This week, Michèle Grenier kicked things off, introducing us to the new SpyderX Photo Kit. Then, Bryan Esler told us about an awesome all-purpose lens for micro four-thirds … for under $500.
Jemma Pollari taught us some tricks on how to make tweens smile during photoshoots, Levi Sim taught us how to get rid of purple glare in eyeglasses and Giulio Sciorio tackled the current state of Adobe and Photoshop Camera.
Discover the new SpyderX Photo Kit - Looking for tools for more consistency, efficiency and accuracy in your photographic work? Then you should discover the new Datacolor kit!
Family photos with tweens: Photographing kids who are too cool for school - There are distinct photographic phases that kids seem to go through during childhood. As babies, they couldn’t care less. Toddlers: They might be more interested in playing, but it’s possible to coax cute moments onto film. Preschoolers go one way or the other: They’re sick of the camera by now (ahem, my son and my nephews …) or they’ve learnt that “Smile!” at least gets me to go away quicker. Then we hit the tween stage. There’s something about this 9 to 12-year-old, not-quite-a-teenager, not-quite-a-kid stage that turns beautiful, cheerful kids to sulky monsters when it’s time for a family photoshoot. It’s not all tweens, of course. But if you’ve got a grumpy tween glaring down the barrel of your lens, here are three ideas to help. Idea 1: Don’t force him to smile Your first goal with an unenthusiastic subject is to gain his trust to reassure him you won’t force him to act a certain way in the photos. Through your actions, build empathy and trust, and give him time to warm up to you. This might involve: Making suggestions: How about giving Dad a hug? Is that something you would do, or totally not your style? Taking the focus of him: Ask him to hold a younger sibling so you can take their photo instead of his, or turn the focus on the parents with him and his siblings playing in the background. Reassuring nervous parents that they need not pressure him to smile (they may feel they have to out of concern they’re wasting your time or that you’re judging him for not “behaving”). Idea 2: Give her something to do Distracting her with an activity takes the focus off you and your camera. Give her confidence by letting her be a kid for a while longer:, she knows how to do that already! Some strategies are: Give her a bubble wand and have her run toward the camera. Set up a competition: Have siblings race each other, do the best dab, floss or the Macarena (insert viral dance here…) or try to balance on one leg the longest. Anything active that switches the focus to an activity rather than the lens. Collect a bunch of dandelions and have her make a necklace; zoom in on her hands and the intricate details and her focus on the activity. Other close-up activities could be building a sand castle, making a tiny teepee from twigs or stripping bark from a stick to turn it into a walking cane. Climb a tree, swing on a rope, balance on a teeter-totter or ride her bike. Idea 3: Photograph his passion Before the session together, encourage him to bring something along that is important to him. For example: Play a musical instrument. If he is hesitant to play the instrument in front of you, reassure that the camera only captures stills, not video, so he’ll look like a rock star no matter what it sounds like. Shoot tight on the details: Hands strumming, tuning pegs, etc. Selective focus to blur his face in the distance is effective. Read a favorite book. Have him find his favorite chapter or quote and take a close up of his fingers on the page with the text. Photograph the cover with him reading behind it (good technique if he doesn’t want his face in the photo). Play his sport. Bring a ball or equipment and have him show you how he plays. Capture photos of the drills and close-ups of the equipment itself (always with a human interaction included). Show a special treasure or toy. Whether it’s building Lego, battling Beyblades or doing tricks with a Tech Deck, I guarantee every tween has something they are super obsessed with right now. Find out what it is, have them bring it, and show you how it’s done. Relax and accept this stage Even with the most reticent tween, it’s always possible to capture something about who they are to memorialize this stage of their life. It might not be a happy smiling photo, but it’ll still be looked back on fondly in years to come. With family photography, that’s the goal.
The best all-purpose lens for micro four-thirds, under $500 - When I went out to Moab, UT in the fall to test out the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III, I also had the chance to test out a lens that was unfamiliar to me — the M.Zuiko 14-150mm f/4-5.6 II. Now, those of you who know me might think I’m crazy to even consider this. After all, I’m a huge fan of fixed aperture lenses, especially because of what and how I photograph. But when it comes to an everyday, all-purpose lens, the 14-150mm totally hits the mark. First impressions The 14-150mm lens is nothing fancy. It’s light, small and features a plastic exterior. It doesn’t look like anything special on the outside — I would never think to pick it up if it wasn’t given to me for testing by the Olympus team. But where the 14-150mm excels is twofold. One, this lens boasts a full-frame equivalent view of 28-300mm. That’s simply astonishing. If you’re traveling or just want to use one lens on a photowalk, this really is the perfect lens. Two, the image quality is surprisingly strong for something this affordable. Testing in Utah I used the 14-150mm quite a bit during my trip to Utah, and I was simply blown away. While the lens wasn’t quite as sharp as my Olympus PRO-grade lenses, it certainly held its own. For a tiny lens, I achieved professional results that I could rely on in almost any situation. The bokeh was soft and creamy, making for a natural background as I photographed our subject in Arches National Park. The subject’s face was sharp, and the lens provided me with the versatility to either stand back or get up close. Focusing was strong, and I came away with photographs that I would be happy to present to clients. No flare or noticeable issues with chromatic aberration. But what impressed me the most was the fact that this lens had a huge feature taken from the PRO lenses — weather sealing. Remember that harsh wind? Even with sand blowing in my face and all over the camera, it never impacted the lens. As a person who photographs a lot of outdoor events, having a lightweight, small lens with weather sealing was definitely enticing. Later that fall, I took the lens to New York and continued to be pleased with the results. While low light performance certainly isn’t its strong suit like the 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO or similar lens would be, it was still workable in a dimly-lit museum. The perfect combo Where the 14-150mm works best is with a smaller camera. While Olympus is known for its smaller gear, they certainly have some larger cameras as well (like the E-M1X). But the 14-150mm is a perfect pairing with the E-M5 Mark III, or with the entry-level E-M10 Mark III. It suits both of those bodies very well. If you plan on doing a lot of traveling, or are looking to get a lightweight lens with great results, definitely check out this lens. For latest pricing of the M.Zuiko 14-150mm f/4-5.6 II lens, visit B&H.
Portrait Tips: Three ways to remove that pesky purple glare in glasses - I love photographing people with glasses, and it drives me nuts. Glasses are an easy prop to work with, and when you know how to photograph people with glasses, it’s no problem. See this article for how to photograph glasses without glare. And check out this one, too. Glare can be okay … But sometimes there’s glare — maybe it’s a group portrait and not everyone moved their heads the right way, or maybe you’re trying to use the glare as an effect in the picture. In this example, I liked the reflection of the light because it’s the brightest thing and focusses attention at his eyes. … but why is it purple? You’ll find varying kinds and colors of glare depending on the quality (cost) of your subject’s lenses and the way the glare is made. Most frequently, I find purple and/or green are the problem colors in glasses glare. I don’t know why it’s purple or green, and if I did I wouldn’t spend my word count explaining it here. I just want to show you three ways to fix it. 1. Desaturate the color channel This is my favorite way to remove that colored glare. Go to the color channel tool in your editor; I’m using Luminar. It might be called HSL/Color, as it is in Lightroom. In Luminar, go to the Color tool and expand the Advanced Settings menu. Click on each color that you need to desaturate. I chose the purple, the magenta and the aqua. These three are the usual culprits in glasses glare. Then just move the Saturation slider for each color to the left. Wait a minute: That desaturates ALL the colors that fall under those sliders, not just the glasses! That’s right. You need to click Edit Mask and choose the brush and paint only the areas you want to desaturate. That way the clothes and other items won’t be affected. Play with differing levels of saturation, but for me this method works most of the time. 2. Add the opposite color Occasionally, the above method may not work because there is color behind the glare that is affected. A curious thing is that adding the opposite of a color has the effect of desaturating it. In this case, adding green to the purple makes it less purple. Obviously, you could add too much and make it too green. Don’t do that :D In the Pro tools, choose the Color Enhancer and expand the Advanced Settings. Click the Highlights tab, then slide the Magenta-Green slider to the right. Edit the mask and paint only the areas that need it. This works well, too, but you have to be more precise with the brush since you’re adding color. 3. Add color a different way Another way to add the opposite color is to use the Split Toning tool. Choose a Hue that is approximately opposite the color you need to remove. You can adjust the hue later to dial it in perfectly. Increase the Amount and Saturation sliders to taste. In this case, Saturation is talking about the saturation of the color you’re adding. Similar to #2, you’ll have to be more precise with your brushwork. However, if you are trying different methods, you can right-click on the layer mask icon next to the tool name and copy the mask then paste it on another tool so you don’t have to brush over and over on the same areas. There are many ways to do the same things in photofinishing. These three are methods I’ve used. I like them all because they offer me a different way, and thinking about different things and mastering more tools makes me more creative. Give this a shot next time you have colorful glare and see if it doesn’t help salvage your photo. Portrait Tips come out each week, and you can see them all right here. Want to get started with using lights with your portraits? Get our Luminar 4 bundle, which comes with Levi’s course, “Ten Portraits with One Light,” as a free bonus!
Is Adobe tone-deaf or an ally to artists? - With the release of Photoshop Camera, Adobe flexes some serious tech for consumers but at the expense of working artists. The smartphone camera completely transformed how the world communicates. For the first time, regular people can shoot, capture and share content that’s ‘good enough’ or better than what they are accustomed to with dedicated cameras. Because you’re reading this on Photofocus though, you’re not the average consumer. Our readers are exploring different areas of photography as they hone their vision. We know that while a smartphone will never replace a dedicated camera, it has its place. One area that’s been lacking on smartphones, though, is the promise of computational photography. That’s all starting to change with apps like FOCOS, Adobe Rush and now Photoshop Camera. Adobe Photoshop Camera is a new, AI-powered camera app that truly shows us that “Adobe magic” I’ve been hearing about at Adobe’s MAX conferences. Imagine an app that can composite PSD or AE (that’s After Effects, BTW) effects live onto a scene you’re capturing. The result is astonishing, to say the least. Let me put it this way, Adobe Photoshop Camera is the only smartphone app (that I can talk about publicly) that when using it I was at a loss of words. Seriously though — I was not expecting PSC to have this much technical awesome in it. Adobe Photoshop Camera makes use of downloadable looks and effects called Lenses which you can download from within the app. Lenses are viewed live on your smartphone screen when you’re shooting with PSC or you can import your photos and edit those. On my iPhone 11 Pro Max, Photoshop Camera’s live effects are quite impressive. Other than the technology behind the app, PSC feels like an app that was made for a different time. Lenses dominate the photo visually, which is fun for a moment. But once this distraction passes and reality sets in, what I’m seeing are images that don’t feel like my own work because they’re not. Taking a look at the current lenses offered with v1 of Photoshop Camera, you’ll see influencers, Adobe’s built-in looks and Billie Eilish. What you won’t see are lenses from artists who represent underrepresented communities or regular working professionals. To quote Adobe, “our new app also unlocks the power of the creative community by allowing users to access a curated feed of lenses made by well-known artists and influencers.” The lack of diversity in the art world, especially the photography world, is nothing new. Considering what’s going on worldwide with BLM and COVID-19, the corporate messaging within PSC reads like Adobe is tone-deaf. Do you really care about influencers or celebrities right now? Another thing I need to address here is while PSC will delight some consumers, it’s another app that does nothing to help professional artists make money. Yet the potential is there. Don’t hate the players, but … If you think I’m an Adobe hater, think again. Adobe has been a part of my work since 1994 and I couldn’t imagine life without it, at least for now. Those early years in Photoshop helped me land my first job out of college coloring Titan A.E. for Fox Animation Studios. When Fox moved their animation studio to China, I learned Macromedia Flash which helped me get my next job. After the dot-com crash (and a nice break) I transitioned to a full-time photographer in 2005. It was a rough transition but Adobe apps helped me climb out of two years of poverty, eventually landing my first cover. I won my first ADDY award using Adobe apps and when the Great Recession ground my business to a halt, I creating techniques for vertical video that would later be called Cinemagraphs. I’m a change agent when it comes to photography or as Shutterbug put it, “Ahead of the Curve.” One change I’ve been seeing over the years that concerns me is Adobe’s growing lack of support for working artists, specifically photographers. The potential within CC apps to help photographers make ends meet is there, but it feels like since Adobe made the move to Creative Cloud, they’re putting profit before people. The long game ain’t ever been easy If you combined all the print work and awards just between to of my friends and I got over the years, you could build a freakin’ house. Yet, with all our experience it’s never been easy. Take a look at what photographer Jeff Newton or Chief Creative Officer Matt Fischer is doing with his ad agency. Believe me, we’ve seen some tough times but we’re here to stay. One thing we all had in common was that when we got into the game, the path to making a living was clear. Thanks in part to social media and AI, today’s working artists face a career path that’s confusing, manipulative and quite frankly harmful to their mental health. Add in trying to make a living as a person of color or worse, a female LGBTQ+ person of color and what you have is an industry that’s ripe for change. If next-gen content-creators don’t believe they can earn a living, CC subscriptions will decline. The growing interest in non-Adobe apps such as Capture One Pro, tells me a shift in the market in happening. Pro tip: Take care of your customers needs and they will take care of you. I get that large ships can move slow but for a company with vast resources as Adobe, can’t they do something to help people make a living? Seriously, what’s the hold-up here? Look at what Adobe is doing to help with COVID-19 on their official page. There’s a lot of good here but nothing of substance to help working artists. The high tide raises all ships and conversely when the well runs dry we all thirst. Some ways I think Adobe could help: Build a marketplace so from within an app we could upload and sell various, Lightroom presets, PSC lenses, LUTs, etc. If you
