This week on Photofocus, Chris Anson talked about sculpting light with Capture One while Bryan Esler talked with Olympus about their recent rumors. Levi Sim gave us tips on what NOT to do on Thanksgiving, and Michael Kubeisy showed us a behind-the-scenes look at using Lume Cubes on a Hollywood set. Finally, Julie Powell walked us through how to make quick and easy portraits with the new AI portrait tools in Luminar 4.
We hope you had a great week making pictures!
Sculpting light and color in landscapes, part one - While Capture One Pro 12 has my favorite RAW processing engine of all the editors that I’ve used, it also has a powerful set of masking tools. In this article, we’re going to take a look at how I use masking in Capture One to sculpt and enhance the light in my landscape photographs. Though I don’t talk about it in the video, layers are also an integral part of what allows us to work specifically on these areas of the photograph separately. We have our base layer called background and then we build other layers on top of that. This is the starting image. I’ve used Capture One to do the initial RAW processing and done initial adjustments. Now let’s see what we can do with some masks in Capture One Also, note that the default mask color is red. I’ve changed mine in preferences. Masking the sky There are a number of ways I do this, here’s one way. Here’s the before and after. Masking the darker areas — mountain, trees and lake Now I’m going to use the Luma Range tool and create a mask of the darker areas of the image. Here’s the before and after. Masking the lake and fog Finally, I’m going to use the previous mask, make a copy of it and then using the Luma Range tool, I’ll invert the mask. Here’s the final version with all masks applied. Conclusion Capture One Pro 12 has a powerful and amazing array of tools that can help you create the look and feel you want with your photography. If you haven’t tried it yet, here’s a link to a free 30-day trial.
Olympus addresses rumors of sale - Earlier this week, Bloomberg posted an article in which they interviewed Olympus’ CEO, Yasuo Takeuchi. It was implied in the article — without a quote from Takeuchi — that Olympus was not opposed to selling its Imaging division. While I covered these rumors when they first came to surface last week, I included a statement from Olympus that debunked the rumors. After the Bloomberg article this week, I reached out again to Olympus, and was provided with the following statement: “As announced in our Corporate Strategy, Olympus is further focusing on our Medical business and follows the strong ambition for all of our businesses to be profitable and contribute to our overall business objectives. In that regard, we are continuously evaluating our overall portfolio, as announced in our Corporate Strategy on November 6, 2019. “For Imaging, however, we currently have no plans to sell the business. The task is therefore to stabilize and strengthen its market position. To achieve that, we are actively running marketing activities, and have already established a clear and exciting product roadmap for the coming months and years. We are actively pursuing future technology developments that will enhance photography and video for creators. Furthermore, Imaging is and will continue to be an important technology and innovation driver for our other businesses. “Our Imaging business features a unique product portfolio. Olympus products are compact and lightweight, feature market leading image stabilization and autofocus. Many of our high-end products are also splash-proof. No other product offers customers this level of optical excellence paired with the highest mobility. “Just last month we launched our new OM-D E-M5 Mark III – a light yet feature packed addition to our semi-pro camera portfolio, inheriting pro-features like a high precision AF from our OM-D E-M1 Mark II model. Furthermore, we have announced the development of M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 150-400mm f/4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO earlier this year to be launched by next year. Customers can follow our break-free campaign on various channels and worldwide.” After reading both the Bloomberg article as well as Olympus’ statement, it’s pretty clear that Olympus is in this for the long haul. Without a direct quote from Takeuchi in the Bloomberg article, the article at best creates another rumor, and lacks the journalistic integrity necessary in these types of situations. It’s clear that Olympus’ Imaging division is not its biggest revenue driver. However, the technologies that the Imaging division has developed, I’m told, can be seen throughout the company’s Medical division, too. So there’s a reason the Imaging division exists beyond just driving sales. Let’s face it — camera sales are going down for pretty much any company out there. I first heard rumors about Nikon closing up shop back in 2012, and they’re still around (and facing similar rumors). By focusing on their core strategies, it’s clear that Olympus has confirmed it wants to grow the Imaging division of its company. And with many passionate users that have invested in their system over the years (myself included), I have nothing but confidence that growth will at some point occur.
Portrait Tips: How to ruin Thanksgiving in three easy steps! - Thanksgiving is next week in the U.S., and it’s one of the biggest, most-celebrated holidays of the year. Family and friends gather from all around the world to express their gratitude for all the good in their lives. It’s also your best opportunity each year to make iconic pictures of food and people gathered together in the perfect setting. The most important thing is that your pictures turn out, well, picture-perfect. These steps will ensure that you get the perfect pics to boost your following on Instagram and Pinterest. 1. Perfect pictures require a perfect set Honestly, how are you supposed to make fabulous photos if the kitchen is a mess with ingredients scattered around? Obviously, you need it spotless while you make photos from directly overhead of each recipe being prepared so you can make a cool video of the food coming together. In fact, you’d better get your aunts together this weekend to start the preparation so the food pictures are ready for a scheduled release on Thursday morning. If people complain that the food isn’t served hot then it’s clear they have no creative vision. Did you know they often use Elmer’s glue instead of milk for photoshoots? They should just be grateful the food is edible. Sure, you could just move a plateful of food to a spot with a window behind it and turn off the overhead lights to make a quick close-up, but it’s so much better if the whole kitchen and dining area is always spotless and ready for photos. In fact, you should probably rent an Airbnb that is much nicer than your own home, even if you don’t have any sentimental connection to it. 2. Perfect pictures require the perfect outfits In years past your sister’s kids have always had the perfect outfits while your own kids could barely be persuaded to wear matching socks. Not this year! Your kids will be wearing matching sweaters and dresses and the hair bows will match the bow ties. Of course, you’ll need to hogtie the kids and place them neatly on the couch for a few hours until it’s time to pose pictures of eating. Feel free to use encouraging phrases like, “If you spill on your clothes there will be no TV for a month,” and moderately shameful phrases like, “Why can’t you just sit still like the kids in other people’s pictures?” Finally, coordinated outfits are nothing without the perfect expressions in the photos, too. 3. Perfect pictures require perfect smiles Norman Rockwell, that great documentary photographer who made the picture in the header, always seemed to catch the perfect moment in his pictures. The fact is, perfect pictures aren’t caught — they’re engineered. You’ve got the perfect setup of food and place, you’ve got your models children dressed in coordinated clothes. Now you just need everyone to look at each other lovingly while they pretend to eat the perfect bites of food over and over again until it’s right. Sure, even though millions of weddings are photographed each year and no one has ever made a good picture of someone eating doesn’t mean that you’re not going to be the first! So it’s imperative that you keep that camera right in your hand throughout the meal and photograph every step of the turkey carving through serving pies. Make sure that you tell everyone to smile every time you click the shutter, too, just in case they forget. Be sure to single out whoever isn’t smiling and chide them. Also, tell little children over and over again to give you a REAL smile — that always works. Remember: Pictures first, actual memories second Followers aren’t gained with subpar pictures and you won’t get a chance like this again until next year. Sure, you won’t get a chance to interact with all these loved ones again until next year, either, but you’ve got to have priorities. Don’t mess this up! Disregard all the other stuff I’ve written about in this column for the last three years. The most important thing is getting perfect pictures, even if it ruins Thanksgiving for everyone else. So get out there and make pictures. Portrait Tips come out each week, and you can see them all right here.
I have eyes on you, with Lume Cube - When photographing surveillance, I kind of feel like a sniper. You have someone in your sight — they have no clue — and then you gently squeeze the shutter. Bang — you shot them. Well, kind of, with a camera of course. My name is Mike Kubeisy, and I’m a Hollywood still photographer. I’m taking a break from the sets of Hollywood to share something so awesome with you, the Photofocus family. I was recently given a Lume Cube Professional Kit to try out in my photography workflow. These small, yet very powerful lights are nothing short of amazing. They are very impactful and have a very tactical application to them. Ready, set, action! I was recently photographing some surveillance images of a couple characters on the TV show, “NCIS.” Usually, if talent are in a car, I immediately use a polarizing filter (a “pola”) to dial out any reflected light, and then I shoot. Occasionally the interior of the car could be dark so I would have to try and get some light onto the dash to light up the talent’s face. Not as easy as it sounds — lights are cumbersome, and then Local 728 has to power them up (it’s a union thing). In the photo below, the pola is doing its job; however, there’s no light on the talent. Another challenge I had was the tinting strip on the top of the windshield. There is a new technology called Quasars. They’re pretty cool fluorescent looking tubes that you can charge and then control the light output. The problem is they’re too long to hide in the dash of a car, not to mention the system is expensive for the task at hand. Queue in the star of this review, the Lume Cube. These little lights are the size of a GoPro and have enough power to light up a driver and his accomplice. The accessories that are included give you the ability to light up or highlight just about anything you would be shooting. The app is also very intuitive — it allows you to adjust the output of the Lume Cube and also show the battery level. In addition, it allows you to control all the Lume Cubes you are using. A side note here, let’s go to Craft Service where all the goodies are. The Professional Kit includes two Lume Cubes and all the accessories you see in the photo. Let me say this kit is complete! The cool thing is Lume Cube updated the kit to a 2.0 version with more power and longer battery life, which is great cause you never know how long your shoot will go. Back to the set Now let’s add some Lume Cubes. As you can see these lights are small and get the job done. I put the diffusion domes onto the Lume Cubes so that I wouldn’t create harsh shadows. As you can see with the addition of the Lume Cubes, by having the actor lean forward to stay out of the tinted strip, I was able to capture the talent and recognize him. This was all captured when I was standing on a 10-step ladder while controlling the light output from my phone with the app. The Lume Cubes made my job easier, with minimal time spent on setting up. The image isn’t really all that exciting, but it’s a small part of the whole episode of “NCIS,” the top-ranked show in the world. I would challenge you to get a few of these Lume Cubes and take your skills up to the next level. Fade to black. That’s a wrap.
Quick and easy portraits in Luminar 4 - As someone who works on a lot of creative portraits, I was fairly keen to try out the new Luminar 4. I had been asked to review this program, which was just released earlier this week. Last week I wrote a first look at Luminar 4, talking about the tools and what some of them do when working with landscape and some still life images. This week, I am taking a look at some quick and easy portraits by batch-processing some images from a recent studio session. Importing folders Importing the folder of images was fairly easy and straight forward — and VERY quick. Favoriting images with the star system in the library was quick and easy too. There is a single image/group image toggle at the top right-hand corner. Next to that is the size of the image display which you can make larger or smaller, depending on how many images you have displayed. Basic edits Stopping first at the Essentials tools, I used the White Balance tool and set my White Balance, tweaked the Temperature and Exposure, played with the Smart Contrast (not sure why it is smart?), then dropped the highlights and increased the shadows a touch … all really easy in the Light tool drop-down panel. I also played with the AI Enhance just a touch. In the Canvas Panel, I cropped the image and re-centered it slightly. These were all quick and easy to do. Looking at the Portrait tools Once I had some basics edits done I then looked at the Portrait tools. Here I used the AI Skin Enhancer and managed to smooth the skin considerably without losing definition in the eyes, nose and mouth, while still keeping the integrity of the skin. This prevented that plastic look, which was quite impressive. It did not remove ALL the skin defects as I had hoped, as it left a red pimple which I had to remove in Clone Stamp (remember — one clone at a time). Playing with various options for Eye Whitening, Eye Enhancer and Dark Circles Removal. Something to be able to dodge and burn in extra highlights — especially in the eyes — would be a good addition in this panel. However, swapping over to the Pro tools does give you that option. I did like the High Key and Orton Effects in this section, giving a soft dreamy effect to my fantasy portraits. As with most options, I found less is more. I did try the Eyebrow Improve tool, but it actually seemed to make them stand out too much. Perhaps the eyebrows of my model were pretty good to start with? The Enlarge Eyes tool seemed to distort the eyes, but perhaps in the right situation could be helpful. I tried enlarging the eyes and then using the mask brush away the effect. But it removes ALL of the effects used in that panel. The Creative tools In the previous article, I mentioned I really liked the Creative tools, and I still do. The Dramatic, Matte Look and Mystical tools are fabulous — even the Glow added something surreal to my fantasy images. I did try the Sunrays to add a glow in the upper corner, but it is not really suitable for that sort of effect. The Fog and Film Grain can add a faded old world effect IF kept to minimal amounts. Some of the Color Styles (LUTs) were interesting but very heavy on my images. Using the opacity slider reduces the intensity. This gives you the ability to really modify the looks you can create. One more thing I did not really like about the Clone & Stamp tool when you jump in and out of it to correct a few small defects, it resets to the default 100% settings, not what you last used it at. Perhaps for some this is a good thing, but I personally found it a little annoying. The Pro tools The Advanced Contrast in the Pro panel was great, similar to using a tone curve. The Color Enhancer was great for cooling the image down (or warming it up if you prefer) without desaturating the intense colors. On the other hand, Dodge & Burn was a little clunky but did the trick by adding some highlight and definition to the eyes. However, much like the Clone & Stamp tool, you cannot undo a mistake. There is a reset which resets the whole Dodge & Burn tool. There is an erase option which seemed to remove a mistake and allow you to start over. I did not really fully grasp the Adjustable Gradient. I did not use the Photo Filter, although it seems easy enough to use, as did the Split Toning. Finishing and exporting Once a look was created, I simply saved everything as a custom look (bottom right hand under main picture). This allowed me to use my edits on all the other images in that series. Exporting is easy — setting options like file location, name, size and quality, all quite simple and really very quick. Practice will narrow down some of the idiosyncrasies and learn a much faster path to using all the tools. Alternatively, I think using Luminar 4 as a plugin could be fantastic to add some creative magic to your images. Below I have popped in the before and after edits — the before are pretty much straight out of the camera. Don’t have your copy of Luminar 4 yet? Order it today and receive our Luminar Photofocus Bundle with LUTs, skies and more!
