Blog

How to Create Your Own Style by Using LUTs in Photoshop

It is important to have your own style. Everybody says that. It is one of the most important factors to avoid drowning in millions of other photos from other photographers. A style is many things. It is your compositions, what you shoot photos of, what light you shoot in, but one of the most important factors is, how you post-process your photos. In this article, we will look at a post-process technique that can give you your own unique look to all of your photos using LUTs in Photoshop.

There are many ways to apply a certain look to your photos, some are better and some are simpler than others. You can pick up a filter or a preset in some tool and it might look pretty good. But it will not really be your style no matter how cool it looks. Anybody with that tool can click that exactly same preset and have the same look.

Create your own look

If you want to have your own style or look, you will have to create it. A great way to do that is by creating your own “Color Look -Up Table” or simply called LUTs. This is a fairly easy way to make a quite drastic look which will be unique to your photos. This is also called color grading.

A LUT is a Color Look-Up Table, it maps one color into another. It is a technique used in the movie industry, to create certain styles to movies. The same technique can be applied in photography to create a distinctive and professional look to your photos.

In this article, you will first learn how to use LUTs, and then how to create your own LUT files. The LUT is your post-processing style. This technique requires Photoshop or GIMP (or any program that uses layers – Luminar is also capable of using LUTs). The examples in this article were done with Photoshop.

Before we start, remember that when you are post-processing not to overdo it only “do it” enough, or subtly.

How to use a LUT

Photoshop comes with a number of LUTs out-of-the-box, you apply them as an adjustment layer. They will change the colors of the image and some of them will also change the contrast. Let’s see how to add LUTs to a photo.

Step 1 – Open a photo in Photoshop

Start by opening a photo, maybe one that you have post-processed a bit to balance the contrast, highlights, and shadows.

Step 2 – Add an Adjustment Layer

Then add an Adjustment Layer – choose “Color Lookup Adjustment layer”.

This layer will use a LUT file to make magic changes to your photo.

Step 3 – Pick a LUT

Make sure that you have the Properties tab of the adjustment layer opened. Click on the 3DLUT file drop-down menu and a list will appear. The list you see include the default LUTs shipped with Photoshop.

Pick one and see what happens. Play around and try different default LUTs and see what happens.

Some are very dramatic, like for instance EdgyAmber, while others are a bit more subtle.

Resulting image using the EdgyAmber LUT.

At first, you may think that the dramatic ones are not useful at all, but try changing the layer opacity to 30% while you have the EdgyAmber LUT selected.

As you can see the dramatic LUTs can also become subtle.

EdgyAmber LUT applied at 30% opacity.

Step 4 – Combining several LUT files

You can also create your own unique look. One that you can use for a particular series or even apply it on all of your photos as your style. You can do that by combining several Color Lookup (LUT) adjustment layers.

On each one, change the opacity level to something rather low, probably in the 5%-40% range. Once you have 4-6 layers, you can be pretty sure that the exact combination of layers, their order and opacity is unique.

Combining four LUTs for a unique look.

This is a pretty effective, yet simple, way to process your images to make them look like professional photographs.

Advanced tip!

You can also use some of the other kinds of adjustment layers to change the colors, to make more exact fine-tuning tweaks. Good adjustment layers for doing this are Selective Colors, Channel Mixer, and Color Balance. There are others, but they are even more advanced.

Once you have a selection of Color Lookup Adjustment (LUT) layers that you like, you can save this combination as your own LUT. This way you can achieve the same look on another photo, simply by applying just one LUT. It is almost as simple as clicking a preset button.

Requirement 1 – Your photo must be the Background Layer

To make this work, it is a requirement that the original image is the Background Layer. This will always be the case if you have opened the image normally.

Requirement 2 – Do not use masks

Whatever color grading adjustment layers you use to change the colors, do not use any masks. Using masks will confuse the Color Look Table export tool and your LUT will probably not be usable.

Step 5 – How to use your own LUT

Once you have made a set of adjustment layers to your photo, you can save it to a LUT file by going to: File > Export > Color Lookup Tables…

In the export dialog box, you can name your LUT. You can also change the Grid Points. 64 is a good compromise between size/performance and quality. Finally, make sure that you have 3DL checked.

If you save all your own LUTs to the same folder, they will be easy to access and find later. You can make a shortcut to the folder and very quickly apply one of your own LUTs to another image.

Step 6 – Using your own LUTs

It is very simple to use your newly created LUT file. Open a new image in Photoshop, add a Color Lookup Adjustment Layer and click Load 3D Lut.

As you can see, it instantly transforms your photo.

If you apply this LUT to any photo they will share a common look and feel.

All the photos in this article are processed using the same LUT and the familiarity is easy to spot. The results are dark moody images with a yellow/orange tint in the highlights and a blue/purple ting in the shadow areas.

They were all created with just some basic contrast, highlight and shadows adjustments applied in Lightroom, before importing them into Photoshop. The post-processing need not stop here, but for the purpose of the example, these images were kept simple.

Conclusion

By creating and using LUT files you can create a look for all your photos or even just to a series of images, that is unique. The LUT could be just a part of a more complex post-processing method or it could be the one spice that makes it your signature look.

As you grow more familiar with them you can create LUTs that you use for particular types of photos. One for sunny daytime photos, one for pre-sunrise, one for nighttime, etc. Have fun and be creative with using LUTs.

More LUTs

You can find tons of LUTs available on the internet. Some are free, some are not. However, I still recommend that you try to create your own, make it your style.

If you have any questions about creating or using LUTs, please ask in the comments area below.

The post How to Create Your Own Style by Using LUTs in Photoshop appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

June 3, 2018
5 Camera Settings That All Macro Photographers Should Know

This article will detail five camera settings that are essential and which all macro photographers should know. It was inspired by Will Nichols’ excellent tips Five Camera Settings Every New Photographer Needs to Know. You will notice two main themes in this article – ensuring a perfect point of focus and ensuring maximum sharpness. Both of which are critical in macro photography.

Included in the list of settings are Manual Focus, Manual Mode, Live View, the self-timer, and burst mode. By familiarizing yourself with these settings, your macro photography will grow by leaps and bounds.

1. Manual Focus

Manual focus is one of the most important tools in a macro photographer’s toolkit. When working at high magnifications, you cannot rely on a lens’s autofocus capabilities for a couple of reasons.

First, Manual Focus is necessary for creative macro photography. In macro photography, particularly in more abstract macro photography, you have to make your point of focus count. Only by using Manual Focus, can you do so with the required pinpoint accuracy.

Secondly, macro lenses tend to have relatively bad autofocus capabilities, especially at high magnifications. It becomes frustrating to sit and wait while the lens pans back and forth (this is an even bigger problem in low light).

By using Manual Focus, I was able to render the tip of the flower sharp.

The solution? Learn to use Manual Focus. With a bit of practice, you’ll find that you can focus quickly and efficiently, and your keeper rate will immediately increase.

2. Aperture Priority or Manual Mode

There’s no way around this. A macro photographer must have maximum control over their depth of field.

At the high magnifications that are characteristic of macro photography, depth of field is often mere millimeters. And, as touched on above, it is essential that you use that in-focus area to your advantage.

One way to do this is by carefully selecting your depth of field. This may involve using a shallow depth of field for a more abstract look, or a large depth of field so as to ensure a completely sharp subject. Regardless, being able to modify your depth of field from subject to subject, from image to image, is crucial.

I knew that I needed a very shallow depth of field if I wanted to pull off this tulip photograph. I used Manual Mode to select an aperture of f/4.2.

There are two settings that offer this level of control: Aperture Priority and Manual Mode. Aperture Priority Mode (labeled A or Av on your camera mode dial) allows you to set the aperture (and hence adjust the depth of field). Then the camera sets the shutter speed based on its internal light meter. Manual Mode (labeled M on your camera mode dial) allows you to control the aperture but also gives you control over the shutter speed.

I generally use Manual Mode, because I like to make split-second decisions regarding the shutter speed. But there are good reasons to use aperture priority mode as well. Whichever mode you choose, make sure that you are consciously adjusting the depth of field to fit your creative vision.

3. Live View

Live View is useful in macro photography for a few reasons.

First, Live View allows for you to check your point of focus. As mentioned above, nailing your desired point of focus is essential in macro photography. With Live View, you can zoom in on the LCD screen to ensure that you are not front-focusing or back-focusing.

Live View allows for you to make an image such as this where you can carefully focus on the base of the flower.

Furthermore, on some camera bodies, Live View enables you to reduce camera shake and keep your images sharp.

How? For the relevant camera bodies (I recommend that you check to see if this is true for your camera because it is an excellent trick), when Live View is activated, the mirror in your camera immediately flips up. Normally, this mirror flip occurs when you press the shutter release, causing camera vibration, and thus reducing sharpness.

But with Live View, this pre-flip means that, when you ultimately press the shutter release, no extra vibration occurs.

I took this handheld image at dusk, and just barely managed a sharp image.

4. Burst Mode

If you always use a tripod when shooting macro, feel free to ignore this tip. But for those who don’t like the weight or reduced flexibility that a tripod brings, Burst Mode can be a great tool.

What is Burst Mode? This is the camera setting that allows rapid-fire photography when you hold down the shutter release button. It ranges from a few frames per second to upwards of 10 (depending on your camera model).

While primarily used by wildlife, sports, and bird photographers in order to capture split-second action in the field, Burst Mode can also be used by macro photographers in order to ensure maximum focusing accuracy.

I took this photograph while hand-holding at an extreme magnification. Without burst mode, I probably would have failed to get a usable image.

Macro photographers are often working at such high magnifications that it’s difficult to ensure perfect focusing even when using the above settings. This is where Burst Mode comes in. By taking a series of images, any slight camera motion is controlled. Even if a few photographs are out of focus, you are likely to be satisfied with some of the others.

5. Two-Second Self-Timer

A final setting that is useful for macro photographers is the two-second self-timer. When shooting (with or without a tripod) in low light with a large depth of field, you might struggle to get sharp images. Part of the problem may be camera shake, caused when you press the shutter release button. Your finger pushes the button but also rocks the camera at the same time.

The solution is to use the two-second self-timer. This is a setting offered by most DSLRs which allows you to obtain maximum sharpness and may be the difference between a usable image and a blurry one.

When shooting in the evening, the two-second timer can be extremely useful.

Conclusion

By familiarizing yourself with these five settings; Manual Focus, Manual Mode, Live View, Burst Mode and the two-second self timer – you will have the technical grounding that all macro photographers need.

Can you think of any others settings that all macro photographers should know? Please share them in the comments below.

The post 5 Camera Settings That All Macro Photographers Should Know appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

June 3, 2018

Underwater macro photography in Anilao, the Philippines

1/160, F20, ISO100, diopter 12.5 This Emperor shrimp is about 1.5 cm long, shut using a 12.5 diopter.

A few months ago, a friend invited me to try underwater photography and join a macrophotography workshop in Anilao, the Philippines. I’ve been shooting above the water for more than five decades but had no experience shooting underwater. I decided to take up the challenge, renewed my diving license, acquired the necessary photography gear and took a few dives with an underwater photography guide in the Red sea, Eilat, preparing myself for the workshop.

The workshop was conducted in Anilao, Batangas province of the Philippines, with full diving service, dive masters, boat riding, etc. provided, as well as an excellent camera room to take care of the photo gear. Anilao is considered an ideal place for macro photography. The diversity is incredible – rich reefs, a wide variety of fish, unexpected critters and nudibranchs are all over. The beachfront resorts are nestled against the jungle and provide exotic scenery while riding to and from dive sites.

1/160, F9, ISO100. Face to face with a yellow Cubicus boxfish.

The workshop schedule is quite intense: Breakfast at 0630, Review of the previous day photos between 0700 and 0830, two morning dives between 0900 to noon. Lunch break at 1200; a theoretical learning session (light, macro photography, use of strobes and more) at 1400 to 1500, two afternoon and evening dives between 1530 and 1900, dinner, photo editing and submitting some images for the next morning review, and falling asleep.

I use all full-frame cameras when shooting above the water: the Nikon D850, D5 and Sony a9 mirrorless. For my underwater excursion, I have decided to use the Sony a9 for two reasons: It is smaller and therefore the housing is smaller, and one can review the photos without removing the eye from the viewfinder. The latter is of paramount importance, especially when shooting miniature critters from a distance of less than five centimeters. If you have to move the camera to review a photo on the back screen, the subject gets out of your sight and finding it and focusing again is time consuming.

I exclusively used the Sony FE 90mm F2.8G macro lens, sometimes with a 12.5 diopter wet lens attached in front of the lens port for shooting critters that are smaller (and some are much smaller!) than a centimeter. Each photo provided here includes the main exposure parameters in the caption, and the use of the diopter is noted as well.

The Nauticam housing I used holds two powerful strobes. Below the surface, most of the sunlight is absorbed by the first few meters of water. At depths of 5 meters and more, all critters look almost colorless and it is the light of the strobes that brings back the colors. Even the light of the most powerful strobe is absorbed by the water and therefore underwater the distance from the camera to the (main) subject is usually less than 1.5 meters. Macro photography distance is less than 50 centimeters and super macro (magnification ratio above 1 – the recorded image size on the sensor is larger than the actual size of the subject) distances can be as close as 2 centimeters.

For our diving sessions we were usually three photographers to a boat, accompanied by a local dive master who knows the waters very well and finds the critters for us. We were also accompanied by two boat drivers to handle the boat and help with the diving and photo gear and getting in and out of the water.

1/160, F14, ISO100, 12.5 diopter. Glossodoris Cincta Nudibranch

The diversity of the creatures in this area is reach and unique. Colorful and beautiful Nudibranches populate the waters, ranging in size from 4mm to 600mm. Most we encountered were between 10 to 60mm in size. They can be identified by the pair of rhinophores, on which it makes sense to focus.

But it’s not all serene beauty underneath the water. Survival is a continuous daily battle, and every critter has developed a unique method of protection against predators. There are many such methods, but below are a few in particular that we saw in use:

Using a deadly poison and flashing bright colors warning potential predators
Camouflage
Hiding in small hard to reach holes

1/200, F13, ISO1000. This wire coral shrimp on top of the coral is about 1.5 cm long uses camouflage to protect itself.

1/160, F14, ISO100. Blue-ringed Octopus, one of the world’s most venomous marine animals. If provoked, it will change color quickly as a warning.

1/200, F14, ISO100. 12.5 Diopter. The Pink Hairy Squat Lobster, about 1.5 cm long, hiding under the projections on the sides of sponges.

The underwater world is rich with life. It is so beautiful and exciting and I am sure going to put more time and effort into exploring this new (at least for me) amazing world.

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_0608256818″,”galleryId”:”0608256818″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) });

About the Author: Ze’ev Kirshenboim, an Electronic Engineer by trade, is a seasoned amateur photographer of 52 years and makes his living as the president of ACS Motion Control Ltd which he founded 33 years ago. He likes shooting sport, wildlife and people, and lately has combined his photography hobby with scuba diving, the results of which are depicted in this article.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

June 2, 2018

PNY launches 512GB microSD card

Camera and smartphone users who want to make the most of their device’s microSD card slot have a new option. PNY today announced a new 512 GB microSD card, equaling the capacity of Integral’s latest offering and surpassing the 400GB SanDisk model launched in August 2017.

In terms of speed, PNY quotes a ‘transfer speed’ of 90MB/sec, which makes the PNY 512GB Elite slightly faster (at least on paper) than the Integral which maxes out at 80MB/sec, but if absolute speed is a priority, at 100MB/sec the SanDisk still leads the pack. All three cards carry the UHS-I, U1 label with Class 10 and V10 speed specification.

Priced at $ 349, the new card isn’t cheap but offers heaps of storage capacity. According to PNY, it holds up to 80 hours of Full HD video recording or up to 100,000 18MP photos. This should make it an attractive option for anyone who likes to carry entire media libraries on their phone but could also be useful for drone photographers and other professionals.

More information is available on the PNY website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

June 2, 2018
More information released on Yongnuo YN 50mm F1.4 II

Yongnuo has unveiled a new version of its 50mm F1.4 lens – the upcoming YN 50mm F1.4 II. The new model follows an update to the company’s 50mm F1.8 offering (predictably called the 50mm F1.8 II), giving photographers a new and inexpensive alternative to Canon’s venerable EF 50mm F1.4.

Yongnuo’s new lens features a USB port for firmware updates, support for live view focusing, electromagnetic aperture, and a new external design. The company emphasizes the 50mm F1.4 II’s bokeh capabilities.

The YN 50mm F1.4 II features 9 elements in 7 groups, electromagnetic aperture with support for M/Av/Tv/P/B modes, gold-plated contacts and a metal mount, glass optics with a multilayer coating for better light transmission with controlled glares/ghosting, as well as both manual and auto focus, a focus distance indictor, and the same DC motor drive system found in the original model.

The Hong Kong company detailed the new lens on its website, but pricing and availability have yet to be announced.

Via: PhotoRumors

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

June 2, 2018
Olympus launches blue edition of the Pen E-PL9 for denim lovers

Denim lovers will be delighted to know that there is soon to be a camera that will go with all of their outfits. In honor of this ubiquitous fabric “that suits everyone” Olympus has launched a denim-blue version of its new Pen E-PL9 compact system camera to appeal to fashionable photographers everywhere.

The camera will sit alongside the existing white, black and brown models, but will be a special edition likely to be available from a limited number of retailers in each market. It will feature a blue leatherette on the front and back of the body, along with the silver top plate and accents around the buttons on the rear, and will come with a silver barreled lens.

In the UK the blue E-PL9 will only be sold through John Lewis stores, at the same price as the standard colors – £649.99 with the 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 pancake lens – and will be available early this month.

Press release

Recently launched Olympus PEN E-PL9 now available in blue, white, black and brown

Denim love: Olympus launches special edition of their latest PEN camera model in blue

London, 01.06.2018 – To quote the British Elle Magazine in March, “denim is a fabric that suits everyone”.* To celebrate the ongoing love affair with this perennial material, Olympus is introducing a special blue edition of their recently launched PEN E-PL9 camera.
This special edition of the compact and lightweight PEN E-PL9 not only takes great pictures and movies but is also an easy and stylish addition to any denim outfit.

Already a firm favourite with the blogging community, the Olympus PEN series combines performance, superb build quality, and discrete take-anywhere size with a visual style that makes it as much part of an outfit as any key accessory. The new special edition blue version joins the existing white, black and brown models launched in March.

We sent lifestyle blogger and photographer Debs Stubbington of @bangonstyle to Miami with fashion photographer Jay McLaughlin to bring the blue colour to life:

“Miami’s sunny skies and blue waters were the perfect backdrop for the blue Olympus PEN. With all the incredible features and image quality of the
E-PL9 but a new bold colour, the blue model has fast become my new favourite”

Pricing & availability
> Olympus PEN E-PL9 blue with M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 EZ Pancake lens at £649.99 RRP** from early June 2018

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

June 2, 2018
Weekly Photography Challenge – Open Wide
It’s time to open wide – your aperture that is – for this week’s photography challenge.

It’s that simple. Grab a lens with a big aperture like a 50mm f/1.8 or a zoom that has f/2.8, and choose the widest setting you’ve got available. Choose your subject and focus carefully to put emphasis and attention precisely where you want it.

If you need some tips for composing your narrow depth of field image, here are some ideas:
- Benefits of Using a Large Aperture and Tips for Shooting Wide Open
- Fast Glass: Tips for Working With Wide Aperture Lenses
- How to Make Fake Shallow Depth of Field Using Photoshop
- How to Use a Neutral Density Filter to Control Depth of Field
- Seeing in Depth of Field: A Simple Understanding of Aperture
- Why a 50mm Lens is your new Best Friend
- 3 Elements of Getting Shallow Depth of Field Images
Bokeh from a 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Shallow depth of field brings focus to the glasses here. Make your subject stand out.

Weekly Photography Challenge – Open Wide

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

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

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Open Wide appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
June 2, 2018
Lemuro launches line of high-end iPhone accessory lenses

With a few exceptions, like Moment or Zeiss products, accessory lenses for smartphones tend to be rather cheap and more often than not, produce low quality images. For those photographers who don’t mind spending a bit more on high-quality accessory lenses, there is now a new alternative: German brand Lemuro has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund mass production of its line of iPhone accessory lenses.

Currently four Lemuro lenses are on offer: a 60mm equivalent tele “portrait” lens, a 25mm 10X macro lens, a 18mm equivalent wide angle lens and an 8mm equivalent fisheye.

The lens bodies are crafted from aluminum and attach to a leather-clad protective case via a metal lens mount. Currently cases are available for the iPhones X, 7, 7 plus, 8 and 8 plus but Lemuro says Android cases are in the making and should be expected later in 2018.

Lemuro’s campaign is already fully funded, so, barring any unforeseen complications, production will go ahead. You can still pre-order on Kickstarter until June 22 and a pledge of of 75 Euros (approximately $ 88) will get you the starter kit with one case and lens. The pro kit with case and all four lenses will set you back 225 Euros (approximately $ 262). Delivery of the Kickstarter orders is scheduled for November 2018.

You can find more information and sample images on the Lemuro Kickstarter page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

June 2, 2018
Letter from the reviews editor: Pentax K-1 Mark II studio scene re-shoot

Introduction

Back on May 7, we published our review of the Pentax K-1 Mark II. For our studio scene analysis we used the SMC Pentax-D FA 50mm F2.8 Macro lens, rather than the SMC Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited that we’d used for the original K-1 review. This isn’t ideal (we try to shoot our studio scene as close to 85mm as we can, on full-frame bodies) but we did this because after some comparison tests, we found that the 50mm F2.8 was slightly sharper than our copy of the 77mm in the central portion of the frame, and that’s where we’re looking when we draw our conclusions.

While the center looked better, as many of you noticed, the top right corner of the scene shot with the 50mm F2.8 was soft; softer than the same area in images shot with the K-1. However, given the sharper central area (and the lack of a better sample of the 77mm at the time), we opted to publish the review regardless, since we don’t draw any sharpness or resolution conclusions from the edges of our studio scene.

Unfortunately, after the review was published we discovered a processing error with one of the K-1 II’s studio files, taken at ISO 12,800. This was swapped out, with an editors’ note added as soon as we became aware of it. More seriously, we also discovered that the K-1 Mark II’s JPEG profile had been incorrectly set to ‘Auto’. This resulted in differences in color and saturation compared to the K-1, which had been set correctly to the default: ‘Bright’.

See the updated K-1 Mark II
image quality page

Upon considering the cumulative effect of these differences, we spoke to Ricoh, who were kind enough to send us a second K-1 II, a K-1 and a hand-picked 77mm F1.8 Limited, so that we could re-shoot. Now that we’ve had a chance to compare the results of both cameras with the new 77mm F1.8 (which is noticeably sharper than the lens with which we originally tested the K-1), I wanted to share our findings with you.

The re-shoot and the results

First and most notably, it’s still clear that the accelerator unit in the K-1 Mark II is applying noise reduction to Raw files that the user cannot disable or remove. At high ISO values this still results in a loss of detail and contrast and the introduction of artifacts, but we have to acknowledge that a portion of our assessments were based on the incorrectly processed ISO 12,800 file. Our impression of JPEG color has also improved markedly as a result of using the correct ‘Bright’ profile.

As a result, we have adjusted both our scoring and some of the wording throughout the review to reflect this. It’s important to note that scoring and our overall assessment of the camera are not significantly changed, though; here’s why.

Most notably, it’s still clear the K-1 Mark II is applying noise reduction to Raw files

Despite the two-year gap between them, the K-1 Mark II still represents a minor upgrade over the K-1. Yes, you can now choose ISO 819,200, but the quality and therefore the utility of this setting is questionable. Autofocus tracking is improved, but still uncompetitive. Noise reduction in Raw does reduce visible grain at high ISO values, but its value to demanding users of such a high-end, high-res camera who are likely to want complete control over their images strikes us as suspect. The K-1 II’s lagging video capabilities look increasingly amiss in today’s market, and lastly, the Dynamic (hand held) Pixel Shift does not actually align images moved by a single pixel, instead approximating a super resolution technique that’s been around for years.

Read the full Pentax K-1 II review

All of this is certainly not to say the K-1 Mark II is a bad camera. Both the K-1 II and its predecessor are built like tanks, come with a bevy of unique features and are capable of absolutely outstanding image quality. We aim to give credit where credit is due, but as always, our first obligation is to help photographers spend their hard-earned money wisely. The fact remains that, despite our reassessment of the K-1 II’s image quality and JPEG color in particular, there are many ways in which the K-1 Mark II is simply outclassed by the competition.

Because of this, it’s still difficult for us to recommend the K-1 Mark II over competing models, and still difficult to recommend existing K-1 users pay $ 500 for the upgrade.

The final word

In the end, we are beholden to our readers and endeavor to hold all information that we publish on DPReview to the highest standards of accuracy. We fell short of that goal in this instance, and I apologize wholeheartedly for that. I hope that in fixing our mistakes with the K-1 Mark II, we’ve provided some additional and useful value to our review. We will take what we’ve learned from this experience to improve our future reviews in the hopes that we can continue to provide the most detailed and useful photography content on the internet.

As always, thanks for reading.

Carey

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

June 1, 2018
3 Elements of Getting Shallow Depth of Field Images
Depth of field is one of the things that beginners often struggle with understanding. So I found a couple of videos on YouTube to help you out.

Depth of Field Basics

In this first video from B&H Photo, Kelly Mena explains the three elements that affect depth of field and how they work. The three elements are:
1. The aperture
2. Focal length of your lens
3. The subject to camera distance
Okay, that explains things really well. Let’s look at another video example showing the same three elements.

Depth of Field the Easy Way

Next up, is this video by photographer Ray Scott. He gives some great image examples showing both ends of the spectrum from shallow to wide depth of field and how to combine the three elements to best control your background and foreground focus.

If you have had trouble understanding how to get a shallow depth of field, I hope this has helped you get a better handle on it.

The post 3 Elements of Getting Shallow Depth of Field Images appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
June 1, 2018