Our friends over at Lensrentals has created a survey to help determine what kind of impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the livelihood of professional photographers and to better learn how Lensrentals can assist the photography community.
We’re pleased to support Lensrentals in their effort to gather this information and if you’re a professional photographer, below is a link where you can participate:
Lensrentals Survey
As a disclaimer, the survey starts out by asking whether or not you’re a professional photographer; if you answer no, the survey will immediately end. In keep the integrity of the data intact, we ask that you refrain from taking the survey if you do not earn an income from photography.
The post Getting Photos Organized with ACDSee DAM Software appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.
As soon as you begin using a camera with any regularity, you need to find a way of labeling photos and putting them in order. If you don’t, it could soon take hours to locate a given picture among all your folders, hard drives, and devices. ACDSee DAM software sets you on the right path from the beginning.
Cataloging photos used to involve writing on them directly or typing out captions on sticky labels. Many people didn’t bother, but digital photography made record-keeping easier. Original photo by Brett Jordan.
By investing in good DAM software at the earliest opportunity, you won’t get into a position where you have a huge backlog of digital pictures to organize.
By investing in good DAM software at the earliest opportunity, you won’t get into a position where you have a huge backlog of digital pictures to organize. In this article, I’ll introduce you to ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020, which offers a great set of features without breaking the bank.
More reasons for needing DAM
There are many
reasons you might want to locate specific photos among your collection. For me,
writing these articles is one of them. A set of photos illustrating a theme
might be scattered far and wide in my collection.
That’s where ACDSee’s Image Basket is so useful. You can work on
pictures from all over the place as if they were in one folder.
Ten photos from different folders collected in an ACDSee Image Basket. Note that I’m trying out a Lomo filter here using the experimental tools of View Mode.
Perhaps for you, it’ll be a photo book or a website that causes you to search for photos. Or you might be looking for portraits of friends and family. ACDSee DAM software includes excellent Face Detection technology. Once you’ve identified someone a few times, the software does a good job of finding other pictures of the same person. Or, if it’s not sure, it will ask you to confirm ID.
A quick demo of Face Detection technology, albeit using an artwork. With photographic portraits, the software learns facial features and starts to identify friends and family automatically.
A legitimate reason to label photos and get them in order is for posterity. One day, your photos may interest future generations of your family or even local historians. How many prints exist from the last century where the identity of the subjects and location is lost? I find that a shame.
Countless prints of places and people from the last century have become anonymous with time. Photo by Suzy Hazelwood.
ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020: A solution
There are some serious pieces of DAM software on the market. By far the best known is Adobe Lightroom, which happens to be a strong raw editor, too. Other examples include iMatch and FotoStation. But all these products come at a price.
The familiar interface of Adobe Lightroom on a MacBook. Photo by energepic.
ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020 is remarkable for several reasons.
It offers a lightning-fast browser, multiple ways to search your pictures, easy tagging and keywording of images, and a good set of editing tools for rendered files.
What’s not to like? You get all that for about a third of the price or less of many rivals.
Manage Mode
In Photo Studio Home and other ACDSee DAM software, Manage mode is where you make a lot of things happen. It’s an HQ for your photography. So, what can you do there?
Folders and catalog panes – finding pictures
The folder system
of your OS is accessible through the left-hand Folders pane in Manage Mode. And
that’s handy because you’re already familiar with it.
As long as your image folders are well named, it’s an easy task to find
what you’re looking for. Alternatively, you can use the adjacent Catalog tab to
filter photos by a wide variety of attributes.
The Folders pane in Manage mode. You only get to preview the images inside if they’re not in subfolders, but you can easily switch to Photos mode to see all content.
Manage Mode drop-downs
There are six drop-down menus exclusive to Manage mode: Import, Batch, Create, Slideshow, Send, and Editors. Importing files is easy. At this stage, you can rename files, add metadata, and divide file types into subfolders, among other things.
Building a contact sheet of flower photos via the Create drop-down in Manage Mode.
ACDSee links up seamlessly with other software too, which is what the “Editors” drop-down is for. Simply add any other programs you’re likely to use and you’ll be good to go. You can flick between them as you can with Lightroom and Photoshop or Photoshop and ACR.
Properties pane – organizing, categorizing
You can add metadata and keywords in Manage, View, or Edit mode of ACDSee. That’s what the Properties pane on the right is for.
As a stock photographer, keywords are a necessity for me. They help potential buyers find my pictures if I’m lucky. I add any words I think are relevant to the image.
At the very least, you should batch-add keywords to photos from the same shoot.
You can add geographical information to the IPTC data of your images by placing them on the Google map in Manage mode and hitting “Reverse Geocode.”
Import keywords
A welcome improvement in the 2020 version of ACDSee is the ability to import sets of keywords. It’s hugely time-consuming to create a keyword list from scratch, but now you can import lists from the Internet or elsewhere. You can also export lists so that you can move them from one piece of software to another.
Keyword lists help you to be thorough in your keywording instead of relying on random ideas. They also save you from repeatedly typing the same words.
Keywording in View mode using the foundation list linked in this article. You can adapt and grow your list as required.
You can import Foundation List version 2.0.1 into ACDSee. You’ll need to build on it, but it gives you a useful structure and a good head start.
Keywords are stored in the ACDSee database and can be applied to all file types. Note the “Embed ACDSee Metadata” tool does not write keywords to the IPTC keyword data field. I recommend copying and pasting keywords to this field if you want them to be visible elsewhere.
Here, I’ve pasted keywords from the Organize tab into the IPTC data field of the Metadata tab. This ensures visibility elsewhere. Of course, you could enter words directly into this field, but then you forfeit the rigor of using a hierarchical keyword list.
Photos Mode, View Mode
ACDSee automatically catalogs the images as you browse. You can catalog folders you haven’t browsed, too, which might be useful if you’re adding lots of pictures in one hit. This is possible in Manage mode or Photos mode.
Photos mode lets you rifle through folders of images according to their date. It even gives you a fair chance of finding pictures with no keywords or tags of any kind. This is a good way of seeing all the photos on your drive in a short space of time.
Flying through images by date in Photos mode. This was the day the “Tour de Normandie” cycle race began a stage in Vernon a few years back.
For browsing photos individually, View mode is the place to be. It’s
incredibly fast, and it gives you a big preview of each photo. This is also a
good place to grade, categorize, and keyword your photos.
I’ll give you a complete workflow to use below, so you can catalog photos like a pro!
Edit Mode
ACDSee Photo Studio Home 2020 offers a solid set of editing tools for photographers of all levels. Of course, there are things omitted at this price point that advanced photographers may miss. Here are three absentees, along with their workarounds:
No layers or adjustment brush as such, but you can perform localized edits using gradient tools or a regular brush tool. These come with blending modes, so you get quite a lot of control over the result without the sophistication or confusion of layers.
No raw editing. You can open most types of raw files without any say in their processing. Don’t forget you can link ACDSee to a raw processor if you need that extra control. That may also solve the problem of other missing features (e.g. perspective tool).
No 16-bit support, so you have to save any files you edit in 8-bit color. If you bring 16-bit archival files into Photo Studio Home 2020 and want to preserve their color depth, you must use “save as” to create new 8-bit files with all your edits.
One niggle and some good points
On my PC, the Clone tool in this software and the version before it refuses to work. I get a black screen. That’s odd since I don’t see the same thing with ACDSee Ultimate.
There’s lots to like about the editing tools in Photo Studio Home 2020. You get all the control over color and tone you’re likely to need, including the basic version of ACDSee’s esteemed Light EQ tool. This lets you adjust shadow, mid-tone, and highlight areas of an image separately.
I like some of the little touches in ACDSee, such as the way right-clicking resets the default value of any tool. There are creative features here, too, like Color LUTs, Special Effects, and a fun Tilt-Shift tool.
The Tilt-Shift tool works well with high-angle views, but you can try it out on all sorts of photos to alter their “bokeh.”
Workflow suggestion
Although this is a sponsored post, I’m a regular user of ACDSee software. I use it to organize pictures and I edit a lot of TIFFs and JPEGs in it. Below is a Photo Studio Home 2020 workflow that takes you from importing photos to saving the finished articles.
Importing photos and naming folders
1. Import your photos. You can open the Import dialog box in Manage Mode or have it open automatically by selecting the software in Windows Autoplay.
2. Choose a destination for your photos in the Import dialog box. An example might be “Pictures” in Windows. Name a “single subfolder” using the following naming convention: yymmdd-location (e.g. 200531-Paris-France).
3. Locate your imported folder of photos via the Folders tab in Manage Mode. Using the above naming convention, the latest folders are at the bottom of the folder list by default.
4. Double-click the first thumbnail in your newly imported image folder. This will open the image in View Mode while allowing access to other images in the folder. You’re ready to start grading and cataloging your pictures.
Assessing and grading photos
5. Make sure the Properties pane is open alongside your photos.
6. Decide on rejects by tagging all keepers with the checkbox in the Organize pane (top left). At this point, tag all photos you will or might keep for whatever reason. Important: do not reject raw files on the basis of poor sharpness in View Mode, since you are probably looking at an enlarged view of the embedded JPEG. Check the technical quality of raw files later in Edit Mode.
7. Flick back to Manage Mode and click on View > Filter By > Untagged. Delete your rejects. Or, just filter them out by selecting “Tagged” if you don’t like deleting stuff.
8. Back in View Mode, you can now rate your images. Ratings go from one to five. Rather than rate photos on a whim, I suggest writing down the meaning of each rating at the outset so you have a reference point. For instance:
1 – poor photo with sentimental value.
2 – adequate record photo, average family snap.
3 – fairly strong photo with visual interest, worth showing to friends.
4 – approaching your best, worthy of inclusion in portfolios.
5 – your very best, potential competition winner.
Tracking workflow
9. In Edit Mode, use color labels to indicate where in the workflow images are. Again, I have suggestions:
Red – to delete. Once you get raw files into Edit Mode, you can assess their technical quality better at 100%. You might yet want to delete some of them or downgrade their rating.
Yellow – editing in progress. Still more work to be done on color and tone or retouching. Perhaps other possibilities to explore or versions to create.
Green – editing over. Nothing more to be done with this picture. Ready to use.
Blue – to print. You can return the status to green once it’s printed.
Purple – uploaded to a specific photo website, stock library, etc. You can use the blue label for this as well if you don’t tend to print photos.
No Color Label – nothing done since the initial assessments.
10. Photos that need work (those with yellow labels or no color labels using the above system) can be finished in Edit mode. Apply edits ranging from basic color and tone to special effects and LUTs. When you’re done editing, change the color label so you know you’ve worked on it or finished it.
Categories and keywords
11. Give your finished photos categories and keywords. If you’ve imported a set of keywords, you can go through the list top-to-bottom and apply any that suit the image. ACDSee comes with quick keyword lists built-in, which may be enough, depending on how thorough you want to be.
12. Copy and paste keywords from the Organize > Keywords field into Metadata > IPTC > Keywords. Write a caption in the Description field of IPTC. Hit “Enter” or none of this will save. This makes the data universally visible outside of ACDSee.
Naming files
I haven’t spoken of file naming above, since you might want to do that at the beginning or end.
Each photo needs a unique name. You can do it on import if you like. However, if you later delete photos, you might leave irritating gaps in your number sequence (file names invariably include numbers).
A way around this is to forget consecutive numbers and use date and time instead. This works as long as you don’t shoot multiple frames per second, which would create duplicates.
Photo libraries always had their own file-naming conventions. In the digital age, including subject names in the file name makes your photos SEO-friendly.
I always rename files after I’ve selected, converted, and edited them. That’s when I do most of my admin. Raw files keep their original names because I rarely revisit them.
I recommend using a sequential number and place, or subject names in your files (e.g. 0001-Eiffel-Tower-Paris). This can often be done quickly using ACDSee’s Batch Rename tool. The number should obviously be unique in every image.
Get started
Photo Studio Home 2020 is nothing if not versatile. Seasoned photographers who want extras like raw editing or layers can hook it up to other editors and still benefit from the superb DAM tools.
For beginners or photographers who only shoot JPEGs, this feature-laden software might be all they need. Why not get your photos sorted now?
ACDSee is a paid dPS partner.
The post Getting Photos Organized with ACDSee DAM Software appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Glenn Harper.
Pixelmator has released a 1.2 update for its powerful iPad photo editing app Pixelmator Photo that adds cursor support, an improved Split View mode, a Match Colors tool, a new copy/paste function and much more.
The update comes on the heels of Apple’s new iPad Pro models and accompany Magic Keyboards, which offer not only a tactile typing experience, but also an integrated trackpad that works alongside iPadOS 13.4 to bring mouse-like support to iPadOS apps. By adding support for the new cursor functionality, Pixelmator Photo adds yet another means of input for editing photos on the go (it works with third-party Bluetooth cursors and trackpads as well).
Also new is Split View support, which lets you use Pixelmator Photo alongside another app without interrupting your workflow, as well as a new ML Match Colors function, which allows you to ‘match the look and feel of one photo to another’ thanks to machine-learning. Pixelmator has also added a new intensity slider for color adjustments and presets and the ability to share images directly from the Photos browser within the app without opening each image individually.
Other improvements and fixes addressed in the 1.2 update include improved screenshot capture, new default color adjustment options, a collection of user interface changes and a handful of bug fixes to smooth out the overall experience.
Pixelmator Photo 1.2 is available to download in the iOS App Store for $ 4.99.
The Fujifilm X-A7 is a fun-to-use, touchscreen-centric camera that covers the basics for a beginner while leaving room to grow. Perhaps best of all, it offers the Fujifilm color rendering that we know and love in a lightweight, barely-there package. Take a look at what it’s capable of as a daily companion in our sample gallery – which includes, we should note, images taken before social distancing was a way of life in the US.
We’ve recently shared with you our complete guide to developing film at home, but what happens after your negatives dry? Sure you could scan/digitize them, but why not instead try your hands at the lost art of darkroom printing? Setting up a fully-functional B&W darkroom is way easier and cheaper than you may think – and it’s a ton of fun.
Our pals over at 35mmc.com have put together a complete and practical guide to get you setup in the darkroom and printing, all for around $ 100.
Read: How to setup a darkroom for cheap
About Film Fridays: We recently launched an analog forum and in a continuing effort to promote the fun of the medium, we’ll be sharing film-related content on Fridays, including articles from our friends at 35mmc.
The post Creative Abstract Photography with Food Coloring and Milk appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.
Like any art form, photography thrives on experimentation. Creative abstract photography with food coloring and milk is a simple process, but it produces vibrant and immediate results. Using ingredients sourced from the pantry and the fridge, this is a fun project with plenty of room for creativity.
f/5.0 1/125 ISO 100 x 2
A bit of history…
Ever since they were discovered, humans have been enamored by the creative possibilities of dyes. Dyed flax fibers found in the Republic of Georgia in a prehistoric cave have been dated to 36,000 years BP.
The earliest dyes were obtained from animal, mineral and vegetable sources. Rare resources that produce brilliant and permanent colors like Tyrian purple and crimson were highly sought-after in the ancient and medieval world. As technology progressed, so did artistic mediums, creating more accessible and safe dyes and pigments.
f/2.0 1/50 ISO 500
The practice of adding colorants to food itself is thought to have started in Ancient Egypt around 1500 BC. Candy makers would add wine and colored extracts to their wares to make them more visually appealing to customers.
Nowadays, a variety of safely consumable dyes are readily available in grocery stores, cooking shops, etc. The vibrancy and behavior of these colorants has fascinated many, with food dyes being adopted for artistic purposes too.
How to make abstract photography with food coloring and milk
You will need:
a camera with a macro lens or extension tubes etc
a tripod (optional)
1/4 of a cup or so of plant-based or dairy milk
food dye in a range of colors
dish soap (optional)
a white dish or bowl
a mixing utensil or two
paper towel or a sponge or cloth to clean up any spills
Setting up
The first step to creating abstract photography with food coloring and milk is to prepare your canvas – the milk!
Sit your dish or bowl on a level surface exposed to a decent amount of natural light (or you could use flash).
Pour your plant-based or dairy milk into the dish so that the dish is covered by a few millimeters of liquid. Make sure you have a sponge or cloth at the ready to wipe up any spills.
f/5.6 1/200 ISO100
Next, set your camera up. You want it primed and ready for action as you drop the food dye into the milk.
For this project you can use a tripod to keep the camera steady, freeing up a hand to adjust the dye. You can also hand-hold your camera, whichever feels more comfortable. You can angle the camera any way you like, just as long as it is focused on the milk-filled dish.
Now for the dye!
Once your camera is ready, add a few drops of dye into the milk. Start taking photographs, gradually introducing more dye as needed.
As the dye spreads, try adding different colors to create a more layered effect. You can also stir the dye with a mixing utensil, cultivating intriguing shapes and forms.
F/8.0 1/125 ISO 400 | f/19.0 1/125 ISO 400
To create a sense of movement in your abstract creations, try blowing on the milk/dye through a straw, or fanning the concoction with a fan.
You can even add a little water, dish soap or vegetable oil to create separation within the dye and milk mixture.
f/8.0 1/125 ISO 400 | f/13.0 1/125 ISO 400
Once you are finished with a batch of food dye and milk, you can start again with a fresh bowl! Just remember to add the dye gradually so as not to over-saturate the mixture too quickly.
f/3.5 1/250 ISO 400 | f/22 1/125 ISO 400
Conclusion
Photography with food coloring and milk renders visually fascinating results. With a few simple ingredients, photo-worthy abstract images are created in a whirl of unrepeatable patterns and layers.
I’d love you to try creating abstract photography with food coloring and milk and share your results in the comments below!
The post Creative Abstract Photography with Food Coloring and Milk appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.
Sony has released its latest firmware update for the a9II, bringing with it a collection of new and improved features.
Starting with what’s new, firmware version 2.00 for the Sony a9 II adds a new ‘Hi Frequency Flicker’ function that helps to ‘reduce the impact of flickering of artificial light sources (e.g. digital signage, electronic signboards, LED lights, etc.), by more finely adjusting the shutter speed.’ Also added is a new function that will close the shutter when you turn off the camera to minimize the chance of dirt or dust getting on the image sensor.
Sony has also added the ability to assign the Face/Eye Priority autofocus setting to a custom key that will activate and deactivate the setting when pressed. Those who already have Face/Eye Priority set to a custom key will be able to deactivate it with that same button after the 2.00 update is complete.
Other improvements include updates to the Remote Camera Tool function, improved FTP transfers, the option to display the camera’s MAC address as a QR code and other improvements that should improve the overall stability of the camera.
Sony also notes that the Image Edge Remote, Imaging Edge Mobile and Remote Camera Tool will no longer be supported after tomorrow, April 9, but doesn’t elaborate on what exactly that means going forward. We have contacted Sony and will clarify these details when we receive a response.
You can download firmware version 2.00 for macOS and Windows on Sony’s a9 II support page.
Changelog:
Benefits and Improvements from the [2.00] update
Adds the Hi Frequency flicker function, which allows you to reduce the impact of flickering of artificial light sources (e.g. digital signage, electronic signboards, LED lights, etc.), by more finely adjusting the shutter speed NOTE: The Imaging Edge Remote, Imaging Edge Mobile, and Remote Camera Tool software will not be supported after April 9th, 2020
Improves the Face/Eye Priority in the AF function:
When set to a custom key, the Face/Eye Priority in the AF function can be activated or deactivated each time the custom key is pressed
If Face/Eye Priorityis already set to custom key, this improvement will be available after the camera is updated
Improves the Remote Camera Tool function by adding support for displaying Focus Frame for almost all scenes NOTE: Version 2.00 (or later) of the Remote Camera Tool is required. Please update to the latest version.
Improves the FTP transfer function
Allows the camera’s MAC address to be displayed as a QR code
Adds a function to close the shutter when you turn off the camera to prevent dust or debris from adhering to the image sensor when you change lenses
Allows you to save or load the customized camera settings to My MENU
Improves the overall stability of the camera
For updated function usage and additional information, please refer to the ILCE-9M2 Help Guide. Additionally, a revision has been made to the instruction manual according to this update. The latest version of the instruction manual can be downloaded from referenced website.
More used to making protective gear for camera lenses, New Jersey-based LensCoat has turned its attention to making protective masks for health workers during the Coronavirus outbreak in the United States. The company has given over 50% of its production capacity to making the masks for its local hospital in Freehold, NJ.
LensCoat owner and nature photographer Scott Elowitz told DP Review that he responded to an appeal by the New York governor for companies to make Personal Protection Equipment but was told the governor was really looking for those who already had federal certification.
Scott says he was driven by a personal story in which one of his Freehold neighbor’s family had been ravaged by CV19 which lead to seven members being hospitalized and four dying.
‘I was a little dejected that we couldn’t make certified equipment but continued to look for ways to help’ he tells DPReview. ‘Then one of my staff alerted me that the Freehold Township Residents Community group was putting together a group of at-home sewers to make masks for our CentraState hospital and local first responders.’ Scott contacted the group to offer the company’s sewing skills and capacity and soon began making the masks.
Lenscoat’s usual product line is camo covers for lenses, cameras and photographers
LensCoat has a large stock of camouflaged material that it uses for its usual products and used this to make some very cool-looking masks. ‘We are a Realtree licensee (Realtree is the world’s leading camouflage designer). They heard about what we were doing and contacted us to also donate fabric to our local cause.’
Scott explains that the masks are not FDA surgical grade, so they are used over N95 and surgical masks as well as given to others in the hospital so that the hospital can use their limited resources more efficiently. ‘And I feel good about finding a way to help out our local community. We are all in this together. We have to do what we can to help even if it’s just staying home and not becoming a victim or part of the problem. The sooner we get this under control the sooner we will be able to get back to a sense of normalcy.’
For more information on the company see the LensCoat website.
PDNedu Student Photo Contest 2020 winners and finalists
The annual PDNedu Student Photo contest gives professional exposure to students currently enrolled in university/college, high school, or a certificate program. This year’s winners and honorable mentions will be published in the Spring 2020 issue of PDNedu – a publication that reaches over 50,000 educators and students. Images and multimedia will also be featured on PDN’s social accounts that boast over 500,000 followers.
Nikon is the main sponsor for the contest that awards the best student images across 7 categories: Fashion & Portraiture, Documentary, Still Life, Travel & Landscape, Fine Art & Personal Work, Multimedia & Video, and High School (Any Subject). Academy of Art student, and third-generation photographer Pratik Parulekar, won both the Grand Prize and Honorable Mention in the Still Life Category.
Grand Prize winners will receive the latest Nikon gear and lenses. Multimedia Grand Prize winner, Zuzanna Rabikowska, will also receive $ 1,500 cash. Other contests, plus conferences, can be viewed here.
Grand Prize, Documentary & Photojournalism: ‘Faith, Custom, Home’ by Arne Piepke
Artist Statement: Every year, from May to September, marksmen’s festivals are held in the Sauerland in Germany. The three-day festivals consist of Marches through villages, church processions, as well as dances and honors. The highlight of each festival is a shooting competition to determine the new annual King.
The origin of these marksmen’s clubs goes back to the civil defense in the Middle Ages and their motto, ‘for faith, custom and home,’ is still written on their flags today. With few exceptions, most of these clubs and brotherhoods have strict rules, do not allow women as members and represent conservative Christian values. The citizens of small villages in Germany have a strong sense of community and a deep attachment to their home, which is shaped mainly by cultivating this tradition and their regional customs.
Growing up in one of these small villages and visiting the local marksmen’s festivals from childhood on has led me to reflect on my personal experiences with this tradition. From 2015 on, I visited 31 festivals in order to use photography to question the contemporary exercise of the tradition and to examine the theatre like procedure of the fest.
Grand Prize, Fashion & Portraiture: ‘Untitled’ by Angel Chai Arviv
Artist Statement: I was born in 1989, in Pardes Hana in the north of Israel. Today I am based in Tel Aviv. I love it here; this place keeps me grounded. I’m into photography since early years and it’s been a long journey which started with taking simple sketches of everyday life and continued with fashion projects.
I’ve tried many genres – from documentary photography to product or travel photography. Finally I found myself in fashion photography where my passions for photographing ‘real people,’ and for storytelling and aesthetics, became the most inspiring combination. Today I am in the last year of my degree at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, and I aspire to be a professional photographer.
In my work I remember all the time that everyone is important, and everyone wants their fifteen minutes of fame. It doesn’t matter if the subject is a model or not, everyone wants to be remembered. When the subjects are looking at you in my photographs, I think you can see yourself in them.
Many times I find myself questioning photographic norms, whether or not it’s acceptable to talk about the concept of masculinity in our time, and pushing boundaries. My work continues to document the perception of the human body as a machine of passion and sculpture in human matter.
Honorable Mention, Fashion & Portraiture: ‘Under the Veil’ by Ney Mila
Artist statement: Fashion photo shoots I created and directed in 2019.
Honorable Mention, Fashion & Portraiture: ‘Under the Veil’ by Ney Mila
Artist statement: Fashion photo shoots I created and directed in 2019.
Grand Prize, Fine Art & Personal Work: ‘#Metoo’ by Carol Record
Artist Statement: The #MeToo movement, which went viral in October 2017, prompted me to reexamine and reprocess my own personal history with sexual assault and harassment.
From 1996 to 1998, between the ages of 13 and 15, I was raped and manipulated by my stepfather, a man I had grown to love and trust like my own father. This series revisits family photographs from this time period, documenting my turbulent state of mind and expressing what I was unable to fully process in the moment. Through the addition and subtraction of various elements, the images reveal the extent of the trauma and begin to more accurately illustrate my life and psyche during this chaotic nightmare.
Working both digitally and physically allows me to create layers of separation and an emotional buffer between myself and the memories. Using the laptopogram process, family photos, legal documents and diary entries were scanned, digitally manipulated, and then exposed to silver gelatin paper via a laptop monitor in the darkroom. The resulting images were then developed and rescanned to create new images that could not have been made through digital means alone.
This workflow allows me to both mentally and physically process my thoughts, exorcising the demons from my past by physically channeling long-held feelings of anger, grief and frustration into the development of the image. The solitude and focus during the practice allow me to reflect upon this turbulent period of my life now that I am no longer inside it.
Honorable Mention, Fine Art & Personal Work: ‘Untangle’ by Sadie Cook
Artist Statement: I want to hold onto my body. I want to understand all its sides and parts. I’m just starting to understand how tangled up desire and photography and power and gender are. Figuring out how to negotiate this tangle, especially as a young, queer girl, feels urgent and exciting and frightening. I take pictures incessantly. I photograph the women around me and the act of touch and myself.
I think about language a lot. I want looking at my photographs to feel like when an acquaintance stops me on the street to say hi and ask how I am doing, and I take a deep breath and I say everything I?m really feeling and thinking with all the stammers and stutters and half-said sentences.
Grand Prize, High School (Any Subject): ‘Above the Rim’ by Losany Doumbouya
About this photo: From a teacher submitting on behalf of Losany Doumbouya, a junior at Ypsilanti Community High School: ‘This photo represents the stereotype that athletics, specifically basketball, are the only way for African American students to get ahead. The idea was Losany’s as well as the composition and camera settings, while his classmate, Jessie Jones, took the photo so Losany himself could be in it.’
Honorable Mention, High School (Any Subject): ‘BW Surf’ by Jack Bober
Artist Statement: My idea behind this series was to create a unique view of surf and waves. By making them black and white, it adds a certain mood that adds solitude and feeling to the ocean.
Grand Prize, Still Life: ‘How Many’ by Pratik Parulekar
Artist Statement: A photographic solution to a curious question.
Honorable Mention, Still Life: ‘Monochromatic Food’ by Pratik Parulekar
Artist Statement: A self-promotion project about Japanese food in the contexts of design, color and minimalism.
Grand Prize, Travel & Landscape: ‘Vacated Vacation’ by Itamar Dotan Katz
Artist Statement: Whether it was caused by the wave of terror attacks (2004), the Tahrir Square uprising (2011), or various economic considerations, this once-promising tourist area has turned into a graveyard of hotels. These enormous monuments have been abandoned and now stand as silent memorials to what might have been.
The South-side of the Sinai peninsula is beautiful, unlike any other landscape, as unique and as barren as Luke Skywalker’s home planet. Its dramatic red mountains tumble down into a turquoise ocean, which is filled with colorful aquatic life. Scattered on the beach are some very low-cost guest houses in the form of straw huts. Only a handful are occupied by those “brave” enough to visit Sinai.
The land itself is inhabited mostly by Bedouin tribes and the Egyptian army. But what looks like a heavenly resort area is almost completely deserted, filled only with traces of humans. Some of those resorts are in a fully operational state, with beds in the rooms and running water in the sink; others are in different stages of construction—but all are empty.
Over the past three years I have been documenting these resorts to show the wastefulness of men, the consequences of conflict and economy, and how present humans can be without being present at all. This is an ongoing project and the aim is to present it as a mock ‘travel guide to abandoned hotels.’
Honorable Mention, Travel & Landscape: ‘A Salted Land’ by Beihua Guo
Artist Statement: ‘A Salted Land’ explores the escalating environmental disasters triggered by human activities at the Salton Sea. Located in Southern California, the Salton Sea was accidentally created by engineering failures and was once a popular tourist destination. However, agricultural runoff and other pollutants resulted in fish and bird die-offs as well as rapidly increasing salinity, destroying homes and resorts.
The post The dPS At-Home 7-Day Photography Challenge – Week Four appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
As many of us around the world are continuing self-isolation, and social distancing (whoever thought that would be a thing?), we thought we’d make it a bit more fun and creative (as well as keeping our photography skills sharp). So, we are giving you (and us) an “At-Home, 7-Day Photography Challenge.”
This is now week four of the challenge (see week one here, week two here, and week three here. You can still do those challenges, as there are no deadlines on any of these).
This week we are going to focus entirely on post-processing your images and fun techniques you can try.
As always, it would be fabulous to see your results, so please share them with us in the comments section. That way, we can connect and share, and keep ourselves occupied with something positive and creative!
At-Home, 7-Day Photography Challenge – Week Four
Day 1
This is a fun challenge. Take a series of photos of anything and turn them into an animated GIF in Photoshop! You can also add text or make it into an animated meme. You can then use them for social media if you like! How to Make an Animated GIF in Photoshop
Day 2
This one shows you have to make a multi-exposure image in photoshop. How to Create a Multiple Exposure Effect in Photoshop
Day 3
Another fun one – create a tiny planet in Photoshop! How to Make a Little Planet Quickly and Easily in Photoshop
Day 4
Split toning can give your image some interesting effects. So, jump into your archives and see what you can do to enhance some of those images with split toning in Photoshop. How to Rescue an Image in Lightroom With Split Toning
Day 5
This one is all about creating reflections in your images. Make it look like a landscape has a water reflection! See what you can come up with. Create Awesome Reflections in Photoshop with Ease (Step-by-Step Guide)
This one is for creating photo composites. Take bits and pieces of various images and turn them into a new image! Fake it to Make it – Creating Convincing Photo Composites
Day 7
Create a cool photomontage with this great technique! How to Make a Cool David Hockney-Inspired Photomontage in Photoshop
I’m looking forward to seeing your results. Don’t forget to share them with us in the comments!
The post The dPS At-Home 7-Day Photography Challenge – Week Four appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
tool. This lets you adjust shadow, mid-tone, and highlight areas of an image separately.
