Foto Tutorial

Studio Photography - The Best Softbox Ever

2008-07-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

Taken From diyphotography.net

For anyone interested, here is the full step by step build of the softbox:

For the frame of the softbox I used 18mm x 10mm soft pine wood strips (90c / meter) and 20 gauge steel fencing wire. I joined the wood using a mixture of flat and 90 degree L brackets and I fastened the wire to the wood with picture hangers. For the skin of the softbox I used thin card and aluminium foil and fastened it together with aluminum tape, duct tape and staples. The front diffuser was made from white cotton fabric fastened with Velcro tabs.

The first thing to do was to build the front frame from the wood strips. I laid them out in the rough size I wanted and then measured the length and width. From this I decided to make the front of the softbox 100cm x 60cm. This should be a good size for portraits and more than adequate for still life setups. With the size decided, I marked out two lengths of 1m and two of 60cm on the wood strips.

To cut the wood, I clamped each length to the end of my work table and used my super sharp rust free saw. Because the wood is so soft it would pay to use a saw with smaller teeth (and less rust) but as this is all I had, I had to make do. To try and avoid chewing up the wood completely, I made the last few cuts very gently.

With the front frame pieces cut to size, it was time to join them together.

To make the joins I used small L brackets. This alleviated the requirement of having any woodworking skills and if there are any carpenters reading this, I apologise now for my total lack of respect for your craft! :)

Again, because the wood is so soft, it is a good idea to drill a small pilot hole for the screws to stop the screw just splitting the wood in two. This is particularly true with the screw nearest the end of the strip.

Once the holes have been marked and drilled, just add four screws for a surprisingly strong joint.

Repeat this for all four corners.

The next task is to work out how far the flash needs to be from the front panel to give a reasonably even coverage over the diffuser. Now I can’t say there is any scientific reasoning behind my technique for doing this, it just seemed to make sense to me. First I tied two lengths of ribbon across the diagonal corners of the frame. This let me see the dead center of the frame easily.

Next I mounted the frame on a light stand using a super clamp and placed it flat against the wall. Directly behind it, I placed my small flash on another light stand pointing at the fame and lined up with the center point. The flash was set to full power and maximum spread. I then stopped down the aperture on my camera and took a picture with the camera in line with the center of the frame and the flash. Looking at the picture revealed that I had the flash too close to the frame and was getting a hot spot. I kept adjusting the position of the flash until I was getting a reasonably even spread of light across the whole frame. This turned out to be at about 50cm.

With the position of the flash determined, I needed to build a frame to hold the flash in place at the back of the softbox. I wanted the flash to be mounted securely enough that it would not be able to drop out but still be easily accessible and easy to pop in and out. I decided to go with a cradle design and marked out a few small sections of wood to build this.

I cut the lengths of wood in the same way as I did for the front frame.

To join the sections together I used inside L brackets. There was no real measuring out for this; I just built the cradle a section at a time, holding the flash in place as I added each piece.

This is the finished cradle.

Here is the flash sitting in the cradle. It is actually very secure with no wobble but still slips in and out easily.

Here is the view from the other side. As you can see, all the controls are still easily accessible.

With the cradle complete, I now needed to attach it to the front frame. For this I used 20 gauge fencing wire. This is strong, light but still easy to bend and manipulate. I cut four 1m lengths and roughly straightened them out.

To make it easier to join the front to the back, I made a temporary stand for the cradle. This was just two 50cm lengths of wood joined with inner L brackets.

I used soft steel picture frame hangers to hold the wire in place. First I bent a 90 degree angle a couple of inches from the end of one wire using a pair of pliers.

I fed the end through the hole in the picture hanger and then screwed this onto the front frame (after drilling pilot holes) and then bent the remaining wire back towards the flash carrier.

I repeated this for all four corners.

I attached the other ends of the wires to the carrier in the same fashion.

Finally, I trimmed the excess wire off each end with a pair of wire cutters and removed the temporary support. Don’t worry if it all seems a bit wobbly at this point, the next step is too add a strengthening brace that will also act as the mounting point for the whole softbox.

The brace is a single length of wood with the ends cut at roughly the angle of the joint. To do this, I cut a length of wood that was a few inches too long and then with the softbox placed face down held it in place and drew the join angle onto the edge of the wood. I then sawed the ends off at this angle. To join the brace to the front face and carrier I held inner L brackets in two pairs of pliers and bent them to a matching angle. I then screwed the brace in place after drilling pilot holes.

Here you can see a close up of the join between the brace and the flash carrier.

With the brace in place, I clamped the whole frame to the table, inserted the flash and gave it a test fire. So far, all looked good! :)

The next task was to add a support onto the brace for the mounting bolt that goes into the lightstand. I used a slightly thicker piece of scrap wood for this and drew a line on it that would be parallel to the floor when mounted on the brace. I then sawed along this line.

Holding the softbox by the brace, I felt for the approximate balance point and attached the mount with screws.

This completes the skeleton for the softbox. The next task is to add the skin.

I used thin brown card (or thick brown paper depending on how you want to look at it) for the covering. First I numbered each side of the softbox and marked the numbers on the wood using a permanent marker. Next I lay the softbox on its side on top of the card.

I traced round the outline of the softbox with a marker and then expanded this line by a couple of inces.

Here is the outline of one of the long sides.

I cut out the shape with scissors and marked the panel with the side number (1 in this case).

I repeated this step for all four sides.

Each of these panels now needs to be covered in aluminium foil. Having learnt my lesson from previous projects, I splashed out a little extra and got the good stuff. Extra heavy duty turkey foil! :) I cut pieces of foil large enough to cover all the panels.

I attached the foil using a spray contact adhesive. First spray the glue on the card being particularly careful to spray right up to the edge. Next lay the foil, shiny side up, on the card and rub all over with a cloth. This smooths out most of the wrinkles and makes sure the aluminium and card are well glued. Finally, trim off the excess foil with a pair of scissors. Repeat this for all four panels.

Now we need to attach the panel to the frame. I clamped the frame to the table with the edge of the panel clamped under the long edge of the frame.

Next I cut a small length of aluminium tape just long enough to cover the short end of the panel where it connects to the flash carrier.

Lifting the panel up so that it is flush to the wires I used the aluminium tape to hold the panel in place by sticking it across the top end of the two wires and the flash carrier.

I then cut a notch in the bottom end of the panel and folded the resultant flap up and used a staple gun to hold it in place.

I cut two more small lengths of aluminium tape to fasten the bottom end of the panel.

Here you can see the aluminium tape stuck in place over the picture hanger. This should be repeated on the other side.

The next step is to cut two lengths of aluminium tape to the same length as the wires. We also need to cut off one corner to match the join angle at the bottom of the panel.

I have run the tape over the top of the wires to hold the panel in place and then smoothed it down with a cloth.

Finally, I have trimmed off the excess overlap with scissors, leaving a one inch flap which I have bent up around the wires.

The last step in securing the panel is to add a row of staples (using a staple gun) along the outside edge of the front frame.

Repeat this process for the panel on the other side.

Here you can see a close up of how I trimmed the panel around the flash carrier.

Now we want to add the panel on the side without the brace.

Start by stapling the edge to the front of the frame.

Next clamp the softbox to the table with the panel at the bottom.

Use aluminum tape to fasten the panel to the flaps of the other two panels. Here I have taped the left side and I’m about to do the right side.

With the inside taped down, trim off any excess card on the outside. Leave about an inch flap all round.

I used duct tape on the outside to fasten the panels down.

Before adding the final panel I needed to insert the bolt into the support for the lightstand mount.

After drilling a small pilot hole I worked up in drill bit size until I had a hole big enough for the bolt to fit securely.

At this point, I realised I had picked a bolt that did not have threads all the way up to the head (durr)! Not having a similar sized bolt that did, I had to use a whole pile of washers to get the nut to secure the whole assembly (so much for saving weight). The two nuts further down are to give the screw in the lightstand something solid to clamp onto.

Before going any further, I placed the whole setup in a lightstand (along with flash) to check on balance and stability. The balance was good but the support brace was a bit wobbly.

I added some additional bracing in the form of two inner L brackets and a bolt to the top of the brace. This worked a treat and really stabilised things up.

I just had to add the final panel now. As the brace was in the way, I had to trim the panel down to size before fitting it. I also needed to cut a couple of notches in the top and bottom to fit the panel round the brace joints.

Here you can see a close up of the top notch.

With the panel in place, I added a row of staple along the edge of the front frame. You might notice I have a different staple gun here. A handy tool tip when buying staple guns ... don’t buy cheap plastic ones, they are a false economy and break after five minutes use (ok, it did say it was for light duty and I was stapling card to wood, but hey I am just saying).

Again, tape up the inside flaps with aluminium tape.

And the outside flaps with duct tape.

Finally, trim up any gaps on the inside with aluminum tape. Also run a length of aluminum tape along each of the front edges folding it back on the inside and out.

Here is a close up of the trimmed up flash opening.

This is the trimmed up front frame.

The final stage is to add the diffuser panel. I used a piece of white cotton fabric for this. Laying the softbox face down on the fabric, I traced around the outer edge and then added a couple of inches.

I then cut out the panel with scissors.

I was initially going to fasten the panel with staples to the front frame but decided to use Velcro instead. This will have a number of advantages at a later date. I can remove the diffuser and add a second diffuser panel inside the softbox if I want. I can also make a diffuser with an attached grid if necessary. Finally, I can still access the inside of the softbox if I need to repair any sagging foil or other unforseen problems.

I only had enough sticky backed Velcro to use small patches, but in the end this proved to work fine and adding Velcro to the full length of each side would probably not work as well.

Before adding the Velcro, I cut a slit in each of the four corners of the fabric to make a fold when it was stuck in place.

To add the Velcro, I stuck the fluffy side to the fabric and placed the hard side on top of this. I added three tabs on the short sides and five tabs on the long sides. I also made sure the tabs on each end were not too close to the corners.

To get the hard side in the correct spot, I just folded the fabric into place so that the hard side stuck to the cardboard.

Finally, because the Velcro did not stick to the fabric too well, I popped a couple of staples into each fluffy tab to keep them in place.

I also added a tab to each corner and again held them in place with a staple.

Here you can see the flaps all folded into place and secured by the Velcro.

And that’s it, one large DIY softbox for a small strobe.

Here it is from the back. You can see a bit of light leaking out of the flash hole as I forgot to push the flap all the way down.

Studio Lighting - Stainless Steel Beauty Dish

2008-07-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

Taken from : http://www.diyphotography.net

Basic Instructions:

1. Cut a hole in the bottom of the large bowl to fit on the Studio head.

2. Drill four evenly spaced holes 90 degrees apart just a little below the rim on the large bowl.

3. Cut the allthread evenly in 1/2 to make two 18'' pieces.

4. Drill four evenly spaced holes every 90 degrees about 1/2 way down the side of the small bowl.

5. Nest the bowls into each other then raise up the small bowl and thread the allthread through the small bowl to center it above the large bowl (center the bowl). Put on the washers and nuts on and tighten them up.

Mount on Studio Light and shoot away. Typical distance should be 2-3 feet from subject.

Here are two sample shots taken with the stainless still beauty dish.

How to Photograph Silhouettes

2008-07-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

Source: Digital Photography School

1. Choose a Strong Subject

Almost any object can be made into a silhouette, however some are better than others. Choose something with a strong and recognizable shape that will be interesting enough in its two dimensional form to hold the interest of those viewing your image. Silhouettes can’t draw on the colors, textures and tones of subjects to make them appealing - so the shape needs to be distinct.

2. Turn off your Flash

If you have your camera in automatic mode your camera will probably want to use its flash which will ruin the silhouette. Basically you want as little light on the front of your subject as possible - so the flash has to go (basic - but I’ve seen a few attempted silhouette shots with the flash firing).

3. Get Your Light Right

When it comes to lighting your subject you’ll need to throw out a lot of what you’ve learnt about normal photography and think a little backwards. Instead of lighting the front of your subject, in silhouettes you need to ensure that there is more light shining from the background than the foreground of your shot - or to put it another way - you want to light the back of your subject rather than the front. The perfect light for this is placing your subject in front of a sunset or sunrise - but really any bright light will be able to do the trick.

4. Frame your image

Frame your shot so you are shooting with your subject in front of a nice plain, but bright background. Usually the best backgrounds will be a bright cloudless sky with the sun setting. You want to position the brightest light source behind your subject (either so that they hide it or so that its in the background somewhere).

5. Make silhouetted shapes distinct and uncluttered

If there is more than one shape or object in the image that you’re attempting to silhouette, try to keep them separated. ie if you are silhouetting a tree and a person don’t have the person stand in front of the tree or even leaning on it as it will merge them into one shape and as a result your viewers could be confused about what the shape is.

Also when framing you’ll probably want to photograph silhouetted people as profiles rather than looking straight on. This means that more of their features (nose, mouth, eyes) are outlined and they are more likely to be recognized.

6. In Auto Mode

Most modern digital cameras have automatic metering which are pretty good at sensing how to expose a photograph so that everything is well lit. The problem with this is that most cameras are so smart that they will light up your subject instead of underexposing it to get a silhouette so you need to trick it. Most cameras work out the exposure levels in auto mode when you push your shutter half way down (at the same time that they focus). So point your camera at the brightest part of your picture and then press the shutter halfway down (don’t let go). Then move your camera back to frame your shot with the subject where you want it and then finish taking the shot. With most digital cameras this will result in a silhouetted subject. In effect what you’re doing is tricking your camera into thinking that the bright part of the image is the mid tone of it so that anything darker than it will be exposed as a nice dark shadow.

Some digital cameras also have ’spot’ or ‘centered’ metering modes that you can switch on which helps with the above technique as they will set the metering on the central spot of your frame rather than multiple spots. This means you can accurately tell your camera exactly which bit of the bright background you want it to set the exposure on.

7. Manual Mode

If this technique doesn’t work and your camera has controls to allow manual exposure or exposure compensation you might like to try some of your own settings. The beauty of digital is that you can experiment to your hearts content until you get the result you’re after.

A simple way to start using manual mode is to look at the shutter speed and aperture that it suggests in automatic mode and to start from there. If in auto mode your subject is too light (ie you need to make it darker) stop down the shutter speed a stop or two and see what impact that has. Use the ‘bracketing’ technique that I described in my previous tip on sunrises and sunsets to get a variety of shots at slightly different exposures.

8. Focusing

In most cases you’ll want the subject which is silhouetted to be the thing that is in focus most crisply. This can mean that the process described in point 4 can be a little tricky as pushing your shutter half way down to get the metering right also means that you’ll focus on that spot in the background. To get around this you can use two strategies. Firstly if your camera has manual focusing you might want to try that. Pre focus your shot before you meter your shot.

The other strategy is to use Aperture to maximize your depth of field (the amount of your image that is in focus). Set a small aperture (ie a larger number) to increase the depth of field - this means you’re more likely to have a sharper foreground and background in your shots.

One last tip on Silhouettes - while a total silhouette with a nice crisp and black subject can be a powerful shot, also consider the partial silhouette where some detail of your subject is left. Sometimes a touch of light on them makes them slightly more three dimensional and ‘real’. This is the beauty of bracketing your shots as it will leave you with total and partial silhouettes to choose form.

How To Photograph People

2008-06-17T02:50:00.000-07:00

By Andrew Hudson

There are several factors to consider when photographing people:

Location

The first thing to do is find your location. Choose a spot with a simple, medium-toned background. Tree foliage, grass or the ocean works well. For darker skin, look for a similarly dark background to keep the highlight (and thus the camera's exposure) on the face. Minimize patterns, shapes and colors. Keep that background simple, or include a famous landmark.

Lighting

Get the sun behind you and to one side. If it's bright, put people in the shade (harsh, direct sunlight washes out the face). If it's dark in the shade, use the fill-flash feature to brighten up the face. The best time is the late afternoon as it gives a nice, warm, golden glow. At other times, with an SLR camera, you can simulate this glow with an 81B or C filter. A popular technique is to put your subject in the shade, then use fill-flash to lighten up the face. Bring a small reflector or white card reflect sunlight into the harsh shadow areas. Occasionally, having the sun shine from behind the subject (backlighting) looks good as it creates a halo through the hair, showing form and drawing the face out of the background. If you're shooting indoors with an SLR, 'bounce' the flash off a wall or ceiling for more natural lighting. A separate hand-held flash is best and can be positioned far enough away from the lens to avoid red eye.

Lens

If you have an SLR, use a 135mm or similar lens for the most pleasing perspective. Use the widest aperture (lowest f-number) to blur the background and highlight the face for a movie-like look. If the background is important, use a small aperture (high f-number) to get everything in focus.

Positioning

Get close. Don't include their full body but zoom straight in to the face. For close ups, crop out the top of the head and overfill the frame. Being at eye level usually works best, so for children, kneel down.

Proportion

Generally try to keep the eyes, not necessarily the head, in the center of the frame. If the person is looking slightly to one side, add extra space to that side. If your subject is to one side and there's a lot of contrast in the shot, you might need to control the exposure. To do this, zoom or close in on your subject (perhaps a person's face) then press the exposure lock button. Keep this button pressed down while you recompose and take your shot.

Relax Your Subject

Get your subject relaxed and happy. For friends or family, remind them of a silly event. With children, give them something to play with. For local people, ask them about the location, their job or skill, or complement their clothes. People hate waiting while you adjust your camera so always plan the shot and adjust your camera first, before asking people to pose.

Fun Shots

To add fun and action to a shot, hold the camera at an angle - 30 degrees with the right side up works well. It looks as though the photographer was caught off guard, emphasizing danger and action, and is great for parties! Stage a joke shot by pretending to interact with a statue. Or use a wide angle lens to distort the face.

Action

If your subject is moving (on a cable car or bicycle), deliberately blur the background to emphasize speed, excitement and urgency. Track the subject with your camera and, if you have an SLR, use a medium to slow shutter speed (1/60s). This will blur the background and, optionally, also your subject. Using the flash (particularly a 'rear-curtain sync' feature if your camera has one) helps freeze the subject in a moving background.

Don't Forget You!

The problem with being the photographer is that you end up not being in your own photographs. Remind the viewer what you look like and ask someone else to take a shot. You can arrange a photograph by propping the camera on a small tripod or wall (use stones, paper or coins for adjustment) and using the self timer.

How To Photograph Anything

2008-06-17T02:49:00.001-07:00

By Andrew Hudson

Buildings

To minimize the angular distortions of looking upwards, always look for a high viewpoint. Ascend stairs, stand on top of another building or the crest of a hill. If you can't get high, stand far back. Use the widest angle you have (24-30mm). Bright blue skies are to offset the gray of the building. A polarizer cuts down on window reflections. Try to include people for scale and human interest. Look for interesting details, often around the doorway, columns or windows. Zoom in and isolate the detail. Here the diffused light of an overcast day works best.

Interiors

Stand well back or shoot from outside through a window. The low-light dictate a long exposure, so load up with fast film. Bring a tripod if they're allowed or, if not, find a support (a wall, your friends shoulder, or lean against a doorway). Use a cable release, or the self-timer to avoid moving the camera. Remember to switch off the flash if it is not allowed. If it is, you can bring up dark areas by firing a hand-held flash into them while the shutter is open. Natural lighting casts shadows for a tranquil atmosphere. Expose for the highlights.

Landscapes

Always have something in the foreground. This gives depth and scale - using a person also adds human interest. Look for a high vantage point such as a hotel balcony, roof-top restaurant, or wall. Late afternoon is usually best. Use a polarizer to enhance the sky. Haze increases with distance and this aerial perspective gives a subtle impression of distance and depth. Ansel Adams declared landscape photography to be the supreme test of the photographer.

Water

With sprayed water, use side- or backlighting for a translucent look. This also works well with smoke, grass and leaves. Experiment with a slow shutter speed, perhaps 1/30 to 1/4s so that the rushing water creates a soft, romantic blur. I like 1/8s. A tripod or other support is necessary. Be careful with a polarizer - it can enhance the colors but it also removes reflections that you may want.

Sunsets

The best times are when the sun is just about to touch the horizon, and the afterglow 10-30 minutes after the sun has set. Usually automatic metering works fine, but with high contrast, meter off the brightest part of the sky. Try adding a person in the foreground (they'll appear as a silhouette) for human interest, depth and character. Either include a reflection from the ocean, or eliminate the scenery and keep the horizon low in the frame. A zoom lens is useful and you'll need a tripod or wall for support as the shutter speed will be slow.

Dusk and Night Shots

Dusk shots are best about 15-30 minutes after sunset, when there is still some color in the sky. To add depth, shoot from one end of a bridge or find some other feature coming towards you. A tripod is a necessity. Auto exposure usually works fine but also try manual exposure using a cable release and the 'B' (bulb - open) setting. Take several shots with 2, 4, 8, 12 and 16 seconds. Use an FL-D magenta filter to overcome the effect of tungsten lights on daylight film, and to add a pink to the sky.

In Bad Weather

Bad weather doesn't mean bad photographs, it just changes your options. Overcast skies reduce contrast and are preferred for trees and foliage. Colors may appear cool and blueish so add an 81A, B, or C filter to warm up the image. If the sky is boring, disguise it with an overhanging tree, or exclude it completely by raising the horizon in your frame. When low clouds or rain reduce color saturation, try black and white film to emphasize the range of gray tones. You may need a faster film (ISO 200 or 400) since there's less light. Storms and heavy rain add drama and power to an image. Dusk shots are improved with reflections of neon lights in puddles. Clouds create moving patterns of interesting highlights, particularly when a storm is clearing. Fog make lakes, rivers and valleys look ethereal and primordial. Rain or snow makes people, kids especially, wear colorful clothing. Cover your camera with a coat, umbrella, or even put it in a plastic bag. In snow, give a slight overexposure (slower shutter speed or '+1') to keep the whites free from appearing dirty gray.

Ten Tips for better photos

2008-06-17T02:47:00.000-07:00

By Andrew Hudson

1. Hold It Steady

A problem with many photographs is that they're blurry. Avoid 'camera shake' by holding the camera steady. Use both hands, resting your elbows on your chest, or use a wall for support. Relax: don't tense up. You're a marksman/woman holding a gun and it must be steady to shoot.

2. Put The Sun Behind You

A photograph is all about light so always think of how the light is striking your subject. The best bet is to move around so that the sun is behind you and to one side. This front lighting brings out color and shades, and the slight angle (side lighting) produces some shadow to indicate texture and form.

3. Get Closer

The best shots are simple so move closer and remove any clutter from the picture. If you look at most 'people' shots they don't show the whole body so you don't need to either. Move close, fill the frame with just the face, or even overflow it. Give your shot some impact. Use a zoom to crop the image tighter.

4. Choose A Format

Which way you hold the camera affects what is emphasized in your shot. For tall things (Redwoods, Half Dome) a vertical format emphasize height. Use a horizontal format to show the dramatic sweep of the mountains.

5. Include People

Photographs solely of landscape and rocks are enjoyable to take but often dull to look at. Include some of your friends, companions, family, or even people passing by, to add human interest. If there's no one around, include yourself with the self-timer. Have you ever got your photos back only to discover that something that looked awe-inspiring at the time looks dull on paper? This is because your eye needs some reference point to judge scale. Add a person, car, or something of known size to indicate the magnitude of the scenery.

6. Consider Variety

You may take the greatest shots but if they're all the same type or style, they may be dull to look at. Spice up your collection by adding variety. Include landscapes and people shots, close ups and wide angles, good weather and bad weather. Take personal shots that remember the 'being there' - friends that you meet, your hotel/campsite, transportation, street or hiking signposts.

7. Add Depth

Depth is an important quality of good photographs. We want the viewer to think that they're not looking at a flat picture, but through a window, into a three-dimensional world. Add pointers to assist the eye. If your subject is a distant mountain, add a person or a tree in the foreground. A wide angle lens can exaggerate this perspective.

8. Use Proportion

The beauty of an image is often in its proportions. A popular technique with artists is called the Rule of Thirds. Imagine the frame divided into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, like a Tic-Tac-Toe board. Now place your subject on one of the lines or intersections. Always centering your subject can get dull. Use the Rule of Thirds to add variety and interest.

9. Search For Details

It's always tempting to use a wide angle lens and 'get everything in'. However, this can be too much and you may loose the impact. Instead, zoom in with a longer lens and find some representative detail. A shot of an entire sequoia tree just looks like a tree. But a shot of just the tree's wide base, with a person for scale, is more powerful.

10. Position The Horizon

Where you place the horizon in your shot affects what is emphasized. To show the land, use a high horizon. To show the sky, use a low horizon. Be creative.

Contrast in photos

2008-04-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

Take from : Photocritic.org
If you are reading this, you have probably heard people moaning about lack of contrast in one of your pictures. I am sorry about that, but — really — it is one of the most annoying things in the world. The medium of photography allows you to enhance the way you see the world, so you have an option of showing what you would like to show better. When the option is there - why not use it?

This is the picture we’ll be working with for now. I know it isn’t exactly the best picture in the world, but at least it is bland - it is nothing short of boring. Why? Well - mainly because nothing is the way it should be.

I believe that, in photography, black should be black. White should be white. In most cases, there is no real excuse for having almost-white and almost-black as the darkest and lightest point of your photograph (unless it is part of a photographic effect, in which case this all doesn’t apply.)

It’s worth noting that this article is aimed especially at beginners, who aren’t that clued up on Photoshop. If this doesn’t apply to you, you may just want to dive right into the adjustment layers instead!

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You have probably seen the brightness and contrast tool: It is very useful, but clumsy to use. Instead, we will be using the Levels tool. You find this tool by pressing apple (or control, if you are using Windows) and L. Or you could go to Image - Adjustments - Levels.

This tool allows you to see a histogram of your image, before changing things so they fit into the colour space you are working in.

When you open the menu, you see a few things: Three eyedropper tools down in the bottom right. If you want to use the eyedroppers, pick the left one (shadow), and click a portion of the image that you feel should be absolute black (i.e. RGB value r0, g0, b0). Now, take the rightmost eyedropper tool (highlight), and click a portion of the image you think should be absolute white (i.e. r255, g255, b255). The levels tool will then adjust your image for you.

But… What is the middle tool, I hear you ask. That is the gray point tool - or white balance tool, if you will. If you have any portion in your image that is neutral gray (preferably a 18% (r50, b50, g50) gray, but any neutral gray will do), you can select this dropper, and the Levels tool will change the Red, Green and Blue channels separately, to allow you to fix a mis-measured white balance. It is quite effective, actually.

For this tutorial, however, I will be using fully manual corrections on the RGB channel. On the top of this dialog box, you can see RGB. This means that all changes you make will affect all the channels. You can, of course, adjust any of the channels separately, but if you feel you are ready for that, then what the hell are you reading this guide for?

Anyway. When you look at the histogram, you can see that in the left and right ends of the histogram, nothing is registered. This means that the picture I am using as an example actually does not have any “real” black or “real” white in it. In other words, it uses only a limited band of the spectrum. Which - if you ask me - is a waste.

So, our first change is to make sure that there is real black in our picture. Do this by sliding the left slider towards where the histogram starts registering properly. If you want more contrast, you can slide it past where the histogram starts, as I have done here. What happens then, is that some of the details in the dark areas of the image are lost, and it just becomes black. Which gives an illusion of high contrast. Which is what we are looking for.

The result of the above change is this:

We do the same to the highlights:

Move the right slider to the left, and see the result:

As you can tell, the contrast is now a lot better. But now the whole picture is a tad dark. You have probably already noticed the middle slider. You guessed it, this is your brightness slider (well, not strictly - matematically, it just weighs the brightness in the image differently, by ’stretching’ the histogram one way or another, or ‘gamma correction’, as you might know it. For all practical uses, however, look at it as the brightness slider)

Moving the brightness slider to the dark side makes the picture lighter, and vice-versa. It seems unlogical at first, but the explanation is the mathematical thing mentioned above.

I slide the brightness (gamma) from 1 to 1.16, and the result:

Now, I am almost happy, but there is still one problem; Because we have been playing with the layers, the colours look a bit unrealistic. So I go to the Hue / saturation control (ctrl + u, or have a look in the image -> adjustments menu), and pull the saturation down a few tads.

So here we go; Your classic before-and-after pictures:

Of course, the image still sucks, because the original photo wasn’t particularly good. It does, however, explain how the levels tool works.

Taking it to the next level

Now that you know the basics, it’s time to go further in-depth. Contrast is one of the most common mistakes photographers seem to make, so it makes sense to learn a little more. If you are interested in increasing contrast in post production, you’ll want Matt Greer’s website, especially his in-depth introduction to curves.

Good luck!

Abstract smoke photography how-to

2008-04-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

Take from : photocritic.org
Abstract photography is nothing new, and people constantly come up with new — or re-invent old — versions of photography techniques. One of the ones that is going like wild-fire (excuse the pun) around the interwebs at the moment is the art of photographing coloured smoke.

The trend started with the highly talented Graham Jefferey, of Sensitive Light fame, whose phenomenal photographs went around the world via blogs,

We’ve managed to talk to Graham, and find out how he does his smoke photos…

Getting the smoke right

Before anything, Graham points out that there is no ‘right’ way to photograph smoke. His technique has developed over a long period of time, and Graham admits to learning and discovering new things every time he sets out to take the photos.

The two key secrets to smoke photography is inverting the image, and using gray smoke. Say what now? How does that work? Well, Graham explains: “It’s quite a simple technique, really. All you need to concentrate on when you are taking the photos themselves, is getting good images of the smoke. The colours are generated digitally at a later stage.”

To get the best possible smoke to work with, Graham uses simple incense sticks known as Joss sticks, which can be purchased from most Chinese supermarkets and in every Chinatown anywhere in the world. Alternatively, any reasonably large incense stick should do the trick.

Once you’ve got the smoke, the rest is all down to freezing the motion, and getting the lighting right. “In my opinion,” explains Graham, “the key technical factor is to adequately light the smoke so that it stands out from the background.”

While smoke in itself can be an interesting subject matter, Graham points out that in his photos, the smoke itself isn’t the subject matter, it is merely the tool used to create unusual photographs: “I am not trying to create pictures of smoke; I am trying to create pictures by using smoke”. This approach means that you have full creative licence to do what you want to manipulate the smoke as much as necessary — the only thing you have to worry about is getting an impressive final result.

Lighting and exposure

The best way to get ‘cleanly’ lit smoke photos is to use a clean environment with controllable light. A studio would be ideal, but anywhere you can hang up a black background is perfectly usable. The most important thing when photographing smoke is getting enough light to freeze the motion of the smoke in mid-air. You can do this by using a lot of light (think direct sunlight falling through a window) or by using one or more flashes. When you’re photographing the smoke, you’ll want to make sure that no stray light hits the front of your camera lens (this will cause glare or solar-flare type effects), nor on your blackened background (because that will bring out definition in the background, which you don’t want either).

When you are photographing, it is easiest to let the smoke rise on its own volition. Instead of trying to manipulate the incense stick, try wafting some motion into the air to disturb the even plume. Alternatively, you can try to create interesting shapes by making the plume turbulent: try introducing a ruler, an upturned spoon, or a sheet of paper into the plume to alter its shape and ‘feel’.

“I want clean lines and shapes”, Graham explains. To do this, he shoots with a lot of light at a small aperture (and thereby a deeper depth of field). “This is very much easier to do if the smoke is allowed to rise naturally.”

With the smaller aperture needed to capture the plumes of smoke properly, you obviously lose quite a bit of light. This is a problem, because in order to freeze the motion of the constantly-moving smoke, you need quite a fast shutter time. In practical terms, this means 1/250 or faster. Simultaneously, you can’t reduce the ISO value on your camera either, because the purile plumes of smokes would be ruined by significant amounts of noise. Needless to say, a coinciding need of low ISO, small apertures and high apertures means that you need a vast amount of light.

Personally, my best smoke photos were taken with a 2000W Bowen studio flash light with a humongous soft-box fitted on the front. I prefer this solution because the softbox gives even lighting, but it can be difficult to limit where the light goes, so the above-mentioned limitations of “no light on your background or camera lens” can get tricky. I find that if you put the soft box really close to the smoke, you can get excellent results. Having said that, my smoke photos aren’t nearly as good as Graham’s, and he uses a different approach: “For all practical purposes the light used to expose the image comes from one studio flash unit fitted with a snoot and placed at the side or behind the smoke. I realise that not everyone has one of these units, but an off camera flash gun fitted with or placed beside a baffle to protect the background from direct light works just as well.”

If you’re going to be working with external flashes anyway, you probably need to shoot in fully manual mode: Your internal light meter is unlikely to give you a lot of joy on this one. In addition, it’s absolutely vital to get it right. You’ll need to set your flash output and aperture so the brightest part of the smoke is almost completely white, but not quite. Overexposure means that you will lose detail, and the inverted image will have a lot of black in the smoke, which just looks unnatural. Under-exposure, on the other hand, will make it difficult to see the difference between the smoke and the background.

Once you’re taking photos, it’s worth keeping in mind that you need to keep the room well-ventilated. Not because the smoke will harm you (although it probably will, if you breathe in and get enough in your eyes, etc), but, as Graham puts it: “as the air fills up with the fog of dissipated smoke your pictures will be robbed of light, contrast and sharpness” — never mind your health, think of the photos!

article continues below

Digital manipulation

Now that you’ve captured the photos, it’s time to take it to your digital darkroom. Crop your image to a composition that works for you, and then use levels or curves to adjust the contrast of your photos. You’ll want to make sure that the background is completely black (hold the alt key while adjusting the black-point levels slider in Photoshop, it gives you a preview of what you’re actually doing), so it turns into a pure white when you invert the image.

Once you’re happy with the background, invert your image, and decide if you like the black or white background best — stick with whatever you prefer, but often the white backgrounded images have a lot higher impact. If you have stray smoke, dust, or details in the background you’re unhappy with, use a brush with the same colour as the background (i.e white or black) or clone tool to get rid of them.

To colourise the smoke, use the hue and saturation tool. You can apply the colour to the whole image in one go easily, because your pure white or black background will be unaffected by this tool (if it does make changes, then your background needs some work first). Alternatively, you can colorise part of the image, or use multiple colours, by making a selection of a part of the smoke, and use the ‘feather selection’ command to create a gradient. Using the Hue and Saturation tool now results in colorising parts of the smoke image only. Nifty, yes?

Some inspiration

The best place to go for some inspiration are Graham’s own images, available on his website. My personal favourites are these: -1- -2- -3-.

Apart from Graham, there are quite a few other people who have taken smoke photography under their wing. Myla Kent’s work (also inspired by Graham’s images) is worth a look, and there’s a Flickr group titled Artsmoke which takes the artform to a new level.

The only way you can get further, though, is to have a go yourself… What are you waiting for?

Article in co-operation with Graham Jefferey. All photographs © Graham Jefferey. To see the bigger versions, hit the Sensitive Light Smoke Gallery.

Light up the Floor - A Floor Lit Table Top Studio Project

2008-02-08T17:05:00.000-08:00

file taken from www.diyphotography.net

I always keep my eye on the strobist flickr pool. It is one of the best places to get your lighting ideas. The other day, I saw a cool Corona shot there made by Nick Wheeler. Nick was so kind to share his lighting technique with DIYP readers. So, the following article is a guest post by Nick Wheeler, If you like this tutorial as much as I did stop by Nick's flickr stream and say "Hi" (You'll also get a nice dose of fine images).

Just recently, I became the proud owner of a new dining room table. Not a massively exciting announcement you might think (and you would be right), but what was getting me excited was the fact that it had a frosted glass top. While my significant other was wondering where to put it and what to do with the old table, I was thinking “I wonder what would happen if I stuck a flash underneath it?”

The answer at first was a little disappointing but after a while I was getting some pretty good results, particularly with bottles and containers of liquid. I was finding that with light coming from underneath it was helping light up the liquid and giving it a nice glow. The only problem I was having was the table top itself. The glass was dimpled, not smooth, and while that gave a nice effect, it was not ideal for every shot. The answer of course was a spot of DIY!

OK, I needed a glass surface with a flash underneath it! Hmmm, what if I took the old dining room table, got out the power saw, cut a hole in the top of it... “You can forget that, use a cardboard box”, came the helpful suggestion from my better half. So was born the floor lit table top studio project.

I started with a largish cardboard box. In the front I cut a little door to make it easy to place a flash in the bottom. I added a fold back clip (one of the DIY Photographers best friends) to act as a handle. I also folded in the top flaps of the box to make it open ended.

Next I added a flash head into the bottom of the box to act as the floor light. As I only have two small strobes (which I needed to light the main subject), I had to use one of my studio flash heads. I didn't test this setup with a small strobe in the bottom of the box, but I am pretty sure it would work equally as well. To hold the flash head upright, I cut a flash shaped hole in another small box and placed the whole arrangement in the bottom of the big box with a Pocket Wizard acting as a trigger.

With the bottom light in place the next step was to drape a black velvet cloth down the inside back wall of the box. This provides the black background for the floor.

Almost there now, I just need to add a floor to the setup. I used the glass from a cheap picture frame for this.

I placed the glass so that the back edge lined up with the back edge of the box. This helps minimizes (although not eliminate) the back edge of the glass appearing in your pictures. At this point, it pays big dividends to thoroughly clean the glass on both sides. Two minutes of cleaning now saves hours of tedious dust removal in the photo editing package of your choice (in my case Lightroom).

The last thing required is a black backdrop. I used a sheet of seamless paper, but any black cloth would work equally well. One thing you do want to try and do is get a good gap between your box setup and the background to avoid light contamination spilling onto the background.

OK with everything in place, I was ready to take my first test shot. I placed the subject on the glass (in this case a bottle of beer from the fridge) and with just the floor light took a picture.

Here, the beer bottle is lit entirely from underneath. As you can see there is a nice glow in the liquid. You can adjust the power of the floor flash to get a good balance of light through the whole bottle.

With the floor light sorted out, I now need to light the subject. For the beer shot I chose to use a couple of softboxes pushed up close on either side to give some nice specular highlights. If you don't have softboxes, a couple of cardboard boxes with white fabric over the front would do the trick.

I set the two flashes in the softboxes to 1/32 power and took a few shots.

Before taking the shot, I cleaned the glass. But there was still a lot of dust and the back edge of the glass was clearly visible.
After a few minutes in Lightroom, we get the final picture.

Here I have removed the dust, cloned out the edge line, boosted the
black levels slightly and increased the color saturation a touch.

Another picture with the same setup.

With the soft boxes switched out for shoot through translucent umbrellas, here is an example of this setup.

As you can see, the effect works best on light colored liquids. As the liquids get darker, it gets harder to light them from below as they just soak up too much light.

So there you have it. A floor lit table top studio. But wait, as they say in all the best infomercials, there's more! A simple adjustment to the setup yields a whole new dimension and color to your pictures.

Studio Lighting - Super Simple Light Tent

2008-02-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

File from www.diyphotography.net

I was inspired to do this project after seeing the PVC light tent posted on the MAKE blog. This light tent uses a cardboard box and some white material (Tyvek) and allows you to take reasonable photos of products such as bottles, watches, jewelry, small objects, etc. There is lot's of room for improvement but for the sake of 15 minutes I hope you will agree it's pretty good :)

Select materials

First thing to do is find your self a usable box. The box I used is a half of a resin plastic shelf. The dimensions are roughly 16" x 15" x 15". This size has handled most things I have put in it, however I think something a little wider would be easier to use.Materials used- Masking tape or other heavy tape (Duct, packing, etc)- X-acto knife- Ruler- Glue Stick- Semi transparent white material (Tyvek, White suiting/Ripstop nylon, bed sheets, etc)

Cut the box

1) Lay the box flat

2) using the ruler add a 1" to 1-1/2" border to all sides of the box (top, bottom, left and right) - Essentially you want to cut a hole in all sides of the box.Tip: don't forget to add a line on either side of the center of the box as it lays flat :)

3) Cut out the four panels of the box using an x-acto knife and cutting on the lines.See the images below if the above is unclear.

Assemble the Skeleton

1) Open up the box and close the bottom of the box

2) Tape down the exterior and interior seam.

3) The Bottom of the box will serve as the platform for placing your objects.

Wrap the box

1) Using the semi-transparent material you have chosen wrap it around the box so that it covers 3 of the four sides

2) I used sign printing grade Tyvek and attached it using a glue stick.

Add continuous background

This is part of the magic of the light tent, creating a continuous background in your images. To do this we add a piece of Bristol board (or polypropylene sheet) cut to fit the box.

1) Use the depth of the box + the height of the box as a rough measurement.

2) cut out a piece of Bristol board that matches the dimensions above.

3) This creates a nice white platform to shoot your images against. Try using other colors, Blue, Black, etc. You can see a similar idea in the cheap studio article.

4) Insert the Bristol board into the box so that the edge of the Bristol board is placed against the front of the box and the card board is allowed to curve like a wave, half-pipe, you get the picture (I hope :) )As usual the pictures will make it all clear. :)

Add light and enjoy

1) Now that you have the box wrapped, and the continuous background in place you are ready to take some photos.

2) I used a desk lamp, and a couple of Ott lights (13watt) for the apple shot in the beginning of this article.

3) For better/different results I am switching to the simple clamp style fixture used in the PVC light tent with 100 watt bulbs.

4) Experiment with light location and diffusing the light that shines through the top of the box with other semi transparent material, nylon, etc.The light entering the box will be diffused and the shadows will soften or disappear...

NOTE: At this stage (or perhaps before) you can and probably cover the inside of the box with white as well, at least the frame. Or you could switch the white material from the outside to the inside. I bring this up because It was pointed out over at DPReview.com that there is a black reflection in the photos produced using this box.... I hope that will fix it :)

End Result

Here are some examples of shots taken with this light box.. I am by no means a photographer but to my untrained eye these shots look pretty good.

make a cheap flash diffuser for your built in flash

2008-02-08T16:56:00.000-08:00

File take from here

1. Find an empty white film box and make a hole. See pictures below: )

2.Put it on a pop up flash

These are my photos that I took with my home made flash diffuser.

See more photos in my flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/21902246@N03/
(just created the account and uploaded photos)
Ps, I put one more "s" on my "Flash Diffusser" sorry about that ; )
Any comments are welcome : )

Back/front focus test

2008-02-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

What is back focus?
Back focus is when you shoot a pic like this one, expecting to get the result shown on the
left but, instead, you get the one on the right.

do you want know more about it?
you can see it here

Reverse Lens Technique Tutorial

2008-02-04T13:25:00.001-08:00

by LaraJade

How to build a cheap ringflash

2008-01-24T02:14:00.000-08:00

by jedrek v3.0

Macro Lenses

2008-01-24T02:09:00.000-08:00

From : Alan Wood

Macro lenses provide the best and most convenient method of taking close-ups, but they are expensive. They differ from ordinary lenses in having an extended focusing mount that can focus from infinity to a magnification of ×0.5 or ×1.0 simply by turning the focusing ring. Their optical performance is optimised for short working distances instead of infinity, and they are often more highly corrected than ordinary lenses. For 35 mm cameras, they come in focal lengths of about 50-60 mm, and in longer lengths between 90 and 105 mm and between 180 and 200 mm; they are also available for roll-film cameras. The longer focal length lenses provide greater working distances, which allows more room for lighting and helps to avoid alarming live subjects. The 50 mm lenses can be used as a standard lens in place of one with a restricted focusing range. If you do not use a TTL meter, exposures must be adjusted as the magnification is increased beyond ×0.1.

Additional Extension

If your macro lens incorporates floating elements for better performance at short distances, then you should make sure that the lens is set for close focus (not for infinity focus) if you use it on extension tubes or .

Reverse Mounting

You should also set the lens for close focus if you use it with a reversing ring. Reversing the lens exposes the rear element and various coupling mechanisms that are protected when the lens is mounted normally. You can provide them with some protection by adding a short extension tube to act as a makeshift lens hood; an old manual tube will do. You can also buy special adapters that allow a filter or a lens hood to be attached to the rear of a lens.

Focusing

Depth of field is very small at ×0.5 or ×1.0, so to you may find it easier to focus exactly where you want if the auto focus is turned off. You will probably find it easier to focus by moving the camera backwards and forwards after setting the magnification that you want.

Using a Precise Magnification

Focusing by turning the focusing ring or using autofocus changes the magnification. If you want to use a particular magnification that is engraved on the lens, turn off the autofocus, set the focus ring for the magnification you want, and then focus by moving the camera backwards and forwards until the image in the viewfinder is sharp. If you are using a tripod or a macro stand, then a focusing rail makes it easy to focus this way. Focusing by moving the whole camera also makes it easier to focus at around life-size, where manual focusing can be imprecise because turning the focusing ring causes simultaneous changes in the extension and the working distance that interact in such a way as to have little effect on the focus.

Good points

Excellent results.
Automatic diaphragm and automatic exposure are normal.
Automatic focusing is available if the camera system supports it.
Can be used instead of a standard or portrait lens.

Bad points

Expensive.
Bigger and heavier than an ordinary lens of the same focal length.
May not have as fast a maximum aperture as an ordinary lens of the same focal length.
Automatic focusing may not focus on exactly the right point.

Close-up Lenses

2008-01-24T02:07:00.000-08:00

From : Alan Wood

Close-up lenses (also called supplementary lenses) screw into the filter mount on the front of the lens that is fitted to your camera, and bring the focusing range of the camera's lens closer to the camera. The power of close-up lenses is normally specified in dioptres; higher numbers are more powerful. With the camera's lens focused on infinity and a +1 dioptre close-up lens fitted, the maximum focusing distance becomes 1 metre, with a +2 it becomes 0.5 metres, and with a +4 it becomes 0.25 metres.

Close-up lenses for 35 mm cameras are commonly available with strengths of +1, +2, +3 and +4, but intermediate and higher strengths are also available. The lenses of digital cameras have shorter focal lengths than those for 35 mm cameras, and so they need stronger close-up lenses such as +7 and +10; these are often of too small a diameter and insufficient quality to be used on 35 mm cameras.

Close-up lenses are not usually corrected for optical aberrations, so you need to stop down the camera lens to at least f/8. The effects on image quality are greater with camera lenses of longer focal length, so better quality (and much more expensive) close-up lenses are needed for telephoto lenses and for roll-film cameras. Two-element achromatic close-up lenses are available: Nikon produce +1.5 and +2.9, Canon produce +2 and +4, and Hoya produce +10. Specially-matched close-up lenses are available for some macro lenses and medical lenses.

You can use two close-up lenses at a time, with the stronger one closer to the camera lens. The effect is additive, so a combination of a +1 and a +2 has the same power as a +3 close-up lens. Combining close-up lenses makes the drop in quality worse.

Close-up lenses are cheap, easy to use, cause no exposure problems, and do not darken the viewfinder, but they cannot match the quality of a macro lens. They are readily available, and are made by camera manufacturers and by independent companies.

The following tables show the subject area, working distance and magnification with the camera lens focused at infinity and at its closest distance. Focusing at closer distances gives greater magnification, shorter working distance and smaller subject area.

Close-up lenses with 50 mm lens on 35 mm camera (infinity focus)

Dioptres	Focal length	Working distance	Subject size	Magnification
+1	1000 mm	1000 mm	720 × 480 mm	0.05
+2	500 mm	500 mm	360 × 240 mm	0.1
+2.5	400 mm	400 mm	288 × 192 mm	0.125
+3	333 mm	333 mm	240 × 160 mm	0.15
+4	250 mm	250 mm	180 × 120 mm	0.2
+10	100 mm	100 mm	72 × 48 mm	0.5

Close-up lenses with 50 mm lens on 35 mm camera (closest focus)

Dioptres	Focal length	Working distance	Subject size	Magnification
none		360 mm	237 × 158 mm	0.15
+1	1000 mm	264 mm	176 × 117 mm	0.21
+2	500 mm	210 mm	140 × 93 mm	0.26
+2.5	400 mm	184 mm	125 × 83 mm	0.29
+3	333 mm	172 mm	117 × 78 mm	0.31
+4	250 mm	146 mm	99 × 66 mm	0.36
+10	100 mm	74 mm	53 × 35 mm	0.69

Range of magnifications with 50 mm lens on 35 mm camera

Dioptres	Magnification
Dioptres	0.05	0.10	0.15	0.20	0.25	0.30	0.35
none
+1
+2
+3
+4

Calculations for digital cameras must be based on the actual focal length of the camera lens, not the commonly-quoted 35 mm equivalent. Digital cameras do not all have the same chip size, so the subject area can only be approximate; the ones given were measured with a Kodak DC-4800.

Close-up lenses with 18 mm lens on digital camera

Dioptres	Focal length	Working distance	Subject size	Magnification
+4	250 mm	250 mm	108 × 72 mm	0.07
+7	143 mm	143 mm	62 × 41 mm	0.126
+10	100 mm	100 mm	45 × 30 mm	0.18
+10 plus +7	59 mm	59 mm	27 × 18 mm	0.305

Good points

Small, light weight, easily portable.
Not expensive.
Don't affect exposure.
Don't darken SLR's viewfinder or digital camera's LCD screen.
Autofocus still works.

Bad points

Can't be used at wide apertures.
Awkward to add, remove and combine in order to change magnification.
Definition not as good as a macro lens.
May need more than one for camera lenses with different filter sizes.

Focus test chart

2008-01-24T01:47:00.000-08:00

How do I check for front/back focus issues with my digital camera?

Why, there's a link that will help you do just that:
Focus test chart

Raw image format

2008-01-23T04:17:00.000-08:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RAW image file
File extension: .raf (Fuji)
.crw .cr2 (Canon)
.tif .kdc .dcr (Kodak)
.mrw (Minolta)
.nef (Nikon)
.orf (Olympus)
.dng (Adobe)
.ptx .pef (Pentax)
.arw .srf (Sony)
.x3f (Sigma)
.erf (Epson)
.mef .mos (Mamiya)
.raw (Panasonic)
.r3d (Red)

A raw image file (sometimes written RAW image file[1]) contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of a digital camera or image scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed and ready to be used with a bitmap graphics editor or printed. Normally, the image will be processed by a raw converter in a wide-gamut internal colorspace where precise adjustments can be made before conversion to an RGB file format such as TIFF or JPEG for storage, printing, or further manipulation.

Raw image files are sometimes called digital negatives, as they fulfill the same role as film negatives in traditional chemical photography: that is, the negative is not directly usable as an image, but has all of the information needed to create an image. In addition to raw files from cameras, raw data from film scanners can also be referred to as digital negatives. Likewise, the process of converting a raw image file into a viewable format is sometimes called developing a raw image, by analogy with the film development.

Like a photographic negative, a digital negative may have a wider dynamic range or color gamut than the eventual final image format. The selection of the final choice of image rendering is part of the process of white balancing and color grading.

File contents

Providing a detailed and concise description of the content of raw files is highly problematic. There is no single raw format; formats can be similar or radically different. Different manufacturers use their own proprietary and typically undocumented formats, which are collectively known as raw format. Often they also change the format from one camera model to the next. At least one manufacturer, Nikon, encrypts portions of the file in an attempt to prevent third-party tools from accessing them.[2] This industry-wide situation has concerned many photographers, who worry that their very valuable raw photos may someday become inaccessible, as operating systems and applications become obsolete and abandoned raw formats are dropped from new software. The availability of high-quality open source software which decodes raw image formats, particularly dcraw, has helped to alleviate these concerns. Adobe has developed and promoted a standardized raw image format called DNG ("digital negative"); this has been received enthusiastically by open-source developers[2] but has received little support from major camera makers other than Pentax.

Ultimately, any raw format's purpose is to faithfully record both 100% of exactly what the sensor "saw" (the data) and the conditions surrounding the recording of the image (the metadata).

Digital camera raw files contain the pixel data from a rectangular image sensor, the modern equivalent of traditional film, usually at 12 or 14 bits per sensor bucket. The sensor is almost invariably overlaid with a so-called Bayer filter, consisting of a mosaic of red, blue and green filters in alternating rows of RG and GB. Given that three colors fit uncomfortably in a rectangular grid, green was chosen to be doubly present, since the human eye is more sensitive to it. Green also often serves as the luminance channel, and as the dominant channel for in-camera black-and-white conversions. To retrieve an image from a raw file, this mosaic of data must be converted into a full RGB image. This is formally known as demosaicing, but is often referred to as digital development, by analogy with the development process used to convert photographic film into viewable prints.

One variation on the Bayer scheme is the RGBE sensor of the Sony DSC-F828, which experimented with exchanging the green in the RG rows with Emerald (cyan). Other sensors, such as the Foveon X3 sensor capture information directly in RGB form, having three pixel sensors in each location, one for each color component; these camera RGB raw data still need to be processed to make an image file.

Flatbed and film scanner sensors are typically straight narrow RGB or RGBI (where "I" is infrared) strips that are swept across an image; other than that, the remainder of the discussion about raw files applies to them as well. (Some scanners do not allow the user access to the raw data at all, as a speed compromise. The raw data is processed very rapidly inside the scanner to select out the best part of the available dynamic range so only the result is passed to the computer for permanent storage.)

The contents of raw files include more information, and potentially higher quality, than the converted results, in which the rendering parameters are fixed, the color gamut is clipped, and there may be quantization and compression artifacts. Each pixel in a raw file has a greater bit-depth (compared to typical 8-bit renderings), and can thus store more subtle variations and range in color and detail. Hence, large transformations of the data, such as increasing the exposure of a dramatically under-exposed photo, result in less visible artifacts when done from raw data than when done from already rendered image files. Raw data leaves more scope for both corrections and artistic manipulations, without resulting in images with visible flaws such as posterization.

The generally-accepted standard for digital negatives in the digital cinema industry is the SMPTE DPX format.

Benefits

Nearly all digital cameras can process the image from the sensor into a JPEG file using settings for white balance, color saturation, contrast, and sharpness that are either selected automatically or entered by the photographer before taking the picture. Cameras that support raw files save these settings in the file, but defer the processing. This results in an extra step for the photographer, so raw is normally only used when additional computer processing is intended. However, raw permits much greater control than JPEG for several reasons:

* Finer control is easier for the settings when a mouse and keyboard are available to set them. For example, the white point can be set to any value, not just discrete values like "daylight" or "incandescent".
* The settings can be previewed and tweaked to obtain the best quality image or desired effect. (With in-camera processing, the values must be set before the exposure). This is especially pertinent to the white balance setting since color casts can be difficult to correct after the conversion to RGB is done.
* Camera raw files have 12 or 14 bits of intensity information, not the gamma-compressed 8 bits typically stored in processed TIFF and JPEG files; since the data are not yet rendered and clipped to a color space gamut, more precision may be available in highlights, shadows, and saturated colors.
* The working color space can be set to whatever is desired.
* Different demosaicing algorithms can be used, not just the one coded into the camera.

Drawbacks

Camera raw files are typically 2–6 times larger than JPEG files.[citation needed] Some raw formats do not use compression, some implement lossless data compression to reduce the size of the files without affecting image quality and others use lossy data compression where quantization and filtering is performed on the image data. While use of raw formats avoids the compression artifacts inherent in JPEG, fewer images can fit on a given memory card. It also takes longer for the camera to write raw images to the card, so fewer pictures can be taken in quick succession (affecting the ability to take, for example, a sports sequence).

There is still no widely accepted standard raw format. Adobe's Digital Negative (DNG) format has been put forward as a standard, but has not been adopted by many major camera companies; Pentax's K10D is one recent DSLR camera that can shoot directly into DNG format. Numerous different raw formats are currently in use and new raw formats keep appearing, while others are abandoned.[3]

Because of the lack of a standard raw format, more specialized software may be required to open raw files than for standardized formats like JPEG or TIFF. Software developers are also having to frequently update their products to support the raw formats of the latest cameras.

The time taken in the image workflow is an important factor when choosing between raw and ready-to-use image formats.

Software support

Cameras that support raw files typically come with proprietary software for conversion of their raw format to TIFF or JPEG. Other conversion programs and plugins are available from vendors that have either licensed the technology from the camera manufacturer or reverse-engineered the particular raw format. A portable open source program, dcraw, supports most raw formats and can be made to run on operating systems not supported by most commercial software (such as Unix).

Raw file formats are proprietary, and differ greatly from one manufacturer to another, and sometimes between cameras made by one manufacturer. In 2004 Adobe Systems published the Digital Negative Specification (DNG), which is intended to be a unified raw format. Adobe Photoshop CS2 and CS3 contain extensive support of RAW as does Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. As of 2006, several camera manufacturers have started to announce support for DNG in newer camera models, including Leica, Samsung, Ricoh, Pentax (native camera support) and Hasselblad (export). The Leica Digital-Modul-R (DMR) was first to use DNG as its native format.

Microsoft's Digital Image 2006 was able to recognize and organize raw image formats such as .crw, .cr2, and .nef, which are file formats produced by Canon and Nikon,[citation needed] but that product was discontinued in 2007.[4] For Windows XP, there is a free download available that integrates viewing and printing into other included photo tools, but it is not supported by Microsoft.[5] Also, Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Live Photo Gallery can view any raw image format if the necessary WIC codecs are installed. Camera manufacturers Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus and Pentax have released WIC codecs. [6] A commercial DNG codec is also available from Ardfry Imaging. [7] These applications however only open raw images when double-clicked. They do not automatically associate with the raw file extensions.

In 2005, Apple Computer introduced several products which offered raw file support. In January, Apple released iPhoto 5, which offered basic support for viewing and editing raw files. In April, Apple introduced a new version of its operating system, Mac OS X v10.4, which added raw support directly to the operating system, as part of the ImageIO framework, which adds raw support automatically to the majority of Mac OS X applications both from Apple (such as Preview, Mac OS X's PDF and image viewing application and Aperture, a photo post-production software package for professionals) as well as all third party applications which make use of the ImageIO frameworks. Semi-regular updates to OS X generally include updated support for new RAW file formats introduced in the intervening months by camera makers.

There are many other "raw workflow applications" designed to provide efficient processing and post-processing of raw images, including Helicon Filter, Phase One's Capture One and Bibble Labs' Bibble Pro. Like Apple Aperture, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and PhotoLine, these programs provide sophisticated controls for processing the information stored in the Raw file and converting raw files to JPEG or TIFF. Picasa, a free image editing and cataloguing program from Google, can read and display many raw formats, but like iPhoto, Picasa provides only limited tools for processing the data in a raw file.

UFRaw is free software based on dcraw. It can be used as a GIMP plugin and is available for most operating systems.

RawShooter Essentials 2005/6 was free software developed by Pixmantec. In 2006 Adobe Systems Inc acquired the assets of Pixmantec ApS. RawShooter Essentials is no longer being updated (The last update added support for the Canon 5D and the Nikon D200). It could still be downloaded as a free product until Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 was released in March 2007. The software was fully featured, including wide support for various raw formats, file priority sorting and batch processing. Light Crafts' LightZone photo editing software provides the ability to edit RAW natively. Most tools are "raw converters," but LightZone allows a user to edit RAW just as if it were TIFF or JPEG.

Processing

There is no single standard algorithm for converting data from a Bayer filter or Foveon sensor into RGB format; a number of different algorithms have been proposed, and some have been patented in the USA. Different programs may give slightly different results, better or worse subjectively, for any particular image.

Although the term "raw" describes files in the classical sense of "raw data" vs. "cooked data", raw files typically are slightly processed in the camera. In general, this processing is limited to algorithms that require direct access to the camera's hardware. This includes "long exposure noise reduction" (aka “dark frame subtraction”) and the mapping out of "hot" (too bright) or "dead" (too dim) pixels. Also information about standard processing parameters are stored in the file (so a Raw converter can generate the same JPEG file as the camera would create).

Some newer Raw formats also allow nonlinear quantization. This better allows to compress the raw data without visible degradation of the image by removing invisible and irrelevant information from the image. Although noise is discarded this has nothing to do with (visible) noise reduction.

Radically New - the "Peter Gregg Feather-Light"

2008-01-23T04:15:00.001-08:00

A Better Bounce Card Pro

2008-01-23T04:13:00.000-08:00

From : PeterGregg

A Better Bounce Card for your camera

2008-01-23T04:10:00.000-08:00

From : PeterGregg

Technical Stuff - Shutters Speeds and Apertures

2008-01-16T05:51:00.000-08:00

What do the numbers mean?

If you look at the exposure display in your viewfinder you will see two numbers. On a normal sunny day you might see something like '125 16' or '500 5.6'. The first number is the 'shutter speed' and is simply the time that the shutter will be open for, expressed as a fraction of a second. So 125 means that the shutter will be open for 1/125th of a second, and 500 means that it will be open for 1/500th of a second.

The second number, sometimes referred to as the f-stop, tells you the size of the hole (aperture) in the lens. This number is also a fraction. The number represents the focal length of the lens divided by the diameter of the aperture. So an aperture that is 10mm in diameter in an 80mm lens will have an f number of f/8 and the setting f/16 on the same lens will be 5mm across.

From this you can see that if you change the lens to one of, say, 160mm focal length then the size of the f8 aperture will be 20mm. However, because the diaphragm is now twice the distance from the film the same amount of light will reach the film. This is a bit complex but if you have a mathematical bent and you draw it all on paper you will see why . If not, just take my word for it. Now you can see that a larger 'f' number, say f/16, is actually a smaller hole and lets in less light than f/8.

	Large aperture = small f number
	Small aperture = larger f number

To make matters even more complicated, modern lenses, sophisticated beasts that they are, are not always physically the same as their focal length. So the good old f-stop acts as a nominal indicator of how much light will reach the film, rather than an accurate measurement of aperture size. This amount of light is independent of the focal length of the lens.

What to look for when buying a tripod.

2008-01-16T05:49:00.000-08:00

Don't buy a tiddly little thing just because it will fit into your gadget bag. Most of them are worse than useless. The trick is to get the right balance between weight and strength. It's no good if it's so heavy that you never want to take it anywhere and it's no good if it won't support the camera properly. The manufacturers seem to delight in over estimating what their tripods will support. Buy one that's man enough for the job. Then go to the gym and build up your muscles.

Which brand?

2008-01-16T05:48:00.001-08:00

This, of course, is the big question that you really want an answer to and you know that nobody is going to give you one. If you ask anyone who already has a camera most will support the brand of the camera they have unless they have had some trouble with it, even then people are very forgiving. I think the reason for this is that people think that, if they have made the wrong choice it is because they have somehow failed, and they are not going to admit their failure. Back in the 1980s I had a camera shop in England and at the time a lot of people, who already owned an SLR, were buying compact cameras 'for the wife'. They would ask me which brand was the best and, if I didn't already know, I would discreetly try to find out which brand of SLR they owned, then I would recommend the same brand of compact camera. Trying to sell them another brand was like telling them they had made a wrong choice when buying their old camera and was likely to lose me a sale. So I'd better have a really good reason for not recommending the Canon, Olympus, Nikon, Pentax or whatever and I didn't have one. All of the well known brands produce similar cameras at similar prices and, by and large, you get what you pay for.

I will stick my neck out a little bit here and say that in my humble opinion the manufacturers who make the best film cameras the Japanese Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Pentax, Minolta and the German Contax and Leica seem to make the best digital cameras. I would not be too happy to put my trust in brands whose traditional expertise is in other fields when there are such good cameras available from the traditional

How Many Pixels?

2008-01-16T05:45:00.000-08:00

Until recently the quality of digital cameras was measured by how many pixels they boasted. Now we have cameras that can produce tens of millions and it has ceased to be the only test of quality. In the real world the number of pixels you need depends on how big you want to print your pictures. If you mainly want postcard size or A5 then I would consider 4 million pixels to be perfectly adequate. Even at A4 size I would be hard pushed to tell the difference between my 4 million pixel camera and my 6.5 million pixel camera. Don't forget though that your cropping in the camera may not always be perfect so you may be enlarging only a portion of the image and so only using a portion of the available pixels.

Although an adequate number of pixels is important, the quality of your picture will be greatly affected by the quality of the lens. When Canon recently updated the EOS 300D (digital rebel) with 6.5 million pixels to the EOS 350D with 8 million pixels, the general consensus amongst reviewers seemed to be that the money you needed to spend on an upgrade would be better spent on a better quality lens. So the answer to the pixel question is that we seem to have now reached a point where enough is enough.

There is also a school of thought that we have reached the limit of the number of photo sensors that we can fit on a chip and that a greater number will cause the indivdual cells to be too small compared to the space in between them. Usually though, when someone says something like that, the following week the boffins announce a breakthrough which makes it all nonsense. You may have seen adverts for cameras, costing many thousands, that have 16 or 20 million pixels. These have sensors that are twice the size of those in the consumer cameras, hence the price. To me, the resolution of a 6 or 8 million pixel camera with a decent lens seems good enough for most purposes and on a par with the quality I used to get from a 35mm film camera.

In the past I have spent a lot of time and money in the pursuit of ultimate quality, I have owned a 5x4inch plate camera, a Hassleblad and two Mamiya medium format cameras, every major brand of 35mm camera and in the end, I would be hard pushed to tell you which photo on the wall was taken with which camera. A fellow photographer once observed that photographers tend to smell pictures rather than look at them, by which he meant that they were more interested in the graininess and sharpness of the image than the actual image itself.

Link Exchange

2008-01-16T05:40:00.000-08:00

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