This is just a quick reminder to readers that we’re currently running a competition where you can win a Lenovo W700ds Mobile Workstation (the biggest laptop I’ve ever seen).
Check out full details of the competition here but all you have to do to enter is be a subscriber to our weekly email newsletter which goes out on Thursdays with updates of new tips and tutorials here on DPS.
The competition ends this coming Thursday (the 9th July) so make sure you’re signed up and verified as a subscriber by then. To enter just check out this post where there’s a signup form to join the newsletter.
PS: Happy 4th July to our US readers. Don’t forget to check out our Photographing Fireworks tutorial for tonight!
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
5 Days Left to Win a Lenovo W700ds
Original post by Darren Rowse
Sigma has released an update to its Photo Pro image-editing software. Version 3.5.2 for Windows and v3.3 for Mac claim to improve processing of highlight areas in RAW images and now offer the ‘ProPhoto RGB’ color space. Exposure warning is also displayed for RGB channels in the histogram in the Windows version.
Original post by Andrew Barrow
You don’t own an external flash. You can’t afford one anytime soon. Are you held back in your photographic technique and unable to take dynamic studio style portraits?
Not hardly.
While external lighting is vital for professional portrait and wedding photographers, there is a way to fudge external lighting. When you need just a little bit of fill or dynamic range to make your portraits stand out, there’s a simple solution at your finger tips:
The LED
The LED [Light Emitting Device] can be purchased at literally any store which sells sporting goods. Found most commonly among camping gear, these LEDs range around $10-$25. Depending on cost, you can control how much light your LED transmits by 1-6 light streams or more.
Using an LED, you must think in terms of two concepts:
1. Output: How many strobes are you using on your LED? One light stream, or all six? Obviously, 1 light stream will be more gentle in it’s illumination and 6 could be quite harsh.
2. Distance: How close is your light to your subject? The closer your light is to your subject, the brighter your subject will be illuminated. Take a few steps back, the light power will decrease.
Two LEDs will give you quite a bit of artistic ability. Whether you want to use the LED as mere fill light, or you want to create a type of studio shot like the one above, the LEDs can equip you with a number of fun options. They are light, they are durable, and the batteries generally last a while. The single down side of using LED lights is the fact that you may need an assistant to help if you use more than one.
For this shot, I really wanted to mimic a studio shot with some sweet lighting. I didn’t have my external flashes on hand but I did have two LEDs in my camera bag. In about 2 minutes, the above shot was created. Here’s how:
- The piano studio was very dim, lit by a single window on the right side. I pulled the curtain open ever so slightly [mostly to get a little more light on my subjects face].
- The main LED was directed with full light streams just off to the side of the camera, about six feet in front of my subject.
- The second LED acted as a slight fill on the far left with only half the light streams on, and spaced at a four foot angle above my subject.
- Camera was directly in front of my subject, balanced on the edge of the piano.
In post processing, I deepened the blacks and added a little additional fill for contrast.
LED portraits are casual, non threatening, and a blast. Wether you own a pair of external speed-lights or other kind of flashes, creating portraits with LEDs is a great way to go artistic and have some fun in the process.
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
Ghetto Style Portrait Lighting with LEDs
Original post by Christina Dickson
Hasselblad has announced the CFV-39 digital back to be used in conjunction with its V series of camera bodies. Featuring a 39 megapixel sensor, it offers two capture formats: 4:3 and square (at 29MP). It allows tethered shooting and offers a capture rate of 1.4fps. The bundled image processing software features digital lens correction for Carl Zeiss lenses that corrects distortion, lateral chromatic aberration and vignetting.
Original post by Andrew Barrow
