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Instagram is working on iPhone 7-specific features

11 Sep

Yesterday Apple announced its iPhone 7 models and app developers are already working hard at making use of the devices’ new features, especially the dual-camera in the iPhone 7 Plus. Instagram actually had a slot during the Apple presentation and Ian Spalter, head of design at Instagram, had the opportunity to explain how the app would make use of the camera’s new features and capabilities.

In one of the next versions of the app, the zoom of the iPhone 7 Plus dual-camera will be controllable from the Instagram camera. In addition, the new taptic engine will indicate how much the photographer has zoomed into the scene in both video and stills mode. Instagram says it is also looking at adapting its image filters to the iPhone 7 display’s wider color gamut, which lets viewers see a wider range of color.

Other, not strictly iPhone 7-related improvements, include the addition of a 3D Touch action for the Instagram app icon, which will let you add an image to an Instagram story in a quick and easy fashion. There will also be a function to convert Live Photos into Instagram Boomerang GIFs, which repeatedly play back and forth. This function will be based on the new Live Photo API in iOS 10. The new Instagram version is expected to launch sometime after shipping of the new iPhone models has started on September 16.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Hasselblad rumored to be working on 10x zoom camera module for Moto Z phones

05 Aug

The Lenovo Moto Z and Moto Z Force smartphones have a unique feature: they accept accessory modules, so-called Moto Mods, which attach to their back plates magnetically and via 16 connection pins. At launch, Lenovo showed the InstaShare projector, a JBL Soundboost 6 Watt speaker and a 2220 mAh battery pack, but unfortunately the previously rumored camera module did not materialize.

However, now hellomotoHK found information on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo that might indicate that Hasselblad is working on a Moto Z camera module with, a 10x zoom lens, physical shutter button and zoom lever, Xenon flash and Raw capability. Unfortunately, no information on sensor size and resolution has been provided.

With Raw capture, optical image stabilization and 13 and 21MP sensors respectively the Moto Z and Z Force are well-equipped in the camera department, but a 10x zoom lens with a potentially larger sensor than in the smartphone camera modules would definitely expand the creative potential of the devices. It’s impossible to know how much truth is in this rumor, especially given that the image is just a rendering, but we certainly hope Hasselblad and Lenovo will let us know soon.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Fast Glass: Tips for Working With Wide Aperture Lenses

29 May

As photographers, many of us become infatuated with new gear, such as a new flash, tripod, or lens. We scrimp and save our money, and go off to the camera store to purchase that new lens we’ve had our eye on, most times satisfied with whatever new piece of kit has found its way into our bag. Sometimes, though, it happens that for some reason that new gear we’ve spent our hard-earned money on doesn’t live up to our expectations.

Fast lenses enable the photographer to use shallow depth of field creatively. A 24mm f/1.4 lens, shot at f/1.4 was used for this image.

It may be that it was overhyped, or it doesn’t suit your workflow. There are occasions, however, when a piece of gear has a learning curve attached to it that needs to be solved before you can fully enjoy it. One such item that seems to have that learning curve attached, is a fast lens (one with large maximum aperture).

At some point, we all begin dreaming of fast (large aperture) lenses. For the purpose of this article, I’m going to define fast lenses as ones with maximum apertures wider than f/4.

Fast lenses are great for a lot of things, shooting in low light being one of the major advantages, because the wider aperture allows more light into the imaging sensor, which in turn allows you to use a faster shutter speed. This is why lenses like the 70-200mm f/2.8 are such a workhorse in a photojournalist’s camera bag. Another advantage to the wider aperture is the ability to create shallow depth of field in your image, which can make your subject really stand out from the background. The 85mm f/1.4 is one of my go-to lenses for almost any portrait situation for just that ability.

When photographing portraits, focusing on the closest eye is ideal when using shallow depth of field.

That all sounds great, right? But it’s that last point regarding shallow depth of field which seems to create the biggest problems for most photographers, who are new to using a fast lens. I often hear of photographers complaining about a lack of sharpness in their lenses, and more often than not, the issue crops up when the photographer is using a fast lens.

It may be a portrait photographer trying to use an 85mm f/1.8 wide open, or someone doing street photography with a 35mm f/1.4, and for some reason there’s a lack of sharpness to the image that will invariably be blamed on the lens. In my 20 years in photography, I’ve owned and worked with a lot of gear – 0ver a dozen different camera bodies, and several dozen lenses I’ve used at one point or another. I can honestly say that I have never once had one come straight out of the box brand new, and not be in perfect working order, so treat that option (that the lens is faulty) as a last resort for now.

Understanding Depth of Field

In addition to their low light capabilities, many photographers purchase fast lenses simply because of the ability to shoot with a shallow depth of field. When used creatively, a lens with a large aperture used wide open, allows you to be very selective in what you show the viewer, and what you hide in soft out of focus areas, known as bokeh.

However, it’s very important to understand that depth of field works differently dependent on the lens you are using. For instance, a lens such as the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 will have paper thin depth of field when used at f/1.4, at close distances to the subject. As the subject moves further away from the camera, that depth of field becomes a little greater. But at the minimum focusing distance, you could focus on an eyelash on your subject, and still have the eyeball be out of focus, despite the fact it’s only half an inch behind the eyelash. Assuming you don’t want to back up and change the framing on your subject, the best way to ensure sharp focus on the eye, is to choose a focus point on the eye and be careful it does not accidentally focus on an eyelash.

If you are willing to sacrifice a bit of that shallow depth of field, simply stop down a bit to give yourself some leeway on where you focus. While at f/1.4 or f/1.8 you may not be able to get both the eyelash and the eye in focus, but at f/2.2 or f/2.8, you’ll likely have enough depth of field to achieve sharp focus on both.

Using a 24mm f/1.4 lens wide open, setting the focus distance to the hyperfocal distance, allows you to get greater depth of field even when photographing wide open.

Even on wide angle lenses, such as a 24mm f/1.4 or 35mm f/1.4, which have inherently (seemingly) greater depth of field due to the nature of wide angle lenses, you’ll still notice some issues arising due to the use of a wide open aperture. If you can step back from the subject, you can increase the perceived depth of field since you’ll be focusing further away. You can calculate how far away you need to be by using a hyperfocal distance calculator.

The hyperfocal distance is the closest distance at which a lens can be focused, while still keeping objects at infinity acceptably sharp. In the shot of the upended bus at night, knowing the bus was about 30 feet away, I calculated the near limit of focus for the lens I was using at about 18 feet and the far limit was 91 feet, meaning anything past that distance would still be out of focus at f/1.4. By focusing at the hyperfocal distance of 44 feet, I knew the bus would fall into the area of sharp focus, while still keeping the stars in sharp focus. This is true because the hyperfocal distance is where everything from that distance to infinity falls within your depth of field, and everything from the hyperfocal distance to the point halfway between the camera and that distance, also falls within your depth of field.

Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to focus at the hyperfocal distance. For instance, photographing at a party in a dimly lit room, you may notice some areas out of focus due to the shallow depth of field. The fix here is to stop down a bit if you can. If you need more light, consider using a flash if appropriate, and stopping down the lens to give greater depth of field. Another option is to raise the ISO a bit to allow you to stop down the aperture more.

You may find yourself saying, “I didn’t purchase a fast lens to use it at a smaller aperture!” While that may be true, if you find yourself unable to capture sharp images due to the shallow depth of field, stopping down is the best solution. Please keep in mind, I’m not talking about a lens that just isn’t sharp. I’m talking about a lens that, due to its fast aperture, isn’t capable of capturing the depth of field needed to keep everything that you want sharp in focus.

Choosing Your Focus Point

When it is critical to focus on a specific area in the image, choosing the correct focus point will ensure sharp focus where you want it, even when using a wide aperture with shallow depth of field.

One of the best things you can do when using a fast lens, is to ensure you’re focusing precisely where you think you are focusing. You want to be sure your camera is set to allow you to manually choose a focus point. By manually selecting a focus point, you can ensure the camera focuses on what you think it should. Most cameras default focus point selection method is automatic. In this mode, the camera will generally try to focus on the nearest object with detail that is covered by one of the focus points. Allowing the camera to choose can be a recipe for disaster, since quite often, the nearest object with detail is not what you want to focus on.

One of the best things you can do as a photographer is take control of where your camera is focusing by selecting the focus point that you want, and ensuring that the focus point you choose is on the subject you want to be sharp. Cameras today have multiple focus points, with some having as many as 61 AF points. While it’s true that generally speaking the center point will be the most accurate of those points, technological advances have made the points along the outer edge much more accurate than in the past. This means that you can choose those outer focus points with confidence when composing your image.

Using shallow depth of field on a portrait allows the photographer to focus on the eyes, and lets the rest of the body fall out of focus. An 85mm f/1.2 lens was used here.

Another related problem to the camera choosing the wrong AF point, is photographers employing a technique known as focus and recompose. This technique came about back when cameras only had a few AF points bunched around the center of the viewfinder. In many situations, it’s not a problem, as long as you are using an aperture that will provide adequate depth of field to maintain focus on the object or person you’ve focused on.

However, when using a fast lens, at a wide open aperture, focusing and then recomposing your shot becomes a real problem. This is because when using a fast lens at a wide aperture, the depth of field is so thin, that recomposing the shot will actually shift the plane of sharp focus away from the subject you initially focused on. So while you may have focused on the correct subject, using the center AF point, in adjusting your composition you knocked your subject right out of focus again. The solution for this issue is the same as above: manually select an AF point that you can place right on top of your subject, without recomposing your shot.

Embrace the Bokeh

Shallow depth of field can be used to create interesting effects and force your viewers to look where you want them. This image was made with a 70-200mm lens at f/2.8.

Lastly, in answer to those who bought fast glass to shoot it wide open, I say – embrace the bokeh! Bokeh is defined as the visual quality of the out of focus areas of an image, and each lens renders these areas a bit differently. Fast lenses typically have beautifully smooth bokeh.

Compose your shots so that the shallow depth of field is used creatively. To do this, you’ll need to understand what you can and can’t do when shooting wide open. Knowing that you will have a shallow depth of field, you’ll want to avoid stacking subjects at different distances. Create compositions that contrast sharp areas, with out of focus areas. Use that contrast to highlight certain objects within your frame, and by the same token, hide other objects by causing them to be drastically out of focus.

Highlight an object using shallow depth of field

Using shallow depth of field allows you to highlight one object in sharp focus against a blurry background. This image was made with an 85mm f/1.2 lens.

Images created using shallow depth of field force your viewers to look where you want them to, because the eye is naturally drawn to areas of sharp focus. By using proper focusing techniques, you can ensure the image you see in your mind is the one you capture, and by understanding how the lens will handle depth of field, you can ensure that you’ll know to stop down when you need to for added depth of field, avoiding the mistake of having an important part of your image out of focus.

What’s your favorite fast lens to work with and why?

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The post Fast Glass: Tips for Working With Wide Aperture Lenses by Rick Berk appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Purple Reign: Photographer Brian Ach shares his experiences of working with Prince

23 Apr

Purple Reign: Photographer Brian Ach shares his experiences of working with Prince

Paris, France. June 2011. Brian wanted to show what it was like to experience a Prince performance, so he decided to shoot in a more artistic and editorial way than is typical for concert photography. This is the first shot he showed Prince, which was the shot that defined Brian’s stint as Prince’s tour photographer. Photo by Brian Ach.

Celebrity and concert photographer Brian Ach was Prince’s European tour photographer during the artist’s 2011 “Welcome 2” tour through North America, Europe and Australia. Brian shared some of his tour stories with us in his closing talk at PIX 2015, and this morning he chatted again with us about his experience photographing and working with Prince, following the musician’s death this week, aged 57.

You were hired to photograph the European leg of Prince’s tour in 2011. As a huge fan of his music, and knowing his reputation for hard work and high expectations, how did you approach this job?

I didn’t get a chance to meet Prince before the first show in Paris. Since I didn’t have any direction from him about how or what I should shoot, I decided that I was going to be true to myself and shoot the show the way I thought it should be shot. I decided to go for broke and shoot it in an artistic way, to make it worthy of his art and his performance.

When I was ready to deliver the edits to Prince after the show, I opted not to show them to him in chronological order. Instead, I picked what I considered to be the most interesting 6 or 7 shots and put those first. Prince entered the room and said, “You have something to show me,” so I pulled the first picture up on the screen. He stared at it for 15 seconds in complete silence and then got up and walked out of the room. I assumed I was going to get fired after a single shot, but a minute later Prince walked back in with his whole band. He pointed at the screen and said, “Look at that,” and then stood back with a smile on his face. He asked his manager, “Where did you find this guy?” and I answered, “Queens.” He laughed, and from that moment we had an understanding. He expected the best, so as long as I did my best work, we’d work well together.

Purple Reign: Photographer Brian Ach shares his experiences of working with Prince

Gdynia, Poland. July 2011. Being Prince’s photographer gave Brian the opportunity to be more creative. Photo by Brian Ach.

You have a lot of experience photographing musicians, from U2 to Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Bruce Springsteen. Was it different to photograph Prince?

The advantage of shooting for an artist is that you get to shoot the whole show rather than just the first 30 seconds of the first few songs. This gives you time to be more creative as long as you get the basic shots out of the way, and it gives you access to areas of the stage that you wouldn’t normally have.

Prince was an epic performer, so photographing his show meant going for the epic shots. I shot a lot of wide angles from behind the stage to bring people right into the performance, and I had the luxury to swap out different lenses to try different things. Normally I would never shoot a concert with a 50mm F1.4, but I used it during a few quieter moments to really capture the feeling of the moment. I had time to experiment, to catch a strobe, get him backlit, drag my shutter. Prince was an artist, so he was going to “get” it if I took some chances to be more creative. However it was still a huge risk if he didn’t like what I shot!

Purple Reign: Photographer Brian Ach shares his experiences of working with Prince

Rotterdam, Netherlands. July 2011. This shot was initially rejected by Prince because of his animated expression. Brian argued that it was a powerful and emotive shot, and Prince eventually agreed. Photo by Brian Ach.

Prince owned his public image. He was one of the first artists to start buying out photographers and his music, to refuse to have his interviews recorded. He made sure there was nothing out there that he felt cheapened his image or his music. He had strong opinions about what he wanted, and over time I was able to learn what he was looking for. Sometimes I argued with him about shots that he rejected and sometimes he conceded. Because even though he knew what he wanted, he was also collaborative. His entire career was one risk after another, so he appreciated and respected when I took risks and challenged him.

Purple Reign: Photographer Brian Ach shares his experiences of working with Prince

Paris, France. June 2011. This shot was rejected by Prince because of the empty seats behind the stage. Photo by Brian Ach.

When I took this shot [above], I thought, “Yes! I got it!” I showed it to Prince and he said no, we weren’t going to use it. It was a great shot of him walking on stage singing with the crowd bursting into applause, but it wasn’t going to work. I asked what was wrong with it and Prince said, “There are empty seats behind me. It can’t look like there were empty seats at my show.” Those seats had to be empty because they were behind the stage, but even though there was a good reason, it told the wrong story. I agreed with Prince and that photo wasn’t used.

Purple Reign: Photographer Brian Ach shares his experiences of working with Prince

Rotterdam, Netherlands. July 2011. Prince didn’t choreograph his shows, so Brian had to be on his toes at all times. He couldn’t just sit back and shoot or he’d have missed shots like this one. Photo by Brian Ach.

Prince didn’t play a concert; he put on a show, and it wasn’t the same show every night. His band had to know at least 300 songs and they had to be ready to play any of them, as they would often see the set list for the first time when they walked on stage. Nothing was choreographed, so it kept you on your toes thinking, “Man, he’s never done that before.”

One time, Prince did a guitar solo, ripped off the guitar, and threw it into the audience. When I saw him after the show he smiled that little smile he’s famous for. “Did you get that guitar in the air?” “You know what? I did.” “Right on.”

Purple Reign: Photographer Brian Ach shares his experiences of working with Prince

Rotterdam, Netherlands. July 2011. Prince saw Brian about to take this shot, so he moved his guitar from behind the mic stand to make it a cleaner shot. Photo by Brian Ach.

Do you have a favorite photo you took of Prince?

Prince was an amazingly energetic performer, but this photo [above] was taken during a very calm, peaceful moment. He was completely in the zone, and it was rare to catch him like this. At the same time, even as he committed himself to this moment, he still knew what he needed to do. Before the shot, he saw me there so he pulled his guitar from behind the mic stand. He knew I was going to get the shot and that it would be good. It’s that kind of awareness that you don’t see in many musicians. So confident in his ability that he didn’t have to think about performing; it just came naturally.

I once commented that his guitar playing seemed so effortless for him. He told me, “Yeah, that’s from practicing so long that my fingers bled. I’d play 8 hours a day when I was growing up. That’s called putting in the work. You’ve gotta put in the work.” He said that a lot, that you have to “put in the work”. I’ve found that to be true for my own work as well. I can’t be free to be creative if I’m thinking about the settings on my camera. A violinist plays scales for hours until they can play music without thinking about the notes. You’ve got to put in the work if you want to be good at something, and Prince put in the work.

Purple Reign: Photographer Brian Ach shares his experiences of working with Prince

Rotterdam, Netherlands. July 2011. A photo from the last show Brian shot. Photo by Brian Ach.

What is your favorite memory from working with Prince?

Before the last show I photographed, I left a handwritten note for Prince on the table in his dressing room. I told him how I’d never have believed that the kid in Ohio watching Prince perform ‘Purple Rain’ at the 1985 American Music Awards on TV would some day be living his dream photographing Prince on tour. I thanked him for the opportunity.

Prince didn’t say anything to me before the show or after the show, so I was worried that he didn’t get the note. But at 4am as the night was winding down, he put his arm around me and said, “Thanks for your note; that put me right to go on stage tonight. You make art. These aren’t photos; it’s art.” That was the one of the best things anyone has ever said to me. As a photographer I don’t get feedback or validation very often, so to hear that from one of my heroes was huge for me.

Prince never shared most of the photos I took of him during this tour. By the third show, he said that he wanted to keep the photos for himself rather than send them out on Wire Image. At the end of the tour he told me that the photos were art and needed to be shared, so he picked a few from each show to send to Wire Image. By then the tour was already over so the photos weren’t seen by many people, and Prince kept the rest in his personal collection.

A number of news agencies have called me asking if I have unpublished photos of Prince. I do – I have tens of thousands of them. But they aren’t mine to share.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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5 Troubleshooting Steps for When Your Nikon’s Autofocus Stops Working

03 Apr

You’re in the middle of a photoshoot and suddenly you notice nothing in your viewfinder is in focus. Your shutter and AF-ON buttons (if using back-button focusing) do not seem to work. All eyes are on you, and the pressure is on to quickly fix the problem. Where do you start? Or perhaps you have just changed lenses and suddenly nothing works. Where might you have gone wrong?

This has happened to me one too many times, so I have now come up with a system of troubleshooting in the quickest time possible on the spot. It goes without saying, of course, that your camera needs to be switched to ON and the lens cap needs to be off.