The last week of summer closes out with lots of great reads on Photofocus this week.
Nature and summer go together so Jason Hahn writes on saving the butterfly, then Scott Wyden Kivowitz reviews Peak Designs first foray into making tripods, the 5 biggest mistakes made in Lightroom Classic is from Serge Ramelli. Lauri Novak explains the importance of photographic series. Erin Holmstead shares here personal feelings and what happened when her camera and a borrowed lens dropped to the floor. I finish up with a detailed step-by-step on entering the Photofocus Celebrates 21 contest series with great prizes and goodies for all who join in the fun.
On Nature: Saving the butterfly - Many times, I’ve written as a wildlife photographer you have to be a passionate observer of the natural world. That we do our best not to interfere. This is nature, we are there to document, capture moments, and tell stories. Predation will occur whether we are there or not. It’s hard to watch sometimes, but interfering in that moment will rarely result in any positive outcome for the prey or predator. The probable outcome is you disturb the balance, and put yourself in a position to get hurt. So, I was taking my morning pass around the backyard looking for any good photo ops, and came across a monarch butterfly that had just flown into a spider web. It would flap for a few seconds, then fall still. My first instinct was to save it, then I stopped myself, and took a few pics, observing the end of a life cycle. After all the spider must eat, too. You can see the spider in the upper part of some shots, a spiny-backed orbweaver, Gasteracantha cancriformis, beautiful in its own right. Not being able to watch any more I left the butterfly to its fate, my own words ringing in my ears telling me it was the right thing to do. F*ck that. I went back and saved the butterfly. Some days the spider goes hungry. Some days your words come back to haunt you. Some days you forget all that other stuff and live in the moment, doing what you feel is right versus what you know is correct. Some days you just have to save the butterfly. Maybe by doing so, you save a little bit of yourself.
An in-depth look at Peak Design’s first entry into the tripod market - A tripod with over 27,000 Kickstarter backers, raising $12,143,435. But is it a good tripod? I had the chance to spend two weeks with the Peak Design Travel Tripod and have some thoughts about it. But before we dive in, let’s go over some of the specks and what makes this tripod so special. First and foremost, the tripod is compact. That’s the point of it. The way they did, it was thoughtful, but might have come at a cost. More on that later. The way they made the tripod so compact is instead of using cylindric legs they went with a more geometric shape which allows the legs to fold nearly flush with the center column (which is a triangle) snug inside. To ensure the ball head doesn’t protrude, they also made that fit snug between the legs of the tripod. Which means in order to use the tripod at all, you have to extend the center column about an inch at a minimum. Here is a quick summary of the key features of the tripod. Spatial efficiency: The legs and center column to nest perfectly together to achieve a total packed diameter of just 3.25 inches, which is roughly the diameter of a water bottle. The result is a tripod that deploys to 58.5 inches tall while taking up less space than most tripods. Redesigned ball head: The ball head operates more fluidly than traditional tripod heads while still prioritizing spatial efficiency. By utilizing a single adjustment ring, they were able to eliminate bulky and confusing knobs. This not only improves user experience but helps the tripod maintain its compact diameter from top to bottom. Rapid deployment: Peak Design developed a system of non-inverted legs that rapidly deploy along a system of locking cam levers. With three hand movements, the legs can be fully extended and ready for action. The tripod is available in carbon fiber (2.81 pounds for $599) or aluminum alloy legs (3.44 pounds for $349) Now that we got that part out of the way let’s dive into some of the more technical parts. Ball head Starting at the top, the ball head is quite lovely. As an experienced and regular tripod user, I enjoyed the tripods quick-locking ring for my Arca Swiss L Bracket from Really Right Stuff. It’s not faster than my Really Right Stuff ball heads, but it’s different and fun to do. The twist ring to loosen and tighten the ball head is also a real joy to use. It makes it extremely easy to adjust your tripod. However, if you want it to be semi-tight but loose enough to still move your camera, then you will hear some rubber rubbing noises coming from the ball head, and that’s not attractive to the ears. All the metal from the tripod is T6 Aluminum, which makes it light and strong and can take abuse from the element just like carbon fiber. I’ll have some comments about the aluminum components as we get lower on the tripod. I mentioned just above I used my L Bracket instead of the Peak Design plate that came with the tripod. It was nice to be able to remove two tiny screws from the top of the ball head, so I can use an L Bracket. But if you plan on ever using the Peak Design plate, be sure to leave the screws in place as they keep the camera from sliding left and right, out of the clamp. Weight & size Yes, the tripod is tiny when folded and a decent size when open. But how much smaller is it really than popular competitors? This comparison will be between carbon fiber models only. Peak Design Tripod Folded Length: 15.5″ Weight: 2.81lbs Expanded Length: 60″ Legs: 5 Load: 20lbs Really Right Stuff TFC-14 Mark 2 Folded Length: 17.8″ Weight: 2.46lbs Expanded Length Legs: 4 Load: 30lbs Requires ball head purchased separately (BH20 or BH30) MeFOTO BackPacker S Folded Length: 13.19″ Weight: 2.18lbs Expanded Length: 59.40″ Legs: 5 Load: 13.20lbs Manfrotto MT190CXPRO3 Folded Length: 15.75″ Weight: 2.4lbs Expanded Length: 56.7″ Legs: 4 Load: 8.8lbs As you can see when comparing specs, the Peak Design tripod isn’t much smaller or lighter than the rest. Price-wise it’s more expensive than the Manfrotto and Mefoto tripods, but less expensive than the Really Right Stuff. While the Really Right Stuff tripod has the most impressive specs, it also requires purchasing a ball head separate. I use their lightest and smallest, BH20 on my RRS travel tripod. The legs Moving down the tripod are the beautiful geometric-shaped carbon fiber legs. They’re unique and eye-catching. But a big problem I found, which will only impact a small portion of the photographers in the world, is stability. Because of the flatter shape of the legs and the thinness of the legs, pushing on the tripod made for obvious caving in. The legs bend so much that it would destroy a lengthy exposure. But what really ruins the legs for me are the cam levers. They’re similar to what Manfrotto uses in some of their tripods. Because Peak Design cannot use twist locks, they had to make their own cam levers to lock the legs open or closed. They designed theirs to be large enough to do blindfolded and with gloves on your hands. However, because they’re cam levers, they loosen so easily. Multiple times I had to catch my camera from falling over because a leg started to collapse. It even happened while doing some pressure testing and tap testing of the tripod. As mentioned just above, Manfrotto has this issue with their cam level locked legs too. So it’s not a Peak Design issue necessarily. It’s an issue with that type of lock. To fix it, you have to continually check the tightness of the levels and ensure you use the supplied hex key to tighten everything. The more you use your tripod, the more you’ll need to do this. The kicker to
The five biggest mistakes when editing in Lightroom Classic - (Editor’s Note: Photofocus is proud to welcome Serge Ramelli to Photofocus. Be sure to check out his free master class and bonus toolkit.) In this video, I cover the five biggest mistakes to avoid when retouching on how to avoid them: Too much Clarity, Contrast and Texture Too obvious Dodge and Burn Colors from another planet Not using the standard crops or horizon not straight Oversaturated photo Check out Serge’s free class and toolkit
The drop heard ’round the world, part one - Guys it happened — my Nikon D610 with a 105mm macro lens hit the ground and shattered. And then shattered my heart. UGH! I have never felt so many emotions all at once but man, it sucked. I was photographing with my biggest client, Paul Mitchell, and my nightmare happened in front of everyone. I was halfway thru the six-model lineup when the drop heard ’round the world happened. I was tethering and had purchased an extra-long HDMI cord the day before due to the fact that sometimes on set everyone starts to crowd my screen. They all want to see the images, check my work and their work and they forget that I need space. Sometimes they even start to make my model feel a little self-conscious cause she thinks they are talking about her. So I decided I was going to buy this extra long cord and move them further away from me. Well, somehow during the shoot my brain malfunctioned and I forgot about that crazy long cord. The drop My friend and fellow photographer, Bob Grutzmacher, who is an amazing woodworker made me a beautiful tabletop that screws into the top of my tripod. I had that set up in the corner with my laptop and my camera attached to the cord. During the shoot, I put my camera down on the table and went to turn and switch my lighting set up. My foot got caught on the cord. One turn and I stood there as the room went silent. The camera and lens seemed to fall in slow motion until … The amount of sadness that filled my heart was so much that I grabbed my keys and cellphone and ran out to my car. I hopped in and drove four blocks to the local swimming pool parking lot. There I called the head makeup artist back and told her I needed to grab more gear and that I would be back. Here’s the shocker for ya! I DID NOT HAVE MORE GEAR! Tears are coming again as I write this. Guys, I had nothing. No backup camera, no backup lens — nothing. I had nothing. I instantly called my mom sobbing (P.S. Don’t judge me either OK — everyone needs there mom at some point or another and this my was moment along with 500 other times but that’s beside the point). I cried to her uncontrollably having no idea what I was going to do from here. I had to go back. I had to finish the shoot. Lifeline Then a thought came to my head, phone a friend! Use a lifeline. I called Bob. I have known Bob for years, we met at the local photography club here in the valley and have practically become family ever since. I adore him and his wife Jimmy so much. I explained my situation and without hesitation, he grabbed his gear and drove straight to me. I cried in his arms for a good five minutes before he said: “OK let’s go back.” We drove back to the shoot and of course, everyone was still silent standing around starring at the pieces of broken equipment on the floor. Bob handed me his Nikon D5200. Now keep in mind that the camera I dropped was the full-frame Nikon D610. The camera Bob handed me was way older than that. It was even a crop sensor. I didn’t have another backup 105mm macro and Bob didn’t own one either so the next best thing was my nifty fifty Nikon lens. Oh, and did I mention I was shooting close up shots of eye makeup!? :) I was panicking, to say the least people. How was I going to make these images all look the same? How was I going to keep the same great quality and consistency as the previous 100’s of photos with completely different gear? And on top of all that running thru my head, when Bob handed me his camera, my brain blanked! I had no idea how to change any setting, let alone what setting I even needed. I couldn’t move. I froze and tears started to well up in my eyes again. Bob just politely took the camera from me and asked what settings I needed. I told him my go-to ones, f/8, 1/125s, ISO 100 and white balance on flash. He gave me back the camera and I went on to shoot for about 10 minutes before he hugged me goodbye and told me “You’re back, you got this.” No one would ever know by looking at my images that that day was a nightmare. One that still haunts me to this day. They would never know that some little girl’s heart was shattered into a million pieces and that all the while she was working the only thing she could think of was how in the heck was she going to tell Micheal that she had broken his 105mm macro lens. Lifeline #2 I know, I know, the 105mm wasn’t mine! I couldn’t afford one at the time and the closest rental store is about an hour and a half drive both ways. My friend and fellow photographer, Michael, owned one and had let me borrow his on numerous other occasions. I immediately left when the shoot was finished and went straight to his house, again with tears in my eyes as I proceed to tell him what happened. Explaining that I would buy him a new lens tonight and have it shipped to him. He simply said, “I have insurance don’t worry…and I still have insurance on your camera body.” Guys, this is one of those moments where all the feelings became too much that I just collapsed. Friends, and when I say friends, I mean family friends, are hard to come by. People who are willing to do everything and anything to help you succeed are hard to come by. The world, let alone the world
How to enter the Celebrate 21 Years of Photofocus contest - Photofocus is celebrating 21 years as a free education website for photographers where you get the gifts. Everyone who enters the contest wins a free photo toolbox. Here’s how to enter … Watch the video below. In less than two minutes learn how to enter and get extra chances to win. Or read on for a step-by-step entry guide that follows the video. Contest entry guide Go to photofocus.com/celebrate and find the panel that says “Celebrate 21 years of Photofocus.” Click Login with Facebook or the Use Your Email button. Follow the prompts. How to enter If you logged in through Facebook, just opt-in and you’re all set! If you chose to use your email, enter your name, a valid email address then click Log In. Next check the box agreeing to subscribe, confirm your age and granting permission for you to receive emails. Click the Visit us button to go to our Facebook page for an additional entry. You may like us and add comments if you wish, but it’s not required for entry. Finally, click the I Visited button. You are now entered in the Celebrate 21 Years of Photofocus contest series. Get an extra entry by following @photofocus on Twitter Boost your chances to win by following Photofocus on Twitter. Click the Follow @photofocus on Twitter. Enter your Twitter username then click Follow @photofocus. Click I Follow! and then refer your friends for up to 10 more contest entries. Tweet for another entry Click the Tweet about the giveaway (shown above) then write your Tweet followed by clicking Tweet. Now, click the View it on Twitter link. Copy the URL of the tweet and paste it into the window. Finish by clicking I Tweeted. Here’s the tweet on my Twitter page. Go to your page copy the URL then paste it into the space provided. See above. Get your free photo toolbox Check your email. There you will find a link to download the free toolbox containing ebooks, look up tables (LUTs), Photoshop layer styles, creative profiles for Lightroom and Photoshop and two full-length video courses. The toolbox is our way of saying “Thank YOU!” for entering and helping us celebrate our 21 years of free photo education for our readers. A final (important) note I am not eligible to enter the contest series; I had to enter a valid email address so I could make the screenshots you see in this post. Everything in the screenshots is real. The email is my Photofocus email. @amesphoto is my Twitter handle. If you’d like to follow me on Twitter please do. There are follow buttons for Twitter, my professional Facebook page and LinkedIn below.
The importance of creating a photographic series or study - Series and studies in photography can help you in many ways. Are you drawn to photographing certain subjects? Do you ever feel like you’re running out of ideas or new ways to photographic those subjects? Where to start Start with what you have. Take a look through your archives to figure out what it is you seem to shoot the most. Is it a location? Are there certain colors that show up over and over in your library? Do you gravitate toward the details in a scene? How about reflections or shadows? Architecture? Macro? How do I find these in my archives? Keywords! You do keyword, don’t you? What creating a series or study can do for you Determine your niche Creating a series can help you determine what your niche or style is. By pulling images that have a common theme you will be able to see patterns and consistency in your library. You might even be surprised at what you find. We tend to just go out and create individual images, not really thinking about our complete library. We shoot at the moment because we’re traveling, or out for an event, on a photowalk, etc. without really considering the fact that we’re likely creating more images to add that could be cultivated into a series. “See” more Focusing on a series will help you see more. When you are looking for specific things as you are out photographing you’ll be much more aware of what you are seeing. If you shoot a lot of a certain shape, say circles, the more you look for circles as you’re out, the more you’ll see them. It’s kind of like when you buy a new car and you never really noticed that particular brand/model before on the streets but now that you have yours you see it everywhere. Slow down and look around You’ll become much more deliberate about the images you are creating. By choosing to shoot images for a series you will slow down and look around before clicking the shutter. You’ll likely capture other interesting images in the process that you may not have noticed if you weren’t taking the time to look specifically for your series shots. Become more cohesive Your social media feed will look more cohesive. If you are on social media, particularly Instagram because of the way the images are presented, you will be presenting a much more focused group of images. Your image as a photographer will look much more polished and professional. I’ve been doing a series and studies of nine on my Instagram feed for quite some time. It helps me focus also on what images to choose to edit and present as I go through my archives and as I’m out shooting. Get out of a slump Having a series or creating studies (or several) to work on can make it easier to get out of a slump. It happens to all of us — we don’t feel like going out and creating images. Having a series to work on, can give us the needed nudge to either go back through our archives, find and post-process old images that fit within the series or give us a reason to just get out and take specific shots for the series. Either way, it helps get the creative juices flowing again. With so many beautiful options in this world to photograph it can be overwhelming to choose what to focus on. Take the time to choose one or two subjects and create your own series. Doing this can be a great way to learn more about what you love to capture, what you see around you and help you to be more present at the moment when you are out creating images. Art is everywhere. Do you create a series or subject studies? We’d love to see them, share them in our Photofocus Community.
