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Canon Speedlite EL-100 external flash is compact yet powerful

07 Sep

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Buried among its new full-frame mirrorless system and new lenses, Canon also snuck out a new external flash: the Speedlite EL-100. This compact flash, which weighs just 190g (6.7oz) has plenty of power, with a guide number of 26m (85ft) at ISO 100. The EL-100 runs on two AA batteries and has a minimum recycling time of 5.8 seconds.

The flash can be tilted both horizontally and vertically for bounce capability, and it also has a manual zoom head. In addition to a ‘set it and forget it’ Auto mode, stroboscopic and 2nd-curtain options are also available. Despite its $ 199 price tag, the EL-100 is able to serve as both an optical transmitter and receiver, supporting 3 groups and 4 channels.

As mentioned above, Canon’s latest Speedlite will cost $ 199 when it ships in October.

Press Release:

New Speedlite Series

Canon is also introducing a new compact and lightweight Speedlite, the EL-100. Designed for photographers who are just beginning to use an external flash or are in need of a secondary unit, the new Speedlite delivers both soft and natural lighting reproduction. In addition, the EL-100 can rotate upwards and to the left and right enabling photographers to bounce the flash off of nearby ceilings, walls or surfaces.

Additional Features of the Canon Speedlite EL-100 include:

  • Maximum Guide Number of Approx. 85 ft./26m at ISO 100
  • 24mm Wide-angle Coverage
  • Optical Wireless Flash Function (Sender and Receiver)
  • Flash Exposure Control Including Support for Stroboscopic Flash and Continuous Shooting Camera-linked Functions Including Interlocked External Flash Power On/Off
  • Mode Dial with AUTO Position

The Canon Speedlite EL-100 will be available for purchase in October 2018 for an estimated retail price of $ 199.99.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Tips for Ensuring You Get Sharp Photos Every Time

07 Sep

How many times have you captured an image that looks great as a thumbnail only to lose that sharpness when it is enlarged? If you’re like me, TOO MANY times. It happens to all of us all too often, but it doesn’t have to. You probably know the reasons why and how to avoid the problem, but let’s review them all in one setting to you can get sharp photos every time.

Tack Sharp photos - Leaves

There are several known contributors to soft photos and specific ways to prevent them.

First and foremost – clean the lens

Clean Lens - Tips for Ensuring You Get Sharp Photos Every Time

Fingerprints and dust on the lens are the most obvious hinderances to sharp pictures and are one of the most commonly overlooked causes. Carry a small clean microfiber cloth (or packets of lens cleaning wipes) in your camera bag at all times, and keep the lens cap on the lens when it’s not in use.

Become a clean freak with your lenses.

Aperture Settings

While shooting with the aperture wide open does allow you to use higher shutter speeds, it can also have an adverse effect on image sharpness because of an issue called a spherical aberration.

Simply put, light rays travel in straight lines. When they pass through a lens, the curve of the lens actually bends the light rays and diffuses their focus. The more the rays are curved, the softer the focus. When the entire rounded surface of the lens is utilized (as in when using a wide open aperture), the light-bending is increased and the sharpness on the outer edges of the picture is somewhat softened.

This aberration issue is most evident in less expensive lenses.

Tack Sharp photos - Aperture

It is widely known that an aperture 2-3 stops down from wide open produces the sharpest results. If your shot doesn’t require an extremely shallow depth of field to blur the background, close the lens down a stop or two and compensate the exposure with a slower shutter speed or higher ISO.

But be aware that extremely small aperture openings (f/22 and higher) present their own problem called diffraction. When light is forced through a very small opening, the outer rays bend to get past the small opening, which can soften the image and require a longer exposure time.

Lessons learned: Either aperture extreme will cause a slight softening of the image. Except for special applications, so stay in the middle of the road!

Lens Quality

It’s always good advice to buy the best glass you can afford. It is a known factor that THE most critical equipment in your camera bag is not your fancy camera body, but the quality of the glass in front of your camera.

Tack Sharp photos - Lens

Save your money and invest in quality lenses (f/2.8 or faster). Most of us carry at least one zoom lens, but these lenses, because of the complex grouping of internal glass, are seldom faster than f/2.8, and many are as slow as f/4.5 – f/5.6. The lower the number, the more light that passes through the lens. An f/1.4 prime (fixed length) lens always produces sharper images, though it costs more money.

Weather

Believe it or not, the cleanliness or dirtiness of the air can have a significant impact on your photography, especially long-range shots like landscapes. Both heatwaves rising from the hot ground and floating particles of dust and pollutants (what we lovingly call atmosphere) bend the lightwaves, dull the saturation, and blur the focus of your pictures.

Tack Sharp photos - Rust‘

Living on the “beach coast” of Florida, steady breezes come in off the ocean that are refreshing on a hot summer day but they contain serious amounts of salt. This air salt can be seen for miles in the distance while driving down the coastline. The saltwater mist hangs in the air and has an adverse effect on both metallic surfaces and photographic subjects.

The most ideal weather for shooting razor-sharp pictures is those delightful hours right after it rains. That happens in Florida like clockwork almost every afternoon and at least once every day, Florida gets a nature-shower that lasts for less than an hour and leaves the air sparkling clear for all kinds of outdoor activities. Thankfully, these daily showers scour the air and rinse the salt from both nature and automobiles.

Depth of Field

Choose an f-stop that will keep your entire subject in sharp focus. If you want to keep your subject in full focus while blurring the background, do the math to figure out the depth of field that will remain in full focus at a particular distance.

Each focal length lens has its own “pocket of precision” or focal zone for each subject-lens distance. Take the time to explore your lens’s capabilities so that you will be prepared.

Tack Sharp photos DOF

The depth of field is particularly critical in macro photography. The very nature of the process limits the actual focus on subjects to a very shallow distance. Sometimes this works out well and sometimes it just doesn’t.

Learn the limits of each macro lens’s “pocket” before you make your shot. If your camera allows you to preview the depth of field, use it religiously. Very small changes in the lens-to-subject distance have a very big effect on the focal distance.

Use the One-Third, Two-Thirds Rule

All photographers know that higher number f-stops mean greater depth of field, but maybe some don’t realize that there is an important ratio involved in the field of focus. This ratio must be considered when choosing the f-stop for a particular shot.

While the length of the lens affects how much of the subject will be in total focus, where you set your focus point is also critically important.

This is true whether you are using Automatic, Spot or Manual focusing. Learn to divide the desired focus area into thirds and set the focus one-third into that distance. When you focus on a particular spot, two-thirds of the focal range behind that spot will remain in focus while only one-third of the area in front of that spot will remain sharp.

This is why portrait photographers set their focus on the subject’s eyes. This way the distance from the nose to the ears remain in focus.

Autofocus Versus Manual Focus

Tack Sharp photos - Lumix Manual Focus

Unless your subject has a high level of contrasting edges and is located in the middle of your field of view, you might want to consider using manual focus. Autofocus is a life-saver most of the time, but any higher contrast item in the scene could very well steal the camera’s attention.

Camera autofocus is designed to zero-in on high contrast and those areas in the scene will always set the camera focus. If your subject is located in subdued lighting, try switching to manual focus instead.

Shutter Speed

Slow shutter speeds in hand-held conditions always present problems. No matter how still you hold, your body is always in motion.

The simple fact that your breathe and have a heartbeat means that slight motion will most likely become an issue with slow shutter speeds. Even the slight motion of pushing the shutter button is a contributing factor in this process. I personally make it a point to not go below 125/th of a second when shooting hand-held. Bracing yourself against a stable surface or using a tripod is always advisable.

Tack Sharp photos - Remote Trigger

Use a tripod and a remote trigger. The ultimate preparation for capturing detailed and sharp photos is to take human motion out of the equation altogether.

Once you mount your camera on a tripod, frame the scene, set the focus, set the appropriate f-stop for the depth of field, switch to the electronic shutter (if available on your camera). Set up a remote trigger using either a cable release or a smartphone app. Then sit back and be ready to pull the trigger when the scene is right.

Compensate ISO for Shutter Speed

If your shot requires a shallow depth of field or lower f-stops, try dialing up more light sensitivity (increased ISO). Most ideal lighting situations accommodate 200-400 ISO, but low lighting scenarios may require you to set the camera to significantly higher ISO.

But keep in mind that ISO determines how sensitive the image sensor is to light and darkness. Very high ISO will yield higher levels of electronic noise in your picture. Noise is the polar opposite of “signal.” Make your choice of ISO carefully if the image is to be enlarged at all.

About Image Sharpening

Tack Sharp photos - Smart Sharpen

Nominal sharpening takes place (usually) at the time the photo is taken. However, sometimes additional sharpening may be necessary. Beware, image sharpening should always be the last step in image preparation.

Most photos are intended to be sharp and detailed. But refrain from sharpening your images in the editing process in a ditch effort to bring out more detail. Image sharpening artificially simulates image sharpness and can actually degrade the digital image. Unless you use a sharpen brush, every time you sharpen an image in post-production you also enhance the non-subject elements in the scene.

So make sharpening for detail a last resort.

Conclusion

Make it a habit to capture the highest level of detail in the original shot. Take the time to learn each of these precautions and then consider them briefly before you take your shot. If you discipline yourself to go through this checklist the next half-dozen times you shoot, this will become a mental-muscle memory that you check subconsciously.

Exercise your good habits and you’ll come home with more sharp photos and become a sharpshooter.

The post Tips for Ensuring You Get Sharp Photos Every Time appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Fujifilm X-T3 First Impressions Review

06 Sep

When the Fujifilm X-T2 arrived, it was more than just a modest upgrade to the already impressive X-T1, most notably in terms of autofocus and video. While the new X-T3 hasn’t changed the overall design of the camera (which doesn’t really need it, in our opinion), this model is way more than an upgrade; rather, it’s a quantum leap.

The X-T3 brings with it a brand new sensor, a hybrid autofocus system that looks extremely promising and video features more in-line with a Panasonic GH5 than typical enthusiast mirrorless cameras. Based on our initial impressions, the X-T3 may be the mirrorless APS-C camera to beat.

Key Specifications

  • 26MP BSI ‘X-Trans CMOS 4’ sensor
  • 425-point hybrid AF system
  • Improved AF Tracking and Face/Eye Detection AF
  • 20 fps shooting with AF (11 fps with mechanical shutter)
  • 30 fps shooting in 1.25x crop ‘Sports Finder’ mode
  • 3.69M-dot electronic viewfinder
  • Two-axis tilting touchscreen
  • 10 bit 4:2:0 H.265 internal video capture (4:2:2 over HDMI)
  • UHD/DCI 4K/60p from 1.18x crop region
  • UHD/DCI 4K/30p using full width of sensor
  • Internal F-Log capture (HLG coming by end of 2018)
  • Dual UHS-II SD card slots
  • USB C-type connector can be used for charging battery
  • Headphone and Mic Sockets
Out of camera JPEG shot using the Provia/Standard profile.
ISO 640 | 1/ 160 sec | F2 | Shot using the Fujifilm XF 90mm F2 R LM WR
Photo by Wenmei Hill

The X-T3 will launch with an MSRP of $ 1499 (down $ 100 from the X-T2) but will still cost $ 1899 when sold as a kit with the XF 18-55mm R F2.8-4 OIS lens. It will be available in black or black and silver.

What’s new and how it compares

Autofocus, video and the user interface are just a small portion of what’s new on the X-T3 compared to its immediate predecessor.

Read more

Body and handling

The X-T3’s design is nearly identical to that of the X-T2, and that’s a good thing. The improvements are significant, though, with the addition of a higher-res EVF and a touchscreen LCD.

Read more

Operation and controls

The name of the game is customization, with nine buttons to choose from. There are also use-case-based AF controls available. Battery life is above average.

Read more

First impressions

Fujifilm has raised the bar for video on APS-C cameras, one example of why crop formats are not dead yet.

Read more

Sample gallery

View a variety of sample images from our final production X-T3.

Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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DPReview TV: Fujifilm X-T3 vs Panasonic GH5 video comparison

06 Sep

Now that the Fujifilm X-T3 has launched, DPReview TV’s Jordan Drake puts it up against the venerable Panasonic DC-GH5 to see how their video features and quality compare. If you don’t mind the large download, a low compression version of the above video can be found here.

And if you haven’t seen them, don’t miss Chris and Jordan’s first look at the X-T3, as well as our own First Impressions Review.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.

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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Fujifilm X-T3: what you need to know

06 Sep

The Fujifilm X-T3

The X-T3 is Fujifilm’s newest X-series camera, and potentially represents the largest jump in features and performance that we’ve seen in a new Fujifilm camera in quite some time. It boasts a new sensor, faster processor, a significantly improved autofocus system, and video specs that move it close to best-in-class territory.

In short, Fujifilm seems to have taken a no-holds-barred approach to designing this camera, and what the company has delivered is impressive both on paper and in your hands. Let’s take a look at some of the headline features worth knowing about.

Body and Controls

The X-T3 is visually similar to its predecessor, the X-T2, though it has a slightly redesigned handgrip. The top plate has the usual Fujifilm dials for ISO, shutter speed, and exposure compensation, and the rear features a tilting touchscreen.

The body includes both a microphone and a headphone jack, along with USB-C and micro HDMI-out ports. The door over these plugs can be completely removed when using the camera with attached cables so that it doesn’t get in the way or break, a nice nod to videographers who may want to use the camera rigged with microphones, headphones, or an external recorder.

On the opposite side of the camera are dual-SD card slots that support UHS-II and V60/V90 cards.

New X-Trans Sensor

The X-T3 uses a new 26.1MP X-Trans backside illuminated CMOS sensor. Although not significantly different in terms of resolution compared to the X-T2’s 24MP sensor, this appears to be a sensor we haven’t seen in other cameras, so we’re looking forward to our testing in order to learn more about its performance.

The new sensor now has a base ISO of 160, compared to 200 on previous Fujifilm models.

Fujifilm tells us that this new sensor has 10x faster readout than its original X-Trans sensor, which is particularly important for some of the camera’s new capabilities.

X-Processor 4

In addition to a new sensor, the camera includes a new quad core CPU, called the X-Processor 4. Fujifilm claims it’s 20x faster than the original X-Processor in the X-Pro1 and 3x faster then the X-Processor Pro found in the more recent X-H1.

The improved speed is apparent when using the camera as it’s quite responsive. Between the new sensor and the new processor, the camera is able to offer significant performance over its predecessors in both photo and video modes.

Autofocus

Fujifilm cameras don’t have a reputation for class-leading autofocus performance, but the X-T3 may be the camera that challenges that perception.

It has 425 phase detect autofocus points that provide 99% vertical and horizontal coverage when using single-point AF. Zone and wide tracking modes provide a slightly smaller 91% horizontal x 94.5% vertical footprint, but that’s still pretty impressive. AF points are split into 240 regions, and the system looks at regions both horizontally and independently (for textures). Phase detect AF works down to -3EV (lens not specified), which is two stops better than the X-T2’s -1EV.

In our initial use of the camera we’ve been been very impressed with the new autofocus system

Fujifilm says that improved processing speed, along with an entirely new focusing algorithm, allow the camera to focus 1.5x faster than the X-T2, enabling accurate autofocus even when photographing subjects that change speed or move erratically across the frame. It also claims to have improved face detection, supports eye-detection in AF-C mode, and says that new face/eye detection algorithms are 2x faster. Face detection is also available when shooting video. However, if there are multiple faces in a scene there doesn’t seem to be a way to tell the camera which specific face you want to track.

In our initial use of the camera we’ve been been very impressed with the new autofocus system, finding it to be fast and very effective at tracking subjects – in some ways very similar to the 3D tracking on Nikon’s DSLRs. We’ll have to do a lot more testing before we can provide a definitive analysis, but it’s fair to say that it’s a clear step up from the AF system on previous Fujifilm bodies.

Photos

At 26.1MP, the X-T3 has only a bit more resolution than its predecessor, though it’s not enough that you’ll notice a significant difference in image quality from that change alone. However, Fujifilm has made other improvements for still photography that are worth noting.

The camera continues to support all of Fujifilm’s excellent film simulation modes, but now includes the company’s Color Chrome effect. This was first introduced on the GFX 50S, and is designed to provide improved color gradation in shadow areas that can be difficult to reproduce – on vivid flowers with shadows, for example. There’s also a monochrome adjustment option that lets you apply a warm or cool tone to your black and white photos, with nine levels of adjustment in each direction.

The X-T3 continues to use Fujifilm’s X-Trans sensor technology, as opposed to the more common Bayer pattern color filter arrays

Now that ISO 160 is part of the standard ISO range (on previous Fujifilm cameras it was available only as an extended setting) it’s also possible to capture photos using the DR400% mode for improved dynamic range at ISO 640 instead of ISO 800.

Also new, Raw files now have medium sized (13MP) JPEG previews embedded instead of small JPEG previews, which should make it easier for Raw shooters to review photo details in-camera.

The X-T3 continues to use Fujifilm’s X-Trans sensor technology, as opposed to the more common Bayer pattern color filter arrays found on most cameras. Suffice it to say, if you like X-Trans you’ll probably still like it on this camera as well. (Or vice versa.)

Video

Video is arguably the area where the X-T3 makes its most significant advances, with features and specifications that have the potential to put it into class-leading territory alongside models like the Panasonic GH5.

To start, the camera supports 4K/60p recording, including both DCI (4096×2160) and UHD (3840×2160) standards. Video can be captured at 4K/60p in 4:2:2 10-bit color via HDMI out, and in 4:2:0 10-bit color when recording internally. You also have the choice of using either H.264 or the newer H.265/HEVC codec, with data rates up to 400Mbps, and can choose between All-Intra or Long-GOP recording settings. Shooting video at 400Mbps will require cards that meet the V60 standard.

The X-T3 uses the full width of its sensor to record oversampled 4K video at frame rates up to 30p

Most of these settings can be mixed and matched, creating an impressive array of possible configurations, but there are some restrictions. (For example, 10-bit recording requires use of the H.265 codec.) It’s possible to record 4K/60p internally at up to 200Mbps while simultaneously recording externally over HDMI.

The camera uses the full width of its sensor to record oversampled 4K video at frame rates up to 30p. There’s a slight 1.18 crop when shooting 4K/60p, which Fujifilm tells us is done in order to maintain the fast scan rate on the sensor.

For slow motion work it can shoot up to 1080/120p, though this comes with a 1.29x crop of the sensor. This feature was also available on the recent Fujifilm X-H1, but that camera needed to upscale the image a bit in order to do so. In contrast, the X-T3 doesn’t have to upscale, but Fujifilm needed to use a slight crop of the sensor to avoid doing so.

According to to Fujifilm there’s also a new noise reduction algorithm, including 4K inter-frame noise reduction, and it claims the camera can capture up to 12 stops of dynamic range when shooting video.

Video

In addition to an impressive array of resolutions, data rates, and other options, the X-T3 offers a number of tools and features that should be popular among videographers.

The camera includes Fujifilm’s F-Log gamma profile, which can be used either via HDMI or for internal recording, as well as the very pleasing Eterna film profile, which we’ve found makes a great starting point for color grading if you don’t need to use F-Log. Since the X-T3 has a base ISO of 160, the minimum sensitivity for shooting F-Log has also been lowered to ISO 640, compared with ISO 800 on previous Fujifilm cameras.

Movie mode also includes the Silent Control feature found on the X-H1

Fujifilm says the sensor’s scan rate is a very quick 17ms, which should provide very good rolling shutter performance and puts the camera into similar territory as the impressive Panasonic GH5 (13ms).

Movie mode also includes the Silent Control feature found on the X-H1, which makes it easy to access video settings using the touchscreen, and also provides a method to retain separate settings for shooting stills and video.

The X-T3 does not include support for Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) at launch, however Fujifilm says this will come in the form of a firmware update by the end of the year.

Electronic Viewfinder

The X-T3’s electronic viewfinder is built around a 3.69 million-dot OLED with 0.75x magnification. This is slightly lower than the 0.77x magnification found on the X-T2, but Fujifilm says they needed to drop the magnification a tiny bit because the new EVF panel is physically larger and requires slightly different optics.

The EVF has a native 60fps refresh rate, but can increase to 100fps in Boost mode without a battery grip attached, unlike the X-T2 which required a battery grip for full Boost mode. It has a 23mm eye-point, the same as the X-H1, and the diopter correction knob must now be pulled out in order to turn it, making it unlikely that it will be inadvertently moved by rubbing against something.

Metering and Focusing

The X-T3 is able to meter and focus at the same time by separating the phase detect AF measurements from the camera’s exposure control.

Different lines on the sensor are used to perform autofocus and exposure measurements, reading out at different rates and processing both sets of information in parallel without affecting one another. This gets around the need to switch back and forth between focusing and metering functions, which in certain cases can result in noticeable effects.

For example, when focusing in low light, many mirrorless cameras will briefly show an overexposed image while acquiring focus because they’re using the same pixels for AF and exposure measurements and need to increase sensor gain in order to acquire focus. In contrast, the X-T3 has no need to make this temporary adjustment as it’s using different pixels for each function.

We were able to see this in action through an informal test of the camera. We set the exposure low enough that the viewfinder was completely black, but the camera was still able to lock focus on a subject in the frame without any change in the viewfinder. This implementation contributes to a very pleasing user experience.

Sports Finder Mode

The X-T3 also has a Sports Finder mode, which can be useful when shooting things for which performance is a priority, such as sports or wildlife. A 1.25x crop effectively turns the X-T3 into a 16MP camera and the EVF provides clear frame lines to see the cropped area. You can still see outside the cropped area, however, and this can be very helpful as you’re able to see things that are slightly out of frame and anticipate their entry into the scene.

Sports Finder mode can be very useful for burst shooting and supports 10, 20, and 30fps burst modes, recording up to 33 Raw images or 60 JPEG images at 30fps, with an EVF blackout of 90ms. A pre-burst mode can also start shooting images as soon as the shutter button is half-pressed.

Performance

Fujifilm claims the X-T3 has the ‘highest performance in the history of the X-series’. In continuous shooting mode it can capture 11fps with continuous AF using the mechanical shutter, up to 36 frames, or 20fps using the electronic shutter, up to 34 frames. Neither requires the use of an additional battery grip.

Unlike the X-T2, it’s not necessary to have a battery grip attached to fully utilize Boost mode, which increases autofocus speed and increases the EVF frame rate to 100fps.

The X-T3 uses the same NP-W126S battery as other recent Fujifilm models and has a CIPA rating of 390 images, though as with most cameras we expect to get more in practice.

Battery Grip

A new battery grip, the VG-XT3, can be paired with the camera for those who want additional controls for vertical shooting or need additional battery power. It holds two additional batteries to increase the maximum number of shots to 1,100.

The vertical grip includes a shutter release button, focus lever, AE-L button, AF-L button, front and rear command dials, Q button and Fn button so that you have all standard controls available when shooting vertically. It’s dust and weather resistant and is rated to operate in temperatures as low as -10C/14F.

Additionally, there’s also a new metal hand grip which is designed to make the camera more comfortable to hold when using larger lenses. It’s designed so that you can replace both the battery and SD cards without removing it, and the base can be used as a quick release shoe when using a dovetail mount on a tripod.

Night Vision Mode

A new Night Vision mode shifts the display from its standard appearance to a predominantly red mode that’s easier on your eyes in low light conditions. It’s a bit of a specialized feature, but one that will likely be appreciated by those who shoot frequently in low light.

Pricing and Availability

The Fujifilm X-T3 is launched with an MSRP of $ 1499 body only, or $ 1899 with the included Fujifilm 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS kit lens, and will ship on September 20.

We’ve already started testing the camera and look forward to bringing you our full in-depth review soon. Until then, we encourage you to read our Fujifilm X-T3 First Impressions Review to see what we think so far.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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DPReview TV: Fujifilm X-T3 hands-on first impressions

06 Sep

Join Chris and Jordan for a first look at Fujifilm’s powerful new X-T3, which offers greatly improved autofocus, 10-bit internal 4K recording and several other refinements compared to the popular X-T2.

Also, make sure to read our in-depth Fujifilm X-T3 First Impressions Review.

Read our in-depth Fujifilm X-T3 First Impressions Review

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.

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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

06 Sep

If you think that bridal portraits are a thing of the past, you are greatly mistaken. Bridal portraits have taken on new life in the wedding photography industry and are every bit as important as they were before.

bride in three poses - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

What are Bridal Portraits?

Bridal portraits were once taken in a studio, and subsequently when faster and lighter cameras were made available, on location. This is where the bride dresses up in her day-of wedding dress and poses alone. Sometimes the groom would join her.

The photographer would then take several poses of her with her bouquet and veil. So basically, it’s a chance for the photographer to take their time and photograph the bride in many different poses.

Tips for Better Bridal Portraits - two photos of brides in a pink room

This bride was in her home next to a big sliding glass door that let in light even though it was raining.

Now, bridal portraits are taken during the wedding day, thanks to digital photography. Usually right after the bride is done getting ready or during the bride and groom portraits.

It’s a good idea to take portraits during both times to get a more diverse set of bridal portraits, especially if each location is different than the other.

bride on location - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

Same bride as the one above, this time at the location we photographed the bride and groom photos. It provides a different feeling and look than the ones taken in her home.

Ask the bride to have a little more time during the getting ready and bride and groom portraits so that you can focus on her. She will appreciate the gesture, knowing that you are going to capture her as a beautiful bride on one of the happiest days of her life.

Why are they important?

Bridal portraits are such an important part of the photographic timeline because each bride takes a lot of time to find the right dress, the right look, and choose just the right bouquet for her wedding day. As the photographer, it’s your job to photograph these details with a lot of attention if they hold a particular meaning to the bride.

bride near a window - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

I used window light through sheer curtains in a hotel room to create a soft light on the bride’s face.

For example, her something blue might be a ring that her mother wore and gave to her on her wedding day. There might be something special on the bottom of her shoes or tied to her bouquet. All of these details are important during bridal portraits and you need to get detail photos of each.

bride by a window, her shoes and bouquet - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

Bridal portraits are also a great time to get the bride completely alone so that she can have some breathing room before the big day starts.

It’s a great way to quiet the nerves and focus on her and how happy she looks.

bride reading a letter b/w - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

A special moment in between posed portraits. The bride reads a letter the groom wrote for her.

Bridal portraits aren’t just for the bride alone, though, sometimes the groom will join in as well. This gives you the opportunity to create really solid portraits of the couple together on their wedding day without anyone else present.

bride details - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

bride holding her veil - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

When you take bridal portraits on the day of the wedding, be sure to ask your clients for extra time so that you can make sure that you get enough of the bride alone, the bride and groom together, and all of the important details the bride and groom will be wearing.

Bridal portraits inside

Brides usually get ready inside a hotel or in their home. If this is the case, carve out some time before she has to leave to get the bride alone.

Take her to another room where there is sufficient window light. Window light is the best, in my opinion, because it gives you enough light but also casts off into the room allowing for shadows to define silhouettes.

Sit the bride down on the edge of a chair and have her face the window. Change it up and have her stand full frontal toward the window. The poses and variations are endless and you’ll have beautiful soft light to give her a glow.

bride 3 photos - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

Use window light and if need be, fill flash bounced off the ceiling to create a soft light on the bride’s face.

In some cases, especially in the home, you can take the bride to other rooms or locations within the home that offer more options. Like the photo above, where I took photos of the bride in her living room in her house. I did use flash to bounce light since it was raining that day, however, she is calm and relaxed.

getting ready - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

Here we see a detail photo of her dress as well as the bride sitting below her grandparent’s wedding photo.

Don’t be afraid to move furniture if you have too. It’s best to move furniture than working around it and missing the opportunity for a great photo. Just make sure that you put it back as you found it.

On location

When you’re out photographing the couple’s portraits, don’t forget to get individual portraits of each, especially the bride. On location may offer better opportunities to get the full dress from both front and behind.

Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

Take individual portraits of the bride and groom if they opt to have the bridal portrait session together.

If the bride has a long veil, you can play with lifting it into the air and dropping it to get some really interesting photos. Having her hold her bouquet and getting up close makes for a great photo.  Capture her shoes in action as well, especially if she has put something special on the soles.

outdoor bride - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

Being on location gives you more room as well to have the bride walk, turn, spin, and have fun. Photograph her in different types of lighting and backgrounds. Experiment with close up photos as well as full-length photos.

Try lifting and having the veil blowing in the wind. Letting the bride move around a bit can loosen nerves and get the bride comfortable in front of the camera.

Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

Bridal portraits before or after the event

As important as bridal portraits are on the day of the wedding, sometimes you’ll have the opportunity to photograph the bride before or after the wedding. Many photographers call this a “day after session” or “trash the dress”.

Tips for Better Bridal Portraits - hawaii

These two photos were taken during the wedding day.

couple on the beach - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

The same couple as the previous photo but the day after their wedding. The photos are more relaxed at a different location, and with different styling.

Bridal portraits are important on the day-of because of all that day’s details, however, portraits taken either before or after the day of the event can offer clients a chance to have a more relaxed look.

The bride may wear her hair differently and use perhaps a different dress altogether. Giving you more opportunities to pose her differently and add to the photos taken on the wedding day.

Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

Photos were taken the day before the event.

Taking the bridal portraits before or after the wedding can also give you the opportunity to photograph in an entirely different setting than that of the wedding day. Giving you more creative freedom while the couple is more relaxed.

sunset beach photos - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

Two photos were taken the day after the event.

It’s not just about the bride

More often than not, the groom may join the session as it gives you more time to create more portraits of the couple as well as individually. Focus on taking details of both the groom and the bride.

couple kissing - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

When the couple poses together, you have more time to allow them to just be themselves, especially if you are doing a before or a day after session.

couple with antique classic car - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

Try offering the couple something more of a stylized photo session so that you can use props to tell more of the story. This will give them an entirely contrasted look compared to the one that they are going to have on their actual wedding day.

couple near lily pond - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

In conclusion

Bridal portraits are growing in popularity both on the actual wedding day and before or after the event. Having this extra time to photograph the bride alone can add to the collection of photos that you will deliver to her allowing her to remember how she felt that day.

couple by Hard Rock cafe - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

In addition, bridal portraits offer the opportunity to capture all of the important details that the bride took so much time to choose. Bridal portraits let you capture the bride in a more intimate way both individually or with her groom.

couple on the beach - Tips for Better Bridal Portraits

Take advantage of this time and allow your creativity to flow so that get some really amazing photos of the bride either before, on, or after her wedding day.

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How Marketing And Finance Could Derail Your Photography Business

06 Sep

It’s is not often that we find people going into businesses that have been widely regarded as sole entrepreneurship. Recently in the photography business, firms can take up to fifty employees in a single office with each photographer doing their thing. However, the journey to be like the top photography companies who have fifty or more employees as an example, Continue Reading

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Report: Multi-camera smartphone segment growing at record pace

06 Sep

If you thought multi-camera modules on smartphones were nothing but a fad, think again. Two recent reports by analyst firm Counterpoint Research and The Korea Herald tell a different story.

According to the analyst report approximately 42% of all smartphones sold globally in July 2018 featured a dual or triple rear camera. The firm estimates that the adoption of multi-camera modules will grow to 60% by the end of the year and says that “while the megapixel war has almost peaked, multiple sensors in phones is the new battleground.“

Graph: Counterpoint

Growth in the multi-cam segment has been fast paced, with penetration increasing from 15% to 42% in the last 12 months, and is highest in the price range from $ 200 to $ 599. In the “super-premium” segment ($ 800+) adoption has reached 100%.

The charge is lead by OnePlus, followed by Huawei and Apple. Google is the only premium manufacturer still betting on single-camera but is under increasing pressure to join the multi-cam movement.

A report by The Korea Herald confirms Counterpoint’s view of the market, stating that “Most major smartphone makers, including Samsung Electronics, Apple and LG Electronics, are reportedly preparing to roll out smartphones fitted with three rear-facing camera modules in a bid to step ahead in the premium segment.”

According to Samsung around 10% percent of its 2019 smartphones are likely to come with triple-camera technology. Unsurprisingly the performance increase through multiple cameras comes at a cost, though. At a manufacturing level the cost of a typical single-lens module is approximately $ 10. Dual- and triple-lens camera modules add $ 30 and $ 50, respectively, to the bill of material.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

06 Sep

When you strive to get your images right in-camera at the moment you take them you’re going to reap many benefits that you might not even realize.

“Just Photoshop it” has become a recurring theme in photography when it comes to fixing image errors. Depending on who you talk to it can seem like Photoshop is a magic pill that will solve all manner of photographic problems. While it’s true that image-editing applications can help deal with a variety of issues, from correcting exposure to removing objects to swapping a cloudy sky for a sunny one, there’s a lot to be said for the philosophy of using as little editing as possible.

The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera - butterfly on a red flower

I didn’t need Photoshop to get this image. Instead, I needed to get up early, know where the light was coming from, and understand how to use my camera equipment.

This is a tricky subject to tackle because there is so much wiggle room when it comes to defining what the term in-camera really means. To some, it means allowing for no post-production at all, even simple cropping. Others define it as getting things mostly correct at the time you press the shutter button, even though some basic adjustments such as straightening or exposure correction might be needed later.

There are photographers for whom getting it right in-camera means looking out for background obstacles, stray hairs, or wayward arms and legs that might otherwise ruin a good picture.

I don’t like to get caught up in the minutia of what in-camera means. But I will say that if you can strive to have more aspects of a picture correct at the time you make the image, the end result will be that much better.

This holds true for most types of photography save for the outlier examples like extreme focus stacking in macro photography or the types of artistic creations and collages that require post-processing.

two kids with arms around each other - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

An ounce of prevention

There’s an old bit of wisdom you might have heard that goes like this:

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

It applies to many areas of life and the same holds true for photography as well. If you can take a few seconds to fix problematic areas at the time you take a picture it will save you untold minutes or even hours back at your computer. This took me a while to learn when I first got started with portrait photography. But the more I operate by this philosophy the more efficient my workflow becomes.

portrait of 3 ladies - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

Do you see the green recycle bin on the left side of the photo? It might not look like much, but if this is printed on a large canvas it would stick out like a sore thumb. Background distractions like that are much easier to fix by adjusting things during the session instead of spending time Photoshopping each image later.

Years ago the only things I knew to look for when taking pictures of clients were things like smiling faces and good posing. As such, I often found myself banging my head against my keyboard while going through my Lightroom catalog afterwards because of unwanted distractions in my photos.

Automobiles, pedestrians, trash cans, litter, animals, street lights, and a host of other imperfections can all be fixed in Photoshop but it’s so much easier to just make sure they don’t even show up in your photos in the first place.

portrait 3 ladies in trees - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

Eventually, I did see the recycle bin so I altered my point of view just slightly, which took a few seconds but saved me a lot of post-processing time.

This works for other things too like stray hairs, bits of dirt and debris that can get blown around and land on clients, or unwieldy shirts that like to get un-tucked. These problems can all be solved to some degree or another using computer software but it’s never going to be as fast or simple as just dealing with them when they occur.

The trick to doing this is to be looking out for such things at the time of the photo shoot. That is what took me so long to really learn, and to be honest I’m still learning even now! There are so many things to look out for when taking pictures. That background flotsam or bits of rubbish on the ground might be the last thing on your mind, but they can easily ruin a photo or at the very least cause you to spend much more time eliminating them afterwards than you would like.

My best advice to you in this regard is to simply train yourself to be aware. Look at your surroundings in addition to your subjects, and work on seeing background elements and other distractions that might normally escape your eye.

When you see things, take corrective action and even let your clients in on what’s going on. I have paused many photo sessions to say things like, “Oh no, there’s a street sign in the way behind you. Let’s all take a few steps this way…” and every time it has been appreciated by the people who are paying me to do a good job. It sends a message that you know what you are doing and care enough to get the shots right.

portrait of tweens - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

A more extreme version of this, but one that’s just as important, is to take note of problematic points that cannot be altered in Photoshop and deal with them at the time of the photo session.

Issues like sign posts sticking out of heads, heads turned in the wrong direction, hands in awkward places, or having people with complementary outfits in close proximity to one another can easily ruin an otherwise outstanding photo session and are all but impossible to fix in post-production. The more you look for these problems and fix them on the spot, the better your photography will be.

Lighting and exposure

Years ago with early digital cameras, it was crucial to get the exposure just right at the time you took a photo. But today’s digital cameras have such incredible dynamic range that you can clean up a great deal of exposure issues in post-production. However, this should be used as a last resort and not relied on as a general rule, almost like a safety net below a trapeze artist.

When shooting in RAW you can lower highlights, raise shadows, and adjust color all day long to get just the right look you are aiming for. This is a huge benefit if you are doing work for clients. It’s even useful if you just want to squeeze the most out of your shots as a casual photographer. This type of exposure correction has saved my bacon more times than I can count when doing work for clients.

expecting couple in silhouette - The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

This couple was severely backlit which made for a very challenging photo situation.

Despite the flexibility of the RAW format and the editing possibilities offered by many photography applications such as Lightroom, Photoshop, and Luminar – you will find that it’s best to mitigate potential exposure and lighting issues at the time you take the photo instead of on your computer.

It’s not that you can’t fix exposure issues in post-production later, but that if simple exposure adjustments can make them disappear before you even take a picture then why would you want to spend time fixing it later?

The Importance of Getting the Image Right In-Camera

It took a lot of editing to wrangle a good result from the RAW file, but I could have just adjusted my exposure settings on the spot and saved myself a lot of time afterwards.

Your time is valuable

The more time I spend as a photographer the more valuable I realize my time really is. Even if you are a working professional who makes 100% of your income from photography, the less time you have to spend editing your images to fix exposure issues means more time doing other things that would help you hone your craft or grow your business. Or time you can spend with your family!

Even though you can fix a host of photographic issues ex post facto there’s no substitute for doing what you can to get it right in-camera and make sure those issues never even happen in the first place. Aside from saving yourself untold hours of time fiddling with sliders and layers on your computer, you will also be growing your skills as a photographer.

It will take some practice as you learn to reduce unwanted distractions and get accurate exposure settings when you press the shutter button. But you will reap rewards in terms of knowledge, confidence, and sheer experience. In the end, the result will be better photos taken by a better photographer, and that’s the kind of benefit you just can’t get by moving sliders around in Lightroom.

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