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Today would have been my Dad's 95th birthday. He made it to 93, but when somebody you love has a birthday on a holiday, the memories seem to come up more often. I wrote about him in my Sunday Morning Reflections post, and I've shared a lot of personal things about him over the years in this blog. I know there's only so much about my Dad you can handle. So, as I looked at these two 8x10's, there were a few things I hope make my birthday tribute different and even a little educational. Even though he passed away two years ago, there aren't many people lucky enough to have their parents around at my age, let alone enjoy being with them. Dad was always my best buddy, and a few of you met him at the various conventions. I got him to write a couple of posts over the years, andone of them was sharedon the MarathonPress blog,just last week. What I love about these two images is first, they were taken by another best buddy, Don Blair. Don and Dad were good friends, and when they were together at any convention, it was nonstop laughter. The second reason I love these images is they make such a great point about having a studio! There was no studio! These were taken in the Hasselblad booth at IUSA, 20-25 years ago. I've heard so many young artists who haven't taken the time to learn lighting complain about not having a nice studio. Well, a great studio won't make a difference if you haven't mastered the craft! Then there's the pose. When Don first set Dad and me up, Dad was sitting, and I was standing behind him. Well, I hated the Polaroid. There's another point - these were shot on film and Don did a test print with the Polaroid back on his Hasselblad ELX. It was the only way to preview an image. The reason I hated the pose was that it made Dad look like a peanut! I might have been 7-8 inches taller and outweighed him by fifty pounds, but he was always the biggest person in my life. Having me standing behind and towering over Dad put him in a different light. So, Don simply switched us around, and the result became one of my favorite portraits. Last on the list is the thumbs up we're doing. Don often made it the last shot of virtually anybody he was having fun with and especially if there were two or more people in the portrait! It was part of his signature, along with his smile, and booming laugh. Supposedly there's something genetic in the arch of our thumbs too - no need for DNA testing to verify the connection between us two! I like to think that Dad and Don are smiling together right now as I share this image.Happy Birthday, Pop - I miss ya! If you've ever been told that you should be doing a job for free, then this is an absolutely special ad just for you. When you're starting out or even later on in your career, it's not uncommon that someone may ask you to do a photography job for free. It's also fairly common that folks will do it for free and will most of the time do nowhere near as good of a job as you would. And so this special ad recently shared on Writing on Writing's Facebook wall will relate to photographers oh so much. Screenshot image from the rainbow effect video byJessica Kobeissi One of today's most popular photography trends is the rainbow effect on portraits. Some of us may feel that it's overused and gimmicky, but it's most likely going to stick around for a bit longer. If you haven't done this before and want to see what The Fujifilm X-E3 is a 24MP mid-level APS-C mirrorless camera, designed as a smaller, more touchscreen-driven sister model to the SLR-like X-T20. In terms of their internal hardware and specifications, the two cameras are very similar, but the X-E3 relies more heavily on its touch panel for moment-to-moment operation, as well as retaining a more rangefinder-like form factor. It's slightly smaller than the previous X-E models, with the removal of the four-way controller and built-in flash allowing the body to be made a little lighter and more compact. A clip-on flash is included in the box, but it's a simple affair with no tilt or swivel capability to compensate for the decision to make it a separate component. Key Features
The more advanced use of the touchscreen, with directional swipes of the finger replacing the role of the four-way controller, pinch to zoom in playback and the option to use the screen as an AF touchpad when the camera's to your eye doesn't come at the expense of physical controls for all the main exposure settings. The X-E3 also becomes the first Fujifilm model to gain Bluetooth, which establishes a full-time connection between the camera and a smartphone, allowing instant transfer of images as you shoot them. [or faster re-connection of Wi-Fi if you're just choosing to send selected images] The company also says it has improved its AF Tracking algorithm so that it can track smaller and faster subjects. Fujifilm say this improved algorithm will also come to the X-T2, X-T20, X100F and X-Pro2 in fimrware updates in November and December 2017.
Kit options:Fujifilm will offer the X-E3 in two kits, one with the excellent 18-55mm F2.8-4.0 OIS, the other with the 35mm-equivalent 23mm F2 lens. We're particularly interested to see this second kit, as it's a combination we particularly like. It's also a useful option for anyone who already has an earlier generation X series camera and already owns the 18-55mm. The camera will be available, body only, for around $899, with the 18-55mm kit costing $1299 and the 23mm kit weighing in around $1149, both of which represent a considerable cost saving over the cost of buying the lenses separately.
Making a video of cinematic quality doesn't only depend on the quality of the camera. You can even shoot with your phone if you're on the budget. But, you may want to add movement to your footage to make it look more professional. InMotion is an automated slider aimed particularly at those filming with smartphones. [] The post InMotion slider promises cinematic movement for your smartphone videos appeared first on DIY Photography. Well, we suppose it's a sign of the times, but anyway a new app, appropriately called Nude, claims to have developed technology that can identify, group, and make your nude pictures stored on your smartphone disappear from public access, all without your help. Currently, the app is only available for iOS devices but an Android-based app is in development according to the team behind Nude. Automating the process of removing potentially embarrassing photos from your phone might sound promising but is it safe? Well, you decide. The app works by examining your photos for sensitive material using algorithms designed just for that purpose. Nude then removes your photos from your phone and iCloud storage and keeps them stored locally, within the app. The pics are then stored in a PIN-protected vault. For iOS 11 users, the entire process is local and uses no outside source to view your photos, relying instead upon the app's built-in machine learning. That is unless you use iOS 10. The iteration of the app for iOS version 10 and under, utilizes Amazon Rekognition technology which means the photos are, if only briefly, sent to a cloud according to DIY Photography. So, if you're cool with letting this app's cloud AI potentially looking at your candids (or someone else's for that matter), then this app is probably a solution for youif you also happen to have so many nudes on your smartphone that you can't possibly be bothered to catalog them manually. To use Nude, new subscribers will need to sign up for the service. An annual subscription costs $10 dollars. Nude photos are not the app's only specialty it also works to protect sensitive documents and materials stored on your phone as well, such as driver's licenses, credit cards, and other information. The app has a built-in camera just for this functionality. Additionally, Nude has other security measures: In case someone tries to access your app with the wrong PIN number, it will take a picture of the user with the front-facing camera. Reactions to the app are mixed, with Gizmodo's Melanie Ehrenkranz complaining about the app's lack of a basic understanding of human anatomy, seemingly classifying innocent photos as NSFW images that needed to be archived. Ehrenkranz is pretty unequivocal in her criticism, writing after letting Nude troll through my camera roll, I'm not convinced this algorithm has ever seen a naked body. According to Ehrenkranz, she let the app analyze over two thousand images, which took it approximately thirty minutes. While she didn't have a lot of explicit images on her phone, the app nonetheless deemed images explicit seemingly for the hell of it classifying memes and images of Pokemon as in need of top-secret classification. Addressing this discrepancy, app creators Jessica Chiu and Y.C. Chen told Gizmodo in an email: When it comes to the sensitivity of nude detection, we tried to play it safeThere will always be some borderline false positive, and we are leaning towards catch-them-all rather than failing to detect some sensitive content. With that being said, we do recommend all our users update their iPhone to iOS 11 before installing our app. CoreML has proven to be the most accurate when running our ML model, unfortunately, Apple makes it so that CoreML would only work on iOS 11. Of course, the creators' promise of improvement over time might not be enough to convince a lot of people to fork over a $10 annual subscription now while the service is still in its infancy. Still, if you're somebody that stores a lot of personal photos on your smartphone, it might be worth a look. You can download Nude for iOS or visit their website by clicking here to learn more. The post This App Makes Nude Photos on Your Phone Disappear. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? appeared first on Light Stalking. If you just updated to Photoshop CC 2018, you may have noticed a small purple line that follows your brush around, and until you figure what it is, you may be frustrated by it. RetoucherPratik Naik put out a great video explainingexactly what this purple line is. Turns out this purple line is an indication [] The post What is that purple line on your Photoshop Brush tool, and how to turn it off appeared first on DIY Photography. Yesterday at Adobe Max in Las Vegas, Adobe announced the newest version of Lightroom. Let me restate that they announced the newest versions - that's plural. As of yesterday, you have the option of getting either Lightroom Classic CC or Lightroom CC. Overall, I feel quite positive about the announcement of Lightroom's new versions and what this means for the future of the program. However, they are indeed two distinctly different versions of Lightroom, and I'm sure that some photographers will be left scratching their heads wondering what this all means. "How will I be affected? Do I have to use both? If not, which version should I use?" And of course, without fail, there will be a percentage of photographers asking, "What the hell was Adobe thinking?" We, the Disgruntled, fear change, and I'm most certainly included in that we. Change terrifies me. Taking all this into account, let me first speak to this head-scratching stuff, because I think once we get past that, there are some very cool things about these new releases, and for the future of Lightroom. Lightroom CC Vs. Lightroom Classic CC: The BasicsIf you are a veteran Lightroom user, the name of your program will change from Lightroom CC to Lightroom Classic CC. And Adobe has announced a whole new product, called Lightroom CC - let the head scratching commence. Lightroom CC isn't what we current Lightroom users will be using anymore. Lightroom CC is instead something else. It's a totally new cloud-based product. To say this another way, existing Lightroom users will now be using a version that's branded as Lightroom Classic CC. Now before we all make our justifiable comparisons to the marketing genius of Classic Coke vs. New Coke, there are silver linings beyond the naming. For starters, the lives and workflows of existing Lightroom users will not change. Lightroom Classic CC (a.k.a. Lightroom-As-We-Knew-It)is the unchanged Lightroom we have grown to depend on. So, that's good news. Lightroom Classic CC will also work better than ever. Adobe's primary focus for upgrades for Lightroom Classic CC has been performance, not sparkly new tools or sliders. This has been a long needed upgrade for Lightroom, and overall, it works much faster. Needless to say that much faster is relative. Different users have different hardware with different resources, so Lightroom's speed is relative to what system you are using it with. But relativity aside, I feel confident that most everyone will experience a noticeable performance boost. Here is a list of changes in Lightroom Classic CC:
Who Is The New Lightroom CC For?Who Lightroom CC is for is yet to be well defined. I suspect that there will be as many answers to the question as there are photographers. Personally, I'm going to use it right away, but not to replace my existing catalog or workflow. I can't. I have terabytes and terabytes of data, and Lightroom CC is not for the pro or semi-pro user with sizable image archives. Its online capacity as of now is 1TB, so it's limited to users that don't shoot a ton, but want something more robust than Apple Photos or Photoshop Elements, and want something that's designed to seamlessly work across your device chain - and I mean seamlessly. Lightroom CC easily integrates how you tag and keyword your photos and how you develop or edit your photos between your computer, your phone and other portable devices. Yes, Lightroom As-We-Knew-It could sync to the cloud as well, but not like this - it has allowed us to sync Collections we create to our mobile devices, but Lightroom CC is a completely cloud-based ecosystem. Speaking quite generally, Lightroom CC is designed for the userwho wants a simpler experience that is easily integrated into their lifestyle. And Adobe knows there's a whole new demographic of photographers out there who want that, but don't have the patience for a program as robust as Lightroom As-We-Knew-It. The Potential of Lightroom CCWhen Lightroom 1 was released back in 2007, it was released to solve the ongoing problem of photographers using multiple applications in their workflow. My personal workflow consisted of using Photoshop, Bridge, Photo Mechanic and a slew of Photoshop plug-ins. My images bounced from application to application, and my folder system was an ever-growing mess. Lightroom's release fixed all that. It gave me the ability to manage, develop and share my work through an all-encompassing application that was specifically designed for the workflow of a photographer, unlike Photoshop. Now ten years later, we are at another industry crossroads. People aren't buying SLRs like they used to, and the vast majority of photography is being made with our portable devices. Our culture is creating images on-the-go, and the need to be plugged-in and connected while we are on the go is exploding. Lightroom CC is Adobe's attempt to meet that need. Now imagine if there were a version of Lightroom CC (meaning cloud-based) that was designed for the pro user, the user with terabytes and terabytes of data? I believe this is coming. Whether Adobe will eventually merge Lightroom CC with Lightroom Classic CC as its functionality evolves, or whether Lightroom Classic CC changes to also meet this growing need still remains to be seen. But, it's coming, I am sure. Another possibility for Lightroom CC is its potential to work in multi-user environments. Since the beginning of Lightroom this has been a problem. Sharing catalogs with colleagues to share workloads just doesn't work well. Currently Adobe allows Lightroom CC to be added to two devices at a time, but there is potential for that to expand. Again, overall, I'm feeling excited for the future of this technology, as Adobe answers our growing need for device integration. The Fate of Perpetual LicensingHere's the bad news for those of you who have been holding on to your ability to own your software outright. Those days are gone. Lightroom 6 will have a few more updates to handle bugs and camera compatibility, but that's it. It is time to put on your big-boy/girl pants and move to CC. I know there are still many that won't like this, so if you're one of those, take comfort in the fact that Lightroom Classic CC works the same way that Lightroom 6 does, except it's better. You are not forced to use the cloud service, and for $9.99 a month, you can get Lightroom Classic CC, Lightroom CC, and Photoshop. That's a smokin' deal. This day was inevitable. I'm honestly surprised it came as quickly as it did, but Adobe sees urgency in solving the problems that creating and managing software with perpetual licenses creates, and there are many. But, that's a whole other article/blog rant. For now, trust those of us in the digital deep-state, CC is better. Lightroom CC & Lightroom Classic CC Resources And PricingPricing is still quite reasonable for Lightroom, and there are a few approaches. You can acquire just Lightroom CC, or Lightroom CC bundled with Classic CC and Photoshop. There are also different choices for cloud storage. There are 20GB and 1TB choices only right now, but I'm confidant this will expand as CC evolves. Below are videos that Adobe has released to further explain what's in these two programs. I, too, will soon produce some videos, so stay tuned for those. Happy Lightroom'ing, and please feel free to comment with questions about Lightroom. The post Lightroom CC Vs. Lightroom Classic CC appeared first on Outdoor Photographer. Are you one of those people who winces every time you take a photograph that's slightly skewed, with a foot cut off, overblown highlights, or too much grain? Well let me tell you something, sometimes the problem might not be with the photograph it may be you. Are you a perfectionist? Is it affecting how you view your photography? In this article let's take a look at this concept and see how it applies to you and your work. How much does it matter?Needless to say, there are many situations where a skewed horizon, a cutoff limb, or a white sky will ruin the photograph. But there are just as many situations where it won't matter at all, yet many people will think it does, and they will trash their perfectly good photographs because of this. It's hard not to over-think your photographs, especially if you are a bit of a perfectionist or like as much order as possible to things. And even if you're not, you probably have moments where you over-think the details in your images. We all research cameras that have the sharpest lenses and most megapixels for a reason, don't we? But a lot of the time, this stuff doesn't matter that much. What matters is that the photograph looks beautiful, that it's interesting, and that it has an alluring quality that engages the viewer. In those situations, straight lines and perfect sharpness are just a bonus. Negative critiquesA big purveyor of this way of thinking comes from photo competitions or photo clubs. While I'm not knocking photo clubs they are an amazing place for the knowledge, enthusiasm, and comradery. But they can also have the effect of making us question our photos in the wrong way. In a room full of people, there will always be a few that are hyper-focused on an element that they see as out of line, and this disregards the photo as a whole. No matter what image you show, there is guaranteed to be one person who will find something wrong with it, and that puts a lot of pressure on you. Similarly, think about the difficulty for judges in photo competitions, where they have to stare at hundreds or thousands of photos to pick a winner. They are just looking for any reason to disregard a photo. Nitpicking the little details is the easiest way to do this, so that becomes a prerequisite for your photo to do well. Find a balanceThe result of all of this is that I work with many photographers who get so nervous about making the slightest mistake, and it throws their whole photography experience off. Where they should spend their time enjoying themselves and looking for something amazing, they question their abilities and over-think each detail. I'm not trying to disregard the importance of technical quality in photography. It's vital and necessary. You have to have good technical skills to become a good photographer, but the technical aspects should be in the back of your mind instead of in the front. After all, the only people that pixel peep and gaze at a photograph from six inches away, are other photographers. Embracing imperfectionsGoing to galleries to view the work of the old masters is a great way to learn this. For every Ansel Adams, there was a Garry Winogrand. Cameras were often downright primitive compared to what we have today. Some of the most famous photographs of all time are slightly blurry or have technical elements that would make the judges of a photo contest today cringe. Some photographers even look to add imperfection into their work, often by skewing their photographs or including elements in strange compositions. Other photographers even will shoot at high ISOs in all lighting situations because they like to have a grainy look to their images. In this way, imperfections can improve your photographs by making them feel more real and of the moment. It shows that the photograph was a special and unplanned event. I do not want you to forget to think about the technical qualities of your photographs, but I want you to be more in the moment. Take the pressure off yourself. Be more spontaneous, enjoy yourself, and try to get lucky. Focus on the moment more than the photograph, and share that moment with us. If it's a great moment, it won't matter how off the horizon is. Bring back a photo that you love, that you relate to, that you want to put on the wall, and I guarantee there will be others that will love it as much as you do. Don't worry about the ones who feel differently. Take their opinions into account, but try not to let it consume you. Just make sure not to photograph someone with a tree coming out of their head. The post Are You Too Much of a Perfectionist With Your Photography? by James Maher appeared first on Digital Photography School. Adobe has announced new versions of its Photoshop and Premiere Elements apps. Both apps utilize the Elements Organizer to automatically catalog and sort image files. they also offer a wide range of guided or automatic edits that allows users to automatically swap backgrounds, create double exposures, freeze frames and fix action cam footage. The new apps are available now, priced at 99.99 for each as a stand alone and $149.99 as a bundle. Press releaseNew, Easy-to-Use Adobe Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements 2018Adobe has just announced the newest release of its consumer photo and video editing applications, Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements 2018, for Mac and Windows. In the professional editing industry, Adobe has been one of the few top names for many years. Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and After Effects are found in virtually every studio. The Elements versions are for those editors who want to make creative and polished photos and videos, but quicker and easier than possible in the pro versions, and they're designed with the weight and sophistication of Adobe's resources and experience. The Elements versions provide a more automated process backed by advanced Adobe algorithms. Click a button or two, and Elements will analyze your photo or video intelligently, and determine the best solution in each case. You can also make further adjustments based on personal preference, but even this process is designed to be quicker and simpler. In as little as just minutes or even less, you can have beautiful photos and videos (including batches of photos) ready to be shared on social media, printed, or burned to DVD. They'll be complete with all the right parts highlighted, issues that need fixing fixed, titles, music, menus, and more. Advanced one-click features, like Whiten Teeth and Open Closed Eyes, will ensure that your subjects come out looking impressive. There are also special side features for creating calendars and greeting cards that you can print at home or send to a professional printer, scrapbooks, and photo and video collages. Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements are powerful and comprehensive solutions for moments we capture during family vacations, kids' school recitals, and similar adventures and events. They're also great for YouTube videos and vlogs, sales presentations, and the like, as well as for beginner enthusiasts. Both support high-resolution files and popular file formats, so you can work with your high-megapixel and 4K smartphone, DSLR, action cam, or any other camera. Adobe Photoshop Elements 2018
A major feature is that the two programs integrate well for those who like to shoot still photos and videos. They have a similar user interface and similar workflow, and share the same file manager, an exceptional stand-alone tool called the Organizer. Not many editing applications have such a self-contained file manager. Normally, you're limited to importing files and selecting them as needed, but the Organizer kind of has a mind of its own. It takes all the hundreds of photos and videos on your computer, automatically arranges them in one place by criteria such as dates, people, places, and faces, and gives you a visual view of them all. It additionally allows you to tag them as you like, including by tagging faces using your Facebook friends list. Adobe Premiere Elements 2018
The same Organizer appears in both applications, so one can jump between the two programs and have access to the same media in both. There are also other features that are found in both applications, such as Slideshow, and the Organizer allows these features to work cross-platform. For example, click a few buttons, and Slideshow will dig into the Organizer and produce a fancy, animated slideshow of your best photos and short video clips, along with a theme. Once it's done, you can make manual adjustments, adding/removing photos and videos as you like. Both applications also have many Guided Edit features, which lead you step by step through applying a specific effect or function. Photoshop Elements offers 49 Guided Edits, such as Replace Background. This Guided Edit will walk you through placing a more interesting background behind the subject of a photo. Although the Guided Edit process works step by step, it takes only seconds. Premiere Elements has 19 Guide Edits, like Fix Action Cam Footage, which guides you through quickly making trims, correcting color, and fixing lens distortion in your action camera videos. The overall workflow in both applications is largely based on one-click tools that are also highly automated, like the Guided Edits. In Photoshop Elements, one-click tools allow you to add effects, looks, border frames, and textures, turn photos into illustrations, paint on effects, add photo text, make panoramas, and much more. You can also let Photoshop Elements analyze a photo and suggest five effects that it thinks would be ideal for your photo. And you can make many different corrections to perfect your photos, such as turn frowns into smiles, open closed eyes, whiten teeth, remove pet eye discolorations, remove camera shake in selfies, and remove haze in landscapes. A lot of this can also be done to batches of photos at a time. You may wonder, how can closed eyes be open? Photoshop Elements will search through your photos in the Organizer, find a photo of the subject with open eyes, and blend it into the photo of the subject with closed eyes. Open Closed Eyes is a new feature in Photoshop Elements 2018. Other new features include multiple new Guided Edits, Auto Curate, major enhancements to the Organizer, and a redesigned and upgraded Slideshow. Using one-click tools in Premiere Elements 2018, you can add graphics, text, effects that move with the subject, standard graphics, cartoon looks, transitions, animated titles, slow-motion, fast-motion, motion menus, fancy credits, and much more, as well as choose from more than 50 musical scores and 250 sound effects and easily remix music to match up to the length of your movie. You can even go as far as select to make instant-themed movies. When shooting video, one is prone to camera shake and other issues need correcting. Premiere Elements 2018 lets one auto-fix shaky footage, adjust color with sliders, auto-balance audio elements, fix audio problems easily, combine elements from different videos, and much more. Adobe Photoshop Elements & Premiere Elements 2018
Both Photoshop and Premiere Elements 2018 allows one to share creations with friends and family on social media right from the interface. Also, even with all the automated and easy-to-use features, you can still get help right within the interface via eLive. They're offered individually, as well as combined in one package for those who want both. Create beautiful photos and videos in seconds. Tagged: adobe, elements 2018, news Thanks to cameras like the Hasselblad X1D and Fujifilm GFX 50s, there's been a lot of fuss over medium format the last couple of years. And while those two cameras have helped to drive down the cost of getting into medium format, it's still not cheap. So, is it worth getting into? This video from [] The post 5 reasons why you should consider buying into medium format appeared first on DIY Photography. |
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