The Eastman Kodak Company, better known as Kodak, was co-founded by George Eastman and Henry A. Strong way back in 1888. In the more than 130 years since, the company has been through a lot. It once was a dominant force in the photography industry, at times being almost as synonymous with photography as the Apple iPod once was with respect to music. For all but the youngest in society, we have all heard the phrase, ‘Kodak moment.’
However, with the advent of digital photography, Kodak began to lose its place at the forefront of photography. Interestingly, Kodak itself patented the first handheld digital camera in 1978, eventually shelving the product in order to better preserve its film business. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that Kodak created its own demise a few decades in advance.
Believing in the long-term viability of a predominantly analog photography industry, Kodak missed critical opportunities to diversify, a mistake Fujifilm didn’t make, as is evidenced by the Japanese company’s impressive lineup of digital photography cameras and lenses.
Kodak’s meteoric rise to near-total market dominance and the precipitous fall from grace is a fascinating story. The Wall Street Journal recently produced a short documentary covering the story of Kodak, which can be viewed below. The video begins with the origins of the company before ramping up to Kodak’s prime and its eventual decline.
In Kodak’s heyday, the company focused on creating simple and easy-to-use still and video cameras for everyday people. This goal, one the company had long met successfully, resulted in Kodak employing more than 145,000 people in 1988. It was Kodak’s best-ever year. At the time, Fujifilm was the biggest threat to Kodak’s business. In 1989, Fujifilm managed to capture an 11% share of the U.S. film market. The next few years saw Kodak’s position of power further eroded, and the company brought in a new CEO from outside in an attempt to right the slowly sinking ship.
Kodak’s digital camera shipments in the United States from 2008 through 2011. Image credit: The Wall Street Journal. Data credit: IDC.
Losses continued to pile up and jobs were cut as Kodak moved to a new CEO at the turn of the 21st century. Kodak continued to produce new digital photography product and jumped into new product sectors, such as printers, but Kodak was fighting a losing battle. The advent of smartphone photography added further difficulties for Kodak, as no longer were consumers as inclined to buy a dedicated camera to capture life’s most important moments. No longer was there a desire to create ‘Kodak moments.’
Kodak’s stock prices have trended very downward since 2014. Image credit: Wall Street Journal. Data credit: Factset.
Eventually, the financial challenges became too great and Kodak shuttered its camera business and filed for bankruptcy in 2012. However, the story of Kodak didn’t end there. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Kodak began licensing its very identity, resulting in the Kodak name being plastered on many different products. Kodak even made a cryptocurrency in 2018. However, its stock price kept falling.
With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Kodak found a new opportunity to pivot. On July 28, President Trump announced Kodak would receive a $ 765M government loan under the Defense Production Act. Kodak, a company long known for producing products using its chemical expertise, is poised to move into pharmaceuticals. Trump’s announcement sent Kodak stock skyrocketing. However, the deal is currently being held up as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigates the deal and Kodak itself for insider trading.
Kodak is far from the only company that has faltered in the digital age of photography. However, Kodak may be one of the most famous examples of how changing photographic technology can sink a company.
Fujifilm’s new 50mm F1.0 lens practically begs to be used for portraits, so we shot lots of them, including many wide open at F1.0. Check out our sample gallery to see how it performs.
The post Good Crop Bad Crop – How to Crop Portraits appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Gina Milicia.
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” Pablo Picasso
When it comes to knowing what is right for me, there are a few things I know for sure:
First, garlic and ice cream are never meant to be mixed together.
Second, even if I color my hair blonde I’m never going to look like Madonna.
Finally, when my mechanic warns me that the timing chain in my car should be fixed as soon as possible, I need to listen up and act.
If you have read my other articles or eBooks, you will know that I’ve also learned many lessons in my photography career from stupid mistakes or lapses in judgment. It’s through learning from failure, and from trial and error, that I’ve managed to discover what works best for me.
When it comes to how I crop my portraits, there are a few cropping styles I try to avoid because, just like eating garlic ice cream, I have learned what works best for me.
How I crop my portraits is just as important for defining my style as the lens I use, the way I light my subjects, and the way I process my files. I believe the way an image is cropped can change the look from “meh” to “amazing.”
I always crop a shot below the knee, mid-thigh, at the waist, across the forearm, or through the top of the head. If I’m going to crop through my model’s waist, I will usually ask my model to bring their arms up so I don’t have to crop through their arms.
I avoid cropping at any of the joints of the body. This includes fingers, toes, elbows, knees, and wrists. I also think cropping through the model’s chin looks odd.
It took me many years of trial and error, and studying the work of my favorite photographers, to learn that there are actually a few golden rules of cropping worth following. Rules that make a huge difference on the visual impact of my portraits, and on how flattering these portraits can be for the subject.
Like all rules, there are always exceptions, and the art world would implode if these rules were not constantly tested and broken. Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, and Jackson Pollack are examples of artists whose styles broke every rule in the “how to paint book,” and in their time they were mocked and ridiculed by other artists and critics alike, yet today their paintings are priceless. Having said that, they all studied conventional painting rules of their time, then went on to break those rules and create their own signature styles. I wonder if they ever considered changing their hair color to look like Madonna.
My shooting, lighting, posing, and post-production style has developed and evolved over the years, but the way I crop my images has remained the same.
Here are my top five tips for how to crop portraits:
#1 Crop in-camera
Cropping in-camera basically means that you compose your image exactly how you want your final crop to look, rather than shooting loosely and cropping the shot in post-production. There are two reasons for this:
First, images cropped in-camera look totally different from images that are cropped in post-production. Filling the frame and cropping tight means that you will create great background blur (bokeh), which removes any background distractions and focuses more attention on your model, which is always a good thing.
The other advantage of cropping in-camera is that your file size is not affected. A cropped image may only leave you with 10-15% of your file size, so a file that was originally 30 MB as a full-size image is reduced to 3 MB with a tight crop. Lower-resolution images have less detail and won’t be as sharp as a full-size image.
#2 If it bends, don’t crop it
Bad crop
Good crop
I think cropping mid-thigh looks visually more pleasing than doing so at the knee. Seeing just part of the knee where the dress ends also looks untidy.
There are also certain ways to pose models that are more flattering to the body. I’m always looking for ways to pose my models that elongate, rather than shorten, their body parts. I try and emphasize their best features, and hide or diminish the features that are not as strong.
As a general rule, I crop in a way that will elongate and flatter the body. Cropping at the knees, waist, elbows, toes, fingers, ankles, or wrists can make your model look stumpy. Cropping off the arms or legs can make your model look square, or larger than they really are.
#3 Avoid cropping into the chin and keep the eyes in the top third of the frame
Bad crop
Good crop
Keeping the eyes in the top third of the frame is visually better than cropping into someone’s chin, which to my eye looks like I wasn’t paying attention when I took the shot, and visually this crop (above left) looks awkward.
I find my portraits look much stronger visually when the eyes are positioned in the top third of the frame. Cropping into the chin is visually jarring in the same way that garlic ice cream was jarring to my tastebuds.
This is the original framing of a shot I took for the cover of my dPS book, Portraits – Striking the Pose. I wasn’t sure how much of the shot we would be using, so I deliberately shot wider, and left space on the left of my frame to allow for text and other images.
The final shot for the cover was cropped very tightly because I felt including the hands looked a bit messy. I cropped this image with the eyes in the top third of the frame because this was visually the strongest option.
#4 Give yourself options
The explosion of social media has radically changed how I shoot my portraits. When a client booked me for a session a few years ago, I would shoot the majority of their portraits as vertical images. Now I make allowances for websites and social media platforms that run vertical, square, and horizontal images.
I will usually start with portraits framed as vertical images and then rotate my camera to shoot some horizontal frames.
I generally position my model to fill the left or right-hand third of the frame. This adds interest to the portrait and makes it visually more dynamic. Having said that, there are times when I will frame my portrait in the center of the shot because I personally love the way it looks.
I also love cropping into people’s heads, but this is not everyone’s cup of tea, so I always shoot a few frames with space above the head just in case.
You never know where the final image may end up in a few weeks or a few years, so I think it’s a good idea to plan ahead. It only takes a couple of minutes to shoot slightly wider, vertical, and horizontal at the end of each setup.
#5 Crop like you mean it!
Use these suggestions as a starting point and find a style that works for you. Start with a full-length portrait and first try cropping using traditional rules, then try breaking the rules and see which way you prefer.
Each person, location, and pose you shoot will always be different, so don’t be afraid to mix it up a bit and create your own signature style. The one question I always ask myself when I’m cropping my images is, “Does this crop look deliberate, or does it look like a mistake?”
Sometimes following cropping rules to the letter will still leave my portraits looking visually jarring. An example of this is if I photograph a model wearing 3/4 sleeves and crop at a point that is technically correct, leaving a tiny amount of arm showing just below the sleeve. This looks like a mistake and would look better if I cropped a little higher to remove the skin.
The more you shoot, the more you will start to get a feeling for what looks right to you. If you’re still not sure, do two versions and compare them.
You might like to deliberately create a series of portraits that are visually jarring because they will evoke an emotional reaction.
Like this article? Check out more of Gina’s work
This article was written by Gina Milicia, who has authored many articles here on dPS as well as the following best-selling eBooks:
Making the Shot: Say Goodbye to Dull and Lifeless Pictures of People
Lighting the Shot: Discover the Secrets of Beautiful Portrait Lighting
The post Good Crop Bad Crop – How to Crop Portraits appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Gina Milicia.
The Fujifilm XF 50mm F1.0 R WR promises to be great for portraiture. Does it live up to the hype? And how does it compare to Fujifilm’s own 56mm F1.2? Watch our review to find out.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.
Introduction
Sample images
Why we used electronic shutter for testing
Size and design
Minimum focus distance
Autofocus performance
Bokeh
Focus accuracy
Chromatic aberration
Flare (or lack therof)
Sharpness
Video performance (wow!)
Compared to the Fujifilm 56mm F1.2
Who's it for?
Sample images from this episode
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Visiting Peru, specifically Manchu Picchu, was something I wanted to experience ever since I wrote a school report on it in the fourth grade. The idea that there was a civilization of Incans living in the mountains hundreds of years ago, having such a thriving existence was extremely mind-boggling for a young boy growing up in the suburbs of Chicago. A different civilization from mine, living not only in the jungle but the mountain jungle made me want to visit and see what it was all about.
For such a special trip I decided to pack not only my regular travel camera gear but also my Panon 120 camera
Fast forward about 50 years, when my wife and I were planning on going to see Machu Picchu and other areas of Peru. Our trip would take us to Lima first – we’d then take the train to Cusco for a few nights, then onto Machu Picchu. My wife thought it would be great to splurge, and she found Belmond Sanctuary Lodge just a few hundred feet from the gates of the park. It was considerably more expensive than staying down in Agua Caliente and taking the bus up to Machu Picchu, but we bit the bullet and did it. Photographically, the decision was well-worth the price.
The medium format panorama camera Dan lugged to Machu Picchu.
For such a special trip, I wanted to make photographic memories unlike those I’d seen before. I decided to pack not only my regular travel camera gear but also my Panon 120 camera, as I thought it would be great to get some panoramic shots of Machu Picchu. It would also be fun to shoot some 120 film. I took ten rolls of film to shoot specifically at Machu Picchu, five rolls of color and five rolls of black and white.
The camera produces six approximately 2″ x 4 3/8″ images on a 120 roll of film.
Let me give you a little background on the camera and how it operates. It was made by the Showa Company, which was started by Nakayama Shozo in 1952 in Tokyo, Japan. Showa’s best-known camera is the Widelux cameras, which began in 1958 and is, in my opinion, the standard in 35mm panoramic cameras.
The Panon is kind of a beast to use. It weighs in at 2.2kg (4.9lb) with the case. It measures 16cm wide (6.5″) x 14cm tall (5.5″) x 11cm deep (4.5″). On top of the camera are the main controls, the shutter speed dial, the shutter release, pop-up viewfinder, bubble level and winding knob. There is also a diagram of the angle of view you see printed on the top.
The camera comes with a 50mm F2.8 Konishiruku Hexon lens that rotates from the left side to the right when it is cocked and ready to go. To operate the camera, you manually pull the lens to the left, set your shutter speed, and pull up the pop-up viewfinder to get the approximate view. I always check the angle on the top before I press the shutter button. You have three speeds to choose from when shooting: 1/200, 1/50, and 1/2 sec. The aperture settings are inside the lens area, and you manually set that by rotating the dial from F2.8 to F11. There’s no meter, so you’ll need to use an external meter for exposure.
The busses taking the tourists back to Agua Caliente leave at 4:00 pm and the park is almost empty from 4:15-5:30pm when it closes. It’s magical.
Loading the film is a bit tricky. There’s a film insert that you take out once you take the bottom of the camera off (see photos of it in the gallery at the end). This is held on with locking knobs. On the side of the film insert is a diagram with arrows showing the direction of the film. Once you load the film onto the insert, you pop it back into the camera and put back on the bottom cover. If the film insert is in upside down, the plate won’t go back on the camera. I’ve done this several times while on the trip.
The camera produces six approximately 2″ x 4 3/8″ images on a 120 roll of film.
The park at Machu Picchu opens at 6:00 am, and people start to arrive by either walking up the trail or taking the bus from Agua Caliente at around 5:15 am. We got in line at around 5:45 am as there was a good crowd by then. We stayed for a while during the morning hours, then went back to the sanctuary for breakfast and rested. We headed back to the park in the afternoon.
Here is the best reason to stay at Belmond Sanctuary: The busses taking the tourists back to Agua Caliente leave at 4:00 pm and the park is almost empty from 4:15-5:30 pm when it closes. It’s magical. You almost have the whole park to yourself and maybe 50 other people. You can sit and see the wondrous site or snap photos, all with virtually no people in the sight.
I think I got some pretty fantastic images and recommend you take a special camera when you visit a once-in-a-lifetime spot.
For more of Dan Cuny’s analog work, head here.
Gallery
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The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Kitchen objects appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.
This week it’s simple! We’d love to see you take some regular, everyday object that’s in your kitchen and photograph it! The challenge is to photograph it in a way that adds interest. That might be through perspective (shooting along a bench as I have done with my orange, below) or using a lamp, torch, led light, flash to add some extra atmosphere to your morning coffee.
Use the #dPSKitchenThings hashtag wherever you post!
Here’s that orange! (It wasn’t actually that tasty, it was off the small orange tree, potted, out the back of my house)
Sony a7 Mk3 with a 55mm f/1.8 lens at 1.8 for 1/60th ISO 100
Trying to use a knife to add a leading line of sorts, to bring your viewer’s eye into your subject.
Here’s a neat article on food portraits if your object is food! clickety click
Photographing the espresso below, I used the Sony app to trigger my camera remotely and had a little AputureMW LED light just out of frame to light up the subject but keep the rest of the scene a little darker.
Sony a7 Mk3 with a 55mm f/1.8 lens at 1.8 for 1/125th ISO 100
Great! Where do I upload my photos?
Simply upload your shot into the comments field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see. Or, if you’d prefer, upload them to your favourite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them.
Share in the dPS Facebook Group
You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.
If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites – tag them as #DPSKitchenThings to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.
Follow us on Instagram?
The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Kitchen objects appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.
The Library of Congress has launched a new AI-powered image-based tool for searching through old newspapers, enabling anyone to find historic images from more than 16 million scanned newspaper pages. Newspaper Navigator builds upon the LOC’s existing Chronicling America project, the result being a visual content recognition model capable of finding a variety of images in digitized newspapers, including maps, comics, photographs, illustrations, advertisements and more.
The Chronicling America project is the LOC’s historic newspaper archive. With this tool, anyone can use optical recognition technology (OCR) to search through a vast archive of digitized newspapers dating back to the late 1700s. Newspaper Navigator builds upon this, introducing the ability to search for images rather than text. The object detection model was trained using annotated newspaper pages from the Chronicling America project, enabling it to extract the visual content from 16,358,041 newspaper pages.
The new tool was created by LOC 2020 Innovator in Residence Benjamin Charles Germain Lee who detailed the project in a new video. In addition to offering a search tool online, the LOC has released the extracted visual content as prepackaged datasets available to download from Github. This prepackaged content is split up by year and includes a variety of metadata alongside the images.
Users can search through more than 1.6 million images sourced from newspapers dated from the year 1900 to 1963. The results are fairly accurate, though the use of optical character recognition for extracting descriptions of the content can be lackluster if the quality of the scanned newspaper text is poor.
The interface includes some useful options, including links for downloading the images, viewing the full newspaper issues, learning more about the newspapers and getting citations for images. This assumes one is using the online search tool and not the prepackaged downloadable image datasets available on Github, of course.
Newspaper Navigator is ultimately the largest single dataset of extracted visual content sourced from historic newspapers that has ever been assembled, according to the full study. Machine learning technology has produced an unprecedented way to rapidly sort through digitized materials that would otherwise be far too expansive to search manually.
As for using the images found through Newspaper Navigator, the rights and reproduction terms are found under the wider Chronicling America project. According to the project’s About page, the LOC:
…believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted.
This new tool joins the LOC’s vast digitized archive of photographs, prints and drawings, all of which are readily accessible through the LOC website. The Library provides a considerable amount of information on most of the digitized images, including everything from photo medium and genre to dates, photographers, location and image descriptions.
Tamron has announced the release of the 70–300mm F4.5–6.3 Di III RXD, a lens deemed as ‘the world’s smallest and lightest telephoto zoom lens for Sony E-mount full-frame mirrorless cameras.’
The lens is constructed of 15 elements in 10 groups, including a low dispersion element for minimizing aberrations. Autofocus is driven by Tamron’s Rapid Extra-Silent Stepping Drive (RXD) motor technology.
Other specifications include an aperture range of F4.5 (at 70mm) to F32 (at 300mm), a seven-blade aperture diaphragm and a minimum focusing distance of 80cm (31.5”) on the wide end and 150cm (59.1”) on the tele end. Tamron says the lens is moisture-resistant thanks to an array of seals in ‘critical locations’ and its compact design measures in at just 14.7cm (5.8”) long, 77mm (3”) diameter and weighs only 545g (19.2oz).
The lens is expected to retail go on sale starting October 29 for $ 549, but Tamron notes the complexities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could change that date.
Press release:
Tamron Announces the World’s Smallest and Lightest Telephoto Zoom Lens for Sony E-mount Full-Frame Mirrorless Cameras
70-300mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD (Model A047)
September 24, 2020, Commack, New York – Tamron announces the launch of the 70-300mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD (Model A047), a telephoto zoom lens for Sony E-mount full-frame mirrorless cameras. The lens will be on sale on October 29, 2020 at approximately $ 549.00; however, due to the current global health crisis, the release date or product supply schedule can change.
While Tamron has manufactured many popular telephoto zoom lenses that extend to 300mm for DSLR cameras, the new 70-300mm is the first model designed for full-frame mirrorless cameras. Developed with the concept of bringing the joy of easy telephoto shooting to photographers everywhere, it’s the world’s smallest and lightest 70-300mm zoom lens— just 5.8 in. in length and weighing a mere 19.2 oz.— and delivers exceptional image quality.
Its Moisture-Resistant Construction provides greater protection when shooting outdoors and the lens shares the 67mm filter diameter common to all members of Tamron’s lens series for full-frame mirrorless cameras. The lens also takes full advantage of in-camera features, including Sony’s Fast Hybrid AF and Eye AF that support a fantastic shooting experience. The 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 is a highly practical lens that makes the excitement of telephoto shooting easier than ever before across a diverse range of shooting styles including landscapes, sports and other athletic events, wildlife, portraits, and more.
PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS
1. A telephoto zoom so compact you will want to carry it around everyday
Tamron has adopted a dedicated design for mirrorless cameras and achieved a compact size once again by fixing the aperture at F6.3 at the telephoto end. The maximum diameter is 77mm. Measuring just 5.8
in. and weighing a mere 19.2 oz., this 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 is the world’s smallest and lightest telephoto zoom lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras. Compatible with Sony’s popular E-mount cameras, it has been developed with the concept of enabling photographers to experience the universe of full-scale, full-frame 300mm telephoto photography more easily.
The AF drive system incorporates the exceptionally quiet RXD (Rapid eXtra-silent stepping Drive) stepping motor. Because this lens is compatible with Sony camera features, including in body image stabilization and Eye AF, you can enjoy comfortable, high-speed, high precision telephoto photography, even handheld.
Experience the excitement of bringing distant subjects closer as well as the perspective flattering characteristics achieved by full-scale telephoto photography more easily than ever before. For landscapes, sports, birds, and wildlife as well as closer subjects such as portraits and street scenes, this lens expands the range of telephoto photography.
2. Superior optical performance and supreme lightweight portability
Pursuing lightweight design as a top priority, Tamron has created a compact 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 zoom lens that makes 300mm telephoto shooting easy and fun. The superb optical design is based on a rigorous simulation process using state-of-the-art design technologies. As a result, Tamron has successfully struck a balance between extreme lightness (19.2 oz.) and compactness (5.8 in.), incorporating a slim lens barrel with a maximum diameter of 77mm— all without sacrificing high image quality. The optical design includes 15 elements in 10 groups, with an LD (Low Dispersion) lens element precisely arranged to suppress axial chromatic and other aberrations that are likely to happen with telephoto zoom lenses. At 300mm, a commonly used telephoto zoom focal length, the design delivers excellent resolution from edge-to-edge. Overall, the efficient optical construction (which also contributes to its light weight), plus Tamron’s BBAR (Broad-Band Anti-Reflection) Coating with its well-established reputation for anti-reflection properties, combine to enable the photographer to capture extremely clear, crisp images across the entire zoom range. While the lens features an advanced design with excellent core image quality, optical performance can be enhanced even further by employing the lens correction features found on Sony cameras.
With the introduction of this lens, all photographers, from first-time users of dedicated telephoto zoom lenses to experienced enthusiasts seeking a compact, lightweight telephoto zoom, can comfortably enjoy the advantages of a powerful, versatile zoom without worry about size or weight. Photographers who are shooting with in-camera image stabilization or using a tripod, can reduce the burden of their gear. Moreover, the 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 maintains excellent balance even when used with the APS-C sized E-mount cameras that are smaller than full-frame cameras (e.g., Sony ?6500); consequently, users can also enjoy photography with an even greater equivalent telephoto zoom appearance of approximately 450mm.
3. The RXD stepping motor unit is exceptionally quiet?
The AF drive incorporates a sensor that accurately detects the position of the lens while the RXD motor unit delivers optimized AF control. This achieves very fast and accurate autofocus operation and allows
users to maintain tack-sharp focus on continuously moving subjects shot at the telephoto zoom position. Thanks to the exceedingly quiet AF, the lens can be used discreetly in concert halls and other situations that require low noise levels, and for video recording.
4. A full family of superb, compact lenses made especially for mirrorless cameras
The 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 shares the same uniform 67mm filter diameter as other members of Tamron’s series of full-frame mirrorless camera lenses. When using an assortment of these lenses, users can easily interchange filters (e.g., PL, ND, etc.) and lens caps, thereby increasing convenience and minimizing costs as it is unnecessary to purchase a collection of different size filters.
Tamron’s lineup of lenses with 67mm filter diameter for full-frame mirrorless cameras (in the order they were launched):
– 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III RXD (Model A036) / High-speed standard zoom lens
– 17-28mm F/2.8 Di III RXD (Model A046) / High-speed ultra-wide-angle zoom lens
– 24mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 (Model F051) / Prime lens
– 35mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 (Model F053) / Prime lens
– 20mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 (Model F050)/ Prime lens
– 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD (Model A056) / High-speed telephoto zoom lens
– 28-200mm F2.8-5.6 Di III RXD (Model A071)/ All-in-one zoom lens
5. Moisture-Resistant Construction for added protection
Seals are located at the lens mount area and other critical locations to deter infiltration of moisture and/or rain drops and afford Moisture-Resistant Construction. This feature provides an additional layer of protection when shooting outdoors under adverse weather conditions.
6. Compatible with camera-specific features and functions
Tamron’s new 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 is compatible with many of the advanced features that are specific to certain mirrorless cameras. These include the following:
The Canon Rebel T8i (known as the EOS 850D outside of the U.S.) represents the latest iteration of the company’s high-end entry-level DSLR. And it’s a well-rounded package, with a fully articulated touchscreen, 4K/24p video and 7 fps continuous burst shooting. It’s well equipped to provide ambitious beginners with everything they need to get started in photography: Take a look at the kind of images this camera is capable of.
The post Review of PhotoDiva by AMS Software: Can a Free Portrait Editor Be Any Good? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Carl Spring.
When I was asked if I wanted to review PhotoDiva, a completely free portrait editor, I was intrigued. I wanted to see if something that you can get for free would actually be worth using as part of your editing routine.
Having now used the software, I can confidently say that (spoiler alert!) Photodiva is an excellent editing tool for those who value their time and other resources.
What can it do?
So what is the PhotoDiva portrait editor capable of? Well, whether you are looking to retouch a beauty shot or want to improve photos of your friends and family, this software will certainly do the job.
Using AI technology combined with the ease of one-click retouching, this free portrait editor is perfect for those who are new to portrait photography. And PhotoDiva can certainly take a large burden off those who are constantly showered with tons of pictures to retouch; thanks to PhotoDiva’s technology, many of the editing processes are now a one-click thing.
Getting started
The first thing to note is that PhotoDiva is currently Windows only. To download this portrait photo editor, you need to visit PhotoDiva’s website. One quick install later, and you will be ready to go.
When you open the software for the first time, you are met with a tutorial video which guides you through all the features and functions of the software. This is a great introduction and shows you how powerful this software can be.
For those of you who like a good feature list (who doesn’t?), the key features of PhotoDiva are as follows:
Edit portraits automatically
Smooth the skin, remove oily glare
Erase unwanted objects
Change facial features
Apply digital makeup (Pro & Ultimate editions only)
Change or blur the background (Pro & Ultimate editions only)
Contour face & add dimension (Pro & Ultimate editions only)
100+ photo filter effects (Ultimate edition only)
Importing your first image to the software is simple: just a click of the button in the middle of the screen. Once I’d done this, I began to work my way through the software, starting with the most common edit people do in portrait editing software: retouching the skin.
This skin tone picker lets you experiment with the model’s complexion.
Automatic skin retouching
When it comes to retouching skin, you have several one-click options. I love the fact that these are quite restrained when compared to other skin smoothing presets I have used. The AI finds facial features effectively and the “Overall Enhancement” preset did a great job of smoothing out the skin without going over the top.
For those who want a more natural approach, there is another preset called “Slight Enhancement” that is great for a lighter retouch that still enhances the skin. Going the other way: For those who prefer a glamour look, there is a “Glamour Portrait” preset that could be just what you are looking for.
When getting started, it is this type of simplicity that people look for in their portrait editing software. However, if you want to get more advanced, you can turn to custom skin retouching.
One click instantly improves the skin and gives you a great starting point.
Custom skin retouching
If you expect that custom retouching will be difficult, then PhotoDiva will subvert your expectations. Most of the custom editing is done with the use of intuitive sliders.
The way I found easiest when starting with the software was to turn each slider up to find out what portion of the image was being affected. I then reset the slider to zero and pushed it until I got my desired effect. Overall, it was simple and let me get exactly what I wanted from the retouch.
The ability to compare the before and after edit is great, as it allows you to easily check if you have pushed things a little far.
Applying a filter and adding a custom skin retouch gives you a great result incredibly quickly.
Other portrait beautifying features
PhotoDiva doesn’t limit you to skin retouching, as it comes with a boatload of other prettifying tools. First off, there is the teeth whitening feature that works both as a preset and as a manually controlled instrument. There is also an eye-circle remover, as well as other tools to highlight the model’s eyes, brows, and lips.
Removing larger objects using the clone tool
In the free version of PhotoDiva, you have the ability to use a clone stamp tool to remove larger objects such as a facial piercing. Using this reminded me of more expensive editing software. When testing, I used it to get rid of a nose stud, and it worked perfectly.
The Clone tool worked well for removing this model’s nose stud.
Face sculpting
The ability to reshape the face is a powerful tool in PhotoDiva. However, with great power comes great responsibility.
The AI is great at finding facial features. You can sculpt not only the width of the face, but also the eyes, nose, lips, and chin. All worked really well in my testing, although I will say that you really need to keep these sliders low. Pushing them to the extremes leaves a really unnatural look and makes the images look fake pretty quickly. That said, you really can get a powerful result when working with restraint.
A subtle use of the sculpting tool can give a great result.
General editing
PhotoDiva calls this “common editing.” Basic correction works well and is simple to use. For those new to editing, the addition of these tools allows you to do the whole edit in one piece of software. The ability to tweak individual colors is great. The color tools are something that is more associated with high-end software, so it is nice to see them included.
The ability to create black and white images using these advanced color controls is another great feature. There is also the option to create a negative which, while nice to see, is something that you may struggle to find a use for in day-to-day editing.
Adding vignettes is also easy. I know vignettes are a love-it-or-hate-it thing, but they are great for techniques such as bringing focus to the face. PhotoDiva has a variety of options for you to explore.
There is a good range of general editing tools included in PhotoDiva. This allows you to edit from start to finish in the software.
Effects
There are over a hundred photo filters within the software. As with all filters, some you will like, some you won’t. There are a good variety to choose from, though, including vintage looks, film based looks, and some more creative ones.
When using the photo filters, most feel heavy-handed when applied at 100%. However, it is really easy to tone down the effect to get a great result. My personal favorite effect was a film simulation called “Fuji FP 100C.” With the variety of styles available, there is sure to be something for everyone.
There are tons of filters included. You are bound to find one you like.
Export options
The exporting process is streamlined and effective. You click the “Save” button and set the picture parameters according to your needs. You can choose the file format, file quality, and even the output type for printing, further processing, social media, or viewing on an HD screen. The ease of this (as with many things in this software) makes PhotoDiva perfect for beginners. You are consistently given just what you need, with none of the options that confuse those new to photo editing.
Pro version perks
While the free version of PhotoDiva is great to get you started, there are also two paid versions of the software that offer you more options: Pro and Ultimate.
Virtual makeup is among those paid features. This is the Achilles’ heel of some portrait editors, since this effect comes out quite gaudy, but PhotoDiva shows remarkable restraint with the makeup tools. These makeup tools include lipstick, eyeshadows, blusher, highlighter, and bronzer. Once again, they are applied with a single slider drag, eliminating any need for manual selection.
The makeup effects are subtle but still fairly impressive.
If you’ve ever shot with poor lighting, then you might be familiar with the flat face effect. There is a way to get rid of it using the Add Dimension tool. Despite the cryptic name, this instrument is just a highlight and shadow adjuster that gives the model’s face the much-needed depth and contrast.
To go above and beyond simple portrait retouching, PhotoDiva also comes with a semi-automatic background-changing feature. It only took me a few brush strokes to completely remove the picture background and add my own. If that is too drastic of an approach for you, then the background-blurring tool might catch your interest instead.
Lastly, when it comes to photo editing, the upgrade gives you the ability to edit RAW images from over 450 different cameras, as well as remove noise and add haze.
These additions make PhotoDiva an even more powerful piece of software for portrait editing.
Upgrading to the Pro version of PhotoDiva gives you even more control over what this software can do.
Is it worth it?
Obviously. It’s completely free! What I will say, though, is that this software is more for those entering into portrait editing. There will be some of you out there who will have scoffed at this software from the moment you started reading this review. That’s fine; it’s not made for you.
PhotoDiva is made for those who want a less time- and effort-consuming way to retouch portraits, and those new to photography who have spent their hard-earned savings buying a camera and want to push their editing without the immediate expense of having to buy some high-end software. It is a great tool that allows you to get professional-level results with a few clicks. For those people, I cannot recommend PhotoDiva highly enough. In fact, if you own a Windows computer and edit photos, I would suggest you try this software.
The fact that PhotoDiva gives away such a powerful set of tools for free is amazing! For those who love it and want to do even more, the upgrade is available to you at a very reasonable price (under $ 30 USD at the time of writing). If the software gets you hooked then you are in luck, since the vendor is offering the upgrade at 55% off for Digital Photography School readers.
Rather than tell you how good PhotoDiva is, I will leave you with this: Try it for yourself. It is free, and if you edit portraits, you have no reason not to try it out. I am pretty sure you will be surprised by how good it is.
Where do I get it?
To download PhotoDiva, simply head over to https://photodiva.net and hit the Download Free button. Enjoy!
AMS Software is a paid partner of dPS.
The post Review of PhotoDiva by AMS Software: Can a Free Portrait Editor Be Any Good? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Carl Spring.
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