(WBNG) — With spring in full bloom, Around the Tiers has been keeping a close eye on some of the unique birds in the Southern Tier.
Wildlife Photographer Donna Hadley joined Around the Tiers to discuss her experience as a photographer and to show off some of her shots!
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Perhaps no style is more timeless than the black and white photo, but creating a successful monochrome picture takes a lot more than simply pulling all the saturation out of a color photo. If you would like to improve your black and white photos, check out this great video tutorial that shares five helpful tips sure to put you on the right track.
Coming to you from Jason Friend Photography, this fantastic video tutorial discusses five ways to improve your black and white images. Of them, I think one that is particularly helpful is switching your camera’s picture profile to monochrome. This will change the image preview shown on the rear screen and in an electronic viewfinder to monochrome, making it far easier to see what the results will look like. And don’t worry, as long as you are shooting raw, you will still get a normal image with full color to edit as you please. It is so useful that I frequently find myself using it for scenarios in which I have no intention of editing the final image in black and white, such as portraits, where it allows me to easily visualize the light on the subject. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Friend.
RIYADH: The embassies of Germany and France in Riyadh hosted documentary photography exhibitions in May.
The Goethe Institute, the French Embassy, and the Alliance Francaise in Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with Gharem Studio, set up a project in October 2022 called “Lens for Equality,” dedicated exclusively to documentary photography.
The genre refers to a form of photography which is used to show specific situations or environments, and also everyday events.
These photographs tend to be taken by professional photojournalists or reporters, but sometimes by amateurs.
Authorship of the genre is generally attributed to American historian Beaumont Newhall who, in March 1938, published the article “Documentary Approach to Photography.”
Artists participating took part in a 10-day workshop in which they had the opportunity to discuss and explore the theme of gender equality through their work by analyzing it from an artistic point of view.
The project was led by three mentors — Scarlett Coten from France, Susanne Kriemann from Germany and Tasneem Al-Sultan from Saudi Arabia.
The German, French and Saudi artists have had very different journeys in the world of photography.
Kriemann, a professor at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, said that photography is a “recording system” — a privileged means to study the human species.
Saudi American Al-Sultan is an award-winning photographer. She uses images to capture the spirit of the Middle East and its people, as well as recent changes that have transformed the region.
Coten explores the themes of gender, identity and intimacy mainly through the form of portraits.
The varied backgrounds of the three photographers added richness to the innovative workshop. The session aimed to mobilize artists and the public on a subject still new to Saudi Arabia, and promote the art of documentary photography.
Students’ photographs were exhibited in December 2022 at the Ahlam Gallery in the Al-Moussa Mall in Riyadh.
With Adobe’s latest beta offering what they call Generative Fill, we’re given a very powerful feature that lets us create or undo what is in our images. And I think features like Generative Fill are causing another round of soil searching, praise, and panic from photographers. I’ve tried to put my own thoughts in order, so I’m humbly sharing them, even though my thoughts will continue to evolve, or maybe devolve. I also wanted to create a forum in comments for your more recent thoughts as AI becomes more and more mainstream.
I’ve been playing with the Photoshop beta for a couple of days, and I have to admit it is a knockout. Adobe has put some great effort into these new AI tools. While slow to get into AI, of late, Adobe is picking up momentum, responding to customers who are demanding new and better AI tools.
The Adobe Generative Fill is mostly impressive. Unlike Adobe’s Content Aware fill, it removes people or objects and pretty much leaves a credible background in place.
Here are some automated mannequins at the OK Corral in Tombstone, AZ.
I selected the center gunfighter, pushed the Generative Fill button and added no text instructions.
Boom! The man is gone, the background is filled in, other than a suspicious black box the AI delivered. It’s easily erased.
In this example, I had a throwaway shot of some cacti at sunset.
Using generative fill, I asked for a few more and it delivered. I’m not sure they are a totally believable addition, but the AI did get the lighting right.
Maybe a little bit of both. Every advance in photography has been met with suspicion and naysayers. The switch to digital quickly became an us against them thro down, but rather quickly, digital became a match for film, and in most ways exceeded it, especially in dynamic range and detail.
When Photoshop and other digital editors came out, there was criticism from many corners saying the result would be a bunch of trick shots and not art. And there were a lot of trick shots. HDR went through the same rite of passage, although I sense the use of HDR has become less popular as we get better sensors with more dynamic range. Still, every so often, I see a tasteful (to me) HDR image that blows me away with its beauty and restraint.
So, here we go again. With these new advanced tools, we’re going to see a lot of awful photos, but photographers will find ways for these AI features to speed up their workflow and become more productive. They’ll also learn to solve image problems in seconds that would have taken hours before or been simply impossible to accomplish.
And let’s not forget to thank Adobe, Skylum, and the others who are pushing the boundaries on AI to deliver tools we could only dream of having even five years ago. Now, the photography world is changing very rapidly, and criticism, both artistic and technical, has not caught up yet.
To my mind, photography has always been about the art of seeing, not the art of doing. The seeing begins with the composition, the lighting, the color, the shadows, the textures, and the subtleties. If I need to summon some AI to complete my vision, so be it. Ultimately, the art comes from me: my eye and the eyes of every creative photographer out there.
As someone told me years ago, if we give Ansel Adams’ camera to a guy off the street, we get crap, not magic. It was all about Adams’ vision, not his gear, or in the present case, the software.
I’ll look at each AI tool as it comes along and see if it furthers my art or cheapens it. It’s true that even now, we can’t always tell if a photo is real or AI. To some, that really matters. To others, they look at the final product and like it or they don’t. At the end, if it will be art or not, I think will be dependent on the vision of the artist.
So, is AI the end of photography? To some degree, the kind of photographer you are will answer the question for you personally. I don’t see wedding photographers, for example, being heavily involved in this, other than maybe using it to save some previously unsavable images. I would think most customers would want fidelity of the event. It’s the same in sports and news photography. People expect and should get reality.
In advertising, AI will continue to make large inroads. Not so much for portrait photographers, but AI is already being put to some use there, enlarging smiles, getting rid of blemishes, etc.
For landscape and nature photographers, I predict a robust debate, with heavy use in some circles, avoidance in others.
Please share your thoughts below.
Using flash in your wedding photography can take your work to the next level. It can look more professional and dynamic. Additionally, there are a variety of scenarios when flash makes certain things possible that wouldn’t be if you’re relying on natural light.
But how do you use wedding photography flash in a way that looks natural? Poor use of flash can be worse than no flash at all, it can be too harsh and unflattering. I never want my use of flash to be a distraction, I’d rather it enhance.
I’m going to be talking less about the specific techniques and more about general philosophy. While you may just want a recipe that you can follow and reproduce, I am more interested in teaching you how to make decisions. There are great arguments for a variety of techniques out there and you may end up adopting one in particular but I find myself using whatever technique helps me accomplish my goal.
Let’s start there.
The first step before bringing in a flash is to identify your goal behind using it. I’ll talk through a variety of possible goals that you might have but essentially the first key to making wedding photography flash look natural is to have a purpose behind using it. If you start with purpose then your result will be an image that looks purposeful.
One common goal for using flash is when you’re trying to balance exposure. A typical example is when you want to shoot a portrait or group photo in front of a pretty view even though the light is terrible, there will be shadows under their eyes, and the background will be overexposed. Another example is when you want to photograph a couple at sunset and you want to balance the exposure between both the couple and the darkening sky.
Another common goal for using flash is when it’s just plain dark. The main examples are poorly lit getting ready rooms and receptions after the sun or the lights go down.
Some photographers love to use flash to simplify a scene. A good example of this is when you’re shooting the getting ready room which can be cluttered with food, make-up, clothes, and more.
Other goals for using flash are when you want to make your subject pop from a background, fill some shadows, or create something artsy. Are there other goals you can think of? Identifying your goal will help you decide the “how.”
The way to accomplish your goal while making it look natural is to understand what that means. Some people would say that natural light means soft light, while others would say that natural light means a directional light source like the sun. I think what we’re really looking for is something that looks beautiful, which is unfortunately subjective but let’s talk through it anyway.
Light has a variety of qualities such as color from warm to cool, it can be hard or soft, and it can have both intensity and directionality. When you’re thinking about how to accomplish your goal you can think through what you want in terms of these qualities.
Soft light, for example, is a popular goal especially when it comes to those beautiful wedding day portraits. It’s the reason you see so many pictures of brides looking out a window. It’s not because the window is symbolic, it’s because the light is beautiful.
The best way to get soft light is to shoot window light or open shade which means the goal for using flash to create soft light would be to replicate those effects. What that means is that you want to diffuse and disperse the light in order to soften it. Think of hard light as direct light from a small source and soft light as diffused light from a large source.
One main difference between hard and soft light can be the size of the light source. It is also important to consider the distance from the subject to the source. The sun is a huge source but it is so far away it becomes a hard source, the same can be true for a very large softbox if it is very far away from your subject. To get soft light you need a source that is relatively large and close to your subject so it wraps the light around your subject.
But hard light can be “natural” too. Without cloud cover to disperse the light, the sun creates some pretty hard and intense light which can be beautiful. If your goal is to create that sort of dramatic effect you’ll likely want to think about direction so that you can create both light and shadows.
If you’re using flash simply to help your couple pop or stand out from the background, I think that the most important thing is balance. Balance the color temperature and balance the intensity. And then be intentional about the direction, where is the light coming from, and why? The best case scenario is to make the light appear to come from somewhere logical like a lamp post or building even though this is often difficult to do.
Sometimes I like to add light that appears to be sunlight but is a little more intentional. It always looks better and more natural in a landscape if I can have it come from that direction. I love when there’s a sweet little ray of sun lighting my couple but if there’s not then I can create it while keeping the natural look.
When it comes to creative light such as artsy portraits or reception lighting, making it look natural is less about trying to replicate the sun or another light source and more about using the qualities of light to create something. For example, if you’re using light to simplify a scene and make everything except your subject fade to black, that’s not natural but it can look natural and beautiful as long as you are intentional.
As we get more into the weeds on these types of light usage, it can be easier to turn to thinking about what we need to avoid: what looks unnatural.
Avoid direct flash, it rarely looks good (i.e. on-camera flash pointed directly at your subject). It’s fine in a pinch because it’s fast and easy but it’s generally too harsh and unflattering. Most of the time it’s just as easy to bounce your light off something whether it’s a bounce card, ceiling, or wall, or to put your flash off-axis from your subject. This will give the subject shape and create a more dynamic image.
Avoid mixing color temperatures unless it’s intentional. A bride lit with a cool spotlight in a warm candlelit room will look odd. Luckily, it’s something you can often fix in post-production if you’re unable to match it in the moment.
Avoid limiting yourself. I think having systems is a great idea and you should have a plan for how you’re going to do things. And I also think that there’s a time to play and experiment, I’ve learned a lot just by trying something new and different.
Avoid harsh light whenever possible. I never like to find myself in a position where I have to use an undiffused and high-power flash to try to overpower the sun in order to fill eye pocket shadows while also balancing exposure. The sweaty people will wonder why they look so shiny having no clue about the terrible lighting conditions you were trying to battle at noon in 100 degrees with no shade.
If you want to make your wedding photography flash look natural it helps to know and understand why you’re using flash to begin with. From there you can determine the best way to accomplish your goal while avoiding some common mistakes. Adding flash to your wedding photography tool belt is often essential to deal with challenging scenarios or level up your work.
Develop an understanding of light and build your flash philosophy first. Then you’ll be better positioned to determine the specific techniques you want to use. From there you can try new things, fail, learn, and create beautiful light.
About the author: Brenda Bergreen is a Colorado wedding photographer, videographer, yoga teacher, and writer who works alongside her husband at Bergreen Photography. With their mission and mantra “love. adventurously.” they are dedicated to telling adventurous stories in beautiful places.
For the last 150 years, a valuable set of stereoscopic photos in the Mount Horeb Area Historical Society’s collection could only be viewed as they’d originally been intended — tiny, and through a handheld contraption known as a stereoviewer. Now those original photos have been blown up and converted into large-scale, modern 3D images called anaglyphs that can be viewed through classic red-and-blue 3D glasses, resulting in a special exhibition unlike any other in Wisconsin.
“Sometimes historical photos can feel flat, and it can be hard to connect with those images from the past,” says Driftless Historium director Destinee Udelhoven. “This special exhibit really brings these early photographs to life and makes it easier to feel like they’re real people, when you see them in three dimensions. You can see local history in a different way that really feels like stepping back in time.”
A church picnic comes life when viewed through 3D glasses.
Most of the exhibits feature outdoor shots of familiar landscape in the Mount Horeb area.
View-Masters were widely circulated as educational tools, allowing people to feel like they were traveling to global landmarks without leaving home.
An early stereoscopic viewer is on display in the exhibition.
The Jacobson family parlor in 1876, located in the Town of Perry and photographed by A.L. Dahl. The exhibit notes that “even relatively recent immigrants went to great lengths to create the idealized American parlor.”
Some stereoscopic photos were produced with commercial quality for mass quantity reselling.
This is a real picture taken by photographer Keinichi Ohno. It’s a single photo of a bird standing at the edge of some water with a wall and its reflection creating a fascinating optical illusion. from r/interestingasfuck
A Japanese photographer has caused some confusion with his recent image that the internet can’t figure out. It depicts an Egret bird wallowing in shallow water, but the incredible composition of the image has left a few photographers scratching heads.
Kenichi Ohno submitted his amazing image of the Egret to a photographic nature competition, and aside from receiving an honorable mention, the photo accidentally went viral as an unintended optical illusion involving a color split down the middle.
• These are the best lenses for photographing birds
As photographers, we should be pretty good at spotting obscure optical illusions and understanding how an image can be affected by factors such as light, color tones, and exposure levels. But this image from photographer Kenichi Ohno has left even photo competition judges stumped, experts who are supposedly adept at spotting image composition errors and any editing inconsistencies.
The Nature in Japan photo contest in which Kenichi entered his image, titled Gap, saw some other amazing photos submitted by members of The All-Japan Association of Photographic Societies (AJAPS), but none as mesmerizing as the accidental optical illusion featuring Kenichi’s bird in the water.
The image features a perfect split down the center, with the left side showing the natural blue shades of the marsh water, whereas the right side appears to be a totally different muddy brown color with the white Egret dead center in the frame.
None of the best editing software was used to create this effect, so how was it done? Plenty accused Kenichi of having photoshopped the image or even using AI to create it. But what the image actually shows on the right side of the split is a wall, followed by the waterline underneath it, causing the brown reflection of this wall to appear in the water, changing the color to a muddy brown.
To shed some light on how the image was composed, and to help viewers understand what they’re really looking at, the AJAPS has shared an image on its Facebook page (above) that offers some clarity in a zoomed-out perspective of the exact location whereby Kenichi’s image was captured.
It’s amazing how our brains work. Do you remember that photo of a blue/gold dress that divided the internet back in 2015? Well, Kenichi’s Egret image requires some real perception-altering to figure out what’s going on, but once you understand the image and how it was created, the eureka moment occurs and it all makes sense.
• You might also be interested in the best free photo editing software, plus the best bird box and best bird feeder cameras to use in your garden, and not forgetting the best portable hides and camouflage gear for wildlife photography.
• Take a look at these 6 ways to improve your composition, as well as how to photograph an optical illusion using a magic mirror, and understand how forced perspective can be used to create optical illusions that bring your toy photography to life
Street photography ethics has always been a hot potato but one photographer may have found a novel solution by using artificial intelligence (AI) to hide people’s identities.
Many believe that taking a stranger’s photograph without permission is immoral so photographer Hubert Napierala has experimented with altering the appearance of his street photography subjects using AI image generator DALL-E to swap their faces.
“I was thinking about it the moment deepfakes became a thing a couple of years ago,” Polish photographer Napierala tells PetaPixel.
“If it doesn’t impact the overall impact of the photo, I have no problem with the face replacement.”
However, some people do have a problem with it. Napierala was banned from a Facebook street photography group after sharing his AI-infused work.
“My picture supposedly violated some rules and was immediately taken down although the description clearly stated that the subject’s face was altered,” he explains.
“I can’t blame them. The topic of AI in photography is really hot right now and is making a lot of people afraid. However, it is not going anywhere and we must not be afraid to discuss it openly.”
Napierala says his street photography is for fun and he rarely publishes anything. He points out that most of his street shots don’t need altering because a lot of the time nobody’s face is showing in them.
However, one of Napierala’s street photos, taken over a decade ago, shows a man pressed up against a wall as another man on the phone stares into the lens — it’s a great moment in time that gets the viewer curious as to what is going on.
“The person actually chased me away for taking the picture, so getting permission has never been an option,” he says.
“I took that picture in May 2010 and this is the first time I’m showing it online. Even though he was openly hostile to me, publishing his image without his consent has always been out of the question for me.
“There are a number of shots that I like that were unpublishable, so AI opened some new doors for my hobby for sure.”
Napierala believes that photographers should be free to collect information on the streets, so long as they’re doing it legally.
“But if a person approaches us and asks us not to take their pictures, we should take their point of view under consideration,” he says. “We are all human after all.”
Napierala tells a story where the roles were reversed and he found himself the subject of a street photograph while waiting for a train.
“The photographer was trying to be as candid as possible, but I was aware of her and the camera,” he says.
“I held still, pretending not to notice her so she could get her shot. I didn’t mind at all but for the briefest of moments when I was trying to understand the situation, I felt uncomfortable.
“Therefore, I can totally understand people who don’t want their pictures taken and respect their wish in that matter.”
He believes that AI could be useful to street photographers when they’re forced to bury a picture and AI facial replacement could be an “acceptable compromise.”
“I would only make sure to mark the photo as edited. In the case of some of my pictures, the impact of the face replacement doesn’t change the general outcome of the picture and in my opinion, is fine,” he says
“And I can’t stress this enough — the generated faces were as unique and unexpected as the ones I stumbled across on the street.”
Napierała is a director of photography and camera operator based in Warsaw, Poland. Street photography is mostly a hobby for him.
Image credits: All photos by Hubert Napierala.
Miami native Jonathan Brooks’ photographs have been featured in major movies (Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates and Uncle Drew); the Emmy-nominated short film series celebrating the 50th anniversary of National Endowment for the Arts, United States of Art; and numerous television shows.
The Botaniscopes series focuses on botanical life in nature, particularly plants and trees of the South. The work takes on a kaleidoscope and/or Rorschach test feel, and is influenced by life, science fiction and fantasy. It aims to enhance a viewer’s perception of our environment and our relationship with nature.
Be sure to take a look before the exhibition leaves next week!
VIEW EXHIBIT IN-PERSON:
Where: Gifts of Art Gallery – Rogel Cancer Center, Level 1.
When: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday-Friday through June 2
TEANECK, N.J., May 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Leica, the global titan of camera manufacturing, taps into its 100-year legacy of engineering mastery to unveil the Leica Q3. The Leica Q3 is a ground-breaking compact, full-frame camera that merges high-level connectivity and superior imaging performance without sacrificing elegance and style.
THE NEW LEICA Q3: A SYMPHONY OF TECHNOLOGY AND AESTHETICS
The Leica Q3 is more than just a camera. It’s a compact, high-performance tool that embodies the perfect blend of timeless aesthetics and state-of-the-art technology, ready to fit seamlessly into your everyday life. A camera designed to capture the world as you see it, the Leica Q3 is your partner in creativity. With its powerful photo and video features, the Leica Q3 is your ally in producing high-quality content for social media, allowing you to share your unique perspective with the world. It combines style, advanced technology, and a zest for capturing life as it happens, making it as unique as its users. Starting today, the Leica Q3 is available globally at all Leica Stores, the Leica Online Store, and authorized dealers for $5,995.
UNRIVALED TECHNOLOGY FOR UNPARALLELED PERFORMANCE
At the core of the Leica Q3 is the revolutionary BSI-CMOS sensor with Triple-Resolution-Technology, providing a stunning resolution of up to 60 MP. The fast Leica Summilux 28mm f/1.7 ASPH lens, a marvel of optical engineering, allows for detailed close-ups from a minimum focusing distance of 6.69 inches. With its new tiltable 3-inch high-resolution touchscreen, the Leica Q3 provides unique viewing angles and enhanced creative opportunities. Despite its flexible display, the Leica Q3 ensures protection against dust and splash water with its IP52 certification. The Leica Q3 is a content creator’s dream, offering 8K video recording and efficient codecs like H.265 and Apple’s ProRes. External devices such as gimbals, power banks, and display recorders can be directly connected via USB-C and HDMI. Embracing the digital age, the Leica Q3 is “Made for iPhone® and iPad®” certified, offering seamless integration with the Apple ecosystem. Charging can now be entirely wireless with the new Leica Charging Pad and separate camera handgrip.
Leica Camera
Leica Camera AG is an international, high-end manufacturer of cameras and sports optics. The legendary reputation of the Leica brand is based on a long tradition of excellent quality, German craftsmanship and German industrial design, combined with innovative technologies. An integral part of the brand’s culture is the diversity of activities the company undertakes for the advancement of photography. In addition to the Leica Galleries and Leica Akademies spread around the world, there are the Leica Hall of Fame Award and, in particular, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA), which is considered one of the most innovative sponsorship awards existing today. Furthermore, Leica Camera AG, with its headquarters in Wetzlar, Hesse, and a second production site in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal, has a worldwide network of its own national organizations and Leica Retail Stores.
Please find further information at:
Nike Communications Inc.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 201-995-0051
Internet: leica-camera.com
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