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  • What to Do When Your Images Get Stolen

    The post What to Do When Your Images Get Stolen appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darina Kopcok.

    If any of your images live online in any shape or form, it is inevitable that they will get stolen.

    With the Internet, copyright infringement has become rampant and is a worldwide phenomenon.

    Some individuals don’t understand copyright and think that because an image appears online that it’s theirs for the taking.

    However, there are a lot of companies that steal images and use them for commercial purposes – to sell their own products!

    How do you know if your image has been stolen?

    You can do random image searches on your images in Google. This is a cool feature, but rather tedious and incredibly time-consuming. If you have an extensive library of images, this could take more time than you’d want to spend.

    A better alternative is sites like Copytrack, Pixray or Pixsy, which are image tracking services that not only find your stolen images but also will file a copyright infringement claim and sue for damages on your behalf.

    This is a great way to seek restitution for stolen photos without the hassle of having to do everything yourself. Not to mention, there is no way you could scan millions of images on the Internet, looking for your work. The technology these services offer does it all for you.

    Utilizing an image tracking service is something every photographer should consider. It’s a sad reality that so many photographers today are struggling, while thieves are profiting from our hard work.

    An image tracking service can save you a ton of legwork. Most of the time, it’s as simple as uploading your photos. If you get notified that some of your photographs are appearing without permission or licensing, you can file a DMCA takedown notice or a legal claim through the service.

    The image search function is free – to a point. It depends on how many images you upload. If you file a legal claim, the service will take a commission.

    One caveat to using an image tracking site is that if you do stock photography, it can be hard to ascertain where your image has legitimately appeared.

    Stock agencies don’t usually disclose to you who licensed your image. Also, many have partnered up with other stock agencies to sell your work, making your images even more difficult to track.

     

    How an image tracking service works

    According to the image tracking site Copytrack, 3 billion images are shared online every day. 85% of them get stolen.
    Licensing images is about more than just tracking down infringements. Once you discover an infringement, you need to make a decision as to what you’ll do about it.

    Both Copytrack and Pixsy can handle the legal side in the fight for fair payment for your work.

    You simply upload your images while their Reverse Image Search functions in the background. They will notify you of your matches by email.

    Once you confirm the stolen images, they take steps to enforce your copyright.

    You don’t need to do anything.

    What are scraper sites?

    One of the worst types of offenders in the realm of stolen images and copyright infringement online are scraper sites.
    Scraper sites steal your content for their own sites or blogs. Some will just scrape content, but most use automated software that takes your images and posts content on their own site.

    These sites take images from Pinterest, Google, and your own website and host them illegally.

    Not only does your website host the images for them but also they take up your bandwidth!

    If you write a blog in addition to post photos, you may find your content appearing on these sites.

    What are your options if your image gets stolen?

    If your image gets stolen, your first option is to do nothing, which is exactly what many photographers do. The hassle can make it seem not worth it sometimes.

    However, if the company that has stolen your image is a large one, you can hire a copyright attorney to take them to court, as this type of claim may be worth thousands of dollars to you.

    In most cases, the best option is to use a company like Pixsy and either have them file a DMC Takedown Notice, or file a claim on your behalf.

    A DMC Takedown Notice is a request to remove content from a website at the request of the owner of the copyright of the content.



    How to file a DMC takedown

    DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act. To get your stolen content removed from a website you need to file a DMCA takedown notice.

    To file a DMC takedown, you can either hire a service or do it yourself.

    You need to find out who owns the website. You can use a Who Is lookup tool.

    The problem is that it can be difficult to find out who the website owner is in order to send them the notice, as a lot of these sites hide this info. For example, they use Cloudflare to hide their real IP address.

    Luckily, there are DMC takedown services that can help you with this. DMCA charges $ 10 USD a month for their protection services and charges $ 199 USD for a full takedown.

    How to register your copyright

    As a photographer, you automatically own the copyright as soon as you create the image. This means that you do not necessarily have to file copyright for all your photos.

    In most countries, you do not need to file copyright papers to prove you own the content or copyright. Government Registered Copyright is NOT necessary in order to get your content removed, however, suing for damages IS easier if you have registered your copyright.

    To register your copyright, search online with keywords such as “register copyright Canada/US/Australia” etc., to find the Intellectual Property Office in your country.

    In Conclusion

    If you have had your images stolen, it’s up to you to decide if you want to pursue restitution.

    Small transgressions may not seem worth the time and energy, however, if someone is making money off your work, you may want to consider seeking compensation. Not only for the money but also the principle.

    Have you had any of your images stolen? Share with us in the comments below.

     

    What to Do When Your Images Get Stolen

    The post What to Do When Your Images Get Stolen appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darina Kopcok.


    Digital Photography School

  • How to Make an Animated GIF in Photoshop

    The post How to Make an Animated GIF in Photoshop appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

    Don’t you love GIFs? I do. They are fun, creative, and a great way to grab attention. In a world full of images (animated and otherwise), you need to create original quality work to stand out. Stop following trends and make your own using Photoshop in just a few simple steps.

    A GIF is a file format that supports animated images in the smallest size, which makes it very appealing for any online platform. The famous acronym stands for Graphic Interchange Format, and it became trendy for Internet humor, but now it’s a powerful tool.

    Five reasons to do your own GIF

    • Showcase your product/brand in action or being used.
    • Do a call to action on your website.
    • Show a step by step example of any instruction.
    • Enhance your visibility.
    • Grow your social media audience.

    What you need

    You can make GIFs from words, video snippets, or a sequence of photographs. This last one is the technique I’ll show you. While technically you could use any series of images, a coherent set of photographs result in a more engaging GIF.

    To achieve this, plan your photo shoot to maintain either the same light or the same framing, and use it to tell a story. If you need some inspiration, check out “8 tips – How to do storytelling with your images.”

    If you are doing any post processing on your images like changing the size or format, you can save a lot of time by doing it in a batch. You can learn how to do this in the article How to Batch Resize Your Images Quickly Using Photoshop (https://digital-photography-school.com/batch-resize-images-using-photoshop/). If instead, you are making more complex adjustments I recommend you create an action and then apply it to all of them. If you don’t know how to do this read How to play Photoshop Actions on Multiple Images with Batch Editing.

    Now that you have all your images ready to go, open Photoshop and go to Menu -> File -> Scripts -> Load Files Into Stack. On the pop-up window, choose the files you want to import and click OK. This opens all your images as layers within the same file.

    Once the images are open, you need to animate them. If you usually work with still images, you may need to go to Menu -> Window -> Timeline to make the Timeline panel visible. It will appear at the bottom of your screen, and it will show a thumbnail of the top layer.

    Open the drop-down Menu from the right of the panel and click on Make Frames from Layers. Now you should see the thumbnail of all the files you imported as layers.

    If you need to change the order, drag and drop them to correct. Once everything is as you want it, it’s time to determine the animation settings.

    First set the time each one will show before changing into the next one. You’ll see a number on the bottom of each frame and an arrow next to it. If you click on the arrow, you’ll open the drop-down Menu to set the time. Do this for each one, as they can be different from each other. You can see a preview by clicking on the play button.

    As the last step, you can choose how many times the animation repeats. Under the frames, you can find a menu where you can set this. GIFs usually run on a loop so I will put ‘Forever.’ But you can decide to do it differently.

    As I mentioned at the beginning, GIF is a file format; therefore it is something you determine at the moment of saving. When saving a photograph, you would normally choose .jpg or .tiff. However, this time you need to choose .gif. You can find this option under Save for Web. Here, you can choose the amount of color, whether you want it dithered, and if you want a lossy compression. All of these choices determine the file size. You can move them around to choose the best combination of size and quality.

    If you now open your saved file in Photoshop, it will be a layered image that you can continue to work on. If you want to see it animated just click and drag it into your browser.

    I hope you enjoyed the article.

    Please share your GIFs with me in the comment section.

    If you are feeling inspired and want to keep exploring animated images, you can experiment with time-lapse and stop motion. Check these articles to get you started:

    • Time-lapse Photography Tutorial: An Overview of Shooting, Processing and Rendering Time-lapse Movies
    • Time-Lapse Photography – Beyond the Basics
    • 5 Tips for Making a Stop Motion Video

     

    how to make an animated gif in photoshop

    The post How to Make an Animated GIF in Photoshop appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.


    Digital Photography School

  • DPReview TV: Photo lingo 101 – a guide to common photographic terms

    It’s back to basics in this week’s episode as Chris and Jordan break down some common photographic terms that might not be familiar to newer photographers. Learn all about IBIS, BSI and CIPA, as well as a, shall we say, ‘creative’ origin story for the word ‘bokeh.’

    Get new episodes of DPReview TV every week by subscribing to our YouTube channel!

    • Introduction
    • Eye Relief/Eye Point
    • EVF vs. OVF
    • CIPA Rating
    • Shutter life
    • BSI
    • IBIS vs. OIS
    • Bokeh
    • Diffraction
    • Sunstars
    • Dynamic range
    • Wrap-up

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • National Geographic announces winners of its 2019 Travel Photographer of the Year contest

    2019 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year winners

    Cities 1st place – and Grand Prize winner
    Photo and Caption by Weimin Chu / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest | GREENLANDIC WINTER

    National Geographic has revealed the Grand Prize winner of this year’s Travel Photographer of the Year contest. Photographer Weimin Chu has taken home the Grand Prize award—as well as 1st place in the Cities category—with a moody image from a small fishing village in West Greenland. The caption of the winning photo reads:

    Upernavik is a fishing village on a tiny island in west Greenland. Historically, Greenlandic buildings were painted different colors to indicate different functions, from red storefronts to blue fishermen’s homes—a useful distinction when the landscape is blanketed in snow.

    In addition to Chu’s winning photograph, National Geographic has announced the winners, runner-ups and honorable mentions in three other categories: Cities, Nature and People.

    The above gallery takes a look at the final photographs from each of the categories alongside the photographer, title and caption of each image. In addition to a full gallery of images on its own site—which allow you to download the winning photographs as wallpapers—National Geographic has a feature on the winning image and the photographer behind the camera.

    Photo credit: images used with permission from National Geographic

    2019 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year winners

    Cities 2nd Place
    Photo and Caption by Jassen Todorov / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest | IN THE AGE OF AVIATION

    There are four runways at San Francisco’s International Airport (SFO). This is a rare look at the approach end of runways 28 left and right. I had dreams of documenting the motion at SFO and [arranged] permission to fly directly overhead. What a windy day it was. Winds atSFO were 35-45 miles per hour, which meant a bumpy flight, and itwas much harder to control the plane while photographing. The flight was challenging, but it was also so thrilling that I couldn’t sleep for several days afterward.

    2019 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year winners

    Cities 3rd Place
    Photo and Caption by Sandipani Chattopadhyay / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest | STREETS OF DHAKA

    People pray on the street in Dhaka, Bangladesh during Ijtema. Bishwa Ijtemais one of the major Islamic religious gatherings which is [observed] annually in Dhaka and millions of Muslims visit [during this time]. Dedicated prayer grounds are not [large] enough to handle this huge number of people, so large numbers of people come to [Tongi], the main street of Dhaka. All the ground transportation and [pedestrian crossings] are suspended during that time.

    2019 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year winners

    Nature 1st Place
    Photo and Caption by Tamara Blazquez Haik / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest | TENDER EYES

    A gorgeous griffon vulture is seen soaring the skies in Monfragüe National Park in Spain. How can anyone say vultures bring bad omens when looking at such tenderness in this griffon vulture’s eyes? Vultures are important members of the environment, as they take care of recycling dead matter. Vultures are noble and majestic animals—kings of the skies. When looking at them flying, we should feel humbled and admire them.

    2019 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year winners

    Nature 2nd Place
    Photo and Caption by Danny Sepkowski / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest | Geometry of the Sun

    What happens before a wave breaks? That question has been my assignment this past year. On this particular day, I decided to shoot the sunset on the east side of Oahu, Hawaii. About 100 photographers were out in the morning, but I had the evening to myself. The textures from the trade winds [created] subtle colors from the west and blended well using my 100mm lens. I had to look into my viewfinder while this wave was breaking. Not an easy task when a wave is about to crush you.

    2019 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year winners

    Nature 3rd Place
    Photo and Caption by Scott Portelli / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest | DUSKY

    Dusky dolphins often travel together in great numbers in the deep canyons of the Kaikoura, New Zealand in search of food. They glide through the ocean effortlessly, coming up only to breathe. Dusky dolphins are fast and will often keep pace with a speeding boat. I waited on the bow of the boat as the Dusky dolphin almost broke [through the surface]. Their elegance and streamlined bodies are built for speed and maneuverability—accentuated by the smooth, clear water of the New Zealand coastline.

    2019 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year winners

    Nature Honorable Mention
    Photo and Caption by Jonas Schafer / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest | KING OF THE ALPS

    A herd of ibexes in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland cross a ridge above Lake Brienz. Their powerful and impressive horns show who the king of the Alps are. Ibexes are ideally adapted to live at dizzying heights. The continuing ridge path and the rising fog show the natural habitat of these animals. After a few hours of observing the animals, I spotted the ibex herd on one side of the ridge. Several ibexes stopped at the transition [to view the world around them].

    2019 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year winners

    People 1st Place
    Photo and Caption by Huaifeng Li / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest | SHOWTIME

    Actors prepare for an evening opera performance in Licheng County, China. I spent the whole day with these actors from makeup to [stage]. I’m a freelance photographer, and the series “Cave Life” is a long-term project of mine. In China’s Loess Plateau, local residents dig holes in the loess layer [to create cave living spaces, known as yaodongs] and use the heat preservation properties to survive cold winters. This series mainly records the life, entertainment, belief, labor, and other [daily] scenes of the people living in the caves.

    2019 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year winners

    People 2nd Place
    Photo and Caption by Yoshiki Fujiwara / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest | DAILY ROUTINE

    This photo was taken at a public park at Choi Hung House in Hong Kong. When I visited during the afternoon, it was very crowded with many young people taking pictures and playing basketball. But when I visited at sunrise, it was quiet and a different place. [The area] is [designated] for neighborhood residents in the early morning, and there was a sacred atmosphere. I felt divinity when I saw an old man doing tai chi in the sun.

    2019 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year winners

    People 3rd Place
    Photo and Caption by José Antonio Zamora / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest | HORSES

    Every year on the feast of Saint Anthony the ceremony of the purification of animals, called Las Luminarias, is celebrated in Spain. In the province of Avila, horses and horsemen jump over bonfires in the ritual that has been maintained since the 18th century. The animals [are not hurt], and it is a ritual that is repeated every year. To make the photo, I moved from Seville to San Bartolomé de Pinares because I am very interested in photographing ancestral rites.

    2019 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year winners

    People Honorable Mention
    Photo and Caption by Navin Vatsa / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest | MOOD

    I captured this layered moment during sunrise along the banks of the Yamuna River in Delhi, India. This boy was thinking silently, and visitors were enjoying the loud musical chirping of thousands of seagulls. The early morning golden light from the east mixed with the western blue light, creating a [ethereal atmosphere]. I am a regular visitor [here] and have photographed this place for the past three years. Now, many national and international photographers have begun visiting [too].

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Sony investor calls for complete spin-off of sensor division

    Sony’s semiconductor division (which makes its image sensors) has for years been one of the most successful business units within the Japanese company, generating 16 percent of Sony’s total operating profit in the fiscal year ended in March. It was spun off as a separate company in 2015 but remained a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony that’s under its full control and direction.

    Now several business publications report that American activist investor Daniel Loeb who runs a fund that owns a $ 1.5 billion stake in Sony is calling on the company to separate its sensor business completely ‘to unlock the Japanese group’s true worth as a global entertainment powerhouse.’

    The investor wants the business unit to become a completely independent public company with its own stock listed in the Japanese stock exchange.

    The investor wants the business unit to become a completely independent public company with its own stock listed in the Japanese stock exchange. This would allow Sony to focus on its entertainment businesses, including gaming, music, movies, and television while the image sensor business could thrive on its own.

    ‘When you think of Sony, you think of the Walkman, you think of the consumer electronics business, you know they own a movie studio and some music, but you don’t think of them as a Japanese national champion in technology, with a $ 20 billion going to $ 35 billion valuation business in sensors,’ Loeb told the Financial Times. He later says:

    ‘As a standalone public company listed in Japan, Sony Technologies would be a showcase for Japan’s technology capabilities. Rather than just an uncut rough stone buried inside Sony’s portfolio, Sony Technologies would be visible as a Japanese crown jewel and technology champion.’

    However, a Reuters report lists a few reasons why a total separation could not be such a great idea. 90 percent of Sony’s chips revenue comes from smartphones which makes the unit particularly vulnerable to the business dispute that is currently being fought out between Washington and Beijing. Chinese smartphone maker Huawei, which has been banned from working with US technology firms is a major Sony customer, which is why recently analysts at Jefferies have decreased the Sony chip business’ operating profit forecast by 45%.

    On the other hand, smartphones use more and more cameras per device and the demand for cameras and image sensors is increasing in other sectors as well, for example automotive.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Adobe Research and UC Berkeley create AI that can find and undo portrait manipulations

    Researchers with Adobe Research and UC Berkeley are working together on the development of a method for identifying photo edits made using Photoshop’s Face Aware Liquify tool. The work is sponsored by DARPA’s MediFor program, which funds researchers who are working to ‘level the digital imagery playing field’ by developing tech that assesses the ‘integrity’ of an image.

    Both DARPA and Adobe highlight the issue of readily available image manipulation technologies, including some tools that are offered by select Adobe software. The company says that despite being ‘proud of the impact’ these tools have had, it also recognizes ‘the ethical implications of our technology.’

    Adobe said in a blog post on Friday:

    Trust in what we see is increasingly important in a world where image editing has become ubiquitous – fake content is a serious and increasingly pressing issue. Adobe is firmly committed to finding the most useful and responsible ways to bring new technologies to life – continually exploring using new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), to increase trust and authority in digital media.

    As such, Adobe Research and UC Berkeley researchers have published a new study detailing a method for detecting image warping edits that have been applied to images of human faces. The technology involves a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) trained on manipulated images that were created using scripts with Photoshop and its Face Aware Liquify tool.

    To ensure the method can detect the types of manipulations performed by humans, the image dataset used to train the AI also included some images that were altered by a human artist. ‘This element of human creativity broadened the range of alterations and techniques used for the test set beyond those synthetically generated images,’ the study explains.

    To test the deep learning method’s assessment skills, the researchers used image pairs featuring the original unedited image and the image that had been altered. Humans presented with these images could only detect which had been altered with 53% accuracy, whereas the neural network was able to pick the manipulated image with accuracy as high as 99%.

    In addition, and unlike the average Photoshop user, the technology is able to pinpoint the specific areas of a face that had been warped, which methods of warping had been used, and calculate the best way to revert the image back to as close to its original state as possible.

    Adobe researcher Richard Zhang explained, ‘The idea of a magic universal ‘undo’ button to revert image edits is still far from reality. But we live in a world where it’s becoming harder to trust the digital information we consume, and I look forward to further exploring this area of research.’

    The research is described as still in its ‘early stages,’ and is only one part of Adobe’s body of work on image integrity and authenticity. The results come amid the growing sophistication of artificial intelligence technologies capable of generating highly realistic portraits and performing complex edits to images.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • It is now illegal to drink and drone in Japan

    Japan’s parliament passed a law this week outlawing the operation of a drone while under the influence of alcohol. If authorities catch anyone flying an unmanned aerial vehicle while intoxicated, offenders will face up to a year in prison and a fine of 300,000 yen (roughly $ 2,763.00). ‘We believe operating drones after consuming alcohol is as serious as (drink) driving,’ a Japanese transport ministry official told the AFP news agency.

    This latest legislation was passed to also address the growing popularity of drones coupled with the reckless and illegal activity taking place in the country’s more tourist-friendly areas. Dangerous stunts, which have become more common, including quickly plunging a drone towards crowds, can result in a fine of up to 500,000 yen ($ 4,607).

    Areas where drones are now banned include a distance within 985 feet of Japan’s armed forces, U.S. military personnel, and ‘defense-related facilities’ without prior permission from the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The new restrictions follow an earlier ban on approaching nuclear power plants, Japan’s parliament buildings, and the prime minister’s office. Stadiums and other sites hosting the forthcoming 2020 Olympic festivities are also off-limits.

    The new law covers drones weighing more than 200g (close to half a pound). Operating a drone in Japan does not require a license. However, remote pilots much abide by a series of regulations including:

    • Staying below 150 meters (492 feet)
    • Avoiding airports
    • Avoiding crowded areas
    • Only flying during daylight
    • Keeping the drone in sight at all times

    Anyone who is caught violating any of the established regulations could face a fine of up to 500,000 yen (or $ 4,607).

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Weekly Photography Challenge – Iconic

    The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Iconic appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

    This week’s photography challenge topic is ICONIC!

    Martin Jernberg

    Go out and iconic buildings, subjects, products, or places. Just be sure they are iconic! They can be color, black and white, moody or bright. You get the picture! Have fun, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

    Jack Bassingthwaighte

    Holger Link

     

    Check out some of the articles below that give you tips on this week’s challenge.

    Tips for Shooting anything ICONIC

    5 Ways to Photograph Travel Icons

    Tell A Different Story Of A Timeless Icon

    Travel Photography Subjects: Icons

    9 Creative Architecture Photography Techniques for Amazing Photos!

    How to Tell Stories with Architecture Photography

    Tips for Different Approaches to Architecture Photography

     

    Weekly Photography Challenge – ICONIC

    Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge.

    Share in the dPS Facebook Group

    You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

    If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites – tag them as #DPSiconic to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.

    The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Iconic appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.


    Digital Photography School

  • 3 Lenses Every Beginner Photographer Needs [video]

    The post 3 Lenses Every Beginner Photographer Needs appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

    In this video by MiketheMathMan, he outlines what he believes to be three lenses that every beginner photographer needs.

    3 lenses every beginner photographer needs

    In the video he lists the following:

    1. Wide-Angle Lens

    The “see everything lens” because of their ability to capture a wide field of view. These lenses are handy for shooting landscapes, interiors, cityscapes and anything where you need to capture a wide field of view.

    2. Telephoto Zoom

    They are great for capturing details from a distance for better detail.

    3. Fast Prime Lens

    A fast prime lens has a wide aperture. These are great for use in low-light and for creating beautiful bokeh with shallow depth of field. Prime lenses are fixed focal lengths, for example, 35mm, 50mm or 85mm. They are great for portraits/headshots, milky way photography/astophotography.

    What lenses would you add to this list? Share with us in the comments below.

    You may also find the following helpful

    • 3 Lenses Every Photographer Should Own
    • Can New Gear Kickstart Your Photography?
    • Why Carrying Less Camera Gear Will Make You a Better Photographer
    • Essential Portrait Photography Gear You Need When Starting Out
    • Wedding Photography Gear You Need When Starting Out
    • Why Your Camera Gear Doesn’t Matter

     

    The post 3 Lenses Every Beginner Photographer Needs appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.


    Digital Photography School

  • Capture One Studio launched to add automation for high volume studios

    Phase One has launched a new version of its Capture One image editing software application that is designed to assist workflow processes in busy studio environments. Capture One Studio allows central control for operations that use multiple photographers shooting high volumes of images that need to be edited and catalogued as quickly and efficiently as possible.

    The application is highly customizable, and allows certain tools to be locked off and others to be set up to be consistent across the whole studio. New automatic processes can color-correct, name images, store them and send them for back-up as they leave a tethered camera, while scripts can be created to determine processing paths and issues such as sizing, cropping and output destinations.

    Businesses will be able to create on-screen guide lines and grid lines to ensure compositions suit specific layouts which can be shared to all photographers and which can be exported and used in Adobe’s Photoshop as well. Capture Pilot will also be able to display these custom guides and grids so composition can be checked remotely on a tablet or smartphone.

    The company says that Capture One Studio can be tailored for individual businesses, and that its experts come as part of the service to help set up the software and to maintain it. For more information see the Capture One website.

    Press release:

    Capture One launches Capture One Studio

    An all-new, customizable, and automation-ready solution for today’s high-volume photo environments; It is Capture One performance at scale

    COPENHAGEN, June 13th, 2019: Capture One, the world’s premier name in image processing software, has announced a new product: Capture One Studio. With capabilities that focus on efficiency at scale, workflow management, and automation, Capture One Studio brings all the power, flexibility, and unbeatable quality of Capture One to an enterprise level production unlike anything else.

    Capture One Studio adds new features backed by scriptable enhancements and advanced automation technologies, allowing anyone to build custom workflows. There is native barcode scanner support for error-free and expedited data entry; backup on capture for automatic data redundancy; workspace and tool locks to prevent errors; advanced guides for precision set-up of brand guidelines; Capture Pilot enhancements to aid collaborative workflow, and more.

    “We’re excited to present the first ever photo editing and asset management solution specifically designed for high-powered workflows and multi-user teams.” said Jan Hyldebrandt-Larsen, VP Software Business at Phase One. “Developed together with leading e-commerce and high-end brands, Capture One Studio merges industry-leading photo editing tools with automation technology, accurate color profiling, and advanced asset management to meet the specific needs of fast-paced photo production, and eliminate the costly mistakes and time-consuming processes holding studios back.”

    Building on Capture One’s industry-leading standards of precision and quality, Capture One Studio’s robust new offering allows brand and studio operations to be easily managed, offering greater efficiency across the board, and higher ROI. Saving time on arduous processes enable the team to focus on photography and deliver the best possible images.

    The pressure to create more content is relentless, and it has to work across multiple channels, be on-brand, original, personalized, and timely. Studios must be incredibly efficient to manage that level of demand, rethinking processes, and implementing the best tools. The right software collaboration can be critical to ensuring brand consistency and performance. This level software is not only about the system capabilities that enable efficiency and reduce administrative burden, but also the end-to-end experience, which includes premium support and consultancy.

    Capture One Studio is a strategic partner that allows services to accommodate the various people in the organization, from creatives to studio staff, management and business.

    By combining the very best software and support solutions, Capture One Studio makes for an unbeatable imaging solution for your organization, whether a 10-person studio or 100-person team. Capture One Studio is built to scale and deliver new workflow opportunities for your business, and the endless possibilities for bespoke solutions make Capture One Studio both time and cost saving.

    Capture One Studio – Feature Set

    Automation Technology
    A powerful scripting language allows you to customize actions, streamline data entry and build intuitive workflows that align perfectly with your team’s needs. (Mac only)

    A single license key
    Easily add and remove users with a centralized license system and eliminate extra costs due to staff turnaround. Accurately forecast expenses with a pay-as-you-go subscription model.

    Advanced Guides and Grid
    Create Guides as presets for faster work. Transfer guides in the processed files for quality assurance approval or include them as Photoshop guides when exporting to PSD, so retouchers and other users stay compliant with the master specification.

    Create guides and grids as presets for faster work and utilize them in Photoshop. Streamline multi-user workflows and minimize composition mistakes when multiple team members work on the same image.

    Sync Grids, Guides, and Overlays with the Capture Pilot app
    Capture Pilot integration for Grids, Guides, and Overlays allow multiple team members to remotely, review composition, and sizing specifications during shoots, while clients can pick their favorite shots off-set.

    Native Barcode Scanner support
    Save endless man hours and redefine your workflow as a hands-free experience by connecting a barcode scanner to automatically name captures as you shoot. Mac users can script actions to further enhance the scanning workflow.

    Next Capture Metadata and Next Capture Keywords
    Accelerate workflows and reduce data entry with new tools for applying metadata ahead of the shot during tethered shooting. Combine the tools with barcode scanners and spreadsheets to instantly scan metadata. (Mac only)

    Backup on capture
    Reduce risk, save on back-up software costs and protect your assets as you shoot with automatic back-up from a tethered camera to a chosen destination.

    Studio workspaces
    Our dedicated team of experts delivers customizable workspaces and craft the ultimate workflows to match your organization’s productivity needs.

    Workspace and Tool locks
    Prevent users from altering the interface with Workspace and Tool locks and an admin pin lock for extra security. Eliminate costly interruptions and ensure compliance across multi-user workflows.

    Color reproduction and color profiling (Canon and Nikon Only)
    Reduce editing time and save on retoucher costs with fine-tuned color profiling for the most popular e-commerce cameras. Minimize color discrepancies and meet the demands of specialist product photography with more accurate colors out of the box.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)