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How to Use the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter for Better Photo Editing
The post How to Use the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter for Better Photo Editing appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

Inside Photoshop, there are an awful lot of tools for you to use to get the very most out of your images. Some of these tools (while not simple) have very specific functions that you use for specific tasks (Unsharp Mask for example). The Photoshop Camera Raw Filter is different.

This filter opens up the use of the (almost) full functionality of Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) anywhere in your Photoshop workflow. If you’ve ever used ACR (or Lightroom) to process a raw file, you know exactly how feature-packed this tool is.

The Camera Raw Filter is a powerful tool that allows you access to the features of ACR anytime in your workflow.

In normal cases, you would use ACR to process your photos at the beginning of your workflow during raw processing, but the Camera Raw Filter opens up these tools to you anytime you may want them.

This article will outline how to use the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter, show you some instances where you might want to use it, and give you some tips to get the most out of it.

What is the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter?

Lightroom is great for processing your raw files (so is ACR), but what if you could use these tools inside Photoshop?

At its most basic, the Photoshop Camera Raw filter allows you to use the functions of the ACR interface at any time within Photoshop. This allows you to make any adjustments within ACR at any time during your workflow instead of just limiting its usage to the raw processing stage.

While it would be possible to import your working file into Lightroom to make the same sets of adjustments, doing this in Photoshop saves you from that cumbersome step. It allows you the use of these tools without any extra effort.

You can find the Camera Raw Filter under the filter menu.

To find the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter, simply choose Filter->Camera Raw Filter and the dialog box will pop up.

Before you do this, you may want to stamp all layers by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Alt+e (Cmd+Shift+Alt+e). This will combine all of your layers into a new layer from which you can work.

The top layer here is stamped from the two layers below it.

What it doesn’t allow

White Balance – Because you are not working from a raw file, you lose a lot of the functionality of the white balance setting in ACR. You will still be able to make drastic changes to the coloring of your images with this tool. It will be the same, for example, as adjusting a JPG in Lightroom.

Crop tool – You also lose the crop and rotate tools that you would have access to when working on RAW files.

There are others, but these are the most important to take note of.

In the various menus of the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter, you will find there are a few options missing that you would see in ACR.

It’s also important to realize that because you are not working with a raw file at this stage, you won’t have the same versatility that you would with a raw file in ACR.

Instead, the process will be more akin to working on a JPG file in Lightroom or ACR. This means you will have less information to work with, such as, dynamic range.

This is all fine and to be expected. However, it illustrates the importance of getting things as close to right as possible while in the raw stage of post-processing.

How can it be used?

With all of the power of ACR behind the Photoshop Camera Raw filter, there is no way to make anything resembling a complete list of what you could do with it. But here are a few potential uses that I find myself using often.
- Fine-tune adjustments after raw
- Make certain adjustments easier than in Photoshop
- Make quick, extreme adjustments for certain parts of your image
- Quick and easy vignetting
- Final tweaks before finishing your image
1. Fine-tuning adjustments after raw

Once in Photoshop, and after a bit of healing work, I decided that I wanted to make the image a touch cooler and reduce the vibrancy as well. To not lose the healing work, I used the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter to make a quick adjustment.

If you’re like me, you mostly make decisions about adjustments on the spot. This is fine when you process your raw file and move it into Photoshop immediately. However, if you leave it for a day or two before you come to it, you might find that you no longer like the decisions you made.

Of course, you could always go back into Lightroom and start again, but what happens if you have already started making adjustments to your image?

Chances are, you don’t want to lose those. A quick and easy solution is to stamp the layers to a new layer and run the Camera Raw Filter. Once there, you can make any adjustments you might want and click Okay.

This works great if you want to make quick adjustments to things like the overall exposure, contrast or vibrancy in an image. I will often come back to a file after a few days to find that I want to reduce the highlights and whites before I get started properly.

2. Make trickier adjustments

I find the Clarity tool in ACR tricky to replicate in Photoshop. Here, I darkened the background and cranked up the clarity with the Camera Raw Filter. I also used a Layer Mask to keep the changes off of the subject.

Photoshop might be all-powerful on its own, but ACR (and Lightroom by extension) do make a few things easier. For example, the Clarity slider is a tricky tool to replicate in Photoshop. Using the Photoshop camera raw filter to make these adjustments is easier and can save you a lot of time.

Another example is the use of the Highlights, Whites, Darks, and Blacks sliders to make quick, intuitive global contrast adjustments. Using these tools in this way is useful if you’re not yet fully familiar or comfortable with options like curves adjustments.

3. Local adjustments

Here, the shirt sleeve was still to bright for my taste, so I used the radial filter as a local adjustment to bring it down a bit

A common way I use the Photoshop camera raw filter is to make adjustments specific to a target area (such as a background).

After the adjustments are made, you can then use a layer mask to ensure that the adjustments are only affecting the areas that you want.

This method suits textured backdrops well because you can adjust the clarity and contrast to your heart’s content knowing that your subject won’t be affected once you make the layer mask.

4. Vignettes

ACR’s vignette tool is easy, fast and intuitive and hard to beat in Photoshop unless you need absolute control.

There are tonnes of ways to create a vignette in Photoshop, but in my opinion, the vignette tool within the ACR is by far the easiest, fastest and most intuitive to use. By doing it this way, you can create a subtle (or extreme if you prefer) vignette in just a few seconds. It is also easy to mask out (as per the previous section) any part of the vignette that might be interfering with your subject.

5. Final tweaks

With a finished image, you can always load up the Camera Raw Filter and see if there’s any small tweaks (like the ones here) to help the image.

Another useful trick for the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter is to use it to make a set of final tweaks to your finished images.

Once you’ve completed your image, you can run the filter and see if there’s any further small adjustments you’d like to make. Tiny adjustments to exposure, contrast (via all the sliders) clarity and vibrance can all help to give your finished images just a little more polish.

At this point, your images should be good to go, so do try to keep any adjustments at this stage small and subtle.

Just the beginning

With the exception of a bit of skin work (maybe five minutes) and some sharpening at the end, this image’s Photoshop workflow was completed otherwise entirely with the Camera Raw Filter. Hopefully you can see just how useful a tool it is.

With a tool like the Photoshop camera raw filter, there are so, so many options for you to use in your images.

If you can do it in ACR (with a few minor exceptions), you can do it with this filter inside Photoshop. Feel free to use it in any way that you need to that gets the results that you want.

Side-by-side comparison of the starting image and the final image.

Smart objects

Depending on your workflow and your style of post-processing, using the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter as a Smart Object might be a good choice for you.

Smart Objects allow you to come back to any adjustment you have made (with certain tools) and tweak them.

To setup a Smart Object, right click the layer that you want to use and choose Convert to Smart Object.

To work with Smart Objects, right-click the layer that you will run the Camera Raw Filter on and click Convert to Smart Object.

Now run the Camera Raw Filter and make any adjustments that you want to and press okay.

In the Layers Palette, and under the layer that you are working on, you will now see the name of the filter below the box titled Smart Filters. If you double click this, you will be taken back to the Camera Raw Filter dialog box where you can adjust any of the settings that you have tweaked.

This is a useful technique for any time you think you might second guess your decisions a bit later on.

With the layer converted to a Smart Object, you can apply your filter. To alter the adjustments, simply double click on the name of the filter in the layers palette.

Having said that, Smart Objects won’t suit every photographer’s workflow.

For example, I like to use a lot of stamped layers in my workflow and by the time I might see something I want to modify, I’ve already created and worked on a new stamped layer above it.

Any adjustments made to a Smart Object in this situation, would not be visible.

Overall

I will admit, that the way that the Camera Raw Filter was used in this example was extreme and bit over the top, but by using it in this manner, I hope you can see just how powerful an option it is for various adjustments in Photoshop.

The Photoshop camera raw filter is a very powerful tool that you can use while post processing your images for a great many different effects. Add to that the fact that anyone who shoots in raw format is already familiar with the interface, it makes using the filter quick and painless to make any number of adjustments. I have discussed only a few ways that you can use this filter in your images, but if you have any other suggestions on how you use it, please leave it in the comments below for other readers to benefit from.

The post How to Use the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter for Better Photo Editing appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

Digital Photography School
March 9, 2020
Images and Text: The Untapped Power of Photography Blogs

The post Images and Text: The Untapped Power of Photography Blogs appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Charlie Moss.

There is a lot of advice online about blogging for photographers. It’s often extremely good advice, and applicable to most photographers. But the advice is often more about the technical aspect of setting up a blog, or how to grow a blog to support a photographic business. Very rarely are they about the power of photography blogs for creative development.

There’s nothing wrong with creating a photography blog if you’re in business, of course. But what about if you want to use a blog to help you develop creatively? Or to explore different aspects of an ongoing photography project?

Blogs can be a great tool for inspiring creativity in photographers. For this reason, I think you should consider the idea of writing alongside your documentary or fine art photography practice.

Writing to develop your creativity

The most basic way to think about blogging for your photography is as an archival tool. By posting images and commentary regularly and then looking back through your archives, you will be able to see the journey that you have been on.

If you make your blog public, it also allows others to see the work that you’ve done – something a documentary photographer might find particularly useful.

I’ve been writing a “Behind the Image” series on my blog. I record my thoughts about the image-making process and sometimes ideas on what I might do in the future.

By understanding your journey, you can plan a path for the future of your photography. You’ll be able to more easily see what worked and what didn’t.

Being able to look at your entire body of work in a timeline format can be very beneficial.

Sometimes, because you see your own work all the time, it can feel like you aren’t making progress. There can be a real feeling that you aren’t creating anything new and exciting photographically.

But a blog can help with that by reminding you of pictures that you took months, or even years ago. The power of photography blogs comes from being able to compare your current pictures with this older work you will surely see an inspirational improvement.

A picture can paint a thousand words – but should it have to?

I always remember being told when I was learning photography, that if you had to explain a photograph beyond a title, it failed as an image. I suppose in a way that was good for me – it certainly made me work harder with my storytelling.

But I never understood why it should be the case that photographs should not be accompanied by words.

Is a title enough to explain a photo?

I wonder if this comes from a desire to imitate grand historical paintings that were full of signs and symbols.

Back then, the educated audience would have largely understood the visual language used. But it would also have been common for the owner of the painting to show off his knowledge by explaining it to his friends.

You’ll find that these paintings did often have long accompanying explanations – they just weren’t written down.

Of course, there will always be images that stand without words and tell a great story. But these images and series are comparatively rare – most images are at least helped out by the inclusion of a title.

A Japanese tradition

It’s often observed that the favored publishing medium for the greats of Japanese photography has been the photobook.

The book format allows photographers to write texts to accompany their images, and these texts are often quite lengthy. Certainly, they amount to more than a mere caption or title.

Publishing texts alongside their photographs in books and magazines means that their words can be every bit as influential as their images. This kind of approach is rarely seen in Western photographic traditions. I can’t help but wonder if blogs had been invented many years earlier if Japanese photographers would have harnessed the power of photography blogs alongside photobooks and magazine publishing.

Japanese photographers have traditionally explored photobooks as a way to put their images alongside the text they write.

The result of this writing that accompanies their photographs is often the feeling of a more intimate relationship with the photographer and their work. The viewed can gain more of a sense of why the photographer took the images and a deeper connection with the photographs.

It also gives the photographer a chance to link their work more closely to current affairs or politics. These themes are often reflected in the images and writing of the early pioneers of Japanese photography who lived through the Second World War.

How to write about photography

There are lots of different ways that you could write about your work on a blog and being able to mix and match styles is a power of photography blogs.

In the past, I have favored blog posts reflecting on how and why I took and photo. I like to also speculate about what I might do differently if I was to approach the same subject again.

Other photographers have taken a more reflective approach, considering their thoughts and feelings at the time they shot the image. This incredibly personal approach to writing about photographs is understandably too intimate for some. But when it works, it can help a photographer develop creatively, while bringing the audience on their journey with them.

One way to retain flexibility when blogging about your work might be to approach it like a diary. That way you can vary your approach on any given day. Let your mood and the photograph dictate how personal you want your words to be.

Alternatively, you could take an altogether more academic approach. Looking at aesthetics or even the technical aspects of photography and how it applies to your work could be another route.

This would be a different way to create a body of work made up of both images and text. Throughout history, artists have tried to formulate their own ideas of what constitutes good art. There is no reason that you shouldn’t do the same!

Beyond the blog

While a blog is a great format for text and images, there is always the possibility of transferring your work into a different medium. One option could be to publish your own book – collecting your photos alongside the words that you wrote about them.

You could choose to put everything you write and shoot into a series of books or pick pieces based on theme or location. If you think you might want to do thematic books in the future, this would be a good use of the tagging feature in your blog software!

I like to paste still life polaroids into notebooks and write about my thoughts for the day. It’s a way to slow down photography and take it away from the digital.

Alternatively, you could experiment with exhibiting your work. I worked on a project some time ago about the idea of showing work in a gallery space and using QR codes on the labels to link to digital content, such as long texts. This kind of thinking outside the box could really make a gallery show stand out!

Of course, if you don’t feel like telling the world about your photos you could simply keep a traditional paper journal with your thoughts and feelings alongside your photographs.

Printing the images and then pasting them into notebooks is a relaxing and creative process that can inspire all kinds of thoughts to write down. You can harness the power of photography blogs both in digital and analog formats.

Do you have anything else you’d like to add about the power of photography blogs? If so, please share them with us in the comments.

The post Images and Text: The Untapped Power of Photography Blogs appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Charlie Moss.

Digital Photography School

March 9, 2020
What does the EOS R5 tell us about Canon’s mirrorless plans?

A prototype of the forthcoming Canon EOS R5, on display at the recent WPPI trade show

If it wasn’t obvious at the time, it should be clear now that the EOS R and RP don’t represent Canon’s full ambitions for full-frame mirrorless. Following the initial surge of those releases, there’s been an apparent lull while the real work continued. Now that Canon has started to release details of the forthcoming EOS R5, the bigger picture is becoming clearer.

This is not to downplay the role of those first two cameras. The RP in particular seems to be turning into the camera we thought it might: a competent and aggressively priced first-time full-framer, pitched below the 6D level to entice people into the system.

But it was very apparent that the R and RP weren’t at the center of Canon’s plans for the RF-mount and we’ve had to wait until now, to see more of Canon’s longer-term strategy.

The RF lenses have already set out the game plan though. That triumvirate of F2.8 L zooms is clearly not primarily aimed at RP or even R users. The prices and the performance that they’ve shown, along with the use of the widely respected ‘L’ designation, should make that clear.

Neither the ‘holy trinity’ of F2.8 L zooms, nor the 50 and 85mm F1.2 prime lenses will have been developed primarily for EOS R or RP shooters.

These lenses are laying the groundwork for a camera designed to appeal to the dedicated enthusiast and professional user.

The R5 will be a mirrorless 5D

One thing that’s certain, now that we’ve seen the prototype cameras, is that the inclusion of the number ‘5’ in the R5’s name is no coincidence.

The 5D line has been important for the company, both in terms of sales and in terms of reputation. The 5D DSLRs help cement the company’s image as the maker of aspirational products for enthusiasts and dependable cameras for working professionals, then extended that to create the first high-end stills/video hybrid camera. Like the ‘L’ designation, Canon is unlikely to risk undermining the values associated with that branding by casually applying it to something less ambitious.

Canon is unlikely to risk the 5-series branding by applying it to something less ambitious

The prototype units Canon has put on show also help to make clear that it’s this 5D-using crowd it’s targeting with the R5: the styling cues of the body might come from the EOS R but the control layout is reassuringly 5D-like. Wedding shooters, along with everyone else who got really anxious about such things when the EOS R was launched, will be reassured to hear the R5 will have twin card slots.

There are certainly plenty of design cues from the EOS R, including that square status panel and the mode button set inside the rear shoulder dial…

Canon was determined to get it right

The lag between the announcement of the system and the arrival of its key camera model suggests there was still work that needed to be done.

Given how much of a head start Sony had already established in full-frame mirrorless with its progressively better a7 cameras, there must have been a temptation for Canon to quickly establish a presence in such a key part of the market. But, rather than launching a rival to the Sony a7R III at the same time Nikon launched its Z7, Canon has kept its powder dry.

…but that rear-plate scroll wheel, that big, traditional joystick and the arrangement of the two buttons on the right shoulder have much more in common with Canon’s DSLR design.

This strongly suggests it’s been continuing to work on the technologies underpinning the R5. Whereas the R and RP placed sensors from existing models (the EOS 5D IV and EOS 6D II respectively), in less-expensive bodies, it’s now clear that the R5 will include a series of all-new technologies. And we’d guess at a price tag around the $ 3500 territory that EOS 5D models have been launched at.

It will feature new-to-Canon technologies

Canon confirmed to us over a year ago that it was developing an in-body stabilization system for a ‘pro-level’ RF camera, and this is likely to be one of the things still being perfected.

There’s scope for some misunderstanding in translation, of course, but the senior figures we interviewed seemed to suggest a system that would combine the efforts of in-body and in-lens stabilization, like Panasonic and Olympus do, rather than sharing the work by letting in-lens stabilization take over some of the work from the in-body mechanism, per Sony and Nikon.

Canon has a history of launching new systems by starting with the middle model. The launch model of the EF mount, the EOS 650, wasn’t an especially high-end offering.

While Canon has decades of experience of in-lens stabilization, it doesn’t have any prior experience of combining lens and sensor-shift IS. This is clearly a technology Canon wanted to get absolutely right before launching a 5D-level camera, rather than delivering a standalone IBIS system and then using the promise of combined IS to entice people to upgrade to an R5 Mark II.

It will push video capabilities forward

The EOS 5D II established the idea of the DSLR as a video device. It wasn’t quite the first video DSLR but with its Full HD capability and full-frame sensor, it was the one that ended up in the hands of would-be videographers the world over. The Mark III added a little polish to this but didn’t really push things forward.

But one of the undeniable advantages mirrorless offers over DSLRs is that you don’t have a mirror that needs to be moved out of the way before you can start recording. This, in turn, helps give a more coherent stills and video shooting experience, making it easier for photographers to adapt to shooting sequences of moving pictures, rather than just stills.

So a 5D-level mirrorless camera would be the perfect time to make a spiritual successor to the 5D Mark II and Canon is talking in terms of 8K capture.

The potential benefits of 8K apply to people watching in 4K, just as there were benefits to 4K capture before widespread adoption of 4K displays

You may not think you need 8K, if that’s what the camera ends up outputting. It’s true that the limits of human vision at sensible viewing distances take us into the realms of diminishing returns, but many of the potential benefits of 8K apply to people watching in 4K, just as there were benefits to 4K capture before widespread adoption of 4K displays.

The first is the ability to crop in, giving scope for adding panning or zooming movement into locked-off shots. This is hugely useful in terms of giving flexibility at the edit stage, particularly for single camera setups that an R5 is likely to be used for.

But the other option is to capture at 8K and output it as perfectly oversampled 4K, since you need to capture twice the resolution to accurately describe all the detail that a 4K video can show. It may be that this is what Canon is referring to 8K capture with 4K output, but even this would be an impressive step forward.

I won’t call it a flagship

So what we know from the announced details and what we can deduce from the RF lenses that have been launched is that the 5R will aim to be a ‘Super 5D’: with the addition of in-body IS and advanced video making it perhaps the biggest generational leap forward for ‘5’ level cameras since the introduction of Full HD video capture.

The EOS R5 promises to match the 1D X III in terms of its 20fps frame rate, but it’s still the 1D series that’s the real flagship in Canon’s lineup.

But I’m still loath to call it a flagship. 5D cameras are important to Canon and certainly help set public perception of the brand, but it’s the 1D-series that has entrenched the company’s position on the sidelines of sports across the world.

The R5 is likely to include some of the AI-trained autofocus know-how developed for the EOS-1D X Mark III, and it’s likely to be the top dog in the RF lineup for the foreseeable future. But the sheer amount of power offered by the 1D X III in mirrorless mode suggests we may be only a single generation away from an RF-mount 1D.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

March 8, 2020
Let’s talk about Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange at work in California, 1936. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives.

If you don’t know Dorothea Lange by name, you know ‘Migrant Mother’. It’s an image that’s practically synonymous with the Dust Bowl, a period of devastating drought in the North American plains that displaced hundreds of thousands. If you’ve opened an American history textbook or watched a Great Depression documentary on PBS, you’ve probably seen Lange’s classic photo.

it’s time to get better acquainted with Dorothea Lange and recognize her for who she was: a complete and utter boss

The work was part of a major project run by the Farm Security Administration, which involved multiple photographers including Walker Evans. Lange played a major role, and is best known for this Depression-era work, while other images like her photos of Japanese American internment and incarceration have only relatively recently gained wider recognition. And it probably comes as no surprise that behind this legacy was an incredibly resilient, hardworking woman whose body of work is as moving and relevant today as it was decades ago.

So just in case you haven’t already, it’s time to get better acquainted with Dorothea Lange and recognize her for who she was: a complete and utter boss.

She knew she was a photographer before she ever picked up a camera

On graduating school and being asked what career she’d like to pursue, Lange’s response was quick: a photographer. She’d never actually held a camera before, but that didn’t stop her. She walked into a well-known portrait photographer’s studio one day and asked for any job he could give her. Thus her career was born – she learned the trade and acquired her first camera.

She didn’t let trivial setbacks – like having all of her money stolen – hold her back

Born on the East Coast, Lange launched her career in San Francisco and many of her best-known works were made in western states. So how did she end up settling on the other side of the country? Funny story!

After graduating school she and a friend embarked on what was meant to be a trip around the world with her best friend. They only got as far as San Francisco when they encountered a minor setback: all of their money was stolen. Did they ask their parents for help? Admit defeat and go back home? Heck no, they just got jobs and decided to live there. Lange went on to establish a successful portrait photography business.

Her less well-known photos of Japanese American internment are as poignant and raw today as they were nearly 80 years ago

Well into her professional career she was hired by the federal government to take photos of Japanese Americans during internment and incarceration. Many websites (this one included) have reported in the past few years that the photos she took were hidden for decades from the public by officials, deeming them too biased against the government’s actions.

That’s not the case. While it’s true that the images were withheld for the duration of World War II, they’ve been available to the public ever since. Either way, the photos and the humanity that Lange captured are as poignant today as ever.

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Even with mobility limitations, she never slowed down

Throughout her life, Lange walked with a limp – an effect of surviving polio in childhood. Toward the end of her career the lingering effects of the disease took a severe toll on her body, and when she couldn’t work through the physical pain any longer, began photographing subjects close to home. She worked right up until her death in 1965, planning her MoMA retrospective – the first for any female photographer.

Dorothea Lange Exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, 1966. Photo by Rolf R. Petersen.

Her approach to documentary photography remains exemplary today – even if she didn’t always get it right

Lange considered her portrait subjects collaborators and is quoted as saying “I never steal a photograph.” While many of today’s working photographers share that philosophy, every now and again the debate re-surfaces around street photography and photography in third-world countries when a photo feels less like a collaboration and more like exploitation.

Nobody’s perfect of course. Lange admits that she did not ask for the name of her ‘Migrant Mother’ portrait subject, Florence Owens Thompson, who was embarrassed by the photo and didn’t want to be publicly identified when it began to gain recognition. Despite it being one of the works that solidified Lange’s legacy, Thompson received no benefit from it – financial or otherwise – until her family asked for help supporting her medical care at the very end of Thompson’s life.

However, Lange’s limited interaction with Thompson has been attributed to the photographer’s exhaustion after a long trip, and certainly appears to be a deviation from her standard approach of getting to know her subjects. As photographers – and human beings, really – that’s a philosophy we can still learn a lot from.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

March 8, 2020
Fashion photographer Lindsay Adler named Rangefinder’s ‘Icon of the Year’

Fashion photographer and Canon Ambassador Lindsay Adler is the first woman to win Rangefinder‘s Icon of the Year Award. The announcement was made during the WPPI 2020 event last week, where Adler was caught off guard thanks to some careful planning by WPPI and Photo Group Content Director Arlene Evans, as well as Adler’s boyfriend and mother.

Rangefinder explains what it means to be named an ‘Icon,’ stating on its website that an Icon is someone who fills many roles; who is ‘super creative and has extraordinary talent’ in addition to serving as a role model, educator and more.

We contacted Adler to talk about her work, the new milestone award and what it means to her. In talking about winning the award, Adler said:

‘Winning Rangefinder’s Icon of the Year in an incredible honor that makes me feel that I am making an impact on my community and its continued success. This award is a beautiful way to show me that my sharing and love for photography and photographers have not gone unnoticed. I am constantly pushing myself to grow, and I hope this journey encourages others to do this same. I’ve been reading Rangefinder and attending WPPI for more than a decade, and this feels like a beautiful culmination… now I just wonder, what’s next! Can’t get much better than this!’

Adler’s photography has been featured in a number of notable publications, including Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle and more, and she has worked with major brands like Microsoft, Grey and Edelman. In addition to her photography work, Adler also teaches at events and through various platforms, including everything from online tutorials to books. She explains:

‘My life is centered around creating and sharing. I create images and share the process. I create in-depth tutorials answering all the questions I once had as I grew my career. I create and I share, and I am so lucky to get endless love back from the community—whether in the form of praise, encouragement, or those simply following my journey.’

Behind-The-Scenes image of Adler (far-right) at work with a model.

Adler’s work is showcased on her website, which features collections of photos like ‘Seeing Red,’ ‘Editorial Beauty,’ ‘Skin’ and even ‘Cinemagraphs.’ Looking back over her career, Adler says:

‘I am truly the happiest I’ve ever been and am proud to [have] achieved so many of my life’s goals. I know that along the way there have been so many other gracious photographers, educators and industry leaders that have shared their knowledge, given me opportunities, encouraged me and ultimately been so important to my success. Because of this, I realize just how important it is for those with success to share with their community however they can.’

In addition to her website, Adler’s work can be found on her Instagram and her Canon Ambassador page.

Image credits: Photos used with permission from Lindsay Adler

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

March 8, 2020
8 Important Composition Tips for Better Photos (video)
The post 8 Important Composition Tips for Better Photos (video) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

In this video from Jamie Windsor, he explores composition tips for better photos.

As Jamie states in his video, sometimes a new photographer can be overwhelmed by all the so-called “rules” of photography. Those, such as the rule of thirds, Fibonacci spiral, and the phi grid. Jamie breaks it down for you, using some classic images by renowned photographers, such as Annie Leibovitz, Sally Mann, Steve McCurry, and Bruce Gilden as examples. While this helps to visualize the points that he is making, it is also great to see many of these fantastic images.
1. Get your position right
2. Use your phone to practice composition
3. Beware the Rule of Thirds
4. Squint or blur your eyes
5. Think conceptually as well as aesthetically
6. Keep it simple
7. Keep the edges clean
8. Work in post-processing
You may also like:
- How to Use Radial Composition in Photography to Create Awesome Images!
- Four Rules of Photographic Composition
- Composition Checklist for Beginners
- 4 of the Most Common Composition Mistakes In Photography
- How to Make Brilliant Black and White Photos with Dramatic Composition
- The S-Curve: A Landscape Photography Composition Technique
- How to Break the Rules with a Central Composition
The post 8 Important Composition Tips for Better Photos (video) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

Digital Photography School
March 7, 2020
DPReview TV: Battle of the entry-level APS-C mirrorless cameras
A lot has changed since we last compared entry-level APS-C mirrorless cameras. In this 2020 update, Chris and Jordan compare the Fujifilm X-T200, Sony a6100 and Canon EOS M50. Which one is right for you?

For more information watch our videos about the Fujifilm X-T200, Sony a6100 and Canon EOS M50.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.
- Introduction
- Handling
- Displays
- Image quality
- Autofocus
- Video
- Lens lineup
- Sony a6100 conclusion
- Canon M50 conclusion
- Fujifilm X-T200 conclusion
Watch our Fujifilm X-T200 video review

Watch our Sony a6100 video review

Watch our Canon EOS M50 first look

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
March 7, 2020
Oppo launches Find X2 Pro with periscope tele and calibrated 120Hz display

The Chinese smartphone maker Oppo isn’t as well known in the western world as rivals Huawei or Xiaomi, but the brand is renowned for its camera-centric approach to smartphone design and has been responsible for quite a number of innovations in mobile imaging. For example, Oppo introduced swiveling camera modules in its N-series, the first sensor-based image stabilization system on a smartphone and the first periscope-style 5x zoom on a smartphone.

Now, the company has launched its latest flagship, the Oppo Find 2X Pro, and, at least on paper, the new model has everything it needs to take on the flagship competition from Apple, Samsung, Huawei and other more established rivals.

The below video is the entire launch presentation from Oppo:

Triple camera with ultra-wide and 5x tele

The Find X2 Pro comes with a triple camera setup, that covers focal lengths from a 16.5mm ultra-wide-angle to a 5x tele with a whopping 129mm equivalent lens, making it one of the most versatile mobile cameras in the market.

The primary camera uses a 48MP Sony IMX689 Quad-Bayer sensor that produces 12MP output files. At 1/1.4″ it’s almost as large as the main sensor in the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro (1/1.33″) and larger than those of the Huawei Mate 30 Pro (1/1.7″) and Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max (1/2.55″). In combination with the fast F1.7 aperture and optical image stabilization this should make for very decent low light performance.

The 5x tele camera offers more reach than most rivals in the high-end bracket of the market and is only matched by the Huawei P30 Pro and Oppo’s own Reno 10x Zoom. The 1/3.4″ sensor size in this camera is in line with other high-end tele cameras. OIS is on board on this module as well but with an F3 aperture zooming in low light conditions is likely not recommended. The tele module uses image fusion and other computational methods to achieve a 10x ‘hybrid zoom’ and offers a 60x maximum zoom factor.

Like the primary module, the ultra-wide uses a 48MP Quad-Bayer sensor albeit a smaller model. Still, at 1/2″ it’s one of the currently largest sensors in an ultra-wide and only topped by the 1/1.54″ sensor in the Mate 30 Pro. The F2.2 aperture is not the fastest we have seen but in line with most rivals.

In addition, the Find X2 Pro is the first smartphone to offer a PDAF system with 100 percent focus pixels and comes with a dedicated night mode that works on all three camera modules.

4K HDR video

On the video side of things, the new Oppo comes with an upgraded image stabilization algorithm that works on both the ultra-wide and primary cameras. Unlike on some recent flagships, there’s no 8K video but the Oppo can record 4K footage at 60fps and is one of the very few devices to support HDR video.

Top-end processing power

Non-camera specifications and features are all worthy of a true flagship as well. The new device is powered by Qualcomm’s brand new top-end chipset Snapdragon 865 which supports UFS 3.0 for fast read and write speeds, as well as 5G connectivity and uses OPPO Smart 5G technology to navigate between 4G, 5G, and WiFi network environments.

The 4260mAh battery supports SuperVOOC 2.0 fast charging which, according to Oppo, can deliver a full charge in only 38 minutes.

120Hz color-calibrated AMOLED display

Images can be viewed and other content consumed on a color-calibrated 120Hz QHD+ AMOLED display with a whopping 3168 x 1440 pixels. Oppo says the new screen offers, ultra-low screen reflectivity and improves smoothness as well as operation feedback, thanks to a 240Hz high touch sampling rate. To deliver adequate audio output, the Find X2 Pro comes with dual speakers and Dolby Atmos which can automatically adjust to applications, such as music playback, movie watching or gaming.

Flagship pricing

As you would expect, this innovative tech comes at a price. The Find X2 Pro with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage will set you back 1,199 EUR in Europe (approximately $ 1,355). If that sounds a little bit rich for your taste Oppo also offers the Find X2 at 999 EUR (approximately $ 1,130). It comes with the same chipset and display as the Pro version but only 256GB of internal storage and a very slightly smaller battery.

In the camera, the primary and ultra-wide are the same as for the Pro but the tele lens is a more conventional variant that offers a ‘5x hybrid’ zoom factor. Oppo has not provided much detail on this camera yet but presumably, the reach is achieved using a 2x or 3x lens in combination with super-resolution and image fusion algorithms.

Both devices will be available globally in the coming months.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

March 7, 2020
Tokina reveals updated 2020 lens roadmap with new lenses for DSLR, mirrorless cameras

Tokina, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary and had planned to reveal this information at CP+, has announced its latest 2020 lens development roadmap, showing a number of new lenses it plans to release in 2020 for DSLR and mirrorless cameras.

The announcement, seen above, is split into four different sections, based on the lens mounts the forthcoming lenses are destined for. First up is the atx-i lineup for Canon EF- and Nikon F-mount camera systems. In addition to the previously-announced 11–16mm F2.8 CF and 100mm F2.8 CF Macro lenses, Tokina also teases an upcoming 11–20mm F2.8 CF lens due out in Summer 2020 for Canon and Nikon APS-C DSLR camera.

Moving onto Tokina’s atx-m series, the updated roadmap shows off three new APS-C lenses for Sony E-mount and Fujifilm X-mount camera systems: a 23mm F1.4, 33mm F1.4 and 56mm F1.4. The E-mount version of these lenses (denoted by an ‘E’ after the lens name) are set for a Summer 2020 release, while the X-mount versions (denoted by an ‘X’ after the lens name) aren’t due out until Autumn 2020.

Tokina also highlights three atx-m series lenses for full-frame Sony E-mount cameras. In addition to the 85mm F1.8 FE, which is currently available for $ 499 (Adorama, B&H), Tokina also highlights a 35mm F1.8 FE and 50mm F1.8 FE lens, both of which are due out in Autumn 2020.

It’s unconfirmed at this time, but it’s worth noting these lenses do bear a striking resemblance in looks and specs to a number of Viltrox lenses that have already been announced (and delayed).

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

March 7, 2020
Nikon ES-2 film adapter sample gallery

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We used Nikon’s ES-2 film adapter to scan a variety of old films, including Kodak Tri-X and T400 CN, Fujifilm Neopan, Superia and Acros, and even Agfa Ultra. How well did it work? You can see the full resolution images in our sample gallery.

Want to see the ES-2 in action? Watch this video from DPReview TV to see how it works.

View sample gallery

Watch our video about the Nikon ES-2

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

March 7, 2020