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Gitzo teams up with Sony to launch tripod and L-bracket designed for ?-series cameras

As part of a collaboration between Vitec Group and Sony, Gitzo has introduced a new pair of products designed specifically for Sony ?7 and ?9 cameras: the Traveler ? Tripod and the L-Bracket ?.

The new products ‘feature a tailored design to perfectly fit Sony ?7 and ?9 camera models, helping to increase grip and stability for precise framing and extraordinary composition,’ according to Vitec Group.

Gitzo’s new Traveler ? is a ‘premium travel tripod’ featuring a new design and monochromatic color scheme to match the appearance of Sony ?-series cameras. It weighs just 1.43kg/3.15lbs, opens to 165cm/64.96in and holds up to 10kg/22lbs of gear. Like Gitzo’s other travel tripods, the Traveler ? folds down to just 43cm/16.93in when using the 180-degree leg-folding system.

The legs themselves are constructed of Carbon eXact tubing and use the Traveler G-lock system for securing the proper height. The Traveler ? is paired with Gitzo’s ‘most compact professional carbon fiber tripod head […] engineered to provide the ultimate smoothness and precision of movement and secure locking with independent pan/tilt lock.’ To wrap it all up, the special-edition tripod includes a genuine Italian leather carry strap designed to mimic the aesthetic of carbon fiber.

The second new product is the L-Bracket ?, which Gitzo calls ‘the lightest of its kind on the market,’ weighing in at just 77g/2.7oz. The bracket is milled from a single piece of aluminum ‘to become one with the most high-level professional mirrorless cameras on the market.’ Its design includes four attachment points for camera straps, an open design for easy access to ports and cables. There’s also a dedicated spot for the hex keys and accessories so you don’t need to carry another bag of tools around.

The Gitzo Traveler ? costs $ 999.99, while the Gitzo L-Bracket ? will set you back $ 199.99. They are available now on Gitzo’s online shop and authorized dealers.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

July 18, 2018
Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018
In this third installment of articles on ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018, we look at some of the Cool Tools – either new features or ones that are particularly useful. Read my first two articles here:
- ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners
- How to do Creative Editing with Layers in ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018
New Features

1. ACTIONS

Newly implemented in the latest release of the software, Actions are a range of predefined edits that you can apply to your image to achieve a specific look or effect. To assist you with this, there is an Actions Browser that lets you see the effect applied in advance, which is extremely useful.

Image with the Actions Browser open.

There are 16 different categories covering color, black and white, workflow, editing, special effects, portrait and landscape options, and more. Once you decide on the desired Action, click PLAY and it is applied.

Example of a Split-tone Action.

A black and white conversion Action applied.

To apply an Action, you need to open your image in Edit mode. On the top menu bar, look for Tools > Browse Actions.

2. LIQUIFY

Liquify is often used in fashion and portrait editing to change the shape of people or parts of their bodies. It is a new feature in this release of ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018. This tool needs to be applied with a large soft brush and a delicate touch or it can look overly obvious.

I found the Liquify tool very easy to use. It worked quickly (i.e. there was no lag on processing the change) and had a gentler effect than I was expecting.

This is the before image for comparison.

Showing where the effect had been applied.

Image after Liquify applied to the arch and bowl of the spoon, and the dark side of the main blueberry.

Using the Liquify Tool

Liquify is a function in Edit mode, so you need to open your image up in there. On the top menu bar, select Filter > Geometry > Liquify.

There are four different Liquify modes:
1. Shift – This moves pixels from one area to another in the direction you move the brush.
2. Pinch – This moves the pixels towards the center of the brush (making things smaller).
3. Brush – This moves pixels away from the center of the brush (making things bigger).
4. Restore – Undo mode for any of the three options above.
Once Liquify mode is active, check that your brush is the correct size and softness (a larger and softer brush is recommended) and very gently click and nudge the area you want to adjust a tiny amount. It is much easier to do lots of little adjustments as you can undo one if you go too far.

Also be mindful that when you use Liquify it moves all the pixels within the brush, so if you have any lines or other elements, they can be affected too. This can make it obvious that you have used Liquify, so be careful about the backgrounds and surrounding elements in the area you’re using it.

3. FREQUENCY SEPARATION

This is a function used a lot in portrait and fashion photography – anywhere there is a lot of skin visible, especially faces and close-ups. Frequency separation allows you to smooth out blemishes and imperfections, to even out the skin tones, and provide a polished outcome in the image.

While it can be done manually, it is time-consuming to set up. Now with a few clicks, the software does all the layers for you, making it easy to apply the effect where necessary. I don’t photograph people or close up portraits so have never had the need to use this functionality, but for those who want to access this advanced technique, ACDSee has included it.

Using the Tool

Open your image in Edit mode and in the Layers pane, duplicate the layer. Frequency Separation is a destructive edit, so it is recommended that you work on a duplicated layer to maintain image integrity.

Select the top layer (the duplicate), then right-click and select Frequency Separation from the drop-down box. It will then create two layers – one will be grey and have (HF) in the layer description. The other one will be in color, but will be all blurry and have (LF) in the layer description.

On the LF layer, use a brush to work on any skin imperfections. On the HF layer, use the Repair tool to clone clear skin over top of the blemish areas.

4. PIXEL TARGETING

The Pixel Targeting tool allows you to select specific areas in your image based on a combination of tone and color selection. It works in conjunction with an adjustment layer.

In Edit mode, open up your image and select an adjustment layer (any of them seem to be fine). Here I am using a shot of some bright red raspberries and a Vibrance adjustment layer.

Right-click on the top layer and select Pixel Targeting and a panel will open up. The top sliders allow you to select the tones and the bottom sliders allow you to select the colors.

Adjust the tone and the color sliders to suit. It creates a mask of the subject that you want to adjust.

Save a preset for future use (use the Save option at the top of the screen) and click OK. The mask you have just created in the Pixel Targeting window is now applied to your adjustment layer, and it will only apply the adjustment to the light areas of the mask.

Here I have turned the raspberries blue simply by adjusting the Hue sliders in the Vibrance layer.

Useful Features

While learning how to use ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018, there were several things about it that I found particularly useful. These are either the small things that don’t get used a lot but work really well when you do need to use them, or something that makes it much easier to do a really common task.

These are things I appreciate, especially when something you do a lot is made easier, or offers a clever alternative.

1 – Add a File as a Layer

At the bottom of the Layers pane are a whole lot of quick access icons for different layer features. The one circled here is the “Add a File as a Layer” option.

I do a couple of specific tasks that require the addition of outside images as extra layers, such as adding texture overlays and compositing.

There are lots of other instances when this could be useful – focus stacking, blending panorama or astrophotography images, time-lapse stacking, and so on.

This is a particularly common function and the way Photoshop does it is really NOT user-friendly. I have always gotten around it by using a second monitor and dragging my image in that way.

But if you are working on a laptop or only have one layer, that isn’t an option, so this feature becomes worth knowing about.

It’s really simple. Click on the Add a File as a Layer icon and a dialog box opens up asking you to select the location of the image you want to add. Even better, you can switch your view to Thumbnail and see examples of the images so you can select the right one.

Click on the desired file and select Open. The file will then open up as a new layer. It will probably need to be resized and the program has that mode already activated for you as well. Drag the yellow handles to the right size, select Commit, and you are done!

2. Heal Tool

Sometimes you might have a mark, a blemish, or a stray hair or twig in the way on your shot, and you don’t notice until you see it on the big screen when you are editing. Technology has improved so much these days that software can often take care of those issues for you, but it can still be a less than polished outcome.

When editing my blueberry shots, I was dismayed to find that I hadn’t noticed my main berry had a scratch down the front of it. Great chance to give the Heal tool inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate a go.

I was quite impressed with how well it works. Just right-click on a good area and then paint over the blemish area. I find doing lots of small selections gives a more natural effect usually, but ACDSee did a really good job.

After the Heal tool was applied.

Before Heal tool applied – you can clearly see the big scratch on the front of the berry.

Conclusion

Before writing these articles, I had never used ACDSee software at all. My background was with PaintShop Pro, Photoshop, and Lightroom. Learning about the full range and capabilities of this ACDSee program has been interesting. There are some really exciting new features and useful tools included, particularly in Edit mode.

Overall I have been impressed at the depth and capability of ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate. For a beginner wanting a one-stop-shop program at a cost-effective price (and no subscription model), it has a lot of benefits.

For anyone looking to get started in managing their photo files, processing RAW images, and more in-depth editing, this is a good place to start. If you’re looking for a non-subscription option, it is worth considering as well.

Disclaimer: ACDSee is a dPS advertising partner.

The post Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 17, 2018
Updated: Which RX100 should you choose?

There have now been seven variants of the RX100 series, and at least six of them are still current models. Confused? Here’s an updated look at their differences, and our recommendations among them now that we’ve tested the Mark VI.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

July 17, 2018
Kodak distances itself from failed Bitcoin scheme

The Kodak-branded ‘Kashminer’ Bitcoin mining scheme announced at CES has apparently collapsed, with Eastman Kodak distancing itself from the company behind it.

This is distinct from the Kodak-branded ‘Kodak Coin’ cryptocoin and ‘Kodak One’ IP blockchain scheme announced by Wenn Digital Inc at CES.

Eastman Kodak is saying that the Kashminer scheme, where investors could effectively rent Bitcoin mining hardware which would be located at Rochester NY, and use Kodak’s on-site power station for cheap electricity, was never actually a licensee of the Kodak name. This is despite the hardware appearing on Kodak’s stand at CES, bearing the company’s name.

The company behind the Kashminer says that the US Securities and Exchanges Commission had prevented the scheme from going ahead

The Kashminer scheme was immediately ridiculed at the time, since its promised consistent rate of return would appear impossible, given the increasing difficultly of ‘mining’ that is inherent to Bitcoin.

The BBC is reporting that Spotlite – the company behind the Kashminer – says that the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) had prevented the scheme from going ahead. It says it is now looking to establish a Bitcoin mining system in Iceland.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

July 17, 2018
DPReview TV: Tamron 70-210mm F4 vs. Canon and Nikon OEM lenses

70-200mm F4 zoom lenses may not get as much attention as their faster F2.8 siblings, but for many photographers these lenses hit the perfect sweet spot of price, performance, and weight.

This week, Chris and Jordan go to the Calgary Stampede with pro photographer Kyle Marquardt to shoot the new Tamron 70-210mm F4, available in Canon and Nikon mounts, alongside the Canon and Nikon equivalents. How does the Tamron hold up, and is it a good alternative to the OEM glass? Watch the episode to find out what they think.

Also, make sure to read our recent review of the Tamron 70-210mm F4.

Read the Tamron 70-210mm F4 review

Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

July 17, 2018
5 Tips for Doing Lifestyle Photo Sessions with Families
Even though I focus on weddings, I still do family sessions. Most of these are clients from when I started as a family photographer and I have built a relationship with over the years as well friends that they send my way. I find it a great privilege to see their children grow up and capture moments with them year after year.

But let’s face it, this doesn’t happen every month or every six months even. I am not there often enough to capture milestones or fleeting moments. Most of these are annual sessions where the family wants to document a point in their lives once a year. For this reason, I love and encourage lifestyle photo sessions so it feels like a series of snapshots of their daily lives are captured in a relaxed vibe.

What is a lifestyle photo session?

When I first mentioned this to my husband, he said he didn’t have a clue about what that even meant. A lifestyle photo session is one that is relaxed and focused on capturing moments and expressions, day-to-day activities and normal life scenarios, and nothing is too posed. Relaxed, candid shots, fun shots. Think less looking (at the camera) and more doing (action).

However, it is done with a lot of planning and intentionality for it to look as such. In this article, I will share with you five tips in my process of photographing family lifestyle photo sessions.

I am very much a planner and I like lists. I generally visualize things in my head first, go through it stage by stage, put this plan and an equipment list on paper and then I feel I’m nearly done. Then it’s just the shoot to get through but half the battle is already won.

#1 Plan in advance

Communicate your plan with the parents and instruct them on specific preparations in advance of the shoot. Agree on the most suitable time for them especially if the kids are really young. Advise them of outfits. Give them an indication of timings. For example, “We’ll spend an hour in your home and afterward go to a park or a nearby outdoor area for some fun action shots for half an hour”.

Ask them to prepare props that might be needed, snacks, and an activity. For example, if you are coming around at breakfast time, for them to get breakfast organized. This could also work for lunchtime (pizza-making, baking), bath times, play time (kite-flying in the park), etc.

#2 Have a formula

When you arrive, you should already have an idea of what to expect. Set up your equipment, line up your lenses where they are safe and have a mental (or physical) list of the following:
- Wide location shots
- Close-up detail shots of special things in the house
- Candid images
- Action shots
- Creative/artistic photos
- Portraits
#3 Get to know the family

Spend the first few minutes getting to know the entire family just as they are, not just the children. Join in whatever they’re doing upon your arrival and don’t change the setup straight away.

The children will feel comfortable and safe if they see you interacting with their parents and that they trust you. The kids will warm up to you faster that way than if you would just go straight up to them.

If you feel the kids need a break from you so that it stays all laid back and relaxed, ask to shoot the details in the house first.

You may need to move things around to style items or the parents may already have prepared these beforehand. Or if there are views outside the house, then take wide photos of them as well as a view into the house. These are part of their day-to-day story.

#4 Focus on natural moments

This is easier said than done because when there is a stranger in the house, it’s very difficult to be completely natural like nobody else is there.

My best tip is to do this using an activity. When the family is focused on what they are doing, try to be invisible and hide behind posts, kitchen cabinets, doors, etc., and capture the moment like you are not there.

You need to instruct the parents to initiate the activity, for example, reading books to the kids, playing with their favorite toys, watching their favorite program, etc. If you don’t get the shot you want the first time, you can always ask the parents to repeat the activity and have another go. Tell them not to look at the camera at all unless you ask them to!

This is also a great time to be intentionally creative with your compositions. You can put silhouettes, negative space and layering to great use and enhance your images.

#5 Don’t forget to capture portraits looking at the camera as well

This is really important not to overlook because grandparents always like shots of the kids looking at the camera! Try not to spend much time doing this, though.

Often I have to stage this, but try to do it really quickly. You can vary your angles too like asking the little kids to look up at you as shown below.

Lastly, always remember to take a photo of just the parents without the kids! They always consider it a treat and will treasure their portrait together.

Conclusion

Within that five-step plan, I can usually capture a great variety of shots from one or two planned activities. Although they are planned, they look natural and have a fleeting-moment-feel to them. This laid-back process works really well with really young children.

The older the kids get, the more amenable to instructions they become. Older kids may also have their own ideas of how they want you to capture them, and which props or toys they want to be incorporated into their images. So be open to their ideas too.

I hope you find these tips helpful. Do you have tips to add? Do share them in the comments area below.

The post 5 Tips for Doing Lifestyle Photo Sessions with Families appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
July 17, 2018
Tips on How to Capture Affection in Your Photographs

All you need is love – and the know-how to capture affection in your photos.

One of the big challenges in portrait photography is capturing the elusive aspects of life: feelings, smells, and experiences. It’s difficult because a photograph is limited to two dimensions and a single point in time. It only captures what we can see, but we often want it to do more than that.

To make a good photograph, we want to be able to share a sensation or an experience. Fortunately for us, it’s not completely impossible.

One of the great things about humans is that we have a pretty amazing imagination. We can feel the texture of fur just by seeing a photo of it, we can almost smell the sea when we see an evocative picture of it. The challenge is to take a photograph that’s good enough to make the viewer feel what you want them to.

In this article, I want to share some tips that can help you capture one of those elusive things – affection. I hope you enjoy the ride!

What is affection?

If done right, affection is easier to explain with a picture than in writing – a picture is worth a thousand words and all that. Let me give it a try, though.

Affection is an expression of love and trust, a kind of comfortable tenderness, a warm and confident gaze that doesn’t need to be returned. It’s strength in selflessness and is a very private experience.

Like most other feelings, but perhaps even more so, affection is really hard to fake. It’s often found in the small gestures and mannerisms that have been built over time.

And that’s why it’s so challenging to capture, especially in people you don’t know well.

Why try to capture affection?

So you may be thinking, if it’s so difficult, why bother? What’s the point of struggling to capture something that exists in so many more dimensions than a photograph and that is such an intimate feeling?

First of all, the challenge is a good way to develop as a photographer and a human. It gives you the chance to try to capture something essential, positive, that which will one day be the greatest of memories.

Knowing how to photograph affection is a great way to offer family and friends, as well as customers, amazing images that show something real and beautiful.

How to capture affection

Capturing affection may be a bit difficult, but it’s definitely not impossible. If you’re a professional photographer, one of the challenges is that your models may not know you well enough to be comfortable around you.

Nervousness and discomfort don’t go well with displaying affection. Since you won’t have the time to get to know everyone you’re hired to photograph, you need to find other ways to inspire confidence in your models.

Even knowing someone well doesn’t mean that it’s easy to capture affection. Shyness or awkwardness may sometimes make it even harder to photograph the affection among your friends and family.

One way to get what you want is to catch a special moment without being noticed. This works well at a wedding shoot, a family gathering, or even when doing street photography. The important thing to think about here is consent and whether it’s a situation where it’s okay to take such a photograph.

Proper preparation

If you’ve been asked to photograph a couple, or a parent and a child, preparation is important. With just a little bit of effort put into creating a connection and making your models feel comfortable you can go a long way.

Sometimes moving to a place with fewer distractions might help. Other times being surrounded by others is the right thing. You have to read the situation and make the best of it.

Part of preparation is building trust. You can start way before the shoot by getting in touch with your customers and making them confident that you know what you’re doing.

Show them that you can be trusted to capture beautiful memories for them and that you’re there to support them in the quite unusual situation that a photo shoot presents.

And as always, practice makes perfect. You can learn to find and capture special moments by looking in places where you wouldn’t expect to find them. Photography is so much more than just pushing a button. It’s learning to see the world in a different way, learning to understand what you see, and learning to capture it.

Conclusion

How do you make sure you capture genuine feelings in your photos? Do you have any tips on how to capture affection or a photo that you’d like to share?

I’d love to get your suggestions and see your photos in the comments below!

The post Tips on How to Capture Affection in Your Photographs appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

July 17, 2018
Kandao Raw+ is an automated image stacking tool for Raw files

Kandao, a maker of professional-grade 360° cameras has launched a new software product called Kandao Raw+. The tool was designed to boost image quality of the company’s own camera models Obsidian and QooCam, but also works with most DSLRs and other Raw-capable cameras that are supported by Adobe Camera Raw.

Kandao Raw+ uses computational photography techniques, similar to what we are seeing in many high-end smartphones, to create images with increased detail and dynamic range, as well as lower noise levels. To achieve that it combines a burst of Raw images into one single DNG file that can then be further edited with a Raw converter of your choice.

The software aligns shots automatically which means there is no need for shooting on a tripod. It is also capable of minimizing blur on any moving subjects in the scene. You can import up to 16 frames images of a burst into Kandao Raw+. You then pick one image as a reference for the auto-alignment.

The rest of the process is fully automated and will get you a DNG file with a 16-bit color depth and dynamic range that (theoretically) has been increased by almost 4EV, offering much more latitude in post-processing.

Best of all, Kandao Raw+ is free to download and use. You can find more information, technical detail and download links on the Kandao website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

July 17, 2018
Fujifilm releases Provia 100-branded instant noodles in South Korea

Fujifilm has taken an unusual departure from its regularly scheduled programming to bring you…instant noodles?

Yes, you read that correctly — as part of a promotional giveaway, Fujifilm Korea has created Fujifilm Film Simulation Instant Noodles, a line of instant noodles that’s wrapped with the same branding used on Fujifilm’s Provia 100 color reversal film packs.

According to the description, the Provia 100-branded noodles taste like ‘hot and tangy kimchi.’ For those unfamiliar with kimchi, Wikipedia describes it as ‘a staple in Korean cuisine […] a traditional side dish made from salted and fermented vegetables, most commonly napa cabbage and Korean radishes.’

It appears as though you won’t be able to get the instant noodles outside of South Korea. If you happen to be reading this from South Korea — or plan on taking a trip there soon — you can jump over to Fujifilm Korea’s promotional page and secure yourself some film-inspired instant noodles.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

July 16, 2018
Leica Noctilux-M 75mm F1.25 ASPH sample gallery

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The Leica Noctilux-M 75mm F1.25 ASPH is a fast, high-quality and decidedly heavyweight short telephoto prime lens, designed for use with Leica’s digital M-series rangefinders. A companion to the company’s existing 50mm Noctilux-M 50mm 0.95, the new 75mm is better suited to classic portraiture. Its nine-element, six-group construction is comprised exclusively of high anomalous partial dispersion and low chromatic dispersion glass, and contains two aspherical elements.

The incredibly shallow depth of field at F1.25 (not to mention its sheer size) make it tough to shoot with a conventional optical rangefinder

As you might expect, as well as being very pricey the 75mm F1.25 is also quite a handful, with a 67mm filter thread and weighing in at a total weight of 1055g (2.3 lb). While natively an M-mount lens, the incredibly shallow depth of field at F1.25 (not to mention its sheer size) make the 75mm Noct very tough to shoot with a conventional optical rangefinder. As such, we’ve mostly been shooting it on an M10 coupled with Leica’s Visoflex electronic viewfinder, and on an SL via an adapter.

We’ve been grappling with the 75mm F1.25 for a little while, and we’re working on a short shooting experience article. In the meantime, take a look at our sample images and let us know what you think.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

July 16, 2018