stand-alone program and you can bring your images in from wherever you have them stored. You can do this either by opening ICE and clicking New Panorama from Images or by opening another window in File Explorer and dragging and dropping the images into ICE.
  • Launching ICE from a Folder – Typically, once you install ICE, if you select all the images you want in your pano from a folder and then right-click, you will see an option to Stitch using Image Composite Editor.  Select that, then ICE will launch with your selected images brought in.
  • Using ICE as an External Editor from Lightroom – You can set-up Adobe Lightroom to use ICE as an External Editor.  This is my preferred way as I often do some basic pre-editing to my shots in LR before bringing them into ICE.  Once you have set-up ICE as an External Editor, select all the images in the pano group you will be using. Then, in the Lightroom menu, click Photo -> Edit In -> Microsoft ICE.  You will have the option to Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments.  Pick that, click Edit, and ICE launches with the images ready for compositing.

There are four basic steps in ICE; Import, (the images have been imported here), Stitch, Crop, and Export.

Four basic steps in ICE

1. Import

If you’ve used one of the three methods above, you’re likely already seeing your images in ICE ready for Stitching. If you are running ICE in stand-alone mode and have not already imported your images, you will see three Options across the top of the screen:  New Panorama from Images, New Panorama from Video, and Open Existing Panorama. Choose the first option, navigate in Windows Explorer to where your images are located, select those that make up the panorama group, and click Open.  Remember, ICE opens Raw files, Tif, Jpg, PSD, and perhaps some other image file types.

You will find that in most cases, the default setting for ICE works well. If you are confused about some of the terms and menu options, you can click Next (at the top right of the screen), and ICE proceeds to the next step using the defaults.

If you choose to try some other things, here are a few options:

Rather than use Auto-detect in Camera Motion, you may wish to use Rotating Motion. It will give you more options for adjustment later. I have not found the Planar Motion options to be useful, (and to be honest, don’t really understand them. Such will be the case with ICE for most people – there are options and terms that will take more knowledge of the process. And, while they might have applications, most times will not be necessary.  Keep things simple, and you’ll most often be pleased with the result.)

This is the Stitch step. Ice has composited individual images.  Don’t be overwhelmed by the Projection options. ICE will almost always choose the correct one by default. If you wish to try the others, go ahead and see what you like best.

2. Stitch

Click Next or select option 2 – Stitch from the menu. The screen will show Aligning and then Compositing Images with progress bars as the work is done.  Depending on the size, number, and complexity of your images, this could go quick or could take several minutes.  Once done, your stitched image will appear.

Depending on the camera motion type chosen, you may have another set of options under Projection with terms like Cylindrical, Mercator, and a collection of other types you may not understand. I suggest trying the different options and seeing which makes your panorama look best and the least distorted. You can also zoom into your image with the slider or by using your mouse scroll wheel. Clicking and dragging above or below the panorama will allow you to adjust the shape further. Try various things – whatever helps to make your panorama look best.

3. Crop

Click Next, or Crop to move on. Here you can crop the image to choose what to include in the finished panorama. Usually, you will have some rough edges, depending on how you shot the images and composited them. If you click Auto-Crop, the program will crop to the largest points where it can make a rectangular image. You can also manually drag the sides of the crop.

Auto-Complete works like the content-aware fill in Photoshop and will try to fill in missing pieces in the image. Sometimes, especially with things like the sky, it works amazingly well. Other times with more complex patterns, not so much.

Give it a try and see if you like the result. You can always turn it off if you don’t like it.

The Crop Step. You can crop manually, Auto crop, and use the Auto Complete feature if you like.

Note how the Auto Complete feature has filled in missing parts of the image at top and bottom.

4. Export

Once complete, you will want to save your resulting panorama.

Because you have stitched together what are often high-resolution images to start with, your panorama file can be huge. That’s great if you need to print a wall-sized poster. If you don’t need something that big, consider turning down the Scale by inputting a smaller number. If you know what size (in pixels) you want the finished image to be, you can also enter that number in the Width or Height boxes, and the other will adjust to maintain the aspect ratio.

For example, to print a 12 x 48-inch poster at 300 dpi, you would need an image 3600 x 14,400 pixels.

If your panorama at 100% is over 20,000 pixels wide, that’s overkill and may result in a much larger file than you need.

Or, if you’ll be displaying your panorama on the web where you may only need a file 2400 pixels wide, why make a monster file?

You can also input numbers into the width or height, and the image will adjust the other setting to maintain the aspect ratio. Your use for the panorama will dictate how large you need to output it.

The Export Step. If you were to export this image at 100% scale as a .tif image it would be 19772 x 5833 pixels and be 149MB. For use on the web, you could drop to something like 2400 x 708 (scale just 12.14%) as a .jpg at 75% quality and it would be just 372k. Export your images according to how you will use them.

You also have the option to choose the file format. ICE can output as .jpg, .psd, .tif, .png, or .bmp. Again consider how you plan to use the image. A .tif file will be much larger than a jpg. If you choose jpg, you can also choose the compression level with the Quality settings.

When you’ve made your selections, click Export to Disk and ICE will give you the option of where to save the file. If you came from Lightroom, you will still need to specify the output location. ICE does not automatically put the resulting panorama back into the Lightroom folder where you started.

One option not immediately evident is the ability to save a panorama project. Before exiting the program, look in the top left corner of the screen for the icons there. The last two, which look like disks if hovered, will say Save Panorama and Save Panorama As. These allow you to save your project as an .spj file. This is an ICE file type which can be loaded back in using Open Existing Panorama from the main menu. This could be useful if you intend to make various output sizes or file types from your original images.

32 images shot in two rows to get more of the sky.

ICE does a great job stitching even more complex images.

The final result of the previous multi-row stitch.

Set your camera in continuous mode and shoot, panning with your subject. Bring the images into ICE and stitch as usual. You can get a sequence like this very easily.

Same technique with continuous mode.

The final result.

Nifty tricks – Video, Tiny Planets, VR, and more

There are a few other things ICE will do beyond simply making panoramas.  It is beyond the scope of this article to outline the specific steps to do these things, but I simply wanted to make you aware of them so you can explore further if you like.

This is a 360-degree pano shot as video and imported into ICE. The video will not be as high resolution. 360-degree panos, however, open VR possibilities.

Video Input

First, your input file can, instead of being a group of still photos, be a video file. Video is lower resolution than images taken with most still cameras, but there may be other reasons you want to use it as an input format.  One of those is multi-image action. (See the sample photos). You can do this with multiple images shot as stills or using a video. Capture the action, input the video into ICE, choose the portion of the video you like and then select the action points you want in the finished pano.

Give this a try, and doing it will make the steps clearer.

ICE can also be used to create “tiny planets.”

Virtual Reality

Use ICE to make a 360-degree pano from still images or a video.  Then create an image that can be viewed as an interactive pano and be rotated by the viewer.  Post it to Facebook or view it on a VR device.  There are numerous online tutorials teaching how to do this.  Drone footage can make for an especially interesting VR image.

Conclusion

Microsoft ICE is powerful, can produce high-quality panorama images, and is very easy to use. It also does a good job when accepting the default choices. ICE can use simple images made handheld from a cellphone or hundreds of images on a Gigapan robotic system with a DSLR. There are also fun things like multi-image motion images, tiny planet creation, and virtual reality possibilities.

Oh yeah…and it’s free!  What’s not to like?

Go download it, give it a try, have fun, and share your images with us in the comments below.

 

panoramic images with Microsoft ICE

The post Make Easy Panoramic Images with Microsoft ICE appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on Make Easy Panoramic Images with Microsoft ICE

Posted in Photography

 

5 Product Photography Tips to Improve Your Images

17 Jun

The post 5 Product Photography Tips to Improve Your Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Charlie Moss.

Product photography: you’ve probably heard that it’s hard and very specialist. But your friend who runs their own business asks you if you’ll just shoot a few product pictures for them to use on their website or social media. Or perhaps you have your own business that regularly needs new product photography. Of course, you’re happy to have a go. It could help you improve your photographic skills too by giving you some new challenges. But how do you approach this highly specialist field of photography that you have very little experience with?

When many photographers think of “product photography” they think of a certain style that often involves complicated lighting, setup, and retouching. Sometimes blending dozens of shots in post-processing, using specialized lenses or lighting equipment, or shooting on perfect white backgrounds.

These styles of photography do have their place in the world of marketing and advertising. And you may even decide that it’s the right look for the products that you’re shooting. But in recent years a more natural feeling product photography has been creeping into advertising via social media influences. This style can be easier to dabble with because it requires less equipment and specialist knowledge – although it is still incredibly tricky to master!

The most important thing in product photography is to match the look and feel of the images to the product and the brand. A shot of an exclusive fountain pen aimed at CEO’s will be photographed very differently to a vegan surf-wax aimed at Californian surfers!

Whichever style you decide to try out when you have a go at product photography for the first time, there are some simple things to keep in mind when you’re shooting. If you keep these guidelines in mind, then you should be able to shoot images that show off a product to its advantage.

1. Get your camera on a tripod

It cannot be said often enough in still life photography how great tripods are. Firstly, they protect against camera shake. If you can get your camera (or phone) on a tripod, then your shutter speed can be as long as you like without risking any blur from camera shake. A nice, crisp image is essential to product photography.

If people cannot see what they are purchasing clearly, then they will most likely move on and choose a different supplier!

Blurry pictures are never desirable for product photography. You need to make sure they are clear and crisp.

If you can’t stretch to a tripod then make sure that you use a relatively fast shutter speed to compensate for any slight movements you might make while holding the camera. You may find that you have to compromise and raise your ISO in order to get a clear, bright picture.

The other advantage of tripods is that they hold your camera in one place while you work on your composition. If you are styling your images for social media (rather than shooting flat e-commerce images), then it might take a couple of attempts to get it right.

Keeping the camera in one place leaves you free to work on the styling and composition.

There are a huge variety of tripods available, all with different features and at different price points. If you can stretch to it, then a tripod with an arm that bends over at ninety degrees is an excellent investment that will make the popular flatlay (top-down) shots for Instagram easier.

2. Use good lighting

Let’s bust a myth – good lighting doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. Yes, there are certain kinds of product photographers who spend hours or even days lighting a single product and getting it perfect. Of course, many high-volume photographers prefer to work with studio lights in a closed studio. That way, they can replicate lighting time and time again when doing repeat jobs for the same client.

But you can light a product with just natural window light, or even take it outside, and still get great results. You don’t have to have expensive studio gear or even a whole room dedicated to photography. Many people photograph products quite successfully on a table pulled up to a bright window. With the right backgrounds and props, it certainly doesn’t have to look like it was shot in your living room!

Lighting can also help to make your object look three dimensional on a flat screen. Shadows and highlights help viewers to interpret the image and understand it correctly.

The crucial thing is to match the lighting style to the product and brand. For something sleek and high-tech, you might want a more artificial feel to your light. Whereas, a more natural artisan product would probably benefit from just simple window light.

3. Shoot multiple angles

If people are buying online, then they can’t pick up and touch the product. That means you have to try and convey all the small details to a potential purchaser. The best way to do this is by making sure that you capture a variety of angles of each item. Also, get in close to show the details if it’s relevant.

This is especially important if the item is handmade. Getting in close can show off the care and consideration that an artisan puts into their work. The details are what often sets handmade products aside from their mass-manufactured counterparts. So be sure to show them off!

Shooting multiple angles is also an easy way to generate lots more content for social media accounts. Many business owners struggle to find enough content to post regularly on social media, so it can really help them out.

4. Find out the platform specifications

It’s important to shoot product photographs with the final use of the image in mind. Different online platforms will have different specifications for how photographs look best on their sites.

For instance, if you are shooting for someone with an Etsy store, you’d need to consider that portrait photos look best on the product page, but the search thumbnails are landscape. That means a clever photographer would shoot images that look good when cropped to both portrait and landscape. It might mean that you need to leave extra space around products when you shoot them and crop in later in post-processing.

Instagram can be a particularly tough platform to shoot for if people are looking for images that look good on social media. Images should ideally be posted in a ratio of 5:4 to take up as much space as possible and be more eye-catching when scrolling down the feed.

However, on a users profile grid, they automatically crop to a 1:1 square format. That means you lose details in the top and bottom of the image in the thumbnails. On top of that, the “stories” feature uses images that are in a 16:9 ratio – much taller and skinnier than the news feed! When shooting specifically for Instagram, I tend to set my camera to shoot in a 16:9 ratio. Then I know I can almost always crop other ratios out of that base image.

Also, research the pixel size that each online platform uses. If you produce images that are too small, then they’re likely to look pixellated or blurry when uploaded.

5. Don’t forget the packaging

More and more people are shopping online, so the packaging of a product contributes heavily to the first impression of a brand.

Artisan companies and small businesses often spend lots of time considering their packaging and branding. So it’s undoubtedly worthwhile to shoot the packaging as well as the product.

As well as demonstrating brand values, you can also show the buyer that it’s going to help their purchase get to them safely. This is especially important if it’s a product that is breakable or if it’s likely to be given as a gift. It helps instill confidence in the brand!

Plus, on platforms like Etsy that give you multiple slots to upload images of your product, having packaging photographs can be an excellent way to show off the product styled in a new way.

Always remember…

Keep your product photographs well exposed and in focus.

As long as you’re getting these two things correct, then you’re already on the right track. All that’s left to do is practice, practice, practice until you’re shooting products like a pro.

Remember to comment below and show us the pictures you’ve been shooting using what you’ve learned!

 

5 Product Photography Tips to Improve Your Images

The post 5 Product Photography Tips to Improve Your Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Charlie Moss.


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on 5 Product Photography Tips to Improve Your Images

Posted in Photography

 

What to Do When Your Images Get Stolen

16 Jun

The post What to Do When Your Images Get Stolen appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darina Kopcok.

If any of your images live online in any shape or form, it is inevitable that they will get stolen.

With the Internet, copyright infringement has become rampant and is a worldwide phenomenon.

Some individuals don’t understand copyright and think that because an image appears online that it’s theirs for the taking.

However, there are a lot of companies that steal images and use them for commercial purposes – to sell their own products!

How do you know if your image has been stolen?

You can do random image searches on your images in Google. This is a cool feature, but rather tedious and incredibly time-consuming. If you have an extensive library of images, this could take more time than you’d want to spend.

A better alternative is sites like Copytrack, Pixray or Pixsy, which are image tracking services that not only find your stolen images but also will file a copyright infringement claim and sue for damages on your behalf.

This is a great way to seek restitution for stolen photos without the hassle of having to do everything yourself. Not to mention, there is no way you could scan millions of images on the Internet, looking for your work. The technology these services offer does it all for you.

Utilizing an image tracking service is something every photographer should consider. It’s a sad reality that so many photographers today are struggling, while thieves are profiting from our hard work.

An image tracking service can save you a ton of legwork. Most of the time, it’s as simple as uploading your photos. If you get notified that some of your photographs are appearing without permission or licensing, you can file a DMCA takedown notice or a legal claim through the service.

The image search function is free – to a point. It depends on how many images you upload. If you file a legal claim, the service will take a commission.

One caveat to using an image tracking site is that if you do stock photography, it can be hard to ascertain where your image has legitimately appeared.

Stock agencies don’t usually disclose to you who licensed your image. Also, many have partnered up with other stock agencies to sell your work, making your images even more difficult to track.

 

How an image tracking service works

According to the image tracking site Copytrack, 3 billion images are shared online every day. 85% of them get stolen.
Licensing images is about more than just tracking down infringements. Once you discover an infringement, you need to make a decision as to what you’ll do about it.

Both Copytrack and Pixsy can handle the legal side in the fight for fair payment for your work.

You simply upload your images while their Reverse Image Search functions in the background. They will notify you of your matches by email.

Once you confirm the stolen images, they take steps to enforce your copyright.

You don’t need to do anything.

What are scraper sites?

One of the worst types of offenders in the realm of stolen images and copyright infringement online are scraper sites.
Scraper sites steal your content for their own sites or blogs. Some will just scrape content, but most use automated software that takes your images and posts content on their own site.

These sites take images from Pinterest, Google, and your own website and host them illegally.

Not only does your website host the images for them but also they take up your bandwidth!

If you write a blog in addition to post photos, you may find your content appearing on these sites.

What are your options if your image gets stolen?

If your image gets stolen, your first option is to do nothing, which is exactly what many photographers do. The hassle can make it seem not worth it sometimes.

However, if the company that has stolen your image is a large one, you can hire a copyright attorney to take them to court, as this type of claim may be worth thousands of dollars to you.

In most cases, the best option is to use a company like Pixsy and either have them file a DMC Takedown Notice, or file a claim on your behalf.

A DMC Takedown Notice is a request to remove content from a website at the request of the owner of the copyright of the content.



How to file a DMC takedown

DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act. To get your stolen content removed from a website you need to file a DMCA takedown notice.

To file a DMC takedown, you can either hire a service or do it yourself.

You need to find out who owns the website. You can use a Who Is lookup tool.

The problem is that it can be difficult to find out who the website owner is in order to send them the notice, as a lot of these sites hide this info. For example, they use Cloudflare to hide their real IP address.

Luckily, there are DMC takedown services that can help you with this. DMCA charges $ 10 USD a month for their protection services and charges $ 199 USD for a full takedown.

How to register your copyright

As a photographer, you automatically own the copyright as soon as you create the image. This means that you do not necessarily have to file copyright for all your photos.

In most countries, you do not need to file copyright papers to prove you own the content or copyright. Government Registered Copyright is NOT necessary in order to get your content removed, however, suing for damages IS easier if you have registered your copyright.

To register your copyright, search online with keywords such as “register copyright Canada/US/Australia” etc., to find the Intellectual Property Office in your country.

In Conclusion

If you have had your images stolen, it’s up to you to decide if you want to pursue restitution.

Small transgressions may not seem worth the time and energy, however, if someone is making money off your work, you may want to consider seeking compensation. Not only for the money but also the principle.

Have you had any of your images stolen? Share with us in the comments below.

 

What to Do When Your Images Get Stolen

The post What to Do When Your Images Get Stolen appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darina Kopcok.


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on What to Do When Your Images Get Stolen

Posted in Photography

 

Fujifilm Instax Mini LiPlay can play sound that’s printed onto its instant images

13 Jun

Fujifilm’s next Instax mini model has a 5MP sensor, saves images to a memory card and allows users to record a ten-second audio clip that can be played when the printed picture is viewed. The Instax mini LiPlay, Fujifilm’s smallest and lightest Instax to date, produces the usual credit card sized prints but can print a QR code in the corner that links to the audio that was recorded to go along with the picture.

The idea is that users can record a message to a friend with whom they will share the picture taken with the camera. The friend scans the QR code using Fujifilm’s Instax mini LiPlay app and the audio clip plays through the phone. The audio could be a spoken message or the sounds from the place the picture was taken – Fujifilm suggests the sound of the sea to accompany pictures from the beach.

The camera uses a 5MP sensor and allows users to review images before deciding to print them or not. Images can also be saved to internal memory or to a removable MicroSD card, and images taken with other devices can be printed on the camera via a smartphone with a Bluetooth connection. The camera’s lens has an angle of view to match a 28mm lens on a full frame system and has a maximum aperture of F2. The lens has an AF system and shutter speeds run from ¼ – 1/8000sec, while the auto ISO feature moves between ISO 100 and 1600.

The Instax mini LiPlay will come in three colors and textures, and will begin shipping immediately depending on your region. It will cost $ 159.99/£149.99. For more information see the Fujifilm website.

Press release:

Hybrid instant camera “Instax mini LiPlay”

  • New-generation instax with sound-recording capability!
  • Capture memories in an instax print with audio message
  • Mini-format film “CONFETTI” and square-format film “Star-illumination” with metallic frame also available to add a touch of flamboyance to your pictures

FUJIFILM Corporation (President: Kenji Sukeno) has announced that it will release a hybrid instant camera “instax mini LiPlay” (hereinafter “LiPlay”), which supports credit-card-size film, on or after June 14, 2019 on a market-by-market basis. The model is a new addition to the lineup of “instax” instant cameras, which allows you to enjoy photo prints on the spot. The camera’s main unit is the smallest and most lightweight in the history of the instax series for outstanding portability. Yet, at the same time, the camera is packed with new features such as the “Sound” function* to convey a voice message or other audio data in the form of a QR code** included in a photo print, and the “Direct Print” function*1 to print images in your smartphone on instax film — broadening the scope of situations the camera can be enjoyed.

Fujifilm has also announced new metallic instax mini film “CONFETTI” and instax square film “Star-illumination,” available in two designs, adding a touch of creativity to your photos.

Overview of the instax series

The “instax” series of instant cameras, launched in 1998, is affectionately called “Cheki” in Japan, where it has enjoyed wide popularity for over 20 years. Today, it is sold in over 100 countries around the world, including Europe, Americas and Asia Pacific, with the cumulative number of shipments topping 45 million worldwide. It has been particularly loved by the digital-native generation in their teens and young adults who have embraced it as a communication tool, saying “It is fun to share those precious moments in life in the form of photo prints. When I hand photo prints to my friends, it gives me a real sense of connection with them.”

Overview of the new product, “instax mini LiPlay”

The new “LiPlay,” is a hybrid instant camera that allows you to review photos captured on the device via the LCD monitor on the back of the camera and choose images you want to print. The camera’s “Sound” function is capable of recording up to ten seconds of audio. The function converts the audio data into a QR code and adds it to a photo to be printed out together. The audio can be replayed*** by scanning the printed QR code with a smartphone*4. This allows you to give a photo together with your description about the pictured scene. The camera also features the “Direct Print” function, which transfers a photo taken with your smartphone to the LiPlay for printing. You can print your favorite picture in your smartphone easily on instax film and share it with your friends. To make it easy to take a group photo, the camera also offers the “Remote Shooting” function so that you can use a smartphone operation to release the shutter while standing away from the camera itself.

The camera body boasts a streamlined and stylish design. Its compact and lightweight form factor makes it easy to carry. Buttons and dials for basic operations such as shutter release and “Sound” function are laid out for advanced operability. Extra attention has been paid to perfect the camera’s texture. The camera comes in three colors, each of which has different surface processing, such as embossed or smooth finish.

Fujifilm will continue to broaden the world of the “instax” instant photo system for on-the-spot photo printing.

* * The free “instax mini LiPlay” app must be downloaded and installed on your smartphone to use the Sound and Direct Print functions.
* ** QR Code is a registered trademark of Denso Wave Inc.
* *** Recorded audio data is stored for one year from the time it is uploaded to the server together with its linked photo image via a special smartphone app.
* *4 Smartphones with the QR Code scanning capability are required to read the QR code.

1. Product Name

(1) Hybrid instant camera “instax mini LiPlay”

(2) Mini-format film “CONFETTI”

(3) Square-format film “Star-illumination”

2. Release Date

On or after June 14, 2019, on a market-by-market basis

3. Price

Open price

4. Main features

(1) “instax mini LiPlay”
1. Smallest and most lightweight hybrid instant camera in the history of the instax series
The LiPlay is a highly-portable hybrid instant camera that incorporates digital technology. Featuring a 2.7-inch LCD monitor at the rear, the camera allows you to shoot photos while checking the monitor and choose pictures to print. The camera also offers brightness adjustment capability based on exposure compensation as well as six filters for processing photos, e.g. in sepia tone or in monochrome, to create a different impression.

2. New “Sound” function
The camera’s audio-recording capability means you can record up to 10 seconds of sound. The function converts sound data into a QR code and prints it on your photo. Scan the QR code with a smartphonoe’s QR Code reader and replay the audio message. Printing a photo with a recorded message allows you to convey your sentiments to the person receiving the photo, making the scene more memorable. Alternatively, photograph a beach and attach the sound of waves, for example, to create a print that reminds you of the photographed situation, so that your memory of the precious moment stays vivid.

3. “Direct Print” function to use the camera as a smartphone printer
Images stored in a smartphone can be transferred to the camera via Bluetooth*5 for printing. You can enlarge or rotate images before transferring them.
4. “Remote Shooting” function for taking pictures while standing away from the camera
This function allows you to release the shutter with a smartphone operation while standing away from the camera. Remotely-taken images can be also printed on the spot. This function is particularly useful for a group photo or when you want to achieve a dynamic effect by taking photos from high or low angles.
5. Wide variety of design frames on offer
The camera comes pre-installed with ten design frames, which can be selected during or after taking a picture so that they are incorporated into the image for printing. Download the “instax mini LiPlay” smartphone app (free) to enjoy 20 additional design frames, bringing the total number of design frames available to 30.

6. Stylish camera body design
The streamlined shape of the camera body is complemented with a different surface finish for each of the three color variations in a design approach that even pays close attention to your tactile sense. The Stone White version has a rough, stone-like surface achieved with a special spray coating. The Elegant Black version features an eye-catching embossed finish on the camera surface, while the Blush Gold version dazzles with a smooth lustrous finish. Metallic parts are used for the lens ring, etc. for a premium look.

(2) New instax film
1. Mini-format film “CONFETTI”

  • Compatible with all “instax mini” series models that support the mini format
  • Colorful metallic frame that adds a touch of flamboyance to your photo
  • 10 prints per pack

2. Square-format film “Star-illumination”

  • Compatible with all “instax SQUARE” series models that support the square format
  • Elegant design of the night sky scattered with colorful stars to make your photo look stylish
  • 10 prints per pack

* *5 Bluetooth® work mark and logo are registered trademarks of Bluetooth SIG, Inc. FUJIFILM Corporation uses these marks based on a license agreement.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Fujifilm Instax Mini LiPlay can play sound that’s printed onto its instant images

Posted in Uncategorized

 

The North Face flooded Wikipedia with product images to manipulate Google ranking

05 Jun

Last week, The North Face and ad agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made published a video detailing the company’s exploitation of Wikipedia as part of an ad campaign. The exploitation, according to the company’s video, involved swapping Wikipedia images of various destinations with new images that prominently featured The North Face gear.

The oddly boastful video puts forth the following question: How can a brand be the first on Google without paying anything for it? The rest of the video details how The North Face pulled off its stunt, including sending photographers to capture original images of people using the company’s gear in ‘adventurous’ locations.

The Wikipedia pages for these high-tourism destinations, the video notes, often appear at the top of the first Google search results page; the first images found on these pages are often at or near the top position on Google Image Search, as well.

As part of its manipulation, The North Face swapped the first images in these Wikipedia pages with its own original photos of the destinations — ones that prominently featured apparel, backpacks, and other products.

In pulling this stunt, the video brags that The North Face was able to manipulate Google Image Search into ranking its promotional content near the top of its results for these destinations.

A screenshot of the Guarita State Park Wikipedia page before North Face added its own photos.

The companies seemingly acknowledged the unacceptable nature of the activity to AdAge, reportedly stating the ‘biggest obstacle’ for the ad campaign was replacing the images ‘without attracting the attention of Wikipedia moderators.’ As well, the video at one point states that The North Face was ‘collaborating’ with Wikipedia in this effort, something Wikimedia Foundation addressed in a blog post.

A screenshot of the Guarita State Park Wikipedia page after North Face added its own photos.

The non-profit organization called the ad campaign an unethical manipulation of Wikipedia, saying, ‘They have risked your [the public’s] trust in our mission for a short-lived marketing stunt.’

‘Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation did not collaborate on this stunt, as The North Face falsely claims,’ the non-profit states in its blog, comparing the ad campaign’s image manipulation to ‘defacing public property.’ As expected, Wikipedia proceeded to remove some of The North Face’s images from articles and to crop its logo out of other images.

Wikimedia Foundation said:

When The North Face exploits the trust you have in Wikipedia to sell you more clothes, you should be angry. Adding content that is solely for commercial promotion goes directly against the policies, purpose and mission of Wikipedia to provide neutral, fact-based knowledge to the world.

For its part, The North Face published a lackluster apology on Twitter, stating:


Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on The North Face flooded Wikipedia with product images to manipulate Google ranking

Posted in Uncategorized

 

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.’

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

Leave the alignment projection set to ‘Auto.’

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

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.

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

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.”

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

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.

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

Eventually, you should have two layers remaining.

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

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!

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

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.

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

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.


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on An Easy Hack for Shooting into the Sun and Processing the Images

Posted in Photography

 

Learning to See Like an Artist – 7 Powerful Techniques to Help You See More Compelling Images

31 May

The post Learning to See Like an Artist – 7 Powerful Techniques to Help You See More Compelling Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Anthony Epes.

Being an artist has nothing to do with your camera, your kit or your photo knowledge.

It has nothing to do with how long you’ve been taking photos or if you shoot on manual or automatic.

Being an artist is totally and completely about the mindset you inhabit when you are out shooting, and what you create from this state.

It’s about looking at the world in a way that is different from how we usually see it. It’s ridding ourselves of the habits to ‘get somewhere,’ to accomplish and tick things off our to-do lists.

It’s all about immersing ourselves, our senses, our beings in this beautiful, wild, chaotic and amazing world.

It’s diving deeper, seeing more and finding new and interesting ways to capture what we discover.

What you get from bringing this artistic approach into your photography are unique images.

Your photos become about expressing who you are, encompassing everything that you have seen and experienced in your life.

This to me is the joy of photography. So I have some simple, but immensely powerful tips that will help you connect to your inner artist.

“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.” – Ernst Haas

7 Powerful Techniques to Help You See More Compelling Images

First – ignore everyone

We spend so much of our lives in contact with other people. At work, our efforts are analyzed by our colleagues, boss or clients.

At home, our children, partner or family will comment on how we live, wash clothes, what we eat etc. We post something on Facebook and someone comments; everyone has an opinion.

As we are in constant contact with other humans, we find ourselves playing a role, fitting into expectations or rules or ways of living. We probably don’t even think about how the constant stream of people in and out of our lives makes us adjust and alter our behavior.

Creating art operates in a very different space – completely outside this interaction with other humans.

Being in the space of creativity is about forgetting what other people might think of our work, what other people are doing, literally everything that connects us to other human beings.

We need to release ourselves from our ‘normal lives’ and the way we live.

Because art can never be created by a committee. And what is completely unique and interesting about you is what will make the most compelling photos.

2. Know that we aren’t seeing the world as it really is

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.” – Jonathan Swift

Did you know that your brain processes two billion pieces of visual data per second? And yet we only see about 50 bits of this information.

Of course, our brains are doing us a massive favor. If it didn’t block out most of what was happening around us, we couldn’t focus.

What’s interesting here is what 50 bits of information are you seeing, and what 50 bits am I seeing?

If we are seeing such a small selection of what’s available, then it’s highly unlikely we are all seeing similar things.

Which makes our personal world highly selective.

I find this so exciting because it shows how we are always able to create something new if we only open up our awareness.

This explains why we can all stand in front of the same scene and take different photos (this happens all the time on my workshops.)

Let’s celebrate that there is so much more to discover in the world around us.

3. Take your time to really observe the world around you

One thing I constantly see in my workshops is when people find a subject they love, they shoot it, then move on way too quickly.

I think it’s a natural response to how we live in this modern life. We are very driven by results. We shoot something, then we move on to the next thing. Almost like we are ticking a box.

But the way to be more creative in your photography is to forget about where you want to go next.

In fact, forget about everything that is not totally related to the present moment you are inhabiting, and the subject you are facing.

Take your time. Watch the light. Maybe wait for the light to change to see what would happen to your subject.

Look at the shadows. The people that are passing. What’s happening around your subject? Feel the atmosphere, and maybe how it is changing.

Observe.

As you see more and get to know your subject more, new angles will open up on how to shoot. Maybe the weather will change, making more dramatic images, or the light will soften creating a totally different feel to the mood of the shot.

The more you observe your subject the more it will reveal different qualities to you. You will notice more subtleties.

There is no rush. Allow yourself all the time you need to observe and shoot your subject.

4. It’s all about the light

“I am forever chasing light. Light turns the ordinary into the magical.” – Trent Parke

When people ask me what I photograph, I always say the same thing – light.

My biggest passion and main subject in photography is light. I love light in all of its forms.

The joyful, effervescent light of a spring morning; the deep, brooding, metallic grey light before a storm; the deep, deep blues of twilight in the city; the misty, melancholic light of a winter’s afternoon.

Light is always changing. Each day brings us something different and each part of the day has different qualities. And when you have interesting light it makes your subject so much more compelling.

Your job is to play with light and your subject, seeing what happens when the light changes.

What qualities are revealed in your subject in different light?

“Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.” – George Eastman

5. Photography is all about feeling

When we see a photo we really love it’s rarely only because it’s nice to look at.

Beyond the composition, color, light and all of the things that we can organize, there is a more important element to a photograph that is more elusive and hard to capture.

This element is emotion.

“Photography’s a case of keeping all the pores of the skin open, as well as the eyes. A lot of photographers today think that by putting on the uniform, the fishing vest, and all the Nikons, that that makes them a photographer. But it doesn’t. It’s not just seeing. It’s feeling.” – Don McCullin

When a subject stirs emotion in us – joy, love, fear – it will transfer into our photo. And when the viewer sees that image, we want that emotion to be evoked in them too.

Capturing emotion is an art, and it’s not automatic. But it’s totally worth focusing on. Find subjects that stir your emotion, and try to capture that feeling in your images.

The most iconic photos that we remember for years, or the ones that really speak to us personally, will be communicating a powerful feeling.

6. Be in awe

“Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” – Mary Oliver

If we think that photography is all about feeling then the most sensible option when deciding what to photograph is to find subjects that fill you with emotion.

I like to ask myself – what fills me with such deep excitement I am in total awe when I see it?

You can probably guess that light is what makes my heart burst with excitement and makes me want to get my camera out.

But there are other things too.

Exploring nature is always something that excites me. Spending days walking through the hills near where I live in Southern Spain, or through the pretty English countryside of my adopted homeland on a beautiful summer’s morning.

Cities too, especially at sunrise when they are empty and beautiful. I like to explore, wander and see what I come across.

It doesn’t matter though what your subject is, the most important part of your decision of what to photograph is that it has to be something that stirs your soul. It has to thrill you. It has to fill you with awe.

Otherwise, what’s the point of taking the photo?

7. Stop thinking

Now, the last step is often the hardest. We are trained from an early age to be in our heads. To be thinking and doing all the time.

However, if you want to hit that artistic mindset where you are present, connected to the world and in total creative flow, you will not be thinking or analyzing what’s happening around you.

“Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things” – Ray Bradbury

Once you have made the choices of when and what to shoot, then you can let yourself go.

Being an artist is losing yourself and becoming part of this magical and amazing world.

It’s daring to lose yourself to see what you can find. It’s being prepared to forget all the things that you have to do or worry about.

For this we have to be a little courageous, we have to experiment and try, we have to make mistakes and trust that we will take good photos (eventually). But –

“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” – Vincent Van Gogh

I hope you enjoyed these ideas.

I’d love to know if these sparked ideas or inspiration for you. Let me know in the comments below. Thanks!

 

The post Learning to See Like an Artist – 7 Powerful Techniques to Help You See More Compelling Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Anthony Epes.


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on Learning to See Like an Artist – 7 Powerful Techniques to Help You See More Compelling Images

Posted in Photography

 

Samsung researchers create AI that transforms still images into talking portraits

24 May

Researchers with the Samsung AI Center in Moscow and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology have published a new paper detailing the creation of software that generates 3D animated heads from a single still image. Unlike previously detailed AI systems capable of generating photo-realistic portraits, the new technology produces moving, talking heads that, though not perfect, are highly realistic.

‘Practical scenarios’ require a system that can be trained using only a few—or even a single —of a person rather than an extensive image dataset, the newly published study explains. To satisfy this requirement, researchers created a system for which ‘training can be based on just a few images and done quickly, despite the need to tune tens of millions of parameters.’

Using generative adversarial networks, researchers were able to animate painted portraits in addition to images, producing, among other things, a talking, moving version of the Mona Lisa. As demonstrated in a video detailing the study (below), final results vary in quality and realism, with some being arguably indistinguishable (at least at low resolutions) from real videos.

The researchers explain in their paper that the use of additional images to train the system results in life-like final results:

Crucially, only a handful of photographs (as little as one) is needed to create a new model, whereas the model trained on 32 images achieves perfect realism and personalization score in our user study (for 224p static images).

Some other issues remain with this type of system, the researchers note, including a ‘noticeable personality mismatch’ between the person featured in the still image(s) and the talking individual used to animate the portrait. The researchers explain, ‘if one wants to create “fake” puppeteering videos without such mismatch, some landmark adaptation is needed.’

The technology remains viable for purposes that don’t necessarily require a personality match, but rather the simple animation of a character that exists only as a small series of still images. Thus far, the technology only works on faces and the upper parts of one’s torso. It’s unclear whether the researchers plan to expand the system to include other body parts.

Samsung’s study joins past AI-based portrait work from NVIDIA, as well as non-portrait AI image generation, including the system NVIDIA debuted earlier this year — one capable of rapidly converting simple sketches into complex landscape images.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Samsung researchers create AI that transforms still images into talking portraits

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Simple Methods for Creating Better Still Life Images

16 May

The post Simple Methods for Creating Better Still Life Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Charlie Moss.

Many find shooting still life images a real challenge when they’re just starting out because it can be hard to know where to start. But taking the time to shoot a great still life can be a rewarding and somewhat meditative pastime for photographers.

Still life photography can help you hone your photographic skills at your own pace while still creating work that can go in a portfolio or be printed for your wall. But styling tabletop images doesn’t come naturally to all photographers, so here are some simple things to think about when you’re next shooting still life.

Choose props for color and mood

Now might be a good time to go and brush up on your color knowledge, because you’re really going to need it when it comes to creating still life images! Everything, including the colors, in your still life scene, will be there because you put it there. Nothing has to make it onto your tabletop studio if you don’t want to include it in your shot.

Colors can be a way of introducing either harmony or contrast. If you were photographing something blue, for example, and you used blue and green backgrounds you’d have a very harmonious and potentially calm image. On the other hand, if you added yellows or oranges into the scene, it would create tension and result in a more dynamic overall feeling to the shot.

You can bring color to your still life images in different ways. Backgrounds, fabrics, plates, bowls, vases – all these items are props that you can start collecting to build up a color library of props. Don’t forget natural objects like flowers and foliage too; they can often really bring a shot to life.

Selecting complementary backdrops

Your backdrops will often be the most dominant colors in your scene, so pick wisely (it’s also hard to change it once you’ve started arranging your props). Pick your backdrops according to the feel you’d like to create in your final image.

Backdrops can be anything that works with the scene you’re creating. It might be a marble countertop, a beautiful old farmhouse table, or a complementary piece of fabric. Whatever helps to set the mood for your images.

As well as the color of your backdrop, think about the texture as well. A scuffed up, blackened old baking tray creates a very different feel to draped silk. Think about the way that different backdrops make you feel as you select them for your scenes and decide if that’s correct for the kind of story you’re trying to tell in your photograph.

Over time you will build up a library of different backdrops to use in your shots. Then you can create a whole variety of different styles of images just by switching out the backdrop. Keep your eye open when you’re out and about for potential backdrops to add to your library!

Thinking about texture

I love including texture in my still life photographs, and it has become a part of my style now. Scouring both high street and artists shops for interestingly textured table linens, bowls, and backgrounds for my still life images are favorite pastimes.

Along with all the other elements of a still life image, texture can really help set the mood. Are you shooting something rustic that would have its story helped by the introduction of some beautiful coarse fabric? Or maybe you’re photographing a more modern scene that would benefit from glossy backdrops and slick, shiny props?

It also adds interest and depth to your final image. If you look around the room you’re in I’m sure you’ll see a whole variety of different textures. Perhaps you have a smooth leather chair with a velvet cushion on it, placed next to a distressed wood coffee table. Our lives are a riot of different textures, and these affect our senses both visually and through touch.

Since you can’t touch the objects in a photograph, you need to tell the viewer what they’re like. Texture is the main way to visually convey what something would feel like if you reached into the photograph and touched it. With that in mind, pay attention to what the textures in your shot are telling your viewer.

Create a beginning, middle, and end

Just like a good story, a photograph needs a beginning, middle, and end. Except we usually refer to these things as foreground, middle ground, and background when it comes to visual storytelling. Creating a layered effect in your photographs helps to create depth in what is a two-dimensional object.

Try building your still life scenes intentionally. First of all, place your main object roughly where you think you’d like it to be. It helps if you put your camera on a tripod for this because you can keep the framing and focus consistent.

After you’ve placed your main object try creating some foreground interest. This could be some petals if you were photographing flowers, or perhaps the curled corner of table linen if you were shooting food. Anything that leads the eye into the shot without distracting too much from the main focal point is good. You want something that adds to the story.

Lastly, place a background element in your scene. In the shots above, I’ve added a yellow napkin which both creates interests and adds a contrasting color, but you could be more subtle. Your background itself could also be your background element if it were sufficiently interesting! It should be like a “full stop” to your composition; ending the viewer’s attention the same way that a full stop ends a sentence.

You might find it easier to play with compositional colors and shapes for the foreground and background if you use a shallow depth of field. Rendering these elements as out of focus in your scene helps to keep the viewer’s attention on the main focus of your image.

Finishing an image in post-processing

There’s no rule in creative still life photography that says the colors have to be true to life. Using different colors – or even turning your digital files black and white – can result in a change of mood and story.

Processing your still life images in Adobe Lightroom allows you to create duplicates of images and try out different color treatments while comparing them side by side. It’s great for black and white conversions too. The best thing about Adobe Lightroom is that the editing is completely non-destructive to the original file. This means you can try out everything from wild color treatments to something more conservative and always go back to the original file.

I touched on color grading your still life photographs in a previous article. It can help evoke different moods, bringing different colors to the fore. It can also help to make items really pop off the page if you use color grading in a way that emphasizes your main subject.

Color grading your shots can also help to contribute to a more coherent style in your work. You don’t always have to treat the color in your images the same way, but over time you might notice that you seem to pick up a style the more you shoot. This can help to make your work recognizable which you might find desirable.

Put it all Together

Now that you know the simple ways that you can improve your still life images it’s time for you to have a go. Get some inspiration, shoot some images, and then come back and let us see them in the comments!

Don’t be afraid to work slowly and try new things when you’re shooting still life. The objects in your scene are not going anywhere, and they won’t run out of patience as a portrait subject will! Also remember, you don’t have to show anyone the images if you’re not completely happy with them.

 

The post Simple Methods for Creating Better Still Life Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Charlie Moss.


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on Simple Methods for Creating Better Still Life Images

Posted in Photography

 
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »