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Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

17 Jul

In this third installment of articles on ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018, we look at some of the Cool Tools – either new features or ones that are particularly useful. Read my first two articles here:

  • ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners
  • How to do Creative Editing with Layers in ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018

New Features

1. ACTIONS

Newly implemented in the latest release of the software, Actions are a range of predefined edits that you can apply to your image to achieve a specific look or effect. To assist you with this, there is an Actions Browser that lets you see the effect applied in advance, which is extremely useful.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

Image with the Actions Browser open.

There are 16 different categories covering color, black and white, workflow, editing, special effects, portrait and landscape options, and more. Once you decide on the desired Action, click PLAY and it is applied.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

Example of a Split-tone Action.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

A black and white conversion Action applied.

To apply an Action, you need to open your image in Edit mode. On the top menu bar, look for Tools > Browse Actions.

2. LIQUIFY

Liquify is often used in fashion and portrait editing to change the shape of people or parts of their bodies. It is a new feature in this release of ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018. This tool needs to be applied with a large soft brush and a delicate touch or it can look overly obvious.

I found the Liquify tool very easy to use. It worked quickly (i.e. there was no lag on processing the change) and had a gentler effect than I was expecting.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 - liquify

This is the before image for comparison.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

Showing where the effect had been applied.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 - liquify

Image after Liquify applied to the arch and bowl of the spoon, and the dark side of the main blueberry.

Using the Liquify Tool

Liquify is a function in Edit mode, so you need to open your image up in there. On the top menu bar, select Filter > Geometry > Liquify.

There are four different Liquify modes:

  1. Shift – This moves pixels from one area to another in the direction you move the brush.
  2. Pinch – This moves the pixels towards the center of the brush (making things smaller).
  3. Brush – This moves pixels away from the center of the brush (making things bigger).
  4. Restore – Undo mode for any of the three options above.

Once Liquify mode is active, check that your brush is the correct size and softness (a larger and softer brush is recommended) and very gently click and nudge the area you want to adjust a tiny amount. It is much easier to do lots of little adjustments as you can undo one if you go too far.

Also be mindful that when you use Liquify it moves all the pixels within the brush, so if you have any lines or other elements, they can be affected too. This can make it obvious that you have used Liquify, so be careful about the backgrounds and surrounding elements in the area you’re using it.

3. FREQUENCY SEPARATION

This is a function used a lot in portrait and fashion photography – anywhere there is a lot of skin visible, especially faces and close-ups. Frequency separation allows you to smooth out blemishes and imperfections, to even out the skin tones, and provide a polished outcome in the image.

While it can be done manually, it is time-consuming to set up. Now with a few clicks, the software does all the layers for you, making it easy to apply the effect where necessary. I don’t photograph people or close up portraits so have never had the need to use this functionality, but for those who want to access this advanced technique, ACDSee has included it.

Using the Tool

Open your image in Edit mode and in the Layers pane, duplicate the layer. Frequency Separation is a destructive edit, so it is recommended that you work on a duplicated layer to maintain image integrity.

Select the top layer (the duplicate), then right-click and select Frequency Separation from the drop-down box. It will then create two layers – one will be grey and have (HF) in the layer description. The other one will be in color, but will be all blurry and have (LF) in the layer description.

On the LF layer, use a brush to work on any skin imperfections. On the HF layer, use the Repair tool to clone clear skin over top of the blemish areas.

4. PIXEL TARGETING

The Pixel Targeting tool allows you to select specific areas in your image based on a combination of tone and color selection. It works in conjunction with an adjustment layer.

In Edit mode, open up your image and select an adjustment layer (any of them seem to be fine). Here I am using a shot of some bright red raspberries and a Vibrance adjustment layer.

Right-click on the top layer and select Pixel Targeting and a panel will open up. The top sliders allow you to select the tones and the bottom sliders allow you to select the colors.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

Adjust the tone and the color sliders to suit. It creates a mask of the subject that you want to adjust.

Save a preset for future use (use the Save option at the top of the screen) and click OK.  The mask you have just created in the Pixel Targeting window is now applied to your adjustment layer, and it will only apply the adjustment to the light areas of the mask.

Here I have turned the raspberries blue simply by adjusting the Hue sliders in the Vibrance layer.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

Useful Features

While learning how to use ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018, there were several things about it that I found particularly useful. These are either the small things that don’t get used a lot but work really well when you do need to use them, or something that makes it much easier to do a really common task.

These are things I appreciate, especially when something you do a lot is made easier, or offers a clever alternative.

1 – Add a File as a Layer

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

At the bottom of the Layers pane are a whole lot of quick access icons for different layer features. The one circled here is the “Add a File as a Layer” option.

I do a couple of specific tasks that require the addition of outside images as extra layers, such as adding texture overlays and compositing.

There are lots of other instances when this could be useful – focus stacking, blending panorama or astrophotography images, time-lapse stacking, and so on.

This is a particularly common function and the way Photoshop does it is really NOT user-friendly. I have always gotten around it by using a second monitor and dragging my image in that way.

But if you are working on a laptop or only have one layer, that isn’t an option, so this feature becomes worth knowing about.

It’s really simple. Click on the Add a File as a Layer icon and a dialog box opens up asking you to select the location of the image you want to add. Even better, you can switch your view to Thumbnail and see examples of the images so you can select the right one.

Click on the desired file and select Open. The file will then open up as a new layer. It will probably need to be resized and the program has that mode already activated for you as well. Drag the yellow handles to the right size, select Commit, and you are done!

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

2. Heal Tool

Sometimes you might have a mark, a blemish, or a stray hair or twig in the way on your shot, and you don’t notice until you see it on the big screen when you are editing. Technology has improved so much these days that software can often take care of those issues for you, but it can still be a less than polished outcome.

When editing my blueberry shots, I was dismayed to find that I hadn’t noticed my main berry had a scratch down the front of it. Great chance to give the Heal tool inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate a go.

I was quite impressed with how well it works. Just right-click on a good area and then paint over the blemish area. I find doing lots of small selections gives a more natural effect usually, but ACDSee did a really good job.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

After the Heal tool was applied.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

Before Heal tool applied – you can clearly see the big scratch on the front of the berry.

Conclusion

Before writing these articles, I had never used ACDSee software at all. My background was with PaintShop Pro, Photoshop, and Lightroom. Learning about the full range and capabilities of this ACDSee program has been interesting. There are some really exciting new features and useful tools included, particularly in Edit mode.

Overall I have been impressed at the depth and capability of ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate. For a beginner wanting a one-stop-shop program at a cost-effective price (and no subscription model), it has a lot of benefits.

For anyone looking to get started in managing their photo files, processing RAW images, and more in-depth editing, this is a good place to start. If you’re looking for a non-subscription option, it is worth considering as well.

Disclaimer: ACDSee is a dPS advertising partner.

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How to Mimic Window Light in a Studio Environment

24 Jun

One of the most common reasons you hear from photographers who avoid off-camera flash lighting is that it looks artificial. Yes, studio lighting can look artificial, but sometimes that’s part of the charm. Nobody claims portraits made with a ringlight look natural, but that doesn’t stop the thousands of photographers (myself included) that use them all of the time. But that doesn’t mean that it is impossible to mimic window light in the studio.

In fact, that’s kind of the point most of the time.

How to Mimic Window Light in a Studio Environment - portrait of a lady in the studio

Obtaining natural looking result in a studio is fairly easy with a few basic tools and some know how.

With studio lighting, you can create whatever lighting you want at any time. Providing that you have the right tools (and they are pretty basic), creating natural looking portraits in a studio environment with off-camera flash is exactly as difficult as creating portraits using window light.

Why is window light so wonderful?

b/w window light portrait - How to Mimic Window Light in a Studio Environment

Window light has a lot of wonderful qualities that make it a great choice for photographing people and other subjects.

In a nutshell, windows give you a constant (during daylight hours) and large light source to work with. The light itself is soft, diffused (assuming that direct sunlight is not entering through the window), and lends itself well to virtually all subjects including portraits.

It also tends to be very directional (depends on how you position yourself and the subject in relation to the window), making it easy to work with to shape your subject.

two b/w portraits - How to Mimic Window Light in a Studio Environment

Window light can give a variety of results depending on the time of day and the size and shape of the window. As such, there is no one size fits all solution to mimic window light and recreate it in the studio.

On top of that, we see things lit in window light all day, every day. It is a very natural state of things and it’s how we recognize the world around us. This familiarity makes window light an obvious choice.

Add to that that the master painters created a great many of their portraits in a studio lit by window light. The most obvious point of reference here would be Rembrandt since this style of lighting is one of the most common techniques that photographers use today.

The reasons for unnatural looking light

b/w portrait with ring lighting used - How to Mimic Window Light in a Studio Environment

Some light sources, like the ringlight used here, are by nature very unnatural looking. When trying to recreate natural light, try to stay away from specialist tools like these and tri-flectors.

There are a couple of reasons why studio lighting can look canned and unnatural. These are:

  • Too many lights – When using natural light, you’re usually shooting with only one light source. Perhaps there’s a reflector involved or there might be multiple windows, but for the most part, it’s one light. Going into a studio environment where a single setup can involve a key light, a fill light, a hair light, two rim lights and two background lights can feel both complicated and wrong (unnatural). Fair enough.
  • The modifiers are too small – In most cases, windows are quite big. This means that the light source you are using to light your subject is large. Big light sources give soft, flattering light. Add some mesh curtains to that window and the light gets even softer and more diffused. What does that tell you about the size of modifier you need to use on your studio portraits to get soft light?
  • The lights are too far away – In terms of the softness of the light, it’s the size of the light source in relation to the subject that determines how soft or hard it appears. If you have an 8′ octabox twenty feet from your subject, it will appear quite small comparatively; therefore, the light will be a bit hard. If you have a small pop-up softbox on there, it will be even harder. Bring your lights in as close as you dare to get for the softest light possible. If you have a small modifier, I recommend having it so close you can barely shoot past it without getting the light source in the frame.
  • You’re using an odd light source – Specialist lights, like the ringlight used in the image above, create light that you wouldn’t normally find in natural scenarios. Even if a viewer doesn’t understand the why behind it, people are quite intuitive when things seem weird. If you’re going for a natural look, avoid lights like these.

How to recreate and mimic window light in the studio

Here, you’ll see just how easy it is to mimic natural light in a studio environment. Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

  • An off-camera light source. Strobes, flashguns and continuous lights will all work equally well.
  • A large light modifier. These examples use a 5′ Octabox (or recessed softbox as PixaPro like to call it), but anything will do. If you don’t have any large modifiers yet and are unsure about what to get, consider starting with a large translucent umbrella. They’re big, dirt cheap, fold away easily and produce a nice, soft light.
  • White or silver reflector. This one’s optional, but you should have one anyway. If you’re using a really big modifier, the wraparound of the light may mean you don’t even need it, but they are useful for filling in dark shadows on the unlit side of your subject.

Setting up

behind the scenes studio shots - How to Mimic Window Light in a Studio Environment

A medium sized octabox placed close to an above the subject and a silver reflector was all it took to create these images.

To get started, place your light about three or four feet from your subject. Turn the light so that it’s forty-five degrees (in relation to your subject.) Raise the light up as high as you can (making sure the subject still has catchlights in their eyes). High ceilings are a bonus.

The reason for this is that with window light, the light is often coming from above. The window is shaping the light into the room, but it is still coming down into the room. If you’re using modelling lights or continuous lights, watch the catchlights in your subject’s eyes. Once they are falling towards the top of their eyes, you’re good to go.

Likewise, also watch where the shadows are falling. If the contrast seems too high, introduce a reflector. This does take practice, so don’t worry if you can’t tell just yet. It may help if you squint your eyes tightly. This makes it easier to see the contrast. In these examples, the silver reflector was placed flat and in front of the subject at around waist level.

Now, all that you have to do is to take a light meter reading (or take a test shot), adjust your settings (either in-camera or on the flash) and start taking photos.

portrait of a lady in pink - How to Mimic Window Light in a Studio Environment

To start with, try having your subject turned toward either the light or the camera. Beyond that, there’s not really much else to it.

How to Mimic Window Light in a Studio Environment

Practice makes it simple

If you are completely new to off-camera lighting, this may seem like a lot to get. I promise it’s not. Once you’ve set this up a few times, it becomes so easy that there’s not much more effort involved than placing someone in front of a window.

The advantages here are that you aren’t at the mercy of the weather or the time of day and once you get started with a set-up, the light won’t change unless you tell it to.

Just remember to keep the light both high and close and there isn’t much room to go wrong.

two images of a lady - How to Mimic Window Light in a Studio Environment

Putting it to use

If you’ve had any hesitance to use studio lights for any of the reasons listed in this article, hopefully, you can see that with the right techniques, you needn’t worry at all. Honestly, it’s not as difficult or complicated as it seems. If you’re still unsure, rent a studio for an hour and put it to practice. You may be surprised at what you find out and learn.

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How to do Creative Editing with Layers in ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018

20 Jun

In my first article on ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018, I covered all the elements of the program that a beginner would need to know about. This article covers editing in more detail, starting with processing your RAW file in Develop Mode and then doing some creative editing using Layers in Edit Mode.

Layers are a critical part of editing your images. Either in doing your RAW process and then tidying up areas that need it with curves, levels, and other adjustments. Or if you want to add more creativity to your images, with textures, decorative flourishes, fancy text embellishments. Finally, you can go all the way up to compositing, and using layers is the best way to achieve that.

textured image of flowers - How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018

Let’s look at what ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018 has to offer for editing a RAW file. Then we’ll add a creative edit with texture layers, embellishment layers, and using masks to create a vintage grunge effect.

I am going to assume that you have a basic understanding of RAW editing and using layers and masks and not detail absolutely every step worked through in this process. If you need more help, go back and read: ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners first.

Editing a Raw File in Develop Mode

First, open up Manage mode and find the right folder to select an image. For this exercise, I liked the Gerbera Still Life image and decided that the final version should have a grungy vintage look added at the end.

How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018 - image thumbnails

This is the selected image of three crimson gerbera flowers, with a pair of pointe ballet shoes and some sheet music. It’s a bit dark and dull and needs some tweaking which we will do in the Develop mode of ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018.

original image before editing - How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018

Original unedited RAW file

After some basic editing, the image is brighter and the colors are better balanced.

How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018 - edited with basic adjustments

However my final vision for this image is more of a vintage look, and the colors are too bright and rich. So, further editing to bring the saturation down and darken the crimson was applied. This now provides the basis for the layers and creative elements, so it’s saved and then we move into Edit mode.

How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018 - image with lower saturation

Creative Editing Using Layers

Switching to Edit Mode by clicking on EDIT with the edited RAW file open will change your workspace. Now the Layers palette is laid out on the right. As there is only the one image open, it shows up as Layer 1.

At the bottom of the Layers palette are the different layer options – hover over each one to find the one you need and click to activate it. For this exercise, we are going to bring in some grunge textures and additional elements to make it look vintage, old, and more artistic.

Textures

I use a lot of textures from 2LilOwls, The Daily Texture, and Distressed Textures. If you are patient you can also make your own but there are plenty of places to acquire them online. The ones used in this article were from 2LilOwls.

How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018

My preferred option to add extra layers is to use a second monitor, open up Windows Explorer to the desired folder, find a texture I like and then drag across to my image. Note, when using ACDSee, you have to drag it into the Layers Palette (rather than onto the image directly).

The other option is to click on the “Add A File As A Layer” button which allows you to search for a file within your directory and add it. This was a useful feature which I used several times.

By default, the texture is applied in Normal mode which means only the top layer is visible, which is the texture in this instance. In the Layer Palette it is visible as Layer 2.

How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018 - texture layer

The first texture layer has been added – it’s showing in Normal mode so you can only see this layer and not the one below (the image of the flowers).

Blend Mode

Next, change the blend mode of the layer to something that suits the image – either Overlay or Soft Light are good choices to start with. Also, dial down the layer opacity to soften the effect and make it look more pleasing.

How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018

Masking parts of the layer

This texture has some heavy vignetting around the edges that is a bit too dark. So to solve that, add a Layer Mask and select a large soft brush at around 30% opacity. Dab the brush in the darker edges and corners to reduce the effect.

How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018

The Layer mask is white and it shows up the areas you brush in grey (or black) – you can see where it has been applied in the corners.

How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018

Image with texture and layer mask applied with softer tones in the dark corners now

Add more grunge

It needs more grunge so let’s apply a second texture layer. This one has lots of cracks and scratches for a nice vintage effect. It is also a bit lighter around the edges so should balance out the first texture nicely.

How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018

The texture file is a different size than the original image but you can drag it out to fit by clicking on the yellow squares on the outside edges and corners.

This layer also had the blend mode changed and the opacity adjusted to suit. The crack effect was quite strong on the flowers so a mask was applied with a soft brush at low opacity that was brushed over the flowers.

More embellishments

The top left and right corners felt a bit empty so I added some decorative embellishments. On the left, is a butterfly with some fancy handwriting and another textural element was added on the right. Both are PNG files that are blended in with low opacity and Soft Light blend mode.

layers - How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018

Each element goes onto a separate layer for full control.  Masks are applied to remove the effect from the flowers.  These become Layers 6 and 7.

Finally, a Photo Effect (Somber) was applied to add a bit more contrast and punch.

How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018 - photo effect

Before and after images

Here we have the RAW file after it was edited in Develop mode and some creative adjustments for Saturation and Vibrance applied.

before layered editing - How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018

Here we have the final image after the texture layers, embellishments, Photo Effect and masks have been applied.

How to Edit Using Layers with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018 - final image

Additional Notes

As an advanced Photoshop user, I was comfortable using all the layer tools and functions available in ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018. Most of the usual tools were available and functioned as expected.

The one major issue I found was the inability to change the brush shape. It does not appear possible to import .abr files to add creative brush shapes. The only options for changing the brush are blend mode, size, and opacity and the only shape is round.

You can change the size, hardness, and opacity of the brush but not the actual shape of it. This limits the creative choices available. Some of my brush files were present as PNG images so I was able to import them as individual layers.

Additionally, there were several extra features that were new to me which I found useful. The “Add A File As A Layer” button was extremely helpful and I used that on several occasions. There is also a button for “Adding a Blank Layer”, “Duplicating a Layer” and “Deleting a Layer”. All things that happen frequently and usually require a right mouse click, then a selection and second click. ACDSee made these steps much quicker with a single click.

There were extra adjustment layer functions, in particular, “Photo Effect” that offer a range of predesigned creative effects you can apply as a separate layer, to blend and edit as desired. A Vignette option (similar to Lightroom) was also available to quickly add a vignette.

Conclusion

If you are a beginner to using layers and masks then it can be a bit complicated to get your head around. The good news is that with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018 everything that you would expect to be able to do and use to work with layers is all present and accounted for. It looks and functions very similar to Photoshop, so is comfortable for anyone transitioning over.

Except for the ability to change your brush shape, everything necessary to do a basic layer edit was easily recognizable and usable with pretty much no additional learning curve. That is a real bonus for anyone coming across from other programs.

There are also some nice new features that added extra value and made the experience better – in particular, “Add A File As A Layer” is something that I could easily get used to using. For anyone only using one monitor (like on a laptop) that makes adding another image as a layer so much easier. The Move function in Photoshop is really not user-friendly. This is a definite bonus if you are like me and add lots of extra files to your layers when editing.

Working in Edit mode and making a layered image with ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018 was not difficult and the additional features added real value in unexpected places.

Disclaimer: ACDSee is a dPS advertising partner.

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5 Tips How to Set Up a Home Studio for Dramatic Portraits

07 Jun

Having a brick and mortar studio when you are a photographer is such a huge and daunting step. There are so many overhead costs to consider such as rent, electricity, insurance and various other bills. It’s a worry to cover all these before you pay staff and yourself and still make enough profit to make a living. This thought can make one feel that having a studio is an impossible dream or is too of a big a step to take. But you can always start somewhere, so let’s look at some tips for how to setup a home studio.

portrait of 2 girls - 5 Tips How to Set Up a Home Studio for Dramatic Portraits

How to set up a home studio

If you have a spare room in your home or a basement, that is a good place to consider as a home studio. You may be surprised at just how much space is needed to start a portrait studio. Not that much at all! In this article, I will show you how I have set up my little home studio which I have recently revamped to make into a dedicated portrait studio.

I live in London in a narrow Victorian house. These houses have a typical 2-up 2-down rectangular layout, short side across and long side from front to back, with a narrow corridor that runs on one side of the house all the way to the back. My house has two reception rooms (living rooms) and a dining room and kitchen at the back. I decided to make the first reception room (the front room of the house) into my studio. It has a bay window at the front which juts out of the house and provides nice ample natural light.

At first, I set up my backdrop on the opposite side of the window so it was facing the window directly. The reason for this was so that I could get a much wider area for shooting. However, this is not great for dramatic lighting with natural light flooding from the window, with the camera right in between the backdrop and the window. This lends itself to flat lighting instead which isn’t what I wanted for my studio.

In order to achieve a more versatile directional lighting and avoid flat lighting from the window, I use strobes at 45-degree angles to the backdrop to get the lighting setup that I like.

Recently, I have moved things around so that I can use dramatic natural light if I want without the need for strobes, although I still have the flexibility to add strobes and artificial light if needed. This is how I’ve done it.

#1 Make sure your backdrop is at 90-degrees to the window

lighting diagram 5 Tips How to Set Up a Home Studio for Dramatic Portraits

This angle gives you a lighting that is more dramatic as it is only coming from one side. If you position your subject so that the far side of the face is unlit, you could achieve lighting similar to the Rembrandt style or low-key portraits.

#2 It is ideal to have an L-shaped corner connecting your window light to your backdrop or wall

lighting diagram corner - 5 Tips How to Set Up a Home Studio for Dramatic Portraits

Having this little dark, unlit corner between your backdrop and the window gives you a 45-degree angle lighting setup which is one of my favorite set-ups. The corner minimizes the light for you to be able to create a moodier image with only the front left of the face illuminated rather than full light flooding from the side.

In terms of artificial light, this is similar to controlling the amount of light hitting your subject either by the use of grids, a strip light or a snoot. You don’t want your subject awash with light as that would make for a rather flat lighting.

My personal preference is for having both light and shadows in my images so I can sculpt my subjects using directional light. If you don’t have such a corner, you can use a V-flat (two black pieces of mountboard taped together to form a V) positioned in the corner as shown in the diagram above.

#3 Paint your wall dark or use a dark backdrop

portrait of a happy girl on a dark background - 5 Tips How to Set Up a Home Studio for Dramatic Portraits

You will be astonished at the difference a dark backdrop makes! It brings focus to the subject far more than a light backdrop can. It also lends itself to more artistic photos.

#4 Diffuse your window light

portrait of a girl in black - 5 Tips How to Set Up a Home Studio for Dramatic Portraits

Window light, albeit coming from an angle, can still be a bit harsh. You can further soften this light by diffusing it with some white sheer curtains or voile or any fabric that can diffuse the light. The bottom half of my windows are frosted which means they are already perfectly diffused. I cover the top half with pieces of diffusion fabric to cut out the light.

#5 Use a reflector or light opposite the window

lighting diagram with reflector - 5 Tips How to Set Up a Home Studio for Dramatic Portraits

Much like in a painted portrait, reflected light is a pleasing detail found at the edge of the unlit side of the face. A silver reflector can achieve this very well with a stronger reflective light result as compared to a white reflector. I find that the gold reflectors can make the skin too warm so I stick with the silver and warm up the overall image in post-production.

The reflector does have to be positioned really close to the subject to make it more effective. If you don’t have an assistant who can hold it in place for you, get a free-standing reflector arm that you clip the reflector into thus making it easy for you to position it as needed.

two different portraits of girls - 5 Tips How to Set Up a Home Studio for Dramatic Portraits

dps-portrait-home-studio-tips_0000

Using strobes

If you want to use or add artificial light such as strobes or continuous lighting, consider a portable studio kit that you can fold and hide away when not in use. Here you can find suggestions of equipment to use for your portable studio kit.

There are many possibilities and things that you can do with this type of setup. Even with just one flash (like this tutorial), you can create dramatic home studio lighting. Another fun thing you can do with flash is creating double exposures.

These images below were taken in exactly the same spot as those above. But this time a gridded softbox was placed on the right as the main light instead of using the natural light coming from the window on the left.

dps-portrait-home-studio-tips_0000

I hope you found this article helpful. Please share images taken in your home studio, and if you have one or more tips on how to create portraits in a small studio space please share those too.

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Letter from the reviews editor: Pentax K-1 Mark II studio scene re-shoot

01 Jun

Introduction

Back on May 7, we published our review of the Pentax K-1 Mark II. For our studio scene analysis we used the SMC Pentax-D FA 50mm F2.8 Macro lens, rather than the SMC Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited that we’d used for the original K-1 review. This isn’t ideal (we try to shoot our studio scene as close to 85mm as we can, on full-frame bodies) but we did this because after some comparison tests, we found that the 50mm F2.8 was slightly sharper than our copy of the 77mm in the central portion of the frame, and that’s where we’re looking when we draw our conclusions.

While the center looked better, as many of you noticed, the top right corner of the scene shot with the 50mm F2.8 was soft; softer than the same area in images shot with the K-1. However, given the sharper central area (and the lack of a better sample of the 77mm at the time), we opted to publish the review regardless, since we don’t draw any sharpness or resolution conclusions from the edges of our studio scene.

Unfortunately, after the review was published we discovered a processing error with one of the K-1 II’s studio files, taken at ISO 12,800. This was swapped out, with an editors’ note added as soon as we became aware of it. More seriously, we also discovered that the K-1 Mark II’s JPEG profile had been incorrectly set to ‘Auto’. This resulted in differences in color and saturation compared to the K-1, which had been set correctly to the default: ‘Bright’.

See the updated K-1 Mark II
image quality page

Upon considering the cumulative effect of these differences, we spoke to Ricoh, who were kind enough to send us a second K-1 II, a K-1 and a hand-picked 77mm F1.8 Limited, so that we could re-shoot. Now that we’ve had a chance to compare the results of both cameras with the new 77mm F1.8 (which is noticeably sharper than the lens with which we originally tested the K-1), I wanted to share our findings with you.

The re-shoot and the results

First and most notably, it’s still clear that the accelerator unit in the K-1 Mark II is applying noise reduction to Raw files that the user cannot disable or remove. At high ISO values this still results in a loss of detail and contrast and the introduction of artifacts, but we have to acknowledge that a portion of our assessments were based on the incorrectly processed ISO 12,800 file. Our impression of JPEG color has also improved markedly as a result of using the correct ‘Bright’ profile.

As a result, we have adjusted both our scoring and some of the wording throughout the review to reflect this. It’s important to note that scoring and our overall assessment of the camera are not significantly changed, though; here’s why.

Most notably, it’s still clear the K-1 Mark II is applying noise reduction to Raw files

Despite the two-year gap between them, the K-1 Mark II still represents a minor upgrade over the K-1. Yes, you can now choose ISO 819,200, but the quality and therefore the utility of this setting is questionable. Autofocus tracking is improved, but still uncompetitive. Noise reduction in Raw does reduce visible grain at high ISO values, but its value to demanding users of such a high-end, high-res camera who are likely to want complete control over their images strikes us as suspect. The K-1 II’s lagging video capabilities look increasingly amiss in today’s market, and lastly, the Dynamic (hand held) Pixel Shift does not actually align images moved by a single pixel, instead approximating a super resolution technique that’s been around for years.

Read the full Pentax K-1 II review

All of this is certainly not to say the K-1 Mark II is a bad camera. Both the K-1 II and its predecessor are built like tanks, come with a bevy of unique features and are capable of absolutely outstanding image quality. We aim to give credit where credit is due, but as always, our first obligation is to help photographers spend their hard-earned money wisely. The fact remains that, despite our reassessment of the K-1 II’s image quality and JPEG color in particular, there are many ways in which the K-1 Mark II is simply outclassed by the competition.

Because of this, it’s still difficult for us to recommend the K-1 Mark II over competing models, and still difficult to recommend existing K-1 users pay $ 500 for the upgrade.

The final word

In the end, we are beholden to our readers and endeavor to hold all information that we publish on DPReview to the highest standards of accuracy. We fell short of that goal in this instance, and I apologize wholeheartedly for that. I hope that in fixing our mistakes with the K-1 Mark II, we’ve provided some additional and useful value to our review. We will take what we’ve learned from this experience to improve our future reviews in the hopes that we can continue to provide the most detailed and useful photography content on the internet.

As always, thanks for reading.

Carey

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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The Importance of Light While Shooting in a Studio

30 May

One of the most  important things about professional photography is lighting. Light is the one  element that can make or break a photo shoot. Having the correct lighting at the right time is of the utmost importance. Yet, many photographers, especially beginners, tend to overlook this fact.  Every aspect of photography relies heavily on lighting. After all, light is the Continue Reading

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Latest Apple ad: iPhone Portrait Lighting is a ‘studio in your pocket’

20 May

No matter your attitude towards Apple and its products, it’s probably fair to say the company’s iPhone ads are among the more visually pleasing and entertaining commercials we get to see on TV or online. And like many recent ads, Apple’s latest clip is related to its smartphone’s photography capabilities.

The ad—titled ‘Studio in your pocket’—promotes the iPhone X and 8 Portrait Lighting feature. In the ad, a woman pulls out her iPhone to take a selfie in a train station when all sorts of studio lights, umbrellas and softboxes materialize out of nowhere around her—emphasizing one of the iPhone’s most distinguishing photography features.

Despite some manufacturers now offering similar functions, Portrait Lighting is still pretty much exclusive to Apple devices. It works on both front and main cameras (on the iPhone X, only rear on the iPhone 8 Plus and below) and applies computational effects to a subject that aim to simulate lighting effects you could achieve in a studio with proper lighting equipment. The effects can be applied at capture or later during editing. Options include Natural Light, Studio Light, Contour Light, Stage Light and Stage Light Mono.

You can read more about the feature in our iPhone X review or watch a tutorial here, and while it is most certainly not equal to a bunch of softboxes, umbrellas, or other professional lighting equipment, the feature is impressive in its own right.

Have you used Apple’s Portrait Lighting? Do you think the results can compare to the real thing? Let us know in the comments.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

15 May

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 was released recently and it has a lot of options included in a single software program. It offers a combination of features covered by the likes of Lightroom, Bridge, and Photoshop in one setup at a competitive price.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Depending on your skill level, it caters to beginner through to advanced users. This new 2018 version combines previously standalone programs into one with some new features added. Development for future versions is also underway, so it’s an option that is undergoing improvement.

For the purposes of this article, I will be using Lightroom and Photoshop as the basis for comparison as those are the tools I currently use.

Let’s work through the usual steps that this software would be used for, from the point of view of a beginner photographer and someone new to the software as well.

Contents

  1. Setting up the program
  2. Basic layout
  3. Import images
  4. Raw image editing
  5. Edit mode with layers, etc.
  6. General comments

1. Setup and Install

Setup and installation are fairly standard. You are required to set up an account as part of the install process (I tried to skip out of it but it canceled the Install when I did) which then requires an extra registration step with an email confirmation. However, once that is done there are no other impediments to using or starting up the program.

It does allow you to choose which drive/directory/folder you want to install it into as well if you want to use a non-standard install path.

2. Basic Layout

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Basic layout when the software first opens.

This is the default setup upon opening up the program. It’s set to view the Pictures Library and is in Manage Mode. The modes are on the right-hand side at the top of the screen and take you to the different functions available. The Modes we will be looking at in detail are Manage, Photos, View, Develop and Edit in this article.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Catalog tab where you can view images which have been rated or labeled or by other categories.

On the left-hand side under the File menu, are three tabs. First is the Folders tab which is the default file structure. Next is the Catalog tab which appears to allow you to view/sort images that have been rated with numbers or colors. It did pick up the color labels I had previously applied to images within Lightroom, which was interesting.

By going back to the Folder tab to select the folder and bring up the images, you can then go back into Catalog. If you select an image you are then able to rate it with a number or color.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Manage mode with a folder of images loaded up for viewing.

View and Manage Modes

Back in the Folders tab in Manage Mode, if you select an image it comes up with EXIF data and a histogram in the bottom left panel.  The right-hand panel pops up with all the metadata and also allows you to rate the image there as well.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Photos mode offers three different ways to view your images. In the bottom right-hand corner it has three numbers; 7, 31, and 365 – these allow you to sort by week, month or year. The above image shows the images sorted by year. You can scroll visually through all your images.

While you can move easily between Photos and Manage Modes. But if you want to go to View mode you have to click on an image within Photos Mode to open it. Double-clicking on an image in Photos mode will automatically open it in View Mode.

view mode - ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

View Mode default layout.

View Mode is similar to Adobe Bridge, where you have a filmstrip to view images at the bottom and some basic edit functions on a toolbar on the left just above the thumbnails.

Given that at this point in time no image editing has happened, and the tools are basic automated functions, you may not want to do anything here.

Develop Mode

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Develop Mode default layout with the editing panel on the left

Develop Mode is the Raw Editor. It is laid out very similar to Lightroom except the edit panel is on the left.  However, it can be customized and moved to the right if you prefer.

Edit Mode

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners - develop mode

Edit mode with workspace modified slightly – the Layers panel is on the right

Edit Mode is the advanced edit functionality. This is where you find layers, masks, text, and other features generally found in Photoshop. The tool palette on the left-hand side originally went along the top of the image but I moved it.

The 365 mode offers options for subscription licensing which is probably not relevant if you bought the perpetual license.

The Dashboard Mode

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Dashboard Mode default layout.

The Dashboard Mode offers interesting ways of interrogating your database for information – how many files you have, what camera is used most often. It doesn’t appear to be editable beyond the data it provides so you can’t find out things like your most commonly used lens focal lengths or apertures.

The last mode is a Message Center. I had no messages to view.

In summary – there are three different ways to view your images, a raw editor, an advanced editor and other functions of less relevance.

3. Importing Images

As I have been a Lightroom user since LR3, I have several years of images already stored on my computer. I store my image files on a NAS (Network Attached Storage) so I was interested to see if they would be found and accessible, as some programs have issues with NAS functionality.

The good news is ACDSee happily found the images on my NAS and I was impressed at how quickly it loaded them up for preview. It was significantly faster than LR usually imports images and loads previews.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Manage Mode showing the network with the NAS folders viewable.

Therefore doing an image import test was also necessary.

File > Import >From Device found my CF card plugged into my computer and an Import Panel allowed a preview of the images, selection of images, destination choice, and file renaming. Again the image preview was very quick.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Import image panel in ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018.

On clicking Import, a light grey box opened up in the bottom right-hand corner, with a progress bar and it flicked through all the images as it was importing them. I imported 28 images and it took less than a minute.

Once it’s finished you are asked if you want to view the imported images. Clicking Yes takes you to the image folder for viewing all the images.

4. Raw Image Editing in Develop Mode

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Unedited RAW file.

Develop Mode is laid out very much like Lightroom. The editing panel by default is on the left-hand side but I moved it over to the right as that is my preference. The histogram is visible with the different elements of it in different colors, but you can’t click on them and move/edit them within the histogram itself.

The main edit panel is Tune, and the others are Detail (sharpness, noise reduction), Geometry (perspective, lens corrections, and crop) and Repair (Heal and Clone).

It’s not entirely obvious but the white bits with the triangle out the bottom are the sliders, and you move them to make your adjustments. You can also change the numbers or click on the arrows. It does not appear to reset to zero if you double click on the bar as the whole bar is active.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Image after edits applied.

The above image has been edited with the settings visible, plus a few other panels. In general, I found it a bit more aggressive than LR would be in comparison so if you prefer a more subtle approach, be delicate with your application of the sliders.

The main blueberry in my image had a mark on the front so I decided to test out the Heal function. While it was a bit slow to apply and appeared to do it in stages, I was quite surprised at how well it worked. Upon viewing at 100%, there are some blue color blotches that would look a bit unnatural if this image was printed, but to the casual glance (or online viewing) it’s not obvious this image had been healed. A much better job than my LR6 can do.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners - heal tool

Image before Heal applied and scratch visible – viewed at 100%

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Image after several brush strokes of Heal applied – viewed at 100%.

I also experimented with other things in the Develop Mode. There is an option to copy and paste settings between images, you can apply a vignette, and tweak its settings.

To save the image there are several options. Done opens up a dialog box to Save or Save As like a standard file-save function in Windows. Save gives you a drop-down box to Save As, Save a Copy, or Export.

The Export option opens up this window which allows you to choose things like destination, change the name, format, and size. Similar to the standard Export functionality in Lightroom.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Export images panel.

5. Edit Mode – Layers and other options

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Edit mode with an image open for editing.

Edit Mode is where you can do the kind of editing for which Photoshop is often used. It has support for Layers, Masks, Adjustment Layers, Text, etc. I moved a few panels around to make the workspace more familiar but otherwise, the above screenshot shows the basic Edit Mode setting.

One of the new features of Edit Mode is the Actions – which seem to be a combination of LR Presets and PS Actions. They are only available in Edit Mode under Tools. There are several different categories and a Preview Browser offers an idea of what the final outcome will be.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Actions browser showing a preview of the effects.

To apply hit Play. The effect is applied directly to the base layer which is a bit limiting as you cannot edit the effect in any way and it is applied with quite a lot of enthusiasm. Adding a blank layer and applying to that didn’t work, which was a shame as you could have applied edits to the action layer that way.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

Image after Grunge Action applied.

For comparison, I edited my image manually by adding a couple of texture layers and masked off the heavy texture with a soft brush to have a more gentle effect.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners

An alternative version of the image with some grunge texture layers manually added, adjusted individually, and heavy texture masked off to soften the overall outcome.

One limitation in adding texture layers manually was not being able to drag them across from an open instance of Windows Explorer, which I can do with Photoshop.

Once you’re ready to save the file you have File>Save/Save As/Save as a Copy/Export to choose from.

6. General Comments

Looking at this from a beginner’s perspective, someone new to photography and new to editing, ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 has a lot of benefits:

  • It’s available as a perpetual standalone license or a subscription.
  • It offers image management, RAW editing, and advanced editing features.
  • For a novice, it has all the functionality you are likely to need in one program.
  • Image editors are not the easiest programs to learn and use but this doesn’t make it any more complicated.
  • It looks familiar in comparison with other popular programs in the market.

As an advanced user of both Lightroom and Photoshop, there are a few things that I’d prefer worked differently as follows:

  • Visually the dark grey tone in the background is darker than I prefer and I was unable to easily find an option to change it.
  • When adding other images or textures, it’s easier to find them in a second monitor via Windows Explorer and drag it onto my image – this is easy to do in Photoshop but ACDSee didn’t allow it in the Develop mode, only in Layers. It does have an “Add a File as a Layer” button which is a good workaround.
  • In Develop Mode I was able to select a second monitor for viewing my image, but it stayed static on the original image view and didn’t reflect any of the changes I made to the image which was a bit baffling.
  • If you are in Edit mode and have applied Layers to the image you cannot go back into Develop mode unless you save the flatten it. Not a really a complaint, just that it works a bit differently than I was expecting.

Conclusion

 

The full price of ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 is $ 149.99 USD for the standalone perpetual license and there is also a free 30-day trial. It also offers a monthly (or annual) subscription which allows use on up to five devices, updates, and cloud storage as an alternative. Prices for the subscription vary depending on Personal or Business use.

At less than $ 100 USD for an upfront one-off cost, it offers an image management feature, a RAW image editor with a lot of features and functionality and advanced editing via layers, masks, adjustment layers and other extras.

For a beginner to either photography or editing, there is a lot on offer with ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018. Yes, it has some quirks and annoyances in comparison to other programs but nothing that renders it difficult to use (unless your eyesight is bad).

As a package to get a beginner started and provide everything you are likely to need, this is a competitive software solution for the general purpose user. Strong contender both on price and the fact it offers everything you are likely to need in one place, making it consistent and easy for a beginner to use and manage.

Disclaimer: ACDsee is a dPS advertising partner.

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How a Studio Photographer Came to Love Natural Light Again

10 May

I’m a studio photographer. There are no two ways around that fact. It also happens to be the way I like it. I prefer the absolute control I have over every single factor in a studio environment. That way, I’m not at the whim of changing light at different times of the day or inclement weather.

How a Studio Photographer Came to Love Natural Light Again - studio portrait of a lady

As a studio photographer, my preferences are for an environment where I control every aspect of the light.

A lot of this might have to do with the fact that I live in the United Kingdom, and for the most part, the stereotypes about the weather aren’t wrong. That and daylight hours throughout the year vary wildly. In the summer, I may have daylight until 11 PM, in the winter, that changes to 3 PM. Locked away in my studio, I don’t have to worry about sudden unpredicted rain (in Yorkshire, there’s a lot of it).

I don’t have to worry about summer temperatures dropping below ten degrees (Celcius) causing severe discomfort for my subjects and myself. Most importantly, I don’t have to worry about the light being even slightly different then I want. In a studio, I decide what I want and if the lights aren’t quite there, I change them until they are as desired.

Of course, I have nothing against natural light. I just have a preference based on how I like to work.

Using Natural Light

outdoor portrait of a girl - How a Studio Photographer Came to Love Natural Light Again

On occasion, I get out to use natural light when there’s something specific to achieve.

This doesn’t mean I have forsaken natural light as some sort of taboo subject. No, I still use it from time to time, but it’s usually when I’m trying to do something specific in a certain location or with a special technique that can’t be done in a studio.

portrait of a man with gray hair - How a Studio Photographer Came to Love Natural Light Again

This image was taken only as a technical exercise because of how the light was behaving in a bit of open shade close to sunset.

Shifting perspective

How a Studio Photographer Came to Love Natural Light Again - window lit studio

The large windows in this natural light studio make the space a veritable playground for any photographer enthusiastic about lighting.

Last year, I booked a natural light studio with enormous windows for the first time and the experience completely changed the way I think about these things. I went in treating the whole thing as an experiment. As such, I had no concrete plans. I was going to go in and explore the space, look for pockets of light, and try to seize whatever opportunity presented itself.

How a Studio Photographer Came to Love Natural Light Again - portrait of a lady indoors

The dim, overcast day made for this glorious soft light coming through the windows.

Long story short, I was hooked in minutes. I’m sure the sight of me bouncing from corner to corner going “Ooo, look at the light here and look it at it over here” was more than a bit comical.

The whole experience was like a four hour treasure hunt. It seemed like everywhere I turned, the light was doing something new that was worth exploiting. I can easily compare the feeling to the enthusiasm I felt when I first got a camera and just randomly walked around taking photos of everything and burning through film like it didn’t matter.

As an added bonus, the changeability of the light (one of the factors that kept me firmly in the studio) made new opportunities all the time. On several occasions, I’d move from one spot to another, only to see what the light was doing in the first spot later on and I’d go straight back to it and get completely different results.

girl next to a window - How a Studio Photographer Came to Love Natural Light Again

A short while after the previous image was taken, the sun came out a bit changing the light from this window completely.

There is one thing that I found very hard to replicate in a studio environment. This particular studio is in an old industrial mill and the windows (there are a lot of them) are gargantuan. This gave the light a beautiful soft quality that would be hard to replicate with artificial lighting.

Needless to say, I loved my first time in a natural light studio and have since made it a point to go back and try to find other natural light venues as well.

lady in a gold top - How a Studio Photographer Came to Love Natural Light Again

Even from further away, the light from the windows was still soft and provided gentle tonal transitions.

New ideas

An unexpected side effect of this experience is that I every time I come out of one of these places, I leave with a head full of ideas on how I can apply what I’ve seen the light doing in the studio.

darker portrait of lady in yellow top - How a Studio Photographer Came to Love Natural Light Again

Using a strobe with High-Speed Sync functionality allowed me to darken the studio’s windows for a dramatic background while lighting the subject the way I would in a normal studio environment.

On top of that, I have always forsaken the option of mixing natural light with flash. For whatever reason, I never really felt that it was worth the effort. My opinion on this has changed dramatically since my first visit to that studio. Now I’m always looking for new ideas on how I can use and exploit natural light at any time of day and mix it with studio strobes if need be.

portrait of a girl with long blond hair - How a Studio Photographer Came to Love Natural Light Again

Also made using High-Speed Sync, the flash allowed me to fill in the shadows created by the backlighting from the windows. The result is an even exposure throughout the frame and no blown out windows.

Am I a Convert to Natural Light?

I’m still a studio photographer, there’s no doubt about that. I still prefer the control the studio provides and I will still default to that. However, I won’t be going out of my way to avoid natural light settings in the future.

Between the multitude of opportunities these experiences provided me and the ideas I took away from them, I will be making it a point to regularly shoot in natural light just to shake things up a bit if nothing else.

The end

The point of all this? Good question. If you’re like me, and you find yourself stuck in a rigid pattern, such as my adherence to studio work, I encourage to make the conscious choice of going out and pursuing the exact opposite.

You might very well find that your convictions towards whatever it is you’re stuck to aren’t founded as solidly as you had thought. If nothing else, it will give the opportunity to learn something new and to grow as a photographer and nobody can argue that that’s a bad thing.

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The Photo Studio AR app lets you ‘simulate’ a photo shoot with 3D models

20 Apr

Have you ever been at a beautiful location and wondered what a photo might look like if you had a model and some lighting equipment on hand? Well, you no longer need to wonder. Los Angeles-baased visual effects studio Surpuba AR has released Photo Studio AR, an app for Android and iOS devices that uses augmented reality (AR) to project a model into any real-world scene you can imagine.

The app features a collection of 3D-rendered models, all based off real people. You can pose them in multiple animated positions, change their location in the AR environment, resize them to fit the scene and even switch their outfits (and purchase other 3D models) via in-app purchases.

As for lighting, you can add multiple lights and props to the scene to emulate what a particular setup would look like. You can even alter where the artificial sunlight is in the app so that it reflects the Sun’s current position in the sky.

Finally, there’s also a built-in recording function so you can save your AR location scouting trip for reference down the road.

A collection of screenshots showing off the props and light modifiers available in Photo Studio AR.

You can purchase Photo Studio AR for both Android and iOS devices for $ 10. In-app purchases start at one dollar a piece. To learn more, head over to the company’s website by clicking here.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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