This week, Bryan Esler kicked things off by revealing his top cameras of 2020 so far, while Michele Grenier showed us how to prepare a large multi-panel print.
Nate Torres explained how digital color works, and Levi Sim told us to get in the water! Finally, Darren Miles talked about the most underrated light modifier — the snoot. We hope you have a great Fourth of July weekend!
The top cameras of 2020 … so far - Today is National Camera Day, so I thought it’d be great to look back on the cameras released this year so far! While we’re waiting on new mirrorless cameras from Canon, Sony and others, there have already been a boatload of cameras released this year with some pretty exciting features. In no particular order, here are my top releases so far in 2020. Fujifilm X100V Read our review | Check latest pricing from B&H The X100 put Fuji on the map in terms of mirrorless cameras back in 2011, and the fifth-generation X100V continues that trend. The camera body is simple yet elegant, with dials on the top for ISO and exposure compensation. To any passerby, it might look like the trendy film cameras of old … but in reality, it holds some pretty powerful digital capabilities. Our own James Maher reviewed the X100V, calling it “the most important camera of the decade.” He commented on the amount of restraint Fuji had with the X100V: “I would argue that the camera’s biggest quality has been the restraint that was shown in its development. This camera felt like it was built by photographers. The restraint aspect needs to be focused on, as the X100 used an APS-C sensor and built-in 23mm (35mm equivalent lens) with only an option to purchase 50mm and 28mm equivalent attachment lenses and nothing else.” The X100V added a two-way tilting touchscreen and an improved hybrid viewfinder, in addition to improvements in weather sealing. It’s the very definition of what a street photography camera should be. Small, light and unobtrusive, not to mention stylish. Nikon D780 Check latest pricing from B&H If you want the old-school DSLR feel with the benefits of mirrorless, you can’t get much better than the Nikon D780. As the successor to the D750, the D780 upgrades several of its predecessors technologies. The D780 is a 24.5-megapixel DSLR, offering up to 7fps continuous shooting and an ISO range of 100-51,200. But where the real power comes in is with the camera’s Live View function, which offers 273-point phase-detection autofocus. This allows for face and eye-detection autofocus capabilities, in addition to silent shooting up to 12fps at full resolution. While you might not always use the Live View function, seeing some mirrorless-centric features like these is certainly exciting for DSLR traditionalists. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III Read our review | Check latest pricing from B&H While the future of Olympus is somewhat uncertain, the company released an upgrade to its flagship E-M1 camera in February — the E-M1 Mark III. With this update, Olympus kept nearly identical body styling as the Mark II version of the camera, but did have a few changes, including a better joystick and dedicated ISO button. But the real changes came to the camera’s internals, powered by the camera’s new TruePic IX processor. The E-M1 Mark III borrowed from its older E-M1X cousin with the addition of both Handheld High Res and Live ND. But the E-M1 Mark III also added a brand-new feature — Starry Sky AF — enabling photographers to get crisp astrophotography shots without having to rely on focusing to infinity. The camera also added a big upgrade to the Face / Eye Precision AF (which wasn’t talked about enough, if you ask me). Sony ZV-1 Check latest pricing from B&H Taking the core body of the popular RX100 and putting some amazing video internals in it seemed like an odd idea, but it … oddly … works. The ZV-1 is a perfect, compact, handheld camera perfect for vloggers. It offers features that cater specific to video, like its one-click Background Defocus, allowing for maximum bokeh in the background without having to adjust your settings manually. It also has a feature called Product Showcase, which means you no longer have to pray that the product you hold up in your YouTube reviews will be in focus. While the ZV-1 won’t replace a camera like the Lumix S1, or video-only cameras, it certainly offers enough for amateurs and pros that want to travel with a more lightweight camera. It also offers some pretty good still capabilities, like continuous shooting up to 24fps and built-in digital and optical stabilization. Canon EOS-1D X Mark III Check latest pricing from B&H The 1D X Mark III received quite the big update earlier this year, offering a package that pro shooters will love. Like the Nikon D780, the 1DX Mark III features some great still functions, with a 20.1-megapixel CMOS sensor and updated DIGIC X processor. The camera can shoot up to 16fps and has an ISO range of 100-102,400. The 1D X Mark III adds some mirrorless-centric features in Live View too, like a 20fps shooting rate and Face Tracking and Head Detection autofocus. The camera also makes quite the impression on videographers, with the ability to record DCI 4K content internally at up t0 60fps, with 10-bit and 4:2:2 color. Full HD shooting is also available at 120fps, as well as RAW 5.5K video at 60fps. What’s next? Rumors are certainly abound, especially for Canon’s upcoming release of the R5 camera and the rumored Sony a7S III. Is there a certain camera you’re hoping gets released this year? Let us know in the comments below. Lead photo by Matt Quinn on Unsplash
How to prepare a large multi-panel print - Looking to create a huge wall-art impression? Here’s a simple five-step guide to help you prepare a large multi-panel print! 1. Target your client’s needs A large multi-panel print requires a little more love than a regular print (even though they still need love too!). Why? Because the bigger the print, the bigger the impact it has on the area it’s being hung. Making sure you pinpoint your clients’ needs is the first, very important step. Here are some questions you can ask them: Where will the print be hanged? What size/area do they want to cover? What shape are they looking for (vertical, horizontal, square, uneven)? This will allow you to offer them customized options for the layout of the panels. In this example, my client (Gabriel, the owner of the Tonic CrossFit Gym) wanted the biggest setup possible. His wall is 32-by-22 feet! I looked at all the possible printing options available and suggested six 40-by-80 inch prints to create the multi-panel layout. 2. Put up a match plan Once you’ve found what you are going to do, you have to know how you’re going to do it by finding the clients’ vision. What colors are they looking for? The vibe, the style, the subject(s)? If you’re going for a photomontage, what should each element represent? Gabriel envisioned an all-black background to match the black painted wall it would be hung on. This would visually create a floating effect. An invisible frame was also important for this concept. He wanted the gym’s logo to be very big in the middle with a neon effect. The elements around would be athletes in action representing the gym’s community and the sport of CrossFit. A creative challenge (personal note) I’ve had the pleasure to cover multiple CrossFit events at this gym throughout the years. I had several hundreds of archived images to choose from. Still, reuniting all these different elements turned out to be a challenging task. I turned out to only find half a dozen pictures that would fit the concept. I had to: Pick an equal amount of male/female athletes. Try not to individualize athletes in the frame — meaning that I tried to choose pictures that weren’t showing too much of someone’s face in particular (I went mostly for profiles or back angles). Choose images that had a decent amount of contrast for the black and white edit. 3. Prepare a large size file and start editing It is very important to create a document with the exact size of the print (if you’re working with a single photo, the crop should be the exact same ratio). I opened Photoshop and created a new 240-by-80 inch document. Based on the recommendation of Xpozer (the company where the file was to be printed), I picked a 100PPI resolution. If you don’t know what is resolution and PPI is, head to this article to learn more about it. Then, I just let go my creative flow and came up with an original composite! Here are some great tips to help you easily prepare your photos for printing. 4. Get the client’s approval Once your montage is done, submit it to your client to make sure the final result is what he/she expected. When you print large photos, you want to make sure everything’s on point. 5. Order your multi-panel print You do it online — it’s really easy to do. You simply have to select the desired print format and upload each individual section. To realize this project, I’ve ordered six Xpozer 40-by-80 inch print + frame kits. And the final reveal! As I am writing these lines, the order has been made and my client and I are feverishly waiting for the delivery! I can’t wait to see the largest multi-panel print I’ve ever prepared hung on this gym wall.
Portrait Tips: Just get in the water! - I recently moved back to Cache Valley, UT, which is where I started my photography business 12 years ago. It was incredibly satisfying to receive calls for portraits from clients I hadn’t seen in nearly a decade. Dream photoshoot I got a call for the first photoshoot the first week I was back. Cindy called and asked me to make portraits for her during a family reunion on Wednesday night. “I want them to be all black and white,” she said, “and I’m not going to tell anyone we’re doing it: I don’t want everyone in matching khakis or something.” Black and white? This is my kind of shoot! I did convince her that, in order to salvage her relationship with her daughters and daughters-in-law, she should give the ladies at least a few hours’ warning. Nightmare setup The trouble is, the sun was still pretty high when I got there and there wasn’t enough shade or there wasn’t enough sunlight to cover the whole group — at least not with a decent background. The lake (Bear Lake) is so large that there’s nothing to see across it except for a horizon line that would chop off everyone’s heads. What to do? Wake up and make pictures There was a very skinny metal pier leading to a floating dock. The sun was behind it, and there was a mountain behind it as well. I started thinking that it could be a pretty good spot to put the family. The trouble is, I’d have to either use a 1200mm lens from 200 yards away on the shore, or I’d have to be in the water to make the pictures. There were some paddleboards for rent and some kayaks for rent, but I didn’t think it wise to go out there with a camera on one of those. So I went out on the pier to see how it looked for the group. As it turns out, most natural lakes are the same shape under the water as they are on the land right next to the water. If there’s a cliff, then the shore probably drops steeply away, too. If there’s a long flat beach, then the same gradient probably continues into the water. That was the case here. The water at the end of the pier ended up being just three feet deep. Totally wadeable! I borrowed a swimsuit: Time to make pictures. Suck it up and get it done The only thing to worry about now was the water temperature. It was June 1 and the lake sits at 6,000 feet elevation surrounded by snow-capped peaks. I was preparing myself for a cold session, and Cindy thought I was nuts. But I knew the pictures would be good. The water in the foreground, and the mountains behind, with the family grouped up in the middle. It was definitely the best setup available, and I was pretty sure it’d be a good group setup regardless. There was nothing for it: I was going to get wet. And that’s the point. If you know there’s a good picture to be made and the only thing standing between you and it is discomfort, then suck it up and be uncomfortable. You’ve heard of suffering for your art? This is it. This is what that means. Get wet, get muddy, get in a tree, get on your belly, get sweaty. But above all, get it done. It’s never as bad as you expected It turns out that the water wasn’t cold. I think because it was so shallow for so far the sun had warmed that section quite a lot. I had my family reunion at the same lake last year in August, and the water was actually colder then. I’ve had a lot of experiences when my discomfort was the price of making the shot. Rarely has the discomfort ever been as bad as I feared it would be, and the pictures have always been better than I’d imagined. If your pride in your appearance keeps you from being uncomfortable, it’s also keeping from being the best artist you can be. So get over it, and get in the water to get the work done. Portrait Tips come out each week, and you can see them all right here.
Crush your portraits with a snoot - Yes, the snoot, the most underrated and underutilized light modifier I’ve been a professional photographer since 2005 and in that time I’ve tried a TON of different lighting modifiers. Umbrellas, softboxes, scrims, translucent umbrellas, umbrellas with diffusion, octo boxes, light spheres, barn doors, flags … you name it. But recently, I discovered the snoot. What is a snoot? Think of a snoot as a spotlight for your flash. A tightly controlled beam or pillar of light — similar to a spotlight for a singer or an actor on a stage. Usually shaped like a cone, it fits over the head of your flash unit. Some are made for specific flash units, others are more universal. Some creative photographers have made their own out of black poster board. Why a snoot? When it comes to composing and lighting your images, one of the rules is, the viewer’s eye will usually go to the brightest object in the photo. A snoot allows you to aim a pillar of light with marksman-like precision exactly where you want it. This way, the intended subject or focal point of your image becomes immediately obvious to the viewer. Moreover, a snoot can create drama and huge visual interest in your images. Additionally, snoots are usually — relatively — inexpensive to obtain. Downsides Because the light coming through a snoot isn’t diffused, you can create overly contrasty images and the lighting can be a bit harsh. To get around this, you want to try and center the light on your subject so that noses don’t cast unwanted shadows and you definitely want to use a snoot off camera. Where do I get one? Fortunately, they are easy to come by and pricing ranges anywhere from $10-$200. I’ve been using a Godox AD200 and the one that’s actually made for the Godox V1. I’ve found that it works fine. I also use a Profoto B1 when I’m on location and the version of the Snoot for OCF Flash Heads from Profoto — there are also snoots made by MagMod and countless others. If you want to up your portrait game and add some drama to your images, pick up a snoot and experiment, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results! No go have some fun and make some magic! Pros Inexpensive to obtain Small — easy to put in your camera bag Easy to use Cons If used improperly, you can case weird shadows on your subjects
Color by the numbers: How digital color works - Color plays a major role in photography. It can enhance an already well-captured photo and vice versa. With that said, how much do you know about digital color? I believe it is safe to say that we are now living in a predominantly digital world. We as a society are glued to digital screens of all sizes whether that be our cellphones, computer or television. We consume most, if not all of our media through digital means. As artists, it is now more important than ever before to understand digital color. In this post, I’ll be diving into digital color, covering the fundamentals of color as well as some basics of color theory. Let’s dive in. How we see color Perception is reality, and color is perception. If you see an apple and you perceive it to be red, then it is red. Why is this the case though? How do humans actually see color? The eye contains two different kinds of receptors — rods and cones. Rods convey shades of gray while the cones allow our brain to perceive different color hues. We also have three types of cones. The first type is sensitive to red-orange light, the second is sensitive to green light and the third is sensitive to blue-violet light. We are able to identify colors through the stimulation of these cones. Humans see colors in light waves and the varying intensities of light sources of these three colors allow us to see the wide range of colors we see. Understanding RGB and CMYK By understanding the basics of how our eyes process color, we can move on to RGB and CMYK and their purpose. RGB RGB stands for red, green and blue. It is the most common profile. Televisions, screens and projectors use RGB as their primary colors and then mix together to create other colors. This is known as an “additive color” profile. Red light added to green light creates yellow light, red light added to blue light makes magenta and blue light added to green light makes cyan. All colors combined make up a white color. CMYK On the other hand, CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. For the most part, any color you see on physical surfaces such as packaging, paper, etc. are using this profile. You may also see this profile on ink cartridges for inkjet printers. Opposite to the RGB profile, CMYK uses a “subtractive color mixing model” and the colors combined in this profile create black. It is called subtractive because you are “subtracting” the light. You may remember this “subtractive” model in elementary school when combining a cyan color with yellow to make green. Here is an example to help picture it. If you are looking at a photograph of a red car, then every color except for red was subtracted out. The hues (colors) you don’t see in the photograph were “subtracted out” to only leave the color you do see, which in this case would be red. If this still confuses you a bit or are more of a visual learner, this video does a great job explaining it. This is also one of the main reasons why prints can never look quite as good as they do on your screen. Prints are in the CMYK profile, while you were looking at a digital screen with a digital RGB profile. CMYK profiles are generally less vibrant and their colors are a bit more muted, so it is important to remember this! Using color to our advantage Now that we know some information about color, how can we use it to our advantage? Color theory is a big topic in itself, however, I will cover the basics. When talking about color schemes/color harmonies, the three basic schemes are complementary, analogous and triadic. Complementary A complementary color scheme consists of two opposite colors on the color wheel. This color scheme is very popular and you often see this scheme with sports teams logos as well as restaurant logos. It’s also the color scheme of Christmas (red and green). A complementary color scheme works because it creates a sharp contrast between the colors. Analogous An analogous color scheme consists of colors that exist next to each other on the color wheel. To have an effective analogous color harmony — because there are three colors you are working with — it is important that one color is the dominant color, one color is the supporting color and the other color is an accent to the other colors. This creates a nice balance within the image without making it look like a forced analogous color scheme. Triadic A triadic color scheme consists of colors that are evenly spaced within the color wheel and are often brighter colors. These are the three main color schemes. I encourage you to play around with these different color schemes and take advantage of Adobe’s free color wheel when you are editing your photos. When I edit my photos, I use dual monitors so I have one monitor with the color wheel on it and one monitor with my photo so I can look back and forth between my image and the color wheel. Now that we have covered the basic of the color wheel, it’s important to also discuss color calibration. Achieving consistent colors with monitor calibration With all this talk of colors, you may or may not be eager to dive into your most recent photo edits and play around with what you have learned regarding colors. If you are, it’s also important to discuss monitor color calibration. For true image and color accuracy, you will want to make sure your monitor is calibrated for true colors. Remember that part when I mentioned that we, as humans perceive color? Well if your monitor is calibrated to have an orange color look like red, then you will perceive all the orange colors in your image to be red. Then when you print it
