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Creating Dramatic Vignettes in Post

Posted by Richard Harrington on June 9, 2013
Posted in: Screencast. Tagged: , , , , .

Vignettes are a great way to control where a viewer focusses in your picture. Using Adobe Photoshop, it’s possible to create some truly impressive vignettes. With the Iris Blur effect you can create de-focussed edges as well as an alpha channel.  Toss on an exposure adjustment and a layer mask and you have the perfect vignette.

So let’s explore how to achieve this great look in less than :60 seconds.  I give you a rapid tutorial with zero fluff.

This technique is just one way to achieve this effect, give it a try and see if it suits your workflow. This will work with Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CC.

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lynda.com Learn photography anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace—from bite-sized tutorials to comprehensive courses. Try lynda.com free for 10 days by visiting lynda.com/ Photofocus.

Mosaic A complete solution for photographers using Lightroom who want to manage and share their photos. You can easily view images with their iOS app or web service. Plus your photos are backed up to the cloud with several plans to match your needs.

The HDR Learning Center Check out new ways to use High Dynamic Range photography to make compelling images. Free tutorials and posts to get results. Produced in partnership with HDR Soft.

500px Join the world’s premier photo community. 500px lets you discover, share, buy and sell inspiring photographs.

Gigapan.com. The revolutionary GigaPan EPIC robotic camera mount lets you capture and combine thousands of images into one incredible, interactive panorama. Save 10% with the code PHOTOFOCUS.

Drobo - Not only is Drobo 5D fast, but it’s easy-to-use, expandable, flexible, and protected.

Understanding Aperture — A Simple Explanation

Posted by Richard Harrington on June 9, 2013
Posted in: Technique & Tutorials, Tips. Tagged: , , , , .

Aperture is one of the three sides of the exposure triangle.  For many it is the primary force in shaping their photos, particularly if shooting in an Aperture Priority or Manual mode. Aperture is the easiest way to control how deep or shallow the depth of field is in your image.  As such, it’s an important control to master.

lensaperturecu_new2

What exactly is aperture?

An easy way to think of aperture is a window that the light must pass through on the way to the camera’s sensor.  As such, the larger the window, the more light you let into your camera. Easy enough, right? Of course, a lower number for the f-stop means a bigger opening (which may seem backwards at first). This is because the f-stop is a ratio that compares the difference between the diameter of the aperture inside the lens and the focal length of the lens.

from Wikimedia Commons

from Wikimedia Commons

Which setting should you use?

Many think they should shoot at their widest aperture (particularly video shooters).  This usually isn’t  the case.  When shooting with an f/1.4 lens, you can literally have a person’s nose in focus while their ears are out of focus.

A few details for consideration:

  • A lens with a lower f-stop is often more expensive. Most kit lenses have f-stops that range from f/4 to f/6.
  • On the other hand, professional zooms can get as fast as f/2.8 and professional prime lenses (fixed focal length) can get even faster.
  • Cheaper zoom lenses change their f-stop as you move through the zoom.
  • The bigger the opening, the more light.
  • The more light the less you have to rely on high ISO settings (which can cause noise) or longer shutter speeds (which can cause camera shake and blurring).
A shallow depth of field leaves the hand in focus while the rest of the image falls off. © Richard Harrington

A shallow depth of field leaves the hand in focus while the rest of the image falls off.
© Richard Harrington

Typically, I’ll use aperture as my primary control when shooting.  I’ll choose the depth of field that I want (how soon the image starts to go out of focus). For many, this shallow depth of field is a desirable aspect to shooting on a DSLR or mirror-less camera with precise controls.  Use the aperture settings as both an aesthetic influencer to your shot as well as for its technical performance benefits.

This is of course just one way of shooting, but if you’re new to shooting Aperture priority (often abbreviated A or Av on your camera control dial) give it a shot. In fact give it several tries and see if you can’t better control area where focus starts and falls off in your images. There’s lots more to aperture, but this short primer should help you get started.

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lynda.com Learn photography anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace—from bite-sized tutorials to comprehensive courses. Try lynda.com free for 10 days by visiting lynda.com/ Photofocus.

Mosaic A complete solution for photographers using Lightroom who want to manage and share their photos. You can easily view images with their iOS app or web service. Plus your photos are backed up to the cloud with several plans to match your needs.

The HDR Learning Center Check out new ways to use High Dynamic Range photography to make compelling images. Free tutorials and posts to get results. Produced in partnership with HDR Soft.

500px Join the world’s premier photo community. 500px lets you discover, share, buy and sell inspiring photographs.

Gigapan.com. The revolutionary GigaPan EPIC robotic camera mount lets you capture and combine thousands of images into one incredible, interactive panorama. Save 10% with the code PHOTOFOCUS.

Drobo - Not only is Drobo 5D fast, but it’s easy-to-use, expandable, flexible, and protected.

Which Type of HDR is Right for You?

Posted by Richard Harrington on June 8, 2013
Posted in: HDR. Tagged: , , , , , .

When working with HDR software tools, there are many options. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with sliders and presets. There’s a critical choice that needs to be made first. How do you want to merge the multiple exposures together? There are generally three options to choose from. Let’s explore the benefits of each.

Fuse Exposures

The most subtle use of HDR is to simply merge exposures. If you want to capture a scene who’s dynamic range exceeds the capabilities of a digital sensor, use this approach. In Photomatix, choose the method Fuse exposure with Fusion/Natural.

The benefits of this approach is that you can accurately capture scenes such as a backlit window or a sunset. The results are typically photorealistic. The images will typically show far less noise than a single exposure of the same scene.

Fused

The downsides of this approach are few. The image may end up lacking contrast and appear a bit flat. That’s easy to fix however with the use of a Curves or Levels adjustment afterwards. You may also need more memory when working with several images or high bit-depths.

Tone Mapping

For those of you who like the “HDR look,” it is typically achieved through tone mapping. Tone mapping essentially retains localized contrast and can be used to create a dynamic image. The look can be used subtly or to dramatic (or even surreal) effect. In Photomatix there are two tone mapping methods: Tone Mapping with Details Enhancer and Tone Mapping with Tone Compressor.

Tone mapping generally offers several presets and customizable options that can be used to refine an image’s appearance greatly. This method is also quite effective at preserving the details of shadows and highlights in the image. An advantage of working with tone mapping in Photomatix is that the HDR image can be saved in an editable format so multiple tone maps can be applied.

maps

The tone mapping method does have a couple of drawbacks. Any noise will tend to increase in the image, so consider using the noise reduction option of the tool. The method also tends to introduce potential color cast issues into areas containing white or gray.

Which method should you use?

The choice is up to you. Of course you can also choose to try all three methods to see which one works for the images being processed. The lesson here to take away is that HDR can be as subtle or dramatic as you want it to be.

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This Post Sponsored by:

lynda.com Learn photography anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace—from bite-sized tutorials to comprehensive courses. Try lynda.com free for 10 days by visiting lynda.com/ Photofocus.

Mosaic A complete solution for photographers using Lightroom who want to manage and share their photos. You can easily view images with their iOS app or web service. Plus your photos are backed up to the cloud with several plans to match your needs.

The HDR Learning Center Check out new ways to use High Dynamic Range photography to make compelling images. Free tutorials and posts to get results. Produced in partnership with HDR Soft.

500px Join the world’s premier photo community. 500px lets you discover, share, buy and sell inspiring photographs.

Gigapan.com. The revolutionary GigaPan EPIC robotic camera mount lets you capture and combine thousands of images into one incredible, interactive panorama. Save 10% with the code PHOTOFOCUS.

Drobo - Save almost $150 this week on the Drobo 5D at Amazon. Be sure to click the Special Offers Available text. The Drobo 5D is fast, and easy-to-use, expandable, flexible, and protected.

The Most Underutilized Feature In Lightroom

Posted by Richard Harrington on June 7, 2013
Posted in: Tips. Tagged: , , , .

Guest Post by Gerard Murphy – Follow Gerard on Twitter

I have watched hundreds of photographers use Lightroom. Most people we work with love this amazing photo editing and photo management program from Adobe.

After watching loads of photographers stumble around to find photos using folders and collections, I can only think of a handful of instances where users searched for the photos using the Lightroom search functionality.

Searching is the most underutilized feature in Lightroom

You didn’t know Lightroom has search functionality? You aren’t alone. Lightroom doesn’t call it searching. They call it “filtering” which is searches’ little brother.

How to filter

You can get to the filtering capabilities by pressing the “\” key in the Library module.

Lightroom Filters

Once the filter bar is up, you can filter for photos using keywords, stars, flags, colors, date, camera, creator, job, location, or any other type of metadata.

If you want to go crazy, you can even sort your photos by ISO, aperture or even focal length or shutter speed. (Lord knows why you would want to only see your 1/3 sec photos… but you could do it).

Search

When I teach Lightroom or am working with customers, 90% of the conversation is typically about the Library Module. I think this is because managing 1000s of photos is not trivial. (Neither is backing images up… which is one the reasons my company Mosaic exists.)

Why is it so hard?

Making photos look good is fun. Organizing them is drudgery and can be confusing.

Many users will create folders and collections to keep their photos “organized”. Later when searching for the photos, they will rely on their memory to find the photos they are looking for by these folders and collections. Most of the time, they are successful but it just takes some time. This time could be better spent.

Also, finding photos in this way mostly relies on the photographer’s memory. I like being pleasantly surprised by photos I search for and forgot I took.

Why use search?

When managing large data sets, search is typically more efficient and effective than looking for the data in folders and collections. (You search the web. You don’t go through folders looking for information on a website.)

Folders only give you the perception that you are organized. Real organization happens with the ability to find through search. Search is only possible today with good metadata.

So why is this so underutilized in Lightroom. Well, first, it is hidden in Lightroom. Aperture users are much more likely to search because they put search front and center in their user interface. (Aperture users also do not have to use folders as an organizational structure at all).

Aperture Search

Other programs where we manage large data sets, like iTunes also make search front and center.

iTunes Search

Also, I think we photographers haven’t gotten used to the new normal, which is managing thousands of images. We have to adjust from the old world of folders/collections to the new one of advanced search/filtering.

My prediction is that as more photographers discover searching for photographs instead of hunting and pecking, this will not be most underutilized feature in Lightroom for long.

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This Post Sponsored by:

lynda.com Learn photography anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace—from bite-sized tutorials to comprehensive courses. Try lynda.com free for 10 days by visiting lynda.com/ Photofocus.

Mosaic A complete solution for photographers using Lightroom who want to manage and share their photos. You can easily view images with their iOS app or web service. Plus your photos are backed up to the cloud with several plans to match your needs.

The HDR Learning Center Check out new ways to use High Dynamic Range photography to make compelling images. Free tutorials and posts to get results. Produced in partnership with HDR Soft.

500px Join the world’s premier photo community. 500px lets you discover, share, buy and sell inspiring photographs.

Gigapan.com. The revolutionary GigaPan EPIC robotic camera mount lets you capture and combine thousands of images into one incredible, interactive panorama. Save 10% with the code PHOTOFOCUS.

Drobo - Save almost $150 this week on the Drobo 5D at Amazon. Be sure to click the Special Offers Available text. The Drobo 5D is fast, and easy-to-use, expandable, flexible, and protected.

On a Mac? Time to Update Your Raw Support

Posted by Richard Harrington on June 6, 2013
Posted in: News. Tagged: , , , , , .

mlupdate

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If you’re a Mac user, two new camera updates have shipped. OS X Mountain Lion provides system-level support for digital camera RAW formats.  In order to use these files, you can access them through Aperture or iPhoto on your Mac.  You can also browse at the system level looking through folders.

Supported by Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 4.06*

  • Canon EOS-1D C
  • Canon EOS Rebel SL1 / 100D / Kiss X7
  • Canon EOS Rebel T5i / 700D / Kiss X7i
  • Hasselblad Lunar
  • Nikon COOLPIX A
  • Nikon D7100
  • Nikon 1 J3
  • Nikon 1 S1
  • Sony Alpha NEX-3N

You can find out about other recently added cameras that work on your Mac here – http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5371?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Note: To install Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Updates, you may need certain versions of Aperture or iPhoto already installed on your Mac.

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This Post Sponsored by:

lynda.com Learn photography anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace—from bite-sized tutorials to comprehensive courses. Try lynda.com free for 10 days by visiting lynda.com/ Photofocus.

Mosaic A complete solution for photographers using Lightroom who want to manage and share their photos. You can easily view images with their iOS app or web service. Plus your photos are backed up to the cloud with several plans to match your needs.

The HDR Learning Center Check out new ways to use High Dynamic Range photography to make compelling images. Free tutorials and posts to get results. Produced in partnership with HDR Soft.

500px Join the world’s premier photo community. 500px lets you discover, share, buy and sell inspiring photographs.

Gigapan.com. The revolutionary GigaPan EPIC robotic camera mount lets you capture and combine thousands of images into one incredible, interactive panorama. Save 10% with the code PHOTOFOCUS.

Drobo - Save almost $150 this week on the Drobo 5D at Amazon. Be sure to click the Special Offers Available text. The Drobo 5D is fast, and easy-to-use, expandable, flexible, and protected.

Photofocus Podcast with Special Guest Dave Black

Posted by Richard Harrington on June 5, 2013
Posted in: Audio Podcast, Opinion. Tagged: , , , , , , .

NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE: The Photofocus Podcast Feed HAS CHANGED!

Here is the new feed: feed://feeds.feedburner.com/photofocuspodcast
Get the show here  or get it on iTunes

PLEASE BE PATIENT – OUR SERVERS SEE LARGE LOADS ON PUBLISHING DAYS. THE DOWNLOADS MAY GO SLOWLY BUT THEY WILL FINISH.

Join Rich and Scott as they discuss the recent decision by the Chicago Sun Times to lay off their entire photography staff.  They made the decision to train their reporting staff to shoot with iPhones and to focus more on video.  Rich and Scott analyze what this means to the photo community.

The second half of the show will inspire you as we hear from Dave Black.  Dave is a freelance photographer for over 30 years.  His   work has primarily centered on the sports industry for such publications as Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek and the award-winning TV show Sports Century on ESPN. He’s covered events like the Masters, Kentucky Derby, National Football League, NASCAR and extensive work regarding the United States Olympic Committee, Olympic athletes and coverage of twelve Olympic Games.

Rich and Dave discuss:

  • How Dave broke int sports photography
  • What is it like working in the field and at sporting events
  • How Dave prepares for a sports shoot by studying the sport and the athletes
  • Practical advice for shooting indoor and outdoor sporting events
  • How Dave got into the Olympics
  • Advice about Light Painting
  • Where to Find Dave — Check out his blog: http://www.daveblackphotography.com

Download  — http://photofocuspodcast.libsyn.com/webpage

Hosted by Rich Harrington & Scott Bourne

Please post a review for the Podcast on iTunes — http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/photofocus/id512223214
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This Post Sponsored by:

lynda.com Learn photography anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace—from bite-sized tutorials to comprehensive courses. Try lynda.com free for 10 days by visiting lynda.com/ Photofocus.

Mosaic A complete solution for photographers using Lightroom who want to manage and share their photos. You can easily view images with their iOS app or web service. Plus your photos are backed up to the cloud with several plans to match your needs.

The HDR Learning Center Check out new ways to use High Dynamic Range photography to make compelling images. Free tutorials and posts to get results. Produced in partnership with HDR Soft.

500px Join the world’s premier photo community. 500px lets you discover, share, buy and sell inspiring photographs.

Gigapan.com. The revolutionary GigaPan EPIC robotic camera mount lets you capture and combine thousands of images into one incredible, interactive panorama. Save 10% with the code PHOTOFOCUS.

Drobo - Save almost $150 this week on the Drobo 5D at Amazon. Be sure to click the Special Offers Available text. The Drobo 5D is fast, and easy-to-use, expandable, flexible, and protected.

Creating 360˚ Panoramic Photos with Rich’s Free Photoshop Action

Posted by Richard Harrington on June 4, 2013
Posted in: Technique & Tutorials. Tagged: , , , .

As many explore panoramic photography, they off stop short (at least of making a full 360˚ arc). The truth is that its gotten much easier to make a fully actualized 360˚ image.  If enough photos are taken, then a large panoramic image can be made.  These photos can then be turned into an interactive panoramic for the web or multimedia.

Here’s an example — http://pan0.net/upano.php?id=5004

Merging Photos

Let’s explore piecing together a full 360˚ VR photo.  In this particular case, I have 24 exposures to capture the entire environment.  Adobe Photoshop makes the combining of multiple shots easy using the Automation command called Photomerge:

  1. Choose File > Automate > Photomerge. Photomerge is a specialized “mini- application” within Photoshop that assists in combining multiple images into a single photo.
  2. Click the Browse button and navigate to your images.
  3. Press Cmd+A (Ctrl+A) to select all the pictures in the folder and click Open.
  4. There are several Layout options available that attempt to fix problems caused by panoramic photography (such as distortion).  A good place to start is Auto, which attempts to align the images but will bend them as needed.
    360pano1
  5. Select the check boxes next to Blend Images Together and Vignette Removal.  These two options will attempt to blend the edges of the photos together and can hide subtle differences in exposure.
  6. Click OK to build the panoramic image. Photoshop attempts to assemble the panorama based on your choices in the dialog box. Due to the number of images, the process may take a few minutes.
    360pano2

With these images, you’ll notice that the tree trunk appears on both the left and right edges.  This image needs a little additional processing to create a completely seamless 360˚ photo.

Creating a Seamless Loop with a Photoshop Action

When you first merge your 360˚ photos, the resulting image is quite large, but not a perfect loop.  While the image can be seamless, the left and right edges have not been properly cropped to use the image as a circular loop.  To fix this process would normally take several (tedious) steps.  To solve this problem, we’ve created an action that will finish processing the full 360˚ panoramic image.

Get the 360˚ Photoshop Action Here

  1. Choose Window > Actions to call up the Actions panel.
  2. Click the submenu of the Actions panel and choose Load Actions. A new browser window opens.
    360pano3
  3. Navigate to the action you downloaded and unzipped.
  4. Select the action Panoramic.atn and click Load.
  5. In the Actions panel, locate the Panoramics set (folder) and choose the Seamless Loop action.
    360pano4
  6. Click the Play selection button in the Actions panel.
  7. The image is now seamless on the left and right edges.  A new dialog box invites you to crop the image as needed.
  8. Click Continue. The image may need a little bit cropped from its top or bottom to remove gaps (cause by not being level).
  9. Choose Image > Canvas Size.
  10. Enter a new height to trim away unwanted pixels.  Be certain to only crop from top and bottom (and not the sides) or the 360˚ image will be broken.
    360pano5
  11. Click OK. A dialog warns you that some clipping will occur. Click Proceed.
  12. Choose Layer > Flatten Image to discard any layers.
  13. Choose File > Save As to name the file and store it on your drive.

The image is now ready for printing, or authoring in a myriad of 360˚ applications such as Pano2VR.

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This Post Sponsored by:

lynda.com Learn photography anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace—from bite-sized tutorials to comprehensive courses. Try lynda.com free for 10 days by visiting lynda.com/ Photofocus.

Mosaic A complete solution for photographers using Lightroom who want to manage and share their photos. You can easily view images with their iOS app or web service. Plus your photos are backed up to the cloud with several plans to match your needs.

The HDR Learning Center Check out new ways to use High Dynamic Range photography to make compelling images. Free tutorials and posts to get results. Produced in partnership with HDR Soft.

500px Join the world’s premier photo community. 500px lets you discover, share, buy and sell inspiring photographs.

Gigapan.com. The revolutionary GigaPan EPIC robotic camera mount lets you capture and combine thousands of images into one incredible, interactive panorama. Save 10% with the code PHOTOFOCUS.

Drobo - Save almost $150 this week on the Drobo 5D at Amazon. Be sure to click the Special Offers Available text. The Drobo 5D is fast, and easy-to-use, expandable, flexible, and protected.