This week, Scott Wyden Kivowitz showcased the SpiderPro Hand Strap v2, while Bryan Esler interviewed Adobe’s Will Allen about what photographers can expect from the upcoming Content Authenticity Initiative.
Bob Coates introduced us to using infrared during the summertime, while Ken Lee gave some great tips on how to photograph the Perseid meteor shower. Finally, Julie Powell finished off the week with a great water refraction project for kids.
SpiderPro Hand Strap v2 provides durability and comfort - Before we dive into the SpiderPro Hand Strap v2 review, I have to legally share in full disclosure, that I’m a Spider Holster ambassador. With that said, I do not ever, and will never, support products or brand that I do not believe in. In fact, I use my SpiderPro Hand Strap v2 on a daily basis, along with my other Spider Holster products. Now on to the review. I have never been a fan of neck straps, and I’ve tried a variety of slings and wrist straps for my cameras over the years. When the SpiderPro Hand Strap came out years ago, and even before that when founder Shai Eynav showed me the handmade prototype at PhotoPlus, I was intrigued. It was soft, flexible yet still sturdy with a mold of your hand’s shape. It was a beautiful design that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on. Finally, when the product was on the market, I picked up the SpiderPro Hand Strap for my Nikon D810 and the SpiderLight version for my mirrorless body. At the time, it was the Panasonic Lumix GH5, but now I use the Nikon Z 6. The only problem I had with the SpiderPro Hand Strap (V1) was the length of time it took to connect to the camera. I mean, typically you wouldn’t be removing a wrist strap all the time, so that’s not a big deal. Every other aspect of the strap was perfect. The SpiderLight Hand Strap, however, went on easier. But it didn’t quite fit the hand as well as the Pro version. But at the same time, the Pro version would be too bulky for the average mirrorless body. Enter version 2 Finally, the SpiderPro Hand Strap v2 was announced. I received my version before it came to market and I was blown away. Spider Holster took the feedback from the v1 and the SpiderLight, combined the two and created the Pro v2. It’s amazing. The best of both worlds. The SpiderPro Hand Strap v2 has the same durability, beauty, materials and comfort as the SpiderPro Hand Strap v1. But it also has the ease of install as the SpiderLight and best of all, is shaped better to fit either a DSLR or mirrorless. One strap, any camera! Between its nylon core, memory foam padding, and the organic S-curve design, it offers photographers the perfect balance of weight support close to your wrist. You get the perfect grip on your camera, with full access to your buttons, and do not have to worry about the camera slipping off your hand. What makes the SpiderPro Hand Strap so special is that it’s more than just a hand strap. It’s a hand and wrist strap in one product. You can slip your hand into it and then quickly remove it to put your camera down or in your Spider Holster. Or you can connect the wrist strap for added security. With it snapped in place, you can literally let go of your camera and it will stay in place. The SpiderPro Hand Strap v2 comes with eyelet adapters to fit most camera bodies from most manufacturers. All the mounting hardware is there whether you use a tripod plate or not. Inside the strap is a nylon material that is a memory foam type feel. It’s so comfortable and comes in seven different colors including a carbon fiber pattern. The SpiderPro Hand Strap v2 has a sleek, elegant design and is extremely professional looking. With the seven color choices, you can be sure to match your brand for that subtle marketing pizzaz. It’s one of those little things that can amplify your photography business. Clients are going to notice. I use my SpiderPro Hand Strap v2 on my Nikon D850 and my Nikon Z 6, both of which have Really Right Stuff L-Brackets. The hand strap stays in place, and never budgets unless I want to remove it. I cannot ask for a better hand strap option. Throughout the month of August, save 20% on Spider Holster products with the coupon code PF20!
What does Adobe’s Content Authenticity Initiative mean for photographers? - Last week, I gave a first hand look at Adobe’s recent white paper on its Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI). It covered topics like privacy, workflows, user experience, security and more, hoping to better give an understanding over what is necessary for full transparency online, while also protecting digital media artists and creators. So what does this all mean for photographers? I had the chance to sit down with Adobe’s Vice President of Community Products, Will Allen, about how the CAI will impact a photographer’s workflow, and what we can expect moving forward. For Allen, the CAI is all about crediting creators for their work, but also knowing what to trust online today. “From my perspective, knowing that creatives need credit for their work, and then with a growing challenge of misinformation, disinformation, knowing what to trust in media. So we’ve been thinking about this problem for a couple of years, and it’s what led us to form the Content Authenticity Initiative.” You retain control One of the things that wasn’t clear to me in the white paper is how much control photographers and other creatives would have. Long story short, creators retain pretty much all control, and actually have to opt-in to the CAI for each image. “The idea with all of this is that it has to be opt-in with privacy-conscious privacy first,” said Allen. “Creatives and photographers often want to get credit for their work, but sometimes they want to remain anonymous. You have granular privacy controls that opt-in, but not opt-out. So it’s really important to think that the user has to say, ‘I would like to attach this information to my photo.'” Once you do opt-in, you have control over what types of data is included. “The way it’s going to work [in Photoshop] is that you basically ask the user, would you like to include attribution data? What types of attribution data — would you like to attach your name to it? Would you like to attach your edit history or just your name, really giving the photographer full control over what he or she would like to expose as metadata.” That means you decide to opt-in to the CAI, and can exclude certain fields of data or even complete works if you’d like. One day you might be photographing a community event, while the other you might be putting together a composite. Obviously both types of works have different needs, so having flexibility within the CAI is important. The workflow is simple Once you opt-in, the CAI works seamlessly with Adobe’s creative apps like Lightroom or Photoshop. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the experience will be the same across every application out there — quite the contrary. “How it works in Photoshop might be slightly distinct and how it works in Lightroom, which might be slightly distinct in terms of how it works in another editing tool, like a native application on your phone or somewhere else. “Our goal is to make it really simple, and that’s why we’re working so closely with all of our partners,” said Allen. But what if you don’t utilize Adobe tools, instead opting for something like Capture One or Luminar? “One of our closest collaborators is a small startup called TruePic. They’re very focused on capturing stuff on your phone. So how do you verify that your phone was where you say it was and that you captured those [images] from there? “The idea is that it should not be limited to Adobe and it shouldn’t even be limited to tech companies. We’re really looking for pretty broad adoption.” The CAI might replace your watermark I’ve written about my thoughts on watermarks before. In terms of protection, they simply don’t work. That’s why the CAI is so intriguing. Imagine a digital footprint on your files that can’t be removed. That means that, even if someone downloads one of your photographs, that footprint stays with it. “One of the key things I’ve heard from the community over the years has been that people need credit for their work. Too often in this day and age when people share their art online, their name gets stripped from it,” said Allen. With all that said, will the CAI replace watermarks? “[The CAI] is similar in some ways but it’s pretty different. The idea is that you have metadata attached to the image, and that metadata is tamper evident. It’s cryptographically signed so that it can be verified,” said Allen. “It says, OK, this user was using Photoshop to edit this photo and here’s what Photoshop says happened during that editing process, or what Lightroom says happens.” When will CAI implementation be ready? Despite only being announced last fall, Allen says the CAI team is on track to be delivered to a small subset of Photoshop users by the end of 2020, with attribution data being able to be read on the Behance website. While talking about things like content attribution might not be the most exciting thing in the world, it certainly is a topic that’s regularly on the mind of photographers. Allen says it best, knowing that the possibilities are well beyond just giving credit where credit is due. “What’s the way that you can attach your name to an asset in the metadata so it’s secure as it travels throughout the internet, and it gives you credit for your work? Ultimately, more credit [means] when people see your work, you’re going to get more opportunities — whether it’s jobs, collaboration or just more exposure — hopefully that turns into a real opportunity.” Once the CAI is implemented, it will certainly be a game changer. Not only for those of us who publish images online, but for our followers, too. What would you like to see the CAI tackle? What are your primary concerns with content attribution and trust in the media? Let me know in the comments below.
Photographing the Perseid meteor shower - The Perseids are often the most spectacular meteor shower in the Northern Hemisphere due to frequency as well as its appearance in August. There are typically about 100 visible meteors per hour on average, although this obviously depends on your weather and light conditions. Generally speaking, you want to head out late at night but still before sunrise, and obviously, away from light pollution as much as possible. If possible, also go out when the waning moon is not in the sky. You may still see meteors even with the moon, but of course, you are trying to maximize your chances of seeing meteors. The radiant, where the meteors originate, will be more or less north, drifting northeast. However, you do not necessarily need to face north or northeast — other parts of the sky may feature longer meteor streaks. How to photograph the meteor shower I would suggest approaching your meteor shower photography as you would photographing the starry sky while keeping the stars as pinpoints. If you have an ultra wide-angle lens, such as around 14mm or 15mm, I would suggest using that, as you will increase your chances of photographing a meteor. And I don’t have to mention that you should use a tripod, right? Camera settings Try for something like a 20 to 30-second exposure. Use the widest aperture that looks good. Something like f/2.8 works great. Use an ISO of 1600 to 6400, depending on how dark the sky is and how much ambient light there. Take several photos and make certain your settings are to your liking! Focusing Focusing is the same as if you were photographing stars or the Milky Way. Infinity, right? Turn off your autofocus. You won’t need that. Now turn on Live View and find a star. Zoom in on that using Live Focus. Manually twist your focus ring on the lens until that star looks sharp and like a pinpoint and not an amorphous blob. If this doesn’t work, get a friend to stand about 50 feet away with a headlamp and hold it still. Then focus on the headlamp, doing the same thing. Take a few test shots and zoom in to make sure that the stars are in focus. Good? Then tape down the focus ring if you wish with some gaffer tape to make sure that your focus doesn’t change through an accidental bump. Keep your camera clicking away You can’t wait for a meteor to streak across the sky and then try to trigger your camera. It would already be too late! The secret is to keep your camera continuously clicking, then lean back and enjoy the meteor shower. The other secret? Turn off Long Exposure Noise Reduction (LENR) on your camera. Why? Because it will pause for the length of the exposure to apply noise reduction, and we don’t really want that here. We want the camera to continuously photograph. We will discuss two ways your camera continually taking photos. Wired remote shutter release Use a cheap remote shutter release. You can get one that attaches to your camera via a cable. Once you have this, set your camera to Continuous Burst mode. This is the same mode that allows you to shoot rapid-fire sequences like what sports photographers do. We night photographers can use these too, but in slow motion. Simply set your camera to your ideal settings, such as a 20-30 second exposure, f/2.8 and ISO of 1600-6400, depending on how bright the scene is (or how wide your aperture is). Lock down your remote shutter release. This should keep your camera clicking merrily away, taking one photo after another. Many cameras have a limit of 100 consecutive photos, so be aware of that and set a timer if you wish. Then simply start it up again. Use an intervalometer Your camera may have an intervalometer built in. Or you can purchase an external intervalometer and attach it to your camera. There are myriad options including Bluetooth camera controllers as well. You can set the time of exposure, time between each photo (which should be as short as possible, typically one second), and how many individual photos you wish to photograph. Wow, I have a lot of photos! You may have hundreds of photos. That’s alright. It’s digital. Just make sure you have a good sized memory card. Scroll through and find the ones that have meteors. Meteors don’t blink and they usually are tapered, looking like streaks. Don’t delete any of those photos either. If for some reason the meteors have been shy and didn’t show up in your photos, turn them into a time-lapse! Or star trails! Or both! Quick checklist Camera with manual settings and your widest lens with a large aperture Remote shutter release or intervalometer Tripod Gaffer tape (I like orange colored tape so I can see it at night) Headlamp (try to use this as little as possible to preserve your night vision; use a red headlamp if possible) Lawn chair Favorite beverage Snacks Friends Going out to photograph the meteor shower this weekend? Submit your favorite images to the Photofocus Flickr group!
Summer photography fun with kids: Water refraction - Last year I ran a series of articles on summer photography fun for kids, like capturing bursting water balloons. This year I’m back with a few more ideas. This is a great one for staying inside and does not need much. What is refraction? Light travels in straight lines through space, but interesting things can happen when they travel through other materials — especially when they move from one material to another. No matter how hard you try, you cannot run as quickly through the water as through the air. The dense liquid is harder to push out of the way, so it slows you down. The same thing happens when you shine light through water, glass or plastic, but it appears makes the light bend. Requirements Table to set up on Different colored project paper (black and white or green and purple as an example) Patterned or colored wrapping paper (optional) Clear drinking glasses or vases Jug with water (food coloring is optional) Colored straws Camera and tripod Crystal ball, if you have one (optional) The setup Make sure there is plenty of light, but not direct sunlight. Perhaps near a window or with a desk lamp. Set up your table and place your project paper (if you have colored acrylic sheets you can use them too), so that you have black at the back and on the table and the white butted up against the black. You could even have it as a checkered pattern. Perhaps use a box or large books to hold up the piece in the back. Place a glass exactly in the middle where the colors meet and three quarters fill it with water. Now set your camera up on a tripod or suitable stable object and start experimenting with how the water is refracted. You could also add a few drops of food dye or coloring and some colored straws and capture the results. Add multiple glasses of water and see what happens. Try some patterned wrapping paper, too. The shot It really is quite cool the different effects you can achieve with a few simple household items!
Infrared photography in the summertime - Here in Arizona, the summertime light becomes harsh in short order. One of the things I do to increase my shooting time is to switch to the infrared camera. High sun and infrared capture lead to some interesting high-contrast images. I had a Lumix G6 converted to an infrared sensor by Life Pixel. Being an old traditionalist I use the standard 720 Nanometers (NM), which can give a standard IR look. It can also be processed in a different using toning techniques, which I’ll share in another post. Work the scene When you see a subject that you feel might be interesting don’t make one image and go on your merry way. Investigate. Try different angles. Use different focal lengths from your camera. Many times you will find that with further exploration you’ll end up with a solid photo. And more! The log Here’s a case in point. I was hiking through Watson Lake Trail in Prescott, AZ. I noticed a fallen tree below. Knowing that the scene would be in black and white I wanted to try different looks as composition sells the subject. The leaves of the deciduous tree next to the fallen log soldier made an excellent counterpoint. Leaves rendered a bright glowing white. I forgot to make a color image of the scene for reference but know that at this time of day, the scene was pretty blah. Pre-visualizing made me work it the way I did. I feel there are a few compositions that work. My favorite Here is my favorite from the series. Let me know your favorite of these three. For more on infrared shooting, check out this article. Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
