This week, Nate Torres dove into whether photography helps to improve your memory. Then, Bryan Esler previewed the upcoming LuminarAI feature, AtmosphereAI, to let you add things like fog, steam and mist to your images.
Lauri Novak gave her first experience with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, while Levi Sim taught us how to effectively use gels to counterbalance difficult lighting situations. Finally, Sean McLean powerfully documented his experience with the California wildfires.
Add depth and weather effects to your images with AtmosphereAI - With LuminarAI officially announced for release this holiday season, we’re starting to get a first look at some of the features in the new program. AtmosphereAI If you’ve ever wanted to add some depth into your scene, or cool atmospheric effects, LuminarAI can do just that with the new AtmosphereAI feature. With AtmosphereAI, you can add effects like fog, mist, haze, steam and drizzle. Utilizing 3D depth mapping, AtmosphereAI knows how to add these effects with ease, sculpting the scene and changing the effect based on the perspective. Where AtmosphereAI is useful For someone who lives in cloudy Michigan, I’m pretty excited for this feature. While I’ve been able to change out the skies and add sunrays with Luminar 4, adding atmospheric effects takes this to a whole new level. Maybe I don’t want to change my grey, cloudy skies, instead wanting to add some drizzle into the mix. I can easily do that now. Or if I’m traveling and up early, I can add some fog into my scene to help showcase that early morning look. Personally I’m kind of excited to try AtmosphereAI to add some spooky haze and fog into some forrest scenes … creating a great look for next Halloween. Whether you’re traveling or staying close to home, AtmosphereAI can help take your landscape photographs to the next level, giving them that extra punch and delivering some great effects along the way. Ready to reserve your copy of LuminarAI and get exclusive access to the LuminarAI Insiders community? Click here and save $10 off the retail price!
My first experience with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III - I was recently given the opportunity to try out the OM-D E-M1 Mark III along with the M. Zuiko 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO, 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 and the 60mm f/2.8 Macro lenses. I’ll share with you here my initial thoughts and reactions to this camera. Let me preface this by saying I normally photograph using a Canon 6D, Canon 17-40 f/4L, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro and the Tamron 100-400 f/4.5-6.3 lenses. I was going into the E-M1 Mark III with no Olympus experience at all. I learn by doing, trying and when I can’t figure something out, then I look it up. So, out I went with this new-to-me camera and setup. I loaded all of it into my bag so I could feel the weight difference I kept hearing about. Easy to use First off, I found it super easy to figure out, just by asking myself, what does this dial do, which one of these buttons controls my ISO, aperture and shutter speed? I had that down in relatively no time at all. The ISO took me a bit of playing to find because it also uses the same dial as aperture, you just have to press the ISO button with your thumb first and then move the dial. You can easily see your settings both on the screen or in the viewfinder. I used manual mode most of the time and always used the viewfinder to compose and change my settings. My biggest frustration was one that was easily solved when I figured out the purpose of the focus ring on the 7-14mm lens. Olympus calls this the MF (manual focus) clutch. There is a ring just past the zoom ring that moves forward and back. When it is in the forward position it goes into autofocus mode. When the ring is pulled back toward the camera it goes into manual focus. Several times as I was using this lens, I inadvertently pulled the ring back and missed my shot because I didn’t refocus manually. Can you learn to work with this? Of course, you can. After realizing what was going on it I made sure to be aware of the ‘beep’ and green focus square for autofocus before I clicked the shutter. The weight of it all I took the camera and lenses in my usual bag, a Lowepro Passport Sling III. I don’t carry a lot of gear when I’m out so the smaller, easier bag, the better for me. All of the Olympus gear I had fit easily into this bag. Did I feel like it was lighter than my usual load? Not at all. But in reality, it is slightly less than what I normally carry. Here is the comparison for you numbers people. Olympus setup: 4.93 pounds Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III camera: Approx. 1.28 lbs. (with 1 BLH-1 battery and 1 memory card, based on CIPA standards, without eyecup) M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO: 1.18 lbs. M.Zuiko ED 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3: 2.47 lbs. without tripod adapter, lens rear cap and lens hood M.Zuiko ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro: 0.41 lbs. Canon setup: 6 pounds Canon 6D camera: Approx. 1.66 lbs. (based on CIPA standards) Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM: 1.1 lbs. Tamron 100-400 f/4.5-6.3: 2.50 lbs. Canon EF 60mm f/2.8 Macro: 0.74 lbs. Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro: 1.3 lbs. I included this because it’s always in my bag. I usually only ever carry 1-2 lenses and the body I’m using. So the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, the 7-14mm and 100-400mm lenses come in at 3.75 lbs. versus my Canon 6D, the 17-40mm and Tamron 100-400mm at 4.16 lbs. As you can see by the numbers, it comes out to about one pound difference overall and less than that with specific lenses. If you’re a photographer who likes to carry all the gear with you, then I’m quite sure when you add in more lenses and camera bodies, the difference in weight will add up. If you’re like me and tend to take out only what you need or shoot with only one lens at a time a lot, then the weight difference isn’t really going to matter in my opinion. You may be able to fit MORE gear in your bag depending on which lenses you typically carry. If I were a macro photographer and used the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, I would definitely have more space in my bag for lenses and another camera body. The size difference between the Canon 100mm (3.1″ x 4.8″) and the Olympus 60mm (2.2″ x 3.3″) is quite substantial. (Disclaimer: I carry a Lowepro Passport Sling III bag, which is relatively small.) Other observations about the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III Something else I learned after the fact was that while Olympus’ in-camera “world’s best” image stabilization is great, once you attach that 100-400mm lens you only have IS on the lens. The 7-14mm has both lens and body IS. So I walked away with quite a few non-sharp images when I used the 100-400 handheld. (This could also be due to the fact that I’m not an overly patient photographer.) I think as I became used to the difference in this camera/lens combination and what I normally use, my images would improve. For the first two times I’ve taken this camera and lenses out I really enjoyed it. It was fun to play around to see what I could do with it. I’m looking forward to digging further into the in-camera Live ND, Live Composite and seeing what else I can do with it creatively. Want an in-depth look at the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III? Click here. Don’t forget to enter our 21st Birthday Celebration contest where you’ll be automatically entered to win our bonus prize — an Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III camera with 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens!
Portrait Tips: How to gel the sun - Light and color are the only things your camera records, so those things should be a the top of your mind for every photo you make. Last week I was making headshots and the background had to be the building we were in, not just a backdrop. The trouble is that the wall behind was a huge window with a cloudy sky outside, making a bland and cool-colored light. What could I do? Augment the sun As I usually do, I added a flash to the background with a white umbrella that both increased the brightness of the background and gave a little hair light on my subjects. I used a big Godox AD600Pro light because it was far back and filling quite a large space with light. Its cool light is fairly similar to the light from the sky on a cloudy day, so the color of light from the background was fairly uniform, which is great. The problem is that the color from the window and the flash is quite blue, which doesn’t go with the warm and friendly light I’ve had in the background other days I’ve made headshots there, so they wouldn’t match well with other headshots for the group. Gels match color I use gels on my flashes all the time to help the flash match the color of light in the rooms I’m working in. A CTO (color temperature orange) gel can warm a flash to match the lightbulbs in the room. I could have used a gel to warm that backlight and make it nice and welcoming. But, I don’t have a gel that fits that light in that umbrella, and since it was mixed with the window light it would have been incomplete and unnatural. Balance for the wrong color My only option was to gel the main light, the light shining on the subjects’ faces. I used MagMod’s MagBox, so it’s easy to drop gels in. But instead of adding a warming a gel, I added a 1/2 blue gel. Why would I make the light on their faces blue? Because I then set the camera’s white balance to a custom setting and told the camera that the blue light is normal. You can use a gray card, or even a sheet of white paper, to set a custom white balance. I used the X-Rite ColorChecker. If you could see the light of the flash long enough with your eyes, this is what it would look like: Since I told the camera that blue light is normal, it adds orange to counter the blue. So everything that is not lit by the blue light has orange added to it. Get it? The blue light on the subject is now normal, and everything else is warmed up with a 1/2 CTO gel. I just gelled the sun and the whole sky with 1/2 CTO. I felt pretty good about the results. Think like a camera Your eyes automatically adjust the white balance in your brain. Try laying out in the sunshine with your eyes closed for several minutes. The sunlight will be shining through your eyelids, which are full of blood so you’ll see a red/orange light. When you open your eyes, you’ll notice that the whole world looks more blue. That’s because your brain was compensating for the red shining through your eyelids. There are all kinds of light colors. Make yourself aware of those colors and think about how you could compensate for them in the camera. Think about how you could use them as an effect! If I had added orange to the flash, then the rest of the world be bluer, which could be very cool. Portrait Tips come out each week, and you can see them all right here.
Monster fires: Documenting and picking up the pieces of the California wildfires - (Editor’s Note: We welcome Sean McLean to Photofocus. Sean is a photographer and software engineer residing in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Santa Cruz, CA. Sean studied Art with a Multimedia Design Option at California State University East Bay. Some of Sean’s favorite activities are blogging, landscapes, portraiture and building communities of local photographers. Sean’s website is seanmcleanphotography.com, where the mood is generally light and the spelling is generally poor.) A strange lightning storm passed through the Monterey Bay, igniting a series of fires in the Santa Cruz mountains on Sunday, August 16, 2020. We all saw the lightning storm and many of my friends caught some amazing photographs. I assumed that there would be a fire or two from at least one of the lightning strikes and I assumed they would be handled quickly. But never have I been so wrong. The fires merged into an unprecedented monster. That fire was followed by even larger monsters. The beginning The sky became smokey on the Aug. 17 and some views turned an ominous red. Several helicopters were overhead carrying buckets of water. Calling these things “buckets” seems wrong since they look about the size of a hot tub. I started getting concerned when I realized the scope of the air attack that had started. Part way through Aug. 18, I semi-joked with my co-workers that if they didn’t see me for a few days this picture of a passing helicopter should help explain why. That’s also when I started reviewing my evacuation plan and getting the car ready just in case. Shortly after sundown there was a glow from the direction of Boulder Creek Golf and Country Club. Then I could see that glow moving; towering flames just a few miles away. The first Reverse 911 call came moments later calling for general evacuation. A few minutes later another said there was an error and to ignore that first call. I kept packing the car. We were out of there minutes before the “real” Reverse 911 call came and the only serious road out got crowded. Pardon me for not making any photographs of that part. The evacuation plan worked perfectly, but now we had the obvious problem of needing somewhere to actually be. We didn’t come home again for another two very long weeks. Coming home Against all reason our whole neighborhood survived. 925 homes didn’t. I came home for a few hours after it was deemed safe enough by the authorities. One of the first things I found were the piles of ash around what were once burning embers. This stuff was on fire when it landed here days ago. Again, there’s just no reason why our neighborhood didn’t burn. By late afternoon there was a spot fire that ignited across the valley. More helicopters arrived for the air attack. My neighbor and I took pictures, watched, and we were understandably anxious. I came back the next morning to a mix of highs and lows from this emotional roller coaster. Boulder Creek is a small town and after a while you get to know pretty much everybody. But here I am in a mask, sunglasses, and carrying my camera. I was understandably confused for media from out of town and invited to “Get the <expletive> out of my town.” I told them, “I live here. This is my town.” No hard feelings — honest. I spent the morning photographing fire engines and their crews. They came from everywhere. I saw engines from Boulder Creek, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego and even Los Alamos. What do you say to a guy who just might have saved your or a dear friend’s home? “Thank you” seems inadequate. What I really wanted to do was collapse. Fast forward a few days. My family is back in our home. The smoke inside has become tolerable with filters duct taped to fans constantly running. The typical summer coastal fog has rolled in, but it’s mixed with the smoke. The sky was getting dark by 2 p.m. By 3 p.m., the crickets were chirping and the sky was deep red. This was a scene worth photographing, so I went into town. You may have seen some of the photographs from around San Francisco. Here are a few from little Boulder Creek, 40 miles south. Capturing the destruction The next day I got a message from a friend who got out of the worst of the worst with essentially the shirt on her back. She asked if I could please get her some pictures of her beloved mountain home near Bonny Doon. I’ve avoided being there for several reasons. It’s just not safe because the trees are burned, weakened and can fall without any warning. Portions are still burning. On top of that, it’s so intimate — photographing the devastation that was somebody’s home. The place was hard to find because all of the landmarks had been wiped out. Up the hill, turn left, first possible right, second home on the right. Even finding that first right turn was hard. Second home on the right? I knew what it looked like but even identifying it as an individual home was nearly impossible. It was a hammock that reassured me that I was in the right place. I knew there was a row of potted plants near the hammock. I found the tipped over hammock and the soil of the plants still in the shape of their burned away pots. I lost it right there. I went back to the car for better protective gear: A hard hat, high visibility vest, steel toed boots, etc. I like to think of myself in terms of “artist with a camera” rather than “photojournalist,” but I thought it would be important to mix the two. I planned to show the scene with my personal style. Convey the devastation while looking for leading lines and intimate details. Some wide angles were necessary, but they were overwhelming. There was
Does photography improve your memory? - Photography and photographs have always been used to eternalize a moment before they soon become a memory. But do they actually improve your memory? If you are a photographer who spends a lot of time taking photos or if you are interested in photography, this topic might be of interest to you. After all, if you could produce beautiful images while improving your brain function, why shouldn’t you? How the brain works The human brain is, of course, designed to store memories. But oddly enough, it also has the tendency to fabricate or alter these memories in order to make sense of them. Sometimes complicated events take plans in our life and our brain will try its best to process these events by rationalizing them. Based on our culture, views and personality, the brain will start putting pieces together of what we feel is right. We all know that we memorize something better when we pay more attention to it. Memory becomes more accurate when factors such as emotions and mindfulness are involved. Straight-A students do not just reread their textbooks, they also dig deep into the wormhole of knowledge to get a more in-depth understanding of the topic. The more absorbed we are in an activity; we will likely remember it. Engrossment and emotions are partly the reason we still remember those embarrassing moments that happened months or even years ago. The trade-off Love it or hate it, most people in today’s age spend prolonged periods of time in front of their screens. This ‘addiction’ is so widespread that some people are starting to train themselves into spending less of their time online, by practicing habits like “dopamine fasting,” which went viral on YouTube thanks to some self-improvement channels. Smartphones are the ultimate tool for humans to store information in a time when keeping track of things is becoming more difficult. After all, most people don’t remember all of their relatives’ or friends’ phone numbers! Known as memory offloading, we forget memories that we judge as unworthy or unnecessary. Our brains can only remember so much, and there will be times when we will forget what something means. Does this mean that we are getting dumber because of smartphones? Well, not really. Quite the contrary — smartphones have been proven particularly useful for people suffering from low cognitive ability. If someone gets lost in a town, they can easily open Google Maps and figure their way out. If we manage to restrict the usage of smartphones, there is a possibility that we will be able to become smarter. Our smartphone is merely a tool waiting to be used wisely to increase the quality of our lives. Where things get interesting So what do smartphones have to do with photography and improving memory? Well, this is where it gets interesting. According to Alixandra Barash & Co’s research, the activity and intent of taking a photo would boost a person’s visual memory. The catch is their auditory memory will be slightly impaired. Most intriguing are the people who “mentally picture” moments instead of actually taking them. Apparently, they enjoy the same cognitive effect as those actually taking pictures. Participants who were directed to take pictures remembered specific visuals that they didn’t even photograph. When compared to the group who were told not to take photos and follow along the tour, the photographers were unable to remember the said audio given by the tour guide accurately. This proves that photography doesn’t really outsource our memory; the act itself makes us tunnel vision toward visual aspects. This tunnel visioning distracts us from enjoying other sensations to the fullest such as how the wind felt, what the weather was like, etc. Problems and conclusions The main problem with this topic is the variables. It is becoming progressively tricky to assess how smartphones affect our cognition with our constant change of usage with it. Our brains can adapt to a new lifestyle at ranging speeds, making each individual’s dynamics unique from each other. In the end, photography does improve visual memory. However, there is a price to pay for it, which is our ability to sense other sensations surrounding us. Most articles and research discussing this topic would mention the trade-off, which proved to be absolutely right. We should commit to our decision when going on a holiday or trip. Either we enjoy the surroundings as they are or focus on encapsulating them in our photos to share on social media.What you missed on Flipboard this week
Each week, we publish a variety of curated storyboards with some of our best content! Here’s what was on the docket for this week. Be sure to follow us!
