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Insect Photography Tips – How to Capture Cool Critters
Do you find creepy crawlies fascinating? Or maybe a bit scary? Insects can be many things, and they are many! From a photographer’s perspective, they offer countless opportunities to learn about photography, your gear, and the critters themselves. In this article, I hope to share some of my love of these critters and some insect photography tips to inspire you to enjoy this buzzing, chirping, stridulating treasure trove.

Morning mantis.

Why on Earth Should I Photograph Insects?

Insects are the most diverse and numerous animals on the planet. While this may not seem like the most wonderful fact in the world to everyone, it’s a boon for people who like photographing insects.

As I’ll try to demonstrate, it’s not only incorrigible insect chasers who can benefit from this abundance. Anyone who enjoys or wants to learn macro photography, who is looking for inspiration in nature, or who likes to tell a story with their photography is in luck.

Insects come in many sizes and all colors.

Opportunity is everywhere

Anyone can photograph insects. Not only are they easy subjects to find, they are also amazingly diverse in appearance, behavior, and habitat. You never have to go far to find something interesting to photograph.

Insects offer a great opportunity for different kinds of photography, from scientific documentation to abstract art. So if you’re ever running out of photography ideas, insects are a great way to get back into it.

Photographing them can reveal whole new worlds: you might find unexpected beauty in a grasshopper’s patterns and new perspectives in an ant colony’s activities.

The delicate lacewing.

On top of being a very varied group of animals, insects also have a lot of variety in their individual lives. Fluffy, colorful caterpillars turn into stunning butterflies; chubby grubs turn into formidable beetles; alien underwater nymphs turn into whirring dragonflies.

The possibilities for the eager photographer are virtually endless. So are you ready to try it out? All you need is your camera, some time, and a big bucket of patience.

Insect life cycles are fascinating! To the left is a dragonfly next to its old nymphal skin, to the right the ootheca (egg mass) of a mantis.

How to Photograph Insects

I’m going to focus specifically on how to photograph insects. There are a lot of great articles about macro photography in general and other relevant aspects of photography, like natural lighting vs. flash photography, good settings to know about for macro, and nature photography.

A close view of a dragonfly’s back.

First, you need to find them

The first step is to find the insects. If you’re happy with just any insect, this is very easy. You just need to go outdoors and wait for a while – some insects will even come to you!

It’s a good idea to spend some time thinking about when and where you want to take photographs. Both location and timing will affect not only the quality of light, but also the kinds of insects you’re likely to find, and their activity levels.

This mantis came to hang out with me next to the swimming pool.

In terms of timing, a good general rule is to aim for a time when it’s cool and the sun isn’t out since the cold will make insects slow. This can be early in the morning or around sunset, in spring or fall, or on an overcast day.

The light conditions may not be optimal at this time, but this is when you want to be out shooting if you don’t want your subject to fly off or run away immediately. Of course, only photographing insects when it’s cold outside means you’ll miss out on normal parts of their life, like flight, mating, feeding, and pollination.

Some insects really are nicer when they’re a bit sluggish, like these wasps.

The location depends a lot on what you want to photograph. You can find a lot of different insects in a garden, field, or forest, but if you’re hoping for something specific you’ll need to learn about that insect and its behavior.

Remember to also think about the background and how it will look in the picture!

Locust and mantis.

If you’re really eager about photographing insects, there are many methods you can experiment with.

For instance, the easiest way to photograph nocturnal insects like moths is to set up a light outdoors, next to a white or light-gray wall or sheet. Turn on the light in the evening before you go to bed, and wake up around 2 or 3 am to see all the fun creatures that have appeared. Remember not to do this too often so you don’t disturb them too much.

The larva on the left found the net before I found it. The moth on the right was photographed in the middle of the night during a biology field course.

You can also catch insects with a net, put them in a glass jar and photograph them there, or even put them in the fridge for a little while to slow them down. I only recommend doing this if you know what you’re doing and you feel it’s worth it.

The insects would probably rather be somewhere else than your fridge. Remember to release them afterward!

Tools of the trade

The camera equipment needed really depends on what kind of photos you’re after. Insect photography can definitely be done with expensive tools in complicated ways, but it doesn’t have to be.

Since insects are generally small, it’s helpful to have a good macro lens or something comparable. But you can also make a great start without any special equipment. Some insects are pretty big and insect photos don’t always have to be close-ups!

Here, the insect is not the only subject, but it’s still essential to the photo.

What to focus on

So you’ve chosen the time and location, found your subject, and you have everything you need; all that’s left is to actually make the photo.

No matter what kind of photo you want – a portrait, an action photo, something abstract – there are a few things you should know about insects before photographing them.

This caterpillar is covered in hairs that can cause irritation when they come in contact with skin (or lungs!).

Insects’ behavior and senses are as variable as the insects themselves. Some of them may notice you way before you see them and flee. Some may not notice that you exist, Others may become aggressive if you behave a certain way.

Some insects see much more and more accurately than we do, while some barely see at all. Some smell with their antennae and some of them have ears on their knees.

They are as alien to us as we are to them, which is why you need a lot of patience, some knowledge of what you’re photographing, and an open mind.

Locusts have ears on their knees.

It depends on what kind of photo you want, of course, but a few things that are usually good to keep in mind are:
1. Use a fast shutter speed if you want a sharp photo – insects can be very fast and they move a lot.
2. Aim for a small aperture (large f-number) if you want to have more than just a tiny part of the insect in focus.
3. If you’re photographing an insect in flight, try manual focus.
4. Focus on the eyes, like with any other animal. You might find yourself mesmerized!
Even flies can have beautiful eyes!

Conclusion

Insect photography is such a broad topic that I had to leave many things out of this article, but I hope this basic introduction was able to provide you with some tips.

What do you think about insects? Have you ever photographed them? Feel free to share your best or most interesting insect photos as well as your tips in the comments below.

The post Insect Photography Tips – How to Capture Cool Critters appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 13, 2018
How to Break the World Down into Elements to Create Better Photos

I have a really cool idea for you. One that is so simple, and yet so amazingly impactful, that if you start utilizing this concept now you will immediately see the benefits in your photography and you will create better photos.

I come across some very common issues in my workshops. One huge problem is that the photos people take are often too busy. The subject doesn’t stand out and there isn’t a clear relationship between the subject and the elements around it.

Or, in reverse, the photos are so focused on the subject, that nothing else is in the frame, so the photo ends up being relatively flat.

Everything within your frame is an element: the expanse and color of the sky, the child playing in the background, the rush of cars behind your subject, etc.

Each element that is within your frame must have a function, a purpose and must contribute to the overall image. If it doesn’t, it shouldn’t be there.

Your job as a photographer is to break down the scene you want to photograph into its elements. Then arrange the elements into an interesting and complementary combination.

Nature photography by a street photographer

For this article, I have used photos from a project I did in Tuscany. For seven weeks, I stayed in a castle over the winter with my family and a bunch of other traveling families. I spent my time wandering in the quiet hills, photographing. It is an intensely beautiful place.

I am using these photos as examples because I am not a nature photographer. I usually photograph cities, often at dawn, when the light is beautiful and the streets are empty.

So I wanted to show you how I approached a subject I love, but am not super experienced at shooting, and how by using this technique I got some pretty awesome photos.

I like to always be developing as a photographer, to push myself beyond what I am already doing. So being out in the silent forests and undulating hills of Tuscany on a winter’s morning was incredibly inspiring.

Nature can be notoriously tricky to photograph. Wandering out into a forest with thousands of trees and millions of other elements that all look the same or similar, can be a case of where do I start?

You are not just waiting for the perfect moment to happen and then to photograph it. You are creating the photograph with the elements around you.

I am going to use examples of how I approached organizing the elements in the world around me into compelling photos. So let’s get started!

Shapes and Lines

The first example is the photograph below, made almost totally of interesting shapes and lines. Can you see them? These lines and shapes were the elements I used to create the image.

One day, I was walking along this path and the first thing that piqued my interest was the lines that the path created.

They are really strong, so I started to play around with them. From further away the lines were pretty straight and not very interesting, just heading off into the distance. However, as I started to get closer to the curve of the path, the lines of the path started to turn. Then the fence started to come into play and echo the twist of the path. I thought that was interesting.

Now another element I worked into the shot (and I took a lot of shots of the path, going from left to right, and moving further away) was the wall. What a cool wall! The relationship between the chaotic, curved fence, the smooth curve of the path, the strong lines of color, worked really well with the element of the heavy stone wall made up of oblong or square shapes.

So, from an elements perspective, this photo is almost entirely made up of lines and shapes, placed together to form an interesting composition.

My final flourish (and I like to do this in my images because I don’t always want the photo to be too clean) is waiting for the rise of mist. This creates a pleasing contrast to the organized shapes, a little bit of nature and wildness.

Silhouettes

Onto my next image. What do you think are the strong elements in this photo above?

Most obvious are the silhouettes of the trees. I was very inspired by the beauty of the sky. The soft pinks and blues, the sun and the little stretch of clouds. But photos of skies, of really simple things, can be pretty boring. So I was trying to move beyond just pretty.

What I love about photographing silhouettes of bare trees is how they add such strong and intriguing shapes to photos. The branches can look wild and chaotic, but they are also contained and ordered by their structure.

I could have taken the photo of the trees against the sky as it was – two very strong elements of sky and trees. But I wanted to add a more grounding element, something that didn’t really look like an important element, but somehow brought it all together.

For that, I have used the view of the forest running along the bottom of the image. And of course, the brilliant sunburst is important.

Detail

In the photo above is a detail shot, where I honed in on an interesting, simple element. Detail shots are a gift in nature photography, as there is so much you can focus on up close.

But I didn’t want it to be too simple, I didn’t want to just have the sign as to me it wasn’t that interesting. So I used a shallow depth of field to create an attractive, out of focus background of color and indistinct shapes.

I think that this adds a nice bit of depth to the photo. Plus, I have a couple of pine cones sticking out in the front. Again this helps my image from being too clean and organized, but reflect a bit of that wild nature feeling.

Build with the Elements

The photo above is an excellent way to illustrate this idea of building your photo with the elements around you. I saw the tree and I liked the shape of it. But to photograph a tree against a pretty flat blue sky – with not even any interesting cloud formations behind it – would have made a dull photo.

I looked around to see what else I could bring into the shot to make it a more appealing scene. What other element was in my surroundings that could be used to add depth and complexity to the image?

I saw a bush with small, pretty little leaves, and decided that this would make a nice framing element for the tree. Using a shallow depth of field ensured the bush was an interesting frame, but not in focus, and thereby it created a feeling of depth to the image.

A road to…

Put it all together

The key is – you don’t just go shooting. When you find something interesting that you want to shoot, don’t just raise the camera and snap. No! You need to stop and look around.

What elements are jumping out at you? What shapes are being made by the light? Look at the different parts of the scene. Ask yourself – what happens to these shapes when I move over here?

Pause, look around, organize your position, and then start shooting.

Now – look at the photo below and tell me what is the subject, and what are the supporting elements?

If you picked the houses as the subject, you guessed correctly! Can you tell me what the next most significant element is?

Of course, it’s the mist! I’ll tell you why. If the mist wasn’t covering much of the rest of the photo, the landscape would be in equal focus and therefore very confusing to the eye. The house would just blend into the landscape and it would be a flat, undynamic shot.

So part of understanding about elements is knowing when to shoot, where to shoot and how to shoot your subject.

So there you go! Those were my ideas on how to break the world down into elements. I would love to know what you think. Was it useful?

Please let me know in the comments below what you think.

The post How to Break the World Down into Elements to Create Better Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

September 12, 2018
Light Review: The PiXAPRO CITI600 Portable Strobe (Godox Wistro AD600BM)
In this review, I’ll put the PiXAPRO CITI600 portable strobe (also called the Godox Wistro AD600BM) through the paces and give you my thoughts on it.

Despite the innovations to all manner of photography equipment, studio strobes haven’t changed much in the past few decades. Sure, a handful of features get added here and there every once in a while, but for the most part, you know exactly what you’re getting: a powerful light source with a very short duration that is plugged into an electrical outlet.

But this has changed in the past few years. Manufacturers have begun to incorporate features like batteries, TTL (through the lens metering) compatibility and high-speed sync into their strobes. These features make the humble studio strobe more useful and more versatile than ever.

The PiXAPRO CITI600 is the Godox Wistro AD600BM rebranded for the UK market.

The PiXAPRO CITI600 does all of these things. The CITI600 is a battery powered strobe whose features include high-speed sync and TTL metering (through the use of a separate camera mounted trigger).

Rebranded

Pixapro is Godox rebranded for the UK market. The CITI600 is the same product as the Godox Wistro AD600BM. The only difference is that the battery can be safely charged via a 220v power outlet.

High-Speed Sync

High-speed sync allows you to better control how your ambient and strobe lighting mix together.

If you own a speedlight, you are probably already familiar with high-speed sync (HSS). In short, HSS allows you to sync your flash with your camera at significantly faster shutter speeds than normal.

Doing so provides you with the means to overpower the sun on bright days, easing the effects of harsh lighting. It also allows you to darken backgrounds and use larger apertures to obtain a shallow depth of field in situations that you would normally be relegated to small apertures such as f/11 and f/16.

Because of the small size and limited power of speedlights, HSS has always been a bit of a specialist technique. However, put that functionality into a high powered strobe with a large modifier mounted to it and those limitations disappear. This opens up a world of new possibilities for you.

Battery Powered

No cords and no generators make the Citi600 as portable as possible. If you’re willing to carry it, you can have a high powered strobe wherever you want.

Even without HSS, it has always been possible to use studio strobes to great effect outdoors. The limitations, however, made it impossible for most photographers. Because strobes are electrically powered, to take them on location, you need external battery packs or generators.

Both of these things were/are expensive and difficult to lug around. With the inclusion of a high capacity battery in a strobe, these concerns disappear and your strobe can now go virtually anywhere a speedlight can.

TTL

TTL metering makes mixing ambient light and artificial life much, much easier.

Through the lens metering (TTL) allows your camera to take a meter reading and relay that information to your strobe, making it much easier to mix flash with ambient lighting. It’s not perfect and won’t likely ever be, but in a pinch, TTL metering can make getting a good exposure quick and easy.

For example, if you are on location and you know that you want a dark background with a well-exposed subject, you could set your camera’s exposure to underexpose the ambient by two stops and fire the strobe at whatever the meter is reading. Fine tuning the strobe’s exposure can be as simple as dialing in a few stops of exposure compensation on your trigger.

PiXAPRO CITI600 – Godox Wistro AD600BM

Combined, these three features take the already versatile studio strobe to a whole new plane of utility and the PiXAPRO CITI600 with the ST-IV trigger does a fantastic job of it. In the months that I’ve owned mine, I can attest that the HSS functionality works perfectly without flaw.

On top of that, there are a few other things worth discussing.

Specs

As you’d expect from a modern, feature-laden strobe, the spec sheet for the CITI600 (Godox Wistro AD600BM) is rather impressive. There’s no need to bore you with the full specs, but some notable highlights include:
- A guide number (GN) of 87m @ ISO 100
- A color temperature of 5600k
- HSS up to 1/8000th of a second
- 100m range with the ST-IV trigger
ST-IV Trigger

The ST-IV trigger gives you complete wireless control over the Citi600 from the top of your camera.

For the trigger, I opted for the hotshoe mounted ST-IV (Xpro-C for Canon as it is called in the USA – $ 69.00). This trigger offers access to the full functionality of the CITI600 in an extremely easy to use interface with an LED display.

Controls

All of the controls on the CIti600 are clearly marked and very user-friendly.

On both the PiXAPRO CITI600 (Godox Wistro AD600BM) and the ST-IV (Xpro) trigger, the controls are intuitive, clearly labeled and easy to use. Dialing in exposure compensation is simply a matter of turning the dial on either device. Most of the functionality can be accessed by a single button push.

It is also worth pointing out that while the controls are easy to use, all of the displays are clearly labeled and easy to read.

Battery Capacity

PiXAPRO claims that a single charge of the battery will provide 500 flashes at full power. I can’t confirm these exact numbers, but I’ve had the strobe out on a number of occasions where it was in use for several hours at a time. Never once did I have to turn the strobe to full power. The battery indicator never even got to halfway.

It may be possible to drain the battery in a full day, but every indication seems to suggest that this battery is not going to run out on you.

Supposing that you do somehow burn through the battery in a single session, Pixapro does sell spares and at $ 180.00. That is more than reasonable for the amount of power that they provide.

Duration

The display on the CITI600 is large and easy to read with all relevant information clearly represented.

This one’s a bit new to me, but it may be a useful feature for you. For whatever settings you have dialed in, the display on the CITI600 tells you exactly how fast the flash duration will be, up to 1/10,000th of a second.

Do you absolutely need to freeze the movement in your frame? Just choose a setting that will give you the desired flash duration and you should be good to go.

Mount

Coming from the Bowens system, all of my modifiers are S-mount. The fact that S-mount is an option on the CITI600 just makes life so much easier. If you’re unsure about it, there are tons of affordable modifiers available for the S-mount. You will never be lacking in choice should you buy into the S-mount system.

Modeling Light

The Citi600’s modeling light is a fairly powerful LED. This has several advantages.

The LED draws less power than your traditional modeling bulb, meaning that there is less strain on your battery. LEDs also do not get anywhere near as hot as tungsten bulbs. For your subjects, this means more comfort as they’re less likely to get too warm under the heat of the lights. It also means that certain modifiers and gels pose much less of a fire risk.

It is also entirely possible to light a scene with just the modeling light. You probably won’t want to do this for a portrait session, but for table top setups and the like, you can use the CITI600 as a continuous light and put even less strain on the battery.

I will add that using the modelling light on location during daylight hours will not usually work due to light levels.

Build Quality

The PiXAPRO CITI600 is well built and feels solid. Although it is significantly less expensive than similarly featured strobes from companies like Elinchrom, every aspect of the CITI600 feels like it is built to last.

Price Point

If you think all of this sounds great, than there is one surprise for you. The PiXAPRO CITI600 comes with a price tag of around $ 600.00 making it significantly cheaper than similar offerings from Elinchrom, Broncolor, or Profoto.

In Use

It can be awkward to carry the CITI600 with a large modifier about on location. But if you can be bothered, it is more than worth the effort.

Honestly, the PiXAPRO CITI600 works like a dream. I’ve had it out over the past few months as often as I can because it’s just so simple and fun to use. Sure, lugging it around on location with a five foot Octabox can be tricky, but the extra effort is beyond worth it.

Here are a few examples of images achieved with the PiXAPRO CITI600 (Godox Wistro AD600BM).

All in All

Since the demise of Bowens, I have been looking for a new system to eventually buy into. Without a doubt, that is going to be Pixapro/Godox.

The PiXAPRO CITI600 (Godox Wistro AD600BM) is as close to perfect as you can get from my perspective. This portable strobe is high in functionality and easy to use. That’s before you even consider the HSS, TTL and the fact that it is battery powered. Basically, it’s everything you could possibly want with a much lower price tag than you should reasonably expect.

The post Light Review: The PiXAPRO CITI600 Portable Strobe (Godox Wistro AD600BM) appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
September 12, 2018
Hands-on with new Fujifilm XF 200mm F2 and XF 8-16mm F2.8

Hands-on with new Fujifilm 200mm F2 and 8-16mm F2.8

Fujifilm is having a busy summer (we’re not ready to start calling early September ‘autumn’ yet), announcing two lenses and the brand new X-T3. The XF 8-16mm F2.8 R LM WR and XF 200mm F2 R LM OIS WR are aimed at enthusiasts and professionals, and add considerable versatility to Fujifilm’s growing XF lens lineup.

With the 200mm F2, the company is making its first serious play for the sports and action crowd, and we don’t use the word ‘serious’ lightly…

Hands-on with new Fujifilm 200mm F2 and 8-16mm F2.8

The new XF 200mm F2 R LM OIS WR looks like it will be a seriously impressive lens (the sample we’ve had our hands on is a pre-production model, which was not cleared for testing). Cosmetically, this weather-sealed prime appears to be built as well as anything from the ‘big’ DSLR manufacturers, and despite weighing 2.2 kilos (roughly 5 pounds) it balances well on an X-T3 with accessory grip.

Hands-on with new Fujifilm 200mm F2 and 8-16mm F2.8

As we’d expect from a professional-grade telephoto prime lens, the 200mm F2 offers a focus limiter, to prevent hunting within two ranges: full (1.8m – infinity) and 5m – infinity. It also offers a focus preset function allowing focus to be set instantly to a preset position. In common with other XF ‘R’ lenses, the 200mm features a large, clicked dial for electro-manual aperture control, if desired (or ‘A’ if you prefer to set aperture from the camera).

Hands-on with new Fujifilm 200mm F2 and 8-16mm F2.8

The 200mm F2 is sealed at 17 points, including around the lens throat, to prevent dirt and moisture from making its way into either the lens or a attached camera. As well as being weather and dust-resistant, the new lens is rated at operational temperatures as low as -10°C (14 degrees Fahrenheit)

Hands-on with new Fujifilm 200mm F2 and 8-16mm F2.8

This shot shows the lens with its dedicated hood attached. Optical construction consists of 19 elements in 14 groups, including one large-diameter super ED lens element and two large-diameter ED lens elements. Fujifilm claims that high-precision polishing technology developed for its broadcast lenses was employed in the manufacturer of these large elements.

The XF 200mmF2 R LM OIS WR will be bundled with a XF 1.4X TC F2 WR teleconverter, which turns the 200mm into an equivalent 420mm F4.2 optic on Fujifilm’s APS-C format X-series bodies.

The Fujinon XF 200mmF2 R LM OIS WR Lens and XF 1.4X TC F2 WR Teleconverter Kit will be available in late October 2018 for $ 5,999.95.

Hands-on with new Fujifilm 200mm F2 and 8-16mm F2.8

At the other end of Fujifilm’s focal length coverage range is the new XF 8-16mm F2.8 R LM WR – another fast, weather-sealed lens aimed at enthusiast and professional users of Fujifilm’s X-series ILCs.

Hands-on with new Fujifilm 200mm F2 and 8-16mm F2.8

Offering an equivalent focal length range of 12-24mm, the 8-16mm is a fairly heavy lens for its size, weighing in at 805g (1.8 lb), packing in 20 elements in 13 groups, including four aspherical elements, three ED (extra low dispersion) and three super ED elements. We haven’t been able to test it yet (the sample we handled, like the 200mm, was pre-production) but we’re excited to see what all that glass can do.

Hands-on with new Fujifilm 200mm F2 and 8-16mm F2.8

Ergonomically, the 8-16mm has a lot in common with other high-end XF-series lenses, including broad, well-damped focus and (electro-mechanical) focus rings plus a lockable aperture ring.

Hands-on with new Fujifilm 200mm F2 and 8-16mm F2.8

The ‘WR’ in its model name denotes weather-resistance, and Fujifilm claims that this new wide-angle zoom is sealed at 11 points against dust and moisture incursion. The Fujinon XF 8-16mmF2.8 R LM WR Lens will be available in late November for $ 1,999.95.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

September 12, 2018
X-Rite launches the ColorChecker Video XL

X-Rite has announced the ColorChecker Video XL, an oversized color target designed for those shooting situations in which smaller variants won’t quite cut it.

The Video XL uses the same gray and color patches as well as skin tones as the standard ColorChecker Video but is simply twice as large. Features include two rows of six chromatic color chips, both saturated and de-saturated, skin tones ranging from light to dark, patches for even gray balance, including white, 40IRE gray, deep gray and high gloss black, six color chips for linear gray balance, and illumination check chips in the corners.

“The X-Rite ColorChecker Video XL is designed for those longer and wider shots when the space between your camera and subject is too great to capture a smaller target,” X-Rite says. “With ColorChecker Video XL, users can increase capture resolution for post, maintain the same lighting conditions falling on their subject, eliminate the need to move the camera closer or adjust focal length, and minimize color casting from surrounding light.”

X-Rite says the new tool can help video shooters and photographers set exposure, check highlights, shadows and mid-tones, achieve accurate color balance, match multiple cameras and edit for mixed lighting.

The ColorChecker Video XL is available now for $ 399. With a sleeve it is $ 429 and the bundle with a carrying case will set you back $ 495. More information is available on the X-Rite website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

September 12, 2018
ExperimentalOptics launches Kickstarter for 35mm F2.7 pancake lens

ExperimentalOptics has launched a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund the production of what it claims is the ‘smallest fastest pancake lens in the world.’

The 35mm F2.7 lens is measures just 7mm thick — the same height as exactly 4 quarters stacked on top of one another — and weighs 40 grams/1.4 ounces. Although most of the testing for the lens was done on full-frame mirrorless cameras — Sony from the looks of it — ExperimentalOptics says the lens really shines on APS and smaller cameras. On APS-C and APS-H cameras, the lens is equivalent to roughly 50mm, while Micro Four Thirds gives it an equivalent focal length of 70mm.

The lens, which is milled from a solid piece of metal has no moving parts and features a native M39 mount. It can be used with almost any camera though when paired with an optional helicoid adapter.

‘This is not a cheap, low quality, low speed toy lens,’ says ExperimentalOptics on the campaign page. ‘It is a high quality, fast lens, [that gives] you the utmost creative possibilities of speed, selective focus and bokeh – and all in an unobtrusive and uncompromisingly compact body that never gets in the way of your creative expression.’

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To find out more information and to secure your pledge, head on over to the Kickstarter campaign. A pledge of € 1,199 (approximately $ 1,390) will get you the 35mm F2.7 lens, a handmade lens pouch, a manual and free worldwide shipping. It’s set to ship in ‘late 2018.’

If you want to see more sample photos from the lenses, ExperimentalOptics has shared a gallery of sample images on its Flickr page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

September 11, 2018
Tips for Portrait Processing with ON1 Photo RAW 2018.5

There are many genres within the framework of photography and one that is very popular is portraits. As such, many photographers are looking for great software that can help them make their portraits so much better. ON1 Photo RAW 2018.5 has some great tools and adjustments for portrait processing to give them a professional touch.

In ON1 Photo RAW 2018.5 you will find all the tools you need to retouch out blemishes or any imperfections that the person or model may have. You can give the skin the same hue all over to get rid of blotchiness. Finally, you can make the eyes whiter and the teeth brighter. Your subjects will love the results.

Portrait processing with ON1 Photo RAW

We are going to start with the basic skin retouching before heading to the Magic Eye Fixer and finally the Toothbrush.

Basic Retouching

Open the image you want to work on in the Develop Module of ON1 Photo RAW 2018.5. Here you can make the basic adjustments like correcting the exposure or the white balance. Play around with the sliders to get what you want.

You can see what was done to this image below.

Basic adjustments.

No girl wants to be seen with acne on her face, so the next step is to get the Erase tool and remove as much of it as you can.

There are still blemishes on and around the chin, so now it is time to take it a step further with the skin retouching. ON1 Photo RAW 2018.5 has some great adjustments you can use to do just that.

If you are working on images of people that you know or clients, consult with them first about what they are happy with you removing from their skin. It might be good to remove scars, for example, however, if they are proud of those scars, it might upset them. Always ask.

Skin Retouching

You can do skin retouching in either the Develop or Effects modules. For this article, we will use the latter so click on Effects in the right-hand panel.

Once you are there click on Add Filter under the Overall settings.

Effects > Add Filter

When you click on that you will get a big list of options from which you can choose. For this tutorial, click on Skin Retouching.

Skin Retouching filter.

You should see a new window open up that has all the adjustments for Skin Retouching. The first thing you want to do is select the eye dropper that is next to the square color patch. You will see a cross-hairs cursor so that you can make a selection on the skin.

Choose a part of the skin that is somewhere in between the darks and the lights. A mid-tone is the best option and a good place to find that is on the forehead.

Once you have your selection you are ready to retouch all the skin. You can now set the range of how much you want to do on the face. Use the Range slider at the bottom.

As you move it around you will see parts of the image that are covered in black while others are now. The black parts will not be affected, which as the lighter sections and places where it doesn’t cover it you can use the skin retouch. It doesn’t hurt to move it up a lot.

As you move the Range slider along you will see parts of the image covered in black while other areas are not. The black parts will not be affected by the retouching. However, the light sections, or the parts of the image that seems like they are not being affected, is where the skin retouching will apply to the image.

It doesn’t hurt to move the Range slider up a lot.

Add a Mask

Next, you need to add a mask. You can do that at the top of the layer window, it is the white rectangle with the black circle inside.

You will see more options appear and along with the mask. The cursor will also change and the brush will come up automatically once you have done that.

Once you have the mask, go ahead and invert it. When you do this the mask will go black. When it is black it means that nothing from that layer is affecting your image. The brush is already chosen and now it is time to work out what parts of the image you want to add the skin retouch.

Make sure you brush is set to Paint In. You can change the brush options including feathering along the top above the image. You don’t need a lot, my brush was set at 31.

Now paint over the skin you want to affect. You should see parts of the mask going white where you are painting. Avoid the eyes and the mouth.

Once you think you have done all the skin it is best to check and make sure.

Along the bottom of the window, you will see the button for a preview. Press it to see your original image. However, on the left, you will see a rectangle with a grey dot in it. If you click on it you will see the image go to solid black and white.

This shows you what your mask looks like. Pressing the letter O does the same thing if you like keyboard shortcuts. It can be hard when it is like this to really see what you have got painted and what you haven’t.

Go up the Main Menu > Masks > View Mode and finally choose Red Overlay.

The red overlay will show you where the black part of the mask is (the unaffected areas), so you can now refine your mask.

In the above image, you can see what has been selected. The areas with no red are where the skin retouching will be applied. If you have areas that should be red, change your brush to Paint Out and it will cover them.

Click the circle at the bottom to change back to the image, or press O to show it.

The skin retouching can seem very subtle, but if you toggle the layer on and off you should be able to see the changes.

Final Adjustments

Now to do some final adjustments. At the bottom of the layer you can see Blemishes, Smoothing, Shine and Evenness. Move all the sliders to the left.

Slowly move each slider up and see how they change the image. Take them all the way to the right to see how bad would be if you go too far, then bring them back to where you want.

The one you have to be really careful about is the Smoothing slider. You can make the skin look like plastic very easily. You can see what was done for this image in the following example.

The next step is to again turn the layer off and on to see the results and whether you think it has improved the image.

Magic Eye Fixer

The Magic Eye Fixer is great to help whiten the white parts of the eyes. It can make the subject’s eyes seem a lot brighter. However, this one needs to also come with a warning, it is very easy to take it too far and make the eyes look ridiculous.

To use this tool, go to the Local Adjustments tab and then select Add Layer.

In the new layer window, you will see options like Lighten, Darken, Vibrance, and Detail across the top (just below the Opacity slider). Then there is a square with a down-arrow that says More underneath. Click on it and a drop down menu will appear.

Look down the list and you will see Magic Eye Fixer. Click on that.

Once you have clicked on it you will see some of the adjustments change automatically. The brush tool will also be automatically selected. Paint over the eyes.

Obviously with the automatic changes that ON1 Photo RAW makes for the adjustments are too much. You may also find it too hard to paint exactly over the eyes. Don’t forget you can change the brush to Paint Out to deselect the areas you don’t want if you mess up.

Enlarge the image view so you can get a better look at what you are doing; make sure you are only changing the parts you want to affect. You can also press O to check the mask as well.

You can see that the adjustment is too much. Now you can change the exposure slider to make it look more natural. You can also use the Opacity slider at the top of the layers panel. That will also help you tone down how much the layer affects the image.

You can toggle the layer off and on to see if you like the effect or want to make further adjustments. Just remember not to go too far.

Healing the Skin

You could leave the image here, but there are other things you can do to make the skin look even better.

In the left-side panel, there is a brush called the Retouch Brush. This is a good one to use to help remove unwanted skin blemishes. It softens them, without removing them completely.

Paint this Retouch Brush over the areas where you would like to remove imperfections. For this image, we will use it for the bags under the eyes, the scar on the forehead and the one over the right eye. It will also work well for the acne marks on the chin.

The brush is feathered and the opacity has been changed to around 50%.

After the Retouch Brush

It is a great tool, but as with all things, you can go too far. Sometimes it is good to leave the image for a day or two, then go back and take another look. It gives you a better perspective.

Whitening Teeth – Toothbrush

You will find that many people like to have their teeth appear whiter in photos. We aren’t all blessed with brilliant white teeth and now you can help them achieve that. ON1 has included an adjustment that will help you do the job very easily.

So still in the Effects Module, go to Add Layer. As you did for the Magic Eye Fixer, click More and select Toothbrush this time.

You will see a new layer open up with many adjustments already made, so it is ready for you to go.

Do much the same as you did for the eyes. Click on the mask and then the brush will come up. Paint over the teeth. It may be easier to do them one at a time. If you go outside the teeth click on the brush to Paint Out and go over the areas you don’t want affected.

The teeth should be very white.

Obviously, it looks terrible like this so you will need to make further adjustments to get the right look.

You can change the opacity of the layer, or turn down the exposure slider so the effect isn’t so bright. For this image, I changed the exposure because there was something else I wanted to do.

These images are of my daughter, who has never thought looking after her teeth were worth worrying about. So, I wanted to get rid of the yellow staining. The best way to do that was to lower the saturation so the teeth appeared whiter. Move the Saturation slider to the left until you get the result you are happy with.

Now we can compare the final image by turning the layer on and off. You do that by clicking the Yellow dot in the top left corner of the layer panel you are working in.

Layer off.

Layer on, final result.

The image could be left there, but I decided that her face and hair could do with some brightening overall. So I choose a new layer, and did a mask with her face, that included her hair. The exposure was brought up slightly and so was the White balance to make the image warmer.

Looks much better now. She even likes it as well.

Finally

ON1 Photo RAW 2018.5 has everything you need to do the most amazing portrait processing. You can give people skin that is attractive or remove unwanted hues that the camera adds. Everyone wants to look beautiful in photos and now you can help them look the way they see themselves.

The people at ON1 have created an amazing community for all their users and there are many other videos to help go to the next level. Don’t forget to check all of them out and see what else you can do with your portraits.

Disclaimer: ON1 is a paid partner of dPS.

The post Tips for Portrait Processing with ON1 Photo RAW 2018.5 appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

September 11, 2018
Understanding Sensor-Shift Technology for High-Resolution Images

Georgian Bay – Summer Landscape

Changing How Photographs are Taken

In recent years, a number of manufacturers have produced cameras that are capable of producing higher-resolution images through something called Sensor-Shift Technology. This technology has been made possible with the advent of in body image stabilization (IBIS). Camera designers have used the IBIS as a way to get incredible increases in image resolution or to improve the color information for the images that are taken.

There are a number of names for this technology including High-Resolution Mode, Pixel Shifting Resolution System, Pixel Shift Multi Shooting Mode or the more generic names of pixel-shift/sensor-shift but in the end, the concepts behind this technology are all the same. Multiple images of the same view are taken in such a way that the images are stacked and blended to create a single, usually large, high-resolution image.

There are strengths and weaknesses of this new technology and understanding how it works can help you make better images yourself if you have a camera that is capable of doing this.

NOTE: Because websites use lower resolution images, the images used in this article have been downsized and modified to simulate the differences between the high-resolution images and the standard output from the cameras. When looking at the images in full, the images look similar but when you get closer to the details in the images that is when you start to see the differences.

Gerbera daisies indoors, regular resolution (20 MP) Olympus OMD EM 1 Mark II

Gerbera daisies indoors, high-resolution (50MP) Olympus OMD EM 1 Mark II

Many Approaches to Sensor-Shift Images

Sensor-shift image capture has been transformed from expensive specialty cameras to become an increasingly available feature on newer, resolution-oriented cameras. Today, in addition to Hasselblad’s monster H6D-400c (400 Megapixel images), there are offerings from Olympus, Pentax, Sony, and Panasonic.

These versions generally use the same conceptual approach but at much more accessible prices.

Sensor-Shift Movement

Who Uses Sensor-Shift?

Regardless of the manufacturer, the basic action of sensor-shift image capture remains the same. Take multiple images but move the camera’s sensor slightly for each image to capture more image data and then put the image together.

By moving the sensor around, the image color data improves allowing for more detail to be resolved by overcoming the inherent problems with color specific photosites. Ignoring the Hasselblad, the systems that use this technology include cameras such as the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II (Micro Four Thirds), Pentax K-1 Mark II DSLR, Sony a7R III, and Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 (Micro Four Thirds) although there are others from the same manufacturers.

Three of these lines are mirrorless cameras with the Pentax being a crop sensor DSLR. It is interesting to note that the Panasonic/Olympus cameras take one approach and Pentax/Sony take a different approach to the same concepts.

The Olympus/Panasonic systems use an approach that makes very large high-resolution images whereas the Pentax and Sony systems use the sensor-shift to improve the color information of same size images. Both the Pentax and Sony systems also allow for the separation out of the individual sensor-shifted images whereas the Olympus and Panasonic blend the stacked images into a single photograph.

Olympus OMD EM5 Mark II has the sensor-shift technology.

How does sensor technology work?

To understand how sensor-shift technology works you need to also understand how a sensor generally works at a very small scale. In the good old days of film photography, cameras used light-sensitive film to record images. Digital cameras use a very different approach to record light.

Digital cameras use light-sensitive photodiodes to record the light striking the sensor. In most digital cameras, each photodiode has a specific color filter (red, green, or blue), forming a photosite. These photosites are arranged to allow the light to be blended to see the color from the image coming onto the sensor.

The red, green, and blue photosites on a sensor are generally arranged in a specific pattern known as a Bayer array (a.k.a. Bayer matrix, filter). There are also other configurations such as the Fuji X-Trans sensor (used on several of their camera models) or Sigma that uses a Foveon sensor.

With a Bayer arrangement, there are twice as many green photosites as red or blue because human vision is most attuned to resolving detail in green. This arrangement generally works well but if you think about it, on an image, a color pixel is created by blending these photosites together.

The sensor does not know how much red there is on a green sensor location or a blue sensor location so interpolation is required. This can create some artifacts in photographs if you look very closely and tends to mean that RAW images have an ever so slightly soft focus. All RAW images need some sharpening in post-processing (the green, the red and the blue for a pixel are blended together).

Bayer pattern of photosites

Static Sensors

In a regular camera without IBIS, each photosite only records the light from one color in that one spot, so the data that it records is technically incomplete. It is like a bucket that only collects light from a particular color. A cluster of light buckets in the Bayer pattern is used to create a single pixel in the digital image but within that pixel, there are two green buckets, one blue and one red.

To meld the image together and put a single color into that one pixel, the signals from the cluster of photodiodes are resolved together. The collected data is interpolated via a de-mosaicing algorithm either in-camera (jpeg) or on a computer (from a RAW image), a process that assigns values for all three colors for each photosite based upon the collective values registered by neighboring photosites.

The resulting colors are then outputted as a grid of pixels and a digital photograph is created. This is partly why RAW images have a slightly softer focus and need to be sharpened in the post-production workflow.

Moving Sensors

IBIS means that the sensors now move ever so slightly to adjust for subtle movements of a camera to keep the image stable. Some manufacturers claim that their systems are capable of stabilizing the sensor and/or lens combination for an equivalent of 6.5 stops.

Moving the sensor allows all the color photosites to record the data for each location on the sensor.

This stabilization is accomplished by micro adjustments of the position of the sensor. For sensor-shift images, those same micro adjustments are used to have each photosite exposed to the light from the single image recording. In essence, the sensor is moved around not to adjust for external perturbations but to have each portion of an image contain full-color information.

Photosites Rather Than Pixels

You may have noticed the term photosites instead of pixels. Cameras are often rated by their megapixels as a measure of their resolving power, but this is confusing because cameras do not have actually have pixels only photosites.

Pixels are in the image produced when the data from the sensor is processed. Even the term “pixel-shift” which is sometimes used, is misleading. Pixels don’t move, it is the sensors that have photosites on them that move.

In single-image capture, each photosite records data for red, green, or blue light. This data is interpolated by a computer so that each pixel in the resulting digital photograph has a value for all three colors.

Shifting Sensors

Sensor-shift cameras attempt to reduce the reliance on interpolation by capturing color data for red, green, and blue for each resulting pixel by physically moving the camera’s sensor. Consider a 2×2 pixel square taken from a digital photograph.

Conventional digital capture using a Bayer array will record data from four photosites: two green, one blue, and one red. Technically that means there is missing data for blue and red light at the green photosites, green data and red at the blue photosites and blue and green at the red photosites. To fix this problem, the missing color values for each site will be determined during the interpolation process.

But what if you didn’t have to guess? What if you could have the actual color (red, blue and green) for each photosite? This is the concept behind sensor-shift technology.

A normal resolution image.

Diving Deeper

Consider a 2×2 -pixel square on a digital photograph that is created using pixel-shift technology. The first photo begins as normal with data recorded from the four photosites. However, now the camera shifts the sensor to move the photosites around and takes the same picture again but with a different photosite.

Repeat this process so that all the photosites have all the light for each exact spot on the sensor. During this process, light data from four photosites (two green, one red, one blue) has been acquired for each pixel, resulting in better color values for each location and less of a need for interpolation (educated guessing).

A high-resolution image at the same ISO, aperture, and shutter speed.

The Sony and Pentax Approach

Sony’s Pixel Shift Multi Shooting Mode and Pentax’s Pixel Shifting Resolution System operate in this manner. It is important to note that using these modes does not increase the total number of pixels in your final image. The dimensions of your resulting files remain the same, but color accuracy and detail are improved.

Sony and Pentax take four images moved one full photosite per image to create a single image. It really is simply improving color information in the image.

The Olympus and Panasonic Approach

The High-Resolution Mode of Panasonic and Olympus cameras, which both use Micro Four Thirds sensors, takes a slightly more nuanced approach, combining eight exposures taken ½ pixel apart from one another. Unlike Sony and Pentax, this significantly increases the number of pixels in the resulting image.

From a 20 megapixel sensor, you get a 50-80 megapixel RAW image. There is only a single image with no ability to access the individual images of a sequence.

What are the Advantages of Using Sensor-Shift?

Using sensor-shift technology has several advantages. By taking multiple images, knowing the color information for each photosite location and increasing the resolution you accomplish three main things. You decrease noise, reduce moire, and increase the overall resolution of the images.

Noise and Improved Resolution

By taking multiple images with a subtle change in position of the sensor, the resolution of the image goes up but so does the color information in the images. This allows similar images to allow for a greater drilling down into the image with smoother colors, less noise, and better detail.

A normal resolution image.

A high-resolution image.

Cropped in tight to the normal resolution image, you start to see noise showing up like grain and color variation.

Here is the same crop on the high-resolution version, the color and detail are better with less noise.

Less Moire

Moire is the appearance of noise or artifact patterns that appear in images with tight regular patterns. Newer sensors tend to have fewer issues with Moire than in the past but it will still appear in some images.

The cause of the moire tends to be related to the tight patterns being recorded and the camera having problems resolving the pattern because it is having problems with the sensor photosite patterns. The color information for the Red, Green and Blue photosites have troubles with edges in these tight patterns because not all the color for a single location is recorded.

With sensor-shift, all the color for each location is there, so moire tends to disappear.

Normal resolution image.

High-resolution Image with crop area highlighted

The cropped area on the standard resolution image – noise starting to appear (the scratches on the paper were there before).

The higher-resolution image has less noise and more detail.

So Why Not Use This for Every Image?

Well, the main reason is that you have to take multiple images of a single scene. This means that this really doesn’t work well for moving subjects. The process requires, at a minimum, four times the exposure time of single image capture. This translates into four opportunities for a part of your composition and/or your camera to move during image capture, degrading image quality.

Such constraints limit the technology’s application to still life and (static) landscape photography. Any movement in the scene being captured is going to create a blurry or pixelated area. This is a problem for landscape photography if there is a wind moving plants or clouds as well as areas where running water is present.

This also means that usually, you need to be very stable and use a tripod, although there are some clear intentions from manufacturers to make available versions that will allow for handheld shooting of the camera (Pentax has this feature).

High-resolution image shot on a tripod.

Movement artifacts are visible when viewed more closely.

Quirks of some of the systems

As sensor-shift technology has been implemented in different ways and depending upon the system used, the problems are a bit different. The main quirk is that you generally need a tripod, so no run and gun.

The Sony system has other limitations that you cannot see the image until you process the four separate images together. This means you cannot review your resolved image on the camera. In addition, due to the high pixel count on the A7R mark III, any subtle movement of the tripod is particularly noticeable on the resultant image. In order to edit the images, you also need to use proprietary Sony Software to merge the images together.

Pentax has some interesting features. Using the software application that comes with the camera allows for addressing movement by using an algorithm within the software for removing movement artifacts. This works better than software commonly used for image manipulation such as Adobe.

The Olympus system has been around a while and in the most recent iteration on the Olympus OMD EM1 Mark II, any detected movement will have those affected pixels replaced with parts of one of the single regular resolution images in areas of movement. This creates uneven resolution but makes the image look better for things like wind. It also limitations particularly if there is a lot of movement. Often the images look a little pixelated.

Standard resolution image of a tree – everything is sharp.

A high-resolution image of the same tree but it was windy… Cropped area is shown in the yellow box.

Cropped area expanded – the wind movement generated some artifacts on the image.

Limitations

The greatest challenge facing sensor-shift image capture is moving subjects. Additionally, trying to pair a strobe with a camera using pixel-shift image capture can be complicated by the speed of image capture, flash recycle limitations, and general compatibility problems. Manufacturers are aware of these problems and are working to resolve them.

Overall the Technology is Only Going to Get Better

More and more systems are using algorithms to produce these higher resolution images. As the technology matures, the implementations will get better and better results, potentially able to deal with movement and handheld conditions.

The advantage to manufacturers is that better quality images are produced without the need for really expensive high pixel density sensors (cheaper). The advantages to the user are that the images can have better noise and color information for better final results.

Happy hunting for that perfect high-resolution image!

The post Understanding Sensor-Shift Technology for High-Resolution Images appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

September 11, 2018
Cosyspeed launches Phoneslinger line of smartphone “camera” bags

Easy accessibility in your pocket and ultimate portability are a smartphone’s main advantages over dedicated digital cameras. However, if you’re the kind of mobile photographer who likes to use their device in combination with add-on lenses, powerbanks or other accessories, the pockets in your pants might not be roomy enough.

Help is at hand, though, in the shape of Cosyspeed’s new Phoneslinger line of smartphone “camera” bags which you can now pre-order on Indiegogo. There are three bags in the new line, the Phoneslinger Power, Prime and Outdoor, which are all designed for different use cases and, in conjunction with a few accessories, form part of a modular bag system.

The Phoneslinger Power is a phone pouch that comes with a built-in 8000mAh powerbank that can charge your device via the QI wireless standard or a USB-cable. The Phoneslinger Prime comes close to a “real” camera bag, offering space for even the largest smartphones and four accessory lenses. You can also leave a lens attached to your device. The Phoneslinger Outdoor is a rugged phone pouch that protects your expensive device while hiking, climbing or any other activity that might put your phone at risk.

Accessories include the Flowbelt which comes with attachment points for the Phoneslinger bags and other items. The Stuffbag is designed to hold items such as sunglasses, passport, keys, etc. and comes with an included wallet. The Prime Pouch is a dedicated lens pouch, holding up to five smartphone accessory lenses.

A full Power kit, which includes the Phoneslinger Power, Stuffbag, Prime Pouch and the Flowbelt will set you back $ 149. For more information and full pricing for all items have a look at the Phoneslinger Indiegogo page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

September 11, 2018
Getty family strikes deal for majority stake in Getty Images

The Getty family is working to regain control of stock photo agency Getty Images, according to multiple reports published late last week. Sources claimed to Financial Times that the Getty family is working to buy back Carlyle Group’s 51% equity stake, which it acquired six years ago.

Though the terms of the deal haven’t been officially revealed, FT claims the Getty family is paying approximately $ 250 million with about $ 2.35 billion in existing debt rolling over. This is compared to the approx. $ 500 million that Carlyle Group paid years ago to acquire the majority stake.

On September 4, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Getty family confirmed a deal including both cash and “units that provide Carlyle with a continuing financial interest.” However, specific terms for the arrangement weren’t disclosed. The family confirmed to WSJ that the deal is expected to close by the end of Q3 2018.

Via: Financial Times

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

September 11, 2018