A lot’s been happening on Photofocus. Here’s a sample: Lauri Novak leads off telling how to use Luminar Flex looks in Lightroom. She follows that by answering why it’s good to take a basic camera class. Marie Tartar takes us to Chile for the 2019 solar eclipse while Joseph Linaschke shows how to handhold a camera. Michèle Grenier closes the week with a portfolio explanation of 10 CrossFit disciplines. Bonus! Drobo & Photofocus are having a photography contest. Read more about it and enter your photo here.
Using Luminar Flex as a Lightroom Classic plugin to get creative with Looks - Luminar Flex Looks make it easy to try new ways of being creative with your editing. The process is simple. It’s just like using any other plug-in with Adobe Lightroom Classic. In Lightroom Classic, go to Photo > Edit in and choose Luminar Flex. Once you’re finished in Flex, click on apply and it automatically exports it back into Lightroom. If I have an image I know I want to edit but can’t quite figure out what I want to do with it, by taking it into Luminar Flex and applying presets it allows me to envision the possibilities. For the purist You can easily make minimal edits to your images using the Looks provided or by downloading other Looks available from Skylum. For this one, I used the Professional set of Looks and chose the B&W Nostalgy Look at 100%. For the slightly adventurous This image I used the Atomic Colors Looks by Wims Amys which you can get for free from Skylum under the Looks category. I chose the Netpunium Look. For the film lovers It’s always fun to see what an image would look like if it had been shot on film. The Tonality Mega B&W pack by Richard Harrington is free and includes 170 different, black & white, monochrome and film Looks to try. Here I used the Ilford FP 4 plus 125 Look in the Tonality Film Emulation Looks. For the very adventurous Why not just go crazy with your edit, see what you can create by being adventurous with your clicks. I just downloaded this Look pack as I was writing this article. By signing up to be on their email list they sent the UltraViolet Look pack to me. I used the UV Negative Look on this. Play! These are just four easy examples. Other than removing sensor spots and some cropping I did not do any other editing to these. Playing with Looks in Luminar Flex is fun and simple. Use them as starting off points to create the looks you want or use them as is. You can use them at 100% or dial them back a bit to your taste. Click through them, see what they do, how they affect your image and be creative. Don’t have Luminar Flex yet? Click here to save $159 off the retail price, plus receive the Toolbox Looks pack! Save $10 additional with the coupon code PHOTOFOCUS.
Great South American Solar Eclipse: How’d we do? Part one - What could possibly go wrong with five camera setups, four cameras, three tripods, two photographers, two chairs and a drone, all employed at the same time during the recent Great South American eclipse? If chaos comes to mind, that’d be close! To be sure, there was also fun, some confusion, performance anxiety, successes and misses, all adding up to a highly memorable 30th wedding anniversary trip to the Elqui Valley of Chile. As I wrote in my last article, the coincidence of the date of our 30th wedding anniversary (to Photofocus author Steve Eilenberg) one day before the July 2, 2019 eclipse was a celestial sign to me that we should travel to South America to celebrate. We were richly rewarded, with clear skies and a pair of diamond rings in the sky. How this evolved … back in the planning stages, we had decided, with the aid of the Eclipsophile website that Chile would more likely have clear skies than Argentina for this event. That focused us on La Serena, a coastal town in Chile and the gateway to the Elqui Valley, known for pisco, clear skies and astrotourism, with a multitude of observatories throughout the valley trained on the skies. By the time we began planning this trip in earnest in April 2018, there were virtually no available hotel rooms in or near La Serena. We found an apartment through Booking.com in La Serena which was a step above camping, with a paucity of hot water and no heat. We ran the space heater every minute we were in the apartment. Scouting the location Our first decision was where to be on eclipse day: In a town on or near the coast like La Serena, Coquimbo or La Higuera or inland in the Elqui Valley? We mentally tried on Coquimbo, repeatedly watching a YouTube of Rafael Pons using the essential smartphone app PhotoPills to plan a shot of the eclipsed sun over a monumental concrete cross in Coquimbo, the Cruz de Tercer Millenium. Staying in a town meant sharing the eclipse with a lot of people, which could be fun and festive, but possibly also crowded and chaotic. La Higuera was a little inland, possibly avoiding coastal clouds, and had the advantage of being even closer to the center line of totality, adding a precious 10 seconds or so to the 2+ minutes available elsewhere along the arc of the umbra (moon shadow). We had two full days and a car to figure out where to be on eclipse day. Using Google Maps and a physical map acquired for the occasion, we both separately found ourselves focusing on a swath of blue along Route 41, the main artery of the Elqui Valley, more poetically known as Ruta de las Estrellas (Route of the Stars). This body of water, Puclaro, is a reservoir created in 2003 to supply water to the coastal towns and support irrigation to the valley. Visually, it is a lake rimmed by hills, with Route 41 closely hugging the southern margin. So closely, in fact, that driving it, it became clear there were effectively no safe places to pull over for potential eclipse viewing and shooting. At the western end was one possibility, Embalse Puclaro, an overlook of the dam which created the lake. We pulled off to scout it out: There was parking, a cluster of vendors, even restrooms. We were thinking this had possibilities until we thought to ask what the plans were for eclipse day. The answer was definitive: “Estará cerrado.” Closed! On the big day, this was to serve as an emergency medical facility for the region. Tio Jorge We struck gold on our very next stop. At a bend in the road at the eastern end of Puclaro, there were vineyards on either side of the road. A series of banners announced “Wines! Pizza! Coffee!” We went in to an attractive roadside establishment, Puclaro Caffe, to inquire. After explaining that we were looking for a place to photograph the eclipse in a few days, the girls at the counter gave me a slip of paper with a name and phone number on it. I tried the number while still there, trying various combinations, with and without country codes, etc., to no avail. Nicolas was called over and whipping out his local cell phone, proceeded to call Tio Jorge. The reception was spotty but it seemed that yes, they planned to be open eclipse day, there would be secure parking in back, we would have access to food, drinks and bathrooms, as well as access to the fenced off vineyards across the road. We could see a small beach on the edge of the lake. This had distinct possibilities! There also was the possibility of heading up by vehicle into higher vineyards with views of the lake. We decided on the spot this was where we would spend eclipse day. 20,000 Chilean pesos later (a little less than $30 USD), we had a reservation. Over the following days, while exploring Vicuña, Pisco Elqui and the valley itself on traverses up and down Route 41, we scouted out the possibilities, both down by the lake and up in the higher vineyards. One day prior to the eclipse, we had a plan, which was being actively revised on the day of the eclipse … to find out what happened, stay tuned for my follow-up post! If you enjoy listening, join Photo Focus author Steve Eilenberg and me discussing our experiences shooting solar eclipses in a podcast with Kirby Flanagan of Flanagan Fotos.
Best practices when handholding a camera - In this video from LinkedIn Learning, instructor Joseph Linaschke walks us through how to best handhold your camera no matter what type of gear you’re carrying. For more LinkedIn Learning videos about photography, click here. There are a lot of different ways to hold your camera, and how you hold it is largely gonna depend on the size and type of camera and lens that you’ve got in your hands. Let’s start with some real basic ideas. This is something that you’re gonna see a lot if you just walk around shooting and observe people with cameras. You’re gonna see this, which is really the wrong way to hold your camera. Here’s the problem, when I do this, I have no stability. Even just by focusing or zooming my camera, chances are I’m gonna move it, and that’s clearly not any good. The whole idea here is to hold it steady. So instead of getting your elbows way out here, you wanna bring them in tight. So here’s a couple things to consider. First of all, if you wanna bring them in tight, that means your hand positioning has to change from like this to like this. So instead of over, under. Now when you’re holding it under, here’s the thing about this hand. This becomes where the primary weight of your camera sits. Not in your shooting hand, but in your other hand. So I set the camera down and this is the primary platform. My elbow’s tucked in tight, and even without holding onto the camera like this, the camera is steady. So now that I’ve got the camera in place, I can take my shooting hand and bring it in and get the shot. So that’s number one, just get your elbows out from down here, get them under here. Get that hand underneath the camera. Hold onto it tight and away you go. This video is from Photography 101 by Joseph “PhotoJoseph” Linaschke Now the next step is how you actually push that button. Now, all DSLR and mirrorless cameras have a two-stage shutter, where you push halfway down to focus and then the rest of the way to take the picture. A lot of people will jam on that button. You don’t need to jam on it. You can just squeeze it very, very gently. If you jam on it, you might move the camera. Let me show you what I mean. I’m gonna exaggerate this a little bit. Little exaggerated, but if I was to push down on this button hard. (shutter clicking) I’m moving the camera every time I push it, and that’s not good for the picture. We don’t want the camera to move. If the camera’s moving, there’s no way that your image is gonna be sharp. So instead of jamming on it, squeeze gently. Squeeze halfway to focus, and then very gently squeeze the rest of the way to shoot. Also, you don’t have to pull your finger off of it, fly your finger off the button when you’re done. There’s nothing saying that you have to get your hand off of there. Just very gently squeeze and release. And if you’re looking at your finger, if someone was watching you, they might not even see that finger moving, like this. (shutter clicks) The finger should barely, barely move, to make the difference between the half push and the full push. By doing that, you’re gonna keep your camera really, really nice and steady. What about larger gear? Okay, so this is all great for a camera of this size, but what if you get something a lot bigger with a much bigger lens? Now, if you’re shooting with a larger professional camera like this, you’ve got some other things to think about. First of all, this camera’s huge and very heavy, and you know what, they get even bigger than this. So if you’re shooting with a camera like this and you’re doing this all day long, this arm is gonna get kinda tired. So I have some other options for you on how you might wanna hold the camera. This is one of my favorites, I call this the rifle hold. Basically, I’m gonna put my arm over like this and get that good steady position. See what I’m doing here? I’ve nestled it over, and this hand here can rest on your wrist, or just depending on your body type and body size, you might be able to tuck it under or even hold onto your shoulder. Whatever it may be, there’s some combination of wrapping your arm around like this that will probably work for you, and allows you to really nestle that in there and hold it real steady, and then, you can do an even long exposure by holding it this way. Now, this is great if you’re standing. But what about if you wanna get down on the ground? Let’s take a look at that. On the ground, I like to go into, again, kind of a rifle hold, where I put a leg out, use that leg to stabilize my arm that’s gonna hold the camera, that’s gonna hold the brunt of the weight, and then shoot like so. (shutter click) So again, you have this idea where you have total stability cause your arm is on your leg like this. Your leg is obviously on the ground. You’ve got your other elbow into your other knee and you can keep things nice and steady like so. And finally, another good one is simply cross-legged. If you sit cross-legged, you can then put both your elbows into both of your knees and shoot as well. All great options for keeping your camera nice and steady, whether you’re standing or sitting, even if you’re using the big, heavy camera like this. Stabilizing with two hands And here’s the next thing to consider. This is a huge camera. This is a pretty
What is CrossFit? The sport explained in 10 powerful photos - CrossFit is becoming more and more well known. Some of you might wonder, ‘what is this discipline exactly?’ Jump into my world as I share my top 10 photos to explain the sport of fitness! Definition As the founder, Greg Glassman wrote: “The CrossFit prescription is constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movements [ … that are] supported only by measurable, observable and repeatable facts.” Specializing in not specializing In CrossFit, your overall fitness is not determined by your muscles, your physical aspect or how much weight you can lift (although these are two aspects that naturally tend to develop when you do this type of training). It’s measured by how efficient you are not only at one or two … but 10 general physical skills (endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy). The more proficient you are in those competencies, the fitter you are considered. A CrossFitter does basically an equal part of gymnastics, Olympic Weightlifting and cardio (yeah, just that!). As a photographer who often photographs CrossFit, these 10 skills are at the core of what I try to capture, as they help to define the essence of the sport. 1. Endurance Is the ability of body systems to gather, process and deliver oxygen. Workout examples: Running/rowing/biking. 2. Stamina Is the ability of the body’s systems to process, deliver, store and utilize energy. Exercise example: A high-repetition movement (like pushups). 3. Strength Is the ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply force. Exercise example: A heavy dead lift. 4. Flexibility Is the ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint. Exercise example: A squat below parallel. 5. Power Is the ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply maximum force in minimum time. Exercise example: Olympic Weightlifting movements like the Snatch and Clean & Jerk. 6. Speed Is the ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement. Exercise example: The sprint. 7. Coordination Is the ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement. Exercise example: Jump rope and double under. 8. Agility Is the ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another. Exercise example: Box jump and rope climb. 9. Balance Is the ability to control the placement of the bodies center of gravity in relation to its support base. Exercise example: Overhead squat and handstand walk. 10. Accuracy Is the ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity. Exercise example: Wallball. Some examples of the fittest athletes on earth over the past years are multiple time CrossFit Games champs Mathew Fraser and Rich Froning (on the gents side) and Tia-Clair Toomey and Katrin Davidsdottir on the ladies side. If you’d like to witness the high-intensity action of the CrossFit Games, click here to access the live webcast of the event from Aug. 1-4, 2019. If you’d like to learn how to take great CrossFit pictures, head to this article to get my top tips! CrossFit portfolio All examples in this article are performance athletes with a highly committed training regimen. I wanted to illustrate the sport in that way because it shows well the high-intensity level that can be achieved at an elite level. Of course, CrossFit is scalable and accessible to everyone, from children to teenagers to men and women of all backgrounds. And as a final and friendly recommendation, you should really give it a try if you haven’t yet. Fun guaranteed! Photography: ©Michèle Grenier
Why take a basics camera overview class? - Every so often I feel like I need to revisit the basics of my camera and photography. A while ago I took a class titled, “Basic Camera Overview/Class Orientation, DSLR & Mirrorless Camera Operation, and the Principles of Correct Exposure.” I’ve been taking photographs for over forty years, why on earth would I choose to go to a basic camera course? Several reasons actually: Relearn the basics Every now and then we can all use a refresher. We get into our own routines with how we shoot, what we shoot and using our camera. Sometimes, we get lazy and we don’t move our settings around much to try different things. We do what we know works and we get comfortable with that. Going to a course on the basics can wake us up and make us remember something we forgot. Brush up on your tools What does that button do again, you know, the one you use maybe once a year? When you have someone showing you the things you’re camera is capable of you may find a new, fun tool that you never used before. Maybe you tried it once and then just moved back to doing what you always do. Let’s face it, today’s digital cameras have more buttons and features than most of us will ever use but learning about those is a good way to jump-start your creativity if you’ve been feeling a little bored lately. Learn the basics of your new camera Getting a new camera can mean relearning a lot. New features, buttons and dials are not in the old familiar places. The latests technology can do more, different and unfamiliar things compared to your last camera. Changing brands means learning how the new brand does things differently than your old brand. Like-minded people It’s always good to socialize and learn with like-minded people. Plan a photowalk before or after the course, get a group together to talk about what you learned over lunch, it will help to solidify the knowledge in your brain. It’s also a good way to know you’re not the only one struggling with something in your own work and discussing these things with other photographers can help uncover a solution to the issue. In the end, we should never stop learning. Going back to the basics every once in a while is one of the ways we can keep things fresh in our minds. Practice those things we feel we need to work on so they become second nature to us when we’re out shooting. Knowing the basics is an important part of being able to create the images we want to when we’re out in the field.
