Over the past few days, we encountered a hosting attack that led to some extended downtime on Photofocus.com, as well as several other sites across the internet. During that time, we kept publishing on our regular schedule, but we know you probably weren’t able to easily access the site during this time. You may have also seen things like a browser check or slow loading times; this was us trying to get the site back up and running properly.
Since the initial issue, I’m happy to report our site is back up and running normally — and in fact, you might even notice faster performance! In no way was your data compromised during this period; Photofocus does not store personal information on its servers.
Here’s what you might’ve missed during the outages:
Covering my first international sports event, part three - Here we are with the big gun and a few of my favorite images taken with the Sony 400mm f/2.8. Let me tell you, covering my first international sports event with such a beast has been unpredictably more challenging than I thought it would be! If you missed part one or two, be sure to check these out to learn how I got ready for the World Masters, installed myself to get the best spot and chose the best settings for my other two lenses of choice. The 400mm f/2.8 GM I was so proud and humbled to have this lens with me for a whole 10 days! I couldn’t wait to use it. Soon enough, I realized I was very (very!) close to the athletes. I had head to toe shots with the 85mm. I had closer portraits — from the knees up — with the 135mm. Anyone else could’ve been 70-200mm from where I was and have more than the needed focal length. And here I was with my bazooka, WAYYYY overkill and still WAYYYY too excited to use it. Facing reality Because I was so very close from the platforms (remember how I almost killed someone in order to be the closest as humanely as possible in front of the judges?), it ended up pretty much as a shoot and miss experience. I would try to anticipate the exact second the athlete would pull or catch the bar. The thing is, at this distance, a fraction of a second too early or too late would make me lose my subject in the viewfinder. That made my quest for the coolest shot ever so exciting. It put my photography and Olympic Weightlifting skills to the test, and I was up for the challenge. As you can guess, I didn’t get as many keepers as I did with my 85mm and 135mm. But let me tell you, the ones I got turned out to be the most satisfying of all. The above is the perfect example of this — with a Lebanon athlete and his coach, Mohammad Nabil El Jlailati. I love to get athletes in a moment of focus and concentration right before an attempt. This small instance where we can see the unique bond between a coach and his athlete. You can see the 400mm lives up to its reputation with mind-blowing image quality, color rendering and delightful details — even when zoomed in on the coach’s face. EXIF: Sony a9 + 400mm GM f/2.8 at f/2.8, 1/1250s, ISO 3200. My strategy After trial and error, I decided to use the 400mm for moments prior to the lift (when athletes are chalking and mostly standing in the back of the platform) and for the first Snatch attempts. First attempts are secure bars that most athletes successfully lift. That allowed me to get their victorious expression while they held the bar overhead. I started by using it on a tripod but I quickly decided to handhold it. The athletes were moving very fast and I felt I was more precise when I had it in the palm of my hands. A little less convenient, but I wasn’t there to find the easy way out. I case some of you have been wondering … I haven’t got a dime from anyone to write this series. I own my gear (besides the 400mm that’s been landed for a review). I switched from DSLR to Mirrorless a year ago and I’ve constantly been crazy happy with the choice and investment I made. For the past 12 months, I’ve never got so many great shots in such an enjoyable way. I am deeply enthusiast by the amazing opportunity I have to do what I love as a full-time job. I love sharing my experiences and favorite shots. That’s all there is to say. Now let’s go back to the wrap-up of this whole thing, shouldn’t we? What I’ve learned from this experience The greater the risk, the greater the reward. With nearly 800 athletes from 34 different countries, I committed to photographing at this event every single one of them. I committed to deliver fast high-quality images. My first international sports event — the World Masters — was definitely my biggest challenge (and gamble) of 2019. Was it worth it? Boy, it was! I learned so many things, both in photography and in business. I met hundreds of amazing persons and incredible athletes. I took dozens of thousands of pictures and delivered over 8,400 of them — only the cream of the crop. I’ve kept my standards — even of that meant sorting, cropping and editing shots 12 hours a day for 14 days with sleepless nights. I learned about myself, and how I could push my boundaries. I also learned that keeping a positive mindset allowed me to do a lot more that I thought I humanely could. And even more, I realized that multiple positive mindsets working together can conquer anything. I wouldn’t have gone through these nine days without the help of all those amazing volunteers, judges and caring members of the organization. It’s definitely been a challenging nine days for everyone but together, we made it a reality. I feel more ready than ever to take on my next international challenge. Bring it on, 2020!
How to fix backlit portrait problem areas in Photoshop - In this video, Sony Artisan Chris Orwig shows us how to fix common problem areas when it comes to backlit portraits. Using Photoshop, Chris shows how to clean up things like lens flare, and how to apply a transform and warp technique to make your images stand out! Want to learn more from Chris? Be sure to join him for a free masterclass today, February 17, 2020, at 1 p.m. ET! He’ll show you how to create artistic photography and capture emotion, while mastering natural light. Plus, by registering, you’ll also receive two free eBooks — “People Pictures” and “Authentic Portraits.” Click here to reserve your spot now!
Using Excire Search to locate landmarks - Using Excire Search to locate landmarks is quick and easy to do. I tend to travel a lot and I really like lighthouses, but I frequently forget which lighthouse is in which folder within Lightroom Classic. Excire Search promised to get me organized, and it did. Keyword search I tried using the search term lighthouse and raised the criteria to load up to 5,000 images and the whole catalog. I was really impressed — 99% was spot on with every image. I also tried searching for house and bird, again spot on. I tried refining my search by looking for eagle as opposed to a bird, 80% were eagles, but also pelicans and owls. Looking for particular colors can be really handy too. Example photo search I also tried an example photo search, which did not quite as far. Again I used a lighthouse image and an eagle image, but mixed and random results. Being artificial intelligence, it’s possible the more Excire is run, the better it will be able to run a predictable search. In conclusion If like me, your catalogues are getting a bit up there in quantity, you may find that Excire Search really can improve your workflow and help get you really organized. I have only been playing with it for a short time, but already I have found it very useful. It really can make finding your Lightroom Classic images quick and intuitive.
Just one senator holds up CASE Act - What can you do to help get the CASE Act Legislation to the floor of the Senate for a vote? Help put pressure on Senator Ron Wyden who has put a hold on the bill. Currently, the only recourse for theft of images is to go to federal court. This is impossibly expensive for a small business. Post your photo holding up one finger (index finger only please) to all your social media with the hashtags #justone and #caseact. My voice is one of thousands stating that “Just One” senator is is holding up the vote on the CASE Act. Learn more Check on this post for more information including links to the bill and Senator Wyden’s contact information. Let’s get this bi-partisan (passed the House with a 410-6 vote!) bill to the floor. Creators depend on it. Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
Adobe celebrates 30th birthday of Photoshop - This morning, Adobe announced a range of updates to Photoshop for both desktop and iPad, to help ring in the software’s 30th birthday. According to Adobe, Photoshop has been around for 10,950 days. The company made note of its involvement in crating visual effects for the movie “The Abyss,” and also marked such innovations as the healing brush in Photoshop CS2, Content-Aware Fill, Sensei AI and more. Here’s what to look forward for in today’s releases. Photoshop for desktop Content-Aware Fill workspace improvements Following the updates to Content-Aware Fill revealed at Adobe MAX in November, the company has now made it so you can make multiple selections and apply multiple fills without leaving the workspace. You can now sample all layers in the Content-Aware Fill workspace, and iterate your fills with a new “Apply” button. Furthermore, you can now refine fills that need multiple iterations. To do that, you can break the fill region into sub-parts to give you more control, helping you achieve a more realistic fill. Lens Blur improvements The output quality of Lens Blur has been improved, while the performance of the tool now relies on the GPU. This helps to improve the overall realism, including sharpness and edges when using Lens Blur to synthetically blur the foreground, background or even the middle of an image. Lens Blur now delivers more colorful bokeh via the specular highlights, producing a more realistic and pleasing result. In its blog post, Adobe talked to an engineer about how Lens Blur works: The results are created by an algorithm the team built by studying the first principles of physics and how light interacts with objects in the real world. It is carefully tuned to simulate a 3D environment to create the most realistic results possible, while also consuming the least amount of computer power so you don’t burn up your machine. Lots of research and iteration occurred to make the feature. Several PhDs were involved. And now you can synthetically adjust the depth of field by dynamically manipulating the blur of a 2D image after capture in milliseconds. Performance improvements There are also several performance improvements brought to Photoshop. Clicking interactions like panning and zooming will feel smoother and more responsive. You’ll notice the biggest boosts on larger documents, and when using the hand tool to move around the canvas. For Windows users who use a stylus, you no longer need to use WinTab. Photoshop for iPad In this update, Adobe has brought some pretty big features to the touch-friendly interface of Photoshop. Object Selection tool After being released for the desktop version of Photoshop at Adobe MAX, the feature now comes to the iPad. Both use Adobe Sensei AI and machine learning to automatically make a great selection. Select Subject finds and selects the main subject in your image with one click, with no input or guidance from you. This is perfect when you have one primary object you want to quickly isolate. The Object Selection tool is designed to give you speed, but also more control over the selection process on more complex images. You can draw a rectangular region or even a crude lasso around the area you want to select, and the tool automatically finds and selects the primary objects inside the defined region. Type settings The iPad update brings many of the typographic controls you use in Photoshop on the desktop to the iPad platform. Type layer, character and options properties have been added. This includes tracking, leading, scaling and formatting. Kerning is set to ship in a future release. Learn more about the new features Join digital artists Anna McNaught and Magdiel Lopez on Adobe Live as they celebrate Photoshop’s 30th birthday. They’ll share tips on the newest features in Photoshop for two days — February 19 and 20, 2020, from 12:30-5:00 p.m. ET. Jump into the live stream, or watch at your convenience. For more information on these updates to Photoshop, visit the Adobe Blog.
The legacy of our photographs - The legacy of our photos (and other bits and pieces of our lives) isn’t necessarily something any of us really like to talk about. Because I’m dealing with it personally and creeping up there in age, I’m seeing and hearing more and more of this subject come up in conversations. What do we do with all of these photos? I know I’m not the only one who has shelves and shelves of photo albums along with shoe boxes, containers, tubs, bins and stacks of photographs. Printed. Yes, prints. It’s quite overwhelming, to be honest. Not only do I have my own going back over 40 years (told you I was creeping up there in age), I also now have my family’s prints some of which date back to the 1940s. Start by sorting Easier said than done, I know because I haven’t started yet even though I say I’m going to every week. It’s daunting but just start. Pick one box or album and start making piles. Decide ahead of time what you want to do with the prints you have. Your piles may be Keep, Toss, Give, Scan. Which photos do you want to keep for yourself and your family? Some of the photos may have zero meaning to you and/or you have no idea who those people even are in them, toss those (recycle when you can). Give the photos to family/friends who are in the images. Scan the images you want to share either online or with friends and family. Create new albums Once you’ve completed the sorting process, you may want to make new albums. Update those little photo mounting corners that no longer stick or are missing. Write any information you have on the back of the prints so the next person doesn’t have to figure out who, what and when the photos are from. You may even want to cut out the original writing in the old albums to keep with the images, paste under the photos in a new album or create scrapbooks based on years or family events. The scanning process Depending on the number of prints you have to scan you have some options. Scanning is a very time-consuming project. Scan them yourself. You can purchase film/negative/slide scanners in a wide range of prices from $40 to $900 depending on the quality you need/want and the type of film you have to scan. This range includes 8mm film as well. You’ll need to learn how to prepare the prints, slides or negatives; make sure they are clean and dust-free so you get clean scans. There are several online companies that offer scanning services. One I used several years ago is ScanMyPhotos.com. They did the job I needed to archive around 600 prints for me so that I had them digitally. They offer several different services and options for how to send your images. Legacybox.com is another online company that offers scanning services. They allow you to include different types of media, film, printed materials and audio files that they digitize for you. There are a few others out there. Like anything, do your research, read reviews, ask around and make your decision based on the information you’ve gathered. If it makes you a little nervous sending your prints out into the world via the postal service or other delivery companies, do a little research and find out if there are scanning service companies near you. I found a couple within an hour from me. I asked for quotes from both places and was a little surprised to find their prices varied quite a bit. One quoted me based on 1,000-4,999 prints at $0.29 each print. 1-99 prints were $0.99 each. The other company gave me $1 per print and only dropped down to $0.75 for the 1,000 prints or more. The digital image legacy Once you have your prints archived digitally then decide where to store them. How to preserve those files and the media they are stored on for generations. Obviously we also need to consider our digital legacy as well, especially since we’ve just digitized our old prints. What do we do with all those external hard drives? Who has access to your digital files, passwords, cloud-based storage and do they know how to handle images? I think it’s a good idea to create a plan and share it with your family. A similar process as above, sort through your images and decide what stays, what goes and what to share. Technology is constantly changing. Will your files be easily accessed, will file types change? Remember floppy disks? Yea, those among a myriad of other types of storage that basically no longer exist. The tried and true method of printing our images is still one of the best ways to ensure future generations will be able to see our stories. What are you doing to preserve the legacy of your photos?
Two ways to stabilize motion in After Effects - There are two great ways to stabilize shaky video footage in After Effects. One way is to use the Track Motion feature, while another is to apply the Warp Stabilizer effect to your footage. Both options work well but can yield slightly different results. This article features two video tutorials so you can quickly learn both methods. Track Motion First, I’ll show you how to use the Track Motion feature in After Effects to steady shaky video. During this short video, you’ll learn how to open the Tracker panel in the Animation menu and select Stabilize Motion, find a spot in your footage that will be easy to track with the Tracking Box, analyze/review the track and apply the tracking keyframes to stabilize the footage. Warp Stabilizer A different way to deal with shaky footage is to apply the Warp Stabilizer effect. Below is another short video tutorial. I’ll show you how to apply this tool to a layer, explain the key settings in the effect and show how these settings operate.
Emotional photography: Eight ways to capture feeling in photos - Emotions can be found anywhere in photography, even in landscape photos. However, as a portrait photographer or event photographer, it’s more important than ever to ensure you capture the emotion of the scene. Your clients will be relying on your ability to tell a compelling story through your photographs. Emotional photography is the key to unlocking the hidden narrative in every session you have with a client. Emotional photography can be perplexing to beginners. How do you translate the way people feel or the way your surroundings inform a moment to a two-dimensional photograph? If the feat of emotional photography was easy, then you probably wouldn’t be in business. Yet, with a few fundamental principles under your belt, you’ll find that “capturing the moment” comes easier. Keep things natural The worst thing you can do as a photographer is to make your subjects seem stilted or uncomfortable. As the person behind the lens, you need to not only capture their best angles but ensure you do so while they’re looking completely natural. Keeping things natural takes a bit of skill and might need some practice before you are adept at it. For one, ensure your subjects are comfortable in their own skin from the start and constantly reassure them. Simply saying “these photos are looking great” works well. A few other compliments here and there will go a long way to making your client feel empowered to be themselves in front of the camera. Most of all, make sure you adopt a relaxed, passive personality when behind the lens so as not to intimidate your client. Be the ice breaker Before you even begin shooting, try and start a conversation with your client and sustain it throughout the entire shoot. If you keep your client talking, then they’ll have much less to scrutinize about themselves when you start the session. There’s no need to worry about distracting your client — you want them distracted from the unnatural fact that there’s a camera in front of them. The great thing about a conversation is that it can start rather innocuously and find its own momentum. Begin by talking about the weather and continue from there — the more you talk, the more at-ease your client will be. If you’re lucky, you might even land on something they love to talk about — let them get lost in the conversation while you shoot. You’d be surprised by the results that come from a completely comfortable model. Give your subjects space Some photography is meant to be up close and personal. However, event photographers (think of weddings or other special events) will often shoot from a distance. The purpose of this is because they do not need to be the ice breaker in these situations — their subjects are among friends and in the middle of an important moment in their lives. They’re already thinking about other things (rather than your camera). At that point, your job is to step back and capture real moments and emotions as they happen. A good telephoto lens will give you the distance you desire while still capturing each moment as if you were right there. Choose the right location There is plenty of emotion to be found in a location, not just in your subject. Choosing an emotional location is sometimes the perfect way to coax the right emotion from your clients. For instance, if your clients were engaged in front of a certain Ferris wheel in a city park then it only makes sense to return to that locale for their engagement photos. Not only will the location act as an impressive backdrop, but it will bring your clients back to that beautiful day, allowing you to capture a fraction of that original moment. Beyond shooting in memorable locations, simply choosing an impressive backdrop can be just as impactful. Crashing waves on a craggy shore in the middle of the golden hour can elevate your client’s photos to another level if that’s the vibe they’re going for. The opposite is true, too — peace and serenity can be just as useful for the right client. There’s plenty of both, and much in-between found everywhere in nature. Choose the right time of day Just as important as location is the time of day. The golden hour (the time of day when the sun is just about to rise or set) is a pivotal window of opportunity for photographers but it brings with it a certain atmosphere that might not be ideal for all photos. It’s equal parts dreamy as it is stylish — great for certain clients but wrong for others. On the contrary, an engagement shoot or family photo session can lend itself well to bright noontime light. Shadows are minimized, everyone will be in startling focus and the scene will typically be bright and cheery. Whatever time of day you decide on, just ensure that it’s an intentional decision that matches the vibe of your client. Don’t rely so much on posing Posing can be a great way to find certain shots, especially for clients looking for professional portraits. However, posing will only get you so far. Because it’s so unnatural, there can be a certain stiffness to posed shots no matter how good you are at making your clients feel at ease. Despite this, posing is still important to the creative process. Many professional photographers will start a session with posing and then slowly loosen that restriction. As you go, you’ll find that creative ideas come to you, the conversation between you and your client is flowing, and you will both typically opt for more improvisation. This is a sign that the session is headed in the right direction — the more natural you and your model become, the less reliant you’ll typically be on posing. Let your clients be themselves You might have a strategy in your head from the beginning but if you find that it simply isn’t meshing withMaster emotion and natural light with Chris Orwig
Additionally, our friend, Chris Orwig held a free masterclass Monday afternoon! You can still check out a recording of his class. You’ll learn how to create artistic photography and capture emotion, while mastering natural light. You’ll also get two free eBooks. Start watching today!
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And if you’re headed out to WPPI next week in Las Vegas, be sure to join the Photofocus team for our night photowalk or readers’ breakfast. We hope to see you there!
Lead photo by Sebastian Pena Lambarri on Unsplash
