Part « 360Photography

RSS

Posts Tagged ‘Part’

Shooting K?lauea Volcano, Part 4: From a helicopter

21 Jan

In the first part of this series, I talked about shooting Kilauea’s lava surface-flows using a drone. In the second part, I talked about shooting the lava with a DSLR from the ground. In the third, I talked about shooting from a dedicated lava-viewing boat. I’d like to finish this series with a short article about shooting the lava from a helicopter.

I will also try to sum up the lava shooting part of my Hawaii trip, and survey how it ended up being published.

I was very excited for my lava helicopter flight. After my amazing hike to the surface flows, where I also used (and melted) my drone, and after the sail a few days before, I had already gotten many epic shots and had much less pressure to produce something exceptional. My friend and I decided to only take a (relatively) short 1-hour flight, to experience another way of shooting the lava.

There are several helicopter providers available in Big Island, and they can easily be found online. Remember to schedule your flight several days (a week is recommended) in advance to make sure you get the time slot you want. We chose a sunrise shoot.

Upon reaching the hangar, the helicopter was already stripped of its doors (nothing will come between me and the lava!) and our pilot was making his preparations. We took off quickly and were on our way to the Pu?u ???? Crater.

If you intend to take an open-door helicopter flight in Hawaii, remember to dress well. Hawaii is generally not as hot as one would think (it even snowed on the Big Island recently!), and it can get very cold up in the air on the way to the lava. I’d suggest a serious warm jacket and thick pants to be comfortable. I was a bit under-dressed, so it was a bit chilly on the way there.

Upon reaching the crater itself, I started shooting with a medium telephoto (24-70mm). This would prove the last time I used this lens in the shoot, as I quickly switched to my 70-300mm to get better details.

A lava ‘bird’ in Pu?u ???? Crater.

The wonderful details inside the crater.

The crater was nice but I quickly got bored of it. I knew the real deal was the surface flows with all their beautiful diversity. I was adamant on getting some nice abstracts and natural patterns, so I asked the pilot to leave the crater and find the flows.

Once you start shooting the surface flows, it’s endless. There is so much to choose from and you need to manage the time wisely, since the really good light is extremely short-lived. Try to get the shot and already think on what you want to get next. It’s not my ideal method of producing good shots, but in these conditions, time is a serious bottleneck and there’s just no choice.

The lava surface flows look like painted brush-strokes on the dark earth.

Technically, just like the boat shooting, remember that you’re on a moving, vibrating, flying vehicle: exposure speed should be on the high side.

I was aiming for between 1/500 and 1/1000 of a second (with the 70-300mm) and managed to expose in that range most of the time. ISO settings depend on light, but since this was early morning, I had to use ISO 3200 or 6400 most of the time, unless I was shooting into the crater (where lava was brighter) or when the sun went up a bit. In these cases I went down to ISO 1600.

Contrary to my usual shooting style, I tried to put a large emphasis on abstracts. The lava creates such wonderful patterns and colors, it made sense to concentrate on those alone.

The hardening lava seemed like fabric.

Another cool thing about shooting from the air is the visibility of skylights – underground lava flows that have been partly exposed and are visible from the air.

To sum up, the helicopter shoot was a lot of fun. It’s all so easy: you don’t have to hike 8km, there are lots of opportunities, and you have total control and an infinite choice of subject matter (if the lava cooperates, of course).

We paid about $ 1,700 plus a well-deserved tip to the excellent pilot, whose hovering abilities were off the charts. Not a particularly cheap experience, but worth it to me. Remember, Hawaii is extremely far for me to reach and I wanted to make sure I made every effort to go back home with a good portfolio.

If you enjoy aerial photography and lava, I can highly recommend the heli flight in Big Island.

Series Epilogue

I was incredibly lucky in Hawaii. The surface flows outside the National Park, where I was allowed me to use the drone; the crazy eruptions before my eyes; the action and sunrise in the boat sail; every experience was fantastic. While the Big Island was just part of the trip and I took many more images in Kauai, the lava, and particularly the very first day of my trip, was definitely the main event, and for that I’m thankful.

The trip was very expensive. I knew it would be so in advance, but in the end I spent even more than I thought I would. That’s OK, but bare in mind that a visit isn’t going to come cheap, especially if you want to do all the lava shooting from a boat and a heli. That said, it was more than worth it—it was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken, a truly exhilarating experience that I will cherish forever.

The lava shots, and perhaps mainly the fact that I’d melted my drone, meant big publicity in all of the main photographic websites, which was very nice. In addition to lots of licensing deals, my images were on the front page of NatGeo.com (which more than paid for the drone repair) and also the Nat Geo international websites of about 10 countries. Stories about my shoot have been published in over 20 countries and surveyed in countless websites. I’ve been interviewed by Nat Geo and by several international photography and travel sites, as well as by Israeli news sites.

The point is, I had no idea what would come of the Hawaii trip before taking it. It could just as well be bad, with no visible surface flows or (as it is now) no lava in the Ocean Entry. It was a stroke of luck, and happily I was ready to take advantage. I’d like to encourage you to take the risks and, hopefully, you’ll get similar rewards.

Erez Marom is a professional nature photographer, photography guide and traveler based in Israel. You can follow Erez’s work on Instagram and Facebook, and subscribe to his mailing list for updates.

Erez offers video tutorials discussing his images, and explaining how he achieved them.

If you’d like to experience and shoot some of the most fascinating landscapes on earth with Erez as your guide, take a look at his unique photography workshops in locations such as southern Iceland, Northern Iceland, The Lofoten Islands, Patagonia, Greenland, Namibia and the Faroe Islands.

Selected Articles by Erez Marom:

Parallelism in Landscape Photography
Winds of Change: Shooting changing landscapes
Behind the Shot: Dark Matter
On the Importance of Naming Images
On Causality in Landscape Photography
Behind the Shot: Lost in Space
The Art of the Unforeground
Whatever it Doesn’t Take

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Shooting K?lauea Volcano, Part 3: At Sea

06 Jan

In the first part of this series, I talked about shooting Kilauea’s lava surface-flows using a drone. In the second part I talked about shooting the lava with a DSLR from the ground. This time, I’d like to take you on the mini-adventure of sailing on the Pacific’s rough waters and shooting the lava entering the water at the Kamokuna Ocean Entry from a dedicated lava-viewing boat.

Please note that lava flow is never guaranteed. As I’m writing this, the ocean entry is inactive, so it’s always good to check the situation before traveling.

I was a bit anxious before heading out to the ocean. I suffer from severe motion sickness, and while pills help, they won’t keep my food in my belly if the water is rough. I was overwhelmingly relieved to hear that the ocean was supposed to be quiet the morning of our sail. I still gulped down 4 pills just in case!

Several providers offer dedicated lava-viewing trips, and they can easily be found online. Most offer the excursion at several fixed times each day. It was an easy choice to go at morning twilight, since I’d get nighttime, twilight and sunrise images in one sail. I chose a large boat with room for 50 people, give or take. When we were allowed on, I did my best to find a spot at the front of the seating area, since this would give me a larger field of view and more time doing actual shooting. The sail wasn’t cheap—I paid $ 250—but it was very much worth it.

What a hectic, delightful sight!

Arrival at the ocean entry takes about 30 minutes of fast sailing in open ocean. Bear in mind that this can be a problem if you suffer from motion sickness like I do, so please take precautions or you’ll be very sorry.

Upon arrival at the actual location, I was astounded to see the hectic clash of 1100-degree molten rock and ocean water. The temperature difference creates constant steam, and this, together with the ever-changing lava formations, creates an infinite variety of possible shots. A true delight for someone who thrives on shooting changing landscapes.

There are shapes created not only in the lava. The waves, crashing on the black rock and pushed by the steam, also create interesting shapes that are worth capturing.

Can you spot the tiny dancer?

Technically, there are many challenges one faces when shooting lava from a boat. Upon arrival, when it’s still nighttime, the global contrast in the scene is almost impossible to deal with. The lava is more than a few stops brighter than the solid rock and the water. Add the constant change in brightness and the result is often blown out. The photographer needs to continuously check the histogram and make sure the best compromise is made.

On my Canon 5D4, I tried not to have the brights overly exposed, since shadows are a bit easier to recover.

Since long exposures are out of the question (you’re on a rocking boat), and longer focal lengths are often used, high exposure speeds and thus very high ISO are required when shooting at nighttime. I normally used ISO 6400, just to get some detail in the water and the rocks.

I aimed to expose between 1/500 and 1/1000 sec with my 70-300mm to overcome the constant motion. Since frequent and immediate focal length changes were necessary, I had to have the exposure speed on the high end.

Luckily, when dawn strikes and ambient light begins to appear, global contrast and brightness levels improve a great deal. This was my favorite time to shoot, as the blend of colors (red from the lava, blue from the ocean at twilight) was wonderful, and shooting conditions were easier—lower ISO required and less concern about contrast management.

Wonderful colors and action upon morning twilight at the ocean entry. If you look very carefully, you’ll be able to spot another boat in this image! As light was a bit stronger, I could lower the ISO to 3200 and gain a bit more image quality.

As the light increases and sunrise approaches, the contrast goes down, and the extreme look with it. They give way to a more silky, matted look and a more balanced, easier to swallow histogram. Shooting at this stage is much easier and more fun. The lack of concern allowed me to concentrate on finding interesting patterns and creating compelling compositions.

These conditions were also great for putting more emphasis on the meeting of lava and water. At some points, the waves crash on the lava and flow on top of it, which looks a bit surreal.

Lastly came the sunrise. Luck struck again and this too was beautiful. I hope this last image gives you a feel of what it was like to be there, in the middle of the Pacific, watching Earth’s molten interior flowing to meet the water.

In the next and final article in this series, I’ll write about shooting the lava from a helicopter.

Erez offers video tutorials discussing his images, and explaining how he achieved them.

Selected Articles by Erez Marom:

Parallelism in Landscape Photography
Winds of Change: Shooting changing landscapes
Behind the Shot: Dark Matter
On the Importance of Naming Images
On Causality in Landscape Photography
Behind the Shot: Lost in Space
The Art of the Unforeground
Whatever it Doesn’t Take

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Shooting K?lauea Volcano, Part 2: Grounded

17 Dec

In the first part of this series, I talked about shooting Kilauea’s lava surface-flows using a drone. Now, I’d like to take a step back and talk about shooting the lava in a more traditional method: using a DSLR on the ground.

If you’re inside the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and can’t fly a drone, this is the only affordable way of shooting the surface flows. But even if a drone is an option, shooting from the ground is different and will give you unique opportunities and some challenges.

Shooting with a DSLR might be the least technically challenging way of shooting the lava in Kilauea, but it’s not as easy as you might think.

First of all, there’s the challenge of traversing the lava on foot. You’re basically walking on very hard, sometimes jagged terrain, and moving from point to point searching for compositions can be strenuous. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s a 7-8 km hike to get to the surface flow area, but there’s much more hiking on location to get the actual shots.

When shooting, you often want to get as close as possible to the lava, in order to get more detail and/or a desired perspective. This might be a problem in some cases, as the lava is about 1100 degrees Centigrade, and this temperature can be felt very well even from several meters away.

In some of the shots, I felt like I was inside an oven. I had to find my composition quickly, take a few images, and run away, since staying there would become unbearable after several seconds.

This particular shot has a slightly narrower depth of field than I’d like it to have. The reason is that lava was flowing underground very close to where I was standing, and because of the intense heat, I didn’t have the time to set the tripod. I had to shoot hand held and run for my life!

Protective gear is very important. The bare minimum would be a long-sleeve shirt, sturdy, ankle-high hiking boots, long pants and, of course, gloves. The latter are needed both because the skin on your hands is struck by radiating heat from the lava, and because the tripod can get very hot after staying near the lava for some time. I would also recommend a beanie to protect your forehead and ears from the heat.

Don’t neglect listening to your body—if you ignore the heat and the pain, you might find yourself with second-degree burns. I’ve mentioned it before, but a good guide is very important when hiking to dangerous surroundings, and can keep you in the safe zone (if you so wish).

Last but not least, there’s the heat-haze problem. The heat creates this well-known blur, which means some shots cannot turn out sharp, no matter how well-focused they are.

A decent solution can be waiting for the wind to blow the hot air and supply a short relief from the haze, but the wind doesn’t always cooperate. You’re left with the option of talking multiple shots in hope that some turn out relatively sharp. Another approach is using the haze to your benefit in an artistic way. It surely conveys the feeling of heat to the viewer.

The Hawaiian sunset is brief, which means the really good light is short-lived, and after that’s gone you’re going to need a tripod to keep stable. This naturally makes shooting much more cumbersome, and prevents the shoot-and-run-away technique mentioned above. The upside is that there’s beautiful contrasty details to be shot, which makes for good abstracts.

Regarding photographic equipment, I mostly used the telephoto end of my focal-length range. One lens I didn’t use was my 11-24mm, since it was way too wide, and the 16-35 was also left in the bag most of the time. The lenses I used the most were my 24-70mm and especially my 70-300mm.

The latter enabled me to get the intimate details of the lava from a safe (or rather possible) distance.

Next time I’ll talk about shooting the lava from a boat.

More in The K?lauea Series:

Part 1: How to Melt a Drone

Selected Articles by Erez Marom:

Parallelism in Landscape Photography
Winds of Change: Shooting changing landscapes
Behind the Shot: Dark Matter
On the Importance of Naming Images
On Causality in Landscape Photography
Behind the Shot: Lost in Space
Behind the Shot: Spot the Shark
The Art of the Unforeground
Whatever it Doesn’t Take

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Gear of the Year 2017 – Barney’s choice (Part 2): Nikon D850

26 Nov

In the first part of this article, I wrote about the camera I’ve used most in 2017 – the Leica M10. In Part 2, I want to write about a camera that I’ve used very little. In fact, aside from bringing it to my eye and playing around with the reviewable sample that came into our office earlier this year, I’ve barely even managed to get my hands on it.

That camera is the Nikon D850. Undeniably one of the most important products of 2017 (and in terms of traffic, definitely among the most popular on DPReview) the D850 is an impressive DSLR by any measure.

The Nikon D810 is one of our favorite DSLRs of the past several years

It used to be the case that if you wanted high-resolution stills, you had to make do with a relatively slow camera. And conversely, if you wanted high-speed capture and ultra-long battery life, you had to drop $ 5000-6000 on a pro-grade camera that didn’t have the pixel-count required for really demanding applications. The Nikon D810 is one of our favorite DSLRs of the past several years, but its excellent resolution and unrivaled dynamic range at ISO 64 came at the expense of relatively slow continuous shooting, and (somewhat mysteriously) poor low-light autofocus performance compared to the flagship D5.

The D850’s wide dynamic range at its low ISO sensitivity settings enables shots like these (taken at ISO 125) which contain detail and true color everywhere from the deepest shadows to the highlight areas. Shot from a moving vehicle (hence the slightly softness at very close examination), this image is a great illustration of the D850’s versatility.

Photo by Carey Rose

On paper, the D850 offers the best of both worlds, and in practice, it generally lives up to its potential. A pixel count of 47MP almost matches the Canon EOS 5DS/R for resolution, while a maximum frame-rate of 9fps with an accessory grip and D5 battery means that in terms of speed, it’s not far off Canon and Nikon’s flagship pro-grade DSLRs (albeit for an additional premium of $ 1000). The D850’s 153-point AF system is lifted from the D5, and while the D5 has the edge when it comes to tracking (possibly thanks to its greater on-board data processing power) the D850 generally performs well, and definitely outperforms its nearest competition. In low light, the contrast between the D850’s autofocus performance and that of its predecessor is pretty stark.

The D850’s large, bright finder is a beautiful thing

I’ve been shooting with a Nikon D810 for several years as my primary camera, and there isn’t a single area of its feature set which Nikon has not upgraded in the D850. Even the viewfinder experience has been improved; the D850’s large, bright finder is a beautiful thing. So why haven’t I spent more time with it?

Can you see this too? OK, good.

Photo by Carey Rose

The short, boring answer is that I’ve been kept busy with other projects (and other cameras) and unsurprisingly given its performance, the D850 is also in pretty high demand among our writers when it comes to weekend photography trips and events. But there’s another reason.

I’ve called the D810 and 24-120mm F4 combination ‘boringly capable’ in articles on DPReview in the past and I really meant it. While obviously there are things that a constant-aperture F4 zoom can’t do, that lens, attached to the D810, lets me do pretty much everything I need to – from quick grab shots on the street to architectural and landscape studies. When the 24-120mm can’t cut it (distortion can be an issue in some situations, for example, and it’s a bit limiting in poor light) I switch for my 35mm and 50mm primes.

I know that if I grab the D850 for a weekend I will probably end up wanting one

While the D850 is clearly greatly improved over the D810, I’ve never had a reason to curse its predecessor, or wish for much in the way of improvement. If I still shot live music regularly I might feel compelled to spend the extra money just for backlit controls and improved low-light AF, but I don’t, so I won’t.

At least for now, my D810 is as ‘boringly capable’ as it always was. In all honestly, I know that if I grab the D850 for a weekend and shoot a few hundred frames with it I will probably end up really wanting one – and not having $ 3000 burning a hole in my pocket, or a third kidney, I can’t afford to do that right now.

I don’t know who these people are, but they’ve spent more time in close proximity to the D850 than me.

Photo by Carey Rose

So I don’t own one (even though I’d like to), and I’ve barely used it. I didn’t take any of the pictures in this article, or in the gallery linked below. Then why on earth is the D850 one of my two picks for the best gear of 2017? Well, just look at it, for heaven’s sake. It’s such a good camera. I mean seriously, it’s hard to imagine how much more advanced a DSLR could be. For all of the improvements that have been made in mirrorless cameras over the past few years, the D850 still offers a combination of power, image quality, and luxurious handling (including that gorgeous viewfinder) which is hard to argue with.

I say ‘hard to argue with’ rather than impossible, because I’m sure that some people will still argue about it (feel free to jump to the comments), but this is my article and I can write what I want. In my opinion, for all of the doom and gloom spoken about the company in the past couple of years, the D850 proves one essential fact: Nikon knows how to make great cameras.

Nikon D850 Sample Gallery

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_5682971467″,”galleryId”:”5682971467″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”standalone”:false,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”startInCommentsView”:false,”isMobile”:false}) });
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Shooting K?lauea Volcano, Part 1: How to melt a drone

25 Nov

In October this year, I spent 2 weeks shooting in Hawaii. My first stop was Big Island, where a friend and I shot the lava flows of Pu?u ????—a volcanic cone in the eastern rift zone of K?lauea, a currently active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, and the most active of the five volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaii (commonly known as Big Island).

The Pu?u ???? crater has been erupting continuously since January 3, 1983.

I had booked my flights (about 22 net hours per direction!) to Hawaii before I knew of the lava situation, but a friend told me that there were good inland flows so I kept my hopes up. Still, I went there knowing I could fly all this way and get lousy conditions. Volcanoes are unpredictable, and K?lauea is no different. For example, as I’m writing this, the Ocean Entry is devoid of any flowing lava. The surface flows come and go. Some say Pele (the Hawaiian goddess of fire) does as she pleases.

I did not get lousy conditions. Instead, I got the most incredible lucky streak I could’ve imagined, which helped me produce a set of images I’m very happy with, and encouraged me to write this mini-series I hope you enjoy. I’ll start it with an article about shooting the lava with a drone.

Before I continue, here’s a very important statement. All of these drone shots were captured outside the Hawaii-Volcanoes National Park No-Flight Zone and within FAA drone regulations (line of sight, 400ft, not operated near manned aircraft), without exception.

Flying drones in national parks is strictly prohibited and can get you in very serious trouble (rangers roam the park and its boundaries and some of them arrived when we were shooting). Moreover, responsible flight is mandatory since there are helicopters flying nearby. Naturally, I didn’t fly my drone anywhere near the height the helis fly at. Don’t even think about doing that if you care about other people’s lives and your own.

I highly recommend hiring a good local guide, who can assist you with determining if you are on park grounds.

The drone log from one of the flights. I’m including this since I’ve gotten a ton of hate-mail from people who were sure I was lying and actually flew inside the national park. One even wrote “I’ve been there, these flows are inside the park!”. Seriously?
I’m not that stupid guys. Fly responsibly.

The day after landing in Hilo Airport in Big Island, Hawaii, we met our guide at 14:00 in the afternoon, and started the hike. It wasn’t an easy walk—we had to traverse about 7-8 kilometers on uneven, hardened lava to reach the surface flow area. Luckily, it was cloudy but not rainy; if the sun had been shining right on us the experience wouldn’t be as nice, and rain would have been very annoying as well.

The hike took about 2 hours, give or take, and I carried all of my DSLR equipment, my drone with several spare batteries, and 2 liters of water on my back (after drinking 1.5 liters right before heading out). I’d take 3 liters if I were to do this hike again, as I ran out of water at some point in the late evening.

We reached the lava at about 16:00, and apart from one other person, we had the place to ourselves for the next 2 hours before the tour groups came. I began to scout around and test how close I could get to the lava, and at the same time, started flying and shooting with my Phantom 4 Pro.

A two headed dragon?

The lava had been flowing beautifully since before we arrived, but about an hour into our visit, I started hearing people shouting, and my friend screamed at me to look to the right.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing: one of the lava rivers quadrupled in force, simply bursting a huge mass of lava straight out of the mountain side, and flowed, diverging and converging, down the slopes, right in front of our eyes.


Before the river erupted	A similar angle after the flow increased.

I continued shooting with the drone and with my DSLR. Here are 2 more shots:

At some point I was noticing the right side of the drone images was getting darker. I continued shooting but when I went back to the apartment, I was surprised to see the plastic inside the drone camera had melted!

It appears that I was so enthusiastic that I kept getting closer and closer to the lava to reach the compositions I wanted—that was the source of the dark patch. If you watch the video I attached above carefully enough, you’ll be able to see the right side growing continuously darker.


See the blur on the bottom right?	My poor drone after the incident. It is now fixed!

Shooting lava with a drone was an exhilarating experience, even though I managed to melt it. There aren’t many technical considerations I can give you apart from watching the histogram, since global contrast can be harsh when it’s dark. The sun goes down fast in Hawaii, so make sure you use your time wisely—the really good light is short-lived.

If you’re reluctant to get your drone molten, be careful getting too close to the lava. For me, getting the right compositions was very much worth it. It was also a really captivating story, and my lava shots were all over the internet these last few weeks. There’s good to find in everything, I guess. DJI charged me about $ 450 to fix it, and while I don’t have the numbers yet, I’m pretty sure the licensing deals I’ve gotten since will cover that.

Next time, I’ll talk about shooting the lava from the ground.

If you’d like to experience and shoot some of the most fascinating landscapes on earth with Erez as your guide, you’re welcome to take a look at his unique photography workshops around the world:

Winter Paradise – Northern Iceland
Northern Spirits – The Lofoten Islands
Giants of the Andes and Fitz Roy Hiking Annex – Patagonia
Tales of Arctic Nights and Uummannaq Annex – Greenland
Saga of the Seas and The Far Reaches Annex – The Faroe Islands
Desert Storm – Namibia

Selected Articles by Erez Marom:

Parallelism in Landscape Photography
Winds of Change: Shooting changing landscapes
Behind the Shot: Dark Matter
On the Importance of Naming Images
On Causality in Landscape Photography
Mountain Magic: Shooting in the Lofoten Islands
Behind the Shot: Nautilus
Behind the Shot: Lost in Space
Behind the Shot: Spot the Shark
Quick Look: The Art of the Unforeground
Whatever it Doesn’t Take

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Gear of the Year 2017 – Barney’s choice (part 1): Leica M10

11 Nov

My choice for Gear of the Year is a pricey camera with niche appeal. The Leica M10 is not a camera that many people are likely to buy, when compared to other major DSLRs and mirrorless products released in 2017. Leica knows that, and trust me – Leica is fine with it. The M10 probably isn’t a camera that will suit the majority of photographers, either – even those with the funds required to purchase one.

The M10 is a curious beast: a highly evolved throwback, which combines some very old technology with a modern 24MP full-frame sensor to offer a unique user experience with some unique quirks. It’s awkward, tricky to master, and lacks a lot of the bells and whistles common even in much cheaper competitors, but I love it all the same.

I could have taken this picture with pretty well any camera. But I took it with the Leica M10, because that’s what I had with me. (I didn’t promise you an exciting story).

There is a certain magic to Leica rangefinders, which is hard to properly explain. A lot of their appeal comes down to the quality of construction, which is obvious the moment you pick one up. While other brands have thrown their efforts behind high-tech mass-production (with admittedly impressive results), Leica has never aspired to market saturation and still makes its M-series cameras in much the same way as it always has done; relying heavily on manual processes, and the accumulated years of experience of its small workforce in Wetzlar, Germany (with a little help from electronics suppliers in Asia and a facility in Portugal).

A lot of Leica rangefinders’ appeal comes down to the quality of construction

I’ve been pretty cynical about some of Leica’s digital imaging products in the past (I still can’t get excited about the TL-series, for instance, despite the considerable improvements that have been made to that system since its introduction) and I make no secret of it. In the days of hybrid autofocus and 4K video, the M10 is clearly an anachronism.

But…

The M10 and current 35mm F1.4 Asph., makes a powerful and unobtrusive combination. Many DSLRs and ILCs are technically more versatile, but few are as discreet while still offering a full-frame sensor.

Ironically, the M10 has won a place in my heart (and my camera bag) precisely because it isn’t trying too hard to be something that it isn’t. In contrast to the slightly bloated Typ. 240, the stills-only M10 is stripped back to the essentials. Presenting almost the same form-factor as the M6 TTL and M7, and an identical footprint to the original M3, the M10 is noticeably slimmer than previous digital M-series rangefinders while offering a simpler digital interface and tweaked image quality. In fact, with the M10 I can comfortably shoot at ISO 12,800 and higher without worrying about banding, or any particular image quality gremlins. The sensor isn’t quite up there with the best 24MP sensors on the market, but it’s more than good enough.

It’s been a long, strange year but as 2017 draws to a close, the M10 is probably the camera I’ve used most. While undoubtedly not as versatile as (say) a Nikon D850, the M10 does have the advantage of being considerably more convenient to travel with.

I still get a bit uncomfortable carrying what amounts to almost a year’s rent around my neck

I’ve done a lot of traveling this year, and the M10 has been with me almost everywhere I’ve gone. I love that I can fit a full-frame camera and lens outfit covering 28-90mm into a small Domke F6 shoulder bag without feeling like I’m going to pull my arm out of its socket. I still get a bit uncomfortable carrying what amounts to almost a year’s rent around my neck, but – touch wood (or rather, hand-laquered wood soft shutter release) – nothing bad has happened yet.

This started out as an attempt to quickly ‘de-bling’ a chrome M10 for my recent trip to the jungles of central Mexico. I might have got a bit carried away. Watch out for the ‘Britton Special Edition Jungle M10’ and remember – you saw it here first.

Partly that’s because I’m careful about who I point my camera at (and where I do it) but partly it’s because a black M10 in a black half-case, accessorized with some carefully applied black electrical tape, doesn’t actually draw much attention. The eye-catching chrome version looks absolutely beautiful by comparison, but it’s the kind of beautiful that makes me nervous.

The whole process of taking someone’s picture is less confrontational than it might be with a larger and louder camera

I’m not a huge proponent of candid portraiture, but the subtle click of the M10’s shutter means that even for casual snapshots of friends and family, the whole process of taking someone’s picture is less confrontational than it might be with a larger and louder camera.

The flip-side is that it’s also harder to use. For all of the smug chin-stroking of whiskery old salts who cut their teeth on M3s and M2s back in the Good Old Days, the suggestion that M-series rangefinders are as functional – or as practical – as SLRs “just as long as you know what you’re doing” is nonsense. I still shoot film occasionally and I love it, but compared to a 24MP full-frame sensor, even the finest-grained film is a pretty low-resolution medium. I’m much more prepared to let minor focus errors or even camera-shake slide when I’m flipping through scans from my film cameras than I am when examining digital files at 100% in Lightroom.

One of my favorite lenses on the M10 is actually one of the oldest that I own: the tiny 1950s-vintage Nikkor 2.8cm F3.5, attached via an LTM-M adapter. At F4, the center is sharp enough for this kind of (slightly) off-center composition, with just enough out of focus blur fore and aft for some subject separation. Newer Leica and 3rd party 28mm lenses are unequivocally sharper, but they’re also much bigger. This portrait was taken using Live View to ensure off-center sharpness using this vintage lens.

The M10 can turn out excellent results, but truly accurate focusing and composition can be extremely challenging – even for those with long experience of shooting with rangefinders. Yes, there’s always Live View, but on this point I tend to agree with the whiskery old salts: you don’t buy a rangefinder to use Live View (which doesn’t mean that I never do, because like every good whiskery old salt, I am also a hypocrite).

Perversely though, its inherent trickiness is one of the reasons I enjoy shooting with the M10 so much. Compared to an auto-everything DSLR or mirrorless camera, it’s very challenging. When I capture an image that I really like, I appreciate it more because I feel like I’ve worked harder to get there.

Leica M10 real-world samples

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter / magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review), we do so in good faith, please don’t abuse it.

Unless otherwise noted images taken with no particular settings at full resolution. Because our review images are now hosted on the ‘galleries’ section of dpreview.com, you can enjoy all of the new galleries functionality when browsing these samples.

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_6037658348″,”galleryId”:”6037658348″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”standalone”:false,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”startInCommentsView”:false,”isMobile”:false}) });
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Don’t Fear Photo Post-Processing – Shooting is Only the First Part of the Image Creation Process

14 Sep

You have just bought your new bright shiny camera and you are sure that it is just the thing that will help you create better images. You’re shooting JPG with the camera’s automatic program modes, but you’re not getting the results you wanted. You keep upgrading your cameras thinking that will do the trick, only to find that the quality of your imagery isn’t getting any better. What’s going on?

You may be missing an important part of digital photography, post-processing, with a state of the art processing program like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop.

Before and after

Iceland Light Before - Don’t Fear Photo Editing - Shooting is Only the First Part of the Image Creation Process

This image of a lighthouse in Iceland was taken on a bright yet overcast day. In a matter of moments with the help of Lightroom, it became a favorite.

Iceland Light After - Don’t Fear Photo Editing - Shooting is Only the First Part of the Image Creation Process

The role of post-processing in photography is not new

There are several integral parts to digital photography. The technical and creative aspect of using your camera, and the technical and creative application of post-processing your images. Each part is equally important and when all the pieces are put together, that’s when the magic starts to happen.

Unfortunately, many people are still thinking about the days of film when you took it to a lab and the post-processing was done for you. You never had to think twice about how the image was processed. Did you ever notice that different labs gave you different results? That’s because of their level of post-processing.

Now it’s time for you to understand the importance of post-processing if you are going to create better imagery. It will take some time and some dedication to learn, but it will improve your photography by ten-fold.

The first step – shooting with post-processing in mind

First of all, start shooting in RAW format and stop letting the camera make the decisions for you. When you shoot JPG format, it will automatically process your images in camera, even though you may even not be aware of it.

Have you ever taken a JPG and a RAW image and compared the two photographs? The JPG may appear bright and saturated and the RAW file looks flat. That’s because the JPG has been processed by the camera and the RAW file is an unprocessed digital negative.

That RAW file is ready for you to make your own creative adjustments and apply your photographic vision in Lightroom or Photoshop. Only then can you start to recreate that scene you saw when you first took the image.

What kind of post-processing decisions will the camera make for your JPGs? Depending on your camera, it can automatically increase saturation, sharpness, and contrast, but it will also compress your image. There are settings in your camera where you can make blanket adjustments for every JPG (Picture Styles), however, the camera is still making the decisions for you. That gives you zero creative control.

Raw format gives you control

RAW files contain more information and will allow you to have a wider range of tones (called dynamic range) to work with when you bring your images into Lightroom or Photoshop. When shooting in the JPEG format, image information is compressed and lost forever. In a RAW file, no information is compressed and you’re able to produce higher quality images while correcting problem areas that would be unrecoverable if shot in the JPEG format.

The Histogram

Once you start shooting in RAW, it’s very important to be conscious of the histogram. You can bring up the histogram on your Live View shooting screen or after you have taken the shot in your image review screen. Check your camera’s manual for the location of the histogram.

Note: If you shoot with a mirrorless camera you may be able to see the histogram on the screen before you shoot. Check your settings this is very handy.

Why is the histogram important for your photographic success?

If used correctly while shooting, the histogram will give you the information you need to know to bring up the shadows or bring down the highlights and pop out exposure and detail in an image.

The histogram shows you the brightness of a scene and it can be measured as you are shooting, or after you have captured the image. When look at the histogram and see the bulk of the graph pushing towards the right, this means you have an image that may be overexposed (or a really light toned subject).

Overexposed - Don’t Fear Photo Post-Processing - Shooting is Only the First Part of the Image Creation Process

If the data is mostly on the left of the graph, it’s an image that might be underexposed.

Underexposed - Don’t Fear Photo Post-Processing - Shooting is Only the First Part of the Image Creation Process

If the graph spikes on either the left or right “wall” of the histogram, that means that “clipping” has occurred. Clipping happens when you have areas in your photo with no information as a result of over or underexposure. When an area has no information, it is either pure white or pure black which is often referred to “blown out”.

Generally, it is undesirable to have large areas of your image that have highlights or shadows clipping. See the image below. The red areas show highlight clipping, and the blue areas show shadow clipping.

Clipping - Don’t Fear Photo Post-Processing - Shooting is Only the First Part of the Image Creation Process

Because of the limited dynamic range of a camera’s sensor, the area registering as clipped usually leaves the image with no information in the shadows or highlights. A spike touching the left edge of the histogram means that there is shadow clipping. A spike touching the right edge of the histogram means that there are highlights clipping.

What is possible with post-processing?

Many photographers have frustrating results with their images because they don’t embrace digital editing and post-processing. They are doing everything right when they shoot and are good at composition. They know how to expose correctly for the scene, but don’t know where to go with the image once they get home.

For example, maybe they are in a high contrast area and have taken an image with the histogram in mind. Then they open the image on-screen and throw it out because it looks over or underexposed. They don’t know what the post-processing possibilities are even though they may have a viable image. This is where they are missing a large part of the potential in their digital photography post-processing.

Here’s a great example. This image was taken in the Eastern Sierra in California.

Alabama Hills Before - Don’t Fear Photo Post-Processing - Shooting is Only the First Part of the Image Creation Process

It is obvious that the shadows are way underexposed and it creates an interesting silhouette. But, if you look at the histogram, you can see there is space on the left side of the graph which represents the shadows. This means there is more information there, and a good possibility of bringing up the shadows to create a whole different image.

Here is the result after brightening shadows in Lightroom. This adjustment took just seconds and creates a whole new scene.

Alabama Hills After - Don’t Fear Photo Post-Processing - Shooting is Only the First Part of the Image Creation Process

Start with Lightroom

Almost every image needs post-processing. Some people think that’s “cheating”. It’s not, it’s all part of the digital artistic process.

With post-processing, you can create the image you saw when you photographed the scene. Your eyes have the capability of seeing a wider range of light and color than your camera does, so the images need help in post-processing to duplicate the full range of light and shadows. The problem with a lot of beginners, is they tend to oversaturate or over-sharpen an image. So this talent comes with time and practice, practice, practice.

Once you have mastered the basics, there is a lot more you will be able to do with your digital post-processing that will add drama and interest to your photos. The above image of Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite looks rather flat in the RAW version (left). Once you add saturation, sharpening, and a vignette to the whole picture it starts to pop. Then you can enhance the brightest areas by “painting with light”, and it now becomes a much more interesting image.

Start your post-processing journey with a full featured program like Adobe Lightroom. It is the standard in the industry for professionals, but it is also user-friendly for beginners and helps with both post-processing and image organization. Just be sure that your computer has enough memory and RAM to run these full featured programs. Check the requirements at adobe.com.

Check out our guide to LR: The dPS Ultimate Guide to Getting Started in Lightroom for Beginners

Nothing is more satisfying than when you have a catalog of 30,000 images and you’re able to find your favorites in literally seconds by entering a few keywords and star ratings. Take some time to set it up, add a class or two, and you’ll be up and running!

Conclusion

Photo editing or post-processing is an integral part of the digital photography puzzle. Don’t think that you can skip this part and come away with satisfying images. It’s just as important to learn photo editing as it is to learn the basic functions of your camera. Only then, will you be able to bring that intentional photographic vision into post-processing and create great images

How are you going to start your post-processing journey? Is shooting in RAW and learning Lightroom in your future? Please share your thoughts with me on this subject.

The post Don’t Fear Photo Post-Processing – Shooting is Only the First Part of the Image Creation Process by Holly Higbee-Jansen appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

Intro to drones part I: Drone basics

02 Aug

A post shared by RyanMcMaster (@ryanmc_33) on Jun 24, 2017 at 7:13am PDT

The use of drones for aerial photography has grown rapidly over the past few years, and systems are now available in all shapes and sizes, ranging from small hobby aircraft to complex commercial systems. Whether you’re a beginner just looking to have fun, or an experienced photographer exploring new creative opportunities, there’s never been a better time to try this technology.

If you’ve never flown one before, drones have the potential to be a bit intimidating. In this article, the first of a three-part series, we’ll familiarize you with the basic features and components that comprise most consumer drone systems. In parts two and three, we’ll talk about how to select the best drone to meet your needs, and what you need to know about safety before your first flight.

What’s in a drone system?

Let’s get some vocabulary out of the way. While it’s common to refer to a remote-controlled aircraft as a drone, you may also run into the terms UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) or UAS (unmanned aircraft system), and professional pilots usually prefer to use these descriptors. The words drone and UAV are largely interchangeable as they both refer to just the aircraft, while UAS refers to the entire system. For convenience, we’ll use the word drone throughout this article.

Every drone system is a bit different, but there are some basic things most have in common. In addition to the aircraft, they’ll generally include a lithium polymer battery for power, a camera mounted on a stabilized gimbal, and a radio communication system. Most also include a dedicated controller, though some less expensive consumer models can be controlled using only a smartphone.

From the outside, most drones appear to be simple devices, but they’re actually built around some fairly advanced technology that makes them easier to fly. This includes GPS for tracking the drone’s position, various sensors to help avoid unwanted collisions, and intelligent flight modes that can automatically focus on a point of interest or track a moving subject.

That’s a lot, so let’s break it down!

The aircraft

At the core of any system is the aircraft, and most consumer and prosumer drones today are quadcopters (though there are exceptions). Today, all multi-rotor drone systems designed for photo and video use a fixed-pitch propeller system. Most models use removable propellers made from a plastic/fiberglass composite that have a simple twist locking system to hold the propeller in place. Alternatively, some will use a folding propeller system.

A twist-lock prop on the DJI Phantom 4 Pro (L) and a foldable prop on the DJI Mavic Pro (R).

The drone’s propellers are driven by brushless motors that spin at very high speed to produce the thrust required to fly. Each motor has a corresponding speed controller unit that allows for slight adjustments in the speed of the rotor; by varying the speed of the individual motors relative to one another, it’s possible to induce pitch, yaw, roll and altitude.

Flight controller

The flight controller is your direct line of command to the drone, and the two are linked using a radio control system, typically at 2.4 or 5.8 GHz. Input from the sticks on the flight controller sends signals to the aircraft directing it to adjust the speed controllers on each motor, allowing you to maneuver the drone. Additional inputs allow you to control the camera and other features specific to the model you’re flying.

The same radio signal used for command and control also allows the video signal to be fed from the drone to the controller’s screen, providing a real-time view for shooting photos or video. In many cases, the screen is just an Android or iOS device running a control app that you’ve installed and paired with the controller, though some models, such as the DJI Phantom 4 Pro+ and Yuneec Typhoon 4K, have their own built-in screens. In addition, the screen allows you to monitor telemetry from the aircraft and includes all the controls you would expect for photography such as custom WB, bracketing, shooting style, and other camera settings.

Drones allow new perspectives on photography, such as this stitched aerial panorama of Lake Tahoe. Photo by Ryan McMaster

Gimbal

If you’re planning to take photos or videos from the air, it’s critical that your camera remain as steady as possible. Most drones actually move quite a bit as they maneuver around or make corrections to maintain position. To compensate, the camera is mounted to a gimbal: a device that isolates it from the vibration and movement of the drone. Most gimbals use a 3-axis system that allows for yaw (rotational stabilization), pitch (holding the horizon during forward and backward movement), and roll (holding the horizon during side-to-side movement).

Gimbals use brushless motors that are very precise, and hold the camera in place so that video and photos (including long exposures) look amazing. In fact, if you watch a drone flying in even a moderate amount of wind you’ll notice quite a few small movements, but with a good gimbal the camera’s image will be rock solid. Some systems also offer a dual operator mode that allows the pilot to fly, while a separate camera operator runs the gimbal. This is the ultimate mode for shooting video!

The gimbal isolates the camera from vibrations and small movements by the drone, providing a stable image.

Global positioning system (GPS)

Once your drone is in the air you want it to maintain its position, even in windy conditions. Though it’s possible for a skilled pilot to do this without assistance, all drones today rely on GPS technology, typically using both the Global Positioning System and GLONASS (the Russian GPS system), to automate this task with a high degree of precision.

The good news is that GPS makes it surprisingly easy to hold, fly a straight line, or orbit a subject while the computer does the hard work of making small adjustments to compensate for wind direction and turbulence, and as a result, drones are often much easier to fly than people anticipate. However, GPS, like any technology, can fail. As a result, learning to fly a drone without GPS assistance is an important skill to learn.

Collision avoidance systems

A big advancement over the past couple years has been the development of collision avoidance systems that use vision, sonic and infrared sensors to avoid obstacles. Vision systems can ‘see’ objects and halt the aircraft before it strikes something, however they usually have a limited range (15m/50ft), and the sun can sometimes create issues by causing them to think something is in the way when nothing is there. Sonic systems use sound (much like bats) to sense objects, and are usually aimed at the ground and used for auto-landing operations and ‘positioning’ on the ground in lieu of GPS. Finally, IR (infrared) sensors are a relatively new option and work based on reflected IR spectrum light. These are short range and have issues in low light, but work in a similar fashion to vision systems for obstacle avoidance.

The small circles that look like bug eyes on the front of the DJI Mavic Pro are visual sensors for the collision avoidance system.

What are all these systems used for? Mostly, assisting new pilots in preventing collisions with objects in their vicinity, as well as preventing a loss of aircraft when returning to home by allowing the drone to avoid trees or other obstacles. However, it’s important to remember that the pilot in command is always responsible for the aircraft. Collision avoidance systems are useful but not infallible, so don’t depend on them to keep you out of trouble!

Batteries

Let’s talk about power. Most drones use lithium polymer, or ‘LiPo’ batteries. These cells come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and power ratings. ‘Smart LiPo’ batteries have built-in charge/discharge regulators and sensors that can report battery voltage and temperature via an app or the press of a button. Typically, LiPo batteries run both the controller and the aircraft, and flight time usually ranges from approximately 15 to 30 minutes depending on your model, the conditions, and how aggressive you are at the controls.

“You must always carry these batteries on the plane with you, and never place them in checked baggage – no exceptions.”

LiPo batteries are energy dense and require special care, and can be dangerous if mishandled. Traveling with these batteries can be risky if you don’t take proper precautions, and in most countries, there are specific rules when you take these cells on airplanes. In the US, the TSA/FAA provide specific rules and instructions, and you must always carry these batteries on the plane with you, and never place them in checked baggage – no exceptions. If you’re outside the US, make sure you understand the rules in your country before traveling with LiPo batteries.

Intelligent flight modes

Originally, drones were simply a tool that allowed you to get your camera off the ground and into the air, but thanks to all the technology packed inside, modern aircraft can usually do much more.

Many drones today include a variety of semi-autonomous (‘intelligent’) flight modes that use technologies like GPS, computer vision and subject tracking to help with more complex tasks. Common examples include the ability to actively track and follow a subject as it moves, orbiting around a point of interest, or programming waypoints for the drone to follow. These modes make it possible to get very creative shots with minimal effort by the pilot. In a sense, it’s a bit like having a separate drone operator while you focus on the creative side of things. These modes are particularly helpful if your intent is to shoot video as they can make your footage look very cinematic.

One of the intelligent flight modes, waypoints (seen here), can turn your Phantom 4 Pro into a powerful surveying tool that has the ability to collect data like never before!

A word of caution, however. Don’t just take off and blindly start using these modes. They require good knowledge of how to disable them in case of an emergency, and should not be used by beginners until basic operation of the aircraft is mastered.

Who makes them?

There are numerous companies building consumer and prosumer drones today. The one most people will be familiar with is DJI, which is the 800-pound gorilla in the market. However, compelling models can also be found from companies like Yuneec, Autel Robotics, GoPro and Parrot, as well as a number of others.

Although it’s easy to lump these all into the same category, each creates different products and has different design philosophies. For example, Yuneec makes affordable hexacopters, and Autel Robotics provides options such a camera with thermal imaging capabilities in addition to visible light. In part two of this series, we’ll discuss how to go about choosing the drone that best meets your needs.

Conclusion

Drones are an amazing tool that allow us to do jobs remotely, safely, and in a way that doesn’t put a manned aircraft at risk. As technology advances the capabilities of these devices will only get better. If you’ve been looking for a way to bring a new perspective to your photos or video, consider taking to the skies. Just remember to fly respectfully and follow the rules in your locale – things we’ll discuss in upcoming articles.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

The good, the bad and the ugly of aerial photography part 5: examples and comparison

17 Jun

The Holuhraun eruption in Iceland, taken from a helicopter. This remains one of my most rewarding photographic experiences.

So far in this series I have talked about the advantages of aerial photography and about shooting from a helicopter as opposed to shooting from a light plane. I have also talked about the right equipment for this kind of shoot, and about technique and parameter selection. In this final article in the series I want to discuss my experiences from 4 aerial photography sessions, compare them and analyze what I learned from them.

I won’t be presenting any new info, but I think it’s important to do a comparison since I learned a lot from these short sessions, and if you can learn from my experience and mainly from my mistakes, I will have done what I set out to do with this series of articles.

My first ‘serious’ photography flight was in Namibia, in March of 2014. I flew over Sossusvlei to capture the dunes of the Namib Desert in morning light. It was in a Robinson R44, mentioned earlier as a great helicopter for photography flights, and both doors were taken off. I flew around for 1:15 hours and the hourly rate was about $ 850, which is quite good. I took one Canon EOS 5D Mark III with a Tamron 24-70mm F2.8 stabilized lens on it, plus a 70-300mm which I never actually used. This was the flight on which I understood the need for 2 bodies, but I really did fine with the 24-70mm as most of the beauty was in the larger-scaled structures, mainly the shapes of the dunes.

About half an hour into the flight the pilot noticed mist between the dunes ahead, and it was an easy decision to carry on flying and shoot the dunes shrouded in mist. Overall the flight was a huge success, and it triggered my love for aerial photography. I highly recommend flying in Sossusvlei. The fact that the pilot was flexible and had enough insight to suggest flying further above the dunes made a huge difference. Where possible, you should always opt for a pilot with experience of photographers, and make sure you listen to their suggestions.

The second flight was during a very special event: the Holuhraun volcanic eruption in Iceland. I had come back to the hostel after shooting the eruption from the land three days before the flight, and I encountered several days of harsh winds and sand storms. Then finally the weather improved and I secured my spot on a sunset flight. We had an unbelievable flight over the volcano with a pink sunset in the background, and even today, that flight ranks among my favorite photography experiences

I took two bodies, a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a 5D Mark III, with 24-70mm and 70-300mm zoom lenses. I used the telephoto lens quite a bit to shoot the details of the eruption, and in this case it was a good decision to opt for a telephoto instead of an ultra wide.

The flight was very costly. For 1:45 hours I paid 2600 Euros, at a rate of almost 1500 Euros an hour. Ouch. Helicopter flights in Iceland are more expensive than in other countries, so make sure it’s really worth it if you intend to fly there. These are some of my favorite shots from this flight. You can decide for yourself if it was worth it or not, but note that unique images such as these are the key to getting noticed: thanks to this shoot alone, I sealed an ongoing postcard deal in Iceland (which alone paid back for the trip), an interview with Iceland’s largest news website, several new private clients and a share by National Geographic on Facebook, hitting over 124,000 likes.

My third photography flight was in Disko Bay, Greenland. Unfortunately, this was also my most disappointing experience. I flew in a small airplane with a tiny hatch to shoot from, which both made it very hard to achieve a decent composition, and caused the lens to vibrate violently, rendering many of my shots blurry.

On top of that, communication with the pilot wasn’t good enough, and he didn’t understand that I needed more room on my right to shoot from. I paid way too much, over a thousand Euros for a flight I could have definitely done without. It was a bad experience, but at least I learned a great deal about what not to do.

My fourth and most recent photography flight was above the Lofoten Islands in Arctic Norway. It was an amazing flight, and it reinforced my belief in light planes. The pilot was highly experienced and understood exactly what I needed, even without words. It comes to show how important a good pilot who understand photography actually is. The flight was affordable at about $ 300 per hour, and the conditions were excellent.

Due to their relatively small size, the Lofoten Islands are a perfect place for photography flights. You can get from place to place very quickly, and the mountainous landscape is incredible from above. The famous shooting spots are easily recognizable, too, which is a wonderful bonus.

Aerial photography is amazing. I doubt that anyone who tries it will not like it, but it comes at a cost. I hope this series has helped you understand the benefits of shooting from the air, the different options and the importance of being prepared. Enjoy your flight!

Erez Marom is a professional nature photographer, photography guide and traveler based in Israel. You can follow Erez’s work on Instagram, Facebook and 500px, and subscribe to his mailing list for updates.

If you’d like to experience and shoot some of the most fascinating landscapes on earth with Erez as your guide, you’re welcome to take a look at his unique photography workshops around the world:

Land of Ice – Southern Iceland
Winter Paradise – Northern Iceland
Northern Spirits – The Lofoten Islands
Giants of the Andes and Fitz Roy Hiking Annex – Patagonia
Tales of Arctic Nights – Greenland
Saga of the Seas and The Far Reaches Annex – The Faroe Islands
Desert Storm – Namibia

Selected Articles by Erez Marom:

Parallelism in Landscape Photography
Behind the Shot: Dark Matter
Mountain Magic: Shooting in the Lofoten Islands
Behind the Shot: Nautilus
Behind the Shot: Lost in Space
Behind the Shot: Spot the Shark
Quick Look: The Art of the Unforeground
Whatever it Doesn’t Take
Winds of Change: Shooting changing landscapes
On the Importance of Naming Images
On Causality in Landscape Photography

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

GoPro to cut 270 jobs as part of restructuring effort

17 Mar

GoPro plans to eliminate another 270 jobs, the company revealed in its Q1 2017 guidance report, via a combination of layoffs and open position cancellations. The workforce reduction follows a similar layoff of 200 workers announced in November 2016, and is part of a larger business restructuring effort to cut costs and maintain profitability.

According to the new guidance report, GoPro is ‘tracking to full-year non-GAAP profitability in 2017.’ The company anticipates taking on about $ 10 million in severance charges as part of its layoff, a cost that will be factored into its first quarter financial results. Overall, the company estimates that it will announce between $ 190 and $ 210 million in Q1 2017 revenue.

GoPro has increasingly reduced its focus to its core products, a move that necessitated the recent elimination of its entertainment division, as well as reductions in some of its facilities. Last November, company CEO Nicholas Woodman stated, ‘We are headed into 2017 with a powerful global brand, our best ever products, and a clear roadmap for restored growth and profitability in 2017.’

Via: GoPro

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Posts Tagged ‘Part’

Series Epilogue

More in The K?lauea Series:

Selected Articles by Erez Marom:

More in The K?lauea Series:

Selected Articles by Erez Marom:

More in The K?lauea Series:

Selected Articles by Erez Marom:

Nikon D850 Sample Gallery

Selected Articles by Erez Marom:

Leica M10 real-world samples

Before and after

The role of post-processing in photography is not new

The first step – shooting with post-processing in mind

Raw format gives you control

The Histogram

Why is the histogram important for your photographic success?

What is possible with post-processing?

Start with Lightroom

Conclusion

The aircraft

Flight controller

Gimbal

Global positioning system (GPS)

Collision avoidance systems

Batteries

Intelligent flight modes

Who makes them?

Conclusion

More in This Series:

Selected Articles by Erez Marom: