Blog

Sparkling Water Still Life – Put some Fizz in your Photos

The post Sparkling Water Still Life – Put some Fizz in your Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

Often the key to making a good photo is to show the commonplace in a whole new way. Bombarded by so many visual images each day, photo viewers need something that breaks the rules, that looks different to make them pause on your photo. This sparkling water still life technique will challenge your photo skills. It will teach you how to compose and light still life subjects, give you practice with editing tools and techniques, and help you create interesting images. Maybe best of all, you’ll have some fun.

Strongly backlit and filled with flash, these tulips were shot submerged in a vase of sparkling water. The image was flipped vertically in post-production. Canon 6D with Tamron 90mm f2.8macro lens – 1/20 sec. f/11 ISO 200

Perhaps another plus to this kind of photography (I write this holed up at home during isolation), is it can be done at home on the kitchen counter or wherever you like to work. You can then post your creation online, giving us all the enjoyment of viewing your image.

Shall we get started? Break out the bubbly!

Citrus slices make good subjects for this kind of photography as they look like they belong in sparkling water. Sliced thin, they are translucent, lending themselves to backlighting. Canon 6D with Tamron 90mm macro lens – Left – 1/4 sec. f/22 ISO 800 Right 1/30 sec. f/8 ISO 800

This image was lit from below with an LED flashlight and from behind with a Lumecube Air.

What you’ll need

Sparkling water

You can use various kinds of carbonated waters or sodas (perhaps champagne if you’re feeling decadent). What you’re after are the bubbles. There are no rules here and so use what suits your vision.

For the images here, I found seltzer water well-suited to the purpose. It is crystal-clear, has good carbonation, and with no sugar added doesn’t leave a sticky mess when it comes time for cleanup.

The colored pencils were taped together, clamped to the rectangular vase, and lit from below with an LED flashlight.

Glass container

What you use will depend on the image you’re trying to create. I found a rectangular glass vase with flat sides well-suited for the purpose. A small aquarium could work well.

Of course, if the subject and the theme you seek are different, wine or champagne glasses could work too. The only consideration here is to think about how the glass may distort anything placed inside it.

Essentially the same shot, but substituting different color backgrounds for different looks. Canon 6D with Tamron 90mm macro lens – 1/10 sec. f/11 ISO 800

Subjects

There is no end to the items you might choose to submerge for a sparkling water still life photograph. I found that things that seem consistent with the theme to be good choices. The kinds of things one might find in a watery-bubbly environment.

Fruits and flowers can be good choices. You’ll also see I used shells and other aquatic items. Of course, other items with good color and interest become even more interesting covered with bubbles.

A quick dip into some science behind all of this – items with rougher surfaces, those with more nucleation sites where bubbles can form, can be more interesting. The flowers in my shots demonstrate this concept. Bubbles won’t form as easily on smoother, non-porous surfaces.

The surfaces of the roses and stem have many “nucleation sites” where the CO2 bubbles in the seltzer water can form. Canon 6D with Tamron 90mm macro lens – 1/30 sec. f/8 ISO 800

Cleanliness

Most often, you will be shooting close-up, very possibly with a macro lens, for this kind of photography. The smallest of items, scratches, and dirt on the glass container, dirt and other material suspended in the water and such, will all show up and perhaps even become places where bubbles might form.

You should scrupulously clean the container you will be using before you get started. Doing so will save you lots of time later trying to remove unwanted specks from your photo digitally.

These shots illustrate some difficulties you might have. The image on the left is straight out of camera. The slow shutter speed of 1/10th second was insufficient to freeze the motion of the bubbles leaving streaks. The starfish was buoyant and floated in the container which wasn’t large enough to allow it to fit fully in frame. The image at right is edited to remove some distractions, but this wasn’t going to be a keeper.
Canon 6D with Tamron 90mm macro lens – 1/10 sec. f/22 ISO 800

Setup

Using your cleaned container, place the subject(s) you want inside before adding any liquid. Consider whether the subjects will float. Even if they are just slightly buoyant, once they are covered with bubbles, they are apt to get some extra lift. Be ready with some clamps, wire, tape, or other means of keeping them submerged and where you want them.

Compose and frame your shot. Depending on the subject size and how close you need to be, you may find a macro lens is needed. Other alternatives could be extension tubes, close-up filters, or a reversed-lens.

If you don’t need to be as close, you might put your camera further away and zoom into the shot.

NOTE: Do all of this before adding the water to the container. The bubbles will dissipate with time and you don’t want that happening while you’re still setting up.

Different containers will change the look of your subject, but the curved glass of this glass does distort the image the liquid in the submerged portion of the rose magnifies it making it seem larger than the above-water portion of the flower and the curve of the glass adds other distortions. Canon 6D with Tamron 90mm macro lens – 1/2 sec. f/20 ISO 800

Lighting considerations

This image shows lighting from below with a LED flashlight and from the front with a Lumecube Air.

This is a great opportunity to experiment with lighting sources and techniques.

Working in a glass container gives you the opportunity to light from almost any direction; top, bottom, front, back, left, right, or a combination of these. Whether you use flash, continuous lights, natural lighting, whatever you can come up with – it’s all up to you.

Definitely use this exercise as an opportunity to play and explore. Digital film is cheap. This shouldn’t be a one-and-done kind of shoot. Make lots of shots, exploring lighting placement, various apertures and shutter speeds, light modifiers, whatever you like.

Same subject, front-lit on the left, back-lit on the right. Canon 6D with Tamron 90mm macro lens – 1/13 sec. f/22 ISO 800

Same image, different backgrounds. Experiment with different things! Canon 6D with Tamron 90mm macro lens – 1/10 sec. f/11 ISO 800

Backgrounds

The addition of bubbles to your subject will cause it to become a “busier” composition. Having a patterned background is apt to distract or overly complicate the image.

I find solid backgrounds, and often plain white or black to work best. (I’ll get into the advantages of those simple white or black backgrounds in a minute.) Again, this will depend on the look you are trying to achieve, but do give consideration to not only your subject but the background.

Canon 6D with Tamron 90mm macro lens – 1/13 sec. f/16 ISO 800

Editing and cleanup

I can almost guarantee your image will need some work in editing after the shoot. Simplifying and cleaning up things you don’t want will be necessary.

Adjusting highlights, shadows, white and black levels, and cloning out distractions will all improve your photo. Whatever your editing tools of choice might be, use this exercise as a means of teaching yourself more about what you can do and how to do it.

My tools of choice are Adobe Lightroom Classic and Photoshop.

Having a white or black background can help a lot in that with adjustments, the adjustment brush, the histogram highlight and shadow clipping tools, and the spot healing tool, I can often do whatever I need in Lightroom alone.

For tougher cloning or healing operations, I may escalate the edit into Photoshop.

Images with color backgrounds are apt to be more challenging. Again, use this exercise as a means of learning tools and techniques you might not have previously explored.

When editing an image in Lightroom with a black or white background, you may purposely want to have the background go totally black or white. Turning on the highlight/shadow clipping tools will show 100% black (0,0,0) areas in a blue highlight, totally white (255,255,255) areas in red. The “J” key is the shortcut to toggle this off and on. You can then use the adjustment brush, automask, and other LR to “paint out” distracting elements.

Flip it

Often while making a sparkling water still life, your subject will be down in the liquid. Don’t overlook the simple ability to flip your image vertically during editing to put it in a more natural viewing position.

Have fun!

Maybe the biggest reason for this table-top photo exercise is it is fun. You will be amazed at how you can make otherwise simple subjects much more visually exciting with the addition of some bubbles and creative lighting when you make sparkling water still life photos.

So, if you have to stay home, why not find ways to creatively use your time to expand your photo skills and make some nice images?

Give it a try, post your creations in the comments section of this article and be well my friends.

The post Sparkling Water Still Life – Put some Fizz in your Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

Digital Photography School

May 1, 2020

Review: The DJI Mavic Air 2 is the best all-around drone for most people

DJI Mavic Air 2
$ 799 ($ 998 with ‘Fly More’ kit) | dji.com

DJI just released the Mavic Air 2, the successor to the original Mavic Air that arrived in 2018. Notably, it’s the first Mavic drone to offer 48MP stills, 8K HyperLapse and 4K/60p video at 120 Mbps. It’s also the first consumer drone equipped with AirSense, DJI’s alert system that receives automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) signals from nearby manned aircraft and displays their location on the remote control’s screen

Whereas the original Mavic Air comes in a variety of colors and resembles the DJI Spark, the Mavic Air 2 falls between the Mavic Mini and Mavic 2 Pro with regards to appearance, size, performance, and weight. DJI told us it did a lot of testing to determine the best balance between size, portability, and features, and determined that 570g (1.25 lbs.)—the weight of the Mavic Air 2—overwhelmingly felt right.

Arriving at an ideal weight and size apparently wasn’t the only priority for DJI when crafting the Mavic Air 2. Adding features found in more sophisticated drones, including the Inspire 2, to a model 337 grams lighter than the Mavic 2 series, DJI also aimed to make this its smartest drone to date. Did they pull it off? Let’s take a look and find out if the Mavic Air 2 is the right drone for you.

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_4451978106″,”galleryId”:”4451978106″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) });

Key features

570g (1.25 lbs.) total weight
1/2″ 48MP CMOS image sensor
24mm equivalent lens (84º FOV), fixed F2.8 aperture
12MP and 48MP photos
4K/60p and HD/240p video at 120Mbps
H.264 and H.265 codecs
HDR video and panorama
8K HyperLapse
Spotlight 2.0 subject tracking
Advanced Pilot Assistance System (APAS) 3.0
34-minute max flight time
68 kph (42 mph) max speed

The compact, feature-packed Mavic Air 2

When folded down, the Mavic Air 2 is 180x97x84 mm and fits in the palm of your hand. This is slightly larger than the original Mavic Air, but it’s still quite a bit smaller than the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom models in the line above it.

The Mavic Air 2 is larger than the minuscule Mavic Air, but it still fits in the palm of your hand (mostly).

A more dramatic change is found in the design of the controller; it’s larger and boxier than other remotes in the Mavic series, and is designed to mount a smartphone on top rather than on the bottom, like past Mavic models. The phone is secured with a clamp similar to DJI Phantom series remotes, though it doesn’t extend far enough to hold a tablet. The clamp on the controller is quite difficult to adjust and securing the smartphone is a struggle at times.

Remote pilots can easily toggle between Tripod, Normal, and Sport flight modes as the mode switch is featured front-and-center on the controller. Similar to other Mavic remotes, Return to Home and Power buttons are on the front. The upper-right button allows you to alternate between still photos and video.

The Mavic Air 2’s controller is larger than others in the Mavic series and mounts the smartphone to the top, rather than the bottom, for better visibility. It also works with a case on your phone, unlike previous Mavic controllers.

The upper-left button features a ‘Fn’ button that activates the auxiliary light and additional sensors that assist with several functions, including smoother landing in low-light conditions. There’s also a controller wheel on the top left that tilts the camera up and down. Two joysticks are stored at the bottom and can be screwed on for flying or removed for storage.

When first unboxing the Mavic Air 2, you’ll notice stickers labeled ‘A’ and ‘B’ on the top and bottom arms of the foldable drone. The legs unfold in the same manner as the Mavic 2 and Mini, and the labels are affixed with a beginner pilot in mind. Two bags labeled ‘A’ and ‘B’ contain 3 propellers, 1 extra for each type if a replacement is necessary.

The Mavic Air 2’s controller is designed to mount a smartphone on top rather than the bottom.

Attachment points for the props are color-coded, with a silver ring where the ‘A’ props attach and plain black for the ‘B’ props. It’s a subtle touch to help ensure that all components are properly affixed, and if a propeller is incorrectly placed the drone will not take off. This might confuse consumers new to flying a drone, but it’s a good safety feature. The props have an aerodynamic design that allows for quieter flight, and the Mavic Air 2 is quieter than the Mavic Mini – which is less than half its weight.

The camera sits snugly on a 3-axis gimbal. The sensors at top are part of the obstacle avoidance system.

Photos and video

The camera, which uses a 1/2″ CMOS Quad Bayer sensor, is mounted on a 3-axis stabilized gimbal. It can capture Raw images, JPEG images (at either 12MP or 48MP resolution), as well as Raw + JPEG. In addition to standard movements, the gimbal can tilt upward up to 24º.

The Air 2’s camera boasts a 24mm (equiv.) fixed-aperture F2.8 lens with an 84º FOV. DJI’s Fly More combo includes 3 neutral density filters that appear to twist and snap on and off like those for the Mavic 2 Pro. (Our review unit didn’t include filters so we were unable to test them).

DJI has also added SmartPhoto modes, similar to computational photography techniques used by many smartphones, to improve photo quality. These include:

HDR photos: the camera automatically captures 7 different exposures and combines them for greater dynamic image.
Hyperlight: images taken in low-light conditions, especially on DJI drones, tend to be grainy and contain noise. Hyperlight takes multiple photos and merges them for a clearer image.
Scene recognition: this mode allows the drone to recognize 5 major components of a photo – sunsets, blue skies, grass, snow, and trees. It will analyze these objects and maximize tone, clarity, and colors.

SmartPhotos are captured at a resolution of 12MP

One thing I noticed is that 48MP images are a bit darker relative to Single or SmartPhotos. The latter feature worked quite well when capturing a sunset, and the HDR photos I was able to capture are quite good for a 1/2″ sensor and could be passed off in professional situations.

In Single and 48MP mode, the sky and sun were blown out while the foreground was practically pitch black. SmartPhoto recognized these components. Both photos are unedited.

I was surprised at how well Hyperlight and Scene Recognition worked, as evidenced in the photo above. Panoramas could be improved, as stitching doesn’t always match up, though the app I’m using is still technically in beta and some of these bugs will likely be ironed out with subsequent firmware updates.

The Air 2 is the first drone in the Mavic series that can capture 4K/60p video at 120 Mbps using the H.265 codec. This is impressive for a drone that retails under $ 1,000. Additionally, there’s 4K/30p HDR video, and HD/120p and HD/240p will deliver some serious slow-motion footage — up to 10x on a 24p timeline.

The Mavic Air 2 shoots impressive 4K/60p video, thanks to its support for the H.265 coded at bit rates up to 120 Mbps.

I was quite impressed with the quality of the 4K/60p and even 4K/30p video. However, objects in my slow-motion clips were a bit more blurry than I expected, even at a 240p frame rate. Does the 120 Mbps bit rate make a difference here? Yes, for this particular camera. The quality of video footage I was able to gather in various lighting scenarios is exceptional.

DJI’s normal color profile has been optimized for the ideal amount of saturation and detail, but its D-Cinelike profile is also included for more advanced shooters. 8K HyperLapse video will be available when the Air 2 ships in mid-May, 2020.

These video clips, captured at HD/120p and HD/240p are slowed down 4x and 8x on a 30 fps timeline. At 8x slow motion, movement of the tennis players in the second clip is barely noticeable.

Odds and ends

The Mavic Air 2 comes equipped with obstacle avoidance sensors on the front, rear and bottom of the aircraft. There aren’t any sensors on top. An auxiliary light with additional sensors, which can be activated from the controller, is located on the bottom to assist with landing in challenging conditions such as low-light environments.

DJI claims a maximum 34 minutes of flight time for the Mavic Air 2, a significant increase from the 21-minute life expectancy of the original Air model, though this figure is derived from flying in ideal conditions; DJI states that 33 minutes is more likely when performing a typical flight. I flew in moderate winds and found the figure to be closer to 30 – 31 minutes, on par with the Mavic 2 series.

The bottom of the drone includes obstacle avoidance sensors and an auxiliary light.

A microSD card slot, which supports up to 256GB, is located below the battery portal. 8GB of internal storage is provided as backup should the memory card become full (or if you forget to bring a card along). Photos or video captured internally can be accessed through the micro USB portal on the opposite side of the card slot. Two cables that connect to a laptop are included with the Mavic Air 2.

This model is also equipped with DJI’s Geo system, which prevents drones from entering prohibited areas including airports. For those unfamiliar with drone laws, this feature will come in handy. Geo zones, as well as ADS-B, can be deactivated in the Fly app.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

May 1, 2020

Lenses for mirrorless: how Canon, Nikon, Panasonic and Sony full-frame options compare

The move to mirrorless by some of the industry’s biggest players put the focus on their new lens lineups.

In our recent look at ~$ 2000 full frame mirrorless cameras, we said that choosing between them is as much about buying into a lens system as anything else. In this article, we’re going to have a look at the four full-frame mirrorless systems to see what they offer and where they might yet go.

This article isn’t a question of ‘which range is biggest,’ it’s to help show which lineups have the lenses you might need for your photography.

As well as the lenses currently available, we’ll consider the degree of support provided by third-party lens makers and briefly discuss some of the technologies involved.

Sony E-mount

When it comes to full-frame lenses for mirrorless, Sony has the biggest head start. Sony introduced its full-frame ‘FE’ range alongside the original a7, back in late 2013, and already had several years experience of making APS-C E-mount lenses by that point.

Sony has also taken the unusual move of allowing third-party lens makers access to its lens mount specifications and communication protocol. This has allowed companies such as Sigma, Tamron, Tokina and Zeiss to expand the range of available lenses for Sony photographers. In the case of Sigma, these include existing DSLR optical designs as well as new, dedicated optical formulations for mirrorless.

Primes

Zooms

All

Diagram covers autofocus primes and high-end zooms in the 14-200mm range. Lineups correct as of April 2020.

In addition to covering most of these bases, Sony has had time to add specialist lenses, such as 600mm F4, 400mm F2.8, 100-400mm and 200-600mm telephoto options, equivalents to which aren’t currently available for other systems.

Starting earlier has given Sony time to provide a wider range of lenses, including less obvious options such as the 135mm F1.8 GM

Sony says that the years it’s spent making large lenses for mirrorless camera has allowed it to develop expertise in the types of motors best suited for full-frame mirrorless lenses (the need to drive lenses smoothly for video, as well as quickly means the requirements aren’t the same as for DSLRs). However, while it’s true that Sony’s adoption of technologies such as linear motors and piezoelectric drive provides its more recent lenses with impressively fast, smooth focusing, be aware that some of the company’s earlier lenses don’t always show this same performance.

Canon RF-mount

Canon’s RF lens lineup thus far has shown a distinct focus on the needs of professional users, with many of its first lenses belonging to the premium ‘L’ range.

Canon hasn’t opened up its lens mount to other makers, so there’s limited third-party support available at the moment. If the RF mount gains anything like the popularity that the EF mount did, it’s extremely likely that other companies will find a way to offer autofocus lenses, but widespread third-party support for RF may be some years away.

Primes

Zooms

All

Diagram covers autofocus primes and high-end zooms in the 14-200mm range. Lineups correct as of April 2020.

Canon currently uses a variety of motors in its RF lenses: primarily using the company’s fast, smooth ‘Nano USM’ technology and the ring-type USM motors that underpin most of its high-end DSLR lenses. These ring-type motors appear to work pretty well with Canon’s dual pixel AF system but aren’t always the smoothest or fastest, especially given that they tend to be used in the lenses with large, heavy lens elements that need to be moved.

The RF 35mm F1.8, meanwhile, uses a small stepper motor, which makes it noticeably slower and noisier to focus than the best of Canon’s other mirrorless lenses.

Nikon Z-mount

Like Canon, Nikon has not yet opened up the Z-mount to third-parties, which currently limits your autofocus choices to Nikon’s own lenses.

However, Nikon’s initial build-out strategy looks very different from Canon’s: Rather than starting with exotica, Nikon has provided a range of comparatively affordable/portable F1.8 primes, alongside a set of F2.8 and F4 zooms.

Primes

Zooms

All

Diagram covers autofocus primes and high-end zooms in the 14-200mm range. Lineups correct as of April 2020.

In terms of focus motors, Nikon seems to primarily be relying on the use of small stepper motors for its lenses so far, which offer decent performance but don’t appear to match linear motors or Canon’s Nano USM technologies for either speed or smoothness. Twin focus groups help to give accurate focus even close-up, in some of Nikon’s zoom lenses, which can also improve on the often modest speeds of single-motor designs.

L-mount: Panasonic, Leica and Sigma

Panasonic, along with Sigma, has aligned itself with Leica by adopting the ‘L’ mount for its full-frame mirrorless cameras. This instantly gives it access to an established lens range (though, like Sony’s, one that is built around a mount originally focused on APS-C). Sigma’s inclusion in the alliance should ensure a wide range of third-party L-mount lenses become available.

All Panasonic cameras so far have been based around the company’s Depth-from-Defocus (DFD) AF system. The degree to which lenses from other members of the L-mount alliance are optimized to this system is not clear at this point. We’d expect Leica’s lenses, which are designed around a distinctly DFD-like approach to work well but we don’t know how closely Sigma has yet embraced the DFD concept. For now we wouldn’t expect the same consistency across native L-mount lenses that we’ve seen from the single-maker systems, but we’d expect Sigma to be working to maximize compatibility.

Primes

Zooms

All

Diagram covers autofocus primes and high-end zooms in the 14-200mm range. Lineups correct as of April 2020.

Panasonic’s lenses primarily make use of linear focus motors, but use a combination of linear and stepping motors for lenses such as the 50mm F1.4 and its 70-200s that require more glass to be moved around.

DSLR lens support

If you already own a selection of DSLR-mount lenses, then you’ll find that with the right accessories, you can mount them on any of these camera bodies. Since the mirrorless mounts are all shallower, this leaves plenty of room to put an adapter between the lens and body. The performance you get will vary, though.

Canon frequently bundles one of its EF-to-RF adaptors with its RF-mount cameras, and it makes three variants (a simple pass-through tube, another with a control ring around it and a third that lets you drop a choice of filter between the lens and the camera). The dual pixel AF system, combined with Canon’s knowledge of its communication protocol means EF lens users will get probably the best adapted lens experience when using Canon RF-mount bodies. That said, we still wouldn’t necessarily expect DSLR-level performance from all EF lenses when adapted.

Unsurprisingly, you tend to get the best adapted performance if you use DSLR lenses on the same brands’ mirrorless bodies. Don’t expect DSLR levels of performance, though.

Various companies also make EF-to-E adaptors, allowing EF lenses to be used on Sony bodies. And, while not quite as consistent as Canon-on-Canon combinations, we’ve had good experiences with this combination, though generally only with shorter focal lengths. Meanwhile, Sigma makes the MC-21 adapter for using EF lenses with L-mount bodies but, without phase detection AF in any of those cameras, continuous AF is not available.

Nikon also offers kits that include its ‘FTZ’ F-to-Z mount adaptor with some of its camera bodies. This provides a decent level of support for existing lenses but does not contain a focus drive motor, so can only autofocus lenses with their own motors (AF-S, AF-P and AF-I lenses and their third-party equivalents). F-to-E adapters are available, but performance can vary, lens-to-lens, making it more of a gamble.

As you’d probably expect, then, older lenses tend to work most reliably with the cameras made by the same brand. However, they can be used on other systems, so depending on how extensive your existing lens collection is, you may find you can make do with lowered performance, rather than having to sell-up and start again, if you don’t want to remain bound to the whims of the maker of your DSLR.

Summary

As you’d expect, Sony’s nearly five-year head start and openness towards third-party makers has let it build up a significant advantage over its rivals, but all four mounts are already starting to see key holes in their respective lineups being filled.

In the long run, it’s likely that all four systems will be extended to offer a range of mid-range, as well as high-end primes and zooms, but it’s pretty clear that initially, Nikon and Canon are focusing on different sets of users.

Third-party support provides more options in young lens systems.

Nikon and Canon’s decisions to keep their mounts closed to competitors means they can control the consistency of experience for their users (with no risk of a third-party lens offering sub-standard AF speed or smoothness, for instance), but with the downside that you’re entirely dependent on that company’s development priorities, unless you’re happy to take your chances with simple manual focus options.

It’s the third-party makers and their ability and willingness to produce fully-compatible lenses that will be interesting to watch. The adoption rate of Sony E-mount cameras and the availability of the lens protocols is likely to mean most future third-party lenses will be designed around this mount but it’ll be interesting to see which other systems this support gets extended to.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

May 1, 2020
Adobe tweaks Creative Residency program to launch $1M support fund for visual creatives

Adobe has announced the latest iteration of its Adobe Creative Resident program, one that has changed substantially in light of the coronavirus pandemic. This year, Adobe says that it will only select two Creative Residents, but that it will also launch a $ 1 million Creative Residency Community Fund intended to support creators during the economic downturn.

Adobe explains that this fund will be open globally and will be used to hire creatives for projects commissioned by Adobe over the next year, as well as personal projects. Creatives who get support from Adobe for personal and commissioned projects will also receive career guidance workshops, Creative Cloud memberships and other unspecified support.

We’ve rounded up resources to support our community of creators during these tough times. ?? See the full list here. https://t.co/zJUqywQeAD

— Adobe (@Adobe) April 30, 2020

Visual creatives interested in the fund will need to apply on Adobe’s website here. Applicants have the choice of applying for a creative project grant, which will range from $ 500 to $ 5,000, or for Adobe project commissions, which will also be valued at $ 500 to $ 5,000. Applicants aren’t required to propose a project when applying for commissioned work.

Adobe plans to run its fund for 12 months from May 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021. Recipients will be notified about their inclusion in the program 30 to 60 days after submitting their application; the grants are issued on a monthly basis.

Adobe says that creatives can apply for the Community Fund even if they already applied for the Creative Residency this year but weren’t selected. The company is accepting applications from a variety of visual creatives, including professionals who work with 3D, graphic design, short-form online videos, photography, digital painting and drawing, motion design and UX/UI/VX/XD design.

Today we are welcoming a new class of Creative Residents and announcing a $ 1 million #CreativeResidency Community Fund to support personal projects and provide career guidance for many more creators. https://t.co/r8YbM7tTTE

— Adobe (@Adobe) April 28, 2020

As far as commissioned work goes, professionals who are selected for projects will receive work based on their portfolio, skills and what Adobe happens to need at the time. This could include artwork for social media or use in applications, or something like creating a video, writing an article or developing a tutorial, according to the company.

Beyond this, Adobe announced that Christina Poku and Maddy Beard are its two Creative Residents for the 2020-2021 year. It’s yet to be seen whether the coronavirus pandemic is over by the start of Adobe’s next residency period and what kind of impact that may have on the company’s future plans for its program.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

May 1, 2020
British Museum launches revamped online collections database early with 1.9M images

On Tuesday, April 28, the British Museum announced that it is the latest institution to make digitized images of its various collections available for free online. The ‘revamped’ online collections database now contains 1.9 million images that are offered to the public under the restrictive Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license, which allows for non-commercial use with attribution.

According to the announcement tweet from British Museum, its team expedited the release of this new online database so that the public can browse the museum’s collections while in quarantine at home. The launch follows similar big digitized collections launches from institutions like Paris Musées and The Smithsonian.

This revamp simplifies things for public users who are no longer required to register in order to use the images. Going forward, anyone can browse the online collections database and download any of the 1.9 million images for non-commercial use with attribution. Each image is scanned at a high-resolution; the online viewer enables users to zoom in on objects to view fine details.

Today we’re excited to launch a major revamp of our Collection online! ??

We’ve been working extra hard to bring you this update early so you can #MuseumFromHome even better than before.

Access the collection digitally wherever you are: https://t.co/a2CPohwarP pic.twitter.com/py0ppV4ktV

— British Museum (@britishmuseum) April 28, 2020

According to the British Museum, this collection features two million years’ worth of history that spans six continents. The museum digitized nearly 4.5 million objects, making it the largest online collection of its kind. British Museum explains that its revamped interface not only provides access to these images for free but also makes it easier for the public to find the specific items they’re looking for.

The online collections are vast, including everything from ancient Egyptian sculptures to Assyrian artifacts, Greek objects, Iranian jewelry, artwork from the Roman Empire and much more. Viewers can sort through the content based on collection galleries, as well as searches using museum numbers, persons, places and keywords.

This launch is a welcomed addition to the growing body of digitized artifacts and other works made available to the general public online. However, the release isn’t without criticism. Unlike The Smithsonian and Paris Musées, both of which released their online collections with Creative Common 0 licenses, the British Museum’s collection is made available under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

The @britishmuseum has placed 1.9 million high-rez images of objects in its holdings online under a Creative Commons license, which is excellent news! https://t.co/0j5nf0fzhU

1/

— Covered Dish People (@doctorow) April 29, 2020

Author and activist Coro Doctorow highlighted some of the concerns related to this in a recent tweet thread, pointing out, among other things, that UK law states that copyrights can only subsist in cases where the work is ‘original in the sense that it is the author’s own ‘intellectual creation.” Among other things, the nation’s copyright law [PDF, page 3] notes that it’s ‘unlikely that what is merely a retouched, digitised image of an older work can be considered as ‘original.”

Critics have also pointed out that Wikimedia Commons only allows images that aren’t ‘subject to copyright restrictions which would prevent them being used by anyone, anytime, for any purpose,’ meaning the British Museum’s digitized collections can’t be included in the Commons catalog.

Despite these concerns, the revamped database is a step in the right direction. The British Museum has been commended for the effort it put into this launch — not just for the high-resolution images and scans of the content, but also the number of tools and information the museum provides for each listing.

The database includes the name(s) of the original excavator who discovered the items, where the object was found, the materials it is made from, the technique used to craft it, its size and weight, its present condition, where it was acquired, its registration number and more. The collection is available here.

Via: ianVisits

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

April 30, 2020
Sony provides an in-depth look at the Sony Xperia 1 II camera tech

Sony first announced its triple-camera-equipped Xperia 1 Mark II flagship phone in February but users around the world are still waiting for the commercial release of the device. Once available, with its photo-centric design that borrows a number of features from Sony’s Alpha series cameras, the Xperia 1 Mark II should be a compelling option for mobile photographers. Now the company has shared additional information on camera technology and features in Japan.

In its primary camera the new Sony offers the same 12MP resolution as its predecessor. However, those pixels are distributed across a larger sensor surface. The Mark II’s 1/1.7″ primary sensor is quite a bit bigger than the Mark 1’s 1/2.6″ variant, but still falls short of some other flagship phones. The Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro and Huawei P40 Pro for example come with 1/1.33″ and 1/1.28″ sensors respectively.

The Xperia 1 Mark II comes with a larger sensor than its predecessor.

However, Sony is deploying a different strategy to most of its direct rivals. Both rival phones mentioned above use much higher resolution sensors and pixel-binning technology to reduce noise levels and capture images with a wide dynamic range.

Sony bets on ‘traditional’ large 1.8µm pixels, which, according to the company, make the new sensor 50 percent more light sensitive than its predecessor and results in improved low light performance.

The 12MP sensor offers faster read-out than the 108MP Quad-Bayer sensors used in some competitors.

Sony says the conventional design of the sensor offers faster read-out speeds than the pixel-binning Quad-Bayer technology deployed in most current high-end phones. The entire sensor can be read out in 10ms versus 32ms for a 12MP image from a Quad-Bayer sensor.

The sensor features 247 phase detection points.

This speed is necessary to enable the Mark II’s 20fps continuous shooting with autoexposure and autofocus. Dual-Pixel AF is embedded into the sensor and an additional 3D time-of-flight (ToF) sensor supports the system. Overall, the camera can use 247 phase detection points on the image sensor and 43,200 points from the ToF sensor to perform AF calculations.

The AF also uses data from a 3D time-of-flight sensor.

This is done by Sony’s BIONZ X branded image processor which performs 60 AE/AF calculations per second to keep subjects in focus and the image well exposed. The new phone also comes with the Eye AF feature that we already saw on the original Xperia 1. However, now it can lock on to animal eyes in addition to human eyes.

The ultra-wide and tele lenses of the triple-camera setup cannot quite keep up with the primary shooter in terms of read-out speed and processing, though. They both offer continuous shooting at 10fps with AE/AF enabled and AE/AF calculations are performed at a slower rate of 30 per second.

Sony says the triple-camera offers the same flexbility as a camera system with 16-35, 24-70 and 70-200mm lenses.

This said, with equivalent focal lengths of 74mm for the tele and 16mm for the ultra-wide, both cameras make nice additions to the primary camera’s 24mm-equivalent lens, covering a wide range of shooting situations. Sony goes as far as comparing the lenses in the Xperia 1 Mark II triple camera to a full-frame lens set including a 16-35mm wide-angle, a 24-70m standard zoom and a 70-200mm tele-zoom. Those lenses should have you prepared for almost anything, and according to the company the same is true for the phone’s triple-cam.

To make the new device even more attractive to serious photographers it comes with Sony’s new Photography Pro app, which features Shutter and Aperture priority modes in addition to a bunch of other manual controls you would find on the company’s mirrorless cameras. Most camera apps offer some sort of manual controls these days, usually in the shape of a separate ‘Pro mode’, but it looks like Sony is taking things a step further than most.

The Photography Pro app offers a range of manual modes and settings.

The Xperia 1 Mark II is also the first Sony smartphone to feature a ZEISS lens. ZEISS lenses can be found on many of Sony’s Cybershot compact cameras and are also available with an E-mount for Alpha cameras. ZEISS lenses featured on Nokia phones previously but the new Sony is the first to come with the German lens maker’s T* anti-reflective coating to reduce glare and ghosting effects.

It’s good to see Sony, which is the only current smartphone manufacturer that also runs a sizeable camera operation, creating more synergies and technology interchange between its mobile and Alpha divisions. Now we just need to wait for the device to appear in the market and see if the camera can compete with the best. According to rumors that could happen as soon as next week, starting in Taiwan.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

April 30, 2020
Raspberry Pi launches 12.3MP interchangeable lens camera module for its Pi computers

What if I told you that for just $ 50, you could have yourself a fully-customizable interchangeable lens camera capable of shooting 12.3MP stills and capturing 4K/30p video? You’d probably tell me to kick dirt, but the truth is that’s now a possibility thanks to Raspberry Pi’s new ILC camera module and accompanying lenses, which start at just $ 25.

‘There has always been a big overlap between Raspberry Pi hackers and camera hackers,’ reads the Raspberry Pi blog post announcing the setup. ‘Even back in 2012, people (okay, substantially Dave Hunt) were finding interesting ways to squeeze more functionality out of DSLR cameras using their Raspberry Pi computers.’

The full kit currently available from Raspberry Pi.

Since 2013, Raspberry Pi has released a few different camera modules: the original 5MP camera board based around the OmniVision OV5647 sensor, a Pi NoIR board for infrared photography and a follow-up camera board that used the Sony IMX219 8MP sensor (this unit replaced Raspberry Pi’s 5MP camera board, which has the distinction of being just two other products the company has ever officially discontinued).

Despite selling more than 1.7 million units of the 8MP camera boards to date, the Raspberry Pi team wasn’t content with the limitations put in place by fixed-focus camera modules with small sensors and poor performance. Enter the new Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera.

This new module is build around the Type 1/2.3” (7.9mm diagonal) Sony IMX477 backside-illuminated CMOS sensor that features 1.55?m pixels (double that of the IMX219 found in the 8MP camera board). In front of the sensor is a C and CS lens mount with adjustable back-focus, a mount most commonly used on 8mm, 16mm cameras, closed-circuit security cameras and other industrial-focused systems. It even features a built-in 1/4”-20 tripod mount for supporting the system.

While any off-the-shelf C- and CS-mount lenses will work with the new sensor, Raspberry Pi has announced it will be working with its official retail partners to carry a pair of lenses: a 6mm CS-mount lens and a 16mm C-mount lens for $ 25 and $ 50, respectively. There’s always the option of 3D printing and purchasing third-party adapters to create wild combinations, such as this monster, shown below, built around the Canon 70–200mm F2.8 IS II lens.

The possibilities are nearly endless.

The High Quality Camera is compatible with ‘almost all’ Raspberry Pi models, starting with the original Raspberry Pi 1. The only exception are a number of early Raspberry Pi Zero boards that lack the connector. Raspberry Pi has compiled accompanying support documentation on the product page, including a ‘Getting Started’ guide. There’s also ‘The Official Raspberry Pi Camera Guide’ that’s available to download for free as a PDF or buy in physical form on the Raspberry Pi Press Store for £10.

The Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera, which will remain in production until at least January 2027 per Raspberry Pi’s obsolescence statement, is available starting today for $ 50 on the Raspberry Pi website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

April 30, 2020
How to Create Mandalas in Photoshop Using Stack Modes

The post How to Create Mandalas in Photoshop Using Stack Modes appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

There are so many facets to Photoshop that even regular users can sometimes be surprised by new ways to use particular features. Stack Modes is one of the tools in the Photoshop repertoire that I’ve only just started really playing with recently. And, it turns out, the function is great for generating intricate patterns and even mandala-like designs. In this tutorial, I’ll guide you through the steps to create mandalas in Photoshop with Stack Modes.

Can I use Stack Modes?

First things first – unfortunately, Stack Modes aren’t available in all versions of Photoshop. For this tutorial, I’m going to be using Photoshop CS6 Extended. Doing a little research, it looks like Extended and CC versions of Photoshop have the stack mode function. However, if you don’t have the Stack Modes tool required for this tutorial, you can try creating something a little similar here.

What are Stack Modes?

So what exactly are Stack Modes?

The Stack Modes function works by combining a group of image layers with similar content into the one image. For example, astrophotographers may use Stack Modes to combine hundreds of shots into one frame.

Stack Modes can also be used to reduce noise and remove people and objects from photos. It’s a pretty nifty function!

What are mandalas?

Throughout history, mandalas have seen numerous incarnations and applications. Meaning circle in Sanskrit, mandalas are a geometric array of symbols and designs made for spiritual, meditative and artistic purposes.

In modern terminology, mandala is a phrase sometimes used to describe other circular visual arrangements like spirographs and scientific diagrams. The term mandala may also be used to describe the meditative or visual quality of an artwork.

How to create mandalas in Photoshop with Stack Modes

Setting up

To create mandalas in Photoshop, the first step is to pick a single photograph to work with. Something with a few colors and small details is a good bet. I’m going with the flower seen below:

Open your image in Photoshop and right-click on the image layer in the Layers Panel. Select Duplicate Layer… and click OK at the prompt.

Select the Background layer in the Layers Panel (not Background copy) and hit Delete.

Next, click on Image on the top toolbar. Select Canvas Size… and (roughly) double the height and width of your canvas so we have room to expand the design.

Click OK.

Adjusting layers

Drag your image to the top of the canvas. Right-click on your image layer in the Layers Panel and select Duplicate Layer… hit OK at the prompt.

With the Move Tool selected, click on the image on the canvas to select it (one layer will be behind the other).

Hold the Shift key on your keyboard down and drag the selected image by the top-middle transform control icon towards the bottom of the canvas, flipping the image to mirror the remaining photograph so it looks like this:

Select both layers by depressing the Shift key and clicking on each layer in the Layers Panel.

Right-click on either layer icon and select Merge Layers. The two layers will merge into one. Drag the merged image to the left edge of the canvas.

Right-click on the layer in the layers panel and hit Duplicate Layer… and Click OK at the prompt. Hold down the Shift key and click the left-most transform icon and drag the duplicated layer towards the right edge of the canvas, flipping the second layer to mirror the first. Like in the example below:

Making room

We have a pretty cool image now, but we aren’t finished yet!

To create mandalas in Photoshop, we need to extend the canvas further to accommodate the rest of the layers we will be making.

Click on Image->Canvas Size… and add an extra hundred-or-so cm’s to the height and width of the image. Don’t worry if the canvas looks too large, we can always crop it back down once the mandala is finished.

Back to layers

Okay. In the expanded canvas, select our two layers by holding Shift and clicking on both layers in the Layers Panel. Right-click and select Merge Layers.

Next, right-click on the merged layer and click Duplicate Layer… Click OK at the prompt. Hold down the Shift Key and rotate this newly created layer to form a cross-like structure.

Duplicate one of the layers again and rotate it so that it looks like mine below:

Duplicate the layer again and rotate it so that your image looks like this:

You can continue adding layers with the duplicate/rotate process until you are happy with the look of your image, or you can leave it as is.

When you are ready, select all the layers in the Layers Panel by holding Shift and clicking on the first and then the last layer in the Layers panel. Right-click on the selection and select Convert to Smart Object. This will combine your layers into a single Smart Object.

Making the mandala happen

With all this duplicating and rotating, the final step to creating mandalas in Photoshop is pretty straight forward. With your Smart Object layer selected, click Layer (in the top tool bar) then click on Smart Objects->Stack Modes. A range of options like Entropy and Kurtosis will become available.

You can look up the exact mathematics behind each setting here, but basically, each option is an algorithm that blends the layers together a different way. Select one and see how it looks…and if you don’t like it, simply undo it and try a different mode.

Here’s my result using the Maximum Stack Mode:

The result from using the Maximum Stack Mode

Final touches

Now you have your mandala, the rest is up to you! You can adjust the colors of your creation or increase/decrease the contrast…you can even invert the colors via the Curves Adjustment Layer and see what that looks like.

You can create mandalas in Photoshop forever – the possibilities are endless! It’s a great opportunity to experiment and explore.

If you’ve created a mandala with this method, go ahead and share below!

The post How to Create Mandalas in Photoshop Using Stack Modes appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

Digital Photography School

April 30, 2020
Watch ‘My Friends Were Mountaineers’, a film about photographer Dee Molenaar

Dee Molenaar, an icon in the Pacific Northwest mountaineering community passed away recently at the age of 101. Filmmaker Eric Becker, a long time collaborator of DPReview was lucky enough to spend some time with Dee around his 100th birthday. What resulted was a short film produced by Eric in collaboration with DPReview about Dee’s life, his love of the mountain climbing community and his prolific work as a visual artist.

The film takes a look into Dee’s expansive archive of paintings, hand drawn maps, 8mm film footage and a treasure trove of archival slide photographs. You can watch the final piece above, and read on for a personal account, from Eric, of the background behind the film.

Eric Becker – director

In 2018 I was finishing up my feature documentary Return to Mount Kennedy, which centers around the first ascent in 1965 of a remote mountain in the Yukon – Mount Kennedy – then newly named after assassinated president John F. Kennedy. Climber Jim Whittaker lead the expedition, which included JFK’s brother, Bobby Kennedy.

Dee Molenaar was one of the photographers in the group. I originally connected with his family to track down some of his original images, but in talking to Dee’s son Peter I learned that there was a lot more to his life and work than just that one trip, back in 1965. Peter invited me to come and go through his father’s photos, and it occurred to me that this might make for an interesting short film on its own.

When I arrived at Peter’s house to take a look through his father’s archives, I was shocked. There were just so many boxes of slides, reels of footage, and beautiful paintings that Dee had created during his life. Peter mentioned that Dee’s 100th birthday was coming up in June and that the family was planning to take him to Mt. Rainier to visit his favorite place on earth. At this point, I knew there was a story.

There was a bittersweet element to the trip which gave it an emotional thrust – the unspoken sense that this would probably be Dee’s last opportunity to see the place

Good stories need some key ingredients. First off, there needs to be visual material to work with, which we had in volumes, in the form of Dee’s photographs and paintings. Second, you need strong characters. Peter was totally comfortable being filmed, and the love and admiration he had for his father came through when he spoke. The same was true of his sister Karen, and his brother David.

The third ingredient is action. In this case it was the simple act of taking a 100 year-old man to see his beloved mountain. There was a bittersweet element to the trip which gave it an emotional thrust – the unspoken sense that this would probably be Dee’s last opportunity to see the place.

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_6644654580″,”galleryId”:”6644654580″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) });

During the making of this film we digitized about 40 reels of 8mm film footage and found some absolutely beautiful imagery of the Pacific Northwest in the 1940, 50’s and 60’s. I also read Dee’s autobiography and did as much research as I could to get some background on his life and work. We filmed interviews with the Molenaar family, and we joined Dee on the trip to Mount Rainier.

My favorite moment was when I showed Dee some of his films that we had digitized. He watched them on an iPad for about 45 minutes and was totally tuned in, even talking about some of the people and places.

This was a very archive-heavy project, and the bulk of the editing for this short film happened in early 2019 once we had collected all of the pieces. Editing is both my favorite and least favorite part of the process, but it’s where the magic happens. Whenever young filmmakers ask for advice, I tell them to learn the tools, including editing. The reality is that cameras and computers are so inexpensive and user-friendly these days that the way to distinguish yourself from the crowd is to focus on the craft of it all. And getting good at editing, as anxiety-ridden as the process can be, is one of the easiest ways to advance your craft as a storyteller.

Getting good at editing, as anxiety-ridden as the process can be, is one of the easiest ways to advance your craft as a storyteller

We made the film using the Fujifilm X-H1, some of it handheld shooting internal 4K but mostly paired with an Atomos Shogun, with Senheiser wireless lavs for sound. We have a simple rig that holds everything. Aside from the camera (which changes from shoot to shoot) this is the same basic setup we use for all of the DPReview long-form videos. Everything was shot in 24p, except for some 60p footage that we captured for slow motion. We used the Fujifilm Eterna profile, and I cut the piece in Adobe Premier Pro.

With this video and with all of the other pieces in the long-form series that we’ve shot with DPReview, I hope we’ve succeeded in inspiring people to get out and shoot. I’d like to think that Dee would approve.

Read Dee Molenaar’s obituary at mountaineers.org

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

April 30, 2020
The Fujifilm X100V is our favorite prime lens compact camera

We’ve updated our ‘best fixed prime lens camera’ buying guide and – no surprise here – the Fujifilm X100V came out on top.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

April 30, 2020